June 20 – something magical

something magical
no adjective to describe
still, better than that

From the post game comments by Michigan Baseball Coach, Erik Bakich, on the pitching performance of Tommy Henry in a College World Series game against Florida State on June 17, 2019.

“In the biggest game in Michigan baseball history in a long, long time, we got the best pitching performance in Tommy Henry’s career,” Michigan coach Erik Bakich said. “He was the entire story line tonight. He gave us something magical. I don’t know if there is an adjective to describe how good Tommy was, but he was better than that.”

From Michigan rides Henry’s 3-hitter to 2-0 win over FSU at CWS by Eric Olson.

1st One Thousand Wins

1st one thousand wins!
Hail to the Victors Valiant!
Those who stay, Champions!

At this time, Michigan has 953 ALL TIME NCAA College Football Wins

With 47 more wins, barring any sports tragedies (as opposed to those real life tragedies), Michigan will be the first team to record 1,000 college football Wins.

When will this game happen and who will it be against?

If Michigan went the next 47-0, they would win 3 Big Ten Titles, 6 College Playoff Games and 3 National Championships and on Sept 3, 2022, a victory over UCLA would be win 1,000.

We know that won’t happen.

A possible 47-9 over the next 56 games put Michigan in position to win their 1,000th game on Sept 30, 2023 at home against MSU.

Not only a Michigan Great but our neighbor for years in
Grand Rapids

I went through a 47-9 record and picked the games but its pure speculation.

In compiling this record, over 4 years, I have Michigan going 2-1 in the Big Ten Title Game but 0-2 in the College Playoffs.

All speculation but I predict the 1,000th win will come in the 2023 season.

Should be a big party but planning on this will be like planning on winning the Stanley Cup at home in Game 6 … how do you plan for a win?

I also attached the above info a spread sheet so you can make you own predictions …

michigan-1 Download

June 19 – Stopped by stoplight

Stopped by stoplight.
Short delay to my commute.
Did it change my life?

Had the crew of the RMS Titanic been told , on April 10, 1912, the future location of the iceberg, where it would be on the night of April 14, 1912 and had their instructions been to hit it, it would have been a feat of navigation.

Over the four days of the ship’s maiden voyage, had there been any reduction or increase in speed or delay in response to a course change or had any one of a number of details caused the Titanic to be a few minutes faster or slower, the history of the world would have been different.

This can be said about almost anything, everyday, everywhere.

Was my day changed?

Was my life changed?

Because I was stopped by a stoplight?

“What do you think the mutineers will do, sir, when they sight
us?” asked Freeman.

The fact that Hornblower had unbent enough to give an ex-
planation of why he wanted to go about must have encouraged
Freeman to this familiarity; Hornblower was irritated, but most
of all because he had no thoughts on the matter.

“There’s no profit in asking questions which time will surely
answer, Mr Freeman” he said, tartly.

“Yet speculation is a fascinating thing, Sir Horatio” replied
Freeman, so unabashed that Hornblower stared at him in the
darkness.

FROM Lord Hornblower by CS Forester

June 18 – decency

world without a code
decency can be fatal
liability

Sounds like a comment on the current political scene regardless of party or maybe just life in America in the age of social media and maybe it is.

Today’s haiku is taken from a line in the article, “The Wild Bunch at 50: the enduring nihilism of Sam Peckinpah’s western” by Charles Bramesco (Tue 18 Jun 2019)

Bramesco writes, “The Wild Bunch stands out as the first western to go full-bore with its reappraisal of frontier narratives, and remains the most ferociously modern example by virtue of its coal-black heart. The question of integrity’s importance, utility and limits haunts the band of no-goodniks as they cut a dusty swath through the Texas desert. They turn on one another whenever convenient, more than willing to step on each other’s faces to climb out of mortal peril. As Holden’s leading man Pike Bishop growls, “$10,000 cuts an awful lot of family ties.” He speaks this crucial line of dialogue to his compatriot Angel, soon to be left for dead as a captive of a sadistic general in the Mexican military. When his change of heart comes, both too little and too late, the abrupt growth of a conscience cues up the bloodbath grand finale. Decency can be a fatal liability in a world without a code.“

He also writes of the Wild Bunch, “They fear they just weren’t made for these times, in an America with no use for the gunslinger myth.”

My fear is that I am not made for these times, in an America with no use for common decency.

June 17 – back from weekend trip

back from weekend trip
across three states – Monday morning
like I never left

We left early on Saturday and drove to Moscow, Tennessee. going through Alabama and Mississippi, for a 5:00PM wedding and celebration supper.

Stayed overnight in Moscow and drove home to Georgia through Nashville.

Back at work on Monday morning, it seems like I have been gone a week instead of a weekend.

On the other hand, its like I never left.