Emmanuelle: Year 1

Our little girl is one!

A year’s worth of photos have claimed their lot of space on our computer.  A quick scan through brought more than a few favourites.  Can a Dad who’s taken with his daughter post a dozen or so on his blog?

I suspect so.

Happy birthday, my little girl!

We’ll never forget the first time we met you.

You’re the sweetest little thing…

Most of the time.

I love the way you look at me…

And at yourself.

I love the way you look in Photo Booth too.

You strike your Mom and me as the sweetest thing we’ve ever known.

Your first trip to China was a smashing success!

And you nearly flipped over our favourite Chinese drinks!

Before you sent your Dad off for a month, you helped him pack his bags…

We tried some crazy stunts…

And played in the bath…

In fact, we did so much together that you started to look like your Dad!

We were so excited to see summer come!

And you quickly came to love being outside.

You’ve been helping Dad weed… or just sitting there looking cute.

But for all your cuteness, I have no idea where you get all your goofy faces!

In the past few days, you’ve learned to eat birthday cake…

And brush your 6 little teeth.

I know you’ll keep learning everyday as the world slowly opens up before you…

Just make sure you always remember how loved you are, our girl!

Getting an Education

I just started a book.

The author unapologetically warned me in the preface that this is no devotional piece and will require “considerable mental effort to understand”.  The subject matter is the relationship between faith and knowledge.  Many say there is hardly any relationship at all, that the two are actually in opposition to each other.

But I don’t buy that.

The author then wrapped up his opening section with a C.S. Lewis quote that made me smile…

“God has room for people with very little sense, but He wants everyone to use what sense they have.  The proper motto is not, ‘Be good, sweet maid, and let who can be clever,’ but ‘Be good, sweet maid, and don’t forget that this involves being as clever as you can.’  God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers.  If you are thinking of becoming a  Christian, I warn you you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all….  One reason why it needs no special education to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education itself.”

I’ll amen that last line, that’s for sure–I hope you’re in the midst of a fascinating education these days.

Riders ‘09: Game 11 (Edm)

A tough loss but a great game.  As a football fan, I don’t see any way that you couldn’t like that one.  Sure, a Rider win would have been better, but an entertaining game is worth plenty to this fan.

Some observations…

• I debated whether or not to bring my coat.  End result: I left it in the car.  I was actually glad when the rain began as I discovered that a plastic rain cape offers a surprising amount of warmth.
• Besides Ricky Ray, the Eskimo I’d most like to see as a Roughrider is Fred Stamps.  That guy can play!
• People in our section were griping about not getting enough pressure on Ray.  My question: How do you expect that to happen when he hardly held the ball for three seconds all day?  There’s nothing wrong with giving a great offense some credit.
• And the Esks’ offense was great for most of the day.  We had no control whatsoever of them until the third quarter.
• Durant played well–no real mistakes that I recall.
• Getzlaff is a keeper.  If we end up losing Fantuz in free agency or in a trade, this kid will step up into that place nicely.  If Andy stays, I’m not sure Clermont has a long future here.
• Rob Bagg makes a spectacular catch nearly every game.
• Stevie Baggs has two sacks now this season using his spin move.  It can’t work all the time, but when it does, it is beautiful.
• Going deep to Bagg on a 2nd and 1 was gutsy and brought a roar to the stadium.
• Faking that punt was gutsy too.  Boreham is the toughest punter in the league–not even close.
• The Esks faking a punt on a following drive–also gutsy.  I did NOT see that coming.
• We had two straight two-and-outs in the 4th.  A couple first downs there, and we likely win.  Edmonton made key stops to get the ball back for that winning score.

As I said, all in all a good game.  Most of us would be happy to split these two games with Edmonton.  I’d expected us to win at home and lose next week.  Guess we’ll have to go steal one on the road now.

That’s it.  Live from the Queen City, this is me signing off.

Fleury Fan

As a kid, my five favourite hockey players were Joe Sakic, Mike Modano, Wendel Clark, Theoren Fleury, and Steve Yzerman.

Reasons?  First, no one can dislike Yzerman.

The other four?  They’d all been parts of my childhood as I had watched them all in their junior days with the Swift Current Broncos, Prince Albert Raiders, Saskatoon Blades, and Moose Jaw Warriors respectively.

As of last week, only one of the five was still playing.

As of last night, another may be back.

Now age 41, having been absent from the league for 6 years, Theo is taking another stab at it.  The Flames granted him a spot at training camp–the rest is up to him.

Last night, he scored the shootout winner.

Looks like he may be serious.

And that would be more than fine by this fan.

Riders ‘09: Game 10 (Wpg)

Am I a bad person for feeling some pain for the poor Bombers today?  Because I did.  A little.

55-10 is a whooping on any day by any team.  Add 8 Winnipeg turnovers, and over 100 yards penalties by each team, and this one wasn’t pretty… unless you are a Riders’ fan.  What stood out?

• Durant continues to develop.  Turnovers have been the one real gripe people have had against him.  Today, he limited that to one interception–and the Bombers’ Dockett had to make a decent play to get that one.
• Cates continues to be a great running back for us.  Didn’t see his final numbers, but he brings everything to the table with his running, receiving, and blocking.
• Siddeeq Shabazz, obviously frustrated by the loss, needed some reining in late in this game.  Glad to see that no one got hurt.
• Fantuz looked a bit rusty up until he won the jumpball thrown to the endzone by Jason Armstead.  Nice to see a bit of trickery on offense.  Even nicer to see it work!
• Stu Foord ran well with some touches today.
• Dressler always gets a mention–he didn’t break loose today, but he’s always in the mix and making things happen.
• Jyles looked fine in the 4th, and I was glad to see us get him in there.
• The Bombers are not a terrible team, but they are in trouble.  And if any fans in the league know about the frustration of not having adequate QB’ing, it’s us Rider fans.  Mark it down: Casey Printers’ name WILL be spoken this week.  As I watched, I also wondered if there weren’t at least some regrets about letting both Glenn and Dinwiddie go in the off-season.
• Congi did all we asked him to do today.  Can’t look for more than perfection on the chances you give a guy.
• DB’s were buzzing today.  Some of our picks came because the Bombers’ QB’s made mistakes, but some were just hungry DB’s jumping on balls and out-battling receivers.  Gotta like seeing that.

As I said last week, a sweep of the Bombers is hardly big news this season.  But it had to be played out, and we played out well.  If we can hand a beating to the Esks next week, this province will be rocking.

Over and out for another week.

To Be Like Mike or Not to Be Like Mike

The NBA inducted this year’s members to the Hall of Fame.  Some called it the best class ever.

Michael Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, and C. Virginia Stringer (can’t say I know her).  That’s three guys from the original Dream Team (I know because I had the poster on my wall in ‘92) along with a coach who’s been in Utah since before it was Mormon.

Should’ve been an evening of celebration and class, and it was.  Mostly.

Adrian Wojnarowski has written a great column for Yahoo! Sports.  The gist of it?  That MJ, who lives to win, was the night’s loser.  Robinson, Stockton, and Sloan–you’d be hard-pressed to find three classier NBA fellows in the past generation.  And MJ–well, that’s not exactly his strong suit.  I know, he can look like it is.  He’s got that smile and a slamming silhouette that is known in every country of the world.

But Mike might be slightly troubled.  And reading that great column (yes, I’m plugging it again) made me think.

Maybe nobody really wants to be like Mike.

Riders ‘09: Game 9 (Wpg)

The Labour Day Classic–I was there with 3o 000+ other fans.  I’m certain I’d had less to drink than 29 000 or more of them.

I’m not sure that I’d call this game a classic, but I enjoy every single game at Taylor Field so I’m easy to please.  Some highlights from the game…

• Darian Durant looked good.  On our two scoring drives in the first quarter, he looked downright automatic.
• Robb Bagg’s one-handed catch on the opening drove–OH MY!  One of the catches of the year, I’m sure.
• Fred Reid, Mr. I’m-going-to-run-for-300-yards, looked nicely ordinary.
• Mr. Bishop looked good too–three interceptions and a few timely sacks by Chick and Baggs–Mike looked just like the last time he was in Regina.
• Armstead didn’t look out of place, as I feared he might.  Even had one return that made fans hopeful that our return game might climb out of the basement yet.
• Dressler didn’t get to any of the big bombs from Durant, but it wasn’t for lack of hustle.  If we’d connected on a couple of those, the game might have been over before it began.
• That stop on the 1-yard-line to end the first half was HUGE–maybe a bit of a Bomber back-breaker.

I’m desperately hoping (and expecting) a win in the Banjo Bowl tomorrow.  A sweep of the Bombers is hardly on the same level as Calgary’s recent sweeping of the Esks, but that’s not the point.  The point is winning the games you need to win, and we’ve got one of those tomorrow.

Go get ‘em Green.  Time to hand the Bombers one more whooping!

For any who missed the highlights, have at ‘em…

Graham Harrell

Any die-hard Rider fans will recognize that name as a young QB currently with our club.

He has a more-than-impressive NCAA resume, and some dare to dream big things for his football future.  I read a great blog post on him recently, which speculated as to whether his game and our team might be perfect for one another.

Joan Chittister on Simplicity

I love this woman.  She blesses me richly every time that I sit with her–a woman of God and a woman of wisdom.

One of her books was on a second-hand shelf recently.  That purchase needed no debating or justifying.  Sold!

To be quite honest, this book (entitled “Becoming Fully Human”) strikes me as a bit of mish-mash of bits of writing that perhaps had no other home, so they were crunched into this piece and bound together with a cover and a title.  Despite that, it’s still a a treasure to me.

Her opening chapter is about simplicity, which she admits is anything but simple.  In fact, she questions whether much of Christianity’s talk of simplicity has been more accurately talk about deprivation.  And to boil down simplicity to nothing grander than deprivation is indeed a terrible trade.

She then unloads several pages of quotes on the topic.  For your journey, I bring you the best…

• “Simplicity is a talent for going with the flow in life.  When we have to affect our simplicity–plan it, impose it, strategize it–we’re in real trouble.”
• “Life is not simple.  There is no controlling it, no shaping it in the style of a slower, calmer, idyllic world–long gone, if ever here.  Instead, we need to learn how to deal with our complexities with simplicity.”
• “Simplicity of life is more ‘the habitually relaxed grasp‘ than it is life without gadgets.” (My two cents: If the two happen to coincide with each other, so be it.)
• “Simplicity of life is the ability to handle with single-minded unity of soul and serenity of heart whatever life brings.”

Warning: The next one is a zinger.

• “When we handle our own life schedule very well because we refuse to have our own priorities interrupted by anyone else’s needs, is that simplicity of life?”
• “We live a simple life when we do not pretend to be something we are not.”
• “Simplicity is an attitude of mind that enables us to stand unimpeded by the seductiveness of the unnecessary and the cosmetic.”
• “Simplicity is the openness to the beauty of the present, whatever its shape, whatever its lack.  It enables us to be conscious of where we are and to stop mourning where we are not.”
• “There is no simplicity in a heart full of agitation and in a soul too distracted to recognize the one who is among us, yet invisible in chaos.”

There you go.  I hope that simplified everything.

Or at  least fueled you for another mile.

Riders ‘09: Game 8 (Mtl)

The bye week’s come and gone, and Labour Day is nearly here.  Before we arrive at the madness that is the Labour Day Classic, it’s time to mark our last game, a “good” loss in Montreal.  I say “good” because I was just thrilled to see us battle with the Als.  A few things that stood out to me as I watched…

• Durant is coming along–it was great to see him hit a number of long passes.  He held his own against Calvillo, to be sure.
• Three sacks on Calvillo is no easy task–the D came to play.
• Getting stuffed three times from the one–that was hard to watch.  If I ever see another run up the middle, it’ll be too soon for me.
• Dressler is the man!  Seriously, that guy needs to be a Rider for his entire career.  He was born to play football here.
• Our run defense has stepped up the last two games, and that is a big deal.  Hopefully, we make Fred Reid look less-than-average this week.
• Our boys showed some character.  After Taylor’s TD return, we responded quickly with a score of our own.  And right up until the end, we stood toe to toe and traded shots with the Als.  It was a treat to watch that kind of spirit and fight–I hope we see it every game.

In case you missed the action, I’ll close with some highlights from Montreal…