Manchester United vs Barcelona UEFA CL 05-27-09

I absitively posolutely CANNOT wait for this game coming up next Wednesday!
For Barcelona, you have Lionel Messi the Magician, a 5'7 145 finesse controlled player that compares to the likes of Diego Marradona, and Messi is only 21 years old!


And in the opposite corner, the powerful yet precise winger for Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo, 6'1 175 Portuguese sniper who is the current Ballon d'Or (World MVP) and best player for the World Club/Premier League Champions/UEFA Champions League Defending Champions Manchester United, a team I have been following religiously for the last 2 amazing seasons.


Tune in at 1245 MST on ESPN on May 27, 2009 to watch what players, writers, coaches and all of Earth's fandom are saying will be the best Champions League Final EVER!

Glory Glory Man United!

BCS: You know the money will come

Having chosen this topic, I have to point out the fact that what I want in this case, does not indeed matter because money will always talk louder than the wants of a mountain man that happens to be a fan of the greatest football team of 2008: The University of Utah Runnin' Utes.
I don't understand why we don't have a playoff system in place. In what other sport does going undefeated NOT mark you as the champion?

USC: Give me a break. You lost to Oregon State, and we beat them. Negative 20 points and go to the back of the line.

Alabama: We crushed you like Miyagi crushes a grape. Get out of my sight.

Oklahoma: You were beaten by Texas, and Bob Stoops is a fathead. Don't ask me what kind of favors he had to perform for the BCS to bring him in. This is a PG rated blog, so don't even try to enlighten me.

Texas: You were beaten by Texas Tech, but I still think you should have been in the running even though you barely beat Ohio State.

Penn State: You lost to an unranked Iowa team. 'Nuff said.

Boise State: Sure, you had a great season. But when you play Cal Poly Tech State, no one cares.

Florida: We should have played you for the Championship. You will be representing the #2 team in the nation behind the Utes tonight. Let the magic of Percy Harvin, Tim Tebow and the greatest coaching job in the NCAA of Urban Meyer hold sway and destroy those silly Sooners.

BYU, Boise State and other Cinderella schools listen up! The fact Utah has busted the BCS twice now and haven't had a shot at the title is a complete sham. We have gone undefeated twice in the last 5 years, and they won't let us duke it out with the big boys. The BCS should be ashamed of themselves. You would think all that money would do something in the way of fairness and provide all 119 schools with a legit shot at #1, not just the popular 66 teams.

Mr President of the BCS: YOU SUCK! Even President-Elect Obama KNOWS we should have a playoff. March Madness is HUGE! Now just get rid of the 42 day hiatus for the preparations of a bowl game and let's do this!

Sixteen team playoff. That's 4 weeks, and we can even give the title game a two week preparation like the Super Bowl. Someone needs to explain this to me AND Kyle Whittingham why it won't work. Get off your collective fat butts and get this going into overdrive!
The College football playoff system will be so AWESOME! What are you waiting for?

Push Along!

I am an anonymous political bystander who has elevated thoughts roll through his head just asking to be inspired by a higher power and when prompted, I feel the greatest achievement when I can transcribe these thoughts to paper.
Just the evening prior, a man named Barack Obama was elected 44th President of the United States of America. He is the first African American to hold this title, and as a registered Independent, I voted for him in both the Primaries and yesterday’s election. I am happy to see the literal face of change in the government. There are more women and people of different ancestry than Europeans that are in the Senate, House and the White House. I find it wonderful and beautiful that my country is reaching into the corners of the world to extract such people that can bring about change and usher in democracy in new ways, perhaps better than what has been done in the past few decades.
Having said that, I wish to press upon a more local issue, and that would be the stake of the mindset of the LDS Saints. Just over 150 years ago, the LDS faith carried itself over the plains and fields of the Midwest in order to escape harsh judgment and unethical treatment of its people. They found the Great Salt Lake Valley, and they have been able to prosper ever since. We sought refuge from people who judged us because of our beliefs. These people were even willing to put us to death because of the way we lived our lives.
I would tell the generation of my people, those who profess to follow Christ through their daily affirmations and actions: Thou shalt not whine.

We have the knowledge of the Gospel in our lives, and you mean to tell me that you think the future leader of our country, even Barack Hussein Obama is “The Anti-Christ”? What have you done? You have suggested a tyrannical name for a man who has not even been tested. You compare him to Stalin, Lenin and Hitler because he wants the best for everyone in his country?
Can you truly call yourself a disciple of Jesus Christ when you judge a man for works he has not even committed? If so, I am truly ashamed of you, and of what you represent. In times of despair, instead of lashing out against someone you hardly know, who you don’t know that much about, you hit your knees in the evening and you pray that God will direct our President’s affairs, and that he will find that guiding light that we all look for in our lives to make the most important decisions that affect us all!
Obama is NOT a Muslim, he was baptized in the Trinity Church in Chicago in 1998. He is an educated, wonderful person. And who are YOU to say that he isn’t?
I think it’s time that we all do as my sophomore basketball coach suggested and, “Quit whining and telling me that you CAN’T do it, and get out there and do as you have been asked. And no bellyaching!”
We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I want to hear people talk about a bright outlook and hear that we can foster strength in our children against tough times, and that we can shore up our sails against tumultuous winds and storms because of our FAITH in the Gospel.
I wish to hear no more of Anti-Christs, assassinations so that our country may become free. The man has not even been tested yet, and I am hearing FOUL things from the mouths of Saints concerning the welfare of our next President.
Surely our prophets will not lead us astray, and if you do not listen to me, then for all that is good and holy in this world, listen to THEM! We should not judge those who do not deserve harsh judgments, lest we become just like those who would push us away because of our “different” beliefs. Honestly my people let us once again renew our faith and wish the best for our leaders. There is a REASON he has been elected. You cannot dismiss him because he chooses a different path, and who knows what kind of influence he may have in spreading democracy around the world. Let us pay our tithing, and if our country asks us to give more, then we should, and seek to find the good in these works, in fact we can help our neighbors all around us.
Let us celebrate our democracy and stop complaining. I don’t want to hear whining from those people, just do as you have always done and put your shoulder to the wheel and push along for all of heaven’s sake!

-Kevin B Wright

In Every Day He Wakes

I know...I was an idiot in 2000

I especially like the bumper sticker I consistently notice driving through the townships in the SL Valley: If you aren't pissed off, you are clearly not paying attention. Bush Campaign 2000-2008.

I regret to announce that I did indeed vote for George W Bush in 2000. I didn't know anything about Al Gore, except that I found it funny that he kept reminding us that he invented the Internet. I just thought that maybe since George HW Bush had done a decent enough job at the White House, his son might echo his works in legacy. Boy, was I wrong. I think that Dubya may be the dumbest president we've had to date, only slightly more dumb than Dan Quayle, and that's saying a LOT. Our President has made the USA more isolated than at any time previous in the history of our great nation. His wannabe replacement, John McCain and his pet pitbull with lipstick (Palin) scare me even more. Yes, she did refer to herself as a pitbull. With lipstick. Leno, O'Brien and Letterman were all thanking the heavens after that quip.
McCain and Palin say they love this country. I say "Bull@#$%!" Maybe more like America in the 1950's. They are holding onto the Good Ole Boy system and will not let go. All I heard last night was one-liners of sarcasm, finger pointing and hatred. Palin thinks the biggest problem in the country right now is Barack Obama. Maybe she should get out of the hockey arena and start travelling to the Lower 48 every once in a while. I got a text from my uber-conservative friend now living in Chicago last night immediately following Palin's speech and he said he was impressed. I was NOT impressed, however, and I think that people like Sarah Palin are going to destroy this country. She sure knew how to divide herself from anyone respectable. Did you hear one positive aspect of her opponent? Does she have any idea that once he wins, her son that is slated to leave for the war, will be calling Obama his Commander-in-Chief and that she will have to support him? Talk about burning bridges from the get-go.

I believe that we need to change or reshape the face of the United States of America. For example, I don't believe that leaders, men or women, have the right to tell a woman what she can or can't do with her own body, even if it means having an abortion. We DO NOT KNOW when life really begins for these babies, and that's beside the point. It is NOT free agency when we tell someone what they can or can't do. Let the women make their choices, it's theirs to make. The devil tells us what we have to do, not our leaders. Our true leaders give us a choice. I don't want to have my wife or sisters go through abortions, but I will respect the rights of my countrywomen to have and make that choice. Gun rights? Absolutely. Tax increase? Yes. As long as those taxes go to programs vested in our country, and not some bullshit war in Iraq that we currently dump $10 billion into every month. I pay a price to live in this country, so taxes do not bother me. World Police? Nope. I care for those in other countries, especially in war-torn Africa where I have spent a great deal of time, work and money, building back up what terrorists have destroyed. But it's enough that we have to police EVERYONE that does not stand up to our policies. Let us be done with it. Like the great Ike Eisenhower warned us, "In signing the Constitution, we did not end that great script with "And they lived happily ever after". Why do we struggle with the idea of losing our superpowers to China? Everyone else has had a turn, and we have to put soldiers everywhere just to ensure our pockets get fatter so we can keep building bigger companies to monopolize the world with.

McCain/Palin will be an interesting bit to watch. As Scott T of Billings Montana said, "I suppose Palin does help McCain if all we Americans cared about was rallying around the flag, fighting the big war on terrorism and now engaging in a cultural war on the eastern elites. Palin and McCain can rant and rave about all that until the cows come home. But, at the end of the day I have to sit down at my kitchen table and figure out how I am going to put food on the table, pay my bills, put gas in my car and hope I do not get sick as I cannot afford too. I have not heard one word offered on stage at the Republican convention that addresses the issues I face at the end of every day at my kitchen table. But with that giant American flag waving behind their podium every night, why would they even care about me and all the other millions of Americans sitting at our kitchen tables staring at our pay stubs?"

I like Obama. I like community organizers. I like change. I don't care if he is muslim, Christian, Hare Krishna. I don't have to have someone who runs for President of a country that chooses to recognize freedom of religion be of my own faith to choose him as my leader. Heaven will be full of people that most of my neighbors don't want to see, and frankly, they will wonder just how the hell they got there in the first place since they weren't American, or Republican, or LDS, or God fearing people. Is there any way at all we can just keep the good things in life, and toss out the dross and become refined once again...only this time, ALL will be invited to the dinner table; The gay, the black, the Muslim, the gay black Muslim, the white, the American Indian, the poor and oppressed, the mother who had an abortion, the mother who chose to keep her baby, the rich and pompous and all of the rest of us that fall into these categories deserve to be treated like EQUALS.

We ALL need a good wake-up call. I will give my reasons for voting for Obama later. But now, all we need is change. Let us foster it in, and prepare ourselves for a LOT of work ahead of us.

Trifectal Ambrosia

If it had been asked of me earlier this week that there was a magic mystical location that had the trifectal ambrosia of trout diet of cicadas, salmonflies and green drakes, I would have politely guffawed and been on my merry way. I know that I blog such as this is utterly worthless without pictures, but I can assure you, there were many witnesses to the day and to the illuminations in the water breaking the surface for our emergers and illustrious dry flies.
The illuminations were nothing but pure 100% brown trout, the foreign yet unsubdued salmonid of Europa. These fine dragons of the deep graced our presence with brilliant hues and tantalizing red smudges that looked as if the great Tomerelli had painted them himself, encircled by faint blue halos that were lost in a sea of mustard clouds and indiscriminate marks careening for the caudal tail.
A perfect 75 degree morning favored us as we partook of the holy breakfast toast my lovely had created for all of us, and after some debate of which stream to dapple and entice thus fishes, we chose the high road. Lakes full of crystal clear yet freezing water popped up left and right as we made the ascent into the holy land of trout. Not sixty seconds had passed after the careful choosing of our destination did my lovely simply inquire, “What kind of bug is THAT?” as a plump and delicious salmonfly proceeded to hide away under the park bench when Leaky saw it and stifled a laugh, which to me sounded more like he was passing wind and softly cried with pleasure.
A perfect specimen to behold, the size of a hummingbird, this oversized stonefly danced awkwardly across the stream only to be swallowed by the pines surrounding the river corridor.
We knew it, like it had been told to us before, the success of the day and the pursuit of trout was accomplished, that this was a day for constant re-telling, yet we had only to fish it first!
As we made the way towards a tiny confluence, we noticed the green demon lurking under the clouds, and re-appearing before our very eyes to reveal its tiger striped body and ever bulging eyes as Leaky exclaimed in a loud rant, “Green Drake!” Two TOI’s (secret fly pattern)later, we had the run of a lifetime, each picking up a dozen trout apiece and laughing all the while, addressing the chance that karma had tossed our way. With the drones of cicadas in the willows, we continued upstream and onward in our hunt for the Von Behr and Loch Leven, whichever they may be.
I took time to silently express gratitude to Poseidon for the fate of the perfect water temperature, showing respect for Zeus for sparking the emergence of the hatch thanks to the cloudy sky, Hopi the wind god to send a calm breeze down on us, and Fortuna for blessing us with a downpour of splashy hungry trout.
A good day between heaven and earth, and it almost seemed to transcend the difference betwixt us, as we made our way back to the car, and left me highly anticipating the keyboard to stroke the keys in an attempt to re-create the day…

A day in the life of a man after work

What is it about writing itself that is so cathartic? If I’m in a mood that is generally displeasing, there is something so soothing about the idea of sitting down in a nice leather chair, kicking my feet under the desk and commence to giving my fingers, forearms and wrists a good workout while I pound this electronic apparatus and take out the grievances of the day on it.

Today was a good day at work. And it was a day of recognition in most circumstances. Only, it was also a day that would forever calm my questions of what, why, when and how long till…and I guess I should be happy that all of my questions, concerns and desperate cries of staring at the ceiling at night have been answered with a many good resolutions.

It’s just that…transition is so deceiving sometimes. It feels good to have an idea in your mind that things will eventually work themselves out, and when we are shooting for the moon and envisioning ourselves out past the stars, we quickly (and humbly) forget the journey we took to get to this hailed milepost of life.

I am currently overlooking the transition right now, and seeing myself in more favorable digs, apparatus and intellectual conscientiousness as I allow my imagination to creep in for a bit and give me a taste of “what could be”…and I like it. What is most important at this time is to overlook the wheres, the whats, the whys and just break it down to the least common denominator: how.

And how? By doing what you’ve been doing this past year. Working hard with no thought of reward save only the biweekly paycheck which allows you to pursue other interests of life and therefore give you purpose, insight, and passion for the things we neither see nor hear but are constantly searching after. This of course is...truth. But truth comes in many forms, and some of these things, we just can't find. It's part of the earth experience. Some things just cannot be accomplished. And it drives the soul of person CRAZY to know it can't have what it thinks it wants!!!

This, of course, is the pursuit of all humankind. I just have a feeling, that it is WAY beyond our comprehension to know exactly WHAT we are chasing after…