Movin' On Down The Wrong Road (just watin' to change)

Cuz it's, so hard to think about
all the mistakes I made in places that
I shouldn't of been in anyway.
And days change with the pace
of speed racers,
but the memories linger on,
I wish that I could erase them.
Oh Lord, it's hard to keep movin'
when all I think about is how I keep losin'
my heart, mind and soul,
because the devil knows
what it takes for me to let him take control.
But I know there's more to this
so that's why I keep movin, despite all this.

When Spring Falls

When Spring falls, I’m gonna bounce around with a smile as big as the sun that shines upon my face.
I’m gonna lay in the grass, watch clouds pass, as I think about going to the beach.

When Spring falls, I won't complain about financial strain, I’ll turn off the news, go out, and play.

Maybe baseball, just like the old days, or golf, because of my old age.

Either way, when Spring falls, there’s no time to waste, because Summer leaves as quick as it came,
then Fall comes around, hinting of Winter’s pain.

I wrote this the other day after hearing a haiku from my friend Chelsea that she wrote. In that poem she used the words "when Spring falls". It instantly stung my creative nerves. I told her that I was going to steal it, great poets steal. What that means is a great poet is always listening and observing, then taking and creating something very unique and solely owned. Words are so powerful, vast and beautiful when used this way. I wish to be a great poet, so I steal whenever I can. So, thank you Chelsea for the inspiration.

Here is a Classic (About the Lions)

First published in Sept. 2008 in the Oakland Post


I have been a Lions fan for a quarter of a century. As a fan I have suffered so many breathtakingly absurd losses that I feel that I should go to meetings to help get over my need to abuse myself or rather let a group of people continue to
abuse me. Some people may not think that football is serious enough to
warrant such terms, but football is my passion. Ever since I was old
enough to catch a pass I was obsessed. My dad has been a Lions fan his
whole life as well. He brought me into this world of emotional torture
that is the Detroit Lions. I thank him for introducing me to the
greatest game there is, but I wish he could’ve picked a different team.
But that is a fact that cannot be changed; I am stuck with this garbage
organization for life.

So, even after the devastatingly embarrassing loss against the lowly
Atlanta Falcons last week, my father, little brother (who also endures
the family curse of Lions addiction) and I spent our hard earned money
to go watch the Lions home opener against the Green Bay Packers on
Sunday.

When we first got there we weren’t sure if we were at Ford Field or
Lambeu Field due to the huge number of cheese heads stumbling around.
When the road team has almost as many fans as the home team, something
is very wrong.

On the way in, I bought a “Packers Suck” t-shirt and put it on with
optimism. It didn’t take long for that purchase to make me look like a
fool. The Packers were up 21-0 before I finished my second beer (and I
drink fast).

My brother and I mocked the Lions and booed as loud as we could while
my Dad sat there with a very familiar look of disbelief. Then it
happened, they did it again, they pulled us back in. The defense
started to shut down the Packers. Jon Kitna found the immensely
talented Calvin Johnson who scored a 38 yard touchdown. Then the Lions
were awarded a safety when a snap went through the hands Packer’s
punter Derrick Frost’s into end zone. We started believing again. We
were “believing in now”, just like the commercial told us too. The
stadium became electric. The defense made more stops, then Kitna found
Johnson again who made an incredible catch, touchdown! Lions take the
lead 25-24, I was thinking; this is incredible, what a comeback, if the
can keep playing like this the rest of the season we could make it to
the… oh crap he’s breaking away… Packer receiver Greg Jennings 60
yard catch and run. But it’s o.k. because the defense held them to just
a field goal they were only down by two points. The Lions can still win
there’s a lot of time left in the… interception. Next possession:
interception for a touchdown. Next possession: interception for a
touchdown (no that’s not a misprint).

The Lions were up by one point with less than six minuets left in the
game and lost by TWENTY THREE POINTS. It was absolutely crushing to
watch. I sat there silently for a few minuets after the game was over
then I jumped up and started kicking my chair and pointing my middle
finger towards the owners box until the rage simmered down. Fittingly,
on the way back to the car, it was pouring down rain.

This experience has made me furious. This team is awful. They have been
for decades. Throughout the years there has been so much said about the
problems of this organization. And there are many, from the GM to the
coaching staff, to the players, even the fans continuing to show up on
Sundays and not sending a message to the organization. Everybody has
taken blame, sometimes the faces change but the results never do;
people still keep coming to watch this team invent ways to lose. We
keep supporting or own torture. But it’s not fair. I love football and
my team is the Lions because I was born and raised here. It’s not fair
that I have to keep dealing with this every fall. When will it change
when will they start winning? This question was asked of Rod Marinelli
during the press conference that followed the game by Oakland Press
columnist and my sports reporting professor Pat Caputo. Marinelli
replied, “my timetable is next week.” Caputo pursued the question and
Marinelli became agitated replying that he doesn’t have a “magic wand.”

“I was just doing what I normally do which is ask the questions that I
think that most of the fans were thinking about who attended the game
and when he tried to bypass that question I pressed because it seemed
like he was sloughing off the question,” Caputo said.
The question I would like to ask is if you don’t have a magic wand what
do you have Mr. Marinelli do you at least have a plan? Because to me it
seems that you are no different than Steve Mariucci or Marty Mornhinweg
or any of the other losing coaches who got fired and didn’t get another
NFL head coaching job. But it is a lot more than just the head coach.
It starts with a losing atmosphere that goes back fifty years. The main
blame has to go directly to Lions Owner William Clay Ford Jr. It is as
if he does not care. He never talks to the fans, just steals our money.

Why hasn’t he fired General Manager Matt Millen. He is the worst GM in
the league. Terrible decisions are common and good ones are rare with
this man. It is mind boggling to know that this man is so incapable of
being successful at his job yet he still has it. It is even crazier
that defensive line coach Joe Cullen went through the Wendy’s drive
through naked and he’s still around. I believe Caputo was right to
press the issue with Marinelli since he is the only one in the
organization who speaks.

“(Ford and Millen) don’t make themselves available after games or
before games,” Caputo said. “Matt is by far the least accessible
general manager in town. Ford is rarely available to the columnists
once in a while he will talk to the beat writers but he rarely makes
himself available.”

We as fans deserve answers. We deserve to know what is being done to
turn this team into a winner. I wish I had I magic wand; if I did I’d
be rooting for the Detroit Steelers

Meeting a Legend

I have been a huge Piston's fan since I was a little kid. Some of my best memories were of going to the Pontiac Silverdome to watch the "Bad Boys" in the 1980's. Joe Dumars was my favorite player. I loved to watch him play. He was always guarding the other team's best player and more often then not shut them down. Micheal Jordon once said that his toughest match up was playing against Joe Dumars.

He was never a flashy player, he was all business, he was a winner. I got the chance to meet Dumars after a conversation-style event at Macomb Community College on Oct 29. The moderator was writer/journalist Jack Lessenberry. It was an interesting evening. The two of them touched on a lot of different aspects of Dumars' career. The main point that I got from the session was that Dumars based his success on the lessons that his parents taught him. Humility was the quality that he stressed. Dumars said that it was because of the way his parents raised him that he was able to avoid the traps that come with fame and fortune, especially at such a young age.

After the session was over there was a brief q&a, but I never was called upon. I was disappointed. But after the q&a, Dumars stayed to take pictures and sign autographs. I got a picture with him and an autograph. I was about to leave when the journalist in me took over. I turned around and just as he was walking out the door I stopped and explained that I am a student journalist and I never got to ask my question. He smiled and said "what do you want to ask?" I took out my recorder and fired away.

"You were considered a nice guy with real good sportsmanship, playing on the 'Bad Boys' one of the nastiest, most physical teams of all time, how did those two situations coincide with each other and did you ever get frustrated with the perception of you being on a team of that nature?"

Dumars responded, "Oh I didn't get frustrated, I loved playing with the 'Bad Boys.' Here's my thing about playing with them and being a nice guy, I always told people 'don't get confused with nice guy and tough guy,' I always felt you could be a nice guy, but also be a tough guy on the court at the same time. It's what I tried to do. I just felt like, if I knocked you down real hard, I didn't mind picking you back up, but I'd do it again, then I'd pick you back up again."
At that, we both laughed, he shook my hand and I walked out the door, feeling like an excited little kid.
For Joe Dumars' bio click here.

To view a Joe Dumars Highlight clip, click here

The Late Shift

With the way things are today one should feel lucky just to have a job. But working can be stressful, especially when you work the late shift.
I work at the Rochester Mills Beer Company. I work as a server and its a good job, I can't really complain. Except when I have to be there late. Sometimes, during the week, I don't get out until almost midnight. It makes it very difficult to get up in the morning when you have class. On the weekends I can be there until 3 a.m. But I have gotten used to the late hours.
Some of my friends also work late shifts. My friend Tom McEllmurry works in a print shop, his shift is from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., the graveyard shift.
"It's crazy man, it messes up your life," McEllmurry said. "It's hard to sleep when the sun's up, it's just not natural."
He said that it's very hard to have any kind of social life because he is asleep when the rest of the world is awake.
"I once heard that only three percent of Americans are awake at three in the morning, I don't know if that's true but it makes sense."
Another friend of mine, Brandon Dorris, has to leave for his job at Metro Airport at 3:30 in the morning.
"I hate when that alarm goes of at such an awful hour of the day," Dorris said. He said that while he's grateful to have a dependable job, he just wishes it could be a normal schedule.
But this late shift trend is growing. In order to find work, more people are stepping out of their normal boundaries and taking whats available and sometimes its the undesirable late shift.
I've always been a night owl so working late never bothered me (other than having class in the morning). But for some people it can take a serious toll on their health and their family life. The article "Working Long or Late Hours Takes Its Toll On Workers and Workplace" by Jeanie Croasmun explains how stressful the night shift can be.

Is It Really Our Business?

This whole Tiger Woods fiasco has got me thinking, is what goes on in a celebritie's personal life really any of the public's business? My answer is yes, if it involves the police or if there are witnesses to a situation. Celebrities, whether they are athletes, entertainers or anybody who puts themselves in front of the limelight are subject to intrusion. It is just the way it is. People are fascinated with fame, they want to know what is going on and when a usually well-mannered, international star comes up in a police report, people are going to ask questions.
Police reports are public information, no matter who the individual is. While Tiger Woods doesn't have to comment on what really happened, he has to understand that people are going to talk, and unless he sets the record straight, rumors are going to fly. His situation is interesting. What was he doing leaving his house in the middle of the night? Why did his wife bash out the back window? How did he have cuts on his face? The information that is out there is sketchy, leaving many holes that only Tiger Woods can answer. He left a message on his website but he doesn't address any of the questions that the public wants answered. Does he really think that just because he wants this matter to stay private, that the rumors are going to stop? They will not stop until he clears up the situation and hiding from the public, and the police for that matter, only makes the situation worse.

Tradition or Just Another Form of Embarresment

As much as it pains me to say it, I feel that until the Lions get respectable, they should lose their annual home game on Thanksgiving. I am so tired of watching this team get embarrassed every year as my family gathers for the holiday. It's just ridiculous. This team is no good and NFL fans should not have to be subjected to watching this filth year after year. I would much rather watch a marquee match up such as the Steelers vs. Ravens or Colts vs. Patriots.
I do love the tradition, and I would not even think about arguing this point if the Lions where at all competitive. But they are not. In fact they are awful. They have won just one out of the last nine games they have played on Thanksgiving.
They haven't won since 2003. Usually they get blown out and the game is over before the fourth quarter. It is just brutal to watch.
What I propose is that the Lions be put on a probationary period where they don't get the game back until they win at least six games for three straight years. But this will never happen. The Lions owner William Clay Ford Sr. is way to much of a factor when it comes to NFL advertising. The Ford Automotive Co. is the NFL's biggest advertiser, giving Ford the power to keep the tradition. So it goes, the Lions will keep playing nationally televised games on Thanksgiving and will most likely keep embarrassing themselves and the desperate Lions fans, for all the world to see.