ode to college football

in the not too distant past i felt college football was a travesty. we have the ncaa policing all the athletes/programs to make sure the players remain amateur. no payola. no agents. etc.

but my opinion then was . . . why? they're essentially being paid to play football. scholarships for tuition, books, room, food, a stipend for clothing. isn't that equal to getting paid. consider that a year in a major college would cost the non-scholarship student somewhere between 15-20 grand. and that's not including meals! so these guys are already paid performers.

and if the ncaa is so diligent about policing these things, laying down penalties for schools violating the codes, players violating the codes, how does a fellow like reggie bush move his family on up to the eastside? without any penalty whatsoever? ok, pete carroll didn't know his family was being lavished. usc didn't know his family was being lavished. but they certainly lived in a nicer neighborhood when reggie played at usc than they had when he was recruited. don't you think that would make one suspicious?

and football and the ncaa aren't the only guilty parties. i've been asking for a while how lebron james, back in high school, could possible afford to drive a hummer. the son of a single mom, working to support her family, and he drove a hummer? no ncaa to police high school sports, i guess. but doesn't that smack of some sort of payola?

back to college football . . . and back to the way i used to feel . . . college football is fundamentally a professional environment. the players get paid, either in cash (yeah, they get money, but that's legal because they have jobs. one scholarship athlete told me he was given a job by the college when he first got there - turning the lights off at the tennis courts every night. He got paid fairly well for challenging endeavor. particularly considering the lights were on a timer, and, if he remembered to do so, all he had to do was look out his dorm window at 10 pm to make sure the timers were functioning. and if he forgot, or wasn't in to do so, the maintenance folks would take care of it.)

so i felt that athletic scholarships at colleges and universities should be eliminated. entirely. let the players, football and others, go into a minor league situation (i know, football doesn't really have one, but eliminate scholarships and one would start up real quick.) and learn their trade there. let the college teams field players from among the enrolled students. quit filling classrooms with athletes, a good portion of which don't care about the education offered, but just the stepping stone to bigger, better things. (and if you don't agree with that, look at college basketball, and the number of players that play one season and then opt out to the nba.)

the argument i got, mostly, was that college sports bring big bucks to the colleges. tv rights, gate receipts, merchandise revenues, etc. my argument back was . . . so, that money is spent on scholarships, facilities, recruiting expenses, etc. in essence, the money generated by college sporting programs goes back to the sporting program, not to the college in general to fund, if you can imagine, educating students?

but my stance softened a couple of years ago. i began to enjoy watching college football. hard not to when you're in oklahoma. it's on the forefront of everyone's mind. i've liked watching the sooners and sam bradford and bob stoops coaching. but now the sooners are faltering. badly. and watching perhaps the worst performance i've seen by a team of this calibre last night i began to wonder how this could happen. and then it hit me.

landry jones, highly recruited, highly touted high school athlete out of new mexico, and heir apparent to the ou quarterback slot with the departure of heisman winning sam bradford, put on what has to be the worst display of ineptitude i've ever seen by a big school college quarterback. and during the second half of the game i'm wondering why stoops would stick with this guy. don't we have a third string quarterback we can play rather than this guy? and then i realized the truth. ou has way too much invested in this kid to bench him. doing that would damage the recruiting reputation of the school itself. the alumni would question the move. and perhaps a few of the next alumni donated dollars would go elsewhere. to charity, for chrissakes. or somewhere. can't have that happening.

so now i'm back to my original feeling about college football, and other college sporting endeavors. let the educations be doled out to those that really want them, and let the athletes get their grooming in a minor league environment. amateur athletes? not on your life.

the race is over

i've been a racing fan of some sort for as long as i remember. i recall when i was real young dad had some friend that owned and/or raced a jalopy, and we would go to the race track at 11 mile corner, the pinal county fairgrounds, and watch him race. for those of you younger than me, a jalopy was what ultimately evolved into a modified. back then, however, roll cages, fire suits, and most other times of safety equipment were optional. made racing pretty interesting.

i remember very fondly looking forward to memorial day, cause dad would sit and listen to the radio broadcast of the indianapolis 500 all day. i liked that. back before tv recognized that people would watch a sporting event that long after all.

i paid little attention to nascar during my early years. oh, i knew who richard petty was. and cale yarborough. but i wasn't a nascar fan. the only racing i really knew was the indianapolis 500. plus what little racing we happened to see at a local track.

but i became an avid fan shortly after i moved to yuma. circa 1980, or so. my friend buford owned a used car lot, and his mechanic raced at the dirt track just across the river in bard, california. i started going to watch the shows with buford, and soon became a big fan. every race night buford and i would pack a cooler with beer and head out to the races. great fun.

1985 changed it all. the local track, struggling, and trying to attract more racers, which would also attract more fans, created what they called their "bomber" division. take any old street car, remove all glass and flammable materials, weld in a roll cage of some sort, strap on a helmet, paint a number on it, and go racing.

the concept intrigued me. and my buddy spot had bought an old pontiac that he had tried to enter in a demolition derby. as luck would have it, the car wouldn't start at derby time so he had the car sitting idle. i read about the new racing division and offered spot sponsorship from our company if he'd race it. and he did.

he rolled the car in the first race, blew it up in the second. but both of us were hooked. we bought another car and kept racing. after half dozen races of so spot actually got pretty competitive. and as the car owner, i was pretty proud. i sat in the stands drinking my bud light and feeling pretty much like rick hendrick probably feels now. successful race car owner.

we drank just enough beer at the races to impair our judgement just slightly. and one night at the end of the race show, when, as always, we went down into the pits to help load car and tools, spot had just been told that they had scheduled a special race for the following weekend. memorial day weekend. when we normally didn't have a race scheduled. thing was that the touring sprint cars were racing, and the track insurance company now required that at least one local division race when they were promoting special events. ok, that's fine. but spot had family plans out of town that weekend, so wouldn't be available to race. and he suggested that i drive his car for that one race.

we drank just enough beer at the races to impair judgement just slightly. and i'm the first to admit that, on that particular night, my judgement was impaired, for i agreed that, yes, i should race his car the following weekend. successful car owner about to become successful race car driver.

and when i awoke sunday morning and remembered what i had agreed to, i had to make a rush trip to the bathroom. holy crap! i agreed to drive a race car? on a race track? with other cars racing too? must have had impaired judgement.

i spent most of the following week trying to figure out how to get out of driving that stupid race car in that stupid race. while i wouldn't have admitted it to anyone then, i was scared. really scared. but i couldn't find a way to graciously bow out. i was stuck. and i was being really encouraged by a couple of my other friends that were involved in racing.

ok, race day comes, i'm gonna do it. we haul the car to the track. phyl and casshole as my pit crew, me as a driver. perfect recipe for success. and we lined the car up for the first race. and at the end of the pace lap, with me poised comfortably in the back of the field (that was the norm for a beginner back then. if you hadn't raced before, start in the back so you don't screw up and cause trouble for everyone else.) the green flag waved.

i raced a couple of laps just the way my mentor, phyl, had advised me. "just follow the car in front of you til you figure out he's going too slow, then pass him." well, before i could pass the car in front of me, and i was actually thinking i was ready to, the race leader came up behind me. and then moved beside me. that's when i noticed him. and in passing me, he actually smacked the side of my car. and that made me mad. it was not necessary at all.

road rage is a wondrous thing. i was so mad at that guy for smacking me as he passed that i decided i'd catch up with him and smack him back. so i followed him. stayed right on his bumper. for several laps. and we were both passing cars. staying right together. and then it occurred to me that i was racing just as fast as the best driver on the track. and about the same time i remembered that i was scared. so i backed off a bit, never did catch him so i could smack him, but somehow finished that heat race in fourth position.

then came the main event. and i'm starting in the third row. i should let them move me to the back. but i'm having fun now so i want to be right there in the mix. and the green flag flies. and the race is on. we run a few laps and then this fool tries to pass me outside going into turn one. and he gets slideways and turns right in front of me. and i smacked him. t-boned him, in fact. hard. and he rolled over. landed upside down with the front of my car on top of his car. and i'm scared all over again. my heart's racing much faster than i ever was. and i'm sitting in my race car, perched at a rather strange angle, and someone is hollering at me. finally i realize he's yelling "kill your engine!" guess i still had my foot on the accelerator, engine racing. i may have been in some sort of shock.

well, turns out the other guy was just fine. i was really afraid i'd killed someone. there were roll bar pieces and car parts all over the track. when i finally gathered my wits enough to climb out of my car i could see all that. and i could see the other guy had gotten out much quicker than i had. guess i would too, if i were upside down and had gas dripping all around me. i looked at my car and heaved a big sigh of relief knowing that my racing was over. the car was wrecked.

but phyl and casshole had other ideas. they had the car towed into the pits, changed a tire, pulled the plastic fan shroud away from the fan, had me try starting the car, and it did start. and they wanted me to race again. in fact, the race was about ready to restart. i could re-join the race without even losing a lap. but i was scared. i didn't want to. but they insisted. and i couldn't come up with a real excuse not to. so, there i went. and as the pack took the green flag once again, and i pulled onto the track right behind them as they roared into turn one, i actually heard the crowd cheer. and i felt pleased. and i raced again. and i had fun. and i was hooked.

i finished third in that race. but the following weekend i had to give the keys back to spot. but i was so taken by racing that i built my own car. and i raced a lot. with some degree of success. even captured the "rookie of the year" trophy. hey now, i'm an all-star.

and along about that time i also began to watch nascar races on tv. and felt a kinship to the drivers. and i became a nascar fan. an avid nascar fan.

for 20 plus years i've rarely missed a cup race. winston cup, nextel cup, sprint cup. whatever. but lately i find that i'm losing interest. nascar has, in my opinion, made too many bad changes. the cars are far from being "stock" cars. they hardly resemble anything you'll see in a dealership showroom. and the sport is all about money. gone are the days when a fella can race competitively on a shoestring budget. it's big business. and i'm losing interest.

ten years ago i started a nascar fantasy league. just a few of us at first. family members. but interest grew. friends joined in. friends became nascar fans because they joined in. i kept stats religiously. i've always been somewhat of a stat freak, and this project was tailor-made for that. and ten different seasons i tracked fantasy points throughout the cup season. but today that all ended.

my new laptop has a new version of excel. and my excel spreadsheet, the one i use for compiling racing points, stats, whatever, just doesn't like to work with this new version of excel. i've fought it. i've cussed it. and it just doesn't want to work. and it frustrated me. and the racing seems to have grown boring. and that frustrated me. and today i passed the torch. i resigned my role as commissioner of the nix family racing league on to my son, my assistant commissioner, scooter. and the race has come to an end.

the end of what should have been

i attended my first lumberjack football game when i was 11. my sister was in her freshman year at nau, well, back then it was asc, arizona state college. she had been a majorette in high school, even drum majorette her senior year, and was now a majorette with the lumberjack marching band. and we made the journey from casa grande to flagstaff for mom and dad's day weekend and took in the game largely to see her perform. but also to watch the football game.

lumberjack stadium was amazing. on our side the stands were covered. i'd never been in a covered stadium before. even the asu stadium wasn't covered. this was really cool.
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i don't really remember much about that game. i'm guessing we left after half-time because it was pretty darned cold. but i was there long enough that i was in awe of college football, particularly our team. they sold these small cowbells, and everyone would ring them when our lumberjacks did something good. and after each score this team of bearded lumberjacks would tow the logging wheels from one end of the field to the other. this was great entertainment.

i had two older sisters who attended nau. when lynda graduated, jo enrolled. and i enrolled while jo was still there. and i so fondly remember my first game at lumberjack stadium as a college man. we dressed to go the game. sports coat, tie. and if we could find someone old enough to buy it, we'd hide a half-pint in our inside coat pocket. we weren't yet sophisicated enough to have a flask. but the bottle worked just fine. we'd hit the concession stand for a coke, sneak in a capful of two of popov vodka or ten high, add more later, and have a groovy time watching the game, ringing our cowbells and cheering on our rugged football players.

the student side bleachers were not covered. and that was a good thing. the games were almost always during the day - except for special occasion games, and while the temperatures in flagstaff dipped pretty low at times, for the most part we had the sunshine in our faces, and a few thousand tightly packed in warm bodies to keep us comfortable. a perfect setting for college football.

why then did they ruin it. in 1979 they opened the skydome. an interesting architectural structure that was the first of its kind for such a small school. heck, for that matter, i don't think any of the major colleges have indoor football even now. and in my opinion, the skydome ruined football at my favorite university.

back in the outdoor stadium days the players were tough, and the fans were too. football, you see, was meant to be played outdoors. in good and bad weather. the thing that seperates football from other sports is that it can be played in horrid weather conditions. and i played a bit of football in high school, and to me the games that were the most fun were played in the rain. slipping, sliding, getting muddy. all added to the fun.

and to me it seemed the community turned out in force to lumberjack stadium. we made lots of noise, cowbells and air horns and just fan cheering. the stands were always full. we truly had the home field advantage. now, in the dome, the cowbells and airhorns are gone. probably forbidden. and the turn out is pathetic. the student side isn't near a crowded as the old stadium would get. and even the "adult" side is very sparsely settled in. and you'd think crowd noise would be nearly intolerable at an indoor venue. but it's nothing like it was in the old days.

and now i read the article i've pasted below. i'd always hoped that someday nau would see the light and at least return football to the great outdoors for day time games. not to be. they're demolishing lumberjack stadium. and with it, in my opinion, the great tradition of college football in flagstaff. some things should never change.

















Lumberjack Stadium being razed: By JOE FERGUSONSun Staff Reporter Wednesday, October 14, 2009







Crews began tearing down Lumberjack Stadium this week to make room for the new Health and Learning Center.The $106 million project will replace the 40-year-old Fronske Health Center, renovate and expand the 20-year-old Recreation Center and replace the 49-year-old stadium when completed in the fall of 2011. One of the first construction subcontracts issued by the Phoenix-based general contractor, Mortenson Construction, went to Dickens Quality Demolition, also of Phoenix.The contract, estimated to be worth under $1 million, will employ 23 people for roughly the next two months.Jane Kuhn, an associate vice president, said NAU encourages the selection of local contractors whenever possible.As for the demolition contact, Kuhn said she did not know if there were any local demolition companies. But Todd Sleeper, the owner of Flagstaff-based Eagle Mountain Construction, said his company could have done the work.He said he discussed the demolition contract with Mortenson Construction, but ultimately decided against submitting a formal bid.The strict requirements to meet the green building codes for the Health and Learning Center, he said, made it difficult for him to place a competitive bid. One stipulation, Sleeper said, would have required his crews to separate out the steel from the rubble of the former stadium.Ron Wilson with Mortenson Construction said his company has already given several contracts to local firms, naming Flagstaff- based Ignace Brothers Drywall as one example.Wilson added he has received 43 bids from local subcontractors but has not yet completed its hiring process.He said the next phase will be to pour the concrete foundation and erect the steel frame for the new facility this December.The construction has already closed off a large parking lot next to Lumberjack Stadium, reducing the number of parking spaces on campus by 230, said Kuhn.Nearby streets won't be immediately affected, said Kuhn, but a different project in several weeks will close off the north end of San Francisco Street on campus.The construction bond will be paid back primarily through students fees. Students are currently paying $290 a year, but the fee will increase to $500 a year by the fall of 2011.The new Health and Learning Center is expected to be open in the fall of 2011.Joe

life changes

this has already been a really weird weekend for me. for the first time in a long while i've had to really act like it's weekend, rather than just another day or two. i'd been spoiled.

for a little over two years i've worked from home. meaning i could get up, brew myself a great cup of coffee, wander into my office area, turn on a computer and begin working. lots of computer work. scheduling some outside appointments. weekly out of town trip. but mostly, my time was my own. i didn't have to punch a clock, so if i wanted to mow the grass on wednesday afternoon, well, who's to say i couldn't. i needed to get my work done, but mostly the done could happen just about any time throughout the day.

so saturday and sunday weren't dramatically different than normal working days. well, i didn't do much work. sometimes a little. but the schedule remained essentially the same.

but all that changed last week when i accepted a job offer from a different company. and now it's off to a real office at 8 in the morning. and stay there til 5 or so. kind of marks the end of certain freedoms. at the same time, feels good to be back in the work-a-day world.

by friday i was really looking forward to the weekend though. just like most monday thru friday workers do. and now it's sunday, and i'm sorta sliding into a funk thinking about going back to the office monday. and tuesday. and wednesday. and so forth and so on. makes me feel like i should try to accomplish something today. but i accomplished most of my things needing accomplishing yesterday. what's left that i need to do? well, not really anything much. but whatever i don't get done today will have to wait until next weekend. i'm not sure i like being normal.

it's been a while

been a fairly long time since i've written anything real here. i can't really put a finger on just why. I guess i can blame writer's block. but i think in order to catch that disease you have to be a writer. and i doubt i have those credentials. so rather than blaming it on writer's block i'll blame it on what i call "lack of inspiration".

sometimes where you're my age it's hard to get inspired. if i get inspired once a week or so, that's plenty. and on top of that the current news trend is so uninspiring. recent news headlines include . . . jimmie carter says the republican senator who accused president barry o of lying did so because he's a racist. now just a minute now you silly old peanut farmer. how can you tell from that one statement that the guy's a racist. cause i'm thinking the same thing. the health care plan does not expressly preclude coverage for illegal aliens. not from what i've read. so me having the same thought, mister ex-president peanut farmer, does that make me a racist? i guess so, but i never felt that i've been racist. ask my buddy jimmy easter. last i saw of him he's still a black man, and a very good friend. that type of headline will uninspire anyone.

more of the same in today's headlines. obama now claims health care anger is not motivated by his race. good. good that someone realizes that. but printing that garbage as a headline makes most wonder if the anger may actually be racist motivated. why even address it if it isn't happening. it's like saying "the city water system was tested and found anthrax free." reading that wouldn't you wonder why they tested it in the first place? was maybe it laden with anthrax earlier? just starts stuff that doesn't get started.

yahoo's most prominent headline right now says "barrymore's hair matches her odd dress". forgive me if i didn't read the article, for i find no possible interest in the content. what i find peculiar is that this is the headline and story that yahoo chooses to be it's focal point. boy, our society could be in big trouble.

here's another headline i find curious. former miss california defends position on gay marriage. well, first of all, she's no longer miss california, so why is this an issue. secondly, she should not need to defend her position on this issue no more than those that believe in gay marriage, but are not in the public eye, have to defend theirs. it's what you believe. or, in her case, what she believes. should those in the public eye be called upon to defend their position if they believe in gay marriages? no. and neither should she. it's an opinion.

we all know michael jackson died (unless you're one of those that thinks they snuck his live body out of neverland or wherever the hell he was living at the time) cause it was front page news for a month or more. some of us may have noticed that walter cronkite died. cronkite was the most respected and beloved news reporter this country has ever seen. and we were reminded of his life and death for a couple of weeks. not nearly for as long as we were innundated with the king of pop's details. and who can honestly say that michael jackson had nearly as much impact on our society as a whole, on the course our media has taken, than walter cronkite. and cronkite was "normal".

speaking of death. mary travers died. that's very sad to me. peter paul and mary. puff and others. there will never be such an inspiring folk group. alas, the demise of the group may mark the demise of the music genre. very sad.

a few of us noticed that henry gibson died. if you're not my age or a little older and weren't acquainted with rowan and martin's laugh in, you didn't know henry gibson. but short little comedic actor who seemed like a pleasant enough fellow. even the day of his death he wasn't front page material. page 10 for henry gibson.

not much of a plot. not much of a theme. just some things i needed to get off my back.

and, oh, i got a new computer. toshiba laptop. with a numeric keypad. know how handy that is on a laptop when you do anything at all with spreadsheets? well, it is. and i'm liking this new laptop pretty well except about every 10th browser page locks it up. i'm told it's vista. that being the case, i don't like vista.

another new item since the last post is a new cell phone. my cell phone life has been a little zany lately. alltel, the carrier i use, is generous enough to give you a new phone every two years in exchange for you renewing your contract for another two years. or you can pay a little for a phone and get an upgraded model. well, i did that in april. got a phone with a camera (don't really need that), slide out full keyboard so i can succumb to the kids request and send and receive text messages, and even access e-mail and web browser right there on the phone screen. pretty nifty, eh?

well, it was. but this phone didn't fit in my phone holster, so i just carried it in my pocket. one day i changed my pants at mid-day (sunday, i'm doing laundry, wanted to wash the ones i was wearing) and an hour or so later wondered where my phone had got off to. and i figured it out. went on an adventure through the washing machine cycles along with my pants. cell phones don't like that kind of adventure. it quit working.

so now i'm kind of hooked on texting and e-mailing and browsing on my phone. so i call alltel and tell em my phone quit working. they asked me if there was a little red mark under the battery. yep. well, you 've gotten it wet. not covered under our warranty. i knew that, but would have listened if they'd told me it was covered.

so they've given me a free phone, they're not gonna give me another, so i gotta buy one. and i find the perfect one. motorola q, whatever that is. camera,e-mail, browsing. perfect. and priced pretty cheap. i buy it. i receive it. it doesn't work. not since alltel is merging with verizon. won't work. so, to make a long long story a bit shorter, i got another one. a blackberry. and it does it all. not sure i like it, cause it buzzes all night long to indicate i've got an e-mail message, text message, whatever. but sure makes it nice to check e-mail when you need to. now if i could just get the kids to quit sending those darned text messages.

life, so full of meaning, and here are a few

when scooter and ryno were in the eighth grade i drove them to school every morning. ryno was scooter's best friend. an equally nice kid, and both of them were wise beyond their years, likely because they spent so much time as my captive audience on those rides to and from school. they learned a lot of valuable life lessons.

the first lesson i taught them was the secret words of life. these words, so valuable, yet so simple, i explained, can be used for virtually any purpose. to woo a girl. to lift yourself when you're down. to display intelligence when those around you may be doubting you have any. and we owe it all to johnny rivers. boys, i told them, when you find a girl that you may be smitten with, look her straight in the eyes and quote this magical line . . . do doo doo wah, schooby doobie. and there you have it. you'll win that chick over before she has a chance to cover the tracks of her tears.

as scooter and ryno grew into adolescence and on into adulthood they parted paths. sad. but it's a coming of age thing. friends in eighth grade just have to drift apart sometimes. so we reached a time when i no ryno was no longer able to partake of my words of wisdom, so i simply continued to share them with scooter alone. and i grew from this act as well.

i tutored scooter on the meaning of life, the facts of life, the pratfalls of life, the virtues of life. for 22 years i've saturated his mind with meaningful, insightful tidbits of information that he will be able to draw from throughout his entire life. the kid is now nearly as sage as his old man.

and then today i learned something else. and i can't wait to share it with him. this might be the most meaningful thought since johnny rivers' famous quote. so scooter, i share it with you now. a very important rule of life - are you ready.

son, life's too short. don't sweat the petty stuff. and by all means, don't pet the sweaty stuff.

in memorium

i like geese. well, at least the canadian variety that seems to like hanging out in the humid area we call oklahoma. they're very entertaining. i like the way they waddle. i like their voices. and just watching a flock of them on the ground is quite comical. whenever we stumble on to a flock i'm always driven to smile. i really like geese.

they settle in our neighborhood park from time to time. we have a lake there. and a walking trail. and when i walk the dogs on the trail around the lake we enjoy the geese. petunia tries the chase them. for the most part they humor her and pretend to run away. she hasn't yet learned that they can turn back on her quite fiercely without notice. could be fun to watch.

one evening we were going to dinner. hon and i, my sister and brother in law. driving east on 50th street, a semi-major thoroughfare here in the city. suddenly all traffic had to stop. here, right in front of us, was a flock of geese just waddling across the four lane street. taking their time. not a care in the world. and it pleased me greatly that not only did we stop, every car in every lane stopped to allow the geese to pass. and i think everyone who witnessed the crossing was smiling. geese are just fun.

so much so am i affected by the geese that i've pretty much concluded that i, in an earlier life, was a goose myself. well, hopefully a gander. partly because i'm so amused and smitten by them and partly because i tend to walk like them, and, according to my wife, can nearly duplicate their noises. enough about that.

monday evening hon and i decided to take a walk around our neighborhood lake. we do this frequently when the weather's nice. it's a peaceful area. probably a 10 acre park with a 4 or 5 acre lake. playground equipment, volleyball, swimming pool, basketball court. kids playing and riding their bikes around the trail. ducks in the lake all the time. and on this occasion, one lone goose floating on the lake. that's unusual, for geese mate for life. unless one mate has passed, you just don't see a goose solo.

as we rounded the lake to the west and looped back east, we encountered some neighbors who asked if we'd heard a gunshot. no. apparently they had heard one about two or three minutes before we got to the park. and apparently that gun shot had killed two of my beloved geese.

we continued on the trail until we reached the site of the killing. there were a young couple who had been fishing when the shots were fired. their story was that there had been a small flock of geese hanging out near the lake. no fences, just yards blending into the park. and one old guy didn't like the geese in his yard. so much so that he came out and yelled and screamed and chased them off. and then two minutes later the young couple fishing hear a shot, and looked up just in time to see most of the flock fly off. and two stagger, then fall into the water.

the young man, justin, ran to the aid of the geese. alas, all he could do was fish the geese out of the water and lay them on the shore. they had passed.

hon cried. actually was so upset by the senseless killing that she cried. i didn't cry. i was incensed. angry it not an apt word to describe my feelings. justin was on the phone with the 911 operator. an officer would be dispatched.

some ten minutes later two of oklahoma city's finest arrived. they investigated the area and found the wad from a 12 gauge shotgun. as well as obvious markings indicating the geese had been killed by shotgun shot.

there was only one house near enough to the crime scene for a 12 gauge to have had the impact to kill two geese. the officers approached the house and knocked on the door. an elderly man came to the door - sliding patio door - and the police asked his name. he told them. they asked if he owned a shotgun. he said he didn't have to answer. they asked if they could come into his house. he refused. they asked if he had fired a shotgun at geese. he refused to answer. then he began to attack the police, "i don't like your attitude. go to hell. i don't have to tell you anything." and the cops walked away from his door.

they talked to witnesses a bit. it was obvious they were pretty mad at the old guy. they talked about having ballistics come out. they talked about calling federal game authorities. they talked about getting a search warrant. and as they asked the crowd that had grown to disburse, they indicated that they had done all the above.

i know it's a felony to discharge a firearm in the city limits. the guy should be hung for that, assuming ballistics can match the pattern in the 12 gauge wad. and the feds, from what i hear, don't take kindly to folks killing protected geese. and i don't know which makes me angrier, the killing of the geese, or the fact that this a-hole fired a shotgun into a park area where lots of people were walking and kids are playing. just insane.

so hopefully this old fella will spend at least a day or two in the slammer and pay some horrendous fine. if not, alas, it's true. there is no justice.