Rob Monti,
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The LSU Tigers are on a roll! They beat Auburn 31-7 yesterday, and last weekend they defeated the South Carolina Gamecocks handily by a score of 33-7. Virginia Tech may have the cheesiest team name ("Hokies") and mascot (a giant, goofy-looking turkey), but I can't decide whether South Carolina gets the award for the Most Ridiculous or the Most Unfortunate mascot: "Cocky" the Gamecock. They should probably get both awards. Hint to new universities that are thinking about fielding a NCAA football team: Poultry and other fowl do not usually make for good team names and/or mascots!
The MonT-SteR was privileged enough watch the Gamecocks get stomped into gumbo live and in person with Mrs. MonT-SteR's family. We had a blast at the game. The only problem was that Christi and I were seated on the end of a row that EVERY PERSON IN THE STINKIN' STADIUM WANTED TO WALK THROUGH TO GET TO THEIR SEATS. So this is how I spent most of the game:
The MonT-SteR sits, quietly engrossed by the color and pageantry of the athletic contest playing out before him, when a couple begins the long trudge up the stadium steps
The MonT-SteR: (muttering to self) Oh, man -- here come some more.
The MonT-SteR sighs with mingled impatience and resignation as the couple arrives at his row. They look and point, nodding to one another in apparent agreement that this is the right spot. With mildly sheepish looks on their faces, they turn their gazes upon The MonT-SteR and his wife.
Random couple clad in yellow and purple: Excuse us, please.
The MonT-SteR stands, his knees shrieking in protest, as this is the 100th time he has needed to stand up in this manner. The couple awkwardly squeezes by, bumping up against The MonT-SteR and his kin further down the row.
Random couple clad in yellow and purple: Sorry, sorry....
The MonT-SteR: That's okay. We're used to it by now.
Despite the unceasing repetition of stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down, stand... (you get the idea), it really was a great deal of fun. Not only was it nice to watch LSU win, but the opposing team's cheering fans were good sports about the whole thing. You Gamecocks may have a lame mascot, but you're a lot better behaved than your poultry counterparts in Blacksburg. When we went to Lane Stadium to see Virginia Tech play LSU last year, Tech fans were as rude as can be. The Hokies defeated LSU that day, which I wouldn't usually care all that much about. But the Hokie fowl behaved foully, and The MonT-SteR has nursed a grudge against that bunch of turkeys ever since. I daresay that the recent poultry-posterior-punting they got at WVU was just recompense. HA!
ALERT: The MonT-SteR is about to take a trip down memory lane. Proceed at your own risk!
The first college football game I attended was a University of Maryland game. My dad and I went together as part of a 4-H field trip when I was a kid. A wry smile usually plays across my face when I think of it. Despite the fact that I played football all the time with friends in the neighborhood, my understanding of it was limited to one simple rule: Clobber the guy with the ball when your side doesn't have it. The intracacies of off-sides, downs, penalties, and the line of scrimmage completely eluded me. Thus, once I was seated at the game with my dad, it took me nearly 3 quarters of play to overcome my embarrassment at not having the slightest idea what was happening on the field and ask what the devil was going on. Dad tried to give me a crash course on the basics of football, but it didn't take. So rather than ask for further clarification (a prospect leading to even more embarrassment) I watched the entire football game in utter confusion and bewilderment.
"So, Rob," you ask, "did you ever figure football out?"
Yeah, more or less. I was probably 14. Pathetic, huh?
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Labels: Hokies, LSU, tigers, Virginia Tech
For those tMR readers who are classic Christmas movie neophytes, the title of this entry is pulled from the portion of "It's A Wonderful Life" where George learns from his wife, Mary, that she's pregnant (or "on the nest," as Jimmy Stewart's alter ego puts it).
Why am I citing this portion of the perennial Yuletide favorite? Because, dear friends, The MonT-SteR has lassoed a stork as well. That's right -- ere next Independence Day, there will be a bAbY MonT-SteR on the scene. I'm going to be a father! WOO HOO!
I had planned to share some other personal profundities borne of pensive reflection on the matter, but my energy level is not sufficient to the task. Not only that, but Mrs. MonT-SteR is snoozing here on the couch nearby, and I need to get Mommy in the bed. So the profundities will have to wait until at least tomorrow. I'm sure The MonT-SteR REPORT's modest readership will find some innovative way to get by until then.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Labels: announcements, The MonT-SteR
Kick 'em while they're up, kick 'em while they're down...
Well, friends, it's been quite some time since my last post. For that, please accept my apologies. I know from the folks at OneStat that The MonT-SteR REPORT has now gained a modest little readership. Thanks to you all for your patience.The MonT-SteR has been busy with... um, shall we say -- life issues since Isabel came to town. Not many days hence, said issues will result in a big, fat, fun tMR announcement. So stay tuned!
Now I would like to say a few words about the giant media pig pile on Rush Limbaugh. Before I do that, however, I feel somewhat obliged to make a rather cumbersome (and tiresome) disclaimer. As tMR readers know from the MonT-SteR Links page of my site, The MonT-SteR is an unabashed Ditto-head. This is not fanboy lingo for "I agree unequivocally with everything Rush says." Rush himself has been forced to explain ad infinitum, ad nauseum that Ditto-head is not synonymous with "mind-numbed robot" -- a rude epithet the left often gleefully hurls at Rush's devotees. Thus, while I am one of Rush's fans and thoroughly enjoy his show, I do not accept everything that comes out of the man's mouth as holy writ. Are we clear? No? Let me restate it: The MonT-SteR acknowledges that many (if not most) of his views find concord with those expressed by Rush Limbaugh, but this is by no means the case 100% of the time. There now. Perhaps tMR readers on the left side of the political spectrum will manage to unclench their respective posteriors and read what I have to say with a modicum of charity. On to my comments....
I have noted with a degree of consternation that the Al Frankens and John Kerrys and Don Imuses (should that be Imi?) of the world were quick to launch into tirades designed to pigeonhole Rush with a loathsome stigma: hypocrite. After all, Rush was always decrying how soft our society is on criminals like drug dealers and users, and all that time he was abusing drugs himself. What hypocrisy! Except for the fact that the charge just doesn't stick. Here's why.
Nobody can condone Rush's continued illicit use of prescription pain-killers. It was wrong, and he'd be the first to admit it. But he came by his addiction "honestly," so to speak. A doctor legally prescribed these pain-killers to treat chronic pain stemming from unsuccessful surgery. Because these pills contain such a strong narcotic, it wasn't long before he was hooked. In desperation, he eventually turned to illegal means to procure them. The reports that he twice checked into rehab centers to break the hold these pills had on him seems to indicate that he knew what he was doing was both wrong and dangerous -- and that he took responsible steps to correct this.
Let's compare and contrast this scenario with your average citizen -- we'll call him Joe -- who one day decides for whatever reason to procure some smack. Maybe it was peer pressure that pushed him into it. Or maybe life got rough, and someone suggested to Joe that doing drugs would make him feel a lot better about things. Either way, Joe does something he knows in advance is illegal. He approaches a drug dealer on a grubby street corner, money changes hands, and he walks away with his prize. He likes the effect it has on him, and so the substance abuse becomes a regular part of his life.
In either scenario, the drug abuse is inherently wrong, but there's a subtle difference between Joe and Rush. Joe got mixed up in drugs because he bought the lie that they make him "cool," or because he thought it would medicate his pain and insecurities, or because he heard it feels good. So he decided from the outset, "I'm doing to do something unlawful and immoral. I'm going to obtain and poison by body with a controlled substance." Joe's actions are laden with volition -- it's no accident that he obtains or even gets hooked on crack. It was his choice. Rush, on the other hand, got mixed up in drugs because he originally obtained them legally as part of a prescribed medical regimen. Along the way something went terribly askew. His addiction was accidental.
I would hope that sensitive, rational people can see the difference. The public figures I mentioned above obviously can't. All they see is an opportunity to kick someone they despise while he's down. And don't think for a minute that they aren't hoping Rush never gets back up. If compassion is supposed to be the hallmark of those on the left, then I have to wonder: Who are the real hypocrites here?
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
