2 Cents Worth

A few things that have been in my mind over the weekend but not interesting enough to make into full blog entries:

- A dime-sized blister on my hand reminded me of this story: I used to have a nice pair of worker's gloves for outside work. They were leather, had a lot of padding, and were built to last a lifetime. Melissa threw them away after I had worn them once. Why, you ask? They were dirty.

- I regularly chew on straws; I have quite a bit of nervous tension and energy while at work. And seeing how I go to McDonalds about three times a week, I always have a cache of available straws. A couple of weeks ago, I was rewarded for a job well done by fifty Sonic straws.

- Either through reading atlases, traveling, or following various high school teams for the past 20 years, I'm familiar with most names of small towns in Texas. For some reason, however, my familiarity decreases with West Texas.

A former girlfriend's mother used to live in Midland. Over some holiday, we drove out to see her. We also went to Marfa, McDonald Observatory, and Carlsbad Caverns. I actually pulled out a map to see if Salome existed because I wanted to hit golf balls there. Anyway, if somebody mentions a Texas town I've never heard of, I can pull out my latest trick - "Isn't that out west?", I'll ask. Most of the time, my guess is correct.

- After watching the basketball game last night and hearing Avery Johnson (by the way, my wife ABSOLUTELY LOVES it when I do my Avery Johnson impersonation) whine about the no-call that [he thinks] should have been, it reminded me once again that refs don't determine the outcomes of games. Just stop sending Josh Howard to the Derrick Coleman School of Free Throw Shooting and to the Chris Webber School of Calling Timeouts and you'll be okay.

The last game of importance I remember where a ref may have incorrectly influenced the outcome was the 1989 NCAA title game. Even Rumeal admitted he wasn't fouled in the final seconds. However, Seton Hall did go scoreless the last two minutes of the game; can't blame the refs on that.

The only game I can ever think of where the referees absolutely, incorrectly, and adversely changed the natural outcome was before I was born--the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal game.