Bonds Jury Selected, Trial To Begin

Well, its only been what, 4 years since Barry Bonds quit playing baseball and several of those final years under a lot of scrutiny for his steroid use.  Well, today is the big day...the trial begins.  Jury was selected yesterday and today opening arguments will be heard and I would imagine the government will get to begin their case.

Most everyone on the planet knows Barry Bonds is guilty of using steroids, now it is a matter of whether or not he has good enough lawyers to fend off the government's case...of course the #1 star witness, the guy shooting Bonds up with roids, his trainer Greg Anderson, will be sitting in jail during the trial because he will refuse to testify against Bonds.  He doesn't care, he has already sat in jail for over a year and the courts keep letting him out...this time, he will be in jail during the trial and then let free after it is done...really not putting any pressure on him to testify...I don't get why they can't just lock him up and keep him locked up until he agrees to testify...letting him free is pointless.

From what I have read, the government will have a good case so it will come down to how good the lawyers for Bonds are...plan and simple.  We know a person can get away with murder in this country with the right lawyers, we will now see if Bonds has some of those lawyers...

Like with the Landis case, I will be following the Bonds case closely...for some reason seeing how these liars try to get away with it interests me...

Coming Soon To A Court Near You: State Of North Dakota vs NCAA

It happened...the North Dakota Senate passed a resolution that now will become law that the University of North Dakota has to use the nickname "Fighting Sioux" and it is illegal to change it and if the NCAA has a problem with it, then the state will sue the NCAA.

Unfrickinbeliavable is all I got to say.

The debate over this nickname will never end...at least not in my lifetime...

North Dakota Class B Boys Basketball - Ain't That Special

For most of my adult life I have been in a profession that usually has had some relationship with news, weather and/or sports in the upper Midwest.  Add to that fact that I have lived in the barren wasteland for my entire life (40+ years).  There has always been one annual occurrence in this state that was once hyped as the greatest sporting event in the state, rivaling the once annual UND-NDSU football game (which is no more).  It was the North Dakota State High School Class B Boy's Basketball tournament.

Yes, at one time the Class B Boy's bb tourney was a fun little tournament ... and not because you would get to see some up and coming basketball stars, but because it was full of dreams, Cinderella stories and an entire town's pride.  You see, prior to the mid-1980's the class b tourney was made up of small towns that dotted North Dakota.  Braddock, Linton, Beach, Belcourt, Rugby, Wilton, etc. and these schools would have a basketball team that often times wouldn't be more then 6 or 7 boys.  These small schools, especially during tournament time, all seemed to be equal and every game was a thriller, coming down to the last second.  The tournament site would be packed for every game, from 5th place to first place and why?  Because the entire town that these schools were from would come to watch their school play and when I say I mean the entire town, I mean the entire town would close, pack up and go to the tournament site.  It was once a boon for whatever city would host the Class B tournament ... not so much so anymore.  When living in Bismarck, a popular Class B site, in the early '80's the city would be crawling with people from these small towns and with the basketball site within a block of the largest shopping center in the town, the Class B folks were in heaven and the stores were loving it as well.

But it was about the late 80's, as I was going through high school, that the "luster" of the Class B that was incessantly preached to me was beginning to wear on me.  I began to tire of local sports fans that would, with great bravado, declare that the ND Class B Boys tournament is WAAAAAAYYYYY better than the Class A Boys or any other ND high school tournament in general.  It was far superior to any other high school event in this state.  I began to make note of their declarations and am ready to say that the Class B Boys tournament is no better and no worse than the Class A tournament or any other tournament for that matter.  Yes, at one time the ND Class B was probably the premiere high school event in the state but that is so far from the truth today.

First, I began to notice that the Class B boys bb games were pretty boring and very sloppy...certainly not these exciting nail-biters that once happened on a regular occurrence in the past.  It was also during this time that schools begin to combine to save money.  No longer is there just one small community school but a multi-community school, some schools made up of 5 or more smaller towns.  This essentially striped each school of its own identity.  So now none of the residents go to the tournament unless they have a friend or family member on the team.

And now we fast forward to the 21st century.  North Dakota high schools have gone through a myriad of reclassifying schools and changes still continue to be talked about so change is likely to continue...but what has happened is many of the "smaller schools" in the largest cites that are classified as a Class B school now dominate the scene.  Schools that once were Class A schools in larger cities as well as private schools in the larger cities are now all dominate in the basketball tournament... teams from Fargo, Minot, Bismarck, Dickinson and so on, make up much of the bracket these days.

You factor in both those elements, the multicommunity school and the large city schools that have had a strong presence in Class B basketball and you will be able to see why the Class B Boys BB Tournament is no longer the jewel of ND High School Sports, but what frustrates me the most is that many people and media outlets still try and present the Class B Boys tourney as if it were and the Class B hasn't been relevant in probably 20+ years and those that continue to trumpet its awesomeness are nothing more than morons that don't know any better.

Nothing Can Be Easy Anymore

The good ole days, something that I have gotten into a rut proclaiming.  I do believe I do sound like an angry old man.  But I like to think when I make the declaration of "Back when I was young..." or "In the good old days" I put some merit behind it, that yes, indeed, things were a bit better when it was like that...

Like for instance being able to work on your own vehicle.  This is a prime example of what I am saying.  Yes, cars are nicer these days, more fuel efficient and blah, blah, blah.  But was the trade off for better (and of course that is purely a subjective view) vehicles was that the common person could no longer do any maintenance or minor repairs on their vehicle ever again?

Case and point...my wife's car is a 1995 Cavalier ... yes, it is that old.  She has owned it since new and as a person could imagine after 16 years the car is beginning to need some maintenance and, as a matter of fact, her blower motor just went out.  I had changed the blower motor on my Blazer in the 90's and in a couple of other vehicles...fairly simple...but when I tried to find the blower motor for her car, I couldn't find it...no worries, went online and not only did I find the location but also a video that showed how to change the blower motor...it is literally 5 screws that need to take out, replace the blower motor and screw back in...done and done.

After watching the video, which was all of 6 minutes in length, I figured it MAY take me upwards of 15 minutes because I like to lollygag...of course this was my first mistake...thinking this would only take 15 minutes.  So I was going to be the nice guy and change the blower motor out over my lunch break and my wife would be able to go to work in the afternoon with heat again, something she hasn't had since last week.  Everything was going as planned, first 2 screws out to remove the under dash cover and there's the blower motor, just 3 screws holding it up, should be a piece of cake...WRONG!  Sure, there is one screw that is very accessible and offers no problems but the other 2 screws are placed right up against the front firewall and with the blower motor assembly it is nearly impossible to get a wrench into that location.  After being flipped upside down in her car, ruining a pair of pants and shirt and spending an hour and half, I was able to finally get the blower motor removed.  After trying for another thirty minutes I decided to give up in disgust as I was unable to even get the two difficult screws to find their post to even get a couple of threads turned in.

I could not believe this entire ordeal.  Am I that completely inept that I can't remove 5 screws and put a new blower motor in in under 2 hours?  Now I know I am probably lacking some tool or device that would help me in this endeavor but that almost goes hand-in-hand with my original gripe of how come nothing can be easy anymore or that you don't have to go out and buy a new tool to do your task, with of course the tool costing more than the part you are trying to replace in the first place?


Gone is the time when a person could pack their toolbox and if your vehicle broke down alongside the road you would have a good chance of repairing your vehicle.  Changing even light bulbs on today's vehicles can oftentimes be a chore when, at one time, it wouldn't take a person 5 minutes to change. It is getting completely ridiculous.


I really should have had a audio recorder going as I was attempting to do this task and post the audio, which would have been 90 minutes of f bombs and JESUS CHRIST!  Even I was laughing at myself and how silly this chore was becoming ... but laughing out of complete frustration because this task defeated me and was all of 5 screws...just take out 5 f'ing screws, replace motor and re-secure with the screws...sounds so easy doesn't it?

Lockout? What Lockout? Chargers Sign Bob Sanders

I don't know if anyone has told the San Diego Chargers that a work stoppage is about to happen for the NFL...but the Chargers seem not to care as they signed Colts safety Bob Sanders yesterday.

There is no question that if Bob Sanders is healthy, he is a playmaker.  I haven't looked it up officially, but can almost certainly say that when Indy has won the Super Bowl a healthy Bob Sanders was playing.  The problem with Bob Sanders is that he has been injured ... a lot ... in the past few seasons.  This could be money thrown down the drain if Sanders is unable to be healthy ... but if Sanders wants to continue to play in the NFL, he has a one year deal with the Chargers to prove himself...

I like the signing since the Chargers haven't had a respectable safety since Rodney Harrison was let go by Marty Schottenheimer...a bad move at that time and the Chargers have paid dearly since.  Of course, Sanders has to play to make it worth it and if he is just a listing on the weekly injury report, his presence won't even be noticed. 

It Costs To Golf

I'm in the worst shape of my life.  I admit it and am fully aware of it.  I am almost embarrassed at how out of shape I am these days.  When I was younger I was a very active person... I would regularly play basketball, football, tennis and go mountain biking.  Now, for the past 5-10 years, essentially since I had children, I have been nothing but a slug.  I may go biking once or twice a summer and living in Fargo, it is usually a leisurely ride because it is so flat.  A few years ago a friend of mine and I made an effort to play tennis once a week and we did for an entire summer...hot or cold.  But the following summer we played a couple of times and then gave it up ... he moved to the other end of town and trying to find a place and a time we could meet up to play was becoming difficult.

And here's the deal...I would love to get back into shape but I have never been a guy that likes to just exercise...sure, I did run cross-country and track, but now-a-days running just doesn't appeal to me anymore.  And I really don't want to get into shape, per se, but I just want to get off my ass and do something.  I am a fairly tightly wound person and any activity at all would be good.  So that's where the first hurdle that presented itself in my quest to do "something".  I wanted to find an activity I could do that I would enjoy, give me some exercise and that winning and losing really didn't matter...just getting out and having some fun would be the priority. 

After some thought, I came up with the notion to start playing golf...again.  I use to play golf when I was young and the last "official" round of golf I had, I played even par on the local 9-hole course...that was in 1988.  So I wasn't too bad, but I played that course every day of every summer for a decade.  After that summer the course was being upgraded to a 18 hole course, the greens fees more than tripled and my parents no longer could afford for us to golf there and thus ended my golfing career...at that time.  So I thought to myself, why not get back into golf?  It is a leisurely sport and I have several friends that play...none of which claim to be an ace at.  So I have started to begin my quest to get back into golfing...and am finding out how much money I am going to have to spend just to play again and was a bit shocked at the fees...

There are plenty of golf courses in the region, so I am sure I will hit up the 'low-rent" courses, but I was stunned to see the green fees for some of these courses... $30+ to play a round of golf?  Holy cow!  Even $15+ to play on the nine-hole courses, to me, seem fairly expensive.  So I still want to start golfing, but my major concern is how much money is this going to cost me?  I've already determined to spend about $200-300 on clubs - which certainly won't be a set of clubs with any speciality...and figure about another $100 on other needed accessories to start out with...balls, tees, etc.  If I am going to spend all that money on equipment, I certainly don't want to see that stuff collecting dust...hell, living in the barren wasteland that I do, I will be lucky to golf 5 months out of the year the way it is and half of the days in those 5 months will suck...be too windy, too hot, too cold, rainy, etc...

I'm also leary as to whether or not I will enjoy the game like I once did.  When I previously golfed on a regular basis I was a teenager with minimal responsibilities.  I would golf twice a day in the summer just because I would have nothing better to do.  Also, back then  it was a simpler time...people weren't dicks like they are today.  I can already foresee myself getting into some disagreement with someone because I wouldn't be playing "properly" for them.  But I am hoping that if I play the "poor" courses the people there are more forgiving.

So there's my objective...I am a procrastinator and have gotten into mode of laziness...I know just buying the equipment won't be enough to start playing but I hope to take that first step soon...

Bonds Trial To Start

The NFL lockout is, by all appearances, all but inevitable, but us sports fans will have a little drama to keep us occupied for the next couple weeks and no, I don't mean exhibition mlb.  The Barry Bonds trial starts next week and I hope, once and for all, that he will be branded the cheater that he is.  Of course his trainer, Greg Anderson, who gave Bonds the roids as well as injected Bonds, will not testify against Bonds and will then be put into jail for the duration of the trial...which they figure should last about two weeks.  Anderson has already spent over a year in jail for not testifying against Bonds so a two week stint will be a walk in the park for him.

Like the Landis trial, I'll be keeping a close eye on this trial...but I would imagine that regardless of the outcome whichever side "loses" will appeal and this will go on for many years...but winning the first round is always good for the pr campaign.