HUMBLE YOURSELF

This the title of a song that I've sung for years. My son loves to sing this song on special occasions...but he sings it in falsetto. It's an experience you don't forget. This song comes to mind everytime I play golf. It's a humbling experience. If I played golf for a living, I'd be hungry and destitute. If I played for competition sake, I wouldn't have fun. However, I play the game for relaxation and I love the results. Mark Twain once said that the game of golf was "a long walk ruined." I disagree, the game of golf is a great way to humble yourself.

"I'M AN IDIOT"

These words were uttered by Phil "Lefty" Mickelson this weekend after his meltdown on the 18th hole. Phil made a couple of ill-advised decisons after he got in trouble with his tee shot. The end result was the, "I'm an idiot" quote and a lost championship with a big payday.

I believe we are all able to identify with Phil on this one. Making some poor choices are not limited to golfers on the PGA Tour. I've made a few in my life for sure. Some of the poor choices we make cost us alot, while others hardly create a blip on the old "poor choicemeter." However, making poor choices does not an idiot make...unless, of course, you continue to make the same poor choices over and over again.

I'll betcha Phil will layup next time and settle for a par.

HOT DOGS, APPLE PIE AND CHEVROLET

The only thing missing is baseball, and that's the very game the Detroit Tigers are playing so well this year. This team has turned it around and have become contenders. They still should be playing in October. Move over Pistons.

On Father's Day I drove our fairly new Honda CRV out of the garage and into my son's T & C Van. It's my Father's Day gift to him. I'm not sure if he likes it, though.
If you're going to have an accident, the safest place to have one, is in your own driveway.

Backing out blind,
Dibs

NELS IS ON THE MOVE

My grandson Hudson Nelson is one cool kid! Each time Hudson comes into to town with his parents and his sis, we prepare the house for his stay. That means "Nels proofing" it. Lamps are removed, toilets are unbolted and stowed away, TV's are moved into closets, closet and cabinet doors are nailed shut, and anything that may be the least bit intriguing to this little guy, is put away for safe keeping.

If we forget one thing...maybe leave a door open...hardly noticeable...just a crack -Huds finds it and makes a quick beeline for it. Recently, I forgot to remove the cover or an outdoor outlet. Hudson found it andpromptly removed it. I think he was thinking he was just being helpful. Hudson is just flatout fun to watch and be around. He's a handful, but he's a winner. Grandkids are the best!

MISS-FIRING PISTONS

When the pistons in your car are out of sync and they begin to misfire, you schedule an appointment with your favorite and trusted auto repair shop and ask for a tune-up. When your professional basketball team Pistons begins to misfire in the playoffs, all you can do is hang on and hope that sooner or later the shots start dropping. Not so last night, as the miss-firing Pistons must pack up their gear and head for their off-season retreats earlier than the past two years when they made back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals.

I'm not a professional analyst but there's a couple of reasons for Detroit's playoff malaise:

1. It's a long season and the team was so focused on gaining homecourt advantage in the playoffs, that they forgot about how grueling the playoffs can be. Additionally, they completely disregarded the fact that Detroit IS a better team with their backs to the wall. So who needs homecourt advantage?
2. The Pistons never really developed their bench during the course of the regular season. You can't win in the playoffs without the energy and quick offense a solid bench can provide.
3. The Pistons have been distracted by the Tigers. Yup, that's the right, the Tigers. The Tiger's own the best record in the major league right now. That's certainly a distraction for the local boys.
4. Detroit lost their offense in the last two playoff series with Cleveland and the Heat. Game 6 stats are telling...Detroit heaved many more shots at the rim than the Heat - almost all of them "good looks". but they made only 33% of those attempts. The Pistons' accuracy also fell way off in the 3 point range, where their success rate was 29%. This percentage was just a tad above Big Ben's free-throw shooting percentage...not good. The Heat, on the other hand, lived up to their name: They were white hot - shooting 56% overall and 38% from behind the arc. They only took 70 shots. Most run and gun high school teams shoot more than 70 shots, in 16 less minutes and without the shot clock.
5. The major difference last night, however, was the play of Jason Williams and Rasheed Wallace. The guy with the black stockings showed up while Sheed never really engaged in the flow of the game, or the series, for that matter.

Count on Joe D re-tooling and tuning up these Pistons before the start of next season. They will look different, guaransheed. Seeya Ben.

GOOD EVENING KATIE

Katie Couric has left NBC's Today Show this past Wednesday, and is moving on to CBS as the evening news anchor. Is this a promotion? I would have to believe that more people watch the Today Show than CBS Evening News. CBS may be a pretty good fit for Ms. Couric, since it has a penchant for running stories that are not always based on fact. Was it Dan Rather who said, "Why let facts get in the way of a good story?"

Anyway, Katie's gone. The Lauer/Couric morning team has been broken up for good and Matt is left with his rapid fire, pointed questions in the early morning hours, while Katie will feel she dropped of the face of the earth!