This Blog Has Balls!

cue the music M-Hel's in the Hiz-ouse!

Monday's here; sorry to be the bearer of such sad tidings.

This whole weekend was a sports weekend for the MIDDLE family. Sugar Momma and Splenda did college football in Champaign; I bet it was bubbly and delicious. I worked a high school football game and a college football game, watched a live college soccer game and then I spent all of Sunday vegging out watching EVERY Sunday NFL game on the free NFL Ticket on Direct TV...ha I just re-cued the music while I continue to write this...I am starting to really love this song. I never really thought about it much in the 1970's when it was on high-rotation on AM radio (that's all we had then) though I always liked it. I suppose it would probably be easier just to add it to Roz and that way Stealers Wheels would get their cut. The soccer game turned into a cul-de-sac meeting of sorts. There were four houses out of nine represented unless you count the Oregon State coach, since he is a former member of our club and therefore a legacy, then there were five. All we did was sat there and gossiped so if you weren't there we probably talked about you except for Coach...he was actually pretty busy working.

The NFL games were great to watch but the live college game was better. I was standing just beyond the end zone with seconds on the clock and two plays left to decide the game. sports are much better live and even better When you're standing right there. Get out and see a live sporting event!

As long as we're (I'm) talking about sports I see that Major League Baseball (MLB) allowed the MIDDLE city of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Reds to honor Pete Rose at a game over the weekend. I have mixed feelings about Pete Rose betting on his own team. Most people are passionately opposed to what he did. I agree that it was against the rules but did you ever see that dude play baseball? He was all out all the time. Charlie Hustle was a good nickname for him but it almost doesn't even do justice to how hard he played. I know I'm a hypocrite when Paris Hilton gets off of her cocaine rap I complain so I know it's a double-standard but this is Pete Rose. I can't remember who but I think it was Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle (off the top of my head but maybe wrong) that broke MLB's rule of associating with gambling when they did advertisements for casinos. They were both banned from baseball for awhile but then allowed back in after a few years. I realize it's The Say Hey Kid and The Mick but we're talking about Charlie Hustle. Childhood heroes always should get a little slack I think. It seems that Rose is a real butt-hole but that may be because he feels wronged. I don't know but I liked his style when he played though rules are rules...see, I am torn. You can't teach kids that it's okay to break the rules just because you're famous. I can't convince myself either way. I guess I will have to agree to disagree with myself.

I am sorry that the last couple of day's blogs have been so sports-laden but maybe donating plasma increases my testosterone levels. I am pretty much a sports freak so there's always something competitive and sweaty running through my brain (there is nothing untoward meant by this reference - not that there's anything wrong with that). I won't make it a habit. The concert season starts next month and then I will be blogging about concerts by: Drake and Passion Pit and Miranda Lambert / Country Music on Tour and Golden Dragon Acrobats... I think I temporarily have sports off my brain.

Here are a few things I learned during my recent East Coast trip: hotel shampoo is no good (did you see my hair in some of those photos?), I enjoy my family, the terrorists have won, socks are extremely important when walking 10+ miles per day, large bars of soap are better than small bars, you can ignore that one carry-on bag rule as long as you don't get too carried away (no pun intended), money goes very quickly. I learned a lot more but these are the main ones that keep clogging my brain and now I can forget them because I have blogged them. We have cabinets of these barbie doll-sized shampoos. Why do I feel I need to take these and sewing kits and shoe polishing kits? I am a cheap American who takes stuff just because it's free. I need to start a Free-Stuff Museum of the MIDDLEwest. I know you have things to donate and get a donation plaque with your name on it. I could have a Pete Rose wing and have him donate stuff. If he can't get into Cooperstown maybe he'd be happy with Middlestown.

Okay, Okay., I'm goin'. Thanks for stopping in again. I will think of more lunacy and a few nuggets of sense to sprinkle in and blog it again tomorrow. Have a great Monday theoretically and remember, death smiles at us all, we just have to smile right back. I don't know why that's important but it seems very Mondayish. TTTT - MITH.

** oregon state soccer photo stolen from gazettetimes.com. baseballs photo spitballed from sportsmemorabilia.com, pete rose photo hustled from insidesocal.com & shampoos photo smuggled from starling-travel.com **