My Officiating Experience

By brian March 24, 2010Columns, Sports, Wrestling

When I first got out of college 20 years ago, I wanted to find ways to stay involved with wrestling.
I couldn’t decide between officiating and coaching so I did the sensible thing – I did both. That lasted for two seasons when work and life made it clear that I had to give up one or the other.

Coaching won for a number of reasons. I thought many times about getting back into officiating, especially after I stopped coaching in 2001, but I always found a reason to stay away for one more year.

That all changed last fall. I took the officiating test and started working some local matches at the elementary and junior high levels.

Book Review: America’s Report Card

By brian March 23, 2010Books

I hate conspiracy theories. I generally find them lazy, immature and selfish. I hate when people feel the need to assign blame to something only they can understand instead of…

A New Holiday

By brian March 16, 2010Basketball, Columns, March Madness

We have a crisis on our hands in America, people. We need to rise up together and make things right.
Everywhere I look, I see people arguing about all sorts of things. No one can agree on health care or national defense or how to deal with our economic problems. Everyone thinks they have the solution, but they don’t want to even think about listening to someone else’s ideas.

Far too often, we turn a blind eye to the many things that can unite us instead of tear us apart. One of those opportunities is staring us right in the face.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament starts on Thursday.

Our government gives us so many opportunities to honor our past. We get off for Independence Day and Memorial Day and Labor Day.

I don’t think we need to stop celebrating those days, but I wish we could find a way to focus on the future. Like giving everyone off on the first two afternoons of the big tournament.

Book Review: Froth

By brian March 15, 2010Books

I generally don't like to look too much into the details about my food and drink. I know things aren't always pretty or simple so I just accept those kinds…

The Rest of The Brians

By brian March 10, 2010Movies, The Brians

The big stars have collected their trophies, but we still have some fun to take care of. Let’s take a look at some awards that might not easily come to…

The Envelope, Please ….

By brian March 9, 2010Movies, The Brians

Now that the pesky business of The Oscars has concluded, we can get down to the real awards: The Brians. For the eighth straight year, I will dole out awards…

Red Carpet

By brian March 9, 2010Movies, The Brians

Well, the movie world is still talking about the Oscars from over the weekend. Apparently, James Cameron is still in a corner crying. Good. I have something better to focus…

Breaking the Law

By brian March 2, 2010Columns

I just wanted to get home. I didn’t have any crazy expectations. Fortune let me down, however.
The week after all the snow fell, my commute to Baltimore got a little more cumbersome than usual.

First of all, some roads still had snow covering part of the travel lanes. That really didn’t bother me too much. I understood those delays.

Then I had to deal with the various and sundry plans which municipalities and counties had to remove some of the huge piles of snow. That slowed me down a little bit, but not enough to make me too upset.

I had the biggest problem with other drivers, some of whom seemed better off staying home and waiting until spring. When there’s no snow on the road and no plows on the road, we should all agree to drive at a normal speed without causing undue harm to others.

That philosophy apparently didn’t work for a lot of people so as I got close to home two weeks ago, I just wanted to make the final few turns, park the car and sit on the couch.

Then I saw him. I started to pray when I noticed the lights on top of the car. I hoped God would spare me just two blocks from my house. I wanted this particular officer to somehow not notice the burned out headlight on my car, something I had only recently noticed.

God didn’t answer my prayers.

Final Words

By brian March 1, 2010Olympics

I already vented about the whole Olympics situation. I don't intend to re-hash every thing because I think I have accepted the fact that things probably won't change. First off,…

A Tale of Two Tubbys

By brian March 1, 2010Olympics

When you watch competitions like the Olympics, you really can't expect to see a little bit of yourself in the athletes. The closest I have ever gotten was watching a…