Worth Remembering

Pigskin Preview

Today will be a taxing day of college football watching, as my rooting interests are playing basically all day long across four time zones.

It all starts at 11:00 AM with Army playing its final home game of the season against Morgan State. About an hour later Boston College kicks off at home against Connecticut.

Right around the time those games conclude, Notre Dame will be kicking off at home against Virginia Tech. Iowa State is also playing
at home today against Texas Tech
in a mid-afternoon game.

Navy should have been off this weekend, but they're making up
a game against East Carolina that was postponed due to a hurricane
a few weeks ago.

My best friend Skip's No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions are on the road today at Rutgers
in a 7:00 PM game, and Air Force is on the road as well, playing at San Jose State in
a game that doesn't even start until 9:30 PM my time.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that you'll go to bed before that one ends."

That would be a reasonable surmise, yes...don't want to miss 8:00 Mass on Sunday...

Memorable Rhetoric

On November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave a short address dedicating the Soldiers' National Cemetery located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.



Lincoln's famous words might not be the best political speech in American history, but they are unquestionably the very best brief speech.

As someone who taught public speaking for 30 years, of course I used Lincoln's address as a model for how memorable and powerful words can be. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words, but I have never seen a picture as eloquent as Lincoln's simple 272-word masterpiece.

Steven Spielberg's 2012 film Lincoln starred the incomparable Daniel Day-Lewis
(a performance for which he won the Best Actor Oscar), and incorporated Lincoln's moving words in a novel way in its opening scene...

Typical Saturday

From the wry comic strip Zits, by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, which you should read every day, as I do.

Until Next Time...

The best thing about collegiate sports is that they are not professional (well, mostly not). There is just something utterly charming about the youthful innocence which permeates the whole experience. It really isn't about who wins and loses, although winning is most assuredly fun. It is about our young people having some of the best experiences of their lives, providing them with a lifetime of memories.

It also explains why people like me, who haven't been college students for decades, can still revel in the collegiate sports experience in our spare time.

Iowa State isn't having a great season in football, but that doesn't really matter to the university's marching band, whose history dates all the way back to 1881. They work their tails off to put on a great show every time. Their dedication (and exuberance) is inspiring.

It won't be long before I will no longer have any former students in this group, but for now I sure do get a kick out of watching them play.

Today's send-off is a pair of performances from this year's Homecoming festivities. First, the drum line does a lively routine, followed by the band's halftime performance (which included the Alumni Band as well). Enjoy...