Why is it that big men want to dribble the ball and little guys want to dunk? Ever noticed that? A guy can be 7 foot tall, standing 3 foot from the basket, and have someone pass him the ball. What does he do? Go straight to the hoop? Not in this lifetime. No, he wants to put it on the floor and get one step closer. Hey, news flash - they give you a step, whether you dribble or not! Put the ball in the hole. If you are 6 feet tall you typically can reach 8 feet high. If you are seven foot tall, obviously you could reach at least 9 feet high but with longer arms, I am guessing closer to 9.5 or higher. So if you stand on your tip toes you have got to be able to grab the rim or pretty close to it. Put the ball in the hole! Stop giving your coach and the fans heartburn - go to the hoop.
And craziness isn't confined to the Goliaths of the world; the vertically challenged have their problems as well. Why is it that the shorter the guard, the more he feels the need to dunk the basketball over an opponent who is a foot and a half taller? In fact, here's a great idea - let's get airborne before we have a clue as to what we are going to do. That way we can improvise at the last second. Or, as the opposing coach likes to call it, "turn the ball over."
I am convinced it is a sickness that plagues us all. We can't deal with who we are. Skinny people think they are fat so they drink diet sodas. Fat people see themselves as being thinner than they are so they wear their clothes too tight. The truly rich don't want anyone to know they have money so they live often times like they are broke, while many of us who don't have two nickels we could rub together, overuse credit in order to give the appearance that we are wealthy.
Why can't we accept who we are? I was thinking about how even we pastors often overrate our abilities. I said, "Regina, there are a lot of guys who preach every week who aren't very good at it. Wouldn't you agree?" "Yes," she said, "I suppose there are." Then I asked, "How many really good ones do you believe there are?" She said, "I'm not sure, but at least one less that you think."
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Predictions for 2008
Wrong again! I never thought when they said two months ago that gas would soar to $4.00 a gallon by the end of the year, that they were right. Boy, was I wrong! A month ago I had never paid more than $2.99 and now I have had to pay as high as $3.36.
Bought milk lately? You'd rather buy gas. Per gallon, gas is cheaper, honest. If you guys out there haven't gone grocery shopping lately, don't. It will scare you to death.
So until things improve, where do you think we Americans may cut back? Here's my list of predictions for the next 12 months:
1. Movies - The movies that have been coming out in the last couple of years haven't been stellar to begin with, and at $9 a pop for a ticket, I am betting a lot of people are going to wait in line at the video store.
2. Starbucks - Look out Spinx, you are getting ready to sell some Joe. With prices rising at the pump most people, including the "twentysomethings" are going to have to cut back somewhere.
3. Cable and satellite services - In order to buy essentials some people are going to decide they may not have to have 200 channels they never watch anyway. Look for a run on "basic" services.
4. Ma Bell - She is going to take a whoopin'. Tons of people in their 20's and 30's have already gone completely wireless. Look for their moms and dads to do the same in the next year or two.
5. Truck and SUV sales - At 14 mpg city and 18 mpg hwy, don't look for many of these puppies to sell. I am not sure that even the inevitable rebates we are about to see will be enough to lure consumers into buying them.
6. Restaurants - Americans eat out about as much as they eat in. With fuel costs up people have to cut back somewhere. Look for that trend to reverse itself. And when eating out, people are going to think twice about a $10 hamburger and a $2 soda. Look for more water with lemon. $25-40 a pop for dinner is going to be viewed as half a tank of gas.
7. Cruisin' around - Regina and I have always enjoyed just going out for a ride. "Loafin" is what my grandmother used to call it. Look for people to be more "Purpose Driven," pun intended.
8. Water sports - You might find a pretty good buy in a ski boat right now. With most outboard motors getting about 6 miles per gallon or less, a lot of people are going to pull out the slip and slides instead of the skis this year.
9. Newspapers and magazines - Subscriptions to newspapers are already down to an all time low across the nation. With less expendable income, some people are going to re-think whether or not they need to pay for a paper or magazine that often goes unread, when news can be heard 24/7 now anyway.
10. Liquor, cigarettes - Since all of these pose health risks, are non-essentials and are pretty pricey - you can bet Americans are going to cut these out of their budget. They are gone, baby! Who am I kidding? We'd walk first. Only a sane person would consider cutting these out of their life when other things are needed.
Bought milk lately? You'd rather buy gas. Per gallon, gas is cheaper, honest. If you guys out there haven't gone grocery shopping lately, don't. It will scare you to death.
So until things improve, where do you think we Americans may cut back? Here's my list of predictions for the next 12 months:
1. Movies - The movies that have been coming out in the last couple of years haven't been stellar to begin with, and at $9 a pop for a ticket, I am betting a lot of people are going to wait in line at the video store.
2. Starbucks - Look out Spinx, you are getting ready to sell some Joe. With prices rising at the pump most people, including the "twentysomethings" are going to have to cut back somewhere.
3. Cable and satellite services - In order to buy essentials some people are going to decide they may not have to have 200 channels they never watch anyway. Look for a run on "basic" services.
4. Ma Bell - She is going to take a whoopin'. Tons of people in their 20's and 30's have already gone completely wireless. Look for their moms and dads to do the same in the next year or two.
5. Truck and SUV sales - At 14 mpg city and 18 mpg hwy, don't look for many of these puppies to sell. I am not sure that even the inevitable rebates we are about to see will be enough to lure consumers into buying them.
6. Restaurants - Americans eat out about as much as they eat in. With fuel costs up people have to cut back somewhere. Look for that trend to reverse itself. And when eating out, people are going to think twice about a $10 hamburger and a $2 soda. Look for more water with lemon. $25-40 a pop for dinner is going to be viewed as half a tank of gas.
7. Cruisin' around - Regina and I have always enjoyed just going out for a ride. "Loafin" is what my grandmother used to call it. Look for people to be more "Purpose Driven," pun intended.
8. Water sports - You might find a pretty good buy in a ski boat right now. With most outboard motors getting about 6 miles per gallon or less, a lot of people are going to pull out the slip and slides instead of the skis this year.
9. Newspapers and magazines - Subscriptions to newspapers are already down to an all time low across the nation. With less expendable income, some people are going to re-think whether or not they need to pay for a paper or magazine that often goes unread, when news can be heard 24/7 now anyway.
10. Liquor, cigarettes - Since all of these pose health risks, are non-essentials and are pretty pricey - you can bet Americans are going to cut these out of their budget. They are gone, baby! Who am I kidding? We'd walk first. Only a sane person would consider cutting these out of their life when other things are needed.
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