Forgotten Places, Unthought of Races

    Lots of islands out there, many of them habited, that no one thinks of most of the time. Georgian Islands and few more where I thought I could leave my remains. In the southern ocean or parts of the souther Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific. Reunion, and Mauritius.

    Nauru, Tuvalu, and many more. The Chuuk Islands and Micronesia, Federated States.

    The northern most islands of Canada, big and small. Outer and inner wastes of Siberia.

    I try to remember you.

 The Nationals Can Play! With Some More Pitching, Maybe...

    They can score. One of the best teams in the majors. Abrams made the All-Star team, but they have some other pretty decent hitters and runners. 

    They are over .500, 47-45. Some relievers have blown some wins, and Nunez blew a game by not running hard. That was a couple of months ago; I think he learned his lesson.

    Their defense is okay. Some of the guys will hit better throughout the year, I think. Bring their batting averages up. And win, more?

    My daughter, in college, says I write too much about baseball. Yes, that is possible. But it is better than football, or soccer.

    Terrible rules. Not American enough. Off sides? Get out. The minutes? The delays? Faw and fie upon them.

    Anyway, go Nats.

    Baseball is cool.

250 Years

 Maybe I Have Covid

    But I get some days off.

I should have written more. About our nation's past, present, and hopefully future glory.

But we are thankful for our birthday as a country that has been this successful, this long.

The U.S.'s Last Four Wars - Plus Secondary Ones

    I was discussing, with a friend, about the last conflicts of the most powerful country in the world. We, the United States.

 What have they been?

    Arguably: 

    Iran -2026

    Afghanistan - 2001-2021

    Iraq - 2003-2010

    ISIS- (Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan) 2014- 2019

    Secondary terrorist wars - Somalia, Yemen, and other African and Asian countries - 2001 to present, 2026

    Was Samuel Huntington right about the Clash of Civilizations thesis, where the cultural differences of the hardline or devout Muslims of sharia would be the dividing dichotomy from the modern, secular west?

    We could argue that the wars that we have fought have pointed to that.

    Thinking about it. Evidence of yes and no.

 Welcome to Division One, FBS - Top Tier Football, North Dakota

There are states that do not not have Football Bowl Series teams, even though there are 138 teams across the country. 

They are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Montana, and Alaska. Seven.

North Dakota has been removed from the list because North Dakota State has been added to the Mountain West, as that conference added them and Northern Illinois to bolster their numbers while the PAC 12 has been reconstituting itself with former Mountain West schools.

One state wonders? Hawai'i, Wyoming, Minnesota, Connecticut... And New Jersey. And Delaware. I think all the rest has two or more, or up to 10. Like Texas and Ohio.

What a game. 

Go IU. BYU.

 Winning and Losing

    We want to be champions of our own stories. Sometimes we are the goats, the losers. Overall, we wish to be the heroes of the arcing narrative, from beginning to end. Birth to death, we wish to be the protagonists. 

    Sometimes we are the enemies of our own stories. We can ruin our own paths. But the point is to eventually overcome and be the winner.

    In life we can have regrets and embarrassment in past trials and blows, times where we failed. But did we recover and come back, stronger, wiser, better than before?

    Through faith in higher powers that works.

    But in reality we can fall and not recover so well.

    When we disappoint our parents, our teachers, our bosses, our children, our spouses.

    When we see a light or a spark or a smile of love and acceptance that was once there but it has gone away.

    We try to get it back.

    To win, to prevail.

 Indiana Hoosier Football: We are Number 126!

    Indiana, under maverick master Curt Cignetti, went and did some of the most unthinkable last year, culminating this January and winning the national championship, ending with a 16-0 final unblemished record. Wow. I will still think this was a pipe dream 5, 10, or thirty years from now. Till my dying day.

    IU has historically been one of the worst programs in college football. Futility year in and year out, despite some good years or epochs on occasion, like 1945, 1967, 1979, 1988, 1991. 2007 was all right, and 2020 (the pandemic season) was decent. But overall, Indiana has been a door mat in the spectrum of the college football world.

    Not any more. Cignetti has made them a powerhouse. Since 2024.

    That said, in its 138-year history of playing intercollegiately, IU is ranked 126th in winning percentage, now out of 138 teams (135 qualify as having enough seasons, maybe 12, to qualify), which means that Indiana has a long way to go. A .424 winning percentage. Behind Buffalo at .425.

    The top programs are 1) Ohio State, .737, 2) Alabama .733 3) Notre Dame .733 4) Michigan .732

5) Bosie State .724.

    And then there college football teams, FBS, or Division I, that ranked 6th through 125th, with better winning records that IU at Bloomington.

    Of course, many or most of them have not won a national championship as Indiana has just done. So, neener neener, neener.

    BYU, my other alma mater, beloved team, is rated 36th all time, with a decent .584 winning percentage. In 101 years of playing. 

    Maybe a few more Cignetti years of greatness can get us to 100th all-time?

    Here's hoping, Hoosiers!

    Go IU. Fight, fight, fight!