Cryptography, Competition, Wrestling
When a fastball is not so fast on purpose. Why do NFL coaches talk behind a clipboard on the sidelines? Why do pitchers hide the ball in their baseball gloves until the last second? Why does a basketball player whip a no-look pass? Because they know how to keep their intentions secret. Maybe a lip … Read more
Blog That Blogging Wrestling Blogger
How did it start? An insider’s look at a writing form. In the beginning, people talked to each other. Call it the oral tradition, all talk, no records. Do you think explorers found an archive along with newly discovered tribesmen deep in the Amazon jungle? That’s not part of the ‘hunter-gatherer’ lifestyle. Imagine you, spear … Read more
Education, That’s The Ticket
My Grandpa didn’t go to my Dad’s college graduation. He was invited. Grandma had to take the bus. Grandpa’s idea was that anyone who went to school past the eighth grade was afraid of work. My Dad was afraid of work? This was a man who set chokers in the woods. He worked on the … Read more
The Right Person, The Right Place
(originally posted on oregonsportsnews.com) Coaches come in all flavors, some sour, some sweet. If you’ve done anything in sports, you’ve had a coach. What binds them together is their desire to win. What separates them is how far they’ll go for that win. You can say the same for athletes looking for a school to … Read more
Keeping Up With What’s Up
Before they crash Kids growing up before WWII had toys you’d never think of. A stuffed sock. A piece of string. A can. It was called the Great Depression, first for financial reasons, then psychological. Those kids hooked string between cans for early cell phones. No texting. If the string was long, they could move … Read more
One Team, One Dream
(originally filed with oregonsportsnews.com) When you hear the word ‘window’, it usually means dirty window and you’re just the one to clean it. The next thing you know you’ve got a rag in one hand and Windex in the other. Sports fans hear the word differently. To them, a window is a good thing. It’s … Read more
The Friendship Hold,
or, Why wrestlers make the best friends. Take a closer look at the people around you. Can you count on them? More important, can they count on you? If you’re a wrestler, or a former wrestler, the answer is yes. Everyone else will find their own answer. What makes one sport produce better friends? Let’s … Read more
Martin Luther King Begins “I Have A Dream”
In a speech that reverberates through history, Dr. King’s words from Aug. 28, 1963 show an America with a long road ahead. Today, nearly fifty years after ‘I Have A Dream’, the road is no shorter, but the hope of finding the right direction increases with the work of good people. Dr. King, the floor … Read more
T.O.E.: The Oregon Effect
(originally posted on oregonsportsnews.com) A close look at the Oregon Duck run during this, the Golden Age of Ducks, shows a disturbing trend. Start with the 2009 season and the book-end losses to Boise State in the beginning and Ohio State at the end. Something happened between the smurf turf and the Rose Bowl and … Read more
121st Think Tank Discussion, vol.3: Writer’s Birth Order,
Important Or Not? Zelda? In an effort to create better context for Dead White Male Authors, or DWMA, Think Tank 121 offers 20th Century giants of letters’ birth order to the general public. Director of Writing / Maintenance, Story Teller, no relation of the physicist Edward Teller, presented a paper from his street research: “A … Read more
121st Think Tank Exploration, vol. 2: Blog And The Brain
Real writing? (inspired by Seth Godin) DG’s B&B depends on professional staff to get things right. Dr. Clockenhand, Director of Time Management, recently presented a paper on blogging and time. “Often, the illiterate, or sadly, the non-literate, see writing as something done by ‘someone with way too much time on their hands to sit and … Read more
Duck, The Football Arts
(originally posted on oregonsportsnews.com) Cue the music Do you know anyone who watched Oregon win the Rose Bowl, but for some reason won’t admit to being sports fans? Big, strong, men of every age join that chorus along with their well-read partners. They know the difference between a third down and a touchdown, but to them it makes no … Read more
121st Think Tank Exploration, vol. 1: Silence To Violence
(inspired by) Are silence and violence polar opposites? If yes, which way do you lean? DG’s B&B Director of Research, D. Nitrontap (niTrontap), recently explained the nature of conflict as it moves toward silence, violence, then both, in a paper presented to the 121st Think Tank. “Let me remind you that conflict is life, that without conflict to overcome, life has … Read more
A Badger Visits Oregon During The Rose Bowl
45 – 38 Final By now, the civilized world knows the outcome of the 2012 Rose Bowl, The Granddaddy Of Them All. While the mighty Wisconsin Badgers went to Disneyland, one of their scouts came to the state of Oregon to look things over, maybe find a hidden advantage. The photo-essay that follows tracks the Badger scout … Read more
Ducks On The Runway
(originally posted on oregonsportsnews.com) LOOKING GOOD AND PLAYING BETTER Small packages wrapped in bright paper fill the gaps under a Christmas tree. Some are treasures, some are funny, and some don’t make it past New Years. The difference is quality. For example, the dollar headphones aren’t the same as Bose noise cancelers any more than a cheap watch for a college … Read more
An Oregon Thing
