Archive for School Busing
Baseball and Election Wrap Ups
Posted by: | CommentsCongrats to the San Francisco Giants, who proved once again that good pitching triumphs good hitting the vast majority of the time. With the Giants stellar pitching staff being all relatively young, the Giants, barring injury, should be a formidable force for the next few years. So far, I liked the Reds moves in retaining Arroyo and Gomes but dumping Cabrera. Now they must get a good lead off hitter who hits consistently. I believe most of their players’ best years are ahead of them, so optimism is in order.
Thank goodness another election season has come and gone. Maybe sanity can be restored. Many contests went as expected, but there was a few surprises, some of which were very perplexing. Despite the fact that California is up to its eyeballs in debt, they keep electing the entitlement lovers time after time. At the same time, they vote conservative on the issues by rejecting the legalization of marijuana and, before that, gay marriage. The left coast is indeed a strange bunch to figure.
Closer to home is another head scratcher. For months, we have heard all the complaints about our state of education and school busing, yet the populace went to the polls and re-elected the entire same school board that have already failed to fix the mess that now exists. It reminds me of the saying that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting better results”. One would think if you were dissatisfied, you would try something (someone) new. Often we get just what we deserve, unfortunately.
Until next week, Doc.
Late July Update Baseball, Busing, and Golf
Posted by: | CommentsHello again! Golf is a funny game. While most of us think it is physical, I believe it is mostly mental. How else do you explain shooting a 48 on the front nine and a 41 on the back nine all in the same round. Same conditions and same equipment, but different results. What else but mental conditions would allow a person to hit great shots for 5 holes and then fall apart for 5 holes. Further evidence of the mental aspect is, if I get a good unexpected break (i.e. a lucky bounce), I will play well for a few holes. If I get a bad break, I will play poorly for a few holes. I think golf magazines and videos need less focus on physical instruction and more on the psychology of playing to ones’ optimum.
School busing once again seems to be a hot topic in the local news with numerous lawsuits taking place. I don’t blame the parents for suing! Why should their child have to ride two hours a day on a hot bus to attend school in an unfamiliar location in a possibly different school from their friends in their own neighborhood? Talk about child abuse! This should qualify. It’s past time to let children attend a local school with their friends and maybe better parental involvement. Then take the money wasted on buses and spend it in the classroom. Quit making integration more important than science and math. Quit playing Russian roulette by moving good teachers to bad schools and bad teachers to good schools. Eliminate the bad teachers! Lastly, I wish administrators would quit blaming everyone else for their failures. The problem is not parents, money, etc. It is poor teachers and a poorly organized curriculum that doesn’t emphasize the core courses but teaches too much extraneous garbage.
Have you ever seen as many injuries as baseball has had this season? It seems there is a new key injury on some team every day. The main reason that some teams are in first place (Atlanta, San Diego, New York) is they have avoided a rash of injuries. I have said all season that the Reds bench was too weak to win because they have no quality players to step into the lineup in the event of extended injury. They need a stronger bench and a solid base hitter in the outfield if they hope to win. Are you listening, Walt?
See you next week, Doc
