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Catober / cycling / photo / site / Wednesday — Comments Off
1
Oct 25

Welcome to Catober

Welcome to Catober, where, every day, we share a photo of one of the kitties. It’s a big hit and we all look forward to it every year.

Tomorrow we’ll have a photo of Phoebe, Friday, a picture of Poseidon, then another of Phoebe on Saturday, and so on. You’ll want to come back every day to see the cuteness and/or hijinx. You might also like this category to catch up.

We went to a local diner for breakfast this morning. We took my in-laws, and there we met my god-parents-in-law (just go with it). This was planned. They were all down to see their granddaughter, and granddaughter-in-law, play field hockey last night. But they each had to head back to their respective hometowns today. It was a brief trip extended by a leisurely breakfast.

My father-in-law and godfather-in-law met when they were five and six years old. My mother-in-law and godmother-in-law met in nursing school. My godparents-in-law met one another at my in-laws’ wedding. And so for these many years they’ve been tight. And each is godparents to the others’ kids. Hence all the go with its.

Across from my seat was this photograph.

It was taken in 1922, on the occasion of the first air shipment of produce in the U.S. It was asparagus.

The first commercial flight was in Florida in 1914. I’m a little surprised that it took eight years before anyone thought they should throw some veggies on a plane. I’m disappointed the first choice was asparagus. Kids across the country were too, imagine, this new technology, and that’s what we’re using it for? Asparagus?

And I’m writing about asparagus because that’s better than discussing how I spent a full day grading. I needed to do it. I was oddly looking forward to doing it. I did it.

This evening we went for a bike ride. One of our neighbors went with us. Here I am trying to chase down two All-Americans.

I was not an All-American, so this was difficult. Our friend was a swimmer and a legitimate, I mean legitimate track star. She’s got all the cardio you want, and now she’s just taking up tris and bikes, as you do. And that she’s just getting started is probably the only reason that this happened.

She better not get good at this, or by this time next year, I’ll be well off the back.

I hurt the big toe on my left foot somehow, and it isn’t exactly pleasant to walk on at the moment. Not too bad in shoes. But I made the mistake of trying to stand up on the bike and I immediately sat back down. I’ve never gotten out of the saddle a lot anyway, but I’ll need this little ache and/or pain to go away soon for just general use, and also in case I need to lean out and sprint.

Sprint. That’s funny.

Classes tomorrow. And more Catober! Come back for that!

adventures / family / photo / Rowan / Tuesday — Comments Off
30
Sep 25

2ENI6S

We went to see a big field hockey game tonight. It was senior night for my god-niece-in-law (just go with it.) My in-laws came down to see their god-granddaughter. (I guess that’s how it works? The field hockey player is the daughter of their goddaughter. This would get confusing pretty quickly after that.) So we all went to her high school together. Her sister is on the junior varsity team, and they played first. The younger Jaguars won their game, and fans trickled in all night. By the time they dragged out the balloon arch for the senior night festivities both sets of her grandparents, her god-grandparents, her god-aunt-and-uncle and a bunch of her friends were there. They made signs and posters and had big Fathead-style faces. It was all quite cute.

She was, I think, the third athlete through the balloon arch. The guy on the PA introduces her and her parents and her little sister. He read off her career highlights, which at this point is something like 10-plus years of field hockey. He had a little sentence or two from the player thanking her family, and a note about what’s next, where she’s going to school, what she’s planning to study.

The sun was going down about that time.

And then, when all the seniors were introduced they went out there and played a game against the Lions. And the seniors went out in style, winning 5-0.

The cool thing was, after dinner, she said she got a piece of the ball on the last goal, though it was credited to one of her teammates. But she was glad for that. The other player hadn’t yet scored this year.

She’s always been a thoughtful girl; she’s going to be a pretty spectacular woman.

Though I guess we’ll do this again during softball season. How many senior nights do you need?

All of them, if you’re the senior.

I mentioned this the last time we went to see her play, but they host their home games on the high school’s football field, which is actually a multipurpose field. They also play their soccer there, and some of their track and field events are held there, too. If you’re sitting on the home side you see the high school in the background. And off to your left is a little building that is probably a field house. The side that faces the parking lot is painted red, and right in the center is the word:

2ENI6S

The graduating class all signed their names in a bit a of condoned graffiti. Though I wonder how the teachers feel about that treatment of the word. And how the class of 2027 will mangle it.

I visited the concession stand tonight and bought a handful of things for various members of our section of fans, a sandwich, three drinks, two pretzels. The students staffing the concession stand could not calculate the price. (It was $16 I told them.)

All of this gives me a great deal of material. So I pointed at this new construction in the western corner of the sports field.

“I hope it is a learning center!”

It is, of course, a new field house. Athletics first, and at all cost. Even at a good school — and their school scores in the top four percent of the state. But still, 2ENI6S, simple math.

We all went to the star players’ for dinner and family revelry. It was a wonderful evening.

In class today we discussed The Concussion Files:

The Post reviewed more than 15,000 pages of documents relating to efforts by more than 100 former players to qualify for settlement benefits, including thousands of pages of confidential medical and legal records. The Post also interviewed more than 100 people involved with the settlement — including players, widows, lawyers and doctors — as well as 10 board-certified neurologists and neuropsychologists for their expertise on how dementia is typically diagnosed.

Among The Post’s findings:

The settlement’s definition for dementia requires more impairment than the standard definition used in the United States. Several doctors who have evaluated players told The Post that if they used the settlement’s definition in regular care, they would routinely fail to diagnose dementia in ailing patients. “I assumed this was written this way, on purpose, just to save the NFL money,” said Carmela Tartaglia, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Toronto.

At least 14 players have, like Cross, failed to qualify for settlement money or medical care and then died, only to have CTE confirmed via autopsy. Eight of these players were diagnosed in life with dementia or a related memory disorder but still failed to qualify for settlement benefits.

In more than 70 cases reviewed by The Post, players were diagnosed with dementia by board-certified doctors, only to see their claims denied by the administrative law firm that oversees the settlement. While the NFL has often blamed denied claims on fraud, none of the denials reviewed by The Post contained allegations of fraud. Instead, records show, settlement review doctors simply overruled physicians who actually evaluated players, often blaming dementia symptoms on other health problems also linked to concussions, including depression and sleep apnea.

The NFL’s network of settlement doctors has been beset by systemic administrative breakdowns since its inception. Former players suffering from dementia wait, on average, more than 15 months just to see doctors and get the records they need to file a claim. Maynard was one of two players The Post found who waited more than two years to get paperwork and died before they could get paid.

In total, court records show, the settlement has approved about 900 dementia claims since it opened in 2017. It has denied nearly 1,100, including almost 300 involving players who were diagnosed by the settlement’s own doctors.

It’s an aggravating story, and it should annoy readers. And some of my students were aggravated by what they read — which leaves some questions about a few other students.

We also talked about this story.

On the face of it, playing chess and competing in the NBA couldn’t be further apart.

One requires monk-like levels of silent concentration – particularly in classical chess – while the other demands physical dominance, peak athleticism and the ability to stay composed in a frenzied atmosphere.

But it seems there is more that links the two sports than initially meets the eye – just ask NBA legend Derrick Rose.

The 2011 NBA MVP has been leading a new and unlikely collaboration between the worlds of chess and professional basketball.

That story didn’t seem to connect, but for different reasons.

Those were in my criticism class, of course. In org comm class we wrapped up the unit on branding. The students broke up into their fantasy football franchise groups and had to do an assignment which asked them to assess the sort of star power that each of their players possess. Then they had to pick three players from their team which would be the most likely pitchmen, and then assign them products or brands they would advertise for. It went well, and it all just goes on the now large stack of things I need to grade.

And that starts tomorrow. I am able to devote an entire day to pecking away at the computer and I am weirdly looking forward to it.

adventures / Monday / photo / Rowan — Comments Off
29
Sep 25

A college, launched; a meeting, met

No one ever thinks of the turning of the fields during the autumnal season, but I’d just like to point out that, if you’ve got the right things in the ground, it can be lovely, for a time. And this is that time.

A lot of the farmland around us just now is thusly decorated.

We went over the river to a watch party event yesterday evening. Last day of regular season baseball and another afternoon of football.

I think my best time was playing cornhole with my god-niece-in-law (just go with it). She’s four, going on perpetually adorable, and she loves throwing those beanbags. Also, she has a four-year-old’s hand-eye coordination, so there is a lot of sidearm slinging, a lot of underthrows and several that go randomly off to one side or another. But then she drops some right in the hole and you begin to wonder: is there such a thing as a lawn game prodigy?

This morning I cut up a limb. We lost yet another one in a windstorm and it was sitting in a precarious way. I’ve been waiting to see if time would make it move, and make my job easier, but it did not, and it was not. So, yesterday, I made some cuts with one of those pole pruners, because the large branch had fallen into the fork of another tree and never snapped completely. All of this was delightfully overhead, and so the cutting away was a big weekend exercise. But turning it all into firewood was a Monday morning job. And that was a job. I broke out the chainsaw and the wheelbarrow and I am I spent.

This is not hyperbole. If there was another chunk of wood I had to deal with it was going to wait until next weekend. But I got it all in, and will feel it tomorrow. I know this because I feel it today.

Nearby, though, was this daring September dandelion, still vibrant and proud. One of those times when I needed to take a break, I pretended to study this guy.

But not too much, because by then I was feeling it and close examinations would have just required more effort.

The good news, though, is that I got it all done before we headed to campus, and the chore is behind me. Today, we had our new college launch. Last spring the old dean retired, the university took the opportunity to split our college into two chunks, with one side joining another existing college, and ours being merged into another. There’s probably more of a story there, but you don’t care. All of the alignments seem to make sense. Our new college is a monstrous thing. We’ll be the largest on campus before long. The new dean and the programs they have in place in this new college seem to be well received.

Hopefully everyone will have a good time. And we all did today at the new college launch. It was a big outdoor party. I saw the mascot. He took a selfie with my phone.

Low key owl, at least at events like that. They do a pretty nice job with the character on social media.

I went before the university SGA this evening. I serve on a committee that listens to, and talks with, the SGA. And so there I was, doing that tonight. There were four scheduled presenters. First was a woman who came to tell them of a new cybersecurity training module that is being rolled out to students. And when students do this training they’ll be eligible to win an iPad. The second presenter was the athletic director, who also brought along the football coach. They were flinging shirts around the large ballroom and hoping to get out the word that there’s going to be a big student party before this weekend’s football game. And there’s a chance for students to win $20,000. (Throw a Nerf football through a car’s sunroof from 40 yards …) The third person came up to talk about the new restaurants and food options on the rapidly growing campus.

To sum up, we’ve had a free iPad, a chance to win 20,000 bucks and food. Now here I come, to talk about … policy and process.

It was worth laughing at.

Maybe I should have asked the mascot if he could come along to that meeting.

Friday / photo — Comments Off
26
Sep 25

Happy Friday

We have a new art scheme on the front page. This is the general theme. I think we can use this one through autumn.

The photos are from a delightful little road I like to ride on from time to time. I’m sure you can understand the appeal. And it occurred to me that I could just ride through there every so often and take photos as the season progressed. We’ll see how it goes, and, for a time, enjoy the brilliant colors of the season.

When it gets down to sticks we’ll have to change it up again, but that’s not for a long time yet.

Right?

I was out wandering about in the southwestern part of the property and happened upon this white rose which is growing near one of the garden arches. I don’t think I knew we even had a white rose out there.

I’m not sure the white rose knew it was there, either. But it’s given a lovely early fall surprise to the yard, and so I suppose we should thank the previous owners for putting it there, or for the bird or wind that did the job.

It amuses me to still find and learn new things about the place. We’ve been here 27 months or so, and I just recently found that rose. (Maybe it was a bird or the breeze.) But there are still things to learn, little dents and divots to uncover in odd little corners to try to understand. A family of five lived here, and three of them spent their entire childhoods here. It’s a lovely thing to think that this mark or that scratch is a small part of some story, an accident they remember or don’t, a lasting scar from a beloved pet. Some things are just done for expediency, of course. And when you find them, you roll your eyes and wonder why. And then you wonder why you still haven’t found bags of cash they conveniently forgot when they moved out. Because they conveniently forgot one or two of those, right?

After all of this time, these sorts of discoveries are obviously smaller. But no less fun to think on.

So it probably was a bird or the breeze.

Whether you’re looking for birds, putting your nose in the breeze, or doing some other thing this weekend, I hope you have a good one. We’ll see you here Monday; maybe there will be something of substance coming our way in this space next week.

basketball / bluesky / photo / Rowan / Tuesday — Comments Off
23
Sep 25

The Good Time Blimp

It was a long day and a long night on campus. About 10 hours, in total, I think. I had two classes, of course. We talked about sports stories in the criticism class, of course. And in org comm we discussed branding, of course, which we’ll do for another two days, of course. When classes were over it was back to the office, where I did some work. And then we went over to one of the auditoriums for … well, you can see for yourself.

We were sitting some distance away, but in reserved VIP seats. Very Important Professors. The good seats went to our students, as it should be. Charles Barkley hasn’t played in the NBA in their lifetimes, but he’s still a hugely important sports figure locally, and nationally. Being on Inside the NBA doesn’t hurt that, nor does his huge personality.

The guy up there with him is one of of our faculty members, and an institution in local sports media. They go way back, and from time to time Barkley comes to share his wisdom and good humor. He was very generous with his time tonight. They started taking questions from two microphones on either side of the stage, this went on for a good long while, with young people nervously reading their questions from their phones for some reason. There was still no way that they were going to answer all of the questions, almost all of which is stuff Barkley probably fields a dozen times a week, but still, some of them were good, and the man has a way of making everyone feel welcome around him. As the time was drawing late, they said, we’ll just take one more, and Charles said, no no, how about we take three more questions from each side of the room, and that was another 20 or 25 minutes.

After that, there was the after-party, where you feel a bit like a hanger-on between the tables and the gladhanders and the oddly lit photo room and bar, and the more-than-reasonable food spread. Charles Barkley stood there and took pictures with everyone who wanted one. It’s not work, and he knows it, but they love him and he knows that, too. So it is work, and he’s gracious about it all. Tomorrow, he said, he has to fly to Atlanta to finally find out what his broadcast schedule will be for the upcoming season.

Anyway, I wrote some notes from his talk.

Sir Charles!

[image or embed]

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:15 PM

Says Inside the NBA will be different on the new platform, “for sure.”

Talks about post-game to studio pitches.

(The new format seems like a very in progress effort to Charles Barkley.)

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:17 PM

Says probably 200 Inside the NBA crew made the job. Keeping jobs in TV is a huge win.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:19 PM

Charles is bringing a blue collar work ethic to load management-oriented players.

He has thoughts on where the games will be aired and streamed, how fans are being left to figure that out.

He’s taking an adamant pro-fan stance,and is critical of these early days on the new platform, schedule-wise.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:23 PM

We’ve spent a lot, A LOT, of time on the showering-in-my-jersey story. One of the longtime Sixers guys is here and he confirmed the story.

So that’s settled.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:39 PM

He’s taking student questions. The first is about pushing through hard times.

“You have to make sure you just keep grinding. It ain’t good all the time, but it ain’t bad all the time … it’s always going to get better.”

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:46 PM

After a Shaq story he repeats the best advice he’s received.

You can’t make everyone happy. Says you’d go crazy trying.

And then cites a lesson he learned from football coach Herm Edwards: my last name is not my name; it’s my family’s name.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM

Can we get a Michael Jordan story?

{long pause}

“Michael Jordan’s nuts.”

Tells a 36-holes-of-golf story during the Dream Team run. MJ says he was covering the point guard.

Says he was sticking on him like it’s Game 7, screaming at the PG.

“He is going to win at all cost, no matter what.”

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM

A player asks for some on-court advice.

“Rebounding. Rebounding got me to college and the NBA.”

The coach is here, and the coach approved of that answer.

“People ask me what’s important — or offense or defense? I say, ‘Probably the ball.’”

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM

Talking about team chemistry. Says maybe five of his teams had great chemistry, because there are many agendas.

“Getting chemistry on a team is really hard. Same thing in the studio … we have to work with each other. It’s the same way on a team.”

Quotes Pat Riley: voluntary cooperation.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM

Gets asked if franchise segments from the old show will be on the new version.

He doesn’t know yet. (Production meetings are forthcoming, which is a good thing considering the season is rapidly approaching.)

Said they found about the fate of the show while golfing with some of the crew.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:08 PM

Charles talks about teachers, which is one of his favorite subjects. And he’s now naming his grade school teachers.

It’s a pretty special thing to be remember all those years later, I’d bet.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:11 PM

He does a riff about college, opportunity, cost and how we limit some people by design. I’d honestly rather get more of that than the next question about some famous funny bit from a chat he had on Inside the NBA. Where would you rather be?

(Yes, he drags Galveston. And then picks San Antonio.)

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM

“I love sports because sports has given me every single thing I have in my life.”

He lists his bucket list, sitting on the green monster, football at Notre Dame, Michigan … tells a story about playing two days of golf at Augusta National.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:24 PM

He gets asked about players being able to speak their minds — team and league policies, etc.

Charles: “Free speech is not free … Players have to be smart … I just feel a sadness.” He goes in on political leaders.

“I believe we’ve got more good people than bad people. They’re just louder.”

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM

Says Kevin McHale is the best player he played against.

Fanbases: “Philly, New York and Boston, they’re different. When they talk about your mama, they mean it.”

“I think east coast fans are most intense.”

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM

At the after-party, surrounded by brilliant scholars and talented educators, I talked volleyball and ChatGPT with our new dean. It felt just as natural as you’d imagine.