Mascots

The NCAA is making the University of North Dakota change its mascot, the Fighting Sioux unless two specific tribes in North Dakota vote in favor of keeping it. Last I heard, one tribe had voted in favor of the nickname and another was deadlocked. Personally, I see both sides of the issue. I can understand how the Sioux tribes don’t want the connotation of ‘fighting’ attached to their name and I have never thought of the Fighting Sioux mascot as negative. However I am not Native American (my wife is) so I can’t claim to fully understand the feelings involved. The only similar situation I can compare to would be the Vikings and people of Scandanavian descent. If one were to read about the historical Vikings you would come to learn they weren’t exactly role models for how to live your life in today’s society. In college I took an African-American culture class and one of the lectures had to do with the negative portrayals of African-Americans in advertising, everything from Uncle Ben’s Rice to Aunt Jamima (the syrup, spell check didn't have this word). Until that time, I didn’t think of those images as derogatory because I didn’t know/understand/realize how this was stereotyping a particular culture. As with the African-American’s in advertising, the term Fighting Sioux may certainly be a misrepresentation of Sioux Native Americans (I don’t remember my Native American History). If this is the case, then the University of North Dakota should change the mascot. However, as someone who attended UND, I would rather it somehow be possible to retain the name. The more I think about it, a mascot that represents a university and is in some way derogatory towards a group of people is almost frightening if you think about it.




Tragedies:

At different points in our lives, tragedies have affected us all, sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.

I’m reminded of tragedies every day when I drive home from work on Highway 3.

A friend of mine has a daughter who recently tried to commit suicide. All I could do when I saw him was to tell him I felt I needed to give him a hug.

Tragedies happen at LBSA in various forms from time to time. My thoughts and prayers goes out to the people affected by the most recent tragedy.

video games

I was going to publish a post about why the video games listed are in my top ten list but quite frankly, it would bore most of you to tears.  I would be happy to have a short discussion with anyone who might be interested in hearing my reasons. 

Bits and Pieces of Stuff

I was watching a documentary about Hank Gathers the other day.  Hank was a college basketball player for Loyola Marimount in the early 90's.  He was the last player to lead the nation in both scoring and rebounding.  The show had talked about how a complete basketball player he was, except for shooting free throws.  In hopes to improve this, he decided before the season started that he was going to shoot all free throws left handed, which is unheard of. 
During his last year in college he collapsed during a game.  After being examined by doctor's it was determined that he had a heart condition.  He started taking medication but he had said it made him feel sluggish and it affected his game.  He took himself off of the medication and a short time later he collapsed during another game and died a few hours later. 
His childhood friend Bo Kimble also attended the same school and was also on the basketball team.  In tribute to his friend Hank, during the NCAA tournament, Bo shot free throws left handed.  Hank's brother was interviewed for the documentary and he said that when Bo shot his first free throw, grown men were crying like babies. 
The level of sacrifice Bo showed to his fallen friend and teammate goes far deeper then scoring points and winning. 



Fate:

My second year of college, I was walking to a class questioning what I was going to do with my life.  I was majoring in public relations and didn't see myself fitting into the corporate world.  As I'm walking up the stairs I see a sign that said, "Social Work Department."  I knew right there what I wanted to do with my life. 

I transferred schools and began taking social work classes.  One of my professiors was tough as nails but really pushed her students to learn.  She also made you think about stuff, made you examine your own opinions and question if what you would be doing is in the best interest of your clients.  On top of that she was hilarious and I always thought she should be doing stand up comedy. 

Some of you may have read my blog I wrote about ADHD a while ago.  She was the instructor who encouraged me to finally get tested, so for that I am always grateful.

The other day, I'm typing away at my desk and I thought of her.  I'm not sure why.  I did an internet search and got her email address and emailed her thanking her for some of the things I mentioned above.  This is the response I got, "What a day brightener! It couldn’t have come at a more needed time. My middle daughter was killed in a car/pedestrian accident two weeks ago, and it is a little hard to be at work. But it helps to know that perhaps what I do matters in the long term. Thank you more than you can know."

I'm not sure why I saw the Social Work Department sign when I did, not am I sure why I thought of a professor I hadn't seen or heard from in many many years.  In both cases, to me it doesn't matter why, I'm just glad it did.