Two Options for a Revised NBA

This is my plan for NBA realignment. First, you eliminate six franchises. Right now, the talent level is too diluted and certain teams aren’t contributing enough to the NBA’s bottom line. For simplicity, I’ve taken away three teams from each conference. They are: Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Hornets, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.

Now, they are 24 teams in the new look NBA. The remaining teams remain in the same conference they are currently in. However, I’ve created two options for divisions. The first is a four division setup; two 6-team divisions in the east, and two 6-team divisions in the west.

We begin in the Eastern Conference.

Atlantic Division

1.      Boston Celtics

2.      Miami Heat

3.      New Jersey Nets

4.      New York Knicks

5.      Orlando Magic

6.      Philadelphia 76ers

Central Division

1.      Atlanta Hawks

2.      Chicago Bulls

3.      Cleveland Cavaliers

4.      Detroit Pistons

5.      Indiana Pacers

6.      Milwaukee Bucks

In the west, it would look like this:

Midwest Division

1.      Dallas Mavericks

2.      Houston Rockets

3.      Memphis Grizzlies

4.      Minnesota Timberwolves

5.      Oklahoma City Thunder

6.      San Antonio Spurs

Pacific Division

1.      Denver Nuggets

2.      Los Angeles Clippers

3.      Los Angeles Lakers

4.      Phoenix Suns

5.      Portland Trailblazers

6.      Utah Jazz

The playoff format for this setup would be very similar to the NFL. Six teams from each conference make the playoffs, with each division winner getting the top two seeds (based on record) and earning first round byes. The remaining four seeds would be won via record. The opening round would be a best of 5 games format, but the rest of the rounds would be best of 7 games still. I realize that scenarios would arise in which the 2^nd place team in the Central Division may have a better record than the winner of the Atlantic Division, but I want to reward division champs. Otherwise, why have them to begin with? Based on last year’s final standings, the playoff bracket would look like this:

Eastern Conference

4. Orlando Magic

                                                1. Chicago

5. Atlanta Hawks

3. Boston

                                                2. Miami Heat

6.New York Knicks

You can see, obviously, the Bulls and the Heat would have the first round byes. Chicago would await the winner of the Hawks/Magic series, while the Heat would face the winner of the Celtics/Knicks series. From there, the playoffs would advance on as normal.

The West bracket would’ve looked like this:

4. Oklahoma City

                                                            1. San Antonio Spurs

5. Denver Nuggets

3. Dallas Mavericks

                                                            2. Los Angeles Lakers

6.Portland Trailblazers

Again, you can see the Spurs and the Lakers have first round byes. Who knows how last year’s playoffs would’ve been different if the league would’ve rewarded those two teams for their regular season play and given their aging legs byes? Hard to tell, but it might’ve been totally different.

The benefit of rewarding teams with first round playoff byes, is, it immediately makes the regular season more meaningful. The league needs more fans. Making the regular season meaningful (like the most popular sports in America do, i.e. NFL, College Football) would be a start.

The second option I came up with for setting up divisions was this: 6 divisions with 4 teams in each, with three divisions in each conference. The playoffs would be run roughly the same way. The two division winners with the best records would receive first round byes, and the 3^rd division winner would be locked in to the three seed. From there, teams 4, 5 and 6 would be seeded based on record. Again, a situation may arise where the 2^nd place team from division A would have a better record than the first place team from division B, but I still like the idea of rewarding division winners (though I’m not totally married to it). Using this format, the league layout would look like the following.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics

New Jersey Nets

New York Knicks

Philadelphia 76ers

Central Division

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Detroit Pistons

Milwaukee Bucks

Southeast Division

Atlanta Hawks

Indiana Pacers

Miami Heat

Orlando Magic

Western Conference

Midwest Division

Houston Rockets

Memphis Grizzlies

Minnesota Timberwolves

Oklahoma City Thunder

Big Sky Division

Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets

San Antonio Spurs

Utah Jazz

Pacific Division

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

Phoenix Suns

Portland Trailblazers

The playoff bracket would look slightly different using this division format, though only slightly. First in the Eastern Conference:

4. Orlando Magic

1.      Chicago Bulls

5. Atlanta Hawks

3.Boston Celtics

2.      Miami Heat

6.New York Knicks

As you can see, the bracket looks exactly the same in the East. It’s in the West playoffs where the subtle change would take place.

4.Dallas Mavericks

1.      San Antonio Spurs

5. Denver Nuggets

3.Oklahoma City Thunder

2.      Los Angeles Lakers

6.Portland Trailblazers

The Western bracket under this format, we would have the scenario where, while the Mavericks have a better record than Oklahoma City, OKC earns the higher seed because they would’ve won their hypothetical division.

Now, I know that, especially in the 6 division setup, there could be an argument made that some divisions are much more difficult than others. Really, I can see one division where teams, as currently constructed are weaker, with a very strong team at the top, thus giving them an easier route to a division title. However, in this hypothetical NBA, there would be a draft where the remaining 24 teams would draft players from the folded franchises, similar to an expansion draft, only it’s a de-expansion draft. A supplemental draft of sorts. Teams would draft in order of record from the previous season, much like the normal NBA draft, only there would be no “lottery” drawing. Draft choices would be straight up, in order, based on previous year record.

Scheduling would have to change some, especially in the 6 division format, but I haven’t given a whole lot of thought to that, and really the scheduling concept would be basically the same. Overall, I think an idea like one of the two of these would be very good for the NBA. Talent would be a little more consolidated, “bottom feeders” would be more competitive giving the league more competitive balance which it wants so dearly, and it eliminates teams that aren’t giving much in the way of revenue. The playoff format rewards regular season success, and gives teams something to REALLY playoff for during the regular season. More casual fans would tune in to watch NBA games if the regular season had more meaning to it, and that, too, would lead to more dollars.

Anyway, this was just an idea I had at work. Lemme know what you think.

Thought Provoking Question

I've been at my job for nearly two months now. It's been a nice opportunity for me, it helps grow my resume, I've met new people and am making more a generous amount of money here. The sales world is a different world. It's very high risk, high reward. You have the opportunity to advance quickly, or to be fired quickly, so naturally, there's a lot of turnover. While I have no fear of losing my job, I know that a couple of bad months, things can turn very quickly. Overall, it's a good expierence.

However, it is monoutonous.

At my last job, there was always something different. Each day provided a new, often unique opportunity. I got to meet a ton of people from a variety of places and backgrounds, and dive head long into interesting and exciting subjects. Here, not so. I talk to different people every day, but only on the phone. There's no real connection. I talk to over a hundred people, but all I'm doing is trying to get them to upgrade something that they may or may not want to do. It's true, I love to talk, but my personality is not fit for this. That's why a question asked me by my cousin yesterday bothered me so much.

"So, you think this will be a good career for you then?"

Whoa. The thought that I could be doing this long term had never entered my mind. But why not? After all, I am a 23 year old guy that has yet to finish his degree, and can never seem to make up his mind on what it is exactly that I want to pursue. By this point, most people would be having jobs and careers, so my cousins question was natural. However, am I supposed to settle just because I made some mistakes in college, than setbecks that piled on, on top of that? I would love to go back to the fall of my sophmore year at Mizzou and change the way I thought about academics and focus on school more, but I can't. All of us have made mistakes, but not a one of us can go back and change them. We have to make the best of it and learn from them so we don't repeat the same sort of thing down the road.

Still, I'm not going to settle for this. Look at the things I love: Music, history, sports, etc. With all of them, there's something new. Something different everyday to look forward to. I love working with all sorts of people, but not talking to them on the phone, when in reality, they probably don't want to be talking to me. So yeah, while the job is OK for now, I'm getting paid well and being able to get some quality work expeirence, this isn't going to be where I stop. It can't be. I believe God gave me the gifts that he did to use, not to sit on. All this job is doing is bridging the gap to where I'm going next. You bet I plan on finishing school, I just have to find exactly what my niche is, that best utilizes my gifts, and that is also benefical to other people.

So, what I'm saying is, this is just one more stop on the path. I'm eager to find and learn what God's long term plan for me is, I just haven't found it yet. I do know that I can't wait to get started on it, though. I've wondered around long enough. It's time to start listening and learning, and eventually, doing.

An Ode To The Missouri State Museum- The Place of My Employment the Last Four Years

Tomorrow is my last day at a job that I've worked for nearly four years. I worked at the State Capitol for the Missouri State Museum, which is a State Historic Site, and therefore a part of Missouri State Parks.  Outside of work, it was without a doubt in my mind, the most up and down four years that I have ever went through in my life. The job itself, however, well, there is not a better job I could've asked to work during that period.

I started just working weekends while I was in school, and then, as things turned south in that realm, I was able to work more steadily there. It could at times be a very rewarding job, but other days, it could be incredibly boring. I built a lot of relationships and made a lot of connections that I hope will stay with me for a long time.

My duties started out as just a simple tour guide, giving tours of the Capitol to whoever desired one. Sometimes the tours were awful, if I had an un-interested group. When a group was interested, the conversation and content of the tour could be taken to a new level. Sometimes, they were difficult to give, like when I gave one to a group of students from Iceland. The communication barrier was tough, but I made myself speak slower and listen closer and made it through. The longer my tenure extended, I was able to enjoy a wider amount of tasks. This could include anything from helping with research for exhibits or up coming programs, to actually helping to give the program, or, finally give one on my own. On a few occasions I was even able to use my musical abilities as a part of the job, which always turned out to be extremely fun.

Without fail, the legislative session provided a chance to meet all sorts of people. It was far and away the busiest and loudest time of the year, but it always kept me on my toes. Of course, being a guy, I was always drawn to the female interns who would flood the building from January until May. Talking everyday with Senators, representatives, lobbyists, folks coming in to try and talk to the rep for their district, and even every now and then, getting to hear the Governor (be it Gov. Blunt or  Gov. Nixon) speak at rallies and events inside and outside the building made each day always interesting.

Of course, what pushed the months of the Session over the top, were the 4th graders that poured into the capitol on a daily basis in March, April and May. We would be busy giving groups tours that went out every 20 minutes all day long, and lasted an hour each time. I personally loved getting to talk to the kids. I tried, and think, on most accounts at least, succeeded in making the story of Missouri's history interesting and fun. If I could make them laugh and learn something at the same time, then I had done my job. Thousands of students come into the building during the week during those months, and it's our job to make sure we do our jobs right, teach them something and compliment the Missouri history unit that's required for each 4th grade class in the state.

While I truly enjoyed each group of school kids, be it the 4th graders, or middle schoolers (with whom I would banter constantly) or the occasional High School group (again, banter, to keep it interesting), I was most in my element talking to, giving a program to, or giving a tour to the college students and history buffs who come in with a deep interest in learning or learning more about Missouri and or Jefferson City and the Capitol. With these groups, I felt I could be more detailed and use my ever growing knowledge and love of history to make their trip seem worthwhile. I loved the conversation that would most of the time ensue at the end of a tour or program, when someone would want to know a little more about a topic I had already touched on. I'm a very proud Missourian and Jefferson Citian, and I hope I never let a time slip away when I could've have showed someone just how interesting and wonderful both of those places are.

Looking back on it all, the most rewarding part of the job, though, was not the low-stress level, the multiple times of discussing history and teaching students and the public, or even the wide range of people I got to meet. Those were all fantastic things, don't get me wrong, but at the end of the day, it was the relationship I formed with my co-workers. The Museum staff is a pretty tight bunch of people, and it takes a little bit to get used to everyone and their quirks, but I've never worked for and with a more enjoyable group of people. I've formed some tight bonds with them that I hope will continue, even as I leave for "greener" pastures. I loved the laid back atmosphere and the wide range of topics we'd all discuss during the day from sports to music to movies to everything. The people there always made the job fun. While I doubt any of them will ever see this post, I still can't express enough how wonderful everyone was during my time there. There are a lot of hilarious tales I could tell of the antics that went on during the work day, but I won't get into those. What I do know, is that my time at the Museum was fantastic, and among the only steady things I had in my life the last four years. I gained valuable experience and many friendships, and it is kind of sad leaving. But, hey. I'm only gonna be working two blocks away, so I'm sure to run into folks downtown over lunch and what not.

So there you have it. Just a few of the emotions running through my head before my last day of work in the morning. Not everyone is lucky enough to work in what the USA Today calls the "3rd most beautiful capitol building in the country." I've been blessed to work there with great people the last four years, but it's time to move on, to what hopefully will turn out to be bigger and better things. I will always remember fondly though, my time working with the wonderful people at the Missouri State Museum in the Capitol.

St. Louis Cardinals All-Time Team

This post is inspired by a conversation I had with some friends at Chilis following our softball game last Monday night. We were discussing who you would put on the all-time St. Louis Cardinals team. There was a little bit of discussion before the conversation died out, but I kept thinking about it. On this list, there was really only one close call, maybe two, but anyway, here's what I came up with. So without further adieu, here is the Seth Maberry version of the all-time St. Louis Cardinals.

LF- Lou Brock
2B- Rogers Hornsby
RF- Stan Musial
1B- Albert Pujols
CF- Jim Edmonds
3B- Ken Boyer
C- Ted Simmons
SS- Ozzie Smith
SP- Bob Gibson

Closer: Jason Isringhausen
Manager: Tony LaRussa

Feel free to Tweet at me your disagreements, or players you think I omitted, and what not. The closest call for me, was between Jim Edmonds and Curt Flood in center. Flood was in St. Louis a little longer, and had a higher batting average in the 12 years he played for the Cards. However, Edmonds' On-Base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS put him over the top. He also out-homered Flood 241-84. They both were good defenders, but Edmonds never slipped and fell during a world series game, and he's won more gold gloves, so at the end of the day, Edmonds was who I felt should be in Center field for the Cards, on the all-time team.

Now, the other close call was at third base, with Ken Boyer finally getting the nod. When you look at the stats between Boyer and Scott Rolen, Rolen has the better numbers in a lot of cases, and all things considered was a better defender (though Boyer won five gold gloves). But, Boyer spent 11 years in St. Louis and to my knowledge never got into a dispute with the manager. I'm sure there's some sabermeticians out there that will tell me that Rolen should be the guy, but Boyer, a Missourian, I felt like deserved the nod out of loyalty, fan popularity, and at the end of the day, Ken Boyer only helps your baseball team.

It was a tough call between LaRussa and Whitey Herzog for manager, and I dunno if it was the fact the LaRussa has been manager the vast majority of my fanhood or what, but the success of Tony's teams is hard to argue with. Sure, you woulda liked a few more of those post-season runs to end with pennants or titles, but, still, it's hard to win it all in baseball, and LaRussa has been very good and given the club everything he's got. He's way to often criticized and I think when he finally hangs up his jersey, he'll be viewed as the best manager in club history.

The rest of the team I felt like were pretty obvious selections. Hornsby, Musial and Pujols are probably the three best position players in the history of the Franchise, and Gibson the best pitcher. If somebody forced me to pick another starter, Dizzy Dean would be next on my list, but Gibby was definitely the better pitcher. I feel like Jack Buck and Mike Shannon deserve some recognition as the guys I would want calling the games of this all-time team, and both guys were/are tremendous talents behind the mic and I have a ton of respect for both. When you come up with an all-time team, people will always be upset of certain players not listed, maybe a guy from they're childhood that isn't quite as good as the guy listed, but a guy they always really liked. These are guys like Tim McCarver, Tommy Herr, Bob Forsch, Ken Reitz, Julian Javier, Joaquin Andujar, Terry Pendleton, Fernando Vina, Jessie Haines, Mort Cooper, etc. All those guys brought a lot to the table and contributed to the franchise in great ways, but didn't make the cut.

So anyway, with apologies to a few players here and there, this is my all time St. Louis Cardinals team. But again, fill free to give me feedback as to who should or shouldn't be on the list and such. As Cardinals fans, we have been blessed through the decades to watch a lot of great players, and a lot of great teams, so there are gonna be good guys that get left of this list. This one, however, is the one that I think comes the closest.

Mount Pisagh, Sweet Hour of Prayer, and C.W. McCall

First off, congrats to the Dallas Mavericks. After what's been a pretty fun NBA Finals, they beat Miami on the Heat's home floor tonight to win the title in 6 games. Many of you know I was rooting for Dallas, not because I like them or anything like that, but because I really dislike the Heat. So thank you for providing a very entertaining series and coming out on top.

Now, on to the point of this post. This is going to seem really random, or maybe funny depending on who you are, but this post is based around one Bible passage, two songs, and how they distracted me during church today. Deuteronomy 34 is a pretty cool passage. It's where Moses gets taken to the top of the Mountain and first sees The Promised Land. God tells him he himself will never get to cross over into it, but that his descendants will. Moses then dies, and the scripture leads us to believe that God himself buried Moses in the plains of Moab. Now, the name of the mountain that Moses ascends to view The Promised Land is, depending on the translation/translator, either Mount Pisgah or Mount Nebo. For my purposes here, we're going to stick with Pisgah. Now this isn't some theology lesson or anything like that, so just hang with me here.

During church today, we sang "Sweet Hour Of Prayer". It's an old hymn and a good one. The last verse of that hymn refers to Mount Pisgah. To quote the verse:

Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour of prayer
May I Thy consolation share,
Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height
I view my home and take my flight.
This robe and flesh I'll drop and rise
To seize the everlasting prize,
And shout while passing through the air,
"Farewell, farewll sweet hour of prayer.

Pretty cool verse, right? It of course makes reference to the same passage of scripture in Deuteronomy regarding Moses. Now, as I sat in my pew during the sermon today, I kept thinking of that line, "Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height", over and over again. I knew I had heard a reference to Pisgah in another song. Of course, me being me, this distracted me the majority of the service, then the majority of the day and so on and so forth. Then, I got it! It's mentioned in an old country song as the name of a town. The song?  "The Old Home and Filler Up and Keep On A Truckin' Cafe" by C.W. McCall. Many of you probably don't know who C.W. McCall is, let alone the song, but he's a great artist with hilarious songs, and this one is one of them. The verse in this case, however, goes like this:

She allowed as how it sounded like a whole lot of fun,
But we was gonna have to wait until the dishes were done.
And was it alright with me if she brought along her mother as a chaperone.
I said why not.
Well we geared that Tranny (not in the sexual sense) into super low and the four of us went to see a picture show
Yeah, I took 'em to the drive-in theatre over by Pisgah to see "True Grit"


Obviously, since his songs always tell a story, there's a lot of explanation needed as to how the song got to that point, but I'm not going to provide that. I'll let this link do that: "Old Home Filler Up and Keep On a Truckin"

Is there a point to this blog? Not really. By the way, Pisgah is a real town in Iowa, and the same town referred to in the song by McCall. He has a tendency to refer to little known, real places in his songs. Anyway, there really isn't a point, other than I thought it was pretty funny the contrast in songs that Pisgah is referred to in, from a beautiful, thoughtful, powerful hymn to a funny country song. And that it drove me nuts all day as to where I'd heard Pisgah before. Anyway, that's pretty much it. If you hung with the story this long, I'm sorry. Unless it turns out you've never heard one or the other, or both of these songs before and I've turned you onto something. If that's the case, you're welcome. Anyway, I guess the Bible has a pretty far reaching influence if it ended up in a C.W. McCall song.

Float Trips, NBA Finals and Jobs...Oh My?!?!

I'm sitting here watching the St. Louis Cardinals get no hit through six innings by Houston Astros pitcher, Bud Norris. Norris has been a thorn in the Cardinals side the last couple of seasons, but it had appeared the Cards had begun to figure him out. Apparently I was wrong. This has just been an all around frustrating baseball game; the most frustrating of this season for me personally, since the 'Birds took a lead into the 9th against the San Francisco Giants and eventually lost in extra innings. Basically, I'm writing this to take my mind off the frustration going on in front of me.

I'm very much looking forward to the weekend and the float trip my friends and I have planned down on the Current River. I do hope the weather forecast for down there changes between now and then. As of now, there's a 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms and a high of 82. Being on the Current, I'd like the temp to be a little warmer than 82. Like 92. Or higher. I could do without the thunderstorms as well. Hopefully this will be another time the good meteorologists are wrong. Anyway, I love floating. I love going at a leisurely pace down stream, maybe taking some time for a little fishing, swimming, etc. So much fun. It's an excellent way to spend a day and just getting away from the "grind" so to speak (not that I have much of a grind, but you get the point).

Lance Berkman goes yard! Cards on the board, and the no hitter is gone! Atta boy Puma! Now if we can figure out a way to get a few more runs between now and the end of the ballgame...

A brief word on the NBA Finals, I'm rooting for Dallas. I haven't really in the past gotten along with Texans (for reasons I will not get into on this blog), though it's not like I've met a whole lot of them. Just most of them seem to have an inflated opinion of themselves, their state, their teams, among other things. And, on top of that, most sports "fans" I've met from Texas rarely watch their "teams" play until playoff or title time. Anyway, moving along, I'm still pulling for the Mavs. Why? I don't like LeBron James. I don't like "the trio". I hate the LBJ and MJ comparisons. Just drop it. Jordan was better, and when James retires, Jordan will still be viewed as the better player. I've said it before, I feel like James should've wanted to beat Dwayne Wade as opposed to join him. I know Jordan would've wanted to. Look at his career; he did wanna kick the butt of the other stars. And for the most part did. So yeah, I don't like Miami's joining of forces and I hope they get beat by Dallas. In the future, I hope some team in the East (the Bulls preferably) keep Miami from ever getting back to the finals. We'll see. This is mostly dislike talking now, so I'll stop it.

Final note, I have two job interviews coming up next week. They both seem to be good opportunities and I hope I end up with at least one of them. Does that mean I've given up my dream of finishing school? Not at all, I'll just have to reshuffle the way I have gone about things. But anyway, that's all for now. Gonna go back to watching this frustrating baseball game...

More Mabesian Ramblings

So, I’m sitting here at work, not really doing much of anything except waiting on a group of Students from Sherwood Elementary school in Springfield to show up so I can talk to them briefly. I still don’t think I’ve caught up on sleep from the weekend, and I stayed up late again last night due to an extra inning Cardinals game, followed by the browsing of music on YouTube. Hopefully, my lack of desire to be here won’t hinder my ability to at least teach these 4^th graders just a little something.

I’ve started a new medicine to (hopefully) correct the minor problem there seems to be on the right side of the brain, which could be causing my seizures. I’ll just have to wait and see whether or not this new stuff actually works. This is actually the first Thursday in a month that I won’t be going to St. Louis. The first three were for doctor visits at Barnes-Jewish, and then of course, last week for the infamous bachelor party. Even though I’m at work, it feels good knowing that I won’t have to bolt this afternoon for another appointment. I just can’t emphasize enough how badly and desperately I want this seizure problem to go away. I feel like there’s so much more for me to do out there in the world, then to sit in an office in Jefferson City, Missouri and talk to 4^th graders about various aspects of our state’s history. Oh sure, I love history, but watering it down for 4^th graders isn’t exactly my cup of tea. I badly want to finish school and go on to bigger and better things, because I am 100% certain that God didn’t put me on this earth for what I’m doing now. I just have to figure out exactly what that reason is. From a personal standpoint, I would love to live in someplace like Nashville, TN or Austin, TX for a little while, and just wet my feet in the music business. Maybe it would work out and maybe it wouldn’t, but I badly want the experience, if nothing else. At the end of the day though, I still find myself struggling with what it is that I want to do. I like and have a passion for so many different things, and I know all of those things could lead me to so many different places, I just want to know what it is that I want to do/should be doing.  This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy aspects of my job at the Capitol, or that I haven’t enjoyed the experience of being the music director at a church, because I have. What I am saying is that I don’t want to get stuck here. I want something more. I just don’t know what that “something” is, and it drives me crazy. I constantly feel like am just spinning my tires and that one day isn’t any different than the next, and in the end I feel like that if something doesn’t change quickly, I’ll be stuck here doing the same thing forever. I don’t want that. Not that I don’t like Jeff City or Mid-Missouri, because I do. If my passion or eventual career keeps me hear, that’s fine. I love the area and I love the state. However, it still doesn’t stop me for yearning for something more.

Side note, it’s now 11:38 AM, and the kids were supposed to be here at 11:30. No phone call yet, though if I had to bet, I’d say they’re not going to show up. They’re the only thing on my schedule all day, so if they don’t show, I’ll just end up sitting here reading and playing solitaire. Wait….I hear voices outside. It is a teacher giving orders. Going to put this on hold for a while.

Ok, well that actually went surprisingly well. They were a well-behaved group of kids, but that was probably partially due to the fact that they’ve already tromped around half of Jeff City and had a capitol tour and a governor’s mansion tour and appeared to be pretty tuckered out. But, I think they learned a few things. Anyway, back to the point I was trying to make a couple of paragraphs ago, I guess I just need to be patient and pray, and hopefully, if I do that, the right answer regarding what I need to do or what I’m supposed to do or what I want to do, or a combination of the three will eventually show up. I just know I do have goals and dreams that only a few years ago seemed very close or at least very attainable, and now seem farther away then at any point in my life. A career that I love, a wife, etc, all of those things seem far away; but again, patience and prayer. In the meantime, I’ll continue to work here in good ‘ol JC and work towards finishing school until the right doors begin to open up, and, hopefully, the seizures stop happening (because not driving sucks…and having seizures sucks).

Also, as of today, I’m going to begin work on another goal. It’s called “Get Back To The Size I Was When I Started College”, or at least really close. For real. I’m going to make sure this attempt lasts longer than a couple of weeks. There was no reason for this to get this out of control in the first place, and I’m going to make sure it ends. I’ll count on my friends to help rather than hinder this effort…

I’d probably better get back to actually “working” now. Maybe I can go fishing tonight. Speaking of night, that Cards game last night was really frustrating. I hate taking a lead into the 9^th inning, blowing it, then losing in extras. That’s what happened last night. Salas had been nails until last night, so I guess he was going to blow a save at one point or another. Even Rivera does that from time to time. Hopefully we can rebound tonight in the finale of this 4 game series against the Giants. Anyway, that’s all the “Mabesian Thoughts” running through my head for the time being. So, yeah real work time.

Ramblings of "The Mabes"

So, I haven't posted in a while. Like since 2010. And, a lot has happened since then, but no need to go into great detail about that, because most of the folks that are gonna be reading this (if there are any) are probably well aware of what events have transpired in the world of sports, news, and the world of Mabes since my last post. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what I'm going to write about in this post. I guess just to hear the sound of the keys as I type, and to make sure that "Mabesian Thoughts" still lives. I don't know.

One thing, I had a fantastic weekend down in Desloge, Missouri, to witness the wedding of one of my best friends, Mr. Nathan Yount to his wonderful bride, Brittney (formerly Victory, or Victoria if you prefer) Yount. I guess it actually started Thursday night in St. Louis with the Bachelor party which most of us in the groom party took part in, except for Barron, who was away in Springfield, pretending to do work instead of being at Yount's final event as a single man. I kid of course. Kind of. Anyway, we watched the Cardinals Single A affiliate, the Quad City River Bandits take on the Royals A ball affiliate, the Kane County Cougars, at Busch Stadium. There were half price concessions and drinks and one of the Redbirds top prospects, Carlos Martinez, was pitching. Only, I didn't get to see him pitch, due to, we'll say a delay, in the group that I was riding with getting to St. Louis. Oh well though. It still turned out to be a fun, though "odorous" night. And this is where the Bachelor Party story ends...

All in all, great weekend, beautiful wedding, and a good time to be with friends.

Another thing, I encourage everyone to check out a YouTube video of a bluegrass group called "Wild Oats". They're based out of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and at one time were the opening act at the Dixie Land Stampede there. Very underrated, overly talented group. There's two videos and they play a medley of songs in each and it's fantastic. Very fun to listen to. The fiddle and banjo players are incredible.

While on the subject of music, I've decided recently that the most talented country music vocalist, male vocalist, is Vince Gill. I'm not saying he's my favorite (George Strait is my favorite Country artist...by far), but man can that guy sing. His range is pretty dang good for a country singer, and the high notes that he hits are so smooth and if you watch him, you can tell he's not straining at all. When he teams with Patty Loveless, it's among my favorite country music combos ever. Do yourself a favor and listen to the two of them sing together sometime. You will not regret it, provided you are a country music fan.

Well, I think I'm gonna wrap this up. The cicadas are making me lose concentration. Aren't those things insane? Nuts. I was in the shower this morning with the fan on, water running full blast, the AC was on in the house, TV on in the living room and I could still hear them plain as day. Luckily they're only out every 12 or 13 years (I can never remember). I squish all the ones that I see, and ran over a few with the push mower while mowing the yard today, and I'm sure some biologist out there would tell me why that's bad, and why we need the 13 year cicadas to sustain human life on earth, but I couldn't care less. Oh well.

Glad the Cardinals are playing well. They are in 1st place in the NL Central entering play tonight against the SF Giants. I'm ready for the 'Birds to get back in the playoffs. Need it. Should be a fun summer around here if the Cards either stay in the race, or run away with it like a well oiled machine. Combine that with the floating trips, camping trips and other little things planned, it should be another fun summer in Mid-Missouri. Can't wait to hit the river on the 11th with my friends. Should be a fun time. Hopefully the weather is nice and hot so the water will feel nice. Ok, done for sure now. Hopefully I'll update between now and 2012 this time...