The Montana Class B State Finals

Yes, my beloved Mustangs won the Northern Divisional tournament and qualified for state. Oh, here's the good part. It's right here in Bozeman. The 3M Company (Mighty Malta Mustangs, three m's, get it?) open with Whitehall tomorrow at 2 PM.  It's a good team. Not overly tall but very athletic.  They beat Fairfield for the divisional title. Fairfield and Malta have a huge rivalry but I'll touch on that more next week when the state class B girls tournament is in full tilt.

Whitehall is streaky. They match up well with Mustangs size wise. Malta plays tremendous man-to-man defense with a lot of pressure. They held Fairfield's stud to 1-14 from the floor last week. Malta is well coached by Dave C.  from Saco (down the road about 30 miles and drank a lot of beer with him in the softball days) and Tom who attended MHS with me. Good guy but didn't graduated in 1981 (and 83er, his cross to bear, or is it bare? Damn it. The English language can be so confusing. Why did, or I should say "how", did I minor in it?) but Tom is a good man. His younger brother Jim is a great friend and loves to spend money with me. Which brings me to my next story.

Jim lives in Big Timber. It's 55 miles east of Bozeman. The Mustangs practiced there tonight. Jim texted his boys in BT the following "Hey, make sure there is a nice safety ladder available at the Herder Gym. The Mustangs will probably cut the nets down after practice."  Just classic.  I called Jim when I got the text. "Jim, you made me laugh my ass off!"  Jim says "Chipper, the people in Big Timber hate Malta because Randy (another Malta boy) and I always are telling them how great it is."

Let's hope that Malta can hoist another state championship banner this weekend and follow it up again with a girl's title in Hamilton. And yes, I'll be there for that as well.

Sorry to bore you. I just love Malta.

Just a word

Life in the Gallatin Valley is good.  It's been an easy winter. No snow to speak of at all. As a matter of fact, in my 24 years of living in Bozeman this has been the most gentle winter I can remember.  I'm not bitching a lick.

Making my way through the Titan process and doing well.  Of all the companies that my ex-boss could have sold out to, I do think he picked a good one.

Ralph is still having a time of coming to terms with me not just punishing him at the alumni tournament 25+ years ago. He really didn't cry when we got our tattoos. It was more of a soft whimper. His pain threshhold is very minimal. Except when he slugs a wall and breaks his hand. Which he has done to death. Hand pain - good.

Life is life. It deals the cards. Play them well. Bluffing is for sissies who can't or don't know what to do.

I'll be here all week.

In memory

The Prodigy just called to me to tell me that Whitney Houston died.  I loved Whitney.  Her voice, her beauty.  I remember the first time I heard "Saving All My Love" on VH1.  I went out and bought her debut album. The love affair was born. I know I'm a Diane Lane guy, but Whitney was right there for years. My friend Sally Jane bought me a Whitney calendar for my birthday one year and I never took it down. When TP was living with me, he remarked that it was out of date and he commented on it again tonight.

When she married Bobby Brown I knew the downward spiral was about to begin. She never made anything worth listening to after that.

She was so beautiful and her voice was amazing.

I just posted about turning 49 and how it isn't old. Whitney was 48.

Here's a few of my favorites.

Random thoughts #25

Things that crossed my mind while thinking about my last year in the fourties. Hey, at least it's leap year so I get 366 until the half century mark.

1) At my 40th, I remember telling Ralph. "We've spent the first 40 thinking we are immortal.  We need to figure out in the next 40 how to make that happen."

2) I'm sure we all remember when we thought 49 was old.  Now that I'm there and staring at 50 I don't feel bad at all. I haven't been to the gym in a while but need to get back there (we haven't had any snow so there has been no point in getting into shape to ride sleds).  And I have been really thinking about wanting to run a 5K.  Then I stop and say to myself "why in the hell would you want to do that?"  I'd probably tear an ACL or do something that wouldn't let me play golf for the rest of the year.  To hell with that.  I'm still going to get back in the gym, but not going to race anyone.  Unless it's the Malta boys for who gets to 50 first. In that case, I win.

What did you do today?

Just a question. I went to work. Lived life, that I love. I love my job and most of the people I work with do a great job. The others, meh, average. They could pick it up. I'm old school, a taskmaster. But  a gentle one, I try to show them where they could do better. That my expectations are high, not only for them, but for myself. I was born 100 years to late. The good thing about that is that I would be dead by now and I'm not. Still muddling through.

No worries. The bills are paid. Money in the bank, a good job. And the best friends a man could have. More on that at another time I suppose. Maybe not. I'll probably forget.

So true

Enjoy your Sunday kids.

I don't get it

Don Cornelius, the host of Soul Train for a gazillion years, took his own life Tuesday.  I don't understand suicide.  Despite how bad it could ever be, why would anyone choose to end this gift? Life is so short. Maybe, and I mean maybe, if you are terminal I can possibly see it. If your wife leaves you, if you're bankrupt, if your best girl starts sleeping with someone else...none are good enough to end it all.

I shoot for a great pool team. They are awesome men.  I used to shoot against them, they were always my favorite team to shoot against. I shoot for them because their team captain, a man I knew and considered a friend, took his own life. I still can't grasp as to why.

I work with a man whose brother killed himself a few years ago and he has never been the same. He doesn't laugh as much.

A couple of weeks ago, I sent a bunch of videos of The Spinners to Ralph and Delmer (I spared you, my beloved followers, you're welcome) a couple were from Soul Train.

I guess I could kill myself under extreme duress. Maybe a bunch of Islamo Fascists were going to take me hostage and cut off my own head. Something like that. Otherwise, not matter what happens, there is no way I would.

 Here's a Don Cornelius tribute. "Peace and Soul." RIP

Here are The Spinners on Soul Train singing "I'll be around".  Like Sister told me when Rod died, "it's a permanent solution to a temporary problem."

 I have no labels for this. And I don't want any.

A good argument point.

I don't particularly care for liberals. Not in the least. So here's the deal (side bar, and I've said this before, you can always tell when a salesman is lying when he says's "here's the deal" that point aside and being a salesman, just read) whenever a liberal says "that's a great idea" ask them how we are supposed to pay for it. Along with everything else we all are paying for. Just a thought.