NCAA basketball. I lost already.

Well, there goes my hope of winning all the marbles in the March Madness NCAA tournament. Those pesky underdogs have wiped me out. Cheeaashe! I spend every spare moment, and there are precious few of those in my life, for the past three months studying the stats and composing my strategy. Who is on top of their game? Which team is actually plating as a team? What school got to the tournament simply on the efforts of only one or two players? Things like depth, versatility, ability to score, defense and emotional level. Putting all those things together is how you win in these bracket games. Ha!

Two games in particular and up to seven games over the course of opening day chipped away at my picks and by this morning my bracket pick page sits wadded up in the round file. So, is there a reason to watch the tournament any more? Yeeah! This is some of the most powerful and emotional basketball to be played in any given year. There isn't a bad game in the bunch. From here on I switch my strategy from going for a win on the bracket to rooting for my schools of choice. Maybe this is even more fun. Now I feel more like those students and alumni in the bleachers rooting on their team. I am free of any materialistic agenda. I don't have an Alma Mater in the hunt at this point. I have no favorites. From here on I root for another reason. Now my bets are on a Catholic college from just about anywhere. Gonzaga is always first of course. They have a great program with integrity and the coach is a real stand up guy. A few years back they surprised everyone by getting into the finals. I hope they do it again. Being from a catholic school background I can appreciate for various reasons the value of competitive sports in any educational program. Besides, in a tournament like this its a lot more fun when you root for someone. This gives me someone. Usually one of them hangs around to the sweet sixteen or the elite eight and occasionally the final four.

So I'm not a threat to you as far as winning the bracket thing at your office, club or bar. You are one person closer to winning it all. NCAA basketball! Aaaaah, what a game!.................Joe

Joe Biden and me

I am a slow thinker. I dare not answer quickly to questions. My foot is at the ready to jump into my mouth. An egg is waiting just around the corner to slosh onto my face. More times than I can count I've had to recant my words in hopes of somehow diminishing my embarrassment. Acknowledging or apologizing for a dumb remark never quite does the trick. Once a word is spoken, it's there forever isn't it? Me and Joe Biden have a lot in common. I feel his pain. I've been through it all myself. There is a significant difference between he and I though.

This morning there is another story about yet another comment made by the vice president regarding some current topic or another. Whenever he is in the eye of the media he appears to be a very likable sort of guy. Looks to have a pleasant, sincere, honest kind of smile, an open and approachable personality, that sort of thing. But then he starts to talk. I know the feeling. My mind has slowed down because of an industrial accident. I have to guard my words closely and I know it. Where he and I differ I think is that I realize most of the time that I have to be very careful of what I say. From the sounds of it on many occasions Joe Biden doesn't feel the same way.

The difference between he and I is, I think, awareness of just who we are. I hate the taste of my foot...............................Joe

The importance of my vote

I comment on certain political issues from time to time. Mostly because, at least for now in this country I am free to do so without fear of reprisal from the bureaucracy. I am just a small, almost completely insignificant nit in this huge country. In the scope of things, what I think or don't think probably doesn't matter all that much. At the very least though, its kind of cathartic to vent on those issues. I want to vent right now.

Front and center of all the concerns being jammed through the legislature is, of course health reform. Being simply a concerned citizen doesn't carry much weight regarding the whys and wherefores of this very costly program. What I think won't make a tiny bit of difference. I voted to install in office a politician to take care of such matters for me. I see a problem. In my humble opinion the health legislation that is being voted on right now is weak, accomplishes almost nothing except for a small segment of our society, costly enough to bankrupt our economy and take the control of our health care out of our hands and put it in another bureaucratic department.

Personally I've felt for almost all my life that in this great country necessary health care should be available to everyone without concern for losing everything else in our lives. This murky bill doesn't do that. I am not sure exactly what it does, neither are most legislators. Ear marks and pork are running rampant throughout the paperwork. National health care is far more important than forcing a program down our throats that is, for the most party a show of power by one political agenda or the other. More negotiation and research must be done before we commit our decedents tax dollars.

So, I make this statement. I have one vote, one vote only. I do support the idea of a fair and effective national system of health professionals, clinics and hospitals. However, I will never, ever, ever, vote for anyone that has anything, no matter how remotely to do with the passage of this coca-mamy travesty of a bill. I'm done venting now..............................Joe

Wanted: A good springtime joke.

I am searching for a spring time joke to banish the winter blahs. I do not possess the wit required to make up, fabricate, adjust or remember jokes well enough to put humor into the springtime context. It takes me hours to write a simple letter, let alone come up with something to laugh at. I have to depend on those that jot down humorous stories about darn near everything. I met an old friend last Friday evening. We talked for a good half hour. Or rather, he talked for almost a half hour. I spent most of the time laughing. All I had to do was ask him how he was. He took it from there and joked about age, hair, wrinkles, forgetfulness, food, noises, other friends, the passing of time, driving, marriage, and clothes. Nothing was safe from his sense of humor. All I could do was listen. I couldn't think of anything funny to respond with. He even joked about that.

Over the weekend I went on my annual springtime search for pussy-willows. It was a huge success. Huge, fat, fluffy and proliforous pussy-willows. Probably doesn't mean much to a lot of people but to me it does. To me they represent the passage from one time of year to the next. The promise of what will come. Jokes have that same quality most of the time I think. So I ask you to send me a good springtime joke if you know one or can make one up. Just a couple of simple requirements. Clean enough so everyone can read them. Non- offensive in matters of a delicate nature. If you know a joke like that I'd love to hear it. I appreciate your help...........Joe

Hope springs eternal

Hope flows/springs eternal. I can't remember how old I was when I first heard that phrase. I do know I didn't understand the full meaning. As a kid what I hoped for was a pony, as a teenager it was a drivers license, as a new husband and father the ability to provide a home for my family, as a businessman keeping all my loyal employees working, as a man in a world of contradictions doing the right thing and as I age sometimes I hope for a day without pain. Hope covers a lot of territory doesn't it? Hope represents our dream of a better day no matter our personal opinion of what constitutes a better day. To keep hope alive sometimes we need the help of another. We want to be there when that happens. That's what these little comments about hope have been all about. As we wind it down and move on to other things I'd like to leave you with some ideas I read in Liguorian magazine.

"Lord, today, make my words strong when someone needs some strength, funny when someone needs a smile, careful when someone needs prudence, wise when someone needs wisdom, practical when someone needs to make a decision, and, Lord, help me to shut up and listen when someone needs someone to listen to them."

"May our presence always be a blessing when we walk into any room, even when we trip on the threshold as we make our grand entrance."

"May our sadness be overwhelmed by our gladness; and our gladness be so contagious that the mad and the sad become glad because they ran into us."

Thousands of people have viewed onto this blog about hope. We didn't reach a million but a million starts with 5000 first. We've done that. We can remember that when the days are dark. We can remember the hope that spread around the world because of us...................Joe

Hope four is more than a wish

Thank you! Because of your efforts this little project of spreading hope has stretched around the world.

Hope is essential to living out each day for millions of people. You have passed on the idea of hope far and wide. Did it change the world for the better? Perhaps. However, the main idea was to do what we could with what we have. Spreading hope doesn't have to be a monumental achievement. Little things are as important as the notable, huge, earth shaking events. It only takes one cell to begin life. It only takes one single thread of hope to change a life for the better. A smile, an encouraging word, a helping hand, an ear to listen, a hug, an unexpected letter or email at just the right time all can bring hope to someone that needs it. Over the past week those good things have been working their way around the Internet and the world. Thousands of people have passed on the principal of hope.

Is it ridiculous to think that this Lenten campaign of hope is all that important? No, I don't think so. I don't know about you but I can remember many times when I felt overwhelmed with a problem. It felt as though there was no where to turn, no way out of it. Alone and despondent. Then, from somewhere, out of the blue, without explanation, someone or something opened my eyes to the hope of the future, a way to overcome whatever it was that was consuming me, my energy, my heart, my life. I learned that with hope comes strength, wisdom, courage, attitude, change.

There is a saying, a prayer often used by groups and individuals that is an excellent description of hope in my opinion. It's called the serenity prayer. If you haven't read it lately you may wish to look it up. I think it goes like this: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Close enough. There is a whole lot of good going on in that prayer........I wish you a good day.........Joe

Sharing hope three/how

"Hi there! I was just happened to be passing by and couldn't help but notice, you don't have any hope! Here, I have some extra hope in my wallet and you are more than welcome to it. Have a nice day!"

Sharing hope isn't quite that easy is it? First of all, anyone that doesn't have any hope left probably isn't about to admit it. Secondly, how do we go about the business of sharing it when the person or persons we intend to share it with probably don't believe they need this ridiculous hope stuff anyway?

Sailors caught in a storm are often saved from disaster by the steady beam of a lighthouse. Lost travelers have found safety by following the stars or walking toward a tall landmark. Those lost in a desert at long last coming upon an oasis is a totally understandable depiction of hope. But in those cases the individuals concerned were well aware of what they needed. In many cases those most in need of true hope couldn't care less. If we shove it at them they will turn away. We'll be turned away like the rude, boisterous street corner preacher pushing a sign into out face reading, "The world ends tomorrow."

Hope is best shared by example. In my opinion we should be the beacon, the star, the landmark, the oasis. Not the street corner preacher. Thank you for all your help. I hope you have a wonderful day.........................Joe