Here I come Deer

Deer Season In Northern Michigan (Pursuit of the 30 Point Buck)

Here in Northern Michigan deer hunting is huge with some 700,000 deer hunters expected to be in the woods with their combination AK 57, oozy, radar, laser, triple barrel, double scoped, heat seeking, shotgun with hopes of bagging that elusive 30 point buck. I like to share this very funny song by Da Yoopers that is played every deer season....Da Turdy Point Buck

Buck.

Obamacide

Great Lakes Steamship George W Perkins

The pictures are of the Great Lakes Steamship the George W Perkins. My maternal grandfather Claude Champney (1886-1959) sailed on this ship as a 2nd mate while working for the Pittsburgh Steamship Division.

Like today this was a well paying job but which came with a price. That price was 8 months way from your family. My mother told me that everyonce in awhile her mother and family (2 sisters & 2 brothers) would travel from Rapid City to Roger City to visit her dad while his ship was on layover while being loaded with iron ore and coal. This was not an easy trip considering the cars of the late 1930's and unpaved roads of the day.

I once got to experience what it is like to sail the Great Lakes when Kelly and I took a vacation to Isle Royale. This trip included a 5 hour ferry ride from Copper Harbor to the Island. Apparently sea legs are not hereditary because I became sea sick before the ferry even left the harbor. I don't remember the actual name of the ferry but I do remember its nickname "The Barf Barge".

Because of having a grandfather who sailed the Great Lakes; seeing the huge freighters up close go through the Soo Locks and from a distance navigating the shipping lanes while swimming on the shores of Lake Huron; Gordon Lightfoot's song The Wreck Of The Edmond Fitzgerald ranks has one of my all time favorite songs. There is not to many songs that I can say gives me goosebumps as this song does. This song is a chilling reminder that the Great Lakes are not just lakes, but rather fresh water seas capable of sinking 1000' ships.

Golf

In the lower right of picture it says "Some people dream of success...while others wake up and work hard at it." I worked hard at the game of golf but success never came.


For eight summers (1997-2004) I dedicated all my free time to the game of golf. My first and biggest mistake was probably not spending $75 on a lesson or two from the club pro that very first season. But instead I wanted to be a self made man and get all my lessons from the Golf Digest Magazine.

I am a statistician and I like to keep detailed stats on just about everything I do. From that very first golf round I kept a record of all my golf scores. The following year I not only kept a record of every golf score I added stats of every eagle, birdie, par, bogey, double bogey, and other. Later on that season I added putts, fairway hits, and greens in regulation, up & downs. I kept track of all these stats of every round of golf for 7 years. Whenever I was playing with someone else I always carried my own score card to write down my statistics. The majority of the time I played by myself which I did not mind because every round was played with a purpose trying to beat my average.

The downside to playing by yourself is there is no one to witness a great shot like a hole-in-one. My greatest shot came on the first hole at Cedar Valley. I was 160 yards out when I hit my approach shot to the green. I saw my ball hit in front of the green then roll and disappear. I thought my ball had rolled off the backside of the green and I searched all around. As I was going to return to hit another ball I happen to look into the cup and "lo and behold" there was my ball with my distinct black marks by the ball's logo in the hole. Luckily for me the four gentlemen waiting at the second tee witness my greatest golf shot of all time, my one and only eagle.

I also held an official USGA handicap for both 9 hole and 18 hole rounds. Dividing your 18 hole handicap by 2 seems a logical way to calculate a 9 hole handicap but really its not. I was a perfect example of this. I could sustain a respectable round of golf (bogey golf) for 9 holes but more times than not I would fall apart sometime on the back nine. For me to string together two decent 9 hole rounds on separate days was easier than doing consecutive decent 9 hole rounds on the same day. I really do believe the fatigue factor played a big part in this. I almost always walked my rounds which fatigue became even more of a factor. My lowest 9 hole USGA handicap was 11 and my lowest USGA 18 hole handicap was 24, which I achieved in both the 2001 & 2002 seasons.

I did not just compete against myself but did play competitively in a golf league for three seasons. The best year was 2001 which my partner Bill Jones and I finished in 2nd place. Each year Fairview Hills has a club tournament and in 2001 I shot a 48-48, which placed me in the second flight. In the second flight, first round of match play I lost to Ron Stange 4-3 (4 up with 3 holes to play).

In 2002 I played in this same tournament but did not do so well. I shot a 49-54, which placed me into the 4th flight. In match play, first round of match play I was 4up with 4 holes to play and the young kid I was playing birdied or pared the final 4 holes to force a sudden death. He shot a 10 on the 19th hole but I best him by one by shooting an 11.

What I consider one of my greatest triumphs came in 2002 when I went head-to-head with Bill Jones in the Fairview Hills Tuesday Night Golf League. Bill was nearly a scratch golfer and I barely break 50 on any given round. He had partnered with his son James that year. I was beating him outright by 2 strokes (36-38) after 8 holes. I cut the corner on the dogleg par 5, 9th and was sitting in the middle of the fairway 200 yards out. He had did the same thing and just as I was going to hit my approach shot a huge flash of lightning filled the sky and we had to suspend play. The league manager instead of letting us finish the round another day, prorated the final hole giving me a bogey and Bill a par with my final score being a 42 and his 43. A bit disappointing because I can only actually say I beat Bill for 8 holes, even though the round was prorated as a victory for me.

In 1997 I played 270 holes of golf at Fairview Hills. The following years (1998-2004) I bought a membership either at the Fairview Hills Golf Club or Cedar Valley Golf Club. This greatly increase the amount of holes I played.

1998 played 909 holes at Fairview Hills
1999 played 963 holes at Fairview Hills
2000 played 999 holes at Cedar Valley
2001 played 972 holes at Fairview Hills
2002 played 792 holes at Fairview Hills
2003 played 693 holes at Cedar Valley
2004 played 396 holes at Cedar Valley
2005 played 18 holes
2006 played 0 holes
2007 played 0 holes
2008 played 9 holes
2009 played 9 holes

Those who know me are surprise I hardly play the game of golf anymore. My oldest son Logan is now 11 and if he decides to take up the game I will return to the sport. But maybe this next time I will not take it so serious.

continual...

2001 Golf Statistics

Continuation of Golf

D=Date; R=Round; S=Score; TS=Total Shots; AV= Average; EA=Eagles; BI=Birdies; PA=Pars; BO=Bogie's; DB=Double Bogie's; OT=Others; P=Putts; FH=Fairway Hits; GR=Greens In Regulation; UD= Up & Downs; 18=18 Hole Score.







I have saved 28 pages of statistics from 1997-2004. I finish this year with a 48.70 average for 9 holes. The 2002 season was the only other year I had an average score under 50 for 9 holes with a 49.60 average. Those averages were at the Fairview Hills Golf Club. I never finish with an average under 50 at the Cedar Valley Golf Club. My best there was 51.91 in 2000. In 2003 I gave that course another try and could only achieve a 51.98 average. Cedar Valley did have a tougher USGA course rating than Fairview Hills.

My lowest score for 9 holes is 5 above par. On October 10,2000 I shot a 40 on the par 35 front nine at Cedar Valley. That day will be forever burned into my mine because I had a 6 foot putt which I left just hanging on the edge of the cup. I counted to sixty in hopes the wind would make the ball fall. My other 5 above par came at Fairview Hills which is a par 36. I shot a 41 on April 26, 2002.

My Most Exciting Vacation: Myrtle Beach 2001

Shortly after we arrived on July 6, 2001 while taking our luggage to our room, we noticed the very strange sky with clouds moving in two different directions. As I started to unpack the suitcase in our 3rd floor room when I was interrupted by a loud knock on the door with someone yelling at us to get down to the bottom floor because a tornado was coming down the street.

We could hear the strong winds as one tornado past on the street pictured in the upper left. After the noise subsided we thought it was over till we open the door to see the tornado over the top of the roof of the motel on the other side of the court. That particular tornado was first a waterspout that came off the ocean. It hardly moved for 4 minutes then took off in the other direction from us.

The Log Cabin Inn Fire

If you click on picture you will get an enlarged version and be able to see the details more clearly.

I have been saving these old Oscoda County News pictures of the Log Cabin Inn fire since 1975. They are deteriorating fast so I thought I would save them forever on this blog.

I remember I was camping with my family up at Clear Lake in Atlanta when my dad overheard the campers next to us talking something about Mio. He told them we were from Mio and they replied to us that they had heard on the news that the town of Mio was on fire. My stepfather Keith Money was a volunteer fire fighter for the Tri-Town Fire Department. Needless to say we packed our camper really fast and headed home.

For those who have lived in Mio at the time of this fire in 1975 and before, if you look closely at picture #3 you will see the old Graham Real Estate building next to Whitney Pharmacy. In the last picture you will notice the Mio Hardware sign which was next to the Graham Real Estate building. The top picture you will notice the paper was addressed to my mother's beauty shop Crowning Glory Rt 2. In 1979 Mio switched from rural route & box numbers to street addresses. Our house address was Rt2 Box 936 which is now 408 E 6th St.

Progress has since replaced most of that entire block with a Rite Aid Pharmacy. The Dressmakers & AuSable Auto Part building is not the Strawberry Patch.

Crocodile Dock Vacation Bible School

Both my boys had a great time at Vacation Bible School. They learned truths about our loving Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

Son Taking Up Dad's Love of Baseball

My son Logan is following in the steps of his dad. Growing up I lived and breathed baseball. Logan maybe is not quite that enthusiastic about the game as I was at his age, but baseball is the sport of his choice.

In the 1970's my circumstance were different growing up in Mio compared to him living out in the country of Fairview. When I lived in Mio I was in a residential neighborhood with other kids to play baseball. We had a vacant half block which was about 4 lots that we converted into a baseball field.

This converted baseball field was truly a Charlie Brown ball field. The field was rectangular shaped and we position home place in the Southwest corner. We had a left field fence which was the property line of the house that sat on the Northwest corner of the block. Down the left field line it measured only 133 feet. Just left of second base in center field about 185 feet from home plate sat a large double trunk oak tree. This was our equivalent of Fenway Park Green Giant. Just right of second base in center field was a small oak bush. Right field was open and had no fence with Randall Street about 260 feet from home plate. That was our power ally and you had to run out your home runs if hit there.

As we grew older and hit the ball farther we moved home plate around so that home runs did not come so easy. One summer we moved home plate to the Southeast corner where our power ally was the previous year. This arangment made for a short right fiels fince and took the oak tree out of play. If you could carry the ball in the air to Cass Street you were rewarded a home run. But even that was not all the great of a distance because down the line it still only measured 175 feet.

Our final arrangement was we position home plate in the middle of the rectangle on the West side of the field with Cass Street to our back. The big oak was now in left center field which prevented us from hitting the house that was on the Northwest corner of the block. Unlike the Green Giant at Fenway Park if you could catch the ball after it hit the tree or as the ball dropped down from branch to branch the batter was out. Most of right field became a power ally with Randall Ave 260 feet from home plate. If you hit the ball down the right field line you could land the ball on 7th Street which gave you a good 30 foot bounce off the tar and chip. Luckily there was another vacant lot across the road.

We played sandlot baseball just about everyday whereas my son has never played sandlot baseball. We did not have a Little League program back then. The year we did have Little League we played only 2 games. We had no sponsor so we played in our street clothes. We went to a tournament and the team we played had full uniforms and I remembered them making fun of us because of our lack of an uniform. I wish I could say we proved to them you did not need fancy uniforms to play baseball but instead we lost 23-3. Our other game was against Lewiston. They were like us with no uniforms. The game was competitive but we came up short 10-11.

Even though my son who never plays any sandlot baseball, he has played 8-14 sanctioned Little League games each year since the second grade. The picture above is this years team who is 7-4 with one game remaining for the season.

April in the "D"

A great song and a great tribute to Detroit sport teams that play in the month of April.

The three video clips that I really like the most, which are towards the end of the video are: Darren McCarthy pounding on someone. The Tigers celebrating at home plate after Ordonez hit his walk off home run that put the Tigers into the 2006 World Series, which still makes my eyes swell up with tears. Thirdly the clip that shows Pavel Datsyuk scoring on what is possibly the most amazing shootout goal ever seen.

Saturday 4-11, I can watch the Tigers at 1pm, then the Red Wings at 3:30, then finish the night off with the Pistons at 6:30. That is April in the "D"

College Basketball Tournament (My Brackets)

Michigan State did better than I had predicted them to do which is OK with me. I picked NC to win it all and they did. I was 47 of 63 correct with 138 points.

Football 1-A Winning Percentage 1869-2008

1. Michigan--------0.73982
2. Notre Dame----0.73639
3. Texas------------0.72039
4. Oklahoma------0.71472
5. Ohio State------0.71441
6. Alabama--------0.70855
7. Southern Cal---0.70275
8. Nebraska--------0.70275
9. Tennessee-------0.69214
10.Penn State------0.68914
11.Florida State---0.67073
12.Georgia---------0.67073
13.Louisiana State-0.64027
14.Miama-Florida--0.63402
15.Auburn----------0.62734
16.Florida----------0.62713
17.Miami-Ohio-----0.62593
18.Washington------0.61601
19.Arizona State---0.61500
20.Central Michigan-0.60999

To view 107 1-A football winning percentages plus wins, loses, ties, total games played go to http://football.stassen.com

First Full Day Of Spring.

Mother Nature gave us the gift of 3 inches of snow on the first full day of spring. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather so I can take my boat out and fish, play tennis, and do some normal snorkeling.

The snow from this winter had melted from the open areas but we still have plenty of snow in the woods. We still can't take our walk on an old two track trail that leads to the AuSable River.

This is not actually me nor did I take this picture, but is courtesy of Christine Cleveland Matthews a Facebook friend. This picture was taken in our area sometime this winter and you can see just how much snow we did receive.

College Football National Championship is a Farce

Another College Football season is coming to a close and the NCAA will crown another factitious national champion. Who will be the winner of this years beauty pageant? I use to love college football till the 1997 split national championship. I realized then that division 1 college football needed a playoff format to make any national championship legitimate. Instead they go this BCS which is not much better. In 1997 Michigan was ranked #1 going into the Rose Bowl. Every sport talk show and magazine was saying all Michigan needed to do is win the Rose Bowl and they would be the undisputed national champions. They won the Rose Bowl--barely, 21-16 over Washington St., while Nebraska whipped Tennessee 42-17. The result was Nebraska won the coaches poll while Michigan won the AP poll. This is not the first time the national championship was a co-championship. The CFP will show all the so called champions of the past.

Some of the arguments against a playoff is it would make the season to long and all of money that would be lost from not having all those bowl game. If the small division 2 & 3 schools can do it why can't division 1? An 8 team playoff would add 3 games for 2 teams or 4 games if a 16 team playoff was implemented. You could actually minus one game from those totals because most likely these teams would already be in a bowl game. Also you could shorten the regular season by 1 game. Do these bigger schools really need to play these no name schools and beat them 66-3. Most of the time these game are nothing but a glorified practice for these top 20 schools. I'm not saying Mid-American Coference schools are no name but to make my point the Big Ten owns a 37-6-2 record against the current teams in the MAC.

Under the system they have now you will almost always have two teams that are unbeaten playing for the national championship. What is not taken into account is conference & schedule strength. It is very difficult to go unbeaten in the Big Ten. It is very hard to beat Ohio St, Penn St, and Wisconsin in the same year. In a normal year it seems like Michigan loses to at least one of these teams each year . Independent schools like Notre Dame play a brutal schedule whereas some others play a powder puff schedule.

Finally think about all the sports and games where teams won when on paper they had no chance to win the championship or playoff game. The Tigers should of not won the Yankee's in the 2006 baseball playoffs. In 1982 the USA should of lost to the USSR in hockey. The Giants should of lost to the Patriots. But all these teams did not lose. If you really think about it, this voting for who is number 1 & 2 so they can play a championship game is really ridiculous. Apply the way they determine a national champion in division 1 college football to any other sport and you see just how ludicrous that really is. Those schools who finish in the top ten in the past should be proud of their great season. If your school was crowned national champion I would not be to proud of that because all you really won was America's most popular, and elaborate beauty pageant.

New Rules In Hockey Makes It Better Than Ever

I'm a true blue (red in my case) hockey fan. Last year I watched only games 3-6 of the Stanley Cup. This year I have watched just about every Friday & Saturday night game and even some midweek east coast games that start no later than 7:30 pm. As I have said in a June 16 post I lost interest in Hockey after the 2004-05 season NHL lockout.

The NHL have implemented some new rules which have created more offense and subsequently more excitment. Some of the rule changes are a 4 on 4 overtime followed by a game ending shootout. This happens after a scoreless five-minute overtime, three players from each team participate in a shootout. Each team takes three shots. The team with the most goals after those six shots wins. If still tied the shootout will advance to a sudden death format. If a game is decided by a shootout, the final score will give the winning team one more goal than its opponent, based on the score at the end of overtime. I find this to be very exciting and is much better than both teams skating to a tie.

Two-line passes are now legal as the center red line will be ignored for offsides purposes. The blue lines are moved closer together to create an additional four feet in each of the offensive zones. That reduces the size of the neutral zone to 50 feet from 54 feet. Goal lines will be moved two feet, to 11 feet from the end boards. The tag-up offsides rule returns, allowing play to continue if offensive player who preceded the puck into the zone returns to the blue line and tag it.

The dimension of goaltender equipment will be reduced by approximately 11 percent. In addition to a one-inch reduction (to 11 inches) in the width of leg pads, the blocking glove, upper-body protector, pants and jersey also will reduced in size.

Other changes to the rules which I'm not going to take the time to go into detail include: Icing; instigation penalties; officiating (zero tolerance on interference, hooking, holding-obstruction), Unsportsmanlike conduct.

With the combination of much needed rule changes, that adds better flow and excitment to the game, the Red Wings being Champions, and the Lions not worth watching, has brought me back to hockey. I must also add having bought a 32 inch HD-TV makes watching anything better, especially hockey because you are able to follow the puck much easier.

Forgiveness

I don't claim to be an expert on the subject of forgiveness but like everybody else had to deal with it in my own life. I really believe forgiving is one of the most difficult things to do in life. If you want a true barometer of a persons maternity in Christ just look at their ability to forgive.

You would think as much as forgiveness is spoken of in the New Testament, that it would be very evident in churches and the lives of Christians. In my own church I see a lot of unforgiving people. What really dumbfounds me is my church is an Anabaptist church, aka "Peace Church." They will not go to war even if the enemy is the Nazis, yet they harbor resentment for their fellow brother and sister sitting next to them in the pew.

As a Protestant I have been taught that salvation is a free gift and no one deserves it or earns it. I believe this to be true, but I see one condition for our own forgiveness from God. Maybe I'm wrong but it does say in the Lord's Prayer "Forgive us our debts, as we also forgiven our debtors." The parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew chapter 18 verse 35 we read something very eye opening: "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

As I said at the beginning I'm not claiming to be an expert, nor am I saying I have "arrived" in my ability to forgive others. I have had to forgive those who purposely and intentionally try to lower other people's opinion of me. I have had to forgive family or else the relationship would of been destroyed.

I can think of even greater wrongs that I have not had to deal with like those who have had to forgive those who have harmed their children or other love ones.

We should bless our enemy not curse, but by not forgiving we pass up blessings. A parable I heard that illustrates this truth goes like this: A person was told by God that he would give him anything his heart desired. Only stipulation was He would bless his worse enemy with twice as much. If he asked for 5 million dollars his enemy would get 10 million dollars. But because he couldn't stand the thought of his enemy being blessed he asked God to make him blind in one eye.

That is incredible that this person would pass up such a material blessing just to see with his one good eye his enemy cursed with blindness. But we give up something far greater-- our own forgiveness and eternal bliss by not forgiving others.

Obama Our Savior

In the Christian Scriptures we are admonished to pray for our leaders and for those in authority over us. That is just what I'm doing for Obama and his family. This man has a lot of people believing he is the savior of the United States. He has made many promises as did every other president before him.

Everybody in the blogging world has an opinion about this man. So I might as well put in my two cents. With the election of our first black president can the United States say it has finally arrived at racial equality? Not really, but I think it signifies we have made tremendous progress in that direction. I must say before I go any further that I did not vote for Obama. Not because he had a different skin pigment than me, but because I have a dream that someday every black & white baby will have the right to life, so that they can grow up and fulfill Martin Luther King's dream.

The concern for those who have no voice was not a concern in this election. Has it ever really been a concern in any election? In the United States the issue of greatest importance has always been the economy. I once read that in this certain country they looked forward to the monsoon rains which was extremely important because the majority of their total rain fall came from monsoon rains, and these rains effected the economy and lively hood of millions. If they received no rain then the rice crops would failed and hunger would be widespread, the countries economy would be put into chaos. If the rains came the currant president and his government would certainly always win the election. But if the rains failed to come it was a sure thing a new president would be elected.

It seems a bit unfair to whoever was president when the rains fail to come. Its not like he had anything to do with whether it rain or not. The new president don't have any powers to make it rain anymore than the former. But I guess it gives a since of new hope having a new administration. In this country it's not the monsoon rains but the state of our economy. In the Bible we read an interesting passage in the book of John where Jesus feeds the five thousand (chapter 6). In verse 16 we read "Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew....." Further on in verse 26 Jesus explains why, "...You are looking for me not because you you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill". They wanted to make Jesus king right then and there because he feed them and if he was their king they would not have to worry again where their next meal was going to come from. We have elected Obama because he has promised to give us our jobs back. We did not elect McCain because he was from the same party as the currant president whom is blamed for our economic woes.

If our economy has not turned around in the next four years we will again have a Republican president. Unless Obama can do what Michigan's governor Granholm has manage to do and that is shift the blame onto someone else and convince the people her plan needs more time than just four short years. Obama already has set the grounds for that strategy by his acceptance speech "We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there."

I pray for Obama success to get our economy back on track. I pray God changes his heart and he would truly believe in ALL three of our unalienable Rights. That all Americans are "Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are LIFE, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".

Being Stalked By Sasquatch

This is a picture of me walking through the thick brush of the Foley Swamp. We saw this dark figure lurking off the path which turned out to be the underside of the roots of a large tree that had fallen over. It took a very queer shape of a large monkey looking figure.

Foley Swamp

The one thing I like about where I live is there is plenty of state and federal forest land. The Foley Swamp is one of these large portion of land set aside for foot travel only. The second week of September my friend Paul and I took a ride out to the swamp and did a hike on one of the fast disappearing two track roads that has been closed off to vehicles by the U.S. Forest Service. What prompted us to visit the Foley Swamp was a 1990 Chicago Tribune wire
'BIGFOOT' IS BACK.

We did not see any signs of Bigfoot but the impression we both came away with was if there was a Bigfoot in Oscoda County this place is where it would live. We did not see any wild life except for flushing up some Ruffed Grouse. But that could be expected do to the fact we had our dogs with us and we were not being very quiet. We did see plenty of evidence of coyotes and bear from the feces we encountered.

At first we were wondering why the Foley Swamp was even called a swamp. It did not fit the image I had of what a swamp is. But after 20 minutes of walking we could see this place did have it's wet areas. We were thankful that we did this excursion the second week of September, otherwise we might of needed a blood transfusion after the mosquito had us for lunch. Secondly we could see we might not of been able to get as far into the swamp if we had done this during the very rainy spring and summer. The Foley Swamp is a typical Michigan swamp with bogs, thick undercover, fallen trees and a mix of cedar trees and other native trees. It not a place you will see air boats buzzing around.

According to the Bigfoot Encounters website there has been four Bigfoot sighting in Oscoda County: 1988,1989,1990 and 2000. We have made tentative plans to revisiting the Foley Swamp next fall possibly staying overnight camping. That is if I can muster up enough nerve to do such a thing. I think this place would be a very unnerving place to be at night.

My Little Fishing Buddy

These pictures were taken in early July on the shore of the Thunder Bay River in Alpena, Michigan. I had an appointment that day and decided to take my two boys along and their fishing poles to drop a line afterwards. The left pic was his very first fish. The first one was a Bluegill and the second was a Rock Bass. Both really small, but seeing his excitment was priceless.

It breaks my heart whenever I go fishing and he says "Me go fishing with you" and I must tell him not this time. The big alligator tears swell up in his eyes and he he says with even more determination "Me want to go fishing with you".

Successful Summer of Fishing

This summer as been an excellent summer of fishing. I bought a small 10 foot flat bottom boat from my neighbor for $40. With this I have been able to fish our famous Au Sable River and smaller lake that don't have proper boat launches which I could not use my 16 foot Blue Fin boat on.

Two notable catches this year as been the 3 pound 18" Largemouth Bass (shown in picture) which exceeds my previous largest catch of this species by 2 1/2".

On Monday July 21 I caught a Walleye for the first time since I started seriously fishing 4 years ago. It was only 12"-- 2" shy of being a legal size keeper. Yesterday while fishing the Au Sable I caught a 17" Walleye which I plan on eating today. The Walleye makes the twelfth different fish species of fish I have caught.

The list of species I have caught in alphabetical order goes as follows:

Species----------Notable length & weight
_______________________________________________________

*Bass, Largemouth----18", 3 lbs
*Bass, Rock----------N/A
*Bass, Smallmouth----N/A
*Bluegill------------10 1/4"
*Crappie, Black------N/A
*Northern Pike-------N/A
*Perch, Yellow------ N/A
*Sunfish, P.Seed---- N/A
*Trout, Brook------- N/A
*Trout, Brown--- ----N/A
*Trout, Rainbow------N/A
*Walleye-------------17"

First Minor League Baseball Game.

July 5th I took in my first minor league baseball game. The team was the Traverse City Beach Bums. . They are a independent professional baseball team from a independent professional baseball league called the Frontier League. What that all means is they don't have a affiliation with any Major League team. I would say they get players who slip through the cracks of the MLB draft. The level of play compared to affiliated team baseball is about an 'A' though I have never seen 'A', 'AA' or 'AAA' to know for sure. What I do know is the playing field was as large as most MLB ball parks measuring 320' down each foul line and 400' in straight center. The fastball of the pitchers range from 83-93 MPH.

I have seen the Tigers play at Comerica Park and that was really quite an event going to a beautiful 40,000 seat ball park. Wuerfel Park was beautiful in its own right. 3500 chair seats, 82 private 4 person tables, 25 private picnic patio tables, 27 private boxes, and a large playground which was perfect for my 3 year old Aaron. along the outfield walls was a sloped lawn for lawn chair or picnic blanket seating.

The atmosphere was very family friendly with between endings entertainment such as prizes being tossed into the seats, races, sing along. All this and some pretty darn good baseball at the fraction of the cost of the major league. The Beach Bums won the Midwest Sliders 6-2.

The Cup Returns To Hockey Town

I feel a little hypocritical writing this because I watched the Red Wings for a total of about one period throughout the regular season. I could not watch the first two games of the Stanley Cup because it was on Verses which I don't have with my Dish Network programming. I did watch games 3-6 on NBC.

There was a time I was big into the Red Wings (I have the $65 Yzerman hockey jersey to prove it). That interest started in the early 1990's and ended in 2004 with the NHL lockout. This was not that I was mad with the owners or players, it was I just never got back into the sport after the lockout. It was a new experience witnessing the 1997 Red Wings hoist the cup because I never seen that in my life time. Before 1997 the last cup won by Detroit was in 1955 (I was born in 1963). Now Detroit as won 4 cups in 12 years. That's not quite a dynasty but that is 1/3 of the cups won in that time period and double of any other team.

For awhile Red Wing fans had a glimpse into how the fans of the Atlanta Braves felt. The Red Wings would have the best record in hockey and win their division year after year but lose in the playoffs each year. This made the regular season seem meaningless.

Watching the last 4 games of this season I come to realize again just how exciting and fast pace hockey is. It is so fast pace that I find it non-relaxing and nerve racking. For some people this is like an adrenaline rush which they get addicted to. Usually these people hate the sport of baseball because it is to slow pace and boring to them.

Hockey before 1967, was a regional sport consisting of only 6 professional teams which is know as "The Original Six". The 1967-1968 season six new teams were added. There as been several other expansions since that first expansion which now includes a total of 30 teams.

The NHL has been discovered in the south which makes since even though you won't see any southern boys on skates on a frozen pond playing hockey like you do here in Michigan. You don't really need ice to play a form of hockey with the invention of in-line skates. I see kids around here playing hockey in the streets. I have brother-in-laws and nephews living in the Carolina's and they like rough and tumble stuff like WWF wrestling and boxing. The NHL fits that mentality well being the only major team sport that still allows fighting. You know the old joke "I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out".

One thing I can say that I like about the NHL above all other sports is they play for the most impressive trophy of any other sport, the Lord Stanley Cup and it is home again in Hockey Town.

Pictures of 4th Grade Trip

Fairview School 4th Grade Explorers

This is my first day back from my two day excursion as a chaperon with my son's 4th grade field trip to Mackinac Island and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The trip started with arrival at the school parking lot to load our luggage on the charter bus at 6:15 AM. Even though I was looking forward to this trip, I expected pretty much an uneventful experience because I had on other occasions visited many of the same sites that were on the itinerary.

My hopes for nice warm weather did not become a reality and on page 12A, the weather page of USA TODAY for Wednesday May 21, the region of Michigan we were visiting was shaded in light blue. This met the Fahrenheit hi/lo prediction was 43/39 & rain. I even heard talk of some snow mixing with the rain but I did not see that happen. Our first day on Tuesday was the better of the two days and actually became quite nice. Most of the group shed their jackets but the 25 MPH gusts of wind off the cold waters of Lake Huron keep things from being to overly pleasant.

Historic Mill Creek was our first visit for the day. This was a fascinating look back at Michigan's saw mill history. Before they harness the power of the creek, they used only axe and hand saw which was extremely slow and back breaking work. Matter of fact in 1819 two men working 12 hours a day could only produces 8 boards per day. Using the creek to run a saw that number went up to 120 boards per day. I can't really explain how it all works but in the simplest of terms they captured the water of the creek. This captured water would be released by a pull of a lever that sent the water rushing down that would turn a paddle similar to those on a paddle boat which in turn moved gears which moved a saw that cut the logs into boards. This was done without generating electricity because electricity had not been invented yet.

The next visit for the day was Mackinac Island. All the times I had visited Mackinac Island I never visited the Grand Hotel because it cost $5.00 just to walk on the world's largest porch. I was always told in order to eat in the dinning room, proper attire must be worn such as suit and tie. This is true for the dinner time meal but for the lunch buffet blue jeans and T shirts were the dress of choice. The lunch buffet was 100 feet long prepared with all sorts of delicious foods. Some of my favorite was the prime rib and smoked salmon. I did not care much for the clams. I did eat my clam and did not do as Mr Bean did in the movie MR. BEAN HOLIDAY, disposing my clam into the purse of a lady sitting near by.

The most excitement came on the ferry ride back to the mainland. They did announce because of the prevailing NW winds waves had built to 3-5 feet. I'm sure they were mostly 5 or more feet the majority of the way back. If the very rough ride was not enough excitement we nearly hit a metal navigation buoy. A last second maneuver avoided that catastrophe.

After arriving in Soo Ste. Marie. We relaxed around the motel pool and ended the evening bowling. I bowled a 189 which is not to bad considering that I only bowl about 3 times a year.

The second day we toured the Tower of History and the Soo Locks then traveled up to view the Tahquamenon Falls. Our last stop of our trip was the Oswald Bear Ranch. This ranch rescues cub black bears which otherwise would be euthanized by the DNR. Once a bear goes to Oswald Ranch it is never again released into the wild because they become to use to people. These bears are not in cadges like at a zoo, but are in a fenced off natural environment land. One fenced area I would say was 5 acres. The other fenced area was about three acres that held the male bears. There is a trail you can walk around the outside of the fence. We saw some huge 400-500 pound bears.

The highlight was the two cubs that were in a cage. They are put there for their own protection because if they were released in with the older bears there is a real possibility that they would be killed and eaten by the older bears. They were born this year and the kids and adults were able to go into the cage and pet these cubs. At this age they are like puppies and like to wrestle and bit and claw things. I thought they were adorable until one of them clamp down on my finger. Bears no matter how tame they my seem they are still dangerous creatures.

That was our last stop of the trip and we were on our way home. I spent much of my time taking in the scenery from my bus window. I enjoyed the view of Lake Michigan while traveling East on U.S. Route 2. The view crossing the Big Mac on a bus is a different experience than in a car. Being higher than the railing looking straight down 200 feet at the water below was a little nerving. I now understand when there is strong winds they have the buses, semi-trailers, campers, etc move to the inside lane. They had the north bound lane closed for resurfacing so we had no choice but to ride the right land going south. We pulled in the school at 9:15 PM to waiting family to take us home.

Me Pop It!

I think its time for me to go on a diet. My three year old loves balloons. The other day while sitting on my lap in my favorite lazy boy chair he lifts my shirt up and pokes at my stomach and says "Me pop it"! Doesn't the Bible Bible say something like "Out of the mouth of babes". Thank goodness my stomach is not like this guy. I'm 6 feet tall and 220 pounds, not obese but my fat seems to congregate all in the same area.

Two years ago I went on a Slim Fast diet. I was 223 pounds at that time and lost 32 pounds. If you do the math I had myself down to 191 pounds. My neighbor told me that someone had asked him if I been sick or had cancer because I lost so much weight so fast. Even though the medical books say I should weigh 180 pounds, I look my healthiest at around 200.

From The Pew Tag

I have been tagged by Steve and I have been asked to list ten things about myself.

1. One job I have had: Rural Letter Carrier for USPS (24 years).

2. Two places I have lived: 35 years in Mio and the past 4 years I have lived 8 miles up the road in Fairview, Michigan.

3. Three new cars I have own: Chevy Blazer, Subaru Legacy, Jeep Wrangler.

4. Four TV programs I like to watch: Tiger Baseball, Prison Break, CSI, Discovery Channel.

5. Five places I have visited: Myrtle Beach, Washington DC, Prince Edward Island, Isle Royale National Park, Niagara Falls.

6. Six books I have read: Drinking With Calvin And Luther, The Late Great Evangelical Church, This Present Darkness, James Herriot All Creatures Great And Small, Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels And Stories, Anne Of Green Gables.

7. Seven people I like to have a beer with: RC Sproul, John Montgomery, Troy Gentry, Steve Scott, Jason Alstrom, Todd Alstrom, Russ Gaippe.

8. Eight foods I like to eat: Pizza (must have mushrooms), Spaghetti (just the noodles with butter & Parmesan Cheese), Taco's, Burritos, Steak (medium rare), Potatoes, Anything Chinese, Caesar Salad.

9. Nine species of fish I have caught: Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed (Sunfish), Rock Bass, Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Yellow Perch.

10. Ten states I have seen other than Michigan: Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. For extra credit: Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Maryland, Washington DC. For extra extra credit: New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, Quebec.

Last Seasons Gore and Glory

Looking forword to getting out on the boat and trying to catch that elusive 40 inch Northern Pike or 25 inch Large Mouth Bass. The Large Mouth Bass in the picture above was my first legal size Bass measuring 15 1/2 inches.

The other two pictures is my oldest son Logan with his first nose piercing. This was done on our newly purchase 16 foot fishing boat. On our old 12 footer we were always very careful not to hook each other being in such close proximity. We named our new boat "Quality Time" but on this day we spent the quantity of our time at the emergency room.

Sweet Sweep

It was in 1966 the last time the Tigers swept the NY Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Yes yes I know A-Rod was not in the lineup and the Yankees did not have their "A" team playing this series. But the Tigers along with many other teams have had to deal with their injuries and no one make excuses for them. That is where you must have other players step up and pickup the slack. While Willis is out Galarrago stepped it up and now there is talk of keeping him in the starting rotation (I don't know how this could be possible, never heard of a 6 pitcher rotation). While Rodney & Zumaya been on the Disabled List Bautista & Rapada have filled in nicely and have made the most of their opportunity.

I have heard some say its time for Detroit to say good-by to Gary Sheffeld and hello to Berry Bonds. Earlier this year Toronto said good-by to Frank Thomas after a slow start. Sheffeld is batting .176 with 2 HR's for the month of April. I will admit Gary really is not looked that good at the plate. He been prone to injury in his shoulders. I don't think Detroit will make any moves like that right now. I remember last year Sheffeld starting slow and he picked it up in the summer and really helped the team. But if Gary has a prolong injury while still batting a buck and some change, we just might see Berry wearing the old English D!

2008 Baseball Season

The 2008 Tigers could be the greatest Tiger team of all time, well on paper anyway. This is speaking mostly of their batting lineup. Pitching is the big question mark. As I write this post we are 24 games into the season and some chinks in the Tiger armor has appeared. In baseball its not how you start the season that really counts, but how you finish. In 2006 when the Tiger went to the World Series they had a record of 59-29 at the All-Star break. Minnesota on the other hand was 47-39, 11 games back of Detroit. The Tigers went 36-38 the second half of the season. They lost their last 5 game to lose the division by a game to Minnesota. Even though that was a great disappointment it may of worked for the Tigers advantage. Some experts say it was easier to beat the mighty Yankee's in a best of 5 series rather than a best of seven. The 2007 season was the same story--fast start poor finish. The result was no championship.

This slow start does not worry me and as long as they don't put themselves to far in a hole they have a chance in the final stretch of the season. Their offence has shown signs of waking up. One game with Texas the fell behind 0-5 and came back to win 19-6! The biggest worry was the bullpen at the start of the season. The starting rotation was thought to be solid but so far its been anything but. The ERA is high on every starter (Verlander 5.93, Rogers 7.68, Bonderman 4.28, Robertson 6.91, Willis 7.20). On the other hand the bullpen was suppose to be questionable but they been pretty solid with a good ERA (Jones 1.80, Lopez 0.49, Galarrago 1.50, everyone else under 4.00 with the exception of Miner).

One MLB regular season is 2 games shy of being two regular seasons of the NHL and NBA. So many things can change from April to September. If a team can keep within single digits in games back of the division leader they are in the division race come September and have a chance.

Mt Tom Cafe

Mt Tom is an actual place but you will not find it by Googling or on any Michigan map. You can see Mt Tom from my porch. Mt Tom is a big hill in the middle of the forest with a tall tower on it. When coming home from traveling you always know you are getting close when you see the red blinking light of the Mt Tom Tower. If you have Google Earth you can locate it at 44.44'45.14"N 84"08'03.51"W.

Whether you live in a big city or a small town like me, there is a favorite cafe were people like to go. We have such a place in my town where the men go and sit at this large round table to drink their hot brew and chat. I'm not one to do that because I would rather pour me a hot cup of coffee and sit at my computer desk and chat with the world.

My other blog Pilgrims Pub is dedicated to Christian liberty and craft brewed beer. If you like to know if it is OK for a Christian to enjoy a beer or how a Samuel Adams taste you can find that out there.

If you like to talk baseball, politics, theology, current events, fishing and just about anything else, this is the place. You are welcome to my virtual cafe, pour yourself a cup and visit with me for awhile