A very early morning yesterday as the
latest edition of the PanaGals were delivered to Logan Airport for their return
trip to Panama. This living in Worcester just gets better and better. I was
able to drive them to the airport and return to Worcester in less than two
hours, much faster than I expected and in time to have breakfast before heading
into work. The house is decidedly quieter and that is not a good thing. I did
get my favorite Panamanian back at my side for the nightly news which is definitely
a very good thing.
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| My Wife Between her Two High School Classmates at the Airport Yesterday |
I chose to not comment further on the persecution
of Tom Brady as it devolved over the months into a morass that defies description.
Why a multi-billion dollar corporation decided it needed to pillory one of its
best and brightest is beyond comprehension. When the debate shifted to an
actual court of law instead of the criminally misleading news leaks and endless
talking NFL sycophants of ESPN, the NFL was doomed. While the Patriots are easy
to hate outside of New England due to their success and legendary arrogance,
the NFL succeeded in making them the victims.
There was a not a convincing shred of
evidence that the alleged “crime” even happened. If it did there was no smoking
gun that Brady was involved outside of the outrageous claims of the NFL’s
toadies on the worldwide leader in sports that “he had to know”. I spent the
last four years of my military career leading very high level investigations
and I always thought the NFL must have some evidence they were not sharing to
take the drastic steps they did in their punishment of the Patriots and Brady.
It turned out they didn’t, not even the barest scintilla. They tried their case
in the media for eight months and were winning outside of New England but I don’t
think they were prepared for their inability to cow Brady. Something innumerable
foes have encountered on the field was his iron will and drive to win. This translated
well off the field especially when you have the facts on your side. It’s nice
to see justice emerge, freed from the fetters of today’s media blitzkrieg where
truth isn’t an important aspect to modern journalism. The only crime that was
exposed was the $44 million dollar a year salary the NFL is paying its
commissioner and his monumentally incompetent team of lawyers.
Since I did have my date back we
headed back to the movies last night. The cute young ticket seller asked me if
I was eligible for the senior discount which is offered at the age of sixty. I
scoffed and said no but then thought, whoah I’m only a few months away from that.
This is patently unfair as I can still clearly remember when I outgrew the
child discount at the age of 12. We went to see A Walk in the Woods which stars
Robert Redford and Nick Nolte as two old guys who decide to hike the Appalachian
Trail. I really enjoyed the film but I think I’m firmly in the target audience.
I don’t think younger filmgoers will get it. Sometimes, as you get older, just
getting out to walk around, freed of the trappings of modern life and
recapturing youthful times is intoxicating. Youngsters will just see two old
farts walking through endless forests.
Redford plays the calm, successful
writer whose idea the trip is while Nolte plays, well Nolte. An overweight
loser who’s disappointing life is in sharp contrast. Most of the trip involves
the two trying to reclaim their long dormant friendship. I liked the calm
approach the movie takes, not going for cheap jokes. This was an actor’s movie
and really well acted.
It probably helped that the movie
involved a long held dream of my own – to walk the length of the Appalachian
Trail. I first realized this when I was
still playing child rates at the theater and I stood at the head of the Appalachian
Trail on Mount Katahdin in Maine during a YMCA trip. The military career and
life in general prevented acting on this wish. I always figured it was something
I would get to after I finished working but then my right knee started to
dissolve. I may still attempt it and the movie might have helped because Nolte’s
character was hiking with a titanium knee replacement. You’ve got to hold onto
your dreams.
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