I sincerely do hope everybody had a nice holiday. Frankly it was one of the weirdest yours truly has ever encountered. I have not been around the forum as much of late but trust me, I had my reasons. I am now prepared to share. I have developed many friendships on the forum and sometimes just sharing with friends can serve as a form of therapy. Everything was going smoothly, pretty much perfectly actually. All the kids were in from out of town and things seemed perfect. Then I got a call from a lifelong buddy, Dan, who now resides in Pittsburgh, Pa. I grew up in my home town of Moberly, Mo a block away from Dan and his family. I have known him literally my entire life. We used to play with our army men. That is how long. Anyway, Dan's mom passed some years back and his dad was living alone and very lonely. I made a promise to Dan to drop by and check on his dad from time to time when I was back in the town and I did. Donald was a mans man. Very independent. Retired railroad engineer. He was just lonely. Sad to see. But as of this year Donald was 94 years old and still living alone in the same house. Very independent, still driving and fending for himself. Well Dan called me and told me he was coming into town to visit his dad. Felt he needed to check in with him. I told him great, let me know when he was in town and we would get together. Well he called me and said he was in town a couple days later but his dad had passed. I told him how sorry I was and that I would be there within the hour. I did not feel he should be alone. I drove up to Moberly and went to the house. The funeral home people had just left with his dad. We were in the living room and I was telling him how sorry I was. He said, Steve you don't know the half of it. I asked what he meant. He took me into the breakfast room and then it was blatantly apparent what had just happened. Donald had taken a shotgun and shot himself in the head. I've been around the block but nothing prepares you for a sight like that. Needless to say it was a horrid mess. I stayed and helped my friend clean up all the mess and dispose of the chair. We were both numb. He told me he had gotten up that morning and had breakfast together and actually had a great visit. Dan told his dad that he needed to run an errand and would be back in about an hour. His dad told him, no worries, take your time son. So Dan thought all was fine. But when he got back to the house shortly afterwards that is the nightmare he walked into. You always hear about the holidays and the suicide rate spiking but I had never had it touch me personally. It was tough. Like I said, I had known this good man my entire life. My friend Dan is still in town and trying to take care of all the details that come up with something like this. Getting the house cleaned up, prepared to sell, just lot's of nasty hard detas. I am doing my level best to be supportive and help prop him up. He had taken it hard. Anyway, that is the deal. Obviously I have been somewhat preoccupied.
Sometimes work can be the best therapy and I have tried to pour myself into it. We all still have jobs and responsibilities to carry out. Life does indeed go on.
Been a fun time on the flip side for the Chiefs fans around here though. They are the talk of the area and the fans are optimistic the team can finally snap the playoff losing streak. Fact is the Chiefs have not won a playoff game since the 1994 season when Joe Montana was under center and Marcus Allen was in the back field. Yup, been awhile. Stark difference between the Chiefs fans and Rams fans. Stan Kroenke has made it abundantly clear he cares nothing about St Louis or the fans there that supported the team. He cannot get that team out of there and into his fancy new stadium in Los Angeles fast enough. I can state from my own side that I will never support anything that guy has to do with again. There is a right way to handle things and a wrong way. He wants the NFL to approve the move in the worst way and this is a man who is used to getting his way. He had the good fortune to marry into the Wal Mart fortune and it is all about the bottom line, period. Business is business, I get all that. But his treatment of the fans who supported his team has been about as classless as it gets. We'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Looking at the playoff schedule it is interesting to see the Packers going to Washington. Yes, I do remember the last time the Pack traveled to Washington for a playoff game. I was a freshman in high school. And yes, I was very much a Packers fan. They were quarterbacked by Scott Hunter out of Alabama and were very much primarily a running team behind John Brockington and Macarthur Lane. Anyway, the Redskins won a tough defensive battle that sunday 16-3. The Skins went onto the Super Bowl where they were knocked off by the undefeated Miami Dolphins club.
Had a NFL season as a capper that was below my normal standards. No question. Never hid from it. Nobody likes tout speak, me neither. But I did finish very strong and am confident it will carry over into the post season. I've been very strong with the post season and actually have won 19 of my last 22 playoff Triples. I have one loaded now for this weekend. I also want to stress with some real talk here that past results do not guarantee future results. But it is like I told some buddies the other night, when going through a tough stretch you find yourself under attack. Suddenly you are out of touch, need to adjust your handicapping, etc. But when you are winning you are an experienced football capper. Like playing the game itself, winning cures all. Anyway, I am more than ready to get the post season under way. It is my favorite time of year followed closely by march madness. We'll see how she plays out.
Okay, that is it for now. Dumped a heavy load there and I know it. Not a subject many are comfortable confronting and I get that. Thanks for listening. Don't ever take your loved ones for granted guys. Could end up being one of the biggest mistakes in judgement you ever make.
Good luck this weekend guys. Enjoy the games.