And on the 7th day, God gave us basketball . . .

Why do parents say, "You can be anything you want to be?" 

If so, then I would be a great basketball player.  

But no matter how much I practiced in the cold fall and winter afternoons as a kid, the fact was I couldn't jump, I had small hands, and I had no speed.  The best I got to was church league basketball, basically because they needed bodies.  But it never bothered me, even when selected last in pickup games, just as long as I got to play. 

And I loved watching the game just as much.

I was raised in a fundamental Christian family where we attended two hours of church Sunday morning and then two more in the evening.  But my parents were cool enough to let me watch the NBA on tv in the afternoon after our big Sunday dinner.  And my love for the game became cemented watching the likes of Russell, Wilt, Barry, Havlo, West, Oscar, Billy Cunningham, Hal Greer, (notice a 76er fan with those last two?)

And I still love to watch, especially during March Madness and the NBA playoffs, even with some of today's "bad behavior," and my puzzlement over the appeal of multiple tattoos. (oh, just get over it, David)

I have always enjoyed the fine arts of dance and drama, but it's hard to beat the excitement generated from the unique combination of those two art forms in a close basketball contest.

And it seems we have a great series taking shape in the current NBA Finals.  Yeah, I guess I probably am rooting for the Mavs in the end (i.e. the so-called "good" guys), but what I really want, and if there is a god up above . . . we'll have a Game 7!

UPDATE:  Well, no game 7.  Oh well.  After the way Wade & James mocked Dirk (how immature!) I'm more glad that Dallas won (like most everyone else outside of Miami, I guess.)

So I settled on Tues evening for watching the Game 7 of the NHL, hockey - Vancouver vs. Boston.  Yeah, I used to watch the Bruins a lot as a kid, too, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and gang, but it was always second choice to basketball.  Gotta say, personally, no offense, but even with HD, it's still second choice for me.

What I am Reading for the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War . . . and Why

As you may know, we are in the midst of honoring the 150th Anniversary of the start of the Civil War.  The Washington Post has been printing excellent installments, and I have been collecting them.

I also highly recommend reading the masterpiece, "Reveille in Washington," by Margaret Leech.  It was published in 1941, but it remains a classic.   It is superbly written and well-researched, resulting in riveting detailed stories.

If you had any relatives who fought in the Civil War or lived and worked in the DC region during that time, this is a must-read.


But even if you do not have familial ties to that era, this book well illustrates the seismic transformation our country underwent during those five years that continues to reverberate to this day. 

For example, it chronicles well how DC transformed from being a Southern political power base to a Northern-dominated town, one of the most historically important transitions for our country as it signaled the demise of the Great Compromise of the Constitution (where slaves counted as 3/5 of a person in apportionment).  

As historians will tell you, that one compromise impacted our history in many ways, ranging from the election of Jefferson as president in 1800 to shelving the debate on slavery thereby ensuring generations of suffering and irreversibly setting the country toward a brutal Civil War.

And this book shows the macro aspect of that through the telling of countless personal stories. 


And for those thinking this book might be just another exercise of reading "dry" history, let me just say that the author showed that our "proper" ancestors certainly had a lustful side to them that would make even readers of today's tabloids blush.

If you live in the DC area, an added bonus will be that this book will make walking and driving around the region so much more interesting for you.

If you can't find the book in your library, (I found mine in a musty bookstore up in southern NY) it is available through Amazon.


If you get a chance to read it, I invite you to share what you think of the book.