Sunday

The Augie game last night was one of those games that your team probably didn't deserve to win, but certainly didn't deserve to lose the way that they lost. After a furious rally in the last four minutes to come back from 17 down, the ref bailed out the other team's best player with an absurd call 20-odd feet from the basket with no time on the clock. I can't remember a worse call in a game that I attended.

Actually, when I was in like 7th grade there was a very controversial call in a huge tournament game between Ottumwa High, the public school in town, and Walsh High, the small Catholic school that our family attended. There was only a single class for the tournament back then. I think if you polled Ottumwa natives now in their 60's about a high school basketball memory, they would almost all remember that game. (The schools did not play regular season games against one another for various reasons.) A Walsh basket at the end of regulation was disallowed and OHS went on to win in OT. A man at the scoring table ( a local sports writer who later on did good by me throughout my career) stood and waved vigorously to the referees to inform them that the horn had sounded prior to the basket. Regardless of his generally fair treatment of Walsh athletics in the future, he was never allowed to forget his actions that night.

But I digress.

After the Augie game, 2 and I stopped at Johnny's Steak House in Moline for a glass of wine. Johnny's is a nice place, but there are certainly several other places in town of equal or better repute. The first round was a decent dry cab, but at $11 a glass! We asked for other less-expensive alternatives for a second round, and the gal bartender acted like we were the unwashed. And when she brought that second round in glasses still dripping with water from the wash rack, I took exception. Since I would never let my friends at Biaggi's get away with that level of service, I called her on it, saying that a place charging $11 a glass doesn't serve wine in glasses so obviously not properly prepared. She didn't take the criticism well.

I don't consider myself a wine snob, but if you're serving wine by the glass at $11 a pop, your place is a wine snob place. So don't give me glasses like I'm at the local All You Can Eat Buffet.

There were pictures in this AM's Sunday paper's Life section of three kids from one family who got married last year. Two girls and a boy. The dad probably had his retirement delayed a few years after that experience.

David Broder's column today was an interesting observation on the various choices of location for the candidacy announcements of the numerous Presidential hopefuls. Many, if not most, have chosen places (or in the case of Hillary, mediums) more connected to their aspirations rather than to their roots. Vilsack and Obama are the exceptions.

On the same page as Broder was a somewhat more personal rendering by Patrick Buchanan on his memories of Hank Bauer, a noted Yankee baseball player from the 40's and 50's. Daddy was a big Yankee fan, as were lots of people from Middle America in those times. I don't particularly care for Buchanan, but his recollections from his youth of the Yankees and their great players makes you wonder what today's youth will have to savor when they look back to their growing-up years. The salary cap? Janet Jackson? Barry Bonds? The half-pipe?

I've decided to do a little remodeling of my up-stairs bathroom. It's not like I use it all that much, but my guests do and I'd like a little better presentation for them. A handyman from our client list will be doing the work. I need to pick out the new fixtures, etc.

No big plans today. A little on the bike and erg. A lot of Daytona.

Have a great day. Those of you who get to celebrate President's Day tomorrow, enjoy the middle day of your three-day weekend.

Be careful out there.