Wednesday

Snow day today. Lots of cancellations and postponements. Including the Augie game. Until tomorrow night.

Mom advises me that 2 gets the Daughter of the Day award for shoveling the driveway at her house this morning. You 'da girl, 2!

I'm sure that there were winners and losers in the Super Tuesday primaries, but I have become numb to the reports.

Today is Ash Wednesday. I've again elected to forgo ashes. In my youth, this was always a big day in our Catholic schools. There would be a Mass for the entire school during the day. And we would all walk around with dirty foreheads. As I recall in C-town, ashes were an acceptable display among the suits in the Loop.

3 and I traded email today and she asked if I had elected to "give up" anything for Lent. Until she asked, the thought really hadn't occurred to me. It won't be Tuscan red, but I may give something a go for 40 days and nights. Any thoughts from the maddening crowd?

This was/is also a Holy Day in college football circles. If you missed ESPN's glorification of it, you can catch up online: National Letter of Intent Day. The good news is that ND is considered to have been one of the leading teams in signing incoming talent. The bad news is that Charlie Weis hasn't been all that astute to this point in judging talent. I'm saying that the jury is out until they win 10 games next season.

I finished my first book of the year last night. A poor review is hereby offered for Patterson's Cross. I knew I was getting close to the end, but it just wasn't really coming together. And it never did. I think he finally got to the number of pages required in his pre-sold contract and just put it out of it's/his misery. Unusual for him, I think.

A high school classmate of 3's was the unfortunate victim of an automobile accident early Monday morning on I-80 west of Des Moines. Carly was an Iowa State graduate and worked for a not-for-profit entity in the DM area. Her family went/goes to our church in LeClaire. The family home is on my regular after-work bike route in the triangle around Davenport CC. In the Summer, the playful noise from kids in their pool consistently greeted my trek up the hill to Wells Ferry Road.

Life is too short.

Back to basketball. Cousin Matt's Wildcat teammate Steve Kerr engineered a huge, and unexpected, deal today by bringing in Shaq to Phoenix. The theory is that the Suns have been flashy and entertaining during the season, but didn't have the inside muscle come the playoffs. If Shaq can stay healthy, he certainly can bring muscle to the interior. But he is 36, and his consistency just hasn't been there in recent years. When Miami won the title a couple years back, it was D-Wade who carried the team in The Finals. Then there's the matter of the Hack-a-Shaq defense in close games. It's not like his free throw shooting has gotten any better.

The Celtics, Lakers, and now Suns have all chosen to make risky deals this season in hopes of improving their championship chances. Contrast that to the C-town Bulls who have tested the waters, but have been unable to pull the trigger. They'll make the playoffs, maybe get past the first round, then spend the Summer thinking about what might have been. It's a little like poker: if you play at a $1 limit table, you'll probably never get killed with losses, but even on a "good" day, you won't leave with the casino with the beauty queen.

I need to get out of here and go shovel some snow. Have a great evening.

BCOT