RUN DASH RUN

photo by Parker Anderson

Completely valid or not, in NFL recruitment the 40-yard-dash is here to stay.  Why 40 even?  Who knows, but -- " 'It's become a universal way of doing things,' says Gil Brandt, the long-time personnel man for the Cowboys.  'It's like zip codes and postal mailings and area codes.  It's a part of life.' "   No sense holding still.    news
 

Principle in the type:  You can't be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it.  You have to go down the chute.  (And I'm from a generation where a lot of people died on waterslides, so this was an important lesson for me to learn.) ...it will never be perfect, but perfect is overrated."   Tina Fey

              









    

GIVE ME A 'Y' GIVE ME AN 'O'

photo by Cordelia Naumann

Where there are football players, there are cheerleaders!  These ladies (see link) worked hard, to make the Los Angeles Chargers squad.  In other news, you may not have to do the splits to make your own dreams come true.   (Sigh of relief emoji...)     news               

Principle in the type:  "Work without vision is drudgery.  Vision without work is dreaming.  Work plus vision - this is destiny."    Gordon B. Hinckley

SUPER YOU

photo by Lorie Shaull

                                    ***Happy Super Bowl, America!  Commercials included.  You're the best!!***



                                   

Principe in the type:  "Because you're the only person who decides how you feel, who you are and who you're going to be    Gina Rodriguez

RISING TO THE TOP

photo by Kira Westland

Babies aren't always bringing up the rear.  Sometimes they are in the lead!  Wowing "top brass in two recent interviews," Sean McVay at just 30 years of age was hired as head coach by the Los Angeles Rams, "making him the youngest head coach in N.F.L. history."      story           

Principle in the type:  "Our opportunities to shine are limitless.  They surround us each day, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves."     Thomas S. Monson

PENALTY

photo by Landry Heaton

Yeah, so, that didn't take long, did it?  "The Los Angeles Rams preseason opener got off to a rousing start."  And I'm talking about the fan fights, arrests, and hospitalizations.  I mean, really?  The first game back in Los Angeles?   All you folk have to do is sit there and enjoy yourself.  Los Angeles I continue to be worried about you.  You got it all going on, but you still can't make it happen.   news

 

Principle in the type:  "If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet, how important you can be to people. . . . There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."     Fred Rogers

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

photo by Helga Weber

Two birds with one stone?  That cliche was invented for this post.  (Bet you didn't know?)   Miss. Lady did a beautiful job singing our national anthem last week!  (Happy President's Day!)  (Don't Miss Video Here)  ~ And whoa what a pretty red suit she's wearing!  (Happy Valentine's Day!)  .... See?  A total two-fer!   To the all the lovebirds.  Enjoy!

Principle in the type:  "Only you, you're the only thing I'll see/Forever/In my eyes in my words/And in everything I do/Nothing else but you/Ever  ....   Today, the world was just an address/A place for me to live in/No better than all right/But here you are/And what was just a world is a star/Tonight                           Tonight     (from Westside Story)

MANNING TIMES 2

photo/graphic by Shea Huening

I did not shoot coke out my nose laughing when I saw this video.  But I would have, if i'd been drinking coke.  So funny.  And thus finishes a perfect romp through football'ness this week. 




                                  

Principle in the type:  "You are not competing with anyone else.  You are only competing with yourself to do the best with whatever you have received."       L. Tom Perry      

                                                                              Happy Valentine's Day Weekend, Peeps!

THESPIAN TOUCHBACK

photo by Benjamin Thomas

I detect a football theme this week.  So let's continue.  

Eddie George, the Heisman Trophy winner in 1995 and eight seasons Tennessee Titan, has a new gig.  And it's on Broadway.  He is playing Billy Flynn in Broadway's production of Chicago.  For years George struggled to both find himself and re-invent himself post football, when the acting bug finally bit and fit.  “I really enjoy getting on stage, moving myself and telling a story through a character’s eyes and to deliver that in an honest way. A lot of the stuff I was going through in terms of anxiety and fear and depression and doubt (after football), I channeled all that in to the arts,” he said.      story                 

Principle in the type:  "There are signs and gifts everywhere, particularly in setbacks, but you need to keep your eyes peeled.  They come wrapped in missed opportunities, in unfulfilled promises and lost jobs.  They come born out of disappointments you never saw coming and also in those you should have.  But they bring you better things and take you to where you were meant to be. . . . Our setbacks bring us forward; we wander in the wilderness so the road can bring us home."    Rob Lowe 

THE FAM-BAM, DRINKS, AND PRAYERS

photo by Craig Hawkins

What a game!  Some say it was the Denver Bronco's defense that dictated who'd snare the victory in Superbowl 50.  Still you gotta give it to 39-year-old quarterback Peyton Manning.  Now, will he continue on?  Will he retire?   Peyton would have a few beers, and say his thank-you prayers, but first  " 'I want to kiss my wife and kids. I want to go hug my family,' "  he told journalists when asked seconds after the game what his future plans were.  Sweet, right?!      news                   

Principle in the type:  "So much in life is extraneous, [but] . . . the family is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; the thing to watch over and care for and be loyal to."      Carla Carlisle   

BALL HOGS

photo by Jeffrey Beall

It's a wrap.  The 2016 Superbowl players will be the Denver Broncos, and the Charlotte Panthers.  To add to your confidence this game will indeed happen, and there will indeed be footballs, you should know a few weeks back game officials left playoff footballs at their hotel, before the Patriots and Chiefs showdown.   Massachusetts State Police came to the rescue, and "drove the balls and gauges to Gillette Stadium and arrived about an hour before kickoff."      story            

Principle in the type:  "We all have our sad tales, but don't you, want to finish strong?  Let it all go and have a life that isn't dictated by the past."    Tom Hanks, as Walt Disney to P.L. Travers