Jersey Exchange.

I was out and about Sunday.  Pro football ceases to exist once the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs. In many years, pro football ceases to exist as Thanksgiving concludes. As I was tooling around town, I was listening to the recap of football playoff games that don't exist. The commentator from the four letter network was analyzing an exchange between Arian Foster (RB, Houston) of the Texans and Ray Lewis (LB, Baltimore) of the Ravens.

source: benchwarmerblues

After the game ended, Lewis and Foster autographed and exchanged their game jerseys. The radio talking head expounded on "sense of history of the game, two warriors, good friends, blah, blah, blah...". I guess it's hard to kill 6 hours on radio when you don't take phone calls.

I have nothing against Ray Lewis (except he doesn't play for the Bears) or Arian Foster (except he doesn't play for the Bears). Both men are well skilled and well compensated. Both men are amongst the best at there position. Their exchange of jerseys is a nice gesture but nothing more. Their jersey exchange is the same as two mid-level managers (as common as pro athletes these days) trading pencil cups at a trade show. If Lewis and Foster exchanged autographed jerseys for a charity auction, now that's something great.

I am an avid fan of pro sports. It's time pro sports be placed in proper perspective, even on networks that cover athletics.
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#DadFit in #Illinois.

Once in a great while a confluence of seemingly random minutia occurs, which in turn provides a solution of substance. Such was the case this Monday morning.

I was reviewing my Triberr home page and approving blog post tweets for inclusion in my Twitter stream. I happened upon a  post from John Willey of  "Daddy's in Charge". The post was about a new blog, DadFit. John explained the concept of making lasting healthy changes with the help of a supportive and open community. I immediately clicked on the icon conveniently located in the upper half of the right sidebar and liked the Dadfit Facebook Page.

During the morning I listen to WSCR the local (OK, Chicago) sportstalker. Mully and Hanley reviewed the guest list. Lo and behold, Governor Pat Quinn (a former reformer doing a mediocre job of cleaning up the pile of crap he was handed as Governor) was scheduled to be on the show. Since the Bears were out of (never in) the playoffs, the Governor would not be announcing one of those idiotic politician sport bets (Illinois sewage vs. Nevada nuclear waste?) that is so mindlessly prevalent these days. Governor Quinn would be discussing something else.

Candidate Pat Quinn walked the width of Illinois (167 miles) in 2001to call attention to the inadequacy of affordable health care. In order to perhaps lower health care costs for all, the Governor has issued a challenge: walk the width of Illinois over the course of the year. That's less than 1/2 a mile a day.

I signed up for the challenge and downloaded a pedometer app. Within an hour it was obvious I walked over 1/2 mile a day puttering around the house. For the challenge, I must walk an additional 167 miles over the year. That's less than 15 minutes a day and can easily be incorporated into my routine.

I have my 1st contribution to Dadfit. Any ideas on other changes to becoming and staying healthier?

My 10 Best Days.

My celebrated my daughter's 8th birthday over the weekend, causing me to reflect on the best days I've ever had.

If you're going to watch the video later, allow me to offer a clue: There are no sporting events on the list. I love my Cubs, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks but no thrilling victory or crushing defeat ever changed the way I felt about the next day's sunrise.

What are the best days in your life? How about the most significant days of your life? Why?

ROL: Positive Reality.

ROL is an abbreviation for Return on Life. Return on Life is all about making small incremental changes that yield large returns on life enjoyment. This week's ROL is about keeping a positive attitude grounded in reality.

This Season.

source: Wikipedia

It's been a tough season to be a Chicago Bears fan. The Bears started off the season losing 3 of their first 5 games. All three loses were dreadful. After that, the Bears reeled off 5 wins in a row and appeared to be an actual professional football team. The Bears star quarterback broke his thumb in the last victory of the 5. After losing their star quarterback the Bears lost five in row. With those five consecutive losses the Bears had no chance of qualifying for the playoffs. The coup de grace was a Bears win in the last game of the season, guaranteeing a worse draft position for the Bears. At least I'm used to it.

The Last Half-Decade.

The Chicago Bears had a great season in 2006, winning 13 of 16 games. The Bears advanced through the playoffs until losing the Super Bowl to the Indianapolis Colts. The next three years the Bears had a composite record one game below break even with no postseason appearances. Last year everything went right for the Bears until they lost the conference championship and found themselves 1 win short of a Super Bowl appearance.

It's All In How You Look At It.

At the post-mortem press conference the day after the Bears season ended, a reporter asked Bears coach Lovie Smith how he planned to turn around a franchise that has made the playoffs only once in five seasons. Smith replied, "We've made the playoffs once in the last two years". True. And Bill Clinton didn't have sex with that woman. The stain on her dress proves it.

Measure Accurately.

I'm a big fan of staying positive. A strong will to stay positive has gotten through some pretty rough times (How was 2011 for you?) Staying positive does not mean ignoring the truth. Staying positive means identifying and acknowledging and developing an action plan to correct any deficiencies.  Ignoring the obvious only makes it harder to improve and has a negative impact on a positive outlook.

Do you have any examples of someone (you, a family member, a colleague or employer)obscuring the truth in order to portray an overly rosy outlook? How do you feel when someone inaccurately portrays a situation in an overly optimistic manner?

In My Opinion...

 I Got You Pajamas That Double As Underwear.

As we head toward shopping D-Day the local sports talker has a heavy rotation commercial from an e-tailer specializing in women's sleepwear. Pajamas thru the mail for your sweetie? It's cheaper and less work than department store jewelery, right guys? The pajama purveyor is offering a unique two-fer:

• A snuggie with hood and feet (aka sweat suit burka) and
• Silky pajamas designed not to wear too long due to lack of comfort and/or lack of material.

With the money saved, why not throw in a Chapstick? Guys, no jury would convict her.

source: morgueFile

 And 100,000 Pounds Of Doritos.

Former (as of yesterday) Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd was indicted on federal narcotic charges. At a meeting with a federal undercover agent Hurd took delivery on 1 kilo of cocaine. Hurd also tried to arrange weekly delivery of 5-10 kilos of cocaine and 1000 lbs. of marijuana. That's over 25 tons of marijuana annually. For comparison, two male and two female elephants combined would weigh an average of 23 tons. Holding in abeyance (for now) the discussion about legalizing marijuana: In the war on drugs, drugs are winning the battle and the war.

source: Wikipedia

 I Love My Kids. Really.

Today is the first day of seventeen consecutive days that my kids are out of school. The Rockford Public School system calls this winter break. The use of the word break asks the question, a break for who? Still, I'd rather have my kids to complain about, than not have my kids.

Only 4 full shopping days until the winter solstice. Enjoy the malls.

ROL: Context Matters.

ROL (Return on Life) is a self designated qualitative measure based on the quantitative metric, ROI (Return on Investment). ROI is maximized when small investments provide whopping returns. ROL is maximized when small incremental lifestyle changes provide exceptional enhancement in one's QOL (Quality of Life). This week's ROL is about delaying final evaluation until actions are reviewed in context.

Source: morgueFile.com

Are You Ready?

Tonight starts the NFL 2011 Championship Season. Despite the fact that pro football adds no value to society I am a huge fan. I love the game.  Not so much the talking heads. Even less the useless statistics the talking heads spew whenever there is 2 seconds of stillness. For example:

• The (beloved) Bears are 46-3 the last decade when they have 40 or more rushing (running) attempts per game. The inference is when the Bears run, they win. In context please understand that in the 2010 season the most yards gained per pass attempt average (San Diego) was 8.7. The most yards gained per run attempt (Philadelphia) was 5.4. Additionally running plays take longer than passing plays. In short, teams pass when they are behind and run to protect a lead. You don't win because you run, you run more when you are winning.
• Time of possession early in games. This Sunday the (beloved) Bears are playing Atlanta. Atlanta starts with 12 plays and kicks a field goal to end their1st drive. The Bears run 3 plays and punt back to Atlanta. Atlanta has 14 plays, misses a field goal and the 1st quarter ends Atlanta up 3-0. Immediately a statistic pops up showing Atlanta has a 12:00 minute advantage in time of possession. All true, but Atlanta leads by a mere 3 and the Bears have only had the ball once. Given context the stat is meaningless.

I Will Never Be Ready For This.
I will follow up the above constructed, albeit true to NFL examples with a real life example. If you don't notice the thick line in the middle of my progressive bifocals you wouldn't know I have poor depth perception and poor peripheral vision. Unless I told you, you wouldn't know I am under treatment for anxiety. These two facts converge when I have to back my car 100 feet in an alley with two feet of clearance on each side. I sweat profusely. I will do anything to avoid backing my car more than 5 feet. As a casual observer you might think I'm chicken or maybe even chickens*#t. In context, my reticence to put the car in reverse make sense.

Hold Your Horses, Bucko!

Next time you see something that doesn't compute hold on a second before uttering the last word of "What the ?" See if you are able to see the situation in context. Maybe even consider exchanging "What the ?" for "Can I Help?"

Do you have other examples of context lending perspective? Or do you see things in a more "black and white" manner?