Can we all lighten up a bit? Like this? (reprise)

Look closely!

Fun cartoon from my friend, Rev. Eric Folkerth, Senior Minister at Northaven United Methodist Church in Dallas!

Steve Martin: Atheist Song

Gridiron Truisms. . .

Time out for a bit of levity.  Never was much of a player, but I've always loved football.  Consider these moments of truth from sources who really understand or understood the game, or at least love it:

"At Georgia Southern, we don't cheat. That costs money and we don't have any." Erk Russell / Georgia Southern.

"Football is only a game. Spiritual things are eternal. Never the less, Beat Texas" Seen on a church sign in Arkansas prior to the 1969 game.

"After you retire, there's only one big event left....and I ain't ready for that." Bobby Bowden / Florida State

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be
the one who dropped it." Lou Holtz / Arkansas

"When you win, nothing hurts." Joe Namath / Alabama

"Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated." Lou Holtz / Arkansas

"If you want to walk the heavenly streets of gold, you gotta know the password,"Roll, tide, roll!" Bear Bryant / Alabama

"A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall." Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked
out of you." Woody Hayes / Ohio State

"I don't expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation. I
just want to win enough to warrant an investigation." Bob Devaney/
Nebraska

"In Alabama , an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant."
Wally Butts / Georgia

"You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life." Paul Dietzel / LSU

"It's kind of hard to rally around a math class." Bear Bryant / Alabama

When asked if Fayetteville was the end of the world. "No, but you can see it from here." Lou Holtz / Arkansas

"I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game." Bear Bryant / Alabama

"There's one sure way to stop us from scoring-give us the ball near the goal line." Matty Bell / SMU

"Lads, you're not to miss practice unless your parents died or you died."
Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

"I never graduated from Iowa , but I was only there for two terms -
Truman's and Eisenhower's." Alex Karras / Iowa

"My advice to defensive players: Take the shortest route to the ball
and arrive in a bad humor." Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee

"I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades." Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

"Always remember ..... Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David."
Shug Jordan / Auburn

"They cut us up like boarding house pie. And that's real small pieces."
Darrell Royal / Texas

"Show me a good and gracious loser, and I'll show you a failure." Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

"They whipped us like a tied up goat." Spike Dykes / Texas Tech

"I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn't recruit me and he said: "Well, Walt, we took a look at you and you weren't any good." Walt Garrison / Oklahoma State

"Son, you've got a good engine, but your hands aren't on the steering wheel." Bobby Bowden / Florida State

After USC lost 51-0 to Notre Dame, his post game message to his team: "All those who need showers, take them." John McKay / USC

"If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education."
Murray Warmath / Minnesota

"The only qualifications for a lineman are to be big and dumb. To be a back, you only have to be dumb." Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

"Oh, we played about like three tons of buzzard puke this afternoon." Spike Dykes / Texas Tech

"It isn't necessary to see a good tackle. You can hear it." Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

"We live one day at a time and scratch where it itches." Darrell Royal / Texas

"We didn't tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking."
Wilson Matthews / Little Rock Central High School

"Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad."
Woody Hayes / Ohio State

"I've found that prayers work best when you have big players." Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

"Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football." John Heisman

My dear friend, "Anonymous"

Back on Thursday, February 15, 2007, I quoted Antonio Gramsci's description of the impact of World War I on Russian peasants and subsequent Russian political life.

Gramsci happened to have been a disciple of Karl Marx.

As I often manage to do, I ruffled the feathers of my good, good friend, "Anonymous."

Here's what "Anonymous" posted in my comment box in response to my decision to quote a Marxist philosopher:

"At 8:48 PM, Anonymous said...
Larry, it would be nice if you would quote some of our founding fathers rather than the founder of the Communist Party of Italy."

You gotta love "Anonymous."

At least he or she took the time to respond, got involved, mixed it up, expressed a thought, shared a point of view, cared enough to give me a piece of his/her mind!

I love that! It's a big part of why I blog--that and my obvious need for therapy--stay close to the phone Dr. Parsons!

Every time I get a message from Old "Anonymous" though, I find myself wishing that he would come out into the light just a step or two farther.

You know.

Provide us with her name!

Identity is important for authentic conversation, at least it seems so to me.

I'm about ready to start a national campaign. You know, something along the lines of:

"Anonymouses of the world unite! Declare your names so all will know!"

Wonder if it would do any good?

Whatever, I just want to go on record again to say that I hope "Anonymous" will keep posting, even if I never get a name to go with the comments.

Which brings me back to the post "Anonymous" left me.

I believe "Anonymous" deserves to be taken seriously.

So, here's a quote from one of our most famous founding fathers about a subject related to my original, and for "Anonymous" objectionable, post:

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just"--Thomas Jefferson.