2 Post Friday... Random thoughts... Post 100!

I think this is post #100 for I'm just sayin... Where has the time gone?

Have you ever found yourself sitting at work on a slow Friday looking out of the window at great weather and thinking about who would hold what position if you were President (or the leader of a crime family)? Me too!

So here’s what I’m thinking:

The Horres “Family”

Don: Me

Already this is where things in my daydreaming get kind difficult. As you know, I have an older brother. So how can I be the head of the family with him still around? For all things mafia related, I of course have to draw on my experience from The Godfather. This means one of two things will happen to my brother.

1. He will be a tough, hot-headed man who likes to fight and he will lead the family for a brief period before being gunned down at a toll booth.

2. He will be a sickly, wimpy man who will betray me and who I will end up having killed after our mother dies.

Since I like my brother, I will go with choice #1. So, sorry Kevin, you aren’t around in this scenario, but at least you went out like Sonny and not like Fredo.

Anyway, back to my “Family”...
Underboss: My cousin Louis

Consiglieri: Jeremy

Enforcer (ala, Luca Brasi/Al Neri): Brett B.

Caporegime: KC

Caporegime: Danny

Caporegime: Jamin
Soldier: Clark
Soldier: Ross
Soldier: Dave
Associates: All of my other friends

Now if I was President:

President: Me
Chief of Staff: Jeremy
Vice President: KC
Secretary of State: my brother Kevin
Attorney General: Louis

Secretary of Defense: Danny
Secretary of Homeland Security: Dave
Secretary of the Treasury: Michael
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Clark
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Jamin
Secretary of Education: my sister Teri
Spiritual Advisor (ala Billy Graham): Jenn
Secretary of the Interior: Ross
Secretary of Transportation: My cousin Jason
Director of the CIA: My cousin Scott
Ambassador to the UN: My cousin Alan
Deputy Chief of Staff: My friend Kurt. We played baseball together at JI. I don’t think I’ve actually seen him since we graduated, but I keep up with him over Facebook. He’s lived all over the world, so he would probably be a good Ambassador to the UN, but I wanted my cousin Alan in that spot. I want Kurt to be Deputy Chief of Staff because I would like his advice on things. The thing is, Kurt leans so far to the left that if we were in a three-legged race together and I didn’t lean right, we’d fall over. So I’m not sure how much of his advice I’d actually use, but I think it’s good to have differing opinions and different views. Plus he’s fun to hang out with.
Senior Advisor: My brother-in-law Brent
Senior Advisor: My British friend Thomas

Director of National Drug Control Policy: My brother-in-law Michael

There are other people I would need to find a spot for (like my cousin Susan) but this is what I would start with.

Good Dogs, Bad Dog(s)

As you know, I love dogs. All kinds of dogs. For the most part, dogs love me. I’ve only met two dogs that don’t love me. One belongs to The Mother-In-Law, so I’m guessing she’s just taking after her owner. The other belongs to the Zobel family (I have been told she doesn’t like any men… but for all I know she is also just taking after her owner… nah, she probably just doesn’t like men). Anyway, only one dog has tested my love for dogs. That dog, of course, is Donkey (if you don’t know who this is, just ask). It’s not so much that Donkey is bad (though he is), it’s more that he’s bad and he is freakin’ huge. I swear, this must be how my parents felt when I came along. Switch the gender of Lucy and Maverick and looking at my dogs would probably be like looking at my family when I was growing up. My brother (in this example a male version of Lucy) was the quiet “perfect” child. My sister (female Maverick) was sweet and always kissing up… I mean, trying to please my parents. Life, I’m sure, was good. Then this huge freakin’ idiot comes around and while he does things to make you laugh, he also doesn’t listen. Although, knowing my Dad like I do, I have to think if I was half as bad as Donkey, we would have had some kind of “boating accident” or “hunting accident” and I would have gone bye bye.

The funny thing in all of this, is if you ask The Wife she will tell you that Scooby (that what she calls him) isn’t bad. He just has a lot of energy that he wouldn’t have if I would take him for a walk. Amazing how it comes back to being my fault! Anyway, The Wife will tell you that LUCY is the bad dog! Lucy! My Princess! The one who loves me above all others in that house. I’m telling you, friends, I am getting a taste of how it is going to be when the girls become teenagers. I can’t even get into the door before I hear The Wife yelling about how Lucy is bad and then telling me everything she is blaming Lucy for (I say it that way because there is never any proof pinning these crimes on Lucy). Meanwhile, Lucy stands there and looks at me like The Wife has been scaring her to death. You have to understand, Lucy was abused as a puppy so the last thing she ever wants is to disappoint us. I can remember when we lived in the apartment... I came home and simply asked Lucy if she had done something bad and she rolled over and wet herself. So I know that she can’t be doing the things that The Wife is yelling at her for. I feel bad for her (Lucy). She is so scared that she stays outside most nights until I am home to protect her. If she’s not hiding outside, she will hide in bed with Mary Ruth because that is the only place she feels safe. Meanwhile, Donkey is like a bull in a china shop breaking things, eating things, running into children… but he just has too much energy… and it’s my fault. Explain that.



Chase Towne Update: Nothing new to report. Keep praying for Chase and his family.

Cleveland Cavs Update: My Cavs have clinched the Central Division and are far and away the best team in the NBA this season with a record of 57-15. Their next game is tonight at San Antonio.

James Island Trojans Update: James Island is back on the field tonight at Goose Creek. I am reminded of a story from when my brother played. One night they were playing Goose Creek and (long story short) they got in a fight. A big fight. A real big fight. Word is fathers had to come out of the stands to pull sons off of one another. I regret I was never able to be in a fight like this when I played. I feel it’s the only thing that is missing from my sports resume. I came close one night when we were playing a team from New Jersey in the HIT Tournament. The game was at James Island and by about the 4th or 5th inning police had to be called. By the end of the game, there were a lot policemen there. The fans were about to fight, the players were about to fight… oh what might have been. But the stupid yankees were too scared to throw the first punch (and as true Southern Gentlemen, we would never start a fight). We won the game. I don’t know if we would have won the fight… but I would have liked to have found out. Of course, when the tournament was over they had to go back to New Jersey… so I we got the last laugh.

Winthrop Eagles Update: The Eagles begin Big South play tonight at 6:00 when they host the High Point Panthers.

400 wins...

I’m a little late in posting this due to school work. The end is near and so far it looks like I’ve got a chance to graduate. But enough about me... Friends, last Wednesday I had a chance to go down to James Island and watch history being made. James Island beat Colleton County 10-0 to earn Coach Tom Hatley his 400th victory. There was a nice article in the paper last Friday about Coach Hatley. In it, he said that the 1999 team was his best ever... which is odd because I graduated two years before that. I guess age is getting to the old guy. Haha... But really, 400 wins is great. But 400 wins is only a small part of what makes Coach Hatley great. Listen, before I go on, I’m not saying the man is perfect. I’m not saying he doesn’t have any regrets. I am saying he did things his way, and while he may have a few regrets... they’ve been too few to mention. Anyway, look at his former players and you’ll see his real success. Some are teachers/coaches, some own businesses, many have their masters, at least one will have a PhD by the end of the year and at least one is an oral surgeon. One even has a very successful blog and has written multiple best selling books (ok, that’s not 100% true... yet). A very large majority (if not all of them) will credit Coach Hatley for where they are. Get a group of guys who played for Coach Hatley in the ‘80s together with guys who played for him in the ‘90s and you would think they all played at the same time (except the guys from the ‘80s look old). They will tell the same stories that Coach told, they will talk about how much they feared him and how much they love him. Even today while they are in their 30s and 40s... grown men with jobs and families... they will only call him Coach. Most would rather have their tongue cut out than call him by his first name. Most don’t even know it. Most think his full name (First Middle Last) is Coach Tom Hatley. That’s just how it is. I’d be willing to bet that if you were to get all of his former players together and have Coach tell them to start running laps, they would start running. Some might question it... but these questions would be under their breath... as they are running (NEVER loud enough for him to hear it).

I am reminded of an email I wrote a little over a year ago that included my thoughts about Coach Hatley and playing baseball at James Island. I don’t remember it word for word, but I am able to cut and paste, so here it is:

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Growing up, I pretty much had my life planned up to age 18. My dream growing up was to play baseball for Coach Hatley at James Island High School. Let me tell you… it’s pretty dang cool to have your dream come true.

Playing baseball for Coach Hatley prepared me for so many things. He taught me, more than anything, that excuses don’t change man’s love for the winner or scorn for the loser. He also prepared me for marriage. If I do something wrong, The Wife will yell at me. If I did something wrong at practice, Coach Hatley would yell at me AND make me run. Ah, the good ol’ days. Anyway, I played four years in high school for Coach Hatley winning 4 Region Championships, 2 Lower State Championships, and 2 State Championships. The two “bad” years we had, we were Lower State Runner-ups. I’m not one to talk about my personal accomplishments, but I know if I don’t then you’ll just keep asking me and asking me so I might as well tell you now. I started my junior and senior years (and was named to the all region team both years). I’m sure you’re thinking the same thing I’ve thought all of these years, if I’d started my freshman and sophomore years then I’d have made the all region team 4 years, not just two. Some say I didn’t start those two years because I wasn’t ready or I wasn’t as good as the guys who started in front of me. Now, I know what you’re thinking, these can’t be the real reasons. It must have been politics. Well friends, I hate to say it but you’re probably right. As for my personal stats, well I'm not really one to keep up with that kind of stuff in an Excel spreadsheet but if I did then I would tell you that I played in 98 games, had a .373 batting average, was walked 30 times, was hit by a pitch 22 times, was struck out 19 times, scored 67 runs, had 26 RBIs, and had a fielding percentage of .963… I also dated more girls than I care to mention.
*******
Anyway, congrats to Coach Hatley on win number 400 (and after beating Stratford on Tuesday and Fort Dorchester on Wednesday... congrats on wins 401 and 402).

Here is a picture from the night of win #400. Notice the spot where my brother Kevin isn’t standing because he didn’t want to drive down for the game.

Have you ever been in a situation where you find out that the person you are talking to doesn’t know someone who you think is famous? Happens to me every time I meet someone who doesn’t know me... but that’s not my point. The other day I said something about Andy Stanley and my Aunt looked at me like I was stupid and said “You mean Charles Stanley”. I didn’t, I meant Andy Stanley... and she had NO CLUE who I was talking about. None. I don’t know why, but stuff like this shocks me. I mean, to be honest I didn’t know about him either until I met his BIGGEST FAN EVER. Still, it threw me off.

Friends, I’m planning on going to my new favorite church this Sunday. Speaking of church, I have a new favorite song... PRAY FOR YOU by Jaron and The Long Road to Love. This is the kind of song I wish I had written. You have to go buy it NOW. Great stuff.

Chase Towne Update: from his dad on March 21: Chase is doing fine. His appetite is better each day and his stamina improves daily as well. Chase is getting his 6th tooth in finally. The Chemo has slowed this process, but he makes do just fine with just 5 teeth. He is finally getting some hair back on his head, just in time for them to shave it for surgery on the 31st. Yesterday, marked 11 months in Chase's journey. It has been a long journey, we truly appreciate all of the outpouring of love for our Miracle baby. We have been and continue to be blessed by each of you. Your prayers, love and support is felt daily. Thank You! Please pray for continued strength as Chase prepares for the next surgery.

From his dad on March 23: Thankful to say all is "normal" Chase has gained most of his weight back, thankfully he ate three helpings of rice, gravy and corn tonight. After seeing the two of them together the last week or so, I would say Olivia is the best medicine for Chase. He worships the ground she walks and she takes good care of him. Thank you for the continued prayers and support of our "Miracle Baby."

Cleveland Cavs Update: The Cavs are still the best team in the NBA.

James Island Trojans Update: The Trojans (9-1, 1-0) are at Goose Creek on Friday night (6:00 game time).

Winthrop Eagles Update: The Eagles Baseball team is now 12-8 after falling to The Citadel last night. The Eagles are at home this weekend for a three game series against High Point.

The Madness of March

What a great time of year! The first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA Tournament! I love it! But Greg, you might ask, aren’t you upset that Winthrop lost and missed out on their chance to upset Duke and be the first 16 seed to beat a 1 seed? Eh, sure... I wanted Winthrop to win... but life is too short to be mad about something like that. Listen, WU has been to the NCAA tournament 9 times and they’ve only made it to the 2nd round once. But you know what? That one time is enough to last me a lifetime. Sure, I want them to advance again one day. Heck, I want them to win it all one day. But even if they don’t, I’ll always have that memory of 2007. Sitting in a crowded Bobby Hartin’s Sports Grill and Raw Bar with Jeremy, yelling at the TV when CBS left the WU/ND game to show some other game and seeing the Winthrop lead slowly go away. We started the night watching the game on the big screen there but by the end we were standing up watching it on one of the smaller TVs because it was about 1 second faster than the big screen. Oh what a night! Who knows, maybe next year I’ll get to see the Eagles make it to the Sweet 16.

Of course, you can’t talk about the NCAA Tournament without talking about the clip below. I was at my Uncle George & Aunt Yvonne’s house the night of this game. If my memory is correct, they had gone out for the night so it was just me, my cousins at the house. Susan and Alan were both in bed, which left me and Louis down in the den watching the game. The guy for Kentucky hit the shot to take the lead. You have to remember, back then I was a huge Duke fan. Now, sometimes I like them, sometimes I don’t... but back then, I was a huge fan. So was Louis. So we’re walking around the den and I keep saying it’s going to be ok, Duke is going to win, there’s still time. Really, I don’t know if I believed it or if I just wanted to believe it. So Grant Hill takes the ball, makes a great pass, Laettner catches the pass, dribbles, spins, shoots and SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We went wild. We were screaming and running around the den. I think at one point, Louis jumped up and I caught him and we were running around. Then, of course, we went to the court in his back yard and tried to recreate the shot for about 1,000 or so times.

That, friends, is why this time of year is so great. You can’t buy memories like that.



Chase Towne Update: (from his dad) Chase’s doctor's visits were short and sweet. Clinic was good, all of Chase's blood counts looked good. The abdomen surgeon said all looked good, the surgery was a success and cleared Chase. One more hurdle cleared on Chase's road to "beating it." So as long as nothing comes up Chase gets another 12 days off to finish recuperating and gain strength. Chase will report to Clinic on March 29th for a pre-surgery check-up. If all looks good, then he will have a craniotomy on March 31st to remove the tumor between the two hemispheres of his skull. Thank you for the continued support and prayers of our miracle baby!

Cleveland Cavs Update: The Cavs won... again... 99-94 over Indiana. The top NBA team will take the court again tomorrow night at Chicago.

James Island Trojans Update: The Trojans won last night 10-0. More on this later today (or maybe tomorrow)....

Winthrop Eagles Update: The Eagles season ended on Tuesday night when the lost to UAPB in the Opening Round of the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Tournament Game of the Day: The 10 seeded Saint Mary’s Gaels take on Clark Williams’s’s’ 7 seeded Richmond Spiders. I’m Just Sayin... is going to take the Spiders in this one.

Tuesday Thinkings...

I would like to start by thanking The Wife and my good friends Ross and Jenn for meeting me for lunch last Wednesday. I was in the mood to eat lunch with a large group of my friends and these are the people that showed up.

I like to listen to the radio and my mp3 player while at work because it helps to drown out the noise of co-workers talking to me. The two radio shows I like are the Tony Kornheiser Show (out of D.C.) and Primetime with the Packman (out of Charlotte). Both are great shows. As I said before, when I’m not listening to the radio, I listen to my mp3 player. It strikes me as odd the range of music I have on there. Just today I went from Tobymac to Starship to Elton John to NWA (the original version) to Brad Paisley to LL Cool J to Bon Jovi to Run DMC to Waylon Jennings to Van Halen (the original version) to Young MC to The Beatles and on and on.... Usually I go through phases where I’ll listen to Christian music or Rock or Rap/Hip-Hop or Country, but sometimes I’ll listen to all of them back to back.

I read a column in the editorial section of the paper the other day talking about the First Amendment. The writer of this column thinks that protests at military funerals shouldn’t be protected under the First Amendment. It seems that this is going to be decided by the Supreme Court this year (I think). As someone in the media, I am a big fan of the protections we are given under the First Amendment. As a human, I think that people who protest at funerals should be shot on site. Honestly, you don’t have to shoot all of them… just shoot a couple and that should do the job. I don’t care who is protesting or what they are protesting… if it’s a funeral, and they protest, they should be shot (or at the very least, shot at). We should have a law that says people at a funeral can shoot anyone who is protesting at the funeral without getting in trouble. That would probably be enough to keep protesters away. Listen, it’s not that I’m against protesting, but really… at a funeral? Just because the person is in the military? It just doesn’t make sense.



Chase Towne Update: (from his parents) Chase continues to improve each day. His stamina is better each day and he started climbing again over the weekend so his abdomen must be feeling a little better. The incision from the surgery is pretty well healed. Chase will report to clinic on Wednesday for a check up and then a visit to the surgeon for a post-op check-up. The time home has been good for everyone. Olivia takes good care of her brother. Chase and Olivia are good healing for their parents as well. Olivia told us last night she "was so excited everyone was home for the weekend." Thank you for the continued support and prayers for our Miracle Baby. Please pray for continued recovery and "uneventful" doctor visits on Wednesday! Thank You!

Cleveland Cavs Update: With a record of 52-15, the Cavs are the best team in the Eastern Conference... and really all of the NBA.

James Island Trojans Update: After a week off, the James Island baseball team was back in action as they went on the road to destroy West Ashley 11-4. The win brought the Trojans record to 6-0. JI will face Colleton County at home on Wednesday (7pm game time).

Winthrop Eagles Update: Winthrop will play in the Opening Round game of the NCAA Tournament tonight night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. 7:30 on ESPN. GO EAGLES!!!!

It's me again...

So, The Wife isn’t real happy with me. I have to point out that I could probably start every post with that sentence... but I digress.

It seems she doesn’t think that the programming I watch with Mary Ruth is not... how shall I say... appropriate. I, of course, think she is overreacting. Listen, I’ve done my time watching every Disney Princess movie there is. You show me a picture and I can tell you which one is Cinderella, Jasmine, Ariel, Belle, Aurora, Mulan, Snow White, and Pocahontas... I can hold my own with any dad out there. So don’t think I only watch “my shows” with her. Anyway, here are the shows that we like to watch (yes, Mary Ruth likes these shows and will usually ask me if we can watch them). These are not in any kind of order...

Transformers (the original cartoon)
GI Joe (the original cartoon)
Cheers
MacGyver
House
NCIS
The Cosby Show
Sherlock Holmes
ALF

I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but these are the main shows that I watch with her (we have them on DVD... so don’t start looking through the TV Guide trying to find out when ALF comes on). All of these shows are high in Educational Value... which is more than I can say for the trash she (The Wife) watches on TV. But I’m not going to sit here and judge that filth.

Our sponsor today:


I don’t want to keep talking about this TV thing, but I can’t help but point out that my Dad will let me watch any of the shows I listed... so why shouldn’t I let my daughter watch them? I think the next show I am going to introduce her to is M*A*S*H. Classic.

Friends, I don’t know how it didn’t make it into my post last night, but I need to take a minute to congratulate my good friends KC & LA (the people, not the cities) on the birth of their 2nd child (first boy) Corey Wyatt Carter. I like the name. I like Gregory Wyatt Carter better... but I still like the name they decided on. As you might remember, LA made a WONDERFUL meal for us after Susie was born. I am hoping that she will do this again as we celebrate the birth of Baby Wyatt. To help out, we’re willing to go eat at their place.

Boy names are something else The Wife and I don’t agree on. Before we knew the girls were girls, we thought of both boy and girl names. These are just a few of the boy names I had picked out (in no real order):

Levon Kirkland Horres
Michael Corleone Horres
Ryne Sandberg Horres
Winston Churchill Horres
Chris Gaynor Horres
Greg Lewis Horres
Charles Oakley Horres
Stonewall Jackson Horres
Doc Holliday Horres
Ric Flair Horres

I know what you’re thinking, and I agree... they are all perfect. I don’t know how I’d be able to pick just one. But The Wife hated all of them. I just can’t figure her out.

Winthrop Eagles Update: The Big South Champs are waiting until Sunday to find out who and where they will be playing next week in the NCAA Tournament.

Cleveland Cavs Update: The Cavs are still the best team in the NBA right now. This is where I said they would be. Still, I will wait until after the season to say “I told you so”.

Chase Towne Update: Nothing new to report today.

Hello Friends..............

I'm back and better than ever... and I'm sleepy so this won't take long.

The semester is half-way over and I'm still alive, so I've got that going for me. Saturday was a pretty big day for me. Winthrop beat the evil Coastal Carolina to win the Big South Championship and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!

Also on Saturday, I received an invitation to join the CSU chapter of Sigma Beta Delta, the international honor society for students in business, management, and administration. This proves I'm the smartest child in my family, giving me the Triple Crown (Brains, Looks, Humor).

In other news... Scooby is still alive through no fault of my own.

I have a newly published book out on the market. By "book" I mean a paper I wrote for my class about my friend Kevin Carter. By "published" I mean I have copies printed. It's actually two books in one. Might be one of my better writings.

Chase Towne Update: (from his dad): Chase has enjoyed a nice weekend at home. Each day he gets a little better. He is still not 100 percent. We can tell his abdomen is still pretty tender, as he does not climb much. On a positive note, last night he took his clothes off and motioned for us to turn on the music. He was ready for a dance party. He did his "popcorn" dance and was so excited to watch his sister dance. I guess you could say each day brings us one step closer to recovery and "Beating It." Good Lord willing Chase has NOTHING scheduled until March 17. This will be the first time he has had 12 days off since he started his fight in April of 2009. Please say a prayer asking for full recovery and an "uneventful" week. Thank you for the continued thoughts and prayers for our Miracle Baby!

Speaking of Chase, I had a chance to see him and his family while he was at MUSC after his latest surgery. His parents were VERY thankful for all of the prayers. So I will again remind everyone to pray for Chase and his family.

I have been told that there are some people at my new favorite church who don't like it when music is played at the end of the sermon while the preacher is still talking. I, for one, don't like it when the preacher can't take a hint from the guy playing the music that it's time to wrap things up. I'm just sayin...