Random thoughts
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, about three hours before game time. It’s a rarity if I don’t watch the Super Bowl. I remember when Y. A. Tittle played for the Giants in three different Super Bowls. They were not victorious in any of the games, but the Super Bowl trophy was renamed in his honor after his death at age 90 in 2017.
I liked Y. A. Tittle. A point of interest is that he played quarterback for the 49ers for 10 years.
Naming a few former greats, I’ve watched Johnny Unitas play football for the Colts, Joe Namath play for the Jets, and Ken Stabler play for the Saints. Yes, I watch the Atlanta Falcons and have high hopes they’ll get better and better some day.
I love baseball. Spring practice will begin in a few days and I think the pitchers may already be there, wherever “there” is — somewhere in Florida, I presume. My three favorite baseball players ever were Mickey Mantle, who played all 18 of his years with the New York Yankees, Hank Aaron who spent his career with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves and the Milwaukee Brewers (I watched in 1974 when he broke Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs), and my all-time favorite player ever was Willie Mays, known as the “Say Hey Kid.” He was a center fielder and I loved how he went to all kinds of lengths to catch the ball. He played almost his whole career with the New York/San Francisco Giants.
I don’t watch baseball like I used to. The game and the players have changed a lot. Oh, many still love the game, but the last player I remember following throughout his career was Chipper Jones with the Atlanta Braves for 16 years. Players nowadays stay with one team for a couple of years and move on. So much is about the money and not the sheer love of the game. I didn’t want our local boy, Charlie Culberson, to have to move on from the Braves, but he was able to stay with them, thank goodness.
I have a morning blog, post, whatever you want to call it, on Facebook. I call it “Coleen’s Random Thoughts” and I try to write every morning. Do I get paid for it? Nope, not one thin dime, but I enjoy writing, putting down my thoughts, ideas, even recipes sometimes. I always let my readers know about the weather. These days, I’ve moved away from my political opinions except when it just gets too much. I’m trying to stay out of the fray, though.
I am not a fan of Trump, but it’s best I don’t voice that opinion much. For one thing, on Facebook especially, people tend to get really angry and write disparaging rhetoric. I tend to write back disparaging rhetoric, which doesn’t help any situation. So far, citizens of this country do have a right to voice their opinion — free speech and all. I want it to stay that way. I’m just thankful the KKK didn’t show up at that local rally for Trump.
Moving right along and in a more positive light, we have a new grandbaby that will join our family very soon. This past Saturday, I had the great pleasure of attending our granddaughter Alex’s practice dance for competition. She is a marvelous tiny dancer and was wonderful, so poised and beautiful.
Hatcher, her little brother, was also in attendance along with his dad. A 3-yearold can only take so many minutes watching young ladies dance beautifully on the stage. To be quite honest, he did not appreciate the talent at all but tolerated it for about 15 minutes at the most. Thank goodness for that little iPhone and the movie “Cars.” His favorite car is still Lightning McQueen, but he was more into Tow Mater yesterday. No, his behavior wasn’t stellar and his daddy let him know how disappointed he was in him and how “bad” his behavior was. From his car seat on the way home, he declared in a rather quiet voice, “Well, I was a little bit good.”
Hayden and I had to cover our mouths to keep from laughing out loud. I can remember my mom and dad covering their mouths whenever my baby brother said things so endearing out of the blue, like when Daddy was showing a house when he was in real estate and we were all with him. He told Stan, who was around 5 to not say a word.
When the people saw this cute little ginger-haired kid, they asked him his name. He said very earnestly, “My daddy told me not to say anything.”
And these are my random thoughts this Super Bowl afternoon.
Coleen Brooks is a longtime resident of Gordon County who previously wrote for the Calhoun Times as a columnist. She retired as the director and lead instructor for the Georgia Northwestern Technical College Adult Education Department in 2013. She can be reached at coleenbrooks1947@gmail.com.