Wings for breakfast anyone?

Ok, first I know it has been a while, but I'm back. Now, it's 7:50 in the morning and I'm craving wings! Some garlic parm and Asian style or my fav combo, bbq parm. 

This brings me to my thoughts, I'd rather have "lunch or dinner" foods in the morning and breakfast burritos is always an option for dinner. Brings me to say "about dang time" to McDonald's for making breakfast available all day. Now, step it up and make the whole menu available all day. How many of you have wanted chicken nuggets for breakfast or a chalupa for breakfast from Taco Bell. Yeah there are other options that do full menu all day, but sometimes there is certain things you want. 

Maybe I'm wrong, but again these are really just my random thoughts. 

What's Your Battle?

First of all, my apologies, it's been a while but I'm back! In my time away from the blog, I've been reading and I just finished former ESPN personality Stuart Scott's memoir, Every Day I Fight. It details his life and battle with cancer which he passed away from in January. Between this book and an incident that occurred on July 1, I've adopted Every Day I Fight as my new mantra. 

    I had a neighbor who's hired help had been parking on my property and I just wanted to man up and discuss it with him. Well he decided that calling me a "fat f@&$" about 23 times in a 5 minute conversation and that people like me were the problems in his life. Thankfully, I didn't stoop to his level and didn't cuss at him once. I credit my faith and strength from God himself for allowing me to stand strong and for realizing that some people are just going to be that way. 

    Anyway, while cancer isn't my battle, I have plenty in my life and I'm choosing to fight hard everyday. Whether it's my weight loss, my relationship with Jesus, my relationship with my wife, family, and friends, or to be the best teacher, every day I will fight to be that. 

There will be days I will struggle, but I will fight. To paraphrase Scott's ESPY award acceptance speech, you beat cancer(or whatever your battle is) by the way you live. And if I work hard to do my best in every aspect, then I will feel like a winner in my battles. If you want someone to pray with you through your battles, email me, ericjustinbates@gmail.com. 

But you know, these are really just my random thoughts.

Maybe we need a little more of this?

Today, our little town had Pioneer Day. I looked around and took pics(as you can see) and thought how if we had more of this going on, we'd have less crap in our world. 

Everything from a bed race, turtle races, a pizza eating contest, hot dog eating contest, and other things between. 

Simple, good clean fun for families. Who knows, maybe I'm crazy but again, these are really just my random thoughts.

Could Sam Presti be making his "3rd Strike" decision with Donovan?

With reports that Oklahoma City is in "serious talks" with Flordia's Billy Donovan to become the next head coach of the Thunder, one has to wonder, is Sam Presti making his 3rd big mistake as the team's GM? 

Mistake 1 was letting James Harden go to Houston. If OKC keeps him, I think last and this year's results are different. 

Mistake 2 was Kendrick Perkins' ridiculous contract that kept him on the team WAY past his productive prime. Presti got lucky in being able to trade him off to Utah this year in the big 3 team trade that brought Enes Kanter and others to OKC. 

Colleges coaches with no previous NBA experience don't have the best track record, so why would Presti hire a guy like that when there are better options out there? 

Time will tell if this makes Presti look like a genius or sends him looking for another job. But of course, these are really just my random thoughts.

Have you figured these out?

So, sitting there thinking about what is going on in our lives, I got to thinking about things that if people knew and accepted, that life would be easier. 

1. Some people just suck.

Some people just choose to be a jerk. Responding to these people just fan their flame and make you more upset in the long run. Learning to deal with them and going on about life will take you a long way.

2. Family goes beyond blood.

There are those people that may not be related to you, but they will go to bat and be there for you just like (or even better than sometimes) family will. Recognize these people and treat them the same way. 

3. High school was a big smoke screen of BS.

There were so many fake people in high school, you thought you were in a sit-com. The real world saw through it real quick, or at least that first week of college.

4. College doesn't teach you everything you needed for your job.

As a teacher, there was A LOT I didn't learn how to deal with in college, it generally only comes from experience.

5. Money changes people.

When someone gets a job (or a spouts with a job) that changes their tax bracket, don't be surprised to see them change, and not usually for the better. If they treat you different just because they have more  money now, they weren't really who you thought in the long run.

Realizing these things will help your life immensely, but again, these are really just my random thoughts.

Is there any sports journalism that isn't crap anymore?

Today, as sanctions came against Oklahoma State University's football team. A couple of years ago, Sports Illustrated's Thayer Evans released an article about "major violations" committed  by OSU's program. Today, SI commended Thayer Evans for his work, despite the fact that the penalty was nothing major as there no major infractions. 

The funny thing about this, money was supposedly given to players as reported by Evans, but did he talk to any of these players, no. This is horrid journalistic integrity by Evans and by SI allowing it. SI wouldn't even allow Evans to be interviewed, which to me says they really knew that it was pure crap. The worst part is, Evans was on record as being a Cowboy hater, how could SI allow someone with a grudge go after this? Yet today, they commend and celebrate a "victory." 

My point is, the "major" sports media outlets have mostly gone to crap. ESPN has come to the point they want to find the entertainment value and looking for the "story behind the story" in everything. Give me some highlights, stats, and maybe a key point to win and go on. Now, I do think ESPN does a good job with some of the 30 for 30 programs they've done. But in the big picture, it's became ridiculous. 

Granted these are my opinions and really just my random thoughts.

Could this really be the best 2 days in sports?

Today, in less in 1 hour begins the full fledge NCAA basketball tournament. For me, this, especially the first 2 days maybe the greatest 2 days in sports! Listening to talk radio, the topic has came up over the last couple of days. Something I learned, 9 BILLION will be wagered on this total event! That's over twice the amount wagered on the Super Bowl. 

The action, the upsets, and the fact I can see it on channels at once (great excuse to go to B Dubs!) that is why it is the greatest 2 days in sports for me! 

But again, these are really just my random thoughts!