Chris's Musings

About 14 years ago, I went on my first ski trip with a group of friends from my church to Vail, Colorado.  I was pretty excited, and planned to take lessons with a group of people to learn a few basics before going out to conquer the mountain.   The instructor started out by teaching us a technique commonly used by newbies called "snowplowing" (which you eventually graduate from because it's really hard on your knees and quads), because it taught us to understand how the skis were designed to help us navigate and (most importantly) stop.  On the outside of the skis are blades that are used for cutting in the snow and stopping, and understanding the right technique for using that feature was the difference between conquering the black diamond slopes and sliding on your butt down a green.  It took me a while to get the hang of it... I slid a lot for the first 2 days I was out there, and crashed into a lot of barriers.  I earned the nickname "Wild Willy" on my fi

Are you watching the "BCS Title Game" and nearly falling asleep now?  Or perhaps you are finding snarky comments on Facebook to be more entertaining than watching the game. Or perhaps you may be a Notre Dame fan writhing in pain watching this dismantling of a storied football program of years gone by.  You may be discouraged; dismayed; or flat out disgusted.  But have hope, there are such things as moral victories and silver linings!!!  And there are plenty to be had.  I'll give you my top ten... but I'm sure there are more.  Blogosphere... please add more, but here are mine. You have proven that if you play a steady diet of weak Big Ten and Pac 12 schools, you too can play in the BCS Title game.  I mean, if you played in the SEC, you'd be playing in the Independence Bowl this year... how much fun is that? You don't have to worry about Harvey Updike doing anything bad to Touchdown Jesus. You're the only team to get blown out in your bowl game to get