Assorted Stuff

- So the Titans lost. Anyone who was shocked by this raise your hand.

.....

Yeah, thought so.

C'mon Nashville, we barely won five games last year, and we were playing the team favored by many to win the AFC Championship last year. Yeah, McNair is healthy. He's also having to play a whole new brand of QB to avoid injury, and don't think that the opponents don't know that. Yes, we have a nice young WR corps, but remember the word "young" there. Plus we've lost practically everyone who's made a name for themselves on defense, and our #1 draft pick didn't make it to training camp till the last week. None of these are good signs for burning up the league at the beginning of the season.

Do I think that this means that the Titans are going to stink to high heaven all season? No. We're going to have a huge trial by fire the next few weeks vs. the Ravens and Colts. But eventually our receiving corps is going to gel, the offensive line will give Travis Henry something to work with, and we'll be decent. No one with an ounce of pragmatism in them expected an incredible season, but we're going to have to get used to something that other cities have dealt with for decades - rebuilding years. And in the process, we need to support Jeff Fisher, the best damn coach in the AFC (I can hear someone laughing - shut it) and not call for his head at the end of the season. That would plunge us into "rebuilding decade".

- Oh, and yeah, there are other teams in town. Vanderbilt is now 2-0, and I haven't gotten my ice skates out for hell yet. And is there anyone around here that remembers the Nashville Sounds? Since I know you've missed it, they're now in the Pacific Coast League championships. No one's going to their games, and no, it's not because there's no support and thus no need to build a new ballpark. It's because no one knows where their current ballpark is. This team deserves our support, both on the citizen-level and the city government level, if for no other reason than it's shameful for Memphis to actually beat Nashville in support for their hometown team.

- I swear that I never want to write another Katrina post again. But here are a couple of good points.

1. Rick Santorium sucks. For that matter, everyone in government (local, state and federal) who is passing the blame along to someone else sucks. Whatever happened to public officials who stand up and say, "Okay, I screwed up"? It really makes me admire JFK taking the blame for the Bay of Pigs, because he apparently was the last government official to say that he was wrong for doing anything. I am happy with no one in this mess, no matter what political party they ran for office under or voted for. And before anyone says that I and others are to blame for even pointing fingers, let me just say that's a big part of democracy. I pay my taxes, and I vote. Therefore I have the right to hold people accountable when things get screwed up. If I didn't, the whole "this is not accurate and the media's twisting things around" might actually work.

2. And may I just say that it's pretty hard to twist pictures of bodies floating through NOLA and someone with their head cut off at the Convention Center. I've seen them. And when multiple people give the same story to different media outlets, there's a good chance that they're telling the truth. My hats are off to all of the reporters, photographers, and production crews that have been in the Gulf Coast for two weeks. It's not an easy job, and you should be commended for remembering what the purpose of journalism is - to tell the truth.

3. I really think that most of us have reached the limit of what we can give to the Red Cross and other organizations, monetarily. But it's important to help our hometown shelters with our time and our goods. Like Second Harvest, or Katrina Shoes, or local churches and organizations that are taking evacuees in on their own. As the media cycle turns and the stories become less noticable, it's important not to forget that these people are going to be here for a long time.

- In closing, I'm going to reprint a lovely Zen koan that I found from a site provided by Brittney:

Gudo was the emperor's teacher of his time. Nevertheless, he used to travel alone as a wandering mendicant. Once when he was on his way to Edo, the cultural and political center of the shogunate, he approached a little village named Takenaka. It was evening and a heavy rain was falling. Gudo was thoroughly wet. His straw sandals were in pieces. At a farmhouse near the village he noticed four or five pairs of sandals in the window and decided to buy some dry ones.

The woman who offered him the sandals, seeing how wet he was, invited him in to remain for the night in her home. Gudo accepted, thanking her. He entered and recited a sutra before the family shrine. He was then introduced to the women's mother, and to her children. Observing that the entire family was depressed, Gudo asked what was wrong.

"My husband is a gambler and a drunkard," the housewife told him. "When he happens to win he drinks and becomes abusive. When he loses he borrows money from others. Sometimes when he becomes thoroughly drunk he does not come home at all. What can I do?"

"I will help him," said Gudo. "Here is some money. Get me a gallon of fine wine and something good to eat. Then you may retire. I will meditate before the shrine."

When the man of the house returned about midnight, quite drunk, he bellowed: "Hey, wife, I am home. Have you something for me to eat?"

"I have something for you," said Gudo. "I happened to be caught in the rain and your wife kindly asked me to remain here for the night. In return I have bought some wine and fish, so you might as well have them."

The man was delighted. He drank the wine at once and laid himself down on the floor. Gudo sat in meditation beside him.

In the morning when the husband awoke he had forgotten about the previous night. "Who are you? Where do you come from?" he asked Gudo, who was still meditating.

"I am Gudo of Kyoto and I am going on to Edo," replied the Zen master.

The man was utterly ashamed. He apologized profusely to the teacher of his emperor.

Gudo smiled. "Everything in this life is impermanent," he explained. "Life is very brief. If you keep on gambling and drinking, you will have no time left to accomplish anything else, and you will cause your family to suffer too."

The perception of the husband awoke as if from a dream. "You are right," he declared. "How can I ever repay you for this wonderful teaching! Let me see you off and carry your things a little way."

"If you wish," assented Gudo.

The two started out. After they had gone three miles Gudo told him to return. "Just another five miles," he begged Gudo. They continued on.

"You may return now," suggested Gudo.

"After another ten miles," the man replied.

"Return now," said Gudo, when the ten miles had been passed.

"I am going to follow you all the rest of my life," declared the man.

Modern Zen teachings in Japan spring from the lineage of a famous master who was the successor of Gudo. His name was Mu-nan, the man who never turned back.