It seems that Animal Planet has cancelled one of my favorite shows...Meerkat Manor. I haven't seen any new episodes recently and the official site of Meerkat Manor on Animal Planet doesn't give any information about any new episodes beyond Season 4.
Any one know if the Meerkats are coming back for another year?
By the way...Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Go out and share the love of Jesus!
About ME
- Mr. E
- Grand Prairie, Texas, United States
- Mr. E is a Christian, Husband, Father of 2, former Army Officer and Texas Rangers Baseball fan.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
What Major League Baseball Should Do With Admitted Steroid Users
Should we erase all of their achievements or should we keep them? Should we ban them from the Hall of Fame or should we let them in? Should they be suspended or let them play?
These questions plague those who are so very disappointed in our "heroes" who have "cheated" to play the sport of baseball.
Here is my solution! First of all stick to the agreements that have already been established by the Baseball Players Union and Major League Baseball. The only exception I would make is for those who have just recently admitted to or been proven (in court) to have used illegal performance enhancing substances. If a player has recently admitted or been proven to have used illegal drugs or substances (such as Alex Rodriguez and ? Miguel Tejada), they should skip the first step/phase of punishment and move straight to the second phase. They should skip the first phase because they lied and got caught. They should at least move to the second phase, which I think involves some kind of suspension from playing the game. That way the players who were punished already don't feel like these players get to skip the punishment phase just because they came clean on their own.
As far as their records or accomplishments are concerned; It's hard to decide what to do here. They were competing against other players who were also cheating, but they still cheated themselves. You can't go back and alter the final results of the games they played in...so I think we should leave the records as they stand. You can put an * or two by their names if it makes you feel better, but what else can you do? Mickey Mantle played drunk, Doc Ellis pitched a No-Hitter while using cocaine, and Gaylord Perry cheated big time with his spitballs and no one is taking their performance numbers away from them. Mantle and Perry are in the Hall of Fame for crying out loud.
Should they be banned from the Hall of Fame? I think they should! Baseball banned "Shoeless" Joe Jackson from the Hall of Fame after he took a bribe to loose the World Series. Baseball banned Pete Rose and he didn't cheat by betting on baseball until after he was a player. These players knowingly broke the rules of the game and tainted the sport. I don't' care how good they are, they should be banned for life. Go back and take Gaylord Perry out if you wish to take out all cheaters. Just think though, the all-time hits leader (Rose), one of the all time strikeout leaders (Roger Clemens) and the Home Run leader (Barry Bonds) and possible future Home Run Leader (Alex Rodriguez) all banned for cheating the game. Wow!
At least the sports writers are punishing the steroid users with their votes on admission to the Hall of Fame. It looks like Mark McGuire will never make it. (Although I think you could make an argument that his playing career does not compare to the best.) It's a sad day in sports when one of the top 10 all-time strike out leaders, who didn't cheat, (Bert Blyleven) hasn't been elected to the Hall of Fame, but Roger Clemens, who did, probably will.
I am just sad that players have to feel they must cheat to win. I just hope they are happy knowing their names will go down forever as shamed players; at least in my book.
These questions plague those who are so very disappointed in our "heroes" who have "cheated" to play the sport of baseball.
Here is my solution! First of all stick to the agreements that have already been established by the Baseball Players Union and Major League Baseball. The only exception I would make is for those who have just recently admitted to or been proven (in court) to have used illegal performance enhancing substances. If a player has recently admitted or been proven to have used illegal drugs or substances (such as Alex Rodriguez and ? Miguel Tejada), they should skip the first step/phase of punishment and move straight to the second phase. They should skip the first phase because they lied and got caught. They should at least move to the second phase, which I think involves some kind of suspension from playing the game. That way the players who were punished already don't feel like these players get to skip the punishment phase just because they came clean on their own.
As far as their records or accomplishments are concerned; It's hard to decide what to do here. They were competing against other players who were also cheating, but they still cheated themselves. You can't go back and alter the final results of the games they played in...so I think we should leave the records as they stand. You can put an * or two by their names if it makes you feel better, but what else can you do? Mickey Mantle played drunk, Doc Ellis pitched a No-Hitter while using cocaine, and Gaylord Perry cheated big time with his spitballs and no one is taking their performance numbers away from them. Mantle and Perry are in the Hall of Fame for crying out loud.
Should they be banned from the Hall of Fame? I think they should! Baseball banned "Shoeless" Joe Jackson from the Hall of Fame after he took a bribe to loose the World Series. Baseball banned Pete Rose and he didn't cheat by betting on baseball until after he was a player. These players knowingly broke the rules of the game and tainted the sport. I don't' care how good they are, they should be banned for life. Go back and take Gaylord Perry out if you wish to take out all cheaters. Just think though, the all-time hits leader (Rose), one of the all time strikeout leaders (Roger Clemens) and the Home Run leader (Barry Bonds) and possible future Home Run Leader (Alex Rodriguez) all banned for cheating the game. Wow!
At least the sports writers are punishing the steroid users with their votes on admission to the Hall of Fame. It looks like Mark McGuire will never make it. (Although I think you could make an argument that his playing career does not compare to the best.) It's a sad day in sports when one of the top 10 all-time strike out leaders, who didn't cheat, (Bert Blyleven) hasn't been elected to the Hall of Fame, but Roger Clemens, who did, probably will.
I am just sad that players have to feel they must cheat to win. I just hope they are happy knowing their names will go down forever as shamed players; at least in my book.
Monday, February 9, 2009
This and That and Miscellaneous Stuff!
Over the past few weeks, I have found it hard to find topics to blog about. Finally, I just decided that I would do a potpourri of various topics until something just stands out.
While driving through the Dallas/Ft. Worth area recently, my wife and I kept seeing the billboards with pictures of people saying, "I am Second!", with the web-site IAmSecond.com underneath. We finally looked this site up. It is a site dedicated to people who are in recovery from various addictive behaviors. These recovering addicts tell their stories about how they realized that they needed God to help them in their lives. By putting God "first" in their lives and putting themselves "second" they are working to overcome their problems and stay on the road to recovery. It is a cool site. I really like the story of Josh Hamilton, who currently plays outfield for my Texas Rangers.
Speaking of the Texas Rangers, baseball season is almost upon us. This is my favorite sport by far of the major 4 (Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Hockey) in the United States. It seems the Rangers are going to have to rely heavily on their young pitchers to step up and perform well. I agree with the Rangers strategy of not "breaking the bank" to sign big name players, and I hope our young guys, with some veteran support can do well this year. If I get to attend any Ranger games live this year, I will have to get a Josh Hamilton t-shirt.
Other news from the baseball front. It seems the ever so wonderful, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroid use back in 2003. Well, well, what a surprise! It seems baseball's golden boy did a little juicing himself. What is really sad, because of this recent scandal, one sports writer has resorted to calling the Rangers the worst abusers of steroids in baseball. The nerve of that guy. I am not going to sit here and say none of the Texas Rangers have ever used steroids, but to call them the worst abusers in the league; Come on man!
I refuse to comment on the goings on with our nation's government. If you have read any of my past blogs, I think you know I feel about throwing out billions of dollars to agencies, businesses, and even the common tax payers in an effort to stop the current financial crisis we are in. Hey, I am not about to turn down free money, if it comes my way, but I think we brought this crisis on ourselves by not being good stewards of the boundless blessings God gave us. Throwing more money our way will not help us learn the lessons we need to learn to prevent this from happening again in the future. I guess I commented after all! Sorry!
Sunday, our preacher, gave us an excellent lesson about. "Flying Stand-By!" Have you ever flown stand-by? I have not. People who fly stand-by have to wait to find out if someone else has cancelled a flight or if their will be any unbooked seats on a plane in order to board that particular flight. It creates lots of uncertainties and stress because they do not know if they will be able to board the plane or not. People who have already booked their flights and have their tickets can arrive at the gate with a more relaxed attitude because they know they are going to get on the plane.
As Christians many of us live like we are on "stand-by" when it comes to our eternal salvation. Despite the many promises of God and the gift of Grace through the death of Jesus, many Christians have not accepted God's "free ticket" to get into Heaven. We still believe we have to earn our way into Heaven. We live a life of uncertainty, as if we are unsure if we will get into Heaven or not. Those Christians who have fully accepted the Grace of God through Jesus, can live a life focused on the important things we have to do while still here on this Earth. We can relax (to an extent) knowing we are going to going to live with our King forever. All we have to be concerned about is fighting the battle against darkness and making sure others know that God has give them a free-ticket on the plane to Heaven.
Also just to catch you up on the recent concerns regarding Jamie's health; read her recent blog about what is going on with her health.
While driving through the Dallas/Ft. Worth area recently, my wife and I kept seeing the billboards with pictures of people saying, "I am Second!", with the web-site IAmSecond.com underneath. We finally looked this site up. It is a site dedicated to people who are in recovery from various addictive behaviors. These recovering addicts tell their stories about how they realized that they needed God to help them in their lives. By putting God "first" in their lives and putting themselves "second" they are working to overcome their problems and stay on the road to recovery. It is a cool site. I really like the story of Josh Hamilton, who currently plays outfield for my Texas Rangers.
Speaking of the Texas Rangers, baseball season is almost upon us. This is my favorite sport by far of the major 4 (Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Hockey) in the United States. It seems the Rangers are going to have to rely heavily on their young pitchers to step up and perform well. I agree with the Rangers strategy of not "breaking the bank" to sign big name players, and I hope our young guys, with some veteran support can do well this year. If I get to attend any Ranger games live this year, I will have to get a Josh Hamilton t-shirt.
Other news from the baseball front. It seems the ever so wonderful, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroid use back in 2003. Well, well, what a surprise! It seems baseball's golden boy did a little juicing himself. What is really sad, because of this recent scandal, one sports writer has resorted to calling the Rangers the worst abusers of steroids in baseball. The nerve of that guy. I am not going to sit here and say none of the Texas Rangers have ever used steroids, but to call them the worst abusers in the league; Come on man!
I refuse to comment on the goings on with our nation's government. If you have read any of my past blogs, I think you know I feel about throwing out billions of dollars to agencies, businesses, and even the common tax payers in an effort to stop the current financial crisis we are in. Hey, I am not about to turn down free money, if it comes my way, but I think we brought this crisis on ourselves by not being good stewards of the boundless blessings God gave us. Throwing more money our way will not help us learn the lessons we need to learn to prevent this from happening again in the future. I guess I commented after all! Sorry!
Sunday, our preacher, gave us an excellent lesson about. "Flying Stand-By!" Have you ever flown stand-by? I have not. People who fly stand-by have to wait to find out if someone else has cancelled a flight or if their will be any unbooked seats on a plane in order to board that particular flight. It creates lots of uncertainties and stress because they do not know if they will be able to board the plane or not. People who have already booked their flights and have their tickets can arrive at the gate with a more relaxed attitude because they know they are going to get on the plane.
As Christians many of us live like we are on "stand-by" when it comes to our eternal salvation. Despite the many promises of God and the gift of Grace through the death of Jesus, many Christians have not accepted God's "free ticket" to get into Heaven. We still believe we have to earn our way into Heaven. We live a life of uncertainty, as if we are unsure if we will get into Heaven or not. Those Christians who have fully accepted the Grace of God through Jesus, can live a life focused on the important things we have to do while still here on this Earth. We can relax (to an extent) knowing we are going to going to live with our King forever. All we have to be concerned about is fighting the battle against darkness and making sure others know that God has give them a free-ticket on the plane to Heaven.
Also just to catch you up on the recent concerns regarding Jamie's health; read her recent blog about what is going on with her health.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Praying for Things That Cause Me Stress
On the advice of a co-worker, who works with stress & anger management; I am listing the top 10 things that cause me stress and I am going to pray for each one for one week! I am going to ask God remove any undue stress these may cause in my life. He guarantees that if I do this I will see a dramatic reduction in my stress levels and possibly my blood pressure as well.
Here is my Top 10 Stress Causes in no particular order
1. Food! -- I can't stop eating...I need to eat more healthy and less of it. This would also help my blood pressure and my high cholesterol.
2. Work -- I love my job, but the hours are often irregular and I do have to work some weekends.
3. My Family -- I love them to death, but every family has traits that bother you. Like not putting up clothes, dirty dishes or snack containers.
4. My Dog -- Back problems, peeing and pooping on the carpets and rugs. He is potty trained...why does he do that!
5. My OCD -- Why do I freak out over the clothes, the video games, the dog, and anything else that does work the way I need it to? It causes me to be very ugly towards my family and I don't like it.
6. My Dear Wife's Health -- She has to have some continuing test and procedures done and we have to budget to pay for that and I am concerned about how she is handling all of the stress related to them.
7. Wal-Mart -- I hate that store, but it is so darn close to the house. I hate waiting in lines, the lack of customer service, the parking, the blah blah blah.....
8. The House -- We really need a new roof, the kitchen ceiling to be fixed, new carpet and floors and some new paint. Not to mention furniture etc...
9. Our Yard -- We have no front yard! At least no green grass. Something is killing the grass in our front yard. We were told it is a fungus or maybe the trees are sucking all the water away from the grass??
10. My Father-in-Law -- Do I have to explain?
So starting tonight I will start praying for one of these things for 1 week, or do I pray for all of them for 10 weeks? I will pray for all of them tonight and check with my co-worker in the morning to get my directions right.
Here is my Top 10 Stress Causes in no particular order
1. Food! -- I can't stop eating...I need to eat more healthy and less of it. This would also help my blood pressure and my high cholesterol.
2. Work -- I love my job, but the hours are often irregular and I do have to work some weekends.
3. My Family -- I love them to death, but every family has traits that bother you. Like not putting up clothes, dirty dishes or snack containers.
4. My Dog -- Back problems, peeing and pooping on the carpets and rugs. He is potty trained...why does he do that!
5. My OCD -- Why do I freak out over the clothes, the video games, the dog, and anything else that does work the way I need it to? It causes me to be very ugly towards my family and I don't like it.
6. My Dear Wife's Health -- She has to have some continuing test and procedures done and we have to budget to pay for that and I am concerned about how she is handling all of the stress related to them.
7. Wal-Mart -- I hate that store, but it is so darn close to the house. I hate waiting in lines, the lack of customer service, the parking, the blah blah blah.....
8. The House -- We really need a new roof, the kitchen ceiling to be fixed, new carpet and floors and some new paint. Not to mention furniture etc...
9. Our Yard -- We have no front yard! At least no green grass. Something is killing the grass in our front yard. We were told it is a fungus or maybe the trees are sucking all the water away from the grass??
10. My Father-in-Law -- Do I have to explain?
So starting tonight I will start praying for one of these things for 1 week, or do I pray for all of them for 10 weeks? I will pray for all of them tonight and check with my co-worker in the morning to get my directions right.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Super Bowl Sunday Update
It's the first day of February and of course it's Super Bowl Sunday. I'm not even sure how much of the game I will watch! I haven't watched much football in the past few years. I am more of a baseball fan. GO TEXAS RANGERS! I would watch the commercials during the Super Bowl but they have become stupid and offensive so there is really no need for me to watch it! If I did watch it, I would root for the Cardinals. It's there first time there and the Steelers have had plenty of Super Bowls appearances.
I think I will just catch up on my recorded television shows. I have a couple of episodes of Monk to watch and a Twilight Zone episode to watch as well. I could also watch the James Bond movie -- The Man With the Golden Gun -- that is here on loan from Netflix.
More importantly about today is; that 25 days from now is my 42nd birthday! Woo-Hoo!
The family and I are back from Great Wolf Lodge! It was a lot of fun for all of us. The waves in their "wave pool" were very strong. They would knock the breath out of you if you were not careful. I am glad to be home though.
I think I will just catch up on my recorded television shows. I have a couple of episodes of Monk to watch and a Twilight Zone episode to watch as well. I could also watch the James Bond movie -- The Man With the Golden Gun -- that is here on loan from Netflix.
More importantly about today is; that 25 days from now is my 42nd birthday! Woo-Hoo!
The family and I are back from Great Wolf Lodge! It was a lot of fun for all of us. The waves in their "wave pool" were very strong. They would knock the breath out of you if you were not careful. I am glad to be home though.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Cat Domain
My son Caleb has created a new Internet site called Cat Domain! He really wants other people to join his various Cat Tribes. You can chat with friends, play games and even declare war on other tribes of cats. It's new so their still may be some kinks, but try it out anyway! Who knows it could take off and he could make some money to contribute to the college fund? He is a very creative young man and I love him for it.
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