Where There's Smoke

Just remember...it's never too late to dance. So go dance, goddammit. Go dance. Love, Pops

From the wayback machine. One of my early pieces, from my days as an 84-year old Southern Woman, Matilda Mae Sugarbottom (of the Andalusia, Alabama Sugarbottoms). Dear Aunt Matilda,   I read your article "Time to reassess and redirect," in the January Splash! and have a question. Number 8 on your list must have some hidden meaning. I asked several persons about it and they could not understand what "Look into a dog's eyes until you see God staring back at you" means. Would you please explain what this means??   Signed, Steve B.    Dear Steve,    Thank you for reading the column and for taking the time to write. I am happy to explain what I meant by the "dog's eyes" item on the list.   I was taught as a child that God loves me unconditionally, that He will always protect and comfort me, and that He is always there whenever I call for Him. But it is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of life and forget about the importance...

Just a quick update to this blog from a few years back. Sold the 2006 a couple years ago.  Missed it just about every day since. So last Saturday, I went and picked up this: Black Lassie Remember:  live with no regrets. XOXO, Smokey Joe

I found an old (2010) piece I dredged up from an email exchange between me and Jerry Greene, formerly from the Orlando Sentinel and ESPN.com . Keep in mind that in 2010, Regis Philbin was not a member of the FoxSports1 Crowd Goes Wild team.  Yes, I'm just that prescient. The Ten Most Overhyped Events/People in Sports 10.   The Super Bowl :  Naw…just kidding.  This one’s PerfectlyHyped©.  On the standard Hype-O-Meter 6,000™, with settings of 1-10, The Super Bowl registers an eleven.  You know, because it’s one louder, isn’t it?  Just as God intended. 9.   Televised Major League Baseball Draft :  Bud Selig was particularly crazy when he decided it would be a good idea to televise the annual Major League Baseball paint drying…er, amateur draft.  Except the draft makes the games look exciting.  Crazy like a fox.  Well…really more like a ferret but you get my point. 8.   Televised Wo...

Before launching into my Super Bowl XLVIII prediction, I have to make one thing clear: I am an Oakland Raiders fan. Perhaps that’s understating things by a factor of about 10,000.   I have been an Oakland Raiders fan since 1968.   Cut me and I bleed Silver & Black™.   Just Win, Baby™.   Commitment to Excellence™. I mean, just take a look at a sampling from the ’68 Raiders: Pete Banaszak (RB) Fred Biletnikoff (WR) George Blanda (QB) Willie Brown (DB) Billy Cannon [1] Ben Davidson The Mad Bomber, Daryle Lamonica [2] Double Ought, Jim Otto Art Shell (before he was a catatonic coach) Gene Upshaw (before he sold out NFL players) Warren Wells George Atkinson I started watching football the year before, in 1967.   I grew up in Northern California but was actually a fan of the Rams.   More specifically, I was a fan of Roman Gabriel [3] , Jack Snow, Les Josephson, and the greatest defensive front four in history:   Deacon Jone...

Writers are faced with seemingly innumerable distractions, life stuff that comes between the ideas blowing across the barren wasteland of our minds and the words that somehow magically appear on our computer screens. But the single greatest impediment to this successful thought transfer is the Internet. This is a documented fact.   I know because I just documented it.   And it may even be true (though that’s not likely). In fact, my dear friend [1] Chuck Wendig  even included Freedom Internet Blocking Productivity Software as NUMBER ONE on his “ Ten More Gifts for Writers (2013 Edition) .” Some blame Al Gore.   Others blame Bill Jobs or Steve Gates or one of those other computer-box dudes. Personally, I blame Bush.   Vannevar Bush .   But that’s another story for another time. Photo credit: MIT Technology Review The point is that the Internet gets in the way of writing. So I’ve come up with a solution. Mind you, this is...

And there you have it. The 2013 NCAA Division I FBS National Champion Florida State University Seminoles: And so now I put the college topics to bed and turn my attention to the NFL playoff betting lines for the next few weeks. I'll also be bringing  Seven 7hings  back this winter but other writing projects await.  And I have miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep. 2013 was the Year of Upheaval.  2014 is the Year of Simplicity.  Thank God. 201. Love, peace, & chicken grease, Smokey Joe