johnbeardtiger's Blog

   I know I wasn't the only driver slowed in reaching my destination, by workers repainting the shamrock on the street in front of Kelly's Irish Pub on Monday.
   Seriously?  We're going to shut down a lane of traffic on 53RD STREET - at one o'clock in the afternoon - for a shamrock!
   I want to point out, I have no problem with Kelly's.  I've been there a few times and think it's an alright place.  And, yes, I realize they are getting ready for their big St. Patrick's Day event this weekend. (including skydiving leprechauns, I'm told)  I just want this touch-up job done at a time of day when 53rd Street is less congested.
   And the real kicker is.. I could still see the shamrock from the last time they painted it.. plain as day!  It's enough to make me want to start swingin' my shillelagh!!! (I don't actually have one, regrettably)
   Okay, I'm done now.
   Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. 

I heard someone ask a trivia question on TV yesterday:
"What are the only three sports-themed movies to win the Oscar for Best Picture?"
I'm not going to tell you the answer, (look it up yourself!) but I will give you a blog entry inspired by the question:



Presenting...

My Top 10 Favorite Sport Movies:



1) Hoosiers - I was a real basketball junkie when I saw this one, so it stands out as a favorite in my mind. Probably one of my favorite films, period. It's soooo predictable and schmaltzy, but I'm a sucker for a feel good movie. It makes me want to go back to college and walk onto the team every time I see it. I've got at least three years of eligibility left.
Favorite moment - When Jimmy looks at Coach Dale in the final timeout and calmly says, "I'll make it."



2) Rocky - What can you say. It's the ultimate underdog story. And even though Sylvester Stallone's descent into a caricature of himself may have tarnished the film for some, it remains a fantastic sports film. I still get goose bumps in the final scenes. By the way, the composer who wrote the film's famous insparational score is fellow LSU graduate, Bill Conti. Geaux Tigers!!!)
Favorite Moment - When Rocky loses. It would've been easy to have Rocky somehow win a decision or score an unpredictable knockout in the final round, but winning wasn't the point. Rocky just wanted to go the distance with Apollo Creed, something no fighter had ever done, and prove - to himself, his woman and the world - he wasn't "a bum".



3) Bull Durham - My wife doesn't understand why I love this movie. Well, I think you have to love baseball first. Tim Robbins gives us a wonderful character, even if he does throw like a girl.
Favorite Moment - When Crash refuses to call the ump a BLEEP, but repeatedly points out it was a BLEEPing call. I'm laughing right now just thinking about it.



4) Major League - Not exactly top-notch cinema, but who cares. My brother and I must have watched this one about a million times and know far too many of the lines.
Favorite Moment - Too many to mention, but I'll go with, "Yo, bartender! Jobu needs a refill!!!"



5) Dodgeball - This one is more of a mock sports movie, but it does center on a sport, of sorts. And it just makes me laugh throughout.
Favorite Moments - Lance Armstrong stealing the scene when he shames Peter into going back for the final match, and also when the audience is first introduced to ESPN 8, The Ocho



6) The Sandlot - It's probably becoming obvious I prefer light-hearted movies. I think this one is underrated. I'm a sucker for sap.
Favorite Moment - When Smalls doesn't understand why a ball signed by Babe Ruth would be so valuable.



7) Requiem For a Heavyweight - See, I can enjoy something serious. This one is more than a downer. It's heart-breaking at times. But I also think it's a great character study.
Favorite Moment - When the lead clumsily tries to charm the girl on their date.



8) The Longest Yard - Not the crappy remake, but the Burt Reynolds original. I like Adam Sandler, but how could he match the often-but-not-in-this-movie mustachioed manlyness of Reynolds. And Eddie Albert, as the warden, proves he can be more than funny. He's down-right menacing in some scenes.
Favorite Moment - When Crew throws the ball into the D-lineman's groin... the SECOND time.

9) The Bad News Bears - Needs no explanation. Just great. And another one that didn't need to be remade.
Favorite Moment - Buttermaker chugging beers in the dugout during a Little League game. What a coach!

10) Miracle - I love movies based on true stories, and this one is well done. The on-ice scenes seemed authentic, because the actors could skate.. or maybe they just hired skaters who could act.
Favorite Moment - When we beat the Russians, of course!

*Honorable Mention) Tin Cup - Just missed the cut.


And finally, for my wife:
The Top 5 Chick Flick Sports Movies (not made for TV, like most)

1) The Cutting Edge - A favorite of women across the land... for some reason. Arguably D.B. Sweeney's finest performance, unfortunately for him.

2) Bring It On - A movie about something that requires athleticism and includes competitions, so it is a sports movie. And it is undoubtedly a chick flick.

3) Million Dollar Baby - The story of an old fart and a slow-witted girl from the sticks. I saw most of it and it's actually pretty good. It's also a big downer.

4) The Karate Kid 3 - Hillary Swank is the unquestioned queen of chick flick sports movies.

5) Heart Like a Wheel - I think seven people have seen this movie, which features a breakout (and by breakout, I mean so unmemorable all but seven people missed it) performance by Anthony Edwards.

Sunya has been working with us for some time now, but is just now starting to co-anchor the Fox 18 Nine O'clock News. YAY!!! I've been reading every story for months.

But before we could officially welcome Sunya, I had to make sure the rest of the anchor team was cool with her.

Roland said, "Yeah, she's alright". But don't get the wrong idea. That's a ringing endorsement when coming from Roland.

When I asked Pat about Sunya joining us on the desk, he said "Woo Pig Soooeeeyyy!" He just says that from time to time. I'm not sure what it had to do with Sunya in this case, but it didn't sound negative so I assumed it was okay with him.

Seriously, here's what I can tell you about Sunya: She is a great co-worker, and not just because she's quiet. She is also conscientious and generally pleasant. She is a welcome addition, in my opinion, and I can't wait for the Quad Cities to get to know her a little better. Learn more about Sunya Walls in her bio, coming soon to www.kljb.com.

Four trips to the Superbowl. Four!!! And you came up empty.
No shame in that. It's something just to make it to four Superbowls. And those were some fantastic teams. But you had your chance.
It's the Saints' turn.

Sure, it would be great to send Brett Favre out a winner. I wouldn't mind seeing that. He's a Mississippi Boy like me. He grew up just two counties away from my home. I almost always root for him. But I was rooting for the Saints before anyone had ever heard of Breet Favre. Besides, even if he did win another Superbowl, there's no guarantee he would go out a winner. There's a good possibility he won't leave the game until injury takes away his ability to play. He had his chance. Two Superbowls. Won one. Congrats.
It's the Saints' turn.

I've been cheering on the Saints since 1979, and the stars have never aligned for my team like they did this year. Sean Payton and Drew Brees spent four years molding the offense. Then we bring in Gregg Williams, Darren Sharper and Jabari Greer to help give the defense some teeth. The Saints, a team not built for outdoor football in January, gets to play inside with the Superbowl on the line, in front of their home fans. If they win, the party will roll from the French Quarter to South Beach, without ceasing, for the two weeks between the NFC Championship Game and the Superbowl.
It's the Saints' turn.

But should the Saints happen to lose, I will root for the Vikings in the big game.
Here's to a great one this Sunday.

Sports talk radio is starting to drive me crazy.
I've always loved sports and still do. I used to work in TV sports. But I'm slowly starting to despise sports talk radio in particular, and shock journalism in general.

I turned on ESPN radio this morning, and Mel Kiper Jr. was talking. His voice is enough to make you want to turn the channel, no matter the subject. But before I could change it, I heard him call a 20-year-old kid an idiot. He didn't use those words, but he might as well have.

Jevan Sneed was the starting quarterback at the University of Mississippi this past season. Yesterday, he announced he would leave school early and enter the NFL draft, and Kiper was going on and on about how he couldn't understand why Sneed would enter the draft early.. he is at best a 3rd-4th round pick.. could be a first round pick after another year in college... just doesn't understand the thinking.

The thing is, it's not for Mel to understand. Maybe Jevan Sneed isn't a good student and hates college. Maybe he needs a paycheck. Maybe he doesn't like his coaches. Maybe he doesn't want to come back to an Ole Miss team that will likely go 6-6 next season. Or maybe he is tired of living in a sometimes backwards town like Oxford (I'm from Mississippi, so I can say that)

Sports talk radio hosts could have been talking about many things this morning. For instance: How did college coaching salaries get so out of hand? (Coaches in the Southeastern Conference average about three million a year. It's no wonder the SEC owns the BCS) Why a pro athlete would store four guns in his locker? Or maybe they could just talk about the NFL playoffs this weekend. Any number of subjects would be better than a self-proclaimed draft expert second-guessing the decisions of a college kid.

But this seems to be what journalism is becoming. I doesn't matter what you say, just say it loudly. Have an opinion and make it a controverial one, if possible. It's what all the so-called 24-hour news networks do these days. Their most popular prime-time shows consist of people making bold, often controversial statements.. making them loudly and repeatedly.. and then dismissing anyone who might disagree with them. It's not news. It's Howard Stern without the vulgar jokes. It's saying something radical to shock people and get attention.

I'm getting a little off base here. But what I want to say this morning is this: being opinionated is not the same as being knowledgable. It just took me while to get there.

It has been a great football season. The two teams I support, the Fightin' Tigers of Louisiana State University and the New Orleans Saints(Who Dat!!!), are a combined 9-0 this season. But that perfect record will likely sport a blemish by Sunday morning. Sure, my Tigers COULD beat Florida. They're at home, they looked better last weeked and Tim Tebow may not play. But even without their leading passer and jort-sporter, the Gators have to be favored to win. You can learn more about Florida fans and jorts at www.tigerdroppings.com. It's a great forum for college football fans. I recommend the "SEC Rant".
Anyway, despite Vegas giving the Gators 7-and-a-half, I'm picking my Tigers to win: 27-17.

I've always loved football. The Saints started breaking my heart when I was about five years old. And though I never really was a big LSU fan till I went to school there, I alwasy watched college games. In fact, football is probably my favorite sport to watch, which is a little strange since it is one of the few sports I never played. I played baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, etc. But I've never so much as put on a pair of shoulder pads, much less played in a game.

I prefer college games. I think it's because I like upsets, and you just see more of those David topples Goliath games in college ball. Good college teams are more likely to play down to their competition. And home field advantage seems to be more of an advantage than it is in the NFL.

My experience at LSU reinforced my preference for college football. Saturday nights in Death Valley can be electric(when the Tigers are playing well) I worked in student media during my time at LSU and got the chance to be on the field for many games. Just imagine sitting at the bottom of a hot, humid, sticky concrete bowl, surrounded by 90,000+ crazy, sauced cajuns, when the Tigers intercept what would have been the winning touchdown pass on fourth down, on the final play of the game. That was my first experience covering college football. Troy Twillie picked off the pass right in front of the student section, and LSU held on to upset Auburn in 1995. I'm lucky I don't have permanent hearing damage.

That ranks as one of my favorite football games I ever attended. LSU's win over top-ranked Florida in 1997 also ranks near the top. And THAT win gives me some hope my perfect football season will last past this weekend.

Please, share with me some of your favorite college football memories. I'd love to hear them.

   One of the least painful, but most annoying aspects of radiation treatment, in my case, is loss of taste.
    They radiated where my right tonsil used to be, and also the areas immediately around that. It messes with your salivary glands and taste buds. The dry-mouth is getting better, but a nurse told me it may take up to a month for my taste buds to start coming back. Then I read online it may take longer than that. Every case seems to be a bit different.
    Anyway, I can taste a little salt in foods. I get even less of bitter and tart foods. And I taste no sweet at all. And love sweets!
So, I am making a list of sweet things I plan to devour once I can taste them again:

- M&Ms (peanut, not plain)
- Pancakes with real maple syrup
- The largest banana nut muffin I can find
- Smarties (Man, I hope I can taste sweets before Halloween)
- One bite from every kind of pie at Village Inn
- Caramel popcorn
- Coffee ice cream

   And that's as far as I've gotten.

   PLEASE, share any ideas you have. What are your favorite sweet treats??? And why should I add them to my list??? Convince me.

  I will be waiting tables next Tuesday, September 22nd at Texas Roadhouse in Davenport, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.
  All tips go to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.
  FOX 18 cheif metoerologist, Pat Walker, will join me.
  If you want to help Team Sheer Beard reach its fund raising goal for the upcoming Light the Night Walk, come by and ask for me or Pat to be your waiter.
  I promise we will not mess up your order.  And you can help a great cause.
  I battled lymphoma this summer.  And one of our co-workers is currently being treated for Leukemia.  So it's something close to the hearts of the FOX 18 gang.
  Hope to see you there.

Lined up T-shirts for team Sheer Beard to wear at the upcoming Light the Night walk at Modern Woodman Park.

First National Bank agreed to sponsor our team and pay for the shirts.
I don't know if the bank folks did it out of the goodness of their hearts or because I'm such a good customer.  Either way, I don't care.

My wife is our team captain and is in charge of shirt color and design.  But I suggested she pick the loudest color possible, so our team will stand out.
We were supposed to get an email today, with a pic of what the shirts will look like.

The Light the Night walk raises money for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society.  It will be at Modern Woodman park on September 26th.  I battled lymphoma this year.  And I have a co-worker being treated for leukemia.  So, this certainly means a great deal to me.  If you or someone you know has/had leukemia or lymphoma, make plans to come out for the walk.  You can walk in honor of a survivor, patient or victim.  The event is supposed to last about an hour.

My Nemesis.  That's what I call the mask they put over my face for radiation treatments.

It's plastic, with small holes and comes down to about the top of my biceps.
I hate it.

I'm kind of an antsy guy.  I tap my feet.  I click my heels together when I should be standing still.  And I sometimes rub my hands together like I'm trying to start a fire.  I'm not insane(or not COMPLETELY insane, at least)  I just have too much nervous energy sometimes. 

On top of that, I'm a bit claustrophobic.  I think that started when I got trapped in an elevator when I was four years old.  I didn't really overcome my fear of elevators until I was in college.  My first semester at LSU, I lived on the 11th floor of my dorm(Kirby Smith, for any LSU people out there)  Anyway, I took the stairs everyday in late-summer Louisiana heat and humidity for about three weeks.  It took that kind of discomfort for me to start using elevators.

I'm not trying to make excuses for my girlishness.  I'm flat out scared of that plastic mask, whether there is a reason or not.  It's irrational.  I realize that during rational moments, which is pretty much anytime I'm not on the table with that mask squeezing my face.

Yeah, it's tight.  They made the mold a few weeks after I finished chemotherapy.  I have gained 10-12 lbs. since then, largely because I started eating and working out like I had before chemotherapy.  The chemo had knocked my weight down into the low 160s.  My face is now a little fuller than it was when I went in for my mask fitting.  Now my nemesis leaves its mark on me.  I can see the pattern of tiny holes on my face when the treatments are over.

Now, this is the part that makes me seem really weak:
Each treatment lasts roughly seven minutes.  Just seven minutes!!!  I'm guessing, really.  But the pont is it's not a long time.  And I STILL can barely take it.  I have terrible thoughts while I lie there.  For instance, someone could come in and put their hand over my nose and mouth, and I would be defenseless.  Or everyone in the radiation unit could go to lunch at the same time and forget about me, leaving me stuck there like "The Man in the Plastic Mask".

All the techs who oversee my treatment are really kind.  They seem understanding and tell me other people have problems with the masks, too.  And they try to make me as comfortable as possible.  They give me time to breath deeply and put my mind in the right place before we start.  And one even brought in her IPod speaker so I could plug in and listen to some music during treatment. 

But it still feels a little like torture.  And at least once every treatment, so far, I have had an urge to holler and tell them to stop; that I cannot do it today and may not be back. 

The good news is I reached the official halfway mark today.  Nine treatments down.  Nine to go.
If you pray, pray that I can make it through the second half.  It shouldn't be that hard.  But I am struggling to conquer my nemesis.

     I recently drove home to visit family along the Gulf Coast.  DROVE home, mind you.  Roughly 15 hours each way.
     And though there is not much to see on the way down and back, here are a few things I discovered:
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is stimulating something, even if it's only my ire.  I think every county in every state in the union is doing road work, funded by the stimulus plan.  I’m all for better roads.  Sure I would prefer more money be invested in high-speed rail, but smoother roads are nice.  However, one lane traffic and slower speed limits every 25 miles is enough to drive me crazy when I’m trying to make good time.
- Missouri has money to burn.  Why else would the state invest in half-mile markers, in addition to mile markers.  Between the little green mile marker signs that read, for instance, 18 and 19, in Missouri you will find an 18.5.  I guess it’s for the stupid people who get lost on a straight stretch of interstate between markers 18 and 19.  Or maybe for the people too impatient to wait nearly a mile to see how close they are to their exit.  In any event, the "Show Me State" showed me something new.
- Why did I read "Children of the Corn" the night before I drove through rural Illinois?  Seriously, if I had blown a tire or had to stop and ask directions from a red-haired kid named Malichi, I would have been a little freaked out.
- I love fresh seafood.  I don’t miss the heat down south, or the bad roads or smell of the local paper mill.  But I miss being able to eat fresh seafood whenever I want.  I had a shrimp poboy, crab claws, crawfish bisque, grouper, etc.  It was great.  I have a co-worker, who we will call "Mr. B", who doesn’t understand why I deprive myself of seafood while in the Midwest; doesn’t understand why I don’t just go to Red Lobster or something.  Mr. B has an irrational hatred of my seafood snobbery.  Irrational, I say!!!  But the simple truth is I distinguish a difference between fresh and frozen.  And I’m a snob about so few things, I feel my prejudice should be forgiven.
- The Midwest has great summers.  I do not miss sweating like a pig for five/six months out of the year.  The heat and humidity is the main qualm I would have about returning home.
- I don’t really miss having pets. Two weeks later, and I still have cat hair on my clothes.
- Satellite radio is the best thing ever when you’re on the road.
- The Ford Focus must be the new official car of the mob. You could fit two, maybe three bodies in the back of the one I rented!

Amy was trying to distract the baby on Wednesday. It was still quite some time till his next bottle. But he was getting fussy, sitting in his bouncey chair.

Amy turned on some music. It was "Break Out", by Swing Out Sister, a band that described its music as "sophistipop", because... well, we're still trying to figure that out.

Anyway, she's doing some remarkably 80's dance moves that fit the song. Alex starts twirling like a ballerina in her Easter dress (which she will almost certainly want to wear past Labor Day). And I bust in with Da Butt, made popular by one-hit-wonder band, E.U. I mean, we had to have looked like the reject line for The Gong Show.

But it worked. A.J. stopped crying and just stared at us, probably dazzled by our dancing talents. And we all had a great time.

Nearly 24 hours before, I learned I am lymphoma free. My doctor told me the scan showed no signs of cancer. And I think a silly moment with my family was the perfect way to celebrate. It's moments like these I want to be a part of for a long time.

I've been on the chemo diet a little over two months.  Came in at 164 lbs. at my doctor's office today.
This all started when they took out my tonsils on April 1st.  I weighed close to 190 lbs. then.  So I've dropped about 25 lbs.  And the drawers are a droopin'.  None of my pants fit.
I didn't want to lose 25.  Sure, maybe 5 or 10.  But I'm scared to think what my Mom will say when I see her next month.  She thought I looked thin at 190.  And I'm tired of being hungry.  I've been mildly to moderately hungry most every day since April 1st.  This must be what it feels like to be Keira Knightley.
Here's pretty much how it goes:
- I eat like a horse my first two days in the hospital.
- The final two days I'm slightly nauseated and everything smells bad.  I force down what I can.
- The first three/four days I'm out of the hospital everything tastes like a big pile of salt.  I eat a little, but hate the fact nothing tastes like it should.  Except potatoes.  Potatoes taste like they should.
- Then my tatste buds recover, but I can have other problems.  For instance, the drugs made me constipated after my first round of chemo.  I think it was the first time I had ever been stopped up in my life.  It was rough.  I couldn't eat much of anything for days.
- After my third round, I had sores in the back of my mouth.  This is a very common side effect.  The back of my mouth was so swollen I could barely open my mouth wide enought to eat.
- After my fourth round (currently), I have sores on the side of my tongue.  So everythime I swallow or talk, the sores rub against my teeth.  It's worse than you would think.
- Then I feel good for a few days, before they send me back into the hospital to start the cycle all over again.  Only I'm done.  No more chemo scheduled.  Which means, while I'm sitting here starving while I write this, looking forward to my liquid lunch.. I will be eating like a horse in a few days.  And I won't have to worry about any impending nausea, salt-mouth, constipation or sores.
I just need to heal quickly.  I'm driving home next week.  And if I can't enjoy a giant shrimp po-boy while I'm on the coast, I'm gonna be extremely cranky.

My oncologist gave me a one-year devotional.
There's a Bible verse for each day, and a brief interpretation of the verse.
Today's stood out to me.  Matthew 8:26 reads, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"

I've had some recent fears.  Not just the fear of dying.  But fear of leaving my wife without a husband and my children without a father.  Also, fear that I've wasted most of my life.  I mean, tell yourself you could die before Christmas and then think about what you've left behind.

But this verse reinforced what I've been telling myself.  I often prayed, even before my diagnosis, for God to give me comfort and strength in the knowledge that whatever happens, my life is in his hands.  I have nothing to fear.  If it's my time, it's my time.  I could be cured of lymphoma and fall off my roof while cleaning my gutters.  The 74 bridge could collapse while I'm driving across.  I could be killed by the flames of my fire-breathing dragon lady co-anchor(actually, Libby is very nice.  I just like to pick on her)

Betrayal is another feeling I'm dealing with.  I feel like my body has betrayed me, to a degree.  I eat fairly well; try to enjoy plenty of fruits and veggies.  I exercise.  And I'm only 35 years old.  I'm told the average lymphoma patient is over 60.  So, I'm having more trouble putting the betrayal feeling to bed. 
I'm reading one verse a day.  Maybe I'll find one to help with betrayal in the days to come.

My wife turned (CENSORED) last week. So I thought it the perfect time to tell everyone how wonderful she is. Kind of a late, extra birthday gift.

Let me start by saying Amy is a wonderful wife and even better mother.
Does she drive me crazy sometimes? Absolutely!!! But that's in the vows, right?

Chemo has been tough on me. More importantly, it's been tough on my family.
I've not been able to play with our four-year-old girl as much as I would like, or bond with our newborn son as much as I would like. I have also not been able to take care of them as much as I would normally be able. Basically, I've been pretty worthless at times, which has put an increased parenting burden on Amy's little shoulders.

But she's been a champ. She has handled caring for Aaron almost entirely by herself, plus a large
chunk of caring for Alex, too. She's stronger than I ever thought she would be, and probably she ever thought she could be.

And she hasn't held my worthlessness against me.(at least not outwardly)
She loved me when I was at my best, and is loving me when I am far from my best. That's what love is all about, I think.

So, happy late (CENSORED) birthday, baby.
See you when I get home.