The Twelve Days of Gheorghemas: Day Three

On the third day of Gheorghemas

Big Gheorghe gave to me...

Three Ways of Coping

Stories from two three strokes

And much needed hip mo-bili-ty

It's been 37 days since the United States of America elected That Fucking Guy President once again. This is not a post seeking to understand the logic of the whole thing, or parsing exit polls, or demanding the scalp of various Democratic electoral consultants (though whoever decided to stop letting Timmy Walz call 'em weird should be covered in honey and set atop an anthill). Nope, this is a post that realizes there's not much to be gained by complainin', and offers one man's keys to coping for the next four years.

It ain't much, but it's something. Taking some agency helps. So here are three categories of actions I hope to dig into and a few things I've already embarked upon. 

Mental

I'm hopelessly, terminally online. I seek news, analysis, context almost to a fault. In general, I think being an informed citizen is a good thing. At present, though, too many things I read/see/hear make me wanna break things. So I'm working on refining my information diet with an eye towards balance and sanity.

I subscribed to ProPublica, a nonprofit journalistic enterprise focused on stories in the public interest. I find it journalistically sound and editorially ambitious, and generally untethered from mainstream American news' bowl-circling addiction to both-sidesism and clicks.

I've also been watching a shitload of documentaries if I'm not watching sports or Food Network stylings. Appreciate the inputs from Team Gheorghie.

Physical

Your boy has upped his yoga game even more since the election, in addition to making more of an effort to get some weight and cardio work in. It certainly helps.

Spiritual

Historically, I've talked a lot of shit without walking very much of it in terms of things political activist, or even community engagement. I greatly admire the works Marls and Mrs. Marls do in the community, and I think there's some karmic good to be found in engaging. 

I donated to Side by Side, which is a Richmond-based nonprofit "[d]edicated to creating supportive communities where Virginia’s LGBTQ+ youth can define themselves, belong, and flourish". My kid is a counselor at the organization, which supports a marginalized community that's gonna need all the help it can get over the next few years.

I'm also making plans to attend the People's March on Washington just prior the next Presidential Inauguration. It's symbolic, for sure, but as I see more and more Democratic leaders bend the knee and comply in advance (Fucking Fetterman just called for Trump's 34 fraud convictions to be pardoned!) I think the least I can do is show up and be counted. My kids and I attended the March for Our Lives in 2016, and I was moved by the energy of the people. I want to be viscerally reminded of that power.

As I said, it ain't much. But it's better than giving in and giving up. Here's hoping Day Four is a bit more dipshitterish.

Remembering a Dude

Dave Parker was one of my favorite players as a kid. He was part of a rollicking band of dudes, as cool as the other side of the pillow. Check out Exhibit A:

He had one of the greatest nicknames of his era or any other. The Cobra, coiled and deadly. Hit more than 20 homers in 1975 and 1990. Won an MVP in 1978, a pair of Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, and played in seven All-Star Games. Including 1977, when he did this, which is one of my core baseball memories:

I'm not sure his lifetime .821 OPS and 339 homers are entirely hall-worthy, but I'm not mad at the Veterans' Committee for voting Parker into the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday. It'll improve the vibes.

The Twelve Days of Gheorghemas: Day 2

On the first day of Gheorghemas

Big Gheorghe gave to me...

Stories from two three strokes

And much needed hip mo-bili-ty

I planned to tell a few stories stemming from my experiences dealing with my aging mother and her recent second stroke, but she had an even more recent third stroke today so I spend a lot of time in the ER.  My apologies for delaying Gheorghemas but I had my hands full.

I've been fortunate to have some pretty hip hip ladies in my life.  Unfortunately, they didn't take great care of their cardiovascular health.  Much like the woman from one of those songs, they never smoked or drank but they also never exercised and rarely ate anything that didn't come from a can.  As a result they all had strokes.

That's me in the white onesie.

Two of them lived well into their nineties so it's not like they didn't recover, but they were not cognitively the same afterwards.  It's sad and hard to deal with, especially when they're also suddenly crabby when they used to be fun.  My mom had a stroke in 2018 and another one in August this year.  Interacting with her is like reading the back half of Flowers for Algernon only grumpier.  So listen to OBX Dave and take care of yourself.

I had zmom evaluated by two different specialists after her second stroke, and they both said she could return home so long as she has an aide for most of the day.  She was miserable in her assisted living respite stay, so I got her an aide and home she went.  She became highly resistant to having an aide though, and went so far as to call the agency and cancel 2-3 days a week.  Of course, they called me and I uncanceled the aide, and then I told zmom the aide was coming despite her efforts.  zmom is also very forgetful now, and she forgot about this so she was out buying wrapping paper at Walgreen's when the aide arrived and no one answered the door or the phone so the agency called me.  This was the second time this happened in a five day span, and I was pretty sure zmom was ok but I also feared she was injured or dead, so I bombed over to her apartment just as she rolled up with the wrapping paper.  I lost it and she's still pissed that I yelled at her, so much so that she brought it up to the ER doctor this evening.  I noted that it was very fortunate that she had an aide today so she wound up at the ER instead of the funeral parlor.  zmom does not like I-told-you-sos, and she replied "Well the aide was practically useless!  I had to tell her to call for help!"  Of course, when she started feeling weird she went into her room and lied down without saying anything so the aide thought she went for a nap, she can't read minds.  Anyway, I was in the process of moving her to assisted living and this just moves her move-in date up a week or so.

A perhaps more relatable story involves the woman who runs the agency who provides the aides.  zmom and I had the following exchange about her:

zmom: I called the woman who sends the aides.  Broke.  What type of name is that?

zman: What?

zmom: Broke.  The woman who sends the aides.

zman: You mean Brooke?

zmom: No, her name is Broke.  I wrote it down. [Holds up a piece of paper with a phone number and "BROKE" scrawled on it.]

zman: Mom, the woman's name is Brooke.

zmom: I'm telling you it's BROKE!  I WROTE IT DOWN!!  [Waves piece of paper at me.] 

zman: Did you ever consider that maybe you wrote it down wrong?

zmom: Huh.

I love you Mom.  I'm going to get you squared away for Gheorghemas.

Andiamo

Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, known simply as Botafogo, is one of Brazilian soccer's legendary clubs. Founded in 1894, the club has had more players called up to the world's most famous national team than any other. In 2000, Fogo finished 12th in FIFA Magazine's reader vote for Club of the Century. 

Despite its storied past, the club has had a run of dismal form this century. And in the Copa Libertadores de América, CONMEBOL's continental club championship, a legendarily series of empty results. Since its inaugural tournament in 1960, Botafogo had never lifted the Copa.

Never ended on Friday, as Botafogo shook off a red card to midfielder Gregore 30 seconds into the match to defeat fellow Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro, 3-1, in Buenos Aires. 

Sports are many things, but in this particular instance, they're the bond that unites generations of Botafogo fans who'd never seen their team succeed at this level. Andiamo, indeed.

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'Tis the Season: Gheorghemas, Day 1

Gheorghies, it's officially go time once again on your favorite faux holiday...

On the first day of Gheorghemas

Big Gheorghe gave to me...

Much needed hip mo-bili-ty

Wrenball: Where Are They Now?

Over the holiday, The Teej responded to a Bluesky meme thread with the first* Nathan Knight namedrop in the recorded history of that platform. Which made me smile, and then sent me down a Tribe hoops in the pros rabbit hole and led to this update on our boys' professional exploits.

* As if you're going to check to see if that's accurate. Just go with it, man.

This seems to be a foul

After three seasons in the NBA, the Knightwolf himself is averaging 14.8 points, 10.1 boards, and 1.2 assists for the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association. The Lions are 10-2, good for third place in the CBA's North Division. 

Terry Tarpey's been a fixture in the French First Division since graduating from W&M. Now in his ninth season in France, Tarpey's become a role player for AS Monaco, averaging 2.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in 17.5 minutes. He's also represented France in senior international competitions 33 times.

By the looks of things, Omar Prewitt's international hoops career has come to an end after eight seasons in Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Germany, and Turkiye. He was second-team all-league in Poland in 2019 after averaging 18.3 points (3rd in the PLK), 6.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 30 PLK games, and won a Czech league title with Nymburk.

Our guy Marcus Thornton is still at it, and still getting buckets. He's in his 10th professional season across Australia, the G-League, France, Italy, Turkiye, Greece, and now Portugal, where he's playing for SL Benfica. Marcus averages 11.4 points and 2.8 assists for the Portuguese power.

Despite averaging 13.3 points and 6.6 assists per game last season for VfL Bochum in Germany's top division, David Cohn appears to be without a team at the moment. Perhaps he'll follow the path of the next few Wrens.

Hofstra nemesis Daniel Dixon retired in 2022 to become an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Blue. The Tribe to the Pros coaching pipeline is starting to get some legs, if you're into mixed metaphors.

Of benchside note, Jim Moran is the associate head coach of the Sacramento Kings, Sean Sheldon just moved to the front of the bench for the Utah Jazz, and Quinn McDowell is an assistant at Longwood.

These are the golden years, friends. The Tribe abides.

Compound Update

It is received wisdom in these parts that we will all one day live in the same house/compound and make merry. We continue to be on the lookout for the appropriate venue (and the necessary funds). Details.

We've got a new contender this morning, and it's both spacious and imbued with a great deal of Gheorghe.

You may recall that I tucked a small story about visiting the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, CA in a Gheorghasbord post in October 2017. It remains one of my favorite museums. Sparky was a righteous fella.

And now, if we can come up with $3.25m, we can own the house he and his first wife Joyce Halverson built and lived in from 1960 to 1972. 2162 Coffee Lane in Sebastopol, CA sits on 9.15 acres in the country, midway between Santa Rosa and the Pacific Coast. The 6,805 square-foot house has six bedrooms and six and a half bathrooms, in addition to a guest house. It's got a pool and a pond. Pond would be good for us. It's a peach of a mid-century modern. 

Lemme know if y'all want to make an appointment to visit. I'm pretty busy next week, but I'll make time.