So, yeah.  I’m in California.  Right now you might see me in Venice Beach holding it down with two little girls: my nieces.  We’re catching up on old times when I’m not working or surfing.  I actually have a lot of work that I brought with me so I need to stick with the program.

Here I am on my sister’s couch kicking it with Sugar Ray Cooper.  Word on the street is that we’re having a party here on Saturday, but before that even gets close let me tell you that I need to finish my surfing movie in San Diego before I can say that I’ll actually be there.  My California trips all leave me with major work to put in.  I have to balance family, friends, work and hobbies.  I still wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world though. 

I hope you people out there are planning some official Thanksgiving stuff for later on in the week.

The DeMatha Stags lost to the Good Counsel Falcons in the WCAC Championship game yesterday. It was a hard-fought battle, but Good Counsel managed to win their first ever championship in football 14 – 7 yesterday at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Despite the fact that we lost, I’m glad that I went to the game.

The Stags played their hearts out but came up a little short.  I was very proud of the way that they handled themselves.  Congratulations to the Good Counsel Falcons for an outstanding win and a WCAC Championship. The legend of DeMatha is not diminished by this fact, and neither is the vision.

I know that I still feel like a winner.

Happy Birthday Dad! I know you’re smiling on all of our lives. I still hear you, I still see you, and I still feel you. The older I get, the wiser that I know you really were. The luckiest thing about my life starts with a loving Scorpio with a penchant for taking care of and maintaining people, places and things.

It was a fabulous day to watch football.

“Well of all things… Can it be?  Really?”  Deuteronomy, T.S. Eliot

I’m going to hook everybody up with the links that are basically like pathways into my brain on a Friday before a DeMatha championship game. Everything now is counting down. I’m in a very serene place because I’ve been having good dreams.

The first thing that came into focus was Corey Puffett winning the 2009 Maryland Private Schools Cross Country Championship race. He didn’t lose in the area all year long and now he’s headed to run in the Eastern Regional race in New York. No runner from DeMatha had ever won a state championship in the sport of cross country before and now Corey Puffett is in a class by himself.

Speaking about DeMatha there were a lot of articles previewing the 2009 WCAC Football Championship to choose from. The Prince Georges County Gazette was a little ho-hum about DeMatha and Good Counsel meeting for the seventh time in a row. DC Sports Fan took the chronological approach and tried to keep it neutral, but you just know that they want the Stags to lose.

The Washington Post hit you with the straight facts, first, and then they go whole sale on DeMatha’s rising stock of offensive linemen in a second piece previewing the big game. Center Jake Geiser and Offensive Guard Shane Johnson get cursory nods but the piece focuses on behemoth brothers Arie and Cyrus, the starting left and right tackles respectively.

I know that you have already heard it before, but it is worth mentioning again, that if DeMatha should win this football game tomorrow then they will probably be considered the best football team to every play at the school.  At the very least, they will be the highest ranked Stag football team to ever play to date.  Go Stags!

This is the second to last football post of the year and I’m already getting a little nostalgic.  It has been another great year for DeMatha football, win or lose tomorrow, but we all know how history is written by the winners.  Hopefully my last post of the year won’t have to be filled with sadness because the Stags will make it happen, once again. 

Happy Friday.

Okay, there has been some major stuff going on recently that demanded my full, uninterrupted attention. Actually, that is not totally true because my friend Kadinga came through last night and we slapped bones. Believe it or not, I lost with a score of 295 – 300. We had an extensive conversation about whether or not it was indeed nobler to play to three or six houses. Obviously my argument won the day to play dominoes for six complete houses for a total score of 300, even if it didn’t help me eventually win the game.

Speaking of games, I’m already all about the DeMatha game this Saturday. I hope that the weather is good and that it doesn’t rain. The forecast is already promised to be warmer than last year’s WCAC Championship Football game; I just hope that the outcome is the same. The Stags need to be beat the crap out of Good Counsel and take their rightful place as one the best DeMatha football teams to ever play. I hear that everyone at the game rooting for the Stags will be wearing red, so you can bet that I’ll be among them.

Tonight I have to catch up on my writing. I have several articles due. Two surf articles still need refining with details and I haven’t even been to the beach recently. I don’t have to fake my surf articles because my memory is so good. (I can remember every passing second of a fabulous time but I had a hard time remembering the names of the Presidents of the United States of America in order when I was in Lower School at Friends Academy.) My plan is to visualize later on this afternoon in the comforts of my Washington DC digs to take it back.

I read an article today about Barack Obama’s half brother living in China. I thought that it was the most random article that I have ever seen on Black America Web. I mean, what does China have to do with Barack Obama? I have no idea. Anyway, the President of the United States is back from his trip to Asia but I wonder if everybody is feeling that he’s not as golden as he used to be, like I am? President Obama needs to make a decision on Afghanistan.

Barack’s process is taking to long to figure out whether or not to send troops there and lives are literally hanging in the balance. As the Commander in Chief for all U.S. military forces you would think that he would have been on this committee to make it happen already, or something. Letting the troops languish is not really all that gangster, Mr. President. It was deciding time like two months ago.  In order to appear like he actually has a pair, Obama needs to make a good decision with expedience.

Another area that POTUS Barack Obama appears to be botching is the whole trying the war tribunal dudes in New York City. Dude, are you crazy? New York City doesn’t need that kind of attention, Mr. President. Keep the suspected terrorists over there at GITMO and hit them with the Admiralty Law. Signing these guys up for trials in New York City is akin to hooking them up with civil rights and that just doesn’t seem all that straight, either.  It isn’t like the U.S. is ever going to give back Guantanamo Bay to the Cubans.

We need to be honest with ourselves and keep it totally real. And while we are all on the subject of keeping it real and definitely not giving land that we stole back, I think that we should stop pretending that we are all sympathetic to Native Americans. The fact is, Europeans came to America for the sole purpose of stealing America away from the Native Americans in the first place and it is a travesty of justice to continue to assert otherwise. I also think that it is offensive to have Native American Heritage Observance and Thanksgiving in the same month.

I would like to remind you all that I am 1/16 Cherokee Nation, so that gives me a pretty high horse to ride out on you thieving bastards on this subject.

Today is a special day.

I’m not offering any pictures or any other information other than that.

Every year when this day rolls around, I feel like I lost something.  I used to call everybody up and just try to catch-up, but I then I feel like I’m the only one still hanging on.  I know that they think about it sometimes, every now and again.  The loss isn’t troubling, but it is the noticing it that seems to get underneath my skin.

Anyway, my horoscope said today would mark a change in my romantic future because my luck is changing.  Do any of you find it terribly amusing that I don’t believe in luck, and yet I still read horoscopes?  You know the thought has dawned on me that it could be seen as a complete contradiction.  Well, my friends, I happen to be full of contradictions.  Once more, I don’t apologize for any of it.

Even though it was a bye week this week for the New York Football Giants, a lot of my football dreams came true this weekend. For starters the DeMatha Stags are playing in the WCAC Championship game this coming Saturday. I was also pleased that my fantasy football team, The Cooperators, also won this week. My overall record is 6 – 4 and I’m in the middle of the pack of the league.

Navy beat University of Delaware and Notre Dame lost to the University of Pittsburgh in the college football games this weekend. As for professional football the Dallas Cowboys lost this weekend, the Philadelphia Eagles lost this weekend, and the Washington Redskins won. Now the New York Football Giants are in third place in the NFC East standings but I feel like they’ll make the playoffs somehow.

All those topics are pretty lowbrow stuff to contemplate for a Monday, though. In keeping with the spirit of uplift let me put you on to some more thought gems. Right now I’m working on stuff that is essential to my responsibilities and it is really difficult to prioritize even though my task is an elephant in the room. Estimating the cost of large scale construction projects can be very tedious and time consuming. I’d rather jump into a big pile of clear plastic balls and scream “Yaaaaayyyy.” My boss is really trusting of my work ethic, so the responsibility is falling on me to make things happen.

In short, I have to power through.  It is times like these that I rely on the only thing that can motivate me. I’m sure that you all have those things that can get you going all at once. For me, it is understanding that if I don’t have this great job that I can’t live my great life. It is really very simple: I like nice things. In order to continue to have nice things, I require a high paying job. I also like to travel, and that is also a big motivation for me sometimes. (I’m thinking about getting hugs from my nieces and walking along the beach with them in California.) This is why I had to make the adult decision to not go anywhere, until my work is finished.

I don’t mean to scare you younger professionals or other kids out there, but the real world is really real. That is black people talk meaning that if you don’t have your shit together, you could be living hand-to-mouth or dependent on other people for your very survival. Sure a little dependence is good, because no man is an island but that doesn’t mean that people should be a constant drain on others. Nobody likes freeloaders, and society can’t afford them in the Age of Aquarius. One of the best and toughest lessons that my Great Grandfather taught me was that I should always have a job, and once more as a black man –you better be damn good at it.

I know that this was all over the place, but you should still be contemplating all this stuff instead of questioning the source anyway. (Shout outs to Theodore Roosevelt Giles!) We can’t always be thinking about football and crap like that. Even though it wasn’t some fancy explanation of some Harlem Renaissance art, it was still probably in line with the mental gymnastics necessary for you to not get stagnant. All you have to do is think about what is motivating you to do what it is that you do, but for some I would imagine that it is harder than it seems.

Advanced Ethics would be to make sure that whatever is motivating you is not a part of a process that harms or takes anything away from others. Essentially you win at life if when whatever is motivating you is also a part of a process that helps or adds to the success of others.

Marinate on that…

Notre Dame lost to University of Pittsburgh last night on national television and I smiled.  I bet that Jeff Knox was smiling too.  As I previously mentioned, I kind of love it when Notre Dame loses these days.  Charlie Weis, the current Notre Dame Head Coach, is a bit of a fat tool. 

Now I’m wondering if The Cooperators can win today.  The New York Football Giants have a bye week, so I guess I could root for the Jets.  Actually I have work to do so I probably won’t be watching much of anything on television today.  It’s good to be busy, sometimes.  I feel as though some people don’t have their lives optimized.  Folks need to exercise their brains.

With that in mind, I present to you something that will help you to refine the game.  Stop looking at music videos for a second long enough to appreciate some quality art work.  So much about our lives is reducing our intellectual capability.  Everything is said to be “better” just because it may happen to be easier, or faster.  I’m here to tell you that life in the fast lane all the time is no life at all.  My sister is famous for always saying “keep it moving,” but I’m here to put forth that folks need to slow it down sometimes.

Harlem Renaissance artist, Archibald Motley is certainly the type to help you appreciate the art by slowing you down.  I’ve always been a fan of his.  Not just because he had a fascination with the Black Bourgeoisie, but because he had a tendency to use bright colors.  When I think of how simple everything is, I am immediately drawn again into the debutants.  The smiles, the bonnets, the dresses, the shoes, the martini glasses and their lack of jewelry all was a clear indication that these ladies were of the refined sort.  Their black, distinguished butler about to serve chicken reinforces the point, but nothing does it justice like some nigga passed out on the couch. 

It seems that even in 1930, niggas with money like to sit down on couches.  Look a little deeper and you can see that Archibald Motley liked to show you some social implications that you may not have ordinarily picked up.  The first one that jumped out at me when I took the Harlem Renaissance focused course Blacks in the Arts at Howard University was the fact that the paintings on the wall all appear to be of white people.  I’m pretty sure that Motley was trying to say that despite the fact that these well-to-do black folks had clearly come a long way and were removed from the lower rung of society they idolized all things white.

Motley was also a genius for coming pretty close to the real life ratio today of successful black women to successful black men.  5:1.5 seems about right.  (Clearly the black man on the couch is winning in this game, and I’m counting the butler as being half successful for at least securing employment with black people.)  Lord knows that black women all around the country complain that there aren’t enough available, successful, black men.  Presumably, for me, this painting is taking place in the south and my only reason for inferring this is through Archibald Motley’s use of color, the architecture of the window, and the implied heat.  Motley just slowed you down by making you look for it, and he deserves a Profile in Black Genius on this site.  I’ll get to it, I promise…

Happy Sunday ya’ll.

The DeMatha Stags are going to Annapolis, Maryland to play in the WCAC Championship game at Navy – Marine Corps Memorial Stadium next Saturday because they just beat the crap out of Gonzaga 35 – 0. DeMatha is going to face Good Counsel next, for the seventh year in row because the Falcons beat McNamara on Friday 35 – 6. So the table is set again for another battle between two teams that are no strangers to the big games.

I like DeMatha’s chances. Not only did they win the previous six titles in a row, but they have really come on of late. The Stags no longer look like a team that only relies on their most prolific player, Marcus Coker. Now the balanced attack that they displayed against Gonzaga and even in the previous week against McNamara is dismantling opposition in virtually every facet of the game.

Case in point, the Stags closed the regular season with a win against the Mustangs despite not having a 100 yard rusher or a 200 yard passer in that game. The defense has been the difference and Assistant Head Coach / Defensive Coordinator Deno Campbell has done a terrific job, once again, of inspiring a herd of Stags to play great. The pass rush has come alive with Darian Cooper and DeMatha has recently rediscovered how to play lockdown defense in the secondary with the likes of Jordan Lomax.  Kyrrel Latimer has been bringing the pain with punishing hits on fools near him with the ball, anyway.

The offensive line, which has been stellar all year, has even kicked it up a notch now and any or all of the Stags’ running backs have been successful. Arie & Cyrus Kouandjie, Shane Johnson, Jacob Geiser, and the like have been pushing guys off the ball and protecting when necessary. Quarterback Daniel Tapscott hasn’t done anything stupid to hurt the Stags all year, and if the trend continues they will continue to have their way with teams.

DeMatha has had some bruises this year, but I think that they are in great shape as a team and will be ready to play next Saturday. Offensive Coordinator Chris Baucia has a lot of weapons to plan on using, including the best running back in the league in The Long Ranger. Head Coach Bill McGregor was smart enough not to rely on him too much despite his obvious talent because the entire football team is better for it. The evidence is on the field that his boys worked really hard for him this year.

Should the Stags go on to win then there will be no doubt that this football team will be considered one of the greatest to ever put on a DeMatha uniform. I know that I have written those exact same words on this site before, but it never gets old. This team has a chance to be something very special. 12 – 0 is the only acceptable standard by which they can be measured, but this DeMatha team seems to have just as much talent, excitement, skill, and desire as some of the legendary squads of the past.

The goal is out there, gentleman. If DeMatha goes out there and does something ridiculous with a score like 42 – 0 next Saturday there is a very good chance that they will be only the second DeMatha football team to finish in the top 10 in the USA Today national poll. (Depending on how other schools around the country fare, they could finish in the top five –which is something that DeMatha has never done before.) They will certainly lead the Washington Post area metropolitan rankings from wire to wire with a win next week.

In the wildest of scenarios, the DeMatha Stags have a chance at a mythical national title in football.

I’ve been waiting since 1989 to write that sentence. 

Go Stags!

DeMatha has to win big today against Gonzaga in the playoffs.  I have to get a lot of work done today, too.  I hope that Notre Dame loses to Pitt today.  I want Cory Puffett to win the Metropolitan Area Cross Country championship today because it is something that a DeMatha Stag has never done.  Some banana cake would be okay today, too. 

But do you know what would be the icing on the cookie today? 

“He said his daddy was a Mason with a major supply, and I could get them thangs as long as I buy five.” – B-Legit, D-Boy Blues

I forgot to mention that Notre Dame lost to Navy this past Saturday in football and it really put a smile on my face. I really like to see Notre Dame’s current coach lose because I believe that he is poser because he has never played football a day in his life. I don’t think that he is any better than me on my PlayStation at home and so I can’t really respect his coaching ability.  What I can respect is those kids over there attending the United States Naval Academy.  Congratulations on their big win!

I had an idea the other day to write a treatise on the genetic implications of injustice. I’m thinking about adapting it into a dissertation one day, but for now peep for it on The Chronicles of Six this winter because I’m trying to raise the bar a little more for the discourse on this site. I feel like I’ve gotten a bit regular and it is time to dust off that college degree and give real intellectuals something to nibble on.  Sometimes I go too serious and other times I go to lightheartedly.  Oh well, that’s how I roll.

DeMatha plays Gonzaga tonight at 7 PM tomorrow at 2 PM (at Bishop McNamara) for the WCAC football playoff quarterfinals. (Game time was postponed until tomorrow due to weather.) This is a major game and I expect a big DeMatha win. If we aren’t able to manage a win this evening then I’m sure that I’ll be crying in my condo all alone all weekend long. I’ll also probably be drinking myself silly if we lose because I realized the other day that I have so much liquor left over from Howard Homecoming that I have enough to serve all winter long. I know that I must be getting old because it didn’t used to be like this…

I’ve been travelling recently and I only have plans for more travel in the near future. There is a good chance that I will be in your city during this month or the next. I’m pretty much going everywhere, so if you’re checking for the brotherhood you’re likely to find me. I have a habit of turning up at the dandiest times. Some of the cities on my North American tour list include: Vancouver, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and Cancun, Mexico. I don’t want to tell you where you should spend your New Years yet, but let’s just say that I won’t be in the country.

The game is on smash right now. Things are popping off and I’m still smiling. Even though today is Friday, the 13^th, I don’t let the superstitions bother me. The key is to not pay them any attention and to pray a lot, anyway. God watches over all of us, and the more that you acknowledge that fact, the more it pleases him. Some people think that it is all indifference and luck of the draw but I don’t think so, even though I respect those peoples’ opinions. I don’t even believe in luck like that. Anyway people, I hope that you are having a Happy Friday out there. Take care this weekend and all that.  I’m working on some poems and I hope to finish a series that I’m doing for Christmas soon.

Check your mailboxes and try and holler at The Bruzz, sometimes. 

Happy Veteran’s Day to all the veterans out there.  I, myself, have to work today so I’m observing the federal holiday in this posting.  I also went to a function last night for the African American Civil War veterans at Hogate’s last night.  For some strange reason, I’ve always been into American history, especially American history dealing with black people.  As it stands right now, the African American Civil War Memorial over there on historic U Street in Washington DC is the only one of it’s kind.  I hate to toot my own horn on this fine point, but even when that museum loses it’s claim to fame when the new museum on the National Mall is built but there is only one person that I know that had a hand in both of those projects.  When I was in college the brothers that shall remained nameless toiled incessantly to help realize the dream of honoring the African-american men and women that valiantly gave their lives during a period in time in which their very humanity was debated.

As I have boasted previously on this website, there has been a relative in my family that has fought in every single war that we have had and we cover every branch of military service.  I’m proud of the veterans in my family, and thankful for those serving overseas right now trying to preserve freedom.  I guess I could get into some whole, “freedom isn’t free” thing on this website but I think that I’ll spare you the rah-rah American hype.  (I’m going to actually save my hype for the DeMatha Stags this Friday when they take on the Gonzaga Purple Eagles in the WCAC football quarterfinals on Friday.  I believe that the DeMatha football team is finally starting to gel and starting to play as well as they possibly can.)  Whatever, time will tell.  There isn’t a whole lot of other stuff going on in my world these days, anyway.  I guess I could bring this whole thing back to family and shout out my Aunt Babysis and my cousin, Marcus on their birthdays?  It has been a busy month for birthdays so far.

I recently had to cut off more people that don’t add anything to the cipher.  I’m thirty-five years old and I can’t afford to holding water for you if we’re not even friends and you don’t bring anything to the table.  Even though I can hold a lot of water, I just don’t think that it is right when people expect you to hold it for nothing in return.  They act like we’re related or something…

The Cooperators, my fantasy football team, beat Rudy’s team last night.  My overall record is 5 – 4 which is not so good.  That wasn’t really a smooth transition or subject change, but that is how it goes sometimes.  Neither is this next one…

I really like the blank FRANK books.  Maybe it is because I’m a writer, but the concept is so simple and yet it so on time.  Basically it is a FRANK book with all blank pages that I can fill up with ideas and the beginnings of bigger articles.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful niece! 

Stags stay winning. Giants continue to slide. New York City is off the chain.  Guinness is some of the best stuff on this earth.  Even The Cooperators have a shot if they can hold on against Rudy’s Body Snatchers during Monday Night Football, tonight.

The DeMatha Stags won yesterday.  They didn’t win big.  They didn’t win fancy.  They just won. 

The final score was DeMatha 10 – 7 over Bishop McNamara.  Marcus Coker scored the Stags’ only touchdown after Michael Branthover put us on the board.  A 10 – 0 record overall is a great way to close the regular season but now we need two more wins for a championship.

Alley Baggett is sporting some red and white ensemble, and all she’s missing is the true blue.  In other news Saint John’s College didn’t make the playoffs and Gonzaga is in.  This means that the first round is set for DeMatha versus Gonzaga.  I’m thinking that a thorough trouncing would be sufficient revenge for our loss in the soccer finals this year.

GO STAGS!

So the Stags play Bishop McNamara today at 2:30 PM and despite my recent computer problems, now I’m set to listen to the game live from New York City.  I just listened to the pregame interviews and it turns out that Marcus Coker is going to play today.  I kind of knew that he would have to play today because of the high-powered offense that Bishop McNamara brings to the field.  Anyway, I’m just holding it down here in New York City watching college football and listening to the Stags.  I ordered Little Frankie’s Pizza and I’m pretty much going to hold it down today.  I know that I’m repeating myself and that this is supposed to be a photo montage anyway so I’m going to let the pictures roll.

Isn’t Miss Emiri Miyasaka just gorgeous in the purple?  I think so.  Of course this has very little to do with the song Yankee Doodle and all that, but she sure is fun to look at.  Okay, now that we’ve done that for the day maybe we can all go out there and really make it happen this Friday?  I know that I feel energized, now.  My plan is to shine at work and then get on a train to head up the East Coast.  I don’t know about you all, but I’m thinking that the New York City nightlife scene is going to be out of control this weekend.  I don’t even have to do anything special.  The only thing that I want to do is be in the general vicinity so I can yell out my window and add to the energy.

I’m going to yell, “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.  I’m a Yankee Doodle, do-or-die. / A real live nephew of my Uncle Sam / Born on the 4th of July…”

Okay, seriously the Stags play Bishop McNamara tomorrow at 2:30 PM at the Prince Georges Sports & Learning Complex, next to FedEx Field.  Everyone have a great weekend!

I know that I mentioned him before not too long ago, but I wonder if you people out there have been following that Hideki Matsui helped the New York Yankees win their 27th World Series championship title last night over the Philadelphia Phillies. 

Last night, in New York, Hideki Matsui drove in six runs –including a homerun, en route to providing the majority of the offense as the designated hitter.  Matsui must have really been seeing the ball well last night, actually throughout the series, because he continued to be the steady force in the line-up while other Yankee stars struggled. I’m smiling inside because some things just make the world seem like it all makes sense.

His nickname is “Godzilla” but I don’t know if I’m willing to call him that without his approval. Hideki Matsui was named the Most Valuable Player on the New York Yankees’ championship baseball team during the entire series but he really came alive in game six.  He seemed to single-handedly beat Philadelphia even though he only started in three of those games. Nobody can argue with numbers: Matsui hit a blazing .615 batting average, and piled up 18 total bases during the series.

I’m giving a lot of props to Hideki because of the fact that he is on a baseball team with so many guys heading to the Hall of Fame: Derek Jeter, Andy Petit, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and even Alex Rodriguez can all pretty much expect to be first ballot selections. Hideki already finished a Hall of Fame career in Japan before he even arrived here in April 2003 with the sole mission of helping the Yankees get back to winning the World Series. (The Yankees haven’t won since 2000, and the pressure was very real for this group of talented and expensive super stars to produce.) Matsui just made the whole thing worth it and may have earned a place in Cooperstown.

I’m going to be celebrating with pictures of Miss Japan Universe on this site even though Hideki is happily married.  I’m also going to be partying in New York City this weekend like you wouldn’t believe because baseball is sort of a really big deal there. There is definitely going to be tickertape parade on Broadway and I’ll be sure to take pictures to share with you on this site.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of Miss Emiri Miyasaka, because I sure did.  Click on each one to blow it up because it really is worth it.  I’m going to actually have to revisit Miss Miyasaka a little later because I think that she deserves a feature on this web site too. Also, I just found a bunch of pictures of her wearing purple so you know it’s on.  Let’s recap: Japan is fresh, but I’m partying in New York City this weekend. Hideki Matsui just had the series of his life and cemented his legacy for the second time, in his second country. Someone cue the Frank Sinatra…