Nice Guys Finish First!

We cannot define humanity without the word “imperfection.”  That’s because flaws and mistakes are an inherent fixture within mankind, and no human being is exempt from them.  Since that much is inarguable, we are fortunate as a society to have two important refuges from this unavoidably imperfect existence.  The first is forgiveness.  The second is [...]

After all, this is a blog about nice guys finishing first.  Yeah I know, the Broncos lost their last three games, and Tim Tebow looked less than miraculous in those contests.  Okay, to be honest, he actually looked pretty bad by most standards of professional quarterbacking.  But even that fizzling finish can’t diminish the seven-week [...]

ESPN is the best at what they do, which is, of course, broadcasting sports news and entertainment.  One of the many reasons for their success is their uncanny ability to look forward;  to predict what will be interesting to their viewers, and then showcase it in a way their über-loyal audience will love. One notable [...]

From the 23-page Grand Jury’s report, the portrait of a villain emerges – or even that of a monster.   The details of the accusations levied against this accused villain are so disturbing that they almost seem fictitious, as if they were pilfered from the plot of a horror novel co-authored by Stephen King and Scott [...]

In the passing of Steve Jobs we were all unavoidable witnesses to the public immortalizing of a mortal man.  Death, perhaps more than life, has a tendency to stir that phenomenon.  There’s no arguing that Steve Jobs’ impact and influence on society was of a magnitude matched by precious few individuals in our recent history.  Thus, he is [...]

We’re going “college crazy” right about now.  We’ve hit that stage in our lives when our two oldest boys – one a high school senior and the other a college freshman – have been knee deep in the thick of college searches and applications for the past two years.  Well that’s not entirely true.  It’s [...]

Thirty years ago, when we were kids, free time was just that – free.  If you weren’t in school and you weren’t at home eating, sleeping or watching Road Runner cartoons, you were outside with your friends, playing freely.  It was what sociologists would eventually call “pick-up play,” (as opposed to the “organized play” of [...]

Well, there’s no avoiding it.  Each year, around this same time, the event returns, seemingly more glorified and glamorized than the prior year, if that’s even possible.  And each year I feel compelled to write about it, hopefully in an even more cynical way than the prior year, if that’s even possible.  Of course, I’m [...]

“There is only one way under high heaven to get anybody to do anything.  And that is by making the other person want to do it.” Seventy five years ago, a man named Dale Carnegie wrote that statement in a book he titled, How To Win Friends And Influence People.  It was written in the opening [...]

The suburban sprawl of the baby-boom years turned many farmlands into neighborhoods for young families in the 50′s and 60′s.  City dwellers who escaped the concrete surroundings of apartment buildings, row houses, front stoops and playgrounds reveled in the spacious surroundings of their newly erected free-standing colonial or ranch homes.  But there was one small price to pay.  For [...]