Saturday Slight

Back in the Zags Zone this morning as we await the "Battle in Seattle" this afternoon with Gonzaga playing Davidson. That also means that I know where my friends Janet and Rick are today. And, Janet, I must tell you that the gal I met on our snorkeling boat who now lives in Sandpoint grew up in Packwood.

She said most people wouldn't know where Packwood is, but I told I'd been there and that my friends, Janet and Rick, lived there. She was impressed.

And, speaking of Zags, I sat with a player from the Seattle University Red Hawks basketball team yesterday. The whole team rode the plane; they're playing Eastern today.

When I told Willie, he asked if I talked to Cameron. Cameron is their coach, and, of course, Willie, the sports trivia aficionado, had lots to tell me about Cameron Dollar. He has followed him since he played for UCLA when the Bruins won the NCAA national championship.

Why don't I know these things WHEN I see these people rather than AFTER? I could have gotten his autograph for Willie.

I did talk to someone close to NCAA basketball fame. I visited briefly with John Brockman's brother. Brockman was the University of Washington's big-name player. His brother is a trainer for Seattle U and a very nice young man.

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In the sports world, my mouth continues to hang wide open in stunned amazement with the continued lurid revelations about Tiger Wood. Over the years, I never really cared for Tiger until I saw his wholesome family portrait with a Border Collie.

Of course, as a BC lover, I thought that image softened the cold arrogance that I had always sensed in him. So, I started giving Tiger the benefit of the doubt.

Then, came the initial bomb shells. My mother and I discussed Tiger when those first revelations started to surface. We both agreed that he had spent a lifetime so focused and driven by his dad to reach the pinnacle of his sport that he probably missed out on basic training as a human being. In our discussions, we both felt a little sorry for him, figuring his void of common sense training had probably led him into his troubles.

As I learn more, however, my sympathy has turned to utter disgust---disgust for the world to which the privileged, gifted athletes and higher echelon figures from political/artistic, etc. circles in our society are welcomed.

So, that's what you get when you're on top of the world---a Sodom and Gomorrah-oriented existence, and the higher your standing, the more protected you are from the rest of society knowing you've entered "the realm" of forbidden fruit.

After all, image is everything when you get to that level.

Then, when your image is shattered, like Tiger's, some public relations guru gets to come in and repair the damage, or, as I saw last night on "Dateline," maybe Oprah will give you that one important, carefully orchestrated interview, so you can start building yourself up again by arousing people's sympathy for your situation.

Is there something really superficial and totally phony here, or has my naivete gotten the best of me?

Somehow, the Tiger story and those like it seem to me to be perverted and distorted images of success. If that's success, I'll take my own simple, mediocre existence. Seems a lot less complicated and much happier, thank you.

And, the more I observe of those who've reached the top, I'm more than satisfied to have never come close to living what Madison Avenue and the media always portray to us as "the good life." I also seriously question the people chosen as role models for the rest of us "lesser souls" to emulate.

It's a complex issue which certainly inspires an endless array of commentary on life and how to live it.

And, while I'm at it, I'll send readers over to (http://riverjournal.com/vivvo/editorial/lovenotes_mikegunter_love_122009.html), where you can read my latest column "Love Notes, which features a genuine role model. His name is Mike Gunter, and I've followed his life ever since I first met him during my student-teaching experience in 1969.

Mike has never shattered my positive images; he has only added to them through his adult life as a husband, father, grandfather, businessman, cancer survivor, humanitarian and fellow horse lover. The Mike Gunter's of the world churn out endless good examples.

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On this Saturday morning, iit's great to be back home. We've got the big game today, and I've got a lot of stuff to do to get ready for Christmas. A trip to the store to replenish the baking supplies and a request to Bill to go find us a Christmas tree top the list of "to do's" today.

I understand we'll have snow this afternoon right about game time. The Christmas music will come out this weekend. And, we're on that wind-down to the shortest day of the year.

Lots of fun things to look forward to. This is what a trip to Maui will do for a country hick from North Idaho.

And, one more thing: my Maui buddy Annie has some of her work featured on the Northwest cover page of the Spokesman-Review. There's a lady in Spokane who's offering a course on how to geocache. The photo of her includes an array of items, including the book Geocaching for Idiots. Annie snapped the cover photo of that book.

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Happy Saturday to all. GO ZAGS!