I thought a morning could not be more perfect. A light frost kept the ground solid so feeding in the barnyard was easy. The sky is clear, no fog, signaling a wonderful day ahead.
And, a thrilling double ZAGS victory with men and women Bulldogs taking the West Coast Tourney Championships----with ZAGS flair, no less.
I have one friend who must have been on "speed dial" last night because my phone went off in perfect sync with the game's final buzzer.
"I had to share with someone," he said. And, share we did, suggesting that either Sam Dower or David Stockton might be the MVP and my interjecting that Gary Bell, Jr. did a good job too. Turned out that Sam got the nod, while David made the All Tournament Team.
I'm sure every ZAG lover in the world couldn't be happier this morning. This year's group is a team which was not expected to perform to the level of last year's NCAA final No. 1 ranked squad, which lost key players to the NBA.
This is a team that has fought through major injuries, and I'm betting that Kevin Pangos' toe hurts more than anyone could ever guess. Yet, he has played on and done his job to the best of his physical ability----with grace.
Last night was sweet because most of the injuries to key players have been left behind, and the players rose to their full potential, which in my mind, is playing basketball with Gonzaga style and finesse.
The greatest part of last night's victory was that it was earned before a huge national audience on ESPN with two commentators who recognized and trumpeted what we all know and love about our ZAGS when they're on their game.
It's just downright pretty basketball, showcasing impressive individual effort, talent and skill, combined with phenomenal teamwork and, for sure, great coaching.
Congratulations, ZAGS.
You have overcome adversity and risen once again to the top. And, you shall dance with the best of them when the Madness of March officially begins. As you dance, your audience will be cheering, yelling and clapping, the world around.
We are proud.
Yes, with all that in mind, it was a perfect morning until I read the newspaper and learned that soon we may no longer be able call that American-made white dusty stuff, which we sprinkle on our spaghetti, lasagne, salads, pizzas and soups, "parmesan cheese."
According to the paper, the European Union may enforce a crackdown on American-made cheeses being sold as "parmesan" or "feta."
They think we're taking money away from their commerce and that the only way they're gonna get that money back is to put a gag order on our mouths for what we call what we eat.
Now, I believe this is going to be difficult. After all, I've called that stuff "parmesan" for most of my speaking life, which is probably about 64 years.
Hard habit to break-----even more difficult than trying to remember to leave only ONE space every time I type a period at the end of a sentence.
Old habits die hard, I've heard, but then again, I have to remember a few years back when we were mad at France and all the sudden were encouraged to call our French fries "Freedom Fries." I never did take to that very well.
Whether sweet potatoes or regular, they're still French fries to me; always were and always will be.
I can't even imagine what the European Union is going to do to regulate our American cheese vernacular beyond the label on a jar or package. They need to think about how massive that challenge would be, especially in the land of "free speech."
In the meantime, if they're really gonna do this, we'll probably have to come up with new names to put on those cheese labels.
"Spaghetti Dandruff" is one of my first thoughts, but somehow that doesn't excite my palate quite the way "PAAAARMEZAN" does.
Guess we've got a real problem to consider on what had seemed like a perfect morning.
And, now that I'm thinking about other countries attempting to legislate our use of foreign names, do you suppose Italy may try to put a ban on our favorite basketball team going by the name "Gonzaga" ?
After all, Fr. Joseph Cataldo named the university for an Italian St. Aloysius Gonzaga.
Hmmm! We could have a real problem with that.
Happy Wednesday. GO ZAGS!
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