Garza Pitches No-Hitter

Last night Tampa Bay's Matt Garza pitched a no-hitter against Detroit.  He was a onetime teammate of  current Boston College quarterback, Dave Shinskie in the Minnesota farm system.

Uneducated???? Depression???

As recently as Wednesday, I got to meet up with old friends of nearly 30 years.  Three of chose to grind out our way in life locally while one ventured to the DC/Metro area.  A recent Brookings study had listed Scranton as one of the least educated out of 100 metro areas, while DC was the highest.  Ratings were based on the number of bachelors degrees living in the area.

The topic was stirred when I posted the link on my facebook page prompting some discussion.  Ironically, it is our DC friend desiring to return to the area.  Although, a family issue is driving the potential move surprisingly it is the DC metro quality of life that may make the difference.

She had an interview at a local paper and wrote a front page story on the federal government extending unemployment benefits.  Unfortunately, the webmaster didn't do a good job posting the link.  With education or the lacking, we have to strive to become better. We have to fix it.

Unfortunately, with the extension of benefits, some elected officials are saying it prevents people from looking for jobs.  Did you ever see a job fair?  The lines extend for blocks.  One thing that isn't discussed is rejection and hope.  People don't like rejection or dejection, they need hope.  You start to lose that after a while.  We are not seeing people lose there jobs that just landed them.  This is eating away jobs people had for a decade or more, maybe even their whole lives.

Being a quarter century removed from my high school days, I have seen a few generations returning to the coal lands to live their final days for a variety of reasons.  Will my friend be able to return on her terms? Will there be quality of life left?  It will be up to us to decide.

Brookings Institute: Scranton Uneducated

Brookings Institute: Scranton Uneducated

Where did Shamokin rank????

Little League Season Ends

I haven't been blogging too much the past few months.  I have been very busy with baseball with my sons and umpiring from the high school level on down.  First of all it has been a rewarding season for a few reasons and I would like to highlight some of them.

First of all, both of my sons aged 8 and 11 won their respective league championships.  I know what your saying....winning is everything.  I my case for my boys to see was that hard work and perseverance paid off.  Both never missed a practice and worked at things other than at practice.  For my 11-year old, he has been practicing since January.

For both of my sons, the highlight came on my 8-year old's first playoff game.  With the game tied and heading to extra-innings, my son hit an inside-the-park homerun to give his team a one run lead. The game was far from over, as he had to come in and pitch.  He set the side down in order in the bottom of the 7th for the one-run win.

Again, the win wasn't important.

It was watching his older brother looking on in amazement as his younger brother performed under pressure.  After the game, there was a feeling of that's my brother and I am proud of it.  The older one even carried his younger brother's bat bag after the game to make sure he got everything packed.

The championships were great and may be the only ones, but what happened in between was just as special.

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As I continue to post more leading up to the high school football season, there have been many going's on with elections coming up and grass roots corruption in Northumberland County.  The Yanks are saying goodbye to two legends.  Commissioner Kurt Masser addressed his past and there is a changing of the guard in France. 

Hello Brazil in 2014, leave the horns in South Africa......congrats to Espania!!!