Category: Uncategorized
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The Gift of Tim Green’s Grace
Tim Green played for the NFL Atlanta Falcons for 8 seasons. I met Tim Green in 1982. He was a freshman football player at Syracuse University. I was a young TV sportscaster covering his ascent to stardom. We became friends. This past weekend, 37 years later, Tim’s number 72 was retired and raised to the rafters…
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Happy Father’s Day Asshole
Have you gone shopping for a Father’s Day card? If so, you’ve undoubtedly seen dozens of greetings that state, in essence, I am who I am today because of you, Dad. The verse inside may use words like love, acceptance, guidance, caring, kindness, role model, and hero. But, what if one of those sentiments isn’t…
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It’s Not Your Fault
The 1997 movie Good Will Hunting is one of my favorite films for a number of reasons. Each of the main characters is deeply flawed, lonely, fearful, and trying desperately to mask the pain that envelops them. Among the numerous powerful and poignant scenes in the film is a breakthrough moment in the relationship between…
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Holier than Thou: The Scourge of Religious Hypocrisy
I am sick to death of religious hypocrisy. It’s a widespread, ever-burgeoning malady that infects our relationships, communities, institutions, politics, and even our families. I first experienced this ungodly paradox while attending a parochial elementary school in the Midwest. A cadre of old ladies, mostly widows I assume, were regulars at daily Mass. And without…
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The Agony of Making Decisions
“Don’t be afraid of change. You may lose something good, but you may gain something better.” Unknown Making a life-changing decision is seldom simple. It’s not as stark as choosing between black and white. Our palette is usually somewhere on a spectrum in a myriad of gray. There are rarely win-win solutions. That’s a myth.…
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Media Makeover: When News was News and Facts were Facts
Did you read, watch, or listen to news coverage of the release of the redacted Mueller report on April 18? If you did, the precise details of what you heard, saw, and/or read depended in large part on the TV network, newspaper, digital publication, or radio station you chose. If you watched Fox News, you were…
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The Toxicity of Shame
I’m not sure who first identified the acronym for shame, but it’s spot-on: Should Have Already Mastered Everything. In other words, I should be perfect. I should understand this. I should know how to do this. I should… fill in the blank. Author Brené Brown, who spent many years researching shame says, “Where perfectionism exists,…
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Real Men Eat Quiche: And They Cry Too
Not long ago, my 4 ½ year old granddaughter, Charli, and I were playing while her little sister napped. She was smitten with some superhero character she had seen on TV and began to act out a battle scene. But, when Charli got a little too rambunctious I said to her, “Be careful honey. You…
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Seashells and Balloons:
Remembering College Basketball’s Most Unconventional Coach Al McGuire and Dick Enberg with the author circa 1980-something. Forty-two years ago, on March 28, 1977, Marquette University Basketball Coach Al McGuire had a date with destiny. Three months earlier he had thrown the college basketball world a curveball, announcing his retirement, effective at the end of the…
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What Will Be
Does the long, winding road lead to a destination, an intersection, or a dead end? I have baggage. Sometimes it feels like a ten-ton anchor around my neck. I’m a survivor. But before I was a survivor, I was a victim, and victimhood dies hard. It took me a long time to realize that too often…
Roger M. Cahak 