Everyday, I think about the people in Ukraine, especially the citizens trapped in the steel plant in Mariupol. Not only are they running out of food and water, but they continue to get bombed daily. The video released today showing the citizens that are trapped in the facility is gut wrenching. I pray every day for their release and safe passage. See my Video of the Day.
Things are somewhat back to normal at our house. Belfor was in for two days doing a deep clean of the entire house, trying to get rid of all the concrete dust that was everywhere following the replacement of the main sewer pipe under our basement floor. I feel like I am breathing normal air again. For a few days I thought I was back in my house in River Rouge in the 60s when the pollution from Great Lakes Steel, Whitehead and Kales, Peerless Cement, the Ford Rouge Plant, Marathon Oil, and Detroit Edison filled our houses 24/7/365.
So much for the excitement of Miggy’s 3000th hit. The Tigers have not won a game since that first game of a double header last Saturday. The losing streak is up to five in a row, and they face the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series this weekend.
I have never been a big draft guy, especially with football and especially with the Lions. Since football is such an emotional game, and it is hard to measure a person’s will and heart, I have never got too excited about draft picks. Throughout the history of the NFL there are way too many first-round picks who were busts and a whole bunch of late round picks who became superstars. So much goes into analytics and athletics skills test, I think they miss out on whether the person is a football player. I always remember what Chris Spielman said about his time when running the 40 yard-dash. He said, “Don’t time me on a track with a starting gun. Time me when I am chasing a running back trying to turn the corner.” I was a point that has stuck with me for nearly 30 years. With that said, I do not care what the Lions do for the remaining rounds of this week’s NFL draft. In my opinion, they got the two best players in the draft with Aiden Hutchinson and Jameson Williams. With Hutchinson, they get the high motor, highly skilled edge rusher that they have been missing for years. With Williams, they get an athletic wide receiver with a football mentality who has the size and speed that can get separation from defensive backs. Williams is somewhat of a gamble due to the ACL injury he incurred in the national championship game in January, but everything points to a full recovery by the time the season starts in September.
On the last business day of each month, I check to see how my 403B is doing. I am not looking forward to looking at the results tomorrow. It is not going to be a pretty picture. April wound up being the worst month for Wall Street since the March 2020 panic over the coronavirus, capped by a plunge in stocks today when the S&P 500 slid 3.6 percent after the tech giants Amazon and Apple reported their results for the start of the year. The S&P 500 fell 8.8 percent for the month and is down more than 13 percent in 2022. Oh well, there goes Chris’ and Katy’s inheritance.
My good friend Dan Mausolf, a fellow basketball official and former green’s superintendent at Radrick Farms Golf Course, has notified me of a silent auction for MSU’s turf research program, which is one of the best in the world. The auction will run from now until May 8. There are many great golf courses in Michigan who have donated rounds to the auction. If you are interested in participating and playing on a course you may not normally play, this is your opportunity. I will keep this link on my blog until May 8.
https://app.galabid.com/teetimes4turf2022/items
Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence? Get vaccinated and get your booster.
Quote of the Day: “You cannot prove a negative. People who believe Trump had the election stolen by the Democrats are like the people who believe in Big Foot. No matter what the facts, they are going to continue to believe the election was stolen.” A conservative friend.
Orchid of the Day: The Detroit Lions for their first-round draft picks of Aiden Hutchinson and Jameson Williams.
Onion of the Day: The Detroit Tigers who are off to a worse start than last year and are in the middle of a five-game losing streak.
Questions of the Day: What is it about the NFL draft that makes it so appealing to so many sports fans? What makes it different than the NBA draft, the MLB draft, the NHL draft?
Video of the Day; From the inside of the steel mill in Mariupol