Mar 26
2005
Tony| Category: General, Sports and Wine |
Wow.
Go Illini. That was ridiculous. So much drama, quite possibly the best game I have EVER seen. Nothing I can write here will do it justice. So glad I TiVo’d it, to watch on those sad, rainy days, and the happy, great days. If you turned it off early, I don’t blame you. If you stuck with it like our crowd did, you were crazy. Special props to the pro-orange crowd. Down 13 points, I hear cheers of “ILL- INI” loud and clear as the AZ player shot free throws. The crowd did NOT give up. It was great. In the overtime, the Illni looked like the team that got them there. Most impressive plays included Luther Head with the steal, gutting it out down the court, despite the pain, and finishing the layup to make it 90-84. The other great play was the defense of the inbound pass that Ingram tipped away, and it swung around to Deron Williams. Ingram was right there, on the other side! instantly, to set a beautiful screen for Deron to hit the three to tie it at the end of regulation. That’s enough analysis for now; suffice to say, next weekend’s plans may be changing. GO ILLINI!!!
Mar 26
2005
Tony| Category: General, Sports and Wine, Unfortunately Serious |
Sorry Kenny what can I say, I like your ideers…
loy·al
adj.
1. Steadfast in allegiance to one’s homeland, government, or sovereign.
2. Faithful to a person, ideal, custom, cause, or duty.
3. Of, relating to, or marked by loyalty. See Synonyms at faithful.
loyalty
n 1: the quality of being loyal [ant: disloyalty] 2: feelings of allegiance 3: the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; “his long commitment to public service”; “they felt no loyalty to a losing team” [syn: commitment, allegiance, dedication]
Some of you, my faithful 7.4 readers, are guessing that I’m going to write about the Illini. You are partially correct.
I cheer for the Illini, no matter what. Be it football, basketball, tennis, hockey, or any other sport, I cheer hard for them. I even try to follow the Big 1T1en’s suggestion of being a good sport. I don’t get down on our teams, even if they’re struggling. I banter with my buddies about what the Illini need to do to get better. It’s because I’m loyal, almost to a fault. Sometimes it’s hard to be loyal, especially when they make lots of mistakes. Today, the Illini should win, but even if they don’t, I’ll still be loyal.
(end obligatory Sports Analogy)
Unfortunately, loyalty is a lot easier when it has to do with sports. Loyalty in friendships is a lot harder to deal with. The lines of loyalty are hard to break, they’re often misunderstood, and sometimes, they hurt more than they can help. I’ve tried to be loyal to several people in the last year, and it’s turned out that loyalty wasn’t returned. I consider myself an honest person. As a new husband, I have had to make adjustments to honesty, including be honest with myself, and with the lovely and engaging Mrs. K. I think (and I think she agrees) that I’ve been more honest. She has certainly been honest with me. As a friend, I’ve had to readjust and re-evaluate my perceptions on the loyalties of my friends. I try to look within to see what I feel like I need from them to have a properly loyal friendship. In the last year, loyalties have been divided, and no one seems to know where to stand or where to lay down. There are broken loyalties that will never be repaired (which is fine by me.) It’s hard to know what to do; trust me, I understand. What frustrates me is that no one seems to want to talk to me, or even acknowledge that things are different. If you want to be loyal, come talk to me. For those of you out there that have no idea what I’m talking about, good. For those of you who don’t what to do, come talk to me. I can’t fix things without knowing if they’re broken. I’m tired of the tiptoeing, and tired of not knowing what people really think. Sorry to get all rant-like, but loyalty and honesty have been kicking around in my head for awhile now. What do you think? 
