'Nice guys finish last' Really?

1. The interpretation of losing is an art form. Think of sports as a multi-faceted gem. Team work. Discipline. Sacrifice. Self Esteem. Elation. And buried beneath the tips of those ice floes...adversity. Most athletes grasp the short term memory concept of losing: dropped to the canvas for the count. Get up and move on. Lose by a half a nano second in racing. There's always tomorrow. Give up 2 consecutive home runs. Bear down, throw a strike. And fuhgeddaboudit. Apparently in Vancouver the other night, when the Canucks lost the 7th game, the fans in a deja vu reenactment of the 2004 riot, took their frustration and anger out on the city streets. Fueled by alcohol? Likely. Embarrassed by the blow out at home? Ok. We get it. But, destruction and looting of downtown establishments, burning of automobiles, 150 people hospitalized. WTF? Rogue nation, back to the man cave, swill some more booze and swallow hard. The Canucks were dealt a bad hand. They got off the ice went to the showers,and looked in the mirror. Then they went home.

2. Sunday is Father's day. One of my earliest recollection of loss, was after a brutal game at Kezar when the YA Tittle SF 49ers choked up and gave the game away in the 4th quarter. There were many of those defeats that year, and as we waited for my dad to come out of the locker room, one by one the showered 9ers drifted out, signing autographs for the fans, greeting their wives and kids and leaving the parking lot. My dad eventually came out, and said the team took the loss hard; they had thrown stools and chairs around the locker room and destroyed a table. I turned to look back as we drove away. That day I had learned a little something about 'appearances.'

3. Truth or dare. The re-count shenanigans of 2000. My current gf (that's girl friend to you) and I were ebullient. At a gathering. Cigars. Booze. It was in the bag. After reality had smacked us all around, and the light switch had gone on or off, and Gore had been gored, the woman sitting next to me, stood up and shouted, 'where the F can we go to break some windows!' Oh so close...

4. Bill Cunningham New York. If there is one film you see this year. Make it this one.

5. To all the fathers out there, enjoy. And to all the other mothers who are fathers, you too...