The Weather, Politics and Birthdays!

Around these parts we were hit with over 16” of snow and it was bitterly cold for a spell, but now it’s going to start melting with a warming trend in the forecast. Maybe the warming trend started with our last general council meeting. It got heated with arrows flying everywhere and I think some of those hot arrows hit the snow. Some joker said in politics you can make some of the people happy some of the time but not all the time. You gotta love it though and if you can’t take it then it’s time to get out of Dodge or melt like the snow I mentioned.

I sat on the council for years and took the same verbal abuse and you just can’t take it personally, because it is self-evident that whoever gets on that pedestal will be targets. I see the many emotional outbursts at these meetings and wonder why they just don’t go see the council before hand and air their grievances, but I think it’s helluva lot more fun for them to get on a soap-box and carry on, and sometimes it leaves everybody practically speechless. Nothing in politics is a matter of honor, my friend. I think people ought to be glad they can see another day, but that’s something they need to discover. The point is sometimes it’s best to not even try and anticipate any attack, just deal with it the best way you can. Politics is like playground basketball, no blood, no foul. It’s a given those attacks will continue on a quarterly basis and is probably needed to purify the air and they shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone in the room. That’s my dime-store advice to new comers to the world of politics and probably worth about that much.

I think the biggest surprise for me these days is reaching the age of 60 in a few short days. I feel lucky in a lotta respects to even write about this occasion or milestone, but hell, nonetheless, I'm still here. I coulda been gone a couple of times, but somebody wanted to me to stick around for some reason, maybe I'll figure that one out someday. I’m happy because now I can enjoy my grandchildren and I appreciate that opportunity. Plus, I'm still waiting for that Powerball win, because that would ease retirement concerns and would allow me to humbly live out my life.

This is also the 3rd birthday without my twin-brother Larry. He might not be around anymore, but I’m sure he’s patiently waiting for our next golf outing. I’m going to be mean about this though, I’m going to make him wait a few more years. Please indulge me for a second:  I had this dream….that I was an old guy working in my garden with my great grandson, I’m thinking Pat ko shuk’s son, and I’m chasing him around with these vampire teeth in my mouth and I keel over and die in my garden among my tomato plants….

In the meantime, I better get out on our new course and try to sharpen the old game. In my golf outings with Larry, I used to talk “smack,” as the kids say, and his game would fall apart and I would win. Those were good memories for me. I miss that, I miss his daily emails, I mIss the trips to the Land of 10,000 lakes to visit him, I miss his political commentaries, I miss shaking his hand, but you have to adjust. Hell, there isn’t an option here. And maybe it’s true the good guys die young, so now it’s official I’m not a good guy. Yet, people dying can’t define our time here, we have to concentrate on what we have.

On the less serious side, I was sitting next to this one guy and he said he didn’t celebrate birthdays anymore because he already had one foot in the grave. And this other old guy, Wabnum, said: “I’m not old, I just look old.” That’s how I feel about this birthday. I used to tell my brother on our birthday “it was a helluva ride” and is has been. It ain’t no good to beat yourself to sleep every night over the things you did wrong in life, it might be better to regret the things you didn’t do.

Half-Time Report!

The hardest part of this edition of KU basketball is the wait between games.  At this very moment, KU has a not too shabby of a record at 16-0, about mid-way through this season.  Around here its a given that KU will win the Big 12 and most of the time the league tournament, but all that takes second fiddle to the last six games of the season.  They won it all in Mannings last year and 2008 and could be knocking on the door again this year.

Remember the movie "The Rock" with Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery.  Cage said we got to go back and diffuse the bombs, we got to do our best.  Sean Connery, one of the best actors of the ages said, "Losers talk about doing their best, winners go home and make love to the prom queen."  Of course, I edited that last part down a bit to keep this blog under the radar screen of morality.  But that describes KU basketball, we don't want to hear any whining and crying about doing the best they can, we expect a helluva lot more than that.  

There has been some close games in this first half, but KU guts the game out and finds a way to win.  In the last game against Iowa State at Ames, KU played the best of all.  They pounded the ball to the Morris twins underneath and between them, they had 50 points in a 84-79 win.  In the past, KU took some big-time teams into Ames and couldn't win there but this team did.  This is the type of ball that will take KU a long way this year.  The ESPN announcer said the Morris twins are the best big men in the country.  It pains me to see the twins shooting from 3-point range when its a given they can knock down two underneath and a chance to go to the foul line. 

This game approach will off-set the missed 3-pointers Reed and Selby and Morningstar will have, but it is spectacular when they go down.  Speaking of Morningstar, he sure pissed me off when he did that behind the back pass and caused one of KU's big men to travel.  Come on, we have a mission here Morningstar, if you want to showboat go to the Lawrence Country Club and show off for the rich folk there.  Selby, once he finds his groove, will contribute more and more.  I like his smooth shooting, the ability to give up the ball and pass to an open teammate.  He won't be around for long, so enjoy him while you can. This team has the makings of something special.

Now listen closely to those screeching wheels outside our door, the KU bandwagon is going to slow down for a short time and we're going to let a few wildcat fans on board.  Jump on board and enjoy the ride. Times awastin! 

Wednesday evening thoughts!

It is sickening again to read about another shooting, this time in Arizona.  Geez, I know politicians aren't the most popular people to ever come down the pike, but to gun one down is insane.  And that is the only word that can describe this guy who killed six people and wounded others including a gal named Gabby.  Insane is when a person doesn't know right from wrong.  The guy killed a little girl only nine years old.  Maybe we can understand a bit about some of this horrible incident but not shooting a young girl.  Insane!

The gal named Gabby is a fighter.  The bullet went through her head and she is responding well, almost a miracle.  I hope and pray she comes out of this a healthy and better person.  I don't know if it would be worth it for her to get back into the political game though.  It's bad enough people take pot-shots all the time, and hate each other over politics, but to add bullets to the assault isn't worth it for anybody. 

And it ain't no sense bringing back talk of gun-control because they did that after the Kennedys were shot a long time ago and that debate didn't go anywhere and how many shootings have taken place since?  Even if they did try and control it, people would still buy a gun on the black market, much like booze during the prohibition and dope on a rez corner.  If they want it, they will get it. What is the answer?  Nobody really knows, but people pretend they do and we know they don't.  There is no answer on the political stage.

Maybe it's time for more prayer in everybody's life.  It is easy to laugh at this suggestion for those who don't know prayer or think they will ever need it.  Yet, in everybody's life there are low times, maybe not as bad as what is going on in Arizona and their grief, but prayer will help us and the people suffering so badly now.

Local basketball again!

When my brothers and I played football way back in the 60s -yes I still can remember those days. I honestly believe that if it wasn’t for the sport, I would have dropped out of school (Larry did and spent his senior trip in Vietnam). Every year we would look forward for the season to begin and playing in the football games was dream-come-true for some dirt-poor Indians. We never went on to any athletic success after high school, but football kept us in high school.

I don’t think some people recognize facts like this if it reached up and slapped them in their worthless faces. Over the years I saw so many kids drop out of the local school system. The drop rate for Indian students here is high over the years, but it’s something people don’t want to talk about. Now, they have to finish school to get a percentage of their per-caps, but that incentive wasn’t always there. Sadly, some had the potential to do so much more with their lives.

Sure some parents didn’t give a damn and some of the students probably didn’t either, but let’s go back to the original notion, sports does help students stay in school and can keep them out of trouble and there is plenty of that out there.

With my grandchildren, I’ve had a mixed bag of success. My oldest Tara, stood out when she played basketball, scoring 35 points in one game and making all-league two years running but after that it was hit and miss. Nyeh Washkeh loved the game of basketball, but wasn’t given much of chance to play and he left to play at Kickapoo Nation School and graduated from there.

Now we are going through the same thing again. My grandson Hooty also left the local school system, where he was given no playing time. He quit the team and the coach didn’t give a damn and didn’t even ask why? Last night, he played his first game at KNS. He scored 5 points and 3 assists. All he wanted was a chance to play and getting some playing time isn't too much to ask.

Think about it when was the last time any athlete from any of the local schools turned pro or went to KU, which is the closest to the pros you can get? I guess, in a sense, school ball is like the work force, it's not what you know, it's who you know! It shouldn’t be like that in the school system no matter where you live. Let the kids play – you never know, it might make a difference!

One Potawatomis look back at the year 2010

Looking back at 2010 in the rear-view mirror is a year of mixed emotions.

Around here, it’s always about the weather: We survived over 42” of snow this past winter and the spring brought welcome change. The summer had its spells of rain and then a stifling heat hit. Our pow-wow days were scorchers, as well as the Gathering held in Shawnee, Oklahoma. But, the fall was picture-perfect and we’ve escaped the blizzards the east coast have been experiencing this winter, at least so far.

Outside of a couple wayward souls, most people in this neck of the woods are KU basketball fans. We had such high expectations. This team has national championship written all over it, but it never came to pass. In their last game, I watched the game in disbelief. KU couldn’t seem to do anything right, and I fully expected them to whip off one of their patented 12-0 runs, but it never happened. I thought when they threw a rare full-court press on Northern Iowa, they would unravel and it was close to that, but it wasn't meant to be. Some little gutsy guard shot a long, long 3-point shot with a lotta seconds on the clock and it swished through the net and then I knew it was over.

I did say a few words that aren’t meant for publication and I truly believe I went through a spell of shock. I never thought for a second that they would lose. They were destined for greatness, but there were tell-tale signs throughout the year. KU would create huge leads and then go to sleep and other games they would only play half-hearted. Collins struggled more time than not. Aldrich had his ups and downs. Henry looked like a monster player one minute and quite ordinary the next. Am I painting you a picture of inconsistency because that’s what it was this year. Yet, I remain a KU fan. A 33-3 record isn't bad by anybody's standards. Somebody said after the game "now it's only babies and memories."  There's always this year and maybe Selby will make all the nightmares go away.

In May, they had a birthday dinner for Meeks Jackson. She is an 87 year old elder of our tribe and a good person and one of our last fluent speakers.

The summer months were hot and we had a wave of deaths too. Joe Hale died at age 62. I've known Joe and his boys for years. I watched his boys grow up and because of him, they picked up the songs fast. They are known as top of the line singers on the pow-wow circuit, but I remember them most for helping us with the songs in our religion. That will be Joe Hale's legacy -teaching and passing along the traditions of our way of life.

In his earlier days, he went off to Vietnam as a member of the U.S. Marine Corp. It was a hard go for Joe for a good number of years, he had inner struggles that few can know and understand. His life was similar to the life of my brother Larry. Both left here young boys and the Vietnam war changed them into vastly different people. Thankfully, the inner struggles of seeing war, death and seeing their own blood flow in front of them leveled off in time, but both died fairly young. To me, that wasn't much of a reward for serving our country but we have little say in that department. Now the only thing left is the memory of knowing these good people. That is part of the cruel realities of life on an Indian reservation.

Our tribe also lost Mike Jensen, Dale Thomas and Wesley Begay, as well as the song-man Gary Cooper - to name a few. Age or cancer took their lives. Death is an inescapable truth here and everywhere. I knew all these men and they each made their own marks on this life. Life does go by fast, make the most of it, and sometimes I look around and wonder why everybody had to leave!

In June, my granddaughter Tara was able to meet the First Lady, Michelle Obama while she visited Camp Pendleton and San Diego. Tara was able to sit in one of the front rows. Ms. Obama made a visit to encourage the Marines and their families. Tara said she "felt pretty blessed to meet the first African-American First Lady. She's a beautiful and wise woman."

I’ve watched the golf course progress for the last year on my way to work. Let me tell you this promises to be one of the best golf courses in this area, if not all of Kansas. I’ve had the opportunity to play the course once and it is both breathtaking and difficult.  It will be one of the toughest courses anybody would want to play and it will only get better looking as the years go by once it’s properly established. It will open for public play in 2011. It may be political suicide, but I might try and sneak over there on occasion. I won't play 600 rounds like some guy in Texas did this year, but at least a few times.  Who knows, I might improve on a game that went south years ago.

Other than that, I’m glad I could watch my granchildren grow and develop. Grandchildren can only be viewed as gifts and I'm damn lucky to hang around long enough to see my grandchildren get to this stage of life.

I'm also glad I’m around yet to write these blog entries. I'm thankful to you for reading my material.  I know it doesn't make sense at times, but stay with me it will get better.  I tried not to hurt any sensitive feelings out there.  The sure way to start a fight is to talk about religion and politics, so I stay away from those topics if I can.  But that is hard to do. so maybe I did indulge in veiled references at times during the course of this year.  I'm guilty.  Damn I would hate for somebody to quit talking to me. On top of that, those politico types have their own news outlets!

I mostly try and tell how it is out here on our reservation and how KU is doing, because those are much better story-lines. I hope your holidays were great, your time off work was constructive and you have a safe and happy 2011 and if you see me on the street or rez road, wave or say hello, it would make me feel good, but if not that's good too!

The weather, Josh Selby, and pony-league baseball!

I woke up today and watched the weather reports on the tube and it looks like this area is safe from all the elements for now. On the West Coast, the rains are hammering the hills of Hollywood, the snow is coming down hard in Colorado and many parts of the East. Some highways are shut down. All of this makes it dangerous to travel. I’m glad I have no travel plans this holiday season and to be truthful I don’t have anybody to go visit anyway, so that’s that. I used to go see my brother Larry in MN on occasion, but that option is no longer there.


And thank goodness for the naysayers out there because I was reminded about Josh Selby being suspended for nine games for taking a little cash when he was in high school. But let’s be real on this subject. This stuff happens all the time in college, it just some get caught and whole bunch of others don't. Some of these guys are coming out of the inner city, talented as the day is long – and when they hit that college campus, they dress good, drive good, spend good, and all that fine jewelry comes from somewhere. Their mammas sure don't send it to them. The last time I drove by an inner city dwelling, it didn’t look like there was an abundance of cash there, maybe a little drug money on the corner but that was about it. That said, being so damn good has its perks! That is the reality of college athletics.

A case in point: Kansas State suspended a couple of their stars for taking improper benefits -a clothing store in Manhattan put some free cloth on them.  To be truthful, these athletes should get more in a monetary way.  After all the universities and the coachs make millions so why can't the guys who make that possible get a little too.  It's only right and then stuff like this won't happen. Maybe!

I read in the paper about some old guy dying. I knew him years ago. My brother Larry and I played pony-league baseball in Hoyt one summer. We would walk to the highway and this guy picked us up and gave us a ride from there and after the game we would walk from the highway again. After a few games, this guy asked us who picked us up. We said nobody, we walked home and after that this guy picked us up at home and gave us a ride home after the games. We lived seven or so miles from the highway. We didn’t care because we wanted to play ball. That old boy lived a long life and he probably never really knew that being good to a couple of Indians wasn’t ever forgotten.

Josh Selby, Religion and the Second Coming

My spirtual journey has taken a set-back.  I've always took pride in my reliablility to my religion.  It wasn't always that way, I did partake in the forbidden fruits of life for many years and one day I decided to change.  I figured I could work toward making a real effort to do better and hopefully at the bitter end the good just might outweigh the bad.  Who knows?  I will have to wait for that determination, hopefully until after my next birthday!

But the point of the story is yesterday we had our Winter Ceremonies start here and I was late going in and I did catch it for being late, which is something accorded to a guy who is fairly reliable.  I took the verbal stuff because they were right and they knew where I was.

I stayed home and watched on t.v. the "second coming."  Josh Selby made his debut at Kansas University and that guy is everything they said he'd be and more.  I guess ol Wilt scored 52 points, a KU record, in his debut in the early 1960s and there was no doubt he was one of the best to ever set foot on the KU court.  KU was a spring-board for Wilt to greater things in the NBA and his fame also caused him to become a magnet for women, but that's another story.  Last year X Henry scored 27 points in his debut, but never approached that number again, and went off to the pros way too early.

Selby will make everybody forget the stars of the past before he's done.  It was like magic when he went into the game at 16:00 minute mark.  He started out trying to be a passer and then nailed a 3-pointer that brought down the house and proceeded to score 10 points in his first five minutes.  It was like he was on the court by himself.  I envied those fans, including my nephew William Mitchell, for getting to witness the game first-hand.  This game will go down as a memorable moment for them because from my favorite chair in front of my 32" t.v. it was damn exciting to see this milestone.

The game ended 70-68 over USC.  KU did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong and if Selby wasn't on that court at the end they would have lost, period.  He nailed a 3-pointer with 20 some seconds left and KU ended up winning. Selby delivered and once the chemistry all starts to develop, KU will be the big-dogs of the Big 12.  If they tighten down the defense and do more against the other teams big men, they will a presence on the big stage in March.  Selby is that good.  I don't gush over players that much, but this guy is the real deal. 

Now I gotta get back to making amends for being late yesterday, but I'm banking or hoping that the man up stairs is a KU fan too and understands.