In My Mind's Eye

   Every year, at some point, a sports related blog shows up here.  In the past I've tackled Bob Costas and his annoying political rants during half-time, the sports team formerly known as the Washington Redskins and their embattled name, and the ridiculousness of the franchise tag in football.  I watch sports, a lot, and so I have opinions on things that happen that are sport related.  This post is to let you all know that, with the return of all major sports, there will be no sports writing, because I am giving them up, with the exception of the NHL, and that's still up for debate.  Why?    I watch sports to escape reality.  Everywhere I go, every time on turn on the tv, every time I log into a streaming site, every scroll of Facebook and Instagram, I am pummeled by the reality of what is happening right now.  Commercials about how we are all in this together, documentaries on race in America, Black Lives Matters banner on every social media and streaming site, COVID-19

  "The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history."  ~Georg Hegel    Today in the United States of America, as people dismantle statues and monuments of our history, that quote seems appropriate.  We seemed to have learned very little from history, and I'm wondering if we even bother teaching real history anymore.    You see, history is more nuanced than boiler plate slogans.  It's not all black and white.  People go to war for something, but they don't all do it for the same reason.  There was this show that aired on one of those channels... National Geographic, History, Discovery.. I can't remember which one.  It was called Seconds from Disaster.  It's tagline red "Disasters don't just happen.  They are a chain of critical events. Unravel the clues and countdown those final seconds from disaster."  That's history.  It's not one event, but multiple events, some happening years, even decades, before, th