I cannot imagine.....

I had an idea for a pretty good post for today,but after discovering something,I decided to put it on the backburner (Don't worry,maybe I will do it later in the week).

Paul Zimmerman ,or as some of us older guys know him as Dr.Z, was the preeminent writer on Pro Football for years for Sports Illustrated has been away for a while.
As many of my long time friends know,I take the NFL Draft seriously and I occasionally watch old drafts on tape for kicks.
Last night I popped in a draft from the 80's when Dr.Z was working the draft for ESPN and wondered where he had been.
Well,sad to say the Doc suffered multiple strokes and is struggling to regain communication skills.
I did a quick google search on Zimmerman and found his wife's blog where she details some of the day to day grind of taking care of her husband.
Mrs.Zimmerman or as long time readers know her as "the flaming redhead" is refreshingly honest on the daily care and the ups and downs of such care.
Dealing with the split second change in their lives,the physical chores of taking care of another human being,sleep deprived and to the frustrations of watching the person you love struggle to find their voice and become themselves again,if they ever truly can do so are all covered by Mrs Zimmerman and she is honest to a fault.

This made me wonder just how many people are capable of following through on the pledge "til death do us part".
I mean, one can understand if one just cannot keep up the pace to do what it takes in similar situations and that doesn't even make one a bad person or partner,but could I do that if I needed to?
I like to think that I could,but it must be difficult to do so.
Life isn't always like the films,where things are made to seem much more heroic than they are in actuality and Mrs Zimmerman writes about the emotional issues for both her husband and herself.

It is a very interesting and open read and I recommend taking a look.
Best wishes to Dr.Z and his loving caregiver for a full recovery that allows us to have the privilege of again reading the work of the one man that pays attention to line play in the NFL!

Bullpen Notes

Battlin' Bob sends us word of yet another stadium in Maryland getting a break over the aging Muni as talk of a new soccer stadium in Prince Georges County for the DC United is beginning to wind its way through the world of state funding.
Putting aside the fact that I hate soccer, ANOTHER new stadium when Hagerstown cannot even get renovation funds????
It is no wonder people get frustrated with the ways of the political world.

CNN's Jack Cafferty is a bit of a crusty old newsman (watch his appearances and that tells all you need to know),but he is reasonably open minded and check his take on the failed war on drugs.
If you believe the numbers in the column and you believe that legalization of drugs could take so much violence and crime off the streets,can anyone tell me the downside to changing the way our country looks at this problem?
One does not have to be a drug user to see that there really isn't one.
Drugs are available and they are used,the current laws cannot change that.
Adding money to our coffers and wiping out a large amount of the underground cartels in this country makes sense and is at least worth thinking about-which of course is exactly why this has no chance of happening...

Photo Credits
Zimmerman:Unknown