Cleaning out the box-Passings

I'm finishing up the final cleaning of the inbox with some recent passings and that should tidy it up for a while before it fills back up.

Goodbye to Max Wright at the age of 75 from Cancer.
Wright, who retired from acting in 2005, was a character actor for many years before landing the lead role as "Willie Tanner" in ALF in the 1980s.
One would have thought that Wright would have been happy with a hit TV show and finally getting his big break, but Wright reportedly hated the show and everything about it.
ALF was a difficult show to film as the puppet needed to be moved incrementally and the show maintained a long and grueling schedule in the process of performing.
Wright was so miserable on the set that he rarely dealt with any of his co-stars and reportedly performed his last role in the final scene of filming and walked off the set, grabbed his bags and left the facility.
Wright did realize how happy the show made others as a later interview acknowledged "the joy that the show brought to viewers".

Goodbye to Arte Johnson at the age of 90.
Johnson, who was about ten years older than I would have expected, was most famous for his tenure on "Laugh-In", but I remember him better for his guest-starring roles on anthology shows such as Love Boat and Fantasy Island among others.
Johnson also was a regular on game shows such as Match Game etc and did voice-over work for years.

Goodbye to Tony Barone at the age of 72.
Barone, the head basketball coach at Creighton and Texas A&M before joining the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant and finishing a season as the Grizzlies interim head coach in 2006-07.
Barone was successful at Creighton, winning over 100 games and leading the then mid-major to two NCAA's before struggling in his seven years at Texas A&M in finishing 44 games under .500

Goodbye to Kerry Marbury at the age of 67.
Marbury rushed for over 1,600 yards in two seasons (1971 and 1972) at West Virginia before leaving a season early in an era when the NFL would not take players before their senior class graduated.
Marbury played two seasons in Canada with Toronto and Ottawa before finishing his career in the WFL with a brief appearance with the Birmingham Vulcans.
Marbury played his high school football on the same team as Alabama head coach Nick Saban in winning two West Virginia state titles.

Finally, Goodbye to Jared Lorenzen at the age of 38.
Lorenzen, who became better known for his girth during his playing career, was an excellent quarterback at Kentucky as Lorenzen broke the school records for passing yards and touchdowns previously held by Tim Couch, before winning a Super Bowl ring with the Giants as the backup to Eli Manning.
Lorenzen had lifelong struggles with weight but had recently lost over 100 pounds before his death.
This ESPN article by Tommy Tomlinson looks at that struggle and how Tomlinson relates it to his own weight struggles.

Jared Lorenzen,the power of food and the worry of weight

On Saturday,I read an ESPN article on Jared Lorenzen,the former Kentucky star quarterback,who had a cup of coffee in the NFL and earned a Super Bowl ring with the Giants.
The struggles of Lorenzen hit home and I'd like to share with you the struggles,problems and yes-fears that I struggle with every day.

The author of the article clearly is a big man himself and his concerns also strike home although some of the things that have happened to him have never happened to me,that doesn't mean that they couldn't.
The author wears 6XL shirts to fit him and even though those size shirts are way too big for me,they are quite comfortable just as 5XL are larger than I need.
I've always wore shirts that were multiple sizes up even in the days of wearing a 2xl when I was a XL,so that part isn't because I'm fat,it is because I hate shirts that are even my size,let alone tight.

He also talks about chairs collapsing under him,(never to me) and other things that normal sized people take for granted,but for the most part that hasn't happened to me.
He also talks about devouring entire boxes of snack cakes and things like that,but with one notable exception that Cherie and I know not to buy except on a rare occasion,I've never had issues with that either,so some of these things even I just don't get.

The one thing that I do relate to his eating frozen foods and items like that.
We have stuff like that here,but we try to mix things up with other "healthier" items when we can,but finances can come into play.
This country loves to tout healthy food,but how can 2 green peppers compete with a 16 ounce bag of chips in both quantity and taste (I do love my bell peppers though)
My main issue is a love for anything fixed using a potato,but there is many "bad" foods that I don't eat often.
Not an huge ice cream eater,not a big bread person (except for sandwiches) and not really a huge baked goods fan either,although those Hostess fruit pies (Cherry or Lemon) are awesome,but at the calories shot,I bet haven't had one of them in years!
We do try to have snacks that aren't calorie killers,I like fresh veggies and will wipe a jar of Claussen pickles out pretty fast,but still once you are a big man,it takes more fuel to keep the machine running.
I still don't think I eat as much as one would think and I can generally go through a ball game without having to eat unless it's a long road trip day,but obviously there still is a problem somewhere.

I don't drink alcohol and I don't drink full calorie soda.
I stick to diet or 7up 10 (Thanks,Mike) and I do drink lots of water,so I suppose things could get far worse,if I drank caloried drinks.

I try to "do" more,but it becomes tougher as the body breaks down and ages.
I suppose that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,but before this season I never really noticed anything.
I was still able to do most of what others did for years,but I have noticed some difficulty keeping up this year.
The long graphing days have taken more of a toll on me this year than in the past and the sun takes more out of me than in previous campaigns.
That tells me that I need to do more,but it's tough.
I sleep terribly,partially because of working third shift,but even on "regular" evenings,I don't sleep well.
I've thought about adding things to make that improvement,but have not been able to do that yet.

Socially,I don't worry about.
You have be who you are and the truth is the truth,although I'm well aware of what I am,that doesn't mean I want to be reminded of it anymore than someone wants to be reminded of having an alcohol problem,problems with women, etc..
It may not hurt you to the point of getting upset all the time,but it still doesn't feel great and tends to put a damper on a mood pretty quickly.
All and all though,I don't consider that a huge problem.

I also have concerns about medications.
I see my friends dropping weight using pills and I wonder about that because it seems to help at the same time,I don't want to get used to taking medication for this issue.
I've thought about beginning to take sleeping pills to help me sleep better and the positive affects that better sleep could give me,but again I have concerns in starting something that I may not be able to stop.
Every day is the day that the "comeback" is going to start and sometimes they last more than others,but in the end-I haven't been able to get the job done.
That's on me,no matter what the reasons or excuses are (some are legitimate and others are trying to tell myself what I want to hear"-the bottom line or scale doesn't lie.

But the most poignant and scary thing was and is this-I'll quote the author.

"We see our futures and they're not long ones. I'm 50 and I might feel it more deeply than he (Lorenzen) does. Nobody who's 65 looks like we do"

I know..........