From out West ..... we hear .....

My thanks to one Jim Madison, in Chouteau, Oklahoma for this post.

We've all heard about people having Guts or Balls, but do you really know the difference between them?

In an effort to keep you informed, here are the definitions:

GUTS - is arriving home late, after a night out with the guys, being met by your wife with a broom, and having the Guts to ask, “Are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?”

BALLS - is coming home late after a night out with the guys, smelling of perfume and beer, with lipstick on your collar, and slapping your wife on the butt and having the Balls to say, “You're next, Chubby.”

I hope this clears up any confusion on the definitions.

Medically speaking, there is no difference in the outcome.

Both result in death.

Ricketts throws sixth no-hitter of the season as Oklahoma beats Michigan

Not often you see a 7-1 No Hitter score .....

Keilani Ricketts threw a no-hitter and had 12 strikeouts in Oklahoma’s 7-1 victory against Michigan on Thursday night in the Women’s College World Series.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Keilani Ricketts threw a no-hitter and had 12 strikeouts in Oklahoma’s 7-1 victory against Michigan on Thursday night in the Women’s College World Series.

Ricketts, the Collegiate Softball Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, improved to 32-1.

Oklahoma (53-4) will face Texas on Friday night. Texas beat Arizona State 6-3. Michigan (50-12) will play Arizona State on Saturday in an elimination game.

Michigan took a 1-0 lead in the third when Sierra Lawrence reached on an error and eventually scored on a play at the plate.

“Once Michigan scored that kind of woke us up a little,” Ricketts said. “We knew they would be scoring runs. They had been scoring runs all year long against everyone. We knew we had to respond.”

Top-ranked Oklahoma, the NCAA runner-up last season, scored four runs in the third, and Lauren Chamberlain hit her 28th home run of the season in the fourth.

“I thought we came ready to play,” Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso said. “It was a long day of waiting. That’s one of the hardest things is just watching things on TV. I think we started off a little slow, but the sign of a good team is one that answers a score.”

Oklahoma (53-4) gave Ricketts the cushion she needed with the big third inning.

The no-hitter was the seventh of Ricketts’ career – sixth this season — and the 16th in WCWS history.

“I think you have to give credit where credit is due,” Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. “Oklahoma is Oklahoma and they’re as good as advertised. Keilani no-hit us. That’s the first time we’ve been no-hit all year.”

They invited the little sister of  9-year-old Sydney Angle, who was killed when the tornado hit Plaza Towers Elementary school to sit in the dugout as a honorary bat boy. They are an excellent team, but the disaster in Oklahoma gave them some added incentive.

Oklahoma ..............

Moore, Oklahoma, never heard of it, till today. Now we have another name to remember, it never stops, one catastrophe or disaster after another. This one has also hit close to home, Jim Madison, in our family,  lives in Chouteau, Oklahoma, we are hoping that it is East, and out of the danger zone. Have not heard from him as of yet, so we are praying that all is well with him.

So many lives just wiped out, Mother Nature can be so cruel, she shows no mercy, young, old, male, female, black, white, or perhaps, American Indian, descendants of those who were here first. We have little defense against her. And, her power can be devastating, as we are seeing.

I just Googled, appropriate prayers for such an incident. I read a dozen or so of  them, all nice, sincere, but none seemed to come close to relating to the disaster that has happened out there. There are pictures of the disaster, everywhere.

I have looked for one foto, there is not just one, I think you have to be sitting on a chair, perhaps the only piece of furniture that was not broken or carried away, and looking at an emptiness, that used to be a home. Everything you owned, every treasure, every memory, every keepsake, gone. It was all there moments ago, now it is all gone. I cannot imagine how that impacts a person.

The press will descend on the area like locusts.

I will not watch any of it, for a few days, Obama will probably visit, as will some politicians building on their image, mayors, governors, the town will double in population for a few days, till the last story has been drawn out. They then will pack their trucks, leave the destruction behind, and head home.

Amen ......the is nothing more to say .............

Alabama win's NCAA women's softball title

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) An impromptu party in front of the dugout during a fourth-inning rain delay turned into a celebration that will last a long time for Alabama's softball team.

The Crimson Tide turned the 13-minutte delay into the momentum that propelled them to a four-run inning, the key in their 5-4 win over Oklahoma in the deciding game of their best-of-three NCAA championship series that ended early Thursday.

Jackie Traina threw a five-hitter and delivered a key RBI single, and Alabama became the first Southeastern Conference team to win an NCAA softball title. Alabama (60-8) is the first team from outside the Pacific-12 Conference to win the title since Michigan in 2005.

''It was a heck of a run for us,'' said Alabama coach Patrick Murphy, who returned to the Crimson Tide last year just days after leaving Alabama to accept the head-coaching job at LSU. ''It's a dream come true for everybody at Alabama.

''For us, I don't think it's sunk in yet. It's been a long time coming.''

It happened and they did something about it .....

I received this reply to the last BLOG, thank you James. I think it is worth all seeing.

JBD,
This is the attitude that some of us had when the money was cut and the senior Citizens were left without funding for their meal. We got notice that the seniors were cut on a Friday, their last meal, and Monday I was cooking meals at a friend's diner and the Mayor was stirring up some of the big rollers to chip in on cost. The Seniors never missed a meal. Towns from all over the State contacted the Mayor's office and wanted to know how we were able to do it and two TV stations from Tulsa came and did stories on air.

The seniors now have enough money in their account to carry them for a year or so and they have a woman who works at the Senior Center preparing the food. This money was raided locally since the Feds and then the State decided to stop feeding.

On the 27th, United Way is presenting an award to "Oklahoma Mayor of the Year" to Chouteau's Mayor and I am proud to be attending the dinner/ceremony. Oklahoma is a lot different from many other places I have lived and I think the difference is good.

Jim

OKLAHOMA MAY JUST BE THE PLACE TO LIVE!

I received an EMail on this, checked validity on a couple of sites, seems legit ...... GO SOONERS!

Oklahoma law passed, 37 to 9, an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. The feds in D.C., along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake. Hey this is a conservative state, based on Christian values...!
Guess what?.......... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Oklahoma recently passed a law to *incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from. They all scattered. Hope we didn't send any of them to your state. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU – they said it would be a mistake.
Guess what? .......... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from all illegals to the Oklahoma database for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional.
Guess what? ........ Oklahoma did it anyway.

Several weeks ago, we passed a law declaring Oklahoma as a sovereign state, not under Federal government directives, joining Texas, Montana and Utah as the only states to do so. More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi, and Florida. Save your confederate money - it appears the South is about to rise up once again.

Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming that people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a set-back for criminals. Liberals didn't like it either, But
Guess what? ........... Oklahoma did it anyway.

Just this month, my state has voted and passed a law that ALL drivers’ license exams will be printed in English, and no other language. We have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of our
road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma, you must read and write English. Really simple.

By the way, Obama does not like any of this.

Guess what? .... Who cares?! Oklahoma is doing it anyway** **!!!*

Way back in '43...................

Years ago, back in 1943, I was only eleven, my Mom and Dad and I took a trip to New York for a brief vacation.

Dad, the Doctor, had a patient in Dayton, an elderly woman, who was the Mother of Frank Stanton, an executive with CBS in New York. He had always told Dad, "When you come to New York, be sure to look me up."

We stayed at the Waldorf Hotel in New York, and saw all the sites. The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, regular tourists.

Dad visited Mr. Stanton, was greeted warmly, and we were "fixed" up with some nice tickets. We saw "Oklahoma" which had just opened, and was an immediate "hit," got tickets to a Rangers hockey game, and some other Broadway plays. This was 1943 and tickets were not easy to come by.

On one of the days of our visit there, a group of chess enthusiasts had checked into the hotel, and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories, and the various strategies they had used to accomplish them and just chatting.

I recall getting off of the elevator, and seeing the manager come out of his office, and walk over to them, and he rather loudly asked them to disperse.

I remember a rather distinguished looking large gray haired man, in a brown suit, asking, "But why," he asked, as they moved off.

"Because," the manager said. "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."