American Hero, Idiot, or Traitor

Edward Snowden claims he is still an American.  I would like to set the record straight. Depending on which side of the equation you fall--his name is now synonymous with friend or foe.  Is he a defender of liberty or is he a grave threat to national security?  The trouble here is that he is only one American.  In truth, as freedom loving Americans, we all should lean toward liberty and hold every precious liberty we have close to our heart. It is the weight of those inherent leanings, the ones we internalized as children by saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the National Anthem while working out what it means to live in the land of the free, that causes the outside edges of our two party political system to bend back around and actually touch one another. The Libertarian's among us and the card carrying members of the American Civil Liberties Union see eye to eye on protecting our liberties.  We all should lean in the same direction...it’s the central essence of our American nature.  Snowden got that part right.  The part he forgot about is the the other central tenant to our freedom.  That being the allegiance and secrecy necessary to defend our Country against all adversaries. To be a  full- American you have be both in favor of our liberty and be willing to defend our country as well...not just the liberties.  Secrecy is a central tenant of national security and has been from the very start.  A deep understanding of why seems to be where Snowden went awry and has subsequently betrayed us all.

What Snowden failed to realize is that he is not the only American who believes in liberty.  We all do.  But our liberty is not free.  Our freedom has a cost.  Much blood has been shed in the defense of our freedom...but that's not all.  Some liberties we must balance and adjust with laws that reduce our personal freedoms and don't make everyone.  We all bristle under new laws and if we bristle too much we push back.  Some things must be kept secret.  There are approximately 314 million us who live in the land of the free.  We may work for the Libertarian party, the ACLU, or more likely we work at a company like Booz Allen, or a Google, a Facebook, or any other company that might use telephones or the internet, or perhaps we work for the Department of Defense, or even at the National Security Agency.   We are all Americans and sadly, when someone commits a treasonous act against us, just as sure as the Rosenberg’s delivered the plans for the atomic bomb into the hands of the Soviet Union, our national security is weakened.  How much damage Snowden has done to our security is not yet clear.  That will depend on what other secrets he has yet to divulge and whether or not the vast majority of Americans can understand that he is giving us a snow job.  It has to be that way.  The controversy he is so called kicked off is a non-controversy.  Why? Because our Government isn’t breaking any laws.  Keeping secrets does not connote breaking laws.  It also does not mean our privacy is being violated.  Snowden is fanning the flames of his own misguided views of what constitutes privacy.  His motivations for doing so are far from clear.  However the sooner we straighten this out the better.  

But first, let’s examine the benefits of secrecy for a moment.  Here are a few secrets that were better left secret at the time...

One if by land, two if by sea...that went badly for the British...Paul Revere did not subject that bit of knowledge up for public debate...should it be two lanterns, or maybe three? Let's take a poll.

And speaking of the British, it was the Brits who ran project Ultra which broke  the German Enigma Code during WWII...that went badly for the Germans.  Winston Churchill didn’t hold a debate in Parliament over whether or not they should let their the populous know about Ultra.

Of course the Manhattan Project...which turned out badly for the Japanese...did not try to gain popular opinion by raising the debate over nuclear ethics on the front page of the Washington Post.  Due diligence was given the ethical question of first use, however.  The decision to drop the first atomic bomb was perhaps the weightiest decision a President has ever had to make...not done in the court of popular opinion...but considered deeply.

Ten year’s after we went nuclear, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg delivered plans for our atomic weapons to the Soviet Union...that went badly for the us and continues to do so today...ultimately that went badly for the both Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

The F-117 Stealth Fighter... that went badly for the Saddam Hussein.

The NSA program compromised by Ed Snowden...that was going badly for Al Qaeda...let’s hope it continues despite Snowden’s best efforts.

We have lost a large portion of our economy overseas.  Al’ Qaeda is one thing, but we still have a thriving information technology component.  One could argue our economic prosperity is perhaps more important to our National Security then combating terrorism.   We classify secrets to protect not just the military but also other areas of national interest that we would prefer to keep in house.  If we lose Google and Facebook to an overseas competitor as a result of these revelations and a subsequent loss of trust, right or wrong, we will suffer economic damage to our national security.  The more we lose trust in our government, the more our national security is damaged.  The more we let our adversaries know how we are battling against them, the more our national security is damaged. The two are inexorably linked to national security and secrecy will always be necessary. Snowden has damaged both.

Now the biggest problem with Snowden belief that he is trying open  up a national debate is to think that there isn't a debate going on.  He is dead wrong.  There is no need for a new national debate on intelligence and privacy.  The national debate on the what the Government can and cannot collect on it’s citizen’s has been going on for decades and continues every day of the year.  His entry into this debate, by his own hand, demonstrates both his extreme naivete and his extreme hubris.  Rand Paul recently had a similar bout with hubris and naivete when he started a similar debate as he filibustered in Congress over the potential use of unmanned aircraft against US citizens.  How a technology like an unmanned aircraft with a sensor is any different that a manned aircraft with a sensor is beyond me.  Our country worked out long ago it’s position on use of military hardware against the citizenry as we have our position on intelligence collection against our citizenry.  That fact that Snowden had access to networks and technology but not the governing regulations on how it was to be used primarily indicates that he didn’t care about the rules which he believed don’t apply to him.

Here’s a simple analogy that might help explain how misguided Snowden has been in his quest to compromise our national security. When you drive on our Nation’s roads you get to go the speed limit. If you break the speed limit the officer on the side of the road surveilling you with his radar gun is essentially secretly interrogating you to determine what you are up too...he is conducting a search to see if you are breaking the law. He does it in secret because if you knew he was checking your speed, you might slow down.  The same secrecy exists if he was hiding from view behind a billboard or driving in an unmarked car.  Is this secrecy fair?  Of course it’s fair.   These days that surveillance can be conducted automatically by cameras that essentially exist at every intersection. To drive on the road you also have to have your license plate displayed...not to mention county sticker and inspection sticker, etc.  You are telegraphing all of the information that your state Department of Motor Vehicles has on you, where you live, etc.  Your right to drive on our highways means you give up a certain amount of privacy to participate and you have to stay within the law.  If you pass a traffic camera speeding, a traffic ticket will be mailed to your house.  If you are driving a stolen car and your tag shows up on a traffic camera...expect to be stopped and searched and hopefully arrested.  You can’t drink and drive, you can’t text and drive, you can’t transport contraband.  You must wear a seat-belt, your kids have to be in child seats.  You don’t have an unalienable right to drive a car on our roads, it's a privilege.  Believe me, more than anything else, I bristle under the speed limits set in our country...however the laws exist for the greater good of society. Also, it’s a very public endeavor, not unlike going into a shopping mall.  Likewise, as we traverse the information superhighway...or place a call...you enter the public domain.  Your right to privacy is as guaranteed as is your right to open a window and scream obscenities...it’s not.  You’ve got very little right to privacy once you press send on your email or pick up your phone.  

All that being said our country does everything reasonable to assist in maintaining your privacy...even in these public domains...but there is no constitutional right to expect privacy in public places.  Just ask the paparazzi whose careers depend on this legal  “Invasion of privacy”.  What the Government cannot do is target a citizen for collection without cause.  If you’re driving 100 mph away from a bank that has just been robbed...that’s enough cause to stop you and search your vehicle.  I’m going to stop the analogy at this point and you can draw your own inferences from here...what country you might be calling, how many times you call, etc. It’s exactly the same thing.  The analogy, while not perfect, is sound.  There are many ways to expand this analogy to get to the heart of this matter...it’s not willy nilly.  It’s always under the watchful eye of a judge...have you ever been to traffic court?  That’s not to say, such a human endeavor can’t be misapplied or abused.  However, if there was widespread abuse, sooner or later there would be reform, at least in a democratic society.  Where are the 1000’s of people who have been wronged by the abuse of this system Snowden speaks about? If there was abuse and the wrongful use of this information it would be easy to spot.  There is no hue and cry because the abuses of this system don’t exist...there has been no abuse of power.  The system is working and by all accounts it’s been effective in the war on terror.  The Government is doing nothing wrong...when I explained this to my teenage daughter she added...the camera’s at the intersection looking for the citizens running the red lights are fine...just as long as the camera isn’t pointed at our house.  Bingo...if she can understand it...the rest of the Country ought to be able to understand it.  This is just the traffic example, but we should also consider the use of surveillance cameras at stores, gas stations, and other public locations.  No body is really sitting watch at those cameras, they are simply collecting data.  If a crime is committed, the first thing law enforcement does, is subpoena  the recordings from those cameras.  Snowden apparently doesn't watch any TV shows either, he must be trapped in what must be the torture of his own mind.

It’s takes incredible arrogance, of mega proportions,  to believe he can be the sole protector of our Constitutional rights.  The same rules Snowden used to justify his actions, opening up the information for public debate, should have been applied ahead of time.  If he believes there should be a public debate on privacy then there should also be a public debate on secrecy and specifically the release of classified intelligence to our adversaries.  He should have consulted all 314 million of us before he broke his allegiance with us.  Having not taken the time to do so doesn’t make him a hero.  It either makes him a complete idiot, whereas he could still claim to be an American, or he is guilty of treason...fleeing to another country however, suggests he is an un-American scum-bag, and like the Rosenbergs, a traitor.

Attack of the Drone

First, let’s stop calling them drones. A drone is lazy male honey bee with one purpose, to mate with the queen bee. A drone can’t even make honey. The term drone has been misapplied in the world of unmanned aviation for one reason. In the early days a drone was an unmanned target that simply buzzed monotonously through the air with no real purpose other than to be shot down. In addition, the term “drone-on” is a direct reference to the monotonous buzzing of a drone bee, which will statistically never have any real use. With 200 drones in any given hive the chance of any single drone mating with the queen bee is low...the rest drone monotonously around the hive without purpose. Remotely Piloted Vehicles, or RPAs as the United States Air Force calls them, are the furthest thing from monotonous flying objects with no real purpose. RPAs continue to prove their military worth overseas on a daily basis and, as with a significant about of technology that the military develops, will find its way into commercial, domestic, and other government use. 

Apparently, it’s the potential for “other government use” that sparked fear in the hearts of libertarians and caused Rand Paul to step before Congress, and ironically drone-on in a 12 hour filibuster. His concern seems to be that the government could use this new technology to spy on US citizens and then, if found wanting, to assassinate them. His grandstand use of the filibuster was either an act of supreme genius to gain publicity for himself or the single most stupid act ever perpetrated by a member of Congress. If it was a publicity stunt the issue dies immediately. All that’s left then is to figure out how much money to bill him for wasting the Country’s time for his own personal notoriety. If he really believes that somehow this unmanned technology is better than wiretaps and arrest warrants for neutralizing dissidents he’s been asleep for about 50 years which, coincidentally, is about same amount of time he’s been alive. But first, let’s dispense with the idea that the US Government would ever target dissidents in our country for assassination. If they were, RPAs wouldn't be their tool of choice. The very idea that a member of Congress would think this way is disturbing. Trying to find bastards with treason in their hearts and the over-throw of US Government in their mind, however, is exactly the job of our Government and they should use every legally sanctioned tool at their disposal to up-root these scumbags and bring them to justice. 

Now back to shaking Rand Paul awake. The first spy satellites the US launched were in the early 1960’s. Spy satellites are unmanned vehicles with big cameras and big ears that can and do, unlike unmanned aircraft today, orbit over the United States every hour of everyday. And have been doing so for more than 50 years. If you were not drawing your window shades over the past 50 years why should you consider drawing your window shades any time soon? Big Brother launched with the advent of the space age and with it the laws that govern what intelligence can be collected with these systems on US Citizens both at home and abroad. Nothing has changed with regard to the technology to spy on US citizens. And most of us agree that this technology has been, and must continue to be, kept in check. What’s fascinating to me is that if you can do it with a “drone” you could already do it with a satellite, or better yet, a light aircraft or helicopter. It’s almost as if Rand Paul doesn’t know about such things…I wonder if he knows about computers and computer hacking…and how unsafe he is on the internet? All that being said the best way to spy on Rand Paul might just be through his computer, if he has one, and if he knows how to turn it on…

Head for Higher Ground

I’m not an economist. I took the basics in college - Macro and Micro. More recently I’ve been reading up on complexity economics, where economic theory looks a lot more like evolutionary theory rather than the laws of supply and demand. In the last chapter of his book, “The Origin of Wealth”, Eric Beinhocker discusses the end the Democratic and Republican parties as the market forces that allow a two party system to remain viable in the complex economic landscape begin to evaporate. To me there is nothing natural about a two party system, it is entirely unnatural and it’s existence and persistence on the American landscape bodes a hidden corruption I would prefer not to contemplate. Why we, as American’s, have been so blinded to it’s pitfalls staggers the sensibilities of many an external observer.

It’s easy to understand how in a complex environment there can never be two sides to an argument...there are countless positions and depending on where you sit will determine your position in any given argument. The landscape continually changes. The unnatural alliances made within our two party system is a dead give-away that something stinks. The manifestations of these unnatural forces within our two party system are now coming home to roost. Our two-party system of government is forever grid-locked and our representatives will forever point fingers at one another rather than figure out how to evolve our government in order to grow and prosper. That’s harder to do. First, however decisions must be made.

Sadly, when compromise cannot be reached decisions are still made, but this is not government. It’s randomness, exactly why we chose to have a government in the first place, so we are not subject to the random forces of nature. Choosing not to decide is still a course of action, time doesn't stand still when a decision is not reached. March 1st has come and gone, time did not stand still. President Obama signed the order to cut $85 Billion out of the Federal budget, what we know to be Sequestration. The choice not to decide and instead lapse into Sequestration was stone cold f-nuts stupid. It also represents an exciting new way for the government to tax a subset of it’s citizens. Regardless how one may view a government furlough, the end result is an effective 10% increase in the tax imposed on the individual employee it affects over the year, but more like 20% over the next six months. For those of us who happen to be of the lucky 800,000 civilians employed by the Department of Defense, ladies and gentleman welcome to the 50% tax bracket! Of course for the next 6 months, welcome to the 60% tax bracket. Don’t these percentages seem huge? And yet we quibble about a small increase in the tax on the wealthy, or the closing of a tax loophole for those who make their living on capital gains vs working income. For 800,000 Americans there isn't even a choice. We've leapfrogged past any small incremental tax increase and joined, ironically, the Europeans. But I’m not writing this blog to argue about my misfortune of being one of these DoD civilian, it’s to describe the wrong headed nature of a government that refuses to make decisions.

I’ll be the first to argue that the DoD is prime for some cuts. So cut it. Gut it if you want to. Tell me I’m out of a job, then I’ll go get a new job. I’ve got responsibilities, bills to pay, a family to care for, and an economy to invest in. I want to go to Starbucks on the weekends. I want to go to BestBuy for a new iPhone. And I want to put money away for college. Tell me I’m in the new 60% tax bracket and my life changes dramatically. First, I pull completely out of the economy. Second, I stop saving. And third, I start looking for Republicans to vote out of office. 

We need a government that can make decisions, any decisions because we don't want to live in the wild.  This is how it works in the wild. Say we all live on an island... Survivor Island if you must. The water on the island is rising by some unseen force. There are three options. Two require a decision. The first option is to move to the snowy mountain on the left, it might be cold but at least you and your family will not drown. The second option is to move to the fiery volcanic mountain on the right. It may be hot, but again, the risk of death by drowning will be eliminated. A movement to either mountain requires a decision. The third choice is to remain standing still as the water wells up around  your ankles. Soon you will be forced to swim. Some will make it to shore and perhaps to either one of the mountains. If you survive you might find yourself lower down the mountain than those who made an independent decisions to move to higher ground before the water came. Now in nature, evolution works the same way. Some will move to either one of the mountains and survive. Some will stay in place and die. The ones who move to mountains early and adapt to the hot or cold environments might survive a little longer. But in nature it’s entirely a random process, some of each will go in all three directions--like seeds scattered on the wind. Exactly like seeds scattered on the wind. We have a government for making decisions. We know if we stay where the water rises we will die so we count on a government that will lead us to higher ground (or build a working levy to hold back the water). We don’t need a government that can’t make a decision. Otherwise we are seeds scattered on the wind and might just be better off fending for ourselves. Why have a Government at all?   Republicans would rather have less Government, that doesn't mean no government, but that is exactly what they have brought to us, the absolutely worst form of Government. For 800,000 DoD employees we have little or no decisions we can make, we must live with the water pouring in around our ankles. Some of us, certainly can quit and go elsewhere, most of us can’t quit. So we will endure and sacrifice while others will scramble for higher ground simply because compromise is not an option.

I’m not an economist, but in the new economy you don’t need to be. I’ll be heading for the higher ground soon.

2nd Amendment Debate

It's amazing how much has been written about a very simple sentence.  Clearly the trouble is too many people are reaching to push their passion for what they believe it should say into what it really says.

Congress passed this sentence:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Maybe this is 220 year old English...but it's really a stretch to believe anything other than this...It is important not to infringe on the people's right to keep arms at their homes because they can use those arms as weapons when it is necessary for a well regulated Militia to be formed to provide security to keep the state free. That doesn't say tyranny...it says security...security of a free state. If they understood tyranny so well...why didn't they say tyranny? Why did they use the word security?

Then in 2008 they separated the right of people to keep and bear arms from the Militia...that makes sense because the right of the people to keep and bear arms comes before the militia. That right isn't even given in this amendment...we just accept it as a right out of necessity. But it doesn't say it here... So to recap... The people have an inherent right to keep and bear arms. Then comes the 2nd amendment: That's a good idea and it shouldn't be infringed upon, because from time to time we need to raise a militia to secure the State...not the freedom of the state...the security of a free state.

I've gone back and reread some things.. I'm not sure where the over-throw of the government piece shows up. But it's not here....so I'll keep looking. Oh there is something in the US Code about the over-throw of the government...it's in the chapter on Treason I believe. I don't think our constitutional framers put the 2nd Amd in our Bill of Rights to encourage treason...ever. Our government was established to work...democracy or not...the checks and balances were completely spelled out. They didn't beat around the bush if they meant something. They didn't mean armed uprising against the government they were establishing. That's like a doomsday device...you simply don't put those in, or you certainly wouldn't leave a doomsday device up for interpretation. From time to time because we allowed you to keep your guns, you can rise up against the government to correct injustices you perceive to be perpetrated against you by said government. No way.

Back to the beginning....So the right to keep and bear arms is a natural right...stemming back into antiquity...and probably dates back to the deeper magic before the dawn of time. Simply put, the right to live requires that a person have the capacity to defend themselves...against wild animals, savages, etc. Plain and simple. Nobody is trying to pull that natural right away. It's a question of how much do you need, versus the risk of having this stuff hanging around a society that lives in close proximity to one another...hence gun free zones. Some places are just not conducive to shoot outs...

I get it that the framers were fearful of a bad government...but there is nothing in the 2nd Amd that supports it's use in that regard...It does trouble me that so many people believe this, or have leanings in that direction. No matter what Madison may have personally believed, he didn't spell it out. If he really believed deeply enough about it, he would have spelled it out. But in 1833 a Supreme Court Justice Story said this, "The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of the rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them."

So it is this thought, that should things in this country become too contrary to our beliefs, that we would thus rise up with arms against it, is so contrary to my personal beliefs as to be offensive. Where does it end and where does it begin? If you don't like your mayor, if you don't like your governor, if you don't like your congressman, if you don't like your president, if you don't like your God? Who decides when it's time to rebel? It's easy to rebel against an occupation...right, if you're invaded. But to rise up against ones own Country...I don't make preparations for that...nor do I keep my representatives in check with a gun. Having a gun is not a strong moral check on anything...a gun is used for one thing...and that is to compel fear in another over his life. How can it be anything but? You're going to shoot your representative in the leg? A gun is a threat. It is the tool of thugs if it is used in this context as intimidation. How is that moral? I know nothing about Joseph Story and his being the cornerstone of American jurisprudence...but I know there is something backwards in that thinking because US Law is not based on intimidation. So either his quote is taken out of context or he, like so many others, has a blind spot when it comes to his guns.

Acceptable Lethal Power

I was out eating dinner with friends the other night and the subject of gun control came up.  Clearly a necessary topic of conversation due to the recent shooting in Newtown Connecticut.  It wasn't too long into the discussion that it occurred to me I  was going to have to keep my mouth shut.  Of the four of us at the table I was the sole diner who was of a different opinion.  Immediately I knew that the topic of gun control had just joined the ranks of those topics off the casual dinner conversation list.  It’s no longer appropriate to discuss religion, politics, and now gun control if you want to enjoy your dinner and maintain friendships.  Some may also put abortion on this list however, the rights of an unborn fetus has always been a somewhat self-censoring topic and therefore rarely comes up in casual dinner conversation.

Until the Newtown shooting spree, I would have said gun control was one of the few politically charged topics that could be discussed at dinner.  But something has now changed.  Something permanent and something that will forever divide those who believe it takes a good man with a gun to stop a bad man with a gun and those who believe the right to keep and bear arms is only about hunting for your dinner.

With the taking of those 20 young innocent lives it has become personal.   Each of us now feel threatened and more vulnerable than ever as the attack came straight at our soft underbelly...our children.  Those of us who have a gun within reach will only feel safe if yet another gun is within reach.   Those of us who hate guns will only feel safe if that gun is pushed further away.  

Take the fear of crossing the street as an example.  A fear of crossing the street abates once the street is crossed.  It doesn't linger until the next street is approached.  However simple fear of tangible threats, such as a busy street, is being replaced by it’s big brother dread.  Dread is a constant nagging anxiety that  makes you never want to cross the street again, it’s just not safe, even at an intersection with a crossing guard. The fear of the unknown, the intangible, becomes manifest in all our actions.  After someone goes on a shooting spree  the sale of guns always increases.  That comes from dread not fear...since day to day there would be no tangible threat, like a busy street.  At precisely the same moment that dread sets in is exactly the wrong time to take a gun out of somebody's hand.  That is precisely the time when everyone is feeling most threatened and vulnerable.  The time to give up guns is after a long period of relative safety and security.  Yet, those without guns, also have to deal with dread.  However, their dread is harder to deal with because reaching for the comfort of a handgun is not a realistic option for them.  They feel powerless since they don’t see cold steel as a comfort since  they only see a gun a mechanism of yet more destruction.  They also have children in school and the last thing these people want is more guns placed closer to their soft underbelly...their options for action are limited since presumably the schools already lock their doors.  So they strike at the mechanism not the actor and arrive at the conclusion that guns kill people and more guns will kill more people.  Less guns therefore  is clearly the solution to the problem.

Yet, these same people (most of them anyway) would feel secure if they were told the local SWAT team was on duty guarding their house tonight.  In fact if we told them, that everyday at school this year the team from Flash Point, led by Enrio Colantoni himself, was going to protect the high school they would probably be OK with that, particularly if the Department of Homeland Security moved us to a higher Threat Level and there was credible evidence that a terrorist organization had targeted the city they live in.  However, if they were told day to day, a trained member of the Marine Corps (Charles Whitman) or coordinator of the neighborhood watch program (George Zimmerman) was going to guard the school, that might invoke a different reaction.

Yet we are at an impasse.  Clearly, something must change, to do nothing doesn't address anyone's dread.  And it is dread that must be addressed.  Winston Churchill was addressing dread when he said the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.  We cannot lock-up and do nothing.  If the dread causes paralysis we might as well unlock the doors to our schools, opening them to not only gunman but other disturbed predators and those who wish ill upon our kids...and there are far more of those in our society than deranged gunman.  The good news is that predators typically don’t have a death wish and locked doors with on scene security personnel do a good job keeping our kids safe, predators tend to look for less visible opportunities. 

Gunman, however, typically are looking to end their own life as well as the lives of their victims. And just like suicide bombers, all the military forces in the world can’t stop a terrorist bent on sacrificing himself.  One or two guns in school, even arming all the teachers, would haven’t have an effect if the gunman steps onto a school bus (Dirty Harry 1971).  Frederick the Great said, “if you try to defend everything you defend nothing”.  The only way to be sure is to have armed guards with armored cars pick our kids up from within our walled family compounds and deliver them to the fortress High School on the hill surround with moat and drawbridge.  And even then, when the defense becomes strong, the threat will come from inside as in 1927 when the school treasurer,  Andrew Kehoe, blew up his school with dynamite killing 38  most of which were children, the worst school massacre in US History.

To address dread, both sides must sit in one another’s shoes.  Those who feel safety holding a gun must recognize how uncomfortable that makes someone who chooses not to hold a gun.  And the one without the gun must recognize how calming carrying lethal power can be to the other person.  The truth is somewhere in between and the side that is unwilling to look at all the potential options is of the greatest danger in this dialogue.   Many high schools, for instance, already have an armed presence through arrangements with local police departments, etc.  Elementary schools are different and should be therefore considered differently.  It is possible to understand and quantify the threat to our schools, our businesses, our public meeting places.  The threat to our Homeland is being handled at the national level.  The threat to us in our homes we handle ourselves, and choose to keep and bear arms per our second amendment rights.

But just like the 1st amendment right to freedom of speech doesn't give everyone the right to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, if the 2nd amendment becomes a threat to everyone, it also must be addressed for the public good.  However as quickly as I mention the 2nd amendment those opposed to any additional gun laws, will just as quickly tune out.   Therefore question really shouldn't be addressed at the 2nd amendment...the question we need to ask is related to lethality, or the question of lethal power.  How much lethal power should anyone member of society be in possession of at any one time?  Anytime lethal power is in the hands of an individual it must be controlled.  A car is a lethal instrument.  You cannot drive a car until you are responsible, have been trained, and have a license.  If you are drive drunk, you have the power to kill, and we the people have the power to take your license and place you in jail.  That has also been extended to the responsible parties who provided the alcohol to begin with.  We are not permitted to keep quantities of lethal substances such as explosives, chemical agents, or biological materials.  Already, as we look to the future, the cyber domain poses the possibility of many lethal events to occur.  Hack into the traffic system and turn all traffic light’s green, for instance.  Or hank into the power grid and shut down a hospital or nuclear power plant.  Specific tools are available to enable such activity which are threats to us all of us.  These are threats that must be controlled in the future...not all malicious code  will be criminal to have in your possession....the Stuxnet virus on the other hand, should be.

  

It is worth restating the question.  How much lethal power should anyone member of society be in possession of at any one time? And it doesn't matter if the individual intents to use the power, or that power can fall into the wrong hands, the lethality remains the same.  Clearly we don’t let blind people drive cars.  We also have to find ways to keep these analogous handicaps from owning or gaining possession of great lethal power.    Lethality, therefore, is what we need to define as a society.  Without that definition, what is the acceptable limit? we can’t get started.  We will never be able to eliminate violence.  We can, however,  reduce it’s impact on our society and that is where we should begin the dialogue.

When the Mountain Mist Clears...

As the Lance Armstrong saga continues to unravel...the damning evidence presented by USADA, the stripping of his titles, his lifetime ban from sports, stepping down as chairman of his foundation, “LiveStrong”, with other allegations that are being reported, and now the sponsors who have supported him for years kicking him to the curb. Lance said at a “LiveStrong” fund raising gala last night, “I’ve been better, I’ve also been worse”. Among other things, Lance is a spectacular PR man. He is a natural promoter, leader, visionary, and will survive this seemingly limitless setback orchestrated by the USADA. It’s been called a witch hunt, I've called it a witch hunt, but as it turns out, there are actually some witches involved. And even though Lance is being burned at the stake, he will continue to be a part of the American fabric for decades to come. Why? The reasons are complex and go to the core of human motivation...and on these points Lance, in my book, is still a winner.

At the first brilliant point in his life, after he survived cancer and won his first Tour de France (TdF), he wrote the book, “It’s Not About the Bike”. Which is what we, along with the 80 million people who wear the distinctive yellow bracelets will continue to support. Why? Because it’s true. The profound good that this organization can do in our world stands clear, and, it is indeed not about the bike. Lance knows this...he wrote the book. However, shortly thereafter, having come back from the dead, Lance confused his own beliefs about his foundation and the meaning of his bike. Professional road racing, the extreme spectacle of a TdF win, the challenge of winning more, and of course the bike, took hold of him in a way that became an obsession. Why? Because while he can’t personally cure cancer, he can make money. To make the most money he must win the most bike races. If winning bike races is what it takes to cure cancer, the end’s must surely justify the means. As it turns out the bike takes front and center. Winning is the solution, the goal, the obsession. The bike is the mechanism for the win however the motivation for the win has fundamentally changed. That motivation obscures everything in it’s path until it’s it no longer about the bike. At least for him. For everyone else in professional cycling, the bike remains important.

Professional road racing is an exhibition. Sponsors, above all others, understand that exhibition is what sells product. The TdF is an extreme exhibition, hence extreme product endorsement. The participants who compete are not like regular humans. They are extreme specimens shaped with decades of preparation. All professional sports are exhibitions, without sponsors there are no exhibitions. Few events are as extreme as the TdF. It extracts an extreme toll physically, mentally, and even spiritually on the human body. Participates sacrifice, most, if not all of their lives riding a bike in pursuit of winning. And those of us who are spectators, pay to see it happen. We pay to see, in the great voice of Jim McKay, “the human drama of athletic competition” at it’s greatest and at it’s worse. Once a year, in France, during the month of July, all of these things come together in professional road racing. For exhibitions where one prepares a lifetime, the motivations are a varied as the participants who ride. In this story, the motivations of Lance Armstrong, outweigh most, if not all, of the other riders. If Lance want’s to use this spectacle as his platform to cure cancer, he must win at the TdF. Sponsors like a winner. They too, if they can back a winner, make a contribution to his foundation, and sell more product. Lance’s sponsors have a win-win-win situation on their hands. The riders on his team, if they can catch a “boost up the mountain” in his slipstream also, boost their careers. They have a win-win situation. And if there is one thing that is certainly true about the TdF, Lance knows he cannot do it alone. He must exploit the win-win to facilitate his sponsors win-win-win to promote his foundation.

But winning the TdF is not easy. It’s not even hard. It is extremely difficult. To win the TdF you have to have best five things money can buy. First, a large team from which to choose the strongest riders. Second, the best technology. Third and fourth, the best coaches along with the best tactics on the road. And finally, the very best physical training available. Coupled with the physical training comes nutrition and health, recovery and therapy, and psychology programs. No team will win the TdF without having all of these categories covered. In every category teams are constantly stretching the limits, within the rules, to top out in each area. Performance enhancing drugs fall into the category of physical training. As it turns out, and something that should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone even remotely acquainted with this sport, most of all the sponsors, including Nike, Anheuser-Busch, and Trek, that pay for their name in lights and on the podium, finding an advantage is the nature of business. Kicking the athlete when he is down must also be good for business. The teams that were winning were the teams that found a way to boost their physical performance without being caught by the rule book. Lance, as it turns out, rewrote this rule book and found a way to win...seven times. Performance enhancing drugs were necessary or another team, pick one, that was using them would win. He leveled the playing field. But no way Lance wins without the other things also in place and also at the very peak of their performance. The team, the equipment, the coaching, the tactics on the road are just as important. Just ask the other teams. The ones that were doping but failed in the other categories, and the teams that were not doping were not even in the top 10, maybe not in the top 20. And there are only 24 teams in the TdF. 

Yet let’s not forget about the the race itself. These super-humans don’t come from nothing. Give me an injection of EPO and I still don’t make it to the first turn in the road. These super-humans still have to have talent. They still have to ride, something still has to be accomplished. And in the case of the TdF, extreme tasks must still be completed. The riders, with all their preparation, still have to push back the pain and endure 21 stages. No matter how many drugs you have in your system, to say it’s a grueling race to the top of Alpe D’huez, to fight through the mist, dueling wheel to wheel with another rider, pushing your body to it’s limits, is as extreme an understatement as the 2,200 miles of racing is long. The fact that the race is physically punishing confuses every issue even more. The sacrifices made to train, to be apart of a great team, to give up you life to pursue a career in professional road racing, for the sake of being a professional road racer are real. These demands cannot be imagined. When someone offers you better equipment, an easier way to reach the top, particularly when it’s coming from the king of the sport, the option to say no is unavailable. 

Lance found a formula for his team to win. And maybe it’s a technicality, but it;s an important technicality. Lance Armstrong never failed a drug test and neither did most of his riders. The rules are established...you play by the rules but you seek every advantage possible within the guidelines as they are established. If you find a loophole you drive a truck through it. Companies, like the companies who sponsored Lance, have legions of lawyers looking for legal loophole, trying to gain a corporate advantage in an extreme marketplace. It is beyond hypocrisy to seek your own advantage, yet spurn those who do so also. Some may go beyond the law. When they get caught, hopefully they get prosecuted and go to jail. Their motivation...greed. Maybe, just maybe, in amateur sports, and in venues like the Olympics, where there is some ethereal belief that we are admiring the natural limits of the human body, this might not be true. But my observation is that Olympic athletes, even these “non-professionals, are far from natural. The Special Olympics, or Paralympics might be the better venues to admire natural limits of the human body, or better yet, the local high school competition or Little League. The line between cheats and those who play fair is extremely long, extremely crooked, and wafer thin. In politics the term is gerrymandering, redefining a congressional district to gain the advantage of demographics in a particular region. Do we call that cheating? Lance chose his path and took his team down that road. 

Society is no longer looking the other way, the norms society has deemed as the rules are no longer in Lance’s favor. So be it. Wanting to gain an advantage is human nature. Stretching the rules is human nature. If you lean too far forward and go beyond the bounds of the legal loophole and get caught, you should pay the fine imposed by society. An eye for an eye, etc. In this case, since everyone in the TdF was doping, in that society, good or bad, right or wrong, it was acceptable behavior as long as your drug test was clean. If you get a speeding ticket, you pay the fine. Does that mean you are going to stop cheating the posted speed limit of 55 mph? That depends on your motivation. If you are keeping up with traffic, perhaps you are OK. If you’re speeding alone because you are late for work and might lose your job (your riding career) as a result, the officer who pulls you over might have little compassion. However, if you are rushing a bleeding child to the hospital, perhaps the ends justify the means and the officer who pulled you over might overlook the infraction. The USADA, in this case Tavis Taggart, is officer who pulled Lance over. He doesn't see the bleeding child the back seat of Lance’s car. In fairness to Taggart he sees a bleeding child that is the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional athletics. Whichever side of the argument you might be on, finding a cure for cancer betters the human condition. Suppressing human nature from seeking a competitive advantage also suppresses the human condition because it is human nature. Lance beat cancer. He had the very best science and the financial wherewithal to seek the latest treatments. He cheated death as a result. Many others do not have the resources to cheat...so they lose their race. LiveStrong want’s to level that playing field. Lance’s desire to level the playing field at the TdF is no more or less troubling, at least not to me. As self-serving as it may sound, the only one speeding with a bleeding child in their car was Lance Armstrong. His foundation, his obsession, his desire to cure cancer became his bleeding child. He survived, he can win, he can live strong for others...it’s not about the bike but the necessity to win with the bike became his reality...to save all bleeding children.

Lance was paid to win. We all paid for him to win. We pay to see champions. We pay to see the human drama. We will continue to buy Nike shoes and drink Anheuser-Busch products. We will continue to push an army of Lance’s to the extreme. Extracting a penalty from the offenders we carried forward, that exceeds what can be established as a societal norm, is unfair. The USADA has a different agenda. Maybe they have cracked the “code of silence” surrounding the practice of doping. And that’s a good thing. If the TdF is completely clean, nobody has to speed, and maybe that’s better in the long run. But for Lance there are still bleeding children in his car. When the USADA witch hunt is over, the fog will roll back in, something else will take the place of drug doping that will stretch the rules and help teams gain an advantage over one another. The mountainous toll cancer will take on society will continue. On another day two riders will emerge out of the mist on some unknown high mountain pass. Lance Armstrong will be one of those two riders breaking and chasing back the wheels of death all the way to the top. I personally hope that Lance will find another way to level the playing field with a winning team behind him. You can bet death will be looking to cheat him at every opportunity. But as death is now riding against a great champion, times seven, don’t count Lance Armstrong out...to be continued...

Director's Cup 2012

As the summer of 2012 draws to a close and the first vestiges of fall begin to show in the brisk morning air--kids returning to school, traffic returning to Southern California levels--we should take time to reflect back on a season filled with major sporting events.  The summer kicked off in June with the Euro 2012 Championships preparing the very best European soccer teams for the World Cup on 2014.  In July, the Tour de France and Wimbledon officially announced the summer was in full swing.  In August, the Games of the 30th Olympiad opened in London England.  And finally, on September 20th, just a few days before the last day of Summer, A9 Sports Day kicked off its historic competition on the manicured lawns and trails of Bonair Park in Arlington Virginia, pitting active duty warrior and Washington bureaucrat in a high stakes athletic competition to hoist the coveted Director’s Cup and garner bragging rights at the water cooler for the coming year.  

The annual event actually started a few days prior at the Blue Ridge Arsenal, as small teams from each of the four Directorates (Big Red, Mellow Yellow, Black Eye, and Blue Bayou) assembled to display their sharp shooting talents.  Clinging to their guns, these four conservative groups competed on the Blue Ridge firing range shooting rifles and handguns as various targets and distances.  Rene M would claim active shooter honors as he completed the course at a blistering pace with high accuracy hits on each target.  His low score enabled him to carry his vision impaired, less accurate, and low-income-tax-paying-on-the-government-dole teammate to an early Big Red victory.

At 7:00 am, on a cool Thursday morning, amidst the rose bushes of Bonair Park, the competition planning committee began setting up for the day’s events. Blueberry cake donuts, assorted bagels, and gallons of black coffee were shipped in to greet the arriving athletes with a surge of sugar and caffeine.  Anger “I put 7,000 miles on my bike but have never watched the Tour de France” N arrived on his Fuji velo to supervise the early activities.  The volley ball nets were strung, cones were set-up to mark the boundaries for the field competitions, and the Frisbee golf course was walked off with the fresh patches of poison ivy duly noted.  Slowly the athletes would arrive to begin numerous attempts at stretching by swinging their legs back and forth, bending over at the waist, and letting out low pitch groans at various decibel levels and duration.

The first official event of the day would be the 5k fun run.  Fun because the planners wanted to attract a high number of participants and 5k because they didn’t want to lose anyone from the competition before the day’s events began.  The race would be run on the W&O trail that borders Bonair Park on the left and goes for 1.5 miles due west along I-66 with a return straight back into the blinding sun to the starting point for a total distance 3.1 miles.  Team Black Eye arrived in force, fielding ten participants and ringers.  Team Mellow Yellow fielded two with the Big Red showing with a single lone runner (see Southern California traffic above).  Team Blue Bayou was still in the bag.  And so it would begin, Team Black setting the pace, with SMSgt “I ran a marathon over the weekend” B taking the early lead.  Dodging bicycle commuters passing continuously on the left, B finished the course in a blistering 21:10.  Most of team Black and the two runners from Mellow Yellow would finish ahead of the sole Big Red runner.  And had it not been for an urgent, as they say in the Tour de France “natural break” at the halfway point, amidst the pesky commuters and school buses, the lone Big Red runner might have cut a minute or two off his pace.  He was forced to leave the course in order to find privacy in bush.  Honorable mention goes to Derek C  and Angie G who completed the 5k later in the morning.

Back at the pavilion the crowds of participants were growing.  Team members in cliques of blue, red, black, and yellow t-shirts began assembling to discuss strategy and drink coffee. At a few minutes before 9:00 am one of the event organizers picked up a bull-horn and welcomed everyone to this year’s A9 Sports Day.  After the obligatory speech from the leader of the Black Eye Team the day took flight.   

The first major events for the day included volley ball, Frisbee golf, and the soccer kick.  Lesser events such as darts and Jenga would take place in the pavilion.  Blue, Black, and Yellow team members stared up in awe as the Big Red giants, Dave “I’m tall but not so quick” Q and Glenn “The Dutch Giant” V, took their place at the volley ball net and looked down from the clouds at their competition.  Needless to say, with that kind of height advantage at the net, the Reds, easily took their first major field victory of the day.  

Over at the soccer kick, life wasn’t going so well for the Reds as Lucky Tucker laid down a withering barrage of smack and Dave H showed everyone he could effortlessly direct a soccer ball with his instep.  Fred S, a.k.a last year I dressed as Bastian Schweinsteiger, aggressively tried to convince the Team Yellow that it was the right decision to put him in this event.  For the Reds, Rhett, “Apollo is my Doberman” M, was forced to carry his blaze orange shoe wearing teammate to victory in the semifinal…but they advanced.  As the final began, Lucky continued his verbal barrage of his adversaries stopping only when taking his own kicks.  Hickman continued to accurately place kick after kick and score point after point, with Ray the Referee dutifully declaring successful hits against the backstop.  However, the Big Red slowly accumulated points in machine like manner.  At the final distance, orange shoes had given honor back to the blaze orange he wears (which happen to be the colors of the famous Netherlands Football Club) with a near perfect score.  As Lucky and Rhett shanked a sufficient number of shots for the teams to be dead even at the final kick and with the orange shoed competitor bending it like Beckham on every kick the pressure was squarely on Hickman’s back.  His final kick dropped low, “no points” Ray called.  Victory in soccer belonged to Team Red.

After the consolation heat to determine 3rd and 4th place in the soccer kick, Fred a.k.a. Schweinsteiger, feeling a surge of frustration for their loss, demonstrated the correct way clear a soccer ball by launching one hard from behind the 50 ft line.  Coffee and Duncan donuts…$5.  BBQ lunch at Famous Dave’s…$10.  The look of surprise on Charlotte L’s face after taking the line drive of Fred’s kick to her spine…priceless.  Fortunately there was no injury other than to Fred’s pride which would later be redeemed during Frisbee golf.  A special mention should go to Cyber-Girl “I never saw a soccer ball before I left Texas” H for stepping in to kick for Team Black Eye despite how Kevin A might now feel about having someone who never saw a soccer ball before she left Texas on his team.

After the Red victory in soccer and volleyball in the first period ended it was time to begin readying for flag football as the crowds divided and some migrated to the free throw-line to begin practice for the basketball toss.  As one approached the blacktop, Dave “I can dunk the basketball on this court” Q could be seen standing shoulders above the other players warming up.  Q, along with his teammate, Derek “I have long shorts and a sleeveless shirt” C seemed, at first glance, to be favorites in the completion.  Q has the ability to go 5 for 5 at the line.  Sadly, “Spacemen can’t jump” and just as Cyber-Girl Hayden grew-up in a soccer-ball free Texas, Derek played water polo while growing up in Southern California. The two sports are as different as sports can be. Tossing 2 for 15 in his first round, it was clear Q would be called on to go 15 for 15 each round if the Big Red was to stand a chance.  Although Q put up a fight the deficit was too large for the Big Red to advance to the finals.  Red would have to fight it out for third place in the consolation round.  As the teams changed positions and prepared for the final rounds, the swimming Ralph Lauren was offered advice to throw “granny style”.  Q demonstrated the proper technique.  The transformation was instant and Derek went 4 for 5 during the 3rd rotation to add to Q’s commanding lead and easily take 3rd place.  Every point counts in this furious competition so Big Red was happy to steal 3rd place.

Most of the players then migrated to the main field to watch the results of the flag football competition.  Due to injuries at past competitions, flag football had been banned from Sports Day.  However, assuming some risk, the Director approved the competition this year on a trial basis and everyone was admonished to “Be Safe” as this wasn’t, after all, Super Bowl Sunday.  Of course that advice was abandoned after the first kick.  The inner-self,  the American instinct, the Friday night lights, the marching band, the cheerleaders, the Vince Lombardi speeches, all conspire to cloud the judgment of even the most conscientious players.  When that pig skin arcs high in the blue sky turning slowly, end over end, time stands still.  As the ball drops into the outstretched hands of a running back suddenly all hell breaks loose.  Players are frantically scrambling forward to block the on-rushing team.  The grass field erupts in a cloud of dust as players cut back and forth committing body and soul into the melee to grab at the dangling flag being advanced forward.  It only took a few moments to comprehend that this was indeed Super Bowl Sunday.

Wanting to atone for the humiliation of throwing granny style in the basketball competition, Derek suited up to play flag football.  His impact on the field was immediately noticed as John “I played D8 ball in college” H took command as the QB for the Big Red and connected with C in the end zone.  This combination proved effective as John would fade back into the pocket, pump fake long, as Derek would come short and sprint inside across the center.  Meanwhile, Glenn and JED “It’s not a motorcycle baby it’s a chopper” D would block as Rich “Don’t call me Sulu” Sand Wade McG went deep down field.  In the end the Crimson Tide of the Big Red out powered each opponent to win a second major field competition.  Were the gods of fortunes finally smiling on Big Red?  Momentum was certainly in their favor. 

In the second round of Frisbee golf Smacko McM and Rebel Lewis would serve as course officials.  Lucky Tucker started talking smack early.  As Rebel and Smacko led the teams through the first several holes on the course, everybody learned two things.  First that those seemingly wasted hours of Frisbee practice in college weren’t for naught.  And second, that Tasha “I played softball in college” T, didn’t play Frisbee in college.  As the casual observer might judge based on Tasha’s Frisbee throwing abilities, just like there are no soccer balls in Texas and no basketball courts in California, there are certainly no Frisbees in Arizona.  Note in Derek’s case, since there are actually basketball courts in California, we are left to scratch our heads.

As the game progressed the field was separated into three groups; those whose college prowess at throwing the disc returned; those who never could throw the disc even though they played in college; and Lucky Tucker who could talk smack while simultaneously chucking the disc.  This round proved to be a relaxing way to spend the afternoon while Ultimate Frisbee would rage on the main field.  Toward the end of the round, hidden deep behind the award winning Bonair Park Rose Garden and a leafy outcropping of bushes standing atop a grassy knoll, Lucky Tucker would pause along a lush depression in the fairway to gaze down at a loop of color lying casually on the soft blades of grass.  He announced to the other players that here in this secluded area of the park a circus clown had been making balloon animals.  The others stepped forward to see what Lucky had found.  Snop Johnson, more experienced in the ways of the world, or perhaps more versed in quotations from the Blues Brother’s looked at the thin balloon exclaimed, “One prophylactic…slightly soiled”.  The golfer’s gave the heinous find a wide berth as they continued their march toward the next hole.  As they walked forward Lance “I won arm wrestling” J reminded everyone that although we may have the vision of a secret love between Romeo & Juliet in our minds DoD policy reminds us to equally consider a Romeo & Romeo version of the park rendezvous.

Over the course of the day speculation on which teams were winning could be heard ringing throughout the druid woods.  No one knew for sure as the competition officials guarded the results tightly to prevent the unfortunate shenanigans that occurred in sports days past.  Previously directors, equipped with the knowledge of their standings, pressured their teams to seek a competitive advantage.  Not unlike election officials “getting out the vote” directors could be seen personally selecting who would take the field and who would sit the bench.  Ringers were brought in, identification was not checked.  Lopsided competitions were the direct result.  Vicky “My little dog is cuter than your big dog” White might end up arm wrestling Lucky Tucker, for example.  Whereas lopsided, no one could ever be quite sure which way that particular line-up would end. 

Back at the pavilion the first and only snafu of the day occurred.  The Director, in person, came to collect water for the thirsty participants of Ultimate Frisbee.  To the shock and horror of those present in the pavilion the understanding was universal…A9 Sports Day had run out of water.  And in front of the Director…immediately grasping the gravity of the situation Stephanie “Magenta is the new Red” W jumped into her car and quickly returned with six more cases of water thereby saving the day and quite possibly the promotion opportunities for the Lieutenants on the organizing committee.

Lesser sports of the day included Jenga which was cancelled due to the inferior quality of the playing blocks, which upon inspection, turned out to be “Tumbling Tower” blocks manufactured to a much lower standard.   Instead of smooth wood surfaces that would glide over one another, the TT blocks were pitted and rough creating a safety hazard for the Jenga players.  Gone are the days when Thomas “Jenga Champion of the World” C, wearing a hernia belt and taking a wide stance, would relentlessly pursue each Jenga victory…perhaps safety wasn’t quite the concern back in the old days.

Yet other competitions included darts, poker, and of course the creative relay.  Competitor to the end, Scott “Snow” L, could be seen personally coaching his Mellow Yellow Team to victory as well as asking for Marie “SoH” L to stop holding hands with her inked beau and to compete, no less, in three consecutive heats of the creative relay.  Much later, Chris “the God of Sky & Thunder” Z, who also competed in the creative relay was discovered wandering through the ancient druid forest of Bonair still dizzy from his run in with the dizzy bat.

Lunch time was at hand, Famous Dave had delivered his Famous BBQ, but before the athletes could eat the final event had to be settled.  Tug of war is the traditional final event at sports day each year.  Tremendous planning goes into the selection of each side, Who will anchor? Who brought gloves or was still wearing cleats? and most important of all, Who has the most girth? It’s funny but when you are searching for members for the tug of war team there seems to be a statistically improbable sample size of participants who had broken their backs sometime in the past and thus had to turn down the opportunity to participate.  Needless to say, sufficient bravery won over and full teams stepped to the line including at least one participant who had cracked his spine while racing motorcycles.

Anger Newman, ever vigilant for safety violations, made sure the anchors were not anchoring the rope around their necks.  There would be plenty of time for hanging ones head after the competition so there was no need to hang anyone during the tug of war. Black and Blue stepped up to the rope, seven to the left and seven to the right.  The rules of the competition were read aloud.  Last minute spacing and organizing of athlete places around the rope occurred.  Finally, the official announced, “Pick-up the rope”.  As the rope drew taught so did the anxiety in the crowd.  The official called for slack on one side, then the other.  When the center flag hung straight down over the center line he dropped his arm and the pull was on.  The crowd erupted in cheers for both sides.  Black got the drop on Blue and advanced backward step by steady step.  Just when Black was about to pull Blue over the line, the Blue warriors held firm. Blue began working in unison chanting Pull, Pull, Pull at even intervals.  Slowly they turned the momentum around.  Back they walked with more organization… Pull – Pull – Pull – Pull and suddenly the Black Team was broken, they fell forward, dropped to their knees, and were drug across the center line.   Big Red and Mellow Yellow were up next.  Angie “I’ll be at Langley next year” G and Tina were selected to lead the coxswain chant for Big Red. When the officials gave the call to step to the rope the Dutch Giant instinctively took his place as anchor with the rest of the Big Red side spacing along the rope.  Team Yellow dug in.  When the official’s arm dropped the Pull—Pull—Pull—Pull of Tina and Angie rose upward from the park with twenty or more assembled Red members joining in.  Yellow fought valiantly but they never made a stand.  Red pulled them straight over the line.  Big Red would advance to the finals against Blue Bayou.  

After the consolation round, and after taking a chance to breathe, Red and Blue took to the rope for the final competition of the day.  More care was taken during the spacing with each player stomping the ground looking for vital traction from a tired turf field.  Once again the pull was on.  This time Blue got the drop.  Red was pulled forward a few steps.  The Red coxswain’s were trying to reestablish a rhythm for Big Red... Pull – Pull – Pull – Pull– Pull…the Blue advance was halted but not turned.  Slowly the direction switched and Red was gaining ground one step back at a time.  Pull – Pull – Pull they were now in perfect unity.  Yard after yard was gained but within inches of crossing center, Blue held firm and halted the movement.  Red reached deep.  Some questioned their remaining strength and knew they couldn’t hold out much longer.  If Blue had any strength left it was over.  Reaching deep, Red listened for the call of the coxswain…Pull – Pull – Pull and with one mighty final Pull, Blue was defeated.  Big Red had prevailed tabulating a number of major field victories and now adding tug of war to the list.

Back at the pavilion lunch was served.  Famous Dave’s BBQ was opened and everybody dug in.  Some expressed remorse at the absence of Red Hot & Blue and wondered if they were witness to yet a second sports day snafu.  The noise in the pavilion was deafening as the tired participants re-lived each event and awaited the announcement of the final results.  After everyone had eaten the Director was handed the bull-horn to thank everyone for their participation and to announce this year’s champion. If there was any remaining doubt all was erased as Big Red was confirmed Champion of A9 Sports Day for 2012, the first time in a decade that Balf’s Team would take home the elusive honor.  The only thing left to do would be to decide how the trophy would be shared between two office locations over the year to come.

There were a thousand stories at sports day, my apologies for not capturing the action associated with each and every one.  Also, I did my best to capture the stories as I remember; some stories were relayed to me second hand and have not been fact checked.  In a few cases I took liberties with the exact wording to add levity or drama as the case dictated. I would like to thank all the folks who put sports day together for it allowed us to have fun and build memories.