It was a fantastically hard-fought College Championship Game between two great teams. As expected, it would come down to a dramatic end-game drive and/or play. The Miami Hurricanes offense was driving toward what they envisioned to result in a game-winning touchdown. The Indiana Hoosiers defense was pumped up to keep their opponent out of the endzone and thereby secure the victory. The tension was thicker than a Snickers Bar. Something had to give.
And then it happened.
And that's how the "Undefeated" Indiana Hoosiers won the 2025-26 NCAA Football Championship.
I have tried Magical Realism novels in the past. Although they were written by renown authors, I just couldn't get into all the fantasy/magic/spirituality types of characters and descriptions written into these stories.
Until now.
This novel has made me laugh and smile as I have connected to these Mexican characters. I like how their connections to their land, language and community gives readers a feeling of fellowship with them. Also, their strength to survive whatever hardship life throws before them is heroic to say the least. They find humor in the most challenging of circumstances and show respect for those who are kind and fair. Although they own little of materialistic value, they live in a wealth of communal traditions and shared hope for the health and well-being of mostly all.
The story centers on a Rancho Patron (boss,owner,employer), a Young Girl abandoned by her mother, and an Old Healer-Midwife surrounded by peoples in need. Circumstances evolve, challenging each to become more than what they intended to be. Everything and everybody written about in this book comes to life as if being placed right before our reading eyes. And although the historical part of me is suspect of factual events, the mystical, spiritual me is all in on this wonderful narrative of a sometimes-misunderstood era and culture. It is all relevant to what makes up the magic of Mexican dreams and the tight-lipped stories secretly passed down through generations.
Personally, this was for Abuelita Serafina Ross and her herb garden. This was for Grandma Bugg's medicinal home remedies. This was for Fronie Powell the emancipated "southern missy girl". For Grandma Paylor the "northern midwife," and all the women healers who brought nurturing-comfort and wise-understanding to my ancestral path.
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"Look to the side."
"It is you. Every you, every possible you. Forever, you are surrounded by countless choices of which you are to be. These are your destinies."
Huila touched a globe. It rang softly like a chime. In it, Teresita sat on the train.
"This is your next second," Huila said.
Teresita turned and stared.
"All of them. Every moment of your life, every instant, looks like this. Do you see? You are always in a universe of choices. Any moment of your life can go in any direction you choose,'"
"How?"
"Learn to choose. "
"How?"
"Learn to see. This is your life, what it looks like to God. Every second of every day."
The misfortunes of war and preparations for war bear little relation to the reasons given to explain war: the real reasons are usually so insignificant that they are not even worth discussion, and they are completely unknown to those who die.
The madness of contemporary war is justified by dynastic interest, common nationalism, European equilibrium, or ambitions. If there are ambitions in people, this is a very strange way to sustain it, with all the crimes which happen to people during war: destruction of homes, plunder, and mass murder. - ANATOLE FRANCE
You ask me, is it necessary for civilized people to make war? And I tell you not only is it "already" unnecessary, but it was never necessary, and not sometimes but always it destroys the normal development of humanity, destroys justice, and stops progress. - GALSTON MOHK
Only during a period of war does it become obvious how millions of people can be manipulated. People, millions of people, are filled with pride while doing things which those same people actually consider stupid, evil, dangerous, painful, and criminal, and they strongly criticize these things - but continue doing them.
The reasons which governments give for wars are always screens, behind which lie completely different reasons and motives.
The Raiders had so much go wrong in this 3-14 throw away season that its a wonder their games were even televised. And they have nobody to blame but themselves. They looked abysmal and unwatchable most of the season. So bad that I spent Sundays doing chores around the home while the NFL Redzone played in the background.
However, in today’s final regular season game they got a two-for-one gift that going in I felt sure they would somehow fumble.
Vying for the #1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft thanks to their basement win/loss record, the Raiders were able to cement the pick while at the same time beating AFC West rival the Kansas City Chiefs 14-12. I would like to thank the New York Giants for beating the Cowboys and thus eliminating their own chances of landing the #1 pick.
The Raiders would have definitely been in their fanbase doghouse had New York lost and solidified themselves the #1 pick with a Raiders win. We need that pick more than them or any other team in the league. And if the team were to ask me or any Raiders fan in their right mind what player to choose with the coveted pick, Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza is without question a shoe in for the number one selection. Our Selection!
So while we Raiders fans sit through yet another post-season playoffs without Silver & Black representation, keep your heads up and hopes high Raider Nation. Because come springtime in Pittsburgh, PA., “A Change Gone Come” to the Raiders that can right the ship, even keel and begin setting course for successful, adventurous voyages once again.
He Growls as he storms the country,
A Villain big and bold.
And the trees all shake and quiver and quake,
As he robs them of their gold.
The autumn wind is a raider,
Pillaging just for fun.
He’ll knock you ‘round and upside down,
And laugh when he’s conquered and won.
And now with the Number One pick of the 2026 N.F.L. Draft the Oaklosvegas Raiders pick . . . Can’t Wait!!!
With quarterback Daniel Jones going down with a season-ending Achilles injury, the Indianapolis Colts have called up out of retirement a veteran whose age and time away from the game make for an unprecedented move.
Last night the San Antonio Spurs faced Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors for the second time on their court in the past three nights. And for the second time in the past three nights in San Antonio Steph Curry scored 40-plus points in leading the Warriors to an impressive victory.
The Golden State Warriors of 2025-26 are a team with plenty of bite and fight. They still seem to be gelling together and finding the on-court combination of players best suited to an opponent. And they can't seem to hold leads or blow out teams when leading by large margins. But the championship DNA of Steph Curry, Dramond Green, and coach Steve Kerr still runs deep in the veins of this Warriors squad.
Last night's scorching performance by Steph Curry was a reminder to the NBA of who the Warriors are and what opponents must prepare for when facing them. He's been "doing what he do" for seventeen years, and from the looks of last night's collage of Curry baskets, he ain't near done "doing what he do."
The young Will Richard, who started in place of an injured Jonathan Kuminga, is proving to be up to the challenge when on the floor with starters. He plays with a veteran awareness, can handle the ball, lets the game come to him and can score. He scored 30-points in his first career start on November 5, 2025. I like the kid and hope to see him given more minutes.
Last night's overall team performance in support of Steph's 49-points shows they have a cast of shooters and defenders who can battle with the best the NBA has to offer. And if you question just how durable Steph Curry's basketball skills are seventeen years in, just feast your eyes on the dish he served up to 7' 4" Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs last night in San Antonio, TX.
