Puffs

I know I watch too much TV and a couple of things came to my attention this past week that helped support my feelings. They are:

No. 1: I was watching a morning show Saturday. It had news as usual, but towards the end of the show, it introduced a musical band and singer. This wasn’t the first time I noticed what was to come, but it finally got the point across to me.

The band was just a four piece band with two of the players singing as well. About half way through their song, I realized I could not understand most of the words of the song. The words were being drowned out by the musical instruments. I know I am ‘hard-of-hearing’ but this was ridiculous, the words just could not be heard.

Now, probably because I’m included in the “older” group of citizens these days, I got to thinking back about the music I remember throughout my life.

My early memory tells me we could almost always sing along with most any song because the words were clear and we could understand them. The music accompanied the words, not the other way around. I’m not sure just when this all started to change, but with Elvis and then the Beatles it started to change. It was some time after that when the music and ‘beat’ (rhythm) became more important than the words. It now seems the noise level and the ‘beat’ of the music is the most important thing.

“Good” or “Bad” . . . I’m not the one to say. I just know what I like and I like to hear the words to most songs, and then I can judge if I like the song.

No. 2: Over the years I have often encouraged you to find your “news” from more than one source. This came about slowly as more and more TV news became ‘politicized’ and so often a lot of people would sit and watch a certain TV news outlet over and over again, not receiving more than one point of view. I had even suggested that at times you just shut the TV off and do something else with your time.

This past weekend I finally heard another person (with some authority) suggest the same thing: “Shut off the TV.”

It seems that in too many cases, some people come up with anxiety, nervous disorders, loss of sleep, over what they watch on TV. I was glad to hear an ‘expert’ voice suggest the same thing I have suggested over the years. TV has many positive qualities, but it seems that as a culture, America has gone overboard with it.

I do try to control what I watch and how much I watch and I know everyone reacts differently to TV content. I’m just asking that you do what works best for you and I’d guess that controlling that TV remote switch is among the things that would be better for everyone.

A O

Football . . . What a strange subject to bring up this time of the year.

Just kidding.

However, it has been interesting so far.

The Cornhuskers ? ? ? What a strange year so far. The hopes and fears were at a fever high a month ago . . . before we played a game.

Bob Devaney, where are you when we need you . . .

I wish I was a fly on the wall to learn what has all transpired to result in the firing of a head coach so early in the season. I’ve heard several explanations so far and they all point to questionable behavior of the head coach.

I think most everyone really had high hopes for the man with him being a Nebraska native and a former Cornhusker himself. My hopes are for Mickey Joseph and the rest of the staff, that they can survive this year and build for the future.

The Raiders . . . . Half way through the regular season and L-N stands with a record of 4-1. That’s pretty good considering the Raiders won only four games during the past two seasons. The final four games are all “winnable” even with facing last year’s state champion, Kenesaw, who is currently undefeated this season. The boys played very, very well against Arapahoe and very well against Falls City Sacred Heart.

The ‘experts’ in football performance always talk about having an equal performance on offense between running and passing. Looking at the results of the Axtell game last week, the Raiders rushed for 293 yards and passed for 298 yards.

Can’t get much more equal than that.

The defense, however, is what surprised me the most this season. Except for the Sacred Heart game, the defense did an outstanding job.

Three games left in the regular season. Should be interesting and fun to watch.

Volleyball . . . . Cornhusker volleyball continues to be outstanding. What performances and what a record.

L-N Volleyball . . . . Considering the heavy loss of seniors from last year, the 2022 girls are doing well. Their record may not be as good as hoped for, but it is not nearly as bad as some expected this season.

Go Raiders . . . .

A O

And last for this week. “Kid’s say the darndest things.”

Read a bit in the “Our Wisconsin” magazine I came across the following story.

While driving her sons to school and day care a lady heard this exchange between her two sons, ages 3 and 8.

Younger son: “Momma, that house is white. Our house is . . . .”

“Brown” interjected the older brother.

Younger son: “When I get big, I want a white house.”

Older son: “Depends what your wife wants.”

A O