Piece #94 - A Piece of Sports History

As you may know, I am a bit of a history buff and two things happened in sports very recently that hasn't been seen for a few decades and others a full century. I'm not too crazy on horse racing, but I couldn't help to be captivated by the three major horse races that happen every year since they started back in 1875: The Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. If a horse can win all three races then they accomplish a rare feat of winning the Triple Crown. Since I do have Asperger's, number and odd facts are things I can really get into because of the logic that is involved. The last winner was a horse named 'Affirmed' back in 1978. There have only been 12 horses that have ever won all three races and that twelfth horse was American Pharoah. I realize that I misspelled "Pharoah" because when the name for the horse was turned in, the name was misspelled and it stuck.

In 1978, I was only about nine-years-old when the last horse won all three races. To me, this was a rare sight to behold; there are just those very few events that anyone gets the chance to see live. I know there have been other records that have stood the test of time well before I was born. Baseball, for example, is another sport that has been around as long as professional horse racing. I got to witness Cal Ripken break a record that never seemed like one that could be broken. Cal played in more baseball games, consecutively, than any other player. Cal broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 games played in a row without missing one game...ever. {I will not address the Home Run record because there is too much controversy over those statistics.} This year, we had a young man by the name of Patrick Venditte of the Oakland Athletics who could pitch a ball with BOTH of his hands...yep, a switch-handed pitcher! The last person to do this was Greg A. Harris and he was able to do this back in 1995. Before Greg Harris, the only other person to pull the feat was Tony Mullane of the Detroit Wolverines in 1881! So seeing a switch-handed pitcher is a rare event.

I realize that some of this stuff really isn't that interesting, but you have to admit that when certain things happen that hasn't been seen for decades, then I think its a pretty big deal. Having the Asperger's, I really love facts and interesting things that we usually don't think about. I have a pull calendar from the History Channel that tells me certain events that happened on each day. I can guarantee that the Triple Crown race winner this year will be in future pages of their calendar. I guess to me, this is one of those 'getting to witness history' sort of thing. In 1985, I got the very rare chance to be at game 7 of the World Series when the Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals for their first championship. So when special things like this happen, I can't help but to stop and watch to see if history is made. Think about the Olympics or the World Cup; those two sporting events only happen once every four years! Wouldn't you think those events are special? Historical?

{Well, I guess I can add the Golden State Warriors of the NBA winning the championship...the last time they won was 40 years ago!!!}

Song of Inspiration [Check it out on iTunes or Android!]:

Song: "Home Run"

Artist: Geoff Moore and The Distance

Album: Home Run!

Here’s the video lyrics to the selected song:

Here is your Triple Crown winner...American Pharoah!

Piece #111 - First Impressions

"You already know that making a good first impression can go a long way. But forget all the advice you've received about dressing to impress or putting on a cheesy smile. Turns out, the true secret to building a lasting connection reaches much deeper than what you wear." "According to Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School professor who has researched first impressions for more than 15 years, everyone (consciously or subconsciously) asks two questions when they meeting someone new: Can I trust this person? And can I respect this person?" This quote comes from Reader's Digest and I actually found this rather compelling because I never really heard of this before. I've addressed this topic of first impressions in the past but, I have to admit that this idea is interesting. I guess since you hear a lot of things from a smile, the outfit or what you say make the difference; however these two questions have me a little perplexed. I think it depends on the ...

Piece #1 - The Beginning

I guess like embarking on any puzzle, it must always starts with the first piece. So to begin, I have Asperger's Syndrome, in other words I'm Autistic, and so this literature will be about my struggles with this disorder as an adult. I was first diagnosed back in the summer of 2004. If it wasn't for my twin daughters, I might not have ever known all the questions I have ever had in life; to them, I will always be in their debt. Growing up, you are never really aware of any differences until the judgment years...6th thru 12th grade of school. A time when one always tests their own humanity against others; meaning, how will I measure up against other students. In my eyes I seemed to be just like them; two arms and legs, ten fingers and toes, head and body...nothing unusual. Yet, for some reason, I was treated a little different than everyone else. That's one of those things that you can't quite put your finger on, but I observed on many occasions how kids would talk...

Broken Piece #2 - Susan Boyle

For those of you who are not sure who is Susan Boyle, she was the second place winner to the show "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009. She sang the famous song from Les Misérables "I Dreamed the Dream". Since the show, Susan had been making guest appearances on a variety of shows and recorded several albums. Susan's first album alone broke several chart-records and was very well received around the world. I believe why she had such incredible appeal was because she was a perfect representative of all the 'regular people' in the world. She didn't come in flashy or striking but, modest and humble. When a person like Susan is thrown into the whirlwind of concerts, parties, media, and money, it's very difficult to stay grounded and not having your own personal world torn apart. Sadly for Susan Boyle, her tiny universe is crumbling. First, she did have a health scare when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes that prompted her to lose weight. Se...

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