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 #28 - Puzzles

I realize autism is symbolized by a puzzles piece and I've noticed that some people have taken some offense to that, but this doesn't deal directly with that topic. This is a straight observation on puzzles and how they affect me and the twins. With the new age of electronic devices, it has changed to way we do pretty much everything! In this case I want to focus on puzzles because there are lots of computer game companies that are betting on us to buy their own special puzzle game, whether it is on the iPad, iTouch or smart phone. I will say that I do own an iTouch and yes, I do love it! Unfortunately, I can get sucked into several good puzzle games. So far the top ones I love to play are Chuzzle, Bejeweled, Tiki Totems and of course...Angry Birds. To be honest, I also will go 'old school' and play Solitaire, Mahjong, Sudoku and even Tetris because they still have a place in my heart. Sometimes the simpler games I would rather play because they are quick and easier ...

Piece #35 - Christmas!

I intentionally waited until December to write this particular blog. Unlike many stores who seem to think that Christmas starts in August , I actually was patience enough to write this within the month. Of course, if you ask the question 'What is your most favorite time of the year?’ some will say summer, but many would say Christmas . I wanted to write this early because Christmas is one of those holidays that are a full season, not just one day. I think this is the one time when I enjoy the days leading up to Christmas more than the actual day itself. It's amazing how things change so quickly, from the decorations, lights, trees and all the other Christmas displays that spring up faster that lightning! There is no other holiday that has this effect on our society as much as this one. With my Asperger’s, Christmas can be a little difficult because the traditions that I did as a child are not the same as an adult. Worse than that, my tradition is constantly changin...

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 ...

Pressing Puzzles

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