54.1 percent of Americans want to see Team USA Basketball (men's) lose, according to an ESPN Page 2 Daily Quickie poll. Okay, so maybe some of that 54.1 percent isn't American, but the idea that a large number of Americans aren't happy with the men's team is sound. I was one of them; yes, I was one of them.

I was once asked by a friend if I was watching the Olympics. I told him no. He said that the basketball team was on. I told him that was the reason I wasn't watching it. "When I see that group of men trying to play together, I get angry and find myself cheering AGAINST them. I didn't want to do that."

I was torn.

By no means am I a basketball fan. I can't stand the game. So, even if I liked Team USA, I wouldn't be watching them. Normally, I would check the scores from time to time, like I do for my school (yeah, I cheer on the Gator basketball teams, but I won't watch them). Normally, I would hope Team USA would win gold, I just wouldn't care to watch them, because it's basketball.

You see, my beef with them was exactly what I told my friend: a "group of men trying to play together." The NBA All-stars we sent to Athens had no sense of team. They are a group of stars, each a good player in their own right and the "go to guy" on their respective clubs. Put them together and you got a bunch of inflated egos together. This can lead to internal conflict, internal chaos (in a broad sense), and a holier-than-thou attitude as a whole.

Okay, so there wasn't any internal conflict, from what I could tell. There was, however, that chaos, as they couldn't play together; each thought they were the go to guy (again, my estimation, as I don't watch, but the inability to play as reported led me to believe this).

Oh, and don't get me started on the "holier-than-thou" attitude. Team USA basketball has no sense of Team. All of the other athletes are housed together in less-than-luxurious accomdations, but not Team USA basketball. These millionaires get to spend their times at the Olympiad aboard the luxurious Queen Elizabeth II, because they're better than all the other athletes (yet they don't seem to be proving it on the court).

Then came the game against Spain. In addition, came some stuff after the game.

Now the entire us-against-the-world cliché is about to come out, so sorry ahead of time, but it's apt. Everyone wants the United States to fail, and Team USA has turned that into motivation.

"We've been together awhile, and we've been through some difficult times," [coach Larry] Brown said. "The adversity we've had getting blown out by Italy and Germany, playing so poorly against Puerto Rico, giving the game away against Lithuania, has made us much closer."

The Americans played hard against Spain, not only diving for loose balls but throwing elbows and hip checks and bending Spain's will as far as it would go. And the refs noticed it, calling 27 fouls against the Americans to only 18 against Spain. But the United States will take that. "We have a sense of pride," [Carlos] Boozer said. "We're on the biggest stage in the world. We want to win."

Finally, they have a sense of team to them. I don't think I can question their pride...at least not for the name they wore on the front of their jersey, and certainly of each individual for the name on the back of their jersey. Before the Spain game, though, I did question their pride in each other as a team. I questioned their cohesiveness as a group. Now, I say "good for them" for turning all this angst against them into motivation. I hope they can pull off a "mini miracle" and win the gold.

In my own, won't-care-to-watch-but-I'll-check-the-score kind of way, I'll be cheering for them, now. I'll be cheering for my team...for my country!

Bush is smearing him, he claims. Bush's campaign is involved with the Swift Boat Veterans' 527 group, he claims. He's full of himself; but then, we know that already given as he is trying to flaunt those purple hearts, which he allegedly didn't earn in an honorable manner.

Now, there are cries from Kerry supporters for Bush to condemn the Swift Vets. He shouldn't have to. Mark my words, any lack of condemnation from the Bush camp will be used as "evidence" by the Kerry camp that he and the Vets collaboarted (along with the other straws they have been grabbing). In fact, as I recall, the Bush camp actually put forth an idea to eliminate all 527 ads (either altogether or within a certain time from the election...I cannot remember which), but that would mean eliminating the anti-Bush ads, and Kerry couldn't have that.

So, the Kerry camp continues with their baseless accusations that the Bush camp has broken the law by collaborating with a 527 group. The Kerry camp continues to cry foul, saying the Bush camp is smearing Kerry. Well, strike one, Kerry camp, legal experts are saying the shared comrades between the Bush camp and the Swift Vets is perfect legal. Strike two, Kerry camp, the only smearing I am hearing is from you! Really...every "I'm George W. Bush, and I approve this ad" ad I've seen heralds the leadership quality, decisiveness, and morals of Bush, as well as all of the good things he has done (like the Afghanistan and Iraq at the Olympics ad...nice one).

You know...this is a microcosm of what is going on here in South Dakota. We have a pretty heated race between John Thune and Tom Daschle. Tom is levelling accusations of attack ads against John Thune. There are attack ads against Daschle, but they are not approved by John Thune. Such lies and deception from the Demoncratic Party; it really pisses me off.

Well, I hope strike 3 comes on election day (for both Kerry and Daschle). Strike 3, and they're out; Kerry would not be in (hence, out of) the White House, and Daschle will be voted out from his Senate office. This will be a better world without either of those jerks serving this country.

In a world (actually, at a time) when a huge focus is on trying not to offend anyone or even anything, everything from history to colloquialisms to things that are inescapable truths are under attack. Often, the truth hurts, political correctness says avoid any mention of that to make you feel better. As if that's going to make it go away; years of educational cartoons and sit-coms in the 80s have taught us that ignoring something will not make it go away.

This time, video games that make use of actual facts are the target.

More worrying from The New York Times, this time about the dangerous stereotyping of minorities in American video games.

The main offender is the latest version of Grand Theft Auto, which is said to be set on the streets of gangland Los Angeles and to be infused with all sorts of insidious racial stereotypes that can damage the minds of young players.

The Times is also shocked that sports games include African-American players. NBA Ballers, for example, features stars of the National Basketball Association ("most of them black") in one-on-one matches and "encourages players to experience a millionaire lifestyle off the court -- accumulating virtual cash that can buy mansions, Cadillac Escalades, yachts and attractive ‘friends.’ The style of play emphasizes a street-edged aggression, sizzling with swagger and showboating moves on the court."

The paper tracked down one Joe Morgan, a telecom executive in New York, who called the games "nothing more than pixilated minstrel shows" that are "dangerously reinforcing stereotypes."

First of all, I have to say, "THEY'RE VIDEO GAMES, PEOPLE!" I would hope that all, if not most, people can distinguish between the virtual world and the real world. While these games to make use of real world situations, they take place in a world that ends with the push of a button or the loss of electricity.

And that's the thing. These games do make use of real world situations. If you went to Los Angeles and looked for the gangs, you will find black and latino gangs only. If you went to the LA jails, you would find mostly black and latino residents. I don't like that any more than anyone else, but I'm not going to ignore it.

Oh, and something else about that first game...it's a game about stealing cars! So the NYT is worried about the stereotypes damaging youth more than stealing cars? What a whacky world we live in.

When I read the first line about NBA Ballers, I nearly cried tears of laughter. "Oh no, there are black athletes in these sports video games!" Well, duh! Almost all of the NBA is black. A good majority of the NFL is black. Half, if not more, of the MLB is black. Hey, there are even a few black hockey players! What? How dare they be represented in sports games?

Oh, perhaps the shock is over the atmosphere of the game NBA Ballers. Well, besides Ballers being a more comic version of the NBA (as NFL Street is of the NFL), there is a bit of truth to it, too. Okay, so Ballers glamourizes some of the "darker side" of the NBA, but take a look around. What kind of car does Shaquille O'Neal drive? An Escalade (or something like it) that has been "tricked out"; and he's not the only wealthy NBA (or any sport) star to do so (or something like it). Oh, and they don't live in mansions (dripping with sarcasm), how can they live in all the mansions they own? And as for the attractive "friends"...don't these guys date and marry stars and models? And the "relationships" involved in the Laker franchise are storied.

All stereotypes have some foundation in truth. Sure, that truth is charicatured, but under all the layers, that truth is still there. In many cases, I can concede, the stereotype is meant to ridicule or degrade, but that does not dismiss the fact that there is a bit of truth to the stereotype (usually).

Sermon over...

Well, this past week my family was up visiting from Florida. We had a great time, visited many places, and overall enjoyed the company. Then, it ended, and a familiar feeling returned.

It was nice to host my family as they visited South Dakota for the first time. Aside from all the wonderful things they brought, bought, and did for us while they were here, it was simply great to see them and be with them again after such a long time.

Oh, and did they ever bring, buy, and do stuff for us. We arrived home from the airport (and events in the city) loaded with chocolate. We now have so much candy in the house, it will last us over two years (for sure). We also came home with a receipt for a dishwasher. Yes, we have a dishwasher! We have been looking to get one for a long time, now. Surprise, mom and dad bought one for us! We're are still, today, in a state of shock. Oh yeah, what they did for us...there were two nights when we ate home-cooked food; both times, mom cooked German foods (yummy).

While they were here, we headed west. We visited the badlands, Deadwood, a cave, and Mt. Rushmore. It was good to get away for awhile; better since we were doing it was family. I've taken some pictures, and some of them will be posted one of these days.

Now, they're gone. They left yesterday. After dropping them off at the airport, we took care of some things around the city before heading home. When we got home, I had this eerie feeling. Besides the fact that we were both tired, not wanting to do anything, to me, it felt like I had just been dropped off at college for the first time. It felt like that because we had all this stuff all around that needed to be put up, yet we were in no mood to do it...it was like when I had been moved into my dorm room...I had all the stuff I wanted there, but did not feel like putting it in its proper place when I was first there.

Now, we miss them again. It was fun to have them here, and we look forward to seeing them again, perhaps at the Baptism of our first child. Now, it's time to try to get back into our normal routine.

John Kerry has sold his soul to the devil. He is an unrepentant sinner bound for hell. I say this not because I do not like him, but because I am concerned for him. He is lost in his sin and refuses to admit it is a sin and refuses a desire to change his life by the aid of the Holy Spirit.

In his saturday radio address, Sen John Kerry pledged to lift the restrictions on research if he becomes president and says the government should not "sacrifice science for ideology." His words on Monday, in Arizona, are even more frightening. "It is entirely within the ethical bounds to do embryonic stem cell research without violating one's beliefs at all about what life is or where it is and what matters," he said.

Here is a man who wears the label Roman Catholic (not very well, mind you, but then there are few who do) speaking on how it is "within the ethical bounds to do embryonic stem cell research without violating one's beliefs at all about what life is" when the church whose label he wears clearly states that life begins at conception and should be honored as life.

Hello! Mr. Kerry, these ethics violate your own beliefs about life...at least, the beliefs you associate yourself with with.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

Isaiah 5:20-21

You have wearied the LORD with your words. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of justice?"

Malachi 2:17

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

3 John 1:11

And you wonder why you are refused Holy Communion.

I guess you could say I was inspired by comedian Bill Engvall. Anyway, I've created a new journal in which I showcase photographs we've taken (and maybe that I find) of funny or stupid signs. I've labeled it after Bill's famous slogan: "Here's Your Sign." Check it out below (click the link to it in the "About" section).

If voted into the presidency, John Kerry would be the military commander-in-chief. He would be the "last man standing," as it were, in the chain of command in the military. I can't say I have any confidence in a man who is ashamed of his military career serving as the commander-in-chief.

But some may point out that Kerry actually uses his "stellar" performance in Vietnam as a positive influence on his campaign. To that, I point out two things.

First is the fact that he can't get his story straight. He threw away his medals or ribbons or both or he threw away someone else's or he just pretended to throw his away (yeah, real proud military man there). And if he's so proud of his time in the military (as he claims) why is he now claiming that and not when he sat in front of whatever committee he testified to and lied about all the horrors and abuses he witnessed his compatriots committing.

Second would have to be what his compatriots are saying about him. Check out Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. There are movies there of ads they are running as a campaign against his election (not officially supported by President Bush).