Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 12-19-19 E-edition

Thursday, December 19, 2019 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION Give something back to
community for Christmas
Football, last minute losses and Drew Brees
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey.”
— John Ruskin (1819-1900), (attributed)
With the on-going inanity of the partisan, House Democrat-led arti- cles of impeachment being brought against the president on the flimsiest basis ever recorded, one would as- sume that the easiest subject to write about this week would be that great injustice. Having opted to ignore that low-hanging fruit, I hope everyone is satisfied with a few heartfelt thoughts about the Christmas season.
Fred Hall
Ok, can we talk football?
With high schools moving on to winter sports and the ubiquitous calm before the bowl games, the NFL gets a lot of attention this time of year.
If you’re a Raiders’, 49ers’ or, like myself, a Bears’ fan, you may just be getting over the bitter taste of defeat. But this defeat tastes a little dif- ferent. It has one common ingredient. Each game was determined by do-or-die plays at the end of regulation, leav- ing players and fans for the aforementioned teams feeling a bit deflated.
For the Raiders, it was es- pecially painful. Playing in their final game at the Oak- land Coliseum, the soon to be Las Vegas Raiders had a com- fortable 16 to 6 lead, late in the game. It would have been the perfect last game if the Raiders could ‘Just Win’.
Butitwasnottobe.In the final minute of the game, the visiting Jacksonville Jag- uars shocked the stadium with a go-ahead touchdown. And though the Raiders had a chance at what might have been remembered as the Coli- seum Miracle, both of Derek Carr’s final hail Mary passes were knocked away.
The fans reportedly grew enraged, throwing garbage onto the field and booing Carr as he attempted to thank the fans in the Black Hole.
Not the way you’d like to close out an era. But nothing is perfect.
My Bears took on the Green Bay Packers on Sun- day morning, in a game many expected the Packers to win. This game also came down to the final play. Similar to the Raiders, the Bears also found themselves about 40 yards away from stealing a victory.
The Bears, however, chose a different route and tried lat- eraling their way to the end zone. Three laterals into the final play and the ball was up
to the five-yard line. But the Bears ended up one lateral away from what would have been quite a dramatic ending to the 200th meeting between the two teams.
And in a game true to the notion ‘a game of inches’, the 49ers ended regulation of their home game against At- lanta thinking they escaped a last minute rally by the Fal- cons. But a review of the final play showed that the Falcons’ wide receiver broke the plain of the end zone, giving the 49ers a rare after-regulation loss by official review.
The loss for the 49ers came a week after they were on the other end, stealing a game from NFC top contend- er the New Orleans Saints. It’s not often that a team steals a game back after Drew Brees orchestrates a late-game winning drive. But that was exactly what happened last week.
Brees is so good that he may have been too good against the 49ers, using only half of the final two minutes for the go-ahead score. As it turns out, the 49ers are really that good, having proved ma- ny skeptics wrong this year with what appears to be a re- markable turnaround season.
The Saints’ loss takes noth- ing away from Drew Brees. In my opinion, he is the best pound-for-pound quarterback in the league and one of the best to ever play the position. He proved that on Monday night when he broke Peyton Manning’s all-time touchdown pass record of 539.
Brees did it like only he could. He completed 29 of 30 passes, also an NFL record for completion percentage (96.7 percent), and threw four touchdowns to give him the NFL record of 541.
And he’s not done.
I’ve always respected the way Drew Brees plays the game. Not only is he consid- ered the most accurate pass-
er in the game,
he also plays
with integrity.
He plays with
a passion for
the game. He
plays like ev-
ery field is his Rick Curiel playground.
He’s not the biggest quar- terback, either. At only 6-feet- tall, Brees has shown young players over the past two de- cades that size does not limit your abilities at the position (Just ask Russell Wilson, Pat- rick Mahomes or Tyler Mur- ray).
But, much more than his athletic attributes, some of the biggest reasons so many people have the greatest re- spect for Brees are all the things he is off the field. Those can be best summa- rized in two things he said last year, after breaking the re- cord for most career passing yards (also previously held by Manning).
After completing the pass (a touchdown pass) that broke the record, Brees, who was mic’ed for the game, em- braced one of his linemen. His first words after breaking the prestigious NFL record was, “I love you, man.” And it wasn’t to the man who caught the ball, but rather the man who allowed him to throw it.
Later, while celebrating with teammates and fam- ily along the Saints sideline, Brees got down on one knee to hug his two young sons. Af- ter telling them he loved them both he shared with them, ‘you can accomplish anything in this world that you’re will- ing to work for.”
Drew Brees, just one of the many reasons why I love this game.
Rick Curiel is editor for The Times' Sanger office.
The predicate for this week's pontification lies with the fact that Christmas Day is less than one week away. Putting oneself inside the minds of children, it seems as if this very special holiday will never come; while with adults the time gets away even more quickly year- to-year so Christmas races up on us as if it were unex- pected every year.
One doesn't have to be a behavioral specialist to notice the change in advertising, merchandising and the gifts being promoted. Gone from promotion are sports equip- ment, cars, trucks and other toys for children that involve creative play. Gone are dolls,easy-bake ovens, board games and so many of the items we associated with our own childhood and those of our children. Little boys can absolutely forget about cap guns and anything aggressive that always seem to make little boys who they are.
Christmas catalogs which became such a staple of the season from major retailers are a remnant of the distant past. We don't have time to go downtown or the shopping mall to engage others in the spirit of the holiday. Just check out an online picture of something from Amazon and click on the icon to get it done. It's just another form of thumbing one's nose at the local retailer who has hung in all year on a marginal basis, hoping to salvage a small profit during November and December. The spirit of giving is in the air, why not give something back to your local community?
Because of a minor medical procedure, I spent much of the past weekend in front of a television set and was struck by the constant barrage of commercials for cell phones that all are $1,000 and more, or you could buy a new $40,000 to $50,000 car. No doubt that the economy is better, but that's the kind of pressure to deliver that leads to so much of the depression which accompanies the merriment during December.
The original Christmas story is one of love and giv- ing, not pressuring families to spend more than they can afford to meet elevated expectations. It is the story of our creator who so loved the world as to send down his only son to walk among his creation with a message of love and giving. That never was designed to include $1,000 telephones and electronics but rather support and kindness. We can do both, but the kindness and love are certainly more important than the fancy telephone. Never ever lose sight of that!
Personally, I have always felt that mankind is a so- cial creature and has begun to display symptoms of behavior associated with the loss of that social interac- tion. Loneliness can be devastating but can be so easily solved. Some of our loneliness is self-imposed with our electronic gadgets, but symptoms associated with age and illness are easily solvable.
With an aging population, the number of people in group housing is on the rise. It costs absolutely nothing to visit one of these homes and, better yet, take a platter of Christmas cookies to share with the residents. Don't forget hospitals, shut-ins, and those who live alone. Spend quality time with your own family. You may just find yourself having the greatest Christmas ever while show- ering and sharing blessings with others in the community.
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
We'll go back to the political ghetto next week with its smarmy characters!
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