Charlie Sheen and BYU: Who's Really Winning?

America is getting a bigger laugh from Charlie Sheen and his solo antics than from his ensemble performance on “Two and a Half Men.” Here’s a bulletin: If you are just now learning that Charlie Sheen is crazy, you must have been living on BYU’s campus for the last 10 years. I think Sheen having a meltdown in 2011 is just one of the seven signs of the apocalypse coming to fruition. We have had a good laugh and had the shit scared out of us seeing his interviews and now the run I think has died down for the most part with the exception being his twitter account where he can regail us with more of his insane logic. The thing that got me going on all of this was when during the morning news on Fox 5 DC, one of the anchors reported on Sheen’s antics by starting off with “Your Charlie Sheen update.” I stopped mid stride in dressing and stared the TV down like I was going to kill it. “A Charlie Sheen update?” Bitch, are you nuts??? I need the “news” stations to leave this celebrity reporting to E!, Entertainment Tonight and TMZ. You don’t see them reporting on Libya so stay in your fucking lane! It’s bad enough that I can’t get real journalism from our so called news outlets (You remember real journalism: Who, What, Where, When and Why) now they want to pontificate and sensationalize every issue. At this point, just let him alone and continue this slow and steady descent into madness. The next time the news outlets should even mention Charlie Sheen is when the find him naked, on top of a Hennessey soaked pile of cocaine, dead. And please, when this happens, feel free to interrupt my TV programming like we found Bin Laden to notify me of this fact. Would be better if you interrupted the Wendy Williams show to make this report. (How that manimal stays on the air I have no clue!)

This past Tuesday as we were all still buzzing from Charlie Sheen, the third ranked BYU Cougars kicked their leading rebounder Brandon Davies off the team for breaking the University's Honor Code. I think we can all agree on the concept of honor as a stand alone idea. If we cannot, I think you would be that person that would ask me for a ride to the bank when I am actually driving your getaway car. Where the divergence from this idea appears is when the word code is put behind honor. In essence, with most colleges and universities an honor code is the expectation that the institution has of you as a student as you attend. Most are simple, a student will not lie, cheat or steal. Some will add that you will not tolerate those who do and you are required to report honor code violations. BYU's code had these elements and more as their code lays down an expectation to live in a way that reflects the Mormon tradition. I don't know about you, but if I was a big time sports recruit, three things would be on my list as to what I would want in my college experience: (In this order)

1. Get my degree
2. Play hard, be a legend. Maybe get a pro contract.
3. I'm a black athlete. Girls will be throwing the panties at me like batting practice and i'm trying to knock it ALL out the park...

With that said, BYU wouldn't fit with my educational goals. But, maybe there was something that Davies saw in the university at the time that he liked. He did break one tenet of the code as he upheld another (he admitted that he had sex). You would think that would count for something right?! As much as I would hate to see him leave the team, BYU did do the right thing as all schools who must dole out punishment under the auspices of honor codes must. To do so instills the idea that at school and in life, you are expected to act in a certain way. It must have been hard for fans as now BYU's chances of getting a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament have dissolved and after Davies' dismissal, they got their asses handed to them by New Mexico. Principle over athletic success is the bottom line here, something that unfortunately isn't seen all that much is collegiate sports these days. There is a bigger message though, if it had come to light that BYU let this slide then the issue of the importance of adherence to a code of behavior would have become a divisive issue. In order to teach life lessons, whether we agree with the lesson or not we have to stick to principle. BYU's honor code is unique in some ways from other college honor codes but it is principled in it's own way and to not enforce it would be a hollow victory for all instead of keeping a team together to achieve a place in the pantheon of champions. Class dismissed....

The 80's called, they want their fashions back!

I have to remind myself that I work in close vicinity to a college campus in a college town. Depending on when I take lunch, I find myself in the between class rush of students. Now I am not a single man but that doesn't mean I can't look. Ahhh, youth and some of the young ladies...well this is a family blog! LOL!!! I hate to say this but the 80's are back!! I know, surprised? You shouldn't be, they say everything old is new again. I guess every generation brings back something that was way before their time but to see leggings, big sweaters, wayfarer sunglasses and popped collars on polo shirts ala Tom Cruise in Risky Business is a bit much. These youngins were just DNA when these fashions were out originally! Oh well, I just hope the 70's don't come back!

Life is happening...as if we needed a reminder!

I find the transition points of life to be the same in many respects in the lives of those around me. As I think back, I remember how High School was. You had your crew that you were tight with and all of the misadventures that you had. I take the term misadventure and draw it out a bit more to say I thank God I am still alive to tell some of those stories and to say...Dont be stupid! When I left HS, I kept up with my crew and other good friends while making a whole new gang of friends. Although I didnt live on campus, I had some great times and I think who I surrounded myself with made all of the difference. When I graduated, I started to see the changes in my friend connections. Around 22-24 we all went our own way, moving on to new jobs, adventures, marriages, family etc. That was very hard to deal with, knowing that folks you were mad cool with and were always there were just now there in spirit. What remained were memories and the places you went brought back the fun and the misadventures. Grad school brought a new set of cool peeps, but not the closeness that I was used to because grad school is so fleeting. You blink and it is over, time to move to your next challenge, achieve that next goal. At that time, I could see the changes in family as well as in friend ties. I lost a friend and a couple of family members in a short period of time while I saw those grad school ties severed as we all went our merry way. As these peaks and valleys come to us, we deal with them in our own way. At first, it was hard for me to say goodbye to my friends in my 20s, it is never any easier in my 30s but I realize over time that it is a part of "life is happening" and it is happening every day. Being here in the A.C., I have made some good ties but now as another cycle occurs, some of those ties are unraveling. Many go their way, others make changes to their lives. Sometimes I feel like in the midst of so much change, I am standing still. I know the plans I have for me and I have to yield to God's plan but I often have the weird feeling that life is passing me by in some respects. Maybe I am paranoid and maybe I should take the cue to go forward and kick ass like I have never kicked ass to get to where I need to be next not forgetting that I am where I am for a reason and until I accomplish what needs to be done at this level, the next cannot be fully realized.