Arthur Fuller
artful at rogers.com
Mon Jul 18 21:47:53 CDT 2005
I have been accused of Anti-Americanism more than once on this channel, and objected to same... but that is all water under the bridge. Consider the man called Lance. No matter what your ethnic-religious-political persuasion... this is a MAN! (Even if you are a female, that does not matter. Lance is a MAN for all of us to admire forever!) It is not steroids, nor politics, nor being white, nor anything else. Lance is something special, like Gretzky, like Schwarzenegger, like Fischer, like Mozart.... This kind of thing cannot be explained but only enjoyed! Lance a Lot! A man that makes me, at least, feel profoundly inadequate. I bicycle daily but fageddaboudit, I could not dream of coming close. He is on some other planet of skill, courage, talent, and desire ... Like Roger in tennis or Tiger in golf or Wayne in hockey or Wolfgang in music... What explains this? I have no idea. All I know is that I love talent. Three years ago I bet a close friend that Roger would be regarded as the best tennis player of all time. I think I won that bet. Tiger just won his 10th major, catching up with Jack...and he still has about 30+ years to go. Looking at Lance, there is no one who would even take the bet. Maestro Reyes in 9-ball... Who would doubt that he is the greatest 9-ball player who ever lived... Ask Corey Duel or Earl the Pearl Strickland or Alex Pagulayan who is the best. They will all answer Reyes! There is no question about this. From time to time, Reyes may lose a match or even a tournament, but that is not the issue. Reyes goes beyond talent. So do Tiger, Wayne, Bobby and others in their respective disciplines. I wish I lived on their planet. All I can do is admire from the bleachers, try my best when playing and realize that I am not even on the same planet -- and recognize greatness when I see it. I have an eye for greatness. Four years ago I predicted Justine and Roger and Corey and Alex. I can see them coming. I wish that I could play them, but that is not the case. What I can do well is spot the newcomers. I have an eye for greatness. I would have preferred to be great, but that is not what happened. I will settle for recognition of greatness. There are worse fates. I wish I could play to their level but sadly all I can do is see them coming. Alex Pagulayan will win the world championship within two years. Trust me. This will occur in a beautiful handing-off of the crown, when Reyes acknowledges that Pagulayan won fair and square. There will be no humiliation, just the transfer of the crown. I will pay you a dollar if I am wrong. Since I have ventured such arrogance, why stop now? The principal problem with 9-ball is the fluke-on-break rule. I propose a radical change in the rules, guaranteed to piss off the television broadcasters but f**k them. My new rules for 9-ball: Anything that falls off the break does not count unless you called it (i.e. 3-ball in the lower left corner (7-o'clock position); Four balls must hit a rail or a ball sinks, else ball in hand; In short, make the game like snooker. F**k the TV sponsors. You call a ball off the break and if it goes in, you keep shooting. If not, or if any other ball goes in, it is my shot. This would cause breaks like those in snooker, which in my opinion would elevate the game MILES. Of course that is just my opinion, and I recognize that others would prefer that this not become a game of skill. -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Kathryn Bassett Sent: July 18, 2005 7:11 PM To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues' Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Dearly Departed Databases (R.I.P.) LOL - my husband might object. Actually, I'm one of the "old" ones on the list. Just had my 57th birthday, and Dave had his 60th in May. -- Kathryn Rhinehart Bassett (Pasadena CA) "Genealogy is my bag" "GH is my soap" kathryn at bassett.net http://bassett.net > -----Original Message----- > From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of > Arthur Fuller > Sent: 18 Jul 2005 3:41 pm > To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues' > Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] Dearly Departed Databases (R.I.P.) > > Oh Kathryn, I had no idea you were as old as I. Do you want > to have an affair? LOL! > > Arthur the Ancient _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com