When you’re a boss Quarterback

The other day I was watching the Tampa Bay Bucs, quarterbacked by Tom Brady. He’s known as the GOAT because of his many Super Bowl rings and his overall domination as a QB. Side note, it’s also really cool that he seems to be such a family man. After the game in his post game interview on the field he said hey to his kids and something like, Dad loves you! I thought that was so humble and real. OK, OK, back to the point of this post. During the game he had great throws, as usual. But I saw something I’ve never seen a quarterback do. I’m not saying they don’t do it, I just can’t recall ever seeing it happen in a game. 

To set it up, QBs for have helmets with communication devices so they can hear coaches from the sidelines. It helps in loud environments. The playcall comes in to a little headset (I don’t know the exact specifics) and the QB then relays the call to the rest of the team in the huddle. Well, on one particular play Brady was just outside the huddle, looking over at the sidelines as he presumably heard what they were calling through his helmet. I believe it was a third down, but no matter what, it was in a time of the game where the upcoming play was very important. The Bucs needed a first down. All of the sudden Brady with some fire says, “No! No!” He was telling the playcaller on the sideline the called play was not what he wanted to run. He must’ve got a call he approved of because he joined the huddle and relayed the plan. 

Set. Hike. He received the snap, threw the ball to a receiver and they got the first down. 

I was SO impressed. It wasn’t about the play that was called, although it was successful. It was how Brady was a leader, demanding a play that he knew would work. When the first few calls came in, he rejected them. Of course, young quarterbacks probably wouldn’t risk this kind of behavior but it’s Brady we’re talking about. 

Have you ever noticed something like this in sports? Whether it’s football or any other competition, sometimes the player in the game knows better what will work and in Brady’s case, I’d say go with whatever he wants to do. After all, he’s the GOAT, ya know. 

-Out of the Wilderness

Is this radical idea enough to save America from its politics?

I think I have a solution to the tense political climate in the US. Only because my faith is small that everyone would give God a chance, which would be the ultimate solution, I have this idea that would surely calm things down. I don’t think it has ever been tried before, but at the rate we’re going, we may need a radical idea like this to save us from ourselves.

A presidential election is coming in 2024. Imagine not being so divided by political lines and because we all care about the future of the country (even politicians care, in this fantasy scenario), instead of just having a democrat ticket (pres and vice pres) and a republican ticket (same, pres and vice pres), there are 4 or 5 or more pairs of nominees representing both major parties and anyone else who wanted to run.

It would look like this, for instance. Running for president: A democrat. As his (or her) running mate for vice president: a republican. Or the other way around, pres is republican and vice pres is democrat. You could definitely throw in anyone else, whether they’re independent or whatever.

There might be some folks who protest this idea and I would be very interested in their reasoning, but this seems like a great idea to me. With more choices, we as the voters would have more quality candidates to choose from. That’s a win. 

Playing it forward, once whoever wins takes office, the president would almost be forced to work with a compromising spirit (which is what we all want, right?) because the vice president (who is from the other party) would be right there to speak on behalf of the party they represent. If I were a republican and there was a republican president, I wouldn’t mind a democrat vice president. And if Biden were president, I would sure as heck want a conservative as vice president. 

I know it’s not a perfect plan; there are sneaky people who would love to remove the president so the vice president could take over, but there would still be the requirement to have the new vp selected from the other party.

What do you think about this idea? What are some pros and cons on its possibility for success? 

Thanks for stopping by! 

-Out of the Wilderness

Does sleep position affect dreams?

I’m SO sure I’m the first person to ever say this… dreams can be so weird! I won’t get into specifics about the meaning of dreams because last time I checked I wasn’t a scientist or biologist or whatever those people are called who study these things.

My most recent dream was about a surprise attack in a little beachside town on the coast of the United States. I could verify the planes flying over were a foreign enemy using my amateur knowledge of airplanes gleaned from where my house in Nashville is located: right along the flight path of planes taking off and landing. I see all sorts of different aircraft, so that was interesting in the dream. Although the story is still very vivid in my mind, I rather talk about WHY I dream in certain ways, whether it’s positive, negative, or anywhere in between. 

I’ve discovered something about my sleeping patterns. When I sleep on my back facing up at the ceiling, I almost always have bad dreams. I am confident saying it’s a bad dream 99.9% of the time. However, if I sleep on my back with my head turned left or right, dreams are only bad most of the time… call it 60-70%. 

When I sleep on my belly or side, dreams are all over the spectrum, some good some bad. But I just think it’s so interesting that when I sleep on my back, it means I’ll be having nightmares. As they say in the south, I’m fixin’ to research this. Right now I don’t know if it’s something physical happening (I suspect it is, perhaps the way the brain is situated in my head in this particular sleeping position). 

How about you? Have you noticed any differences in your dreams based on your sleeping position? Totally unrelated self-promotion, check out this post on how I would guess a few celebrities sleep, based on their personalities. 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Kentucky Sunrise

From Nashville I drove up to Louisville recently, before the sun was even up! I will claim I’m not a morning person but years of having a real job has me in the habit of waking up early whether I want to or not. With that said, this particular morning was AMAZING. Not because it was dark when I got up. Not because waking up is fun. It was the sunrise. The early morning fog. The dew on the grass. I was able to pull off the interstate and snap a few photos somewhere in southern Kentucky. Hope these pictures put a smile on your face, reminding you and me of the beauty that is all around us from an awe-inspiring and creative God who’s art can’t quite be fathomed or matched. For more of my photography, check out my FineArtAmerica page here.

And now, here is the Kentucky sunrise…

-Out of the Wilderness

I used to be a hopeless romantic

I was listening to songs off my old iPod recently and I’ll say this first, there are so many great songs that I forgot about! Switching from the iPod to my phone (now using Spotify – click here for my best softball playlist), some songs I’ve just forgot about over the years. So hearing them again has been a fun blast from the past and a reminder of songs I need to find on Spotify. 

But then one came on that reminded me that I used to be a hopeless romantic. Here’s the song. 

Stars are falling, are we falling, too? Such a great song! LP became one of my favorites after hearing that one. She has a couple others that I like, too, but this one definitely transports me to a great place where love is paramount, the relationship that made you feel butterflies, like finding it is possible! I’ll admit I haven’t felt that in a while, which is OK, but at times I miss being a hopeless romantic. Now I’m just a cynical 42-year-old who yells at cars passing by to slow down. 

OK, I’m not that grumpy… yet. 🙂

Are there songs that transport you to another place like this one does for me? Please share in the comments below so I can check out so I can check them out, too! 

Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness