John Sheda

Do you remember Nat King Cole’s song, “Ramblin’ Rose?” Well this column to day is nothing like that. It’s just plain ol’ rambling!! I begin with Super Bowl XLVIII. Who would have thought that Seattle would first of all win and second, absolutely trounce the Broncos. After all, Denver has the greatest quarterback of all time in Peyton Manning. Or at least one of the greatest. Prognosticators figured that Manning would eventually find a way to successfully pick apart the Seahawk defense. Alas, Peyton is as we all are–HUMAN!

But there is a bigger picture here. I love sports and I’ve always felt that sports, at any level, is the great equalizer in a world of haves/have not’s, rich & famous/ not so much and those who have all the advantages against others with hardly any advantages at all. The reason being that once the two teams step on the field of play, anything can happen at any time. This means that in a game, anyone can win. Life, in general, can often be summed up in the same way.

There are the haves, the have not’s, the advantaged, the disadvantaged, those born with the proverbial silver spoon and the rest of us born with a white plastic spoon and so on, But, every single one of us has the opportunity to overcome any and all obstacles and come out winners. It really is up to each one of us. When my kids were growing up, it really angered me when they would find fault with a teacher, a referee, the umpire, the coach or any other myriad of outside entities instead of taking personal responsibility for themselves and their successes or failures.

I umpired and refereed for a number of years, and I can honestly say that I never woke up in the morning thinking that when I would be officiating, I was really going to make bad calls against a certain team, coach or player. And I don’t believe any other referee thought this way either. We saw the play and to the best of our ability we made the call. Period! I believe the very same thing goes for teachers, coaches, bosses and anyone else in leadership roles. Are their bad apples? Of course, but they don’t last long in any field. However, the end result is up to you and you simply do you best, give credit where credit is due and stop whining, making excuses and crying about the bad bounces in life. Everyone has them! But every now and then, we also get a good bounce, too.

On a lighter note, my wonderful, gorgeous, super-nice, fantastic and great taste in men, Deb, celebrated her, ah, er, shhhhhhh….sixty-second birthday last week. I turned 62 last October and now that we are officially “Social Security” age, are we also officially “old?” Here’s how you can tell. “Your so old…

You remember 15 cent hamburgers at McD’s.

You remember cars that had the high beam switch on the floor.

Earrings were only for women and only went in the ears.

That you still wish it was Sonny AND Cher.

Your television only had three networks and was black and white.

You remember Dr. Max and Mombo and if you’re really old, you remember “Mr. J.”

You remember your school had a dress code.

Ahhhhhh, I remember them all!! Do you? Let me know what other things you remember at jsheda@indytel.com or call me at 319-327-4640. Love to hear from you and whoever’s been praying for snow can please stop!!