A Small Lesson In Humility

IT HAPPENS!
Many of us occasionally get "to big for our britches" - some might say the word "occasionally" should be removed when referring to me, for example.

EGO
It's easy to let our egos get in the way of accomplishment.  That just seems to be one of the irrefutable laws of nature.  Sometimes the old "humility" dog bites you in the fanny to help deflate that ego.

UH-OH!
So, when a friend sent me the flyer he received from the Estancia High School Football Boosters earlier this week I couldn't help but think that Costa Mesa Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger just experienced one of those ego-deflating events in his life.

MR. FOOTBALL
You see, Mensinger fancies himself "Mr. Football" in Costa Mesa.  It seems almost impossible for him to hold forth on almost any subject without folding in a reference to Pop Warner or Estancia High School football.  Not that there's anything wrong with that - necessarily.  Heck, he's the president of the Estancia football boosters, for goodness sake!

HEAPED WITH PRAISE
We've seen parents, coaches and players line up at speaker's podiums to sing his praises over the past couple years.  Clearly, they all felt he had positively influenced their lives - at least, their football lives.  Good for him.

 A BIG "OOPS!"

So, when you view the image of that flyer, below, I suspect you may find just the smallest hint of a smile form on your lips as you observe that the good folks in the booster organization, in presenting Mensinger's message on the left edge of the piece, somehow managed to misspell his name - twice!  Yep, they left out the first "N" in the name at the top and also in the cursive "signature" at the bottom.

PSSSSSSSSSSS
Somewhere up in Mesa Verde, hard by the golf course, you can almost hear the air gushing out of an inflated ego... I'm sure he'll just take it with a smile...

The Weekend Starts Tonight!

UH-OH, BRUINS!
First, tonight the hapless UCLA Bruins, under the guidance of lame duck coach Rick Neuheisel, travel to Eugene, Oregon to play the vaunted Oregon Ducks in the first ever Pac-12 Championship game. If the Bruins' performance against USC last weekend is any indication - I think it is - the 50 points the Trojans scored on them will be nothing compared to the thrashing the Ducks will put on them tonight. The game starts at 5:00 and will be televised on Fox.

GO EAGLES!
Then, for a bit of local football, Costa Mesa's Estancia High School Eagles battle Beckman High School in the league semifinal game beginning at 7:00 p.m. at Jim Scott Stadium. This should be a terrific game - both teams are 10-2. Good luck to those Eagles.

"THE CRUCIBLE"
For those of you who prefer a different kind of entertainment, the Estancia Drama Department will present their version of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible", with the first performance tonight at 7:00 at the Barbara Van Holt Theater at Estancia High School. Performances will also be shown Saturday and also on December 9th and 10th.

KENT'S FINALE
Tomorrow, at noon, our friend, Kent Treptow, will wrap up his nearly 3500 mile solo trek from Maine to California when he puts his feet in the Pacific Ocean at the Huntington Beach side of the mouth of the Santa Ana River - the place where he learned to surf. I've provided a link to his blog for your reading pleasure. It's been quite a trip, to say the very least. Hopefully, more than a few of Kent's friends will be on-hand to greet him.

CHRISTMAS SPIRIT
The rest of the weekend is up to you... I suspect Christmas shopping will occupy most of your time. Have fun. I leave you, once again, with Stan Freberg's classic, GREEN CHRI$TMA$, to get you into the old spirit.

Easing Back Into It...

STILL DROWZY...
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you're like me, you are still suffering from the tryptophan stupor that gorging on too much turkey creates. You have my sympathy...



ALL FOOTBALL, ALL THE TIME
My solution was full-immersion football-watching for two, going on three, days straight. It might not help the stupor, but the football was great - especially the USC-UCLA debacle. It the same Bruin teams shows up in Eugene to play the Oregon Ducks in the much-touted inaugural Pac-12 Championship game, the quackers might explode the scoreboard! If that 50-0 Trojan drubbing of the hapless Bruins was, in fact, junior quarterback Matt Barkley's final game for USC, he sure went out on a high note! And, yes, he should be invited to New York for the Heisman ceremony... And, yes, Rick Neuheisel should begin packing up his office...

SPEAKING OF FOOTBALL...
And, congrats to the Estancia High School Eagles for winning their playoff game Friday. Lots of hard work and skill plus some pretty good coaching paid off for those young men.


HEADING FOR HOME...
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I invite you, once again, to visit the blog of my friend and former Daily Pilot photographer, Kent Treptow - http://kenttreptow.com/blog/ - which chronicles his amazing solo walk across the country - from Maine to southern California. If all goes well he should be dipping his toes in the Pacific Ocean sometime in the next few days. His adventure, which has covered the past 170 days, has been fascinating to follow. This photo, courtesy of his blog, shows him "on the road" not too far from home.

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS...
That's all for this one. It's a slow week at City Hall next week, but I'm sure there will be news to cover. Stay tuned.