SWITZERLAND FORUM

[Emeritus]

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[cklaurence]

Oh sure, Em--run out on me now--quickly, before my blood starts dripping all over the page when I slit my wrists over another all "F" draft by the Fins. I've been so busy ranting and raving between Fin pics, I haven't even noticed how Indy and the Texans have been doing--I'm betting they're doing a damn sight better than my team...

[Emeritus]

You're taking it too seriously, ck. It's not like it's your health, or the welfare of your family. I know that it's painful to see a proud team in the dust, but keep reminding yourself that things like world peace are more important.

p.s. You might want to delete that .gif file, so it won't use up server space.

[cklaurence]

Nah, your gif files are just too cute to delete, Em. They make me smile, as you do. I don't delete keepers. Now, I don't know if Peace is around today, but he's the one that keeps count on space and stuff like that and deletes stuff that might cause problems down the line. In that case, it might disappear, but otherwise, it's there as long as Switzerland survives, and I shall continue to enjoy it.
If you only knew how much you sound like my husband when you give me advice on my nutziness over the Fins, you'd laugh your butt off. Almost word-for-word! "Claudia," he says, "I guess there will finally be world peace when the Dolphins again have a winning team." He has a million little goodies he throws out at me after game losses and bad drafts, trades or other horrors I've faced over the past 13 years. This draft has sealed our fate for the following year, though, for sure. Ross has got to go. His incompetence is beyond belief. Now I've begun worrying about whether whoever eventually buys the team will keep it here in Miami. That's been a growing fear of mine for years now, as there has been talk of Ross taking the team out west for a long time anyway. Along with what I've got going on with MYSTERY right now--if you're interested, let me know and I'll give you details--it's a damned good thing I've got a wonderful therapist because I just don't know where I'd be...

[cklaurence]

I keep trying to catch a review of the Fins' draft (I personally, as I might have mentioned ten or twelve times already think it sucked to the max). I'm just curious to see what the talking heads' think; however, they're all so busy giving kudos to NE and Philly, they never get around to talking about the Fins. A couple of times I caught brief comments with sour faces, but they moved on quickly to go back to praising BB, who everyone knows I worship and adore .
I have a bunch of stuff to do today, but will be back in the afternoon on and off. Most of the time later in the day will be trying to finish editing MYSTERY, so I can get it back to the publisher for a total reprint and re-issue. Long, sad story--I'm beside myself needless to say. It has caught on like wildfire and looking like it might really go places, save for the enormous number of errors, due to the fact that I never got the galleys or signed off on the release. Hopefully it will all be rectified quickly--just the angst in the mean time.
Love to all...

[Emeritus]

The review that I read this morning gave the Dolphins a C. Of course, that's just one sportswriter's opinion and since it's a Fox sportswriter I give it even less credit. We really won't know until we are way into the season, because there are always so many surprises. The Texans got a B-, so they aren't much better off. There is no way that we could have made up in the draft what we lost in free agency. Fortunately, the rest of our division didn't do any better.

[cklaurence]

My guess is a "C" is a generous grade. We haven't made better than a C in years, and as everyone has seen, the grades have been most generous. We are doomed. They chose foolishly, beginning with Tannehill. There were so many excellent QBs available at number 8, Em--even in the last rounds there were QBs I would have taken over him. Another year of misery facing me and the rest of the cadre of worn and worried Fin Fans. Alas.

[Emeritus]

I think that Tannehill was picked as a future. The only knock on him is that his playing experience is limited. I saw him play at Texas A&M and he has a cannon! He can make any throw, he just needs experience.

[cklaurence]

I heard he can't close a game. If they fall behind--it's over. No come-from-behind wins with him. No fantastic finishes. I really like a guy that can give a team hope when it's down on its luck...

[Emeritus]

Those are the great ones, ck. They could inspire such confidence that they lifted their whole teams. Roger Staubach could do it even without great ability. He just had a knack for finding a way to win. Marino could do it with his arm, Elway with his physical presence and Joe Montana, well, Joe made a career of it. Sadly, those come along about once every ten years, so the chances of drafting one are small.

[cklaurence]

So true, Em. Yet there are some, like Tannehill, with flashing lights and warnings screaming out "I CAN'T DO IT!" that should be noted, and left for later rounds in the draft. As PAO would have said, "I'm just sayin'..." There were so many choices available at #8--in so many positions, including QB, that might have helped us. Instead, we are facing yet another year as the laughingstock of the NFL. It grows so tiresome...

[Emeritus]

LOL, PAO would have concluded with with, "God help us all." I miss Scott, who doesn't much post anywhere any more.

[cklaurence]

I miss him too, Em. Every once in awhile I see him post on some of the old Swiss family members' facebook pages. He's even popped up on mine on rare occasions. He's one of the really good guys. He had such a rough time after he lost that job--so many of the old Swiss family fell on hard times. If i have a magic button, you can bet I would have pushed it a long time ago to make sure all those guys ans and gals who posted here that lost jobs found work immediately at higher pay with better 'packages AND ironclad contracts!!

[Emeritus]

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[cklaurence]

Happy Friday to you, Em--and to all the Swiss Family, wherever they are!

[Emeritus]

Weekends just aren't the same without football. I watch everything from middle school football to the pros, so during the season I have all of the entertainment that I need. The local high school team is expected to make another strong run at the state AAAAA title this year. I'm worried about the Texans, who have suffered major losses to free agency. If we have the injuries that we had last year, we won't return to the playoffs. Blow the whistle and kick off. I'm ready for some football!

[Baglady]

G' Morning CK, Em, anyone else~

In case you missed it, here's USA Today's take on each NFL team's draft:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football ... 54629536/1

I liked the Colts (and NYG) picks but the Colts have a long way to go. All O picks in the draft but added some D help in picking up undrafted players after the draft. Encouraging report on Luck in the Colts 1st mini camp practice yesterday.

CK, comments by Dolphins fans I've heard expect Tannehill to sit this season behind Moore and Garrard but agree w/ the article, still need WR help...

Em, yes, you lost a lot in FA but even w/ M Williams out last season, your D was outstanding and I was impressed w/ Yates filling in for Schaub. TX's still the team to beat in the AFC South.

[cklaurence]

G'Morning Bags and Em. Good to see you this Saturday a.m. I too am anxious for the season to begin. I desperately need the diversion (diversion? Heck! it's my entire lifestyle--who am I kidding?!). Until it comes back I'm buried in the editing of my book, as you all know, which as awful a mess as it is, at least keeps me so busy that time is moving forward so I'm not just sitting around thinking about the months ahead until the games begin.
Ms. B--I thought I saw something about you Twittering on facebook. On my website I've gotten into Twitter and about six or eight other social media things that I know nothing about. My cousin, who is handling my p.r. has taken over all of that for me, since I have no time at all for anything but getting the book in order for re-release. The great news is that the book seems to have caught on and is going well; the tough news is they'll have to replace books for everyone who wishes because of all the errors in the original release. The important thing is that it will be rectified (quickly). I'm working on the corrections every spare minute I have.
Is everyone looking forward to "Dallas" on June 13th? Peter and I were Dallas junkies back in the day, so we're so excited to see what they've done with it--hoping it isn't just a cheap series using the name to recruit an audience...

[Emeritus]

It's 5:40 am here and I'm at my computer. I seem to get up earlier and earlier. Since I don't go to bed especially early, it really isn't what I want to do. Since I'm up though, I had might as well take advantage of it. I expect another hot day, so this will be a good time to get things done. It's very near the end of the semester and the kids that I'm helping are working hard. I think that they make graduate school harder than is really necessary. There's an attitude of "I've got mine, so everybody who wants to be where I am should work for it." I think that learning the material should be enough. That's my rant for the day.

[cklaurence]

Hey Em. Are you following this stuff in Minnesota? They're threatening to take the team and go to Cally (I think that's what I heard), if they don't get a new stadium. I'm telling you, the greed in football just gets uglier and uglier. It's just never enough. It's the age of more, more, more.
I finally got the editing finished for MYSTERY. Now it will be totally reformatted and the copy will be corrected in print and the ebooks and it will then be re-released. My eyes are dead! You ready to give me an address to send you a copy, Em? I keep trying...

[Emeritus]

Bud Adams took the Oilers out of town after Houston had met his demands to make major changes to the Astrodome. The owners talk about loyalty all the time, but it's a one-way street for them.

[cklaurence]

They are a selfish bunch, no doubting that. I'm torn between worrying that Ross will take the Dolphins away (there's always been talk he'll take them to California--DUH--what with his love for movie stars, etc.), and that he will keep them here AND stay as the owner. You know how much I love my Fins, but dammit, I want this man gone. He's been with the team four or five years now and shows absolutely no adaptation to the learning curve as an owner, and in fact, if anything he's getting worse. Just doesn't seem possible that an owner can be this friggin' stupid!

[Emeritus]

People who have become rich - no matter how they have done it - think that it is because they are smarter than the rest of us. There's an old Army saying that when they pin a general's stars on an officer, his ears fall off. He no longer has to listen to anybody. It is the same with rich. They consider wealth an indication of superior intelligence. I happen to have known a number of rich people and my impression was different. What they all had in common wasn't high intelligence, but an obsession with money. Because Ross is rich, he doesn't think that he has to listen to anybody - not the fans, or the professional managers that he has hired, or the coaches. That's why he has a yes man for a GM. I fear that the only way that thing will improve things will be for the Dolphins to lose a lot of money. The danger is that Ross will fault the fans for that and move the team. I wish that I could be more encouraging, ck, but that's the way that I see it.

[cklaurence]

The Dolphins have lost a goodly amount of money, of this I am quite sure. In all my years as a season ticket holder, I've never seen the stadium so empty. The past three years, the decline has been clear and ugly. Except for games against our division rivals (and even those games have been far, far below normal), the stadium has been about half empty. THAT makes a statement, because even the half that's there is not necessarily heavily Dolphin fans. The cheers are most always louder for the opponents.
Ross is from Miami, so it makes his stubbornness and lack of interest in wanting to run the team properly even more of an enigma. You'd think that someone could get to him and explain something--ANYthing to him that might stick to get him on the right track to help before there's just no way to save the Dolphins. So if he takes them somewhere else, what then? He'll still be the owner, and still be a total asshole. The failure to thrive will continue and the team will eventually fall into oblivion anyway. I wish he would just sell it--it's the only way out...

[cklaurence]

Just dropping by on this quiet weekend to wish any mom's that may be *hoovering a happy Mother's Day, and to all the other Swiss Family Members a peaceful couple of days, wherever you are and whatever you're doing. Em, I'm guessing you've got stuff going on, which we'll hear about when you get back. Hope it's all good. I've been tied to the computer, just finishing something that's going out under a pen name and then I've got to get down to business on the sequel TO MYSTERY finally. I've been monkeying with that damned sequel since 2008. I've dead-lined myself for 2013, by no later than March. MYSTERY has been doing so well with the unedited, unpublicized version, I can only hope when it is re-released properly with publicity, it will take off even better, so the sequel will have an audience waiting. Time will tell...

[cklaurence]

Okay, now I begin to worry. Em, are you out there? It's been 5 days since your last post, which might be some kind of a record for you. I'm going over to facebook to message you and will send you an email as well. Anyone else I wouldn't think twice, but you are not one to take time away from here without giving us any kind of word about it. If I see you've been active on facebook, then I won't bother to message you, but if it turns out you're quiet there as well, I'm going to send out a search party...

[Emeritus]

I'm sorry, ck. I thought that you would be busy with family over the Mother's Day weekend and I didn't want to intrude. I hope that everything was perfect for you. I'm trying to get the kids that I'm helping ready for their orals. It takes up a lot of time, but it keeps me out of trouble.

[cklaurence]

OMG! I just spent the past fifteen minutes leaving messages for you all over the Internet world, Em. Forgive me--but when either you or I or missing, well, it's hard to miss here.

[Emeritus]

LOL, no harm done, ck. I took early retirement in September of 2007, but I still feel the pace pick up as Finals near. I enjoy working with graduate students, because they are so earnest. I just wish that some of them had a better grounding in basics, because sometimes they have nothing to work with. How can somebody complete high school and get a college degree without being able to tell a sentence from a sentence fragment? Somebody along the way failed them. Are you sure that we are progressing as a society?

[cklaurence]

You never heard me say this was a progressive society, Em--and certainly not when it comes to education--and MOST CERTAINLY NOT since I taught school!!! You know I taught high school and middle school for five years, retiring just around the time you did. Sad to say, but that was a real education for me. I learned all about the "Every Child Left Behind Act," and the Dumbing Down of America. They don't teach the eight parts of speech. They don't teach cursive writing. They don't teach the difference between a sentence and a fragment. What do they teach? You don't want to know! In Florida, we had the triple whammy, President George W AND little brother Governor Jeb Bush--who had brother Neil Bush (formerly of bringing down the S&Ls in the '80s) handling the educational testing system and getting rich, richer, richest. Neil brought the FCAT to our fair State, which has the dubious recognition of bringing Florida down to 52nd of 52 States as far as Educational Level Ranking. Oh, just get me started...