A continuation of last year’s letter to Virginia Dear Virginia, You may be wondering if there really is an Obama Claus. You have been promised so much but think you haven’t seen any of it. Silly, Virginia. You should know better. I know you were hoping that “Obama would pay your gas and mortgage.”  But [...]

Much attention has been given to Dave Ramsey’s method for reducing debt.  The gist is that you pay off the smallest debts first, then use this money toward the smallest remaining debt, until a snowball effect takes place, zooming you out of debt in no time.  This is a simplified version, but I’ll focus on [...]

The coaching carousel is in full swing. Dave Wannstedt figured out what Nebraska Cornhusker fans figured out a long time ago … Steve Pederson is not the guy you want to work for … and he left Pittsburgh. Smiley Jones, the Athletic Director at Pitt, now may go after another former Husker Coach, Jay Norvell, [...]

Last week, my column discussed the cold of the Midwest. I waxed poetic about the joys of winter and how much good comes from a cold spell of weather. Tonight, as I see the forecast for overnight and tomorrow, the poet in me is curling up and pretending to go to the tropics. We expect [...]

I’ve been collecting favorite quotes for a number of years.  Here are some that I enjoy – it’s definitely a motley collection. “Goof Grief.” – Master Charles Brown “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also [...]

This will be my final article for 2010, and I’ve been pretty darn moderate my last few articles so rather than focusing on one specific issue here I’m going to give my opinions on a bunch of different issues that are making news the past few weeks.  I apologize in advance if I get a [...]

You’ve seen the ads.  Sparks by Kosmo – Web consulting with a twist.  What the heck does that mean? Although our little site at The Soap Boxers is still a relatively undiscovered diamond in the rough that is the blogosphere, I can, with confidence, claim to have one unique specialty. My mind is not bound [...]

The Chicago White Sox signed free agent Adam Dunn to a 4 year deal worth $14 million per year.  The deal will allow Dunn to play his best defensive position – DH.  All kidding aside, I like this deal for the White Sox.   Dunn brings tremendous power, belting at least 38 homers in seven consecutive [...]

Garrison Keillor once wrote that in Minnesota, people do not complain about the cold. You see, everyone can feel it, so why complain. I do not quite live in Minnesota, and my wife is a southern girl, so there is plenty of complaining in my house. I personally like the cold, all of the bugs [...]

John Scherer could hear the impact of the collision from his seat on the bench.  He knew in an instant that Carson Malone would not return to the game. “Scherer!” snapped head coach Art Saunders.  But there was no need to bark at him – John had already grabbed a football and was warming up. [...]