John Wooden

My favorite John Wooden story was when Bill Walton returned for his senior season with long hair and a beard, which was against Wooden's rules. Walton told Wooden he had the right to long hair and was going to stand by his beliefs. Wooden told him he admired a man who stood by his beliefs and then said, "we're going to miss you." Walton left and came back with short hair and no beard. Wooden could stand by his beliefs, too. Oh, and at the time UCLA was in the midst of the longest winning streak in NCAA history, 88 straight games.

I miss coaches like John Wooden and Jack Hartman. As much as I respect and admire Bill Snyder and his coaching job at K-State--and the way he sticks by his principles--Jack Hartman will always be my favorite K-State coach.

My Award for Writing

I'm so truly humbled to report that I've won the International OMIGOSH! Award for Writing for my book . . . well . . . okay, I haven't actually written the book yet. But I hope to, and if I do I hope people will read it. I hope they like it, too. In fact, maybe I'll write about hope.

Who'd a thunk it? Me and the President getting an award on the same day. Wow!

Does Starbucks instant coffee taste good?

I walked into a Starbucks last evening and there were signs posted everywhere about their new instant coffee, Via. I told them at the counter I was very skeptical of the claim by their CEO that most people would not be able to taste the difference between Via and their in-store, brewed coffee. They enthusiastically gave me a packet to take home and try.

This morning I carefully measured the 8 oz. of water they specified and heated it in the microwave and then added the coffee grounds. Unfortunately, I only got about 5 sips before a coffee-drinking moth dove into my cup to absorb the full effect. Quite a sacrifice! I'm addicted to coffee but not to the point of giving my life for it. Well . . . I don't think so.

Anyway, those 5 sips were enough to tell me what I suspected. Starbucks instant coffee is not as good as their brewed coffee. But it is very, very good, far better than brewed coffee I've found anywhere other than Starbucks. It's good enough that my mind is racing with the possibilities, like keeping a few packets in my work bag for emergency situations, such as counseling CEU classes, where the coffee is almost always bad.

So congratulations, Starbucks. You did good.