Worst Seat in the House: A Few Things to Think About

Have you ever watched the news or read something in the paper and wondered who approved that item? A couple of those particular items struck me like that on Monday morning.

As I was reading the paper from the big city to the northeast of us I noticed a short blurb from the celebrity section that said that Barbra Streisand’s 14-year-old dog had died.

I’m sure there were a few Streisand fans that started to write condolence messages to the singer/actress. I for one thought really?

My wife and I have had a few pets and a couple of them lived to be 14-15 years of age which is a lot of years for pets. We shed a few tears and talked about how great these pets were when they breathed their last but never once did we think it was a newsworthy item for this paper let alone a national story.

Pet owners know how important pets are but why should a celebrity’s pet be so important to make national news. They have enough money to own several pet stores and not just cater to one pet.

Have we spoiled celebrities this much?

Now before a bunch of pet owners or Barbra Streisand fans start calling the paper or send hate mail let me tell you that my wife and I have adopted several pets and have taken in dogs and cats that other family members could no longer keep.

But we understand that pets are only with us for a short period of time and 14 years is truly incredible but it would be difficult for me to say that Streisand spoiled her puppy any more than we spoil ours.

Heck, I made the comment that when I die I want to come back as one of our pets. We all should be so lucky!

Also on Monday morning one of the local newscasts from the big city to the northeast talked about the passing of Jack Stockton.

Stockton was one of the original owners of Jack and Dan’s Bar and Grille near the Gonzaga University campus. He was also the father of John Stockton of Gonzaga Bulldog and Utah Jazz fame.

I didn’t see a picture of Jack Stockton from his adulthood. I believe there was a picture from when he may have played basketball decades ago.

However there was plenty of footage of his son John playing as a member of the Utah Jazz.

Now there is little doubt that Jack Stockton was extremely proud of his son and grandkids but Jack Stockton was an important part of his community and several pictures of him in his later years might have been a nice touch.

Can you imagine someone who didn’t know the story of the Stockton’s and watching the news that morning thinking that Jack Stockton was a former NBA player?

Finally, many of you might be wondering who won the NBA playoffs since there hasn’t been a game played for several days. Well the answer to that is the NBA championship series begins tonight (Thursday).

A lot of it has to do with not knowing when a series will end. The NBA plays a best of seven for each of the playoff series. So it doesn’t matter if a team or both teams end those series in four or five games the finals start date had already been predetermined.

I watched a few minutes of several games but it didn’t captivate me like the NCAA tournament does with a win and play on or lose and go home format.

So if the team I would like to see win loses the first game or two of a series they still have a chance to play their way out of a two game hole.

I’m sure the passion for winning is still there but a nice paycheck win or lose would be easy to live with until next year.

Part three of the Warriors-Cavaliers will begin at the home of the Golden State team.

I’m not sure if and when I might start watching the game. Maybe I’ll just watch the highlights after the game is over.

I know that there are a bunch of WSU fans that will tune in to watch Klay Thompson play.

Just do yourself a favor, don’t watch him for his three point shooting but watch how he plays defense because he is an elite NBA defender and that is definitely worth your viewing time.

Okay, I’ve cleared my things to think about.