Author: Tom Knuppel

Why Can’t Appointments Start on Time?

Tom Knuppel Other
Why Can’t Appointments Start on Time?

 

 

William Shakespeare wrote:  “Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

I am an early person. I have said repeatedly that I would rather arrive an hour early than five minutes late. However, it is really not an advantage, most of the time, to show up for an appointment early. If they take you in to another room, it usually is just a place to get you out of the waiting area and now you sit. Sometimes it is for a very lengthy time. I get irritated!

I get aggravated with late of any sort. However, It get really ticked when an appointment time flies by and I sit and sit and sit. It doesn’t matter if the time set was 2:15pm and you wait until almost 3 before you see the person. Doctors and dentists are the worst. I know the line you hear is they are busy and things back up. Maybe, just maybe, they scheduled too many appoints too close together?

The point is, I feel bad when I keep people waiting. I feel like we’re all busy and our time is important so being consistently late is a sign that you don’t respect someone’s time.  I respect you enough to make the appointment and show up on time, at least try to respect that I have other things to do beside sit around reading your old magazines all day.

On a personal level it’s just rude and signals to the person that you leave waiting that you don’t care enough to respect their time. Because while I’ve now had to wait for you it means that I have to push back other things I have to do.

This topic really gets my juices flowing!

St. Louis Cardinal Spring Training Schedule Released

Tom Knuppel Other
St. Louis Cardinal Spring Training Schedule Released

I am soooo ready for Spring Training and a new season. Here is a press release from the Cardinals:

 

The St. Louis Cardinals announced their 2015 Spring Training schedule today.  The team’s 28-game Grapefruit League slate begins on Thursday, March 5, at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla., as the road team against their complex co-tenants, the Miami Marlins, and concludes Thursday, April 2, before heading to Memphis for an exhibition on Friday, April 3, against their Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate, the Redbirds, at Autozone Park.

The Cardinals’ Grapefruit League schedule features 15 home dates and 13 road games including three games as the “visiting” team against the Marlins (March 5, 13 & 17), giving them 18 total games at Roger Dean Stadium.  The Cardinals and Marlins will play a total of six games this spring.

This coming spring marks the 18th year that the Cardinals will train at Roger Dean Stadium.  Cardinals’ pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Jupiter on February 19 and conduct their first workout onFebruary 20.  The remainder of the Cardinals’ players will be scheduled to report February 24 with their first workout on February 25.

The Cardinals host nine different Grapefruit League opponents including four games against 2014 postseason teams.  The Washington Nationals visit twice on March 25 and 30, while the Baltimore Orioles (March 12) and Detroit Tigers (March 16) each visit once.

Other American League teams appearing on the schedule at Jupiter include the Houston Astros (March 6), Boston Red Sox (March 9) and Minnesota Twins (March 14), with the Atlanta Braves arriving for one game on March 21 and the New York Mets (March 27, 29 & April 2) making three visits to round out National League opponents.   The first 14 Cardinals home games at Roger Dean Stadium are scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m. ET, with the final game versus the Mets starting at 12:05 p.m.

Individual spring training tickets for games in Jupiter will go on sale Friday, January 9, at 5 p.m. ET.  Fans may purchase Cardinals spring training tickets in person at Roger Dean Stadium’s Box Office beginning at 5 p.m. ET that Friday or via the internet at www.cardinals.com or www.rogerdeanstadium.com beginning at 6 p.m. ET.  Spring Training full season ticket plans, 6+ mini-plans and group tickets are on sale now by calling 561-775-1818.

Cardinals Spring Training tickets are priced at $29 for Field Box seats, $27 for Loge Box, $15 for bleachers and $15 for berm seating (sold day of game only).  Weekend Games and Premium Games (Boston,March 9 & Detroit, March 16) will include an additional fee per ticket on those select days.

They Say it Doesn’t Matter if You Win or Lose…..

Tom Knuppel Society
They Say it Doesn’t Matter if You Win or Lose…..

The old expression “it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game” is flat out wrong. Winning matters. It matters for an obvious reason—because you achieve something important. But it matters for a much bigger reason also.

It drives growth—personal, professional and later in life revenue. 

When you have to find a way to stretch yourself and win, it changes you. It makes you realize what you’re capable of and builds your confidence. That doesn’t happen when you merely play the game well.

Of course—you can’t win all the time—and how you play the game does matter too. But it will never take the place of defining a stretch goal, digging down, and figuring out how to win when the going gets tough.

This blog belongs to Tom Knuppel

Final Scores- Mens Baskeball for Saturday, November 15th

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Final Scores- Mens Baskeball for Saturday, November 15th

 

Here are most of the final scores in D1 Mens Baskeball for Saturday, November 15th—

 

Saint Francis (NY) 62 Georgetown 83 Final
Trinity (FL) 69 Bethune-Cookman 91 Final
Gardner-Webb 82 Louisiana State 93 Final
Manhattan 66 Florida State 81 Final
Nova Southeastern 51 Florida Gulf Coast 63 Final
Appalachian State 47 Ohio 73 Final
North Dakota 52 Northern Iowa 64 Final
Hillsdale 68 Michigan 92 Final
Bluefield State 51 Duquesne 91 Final
Vermont 60 Canisius 64 Final
Catholic 66 Davidson 102 Final
Colgate 52 La Salle 57 Final
Bowling Green 77 Drake 58 Final
Earlham 45 Evansville 116 Final
Illinois-Springfield 57 Green Bay 88 Final
Pfeiffer 59 Winthrop 82 Final
Aurora 56 Northern Illinois 86 Final
Delaware State 77 Pennsylvania 75 Final
Maine 57 Butler 99 Final
Austin Peay 70 Western Kentucky 77 Final
Southeast Missouri 56 San Diego 67 Final
Air Force 68 The Citadel 55 Final
Cal Poly 49 Nevada 65 Final
California-San Diego 52 California-Riverside 75 Final
Dartmouth 57 Saint Bonaventure 77 Final
Kent State 69 Youngstown State 61 Final
Albany 60 Providence 64 Final
San Francisco State 64 Long Beach State 74 Final
North Carolina-Wilmington 56 Old Dominion 76 Final
Florida A&M 65 South Carolina-Upstate 78 Final
Southern Illinois 59 Saint Louis 62 Final
Tulsa 68 Oral Roberts 77 Final
Boise State 77 Loyola Marymount 69 Final
Fairfield 59 Duke 109 Final
Louisiana-Monroe 74 UAB 65 Final
Virginia Military Institute 86 Army 92 Final

Is the Big 12 the Best Conference in College Basketball?

Tom Knuppel Other
Is the Big 12 the Best Conference in College Basketball?

 

 

 

Should College Basketball Implement the 30 Second Shot Clock? That was yesterday’s blog and you can find it HERE.

Is the Big 12 the best league?

Just look through it. Kansas is always a team in the Top echelon. Now we find the Kansas State Wildcats making a charge along with the Fred Hoiberg led Iowa State Cyclones. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor will get their share of wins in 2014-15 and my personal favorite to make a lot of noise the Texas Longhorns.

What do you think?

Should College Basketball Implement the 30 Second Clock?

Tom Knuppel Other
Should College Basketball Implement the 30 Second Clock?

 

Are we closer to having a 30 second shot clock?

Some conferences in their exhibition games are experimenting with a 30 second shot clock to see how the game flows. I am in favor of a 30 second shot clock and  I like he idea of 6 fouls on a player to foul out.

I think in the next 2-3 years the 30 second shot clock will be universal. Actually I wouldn’t mind some sort of shot clock at the high school level.

What do you think?

Raining on Your Parade

Tom Knuppel Other
Raining on Your Parade

In short, it’s one thing to win an election in a non-presidential year, when minorities and young people stay home and older, whiter voters make up a disproportionate share of the electorate. It’s another thing to win when a Democratic presidential candidate is luring the party’s base back to the polls — especially when that candidate is Hillary Clinton, the most popular Democrat in America as of right now. 

Do We Really Need Daylight Savings Time?

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Do We Really Need Daylight Savings Time?

(This was written last year and I am re-printing it ….)

 

Daylight saving time will end at 2:00 a.m. this Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014, and it will be time to set the clocks back an hour.

History of Daylight Saving Time (from Accuweather)

The Standard Time Act was passed in 1918, which officially established time zones and incorporated daylight saving months into federal law. This was during World War I when national efforts were made to conserve materials for the war effort. It was believed that if daytime hours could correspond better with natural light, fewer tasks would need to be done at night. Homes would need to use less energy to stay lit.

After the war, daylight saving time was revoked. When food conservation became mandatory in the United States during World War II (rather than just being encouraged as it was in WWI), daylight saving time was once again instated. Referred to as “War Time,” it spanned from early February until the end of September.

Conservation, from fuel to food to silver, was stressed by Entente and Associated power governments during WWI, as seen in this poster from the Canadian Food Board. (Photo/Wikimedia Commons)

After the war, “Peace Time” was back in effect and the issue of daylight saving time was handled on a local level. This led to a great deal of confusion as different locations were constantly operating at different times. The Uniform Time Act was passed in 1966 to solve the problem. States were given the option to opt out of daylight saving time if they passed proper ordinances.

With daylight saving no longer a federal mandate, some states have chosen not to observe it. Among the states that don’t currently participate in daylight saving are Arizona and Hawaii, with several U.S. territories choosing not to follow it as well. Arizona has such intense heat in daylight hours that it’s not considered a benefit for its residents to be out for as much of it as possible.

As for Hawaii, its location closer to the equator gives them more consistent days year round. They wouldn’t be gaining or losing, many daylight hours by observing the clock change.

Daylight saving time is observed in many countries all over the world, though the time frame for it varies. In the United States, it ran from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in October until the Energy Policy Act was passed in 2005. As of 2007, daylight saving now runs from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November.

Is Energy Being Saved?

 

It doesn’t appear to be needed anymore. I am sure that if it was discussed in Congress or at the state level people would “rail on them” that they have more important things to do. Well, sometimes the daily deeds must be dealt with.

Let’s get rid of Daylight Savings Time.

 

The opinions expressed in this blog belong to Tom Knuppel.

Is the Second Amendment the Greatest of All Amendments?

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Is the Second Amendment the Greatest of All Amendments?

 

The title may be a bit misleading as the real premise here is the fact that the 2nd Amendment has trampled the 1st Amendment. Where and how you ask? In Utah.

I am not writing this to debate the merits of Anita Sarkeesian, who is a feminist that is challenging the stereotypes of women in video games. But that caught my attention was the fact she was going to give a speech at Utah State University until the police got an email telling them that if she gave her speech they would commit the largest mass murder ever seen.

When administrators told Sarkeesian that Utah law explicitly forbade them from having the campus police stop people with guns from attending her talk, Sarkeesian had little choice but to cancel.

Isn’t it a incomprehensibly idiotic Utah gun law that keeps police from barring gun-toters from attending events where a gun massacre has been threatened. As the state of Utah’s Department of Public Safety website makes clear, people (other than law enforcement) can’t carry firearms in courthouses, prisons, airports and “churches if posted.” But that completes the list of places where guns can’t be brought. Anyplace else, anyone can carry a firearm openly so long as a bullet is not in the firing chamber or, in a semi-automatic firearm, if the magazine is at least “one mechanical action” away from firing. Utah law expressly forbids public schools or universities from enforcing any rule pertaining to firearms.

She had no choice but to cancel her speaking engagement. This law now allows for people to “bully” their agenda but threatening harm with firearms until the other side submits. This is dumb.

The elevation of the Second Amendment into a super-right has now diminished others—including those that the founders quite deliberately put first.