A few thoughts and some more pix

[Let's Go!!]
[Fans begin streaming into Fox Cities Stadium (home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers)]
[Wheaton's Chris McDonough nabs a Fighting Bishop (N.C. Wesleyan) on strikes]
[Electronic scoreboard announces Wheaton's first game opponent]

Some random observations about Appleton and the College World Series--

--I'm not sure whether the residents of greater-Appleton take a happy pill each morning, but I've never observed a more congenial area of the country. It's rare, upon entering a convenience store, walking downtown, or renting a car, not to be greeted by a pleasant demeanor and a convivial response from the folks we met in this part of Wisconsin. Having spent more than my share bemoaning the boorishness of society at large, I must say I wasn't prepared for the friendliness from this beautiful part of the country. With Madison as the state's capital, and the state's history for embracing progressive causes, maybe Wisconsin is the place for me? One dubious note; Joe McCarthy is a native son of Appleton.

--Wisconsinians (?) love beer, cheese, brats and did I mention, beer? Speaking of beer, a local variety that I grew fond of during my brief time in the state, was Leinenkugel, or "Leinies." My favorite Leinie was their Honey Weiss, a wonderful wheat ale.

--The absence of any coffee chains other than Starbucks, such as Dunkin' Donuts, Honeydew Donuts, Tim Horton's, etc. While downtown Appleton has a couple of neat privately-owned shops, I relied on the coffee at the local Kwik-Trip to start my day.

--Someone named Jeff Lindsey, a research engineer for Kimberly-Clark (one of the area's large paper producers), maintains a website where he has posted a plethora of helpful information about Appleton. I found his restaurant reviews and many of his other information about the city, informative, helpful, and accurate.

--Why doesn't Maine have a Woodmans? Woodman's is a mega-store that is employee-owned. Their prices are low, their selection is huge (I've never seen a dairy case with more brands and flavors of ice cream in my life). BTW, since their employee-owned, when you buy from them, some of the profits go back to their workers, rather than into the pockets of someone like Sam Walton, if you catch my drift.

--Staying at a budget hotel doesn't have to be a disaster. In the past, we've had some real horror stories associated with the Motel 6's, Travelodges and other budget chains (like the crack deals taking place outside our room at the Motel 6 in East Halsted, Illinois, back in '94). These experiences have turned me off to staying in the budget lodging category. However, while the La Quinta where 14 Wheaton families following the team stayed (as well as most of the Marietta parents) was economy personified, the place was clean and quiet (except for one night when the Wheaton gang commandeered the pool area). At $49/night, it served its purpose. I'm sure that the fact that it was in Wisconsin had something to do with it.

--Unfortunately, we ran out of time, as Wheaton's appearance in the championship round prevented me from making a trip to the Green Bay Packers' Hall of Fame.

Pix from the Division III World Series

Just a few pictures from the College World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin. Wheaton faces their first elimination game today.

Higher Education

This has been a busy stretch for Mary and I. With the college baseball season continuing and a pending trip to Wisconsin, for the College World Series, plus Monday’s special graduation ceremony for Mark and his baseball teammates, we’ve been riding life’s rollercoaster to the top. Yesterday, I had a busy day planned for my part-time employer and then, I rushed home to mow my lawn that has begun its transition to pasture land.

As parents, we feel very fortunate that Mark had the opportunity to attend an academically rigorous college like Wheaton. When he first began looking at colleges, Mary and I were concerned about whether or not we could afford some of the better schools that Mark was visiting. Since he was a top recruit for baseball, as well as having the kind of high school transcript and SAT scores that an academically-oriented school such as Wheaton looks for, this helped him to qualify for financial assistance that made his four years possible. While it wasn’t a cakewalk by any means for us, it quickly became apparent that Wheaton didn’t want a student body made up entirely of children of the privileged and the well-heeled.

Monday’s graduation ceremony for the baseball team was really special for several reasons. Since these eight young men were unable to march with their classmates on Saturday, due to playing in the regional championship game against USM, the school scheduled a private ceremony on Monday afternoon, in Wheaton’s historic chapel. This was more personal and much shorter than the regular one and with the rest of the baseball team and coaches in attendance, plus parents and family members, it was an intimate and very nice touch provided by the school. In addition, all the officials of the school—the dean of students, the president, the provost and others—all donned Wheaton baseball caps.

Interestingly, I just watched a documentary pertaining to the problems attending higher education in America. Declining by Degrees is a PBS film that follows 30 students and their teachers along the path of higher education. This well-written and well-produced documentary exposed many areas of concern that unless addressed, could result in some negative outcomes for future students.

I have sensed that higher education, even at some of the more prestigious schools, wasn’t as rigorous as it might have been in the past. A college degree today, particularly at some of the “cookie-cutter” state schools, unleashes graduates that are not serious scholars and not very sophisticated as thinkers. Grade inflation has a lot to do with this. Also, many classes at larger universities and colleges are not taught by professors, but are conducted by teaching assistants, often graduate students. This all contributes to the incremental “dumbing down” of our country.

While we knew that Mark’s high school, Greely High School in Cumberland was a strong public school, we didn’t know how well it had prepared him, until he went to college. Greely had instilled good study habits, to go along with an intellectual curiosity that was aided by parents who cared about the world and spoke openly about issues. As a result, Mark made the most of his four years at Wheaton.

While the film exposed many problems, especially at many larger public institutions, it also showed positive examples of schools that still do things the right way and provide an academic environment and has high expectations of its students. Highlighting Amherst College (a school with a similar focus and academic reputation as Wheaton), the documentary emphasized the smaller class sizes, close interaction between students and faculty and young students that seemed to be making the most of their opportunities.

In addition to some of the issues mentioned, the rising cost of higher education is putting it beyond the reach of many students from middle class homes and families of the working poor. In the past, America had a social contract, which said that if a student wanted to go to college, then opportunities would be provided through grants, and other means, which would ensure a college education for all students. Instead, much of that prior funding that closed gaps caused by socio-economic differences have been cut. At no time since WWII has it been more difficult to obtain financial assistance for higher education. As a result, college is no longer an option for many graduating seniors. Those students who do make it through four years, are graduating with debt loads that place an undue burden on them, as they set out on life’s journey.

If this trend continues, it will just acerbate the class divide that already exists. In addition, it will create an entire underclass with little or no hope and lead to social pathologies that are much more expensive to address on the back end. I hope that our leaders will allow others the same opportunities at an education that they received. I’m not very encouraged by the current administration of privilege, but possibly, future administrations will reinstate Pell Grants and some of the other funding opportunities that have been taken away to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest few.

On a brighter note, at least for those who know Mark and/or follow college baseball, the College World Series games will be broadcast on the web, so you can follow Mark and the Lyons, as they try to capture their first national championship. There will be a link at the official NCAA Championshp 2006 site. I’ll also try to blog a bit about the trip, the games and the Fox Cities region via my other blog, over at Write in Maine.

Wisconsin bound

The Wheaton College Lyons won the Northeast Regional, in Harwich, Massachusetts, with a 16-5 win over the University of Southern Maine.

The Lyons will play their first game at the Division III World Series, in Appleton, Wisconsin, on Friday, May 26th, with a 1:15 pm game against North Carolina Wesleyan College.

Now it's time to make travel plans, reservations and enjoy the last leg of a magical season.

This is not....oh, whatever!

In my other, non-blogging life, I'm a baseball fan, or better, a grumpy traditionalist that hates the direction of much that constitutes the professional version (you mean there is another?), but can't shake my boyhood experience with baseball that forever etched the national pastime into my consciousness and being. Having said that, a few readers know of my interest in said sport and also know that my son Mark (orgininator of GMBO, the genius behind Everyday Yeah and Mind Salt) is a pretty fair college player and will be leading his Wheaton Lyons into action tonight at 8 pm, in Harwich, Mass., in the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional.

For those who have an interest in catching the action via the wonders of the world wide web, here is a release from Scott Dietz, Wheaton's SID.

Each of Wheaton's NCAA Regional Tournament baseball contests to be webcast
May 16, 2006
NORTON, MA- Each of the Wheaton College baseball team's NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament games will be webcast through D3Cast, beginning with the top-seeded Lyons' opening contest Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. The webcast will include both audio and video and be available through dc3cast.com.

RealPlayer will be required to access the free webcasts, which will be available as live links on the front page of D3Cast and in the archive section of the site approximately 30 minutes after each game. The D3Cast staff will provide play-by-play and color commentary for each of the tournament's contests.

The seven-team, double-elimination tournament will be held at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, and Wheaton opens play by taking on the winner of tomorrow's 9:30 a.m. game between Salem State College and the University of Southern Maine.

Wheaton, which is ranked sixth nationally and first in New England by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), brings a 35-8 overall mark into the NCAA Tournament. The Lyons are making their sixth NCAA appearance in the past seven seasons after only being elevated to varsity status in 1998.

Wheaton won its eighth New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season title in the league's eight seasons and notched its seventh postseason tournament crown to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.