tobyfoote.com blog

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, “I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life – like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”

The six-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

Josh,

We love you in Cleveland. You make our team so competitive. Love you in the Wildcat, love you on special teams, love your positive attitude and supporting your coach. You’re a perfect fit … in Cleveland. Other places too, but a REALLY good fit in Cleveland.

Holmgren just arrived in town this week. Mangini was just told he gets to keep his job next year. And a GM still needs to be hired. Then the needs for the team have to be analyzed and draft players evaluated. The draft is 104 days away, and our new GM needs to evaluate if a player in the draft can fill the roll you currently do. Chances are, that player will be found, but the risk on his performance might be too great, and they will come back around and offer you more.

You are under exclusive contract for 3 years. No other team can take you away. There’s no urgency on the Browns to do a deal this minute. They have the luxury of time, no matter how upset this makes you. And I understand that you want this deal done so you can go on with your life. I totally understand. But the Browns aren’t going to give their best offer until later, when more homework is done and people are hired for the front office.

Be patient. Demand a trade if you like, but it won’t hurry a deal right now. In a perfect world, the demand should come in mid-February after the Browns have had a chance to straighten up some bigger issues with the front office. My neighbor worked for the Browns and told me how back-stabbing the front office was when Savage was there. Luckily, he’s gone now, and the front office is getting much better.

Mangini, while not well liked at times, has a good heart, and wants to win football games. He is doing exactly what a manager should do when his team is extremely underperforming. He’s micromanaging. He’s evaluated every players play-by-play performance, finding the problems, and fixing those problems. Even when it’s not popular, he makes the hard decision. Braylon was a cancer, he’s out. Winslow doesn’t block, he’s out. Anderson should have been out, but his throws are so erratic that nobody wanted him. When the team starts winning, the micromanaging will back off and trust will grow.

Your play making ability make highlight reals in Cleveland, because there haven’t been many highlights these past two seasons. The Browns want to be extremely competitive, and to do so, we need lots of cap room for new players. Once the Browns know who they are going after this off-season and what they’ll have to pay for their draft picks this year, they will feel more comfortable offering you the extra money in the cap space. Your skills are definitely noticed. But the timing of a new deal is not now, it’s in 4-6 weeks.

I really hope you get a new deal. I really do. I want you to stay in Cleveland and give terror to our competitors in the AFC North. But if you leave Cleveland, Browns fans will hate you. Just a matter of life. If LeBron leaves, Cleveland will forget he was even hear. But if you play a career in Cleveland, do well, and retire in Cleveland, you’re a legend here. Be a legend. But also get paid. Be careful what you tell the public (twitter). Be careful what your agent says publicly.

But most of all, good luck. And Go Browns!

Sincerely,
Toby from Brunswick

What happens when you blog more than the 140 characters that Tweetie 2 wants you to use, due to Twitters restricti (cont) http://tl.gd/1859m

Blogging from Tweetie 2 to WordPress is now possible. Not sure if it’s better than the custom iPhone app, but WordPress is pushing it.

Jamie Foxx performed his latest hit, Blame It, on American Idol last night. While I liked Jamie’s enthusiasm and insight during his time with the Idol finalists, I thought his performance signing Blame It was very poor.

Jamie is not known to most people as a musical artist. Most Americans associate Jamie with his TV and movie acting, particularly his time on the show In Living Color.

Which is why Jamie needed to use his performance last night to redefine who Jamie is turning into, a musical artist. Unfortunately, the song Blame It is was a poor song choice. While this song is near the top of the charts right now, the song alters Jamie’s voice using a voice synthesizer. The song ends up sounding like a computer is singing the song, and it definately doesn’t tell me what Jamie’s voice sounds like. Dare I say that Depeche Mode used less synthetic overlay.

This performance was a huge opportunity for Jamie. He had the chance to show America his voice. Instead, we listened to a synthesizer for 3 minutes.