Happy Friday, world! Well I don’t know about you, but Thursday was kind of a roller-coaster of emotions. First we find that for the first time a life where he has committed many, MANY crimes, someone (well, 12 someone’s) has found Donald J. Trump criminally responsible for his actions. Thirty-four counts of criminal activity were charged, and he was found guilty on all of them.
So that was awesome. But then my New York Rangers went out and played another poor game, losing to the Florida Panthers, 3-2, and now it’s 3-2 Panthers in the series and I’m afraid my team’s hockey season ends Saturday night. And that makes me sad, because it’s been a glorious season.
So, yeah, a roller-coaster. Which makes sense because it’s June and roller-coaster season is upon us! Besides the Trump trial, there was lots of good news this week in the world that I want to share.
Let’s start with a cool NPR story I heard this week, about a new initiative in Alabama to help families with child care needs. Family child-care homes is what it’s called, and the story can explain it better than I can, but it’s basically about making child care homes run like small businesses, creating more child care opportunities for workers and allowing working parents to leave the house to work, since their kids can be taken care of.
Here’s the story. I hope this becomes a national model.
**Next up, an amazing performance on this week’s “America’s Got Talent” got my 9-year-old son excited and said “Daddy, you HAVE to watch this!” And as usual, he was right.
Richard Goodall is a longtime school janitor in Terre Haute, Indiana, and was told by his students for years what a great singing voice he has.
Well, Goodall finally got a chance to show the world what kind of pipes he has, and wow did he nail it. Just look at the judges’ faces when this mild-mannered man starts singing.
An incredible performance.
**And finally, Rafael Nadal played what will likely be his final match at the French Open this week, losing a first-rounder to Alexander Zverev. Nadal is a top-five all-time tennis legend, even classier off the court than he was on it.
He won Roland Garros an insane FOURTEEN times, but what he’ll be remembered for as long as his forehands and passing shots is his class, and dignity. This story I read about him this week is indicative of hundreds of others that have been told.
It’s from a journalist named Ashlee Vance, who wrote about Nadal once, and he talks about his visit with Rafa:
“In honor of what is likely @RafaelNadal’s last French Open, I present my best Rafa story.
A few years ago, I went to hit with Mark Hurd at Larry Ellison’s house/resort in Palm Springs. (Ellison literally bought a resort with an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts, etc. and made it a home)
Hurd, RIP, used to always give me grief because I only played D3 in college and he played D1 at Baylor. So, I was often asking him to play. We hit for about 45 minutes, as I recall.
He refused to play points with me. Had a mean forehand. Not much backhand. I had youth on my side at the time, and Mark hated to lose at anything. But he was nice and enjoyed running me around.
He also wore a tank top to show off his guns. I did not.
After the match, I went into the tennis cabana near the courts. It was bigger than my house.
I went to the bathroom and discovered that the tennis cabana had the highest-end toto toilets. You do not find such toilets in many tennis cabanas.
Here is where I will admit a minor crime while in someone else’s home. Outside the bathroom were some cabinents, which I peeked in. And to my shock and awe, I saw about 20 of Rafa’s rackets stacked up. I thought about taking one for a minute but resisted. Honest.
There were so many Rafa rackets there because he often stays with Ellison during the Indian Wells tennis tournament. He must have practiced and then left them there for souvenirs. I should have gotten a souvenir.
Anyway, I returned to the main room of the cabana and took a seat and in came Rafa for an interview. As we began to sit down, he offered me a coconut water and then offered to make me an espresso. He really wanted me to drink something.
There were helpers all around, but Rafa was adamant about personally dealing with my hydration. This is to say, he’s an extremely nice man. I got a bottle of water.
We talked for more than 30 minutes. He could not have been nicer and more thoughtful. He was the polar opposite of most athletes I’ve interviewed. NBA players, in my experience, are particularly obnoxious with how precious they are.
They make it feel like a huge burden to give you five mintues. Not Rafa. Cheerful. Open. An actual old school gentleman.
I stayed at the tournament all week and hung out in the players area. I’d get food with all of them. And here’s where Rafa set himself apart.
He knew the cooks’ names. He was so polite when ordering food and went out of his way to make all the staff feel special. I’ve really never seen anyone that famous do anything like it.
Anyway. He’s one of a kind. The sport will miss him deeply when he retires.”
Wide World of Stuff 