Hello friends!

I haven't done much since my return from the Mosel River trip, so I thought I would do a small commentary.

Three days ago Barack Obama was elected by the people of the United States as its 44th president. As you all probably are aware of, this instantly goes down as one of the single most monumental things in the history of our country. I took several history courses in my days in school, so when I look back on our nation's history it is simply remarkable to think about how far we have come in such a short period of time. To put it (very) briefly: We, as a people, have come from fighting a war against one another over the issue of slavery. Thinking about slavery now, it just seems utterly ludicrous to force a race of people into slavery. And yet, many of our forefathers were willing enough to kill their own countrymen in order to preserve it. We have come from the Jim Crow Laws, which essentially earmarked black people as an "inferior race," taking away simple civil rights that many of us take for granted today. We have come from listening to people like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and countless others standing up for what is right and what they believe in only to be knocked right back down. Now, we have Barack Obama as our next president. I think that president-elect Obama said it best himself when he talked about that 100+ year old woman in (I believe) Georgia, who has lived to see just about everything - now that includes the first black president of the United States.

What an exciting and pride-provoking time that we get to be live in. I think that I will be saying this many times throughout the rest of my life: This is one of, if not THE, proudest moments of my life thus far. Way to go America!

The reaction here in Germany has been great. I arrived at school on Wednesday and was immediately congratulated by one colleague after another. I knew that they, too, sensed the gravity of what had just happened in my home country. I could tell that they were elated as well.

The election of Mr. Obama gives a glimmer of hope to the entire world, and the reaction I received from my colleagues and students told me that they realize that. It's funny, living abroad has enabled me to gather a whole different perspective of the States and the world in general. And, after reading various newspapers here, I am 100% convinced that the United States is one of the only countries in the entire world where John McCain would have stood even the slightest chance against Barack Obama. Go figure.

However, with all of that being said, the work does not end here. In fact, it has barely begun. With the state our country is in, I think it will take quite some time to "right the ship," so to speak. Too much has gone array in our great country to be complacent with what we have achieved.


Moving on to a whole different topic. I want to say something about a side of athletics that too often goes unnoticed. In this day and age when statistics, fame, and fortune are the measure of greatness in sports many other, more important, stories go unnoticed.

After reading these two articles, I was reminded of the special place athletics holds in many people's lives. Many times there is much more to sports than simply winning and losing and getting good stats, and these two stories go to show you that. Go ahead and check them out.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3683219&sportCat=ncf

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=clemmons/0811107&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos1

Well, I hope you enjoyed my once-in-a-while serious talk about things. I think the news back in the States warranted such a post. Hope all is well where ever you are reading this from.

Ciao!

Russ w.