Teaching an old dog new tricks – from my phone to your eyes

Like many people my age, I do have some hard to break habits. Trying new things does not come easily to me. I remember the days of the rotary dial telephone with the old party line. Young readers should ask their grandparents about that.When cell phones came along, I was not among the first to try them. Now I can't imagine not having one. For those of you who are wondering what we did before the development of the cell phone… well ask gramps about pay phones!One thing I have "learned" to do that young people may appreciate is to scroll through my cell phone. Yes, I do it several times a day. Like everyone else I am looking for news tidbits particularly sports stories. I am aware of the fact that some headlines are misleading and some stories are outright lies.Seriously, does anyone really believe that Sandra Bullock is living in Tiffin!This week several stories drew my attention and I found them interesting. Let's see if you agree with me.Tyce Armstrong. I do recall several games from my college baseball career, but not my first game. Armstrong will likely remember his first game of this season. The Baylor first baseman cracked three grand slams in the Bears 15-2 victory over New Mexico State.What a first game performance. He will remember this game for the rest of his life. One problem exists, however. What will he do for an encore. It is likely to be downhill from here!Justin Ford. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. OK, that's the only science reference that you will get in this column, but Ford's story is the opposite of Armstrong's though it does involve hitting a home run.Seton Hall was playing Boston College in the season opener when the Pirates' Ford hit a home run. So far so good, but as he watched the ball sail over the wall as he was running between first and second base he turned towards his dugout thrust his arm in the air and did a little hop in celebration.That's when things went wrong. He came down awkwardly and broke his leg. Ouch. He will miss the rest of the season, which is – for all intents and purposes – the vast majority of the season.You have to feel sorry for Justin Ford, but strange things happen in the world of sports.Richard Ruohonen. This "young" man became the oldest American Olympian when he participated in a curling match in Italy. Ruohonen tried for decades to make the Olympic curling team, but was unsuccessful until this year.At the age of 54 he would set the record if he got to perform. He joked that he spent much of his time driving the other members of the team around and cooking for them. What father or grandfather wouldn't?What got my attention was the fact that he said if he got to throw one rock it would be the greatest day of his life. "My wife knows it, my kids know it. She will not be upset that it topped my wedding day."Sure enough he was put in late in a losing cause and got to throw two rocks. He even scored a point for his team before the U.S. conceded in an 8-3 loss.I'm not sure all spouses would agree with his declaration, but it had to be a thrill for him to realize his dream.Ted Williams. In 1949 the Splendid Splinter became the only player in major league history to total at least 150 hits (194), walks (162), runs scored (150) and RBI's (159). He also hit 39 doubles 43 home runs and hit for a .343 average.Conclusion: Ted Williams was a pretty fair country ballplayer!Jimmy Carter. Yes, we are talking about the former president and this stat intrigued me. Over 93% of all home runs hit in major league history were slugged during his lifetime.I was impressed – my family not so much. My wife pointed out that he did live to be 100. My son suggested that before Carter's birth was the dead era of baseball. Fewer home runs were hit then, so what is the big deal.Chagrined I still felt it was an interesting stat. More importantly I wondered who came up with it. The percentage will only go down. It will be interesting to see what it is 10 years from now. Someone will surely let us know.Afleet Alex. The famed thoroughbred died recently at the age of 24. Though perhaps not as famous as say Secretariat, those who follow the sport have certainly heard of him. In 2005 he won the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. It was the Preakness that most people vividly remember.Coming into the last turn he clipped hooves with another horse and nearly fell. He recovered and went on to a four and a half-length victory. Many consider it the most athletic feat a racehorse ever achieved.For me though, the best part of the story was Alex Afleet's association with Alex's Lemonade Stand where he helped raise millions of dollars for pediatric cancer research. That sent me scurrying (on my phone of course) to find more information on the Lemonade Stand.I will not go into detail here, but you should look up the information. It is very inspiring and involves a girl named Alex who was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 1. She would die at age 8, but in between the diagnosis and her death she started a lemonade stand to raise funds for the research.It has continued to this day and proves how good and caring people can be.