12

 And now we've reached Spring Break, which means that everything will start picking up speed as head towards the end. My good friend Katheryn stopped by my office the other day to pick up the Championship Trophy (aka the Wanker) for her win this year in the Twin Peaks Football League. She saw this picture on my door and was horrified that I had so little time left before I walked away. She heads up the college's international education efforts, or whatever is left of them. She proposed that I give a public lecture relating to international educational education that could both be streamed (she's clearly been talking to my friends Cyndi and Mike about this, because this also part of their insane plan for my last days at Champlain) and then would give its name  to an annual event. I love her and Cyndi and Mike, and am touched by their efforts, but I have absolutely zero interest in doing this. About the only thing that I hate more than being the center of attention is public speaking, so having to give a speech where I'm also the center of attention would be my personal hell. Plus, truthfully, I simply don't think I have anything interesting to say. And, finally, I'll be honest: I'm a proud man, and having to drag myself up with my cane to speak - and either stand there in pain for a half-hour, or, even worse, sit because I'm so crippled - would be humiliating. Hopefully this madness will go the way of the big public retirement soiree.

Thanks to Nathan Rourke for loaning me his number 12 for the countdown this week. Rourke is the starting quarterback for the BC Lions, and is probably the best QB in the CFL, as supported by the fact that he's already won the Most Outstanding Player award twice. He was actually born in Victoria, British Columbia, which means he's a hometown kid. Before joining the CFL he played college back at Ohio. After spending his first two years with BC, he bounced around the practice squads of four NFL teams (Jaguars, Patriots, Giants, and Falcons) before heading back north of the border. It's hard to say that he wasted his time there, because I'm sure he banked a lot of money to not play (his younger brother is doing the same thing now). Right now I think Rourke is the highest paid player in the CFL, and makes about 1% of what Joe Burrows makes playing partial seasons for the Bengals. Nathan gets to play, he's playing great, and he's playing for his hometown team, so it's hard to argue that he's not making the best decision right now. I've seen him play live in road games, but hopefully soon I'll see him play in Victoria.