In the 1986 NBA championship game, the Lakers had the ball and were up one point with 3.5 seconds left, and they had the ball out of bounds. James Worthy made one of the dumbest passes in history, a pass even a high school kid knows not to make.
Worthy was at mid-court. All he had to do was throw a long pass towards his own basket and even if it was to the other team, they could not have made it up court in time to score. But Worthy, an All-Star player made a cross court pass that was intercepted by Dennis Johnson who dribbled in all alone for the winning layup as time expired.
How could an All-Star player, a player making millions of dollars a year, and who had played the game for years, make such a dumb pass? Who knows? Worthy was known for his basketball skills, not for his smarts, and this was one of the dumbest moves ever.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Evacuate everybody
In 2006 a large flood came down the Meadow Valley Wash into Moapa Valley, Nevada. This was not unusual, many floods have come down in the past. A local police sergeant put himself in charge and began ordering evacuations. I was awakened at 1 a.m. and told to go to the local evacuation center to help. Volunteers were sent throughout the town of Overton, Nevada, knocking on doors, waking people up and ordering them to evacuate.
When I asked where the flood was, I was told it was at Rocks, a railroad siding well up the Meadow Valley Wash. Floodwater will take at least 12 hours to reach Overton, from Rocks. So why were people being evacuated at 1 a.m.? good question. If an evacuation was actually needed, it could have easily and conveniently taken place in the light of day, hours later. Flood waters actually reached Overton at 5 pm that day, 16 hours after the evacuation order was given.
Furthermore, this police sergeant subsequently ordered the evacuation of residents around the high school. The high school sits well away from and above the Muddy River that flows past a corner of Overton. In the 130 year history of Moapa Valley, the river flood level had never come anywhere near the high school. So why was he evacuating people from that area? another really good question.
The alarm sent throughout Overton to evacuate forced the elderly, those in wheelchairs, diabetics and others with varying health issues, to evacuate, leave their homes, their vehicles, their animals, and flee to "safety" at the evacuation center.
This later proved to be an embarrassment to everyone because though the flood did flood a few low lying homes and some farmland, it did not destroy any property and threatened no one's safety. But many elderly were unnecessarily displaced, diabetics could not get to their insulin, and even some vehicles, which could have easily been driven to high ground, were lost because in the panic of the evacuation, were told to leave their vehicles which later were filled with mud and water.
Had no one ordered an evacuation, nothing would have changed, the river still would have flooded some areas, a few homes would have still been flooded, but abandoned animals would have been safely cared for, vehicles could have been safely moved, homeowners could have mitigated the damage by fighting the flood at their own properties, and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars could have been saved. The money spent helped no one, saved no one, and prevented no damage to property.
When I asked where the flood was, I was told it was at Rocks, a railroad siding well up the Meadow Valley Wash. Floodwater will take at least 12 hours to reach Overton, from Rocks. So why were people being evacuated at 1 a.m.? good question. If an evacuation was actually needed, it could have easily and conveniently taken place in the light of day, hours later. Flood waters actually reached Overton at 5 pm that day, 16 hours after the evacuation order was given.
Furthermore, this police sergeant subsequently ordered the evacuation of residents around the high school. The high school sits well away from and above the Muddy River that flows past a corner of Overton. In the 130 year history of Moapa Valley, the river flood level had never come anywhere near the high school. So why was he evacuating people from that area? another really good question.
The alarm sent throughout Overton to evacuate forced the elderly, those in wheelchairs, diabetics and others with varying health issues, to evacuate, leave their homes, their vehicles, their animals, and flee to "safety" at the evacuation center.
This later proved to be an embarrassment to everyone because though the flood did flood a few low lying homes and some farmland, it did not destroy any property and threatened no one's safety. But many elderly were unnecessarily displaced, diabetics could not get to their insulin, and even some vehicles, which could have easily been driven to high ground, were lost because in the panic of the evacuation, were told to leave their vehicles which later were filled with mud and water.
Had no one ordered an evacuation, nothing would have changed, the river still would have flooded some areas, a few homes would have still been flooded, but abandoned animals would have been safely cared for, vehicles could have been safely moved, homeowners could have mitigated the damage by fighting the flood at their own properties, and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars could have been saved. The money spent helped no one, saved no one, and prevented no damage to property.
Steep Grade Ahead??
On Intestate 15 through the Virgin River Gorge, southbound, near the south exit of the gorge is a flat and level section of the freeway. This section of the freeway is in Arizona (the Arizona Strip). There are two yellow caution signs warning truckers of an upcoming downgrade, but there is no downgrade. The road is flat and level with no downgrade. These signs have been there for years, even replaced at least once, to my knowledge. Every time I drive this part of I-15 I try to figure why the signs are there and what logic keeps the signs there, and what justifies the spending of tax dollars on warning signs which are completely false.
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