Team Dilettante 2008

We're 3 days in and it's finally time to get started on the new year in blogging. I want to do a few things. First, I want to acknowledge the passing of former Wisconsin Governor Lee Dreyfus, who died today at the age of 81. Dreyfus was the governor from 1979-1983 and was most famous for his trademark red vest. This vest made it easy to spot him whenever they took a picture at the National Governor's Association meetings, which seemed to take place weekly during his tenure. Dreyfus was a moderate Republican and didn't really move the state one way or another, but he was a good egg. That's more than I can say about most politicians.

Next, I want to announce a few appointments. I recently heard from an old friend of mine from Beloit named Rich. We lived on the same floor in the 1982-83 school year, but he ended up leaving school that year and I hadn't heard from him in a long time. I'm glad he stopped by and he has already left a few interesting responses on this blog. He suggested that he would like to be the "self-appointed house leftist" for my blog. We already had one of those, of course - my friend Lee, who has recently resumed blogging at http://www.strollingamok.blogspot.com/. But there's always room for two lefties, so I am naming them to the positions of Statler and Waldorf, after the hecklers from the Muppet Show. They are both uniquely qualified for the post; Rich witnessed the death of many of my brain cells during that particular school year, and Lee witnessed my struggles in using the brain cells I had remaining as a co-worker at B of A. They are both fine fellows, despite their odd political proclivities. They will be here to call "bullcrap" on me as needed. Since it is an election year, unfortunately I expect that politics will rear its ugly head here more than I might ordinarily want. But they will add just a little venom around here for flavoring.

I am also designating a few other friends of this blog for honoria at this time:

Dilettante Spiritual Advisor: This job falls to Ben of Hammerswing75 fame. Ben is currently studying for the ministry. Now you might think it odd that a blog that wears its Catholicism on its sleeve would designate a prospective Protestant minister as the official spiritual advisor, but a fella needs to cover his bets. Besides that, Ben is a great, thoughtful guy and his faith is strong and sure. And we can always finesse the doctrine a little bit. Read Ben at http://www.hammerswing75.blogspot.com/.

Dilettante Sports Antagonist: This job falls to Dan, the Northern Alliance Wannabe. It takes a special kind of sports perversity to be a Cubs fan, a Cowboys fan and an Illini fan. Quite a trifecta, actually. But Dan does it with style, grace, verve and panache. Which is a good trick, because the typical U of I grad would have a difficult time pronouncing a lot of those words. Read Dan at http://www.northernalliancewannabe.blogspot.com/

Dilettante Southern Hater: That would fall to my brother, a/k/a The Stinger. His epic rant against all things south of the Mason-Dixon line was a highlight of my 2007 blogging. At some point we'll make a formal presentation of an autographed picture of Steve Spurrier to him. The Stinger does not yet have his own blog and America is certainly wondering why that is. C'mon Stinger, your public awaits you!

I may choose to bestow additional honoraria as the year goes on. But it's always good to be part of the team.