Happy Birthday Mom!

Yes, today is the birthday of my dear, sweet mother. A wonderful woman and a Cancerian, she was just about the greatest Mom a kid could ask for…but I’m sure most folks would say the same about their own mothers (a matter of taste, right?).

She shares the same birthday with Nikola Tesla, a fantastic inventor and innovator that suffered from acute over-sensitivity. Also with Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson (they were even born the same year!), who may have some sensitivity issues of his own.

A current American footballer born on July 9th is Trent Green, recently traded to the Miami Dolphins. Mr. Green lost his job to Damon Huard to due to a sever concussion last year, limiting his own ability, and allowing the younger QB to step-in and show his ability to play without missing a beat…well, without missing too many beats anyway. One might think it would have taken a bit longer for Huard to get comfortable in the offense. Fortunately for the Chiefs, Huard is also a Cancer (his birthday is July 9th, too!) and the offense fit him just as well as it fit Green. Net result: fairly interchangeable QBs, but one 3 years younger…Mr. Green, say “hello, Miami!”

Trent Green may not end up with much play-time on the Dolphins, though, unless some sort of injury takes down Daunte Culpepper. New head coach Cam Cameron is an Aquarius, and may well identify more readily with fellow Aquarian Culpepper’s “detached genius” than Green’s “emotional leadership” (I am using terms that have traditionally described their astrological signs). If Scorpio Nick Saban had remained with the team, it would have been a different story (Aquarius and Scorpio butt heads, while Scorpio and Cancer are VERY harmonious…like my Mom and me!).

Unfortunately, passing QBs (as both Culpepper and Green are) function best when they’ve got good chemistry with their receivers. Both Marty Booker and Chris Chambers are LEOs, the polar opposite of Aquarius. Compare Culpepper’s performance last year with, oh, say his glory days in Minnesota. Not really on the same page with his receivers. Randy Moss, on the other hand, is also an Aquarius. He and Culpepper are from the exact same dimension.

I’m not saying that two people need to have harmonious signs to play well together. But people that get along well, people who like and understand each other, grow closer faster. And knowing another person, having a mutual respect for another (and don’t we respect more those people who have our own values; i.e. our own personality traits?) builds a faster, stronger bond.

A QB wants his WR to anticipate his thought process…and it’s much easier to do this when your thought process is roughly the same. Sure, you can do it through a lot of practice and discipline (Capricorn Bobby Engram is going to convert those 3rd down slants for everyone, because he has made it his personal Saturnine mission to make that play). And you can certainly have genius Quarterbacks, spreading the field with impunity. But building a rapport between players makes the team-building process easier…which is important on the football field where so many pieces have to move in synchronicity for a play to happen.

As a side note: do you think Aquarius Randy Moss is going to have an easy time hooking up with Big Leo Tom Brady? I’m guessing probably not.

Can everyone tell I’m getting excited for the start of the season? It’s like waiting for Christmas!

Better go give my Mom a birthday hug!