Jim Musselman

I'm a Gator, an engineer, an asphalt guy, father of two great kids, married to a wonderful woman and am one lucky guy!

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@DKThompson Larry Ochab.

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@UF @GatorsChris How do we go from the President of the University of Michigan to the president of the University of Alabama? I guess if we reign in DEI everything else doesn’t matter.

[Ben Sasse @BenSasse]

Friends-

This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die.

Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do.

I’m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, “Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.” Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all.

Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad. I can’t begin to describe how great my people are. During the past year, as we’d temporarily stepped back from public life and built new family rhythms, Melissa and I have grown even closer — and that on top of three decades of the best friend a man could ever have. Seven months ago, Corrie was commissioned into the Air Force and she’s off at instrument and multi-engine rounds of flight school. Last week, Alex kicked butt graduating from college a semester early even while teaching gen chem, organic, and physics (she’s a freak). This summer, 14-year-old Breck started learning to drive. (Okay, we’ve been driving off-book for six years — but now we’ve got paper to make it street-legal.) I couldn’t be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints.

There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come.

Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say “hope” when what we mean is “optimism.” To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son.

A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff. That’s why, during advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope — often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears.

Such is the calling of the pilgrim. Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city — with foundations and without cancer — is not yet.

Remembering Isaiah’s prophecies of what’s to come doesn’t dull the pain of current sufferings. But it does put it in eternity’s perspective:
“When we've been there 10,000 years…We've no less days to sing God's praise.”

I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape.

But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatments, but more importantly as we celebrate Christmas, we wish you peace: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned….For to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9).

With great gratitude, and with gravelly-but-hopeful voices,
Ben — and the Sasses

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@roofing2fish @delatorre I take it you think we should not count our two National Championships under Meyer? He wasn’t holy enough?

[Noble Prize in Sarcasm @rewegreatyet]

American Popes

Villanova-1
Notre Dame-0

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

Really good analysis of yesterday’s shit show.

[Sergey Radchenko @DrRadchenko]

So now that passions have died down somewhat (including my own), let's try to understand what happened. The disastrous Trump/Zelensky press conference reflected a real divergence of interests, but also a culture clash and a personality clash.

[Jon Tweets Sports @jontweetssports]

Me, watching USA vs Canada hockey, in the 4 Nations Face Off tonight, after not knowing the 4 Nations Face Off even existed 7 days ago

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

Out of 473 artists these were the ones on top. Who’s on your list? #SpotifyWrapped https://t.co/2Cops3gcy2

[Jordan @JordanJones33]

First half was fun while it lasted. Back to good ol’ Billy Ball in this second half 😔

[NCAA Baseball @NCAABaseball]

.@GatorsBB advances to the #MCWS after upsetting (6) Clemson, 11-9.

#RoadToOmaha

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@BiehlEric Okay, I’ve worked in asphalt, in FLORIDA, for 39 years. What the hell is a Florida box?

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@BiehlEric @bfbowers @spann @AuburnEngineers @PaveTrack @AuburnU Or on the Home Shopping Channel - whichever comes first!

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@PaveTrack Congratulations Buzz!

[BaseballHistoryNut @nut_history]

Someone made a baseball movie montage and it actually deserves an Oscar. Thank you to whoever made this.

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@bfbowers We’re focused on being a golf school.

[Noble Ron @perry_ron]

💙💙💯🥰

[Omaha Productions @OmahaProd]

You could say the auditions for a third ManningCast host did not go as expected.

[Alligator Army @AlligatorArmy]

If Cade Fisher buys a drink in Gainesville for the rest of his natural life, we have failed.

[Southeastern Conference @SEC]

2023 #SECBSB Regular Season Co-Champions

🐊 @GatorsBB

[Jim Musselman @mussgator]

@BiehlEric I do a pretty good white-man overbite!