Turning Point

A few days late, but I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the 64th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion. Do yourself a favor and (1) Take some time to view a movie or documentary on the subject (The Longest Day is a personal favorite; also a pretty good book); (2) Read this article by Dave Kopel (late of NRO) on the outlook if Normandy had failed.


Finally, it's worth speculating how those that pass themselves off as "journalists" in the mainstream media would have reacted had they been reporting on June 6, 1944. Roger Kimball at Pajamas Media provides us with one interesting piece; the comments which follow are also worth reviewing.

Achilles in Albany

One final hoops-related note before I log off for the night --

I was at a conference in Puerto Rico earlier this week. My wheelchair was the spark to several conversations, including one with a product specialist. What followed were several layers of irony --

1. His specialty is Disability Insurance.
2. He himself had ruptured his right Achilles Tendon 25 years ago.
3. At the time of the injury he was approximately the same age I am now.
4. It occurred during a pick-up basketball game (check).
5. ...in Albany NY (near the home of Mrs. Salad and near where we lived in our first year of marriage).
6. The pick-up game was highlighted by the regular participation of the young head coach of the Albany Patroons, Mr. Phil Jackson (again, about the same age at the time) who is now coaching a team in California or somewhere out west...I know it's been in the news...

Hopefully, the similarities end there. Not only did he re-rupture the same tendon several months later, but his leg has never fully recovered. We'll see...

Finally

I never really hated the Lakers, at least when I was following pro basketball back in the Bird-Magic days. Perhaps I was too far removed geographically to get sucked into the vitriol. I was, after all, in Kruger National Park in South Africa when I received word via shortwave that the Lakers had won game 6 of the 1987 NBA Finals, winning the trophy at the expense of the Celtics.

Or perhaps it was because my best friend at the time was a Californian who, naturally, favored the dominant West Coast team. My memories of twenty years ago might be a little hazy, but I only recall having (albeit grudgingly) respect for them, and even rooting for them when they faced off against the Pistons and Bulls in later years. It's hard to believe, but perhaps I was prescient enough to realize in the 80's that the Bird-Magic / Celtics-Lakers rivalry was pretty special.

Again, just consider the amount of talent on both teams. And the coaches. And the front offices. And the die-hard fans, including multiple celebrities, in two cities that were about as far removed geographically and demographically as you could imagine. The balance sheet of the Bird-Magic era might give the edge to the Lakers (5-3 in championships, 2-1 head-to-head), but a missed shot here or an avoided injury there could have easily turned that around, and fans of both teams should realize that by now. One final twist is how it's interesting that the centerpieces of both teams were natives of neither Coast, but heralded from the Midwest.

It really was a special time, and while the current incarnations of these teams have plenty of talent and should give us a competitive series, we're nowhere close to where we were 20 years ago. Ah, nostalgia...

Sweet Sixteen

I dug out this picture of the 1985-1986 Celtics, referenced below. The amount of talent in this picture is ridiculous. At least six are in the Hall of Fame (Red Auerbach, KC Jones, Bird, McHale, Parrish & Walton), and the fact that the late Dennis Johnson is still kept out of Springfield is downright embarrassing. Think about it for a minute -- Larry Bird and (a healthy) Bill Walton on the same team. Good grief.

Had Walton not suffered a fluke injury the next season, and tragedy not intervened with the Celtics' #1 draft pick that offseason, I feel confident speculating that they would have not only won the '87 and perhaps '88 championships, but several more along the way until Larry retired.

Sixteen going on Seventeen

In the early 1990's, when the NY Yankees were abysmal, I heard a broadcaster (who, like yours truly, had been raised in Maine as a Red Sox fan) point out that "baseball needs the Yankees." His implication was that a strong, competitive team in the Bronx would go a long way towards drawing fans back to a game that was awash in its own mediocrity. Does anybody even remember that the Toronto Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series during that time?

I was sixteen when the Boston Celtics won their last NBA Title, with arguably the greatest team of all time (certainly in the top 5 on any thinking fan's list). The next year, the made it back to the finals but fell to the LA Lakers in six games. With the Celtics (and, for a time, the Lakers) falling out of the championship picture for twenty years, I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I haven't watched an NBA game with any seriousness during that time -- certainly since Larry Bird retired. Regardless of what happens over the next two weeks or so, it's good to have them back.

1992 Flashback

Just a brief thought as I sit here in Puerto Rico during the waning days of the (apparently) endless Democratic primary season. Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the leaders of the late Clintonista regime are upset with the media for (according to them) favoring a young, relatively unknown, and inexperienced candidate whose resume would fit on the back of a business card, whose only asset is his charisma and youthfulness -- over (again, according to them) a seasoned, experienced senior veteran of a previous presidential administration and eight-year member of the US Senate?

Not that I'm picking sides here (I'd rather move to France): The irony comes from my 1992, when one could argue with some credibility that the roles were somewhat reversed.

I haven't heard anybody else make this observation yet, although I can't be the first. The Clintons' predecessor has to be enjoying this on some level.

Oh well -- back to the beach...

Welcome Back, Kapler

One of the heroes of the 2004 Red Sox, Gabe Kapler (#19) returned to Boston this weekend as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. I came across this article from the Boston Globe. I had forgotten that Kapler ruptured his Achilles tendon in September 2005 (on a home run by Tony Graffanino) and returned to play in June 2006, roughly nine months later. My prognosis to full recovery is 9-12 months, but I lack (somewhat) Kapler's overall fitness, so it might take me a little bit longer than him...

His Wikipedia biography makes interesting reading. He and his wife Lisa have also founded the Gabe Kapler Foundation to fight domestic violence.

Ice-Cold Battle

My current state of incapacitation limits my activities, so I've been working through my book and movie collection and recently watched Miracle for the fifth or sixth time. Knowing the ultimate outcome, one might expect that the conclusion could not help but be at least a little disappointing. However, it's interesting how this film "grows" on you. Most signifcantly is how the actors seemlessly become the real-life characters they're portraying. Kurt Russell is Herb Brooks. Patrick O'Brien Demsey is Mike Eruzione. While there are remarkable action sequences and a (more or less) true-to-life script, this is probably the film's greatest achievement.

Also notable is how the filmmakers succeed in placing the event in its proper context. The opening title sequence is nothing short of brillant -- almost certainly the best I've ever seen (the error about the 26th Amendment not withstanding). This is an inseparable part of the story. Miracle on Ice, the made-for-TV movie produced within a year of Lake Placid, wasn't nearly as weak as some have characterized it, but nonetheless came too soon on the heels of the event for its consequences to be fully understood. Thus, the earlier film (with the great Karl Malden as Herb Brooks) could talk about how exceptional it was for the US to beat the USSR in hockey (whoops -- gave away the ending), but was not far enough removed to properly juxtapose the event amongs the despair of the 1970's and the depths of the cold war. Not only did the teams represent countries that hated each other, but the team that emerged victorious won not only a hockey game, but broke a decades-long socio- and political losing streak. Those of us who lived through the 70's, and then the 80's, can understand this a little better, and Miracle -- set a quarter-century later -- succeeds in capturing both the mood and then the momentum change.

Enough of the soapbox. Watch the film. It's good.

Re-Martz-able

For those of us wishing that Matt Walsh would just go away (his Warholian 15 minutes are long expired), this statement by Mike Martz was refreshing, which says in part -- "Let me make this clear – we lost to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl because we turned the ball over three times."

A classy move by a coach that I never thought I'd be quoting. Of course, I never thought I'd be rooting for Ted Kennedy over Arlen Specter, either.

While looking for images of Coach Martz, I stumbled across this article, a preview of Super Bowl XXXVI. Ah, memories. The happiest day of my life...

Comparing scars

Yes, there's a little bit of LBJ in each and every one of us...

Not for the squeamish...

For those of you that might care -- some recent pictures of my right lower leg (FYI, the heel is to the left) in the picture.`

Hoosier Hysteria

An interesting website for fans of The Greatest Movie Ever Made:

http://www.thehoosiergym.com/

I never realized that the gym was in Knightstown, fairly close to I-70. I regret that I never took a detour on one of my trips through the Hoosier state. Maybe someday...

"Mistakes in my personal life"

Am I the only one who finds the remarks of a once-future Hall-of-famer eerily similar to that of a prominent politician almost exactly 10 years ago?

HINT -- Both had the first name "William."

Somewhere Dan Duquette is smiling...maybe he was right in '96 after all...

Nightmare in the Bronx '03

I stumbled across this picture (reference the end of my 4/13/08 post on Bill Buckner, below).

Three solid professionals, one Hall-of-Famer, and the reincarnation of Forrest Gump. Actually, that's not fair -- Forrest Gump would have been smart enough to make the move.

One of these days I'm going to do a post on dreadful Red Sox managers through the years. As a sample -- between Butch Hobson, Jimy Williams, Dave Kerrigan and He Who Must Not Be Named, the Red Sox were basically without a field manager for 10 out of 12 seasons (1992-2003). I'll give Kevin Kennedy a pass -- for now.

The Heeling of Achilles

Two links that I found helpful in my present situation:

http://www.achillestendonblog.com/ -- a fellow Blogger who found himself in the same predicament not too long ago
http://www.achillestendon.com/ -- a summary of injuries, prevention, treatment & recovery

John Marzano (1963-2008)

John Marzano, 1984 Olympian and Red Sox backup catcher 1987-1992 has died, apparently from falling down stairs after a heart attack.

Notes from the Boston Globe.

Obituary on MLB.com (Marzano's current employer).

A marginal player who might have blossomed had he not played behind the likes of Rich Gedman and Tony Pena, he was nonetheless well-liked by his teammates. He was also a member of the 1990 Boston Red Sox, which remains one of my favorite teams of all time. He didn't get to play much behind Tony Pena, but he was with the club almost the entire season. The Red Sox will observe a moment of silence at tonight's game. He was only 45.

Get the Picture

The picture I refer to below appears here -- for some reason blogger wouldn't let me insert it into the applicable post.

Bouncing Back

The highlight of Boston's home opener earlier this week was the Sox' invitation to have Bill Buckner throw out the first pitch. Video is available here.

I was too remote from the 1986 World Series to feel a strong negative impact from games 6 & 7. In the 22 years since I have spoken to several people who were so devestated that they swear they stopped following the team after "Nineteen Eight-Six." From my distant perspective, the '86 Sox were quite the opposite -- the team that revitalized my interest in baseball in general and the Red Sox in particular.

Buckner's fielding miscue that ended Game 6 became the focal point of Boston's painful loss that year, but any serious or semi-serious student of the game will tell you that there was more than enough blame to go around in that game and in that series, most of which this reporter places on the manager in the Boston dugout. While Buckner received the loudest "boos" at Fenway in subsequent years, public opinion started to turn in his favor when (after having been released in 1987) he signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox in 1990 and made the team out of spring training. He received a standing ovation on opening day of that memorable season, and was applauded warmly at every home at-bat thereafter, one of which resulted in about the most improbable inside-the-park homerun in Boston history.

Hopefully, with the 2008 opener, the rehabilitation of his name is complete, at least as much as possible. He was an excellent hitter and, believe it or not, a good fielding first-baseman whose injuries have kept him out of the Hall of Fame. Nonetheless, there is part of me that wonders what would have happened if Buckner had made that play in game 6 -- the score was tied, and the Mets were out of pitchers. Due to some horrifically poor management by Davey Johnson, they only had the immortals Doug Sisk and Randy Niemann, or would have had to have gone to a starter to retire the Red Sox in the top of the 11th. For that matter, what if Bob Stanley had heard Marty Barrett yelling at him and had turned to pick Ray Knight off second with the score tied? We shall never know.

One other thing -- years ago I saw a picture similar to the one above on display in a memorabilia store in Cooperstown, New York. I wasn't sure if the fact that Buckner had signed it was indicative of his ability to put the mistake behind him, or make a profit off the pain he had caused countless others. I'm still not sure, but it troubles me. I can say that if I ever see an autographed picture of Grady Little on the mound with Pedro Martinez in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, I may require the services of a criminal defense team.

Larger than Life

Most of the obituaries about Charlton Heston note his starring roles in The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur, and his political activism, most notably as a leading figure in the NRA.

Perhaps the most egregious omission is that of his civil rights activism in the early 1960's, well before it was "fashionable." He was the first prominent white actor to speak out against racial injustice, both in Hollywood and across the country.

On a more personal note, it's a shame there isn't mention of what I believe to be his best role, in The Greatest Show on Earth. I've seen most of his films, and that one remains my favorite of those in which he starred. IMDB has his complete filmography here. I also enjoyed his role as John the Baptist in The Greatest Story Ever Told, although his part wasn't enough to salvage the overall film.

He also served his country in World War II, leading to one of my favorite interview exchanges. Meeting with Robert Osborne for TCM, he was asked about his military service and noted (to the best of my recollection): "I was stationed in the Aleutian Islands. It was a quiet war. However, our outfit was designated for the invasion of Japan until they dropped the atom bomb. For myself and thousands like me, the atom bomb was a blessing."

Not only was this a succinct rejoinder to the armchair quarterbacks who questioned the decision some fifty-plus years later, but it left the loquacious Osborne speechless for a moment. Charlton Heston was a larger-than-life figure who filled larger-than-life roles both on and off the screen; he will be missed.

Ivan the Great (1931-2008)

Ivan Dixon was a great actor, a pioneer in radio, television and film, a terrific director and, above all, a true gentleman. In 1994 I had the privilege of interviewing Ivan several times for my Hogan's Heroes project (I interviewed all of the surviving cast and contributors with the exception of Richard Dawson and Leon Askin).

Ivan was living in Hawaii at the time, so it took an effort to get ahold of him, but he was very kind to give of his time to help a fledgling, no-name would-be author from Nowhere, Pennsylvania on a project that, despite nearly everyone's best efforts, ended up going nowhere, also.

Of course, he's best known for his portrayal of Sgt. James Kinchloe (mistakenedly referred to as "Ivan" by a guest star in one episode), Col. Hogan's steady sidekick and de facto second-in-command. He also delivers one of my favorite lines of the series:

NEWKIRK: Well, the first thing we must do is not panic.

KINCHLOE: I already have -- what's the second thing?

Ivan went on to have continued success as an actor, a director and the owner / operator of a KONI FM in Hawaii. IMDB has his complete credits here.

His death on 3/16/08 leaves only a handful of survivors from that great show -- by my count, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Cynthia Lynn and Kenneth Washington among the regulars and semi-regulars (the latter two having only appeared in one season apiece), along with co-creator Al Ruddy, and directors Bruce Bilson, Robert Butler and Gene Reynolds, all of whom are in their 70's and 80's.

Founding Father (1925-2008)

For my birthday in 1992, my mother-in-law bought me a gift subscription to National Review. The magazines started coming in January 1993, coinciding with the opening days of the Clintonista Administration. They continue today, roughly every two weeks, including the latest, glossy-covered issue as a tribute to their founder, Wm. F. Buckley Jr.

Always reasoned, never shrill, NR was the perfect antidote to an overtly left-leaning media (in the days before the Internet and before Talk Radio became populated beyond Rush Limbaugh), and the unmitigated chaos, vacuity, bean-counting and mendacity of the early Clinton years (not that the later years were much better). On top of that, it played a major role in pulling me out of the four years of left-leaning academic from which I had recently emerged. My only regret is that nobody, including me, thought to begin the subscription four or five years earlier.

Fifteen years later, I still have nearly every issue (a few having perished in various moves along the way), and look forward to my twilight years in the near future when I'm able to peruse them at my leisure. The tributes to Mr. Buckley have been numerous, but his courage in starting a serious journal of conservative thought in the early 1950's had a major impact on my life forty years later, not to mention to millions of people all over the world. Thanks, Bill.

Rocket is Grounded

Forgetting for a moment that George Mitchell, former lapdog of the Clinton Administration, was perhaps the least original thinker ever to serve under the constitution (I'd still like to know what happened to Louis Sullivan's health care proposal in 1991), and left a series of disparities in his report (which, in full disclosure, I have not read), the allegations against Roger Clemens are nonetheless pretty serious.

Dan Shaughnessy writes about it here.

As I've noted previously in this space (not that any of you read it), true Red Sox fans were somewhat disgruntled that Clemens "mailed in" his last four seasons in Boston, then burned up the league in 1997-1998 while with Toronto. I had previously attributed his success there to a combination of Dan Duquette's misjudgement and Clemens' personal motivation to prove he wasn't done yet. His success later in Houston could easily be attributed to pitching in a pitcher-friendly park against National League lineups that run 5- or 6-deep. On top of that, Clemens' teammates through the years have always attested to his intense work ethic and drive to keep himself in shape.

But his Yankee years are somewhat intriging. I hadn't forgotten that Clemens was a little better than ordinary during his first year in New York (1999), before having strong years in 2000 and 2001.

Now, with steroids et al in the mix, one can't help but see a pattern there. Maybe Dan Duquette was right after all. Stay tuned...

"No Dolphins were harmed in the harvesting of this Tuna"

Bill Parcells has taken a job with the hapless Miami Dolphins. This is his last football job. Really. He means it this time. Seriously. As soon as he wins another playoff game...

Aiming at the Jets

The Boston Globe has two articles / columns on Sunday's upcoming clash between the Patriots and the Jets that capture the backlash of "Spygate" as well as the rapid rise and equally rapid immolation of Jets coach Eric Mangini:

Christopher Gasper's Article

Eric Wilbur's Blog (I found this one absolutely hysterical)

Predictions are something I avoid in the NFL ("any given Sunday" and all that), and I don't even believe that the 0-and-whatever Dolphins are a sure thing next week. It's hard to believe that Belichick's boys will struggle against a team they already destroyed once this season on the road, and that was before the added motivation alluded to above. I suspect BB will pull out all the stops on this one, just to make a point. We'll see...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

The Baltimore Browns, er, Ravens are a very bad team who played a pretty good game Monday night against the undefeated New England Patriots. That being said:

(1) Complaining about the penalties? PUH-LEEZE! The Browns are the second-most penalized team in the NFL. If there were 13 penalties against them, there could have been 40. They are a dirty team that make up for their lack of talent and discipline by breaking the rules. The plays that were flagged weren't even debatable, and that's not counting the ones that were missed.

(2) The Gaffney TD that put the Pats ahead might be open to discussion, but the replays weren't conclusive. However, let's say it was overturned. Then you have double unsportsman-like conduct penalties against the Ravens (Bart Scott, check your voicemail) that would have given the Patriots 1st-and-goal at the 2-yard-line. I somehow think the Brady Bunch would have found a way to score from there.

(3) What exactly possesses Brian Billick to blow kisses at Rodney Harrison? I don't care if Harrison insulted his mother (or his quarterback) -- coaches should be above that kind of stuff, even those that are overpaid and underperforming. That a head coach would act that way with national TV cameras rolling leads one to wonder what other nefarious deeds are taking place on and off the field.

(4) And then there was the Baltimore timeout called on the 4th-and-1 play at the end of the game that saved the Patriots' season.

(5) Finally, I personally thought it was rather tasteless for ESPN to have Don Shula in their broadcast booth for nearly the entire second half. Yeah, I know all about his connection to the original Colts, and of couse that other team in the early 70's that is on the verge of having its record tied, so go ahead and ask him a few questions. But he was in the booth for close to an hour, for crying out loud. Fortunately, I didn't have to listen to him, so I have no idea what he said (and I doubt he said anything too controversial, or we'd be hearing about it today), but the length of the appearance seemed to overstep the lines of objective journalism.

Penalties notwithstanding, I wasn't surprised that the Ravens defense gave the Patriots fits through most of the game. After all, there is some talent there. It was more surprising -- and troubling -- that the Ravens offense was able to move the ball with some consistency, marking the second week in a row that the New England defense has been exposed by a mediocre offense. Perhaps the loss of Roosevelt Colvin is being felt? In any case, it should make for another fun week of practice in Foxboro with the Steelers coming to town on Sunday.

In your spare time...

A few interesting links I discovered between Turkey and leftovers last week:

Story of Snoopy's Christmas Brilliant editing creating animation to accompany an oft-overlooked Christmas Classic

24 in 1994 for you Kiefer Sutherland fans (warning -- mild language)

Eight Letters in Search of a Word Scrabble-like timewaster

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best regards to all six of you who actually read this blog, and a special shout-out to George Soule for hanging tough that first year.

The Day After the Movie Before

Taking a break a few days ago, I caught a few minutes of the broadcast of The Day After Tomorrow. Leaving aside the debatable scientific allegations for a moment, I was struck by two things:

(1) Good grief, the acting was awful. Did anybody actually want to be in this picture? Did they all work for free or something? I know Dennis Quaid isn't exactly Mr. Kinetic Energy, but a little bit of enthusiasm in his role might have been called for.

(2) I wonder if the filmmakers chose the title to intentionally follow 1983's The Day After. After all, the fear of nuclear holocaust in the 1980's has been succeeded by the perceived threat of global climate self-immolation in the 2000's. I saw The Day After in 1983, and saw it again (or at least enough of it) a few years ago to find its premises and prognostications almost laughable. One has to wonder if we'll see The Day After Tomorrow twenty years hence an crack a similarly wry smile when we realize that all this "global warming" nonsense was exactly that. I guess we'll find out one way or another...

Noises

Just some stray thoughts I had on the controversy surrounding the Indianapolis Irsays pumping additional noise into their stadium, specifically during their recent game against the 3-time Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots --

I'm not really a conspiracy theorist, and I find it hard to believe that the Irsays -- even the aforementioned Bill Polian -- would do something so idiotic and, for that matter, unnecessary. Of course, it's also alleged that they pumped up the heat in the RCA Dome during last season's AFC Championship game between the same two teams, so you never know.

I watched the game and noticed the glitch at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was something I had never heard before on a live network broadcast. The only time I've heard anything like that at all is when a damaged or scratched CD skips in a (usually subpar) CD player.

Later, CBS explained that it was a problem the had "in the truck" -- presumably, some technician was looping through a recording, perhaps endeavoring to find a specific highlight to replay or something.

This makes sense to a point, but thinking about it a little further I still couldn't quite believe it. In order for this to happen --

1. The technician would have to be looking at something that only had crowd noise.

2. He (or she) would have to have left the life sound feed to the broadcast "open," enabling the feedback to be heard over the air.

3. The master recording (or the equipment) would have to damanged in some way in order to facilitate the skipping.

4. All this would have to occur precisely at a time during the game when the crowd noise was rising, the falling after the conclusion of a live play (by the opposing team).

Since I highly doubt CBS uses CD / DVD technology to generate replays or highlights during a live broadcast (rendering #3, above, moot), I have to admit I'm rather skeptical. Again, not to go Oliver Stone on this, but it seems like there's too many coincidences to believe that CBS was responsible -- at least totally responsible -- for this problem. Not to allege any malice on the part of the Irsays necessarily, but I just can't believe CBS's explanation.

That being said, my biggest problem with Super Bowl 41.5 wasn't the Irsays or their fans or any alleged competitive infractions behind the scenes, but the fact that the officiating was absolutely dreadful. The "offensive pass interference" call on Randy Moss was incomprehensively bad. One has to wonder why the NFL assigned a rookie crew to a game of such magnitude.

21st Century World Series Scoreboard

Boston Red Sox 2

New York Yankees 0



Somewhere in the Bronx there's a 7-year-old kid wondering if the Yankees will ever win the World Series in his lifetime...

Where have I been?

Or does anybody really care? Well, it's been a busy couple of months. The licensure requirements for my job are changing next February, so I decided to focus on getting those tests completed before the big rush next year. This included the FINRA (formerly NASD) Series 7 and, just this past week, the Series 66. Preparation for those two monsters consumed what little free time I had, but I was fortunate to pass both on the first attempt. It's also been suggested I take the Series 24, but I haven't decided if I want to take that step or not. Right now, my brain is in recovery mode.

Oh, yeah, and there's been a few sporting events that have provided some diversion (some would say distraction. I'd write more about them but right now I'm distracted by the additional noise Bill Polian is pumping into my house. Stay tuned...

Memorable Quotes

In the 7 minutes it takes me to get from home to office, with the radio tuned to Mike & Mike in the Morning, I heard two memorable quotes:

"The only thing that will make Roger Clemens retire is his age." -- Mike Golic. At this point, what else could it be?

"They won't settle for mediocracy." -- Mike Ditka, referring to Chicago Cubs fans. Kinda like a meritocracy, but governed by those of only average intelligence.

Die Hard

My latest book on tape was the autobiography of Walter Payton, Never Die Easy. It was different than any other recorded book I've read because of the use of a variety of narrators. The format of the book was finalized shortly before Payton died in 1999, and was structured to intersperse Payton's own memories with those of his friends, family and teamates, held together with an overall narration.

While Payton's story is certainly both triumphant and tragic, and while the biography of one of football's all-time greats needs to be told, this project was a disappointment. It is relatively short -- only 7 cassettes, and the first 90 minutes or so is devoted to his final days. Again, a story worth hearing, but not exactly an inspirational way to start. Funnily enough, when I inserted the first cassette I found it was 2/3 of the way through the first side; I wonder if the previous reader gave up.

Undaunted, I slogged through and made my way into his youth and playing career, which covered the next two cassettes, and which was the main point of interest for me getting the book in the first place. The next three cassettes were almost unbearable, as we had to endure endless self-pitying accounts of the trials and travails of his retirement years, most notably his inability to latch onto an NFL expansion team in an ownership / management role. Yeah, Walter, life is hard, and sometimes things don't work out. Too many times I found myself rolling my eyes at the incessant whining of him and others about the 3 or so years he invested in that endeavor, wanting to yell "get over it!" at the tape deck. Only the story's untimate tragic ending kept me from doing so.

The final cassette held some redeeming value, capturing Payton's emphasis on the importance of organ donation, and the comments from his friends and family directly from his private memorial service in 1999. Nonetheless, I was disappointed. By all appearances, this project was rushed to publication too quickly -- some sharp editing would have eliminated the repetition of comments and several factual errors. Beyond that, the overall effect was depressing, not inspiring or uplifting. For a player from a small town in Mississippi that went to a (now) Division I-AA school and went on to set all kinds of records, win a SuperBowl, turn a franchise around and be considered perhaps the most complete player of his generation and perhaps others, I feel that "Sweetness" deserved better than this.

Midsummer Classic

These All-Star Games make me feel old. I not only remember when the National League won the game, but when they would win it every year with regularity.

Like most national broadcasts, it started too late, ran too long, and ran the commercial breaks right up to the windup. Otherwise, a fairly enjoyable game that not only saw Josh Beckett get the win, but Alex Rodriguez make a fool of himself.

Prior to the game, there was a tribute to the great Willie Mays. Richly deserved, to be sure, but I couldn't help but compare it to the thunderous ovation Ted Williams received at the 1999 All-Star Game in Boston. AT&T Park, by contrast, sounded like a cavern, at least from my vantage point in front of the television. Perhaps it was the total lack of buildup by way of introduction given by Fox's Joe Buck -- a brief sentence, nothing more. Compare that to the intro given to the Spinter in 1999, which I almost know by memory --

"Ladies and gentlmen -- he wore the uniform of the Boston Red Sox for 22 seasons. He wore the uniform of the United States Marine Corps for 4-1/2 more. He owned left field at this very ballpark. He hit 521 home runs, including one in his last at-bat. He was the last man to hit .400, and he did so 58 years ago. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome -- the greatest hitter who ever lived -- number 9 -- Hall of Famer -- Baseball Legend -- TED --- WILLIAMS!"

At this point the house on Yawkey Way was literally coming down, as the Kid himself was brought in on a golf cart. That's how you're supposed to introduce a legend, San Francisco.

Rod Beck (1968-2007)

The relief pitcher whose picture appeared in the dictionary next to the definition of mullet has died tragically at age 38 at his home in Arizona.

The Boston Globe reports that the cause of death is under investigation, so more details to follow.

Rod Beck pitched for the Red Sox from 1999-2001 and is most remembered (albeit unfairly) during that time for the home run he gave up to Bernie Williams in Game 1 of the 1999 ALCS. Ah, the Jimy Williams era in Boston. What a nightmare...

Beck had his best years with the SF Giants and one good season with the Cubs, helping them to the wild card in 1998.

Man knows not his time.

Surly Bonds of Baseball

The SF Giants came to Fenway Park for the first time since they were the NY Giants in 1912.

Dan Shaugnessy has some strong words on Barry Bonds here.

Bob Hohler has a longer article -- less vitriolic -- here. One of the people he interviews makes the interesting point that Bonds was a pretty good player (ie 3-time MVP) before he (allegedly) went on his steroid binge in the late 1990's.

In the view of this reporter, it's a shame that a supremely talented player has besmirched his image both by a lifelong surliness and then by the steroids. The former offense could be forgiven (after all, not everyone can be expected to be Cal Ripken). The latter, however, not only violates the integrity of the game, but -- as found in Hohler's article -- really was unnecessary. It's conceivable, at least, that Bonds could have approached Hank Aaron's HR record without the juice.

Meanwhile, the ever-creative Fenway Faithful greeted Bonds with signs distributed by WEEI saying "756*" (note the asterisk), and also displayed a bedsheet with an asterisk in the outfield.

Over and Out

About two years ago, there was a part of me that wanted to see Roger Clemens join the Red Sox for (what I thought would be) his final season(s). It was largely sentimental -- Clemens was, of course, the pivotal player on that magical 1986 team, and it would have completed a circle of sorts to see him finish out his career twenty years later in the same uniform. The "generational" aspect of having him pitch alongside Curt Schilling (who had admired Clemens as a youngster in the Red Sox farm system) and Josh Beckett (who had, in turn, admired Schilling), was also intriging.

Instead, Clemens spent 2005 with the pennant-winning Astros, then part of 2006 with a vastly depleted Astros team. Free again, media talk heated up again this winter that as to whether or not he'd retire, and, failing that, which team would sign him -- either his hometown Astros, the Red Sox, or the Yankees, where he had won a World Series ring.

But to sign the Rocket, you'd have to play by his rules -- he won't consent to being required to travel with the team unless he's scheduled to pitch; he wants to travel back home between starts; and he wants to pretty much do his own thing. Some who have played with Clemens have called him a great teammate. That may be -- but this attitude sounds more like a prima donna.

So, to learn today that Clemens has signed with the Yankees for the duration of the season, my only reaction is ***yawn***. If he wants to spend the twilight of his career with a last-place team, and if Big George wants to invest untold millions in a 45-year-old pitcher who plays by his own set of rules, I really don't care. The novelty of Clemens finishing his career in Boston ended for me a while ago. I have plenty of memories of 1986-1991 that will comfort me at night, and I haven't quite forgotten how he mailed in his last few seasons in the Hub. This reporter is tired of his act and, at this point, really wishes he would just go away.

Astronaut Actifed

Wally Schirra has died. NASA also has an obituary. He was, of course, one of the original "Mercury 7" astronauts and the only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.

His passing comes just a few days after his fellow Mercury astronaut, L. Gordon Cooper, was in the news.

Of "We Seven," now only John Glenn and Scott Carpenter remain. Ironically, John Glenn was the oldest of the Mercury astronauts.

So much for gathering no Moss...

The Patriots acquired Randy Moss on draft day. Obviously, a change in direction from an organization that has tried to build a franchise around character. We'll see how this works -- it did, after all, for Corey Dillon. My initial take is that they didn't really give up too much (a few low draft picks that would have been gambles anyway), and figured it was worth a shot. We'll see...

Several articles here.

"Brian Cashman holding on line 1..."

Don't laugh. They've called up everybody else. If your kid's in little league, keep your phone on.

There's no reason to believe the yankees will bounce back from their horrible April -- other than the fact that they always do. The season isn't over, and of course they've won the last 800 or so division titles. That being said, it was interesting listening to excerpts from Joe Torre's post-game interview today, during which he used every cliche known to man (recreated to the best of my memory).

"It's a 162-game season..."

"It's still early -- it's a marathon, not a spring..."

"I don't question the effort of my players..."

"It's all about momentum..."

"Everyone has to deal with injuries..."

etc. etc. etc.

The Future That Never Was

Here's an interesting blog brought to my attention by Jonah Goldberg:

paleo-future.blogspot.com

Of particular interest to those of us who grew up in the 1970's when talk of "The Year 2000" was rampant.

Thorne in the Flesh

You really have to be kidding me on this one.

Gary Thorne's biography is here -- I always thought he had a good voice and was a pretty good broadcaster. Although he's never worked for the Red Sox, he is a native of Maine and graduated from the University of Maine with a law degree. Although he'd been in broadcasting for several years, I first heard of him in 1990 when he was part of the broadcast team during ESPN's inaugural season of Major League Baseball. He called ESPN's final game of that season -- which happened to be the game in which the Red Sox clinched the AL East title on a miraculous catch by Tom Brunansky. I always felt that Thorne botched this call -- and ESPN botched the coverage -- but that's another story.

Thorne also called Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals on 6/14/94 when the NY Rangers won their first Cup in 54 years.

All this to say that I can't believe he would say something this stupid and uninformed. Curt Schilling has his take here. I guess he doesn't like the media anymore...

The Best and the Brightest

That may be overstatement, but David Halberstam was clearly one of the best historical writers I've ever come across. I read and enjoyed The Education of a Coach (scroll down) just before football season last year and, reviewing his bibliography, read about 5 or 6 of his books in total.

Bob Ryan has a tribute here. As does the NY Times. RIP.

Imus B. Goewin

For several years Don Imus was on a local station and, if I timed it right, I was able to catch his 7:30 am interview with a notable person (politician, journalist, etc.) on my way to work in the morning.

The rest of the show occasionally had some humorous bits, which were often re-played. I was never overly impressed with Imus' ability as a host (sensing he was propped up by his broadcast partners and production team), but he certainly never took himself too seriously, and he was certainly an "equal opportunity offender." He once described his show as "Hate Radio" -- because everyone on the show hated everyone else.

As for the photograph -- I captured this at Kings Dominion last week outside the Scooby Doo & the Haunted Mansion ride. It was amongst several phony tombstones with fake names, but I couldn't resist taking a picture, particularly given the timing.

The Other Wizard

In another ironic twist, Johnny Hart's partner Brant Parker died on April 15, 2007. Parker and Hart co-created The Wizard of Id in 1964. Brant's son Jeff Parker took over the Wizard in 1997. A full obituary is here.

Off the top of my head, I believe this leaves Mort Walker as the senior American cartoonist, but I haven't researched this. His official website is here.

Salad Days friend JB sent this link of one cartoonist's tribute to Johnny Hart.

Not too long ago, I read one commentator's observation (no source available) that cartoonists like Hart, Parker and The Greatest Of All Time were worthy of the title of "genius" not because of the complexity of their work, but because of its simplicity -- noting that the simple, unadorned strip required much more creativity than the over-elaborate cartoons that populate the funny papers today. An interest point. And of course, in all three cases, you have the simple matter of longevity. As The Greatest Of All Time said at the end of his career, "We have beaten every one of them."

BC and the Wizard

The great Johnny Hart has died. I was never a huge BC fan, but I thought the Wizard of Id was pretty clever. However, I always admired him for having no fear about running an Easter-oriented strip around that time of year. Ironically, not unlike The Greatest of All Time, Johnny died the day before (what would be) his final such strip appeared.

Coach Rob

Eddie Robinson died last week -- legendary coach at Grambling State University. He was portrayed by Harry Belafonte in the otherwise forgettable Grambling's White Tiger. My favorite memory of Coach Rob, however, was his appearance for the coin toss at Super Bowl XXXII (the John Elway game), shortly after he retired, for which he wore a PEANUTS football tie showing Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.

The attached picture shows him wearing the same tie, while coaching one of his final games (if not the last) at Grambling in November 1997.

84

Darryl Stingley has died. He was the Patriots receiver paralyzed in a 1978 preseason game on a hit by Jack "They Call Me Assassin" Tatum of the Raiders.

About 15 years ago I read his autobiography, Happy to be Alive, which is hard to find but definitely worth picking up.

Bob Ryan has a nice obituary in the Boston Globe. Bob Kraft's comments (video link on the same page) are worth hearing.

He played before I was watching NFL games with any interest, but for whatever reason, my high school had a copy of a 1978 NFL Preseason Guide, which picked the Pats -- led by "Stevie Wonder" Grogan and Darryl "The Peril" Stingley to go to the SuperBowl against the Dallas Cowboys. I wish I'd smuggled that out under my graduation robe.

Oddly enough, he's not in the Patriots Hall of Fame, but I do recall them honoring him at the old Sullivan / Foxboro Stadium before a Monday Night Football Game. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for a very special player introduction . . . . number 84 . . . . Darryl Stingley!"

A class act who never displayed a shred of hatred for a promising career so unfairly cut short. Rest in peace, number 84.

Triple Jeopardy

I just missed this. We had Jeopardy! on last night but I had to leave the room before Final and got distracted and missed the ending. All three contestants ended up tied. I saw this happen once before, and I've seen several two-person ties, including one in a tournament. Tune in Monday...

Hitch a Ride cont'd

We have now learned that Mr. Delp's death was at his own hand. Somewhat contradictory to his outward personality, but a tragedy for his family nonetheless.

Hitch a Ride

Brad Delp has died. He was the lead singer for Boston on four of their five studio albums and had one of the best rock music voices I've ever heard. Only Greg X. Volz (formerly of Petra) had similar range to my untrained ear.

I saw him in concert with Boston twice -- in 1995 and 1997. By then he'd turned over the tougher parts to younger singers including Fran Cosmo, but on both occasions I was floored when he performed flawlessly on Mort Than a Feeling, including -- specifically -- the final note, which was no mean feat for any vocalist, in his prime or otherwise.

I was also impressed -- from a distance -- by his humility. Although Tom Scholz was the lead musician and creative force being Boston, Brad was clearly the glue that held them together, at least on the stage. At the first concert (1995), I wasn't sure who the players were, other than Tom who was easy to recognize. Since Brad hadn't appeared on their most recent album (Walk On), I was somewhat surprised when I figured out (by process of elimination) that he was touring with them. They didn't introduce themselves until the end of the show, and Brad refused to introduce himself. Tom eventually did it, and Brad got a standing O.

While Brad had multiple opportunities -- with and without Boston -- to showcase his talent, it's a shame that Tom Scholz wasn't a little more prolific at producing albums. Although Brad returned to Boston for their last (ie most recent and also, in all likelihood, final) album, Corporate America, the same energy wasn't there as it was for their earlier work together. Five albums in 26 years strikes me as a disappointment, but that's what comes of being a perfectionist.

In any case, a tragedy for his friends, family, and the music world, but he leaves some great material behind. Tributes & news articles include:

Official Boston site
Un-Official Boston site
Barry Goudreau
Boston Globe also here

Number 38 (1913-2006)

One of my earliest posts (scroll down the August 06 Archive) was on the subject of President Gerald Ford. There's been plenty of other tributes to the Great Healer the past week or so. RIP #38.

These events remind of a joke I heard during the Carter administration:

A small plane carrying President Carter, President Ford, Heny Kissinger, a priest and a hippie develops engine trouble, and the pilot and co-pilot immediately bail out, leaving only four parachutes for the five passengers.

President Carter says, "well, I'm president of the United States -- I'm certainly entitled to one." He grabs a parachute and jumps out.

President Ford says, "I've got an important golf game that I can't miss." He grabs a parachute and jumps out.

Kissinger says, "I have to be at a state department reunion tonight." He grabs a parachute and jumps out.

That leaves the priest and the hippie. The priest says, "well, I've lived a good, long life, young man. You can have the last parachute."

The hippie replies, "no way, man -- we can both make it."

"What do you mean?" asks the priest.

"The smartest man in the world just jumped out of the plane with my knapsack."

Somehow I don't think Henry would find that all that funny.

Variations on Top Ten

I saw this in a newsletter recently and thought it an interesting variation of one of those intrusive getting-to-know you questionnaires that often circulate via e-mail, so I'll give it a shot:

Potato Salad's Top Ten:

10 out of 10 almost describes my passion for: Exercise -- just don't do it enough.

9 times out of 10 I'd eat (calories aside): Cheeseburger pie or Mrs. Salad's famous Broccoli Salad.

8 hours a day at my dream job would be: 8 hours a day in my current job would be a blessing, actually.

7 days on a dream vacation would be spent: Somewhere historic; probably Washington DC.

6 seconds after I launch my Internet browser I'm on: Usually Salad Days, checking some of my links.

5 minutes is all the time I have for (pet peeve): Phony people.

4 stars is my rating for:
TV - Hogan's Heroes
Book - The Magic Touch by Joseph Kessel
Movie - Hoosiers, of course.

3 things always on my desk: Files, adding machine, and sharpened pencils.

2 people (living or dead) I wish I could meet: Winston Churchill and Robert Kraft.

1 thing that might surprise most people about me: To date, I've only been to one live, in-person football game at any level (and it was a preseason NFL game 12 years ago). Partial explanation -- I never played, and neither my high school or college had a football team.

Of Meredith and Millionaires

Old friend JB -- the game show fanatic -- procured tickets for a taping of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" in NYC two weeks ago, so I met him there and spent the day with him in Manhattan. A few observations --

(1) It was COLD. I'd been there an hour and already lost feeling in eight of my remaining nine toes. And I had a jacket, hat, gloves, scarf and earmuffs. JB showed up with little more than a windbreaker, but he's a heartier soul.

(2) The taping was fun. We saw three shows being produced, which will air in May 2007. Enjoyed cheering the contestants and participating when called upon (each one "asked the audience"). They said we'd be there about 3 hours and it was really close to 5 because it took about 2 hours for them to start the tapings. Still, a good time.

(3) There was also a 30-question multiple-choice audition test which we had 10 minutes to complete. During the last taping the announced about 12 names that had "passed." Yours truly was the first name called, and even more ironically, JB missed the cut. Following the last taping I did a 60-second interview with one of the producers and had a polaroid taken, while submitting a previously-completed questionnaire. For one of those reasons (interview, polaroid, questionnaire), I was advised about a week later that I would not be considered in the future as a contestant. Must have been the glare from my bald spot.

(4) Dinner at the ESPNZone in Times Square -- a reasonable wait for a Friday night, and surprisingly reasonable prices. JB then caught his train back up north and I wandered around Rockefeller Center for a few minutes before catching the bus.

(5) While leaving the aforementioned R-Center, I was accosted by a pizza delivery man on a bicycle who asked me to clarify an address affixed to his precious cargo. I had to tell him I had not a clue -- I hadn't even been to NYC in nearly eighteen years.

(6) The "slick" map I purchased the day before was worth its weight in gold. Not only did it help me maintain my orientation in a city of tall buildings and on a day of virtually no sunlight, it also had most subway stops marked, allowing for greater ease of travel.

We'll try to do it next year . . . hopefully before December!

All is quiet . . . finally

Well, it's the 23rd of December and I haven't posted anything in over a month. Oddly enough, things are rather quiet in the Salad household this weekend, two days until Christmas. Mrs. Salad took care of all the planning and shopping this year while yours truly was slaving away with his agency. It was actually enjoyable to go to Wal-Mart this afternoon. Although the place was nothing short of a Roman circus, I felt strangely at ease and under absolutely no pressure once I had located the final package of economy C-cells this side of the Mason-Dixon line. Looking forward to some relaxing days ahead, with no travel or other adventures planned. Maybe I'll even have some more entries here. Merry Christmas to all!

M*A*S*H*E*D

Robert Altman has died. His filmography is here.

I can't say I was a big fan of his -- another Hollywood leftist whose work followed his politics. His most famous work, M*A*S*H is often cited among top-100 lists and so forth, but only because (1) it resulted in a wildly successful television series (with which Altman had no involvement) and (2) it reinforced the left's mealy-mouthed antiwar sentiments.

Altman was said to have joked that Johnny Mandel made more profit from M*A*S*H simply by writing the theme song, thus gaining exponential royalties when it moved to TV.

While the movie has its moments, I found it rather uneven -- kind of an attempt to stretch a half-hour sitcom into a feature-length picture, which in itself is odd since of course the movie came first, but, again, Altman and Ring Lardner Jr. had an agenda.

Politics and inaccuracies aside, M*A*S*H is palatable and at times even enjoyable until the completely incongruous football sequence at the end, at which point the entire picture degenerates from a comedic yet at least somewhat thoughtful antiwar commentary into an almost unwatchable slapstick. "Hotlips" O'Houlihan goes from Nurse Ratchet to Britney Spears with one cut -- again, completely in contradiction to the first 3/4 of the movie. I've never figured out what Altman et al were trying to do with that.

For its part, the TV series -- although a different breed of humor than Hogan's Heroes -- is very well done if you can accept the underlying anti-war / anti-establishment tone and you can handle Alan Alda in small doses. Perhaps the only case where the spinoff TV show was better -- and (much) more successful -- than the movie which inspired it.

Veteran's Day

Here's a Veteran's Day tribute worth a pittance of your time.


We were at the WWII Memorial on Veteran's Day. They were indeed the greatest generation.

12077322

The Greatest Pumpkin

It's the 40th Anniversary of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," which needs no further introduction. Here are some celebrity stories, trivia and related fun stuff.

Hard to believe that there was a time in our nation's history that the term "Great Pumpkin" was unknown.

Game Show Mania

Long-time game show authority JB brought this site to my attention:

http://www.pageoclips.com/

Comments Welcome

I've changed the settings on Salad Days to allow for comments from "anyone" subject to word verification (you'll see what that means if you leave a comment). So you don't have to be a registered user if you want to harass me. We'll see if this works...

Earl Weaver Forever

From a fan:

You still play "Earl Weaver Baseball"? What is this - 1985???

Mike

I play it on my old 386SX machine I have from college. I can play a full game in about 12 minutes -- 5 if I speed it up.

Hard as it may be to believe, I've tried various programs over the past twenty years or so, and none has been able to emulate the features that I get with EWB -- obviously, the newer stuff has better graphics and more bells & whistles, but I still prefer EWB. It also has several bugs that I wish I was smart enough to fix (it can't be that hard, considering it's an old DOS program).

Have a Coke and a...

There really are too many people out there with too much time on their hands. You have to see this.

halp us jon carry

Many of you may have seen this. The story is here (I couldn't post the photograph here for some reason).

Kerrying On

I interviewed John Kerry many years ago when I was a (very) fledgling radio reporter in Pittsfield MA. Politics aside, I came away with the unshakable impression that he was the classic "empty suit" -- an aristocratic bearing, a haughty delivery, and the repitition of boilerplate liberal platitudes seemed all that he was capable of (albeit, characteristics not entirely unwelcomed in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts). His only sliver of credibility seemed to depend on the fact that his speech pattern was so unbearably heavy-handed that many were apparently convinced that he actually knew what he was talking about (and, heaven forbid, many have even believed it). His Senior partner in the US Senate -- not exactly a favorite of this reporter, either -- has at least compiled a substantial legislative record through combination of hard work, his family name, and 40 years of influence. Kerry, it would seem, had none of this. Even his initials -- JFK -- seemed at least a semi-intentional grasping at credibility. I've seen very little in the past three years that would disabuse this notion.

So earlier this week JFK-2 was at a political rally and wanted to take a cheap shot at the president. Okay, that's politics. The problem, however, is something his handlers -- and, of course, Kerry himself -- should know by now: People who have no sense of humor should not be given the additional burden of trying to be funny.

Granted, even if he'd said "get us stuck" instead of "get stuck," it wouldn't exactly have been worth inclusion in a Jay Leno monologue, but beyond that, this guy has the delivery of a walrus and the timing of an epileptic kitten. John Kerry trying to tell jokes is like me trying to wire a ceiling fan, except that I know I can't do it. He really should know better.

Rob Long must be loving this. I'm surprised he hasn't weighed in on it (to my knowledge). Others have said this is (was) the "Dean Scream" of the 2008 Kerry Campaign. He's done.

One final note -- President GWB once said to a group of graduating seniors (I believe at Yale, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now and I'll paraphrase the quote) -- "To all you A-students, congratulations. You've done great! To you C-students -- just think, you, too can become president of the United States." Can we get Kerry for plagiarism, too? (Maybe we could, if he'd actually deliver his material correctly.

Big Red's Machine

That Red Auerbach (1917-2006) was the greatest coach in NBA history is so far beyond question that it seems frivilous to even raise the point. Phil Jackson may have the same number of titles (as a coach) and Lenny Wilkens might have more career wins, but neither of them would have jobs in professional basketball if it hadn't been for Red. A true legend that it's hard to imagine the Celtics -- or the NBA -- without him.

There are, of course, media reports everywhere on Red. All I have to add is:

1. Len Bias. Red -- and, consequently, the entire organization, never recovered from this one.

2. The 16 championships are nice, but Red also needs to be remembered as an early crusader against racial and ethnic prejudices in a relatively hostile city.

3. Every NBA team needs to do something to honor Red. He built the NBA in its early days from a afterthought to the highly profitable enterprise it is today.

4. The Celtics, too, should honor Red -- by putting a winner on the floor! It would take a magical move or two, but zero banners in twenty years (after 16 out of 30) is ridiculous.

Comings and Goings

I've removed the Sons of Sam Horn link; I've tried for a year to get privileges on their site with no response, and they've made it more difficult to get to the other threads on the site even as a lurker. Enough of their elitism; I'll find intelligent sports discussion elsewhere.

In the meantime, welcome RudyBaga's blog for some intelligent commentary on current events.

In The News

Blogger has finally (albeit perhaps temporarily) resolved my account & password issues, so I can finally start getting caught up on all the wonderful postings I had been formulating in my mind.

First, some recent deaths worth noticing:

Christopher Glenn (10/17/06) -- Growing up on Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970's, Christopher Glenn is most remembered by my generation for his "In the News" segments.

Joe Niekro (10/27/06) -- Phil's little brother. I didn't even know he was sick.

Trevor Berbick (10/28/06) -- Jamaican legend and the last boxer to face Mohammad Ali.

P.W. Botha (10/31/06) -- Last of the Apartheid hard-liners has finally crossed the Rubicon.

Richard Reeves' Imagination

My most recently-completed book-on-tape is by Richard Reeves -- President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination. I entered into this endeavor with full knowledge that Reeves is a bona fide left-winger, but with the hopes that he'd at least have some semblance of objectivity.

For the first several chapters, it wasn't too bad. I have pretty clear memories of the Reagan administration, particularly the early years, and Reeves provides a good narration of the inauguration, assassination attempt and budget legislation.

Unfortunately, the book has several shortcomings. First of all it is, literally, about President Reagan -- beginning at his inauguration and ending in January 1989, with a brief epilogue about his later years and death. First and foremost, this makes it a biography without context. Stylistically (and, for that matter, philosophically), it becomes tediously bogged down in unending recitation of obscure details and statistics.

The philosphical problem is that while Liberals such as Reeves might enjoy the chance to point out the mistakes and mis-steps of the Reagan Administration (I await with great anticipation Reeves' chronicle of the first two years of the Clinton Administration), members of the VRWC such as this observer will be quick to point out that Reagan and his Administration weren't exactly detail-oriented in terms of their attitude towards governnance in the first place. In other words, Reagan was about big ideas and getting the big issues right.

Since Reeves can't deny that the Cold War is over and the Soviet Union no longer exists, he can only resort to insignificant minutia, while while taking cheap shots at his primary subject and those around him (including not-so-subtle insinuations that Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease during his presidency), but at Republican leaders that are still visible today -- Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, George H.W. Bush, etc.

While Reeves is obsessed with detail and jabs at conservatives, it is ironic that the book contains a large number of errors that any editor -- regardless of political leanings -- should have noticed. Reference to John Hinkley as having "shot and killed a Washington policeman" indicates that Reeves may have suffered a memory warp to his JFK project. Trent Lott is identified as the Senate Majority Leader while he was still in the House of Representatives (he was elected to the Senate in 1988). Since I listen to this in the car, I can't exactly write down everything, but there's many more. Maybe not critical in and of themselves, but if a writer can't get the simple things right, then what about the important stuff? Reeves should know better.

On the positive side, I will say that the narration by George K. Wilson is exceptional, particularly in Wilson's somewhat unusual ability for changing his voice to match all of the principal characters. Reagan's is a voice that has been parodied by many, but Wilson imitates his voice almost to perfection without giving into the obvious temptation. In addition, he shifts gears flawlessly to Vice President Bush, James Baker, Oliver North, Donald Regan, Tip O'Neill and others. An impressive accomplishment; too bad the author can't produce material worthy of the narration.

Eddie Pellagrini (1918-2006)

Former Red Sox SS and longtime Boston fixture Eddie Pellagrini has died. Bob Ryan has an article here.

New York, New York

I really don't hate the Yankees. Really. At least not all of them. Joe Torre is a class act. I've never been a huge Jeter fan, but I can appreciate his talent. I respect Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, and I've admired Mariano Rivera for years. Johnny Damon may be duplicitous, but I can't hate the guy because he wanted more money. Robinson Cano is a terrific young talent. Their coaching staff includes Ron Guidry, Don Mattingly and Tony Pena, all of whom I admired as players, as well as Joe Kerrigan, who was Boston's very successful pitching coach for several years (before a misadventure at the front of the dugout that we won't get into).

Even George Steinbrenner -- with his reputation as a blustering, obnoxious, unspeakably wealthy boor -- is less well known for being immeasuably generous towards worthy causes (including the Jimmy Fund) and supporting players in need.

The Yankees won in the 90's (1996, 1998-2000), with this core group of players and a good portion of home-grown talent, augmented by additional players from other organizations to complete the puzzle. Then they started to get bloated, even by their standards. Mike Mussina. Jason Giambi. Hideki Matsui. Jaret Wright. Gary Sheffield. Carl Pavano. And, of course, Alex Rodriguez. Generally, moderately-talented or, at best, above-average players who were acquired for obscene amounts of money and all of whom have yet to deliver another ring to the Bronx. It's really easy to root against the majority of the Yanks' roster. Hating the Yankees because they have lots of money and a successful history is one thing; hating them because their roster is full of unlikable players that are largely past their prime is another.

When the Yankees pounced on A-Rod in early 2004, I had a theory that was largely half-baked but is beginning to make sense -- the Red Sox had pursued A-Rod not so much to acquire him, but to bait the Yankees into pulling the trigger, which they did, but at the expense of not acquiring the pitching help they needed. Murderer's Row or otherwise, the Yankees have only won when they've had strong pitching. Now they don't, and Detroit made that obvious.

Thanks Yanks

First of all, I'd like to specially thank the New York Yankees for falling apart so magnificently at the hands of the Detroit Tigers. That really made my year. It was almost as enjoyable as their complete and utter collapse in 2004.

Twenty-First Century World Series Scoreboard:

Boston Red Sox - 1
NY Yankees - 0

"Year Two-Thou-Sand"
"Year Two-Thou-Sand"

Back Again

Not that anybody cares, but I haven't been able to post anything for the past few weeks because Blogger somehow had me locked out and had changed my password. So I've got some catching up to do...