"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/