tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51254025673513292472024-03-14T13:49:24.538-05:00Once A Knight ...Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.comBlogger622125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-2289672515202935482024-03-09T13:01:00.001-06:002024-03-09T13:02:54.339-06:00The Holocaust museum in Amsterdam (at long last)<span style="font-size: x-large;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uxCCnece976xUML6jwiC_h-d93aMgWDxhNpqV2_xDHa4_dIyUkvRj3UeEpdtPp5ErfLilm9AvjDUhsi8wlfpSmP3t7AJ8I_VsgQais9nCiU5hP3g9FptYe-kMrsA4enaFI2BptEfAH9ujxAqMXnOrYlsUbGTDYLmlOr9162exeIjGh3BkEy6d89Ae7g/s1150/Netherlands%20Holocaust%20Museum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1150" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-uxCCnece976xUML6jwiC_h-d93aMgWDxhNpqV2_xDHa4_dIyUkvRj3UeEpdtPp5ErfLilm9AvjDUhsi8wlfpSmP3t7AJ8I_VsgQais9nCiU5hP3g9FptYe-kMrsA4enaFI2BptEfAH9ujxAqMXnOrYlsUbGTDYLmlOr9162exeIjGh3BkEy6d89Ae7g/w640-h434/Netherlands%20Holocaust%20Museum.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> On Sunday, the new Netherlands National Holocaust Museum will be dedicated in Amsterdam.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> (On the front of the building the sign says <i>Nationaal</i> Holocaust Museum ... that's the Dutch spelling of national).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Anyway -- to use a favorite (borrowed) expression: <i>What took them so long?</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i> </i>It has been 82-plus years since the abuse, degradation and eventual deportation/deaths of Dutch Jews at the Nazi concentration camps began.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> There are several buildings and memorials to honor Holocaust prisoners and victims in Amsterdam; we have visited them on our three trips back to the old country, and we've written about them.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> But never has there been an actual Holocaust museum -- like many around the world, including those in Washington, D.C. and Dallas, for example -- in the Netherlands.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Until now, thank goodness.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> We thank a friend at Trinity Terrace -- our seniors residency in Fort Worth -- for alerting us to <i>The New York Times</i> story about the museum (see link at the bottom of this blog). It was news to us. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> If you know and understand our family's Holocaust history, you know that we think it is important.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> And it is important enough in Holland that today the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, will attend the museum ceremony.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> (He will do so alongside the president of Israel, and with today's fragile Middle East situation, some 200 mosques -- Palestinian supporters -- and even a protesting Jewish organization or two suggested/demanded that Willem-Alexander not attend. His reply: I will be there.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Not coincidentally, we -- Beatrice and I -- were in Amsterdam the day (April 30, 2013) that Willem-Alexander became the first king of the Netherlands in more than 100 years.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> That was just a few days after we visited -- or re-visited -- four sites in the Jewish Quarter in Amsterdam: the Hollandsche Schouwburg, <span style="font-family: helvetica;"> the Joods Historisch Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue, and the Auschwitz memorial.</span> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Here is a link to the blog piece I wrote then: </span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-place-for-memories-and-tears.html</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Plenty of Holocaust history at those places, and we appreciated the sights.</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> The new museum will tell -- as an Associated Press story this week noted -- the story "in video footage, photos, scale models and mementos, of Dutch victims of the Holocaust."</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> As you also might know, my mother (Rose Van Thyn) spoke and wrote about her and our family's Holocaust experiences for many years. Will some of her material (photos, videos, articles, letters) be included in this Holocaust museum?</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Answer: We have no idea. Certainly no indication of that.</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> My sister -- Elsa Van Thyn -- said in a note: "Guess the museum will feature Mama's statements about how the Dutch weren't the best for the Jews." </span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Don't know.</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> But what we do know is that -- whether our family, especially those who lost their lives in the World War II years -- is directly acknowledged at the museum or not, the opening of this facility is a great thing.</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> We cannot forget our people.</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> And we are grateful for those who remember, and -- with this museum -- honor their memory.</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Here are links to information about the museum:</span></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> -- </span></span><a class="ydpc180bbf5yiv7444403860ydpe0e4fce9yiv7699195565enhancr_card_0589198777" href="https://www.museum.nl/en/nationaal-holocaustmuseum" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #196ad4; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; outline: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Nationaal Holocaustmuseum Museum/nl\</span></a><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: xx-large;"> </span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: xx-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"> -- </span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;">https://www.yahoo.com/news/holocaust-museum-amsterdam-aims-tell-063005778.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"> -- </span></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;">https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-holocaust-museum-antisemitism-4b7f1e725bb014283c57381425001aee</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large;"> -- </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a class="ydpc180bbf5yiv7444403860ydpe0e4fce9yiv7699195565ydp2afc9d3fenhancr_card_0363899069" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/05/arts/design/holocaust-museum-the-netherlands.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #196ad4; outline: none;" target="_blank">With a New Holocaust Museum, the Netherlands Faces Its Past</a> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 24px; outline: none;"><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; outline: none;" /></div><div><span style="font-family: AP;"><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-77103921670513683762024-03-05T07:43:00.000-06:002024-03-05T07:43:12.909-06:00And now he's 50 (oh, my!)<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large;"> </span></p><div class="columns-inner" style="background-color: white; min-height: 0px;"><div class="column-center-outer" style="float: left; position: relative; width: 1082.99px;"><div class="column-center-inner" style="padding: 0px 15px;"><div class="main section" id="main" name="Main" style="margin: 0px 15px;"><div class="widget Blog" data-version="1" id="Blog1" style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px; min-height: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="blog-posts hfeed"><div class="date-outer"><div class="date-posts"><div class="post-outer"><div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template" itemprop="blogPost" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; min-height: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-824698360336258784" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 1022.99px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> When our son turned 40 a decade ago, I wrote a blog titled, "When your kid is 40, where are you?"</span></span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-824698360336258784" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 1022.99px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Let's catch up and change that 40 to 50. Yes, Jason Shawn Key is 50</span>. Don't think he's too concerned about this milestone. </span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-824698360336258784" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 1022.99px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Just as 10 years ago, he stays busy with work and being a father -- and chauffeur to two boys (ages 15 and 13) who have lots to do and places to go.</span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-824698360336258784" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 1022.99px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Reading back over the blog of 2014, we had to laugh at the recall of the Facebook message his sister -- five years younger -- posted then: </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">"Hope you have a wonderful day and a long, slow, enjoyable slide down that hill."</span></span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-824698360336258784" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 1022.99px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And then there was this:</span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-824698360336258784" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 1022.99px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span> </span><span>Gary West -- the horse-racing writer/expert and writer extraordinaire, period, and our old buddy from</span><span> </span><em>Shreveport Journal</em><span> </span><span>and</span><span> </span><em>Fort Worth Star-Telegram</em><span> </span><span>sports days -- sent this note on Jason's birthday:</span></span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-824698360336258784" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 1022.99px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "This morning when I got up, I felt a little stiffness and soreness. When I wheeled out of bed and placed my feet on the floor, my knees sounded like two bowls of breakfast cereal. For no good reason, I was tired. In other words, I felt old. And now you tell me this:<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "J-Man is 40.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "I'm going back to bed."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Make that 50, and how are you feeling now, Mr. West? </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL6Z-KGjM4ojVCajbeDccPMMmdkAWNoVSMndOHh_3EQBdiPubFdg31Fuy7MzUAkz_logMqxBCj4uZwlsY0P8BImR-87vSAbLDifJwMfwsffTyqBQKL9IGnpePzlidJxWP9NQODOZ0jhr2KJ18IuIHktwz3yxAicBP8YQetMnsZRHIEGAe5l3PKdfcZPY/s2053/Jay%20and%20Mom,%201975.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2053" data-original-width="1852" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL6Z-KGjM4ojVCajbeDccPMMmdkAWNoVSMndOHh_3EQBdiPubFdg31Fuy7MzUAkz_logMqxBCj4uZwlsY0P8BImR-87vSAbLDifJwMfwsffTyqBQKL9IGnpePzlidJxWP9NQODOZ0jhr2KJ18IuIHktwz3yxAicBP8YQetMnsZRHIEGAe5l3PKdfcZPY/w361-h400/Jay%20and%20Mom,%201975.jpg" width="361" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> First met him when he was almost 3, and I was single and enchanted with his mother. Didn't know that I wanted to get married, but when she brought him to my apartment for our first meeting, he was the most beautiful, cutest little boy I'd ever seen. His hair was blond, and perfect.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Marriage, and being a daddy, soon didn't seem so daunting.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span> He was still in a diaper some and still couldn't pronounce all his words -- I was "Nito" for a while and then "Daddy Nito" -- but his animal sounds were a hoot -- "c</span><span>ad-doo" (rooster) and "dobble-dobble" (turkey) -- and he wasn't fussy. And that dimple on his left cheek stood out, and still does. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Soon he was making trips to the newspaper with me and to<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8UGBOPCIuOk2WVDAgIPQNJnI4inXQJKCGeIf8kPerlO8M_8y6ziz2Lkz8P2WtA3N_Cb5cybTglCjH8bI8cOA6rDFClgCEAUH2VzrgO_zcKkQo9fsOlPSyvLvnK-7Ue1ohzX1JS2tjHXlAZCq32ShzBv1k-3kaI6t6YoAXnjmiMfFPPmaPGMlB5h-Az4/s642/Jason%20portrait.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="487" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx8UGBOPCIuOk2WVDAgIPQNJnI4inXQJKCGeIf8kPerlO8M_8y6ziz2Lkz8P2WtA3N_Cb5cybTglCjH8bI8cOA6rDFClgCEAUH2VzrgO_zcKkQo9fsOlPSyvLvnK-7Ue1ohzX1JS2tjHXlAZCq32ShzBv1k-3kaI6t6YoAXnjmiMfFPPmaPGMlB5h-Az4/w304-h400/Jason%20portrait.JPG" width="304" /></a></div>Centenary's Gold Dome and to SPAR Stadium for baseball, and after a while, he believed that Daddy owned those places.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> At 6, not long after he snuck his toy miniature trucks in his pants to school (and got them taken away, never to be retrieved), he began playing soccer. His Opa Louie was pleased by that, and -- well -- a referee for some of his games.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> In Hawaii -- where we moved in 1980-81 -- he was labeled "the franchise" by his coach. He always could run fast, as fast as anyone on his teams, and he was solidly built and unafraid of contact. So soccer became a habit, and he played for 11 years -- always one of the best players on his team, but not always the star.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He loved it, and Beatrice and I loved watching him. And we traveled a lot of places to do that.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But he had a lot of interests other than sports. When it came time to stop playing on soccer teams, he began preparing for college. We were thrilled when, as we were living in northeast Florida, he was accepted at LSU. Maybe his "Daddy Nito" -- who first took him to LSU football games when he was 8 -- was an influence.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He spent five years at LSU, loved it, and did earn a degree in business there. His mother was especially proud of his efforts; she had gotten over her everyday tears during his senior year in high school (Orange Park, Florida) when she thought of her little boy moving far away.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> But Mom and Jay were always close, and like her, he is a </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> people pleaser. He was from the time he was young, and still is. He is a helper, a do-er. A dutiful son, and older brother, and friend. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqPWsWFfv-9njcsECLp-Z1eI9NtbDlyXsCJ44Ur2ry3SEguaDsN62c2N79I4qIVZ_MzSrZmpN_zXFEHOvkM3FTkRXjQi92vvBPaBzPu9zaiPCr7nH-TC-TlxfHOsct9OKDAIJ-KBjDyQOFgqb1Vn8ZXynXgMI_YOOG8mYAe3CIUodD5qWrtV7bI9IKZs/s1635/Jay%20and%20boys,%20Tiger%20Stadium%20--%202023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1635" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOqPWsWFfv-9njcsECLp-Z1eI9NtbDlyXsCJ44Ur2ry3SEguaDsN62c2N79I4qIVZ_MzSrZmpN_zXFEHOvkM3FTkRXjQi92vvBPaBzPu9zaiPCr7nH-TC-TlxfHOsct9OKDAIJ-KBjDyQOFgqb1Vn8ZXynXgMI_YOOG8mYAe3CIUodD5qWrtV7bI9IKZs/w422-h640/Jay%20and%20boys,%20Tiger%20Stadium%20--%202023.jpg" width="422" /></a></div> More than anything these days, he is a father. His job -- </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">vice-president of a construction plumbing supply company -- is important to him, but those boys are his world. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Jacob, the curly-haired one, is 15; Kaden, the growing younger one, is 13, and a budding soccer player whose speed is </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">reminiscent of the young Jason. They are the middle two of our four grandchildren.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They live about 45 miles from us, and come to Fort Worth to visit with us, and it's always great to see them. And Jason -- for years an avid foodie -- often brings a meal he has prepared.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> So now he's 50 -- and we are deep in our 70s. Wow. He is our J-Man, and he always will be. A beautiful little boy, a grown-up middle-aged man. We are pr</span><span style="font-size: x-large;">etty proud of him.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3CYoQ8dmYUx326J5d4qd2Rx12HGHOh9z6F5-oOETC6ae5sj7us9Q44WiMG715DmvjPFxcBg-RwbbCgABt6wv4qbS_hj344YyhyphenhyphennVpY0Sa5xoAfkuCww0coIelKrZ_SHQxW3fQAyiarbRqN70qN5gfsiOssb3Qqm4yecRNR8HVU9hw6dI10nsGKUZsps/s1080/Jay%20and%20boys%20--%202023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3CYoQ8dmYUx326J5d4qd2Rx12HGHOh9z6F5-oOETC6ae5sj7us9Q44WiMG715DmvjPFxcBg-RwbbCgABt6wv4qbS_hj344YyhyphenhyphennVpY0Sa5xoAfkuCww0coIelKrZ_SHQxW3fQAyiarbRqN70qN5gfsiOssb3Qqm4yecRNR8HVU9hw6dI10nsGKUZsps/w640-h480/Jay%20and%20boys%20--%202023.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-10811316665541750312024-02-12T11:55:00.012-06:002024-02-12T13:02:55.157-06:00Super Bowl leftovers: Greatest? Too soon<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_g3hZlbykC_0CXdECFL4gsts9FpJcCvBclsLN0EvoREEHhzka1vxNXlpd-jglZ0_zxkRMwh8J7NUTA6TLtiTuLnoeybf8csXHGmTkygeOrgDSTY7-ZonaY6ldwrRuHxNOCgYhY019FkJBtX3LE9yjYGY9eTeIMMzKzeX3rEtFqH6B25U6LcQ4psenkA/s1100/Super-Bowl-1100x733.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="1100" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_g3hZlbykC_0CXdECFL4gsts9FpJcCvBclsLN0EvoREEHhzka1vxNXlpd-jglZ0_zxkRMwh8J7NUTA6TLtiTuLnoeybf8csXHGmTkygeOrgDSTY7-ZonaY6ldwrRuHxNOCgYhY019FkJBtX3LE9yjYGY9eTeIMMzKzeX3rEtFqH6B25U6LcQ4psenkA/w400-h266/Super-Bowl-1100x733.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Patrick Mahomes (15) proves again that he is a Super QB</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">So the sports headlines this morning are suggesting that it's time to declare Patrick Mahomes the greatest quarterback ever.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Please ... let's not rush into this.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Yes, he's terrific, and played brilliantly in the Kansas City Chiefs' final two scoring drives Sunday in Super Bowl 58 (take your Roman numerals into the modern era, NFL).</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But greatest ever? Too soon.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Three Super Bowl championships leave Mahomes only four behind Tom Brady (you do remember him, right?).</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Only two behind Bart Starr for NFL championships.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Only one behind Terry Bradshaw -- Shreveport's and Woodlawn's/Louisiana Tech's Terry Bradshaw -- and Joe Montana.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Tied in NFL championships with Johnny U. ... that's Unitas, for those of you who might have forgotten the Colts' No. 19 or don't even know who he was. </span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Tied, too, with the Cowboys' Troy Aikman.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And even before our time -- the early 1950s -- Otto Graham and the Cleveland Browns were the NFL's dynasty team.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (Quick note: Greatest ever? One of the most useless arguments in sports lore, in my opinion. Wrote a blog -- several years ago -- why I don't believe it this concept ... in any sport. Just too subjective a subject.)</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwJoBoOo31RoVJj-J2aDW_zfETTnYqiYi-cXJjtG6mD4LlyD8r8JXyAzN7Z9nup7_iLnTFM1tkO6k_FwjB6zfL-v-p6nUwzjmpM_xwluysbJgdKZZopOalx4tUunL3gnhnc7yIipAphSZ_26b_CfT4wZK1eT2_vuu9y8QWQjgpvbyslQMd59Lff8dLfo/s1280/johnny%20u..jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwJoBoOo31RoVJj-J2aDW_zfETTnYqiYi-cXJjtG6mD4LlyD8r8JXyAzN7Z9nup7_iLnTFM1tkO6k_FwjB6zfL-v-p6nUwzjmpM_xwluysbJgdKZZopOalx4tUunL3gnhnc7yIipAphSZ_26b_CfT4wZK1eT2_vuu9y8QWQjgpvbyslQMd59Lff8dLfo/w400-h225/johnny%20u..jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Johnny U. (19), the legend began in 1958</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Speaking of Johnny U. ... let's go back to the famed 1958 NFL Championship Game -- "The Greatest Game Ever Played." Because that's what I thought about watching Sunday's game wind down.</span></span><p></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> What Kansas City, and Mahomes, did on their final two drives was identical to what Johnny U. and the Baltimore Colts did on that early Sunday evening in December 1958 at, yes, the original Yankee Stadium.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> A desperate drive in the final two minutes of regulation for the tying field goal?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Colts, 73 yards for a 20-yard field goal with 7 seconds remaining. (The first recognized "two-minute drill.") Check. Chiefs, 64 yards for a 29-yard FG with </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">3 seconds remaining.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Winning overtime drive? Colts, 80 yards, <i>after </i>the Giants went three-and-out on a first possession. Check. Chiefs, 75 yards, <i>after </i>the 49ers had to settle for a field goal on their OT possession. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Clutch plays? How about Unitas' 11-yard pass to halfback Lenny Moore on a 3rd-and-10. Check. And Mahomes' 8-yard scramble on 4th-and-1 at the KC 36 when the Chiefs <i>had</i> to convert to extend the game.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Great main receiver? The Colts' Raymond Berry (uniform No. 82) catching three consecutive passes for 62 yards to set up the tying FG. Check. The Chiefs' brutish Travis Kelce -- you know, <i>the boyfriend -- </i>with the 22-yard reception/run to the 49ers' 11 (ending at 0:10 in regulation time).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><i> </i>So, 2023 Chiefs, meet the 1958 Colts. All the same.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Think Andy Reid -- three Super Bowl titles as a head coach, two near-misses) -- is a legend? Well, he's well on the way, but ... </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> How about the 1958 NY Giants, the OT losers, whose offensive coordinator was Vince Lombardi and defensive coordinator was Tom Landry. Gee, what happened to those coaches? Did they ever have any more success?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> And Weeb Ewbank, the Colts' 1958 head coach, added another NFL title with the famed 1969 New York Jets. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><i> </i>And like KC now as a Super Bowl champion repeater, the Colts made it two titles in a row in 1959 (also against the same New York Giants).<i> </i> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> KC has a dynasty, three Super Bowl titles in five years, four Super Bowl appearances in five years.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Greatest dynasty? Let's not rush this.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Almost -- almost -- as good as Lombardi's Green Bay Packers: five NFL titles in seven years, one near-miss (1960-66). Almost as good as Bradshaw and the Pittsburgh Steelers: four Super Bowl titles in six years (1974-79). Almost as good as the early 1990s Cowboys: three Super Bowl titles in four years.</span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> (You do remember the Cowboys in the Super Bowl? It's only been 28 years, but who's counting?)</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> And the Patriots, Brady and coach Bill Belichick? Six titles, three seconds in 18 years. (And Belichick was the defensive coordinator for the only two Super Bowl titles Bill Parcells ever won, with the Giants.)</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Look, Mahomes is terrific and seems pretty humble about it (a lot more so than the boyfriend), and Andy Reid seems a likable personality and no one doubt his coaching genius.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> But greatest ever? Let's be sane about this. Old farts like me don't forget Lombardi, Landry, and Johnny U. ... And the Blond Bomber from Shreveport.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></p>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-24344589317011750742023-10-22T20:56:00.001-05:002024-02-12T12:00:51.852-06:00The Social Hour at Trinity Terrace: a history<p> <span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050;">From humble beginnings, the Social Hour has grown into one of the best-attended, most-anticipated weekly events at Trinity Terrace.</span></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> It began in 2008, and it was Martha Taylor's idea. Also credit Bill Starz for the start. (That's a tease; read below for the details).</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Whether the setting is Thursday-at-4 p.m. in the Longhorn Auditorium or the occasional evening venture outside on the terrace area, there are programs that draw up to 200 or so residents.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAiYMkLO0B8aDWZfpWlLBG_tplCke60Ejvg9DmHW0wQ-RJy7gi_UlbGcvkyAfrlnMvXBJDURuiupS4ujXvktWw-o1ViZNOi3MnvJeXmU6EUUXd5wFodC_2PsQ3_PqNV2MIVvO0PZELcdin9dLUvUxhGtom6uqLi8xa9utxNgLXn-2iQncj39r04oCAFPs/s1951/TT_singers_uke-band.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1951" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAiYMkLO0B8aDWZfpWlLBG_tplCke60Ejvg9DmHW0wQ-RJy7gi_UlbGcvkyAfrlnMvXBJDURuiupS4ujXvktWw-o1ViZNOi3MnvJeXmU6EUUXd5wFodC_2PsQ3_PqNV2MIVvO0PZELcdin9dLUvUxhGtom6uqLi8xa9utxNgLXn-2iQncj39r04oCAFPs/w400-h220/TT_singers_uke-band.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Trinity Terrace's ukulele players and singers</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"></span> Guests attend, too, especially when the "world-famous Trinity Terrace Ukulele Philharmonic Orchestra, Chorus, Marching Society and Drill Team" -- that's director Ken Knight's tongue-in-cheek description -- is featured (four times a year). </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"></p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><div> The uke group, which has grown from a dozen to some 40-plus residents, has been in existence since January 2010 and from its start a part of Social Hour. And it now usually draws a more-than-capacity crowd. So much so that two concerts -- Wednesday and Thursday -- are a new schedule feature.<span style="background-color: white;"> </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"> Another great attraction: Resident Services director Behka Hartmann's program of songs ... be it jazz, classic or popular tunes and -- as in 2022 -- Christmas favorites. </span></div></span></span><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Her annual program in late May, outside on a nice evening, has been tied to a meal for residents, sponsored and served in the past two years by home-care companies. </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Since its very beginning, musical programs have been the core of the Social Hour schedule, and the main focus of those doing the scheduling.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Bill Starz was the first Social Hour committee chairman, and the longest-serving: six years (2008-13). He was followed by Charles Kelley for a year (2014), Rev. Bill Gould for three years (2015-17), Ken Knight for two (2018-19) and currently Nico Van Thyn for four years (2020-23).</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> There were two pandemic-forced interruptions -- four days short of one year, March 2020 to April 1, 2021, and then another eight weeks (last week of 2021, first seven of 2022).</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Lonely times at Trinity Terrace, right?</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;">---</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Many programs feature speakers -- book authors, newspaper people, Fort Worth notables, residents sharing their travel adventures, medical experts, etc.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Some have attracted full-house audiences, such as then-mayor Betsy Price and most recently Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn. Most memorably, in 2017, there was then-new resident Dr. Bobby Brown -- New York Yankees star-turned-Fort Worth cardiologist who went overtime sharing his wealth of humorous stories. </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Back to music: There are a dozen "regulars" audiences appreciate -- such as resident classical pianist Patrick Stanford; songs by Lisa Garrett, the aforementioned Ken Knight, Nancy and Gregg Froman, and Bob McClendon; piano-and-trumpet by Debbie and Ken Cockerham; piano duos (Nancy and Bruce Muskrat, Doris Gameiro and Jose Cubela), piano entertainer Buddy Bray, piano/music historian Beverly Howard (a resident), the "Warmin' Up team (Morgan Sullivan and Jim Duff), TCU students (with vocals and wind instruments), the Camp Meeting Boys group (with yodeler Devin Dawson); and the always reliable Texas Winds Outreach programs.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Give a huge assist for at least 10 programs in 2023 to the Trinity Terrace Foundation, which provided $2,500 to pay for music and speakers. That meant -- in many people's opinion -- a boost in program quality.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> It gave the Social Hour a budget, an unprecedented development. Previously, when payment was requested, funds were drawn -- occasionally -- from the Resident Services department.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6iZX4Qd7SUJAWn7uUDmsQFJjtajEuQQNtKpZaslGBper9-8QHaR9w9MrA_PgpQ2BGjRH7VdGw-IKrn2iSyqO-jxFB4Jw2YBwygB_jdfUoP5W25fYmwbvYiPQ8_N9UUmrwEDYA2dRh39zBwGUhXI-O21CKrg8EeWX7Wm3UCPYZFe41A64it3OFYs_uEo/s3679/cincodemayo2022_04.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2759" data-original-width="3679" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6iZX4Qd7SUJAWn7uUDmsQFJjtajEuQQNtKpZaslGBper9-8QHaR9w9MrA_PgpQ2BGjRH7VdGw-IKrn2iSyqO-jxFB4Jw2YBwygB_jdfUoP5W25fYmwbvYiPQ8_N9UUmrwEDYA2dRh39zBwGUhXI-O21CKrg8EeWX7Wm3UCPYZFe41A64it3OFYs_uEo/w400-h300/cincodemayo2022_04.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Paschal High School's mariachi group, 2022</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Resident Services also has tied several events to the Social Hour -- Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo (which in the past two years has featured high school mariachi groups from Paschal and Northside), Octoberfest, Halloween, Christmas, New Year's Eve. Next year, too: Christmas in July.</span></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Another goal in scheduling is to have residents do the program. They have done at least a dozen almost every year; in some of the early Social Hour years as many as 20.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> And Trinity Terrace staffers have been the performers, too. Once upon a time, the omnipresent Alex Smith -- now the events setup coordinator, but younger then -- sang Al Green tunes ("I wowed them ... I was good," he said, laughing at the recall.) </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> A decade ago, it was Bobby Davis (director of facility services) playing guitar alongside his teacher, our house painter Arjan Golemi (the Greek native). (Bobby since has switched to drums, and plays for his church worship group.) </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> And coming in November, five staffers -- Dining Services workers Kristian Thomas, Jaelon Wingham and Emily Gonzalez, weekend security guard Jacob Montgomery, and package-deliver specialist Emmanual Ogunyomi -- will perform a program of "scenes" and music.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> For a third year in a row, there will be a "Resident Roundtable" -- four residents covering their life stories -- on November 9.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0stEeibgANeX9az4dZrHPAKy5ZRoK8VVQEiwv_guuth2_utZToOy8sXs6k_dCd56yJy7lJVLEybEfid8DXICl-UA0J7rNKF1ksF7jYxfdaCOJ785FGw1UyKxeiiG1C1vM1ke-EWgJiKIkiCAanZcXYxH_BfFmaWfymVfLllGBWGEiV8CtC8sE9kLxScI/s4032/Cooking%20Exhibition.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0stEeibgANeX9az4dZrHPAKy5ZRoK8VVQEiwv_guuth2_utZToOy8sXs6k_dCd56yJy7lJVLEybEfid8DXICl-UA0J7rNKF1ksF7jYxfdaCOJ785FGw1UyKxeiiG1C1vM1ke-EWgJiKIkiCAanZcXYxH_BfFmaWfymVfLllGBWGEiV8CtC8sE9kLxScI/s320/Cooking%20Exhibition.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">A cooking demonstration: Dr. Loanne<br /> Chiu and chef Leon Rivera III, 2022</span><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">One more "in-house" program in the planning: Remember a year ago the cooking demonstration by resident Dr. Loanne Chiu and chef Leon Rivera III (with cookies by Diane Kessler). On the prospective 2024 schedule, February 1: a "cakes-cookies-pies" program featuring Elm Fork pastry chef Carol McFarland, with short segments by residents JoAnn Johnson, Jim Barker, Pat Adams and Diane Kessler (again). Plus, treats for the audience.</span></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> About those humble beginnings, and Martha Taylor. She is now the matriarch of Trinity Terrace. In 2008, she was a spy, energetic 90-year-old with a plan: a weekly gathering of residents for music and -- yes -- drinks, a social gathering.</span></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJX82ndoOfV3LQ3VKeyx9em8UcivgzUH_RBpv8n9CU0NKjGGcbgyF_DA0SVOupjOD3OWbWmVvOrHCxJmIABmo30dz4kcYgv0ScopaoUrmTeN41HSake62o26vnfsJym7q0PPBH0T6NNgrDQM-XVFOjNW3XLjyjKbgToq-cg-qPJ01alsg9U-C2yskGeE/s562/Taylor%20Martha.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJX82ndoOfV3LQ3VKeyx9em8UcivgzUH_RBpv8n9CU0NKjGGcbgyF_DA0SVOupjOD3OWbWmVvOrHCxJmIABmo30dz4kcYgv0ScopaoUrmTeN41HSake62o26vnfsJym7q0PPBH0T6NNgrDQM-XVFOjNW3XLjyjKbgToq-cg-qPJ01alsg9U-C2yskGeE/s320/Taylor%20Martha.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Martha Taylor</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> She took her idea to Bill Starz, who agreed to be the first chairman. And he could play harmonica, which he often did in the first few years of Social Hour.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Their first meeting drew about eight people and was held in a room that no longer exists -- near the Elm Fork dining room on the Terrace Tower's main floor (the expanded library and mail area are there now).</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Word got around and the weekly attendance grew, and soon it was time to move to the bigger Worth Lounge.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> The name went from Happy Hour to Sundowners -- neither acceptable -- and then Social Hour was a fit.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> More music, more drinks, more people, and Bill Starz went to then-executive director Lee Patterson to ask if the Longhorn Auditorium could be used for Social Hour.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> The answer was yes, and Social Hour had a permanent home. </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Martha Taylor taught herself to play piano, and she was the Social Hour program on several occasions. And much appreciated.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> "Someone would call sick at the last minute, or unable to come for another reason," recalled Bill Gould of his time as chairman, "and Martha would say, 'I can do the program.'</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> "She could tear it up," Bill added. "She played ragtime. Couldn't read music, but she could play by feel, and people loved it. ... She would get after it."</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Also, he said, "She is one of the sweetest, most enjoyable, pleasant people to be with. ... She would play piano in her apartment with the door open, and her neighbors loved it."</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Another hero was resident Judy Norman, who was on the Social Hour committee and, said Bill, "saved my bacon a couple of times" by creating programs -- poetry reading, play acting, the "Goofy Geezers" comedy (?) troupe. She remains a help with program suggestions.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Originally, the Social Hour plan was to have a program for some 25-30 minutes, then let people visit (drink) ... socialize. Bill Gould, as scheduler, found it increasingly difficult to bring in musical guests and limit them to a half hour. So gradually -- and continuing with Ken Knight as chairman -- the programs grew to 40-45 minutes (or more).</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Ken, who had begun visiting for Social Hour before he and Richard Morehead moved in as residents in August 2017, felt that not having a budget for Social Hour was a "major concern," and scheduling was "a constant, ongoing stressor." </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> But in one of his two years in charge, Ken lined up 40 musical programs (in 51 weeks). His first guest: classical guitarist Dr. Will Douglas, a program regular.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> "I got lots of tremendous feedback [from residents]," Ken said. "People thought I was walking on water. We were fortunate to have some good musical talent come in."</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> With his leadership, the ukulele/vocal group has grown to the enthusiastic 40-plus.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Currently, suggestions for programs are always welcomed, and usually followed up. With the help of Resident Services and the Trinity Terrace Foundation, programming will continue to be impressive.</span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"> Humble beginnings to a weekly attraction. Who knows, we might get another Alex Smith sing-along or a Thai cooking demonstration by Sithichart Phatanapirom (our "Bob"). </span><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #500050; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Come to Social Hour, and check it out.</span></span></p>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-18009749477689865142023-10-14T14:11:00.002-05:002023-10-14T16:57:33.802-05:00On this date 77 years ago ...<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">On October 14, 1946, Rozette Lopes Dias -- then with the last name Lazer -- married Louis Van Thyn in war-weary Amsterdam.</span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We are still grateful 77 years later.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOsKWjYOKOfjakxjeQpNKhHIRhl8dYTUSraTzKgl5rhKR7QgLhod5R6I-O5Nr21rzmd8wdC1mTTjwE_PdnLOFtX0WUm-GB9IX5HTX_lB8gq4XZ-Tr5hr6AHoI3jFz2SaJ7TymlC4d4JyC_BiFfi2zmcddCBSL3j94I_mIhb4AeWTW25AFScO4Sou3sWY/s240/weddingphoto.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="228" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCOsKWjYOKOfjakxjeQpNKhHIRhl8dYTUSraTzKgl5rhKR7QgLhod5R6I-O5Nr21rzmd8wdC1mTTjwE_PdnLOFtX0WUm-GB9IX5HTX_lB8gq4XZ-Tr5hr6AHoI3jFz2SaJ7TymlC4d4JyC_BiFfi2zmcddCBSL3j94I_mIhb4AeWTW25AFScO4Sou3sWY/w380-h400/weddingphoto.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The wedding photo: 1946</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Who knew on that day -- a Monday and a trip to City Hall for the wedding ceremony -- how long their lives would go, and how far they would travel.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> They'd known each other for little more than a year. And t</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">hey had been through so much in the previous half-dozen years, some horrific experiences -- certainly not of their choosing.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They each had lost so much, and they had precious little family remaining.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> So, who knows how deep their love was then. But they <i>knew</i> they needed each other.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Their stories -- their combined story -- has a beautiful ending, of course: Almost 62 years of marriage, the last 51-plus in two homes they owned.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And such good fortune: Two children they never expected -- me and my younger sister Elsa -- and from that, five grandchildren. From there, to the present-day nine great-grandchildren (but only a couple born while Louis and Rose still lived).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Plus, a journey of almost 5,000 miles and two weeks from the wonderful place where they grew up (Hup Holland!) to the country where Mom always dreamed of living, the result of how well American military personnel treated her and other women Holocaust survivors upon rescue in early 1945.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And what culture shock -- from a busy center of a million people to a state and city of which they'd never heard (Louisiana? Shreveport?).</span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4HdstjlwbAbSh3UoGcx2AODtmuRFCX2sunnQ_a4VYDzqbLuryF6lpOyZBzb-0rqw6FiL0tcSW6gfM1LL3FbZFr1VItWbvrhGbNH2sn4eaWMhb4RPUW0S35w00U90Q8gASiCM-p2n32RCwANgvK8gRPAYs4un6rJeTZXdiVhyphenhyphenPPRWABDT8rAS7sby8bo/s4832/Rose-Louis%20wedding%20announcement.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2678" data-original-width="4832" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm4HdstjlwbAbSh3UoGcx2AODtmuRFCX2sunnQ_a4VYDzqbLuryF6lpOyZBzb-0rqw6FiL0tcSW6gfM1LL3FbZFr1VItWbvrhGbNH2sn4eaWMhb4RPUW0S35w00U90Q8gASiCM-p2n32RCwANgvK8gRPAYs4un6rJeTZXdiVhyphenhyphenPPRWABDT8rAS7sby8bo/w400-h221/Rose-Louis%20wedding%20announcement.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They could not have known, did not know, how accepting, how helpful, those people in Shreveport would be. First, the Jewish community, but soon far beyond that, from all over. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It was a perfect fit, certainly moreso than it could have been in, say, the New York City melting pot of millions. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> In 1 1/2 years, they were home owners. In five years, they became U.S. citizens ... and darned proud of it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Parts of their hearts, though, was with the few family members and many friends they left behind in The Netherlands. And also with the friends -- and eventually some family -- in Israel, the Jewish-dominated state created in 1948.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> That included the very couple that had introduced them to each other in the summer of 1945. Those two people were the only married couple housed -- in an attic room -- at the former factory converted into a safe shelter for women Holocaust survivors who had returned to Amsterdam.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The man knew Dad from boyhood days in Amsterdam. The woman was Mom's best friend at Auschwitz; they had been in elementary school together and had reunited while standing in line after they got out of the cattle-car transport to the concentration camp.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> After they survived the Holocaust, that couple moved to Israel, specifically to Narahija.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Which brings us to today, to this past week and Hamas' invasion of Israel. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Because -- as I've been asked repeatedly this week -- we do have distant connections in Israel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> That couple's granddaughter is now on active duty with the Israel military.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> A grandson and granddaughter of Mom's favorite first cousin (Maurits) in Amsterdam, and the granddaughter's husband (a tank driver) are reservists called to active duty. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Maurits' son married an Israeli girl; they live in Jerusalem. And Maurits' daughter, who lives in Antwerp, Belgium, has four children living in Israel, but -- because they are Belgian citizens -- none are in the service. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (Maurits' children are our second cousins, once removed. At least, that's the best we can figure.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">--- </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Can tell you this: Grateful that Mom and Dad are not around to endure this latest invasion of Israel. They would have been extremely concerned.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Because that's how they were in 1967 (the "Six-Day War" and 1973 (the Yom Kippur War) when Arab military forces invaded Israel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Television news then wasn't 24-7 -- Shreveport had only three TV stations and three networks -- but Mom watched (and worried) every report. Dad was working at the pipeyard, but I know he and the people there were paying attention.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> I think about this now because we've had the news on constantly here. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Thought about writing about baseball -- how much I've watched this Texas Rangers' season -- or football (LSU, Louisiana Tech and the Dallas Cowboys are always topics of interest in this apartment). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Wanted to say how good the Rangers have been and how good it feels for their fans. Same for the Houston Astros and their Yankees-like dynasty of the past seven years.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But writing about athletics just didn't seem right this week. (Maybe if a certain team had recaptured its glory of so many decades I might be more involved, but that hasn't happened in 14 seasons. So there.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> No, there is sadness here for all those deaths and injured in Israel, in Gaza. Not only the Jewish people, but the thousands of innocent Palestinians. They, too, are victims of Hamas, and Israel's penchant -- determination -- for revenge.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> No winners in this. None. No end in sight.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Sad.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And when I heard on TV someone say that "people died just because they were Jewish," I thought, yes, that's how it was for our grandparents, uncles and aunts, Mom and Dad's first spouses, plus their many uncles, aunts and cousins.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Even through many good times, Mom and Dad never forgot. Nor do we ever forget, and we shouldn't.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We want Israel to survive and thrive. But we, too, want the Palestinians to have peace and good times.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We are for peace, period.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> I know those two people who took those wedding vows -- who committed to each other -- on October 14, 1946, would approve of that.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They were blessed, and so were we. We wish the same for millions of others. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-34728744613978996842023-10-05T14:54:00.001-05:002023-10-05T14:54:25.304-05:00A hectic first night at the Star-Telegram<p><br /></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">When No. 3-ranked Texas and No. 12-ranked Oklahoma -- both 5-0 and on their Big 12 farewell tour -- meet Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl, it will remind me of ... 2001.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Similar scenario, another monumental Red River Rivalry football game.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> But what I remember about 2001's meeting is not the game; it's the night before. Friday, October 5, 2001.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> My first night working at the <i style="outline: none;">Fort Worth Star-Telegram</i>. One of the most memorable -- and most important -- work shifts in a five-decade career.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> It would change lives, Beatrice and me and our kids. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> As happened far too often, I needed a job. And here was a prospective one.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Had been in contact with the <i style="outline: none;">Star-Telegram</i> sports editor, Celeste Williams, and had an advantage -- a recommendation from a friend with a Shreveport newspaper connection.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"> </span><span style="outline: none;"> So when Celeste invited me for a "tryout" or "audition," I made the trip from Knoxville, Tennessee -- where we'd been for six years -- through Shreveport (to see my parents) and into a city where the West begins, but where I'd rarely been.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (<span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;">Had two other job chances then, in Marshall, Texas -- only 40 miles from Shreveport and the aging Rose and Louis -- and in Orlando, Florida. But neither felt like a fit.)</span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"> It was an unsettling time for us; let's sum it up with "personal problems." But what</span><span style="outline: none;"> great fortune the trip to Fort Worth was.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"> And what an unforgettable night at the </span><i style="outline: none;">Star-Telegram</i><span style="outline: none;">. </span><span style="outline: none;">I'd never seen anything like it. It was a helluva challenge.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Worked my tail off that night (we all did); met a whole bunch of strangers, some of whom would become very good friends. Found a staff so talented and so deep (numbers-wise). </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Had the privilege of working for a sports editor who was wise and organized and loyal, and would become a person we so loved and admired (and lost far too soon). Made our home in an area where I'd always wanted to be, and at one of the most-established newspapers in this part of the country. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Had interviewed with the <i style="outline: none;">Dallas Morning News</i> sports department in early 1982, and had a brief dalliance with <i style="outline: none;">Star-Telegram</i> sports in summer of 1995. Neither was the right time, right place.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> But this time -- early October 2001 -- was my chance. Boom!</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;">---</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> The country was in a mess, the September 11 attacks still on everyone's mind. Travel by airplane was still uncertain, so I made the long drive (11 hours to Shreveport).</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQq1EH8FhAeBbqlUsU5XTPTOqSlhVfxGPBgyZyEzDWFCTLfOjwuIPbHqdSzXzlrrTtWkRj_czRA1j39d8gkXIzYif_TWJMhe29UrNNzoE3hWZsZhd2fVoSssRoGkERdWKlmn-FcmLnVsC7xnflvGoyAwdKksXsTSXn6oFVdECQ8oBwAnC-yyCYGMiggtg/s436/Fort_Worth_Bank_One_Building_damage_edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="436" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQq1EH8FhAeBbqlUsU5XTPTOqSlhVfxGPBgyZyEzDWFCTLfOjwuIPbHqdSzXzlrrTtWkRj_czRA1j39d8gkXIzYif_TWJMhe29UrNNzoE3hWZsZhd2fVoSssRoGkERdWKlmn-FcmLnVsC7xnflvGoyAwdKksXsTSXn6oFVdECQ8oBwAnC-yyCYGMiggtg/s320/Fort_Worth_Bank_One_Building_damage_edited.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The tornado-wrecked Tower</span></td></tr></tbody></table> Fort Worth had a visible scar, too -- the many shattered windows of The Tower, the 35-story building a long foul ball away from the <i style="outline: none;">Star-Telegram</i> office in downtown. It had been struck by the F3 tornado a year and a half earlier; the talk was that it was going to be demolished (it wasn't). </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> My connection to the <i style="outline: none;">S-T</i> was Lois Norder, a managing editor (in charge of terrorism-related coverage) and also editor of the paper's Northeast edition. In the mid-1980s, we had been at the <i style="outline: none;">Shreveport Journal</i>; she was a star reporter/writer, and so was her husband, Steve. It was a wonderful time at the <i style="outline: none;">Journal</i>.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> So, a Friday night in Fort Worth, and I quickly was amazed at the personnel in the sports department. More than 30 people -- four<span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"> assistant sports editors, three copy "chiefs" (final proofers, approve or rewrite headlines), a Sunday-section editor, three high-school editors, nine</span></span> copy editors (like me), eight page designers, three "agate" scoreboard editors ... and later a dozen parttimers to take high school call-in statistics and game details.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"> </span><span style="outline: none;">(Came to learn that we had 85 fulltime people in sports, and about 40 "stringers" or parttimers. Not making this up. The </span><i style="outline: none;">Star-Telegram</i><span style="outline: none;">, in the early 2000s, was what I called "fat" in personnel. And, yes, we were among the best sports sections in the country. The awards received in those years proved that.)</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> What an operation it was, especially that night. (Turned out, there were many nights like this.)</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> What made it extra challenging was this: A Barry Bonds "special" section that was pending.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Bonds, with 70 home runs, needed one to break Mark McGwire's single-season record (set in 1998). The San Francisco Giants were playing on the West Coast, and would not start until 9 p.m. our time.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> A four-page section was planned, <i style="outline: none;">if</i> it happened. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> But also there was a 16-page regular sports section, and an eight-page high school section (with three separate "zone" editions). I'd never experienced that kind of volume.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> So when I got the "duty roster," with copy-editor assignments, it was just a bit daunting. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Plus, a bunch of strangers around me, and yet another strange computer system to battle.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Vince Langford was one of the sports copy desk assignment gurus, and a great help. He would become one of my best friends there (and a super talent, with words and sports knowledge). </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> He was sitting closeby, guiding me through stories. I work quickly, so he kept giving me stories. I hadn't worked in a couple of months, so I was eager, and it was exciting.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> We were waiting on the Bonds saga, but meanwhile, here is the scope of what that night was like, how many stories we worked ...</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V0ud-cCMcSw3dGe2B4WJPuwb1TRIW8vgS4MMa6RGhyfLqOl1tdtG4K5umpU_9AcrjZ20VXOL154dgoU6cyT3-wimMXLftn7AXX2lV0dhhfLP_f6Qqqs4TRoKPFOg8zJUtAML5la0vHcCWEKr98WK724YOcXdOi1VsEpYTVNwLo8uRy_AI7YSZIobT6g/s1545/FWST%20--%20October%206,%202001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1545" data-original-width="819" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9V0ud-cCMcSw3dGe2B4WJPuwb1TRIW8vgS4MMa6RGhyfLqOl1tdtG4K5umpU_9AcrjZ20VXOL154dgoU6cyT3-wimMXLftn7AXX2lV0dhhfLP_f6Qqqs4TRoKPFOg8zJUtAML5la0vHcCWEKr98WK724YOcXdOi1VsEpYTVNwLo8uRy_AI7YSZIobT6g/w341-h640/FWST%20--%20October%206,%202001.jpg" width="341" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sports front page -- Oct. 6, 2001</span></td></tr></tbody></table> -- The Texas-OU advance pages, several stories, a position-by-position breakdown. It was the first Longhorns-Sooners game with both teams ranked in the top five in 17 years (OU was No. 3; UT No. 5); the Sooners were the defending national champion and had a 17-game winning streak, but had squeezed past Kansas State 38-37 the week before.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> -- College football advance stories ... Wendell Barnhouse's whole page of stories (he was covering Florida-at-LSU that Saturday, features (one on Tennessee wide receiver Kelley Washington, who had caught 11 passes for 256 yards against LSU the previous Saturday, a game the kids and I attended in Knoxville; Vols won 26-18. But LSU got even that December in the SEC Championship Game).</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> -- It was a Texas Motor Speedway weekend -- a NASCAR Craftsman Trucks race that night, an Indy Racing League 300 on Saturday.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> -- The Dallas Stars played their first-ever regular-season game at the $46 million American Airlines Center, a 4-1 victory against Nashville. So a Jim Reeves column and several stories on the game.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> -- The Texas Rangers were playing a late game at Seattle; the Mariners had beaten them 16-1 on Thursday night (coverage in the Saturday paper). Alex Rodriguez hit his 52nd home run for the only Rangers run; Rafael Palmeiro had two of their four hits. Seattle had a spectacular 114-45 record; the Rangers were only 42 games behind them in the standings.)</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> -- The Dallas Cowboys, with Dave Campo as head coach, were 0-3 and getting ready to play at Oakland, and rookie QB Quincy Carter was about to make his first start. (They lost 28-21 that Sunday.)</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> -- The Dallas Mavericks were in training camp, with a young owner (Mark Cuban), an innovative head coach (Don Nelson), and three star players (Michael Finley, and two young superstars-in-the-making, Steve Nash and a 7-foot German guy who had a great shooting touch, Dirk Nowitzki.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> -- There was quarter-horse racing at Lone Star Park.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> All these elements had one or multiple stories.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDgVMUfaJRMuP8M_hNfvH0E8ucZtnmyawl1op2ytSgY8ixwJBb5haXLB0jvBkchR3MoqAI5nkTOHGZ-2pqd1aTUtGv1IR42xzlAYB4USAUL8clVaUVnUQBIuWwLJkm2ZQrAuBAhAUSuI0SjGQTa3284zBqRp8vsGff4jp-N8mgbsw8DHAEkEfmfNwAyA/s1578/high%20schools-fwst.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1578" data-original-width="819" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghDgVMUfaJRMuP8M_hNfvH0E8ucZtnmyawl1op2ytSgY8ixwJBb5haXLB0jvBkchR3MoqAI5nkTOHGZ-2pqd1aTUtGv1IR42xzlAYB4USAUL8clVaUVnUQBIuWwLJkm2ZQrAuBAhAUSuI0SjGQTa3284zBqRp8vsGff4jp-N8mgbsw8DHAEkEfmfNwAyA/w332-h640/high%20schools-fwst.jpg" width="332" /></a></div> And then there was high school football. I knew what Friday nights were like in the fall, but this was a mad scramble -- game after game story to work, first-come basis.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"> So, about 40 games covered, with 20 full stories to work.</span></span> I remember editing a Brownwood vs. Stephenville story, not knowing how huge a rivalry that was. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"> </span><span style="outline: none;">All this, and -- while high school games are coming in -- we're watching Bonds' at-bats in San Francisco. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Luckily, in the first inning, he hit No. 71 off Chan Ho Park. So, the Bonds special section was in play. More work for everyone. And while we started editing that copy, Bonds hit No. 72 -- again off Park -- in the third inning. More work.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> One memory: The deadline for pages to go to print was midnight. As I recall, we finished up closer to 1 a.m. We were a bit overloaded.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;">---</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> I sat across from a veteran sports department guy named Don Bowman. Didn't take long to realize he was funny, outrageous, knew his sports, was an extreme University of Maryland/Oakland A's/Washington baseball fan, and was talented. We lost him far too soon, too, and too suddenly.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCphlyrCWTMaBvVII0X_EHZcpLVyo2eFfQlOZZ0frA6AGlMQ277520du49TVM6HMCK77tdWiwzEiH0KWujAOFVDiZ9qGcI6rnI9l5ztLUyy0gjuecWlkuhjaal6NCQkhIgObdooVqBNpV9esVby0t2NTuMPgYuHEMZ3IMfLWPs21Pn_mTzVvjgkqrXPI/s1528/bonds-72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1528" data-original-width="820" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheCphlyrCWTMaBvVII0X_EHZcpLVyo2eFfQlOZZ0frA6AGlMQ277520du49TVM6HMCK77tdWiwzEiH0KWujAOFVDiZ9qGcI6rnI9l5ztLUyy0gjuecWlkuhjaal6NCQkhIgObdooVqBNpV9esVby0t2NTuMPgYuHEMZ3IMfLWPs21Pn_mTzVvjgkqrXPI/w344-h640/bonds-72.jpg" width="344" /></a></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> As it happened, the desk where I was working was Jeff Wilson's. He was helping with auto-racing coverage that night. He would become a friend, and his talent has him now covering the Texas Rangers and TCU. And one of the <i style="outline: none;">S-T's</i> top sports columnists was Gil LeBreton, an old friend from LSU and New Orleans.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> One guy not working that night came in with his kid in a stroller to see his wife (who also worked at the paper). I knew his face, couldn't remember his name. Asked, and -- aha! (Andy Clay) -- I had worked with him in Jacksonville, Florida, about a decade earlier.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> And one funny moment: One of the sports copy editors came up to introduce himself: Jerry Barnes. "Nice to meet you," I said. "Oh, we've met before," Jerry said, smiling. "I was sitting next to you at the [Centenary College] Gold Dome the night you threw the basketball at an official (who was a friend of his)."</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Oops. Yes, in 1979, Barnes was an assistant sports information director at University of North Texas; I was the SID at Centenary. UNT's players that night were beating the hell out of our 6-11 center, Cherokee Rhone. I didn't like it. When the ball came bouncing over the media table right to me, I (not) gently directed back at an official with a (not) soft remark. I was excused from the table. (I have written a blog on that.)</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> "Please don't tell anybody," I asked Barnes that night. I think he's tattled on me a few times since. We're still laughing about it.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;">---</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"> </span><span style="outline: none;">So, I ended up working some 14 to 16 stories that night ... and made an impression.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Michele Machado, one of our page designers, laughingly recalled that when the shift was finished, she told people in the department, "That guy will never be back."</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> But I knew that I wanted to work at the <i style="outline: none;">Star-Telegram,</i> and told Bea that when I got back to Knoxville.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> When the shift ended, I drove to Carrollton where our son Jason was living (he had graduated from LSU and found a job in Dallas -- with travel to Tarrant County -- a few years earlier). Got up the next morning and drove to Shreveport, picked up Dad and we went to the San Jose State-at-Louisiana Tech football game that night, a one-sided Tech victory.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Meanwhile, OU beat Texas 14-3 at the Cotton Bowl, with the memorable "Superman" tackle by OU safety Roy Williams that resulted in linebacker Teddy Lehman's 2-yard pass interception return near the end of the game clinching the victory for the Sooners.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> In a few days, Celeste called and offered me a position as a "contract" worker, not fulltime. But the pay was good, and we quickly decided to make the move from Knoxville to Fort Worth. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> That meant leaving our Rachel behind in Knoxville, where she was a junior at the University of Tennessee. It meant being closer to the Van Thyns in Shreveport and even closer to Jason.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> No insurance coverage came with the job, but Celeste promised that the first copy-editor opening she had would be mine. Two weeks later, a copy editor left and I went fulltime, with insurance benefits. Good thing because only a few months later Bea was diagnosed with colon cancer. That insurance was a saver.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> What followed was Bea surviving two surgeries in four years, and a beautiful life still. For me, a decade at the <i style="outline: none;">Star-Telegram</i> and a fulfilling end to a career. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Lots of good luck involved, and a first night at the <i style="outline: none;">S-T</i> to remember. </span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-21586994354371910502023-04-15T15:56:00.002-05:002023-04-15T15:56:40.036-05:00"Tanking" is still a dirty business<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuKQPJzfn3o8L8o7RhlphyxhWtfF8rjcm6Odmwz4OJs7U9FCjpTrI83YUzXnc3rAPN9CqL_MZehQ8MGmi-Z4yPPu9xeynBXM9-pdoIV9YcNZoLFg9CldatddbY-6gjyqNDZLfpATDbceQIRHdslgNgvBeOUMAvSfXUcMW5c5zZESniySxMYI8PiqAA" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhuKQPJzfn3o8L8o7RhlphyxhWtfF8rjcm6Odmwz4OJs7U9FCjpTrI83YUzXnc3rAPN9CqL_MZehQ8MGmi-Z4yPPu9xeynBXM9-pdoIV9YcNZoLFg9CldatddbY-6gjyqNDZLfpATDbceQIRHdslgNgvBeOUMAvSfXUcMW5c5zZESniySxMYI8PiqAA=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">What Mavericks don't want to see: Team owner Mark Cuban, Luca Doncic and Kyrie <br />Irving sitting togeter during another Dallas loss. (Getty Images photos)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> This blog usually focuses on the positive, trying to tell what we think is a good story.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> Not much positive about today's tale because I am writing about the state of the Dallas Mavericks.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"> And that state -- pardon me -- is a bunch of crap</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">Love the team, and love the owner. Mark Cuban -- my opinion -- is one of the best team owners in sports. Or he was until a week or so </span></span><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">ago.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> The Mavericks "tanked," no question. </span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> Here is the definition </span><span style="outline: none !important;">I ha</span><span style="outline: none !important;">d in a blog dated July 14, 2015, on which the title was: </span><span style="outline: none !important;">"Tanking -- it's a dirty word."<br style="outline: none !important;" /><span style="outline: none !important;"></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><div style="outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;">("Tanking" -- losing games intentionally or not trying to bring in the best players and have the best roster possible. This, in order to finish near the bottom of the league and get a potential top-three or so draft choice next year to begin rebuilding the franchise.)</span><br style="outline: none !important;" /></span></span></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> This is the Mavericks, 2023. They purposely didn't field their best lineups to try to win games. Didn't care if they won; they actually didn't mind losing.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> For the April 7 "must-win" game against the Chicago Bulls, the Mavericks sat out five regular players and Luka Doncic, who is one of the NBA's most talented players, was in the game for 13 minutes, then sat out the rest.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> Those Mavs who did play worked hard, let for much of the first 2 1/2 quarters, and then wilted as the Bulls won 115-112.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> That sealed Dallas' non-playoff fate. Wait 'till next season.</span><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> Need to qualify this: I no longer care for the NBA. Haven't watched a game all season -- </span><span style="outline: none !important;">several seasons, actually -- and occasionally only had a game on for a few seconds when the TV accidentally went there.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> Still root for the Mavericks, but not much. I know Doncic is a wonderful, amazing offensive player. But he's too big a showoff, too big a whiner, a collector of technical fouls, for me.</span><br style="outline: none !important;" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And, as with most of the current Mavericks, defense is a foreign language.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> This season's team went from a 31-26 record and fourth place in the Western Conference to a 7-18 finish after the huge trade for Kyrie Irving. Six games below .500 adds up to 11th place in the West ... and so long.</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> When Doncic and Irving were in the lineup together, they were 5-11. Considering that Luka averaged <span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;">32.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8 assists a game, and Irving averaged 27 points and 6 assists in 20 games</span><span style="outline: none !important;">,</span></span> that doesn't say much for the rest of the bunch. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> Still, they were on the edge of the playoffs until ...</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> But what Cuban and almost-new general manager Nico Harrison (nice first name, pal) did at the end of this NBA season just sucks.</span><br style="outline: none !important;" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> But to sit out five regular players -- purportedly for injuries and "rest" -- and then limit Doncic to a mere 15 minutes of play in the regular season's final game, with a glimmer of hope for winning and making the playoffs just isn't what sports should be about.</span><br style="outline: none !important;" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> The NBA "investigated" -- as if that was necessary -- and just announced a $750,000 fine for the Mavericks. Chump change for Cuban. Yeah, three-quarters of a million dollars.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> And it's not the first time we've had this scenario. Just hinting at it in 2015 prompted my blog then; <span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;">a Metroplex columnist or two, and the radio sports talk show hosts suggested it then, maybe because Cuban mentioned it "off the record."</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> Then in 2018, Cuban again raised the possibility -- on the record -- and </span></span>the Association hit the Mavericks and him with a </span><span style="outline: none !important;">$600,000 fine.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Here is a link to what I wrote in 2015: </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2015/07/tanking-thats-dirty-word.html</span><br style="outline: none !important;" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> Said then that </span><span style="outline: none !important;">I could not imagine the Mavs' coach, Rick Carlisle, would have anything to do with not trying to win games.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> Carlisle took his NBA championship credentials back to the Indiana Pacers a couple of years ago -- one of my guesses is that he found Doncic hard to handle -- </span><span style="outline: none !important;">and so it is Jason Kidd who I guess had to follow orders and go along with the "tanking plan." </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> Kidd said "the organization" -- Cuban and Harrison -- decided to sit the half-dozen players.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> "It's not so much waving the white flag," Kidd said, according to a <i style="outline: none !important;">USA Today</i> story. "It's decisions sometimes are hard in this business. We're trying to build a championship team. With this decision, this is maybe a step back. But hopefully it leads to going forward."</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> So they are hoping for a higher draft pick, a great draw in the NBA lottery. No guarantee of that, so I question if missing the playoffs is worth it.</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> And maybe this is fitting because this Mavericks team was a <i style="outline: none !important;">loser</i>. Let's put Irving in that category (despite an NBA championship in his history when he was teamed with LeBron James in Cleveland).</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> But Irving has been a malcontent at every stop. Here is a guy suspended by the NBA or his team for refusing the covid vaccinations and for endorsing an anti-semitic movie and not apologizing for doing so. </span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none !important;"> You'd think Cuban might've been leery of having his GM make the trade for Irving. But talent rules in the NBA, and Cuban -- always brash and innovative and, yes, fun -- is unafraid of taking chances.</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> At least he kept an open mind for the trade. Then he closed that mind and had his team give less than its best effort. </span></span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He is a billionaire who is one of the most-fined people in NBA history. </span></span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Meanwhile, Irving is a free agent and the Mavericks hope to re-sign him, and hope that he and Doncic -- who might grow up one day -- will team with the No. 1 draft pick they'll add as a reward for missing the playoffs. (What are the chances?)</span></span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Knowing Irving's past, it would be a shock if he plays in a Mavericks uniform again. </span></span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none !important;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none !important;"> My view on all this: No tanks. </span><span style="outline: none !important;"> </span></span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-40493866435911428132023-04-03T18:03:00.004-05:002023-04-04T12:50:30.025-05:00Ross and Edwin: forever friends<p> <span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: xx-large;"> </span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: xx-small;">...</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpOCA1D_ruPf1t8zGVp3blCgBeQUyEKm6QHRp0fgunE7QrHq1vkmnYDmQHxbWHjG4ocoGhjxD9aeLZS7ZSOB0ENJJ9g5QovUO5OgTbAeGuSrtsZpu3PmvLxq8FFlcxvMPTj7V4F-eOmlJ3EFy26-0O9xHvPIT2HOI53TFZCsFjj3R4ug4aOgAeJ3_/s444/Ross%20and%20Edwin.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">Fr<img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="279" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgpOCA1D_ruPf1t8zGVp3blCgBeQUyEKm6QHRp0fgunE7QrHq1vkmnYDmQHxbWHjG4ocoGhjxD9aeLZS7ZSOB0ENJJ9g5QovUO5OgTbAeGuSrtsZpu3PmvLxq8FFlcxvMPTj7V4F-eOmlJ3EFy26-0O9xHvPIT2HOI53TFZCsFjj3R4ug4aOgAeJ3_/w251-h400/Ross%20and%20Edwin.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> From their time in third grade together to lives in their early 70s, Ross Oglesby and Edwin Tubbs were best friends.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Not inseparable -- because they had their own lives and families -- but darned near.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"> </span>They were my friends, too, because Sunset Acres (in southwest Shreveport) was that kind of neighborhood in the late 1950s and through the 1960s. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> And -- heck, yes, I'm partial to them -- they were among the best people and the best athletes to come out of Sunset Acres. Especially together.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> It so happened that their third-grade year (fall 1957) began a couple of months after the Van Thyn family moved into the neighborhood.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Over the next few years, those of us participating in schoolground touch football games and makeshift track meets on our streets learned this: Ross and Edwin were the <i style="outline: none;">fastest</i> runners in our area.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> If you competed against them, you had no chance. Only Edwin could catch Ross; only Ross could catch Edwin. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6fRO7K4mkn3eoRn01uSN85YgtcZ7E2If1lZRa-yya8ntu7qNndyCykV3qdYfcy7QtCJ0gc0Znf5flTt-o7IhdkF5e5kcLuiwA8CKA8WIDyUPy9HOAmWdRiGkJxjw33qg1UUoBxUWPAbshv8Q3cTLG2ltUAgpmDiZU9pS3qaK1Ju2pCLGV2QL8TXU/s1350/2017%20Edwin%20and%20Ross.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6fRO7K4mkn3eoRn01uSN85YgtcZ7E2If1lZRa-yya8ntu7qNndyCykV3qdYfcy7QtCJ0gc0Znf5flTt-o7IhdkF5e5kcLuiwA8CKA8WIDyUPy9HOAmWdRiGkJxjw33qg1UUoBxUWPAbshv8Q3cTLG2ltUAgpmDiZU9pS3qaK1Ju2pCLGV2QL8TXU/w512-h640/2017%20Edwin%20and%20Ross.jpg" width="512" /></a></div> When they were teammates -- as they soon would be at Oak Terrace Junior High and Woodlawn High School -- they were stars ... and winners.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> And they were great kids -- even-tempered, reliable, funny, not argumentative like some (guess who?), no trouble for teachers or parents.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> They would be that way, always. And always loyal to each other. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> My opinion: Ross Oglesby was the best athlete ever to come out of Sunset Acres, high school All-State in two sports (football, track), a college football player. He was "Ross The Hoss."</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> Edwin Tubbs was a <i style="outline: none;">terrific</i> high school football player, a medal winner in Vietnam, one of the thousands of American unsung heroes in that woebegone war. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> They would become husbands and fathers and grandfathers, working hard to support their families. It didn't always work out for them, and there were health and mental issues. They weren't especially book-smart, but they were smart, gentle and kind.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"> It was a <span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;">beautiful friendship.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> And I was proud to call them my friends forever, although the years and time separated us. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Because I was two years older, they were sort of like little brothers for me, and I was so proud that they were two of the biggest stars on the teams representing our schools. They were "my guys."</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Here is how close together we lived: First, both Ross and Edwin lived almost directly across from the Sunset Acres Elementary School grounds; all they had to do was walk across the street.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> On the blocks in the square around the<br /> school: Ross' family lived on West Canal (east side of the school); Edwin's family lived on Sunnybrook (north side); our close friends Johnny and Terry Tucker lived on Burke (west side, their backyard fence bordered the school); we lived on Amherst (south side). Ross' house was a half-block away from us. Visited there often.</span></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZBS4-oHctqp5gqi1n7BC6HD-HKtsnxqP_uhzvPAIO1SZq0Tl91WqlHeKfAKJ5dl3U24rihIdaAoOf0QOg0_n0oQzBODoj5Yfs9-CGkT9-8nS_9j3r2Vya8IS18-q0wsjkUiLxUyXjbttq2DmJxrt24IIa_7l3iCS1x17ande4thcndpagh16WQIW/s736/Players%20of%20the%20week.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="546" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijZBS4-oHctqp5gqi1n7BC6HD-HKtsnxqP_uhzvPAIO1SZq0Tl91WqlHeKfAKJ5dl3U24rihIdaAoOf0QOg0_n0oQzBODoj5Yfs9-CGkT9-8nS_9j3r2Vya8IS18-q0wsjkUiLxUyXjbttq2DmJxrt24IIa_7l3iCS1x17ande4thcndpagh16WQIW/w474-h640/Players%20of%20the%20week.jpg" width="474" /></a></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Lots of good times with those boys. Lots of laughs, lots of stories (a couple mildly x-rated). Lots of memories.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> We don't exactly have a happy ending here, except to say Ross and Edwin lived long, happy, productive lives. But ...</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Ross Oglesby, 74, died last Thursday after dealing with cancer -- and other ailments -- for several years. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Edwin doesn't know his best pal is gone. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> For years, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after Vietnam made his life, and his family's life, hell at times. More recently, dementia set in. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> He is now in a veterans' home in Bossier City, well-cared for, still -- as his wife Kathie and their three daughters will say -- the sweet guy they adore. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> But the PTSD has kicked in stronger than ever, and hospitalization and changes in medicine have been required lately. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Edwin's travails were not a subject Ross, in his final year and dealing with illnesses, could discuss. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Edwin and Kathie spent 44 years living in Southern Hills, which in the 1960s was Woodlawn territory. They then moved to Haughton -- which is where Ross has lived for years. (Haughton, for those who might not know, is in rural Bossier Parish, and it's the home of Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott).</span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ross, in a marriage and re-marriage, had two sons and a daughter and now four grandsons and six granddaughters. Edwin and Kathie have seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> "They loved each other like brothers," Kathie Pollard Tubbs says of our guys. "Ross became one of our family; he spent a lot of time here with our grandkids. He'd come over 3-4 times a week, and he'd go to the refrigerator and grab some cake or a soft drink."</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> And, of course, there was lots of discussion of old times, of Sunset Acres and Woodlawn ... and stories.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> There was this interplay: "Ross was the aggravator," Kathie said, "and Edwin loved to be aggravated. It was a game they played, and they need an audience." </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> It was a battle of teasing appreciated by a closely knit group of Woodlawn football players who were seniors on the 1966 team, a dozen-plus who have stayed in contact through the years. They were all familiar with the Ross-Edwin dynamic.</span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Size-wise, they were different. Oglesby, as a high school senior, was a muscular 6-foot-2, 200 pounds. Tubbs was compact, listed on the 1966 All-City team at 5-7 (he actually was 5-9) and 170 pounds. His strides were nothing like Ross', but he too could move. </span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TvgSgYSq3Bi1ClFnBCYs2GkhgdIsWiPu0779vOXvlwICb-5pjTDSSatnARV75MybpiBf94uWkCPcB3XvpCtWzhtZaO16BdUrFXiM45bar50QyXY4k8dRSaSVDASFNl9dsa-50_B15jqhbTbNL8VQpMLPnjvRv_4l1FzNrSG0t7X8XMepQQii8fjk/s87/Edwin%20at%20OT.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="87" data-original-width="70" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TvgSgYSq3Bi1ClFnBCYs2GkhgdIsWiPu0779vOXvlwICb-5pjTDSSatnARV75MybpiBf94uWkCPcB3XvpCtWzhtZaO16BdUrFXiM45bar50QyXY4k8dRSaSVDASFNl9dsa-50_B15jqhbTbNL8VQpMLPnjvRv_4l1FzNrSG0t7X8XMepQQii8fjk/w161-h200/Edwin%20at%20OT.jpg" width="161" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large;">---</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> Many of the '66 football seniors also were together in junior high at Oak Terrace, where as eighth-graders in track-and-field in 1963 they won that school's first city championship of any kind. Tubbs and Oglesby were key runners on the relay teams. They were ninth-grade champs the next year, with Tubbs winning both sprints (100 and 220 yards, plus two relays) and Oglesby on all three relay units. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehZb5uNmoWyUtLJI4sfpKyr62TWci7K0r80VXjkuFVgf60oXFUr_BRtYd5df9CPn0DqIGXNuvAKrCRpKNhc6OTMk6a8WMQdd9OsoEsZ98rJPsGzLiH6RUHN-7zb1hQ67iZZ2il9NQ3raNslwlymkTVNGnUKxGA-KL5MVyQhCl5KLP_H9dFUL0By2B/s202/Ross%20at%20OT.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="96" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiehZb5uNmoWyUtLJI4sfpKyr62TWci7K0r80VXjkuFVgf60oXFUr_BRtYd5df9CPn0DqIGXNuvAKrCRpKNhc6OTMk6a8WMQdd9OsoEsZ98rJPsGzLiH6RUHN-7zb1hQ67iZZ2il9NQ3raNslwlymkTVNGnUKxGA-KL5MVyQhCl5KLP_H9dFUL0By2B/w190-h400/Ross%20at%20OT.jpg" width="190" /></a></div> In junior high, Tubbs was the star running back; Oglesby was an end. </span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> At Woodlawn, running back was a position deep in talent, so Tubbs -- speedy and aggressive -- became a perfect fit at linebacker in defensive coach Jerry Adams' gambling/blitzing scheme. He was part of a junior-filled unit that struggled early, then became tough enough to balance a QB Terry Bradshaw/WR Tommy Spinks-led offense.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> That team, after mid-season struggles, walloped Byrd 39-0, Woodlawn's first-ever victory over the arch-rivals in six tries. It didn't lose again -- with one close escape at Neville (a 9-7 victory on a final half-minute field goal) -- until the Class 3A state-championship game. Sulphur won 12-9 in a hard rain at State Fair Stadium.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="color: black; outline: none;"> So the defense was especially seasoned for the 1966 season, and the linemen -- offense and defense -- were the biggest physically Woodlawn had had in its seven years. The result was the best Knights' team ever -- a 10-0 regular season and a defense which had six shutouts and gave up only four TDs.</span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg257pn6B3EnXtltmjeliu4xGNttLJwNm5jAhnT4o2Z-Xb1zlfBdnG569qJExyUZghwjxGapmFq9a-dae6HKEZ8q3M45gnmSksBw0CcDyGDJaJ6Onk38kJu36jaXHtfgp0CmBGNjluTcxvdHUnIIrNbMB3U0wTyaBONZXvvVvskIVHYb5bUBe8WWaVy/s944/Ross,%20All-State.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="547" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg257pn6B3EnXtltmjeliu4xGNttLJwNm5jAhnT4o2Z-Xb1zlfBdnG569qJExyUZghwjxGapmFq9a-dae6HKEZ8q3M45gnmSksBw0CcDyGDJaJ6Onk38kJu36jaXHtfgp0CmBGNjluTcxvdHUnIIrNbMB3U0wTyaBONZXvvVvskIVHYb5bUBe8WWaVy/w370-h640/Ross,%20All-State.jpg" width="370" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Plus, a punishing running game on offense, led by Oglesby, who -- after tries at end and tackle, found the position he loved.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Powerfully, he could run through tacklers or, with his long strides and speed, beat them to the outside. Three other backs also could play. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Twice both Oglesby and Tubbs were the "players of the week" selected by <i style="outline: none;">The Shreveport Times</i>.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ross, with 1,308 yards rushing (5.2 per carry) -- 528 more than anyone else in Shreveport-Bossier -- became Woodlawn's first first-team All-State running back (Tommy Linder had been a second-team choice in 1962). </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Edwin, shooting gaps and chasing down opposing QBs and RBs, was the Shreveport-Bossier "Defensive Player of the Year," chosen by the Shreveport Touchdown Club. He was second-team All-State -- the highest honor ever then for a Woodlawn defensive player. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The only preseason question marks for the '66 team were quarterback and one cornerback.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The QB spot was filled by a promising, poised sophomore -- Joe Ferguson. The cornerback spot was filled by a transfer from North Caddo, Ronnie Alexander.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ferguson was steady, but not the passer he would become. In the next two seasons, he was the best high school football player -- passer -- many of us have ever seen. Turned out he was the real deal; he went on to 19 years in the NFL.</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRQyaHs42pR0uGPuVcDswbUHR5NB-vxBCPbriultjjgIVeybbHbqQs_9j3R2dRb5OnlnJ760eSQi5amoeMD-EZLzdrn0ND_OPuPrF1RvemGRG5xWoqQkoZHDOJE4rSR93Wi8Bi3F_JcSvriMvVlA33XysFxpmlWJbFRiqXaFEhY9BrKLP4ktFm7NL/s1205/Edwin,%20LB.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1205" data-original-width="546" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRQyaHs42pR0uGPuVcDswbUHR5NB-vxBCPbriultjjgIVeybbHbqQs_9j3R2dRb5OnlnJ760eSQi5amoeMD-EZLzdrn0ND_OPuPrF1RvemGRG5xWoqQkoZHDOJE4rSR93Wi8Bi3F_JcSvriMvVlA33XysFxpmlWJbFRiqXaFEhY9BrKLP4ktFm7NL/w290-h640/Edwin,%20LB.jpg" width="290" /></a></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> A dozen of the players on the 1966 team would play college football, some at major schools. Alexander, All-City at cornerback, became a small-college All-American linebacker at Louisiana Tech and then was one of North Louisiana's best-ever defensive coaches (college and high school).</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But the 1966 Knights were the best Woodlawn team not to win the state championship. After a playoff-opening victory, disaster came in a lengthy trip to Bogalusa (345 miles, 6 1/2 hours one way). The trip back was longer.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Bogalusa would haunt us forever. Ross and Edwin -- all of us -- often talked about it, ruefully.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The score was 18-14, the Lumberjacks scoring the game-winning TD with about 5 minutes remaining after a long drive against a proud Woodlawn defense that wasn't the same as it had been.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> One major reason: two injured leaders. Tubbs had injured a calf early that week in practice. He played, but he limped at about half-speed, unable to do what he had done all season. And Alexander, a ferocious hitter and cover corner, left the game in the first quarter with an injured leg.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Another factor: Bogalusa's junior quarterback. Terry Davis cut up the Knights' defense with 258 passing yards and another 59 rushing as he turned corners that Tubbs and Alexander might have filled. Davis also was for real; a couple of years later he started at QB for Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at Alabama. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (Ironic, because Edwin Tubbs for life was an Alabama fan.)</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Oglesby, though, had a productive game with 112 yards rushing on 22 carries. But Woodlawn that night could not quite control the ball -- or game -- as it had all year.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXg1fj2lPF8f2hVj_pns3meIwvH96GkBTpAhLuOzn1wyG9yEIf8C5NYDeIHS0oZ7ro84qzmuhbhrzN-mPXYZT8Naon9cSjNiDWrz3vMI6LQdPGAG43UotAqGzcSM38mkP0RcW-eaYeZzMP5w3OIZYeHVyDgc7kG4lRyUgKbKyUYliNRSk5m0K1jPbK/s868/Ross%20hurdles-3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXg1fj2lPF8f2hVj_pns3meIwvH96GkBTpAhLuOzn1wyG9yEIf8C5NYDeIHS0oZ7ro84qzmuhbhrzN-mPXYZT8Naon9cSjNiDWrz3vMI6LQdPGAG43UotAqGzcSM38mkP0RcW-eaYeZzMP5w3OIZYeHVyDgc7kG4lRyUgKbKyUYliNRSk5m0K1jPbK/s320/Ross%20hurdles-3.jpg" width="201" /></a></div> Ross, in the spring of their senior year, was one of the state's outstanding hurdlers -- the Class 3A state champion in the 120 highs (14.1) and second in the 180 lows (18.9), close to the best times ever in Louisiana, and All-State in both events. He was bigger than most hurdlers, but speed and athletic ability is what it is.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He signed to play football at Louisiana Tech, and stayed two years, but played sparingly, not used to a new coaching staff there which was louder, more aggressive than the highly regarded Woodlawn staff that had nurtured him. He transferred to play two good seasons at Southern (Ark.) State in Magnolia.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He would go into coaching -- a couple of<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVN1mIdCxhvLE-UXgFMVdXieOMVPRfzQWqeAdTR-WnNDGoZBncKZm0dUt-SfJ_6ft7TKfI37phlEz4mFSrLNXc7I5RH8jJ51Ven5eIEfXyZql03nZDsxRxnyBQjfcQKQC1lLNLJrNXPNo2dpTmOcVelKiBvw56EVCKX1hD7JUlVdZD5o0baX4efOGP/s960/Ross%20in%202017.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVN1mIdCxhvLE-UXgFMVdXieOMVPRfzQWqeAdTR-WnNDGoZBncKZm0dUt-SfJ_6ft7TKfI37phlEz4mFSrLNXc7I5RH8jJ51Ven5eIEfXyZql03nZDsxRxnyBQjfcQKQC1lLNLJrNXPNo2dpTmOcVelKiBvw56EVCKX1hD7JUlVdZD5o0baX4efOGP/s320/Ross%20in%202017.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>times -- and worked several other jobs, including truck driving, so he got to see much of the country. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He also gained much weight, almost double the 200 from high school, to an unhealthy point that affected his breathing. Urged to lose weight, he did -- but still was around 250. A hernia bothered him for years; when finally he submitted to an operation, cancer was found in his intestines. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Two rounds of chemo followed, until he had had enough. He had hospice care the last couple of months. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> His great friend never knew. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Edwin wasn't college material, so he joined the U.S. Army right out of Woodlawn, and was patrolling in Vietnam a few months later. He survived it, but paid a price.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6Z6tJA9gSIyhuZrP3L5qUbU5TVswW7ABqYknFEqospfQeW1OExn216Im_CypnUom1OiJ5nJc2tmf4npCQB3ahDHry_LLr0HDkwj86o6-NqpClsZSFlrVvpapI1VzPwzuaegwFUEj8dwlGLv-uLKQJTJVso81hDsRkEiN91-jdk1M-jCRYewyL37G/s1080/Edwin%20in%20Vietnam.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6Z6tJA9gSIyhuZrP3L5qUbU5TVswW7ABqYknFEqospfQeW1OExn216Im_CypnUom1OiJ5nJc2tmf4npCQB3ahDHry_LLr0HDkwj86o6-NqpClsZSFlrVvpapI1VzPwzuaegwFUEj8dwlGLv-uLKQJTJVso81hDsRkEiN91-jdk1M-jCRYewyL37G/s320/Edwin%20in%20Vietnam.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> He came home to marry Kathie on June 2, 1969, and they lived out his Army days at Fort Polk, La. Back in Shreveport, he began his own construction company and, for years, worked projects in town and throughout the Southeast as they raised their family. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "He was our hero," says Kathie. "He had all these medals for his military service, but he never showed them off. He was so humble. He wouldn't talk about it." But the PTSD at times made life more difficult.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ross helped him deal, too. How close were they? Each was the best man in the other's wedding. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "They stuck together all those years," Kathie says. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It all began in our beloved Sunset Acres days. </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_C0RyuKZ9qHDExDcbpFXvaPeVOU_yywGR2G-LEKXpcW6c3nKz2pIocIvKoMRvw6LCdoFmBJqZA0cD9MQOKx97JSjea4Us-DfnLVn45b3DDy6mpVtvrTxMIl7ZgvtlgSYlE-_ILdP7HPIqWJPK3duNjlNWMoWGryc6pBSqksFEnYJzKMHNi8FfefJ/s584/Edwin%20with%20Kathie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="584" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr_C0RyuKZ9qHDExDcbpFXvaPeVOU_yywGR2G-LEKXpcW6c3nKz2pIocIvKoMRvw6LCdoFmBJqZA0cD9MQOKx97JSjea4Us-DfnLVn45b3DDy6mpVtvrTxMIl7ZgvtlgSYlE-_ILdP7HPIqWJPK3duNjlNWMoWGryc6pBSqksFEnYJzKMHNi8FfefJ/s320/Edwin%20with%20Kathie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi426Yrf9e4k2u0DdmtLluDrDbhse7kqiHUeoYgLbcAQVvZosV-jvN6iSCWVcG4OG-eKbILqaMBB3CsaHQ3q5vIWVIIHttcURXropT6JaEQ35F7neXnHSlVWi01igyjp9qiosTtIf8Oapu3EaY8Lcm7lS5fyW11DZL_RBJy4W6RZ5VileSIvuUuXdVq/s2186/Ross%20vs.%20Byrd,%201966.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2186" data-original-width="1668" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi426Yrf9e4k2u0DdmtLluDrDbhse7kqiHUeoYgLbcAQVvZosV-jvN6iSCWVcG4OG-eKbILqaMBB3CsaHQ3q5vIWVIIHttcURXropT6JaEQ35F7neXnHSlVWi01igyjp9qiosTtIf8Oapu3EaY8Lcm7lS5fyW11DZL_RBJy4W6RZ5VileSIvuUuXdVq/s320/Ross%20vs.%20Byrd,%201966.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="546" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNKTozQQyil_5oobkBthqdQqVJnySJD7new7pl0Gyl-U6uWNO3XM-HHTvXEAlkAJd6ARZt_ukogWd7loObgBTkeCq4zQU7xh2W2tb-TByDE680LYPI4LU6eYA8u_cdeC0yN_KqTGLqERKRVj-MnMZCxRTy2xEwzblawprRx0v0gQgEc6nzx5r4qjIt/s320/Ross%20hurdles.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ky8a99NggwPND-dkkuRz0TmMTu7XJ9d6yBzsepoRwukG-AlvKkTD4X3AMic0osK81xry6pfyDOc8jXeHEkV2-1s1Jo8VHVntinSUlfhHj5aN53ECydZIxhzI3h2tsxzbMaOsN1Jqjq_QlHZMqaMSZkyYJfP6Wo8GljJkH_vczsopbTzuTCEvtkjV/s1125/Ross%20signs.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="546" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ky8a99NggwPND-dkkuRz0TmMTu7XJ9d6yBzsepoRwukG-AlvKkTD4X3AMic0osK81xry6pfyDOc8jXeHEkV2-1s1Jo8VHVntinSUlfhHj5aN53ECydZIxhzI3h2tsxzbMaOsN1Jqjq_QlHZMqaMSZkyYJfP6Wo8GljJkH_vczsopbTzuTCEvtkjV/w310-h640/Ross%20signs.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9UCnepXag28AVsWJGDfRzlgfu5u6OZ-pzHrSCSmMQ0-jLcl6507RUGCEzgCvPGn__fFIKIifZu9t5YT525naduVq2RrIfXAAzffumK5AI9PMoWgII_uKxrFrr_p2E5aFhr2Ufzgyu51EvNc1uGjegvjzZZDximF_7W_qwPdw5hzExpZnk-IoZYWj/s1616/Ross%20signs-2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="546" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq9UCnepXag28AVsWJGDfRzlgfu5u6OZ-pzHrSCSmMQ0-jLcl6507RUGCEzgCvPGn__fFIKIifZu9t5YT525naduVq2RrIfXAAzffumK5AI9PMoWgII_uKxrFrr_p2E5aFhr2Ufzgyu51EvNc1uGjegvjzZZDximF_7W_qwPdw5hzExpZnk-IoZYWj/w216-h640/Ross%20signs-2.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhkx2_MT81w7kOLujqqQtlvfj6pl1kA8nOSobL7EKXt1rpKPOn1WGcbIm8jx5accwNcRvLgD3ZyGH-Vte07DfNAQiBz_8n1kdCWaWkd03EtcblBQuLK0CngpPXDxZSUIrI1-4u4g-dvpVZIxPXn-fJKkGMr9-3b8v6-uQm72geR1RDkW3ZFCdrm88k/s960/Grandpa%20Ross.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhkx2_MT81w7kOLujqqQtlvfj6pl1kA8nOSobL7EKXt1rpKPOn1WGcbIm8jx5accwNcRvLgD3ZyGH-Vte07DfNAQiBz_8n1kdCWaWkd03EtcblBQuLK0CngpPXDxZSUIrI1-4u4g-dvpVZIxPXn-fJKkGMr9-3b8v6-uQm72geR1RDkW3ZFCdrm88k/w300-h400/Grandpa%20Ross.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-53008657627391642152023-03-30T08:03:00.001-05:002023-03-30T08:13:22.803-05:00Opening Day, and a long love affair renewed<p> <span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Let's go, Yankees.</span></span></p><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Life -- well, sporting life -- begins again today. This should be a national holiday.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsMZCNws-sjVgshKvFD56k7GmuW75uxI0Nsm6pjxe-d_DBsFoHFP0Virbw3mGnInGCnYBPmO_5fxzcf69bHMJGRcjMLxkJ2WOyCedL2zbrnrDYLL0e68ikhJoTcFNnvh22EFFWB6_qGZVd0En6Hgvuuc8b-IrC9ff8ADPDDrbeJgj_a0-6vS0kdk8/s1545/Yankees.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="1545" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsMZCNws-sjVgshKvFD56k7GmuW75uxI0Nsm6pjxe-d_DBsFoHFP0Virbw3mGnInGCnYBPmO_5fxzcf69bHMJGRcjMLxkJ2WOyCedL2zbrnrDYLL0e68ikhJoTcFNnvh22EFFWB6_qGZVd0En6Hgvuuc8b-IrC9ff8ADPDDrbeJgj_a0-6vS0kdk8/w640-h347/Yankees.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Aaron Judge, the captain (photos from Pinstripes Nation)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It is Opening Day for major-league baseball, and this begins my 68th season as a Yankees fan. Yes, almost a lifetime.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Who's counting? So, since the start of the 1956 season -- when a small kid from a foreign country found out that baseball could be a second sports love -- this covers 10,581 regular-season games, 307 postseason games. Lots of glory, lots of agony.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> A friend, a fellow Yankees fan for life, noted that "[today] we get to start our daily suffering." </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> True. There is nothing better for a sports fan than to follow the adventures -- day by day -- of a favorite team. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Here, that could be LSU football or Dutch soccer or the woebegone Dallas Cowboys ... but, truly, nothing beats Yankees baseball. Not in this apartment.<br style="outline: none;" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Love the team, love the franchise, love the tradition ... the best tradition in American sports. It is, humbly said, the premier franchise in the world.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (OK, you could say the Green Bay Packers, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Montreal Canadiens, Manchester United, Brazil soccer, Alabama football, and -- concession here -- Boston Red Sox or New England Patriots. Also, the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers and the San Francisco/New York Giants. You choose; you are entitled to your favorite.) </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But we have had the Babe and Lou, Combs, Lazerri, Red, Waite, (where have you gone?) Joe D., Marse Joe, Casey (the Ol' Professor), Cro, the Milkman, Snuffy, Spud, the Major, Billy the Kid, Joe G. (two of them), Atley, Heinrich, King Kong, Super Chief, Vic and Eddie, Joe Page, Scooter, Gil, Mickey and Roger (the M&M boys), Yogi, Whitey, a perfect Don, Bullet Bob, Ryne, Ellie, Hank, Moose, Tony and Bobby, Clete, Hector, Mel, Pepi, Murcer, Sparky, Goose, Puff, Thurman, Reg-gie, Sweet Lou, Roy, Willie, Bucky, Mick the Quick, Louisiana Lightning, the great Mo, <i>Derek Jeter</i>, Bernie, The Warrior, Tino, Jorge, Andy P., Robby, Straw, Knobby, Gardy, Dr. Brown, Bob Sheppard, Mel Allen, Geno, etc., etc., a cast of thousands ... and now a guy who hit 62 regular-season home runs last season, the Judge ("All Rise.")</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Tradition, pride, and the Big Stadium in the Bronx (third version), part of the greatest city in the world (thank you, <i style="outline: none;">Hamilton</i>). </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The opinion here: It is the best day of the year, topped only by your team winning the World Series (congratulations, Astros fans).<br style="outline: none;" /></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We know that feeling -- 27 times. I've been around for 11 of those (and for eight second-best disappointments). But we have not had that championship feeling in the past 13 seasons. Nuts. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> So we're not the Houston Astros, defending champions, the team that four times in the past eight seasons has ended the Yankees' season in the playoffs. Hard to believe, hard to take.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We have become what the 1940s/1950s Brooklyn Dodgers used to be for the Yankees: their postseason foils.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But not surprising. The Astros were -- are -- that good.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Gosh, the Astros were our favorite National League team for years, especially in the early 1960s when we listened to many of their games on radio -- Gene Elston, Loel Passe and, for a brief, a young Harry Kalas -- and saw a few of their games on Shreveport television. The teams weren't all that good, but they were fun.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But now that the Astros are in the American League, not so much fun for us Yankees. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Wish I could say that this is going to be the year the Yankees displace them. But not so confident about our chances. Darned near forgotten what it's like to win an American League pennant or a World Series; hasn't happened since 2009. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The 13-season Series-winning drought is the Yankees' longest since I was a young man (14 seasons, 1963-76, which included three AL pennants and Series losses).</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And think of these numbers: In my first 18 years (1947-64), the Yankees won 15 AL pennants and 10 World Series. Oh, joy. Which is why one of my favorite books is titled <i style="outline: none;">Dynasty</i>. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Last season was one of the weirdest for the Yankees that I can recall. They looked unstoppable, unbeatable, potential Series champions for three-plus months: On July 8, they were 38 games above .500 (61-23) with a 15 1/2-game lead in the AL East.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> After that -- when injuries and old age and mediocrity set in -- they were mostly terrible, a .500 team in July, 10-18 in August, and the division lead crept down to 3 1/2 games before a small surge at the end. But they were no match (no offense) for the pitching-strong Astros in the AL Championship Series ... out in 1-2-3-4 games. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> As my old friend, the late Jerry Byrd, would have said: <i style="outline: none;">No guts</i>. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Going into this season, the Yankees' pitching looks shaky, questionable. Even Gerrit Cole, the supposed staff "ace" who is making a zillion dollars per season, wasn't all that great last year, but was among the MLB leaders in giving up home runs.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Injuries already have dented a potential starting rotation and the bullpen, plus a defensive whiz in center field. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The regular lineup has the usual potential, but so many of the guys need to improve on last season when they particulary faded away in a miserable second half. </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Too many strikeouts, too many empty at-bats.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It is a big ask to produce a traditional Yankees-like offense over the course of a full season. Lots to prove.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Judge likely won't come close to 62 home runs again -- Roger Maris hit 33 in 1962 after his 61 in '61 -- but he can be a force again, and now -- starting on the field today -- he's the Yankees' captain. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And he has been a class act off the field, too, saying the right things and showing leadership. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> This club might need some surprise elements, and the hope is that young shortstop Anthony Volpe -- after a strong spring-training showing -- is one. Will he be 1996 Jeter-like? Maybe some young pitchers will emerge as stars. That would be a boost.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We like the way the Yankees go about their business, like that they always wear the pinstripes at home and the gray-with-blue trim on the road. No colored tops as an alternative, unless MLB has special across-the-board uniform demands.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They almost always play the game the right way, they don't make excuses, they meet the media -- win or lose -- and they look business-like. OK, maybe the clean-shaven bit is a bit overdone for these days, but the ghost of George M. Steinbrenner (born on the Fourth of July) prevails.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But there is this: The Yankees often have players that we don't like much. Uh, Roger Clemens, A-Rod, Aroldis Chapman ... </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> As for the game itself, we love the speed-up rules for pitchers and batters. Been saying for years that batters stepping out after each pitch, to adjust batting gloves or dig in the dirt or to pick their nose, was a waste of time. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Don't like 3, 3 1/2, 4-hour games. Of course, if MLB really wanted to speed up things, cut the between-half-innings time from 2 1/2 minutes to one. But, hey, those breaks for TV/radio advertising, that's m-o-n-e-y. Gotta make millions to pay the poor players.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Oh, glad that the infield shifts have been somewhat banned. Probably teams will find a way to adjust their defenses to take away what used to be sure base hits. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Bigger bases? That will mean more stolen base -- or at least attempts -- but the Yankees seldom have a base-running team worth a darn.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Can't stand the runner-at-second-base-to-start extra innings rule. Cheap tactic. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> A note about the local team, the Texas Rangers. They have many fans here in our facility, and I will watch some of their games on TV, provided cable access is available. And we might make a rare trip to the new barn-like ballpark with a roof ... (if someone gives us tickets). </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The Rangers have spent plenty of free-agent money -- Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jacob deGrom and others -- and they have a Hall of Fame, three-time World Series champion manager (Bruce Bochy). Can't do better than him.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They should be improved. Good luck to them ... but not too much luck. They are in the American League, so ...</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Personally, we have watched less baseball on TV in recent years ... or other sports. Don't watch anywhere as much as my friends might think. Other priorities, and less stress watching the teams I care about. Easier just to follow games via Gamecast on computer or the phone.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And -- this is old school, old man talking -- just don't like the way today's athletes celebrate every good moment, the arm-waving, signaling to teammates, high fives, low fives, chest-beating, trash-talking, Gatorade-pouring. It is so much crap. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We were taught not to show up the opponent, the other team, or the refs (umps). </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But we are relics, we are dinosaurs. People in my age range don't identify with today's athletes. Coaches, managers, management could control some of those antics, but they won't. Too much money involved.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> End of rant.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It is baseball season. Glory be. Time to suffer some, time to relish the victories.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> <i>... And there it goes! See ya! </i></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><i> ... How about that!</i></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Let's go Yankees.</span></span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-41650276313203370482023-03-29T01:34:00.003-05:002023-03-29T01:34:39.395-05:00Basketball, murder, an everlasting mystery<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3FOk-4Q1tnXffLVMHJH7ok0p8LrzLwo5EZRIBCQfNY85YVK698eTSu5AHkchH3SBJ4gLOT2qBPJpN9REUezW8qvaUPWaTvgKUYLqUeNS23oQwKqnmvXkSvSZXoot6f7JChIO0Yq0glqxmejfZ0U6rb6oUGoiRwgLXds57LycvriFTMcQMBJ7liCl/s1650/Bill%20Dunn-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="887" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy3FOk-4Q1tnXffLVMHJH7ok0p8LrzLwo5EZRIBCQfNY85YVK698eTSu5AHkchH3SBJ4gLOT2qBPJpN9REUezW8qvaUPWaTvgKUYLqUeNS23oQwKqnmvXkSvSZXoot6f7JChIO0Yq0glqxmejfZ0U6rb6oUGoiRwgLXds57LycvriFTMcQMBJ7liCl/w656-h887/Bill%20Dunn-1.jpg" width="656" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRu334NjFSltHtrNsYu_F3IXSJBxJ72WxSB1gOjmQlRC5nvKpht-Aa6stcmF2bQPNTi4IJVS3O67hpgptNaw0YLz0h8OS3I43pOV5CLFsr-RLf3OP-_nYEIkxjhpSAvDNjy02p_bV59KGSTTuRVWTgm_7YEXDKbjlvBTBMoh0NwGv4-J-MjL7EhMQj/s1650/Bill%20Dunn-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="1256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRu334NjFSltHtrNsYu_F3IXSJBxJ72WxSB1gOjmQlRC5nvKpht-Aa6stcmF2bQPNTi4IJVS3O67hpgptNaw0YLz0h8OS3I43pOV5CLFsr-RLf3OP-_nYEIkxjhpSAvDNjy02p_bV59KGSTTuRVWTgm_7YEXDKbjlvBTBMoh0NwGv4-J-MjL7EhMQj/w620-h1256/Bill%20Dunn-2.jpg" width="620" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZPNjtZaz7D6Fr62ADLuXtHWN_LU_3SBDnB-3wyD48Dtu8_qcNz7V_YPzDiFdTFJcJm4GHuwUgmT081_Mso9Q1BVW_pYabAPgPrxFQsiHCt7olt0lMzDjASosm-fm4fk3rU0dfaQoP1yNhMi-62ka8DmodF6jO_sD0UcNTdwqrR-D6tED5TCNG4rM/s1650/Bill%20Dunn-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="1009" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZPNjtZaz7D6Fr62ADLuXtHWN_LU_3SBDnB-3wyD48Dtu8_qcNz7V_YPzDiFdTFJcJm4GHuwUgmT081_Mso9Q1BVW_pYabAPgPrxFQsiHCt7olt0lMzDjASosm-fm4fk3rU0dfaQoP1yNhMi-62ka8DmodF6jO_sD0UcNTdwqrR-D6tED5TCNG4rM/w690-h1009/Bill%20Dunn-3.jpg" width="690" /></a></div></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXPw3UAvtIyNvcl2VRdIBbQN1se-pSZhwGyyqzKiYENGQLH0AetYQgp76iLQnbUV8BFCypKMAWqwLqzB8yzkQvLBiNxwPkSeABwncB6mgMqjqfIvCWIkeeYLVDSiJ0KNQrVyoVXG8XQhA61BzRUWWxST2_ZsMQ8XNwOVQqWteWpWNG-F0Itx8jTkw/s2090/Bill%20Dunn-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2090" data-original-width="1615" height="1254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXPw3UAvtIyNvcl2VRdIBbQN1se-pSZhwGyyqzKiYENGQLH0AetYQgp76iLQnbUV8BFCypKMAWqwLqzB8yzkQvLBiNxwPkSeABwncB6mgMqjqfIvCWIkeeYLVDSiJ0KNQrVyoVXG8XQhA61BzRUWWxST2_ZsMQ8XNwOVQqWteWpWNG-F0Itx8jTkw/w637-h1254/Bill%20Dunn-4.jpg" width="637" /></a></div><br />Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-15102938228434125612022-10-21T09:19:00.005-05:002022-10-21T15:43:30.497-05:00Give Tommy Davis his due<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOsls7CTxRr59DlfpVW1EQ49oPSZKLC2BIBwxysI420EPBpClcOvWwVe2ex_RVgjSEJOJ7YUeOSnS4hqP-p_dljLUWCwVU-xnEStRZVfhTPsmuOqoOoZ9Jdfbaxo37V6AlM6ykKH2avtHmFyXM6WpfVWxnrQ4m_WH7IUlTBRAK2OqskqqDCv9I_8qa/s245/Davis-1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="206" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOsls7CTxRr59DlfpVW1EQ49oPSZKLC2BIBwxysI420EPBpClcOvWwVe2ex_RVgjSEJOJ7YUeOSnS4hqP-p_dljLUWCwVU-xnEStRZVfhTPsmuOqoOoZ9Jdfbaxo37V6AlM6ykKH2avtHmFyXM6WpfVWxnrQ4m_WH7IUlTBRAK2OqskqqDCv9I_8qa/w336-h400/Davis-1.jpg" width="336" /></a></div><p></p><div class="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yahoo_quoted" id="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yahoo_quoted_7307343103" style="background-color: white;"><div style="color: #26282a;"><div id="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971"><div class="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971yqt5615929714" id="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971yqt80356"><div class="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971ydp4106456yahoo_quoted" id="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971ydp4106456yahoo_quoted_7052907963"><div id="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971ydp4106456yiv3658743722"><div id="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971ydp4106456yiv3658743722"><div style="color: black; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div><div id="ydped39730dyiv9800413726ydp9b2f8760yiv6281227971ydp4106456yiv3658743722"><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Start with this simple fact: Tommy Davis never has been inducted into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ridiculous. A travesty.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The recent announcement of 10 new inductees -- the Class of 2023 -- brought this point home again. Tommy Davis was ignored ... as he has been since this Hall of Fame was started in 1979.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> His senior year was 70 years ago. What are they waiting for? Is there an amount of time a candidate must wait, like four decades?</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He is -- our opinion, and that of many others -- simply the greatest football player, the most accomplished, in the history of what was Fair Park High School in Shreveport (1928-2017). </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He was <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> star fullback and linebacker on the 1952 team that won the only Fair Park football state championship, and set a state record for points scored. </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He was a star at LSU -- a key player on the 1958 national championship as the "Go" (offensive) team fullback and, more importantly, the Tigers' placekicker and punter. He turned pro and was missed by another great LSU team in 1959 when it could have won another national title. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> With the San Francisco 49ers, he was one of the NFL's last combination placekicker-punters for a decade, twice a Pro Bowler, set the league record for most consecutive PATs, and was one of the best punters in history.</span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxl6YT0GUp9EY-5zzn9mpwO9kueBuOTdwmI4S-q4qBrDuT6tJnfCftWbXXop5mVVaXxw2xgBwDoH_nLB_3AYRD6Ve9sHMGeyBVhGRj5eBFE2fclK469fNXo7CP1z8RCSli3bAJWHcLrxX7Yn3lrcXcXHeIEm22D6qFAML9f6xLYe6Pb6-WSI1dvg5b/s261/Davis-2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="193" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxl6YT0GUp9EY-5zzn9mpwO9kueBuOTdwmI4S-q4qBrDuT6tJnfCftWbXXop5mVVaXxw2xgBwDoH_nLB_3AYRD6Ve9sHMGeyBVhGRj5eBFE2fclK469fNXo7CP1z8RCSli3bAJWHcLrxX7Yn3lrcXcXHeIEm22D6qFAML9f6xLYe6Pb6-WSI1dvg5b/w237-h320/Davis-2.jpg" width="237" /></a></div></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> If you pick the best high school running backs in Louisiana in the 1950s, you'd start with Billy Cannon, John David Crow and Jimmy Taylor. Might add Johnny Robinson and Tommy Mason. Tommy Davis is right there with them.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (And to show how haphazard -- and frankly, dumb -- the selections for this Hall of Fame have been, consider that Cannon and Robinson were not chosen until 2020, so some 65 years after senior seasons. Also in that 2020 class: quarterback Doug Williams, a senior in 1973, and baseball star Rusty Staub, a 1961 graduate.) </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Davis was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, a year after his death (of lung cancer) in California at age 52. He was inducted into the American Kickers Hall of Fame in 2014.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> When we learned a year ago that he had never made this Hall of Fame, we also were told there was one major reason: He'd never been nominated.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Took care of that last December. (See nomination listings below.)</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But he apparently remains invisible to the selection committee.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We are sure that the 10 people chosen for this class are deserving. So are -- we say diplomatically -- the 340 selected (athletes, coaches, principals, administrators, referees/officials, contributors and, yes, even four sportswriters over 44 selection "classes."</span></span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (Likely the average sports fan in Louisiana will not even have heard of most of these people; this Hall is very oriented to school principals and coaches. Even more knowledgeable fans might be clueless on these names.)</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But no Tommy Davis. That's not right.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Also, if you can believe this, the only athlete from Shreveport's Byrd High School -- one of the great producers of talent and championships for almost 100 years -- was a baseball player, but is in this Hall for his coaching success in girls basketball.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> In fact, there is scant representation of athletes from Caddo and Bossier Parish schools (see list below). Two Bossier High athletes were chosen for their coaching careers.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"> Actually, Fair Park has done as well as any school from northwest Louisiana in this Hall of Fame: running backs and all-around athetes </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">Lee Hedges, Rogers Hampton and A.L. Williams (although H</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">edges and Williams' selections were based more on their outstanding high school football coaching careers); baseball/football coach James C. Farrar; Olympics high jumper Hollis Conway; and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">sportswriting legend Jerry Byrd Sr.</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"> Fair Park people would tell you that the</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"> Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame also should include coaches </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">F.H. "Homer" Prendergast (football), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">Clem Henderson (basketball/principal), all-around athlete and coach Jimmy Or</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">ton, and stars such as </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">Leo Sanford (football), </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">Charles Beasley, Kenny Simpson and Stromile Swift (basketball), and </span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Joe May, Jerry Dyes and Rod Richardson (track and field).</span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"> </span> Oh, and Tommy Davis, a state and national championship star. Yes, he has been nominated.</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> So, to the selection committee members -- Keith Alexander, Jimmy Anderson (standing chairperson), Eddie Bonine, David Federico, James Simmons, Robin Fambrough, Kim Gaspard, Kenny Gennuso, Kathy Holloway (chairperson), Karen Hoyt, Eric Held, Philip Timothy and Ken Wood -- <span style="background-color: transparent;">as Mr. Byrd would have said: You blew it!</span><br /></span></div></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Wait 'til next year (again).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> This is an incredible years-long oversight. </span></div></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div style="color: #212529;"><span style="font-weight: 700; width: 107px;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">TOMMY DAVIS qualifications:</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">High school --Three-year starter at linebacker and fullback, and also the team’s punter and placekicker; Fair Park played in the state championship game, Class AA, each year. Won the state championship in 1952 (the only football state title in the school’s history). As a senior, Davis rushed for a state-record 1,650 yards in the regular season and set a state record with 184 points.</span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">College -- LSU running back, 1953-54, and 1958; also the team’s punter-placekicker in 1958. In the national-championship season of 1958, he was the “Go Team” (offensive unit) fullback, and rushed 69 times for 243 yards, scored four touchdowns. His kicking was the difference in two of LSU’s victories (a field goal against Florida, 10-7; an extra point against Mississippi State, 7-6. His deep punts were a key to Coach Paul Dietzel’s conservative, defense-first philosophy. </span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">NFL -- </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;">11 seasons (1959-69) as punter and placekicker for the San Francisco 49ers. Twice All-Pro (1962, 1963). He made a still-standing NFL record 234 consecutive PAT kicks over his first six-plus seasons; for his career, he made 348 of 350 PAT kicks and made 130 field goals in 276 attempts. As a punter, his career average of 44.7 yards is second lifetime, bested only by Sammy Baugh’s 45.1. His 45.6-yard average led the NFL in 1962. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212a35;"> </span> </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><br clear="none" /></span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame inductees, primarily from Caddo-Bossier schools (by year inducted):</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1980 -- Joe Ferguson (Woodlawn football, track and field)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1981 -- Terry Bradshaw (Woodlawn football, track and field)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1986 -- J.D. Cox (Byrd coach, football and baseball)<br /></span></div></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1987 -- Lee Hedges (Fair Park athlete, multi-sport coach, four Shreveport schools)</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1987 -- Robert Parish (Woodlawn basketball)</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1989 -- Frank Lampkin (Bossier basketball coach/principal)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1991 -- Billy Montgomery (Haughton basketball coach)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1995 -- Woodrow Turner (Byrd coach track-field and football)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1996 -- James Farrar (football-baseball coach, three Shreveport schools)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">1997 -- Rogers Hampton Sr. (Fair Park athlete)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2000 -- Bobby Ray McHalffey (Bossier athlete, Haughton football/track-field coach)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2001 -- Jerry Byrd Sr. (Fair Park grad, sportswriter/editor)<br /></span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2005 -- Rick Huckabay (Bossier baseball; basketball coach at several schools) </span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2008 -- Tommy Henry (Bossier coach, LHSAA commissioner)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2011 -- Alana Beard (Souhwood basketball)</span></div><div data-setdir="false" dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2011 -- Hollis Conway (Fair Park track-field)</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2014 -- A.L. Williams (Fair Park athlete, Woodlawn coach)</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2016 -- Kenny Guillot (Jesuit football, coach in Baton Rouge)</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2016 -- Steve McDowell (Byrd baseball, Southwood girls basketball coach)</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2016 -- Todd Walker (Airline baseball)</span></div><div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">2020 -- Brock Berlin (Evangel football)</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-55502869005889121432022-08-01T17:44:00.002-05:002022-08-01T18:00:13.648-05:00That's the old ballgame, Shreveport -- a book for sale!<p><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;">Happy to announce </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;">That's the old ballgame, Shreveport </i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica;">has been published, and is now for sale.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFUrg8oqnc7jK6iKOxGr72Je51A_ANp9s7dqxx3SJNmQGxaEURuZIVSaid-ud5hLZTRRtLL7RbMZt09f_MyZXFELMZZ_el5JTZCc72ZpC8SrqXw2fPjQRX9hF3YJt-IO9bx4K42gEwYXvoZ3NlVEhYFW6GhNBCR9DHrgp7m-x0KzuzFOi_UwJHM9O/s1650/baseball%20book%20blue%20cover.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFUrg8oqnc7jK6iKOxGr72Je51A_ANp9s7dqxx3SJNmQGxaEURuZIVSaid-ud5hLZTRRtLL7RbMZt09f_MyZXFELMZZ_el5JTZCc72ZpC8SrqXw2fPjQRX9hF3YJt-IO9bx4K42gEwYXvoZ3NlVEhYFW6GhNBCR9DHrgp7m-x0KzuzFOi_UwJHM9O/w309-h327/baseball%20book%20blue%20cover.png" width="309" /></a></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> I have the first three copies -- they arrived today -- and can tell you that the type is large enough for easy reading.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It is 231 pages of Shreveport and North Louisiana pro baseball history. Many photos and capsules on the players and officials significant to the teams that represented Shreveport, the city's ballparks, and the area players who played pro ball -- in the majors and minor leagues.</span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> When people sugg<span style="background-color: transparent;">est that writing this book has been "a labor of love," they are correct.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Loved doing it, the writing and even moreso the research. Proofreading was a task. To the final read, there were corrections to make.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And, yes, it was a labor. Putting together the book -- formatting it -- took the first seven months of 2022. No technical wizardry here; let's say that the Publisher and Word programs often were more in charge than the formatter.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">But with lots of help, it is done. Thankfully.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Going back even further, the project began four years as a series of chapters on my blog, <span style="font-style: italic;">Once A Knight</span>. But much material was updated and corrected, and there are many more photos than in the blog series.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> While finishing up in the past couple of months, three of the 1959-61 Shreveport Sports passed away -- Dave Wickersham, Frank Cipriani and the popular Leo Posada. Sad, but all were in their 80s. We updated their player capsules. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> So many great names in this book, many great memories ... and the issues that led to the demise of pro ball in the city. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">--- </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> Two ways to buy the book:</span><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (1) You can buy the book on Amazon ($35 per copy, plus shipping costs);</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (2) Preferably, you can buy the book from me. Let me know, and I will order it and then send it to you (send $35 and your mailing address).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (To be honest, we benefit more if you order through me. Amazon Publishing, which printed the book, gets a greater share with a direct order.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But who's counting?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> Here is the link to the Amazon order page, if that's the way you want to go: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1791838391</span><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Hope you will be interested in the book. </span></span></div></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-20620114301414034092022-07-25T17:08:00.004-05:002022-09-15T01:12:48.906-05:00The Best Game Ever<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyDWBZu-zoOZ0unhG3HicrcsbKnV_mnRG2D0PqYK7uIuUKD-Z9Ebe6R3ElHcn0V8VNHgyepdWVlHBkDRblJ256Eac_I78mePJEg5JednK7xMZirkbRkPOF7yGWwXF93CkZDpJCPoLl6HhbTeWBSzYfDjIlgW4u6qP55MD-DajmfSbMDz43tLAyiU2/s499/KU-NC.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="338" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyDWBZu-zoOZ0unhG3HicrcsbKnV_mnRG2D0PqYK7uIuUKD-Z9Ebe6R3ElHcn0V8VNHgyepdWVlHBkDRblJ256Eac_I78mePJEg5JednK7xMZirkbRkPOF7yGWwXF93CkZDpJCPoLl6HhbTeWBSzYfDjIlgW4u6qP55MD-DajmfSbMDz43tLAyiU2/w434-h640/KU-NC.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><p></p><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-large;">Just finished reading <i>The Best Game Ever</i>, a book we came across 3 1/2 months ago the day before the men's NCAA Tournament basketball championship game.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> North Carolina vs. Kansas, remember?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The 2022 final matchup was the same as the 1957 championship game that was the subject of my April 3 Facebook/e-mail post ... and this book.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> That '57 game was a classic, the <span style="font-style: italic;">only</span> NCAA title game to go <span style="font-style: italic;">three overtimes</span>. A classic matchup, too -- an undefeated North Carolina team vs. a Kansas team featuring the incomparable, imposing, awesome 7-foot giant, Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The book's subtitle: "How Frank McGuire's '57 Tar Heels beat Wilt and revolutionized college basketball."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> No national TV coverage then, scant newspaper coverage. But, as I wrote in my April 3 post, it was the first college basketball game I remember. (Reading about it then, when I was 9 and had never seen a game in person, it made an impression ... and a memory).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Looking for a photo to go with my April post, I found a copy of this book cover. Soon, we had the book ... and there is a reason. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> First, though, a summation: Published in 2006, this was written by Adam Lucas (billed then as publisher of the newsletter Tar Heel Monthly, author of books on North Carolina basketball and still today writer of the blog page goheels.com). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> So, yes, this book is written from a North Carolina view, about its 1956-57 team, and the covers have Carolina blue ink on black backgrounds.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It is a good read, an interesting history lesson ... and I am not, never have been, a North Carolina or Kansas fan. But basketball and Wilt, yes.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> George Barclay was our friend here at Trinity Terrace, our seniors residency in Fort Worth. He was always in our media/computer/copy machine room, spent much of his waking days there, helpful to anyone who needed to work the machines. He had a long, successful career in banking and financial institutions, he had traveled the country, and he was very interested and very knowledgeable -- and very opinionated -- about athletics. Particular interests: horse racing (he was an owner), track and field (he ran in high school and college) and -- aha! -- basketball.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> So we spent many hours -- as I worked on books and blogs in that room -- discussing sports. And George had many stories about his life, his work, and his sports involvement.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Many stories. He was from Philadelphia, he had seen the young Wilt Chamberlain -- a high school phenom -- play pickup games on the Philly hardcourts. George had attended, he counted, 11 colleges/universities, and one of the early ones, in the mid-1950s, was North Carolina (where he ran track, as a quartermiler). So he was there as coach Frank McGuire recruited the half-dozen New York City kids who were the nucleus of this Tar Heels program.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> When I mentioned my North Carolina-Kansas post and finding this book, George took note.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We watched the April 4 NCAA final together, stunned -- as many were -- by Kansas' quick comeback from a 15-point halftime deficit and the Jayhawks' eventual 72-69 victory. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It was a get-even outcome, 65 years later, for Carolina's 54-53 3-OT title victory against Wilt & Co.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> A day or two later, George had a surprise for me: He had gone online and ordered the book. Paid $9 for it, plus shipping cost.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "You want to read it when I'm done?" he asked. Sure.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> A week later, April 15, our friend George Barclay, 86, collapsed at lunch in our dining room. MedStar medics came quickly, and rushed him -- unconscious -- to a nearby hospital. I didn't see the collapse, but knew there was an emergency. A couple of hours later, I learned it was George.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Called the hospital twice the next morning to check on him. No record of a George Barclay. Huh?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> An hour later, someone downstairs told me: George had died. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Next day I happened to see his daughter, son and spouses as they came to his apartment. They told me it was a brain aneurysm that ruptured. He went as he had desired: quickly.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Helped them find his storage area in one of our parking garages. In the apartment, he had every detail written for them -- financial records, what to do with his belongings (a car donated to kids who care), request for cremation, no funeral, just a memorial dinner for family and friends.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> I told them about the book. It was on a table next to his couch. They graciously gave it to me.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> George's bookmark was on page 42. It is still there.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> There are many familiar names and connections in this book, including -- of course -- a couple to Louisiana. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> I did not know much of the history of college basketball in North Carolina. Did not realize that the Tar Heels only had occasional basketball success -- an NCAA Tournament title-game loss in 1946. But the NCAAs had only a limited field and limited interest through the 1940s and much of the 1950s.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The <span style="font-style: italic;">big</span> event in that time was the Christmas-time Dixie Classic, an eight-team, three-day tournament that always included the four "Tobacco Road" schools (Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina and North Carolina State) and four "outside" schools from around the country. That was <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> tournament to win.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> That, and the postseason tournament in the widespread Southern Conference and, beginning in 1953-54, the new eight-team Atlantic Coast Conference. The tradition was that only the tournament winner -- not the regular-season champion -- would go to the NCAA Tournament.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The postseason tournament for years was played at North Carolina State because (1) it was the league powerhouse team; (2) its coach, Everett Case, was the dominant figure, one of the earliest proponents of fast-break, running offenses and an innovator (such as cutting down the nets after significant victories and having a pep band play at games); and (3) NC State's Reynolds Coliseum was the first modern and sizeable (12,400 seats) arena in that area.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But slick Frank McGuire -- smooth talker, fancy dresser, dynamic motivator, explosive manner -- came to Chapel Hill in 1953 and in a couple of years had a program to match Case's.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And Case's program was never the same after 1957 and an NCAA penalty for recruiting violations. And here is a Louisiana connection (some of my friends will know this -- think Minden High School, mid-1950s, and a 6-7 superstar player ...)</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDga3TtaFa6ooZgOzARHkXNQaA6N3YgcEeh1mSKAgx2WIGIEaHUTzhWy0TxaC4IQY7NDKMDNvTr5bG7vn8EZKJHtnklEfsTHO_M43wXytFlhJOWHdvuq4eDPuIxOv53PvoFIBu3BJimX4r0-aTSdTDKnq8kcTxIEzRLRW9Hb2r9dPlMkBrSuEbhv9/s279/jackie-moreland.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDga3TtaFa6ooZgOzARHkXNQaA6N3YgcEeh1mSKAgx2WIGIEaHUTzhWy0TxaC4IQY7NDKMDNvTr5bG7vn8EZKJHtnklEfsTHO_M43wXytFlhJOWHdvuq4eDPuIxOv53PvoFIBu3BJimX4r0-aTSdTDKnq8kcTxIEzRLRW9Hb2r9dPlMkBrSuEbhv9/w287-h400/jackie-moreland.jpg" width="287" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> From page 37: "The NCAA Tournament was growing in popularity, and to gain notoriety teams had to succeed on the national stage. Case struggled to do that. Soon, he would find his program embroiled in a recruiting scandal. Jackie Moreland, a Louisiana native, originally had signed a letter of intent with Texas A&M but also had committed to Kentucky. He showed up somewhat unexpectedly at NC State in 1956 and immediately landed the program in trouble. The [Wolf]Pack had just finished a one-year probation for holding illegal tryouts when reports of cash gifts to Moreland and scholarship offers to his girlfriend hit the papers. The ramifications were serious: The NCAA leveled State with a five-year probation deemed 'the most severe ever assessed' by the athletic association."<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (Another Case connection to Louisiana: He coached through two games in the 1964-65 season when cancer forced his retirement. He was succeeded by his assistant coach ... Press Maravich.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Similarly, when McGuire's program was hit by recruiting violations in 1961 and he was forced to resign, he was succeeded by his assistant, Dean Smith. You might have heard of him.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Smith, incidentally, was <i>not</i> rooting for North Carolina in the 1957 title game. He was an assistant coach at Air Force then and attended the national semifinals and finals -- not yet known as "The Final Four" -- in Kansas City with a couple of friends of McGuire. But he made it clear he was rooting for his alma mater, Kansas. He had been a little-used guard on the Jayhawks' 1952 NCAA championship team.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But when McGuire, impressed with the young man, offered his assistant's job a year later, Smith became a Tar Heel ... for life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Amazing thing about North Carolina's 32-0 season in 1956-57 is that four of its victories went overtime, and its last two games (Michigan State and Kansas) were triple overtimes.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Also amazing: The Tar Heels played the last 1:45 of regulation and all three OTs vs. Kansas without their star player and leading scorer, 6-5 forward Lennie Rosenbluth, who fouled out with 20 points.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And yet, they held off the mighty Wilt, who finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds. Of course, they surrounded him whenever they could, but at the end, Wilt's foul led to Carolina's decisive two free throws.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Chamberlain, already a future NBA "territorial" draft pick by his hometown Philadelphia Warriors, wound up at Kansas when recruited by legendary coach Phog Allen and -- secretly -- cash payments by KU boosters.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> As a freshman, not eligible for varsity play, he had 42 points and 29 rebounds to lead the freshmen to a 10-point victory over the varsity.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> A year later in his varsity debut against Northwestern, Wilt shattered KU and Big Seven Conference records with 52 points and 31 rebounds. He was a record-setter in many ways, always.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But as throughout his NBA career -- which began after he left Kansas after the one varsity year and title-game loss, and a year with the Harlem Globetrotters -- Wilt could be difficult. He was his own man, a super-strong force.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "Wilt was politely disobedient," a Kansas assistant coach said. "He was a prodigy long before his time. He was well beyond his years physicially, but he still had so much he could learn. Most people learn to accept that they have to be patient with change. Wilt could not be patient with change because he had so much pride in being able to do something well. He had taught himself to shoot the ball, and he had pride in that. That could make him difficult to coach."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (Funny, I always rooted for Wilt.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Kansas lost road games at Iowa State and Oklahoma State -- both times Wilt was stymied by physical play -- and that is why it lost the No. 1 ranking to North Carolina. But Jayhawks' fans were convinced that Wilt would lead them to the national championship.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Didn't happen. <i>The Best Game Ever</i> tells us why.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Thanks for the book, George Barclay. Miss you.</span></div><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-42384998747893396612022-05-08T12:26:00.001-05:002022-05-08T12:31:07.657-05:00 Eating at the trainer's table<p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYu5qB5yls3SqN4rCY6s719SjZuMF3HD9Cfs7fwIsRXIDzOb6vHho0qo5jZakPBj9w9GiLQdfLgvuzygYylAkSXJ2PyoPJJ6ED4L1lko0WPF_ITsVMykrQSJRoVO3l5J7bEH1eG-sx9517-wFgj8rQrxr8ddQJXVecW1IMIkmWFsJfXEVHZjp0E-Aq/s3300/page01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="939" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYu5qB5yls3SqN4rCY6s719SjZuMF3HD9Cfs7fwIsRXIDzOb6vHho0qo5jZakPBj9w9GiLQdfLgvuzygYylAkSXJ2PyoPJJ6ED4L1lko0WPF_ITsVMykrQSJRoVO3l5J7bEH1eG-sx9517-wFgj8rQrxr8ddQJXVecW1IMIkmWFsJfXEVHZjp0E-Aq/w725-h939/page01.jpg" width="725" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3vEH8hGgJhAJsC8F3wBP9ORxARP9bD-F75kH-rYakF2RRpzw8t6pUhucUkRDR0AjsDTmKp4d9_fA72rTGZrPIt2QsrEicKJQSp92eTDNOTnyzSBENaduVQNzsFb5JgUualnQoS33p1MprLQ8F-4ov1FpyBF_1RvqQzX6OfXkpZUnpnVPtaAJuYYS/s3300/page01.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="1073" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK3vEH8hGgJhAJsC8F3wBP9ORxARP9bD-F75kH-rYakF2RRpzw8t6pUhucUkRDR0AjsDTmKp4d9_fA72rTGZrPIt2QsrEicKJQSp92eTDNOTnyzSBENaduVQNzsFb5JgUualnQoS33p1MprLQ8F-4ov1FpyBF_1RvqQzX6OfXkpZUnpnVPtaAJuYYS/w696-h1073/page01.jpg" width="696" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2bWTHAYKRrKXzP2ub7q9IYyZfP6EYHQFPNjwyqL7RQRQkqqHfgIC_q_BgwSLzcOv2F8MAY7l-_dQX-oEll0N5b8RJIsVjtE8adln_rZ3biZzQ7I-tSM7onxIdhz7O7y668oadQFwYXAMKH4j_nJols_vWZY7kgxbQglAolGnbWgylWrwo5IKQU1P/s3300/page01.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="950" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2bWTHAYKRrKXzP2ub7q9IYyZfP6EYHQFPNjwyqL7RQRQkqqHfgIC_q_BgwSLzcOv2F8MAY7l-_dQX-oEll0N5b8RJIsVjtE8adln_rZ3biZzQ7I-tSM7onxIdhz7O7y668oadQFwYXAMKH4j_nJols_vWZY7kgxbQglAolGnbWgylWrwo5IKQU1P/w733-h950/page01.jpg" width="733" /></a></div><br />Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-580455874958909122022-04-01T23:45:00.002-05:002022-04-01T23:49:31.264-05:00"Our Janice" was always a champion<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Came across a fond memory of a spectacular woman ...</span></p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Janice Cahn was as close to a grandmother as we -- my younger sister Elsa and I -- ever had.</span></span><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> She was Mom's surrogate mother, the beloved angel our mother needed so badly after she lost her mother -- and the rest of her immediate family -- to Nazi-made deaths in the Holocaust.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Mrs. Cahn -- "Granny Cahn" to us, "our Janice" to Mom -- was one of our lives' greatest blessings, as she was to several immigrant families in Shreveport for decades.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Almost 10 years ago, I did a blog piece on her. And here is an update because two nights ago while researching Shreveport pro baseball material in May 1970, I came across this photo.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC34T4H9AfLAaY4U1ICKUAK8dH41_zPpn9YdIqUIrqMNocR86kSmTbzByczzm0qQVkFPo-HQCulepd_a1m20KAdCpvK8OnAvkhRV2w5XH4EzHww0rs_W8NPh0JcDbQ7iN0R10zHUuXqpmOrdqN7ddrNwcPPcxIUwTBZlLYmxPDnQAlJaftMouSy6PY/s540/Janice%20Cahn%20Trophy,%201970.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="540" height="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC34T4H9AfLAaY4U1ICKUAK8dH41_zPpn9YdIqUIrqMNocR86kSmTbzByczzm0qQVkFPo-HQCulepd_a1m20KAdCpvK8OnAvkhRV2w5XH4EzHww0rs_W8NPh0JcDbQ7iN0R10zHUuXqpmOrdqN7ddrNwcPPcxIUwTBZlLYmxPDnQAlJaftMouSy6PY/w640-h584/Janice%20Cahn%20Trophy,%201970.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> This was a heart-tugging, tear-inducing moment. A memory of someone so dear to us. There she was -- again -- on the sports page of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Shreveport Times</span>. And by that time, I was on the sports staff there.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It reminded of something I knew, but had never really researched:</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Janice Cahn -- or Mrs. Abry S. Cahn, as the newspapers in the 1930s, '40s and '50s called her, every time -- was a helluva competitive golfer. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> She didn't talk about it much in our many visits from the late 1950s through her passing in June 1986. She wasn't one to brag. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Looking over the clippings I found Friday, she had so much she could have said. For starters, she was the first from Shreveport to win the Louisiana women's state amateur (in 1932). </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> She knew I loved sports, and so we'd talk about golf in the early 1960s when I was a fan only because of TV coverage and because of Arnold Palmer. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Among the many, many gifts Mrs. Cahn gave me was a book,</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">The Gilded Age of Sport</i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">, written by Herbert Warren Wind. He was considered the finest golf writer in the country for decades (yes, before Dan Jenkins) and was one of</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><i style="font-family: helvetica;">Sports Illustrated's </i><span style="font-family: helvetica;">stars for a few years after its 1954 inception. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> This book was first published in 1945, and updated every year. Mrs. Cahn gave me the 1961 version. I was 14; the book -- honestly -- was a bit above my level then. But it aged, and so did I, and it has been re-read often. It sits within reach of where I am typing this blog.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Mrs. Cahn knew how to pique my reading interest ... among many other things this wise woman knew.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> Please read my 2012 blog piece on her (and know that we now have four grandchildren; it was three then):</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2012/06/granny-cahn-set-example.html</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And I am adding these clippings and photos that will tell you much more about Janice Cahn, and what a powerhouse she was, what a contribution she made to Shreveport-Bossier and to life itself.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It is this simple: She was one of the greatest people we've known.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1aFQlyqpVbJOMaj1sm5uWLHoqrX2uHCyOiNZNBPwN8TZImbAthl-cfw1Bygi2vbAjJlEwFJdx3lxnbCHRvACsjgMm8oLsxxR2fMj9vq_AoGh7SjGmliuoEB8T3vsAIKr3HH74pRUhlyh9MmOmPa5dy4T3F_X4vKIJmtSRdlr-vK0Fr1ynx49o1r_/s1161/May%2014,%201932%20Times.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1161" data-original-width="546" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1aFQlyqpVbJOMaj1sm5uWLHoqrX2uHCyOiNZNBPwN8TZImbAthl-cfw1Bygi2vbAjJlEwFJdx3lxnbCHRvACsjgMm8oLsxxR2fMj9vq_AoGh7SjGmliuoEB8T3vsAIKr3HH74pRUhlyh9MmOmPa5dy4T3F_X4vKIJmtSRdlr-vK0Fr1ynx49o1r_/w300-h640/May%2014,%201932%20Times.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="546" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZpvPDlI9BS3MuSUm6I6nwaa5gduQtri8IKaPqOsrijinNd-KQiQ30dHBNUdHy2U_qyLxiGRS7LFYF_nYiMfH1LrjDg-dze-C40WJ1kuxo3SoEV-_omdFqqQhrg7tl2TMEzt0zlB2r3F0hL_8fEIE7_KmkZUQprRK31vDEMJoatXSAtiG7u1Mqj2k/w274-h400/Red%20Cross%20worker.jpg" width="274" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8l--ccvxIzC4auIDv-wQ9kttvrPofBljHVzFM5tHUrJsnPhhqp9HKDIZP6C4a3nWaZlsKXl_qG3rJ-O2rZ_aVVTUdhrAc1lPL4OvLmyvOeWtMtU6ja4Bqrk9jm782ZHkREGMTr0Yi9t9rth8f8aj6d3XIV7oK4w7zp3hxar31778WGIgFlqfAPUww/s538/1945.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="538" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8l--ccvxIzC4auIDv-wQ9kttvrPofBljHVzFM5tHUrJsnPhhqp9HKDIZP6C4a3nWaZlsKXl_qG3rJ-O2rZ_aVVTUdhrAc1lPL4OvLmyvOeWtMtU6ja4Bqrk9jm782ZHkREGMTr0Yi9t9rth8f8aj6d3XIV7oK4w7zp3hxar31778WGIgFlqfAPUww/w320-h199/1945.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9638M7_EvO2tTJaQNgJixLoQsqSer4IFw0ws9ES_w6yVI9gJXqPlmw269kuwOoz-WKVxr9Z4nsDJfFfsEF7AEqsZNEf2_CxNRJ51wJwBgeHSpz3jENVdgaKLA-_vYRHSarrfKxVfCKJdgQujCSpYXV1LtNb6hG9Qt27abXVbd0Eyic1nbEsNh2EZn/s545/Red%20Cross%20training,%20March%201943.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="545" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9638M7_EvO2tTJaQNgJixLoQsqSer4IFw0ws9ES_w6yVI9gJXqPlmw269kuwOoz-WKVxr9Z4nsDJfFfsEF7AEqsZNEf2_CxNRJ51wJwBgeHSpz3jENVdgaKLA-_vYRHSarrfKxVfCKJdgQujCSpYXV1LtNb6hG9Qt27abXVbd0Eyic1nbEsNh2EZn/s320/Red%20Cross%20training,%20March%201943.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;">From a golf column in </span><i style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;">The Shreveport Times</i><span style="font-family: helvetica; text-align: center;">, 1953</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylFw-qgh1dP7oCNCMLkJ42jly72Pjf0Z1e0rpyAB9cTNIpbA5o-cjDkcT0_yjFc3yOCIki5d5P2IAm_5398lYgX99YbMPXXcdmC5305Ki-T0jbA_OB_z7EaltCVJ_SyI3eWwaYzP9-aeNuTAbyW3NDO2NvGaxxp1N0T6JNCa-hsPeRfaGtScgt2BL/s525/Feb.%201,%201953,%20golf%20column%20in%20Times.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="525" height="604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgylFw-qgh1dP7oCNCMLkJ42jly72Pjf0Z1e0rpyAB9cTNIpbA5o-cjDkcT0_yjFc3yOCIki5d5P2IAm_5398lYgX99YbMPXXcdmC5305Ki-T0jbA_OB_z7EaltCVJ_SyI3eWwaYzP9-aeNuTAbyW3NDO2NvGaxxp1N0T6JNCa-hsPeRfaGtScgt2BL/w640-h604/Feb.%201,%201953,%20golf%20column%20in%20Times.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xxx-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: helvetica; font-size: xxx-large;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">December 1959, <i>Shreveport Journal</i></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3NcRv6g_244CzFeA8ymNuJqcVAG5oK_k4CqFbERoi2LpNS6bAmnj2YAtKfpTZshUXi5EsQi-URwaMdvHY7IRoqSKWYZukUIe0rTXeZH2zjP083Wydl_JhhQpW7ywSDKLCSAXdxtytq4aoXHbA-d2-oaC1131iOYhldd6ja5a_R1WjKBemp2LB0Kz/s477/1959%20Sertoma%20Club%20award.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="353" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3NcRv6g_244CzFeA8ymNuJqcVAG5oK_k4CqFbERoi2LpNS6bAmnj2YAtKfpTZshUXi5EsQi-URwaMdvHY7IRoqSKWYZukUIe0rTXeZH2zjP083Wydl_JhhQpW7ywSDKLCSAXdxtytq4aoXHbA-d2-oaC1131iOYhldd6ja5a_R1WjKBemp2LB0Kz/w474-h640/1959%20Sertoma%20Club%20award.jpg" width="474" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0mLXB1_J9Ae-tXd8D1TyuFPiPvp10e-BNPxaQHt9puJAo9JgCELxMBGBlkKyEzT7ZldcoGLVdluEIlm9N6sqE63dO5XuSZ4eAp1ila5Y9OPdV0U95mBberL5RpxYaxQj1rt6UtQ2YrSdxVYU3exnfEczrPnRswLR4I6h0yBSTcerESJfZRQf0HJE/s1533/sertoma-2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1533" data-original-width="546" height="865" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk0mLXB1_J9Ae-tXd8D1TyuFPiPvp10e-BNPxaQHt9puJAo9JgCELxMBGBlkKyEzT7ZldcoGLVdluEIlm9N6sqE63dO5XuSZ4eAp1ila5Y9OPdV0U95mBberL5RpxYaxQj1rt6UtQ2YrSdxVYU3exnfEczrPnRswLR4I6h0yBSTcerESJfZRQf0HJE/w308-h865/sertoma-2.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2gufBOk_ief9TAkz-5PHLD4FODa7kOgeym-uq4jJgcHZV-0FT9qTBjd7v7lYHmZEyGUVzqsBh4TCtSNE6Jtp4sXSTL7yoY_7bniaBf3kgNqbAfQmIgua90bCWwVynrB2oXNo_kVX8N_vPHL-GX6laJzZPSFYZPRNMljBvJjnj1AsV5CbEOFqErSs/s545/Sertoma-3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="545" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2gufBOk_ief9TAkz-5PHLD4FODa7kOgeym-uq4jJgcHZV-0FT9qTBjd7v7lYHmZEyGUVzqsBh4TCtSNE6Jtp4sXSTL7yoY_7bniaBf3kgNqbAfQmIgua90bCWwVynrB2oXNo_kVX8N_vPHL-GX6laJzZPSFYZPRNMljBvJjnj1AsV5CbEOFqErSs/s320/Sertoma-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">From a 1970 <i>Shreveport Journal</i> story</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKSTSZElDd01hBSobt2ah3SRzQ8tPKBjP_wWrn6Hy77QRpRDut5jE1M_qAwvDCmnl3CIuTwpps7f6gS5OSFIOJL4x60fI_fJbcEFgl4Kki05LkbWPwSJsddM4V_ZzXqhG-P5-BtoX0hwo9pLKR_Fmu-KbJTYCONFJ7iI9E_TAFG8DrUibpL83reGV/s545/Mrs.%20Cahn%20golf%20(Marge%20Fischer%20story,%20Oct.%202,%201970).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="545" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKSTSZElDd01hBSobt2ah3SRzQ8tPKBjP_wWrn6Hy77QRpRDut5jE1M_qAwvDCmnl3CIuTwpps7f6gS5OSFIOJL4x60fI_fJbcEFgl4Kki05LkbWPwSJsddM4V_ZzXqhG-P5-BtoX0hwo9pLKR_Fmu-KbJTYCONFJ7iI9E_TAFG8DrUibpL83reGV/w640-h392/Mrs.%20Cahn%20golf%20(Marge%20Fischer%20story,%20Oct.%202,%201970).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rnTZn9oqGC2H6x9tINujtr_hSaQ-lQlZvhphFf6Bim-Pxi5HRr5LNYfw3GuoR6hnY-MnQ_BbpF6iDZzMtBQDQEpQGzRaS_7f6ZL_t21-mP1CVYkzecYE1ntr-wPA650nbKZqS-rYb7rBwKRmHHY8iiur0zGW4Qt6wa3ZdWc6EC3mvH2LaZVv8pJz/s558/October%202,%201970.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="546" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1rnTZn9oqGC2H6x9tINujtr_hSaQ-lQlZvhphFf6Bim-Pxi5HRr5LNYfw3GuoR6hnY-MnQ_BbpF6iDZzMtBQDQEpQGzRaS_7f6ZL_t21-mP1CVYkzecYE1ntr-wPA650nbKZqS-rYb7rBwKRmHHY8iiur0zGW4Qt6wa3ZdWc6EC3mvH2LaZVv8pJz/w626-h640/October%202,%201970.jpg" width="626" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg35oC4qt-nnVE3FtRnBH8r25myR2AApJRZU8YbtYAwUhQi3kH1n-QcBzh47CjFUlmHRs3KsUomWUO6sITzRghNMxFjWGNgUHFmA7hGCw0K1hTRITLCjL0RqiRTXeAOJFJF0fghp3z7apsWAM9u3UwQl745RDoztifi2T-WfZFT1ETIle0aW2oxgAL/s1221/Mrs.%20Cahn%20obit%20(June%2016,%201986)%20(2).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1221" data-original-width="540" height="875" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg35oC4qt-nnVE3FtRnBH8r25myR2AApJRZU8YbtYAwUhQi3kH1n-QcBzh47CjFUlmHRs3KsUomWUO6sITzRghNMxFjWGNgUHFmA7hGCw0K1hTRITLCjL0RqiRTXeAOJFJF0fghp3z7apsWAM9u3UwQl745RDoztifi2T-WfZFT1ETIle0aW2oxgAL/w388-h875/Mrs.%20Cahn%20obit%20(June%2016,%201986)%20(2).jpg" width="388" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tRxj0U5SjS044N2nDwwZ_aWZOzdjX_NtzGMIP49QanVetIMs5i8ybOj0saAxgMmF8XZNKEE58myWADC2GAzRi06QQUpjsmx5-9BdFvnGp4FUAWnvl6hSQ5dBZhgREemUp0kve6GrpVI1KJikCIE7JLMzkg5StnaDb_0YRGHibQlVa70wamVGMjMU/s959/Mrs.%20Cahn%20obit%20(June%2016,%201986)%20(3).jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="959" data-original-width="545" height="705" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tRxj0U5SjS044N2nDwwZ_aWZOzdjX_NtzGMIP49QanVetIMs5i8ybOj0saAxgMmF8XZNKEE58myWADC2GAzRi06QQUpjsmx5-9BdFvnGp4FUAWnvl6hSQ5dBZhgREemUp0kve6GrpVI1KJikCIE7JLMzkg5StnaDb_0YRGHibQlVa70wamVGMjMU/w401-h705/Mrs.%20Cahn%20obit%20(June%2016,%201986)%20(3).jpg" width="401" /></a></div><br /></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-68342786835288727742022-03-19T09:58:00.001-05:002022-03-19T23:05:35.255-05:00One October day in 1962, Ralph Terry stood tall<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKoK3g89K4qs6Koe-8W_ASFKyW0pUSRh4aOZSrdnxZUpgNsA7LdFJLJHvTqb3n86BbNmHUcFjcx_N0V5zOI-L1wiJx9U-X8cTjMED3jQq_gpSdmLOtZGML4oYuMZN97mMNV-3gMEu56Kj-6E-r1jMC0ogWnPbCQAW7gB0VhhBp8aEMUnSp52nLFZdy=s180" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="120" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKoK3g89K4qs6Koe-8W_ASFKyW0pUSRh4aOZSrdnxZUpgNsA7LdFJLJHvTqb3n86BbNmHUcFjcx_N0V5zOI-L1wiJx9U-X8cTjMED3jQq_gpSdmLOtZGML4oYuMZN97mMNV-3gMEu56Kj-6E-r1jMC0ogWnPbCQAW7gB0VhhBp8aEMUnSp52nLFZdy=w172-h258" width="172" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Ralph Terry died this week, another of our 1960s baseball heroes gone. Their days, and their ranks, are dwindling.</span></span></p><p></p><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> There was a special personal affinity for Ralph Terry, for several reasons. Primarily because he was <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> hero of the 1962 New York Yankees' season and World Series championship team. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> If you've watched the '62 World Series film -- and it's played on this computer about, oh, 62 times -- you know that Ralph threw the last pitch of Game 7, and that the San Francisco Giants' big man, Willie McCovey, knocked the heck out of that pitch ... a screaming line drive right to -- thank goodness -- Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Sweet redemption for Ralph (and the Yankees).</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Because two <span style="background-color: transparent;">years earlier, he also threw the last pitch of the World Series. That ball ended up sailing off the bat of the Pittsburgh Pirates' Bill Mazeroski and over the wall in left field at Forbes Field. So ... 10-9, Pirates, and an immortal baseball moment.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Another reason Ralph Terry was one of our guys: (roll your eyes) He once pitched, at age 17, for the Minden Redbirds in the summer semipro Big Eight League, based in North Louisiana. (Yes, we are partial to that area.)</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> He was an Oklahoma kid, tall and rangy, a pro prospect looking for good competition. A year later he had signed with the Yankees and was pitching for their Class A farm team. Two years later, he made his major-league debut.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> But he never had a winning season in "the bigs" until 1960, and -- see above -- that season didn't end well (no thanks to Mr. Mazeroski).</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXLl591MbKUmgAIOeOkcNWXluNWKSb8Ya-1kT857ojJSbQU61Gn_0h5sx1C9yuk2ddnyqP3Em2-zhx7BjIZ4_9sBCcGhM75T8jI_X1MUXS5hobh0ZF6ptxn2hj0Ta4TAwz1zo_t0ZiowSHmmSjlEa2LMko4aokTcTG4h-olj1CLScja_uCJvbC468z=s885" style="background-color: transparent; clear: right; display: inline; float: right; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="885" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXLl591MbKUmgAIOeOkcNWXluNWKSb8Ya-1kT857ojJSbQU61Gn_0h5sx1C9yuk2ddnyqP3Em2-zhx7BjIZ4_9sBCcGhM75T8jI_X1MUXS5hobh0ZF6ptxn2hj0Ta4TAwz1zo_t0ZiowSHmmSjlEa2LMko4aokTcTG4h-olj1CLScja_uCJvbC468z=w483-h387" width="483" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> However, when my top personal memory of</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br />Ralph Terry goes to 1962, specifically Tuesday, October 16, Game 7, and the victory ride his teammates gave No. 23 off the field at Candlestick Park.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> That was, as happens so often, a tense, dramatic, memorable Game 7.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> And my memory takes me to the football practice field at Woodlawn High School, a few minutes -- if I recall -- past 2:30 p.m.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Sophomore year, football manager (equipment dispenser, tower picker-upper, etc.). Innocent (naive) 15-year-old, a sports maniac. Really, the only interest in life, and baseball (Yankees) was the No. 1 concern (Woodlawn was 1-A). </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> But on that Tuesday afternoon, at practice, my mind wasn't on football. It was on the baseball game on my transitor radio -- brown case -- that I had to my ear.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Practice? Who cares? There were other managers around.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We had a helluva good team, a carryover from the "Cinderella" district champions the year before. We were 5-1, 4-0 in district, and that week was a tense one at Woodlawn because our opponent on that Thursday was Byrd High School, the arch-rival.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Uh, we didn't like Byrd. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We had routed a good West Monroe team 26-0 the previous Thursday. Byrd was 2-0 (and had a big, bad team that -- spoiler alert -- would go on to play in the state-championship game). </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We knew we'd have to play without our promising sophomore quarterback, our friend Trey Prather. He had been the backup QB the first six games, and against West Monroe had emerged as a star, 3-for-3 for passing with two touchdown connections to Edwards Walker (12 and 23 yards). Trey also ran four times for 28 yards. But on his last run, Trey was knocked out of bounds across the field at the West Monroe bench. He didn't get up. Result: broken left wrist.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Trey easily was our best passer. But the starter, Joe Geter, came back in and found Walker for his third TD catch. (Our friend, Ed Walker, who passed away in Houston just a month ago.) </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We digress. Sorry. Byrd High was on everyone's mind. Mine was on the Yankees-Giants Game 7.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Great game, great Series. Rain-delayed for three days before Game 6 in San Francisco. Giants won that one to force Game 7.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Ralph Terry had been the Game 2 loser at Candlestick and he'd never won a World Series game (his Series record was 0-4)... until a complete-game victory in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium, helped by rookie Tom Tresh's three-run home run to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> In Game 7, Ralph was the right guy on the mound in the right place. He had won 23 games in the regular season (23-12 record), pitched almost 300 innings, by far his greatest season. Also gave up 40 home runs, but so what?</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> On this day, he stopped an outstanding Giants team -- the first San Francisco National League champion -- on four hits. Some defensive gems helped him.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXEtmqULs8V7h9naKKOS9-W4jvZo-MhmhLPyC5alhfkr3dE8mZZJiaZnr_qwuGxYVCXooW3tC-orz7X2dAVROa196OcxLwoCwdNbFvGi1dGh-Wo8Auirn3GJ6zWc-GSwdw3wEbEQN9_427bvYlEqkRLe2QdxbMT6r3DAlY8vbtvDSYiQF_m1FxrZYD=s707" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="546" height="607" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXEtmqULs8V7h9naKKOS9-W4jvZo-MhmhLPyC5alhfkr3dE8mZZJiaZnr_qwuGxYVCXooW3tC-orz7X2dAVROa196OcxLwoCwdNbFvGi1dGh-Wo8Auirn3GJ6zWc-GSwdw3wEbEQN9_427bvYlEqkRLe2QdxbMT6r3DAlY8vbtvDSYiQF_m1FxrZYD=w468-h607" width="468" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> Tresh saved him in the seventh inning<br /> with a running backhanded catch in left field on a drive hit by ... Willie Mays. </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">McCovey followed with a long triple, but he was stranded at third. Thus, the Yankees' 1-0 lead was preserved.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Classic ninth inning. Yankees failed to score after loading the bases with no outs -- forceout at home, double-play grounder (5-U, 5-3 if you're scoring, baseball fans). Bottom nine: Matty Alou pinch-hit, perfect drag bunt single. Terry struck out the next two batters. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Up comes the mighty Mays (oh, Lord, I'm shaking listening to this). Lines a hit to right field. Roger Maris, a terrific outfielder, rushes over to the corner, cuts the ball off before it can get to the fence and hurries his throw to the cutoff man -- Richardson, in short right, relays it home and Alou has to stop at third. Phew!</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Mays is at second, the potential winning run on a single. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> McCovey, an awesome man, is up. First base is open; Orlando Cepeda is on deck. Yankees manager Ralph Houk goes to talk to Terry, and they decide to forgo the "percentage" move (walk McCovey, get a righty-on-righty matchup with Cepeda). Huge gamble.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> First pitch McCovey hits a long, long drive ... foul. I'm listening, and really shaking now. Second pitch: the line drive to Richardson.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Game over, Series over ... the Yankees win! (World Series title No. 20, the 10th of my lifetime. Would have to wait 15 years for another one. Damn.)</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Radio goes flying in the air as high as I could throw it, but I didn't yell. Didn't want to disrupt football practice. Probably the coaches and the guys didn't notice. I didn't care. I loved Ralph Terry then, and I loved him forever.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Another scene, two years earlier: Junior high eighth-grade math class, Maurice K. Nickels the excellent teacher, sometime before 2 p.m. We're taking a test, Game 7 of the '60 World Series is going on. I know the Yankees were ahead 7-4 in the eighth inning. Mr. Nickels leaves the room, comes back in after a while and announces to the class that the Pirates have won the Series on a home run by Bill Mazeroski.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> One kid, age 13, in Mr. Nickels' class sinks in his seat, feeling ill. Doesn't want to believe it. Doesn't know that Ralph Terry gave up that home run.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Two years later, we forgive Ralph.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Met him in the early 1990s when he was playing the Seniors PGA Tour and was in an event at the Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He was that good a golfer, maybe the best-ever baseball player-turned-golfer. It was the day I followed Arnold Palmer's round, but sought out Terry afterward.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Thanked him for 1962, mentioned Minden, which brought a laugh. He said it was a good memory.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhS4HXj0QvIlnWk29X3a7uAVaUx74p-lI7IsVqzflXJmA15ns5oOxcFzQ1y3wicOYYPGdDGCW0RNepQDRqd0a4dB_N6pVMX8fpGfpPbPhkF3sG-6yf_JPSmwRlJqWcslXrlCqdPEnoHfHsbm2JsE4T05we7gr7wtdxGbTjqZT9on-W8gyC9LujAmvjb=s1198" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="494" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhS4HXj0QvIlnWk29X3a7uAVaUx74p-lI7IsVqzflXJmA15ns5oOxcFzQ1y3wicOYYPGdDGCW0RNepQDRqd0a4dB_N6pVMX8fpGfpPbPhkF3sG-6yf_JPSmwRlJqWcslXrlCqdPEnoHfHsbm2JsE4T05we7gr7wtdxGbTjqZT9on-W8gyC9LujAmvjb=w264-h640" width="264" /></a></div> He was 86 when he left us this week. The only other Yankees who played in that Game 7 in 1962 still living also are 86 -- Bobby Richardson and Tony Kubek. Giants players from that game still with us are the greatest player I've seen: Mr. Mays, and Felipe Alou and "The Baby Bull," Cepeda. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Heck, they're all legends. But on October 16, 1962, Ralph Terry was The Man.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">--- </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> One postscript: Talk about tense, what we didn't know that day, but would learn by the following Monday ... This item taken from history.com, </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">a "This Day in History" listing:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> "In a televised speech of extraordinary gravity, President John F. Kennedy announced on October 22, 1962, that U.S. spy planes have discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba."</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> (The Soviets. The Russians. Troublemakers. Some things don't change.)</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Yikes. And we thought the World Series and Byrd-Woodlawn football were tense. Right.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPsIdLWX_NAbFtU3aUKaQHPyUfZA2onxrlKgTxke6Ss8FGi-1OWKqD8qko7PU24oKpy5EcdMtgp1SsEk9JiaxqFXJQtMOMKv1j9GbYYHt0vbU7q3ANnyMOeXrhvjwTl3hpD0X4ooyY8OOfo9vKhIczoJv2dTw2wtfTRD08bWCHJBEFkGCkQdXfYyu0=s545" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="545" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPsIdLWX_NAbFtU3aUKaQHPyUfZA2onxrlKgTxke6Ss8FGi-1OWKqD8qko7PU24oKpy5EcdMtgp1SsEk9JiaxqFXJQtMOMKv1j9GbYYHt0vbU7q3ANnyMOeXrhvjwTl3hpD0X4ooyY8OOfo9vKhIczoJv2dTw2wtfTRD08bWCHJBEFkGCkQdXfYyu0=w614-h261" width="614" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfYtl-_mti_qLZdvUXBtJBfXy6DXj85AJijEICW_4q1tTDbs0hLmt2oqWLiVDLTxraD9XIFSwxOJ447ZUCKzt02mA0ULHTCauHwGclwtrD1GqaPLwAk1slZwuutwu8JMYjHsB5qTWe0fXf1YvLaIE6I_9Qr6KSPLDKMbki_1_L452hvR_ua_m701at=s1943" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1943" data-original-width="521" height="1621" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfYtl-_mti_qLZdvUXBtJBfXy6DXj85AJijEICW_4q1tTDbs0hLmt2oqWLiVDLTxraD9XIFSwxOJ447ZUCKzt02mA0ULHTCauHwGclwtrD1GqaPLwAk1slZwuutwu8JMYjHsB5qTWe0fXf1YvLaIE6I_9Qr6KSPLDKMbki_1_L452hvR_ua_m701at=w436-h1621" width="436" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-5577271162758366082022-01-25T23:54:00.000-06:002022-01-25T23:54:26.452-06:00A broadcast halftime guest to remember <p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white;">Detroit, December 28-29, 1976, the Motor City Classic ...</span></span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8npZFcexase25RXjrAlRSUsU0EADDxTymIq1nNqawYMLDM9i0jQ-NC1vpLIyA245c3jeL9mgnzbQY17JPnedyyKjL-loSLsyOPbMnmH9T_TgV42d_h5dyfYBf3Wz7TMGmFlRKQ2q8klw_UW_nS3-5BZ6S6BDBJxA0V1_X6G2mofu2iVPAdbJZneDs=s1320" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1320" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8npZFcexase25RXjrAlRSUsU0EADDxTymIq1nNqawYMLDM9i0jQ-NC1vpLIyA245c3jeL9mgnzbQY17JPnedyyKjL-loSLsyOPbMnmH9T_TgV42d_h5dyfYBf3Wz7TMGmFlRKQ2q8klw_UW_nS3-5BZ6S6BDBJxA0V1_X6G2mofu2iVPAdbJZneDs=w400-h299" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Dick Vitale </b><br />(photo by Matt Cashore, USA Today sports)</td></tr></tbody></table> A few years before he became the World's<br /> Ambassador of Basketball, he was the halftime guest interview on the Centenary College broadcast.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We knew this could be <i>interesting</i>.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We had seen his "act" the previous night when he coached the best basketball team the University of Detroit had ever had to a close victory against our team, the Centenary Gentlemen. He was, well, a wild man, frantically -- obsessively -- directing his Titans. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The next night, as our guys played a consolation -- third-place -- game, he came to our radio-broadcast position to talk at halftime. His team would play the championship game about an hour later.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> All Jim Hawthorne, Centenary's play-by-play broadcaster on KWKH-Shreveport (1130 AM on the radio) in the late 1970s, had to do was ask one question. Dick Vitale -- yes, the omnipresent basketball guru -- took it from there.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">You might have seen him, and especially <span style="font-style: italic;">heard</span> him, a time or two over the past 40 years. </span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitCCePr1vpc0Rgojg5nlJ6rO_S1ymukuQd4eY-SWTXOq88I53lJx_eEOy8CAIIIeC-baZyOAoXXBXCyURLDix-7Bb9B65_FUWFT0jr9SVZVqKa5cwQc2i-5qvgsSNhuoncjsY60UfY2dpS5ipz6z5Xd6L_dyDKsP4n1jYoCljqhVJyOW0xZyAaUrPE=s1039" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1039" data-original-width="547" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitCCePr1vpc0Rgojg5nlJ6rO_S1ymukuQd4eY-SWTXOq88I53lJx_eEOy8CAIIIeC-baZyOAoXXBXCyURLDix-7Bb9B65_FUWFT0jr9SVZVqKa5cwQc2i-5qvgsSNhuoncjsY60UfY2dpS5ipz6z5Xd6L_dyDKsP4n1jYoCljqhVJyOW0xZyAaUrPE=s16000" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Of course, he talked and talked and talked. He was intense, excitable, enthusiastic, <i>loud, </i>funny, crazy. Pick an adjective.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It was unforgettable. And to think that then, 1976, not many people outside of, say, New Jersey (where he grew up and first coached) and Detroit knew of this blind-in-one-eye, balding, babbling nut case.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Dickie V., baby.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>A footnote to this lead-in: A couple of hours later, after his U. of Detroit team had struggled to edge a less-than-.500 Kent State team in overtime, Vitale -- did we say intense? -- and Kent State coach Rex Hughes engaged in a shoving match that had to be broken up. Hughes wasn't happy with the game's outcome; Vitale wasn't happy with his team's subpar effort.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Saw it happen. Not a good scene. But here is a fact: Both Vitale and Hughes were basketball lifers, and both were head coaches for a short time in the NBA. One little skirmish didn't matter.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>We did appreciate Vitale coming on our halftime show. What Hawthorne -- who would go on to be LSU athletics' "Voice of the Tigers" for three decades -- remembers is telling.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>"He was sitting with me in a press booth at the top of the arena [Detroit's Calihan Hall]," Jim recalls, "and he told me, 'I just get so nervous.' "</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>If Dick Vitale was nervous -- and maybe that's what took him out of coaching for good only a couple of years later -- think about how many TV viewers he made nervous over the next 40 years.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He was, and still can be, outrageously colorful -- dancing with cheerleaders, being the object of crowd-surfing, wearing goofy wigs, using his Vitale terminology ("diaper dandy," "PTPer," etc. ... here is the list -- https://dickvitaleonline.com/about/dick-vitales-dictionary)<br /> He also is outrageously positive and popular -- an emotional, wonderful friend of coaches, players, and the world. A charitable human being, always promoting good causes. The University of Detroit named its basketball court for him; he's been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> To listen to Vitale as the color announcer on TV basketball games, mostly college games but also a couple of years of NBA games, required patience and a good set of ears. Many people -- confession, I am one -- took it small doses, or not at all. Here is where the "mute" button came in.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> (My Dad loved basketball, but not <span style="font-style: italic;">Vit-al-ee</span>, as he pronounced it in his broken Dutch/English. He always turned off the sound on Dickie V.'s games.) <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Now, though, "mute" is not a happy word when we consider Mr. Vitale. This has been a tough time for the 82-year-old longtime Florida resident -- first melanoma, then lymphoma, chemo for months, and now vocal cords damaged to where surgery is required. He can't talk, and this week ESPN announced that he won't be back on the air for the rest of this basketball season. <span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It is no time for jokes about his voice.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> You know the sports world is rooting for him, and his full recovery.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="172" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiag8QgfGFBMbZ4nw37CMh9hdqByabNZ0cBMJ68g_8heQf7OXs9h9M_yNV80xwxg7bdJjgKElk2CxP72W7K88SHwUBOfZNMGJyHLILXXZLWyQkGtHQ0-AFF0lwRt9PTLoCTuEGhkRgJ2vlEYZi0C3GCDPd655fpYLLwyzznpCJyyMHSZyFfXLcs0ozq=w525-h640" width="525" /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiag8QgfGFBMbZ4nw37CMh9hdqByabNZ0cBMJ68g_8heQf7OXs9h9M_yNV80xwxg7bdJjgKElk2CxP72W7K88SHwUBOfZNMGJyHLILXXZLWyQkGtHQ0-AFF0lwRt9PTLoCTuEGhkRgJ2vlEYZi0C3GCDPd655fpYLLwyzznpCJyyMHSZyFfXLcs0ozq=s210" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; font-family: helvetica; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> We s</span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">aw him, and he did that radio interview, in his greatest season as a coach. It was his fourth year as the University of Detroit coach, and his 1976-77 Titans went 25-4 (and one loss, to Minnesota, was reversed by forfeit).</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They won 21 games in a row -- Centenary was No. 6 in that streak -- and the last of those was a 64-63 upset (on a last-second shot) of No. 7-ranked Marquette in Milwaukee. Oh, Marquette went on to win the NCAA championship.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Here is a funny Vitale moment: His dance at midcourt after that victory at Marquette: <span style="background-color: transparent;">https://twitter.com/dickiev/status/804121343553925120</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> Detroit made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 15 years, and won one game, then lost in the Sweet Sixteen to state rival Michigan.</span><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> That team included three future NBA players -- guards John Long and Terry Duerod, and forward/center Terry Tyler. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Earl Cureton, a 12-year NBA player, came to Detroit as a transfer while Vitale was the coach (and then athletic director for a year). When the 1977 team had a 40-year reunion, and Vitale attended, Cureton said this: </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-large;"> "Bringing back Dick Vitale is huge. Usually, when you talk Titans basketball, you talk Dick Vitale. His name always comes up. I had a great deal of respect for what Dick did during his career, not only in basketball, but what did for us out of basketball.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> "He taught us about the game of life. He prepared us for life after basketball and how important it was for us to get an education and go from boys to men. He kept us on the straight and narrow and was definitely a role model. Just to show there was a lot of respect for Dick, all of them coming back 40 years later to see him. There's going to be a lot of excitement for him coming back in the building.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030; font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> "For a mid-major ... to create that type of excitement and to create the group of young men he created, I think, was amazing. What he did at U-D was just phenomenal."</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Charlie Vincent was a transplanted Texan who wrote sports for the <i>Detroit Free Press</i> for three decades and was the beat writer for U. of Detroit basketball in 1976-77 (later covered the Detroit Pistons and then became a popular, crafty columnist for years). He could be tough, though. Here is what he wrote after Vitale's team barely beat Kent State:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSSpnoAGcxTjUX6zOZO2Fa0KHgi7vdT2A2G2lc4PNCUXboQOYDHygfxuefzqhU4cXniJ9my6-kWC9U8eTAvm-roIBqrxDik34-7iPIPvVI9DwqBo_SAYmeQ8QEgDYjqflBAMMdvUvx7CeY2dPLfsZJokK99bJKj7xTLDw7509KJ2UIbWAX_2knI-Qv=s509" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="84" data-original-width="509" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSSpnoAGcxTjUX6zOZO2Fa0KHgi7vdT2A2G2lc4PNCUXboQOYDHygfxuefzqhU4cXniJ9my6-kWC9U8eTAvm-roIBqrxDik34-7iPIPvVI9DwqBo_SAYmeQ8QEgDYjqflBAMMdvUvx7CeY2dPLfsZJokK99bJKj7xTLDw7509KJ2UIbWAX_2knI-Qv=w640-h106" width="640" /></span></a></div></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> By the end of that season, Vincent was a bit more complimentary of Vitale's work.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Joe Falls was a Detroit sportswriting legend, covering 50 years, the <i>Free Press</i>' lead sports columnist during Vitale's U. of Detroit time (and one of my favorite writers on baseball). Here is what he wrote about Vitale's influence:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #303030;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdBfQP9lbjrwiH3L9MvywivJAQH1mNvuIzRxLUJlZw0WlKn47gQFJA0Co4JQ1biO6q1asx5tOd9tWYIbpo8qbZtlILkFe2lzYnG5bL_HlYbJFM7IL3qKOZQUNqrS6hzv6OtxwnJgxyN-drLYPgD10AgtfERv3Blbc3wxceJjlvLJJSPdEn2R9oUF1C=s535" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="535" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdBfQP9lbjrwiH3L9MvywivJAQH1mNvuIzRxLUJlZw0WlKn47gQFJA0Co4JQ1biO6q1asx5tOd9tWYIbpo8qbZtlILkFe2lzYnG5bL_HlYbJFM7IL3qKOZQUNqrS6hzv6OtxwnJgxyN-drLYPgD10AgtfERv3Blbc3wxceJjlvLJJSPdEn2R9oUF1C=w640-h210" width="640" /></a></div></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> That crusader, that non-stop talker, that entertainer came into our personal vision in 1976, and had us shaking our heads (and covering our ears). So much fun, so endearing. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We wish him well, and when he gets back to television, we might even turn up the sound. Because he is <span style="font-style: italic;">Dickie V., baby</span>.</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #303030; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-61647615914425392332022-01-15T19:04:00.001-06:002022-01-15T19:10:39.391-06:00Surviving Shanghai: A Marine's story<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="background-color: white;"> A girl with Russian Jewish roots meets a U.S. Marine in China.</span></span></p><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The first few years of Jim Randolph Jr.'s life were spent in miserable conditions -- in a Japanese internment/prison camp in Shanghai, China.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Jim doesn't remember it; he was too young. Good thing.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> His mother could not forget. Her life would never be the same. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiN8Uoo80IYmVDrCaZZbGjXor83dTXLo1aCstw8pPUg3cVx1Y-dNiGZDkR68m41OxUpn2fZ1qMcS80xhzzrt_2VDGlqXCjCAZTYghuS0szvuSbXC_BNamopz3jbygW2CLP1G0sOb7pfKKspANf28JuZGCxxFlSh9EHavYT8K9k362DIvMkVHiV1-xYh=s1377" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1377" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiN8Uoo80IYmVDrCaZZbGjXor83dTXLo1aCstw8pPUg3cVx1Y-dNiGZDkR68m41OxUpn2fZ1qMcS80xhzzrt_2VDGlqXCjCAZTYghuS0szvuSbXC_BNamopz3jbygW2CLP1G0sOb7pfKKspANf28JuZGCxxFlSh9EHavYT8K9k362DIvMkVHiV1-xYh=s320" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ida Roskin Randolph</span></td></tr></tbody></table> Ida Roskin Randolph was Jewish, from a family with Russian heritage whose ancestors fled -- "escaped" is another description -- from Russia to China when Communism took over the USSR. Ida and her parents grew up in Shanghai, and they were there when World War II broke out in the Far East in December 1941.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> In the end, hers is a wonderful "rest of the story" -- incredibly -- in west/central Louisiana.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJ3cYq_I74PK2c0uEansvYQDNkW1AEGtYZf_z9XTfL2Pnnv67uP0Gm91d9ysxN-TM1u0s3p0HecuioQ5B5y3UlFG7Yn8uCRNTkmObXUhXz-bLCcTtRsb9tWUXzpxonVrBHTldYSEuto4rZ_YOoogW_kW6AjxiRaliia6ZzEUzFs7Wy8mn5GI_S0mt5=s1426" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1426" data-original-width="749" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJ3cYq_I74PK2c0uEansvYQDNkW1AEGtYZf_z9XTfL2Pnnv67uP0Gm91d9ysxN-TM1u0s3p0HecuioQ5B5y3UlFG7Yn8uCRNTkmObXUhXz-bLCcTtRsb9tWUXzpxonVrBHTldYSEuto4rZ_YOoogW_kW6AjxiRaliia6ZzEUzFs7Wy8mn5GI_S0mt5=w336-h640" width="336" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">James W. Randolph Sr.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> Ida was 17 when James Randolph Sr., 19, a U.S. Marine from Many, Louisiana, came into her life. It happened quite a bit: Girl from "overseas" meets American serviceman on duty, and they become a couple.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They met through mutual friends, a girlfriend of Ida's was dating a Marine friend of Jim's. Jim found Ida attractive, and they were a match. Language wasn't a barrier; she had learned English in international school in Shanghai. Soon they were in love ... and they married. And soon, she was pregnant. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> So James Jr. was born in Shanghai as an American dependent. He was 10 months old when the world was about to change, not -- in the short term -- for the better.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> James Sr. would have a 21-year U.S. Marine Corps career. In October 1941, he was sent from Shanghai to join the Pacific forces preparing for what became 3 1/2 years of combat against the Japanese. He made six stops of islands and countries in the Far East, survived it all and eventually returned to the U.S. as a decorated war veteran.</span><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And he would reunite with his wife and son in the U.S. Jim Jr.'s first memories of his father were when he was nearly 6 and they met in San Francisco in 1946.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> While Jim Sr. was in combat, Ida and Jim Jr. had been through a sort of hell of their own: prisoners of the Japanese. </span><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">---</span><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFBNddqLtdkot9FGErL8kAmEg9lbDn5VwzRFvICj3Qy2yTbcKtoq7ipchxCDMnrqJp0E3wRKVv_K59Ch6tiMe_z6USnRzGHHbhYoZo4sbvAOuSptxJiLbrEQGIEv2FdhBq5JpMjv-V7SsOedUnJXl9MyPwpowaFq5i29-YbJhaJnOEjK5W4ZB1c9Uu=s848" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="476" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgFBNddqLtdkot9FGErL8kAmEg9lbDn5VwzRFvICj3Qy2yTbcKtoq7ipchxCDMnrqJp0E3wRKVv_K59Ch6tiMe_z6USnRzGHHbhYoZo4sbvAOuSptxJiLbrEQGIEv2FdhBq5JpMjv-V7SsOedUnJXl9MyPwpowaFq5i29-YbJhaJnOEjK5W4ZB1c9Uu=s320" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The young coach, 1966</td></tr></tbody></table> We remember Jim Jr. as a high school basketball coach (and principal) in North Louisiana from the mid-1960s through the 1980s. A very good basketball coach, an organizer and promoter of the game, dedicated to it and to the relationships with the kids he coached. In the early 1970s, as a young sportswriter, we covered games that involved some of his best teams.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> We also knew that his first cousin is Stanley Tiner, our friend from late 1960s Louisiana Tech days and later our boss as editor of the afternoon <span style="font-style: italic;">Shreveport Journal</span>, one of several newspaper editor positions Stan had over three decades. That included heading one Pulitzer Prize-winning staff in 2006.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> What we didn't know was Jim Randolph Jr.'s back story, and that of Stanley's "Aunt Ida." (Stan's mother was Jim Sr.'s sister.) Stan alerted us to the story, and provided Ida's photo.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> What Jim Jr. and Stan also share is Marines' duty. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Jim followed his father's path and joined the Marines at age 17 in 1958, immediately out of high school. Jim Sr. administered Junior's induction. His four years of service were during a non-combat time, and the tough Marine life included some fun -- he played on camp basketball teams, including time as a player-coach. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="background-color: transparent;">Stan joined the Marines in the early 1960s and became a Vietnam veteran, a war correspondent and photographer. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Another commonality: They each went from the Marines to college -- Jim at Northwestern State (1962-66, health/P.E. major), Stan back to La. Tech (1967-69 for a degree in journalism).</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Even before he graduated, Jim (at age 25) had been named as a head basketball coach at Springhill High in April 1966. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGn1WqqhMSeF54zjK2lPd9hUpYXbK88ktKie2IYUpyEq5S2X-PKmBUgY-maq3Ff7aL-EJKoqLZf3dfCXC8pWtrfXo07_mMTJUGsl4G7IU2VO6EXSXPSQ_fbCxme04MUbTg3FpCt9UIZubGvi1htekYUwkR8DH8Evn__duCvDGG7Dl9BKZIzH0HaQdB=s908" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjGn1WqqhMSeF54zjK2lPd9hUpYXbK88ktKie2IYUpyEq5S2X-PKmBUgY-maq3Ff7aL-EJKoqLZf3dfCXC8pWtrfXo07_mMTJUGsl4G7IU2VO6EXSXPSQ_fbCxme04MUbTg3FpCt9UIZubGvi1htekYUwkR8DH8Evn__duCvDGG7Dl9BKZIzH0HaQdB=s320" width="185" /></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> His 12-season coaching career (four schools, 290 victories, a .625 winning percentage) included five playoff seasons at Zwolle (where he was high school principal for another five years) and ended in 1984 as the first successful basketball coach at Shreveport's Southwood High.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He is 81 now, happily retired and living with wife of 28 years, Judy, in Rockwall, Texas, where he was high school principal for 10 years, the last of 25 fulltime years as a school administrator. He stays involved with his church (Lutheran) and in Marines' veterans activity.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He doesn't push his early adventures. His family and some close friends know, and there have been stories written, but in North Louisiana, it wasn't common knowledge other than references to his being a Marine veteran. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Fact is: He and Ida were camp survivors.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP5BufuNSHo7usX8rVvCtD34-w_ptTBypE1-LNaZPNGW2I6eMVM_GnXzmZeNZf1xMms6iO1GDYgp7IVa9koWmT3kCAJLEzQZdKP17dX2N74xUpgiOg9KnZWzvCyIOvrwxZx1oMwQ8PTwx6a5KwOr5CD7rUXnChQUSmyGm2SlT-UTTRWNVAnI_cTdxY=s808" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="808" data-original-width="508" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgP5BufuNSHo7usX8rVvCtD34-w_ptTBypE1-LNaZPNGW2I6eMVM_GnXzmZeNZf1xMms6iO1GDYgp7IVa9koWmT3kCAJLEzQZdKP17dX2N74xUpgiOg9KnZWzvCyIOvrwxZx1oMwQ8PTwx6a5KwOr5CD7rUXnChQUSmyGm2SlT-UTTRWNVAnI_cTdxY=s320" width="201" /></a></div></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">--- </span><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Shanghai, the large southeast China port city, was a safe place in particular for Jews escaping the growing Nazi Germany terror. Jews were accepted there without visa requirements; some 20,000 fled there from eastern Europe from 1933 to '41. Many Russian refugees, such as the Roskin family, had been there for a couple of decades.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The U.S. 4th Marine Regiment was based there from 1927 to 1941. Known as the "China Marines," they were protecting American citizens living and working in a city which had an international zone, a mix of many nationalities. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The Jewish population there was well-established and comfortable. But when Japanese troops took over Shanghai in 1941 -- on December 8 (note the date) -- they were instructed by Nazi Germany's leaders to round up the city's Jews and place them in a ghetto (known as Tilangiao).</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The Roskins, and the Randolphs (Ida and Jim Jr.), were in that ghetto. Jim was 14 months old when they rounded up.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> And by now, Ida was estranged from her parents -- their choice. They were appalled that a Jewish girl would out of faith, an American serviceman at that.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "They disowned her," Jim Jr. recalled. "She gave up everything for our family, and she never saw her parents or her brother again."</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The Japanese were not as hell-bent on punishing, or killing, the Jews as the Nazis in Germany. Conditions were harsh, food was scarce and whatever work the prisoners were forced to do was labor, but most of Shanghai's Jewish population -- remarkably and fortunately -- survived. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Jim Jr. noted that "due to economic and personnel reasons, Japan shut down the internment camps a few years before the end of the war, and we were released."</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ida, he said, "shut it down, almost totally. I don't remember her talking about it much."</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Jim did not remember the camp. "I didn't think a whole lot about it," he said. "It wasn't meaningful to me. Didn't make much difference."</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But he does have memories of the subsequent years in Shanghai; for instance, one story his mother did relate. "She said the Japanese were trying to find where her husband (Jim Sr.) was located," he said, "and they threatened to cut me in half if she didn't tell them. They did that with many women and their children. If that's a true story, I don't know."</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> He also early memories of watching military troops marching, of Chinese "coolies" (low-wage laborers) attacking his mother and stealing a week's worth of food from her, and of living in a basement room and his mother having him sleep with her because she was afraid of rats gnawing on her little boy. (Pleasant dreams.) </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> The Roskin parents and brother returned to Russia, and Ida learned they received harsh treatment and were forced to work on farm communes. In 1952, she got word her father had died. That was the last contact with her original family.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> But her new family soon was reunited. Ida heard her husband had survived and was back in the U.S. He sent for Ida and Jim Jr., and they took a ship from Shanghai to San Francisco.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "I remember seeing the Golden Gate Bridge," he said, and he met -- first time in his memory -- James Randolph Sr.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> "He wasn't a big man -- about 5-foot-10, 165 pounds," he recalled. "By the time I was in high school, I was about 6-foot-1."</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> They lived at Camp Pendleton in California before and after three years at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. When Jim Sr. was assigned duty in the Korean Conflict in 1952, he took them "home" to Louisiana, to Many near Jim Jr.'s grandparents. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ida and Jim Jr. began attending church in Many, the Jewish girl converted to Baptist. She would become involved in that church and one in Hornbeck, about 18 miles from Many where Ida and Jim Sr. eventually settled.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ida, her son remembers, "was fluent in English, and she worked to hide her accent. She wanted to be accepted in her new world."</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Jim began high school in Many, making the varsity basketball team as a freshman in 1955. When Jim Sr. was assigned duty at a New England Marine base, they moved to Kittery, Maine, where he spent his last three high school years at Traip Academy (as an all-county forward in basketball and track/field competitor).</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> From there it was on to the Marines, Northwestern State (he didn't play basketball, but was a fan/spectator and student of the game when he wasn't an all-night campus security guard), and then on to teaching and coaching.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Preparing to teach history courses, he learned more of the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and appreciated the travail he and his mother had survived.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Much of Jim Jr.'s family -- two sons (one deceased), three grandchildren, one great grandson -- remained in North Louisiana. Two stepchildren and two grandkids live in or near Rockwall.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> One family member who did move far away is Jim's sister, Mary. Seven years younger than him, a Florien (La.) High graduate -- also near Many -- she met her future husband while they worked at Fort Polk, the U.S. Army base near Leesville, La. She moved with him to his hometown of Lansing, Mich.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Near the end of Jim's working career, the lives of the two people who brought him into the world ended in Shreveport -- James Sr. at age 79 in July 1999; Ida at age 78 in late January 2000.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> It had been some 60-plus years since their meeting and courtship, in Shanghai -- the start of quite a story, a mix of Russia, China, Louisiana, Judaism, Baptists, and the U.S. Marines.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Ida's obituary in <span style="font-style: italic;">The Shreveport Times</span> said she was "a loyal wife, loving mother and devoted child of God."</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> Her son will tell you that she was courageous, adventurous, generous and a person who sacrificed so much for a good life in the United States.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjjkFd8DXjxAeTbMcWmxzcywKhxPpwxtMIFwf1Jds-STK3KnFw3rYjnWDlHQMdJjsjVLc0uk0C4T7TfgjPbWnSNM_E9VfQCtZd1bLxJMlAbfzdJoUEsOUPruHGGaNFENxNQN4cC1K_kvjUYSzZHwhg08HnLTkxQ_xMlCVgbrLeMLy7YnfcnKQviUUN=s750" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="750" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjjkFd8DXjxAeTbMcWmxzcywKhxPpwxtMIFwf1Jds-STK3KnFw3rYjnWDlHQMdJjsjVLc0uk0C4T7TfgjPbWnSNM_E9VfQCtZd1bLxJMlAbfzdJoUEsOUPruHGGaNFENxNQN4cC1K_kvjUYSzZHwhg08HnLTkxQ_xMlCVgbrLeMLy7YnfcnKQviUUN=w640-h530" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Jim and Judy Randolph, at home in Rockwall, Texas</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-83868720536037436992022-01-06T11:13:00.000-06:002022-01-06T11:13:21.171-06:00A strange (spy?) story ... a mysterious disappearance <p style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWw0a8V-pC4e2Piba1Feb8owDc9Mdv8t7LaezAsfwlhOxQnHOqZp3A61ckftVy6wKrKqfLMP8GeiiUqeRmetia6nF7JXqehKLXs6GbOWL5i71v7VkV7EOrtRRIHAimUG3bLQOBAoSWsVgtsVwyXcFHIcapQlgR8xGgbEgMoUk9eu4j9WHp7UI8tn-f=s1650" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWw0a8V-pC4e2Piba1Feb8owDc9Mdv8t7LaezAsfwlhOxQnHOqZp3A61ckftVy6wKrKqfLMP8GeiiUqeRmetia6nF7JXqehKLXs6GbOWL5i71v7VkV7EOrtRRIHAimUG3bLQOBAoSWsVgtsVwyXcFHIcapQlgR8xGgbEgMoUk9eu4j9WHp7UI8tn-f=w650-h994" width="650" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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font-size: x-large;"> Gratitude (definition): The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. </span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> This is about gratitude, and how it is part of our everyday life.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ3THaXCTwJDEzq0bGizdX_CRGpqB534yVyqOB1jBTSnjWJVYWmYUEdbx70ODuypNhHd1Fr74D6ytxF1GTDecMaGBTBrby6_CGfh7f3yPTLgaTMMbZ97EX50sLy63Dy488Pc8i4VMSmaZS3sIhGDS58xB4sXAljQJtN9oLzl0DSAkJRoeseDgmjm-F=s888" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="768" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJ3THaXCTwJDEzq0bGizdX_CRGpqB534yVyqOB1jBTSnjWJVYWmYUEdbx70ODuypNhHd1Fr74D6ytxF1GTDecMaGBTBrby6_CGfh7f3yPTLgaTMMbZ97EX50sLy63Dy488Pc8i4VMSmaZS3sIhGDS58xB4sXAljQJtN9oLzl0DSAkJRoeseDgmjm-F=w346-h400" width="346" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">A decade of gratitude journals</span></td></tr></tbody></table> Tonight I will make the final entry into my<br /> 2021 gratitude journal. It will conclude the 10th consecutive year of daily gratitudes; the photo shows the books (and does not include the two years in which I kept the entries on separate sheets, which later were converted into a digital file. Wish I could locate those ... but I will.)</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Wrote about this in detail almost four years ago ... https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2018/02/scanning-gratitudes-and-memories.html</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> The idea, as stated then, is to find something positive in every day, no matter what's happened. </span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> The last two years -- the COVID years -- have tested that objective. But, dang it, we can do it. Even on January 6, 2021 -- a day that will die in infamy -- the positive was that democracy works (shaky as it is).</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Anyway, we are grateful for another year. Older we get, the more grateful we are. There are more health issues -- general soreness, for one -- and we have to make some changes to protect that health. But here we are. (And we are not volunteering to try the COVID experience.)</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Personally, 2021 was much better than my heart-stopping few months of 2020. Don't know that my longtime roommate would say that about her personal health, but she's determined to hang around.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We are so grateful for our friendships -- the ones that are decades-long, and the newer ones we've gained the past few years (mainly at Trinity Terrace), but also from other places.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> It is a bit hurtful, and disappointing, that with many old (and new) friends, we don't agree on politics and social issues. Frankly, we have had to split with some people or reduce time talking (or writing) with them. They are entitled to their opinions; we all are. Sharing those opinions often does not go well.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> There doesn't seem to be much chance for compromise, and that's too bad. I think you know the disagreements, for the most part, center on one person. And that's all I'm going to say about that.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> But I am grateful to live in a place where people can express those opinions openly if they want to do so.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> To me, civility is a crucial part of life. I don't always get there, and I'm sorry about that. But there are times to stick up for what you believe in. Time and place is important.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> That said, civility was greatly missing on January 6. Period. Before and after all that mess.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Back to gratitude. We are b<span style="background-color: transparent;">eyond grateful, if that's possible, for the kids and grandkids, the most special part of our lives. Nothing is greater in our lives than family.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Just to touch on athletics for a moment: It was nice to see games and matches played before live, in-person crowds for most of this year (the Summer Olympics were an exception, and the empty stands took a lot away from the excitement).</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Don't know how wise it is late in this year to have full houses of spectators, and it is distressing in the last month to see so many players "in safety protocol" or on inactive (COVID) lists, and so many games cancelled or postponed.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Could write a whole blog on this -- and I've said it before, and will continue to say it: (1) Athletics these days is far too much about m-o-n-e-y; college football and the NFL are prime examples; (2) watching all the athletes with their "look-at-me" celebration antics takes the fun out of it for me. I know it doesn't bother a lot of people (let's say, younger people). But I'd just as soon turn off the TV as watch that crap.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> And as much as I love baseball -- always have since I was 8 -- I don't like much of the trends in today's game. But -- <span style="font-style: italic;">money</span> rules -- with the current lockout in the major leagues, we likely won't have to worry about any games until, say, mid-summer. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Don't like saying "who cares?" about baseball, though. I have been rooting for my favorite team since 1956, and I will always care.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"> A final word on gratitude. Recently read Michael J. Fox's book <span style="font-style: italic;">The Future is Now</span>, and the part I like best was his </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">writing about his father-in-law, Stephen Pollan. He was "by profession, an attorney, financial advisor, and life coach" and had a plaque on his desk that read, "Professional Fear Remover."</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> In dealing with Stephen's death, Michael writes, "In our family vigil, there was love for him and for each other, and a sincere aura of acceptance, which was a big part of Stephen's philosophy. The prevailing mood and spirit around Stephen -- gratitude -- was the very essence of the man. That's what he inspired in all of us. Always thankful for everything in his life, his gratitude was manifest in how much he loved his wife and family, and how appreciate he was for all of his experiences, positive and negative. A true optimist, he was known for his trademark assurance, 'Just wait, kiddo, it gets better.' </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> "The core lesson Stephen left with me was this: With gratitude, optimism becomes sustainable." </span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Love that last sentence. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Michael goes on to write this:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> "... As for the future, I haven't been there yet. I only know that I have one. Until I don't. The last thing we run out of is the future.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> "Really, it comes down to gratitude. I am grateful for all of it -- every bad break, every wrong turn, and the unexpected losses -- because they're real. It puts into sharp relief the joy, the accomplishments, the overwhelming love of my family. I <i>can</i> be both a realist and an optimist."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> From this realist and optimist, and from our place at Trinity Terrace, we wish you a great 2022. With gratitude. </span></div></div></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-81839981187203578972021-12-24T07:34:00.003-06:002021-12-27T19:14:12.700-06:00Don't take your cheap shots at the I-Bowl ... or Shreveport<p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Another year, another cheap-shot bashing of the Independence Bowl ... and Shreveport.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Before we examine this further, let's make this clear: We don't like it, at all.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> But it is part of the bowl scene, and it happens far too often. However, the latest "analysis" -- by a Brigham Young fan-boy who happens to write a blog -- was a low blow of epic proportions.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> And to see him referred to as a "reporter," that's just wrong, wrong, wrong. This is a JAG -- just a guy -- sitting in the stands, a BYU supporter who happens to reside not in Utah but in Arkansas.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisTOGkNsONtSyJRhOHgnrEDSSwEQyRwTc3hyj5X8IgPC4Mp_3kW5QXSChk5IPOw2mCQWI9ovOh6F7Sm1DGhPq_xAYqCuVriC4iQdtxABVK4fCLMY4P_5f83XlgomDTo82uSJR9Qo7rfqunGDRtm-U6QZxQeo8LRoONm7vNAvE9uk7VEDkgX9ORAadG=s602" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="602" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisTOGkNsONtSyJRhOHgnrEDSSwEQyRwTc3hyj5X8IgPC4Mp_3kW5QXSChk5IPOw2mCQWI9ovOh6F7Sm1DGhPq_xAYqCuVriC4iQdtxABVK4fCLMY4P_5f83XlgomDTo82uSJR9Qo7rfqunGDRtm-U6QZxQeo8LRoONm7vNAvE9uk7VEDkgX9ORAadG=w400-h226" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UAB's football players were happy with their<br /> Independence Bowl trip ... and victory. (WVTM photo)</td></tr></tbody></table> His "observations at the Independence Bowl," and I won't dignify them by giving you his name or even a link to his "effort," was simply sour grapes because his BYU team, despite its No. 13 national ranking, came to Shreveport and fell flat against a much more determined UAB team.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> The cheapest shots were at the "rundown" conditions this guy saw while he was in Shreveport. And, yes, we know they are there. (There are rundown areas, we will counter, in every city of any size. We live in a really nice city, a big city -- Fort Worth, Texas -- but we could take you to some areas you wouldn't like.)</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="background-color: transparent;">Yes, Shreveport's Fair Grounds Field -- just down the street on the Fairgrounds from Independence Stadium -- is an eyesore. That's no secret. But what's that got to do with football? </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Boarded-up business places? Same thought as above. If you go places, they'll be there. What's that got to do with football?</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Enough of that crap. If you read the junk this guy wrote, you will find excuse after excuse for why BYU lost this game, including the Cougars' underwhelming performance. To say that no one has heard of UAB is ignorant; that university's football rise, a resurgence after a two-year hiatus, is a helluva good story.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> UAB's record since 2017: 43-20 record (most victories by a Conference USA team), twice conference champion, three-time West division champ, bowl-eligible all five years, two bowl victories ... and a victory over its highest nationally ranked opponent -- No. 13 BYU.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We will concede that maybe the nation's No. 13-ranked team deserved a more prestigious bowl trip. But the fact -- fact! -- is that one of the three bowl options for BYU is with the Independence Bowl.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> If BYU didn't qualify for a New Year's Day Six bowl game, or if the Cheez-It Bowl in Arizona did not have an available spot for the Cougars, they were bound to play a Conference USA team in the Independence Bowl. And that's what happened.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> So much for the whining.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> And talk about hypocrisy: Two weeks earlier, our BYU blowhard's blog was titled "Why the Independence Bowl is fine." </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Here is what it concluded: "... The Independence Bowl has some prestige to it. The bowl game has been around since 1976 and has some prestige to it. The Bowl Game has been around 1976 and has it's own stadium. No colleges play in the Independence Stadium on a regular basis and it seats 50,000 people.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> "Compare that to other bowl games like the Bahamas Bowl, Camellia Bowl or the Quick Lane Bowl and thinks don't sound so bleak. The actual bowl game is a good bowl and has plenty of history."</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> (Editing 101: You don't capitalize Bowl Game, and "it's" should be "its." Just pointing that this is no professional writer, or reporter, doing this.)</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">---</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We have seen criticism of the I-Bowl for decades, really. Our friend Paul Finebaum -- once a <i>Shreveport Journal</i> sportswriter -- has done his share. He's still our friend.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> This BYU blog brought to mind the aftermath of the 1983 game (Air Force vs. Ole Miss) and a professional cheap-shot column by then-<span style="font-style: italic;">Denver Post</span> sports columnist Woodrow Paige Jr.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: xx-large;"> </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTOhrX2s8E_YXETEyzkyu8-93SdjX31ipsY8kyILAEHS-y_BVSx1Quhftut06Zy4DWYJ-o6c1nzsw5qjTUBVRHgIStjBfuxbANeiJnfn7D0d1-HkRI8lIaLF8YUIEiGo-2CHmwpUYyt77_Jjx1lDZLIkWZmVVHQLYMM_7C6mwbOFxLQlzDTTsQo_Xs=s545" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="545" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTOhrX2s8E_YXETEyzkyu8-93SdjX31ipsY8kyILAEHS-y_BVSx1Quhftut06Zy4DWYJ-o6c1nzsw5qjTUBVRHgIStjBfuxbANeiJnfn7D0d1-HkRI8lIaLF8YUIEiGo-2CHmwpUYyt77_Jjx1lDZLIkWZmVVHQLYMM_7C6mwbOFxLQlzDTTsQo_Xs=w640-h430" width="640" /></a></div> It was -- like this year's I-Bowl -- a miserable weather day. That's happened a lot over the years, unfortunately; the ultimate was the 2000 "Snow Bowl" (Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State). A rare Shreveport snowstorm left the field in a white blanket, with TV coverage hard to make out, and it's still being talked about. (Terrific game, though; Mississippi State won 43-41 in overtime.) </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> Back to 1983: Paige, who was at the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-style: italic;">Denver Post</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> for 35 years and, at age 75, is still a columnist in Colorado and a regular ESPN "mouth," took Shreveport and the I-Bowl apart in a scathing column. Bush league.</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We at the then-afternoon <span style="font-style: italic;">Shreveport Journal</span> were impressed -- depressed? -- by the column that, at editor Stanley Tiner's direction, ran above the masthead on Page One on the Tuesday after Paige's column in the Sunday Denver paper.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> And we also began a week's worth of <span style="font-style: italic;">Journal</span> readers being invited to offer their response/comments to Mr. Paige, with the assurance they we would be forwarding them to him. (As if Woodrow cared.)</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> It really was kind of fun, and it certainly helped fill our pages for a week, and maybe even helped us sell some papers. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Personally, I wrote a story centering on the two competing teams' athletic directors' views of the I-Bowl, and that included much praise and some constructive criticism from them.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> We left in Shreveport in 1988, but we are interested in what happens there because it is -- always will be -- my <span style="font-style: italic;">home </span>city (so is Amsterdam), and (repeating) we don't like criticism from the outside or inside. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> To be honest, it is disappointing to see how much criticism from Shreveport-Bossier people I saw on Facebook this week. We know the place has issues (too much crime/too many homicides, questions on leadership, declining neighborhoods, a shrinking newspaper, etc.).</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> What is not being considered is that, almost without exception, is that the teams that have been Independence Bowl participants -- the school officials, coaches and players -- have praised how well they are treated during bowl week in Shreveport. That was the case again with UAB ... and BYU.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Bowl director Missy Parker Setters and her staff and the I-Bowl committee every year during their very best to put on the best show they can. The community has provided financial support, even in tough times, and certainly ticket sales are affected by marginal weather. But the Independence Bowl has persevered all these years ... 46 years.</span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> Wrote about this on this blog nine years ago. Here is the link to that one, and we still feel the same way. Read it, change the year to 2021, and it'll work. </span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="background-color: transparent;">https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-spirit-of-independence.html</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> Don't let the BS -- stories, comments, a wayward blog by a non-reporter -- get in the way of what the Independence Bowl has achieved. It remains a point of pride for Shreveport-Bossier. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-21290713968718457002021-08-15T15:28:00.004-05:002022-02-10T18:44:39.825-06:00A vote for 1970s Louisiana high school basketball<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> This is a subject that is going to have a limited audience, and it's not exactly timely. But for fans of basketball -- specifically, high school boys basketball in the state of Louisiana -- here is a history lesson.</span></p><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> And a premise: For Louisiana high school hopes, nothing beats the 1970s. Yes, six decades ago for greatness. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> We've done the research (it took days) and we'll put it out there. The competition is stiff; Louisiana has a helluva history for athletic talent, and you could pick any of the last six decades -- through today -- as the best for basketball and not be wrong (it's subjective). </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> But we'll take the '70s.<br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Admittedly, we're partial, having covered -- for Shreveport's newspapers -- seven state tournaments in those 10 years. Saw some great players then, and the idea for this blog came from two early 2021 developments: </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> (1) The selection and upcoming (delayed) induction of Louis Dunbar to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame;<br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> (2) An "SEC Storied" production on the SEC Network on the 1978 Kentucky NCAA men's basketball championship team that included Rick Robey.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Dunbar and Robey. Big men in a big time. With plenty of '70s company ...</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDkiPHmXpRiQ6gbSY6Uf8WbsOtB6nfoQ3d6kmqAfidH77LBC1VwIWV5PnMcc-Ukkk7FGvL9BOZXdL4XLhkgs6WBzkVyyuSsTTTJy6qH407rXGriVWjJnB3dTAWE7yrrqzurlza5vwLeY/s835/Robert+as+senior.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="546" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDkiPHmXpRiQ6gbSY6Uf8WbsOtB6nfoQ3d6kmqAfidH77LBC1VwIWV5PnMcc-Ukkk7FGvL9BOZXdL4XLhkgs6WBzkVyyuSsTTTJy6qH407rXGriVWjJnB3dTAWE7yrrqzurlza5vwLeY/w131-h200/Robert+as+senior.jpg" width="131" /></a></div> Start the list with Robert Parish, and yes, he's a personal favorite, with close ties to the schools where he played (Woodlawn High, Centenary College). </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Ask me, and I'll tell you Robert is the best player to come out of a Louisiana high school (certainly the best 7-footer). The most regular-season games played by anyone <i>ever</i> in the NBA over an astounding 21 seasons, four NBA championships (with an assist from Larry Bird and Michael Jordan), the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> And, yes, I know that puts Robert above Bob Pettit, Willis Reed, Elvin Hayes, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars and others in my estimation.</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibv5IMTlauSkRKFMO_Slkfg97zKpXvxKp98KYVbmRS6nm3RJivxvJBRof7A3QUVv-Vev1VysWB_zRM70TEqiEeqEXnmL44X8NX9mHPWLXek72taRJKcYzBFx_GtDZeGmapYpGoVD6LDkY/s268/March+7%252C+1974.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="175" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibv5IMTlauSkRKFMO_Slkfg97zKpXvxKp98KYVbmRS6nm3RJivxvJBRof7A3QUVv-Vev1VysWB_zRM70TEqiEeqEXnmL44X8NX9mHPWLXek72taRJKcYzBFx_GtDZeGmapYpGoVD6LDkY/w209-h320/March+7%252C+1974.jpg" width="209" /></a></div> Watching the SEC story on Robey was a reminder of his unique achievement: state champion (Brother Martin in New Orleans, 1974), NCAA champion (Kentucky) and NBA champion (with the Celtics). Doubt any player in Louisiana history can match that.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> (Reminder, too: Robey (6-foot-11) was a backup center to Parish for five years with the Celtics.)</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> As I've written before, several times, Dunbar --a high school and college rival of Parish's -- was the most versatile, most talented Louisiana high school player I've seen. At 6-foot-8, he could, and did, play anywhere on the court; he was a Magic-like point guard and the future Globetrotters "clown prince," player personnel director and coach.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> The start of the 1970s also gave us the greatest scorer in high school basketball <i>in the country</i> to that point: Ebarb's Greg Procell, the rapid-fire hot shot 6-foot guard whose 6,702 points (1966-70) included the 100-point night he had against Elizabeth on January 29, 1970. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> What a start to the decade that was.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Louisiana high school basketball, we would guess, has improved by the decade as players are bigger and stronger. Personally, I can't say for sure because we've been gone from there for more than three decades. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> But he's a major reason why the game grew -- and was so much fun to watch -- in the 1970s: full integration.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">--- </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> The 1969-70 school year was the last year of operation for the Louisiana Interscholastic Athletic and Literary Association (LIALO), the all-black schools' organization which had existed for decades and included some 185 schools.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> There was some newspaper coverage of the LIALO, but for the most part, its championships were conducted in a separate -- and not as publicized -- setting. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSwCdX5EwKStNo1u_z892U87A_9WEy8iTzYSOuzLLS9MBPkx39wjjE_B-7z2_Nj8y47X9CSYmmYP00iaZNxlAKL7TrGHpaJtkmav98PM4vzOCG1qA8I14MV5WpG-EDwWNic_QnV8pgHw/s298/Dunbar+at+Webster.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="169" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSwCdX5EwKStNo1u_z892U87A_9WEy8iTzYSOuzLLS9MBPkx39wjjE_B-7z2_Nj8y47X9CSYmmYP00iaZNxlAKL7TrGHpaJtkmav98PM4vzOCG1qA8I14MV5WpG-EDwWNic_QnV8pgHw/w181-h320/Dunbar+at+Webster.jpg" width="181" /></a></div> The last LIALO championships -- state basketball tournament in March -- were in 1970. Parish, then a sophomore at Union High in Shreveport, played there. But we didn't get to see any of the sensational Parish vs. Dunbar (Union vs. Webster High) battles in 1969-70. We only read about them.<br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Because some students (and athletes) transferred from all-black schools to mostly white ones -- these were majority-to-minority transfers -- and because New Orleans private schools were beginning to integrate, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) state basketball tournaments in 1969 and 1970 included talented players such as Collis Temple of Kentwood, Skip Brunet and Dale Valdery of St. Aloysius/Brother Martin, Melvin Russell of Woodlawn and Jeff Sudds of Captain Shreve.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> That was just a preview of what was to come. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> By the fall of 1970, the great majority of the LIALO schools were either closed or reduced to middle schools, and with that came the full influx of black athletes into LHSAA schools. Plus, the all-black schools that remained open moved to the LHSAA, too.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> All of a sudden, the game became faster and played much more above the rim. Dunks were rare before integration; afterward, there were some rim-rattlers ... and crowds going nuts about them.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> My opinion: Other than in New Orleans -- especially at the Catholic League schools -- and at the smaller, rural, non-football-playing schools (Class B and C) around the state, the ones where teams could play 50-60 games a season, with a dozen tournaments -- basketball was a secondary sport in Louisiana high schools through the decades ... until perhaps the mid-1950s. </span></div><div class="yiv6748155989yqt8353768366" id="yiv6748155989yqtfd50622"><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> But it began changing at the larger schools for several reasons: (1) bigger gyms were built and opened -- for example in Shreveport at Byrd and Fair Park late in 1956; (2) more basketball-specific coaches took over programs, rather than just football assistants as caretakers; and (3) more players whose main sport was basketball and who weren't just playing another sport after football season ended.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> The biggest step, though -- and we've written about this (https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2020/03/louisianas-marsh-madness-was-magic.html) -- was the start of the state basketball tournament, the Top Twenty, in 1961. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> That took the last two rounds of the state playoffs from the smaller home gym to the big stage where the fans got 3-to-5 days of championship basketball.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Can't judge what high school basketball coaching is like these days. Can tell you, state-wide, it was high caliber in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Another big step was master motivator Dale Brown taking over the LSU men's coaching job in 1972-73, tirelessly promoting the game state-wide and eventually being able to recruit many of the state's top stars to play for the Tigers instead of heading elsewhere.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> But through the late 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s, the Louisiana state colleges had outstanding coaches/promoters, too: Ralph Ward, Fred Hobdy, Orvis Sigler, Lenny Fant, Cecil Crowley, Billy Allgood, Scotty Robertson, Beryl Shipley, Tynes Hildebrand, Don Landry, Benny Hollis. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">---<br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Below is the list of the state's best high school boys basketball players, by decades (these are based on their senior years). We don't have space for detail on their careers). But we'll list the most prominent ones first.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Please remember: This does not include such names as Bill Russell, Clyde Drexler and Marques Johnson -- all born in Louisiana but long gone by the time they were in high school. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Nor does it include some of the all-time Louisiana college greats such as Pistol Pete Maravich, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Jackson (Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf), Mike Green, Bill Reigel and Dwight Lamar. All were imports from out of state.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> We are going to start with the 1970s, because that's our No. 1 choice. But we, in particular, loved the 1960s (my high school decade), and the 1980s are pretty darned strong, too. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> If you want a starting five currently active in the NBA, here are Paul Millsap, D.J. Augustin, Garrett Temple, Robert Williams III and Skylar Mays.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> Take your pick of decades.</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: x-large;">---</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">1970s</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Robert Parish (Woodlawn-Shreveport); Louis Dunbar (Webster-Minden); Calvin Natt (Bastrop); Rick Robey (Brother Martin-New Orleans); Larry Wright (Richwood-Monroe); Orlando Woolridge (Mansfield); Mike Sanders and John Rudd (DeRidder); Bruce Seals (Booker T. Washington-New Orleans); Kenny Simpson (Fair Park-Shreveport); Collis Temple (Kentwood); Greg Procell (Ebarb); Aaron James (Cohen-New Orleans); Edmond Lawrence (W.O. Boston-Lake Charles); Kenny Natt (Bastrop); Jeff Sudds and Mike Harrell (Captain Shreve), Skip Brunet, Dale Valdery and Glenn Masson (St. Aloysius/Brother Martin-New Orleans); Steve Cooley (Bolton-Alexandria); Walter "Tootsie Roll" Meshell (Ebarb); Chris Raymond (Plaquemine), Sammy White (Richwood-Monroe); Jeff Cummings (Rummel-Metairie); Mike McConathy (Airline-Bossier City); Billy Burton (Booker T. Washington-Shreveport); Doug Williams (Cheneyville); Floyd "Super Dragon" Bailey (Central Dubberly); Carl Kilpatrick (Bastrop); Carlos Zuniga (Holy Cross-New Orleans); Tommy "Pop" Green and Ethan Martin (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Victor King (Newellton); Lester Elie (Cloutierville); James Ray (L.B. Landry-New Orleans); Jordy Hultberg (De La Salle-New Orleans); Fred Chaffould (Carroll-Monroe); Wade Blundell and Barry Barocco (Rummel-Metairie) Earnest Reliford (Ashland); Wayne Waggoner (Logansport); Sean Tuohy (Newman-New Orleans); Keith Richard and Howard "Hi C" Carter (Redemptorist-Baton Rouge); John Derenbecker (Country Day-Metairie Park); Paul Thompson and Frederick Piper (Peabody-Alexandria); Tyrone Black (Capitol-Baton Rouge); Cherokee Rhone (Springhill); Dave Simmons and Johnny Jones (DeRidder); Larry Wilson (Central Lafourche)</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">. </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Future NFL stars: Sammy White (Grambling WR-Minnesota Vikings), Doug Williams (Cheneyville-Grambling QB, Super Bowl MVP for Washington Redskins), Carlos Pennywell (Captain Shreve-Grambling WR-New England Patriots).</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Future LSU QB Alan Risher, Salmen-Slidell (All-State football and basketball). </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Consider, too, that Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, John "Hot Rod" Williams, Leonard Mitchell and Benny Anders -- big stars in the early 1980s -- did play as underclassmen in the 1970s.<br clear="none" /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">--- </span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">1940s<br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Warren "Dr. Red" Perkins (Warren Easton-New Orleans); Frank Brian (Zachary); Nick Revon (St. Aloysius-New Orleans); John McConathy (Bryceland); Billy Wiggins (Winnsboro).</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">1950s</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Bob Pettit (Baton Rouge High); Jackie Moreland (Minden); Dick Brown (Oak Grove); Jimmy "Red" Leach (Florien); Ray Germany (Holly Ridge); Bobby James (Ruston); Larry Teague and George Nattin (Bossier); Ellis Cooper (Springhill); Gene Wright (Negreet); Phil Haley (Belmont); Glenn Cothern (Fortier-New Orleans); Pete Gaudin (De La Salle-New Orleans); Raymond Arthur (Natchitoches); Jerry Callens (Pleasant Hill); Harold Ray Strother (Plainview-Glenmora); Maury Drummond (Istrouma-Baton Rouge); Max Lewis (Simsboro).</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">1960s</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Willis Reed (Lillie); Elvin Hayes (Rayville); Bob "Butterbean" Love and Lucious Jackson (Morehouse-Bastrop); Charles "Cotton" Nash (Lake Charles); Don Chaney, Cincy Powell and Fred Hilton (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Bob "Lil' Abner" Hopkins (Jonesboro); James Silas and Jimmy Jones (McCall-Tallulah); Charles Beasley (Fair Park-Shreveport); Leslie Scott (Scotlandville-Baton Rouge); Wilbert Frazier (Webster-Minden); Jerry Hood, Charles Sheffield and Leon Barmore (Ruston); Glynn Saulters (Lisbon); Barrie Haynie and Billy Ray (Ringgold); Donnie Henry (Athens); Walter Ledet (St. Mary's-Natchitoches); Wayne Pietri and John Arthurs (De La Salle-New Orleans); Bill Wilson (Baton Rouge); Jerry Salley (Pleasant Hill); Bob Benfield (Byrd-Shreveport); James Speed (Valencia-Shreveport); Harold Sylvester (St. Augustine); Cecil Upshaw and Tommy Thigpen (Bossier); Bobby Lane (Newman-New Orleans); George Restovich (Jesuit-Shreveport); Peter Michell, Herbie Mang, Billy Fitzgerald and Fabien Mang (Jesuit-New Orleans); James Wyatt (Belmont); Billy Jones (Pineville); Charles Bishop (Summerfield); Al "Apple" Sanders (Baton Rouge); James "Poo" Welch (LaGrange-Lake Charles); Kenny Covington (Haughton); Jerry Brandon (Zwolle); Tommy Joe Eagles (Doyline); George Corley (Florien); Melvin Russell and Larry Davis (Woodlawn-Shreveport). </span></div><div class="yiv6748155989yqt5539957848" id="yiv6748155989yqtfd40308"><div class="yiv6748155989yqt0268709995" id="yiv6748155989yqtfd87985"><div class="yiv6748155989yqt0612659113" id="yiv6748155989yqtfd83893"><div style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">1980s</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Karl Malone (Summerfield); Joe Dumars (Natchitoches-Central); Avery Johnson (St. Augustine-New Orleans); P.J. Brown (Winnfield); Benoit Benjamin (Carroll-Monroe); Randy White (Huntington-Shreveport); Bobby Phills (Southern Lab-Baton Rouge); Jaren Jackson (Cohen-New Orleans); John Williams (St. Amant); Robert Pack (Lawless-New Orleans); John Tudor (Pineville); Wayne Smith (Trinity Heights-Shreveport); Derrick Taylor (Redemptorist-Baton Rouge); Nikita Wilson (Leesville); Anthony Wilson (Plain Dealing); David Benoit (Lafayette); Ervin Johnson (Block-Jonesville); Keith Smart (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Leonard Mitchell (St. Martinville); Larry Robinson (Airline-Bossier City); Bobby Joe Douglas (Marion); Willie Jackson (Sibley); Benny Anders (Bernice); Donald Royal (St. Augustine-New Orleans); Gerald Paddio (Rayne); Derrick Zimmerman (Wossman-Monroe); Don Redden (Ouachita-Monroe); Michael Cutright (Zwolle); Fess Irvin (East Ascension); Tim Breaux (Zachary); Ledell Eackles (Broadmoor-Baton Rouge).</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br clear="none" /></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">1990s</span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Kerry Kittles (St. Augustine-New Orleans); Stromile Swift (Fair Park-Shreveport); Randy Livingston (Newman-New Orleans); Marcus Fizer (Arcadia); Billy Thomas (Loyola College Prep-Shreveport); Clarence Ceasar and Tierre Brown (Iowa); Kedrick Brown (Zachary); Dedric Willoughby (Archbishop Shaw-Marrero); Gerard King (McDonogh-New Orleans); Jerald Honeycutt (Grambling); Andre Brown (Vandebilt Catholic-Houma); Kedrick Brown (Zachary); Lester Earl (Glen Oaks-Baton Rouge); Mark Davis (Thibodaux); Mike Smith (West Monroe); Bernard King (Gibsland-Coleman). </span></div><div class="yiv6748155989yqt6584938361" id="yiv6748155989yqtfd10530"><div class="yiv6748155989yqt0671582526" id="yiv6748155989yqtfd13987"><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br clear="none" /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">2000s</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Paul Millsap (Grambling); D.J. Augustin (Brother Martin-New Orleans);</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> Garrett Temple and Glen "Big Baby" Davis (University Lab-Baton Rouge); </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">Brandon Bass (Capitol-Baton Rouge); Greg Monroe (Helen Cox-New Orleans); Tyrus Thomas (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Danny Granger (Grace King-Metairie); Marcus Thornton (Tara-Baton Rouge); Chris Duhon (Salmen-Slidell); Von Wafer (Pineview-Lisbon); </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">Elijah Millsap (Grambling); Tasmin Mitchell (St. Martinville); Matt Derenbecker (Country Day-Metairie Park); Demond "Tweety" Carter (Reserve Christian).</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">2010s</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Robert Williams (North Caddo-Vivian); Skylar Mays and Wayde Sims (University Lab-Baton Rouge); Jared Butler and Ricardo Gathers (Riverside-Reserve); Langston Galloway (Christian Life-Baton Rouge); Ja'Vonte Smart and Damion James (Scotlandville-Baton Rouge); Markel Brown (Peabody-Alexandria); Elfrid Payton (John Ehret-Marrero); Jarell Martin and </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Brandon Sampson (Madison Prep-Baton Rouge); Melvin Frazier (Higgins-New Orleans); Jacob Evans (St. Michael's-Baton Rouge); Mitchell Robinson (Chalmette).</span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-12827995769801831622021-08-07T12:53:00.001-05:002021-08-07T21:22:42.751-05:00The most media-cooperative coach <p> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> One interview with one of America's greatest college football coaches was a time to remember.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL2RD6Q8tblUyhLAn6HyxDIXkzTETTBORpGLK_gVz1ltNvESpNGO-1evl-AY49kw8Xtcgapy5Mfs9FkyG3p8G5hOZwVjhvMABzoV79J1AmlRLmHc3JktianP428mtRKeQJ_DEXr2bfPK0/s1200/Coach+Bowden.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL2RD6Q8tblUyhLAn6HyxDIXkzTETTBORpGLK_gVz1ltNvESpNGO-1evl-AY49kw8Xtcgapy5Mfs9FkyG3p8G5hOZwVjhvMABzoV79J1AmlRLmHc3JktianP428mtRKeQJ_DEXr2bfPK0/w400-h225/Coach+Bowden.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Coach Bowden (AP photo/Nati Harnik)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span> We are all a bit heartbroken as Coach Bobby Bowden faces his final days.</span></span></span><p></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Few football coaches were as loved and respected as the friendly, upbeat man who directed Florida State University's rise to one of the nation's foremost powers for three decades.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> For the media, he was a dream. Can't think of a more cooperative football coach anywhere, anytime.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Many, many media members had a lot more exposure to Coach Bowden than this one. But the one time I was sent to write about him was one of the great experiences in a long sportswriting career.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Don't even remember the exact circumstances -- where or when, or even the year. It had to be the early 1990s. And it definitely was in Jacksonville, Florida, in the spring. Best I can recall it was at a hotel where Coach Bowden was going to speak at an FSU alumni/booster gathering.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Don't even remember what the strong angle was. Don't have a copy of the story I wrote.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Here is what I do remember: Coach Bowden was just great. I got a dose of how caring and personable he was.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> I'd never met him, never covered an FSU game or event. Certainly wasn't my regular assignment, and I'm not sure why I was even the one sent to do a story.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> So I made my way to the hotel, found the room where he was going to speak -- think that was scheduled for about two hours later -- and there he was in the lobby just outside.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> There were people all around him (most obviously FSU fans), asking for an autograph or a photo with him, or just there to shake his hand or exchange a few words. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> I believe, with the help of an FSU athletic department aide who was there with him, I was able to get a moment to introduce myself and ask for a little time to do an interview.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Of course, he was willing -- I was instantly his buddy -- but there was a catch.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> "I can give you 10 minutes or so," he said, "but can you wait a little while? I've got to do a few things before I can get to you."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Sure, I told him. It was mid-morning; my deadline was not until mid-evening, so I had plenty of time to wait, and plenty of time to write the story.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> "Look," he said, "there are going to be people coming up that are going to want to speak to me. So just stay with me, stay closeby, and we'll get together."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> He moved a few steps away to do an interview with one of the Jacksonville TV stations. I stood a few feet away.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> And then between interviews, he indeed was asked to pose for photos with FSU fans, and stopped to sign autographs, and after about 10 minutes, he looked over at me and said again, "Stay with me, buddy. It'll be a few more minutes."</span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> No problem.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Another interview. More photos. More handshakes. More autographs. It was a parade of fans.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A few minutes later, Coach Bowden again walked past and said, "Don't give up, buddy. I'll be there in a few minutes."</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span> (I have seen similar scenes play out over the years, and many coaches who wouldn't have given a media person much attention. But Coach Bowden reminded me of one of the mo</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;">st cooperative from our area -- Grambling State legend Eddie Robinson. He always made as much time for media people as they needed.</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"> Coach Bowden, of course, was as legendary as Coach Robinson.)</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"> It took another short time, and another glance over and reminder, and then -- maybe 25 minutes after our initial exchange -- there Coach Bowden was. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">T</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;">rue to his word.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> "Let's go in this room over here," he said, and we moved away from the crowd to a side area where no one could interrupt.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> And then he was as open and expansive with his answers -- as folksy and charming -- as everyone experienced over all the years.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"> He was as wonderful as fellow media people and his FSU fans told me he was.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"> It was my one and only time around him. It was unforgettable, and much appreciated. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></p>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-53403024353013715802021-06-11T21:33:00.001-05:002021-06-11T21:33:56.105-05:00"Sweet Lou" Dunbar -- Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Louis Dunbar was one of the two greatest high school basketball players we had the pleasure to cover, both early 1970s superstars (Robert Parish was the other). He became "Sweet Lou" Dunbar, clown prince, then coach -- and legendary star -- of the Harlem Globetrotters.</span></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"></span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><a href="https://lasportshall.com/2021/06/11/nba-wasnt-ready-for-mindens-lou-dunbar-but-the-world-loved-him/?fbclid=IwAR2gEFzomMQrN7Uz-5kj_wq_MnxPjE2xdUs6kNIrGvw_tsClPkyJMAubMnU" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">https://lasportshall.com/2021/06/11/nba-wasnt-ready-for-mindens-lou-dunbar-but-the-world-loved-him/?fbclid=IwAR2gEFzomMQrN7Uz-5kj_wq_MnxPjE2xdUs6kNIrGvw_tsClPkyJMAubMnU</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwpxjxIQT0UQNO5m6qfHKI0bMIp3pformggRIgWCEdXSFs4dVKYMQ2k6WkV7nD5dz2EiTLpxQ0B-uvLcPJUNfX8bXlB9s2aRjBzsjETYcdfRzx9iOGbhaviWeNZ8AQheFpcJNaC4xotk/s1280/Sweet+Lou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwpxjxIQT0UQNO5m6qfHKI0bMIp3pformggRIgWCEdXSFs4dVKYMQ2k6WkV7nD5dz2EiTLpxQ0B-uvLcPJUNfX8bXlB9s2aRjBzsjETYcdfRzx9iOGbhaviWeNZ8AQheFpcJNaC4xotk/w400-h225/Sweet+Lou.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></div>Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5125402567351329247.post-42273790693667624752021-05-25T21:38:00.002-05:002021-05-26T07:42:10.540-05:00Tech-Grambling football didn't happen in 1973<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wjlkutdI0efcwQo4PQm06XBb1YIzqR5nemTq298KiyND68hwew6QMYodeg19muNHpu5fWX0faJKm0sstn2iX3skLufKalM4vAa9Xi5rq9q_QzwcqKX9uRT9rkMKbYpo6PHZJ7p-Ef_g/s2048/page01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="908" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8wjlkutdI0efcwQo4PQm06XBb1YIzqR5nemTq298KiyND68hwew6QMYodeg19muNHpu5fWX0faJKm0sstn2iX3skLufKalM4vAa9Xi5rq9q_QzwcqKX9uRT9rkMKbYpo6PHZJ7p-Ef_g/w702-h908/page01.jpg" width="702" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLs8C8nT476CMabMwrh7rQxy_LwkfbcDBLPWc25gKX683EEqD9gIR5yh-6zWk5tVIy9R94yJz2ibz2pCKQRfXwK5ojDM_gszfUdJBGsatIjUYz2IX3XJsX_GRSxAgeIFZOJDtww3cEIbg/s2048/page01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="1016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLs8C8nT476CMabMwrh7rQxy_LwkfbcDBLPWc25gKX683EEqD9gIR5yh-6zWk5tVIy9R94yJz2ibz2pCKQRfXwK5ojDM_gszfUdJBGsatIjUYz2IX3XJsX_GRSxAgeIFZOJDtww3cEIbg/w694-h1016/page01.jpg" width="694" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaHlQsw-RxH-g-_szRSmz3OV1P8HtL-nSE62n3Pt_crmugaXes6W45L5AOZ_RTr0DKCyGueCK_IIR4_ZxHJ4YqM6kYf16-oTwBgkBomGT6XpixDiKPw9ddcnTBYUbBaz0WBcN7X2_A8Y/s2048/page01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="1077" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaHlQsw-RxH-g-_szRSmz3OV1P8HtL-nSE62n3Pt_crmugaXes6W45L5AOZ_RTr0DKCyGueCK_IIR4_ZxHJ4YqM6kYf16-oTwBgkBomGT6XpixDiKPw9ddcnTBYUbBaz0WBcN7X2_A8Y/w716-h1077/page01.jpg" width="716" /></a></div><br /></div><br /><p></p><br />Nico Van Thynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07072351355184106484noreply@blogger.com2