It seems that each year we grow further away
from the true meaning of Memorial Day. It is the
one day of the year that is set aside to remember
and be thankful for all of the men and women who
have fought and died to preserve our freedom.
My memory always returns to 1942 when Camp
Chaffee was in full operation outside my hometown
of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Camp Chaffee was the
home of the 5th Armored Division. Later to be the
main tank division of the famous Battle of the Bulge,
on the drive to Berlin.
That was a time when every Sunday morning after
church, almost everybody in town would drive down
Garrison Avenue in the heart of Fort Smith and stop
at any street corner and ask two or three soldiers to
join them at their home for Sunday Dinner.
For many soldiers this was their first time to be
away from home. For us, in addition to 25 cent stamps
we saved up, to buy $25 War Bonds, gas stamps, gas
rationing, and weekly alarm drills, this was about all
we could do for the war effort. Naturally at 12 years old I hoped the war would last
long enough for me to join up. Until then, we practiced
marching in Kelly Draper's backyard. After all his dad
had graduated from the Naval Academy.
As we got to know some of the soldiers from Camp
Chaffee, they became part of the family. Mom and Dad
set up six canvas cots in the upstairs hallway with plenty
of sheets and blankets, so that when they got a weekend
off they had a place to go. And then slowly they left for
the war in Europe and the house became very empty.
Mother stayed in contact with all of them by v-mail,
but as the fighting got heavier and causalities multiplied
their letters became further and further apart.
Then one day a beat up package arrived for me from
Staff Sgt. Stanley LeLauren, from an APO address with
all kinds of postage all over it. Inside was a shining, brand
new, Bowie Knife, just like the one he carried that I had
so admired. There was no note but I didn't need one. This knife
was part of the special bond that existed between a
12 year old boy and a tall Texan Army Sergeant who
commanded a tank.
Every Memorial Day I take out that knife and make sure
it shines. Then I close my eyes and I see Stanley, Billy, Phil, Bobby, Dan, and Frank. And I remember what Memorial Day really means and I remember those special weekends, oh, so long ago.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
MIAMI DOLPHINS - STAY TUNED
If you watched the recently completed 2008 edition of "Dancing With the Stars" (like I did), then you are aware of the outstanding athletic ability of the top two finishers. Kirsti Yamaguchi, Olympic Gold Medalist in figure skating, and her professional dance partner, won the title over Miami Dolphins, six time Pro Bowl defensive end, Jason Taylor and his dance partner.
If you have followed any portion of the ten week long contest, you have to be amazed at the sheer physical ability that ballroom dancing calls for. This being one of the on going themes of the contestants over the two plus months of six hours of daily practice plus the live competition. With Kirsti and Jason now finishing in the best physical condition of their lives.
This brings me to the Miami Dolphins, with a 1-15 record last year, (That's right only one win all season long) and Jason Taylor, their only Pro Bowl player. This was his sixth Pro Bowl, the last four years in a row. In addition at 6'6", 255 lbs., with 117 lifetime sacks, third among active players, he is the proto-type defensive end in the NFL.
However, because of his commitment to "Dancing With the Stars," Jason has missed all the voluntary mini-camps of the Dolphins as they try to right the ship (see above 1-15) under taskmaster Bill Parcells and coach Tony Sparano. In addition Jason is also visiting with Warner Brothers and NBC Universal studios about a show-business future.
So here we are at the cross-roads. Parcells and Sparano are very unhappy with the fact that Jason has missed so many voluntary camps and may miss a part of training camp. They have threatened to trade him, after all they can finish 1-15 with or without him.
Jason's an eleven year veteran. How long do you really think it will take him to get ready for the season? My guess, three weeks practice and the last two pre-season games. But, that's not the real dividing line. This is all about control. Who's in control? "My way or the highway." But the bottom line still is, the Dolphins can win more games with Jason than they can with out Jason.
Stay tuned.
Comments welcomed, please click on the link below and send me your thoughts.
If you have followed any portion of the ten week long contest, you have to be amazed at the sheer physical ability that ballroom dancing calls for. This being one of the on going themes of the contestants over the two plus months of six hours of daily practice plus the live competition. With Kirsti and Jason now finishing in the best physical condition of their lives.
This brings me to the Miami Dolphins, with a 1-15 record last year, (That's right only one win all season long) and Jason Taylor, their only Pro Bowl player. This was his sixth Pro Bowl, the last four years in a row. In addition at 6'6", 255 lbs., with 117 lifetime sacks, third among active players, he is the proto-type defensive end in the NFL.
However, because of his commitment to "Dancing With the Stars," Jason has missed all the voluntary mini-camps of the Dolphins as they try to right the ship (see above 1-15) under taskmaster Bill Parcells and coach Tony Sparano. In addition Jason is also visiting with Warner Brothers and NBC Universal studios about a show-business future.
So here we are at the cross-roads. Parcells and Sparano are very unhappy with the fact that Jason has missed so many voluntary camps and may miss a part of training camp. They have threatened to trade him, after all they can finish 1-15 with or without him.
Jason's an eleven year veteran. How long do you really think it will take him to get ready for the season? My guess, three weeks practice and the last two pre-season games. But, that's not the real dividing line. This is all about control. Who's in control? "My way or the highway." But the bottom line still is, the Dolphins can win more games with Jason than they can with out Jason.
Stay tuned.
Comments welcomed, please click on the link below and send me your thoughts.
Monday, May 19, 2008
IMPEACHMENT? NO!
A great diplomat once said, "Keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer." That diplomat was not George W. Bush. George W. would have said, "Keep your friends close and keep your enemies as far away as possible."
This is what he was inferring, while addressing Israeli's Knesset (Parliament) when honoring that nation's 60th birthday.
Here's what he said:
President Bush suggested that Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of "appeasement" of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis in the run-up to World War II. "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish decision before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1938, an American Senator (William Borah, Republican, from Idaho)declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
What Bush did in Israel goes well beyond the accepted confines of American political debate. Whether we like it or not President Bush is the leader of all of us, (no longer the leader of the free world, just the leader of us), and to use a diplomatic setting on foreign soil to score a cheap political point at home is way beneath his office, his country, and the people he purports to serve.
Recently Chris Matthews hosting MSNBC's "Hardball" was quizzing Kevin James, a right wing radio host, about Bush's Israel Speech. James adamantly replied that Senator Obama wanted to do the same thing that Neville Chamberlain did with the Nazi's in 1938. Appeasement. Chris Matthews then asked James, what exactly did Chamberlain do?
James: Appeasement.
Matthews: No, what did Chamberlain do?
James: Appeasement.
Matthews: Again, what did Chamberlain do?
Same answer: Appeasement.
Chris Matthews asked the same question 12 times over the next five minutes. Kevin James, speaking for the republicans, had no idea what Neville Chamberlain did in 1938, he only knew his name. As Matthews then commented, "Kevin, you are a blank slate." There is a difference between appeasement and diplomacy.
As a follow up to Bush's speech, we again heard the cry of "Impeachment." There's no chance. "Impeachment" must start in the House of Representatives, followed by a fact finding hearing. The House must then vote a majority to impeach. This is called the adoption of the Articles of Impeachment. Then the case is sent to the Senate. The Senate is transformed into a Quasi-Judicial body (a 100 member jury) to hear the case, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding.
TO CONVICT A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY OF THE SENATE IS NEEDED.
There is no way the Senate would ever get a two-thirds majority. Just look at how the Republican Senators line up to follow their leader (Bush) voting for anything he wants and against everything he doesn't want. Eight months, eight more months, and Bush will be back cutting weeds on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. We will just have to wait.
For the record: Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, three times in 1938 went to Germany in efforts to prevent the outbreak of a general European war over Hitler's demand that Czechoslovakia cede the Sudetenland to Germany. By the Munich Agreement of September 30, 1938, he and Premier Edouard Daladier of France granted almost all of Hitler's demands and left Czechoslovakia defenseless. Chamberlain returned to England speaking of, "peace with honour." When Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia in March of 1939, Chamberlain repudiated appeasement, and then immediately guaranteed armed support for Poland, Romania, and Greece. The next month, peacetime military conscription was instituted for the first time in British history.
Webster's Dictionary Definitions (In case you were wondering):
Appeasement = To Pacify. To buy off an aggressor.
Diplomacy = Skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility.
This is what he was inferring, while addressing Israeli's Knesset (Parliament) when honoring that nation's 60th birthday.
Here's what he said:
President Bush suggested that Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of "appeasement" of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis in the run-up to World War II. "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish decision before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1938, an American Senator (William Borah, Republican, from Idaho)declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
What Bush did in Israel goes well beyond the accepted confines of American political debate. Whether we like it or not President Bush is the leader of all of us, (no longer the leader of the free world, just the leader of us), and to use a diplomatic setting on foreign soil to score a cheap political point at home is way beneath his office, his country, and the people he purports to serve.
Recently Chris Matthews hosting MSNBC's "Hardball" was quizzing Kevin James, a right wing radio host, about Bush's Israel Speech. James adamantly replied that Senator Obama wanted to do the same thing that Neville Chamberlain did with the Nazi's in 1938. Appeasement. Chris Matthews then asked James, what exactly did Chamberlain do?
James: Appeasement.
Matthews: No, what did Chamberlain do?
James: Appeasement.
Matthews: Again, what did Chamberlain do?
Same answer: Appeasement.
Chris Matthews asked the same question 12 times over the next five minutes. Kevin James, speaking for the republicans, had no idea what Neville Chamberlain did in 1938, he only knew his name. As Matthews then commented, "Kevin, you are a blank slate." There is a difference between appeasement and diplomacy.
As a follow up to Bush's speech, we again heard the cry of "Impeachment." There's no chance. "Impeachment" must start in the House of Representatives, followed by a fact finding hearing. The House must then vote a majority to impeach. This is called the adoption of the Articles of Impeachment. Then the case is sent to the Senate. The Senate is transformed into a Quasi-Judicial body (a 100 member jury) to hear the case, with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding.
TO CONVICT A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY OF THE SENATE IS NEEDED.
There is no way the Senate would ever get a two-thirds majority. Just look at how the Republican Senators line up to follow their leader (Bush) voting for anything he wants and against everything he doesn't want. Eight months, eight more months, and Bush will be back cutting weeds on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. We will just have to wait.
For the record: Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, three times in 1938 went to Germany in efforts to prevent the outbreak of a general European war over Hitler's demand that Czechoslovakia cede the Sudetenland to Germany. By the Munich Agreement of September 30, 1938, he and Premier Edouard Daladier of France granted almost all of Hitler's demands and left Czechoslovakia defenseless. Chamberlain returned to England speaking of, "peace with honour." When Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia in March of 1939, Chamberlain repudiated appeasement, and then immediately guaranteed armed support for Poland, Romania, and Greece. The next month, peacetime military conscription was instituted for the first time in British history.
Webster's Dictionary Definitions (In case you were wondering):
Appeasement = To Pacify. To buy off an aggressor.
Diplomacy = Skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
O.J. MAYO
I'm going to blame the NBA for any violations of NCAA Rules, by freshmen, who are planning to only play for "Their School" for only one year before going off to the NBA draft.
It use to be that once you were out of high school you could sign up for the NBA draft. Now you have to wait one year. So why not wait at a high powered college, perhaps in a major market. You'll get a full ride, but you really don't have an affiliation to that school. You're just passing the time.
Where does this lead us? Right now to USC and O.J. Mayo. O.J. reportedly took gifts that violate NCAA rules. Why not? There's no loyalty. USC is just a way station to the NBA. It is thought that a pseudo agent provided, a flat screen television, a cell phone, cash, meals, clothes, and other benefits. If proven to be true, USC will be nailed for their victories plus more serious sanctions.
If O.J. is caught for violations by the NCAA, I believe, many of the major Division 1 schools will disdain from signing outstanding high school basketball players, on their way to the NBA. Guess what? The NBA will then change their rule back to the way it was.
If O.J. is guilty, only USC will face the fines. O.J. is already on his way to the NBA.
Comments welcomed. Please click on the Comment Link below.
It use to be that once you were out of high school you could sign up for the NBA draft. Now you have to wait one year. So why not wait at a high powered college, perhaps in a major market. You'll get a full ride, but you really don't have an affiliation to that school. You're just passing the time.
Where does this lead us? Right now to USC and O.J. Mayo. O.J. reportedly took gifts that violate NCAA rules. Why not? There's no loyalty. USC is just a way station to the NBA. It is thought that a pseudo agent provided, a flat screen television, a cell phone, cash, meals, clothes, and other benefits. If proven to be true, USC will be nailed for their victories plus more serious sanctions.
If O.J. is caught for violations by the NCAA, I believe, many of the major Division 1 schools will disdain from signing outstanding high school basketball players, on their way to the NBA. Guess what? The NBA will then change their rule back to the way it was.
If O.J. is guilty, only USC will face the fines. O.J. is already on his way to the NBA.
Comments welcomed. Please click on the Comment Link below.
Monday, May 12, 2008
PLAYERS MEMORIES
I had the opportunity to be part of the NBC announcing crew at the PLAYERS several times in the 1990s. It was always then commissioner Deane Beman's goal for the PLAYERS to become the fifth major championship. It's not there yet, because Tiger has only won one time and is not playing this year as he's recovering from knee surgery.
They've tried and tried. Even the name, PLAYERS, not The Players, is to remind you of the MASTERS. The winner gets a check for almost $2 MILLION dollars and an exemption for a zillion years. The PLAYERS now has a better date, between the MASTERS and the U.S. Open. Still it is not a major. But, usually with the best field of the year, it is fun to watch and it was fun to broadcast.
NBC took over the telecast right after the PLAYERS moved across the highway to the new TPC course, with the signature par 3, 17th hole. Which was my first assignment. At that time the tournament was telecast only on the weekend, so on Friday we all saddled up for a full rehearsal. I was enjoying chronicling the number of tee shots the dropped, rolled, fell, missed, and sunk in the water surrounding the 17th green.
Then after a four hour rehearsal we all gathered in the production trailer for a critique. I drew first blood. It seems commissioner Deane Beman who watched his own special feed of the rehearsal, did not approve of the description and the account of the shots that found Davy Jones, locker at the 17th. As Deane explained, these were the greatest golfers in the world and I should not point out their mistakes. Thank goodness, the next day, Johnny Miller pointed out on the 18th fairway a golfer who had a shot that he could "choke" on. His statement meant that the next year I could count the misses on the 17th.
A few years later I was hosting the PLAYERS on the 18th tower. By this time I was getting up in age and faced nature's call during our four hour telecast. The closest bathroom was in the clubhouse, which in turn was perched on a small mountain that looked to me like Mount Kilimanjaro. There was no way I could get there and back during one of our commercial breaks. I just mentioned my problem to one of the PGA suits and gave it no more thought.
The next morning when I arrived at the bottom of the 18th tower the stairway was surrounded by PGA officials. They stepped away, like a curtain opening on Broadway, and there it was. Protected by a green tarp was my own, personal, private, Port-O-John. I knew it was mine, as on the door was an NBC Peacock just above my name.
One thing we always looked forward to was our own tournament on Monday after the PLAYERS. Naturally we hit from the forward tees, but everything was just like Sunday with the same pin placements. In addition there were scorers at each hole with all of our scores posted on the many electronic scoreboards around the course.
The 13th is a par 3, 130 yards, with water on the left and a back left pin placement. A perfect 8 iron for me. I put a pretty good swing on the ball with just a touch of a hook. And it hooked, right into the water. Following great laughter from my four-some, I teed it up again. Same spot. Same swing without the hook. Three bounces and short roll. Into the cup. Cheers all around for my first and only hole-in-one, for a three, and with my handicap a two.
At the 17th I hit it into the water.
Comments are welcomed, please click on the "Comment" link below.
They've tried and tried. Even the name, PLAYERS, not The Players, is to remind you of the MASTERS. The winner gets a check for almost $2 MILLION dollars and an exemption for a zillion years. The PLAYERS now has a better date, between the MASTERS and the U.S. Open. Still it is not a major. But, usually with the best field of the year, it is fun to watch and it was fun to broadcast.
NBC took over the telecast right after the PLAYERS moved across the highway to the new TPC course, with the signature par 3, 17th hole. Which was my first assignment. At that time the tournament was telecast only on the weekend, so on Friday we all saddled up for a full rehearsal. I was enjoying chronicling the number of tee shots the dropped, rolled, fell, missed, and sunk in the water surrounding the 17th green.
Then after a four hour rehearsal we all gathered in the production trailer for a critique. I drew first blood. It seems commissioner Deane Beman who watched his own special feed of the rehearsal, did not approve of the description and the account of the shots that found Davy Jones, locker at the 17th. As Deane explained, these were the greatest golfers in the world and I should not point out their mistakes. Thank goodness, the next day, Johnny Miller pointed out on the 18th fairway a golfer who had a shot that he could "choke" on. His statement meant that the next year I could count the misses on the 17th.
A few years later I was hosting the PLAYERS on the 18th tower. By this time I was getting up in age and faced nature's call during our four hour telecast. The closest bathroom was in the clubhouse, which in turn was perched on a small mountain that looked to me like Mount Kilimanjaro. There was no way I could get there and back during one of our commercial breaks. I just mentioned my problem to one of the PGA suits and gave it no more thought.
The next morning when I arrived at the bottom of the 18th tower the stairway was surrounded by PGA officials. They stepped away, like a curtain opening on Broadway, and there it was. Protected by a green tarp was my own, personal, private, Port-O-John. I knew it was mine, as on the door was an NBC Peacock just above my name.
One thing we always looked forward to was our own tournament on Monday after the PLAYERS. Naturally we hit from the forward tees, but everything was just like Sunday with the same pin placements. In addition there were scorers at each hole with all of our scores posted on the many electronic scoreboards around the course.
The 13th is a par 3, 130 yards, with water on the left and a back left pin placement. A perfect 8 iron for me. I put a pretty good swing on the ball with just a touch of a hook. And it hooked, right into the water. Following great laughter from my four-some, I teed it up again. Same spot. Same swing without the hook. Three bounces and short roll. Into the cup. Cheers all around for my first and only hole-in-one, for a three, and with my handicap a two.
At the 17th I hit it into the water.
Comments are welcomed, please click on the "Comment" link below.
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