Harry the K

"We have lost our voice," said Philadelphia Phillies President David Montgomery. Harry Kalas has died. He was 73.

My son KC called with the news. His voice cracked with emotion. Baseball is our great love and we shared a love of Harry Kalas. He knew the news would hit me hard and it did.

I didn't know Harry. I met him once in 1980 at the Phillies Caravan in Wilkes-Barre. I asked for an autograph. Harry signed a picture of those participating in the Carvan and asked, "Who can I make this out to?" Too embarassed to say it was for me, I asked that he make it out to my sister. He was very kind.

When you love baseball and love a team, you cannot help but be drawn to that team's broadcasters. I loved listening to Harry and Riche Ashburn call Phillies games. I was fortunate to meet Ashburn too. When I interviewed, "Whitey," I asked him about his relationship with Kalas. Ashburn broke into a wide smile and said, "We're something else aren't we?" We both laughed.

For Christmas, KC gave me the Phillies 2008 World Championship DVD. Harry called the final inning. As I write this, the Phillies Radio Network is replaying that call. I'm blubbering like a baby.

Yesterday, I switched between the Phillies game and the Masters. I heard Harry call his final game; The Chase Utley home run, the Matt Stairs home run. I am grateful.

Phillies games will never be the same for me. Of course I said that when Ashburn died. But I had Harry the K to hang on to. Now he's gone.

Uncommon Decency

When WYOU-TV 22 pulled the plug on its news operation last week, several lost their jobs. You could understand how some would be bitter. The man who served the longest was the one who was least bitter. Of all of the surprises of the last week, David DeCosmo's reaction was the least surprising.

I met David in 1973 when he hired me to do the weekend news on WILK AM. I was inexperienced, but Dave took a chance on me. I am forever grateful.

We parted professional company a few years later when David moved on to another radio station's management, only to be reunited at WYOU in 1986. I was fortunate to learn at the feet of a man who has forgotten more news than most in this market could ever hope to know. I could write a book on what Dave taught me.

There's a reason the Professional News Media Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award almost three decades ago. David DeCosmo is a pro.

There is something that David could not teach. Something you would have to learn by watching. That something is decency; uncommon decency. I cannot write an adequate description of it. Anybody who is fortunate enough to know him and his family understands it.

In a business sometimes overwhelmed by massive egos, Dave was the one guy who kept it all in perspective. He was NEVER bigger than the story. The story always came first.

In all that's been written in the last week, the thing most striking to me is Dave's concern for his co-workers; not himself.

He's been a colleague, mentor and friend and my life has been forever enriched by knowing him.

I am sorry that Dave didn't get a chance to bow out under his own terms and allow his friends and fans to pay tribute to him.

Maybe that's because he hasn't yet written his sign off.

Obituaries

WYOU-TV News (nee WDAU News) of Scranton, a once proud beacon of broadcast journalism in Northeastern Pennsylvania, died not so unexpectedly on Friday April 3, 2009 at 2:00 PM in Wilkes-Barre.
It had been in ill health for years.
Born in Scranton on June 7, 1953, it attended most of the major news events of the last half century including the Knox Mine Disaster, the Agnes Flood Disaster of 1972, the George Banks Murder case and most recently the Luzerne County Courthouse Corruption Scandal.
It fell victim to federal deregulation of the broadcast industry in the 1980s. It was so sick, in fact, that it was unable to report its own impending demise.
It was preceeded in death by WGBI News and WDAU News.
Surviving are fourteen former colleagues, numerous former employees and WBRE-TV, with whom it lived.
Funeral services will be private. There will be no viewing.

The Three Greatest Words in the English Language.

It's that Weekend. Yes that one. The one where there is no baseball. There is no football.

(Please don't try to argue that the Pro Bowl is football!)

Enthusiastic baseball and football fans plan for this weekend. It becomes the time when long 

put off projects rise to the top of the to do list. We suddenly have time to fix that toilet

that's been running constantly since the third game of the World Series. It's time to caulk those

drafty widows. It's time because there is time.

There is no football. There is no baseball.

Don't tell me about basketball and ice hockey. Both cannot be watched on television with the

same level of excitement of baseball and football. 

So that brings us to our headline, "The Three Greatest Words in the English Language."

"Pitchers and catchers," baby. "Pitchers and catchers."

For baseball fans, Winters doesn't start on December 23rd. It starts the moment of the final

out of the World Series.

When the Phillies' Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske of Tampa Bay to clinch the Series for

Philadelphia. There was pure ecstacy and at the same time deep despair. For in Winning, there is 

losing. 

The season ends and thus begins the long winter of our discontent.

While meteorological winter won't end for six weeks, the hope that abounds with a new season is merely

days away for baseball fans. It will come not when Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig arises from his

burrow to announce six more weeks for Barry Bonds. It comes when one dares to utter the words,

"Pitchers and catchers."

The start of baseball's spring training is just days away. The first players to report will be pitchers and

catchers. Soon after position players will report.

The cold will be just as cold. The snow will continue to fall. But it seems just a bit easier to cope

when you know that in Florida and Arizona, grown men have begun practicing the game of boys.

For fans of teams that both won and lost last season, hope springs eternal with spring training.

The "F" Bomb

This will be one of the very few times I won't try to enhance my post with a picture. To do so would require me to add a picture of a profane sign on the rear window of a pick up truck or the truck's owner.
I refuse.
Hughestown Borough Police have cited (not arrested) a Pittston man for disorderly conduct because of a sign on his truck that uses the "F" word. If found guilty the man faces a fine.
The guy who put the sign on his truck is never going to be chosen to bring the macaroni salad to the MENSA picnic. He incorrectly used the word "your" instead of "you're." The sign purports to make a political statement about speaking English in America. There are even some who are defending the use of the "F" word and the American Civil Liberties Union says it will defend the man in court.
At issue, did he violate the law under the Pennsylvania Crimes Code?
Is there anyone who doesn't know the "F" word?
George Carlin included it in the seven words you can't say on TV. Thrity five plus years later, three of those seven words are commonplace. We have invented words to replace the "F" word but mean the same thing."Freakin' or Friggin," anyone?
In one of our most beloved Christmas Holiday movies, Ralphie gets his mouth washed out with soap for dropping an "F" bomb.
In celebrating the Philadelphia Phillies World Series victory, All-American second baseman Chase Utley used the "F" word in front of a stadium full of adoring fans and countless more watching on television. Many cheered. Few booed.
Just because they used the word, doesn't mean you should or he should.
Don't defend this man using the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Our founders had much loftier goals in mind when they adopted it.
This is not an issue of free-speech.
The man who was cited has changed the sign to replace the "F" word with an "F" and characters. If he believes he was not wrong, why did he change the sign? He changed the sign because he knew he was wrong, just as everyone else knows he was WRONG!
Some people who are defending this man cannot and will not say the word aloud in making their case. They would be fired from their jobs if they did. How long do you think the ACLU would retain an attorney who upon leaving Court comments, "I think the Judge made the wrong (insert expletive here) decision?"
Let me help you. Not long.
This is not a First Amendment case. This is a case of breaking the laws of public decency.
Guilty on all counts.

Bailout!

Here's my idea to save the automobile industry.Don't give the Big Three automakers 25 billion dollars. Give it to the American consumer.Here's how. Allow each household to apply for a "coupon" similar to the ones made available to purchase digital television converter boxes. Fix the amount for new cars, say $10,000.00. Cars will suddenly be affordable. Most will be unable to pay cash for the balance and will have to apply for loans. This will "unfreeze" the credit markets as financial institutions will want to make sure they get a piece of the pie. The current inventory of automobiles will dwindle almost immediately. Consumers will also trade in their current automobiles creating a flood of used cars in the market. The same coupon can be used for a discounted price (certainly not $10,000.00) for used cars. Again, most consumers won't be able to purchase these used cars outright and accordingly financial institutions will compete for auto loans, again unfreezing credit. For used cars, the coupons will be pro-rated for model year, make and fuel efficiency. Consumers who have been shut out of the new car market will suddenly be able to purchase new cars and the infusion of cash should enable Detroit to figure a way out of their financial mess. The biggest advantage will be an immediate benefit to the consumer. Congress, take care of the consumer and the market will solve the problem.

I'm Back

I'm back and will be catching up in the next few days