Ditto

On his Tuesday July 29th radio show, Rush Limbaugh said the news media (he refers to them as the drive-by media) are pulling forBarack Obama because they want to see a black man as President. That's almost identical to what Limbaugh said about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb a few years ago. That comment got Limbaugh booted off ESPN's Sunday football pre-game show. Mega dittos.

John McCain

Senator John McCain visited Northeastern Pennsylvania today. I was unable to attend but listened to his Town Hall meeting. Mr. McCain served on the USS Enterprise during the Vietnam War at the same time as Chief Donald M. Jordan, my father. The Chief was a great admirer of Senator McCain. I highly recommend the Senator's book, "Faith of my Fathers." It is his tale of growing up in the shadow of two Navy legends, his capture and torture. It is a MUST READ for anyone struggling with the decision of whom to vote for President. I've already made my decision. I know the "Old Man," would be proud.

Mr. October

This past week's Major League Baseball All-Star game and the appearance of Hall of Famers got me thinking about Reggie Jackson.
The year was 1980. I was the News Director at WILK-AM Wilkes-Barre. A story broke that while cleaning up a rental car, an employee of a Scranton company found New York Yankee Reggie Jackson's World Series Ring. That's a big story since Jackson's ring was taken in a burglary of his Oakland, California area home a few years earlier.
The News and Sports Departments decided to track down Jackson for comment. The Yankees were in Arlington, Texas playing the Rangers. Using a Media Director furnished by the Yanks, we discovered the name of the hotel where the Yankees were staying and called. The desk clerk, without hesitation or question immediately put us through to Jackson's room.
The phone rang three times before a groggy voice at the other end said, "Hello."
"Reggie Jackson, please."
A pause.
"He just went to breakfast. Call back in half an hour."
Thirty minutes passed and the second call was made.
"Reggie Jackson, please."
"Is this the same guy who called earlier."
"Yes."
"Hey man that was me who answered the phone. I wasn't at breakfast. Sorry."
Here I was talking to Mr. October.
I proceeded to tell him his World Series ring had been recovered. He gave us a long and gracious interview and apologized again for not identifying himself on the first call. He was as polite and courteous as he could be.
As it turned out, the ring that was recovered was not Reggie's ring but a duplicate used by a salesman for the company that had designed and manufactured the ring.
It was a sample.
I'm sure Jackson hardly remembers the calls or the story.
I remember.
The player who was reputed to be so surly and difficult could not have been more of a gentleman.
Ever since, I've paid careful attention to Jackson during interviews. He comes off as one of the nicest guys in the world.
He is.

David Yonki

Our friend and fellow blogger David Yonki of the insightful LuLac Political Letter will forgive me, I hope, for stealing his signature photo from his blog. Dave is facing a major health battle. Please join me in keeping a good thought, offering our prayers and wishing him the best in the days and weeks ahead.

If You Build It...

There have been whisperings that it is time to replace our area's premier sports venue, PNC Field. It would be a huge endeavor. For what it's worth, I have found a new site for the new ballpark; the Murray Complex between Pennsylvania Avenue and Wilkes-Barre Boulevard in downtown Wilkes-Barre. You could put a new park with plenty of parking on that site. The complex is dilapidated and needs to be bulldozed. Putting a ballpark in downtown Wilkes-Barre would re-energize the downtown. Play ball

George Carlin

In 1972, my family was flooded out of our Kingston home by Hurricane Agnes. I spent the summer living with my best friend and his family. John and I worked at the only car wash in Wilkes-Barre. Needless to say, we were busy all the time as flood victims came to wash the thick cruddy mud left behind by the Susquehanna River from their cars. To pass the time of day we listened to 8-track tapes, including one called FM-AM by George Carlin. That album contained the "seven dirty words you can't say on TV." We loved it.

One day my friend's father asked to see the tape case. Panic! He knew we had the Carlin tape. We never did figure out how he knew. Tickling the different tapes, he found what he was looking for. He promptly removed the tape, placd it on the ground and smashed it to smithereens. He said nothing more. Neither did we.

After he pulled away, we removed the "Steppenwolf," tape from the case and placed it in the 8-track player and we listened to, "George Carlin, FM and AM." You see we knew this would happen and we had switched the contents of the two catridges. We listened to George Carlin day and night. I even memorized most of the routines and used to get invited to perform them. I even did a Carlin performance at a high school. Carlin was a genius. Enough said. RIP.

Trends

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics for winning the NBA championship. It was a case of a young black coach beating a more experienced white coach. On Monday, a young black man beat an older white man to capture the U.S Open Golf title. Is anyone sensing a trend here?