Monday, October 23, 2006

A Little Humor after that last depressing post

Hope this isn't a repeat...

An elderly Italian man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite Italian anisette sprinkle cookies wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed. Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort, gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs. With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen.

Where if not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite anisette sprinkle cookies.

Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted Italian wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled posture. His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth, seemingly bringing him back to life. The aged and withered hand trembled on its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife ......

"Back off!" she said. "They're for the funeral."

This Date in Philly Sports History

When I am called on to remember the birthday of a niece or nephew, I usually have to think hard to some mnemonic device I contrived to recall the date. Lexi was born on 9/2/99, and I remember that because 9/2 is considered the birthday of the internet. Mark and Christopher are 1/11 and 1/21, so I can remember the one by remembering the other. Julie is 10/15, and my only clue is to think of the Ides of October - that's a hard one for me to remember. I have to do this exercise for my own kids too, with Gabe's birthdate remembered by reference to the radio station that carried the Phillies' games in my youth, the old WCAU-AM 1210 (12/10/01). Luca is my Opening Day baby, and the digits for month and day (4/5) add up to 9, his birth year (99). Dom and Emmy being twins and the first are easiest to remember (6/13/92).

The one kid whose birthday is easily remembered, though, is Greg: October 19, a/k/a the Greatest Day in Philadelphia Sports History. It was a Sunday in 1980, and Mark, Daria, and I watched the Eagles defeat the Cowboys at The Vet 17-10 (Cowboys' fans still want Roynell Young flagged for pass interference in the end zone). We got into the car and hurried home for Game 5 of the World Series, listening to the early innings on the radio. We watched the memorable Phils' rally to tie and then win the game in the 9th: Del Unser ripped a double past the immobile Willie Mays Aikens at first, with Mike Schmidt, who had singled, sliding, it seemed, from the start of the dirt cut-out to about 5 feet past home plate, to tie it. Manny Trillo later lined a shot off the late Dan Quisenberry's leg to get Unser home with the go-ahead run. Tugger loaded 'em up in the bottom of the ninth, but he struck out former Phil Jose Cardenal, and the Phils had a 3 games to 2 lead. Meanwhile, down at the Spectrum, the Flyers were busy defeating the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, as I recall (I checked a fan site that has the score 2-1; maybe Mark can remember the proper score). At the time, the Canadiens were the recent 4-time winners of the Cup, and the Flyers had been the first victims in their reign of championships, so there was more than a whiff of this being just an ordinary early-season win.

So how do today's Philly teams celebrate the anniversary? Well, for the Phils, there is no post-season for them to worry about. They set about hiring three 60-something bench coaches because the organization can't teach fundamentals. Don't get me wrong: I applaud the move. However, it is telling that after two poor Aprils to start seasons that ended within a single victory of the post-season, this kind of move was necessitated by the failings of the current regime. A couple years too late, but better late than never, I suppose.

The Flyers just cleaned house. Bobby Clarke, who did more to build the Nordiques/Avalanche with the Lindros trade, and the Stars as GM there, couldn't push the right buttons here. As I took in a bit of the horror of what was the 9-1 loss in Buffalo last week, I was simultaneously amazed at the beauty of the HD picture on my new TV and stunned by the ineptitude of the Orange and Black. They looked like a college team against a Cup-worthy team. Simply embarrassing.

And then the Eagles finished off the weekend with a loss that I was fortunate not to have seen. Again, they outplay, outgain, and overmatch an opponent, yet find a way to lose. I still hold out some hope for them, but it's getting harder to be too hopeful.

I took in a Vandy loss with Luca on 10/21 (the date of the Phils' clinching victory in the 1980 Series) - not one where they had much of a chance against a team that was clearly better, only the second time that this has happened this year (Michigan plain beat Vandy, but Vandy lost winnable games against Alabama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss). I then went to the Preds' game that night and had to leave early to take in Dom & Emmy at a band competition. Would it surprise you to know that the Preds blew a 3-2 third period lead to lose in OT?

And Father Ryan finished third in the competition. Oh, and I got lost in East Nashville leaving the GEC and missed the FRHS performance, so I missed Dom & Emmy as well as missing the Predators game.

Some anniversary! Good thing 10/19/80 lives on, if only as a memory...

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Johnny Callison RIP

I am deeply saddened by the death of my first boyhood hero, #6 Johnny Callison right fielder for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1960 - 1969. I adored Johnny and wanted to be just like him. However,when I heard that he had passed away after a long illness the memories it engendered were bittersweet.

I say bittersweet because when I heard the news, I began reliving my boyhood again There I was back in my seat at Connie Mack Stadium with my father and grandfather, and my grandfather was suddenly alive again. All the sights and sounds and smells came roaring back.I could see the bright green grass, and rich brown infield dirt, and smell the hot dogs and peanuts. I again remembered thinking how amazing the colors looked when I saw them for the first time at the Stadium, and how different it was from watching baseball on our black and white TV. Only boyhood heroes can rekindle great memories like that. To me, it's what makes baseball and sports in general so great.

The three of us were back in our old wooden seats cheering for Johnny as he patrolled right field in front of the big gray wall, which was Philly's answer to Fenway's green monster. The wall housed an old fashioned scoreboard in which the operator changed the out-of -town scores by hand. It was nothing like the digital scoreboards of today, but somehow it was better. Because of the scoreboard, the surface of the wall was uneven, which made for some crazy bounces of the ball for the right fielder to handle. Nobody could play the ball off that right field wall like Johnny, and when he retrieved the ball he would always fire an accurate throw to second or third with his cannon arm.

Johnny had five tool skills packed onto a 5'10" frame, 170 pound frame. While not a Hall of Famer, he was an All- Star/ MVP caliber player. He was an All - Star three in the sixties, which along with the fifties was the greatest decade for outfielders in National League history. This was an amazing feat when you consider some of Jonny's contempories: Mays, Aaron, Clemente, and Frank Robinson, Hall of Famers all.

In that infamous year of 1964, the last year of America's innocence, Johnny would have been National League MVP if not for the Phils famous collapse. They came back from a West Coast trip in September with a 6 and 1/2 game lead and only 12 to play. Everyone knows the rest of the story. The Phils promptly lost 10 straight and blew the pennant, through no fault of Johnny's. During one loss to the Braves in the middle of the big losing streak, Johnny hit three home runs.

Prior to the great collapse, 1964 had been a magical year for Phils fans. It started with Jim Bunning's(R - KY) perfect game on June 21, a nice gift for the father of seven on Father's Day. Johnny was right in the middle of the magic, winning the All - Star game for the NL with a three run homer off Dick Radatz in the ninth inning. To see it all collapse for the Phils in October, and I might add for Barry Goldwater in November, was tragic.

Now I have my own son who has his own baseball hero, who also happens to wear number 6. While today's # 6 ,Ryan Howard is a great young player as is Chase Utley, my son's boyhood baseball experience will sadly be different from mine due to today's changing times. The players today make so much money that they're mini - corporations, each with their own posse and entourage. They live in million dollar mansions and are cut off from the average fan.

Not so with Johnny. While born in Oklahoma and raised in Bakersfield, CA he was a true Philadelphian. Since 1960, he and his family lived in the modest suburb of Glenside. While Johnny undoubtedly made more than our dads, it wasn't that much more. He was a regular guy who lived in a regular neighborhood. He knew his neighbors and they knew him. For years he sold used cars in the off season. Can you imagine an MVP caliber player doing that today? Not a chance. It's kind of reminiscent of those old film clips of Willie Mays playing stickball with kids in the streets of Harlem, before heading off to the Polo Grounds to star for the old NY Giants. Sweet memories from a bygone era.

For the last twenty years Johnny tended bar, where he would talk baseball with anyone who wanted to chat with him. He didn't charge for his autograph and from every account I ever read, he was always good to people. He was a family man who never had one ounce of trouble with the law. He was a model husband, father, and grandfather. He never embarassed himself or his team. He was loved by his teammates, and was a mentor and best friend to Dick Allen during the racially troubled 60's.

A tribute was held for Jonny last night at Citiznes Bank Park. In attendance were Johnny's family, some of his ex-teammates and many fans. On a night in which the weather was brutal for October, 400 people packed the room. It was touching to see Dick Allen break down during his tribute to Johnny.

Ciao, Johnny. You're in the real big leagues now, where pennants and MVPs are never lost and where every season ends in a championship parade. Enjoy your field for dreams. You most certainly deserve it.

Friday, October 06, 2006

The Irony of Foley

The Democrats are reveling in the lurid homosexual email sex scandal involving former Republican Congressman Mark Foley. They could care less about the interns or the "children" that they now posture about. They simply smell blood and they see this as their chance to finally win back Congress for the first time in twelve years. What is ironic is how wrong they are, and how amusing it is that they cannot see the forrest from the trees.

Let me be the first to say that Mr. Foley's actions are both sleazy and disgusting and he should hang his head in shame. He does not deserve to be in Congress as he is not worthy of the public trust. I don't care what political party he belongs to. What is so striking about this incident is the gross hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrats. In unison, they bang the drum beat that this behavior is outrageous and that we must protect the children.

Do I detect a scent of homophobia among our Liberal friends. While their criticism of Foley and the so - called culture of Republican corruption has been scathing, let's examine why they really express this outrage. We all know they couod care less about Foley's behavior in the abstract. The fact is, they both embrace it and champion it.

After all it is the Liberals who constantly tell Conservatives and Republicans that we are intolerant and that we must embrace this "alternative life style." They also tell us that homosexuals must be allowed to marry and that we must have abortion on demand. Did I hear them say, they want to protect children ? They are already responsible for the deaths of 40 million innocent American children and now they tell us we must have embryonic stem cell research so that we can kill more innocents.

The liberal attempt to take the high moral ground on this story is hilarious. In 1983 Democrat Congressman Gerry Studds (isn't that name ironic) raped a male paige. He not only didn't resign, but stayed on to the standing ovation of his fellow Congressional Democrats. A few years later Nancy Pelosi, who espouses the radical San Francisco homosexual agenda, voted for Studs for a committee chairmanship. There were no calls from Democrats for Studs to resign, and clearly sodomy is a lot more vile than sending someone an email or an instant message. This is the same Ms. Pelosi who marched in a gay pride parade a few years ago, all the while knowing that the Grand Marshall of the parade was a member of NAMBLA.

Moreover, there were no Republican calls for then House Speaker Tip O'Neill to resign. What did O'Neill have to do with what this guy did in his bedroom, and how he could he have known about it. How about President Clinton having sex with an intern in the oval office, albeit a female. Once caught, he lied about it, was impeached, and lost his law license in Arkansas. Not only did he not resign, but he claimed it was a vast right wing conspiracy and he dragged the entire country through the mud for two years.Certainly, lurid incident invovling phsyical acts by the Commander -in - Chief is a lot more serious than the emails of an obscure congressman.

If you recall, there were no Republican calls for Minority Leader Dik Gephart to resign. Again, what did he have to do with the behavior of a man who the evidence shows likely raped Juanita Broaderrick.How ironic that President Reagan wouldn't even remove his suit jacket in the Oval Office out of respect, and this guy dropped his pants.

Let's now contrast how the Reubplicans handled the Foley scandal. As soon as Majority Leader Hastert found out about it, he confronted Foley and demanded that he resign or be forced out. Foley to his credit resigned and is now undergoing treatment. He didn't claim it was a vast left wing conspiracy and then lie about his accusers. What is ironic is that unlike Clinton, it looks like he could have made a case for himself. According to Drudge, it was the Dems who knew about this and sat on it. They think they're so clever, another October surprise !

These genuises on the Left don't get it. They tried mightily with the President Bush drunk driving story in October, 2000, and the "pep rally" at the funeral of Senator Wellstone in October 2002. Then in October, 2004 came the lies of Rather - gate, only to be topped off by the early election day reporting that it was over and that Kerry had won. The better to stop conservatives from going to the polls later in the day, my dear.

Also,let us not forget the Presidential debates that year. Remember John Kerry's(who by the way served in Viet Nam) response to a question about why people are gay. He responded by mentioning Mary Cheney, the Vice - President's daughter.

The entire purpose of that response was to "out" Mary Cheney to Conservatives since we obviously didn't know, and never heard of gays before. We all just ride in our pick ups with gun racks, to hay seed churches with weeds in our mouth.When we get there, we read the evil bible and then proceed to exlcaim the gospel of "intolerance."

Why did none of these dirty ploys do the Liberals any good? Here's the dirty little secret. They continue to confuse we in the grass roots Conservative majority with the weak-kneed leadership that's supposed to represent us in Washington.Unlike our elected representatives when the Liberals push us, we in fly-over country push right back even harder.

What Liberals and the Democratic Party fail to understand is that unlike thier socialist operation where the elitist ruling class dictates everthing and the Kool-Aid drinkers follow, the Republican Party works in the opposite manner. The Conservative grass roots independent-thinking majority runs the Party from the botom up, and not the top down like the Democrats/Liberals. It is the classic difference between a free, democratic form of government and socialism/totalitarianism.

Grass roots consevatives won't be fooled like our wobbly leaders. We'll put them back in power this time and demand that they address the Conservative agenda beginning in January,2007. If not, we will properly deal with them in the 2008 primary season. We don't need the Democrats to do our bidding. As for the Liberals/Democrats, we'll banish them like we did Foley.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Baseball Hell

Once again the baseball fans of Philly are tortured. Forget giving terrorists the protections of the US Constitution as well as the Geneva Convention. What about us poor slobs who follow the losingest franchise in the history of North American team sports.

The Phils had it in the bag until their loss last Monday to the 'Stros. I consider this latest collpase, one last possible stench of the odor of Ed Wade. Ole Underdog lifted his leg one more time and showered us all. Didn't his boys Burrell and Lieberthal come up real big, this past week. Not to mention that idiot of a manager.I say one last possible stench because rumors are that Dave Montgomery might force Gillick to bring Uncle Charley back next year. What a disgrace, if true. They should hire Lou Piniella but they're too cheap. If they don't do that, it's a no brainer. The moment Joe Girardi gets fired, sign him up! However, it probably won't happen because of Montgomery and the putrid ownership. Dave's big claim to fame is that he has three fewer chins than Bill Giles. Big deal, that still leaves him with three.

What is really painful, is that if the Phils had gotten in they could have won the pennant. The NL stinks and the Mets are done without Pedro. The Pads will now win it and then lose to the AL in the Series. I can't take it anymore.I would have loved to have lost the WS this year.Only a Phils fan could say that. "Wait till next year", seems so hollow right now. Gene Mauch, RIP.