Thursday, December 8, 2005

Remembering 25 years ago today...

Our lives are measured by events that have moved us and ruled our emotions. Lots of those events involve family and friends but sometimes it's someone we didn't know personally but felt that we did anyway. December 8th, 1980 is one of those few days in our lives that we remember exactly where we were when it happened. For me I was headed for dreamland when my son Rob woke me up to break the news to me...

Shortly before 11PM Mark David Chapman approached John Lennon for an autograph right in front of the Dakota where John lived with wife Yoko and son Sean. Chapman had more than an autograph in mind. Taking out a .38 Charter Arms revolver Chapman shot and killed a musical icon, our own imported national treasure from England. John Lennon was dead...

The annual vigil at Strawberry Fields has been somewhat tainted this year as the Parks Department will stick to its 1AM curfew in Central Park, just across the street from the Dakota where Lennon was gunned down. If you're wondering about the gunman who robbed us of one of the most talented and beloved musicians who ever lived, Mark David Chapman, better known as inmate 81A3860 at Attica State prison had this to say before the parole board last year: "I deserve nothing. Because of the pain and suffering I caused, I deserve exactly what I've gotten." Few can argue with that...

More on the death of John Lennon in my commentary...

More December 8 Memories...

1776) Remember that picture of Washington crossing the Delaware ? It happened on this date when Washington and his retreating American Revolutionary army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania...

1863) President Abraham Lincoln announces his plan for the 'Reconstruction of the South"...

1940) The Chicago Bears scalp the Washington Redskins 73-0 to win the NFL Championship (not only is it the most onesided score in NFL history but officials made the Bears run for the extra point following their final touchdown because they had run out of footballs)...

1941) The U.S. enters WWII, one day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor...

1952) Television history is made on the "I Love Lucy" show as a pregnancy ("Splain it to me Lucy") is acknowledged in a TV show for the 1st time...

1961) The Beach Boys release their 1st single, "Surfin'"...

1962) A newspaper strike shuts down 9 New York City newspapers (the strike lasts 114 days, ending April 1, 1963)...

1963) Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped (he will be returned after a ransom is paid)...

1964) Best known as Chester Riley in "Life of Riley", actor William Bendix dies...

1966) I know it always seems like I put down the Yankees but I don't make these trades up. Roger Maris, who broke Babe Ruth's homerun record 5 years earlier, is traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for the immortal Charlie Smith, a journeyman third baseman (all Maris will go on to do is help lead the Cardinals into the World Series in 1967 and 1968 and what did Smith do with the Yankees ? Don't ask)...

1968) Graham Nash announces the formation of Crosby, Stills and Nash 3 days after leaving the Hollies...

1978) Former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir dies in Jerusalem at 80...

1982) Marty Robbins dies of heart failure at 57...

1987) President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev sign a treaty calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles...

1995) 4 months after the death of Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead announce they are breaking up...

1999) A Memphis jury finds that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the victim of a vast murder conspiracy, not a lone assassin...

Happy Birthday To...

1930) Maximilian Schell...

1936) David Carradine...

1937) James ("book 'em Dan-O") MacArthur...

1939) The Iceman Jerry Butler...

1947) Gregg Allman...

1953) Kim Basinger...

1964) Teri Hatcher...

1966) Sinead O'Connor...

1976) Dominic ("Lost", "Lord of the Rings") Monaghan...

Commentary...

The Monday Night Football game on December 8, 1980 (Patriots-Miami) was interupted by Howard Cosell to announce that John Lennon had been shot. On at least one occasion John was a guest of the MNF crew during a game and had become a friend of the announcers. Cosell read a statement from ABC News and was understandably quite emotional reading it...

I was introduced to John Lennon on 2 occasions, both times by the legendary WABC program director Rick Sklar. It's hard to believe but neither is with us today...