Thursday, November 30, 2006

Now it's official...

With the 74th lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, the holiday season has officially started in New York. About the only celebrity missing last night when the tree was lit was Tracy Morgan who was lit up earlier this week. Al Roker and Ann Curry hosted the show starring Martina McBride, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Sting, Bette Midler and Lionel Richie. Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin were there to plug their "30 Rock" show minus Tracy Morgan who was originally scheduled before his DUI arrest. The musical guests are all good ones in their own right but who programmed this show? It was a dirge. How about a little tempo next time folks???

The first tree lighting was performed by the construction people building Rockefeller Center almost three quarters of a century ago. A much simpler affair back then. It's only fitting that the taxi fares have gone up today ensuring that your holiday shopping will be a bit more expensive this season. I mean, this is New York, isn't it? Just yesterday we got good news though - the bus and subway fares will not increase the first of the year. Life is good...

We've got a link to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting last night, so ignore the 15-second ad, sit back and enjoy the 30,000 multi-colored lights on the 9-ton tree that will stand in all its glory until January 8th, 2007: http://video.ap.org/v/en-ap/v.htm?g=353C22A2-EA15-4377-9661-78540D332841&t=m3 ...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1782] The United States and Britain sign preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War...
2. [1956] Floyd Patterson KO's Archie Moore in the 5th round to become, at 21, the youngest heavyweight champion in history (Mike Tyson will break that record by 6 months when he becomes champ in 1986)...
3. [1956] CBS-TV replays "Douglas Edwards and the News" 3 hours after it's received on the west coast. It's the world's 1st broadcast via videotape...
4. [1971] ABC-TV airs "Brian's Song", the movie about the dying Chicago Bears' running back Brian Picolo and his friendship with star running back Gayle Sayers (and there's not a dry eye in the house)...
5. [1979] Ted Koppel becomes anchor of "Nightly News on Iranian Hostages" (who came up with that title?) which morphs into "Nightline"...
6. [1993] President Bill Clinton signs into law, the "Brady Bill" which requires a 5-day waiting period for purchasing guns...
7. [1999] In an ominous sign of things to come, the opening of a 135 nation trade gathering in Seattle is disrupted by some 40,000 demonstrators who clash with police...
8. [2001] For the 1st time in its history, McDonald's teams up with a retail partner on its Happy Meal promotions. Toys R Us provides plush figures from its Animal Alley (promotion in motion along with your indigestion)...

"Happy Trails": 1996] After performing on stage, Tiny Tim collapses and dies from congestive heart failure at 71...

#1 on this date: 1971] "Family Affair" - Sly & the Family Stone...

Released on this date: 1958] "16 Candles" - The Crests...1968] "Everyday People" - Sly & the Family Stone...1979] "The Wall" (LP) - Pink Floyd...

Guilty as charged: 1993] Richard Allen Davis is arrested after confessing to the abduction and murder of 12-year old Polly Klaas (Davis is on death row in San Quentin)...

Wedding Bells: 1940] Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz salsa down the aisle to a latin beat...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...

Commentary...

Len Zola of the New England Media Gang sends an interesting e-mail about the late Casey Coleman: "Don (Latullipe who worked with both Len and Ken Coleman at WHDH) tells me the son's nickname was bestowed by Ken who was often called upon to recite 'Casey At The Bat' at gatherings around town"...

Borrowing from the late Jimmy Cannon, one of the best writers ever: Nobody Asked Me But": To Michael Strahan, Plaxico Burress, Terrell Owens, Tom Coughlin, etc. etc. etc: If you don't want to be quoted or mis-quoted in the media, then SHUT UP and do your talking on the field!!! It keeps feeling better and better everyday to root for the Patriots. Thank heavens for Bill Belichick. Coach: may you and your team stay as quiet as you are to the media forever. To borrow from Oakland's Alvin Davis: "Just win baby"...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Clay (hand to mouth) Aiken (28), Sandra ("Grey's Anatomy") Oh (36), Ben Stiller (41), Billy Idol (51), Mandy Patinkin (54), Paul Stookey (69), Jimmy Bowen (69), Bill Walsh (75), G. Gordon Liddy (76), Dick Clark (77), Robert Guillaume (79) and Efrem Zimbalist Jr (88)...

Timeline Countdown: 15 days until Chanukah, 25 days until Christmas, 31 days until 2007, 38 days until the NFL playoffs and 66 (NBC) days until Super Bowl XLI...

...

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The Good...The Bad...The Ugly...

Bill Walsh, the Hall of Fame coach who built an NFL dynasty with the San Francisco 49ers and introduced his West Coast offense to the NFL, recently told friends and colleagues at Stanford University that he is fighting leukemia. Walsh, 74, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, "I'm positive, but not evangelistic". Our best wishes and prayers go to Bill Walsh as he fights his biggest battle...

So obviously, Bill Walsh is everything that is good. For the "bad" we have Atlanta Falcon QB Michael Vick who gave heckling fans, the finger, in Sunday's game. The NFL has fined Vick $10,000 and in addition has told the quarterback to donate $10,000 to a charity of his choice which will give the ACLU something to do. Braylon Edwards of the Cleveland Browns was close to tying Vick for the Badboy award for grabbing his quarterback's jersey on the sidelines and for just being the charming Braylon Edwards, that he is, but Vick has now replaced Michael Richards for #1 in apologies and this story refuses to go away. To see a clip of one of his apologies and for a still of his gesture, click on today's video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_g0T1TVLMQ ...

The Ugly is grotesquely so. Former 25-year old Norwich (VT) University star hockey player, Michael Serba lies in a coma after being "sucker-punched" as he withdrew money from an ATM. Nicholas Crowdis, 22, an unknown assailant was arrested on an attempted murder charge. Crowdis followed Serba out of a bar to the ATM where he struck Serba with what police believe was a brick. There is no motive for the attack...

If you're wondering what the tie-in to the past might be, well wonder no more. Read our 1976 timeline memory for the Badboy of his generation and what he did on this date...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1890] The 1st Army-Navy football game was played at West Point and won by the midshipmen of Navy 24-0...
2. [1929] Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd makes the 1st flight over the South Pole...
3. [1934] The Detroit Lions begin an annual NFL Thanksgiving Day tradition (of losing), dropping a 19-16 decision to da Bearssss (it was the 1st NFL game on national radio, on the NBC Radio Network with Brent Mus-oops, sorry- Graham McNamee doing the play-by-play...
4. [1975] Bill Gates names the company he and Paul Allen started as Microsoft (which was formed to write the BASIC computer language for the Altair)...
5. [1976] They don't call him "The Killer" for no reason. Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shoots his bass player twice in the chest while aiming at a soda bottle (the bass player lives and Lewis is charged with shooting a firearm within city limits) Now we know where Dick Chaney took lessons...
6. [1976] Free agent Reggie Jackson a.k.a. "the straw that stirs the drink", signs a 5-year deal with the Yankees (helping the Bombers win 3 AL pennants and 2 world series championships)...
7. [1980] The Georgia Bulldogs end the season unbeaten and untied following a 38-20 win over Georgia Tech as Herschel Walker breaks a freshman record with 1,616 rushing yards (#1 Georgia beats #2 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl and Walker will win the Heisman Trophy 2 years later)...
8. [1992] The Jets' Dennis Byrd is paralyzed after a neck injury in a game against Kansas City...

"Happy Trails": 1981] Natalie Wood drowns in a boating accident off Santa Catalina Island (CA) at the age of 43 and the question remains, were husband RJ and Christopher Walken doing enough to save Natalie who could not swim??? 1986] Legendary leading man, Cary Grant dies of a stroke at 82...2001] George Harrison loses his battle with cancer at 58...

#1 on this date: 1964] "Ringo" - Lorne Greene...1969] "Come Together/Something" - Beatles...1972] "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" - Temptations...

"Record of the Year": 1959] Bobby Darin wins a Grammy for "Record of the Year". "Album of the Year": "Come Dance With Me" - Frank Sinatra...

Debuted on this date: 1948] "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" debuts on NBC-TV...1953] American Airlines begins the 1st regular commercial NY-LA air service...

[To ensure accuracy in dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...

Commentary...

Happy Trails to Casey Coleman, born Kenneth Coleman Jr. who died from pancreatic cancer yesterday in Cleveland (OH) where he followed in his father's footsteps, doing play-by-play for the Cleveland Browns for nearly 30 years. His dad, of course, did the Red Sox play-by-play for many years before passing away in 2003. Casey, only 55 was known for his famous sign off: "I'm rounding third and heading home". Indeed...R.I.P. Casey...

Much better and happier news from a native of New England, Ed Walsh who was recently a news anchor on WCBS after many years as morning host at WOR. Ed is going back home to anchor the morning news at WBZ, replacing the legendary Gary LaPierre, who retired. Ed has a home in Maine and is a former product of WRKO. Congratulations my friend...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Mariano Rivera (37), Don Cheadle (42), Kim Delaney (45), Howard (Hojo) Johnson (46), Howie Mandel (51), Gary Shandling (57), Suzy "Chapstick" Chaffee (60), Felix Cavaliere (62), Denny Doherty (66), Chuck Mangione (66) and legendary play-by-play man and best in the business, Vin Scully (79)...

Timeline Countdown: 16 days until Chanukah, 26 days until Christmas, 32 days until 2007, 39 days until the NFL playoffs and 67 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami.

...

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Music City rocks...

There's lots of celebrating going on in Nashville. There's the Titans comeback victory over the Giants on Sunday when Eli Manning suffered another meltdown. Giant fans in New York are hoping that Eli will be going. That victory saved a disappointing season for Music City's home team but there's a bigger reason to celebrate - The Grand Ole Opry turns 81 today...

The longest running live music show debuted on WSM in Nashville on the night of November 28th, 1925 when host George Dewey Hay invited an 83-year old Civil War veteran to play fiddle for an hour and "The WSM Barn Dance" was born. In 1927 "The WSM Barn Dance" was renamed the "Grand Ole Opry". The "Opry" originated in a number of homes in various parts of Nashville before settling in 1943 in a former religious meeting house built in 1892 by riverboat shipping magnate Captain Thomas Ryman...

From 1943 to 1974 the Ryman Auditorium was home to the Opry before moving to new digs where it is currently housed at Opryland, 9 miles from Music City. It's only fitting that the show is back at the Ryman now and through February 24th. Little Jimmy Dickens who at 86 is 5 years older than the Opry will be featured tonight as part of a lineup that will celebrate the 81st anniversary of an American treasure...

This is a special day for Willie Nelson, who made his Opry debut on this date in 1964. This video link will give you Willie's perspective of entering the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1993, followed by a clip of the Grand Ole Opry in the 50's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZbIVo_2zk&search=Martina%20McBride%20Ove ...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1582] Young Will Shakespeare having already asked Anne Hathaway, "wouldst thou taketh thine hand in holy matrimony?" and gotten a "yea merrily" walks down the aisle with Anne, as Bard and Bardess tie the poetic knot...
2. [1922] Capt. Cyril Turner of the British Royal Air Force gives the 1st public exhibition of skywriting. He spelled out "Eli must go", not really. He spelled out: "Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 72000000000000oooooooooo....." over Times Square...
3. [1942] A devastating and deadly fire destroys the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, taking nearly 500 lives...
4. [1948] The 1st Polaroid camera is sold. It's on sale for $49.95 this morning on eBay...
5. [1963] President Lyndon Johnson renames Cape Canaveral, Cape Kennedy (the name will be changed back in 1973 by residents of the Cape)...
6. [1974] Elton John and John Lennon sing a duet of "I Saw Her Standing There" at John Lennon's last stage appearance (Madison Square Garden)...
7. [1981] Alabama's Bear Bryant passes Amos Alonzo Stagg as the winningest coach in college football history with his 315th win as Joe Namath and other ex-Crimson Tiders watch on the sideline (Bryant ends his career with 6 national titles, 15 bowl games and 323 victories when he retires in December of 1982. One month later he dies of a heart attack)...
8. [1986] NBC-TV's Ahmad Rashad proposes to Phylicia Allen on live TV during halftime of the Jets-Lions game (Allen accepts but Rashad was ready with a backup plan - Leslie Uggams)...
9. [2000] 9 million viewers watch a Madonna concert from London over the Internet...
10. [2001] Enron Corporation collapses after would-be rescuer Dynegy Inc. backs out of an $8.4 billion bail out...

"Happy Trails": 1994] 1960's war protester Jerry Rubin dies 2 weeks after being hit by a car. Rubin was 56...1999] Hsing-Hsing (didn't they name a prison after him?) a giant panda and the symbol of U.S.-China detente is euthanized at age 28 because of deteriorating health...

Released on this date: 1970] "My Sweet Lord" - George Harrison and "Your Song" - Elton John...

Gold Standard: 1963] "I Want To Hold Your Hand" - Beatles...

Memorabilia Fire Sale: 1979] Ringo Starr's house burns down in Los Angeles...

"Don't let the door hit you": 1974] Bowie Kuhn suspends George Steinbrenner for 2 years...1990] Margaret Thatcher resigns as Britain's prime minister...

Poetic Justice: 1994] 34-year old serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is murdered in a Wisconsin prison by a fellow inmate. He becomes the blue plate special the following day...

Debuted on this date: 1932] Groucho Marx debuts on the radio...

Cy Young: 1956] Brooklyn pitcher Don Newcombe, winner of 27 games is named the 1st Cy Young winner (mark this down as a great baseball trivia question)...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...

Commentary...

A few years back I finally got a chance to see the legendary Ryman Auditorium and I got chills. The interior reminded me of (Rabbi forgive me) a giant church or tabernacle. The seats were still made of wood and if you listened closely you could hear the ghosts of Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubbs, Grandpa Jones, Minnie Pearl and all the other Country greats who have played the famous Ryman. If you ever get the chance to visit Nashville, do yourself a favor and see this shrine to Country music...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Anna Nicole Smith (39), Jon Stewart (44), Judd Nelson (47), S. Epatha Merkerson (54), Paul Shaffer (57), Randy Newman (63), Gary Hart (70) and Berry Gordy Jr. (77)...

Timeline Countdown: 17 days until Chanukah, 27 days until Christmas, 33 days until 2007, 40 days until the NFL playoffs and 68 (WRKO) days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Monday, November 27, 2006

Leftover turkey...

Number one on the Internet search list is Michael Richards who also tops the charts for most e-mailed story. The story, by now, embedded in the human computer chip in your brain is his liberal use of the n-word, used to counter the hecklers he faced at an L.A. comedy club. Just yesterday, Seinfeld's "Kramer" appeared on the Jesse Jackson radio show to, what else ? Apologize. Richards is also #1 on the charts for apologizing...

Richards replaces O.J. Simpson at #1 on 2 of those 3 charts (top Internet story and most e-mailed story) but since he never apologized for the despicable "If I did it" book or Fox special, since cancelled, he didn't even chart on that list. Speaking of apologies, did Jesse Jackson ever apologize for calling New York City, "Hymie-town"? Just asking...

3 years ago today (November 27, 2003) George Bush played commander-in-chief and brought the Thanksgiving turkey to our troops on a clandestine trip to Iraq. No apologies necessary...

Timeline memories...

1. [1779] The first legally recognized university in America, the College of Pennsylvania, becomes the University of Pennsylvania...
2. [1889] Curtis P. Brady is issued the 1st permit to drive an automobile through Central Park...
3. [1910] New York City's Penn Station opens to the public (talks continue on moving the current Penn Station across the street to the 8th Avenue post office, the original site)...
4. [1978] San Francisco mayor, George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist, are shot to death inside City Hall by former supervisor, Dan White (not the longtime ex-Dallas QB)...
5. [1998] Answering 81 questions put to him in advance, President Bill Clinton states that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair was "not false and misleading" (that would of course depend on the definition of, "false" and "misleading")...

Released on this date: 1965] "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" - Lovin' Spoonful...1967] Capitol Records releases The Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" LP...1970] George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" LP...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Jaleel ("Urkel") White (30), Michael Vartan (38), Robin Givens (42) and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg (49)...

"Happy Trails":

Former veteran (Baltimore, San Diego, Atlanta, Cleveland and Yankee) pitcher Pat Dobson, who finished with 122 wins, died suddenly over the weekend at 64. Dobson, who was a special assistant to the Giants GM Brian Sabean was one of 4 Oriole pitchers to win 20 games in 1971. One day earlier he was diagnosed with leukemia. Cause of death is pending..

Former featherweight champ Willie Pep, whose simple philosophy was "hit the other guy as often as you can but don't let him hurt you" died over the weekend at 84 in a convalescent home near Hartford (CT). Pep (Guglielmo Papoleo) had been confined to an Alzheimer unit for several years...

R.I.P. Pat Dobson and Willie Pep...

Timeline Countdown: 18 days until Chanukah, 28 days until Christmas, 34 days until 2007, 41 days until the NFL playoffs and 69 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami.

...

Tuesday-Sunday, November 21-26, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving...

As you ponder your Thanksgiving Day meal with your family and friends, here's a brief history of why we stuff our faces each year on the 4th Thursday of November...

The very first Thanksgiving dates back to 1621 when the Pilgrims and their American Indian pals celebrated their second year of existence together in October with a traditional English feast that lasted 3 days. There was plenty of corn liquor to go around but no one is sure if turkey was on the table. There was venison, wild ducks and geese and lots of veggies to choose from though. By the way, the Pilgrims used the term "turkey" to mean any sort of wild fowl (you jive wild fowl you?)...

Thanksgiving became a tradition when George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789. In 1863 Abraham Lincoln made it the last Thursday of November but it wasn't until 1941 that Congress sanctioned the day as a legal holiday. The traditional sparing of the White House turkey's life started under the Truman administration in 1947. In keeping with the independent spirit and liberal nature of New Englanders, Native Americans have held a National Day of Mourning to protest Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock. That movement started in 1970...

Since Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and since I'm totally opposed to mourning a joyous occasion to gather together with family and friends and give thanks for what a wonderful world we're lucky enough to live in, my video link features the "WKRP Thanksgiving Turkey Drop": Gobble Gobble: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZByndN_ffyw Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

Tuesday, Nov. 21 Timeline Memories...

1. [1620] The Mayflower reaches Provincetown (MA) (after having a gay old time, the Pilgrims settle in Plymouth on December 26th)...
2. [1877] Thomas A. Edison announces the invention of the phonograph or as he calls it, his "talking machine"...
3. [1964] The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the world's longest suspension bridge opens to traffic at 3pm after a brief statement by Mayor Robert Wagner. The first passenger is 22-year old George Scarpelli, a Parks Department employee who pays the 50 cent toll on the span that links the boroughs of Richmond (Staten Island) and Brooklyn...

"Can you hear me now": 1973] Nixon attorney, J. Fred (not Muggs) Buzhardt announces an 18 1/2 minute gap in one of the White House tapes relating to Watergate...

Released on this date: 1968] "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" - Supremes and Temptations...1995] "The Beatles Anthology I" (which sets a first-day sales record of 450,000 units. It contains a new song, "Free As A Bird")...

Premiered on this date: 1995] "Toy Story" starring Tom Hanks...

"Guilty as charged": 2003] Phil Spector is charged with the murder of Lana Clarkson at his home the previous February. Spector pleads innocent (the latest on this case is that the trial is supposed to start in January, 2007 but I wouldn't bet on it)...\

Wedding Bells: 1982] Joni Mitchell marries her bass player Larry Klein (Joni paves paradise on the honeymoon. The marriage dissolves in 1994)...1983] New York Ranger Ron Greschner checks model Carol Alt into the boards of matrimony (Greschner goes to the penalty box in 1996)...1987] Demi Moore and Bruce Willis rock down the aisle (but they are divorced in 2000 and Demi robs the cradle with Ashton Kutcher whom she marries in 2005)...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Giants' defensive lineman Michael Strahan (35), Nicollette Sheridan (43), Lorna Luft (54), Livingston Taylor (56), Goldie Hawn (61), Earl Monroe (62), Tweety Bird (64), Dr. John (66), Marlo Thomas (69) and Stan Musial (86)...

Wednesday, November 22, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1906] The "S-O-S" distress signal is adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin...
2. [1917] The NHL is formed with 5 Canadian teams eh ?...
3. [1955] RCA pays $25,000 to Sam Phillips for the rights to the music of a truck driver from Tupelo (Miss) by the name of Elvis Presley. Colonel Tom Parker tosses in a $5,000 bonus which Elvis spends on a pink Cadillac for his mother ("such a good son")...
4. [1963] JFK is assassinated (a day that every American alive remembers what he was doing when the president was shot)...
5. [1986] Mike Tyson becomes the youngest world heavyweight champion by KOing Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas (Tyson is 20 years, 4 months old which is his biological age, not his mental age)...
6. [1998] "60 Minutes" airs videotape of Dr. Jack Kevorkian administering lethal drugs to a terminally ill patient who dies on camera...

"Happy Trails": 1980] Aging blond bombshell Mae West suffers a fatal stroke at 87...1997] INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence, 37, is found hanging in his hotel suite in Sydney, Australia...

#1 on this date: 1964] "Leader of the Pack" - Shangri-Las... 1971] "Theme from 'Shaft" - Isaac Hayes...1980] "Human" - Human League...

Released on this date: 1968] The Beatles White Album...

On "American Bandstand": 1957] Tom & Jerry a.k.a. Simon & Garfunkel...

MVP: 1961] Frank Robinson (the first player to win MVP awards in both leagues with Cincinnati and Baltimore)...

In the Hockey Hall of Fame: 1999] Wayne Gretzky ("The Great One" who retired with 61 NHL records)...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Scarlett Johansson (22), Boris Becker (39), Mariel Hemingway (45), Jamie Lee Curtis (48), Steve Van Zandt (56), Billie Jean King (63) and Robert Vaughn (74)...

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 23, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1887] Michigan beats Notre Dame 8-0 in the 1st meeting of their rivalry...
2. [1889] The first jukebox goes into service at the Palais Royal Saloon in San Francisco. Owned by developer Louis T. Glass, the jukebox contains an Edison tinfoil phonograph with 4 listening tubes. A nickel bought a few minutes of music. The jukebox took in $1,000 in 6 months...
3. [1958] Ronald and Nancy Reagan appear together in the GE production of "A Turkey for the President"...
4. [1968] Harvard scores 2 touchdowns in 42 seconds to make up a 16-point deficit and ties Yale in "The Game" 29-29. The Harvard Gazette headline: "HARVARD WINS 29-29" (the 123rd edition of "The Game" was won by Yale this year after Harvard had won 5 years in a row)...
5. [1976] Jerry Lee Lewis is arrested outside Graceland after waving a gun and demanding to see "The King", Elvis Presley (and that folks is why they call him "The Killer")...
6. [1980] A series of earthquakes devastate southern Italy killing some 4,800 (the land where my late father's family once lived was totally destroyed and the area around San Fele, Basilicata in Potenza has just lately started to rebuild)...

#1 on this date: 1960] "Are You Lonesome Tonight" - Elvis Presley...1974] "I Can Help" - Billy Swan...

Released on this date: 1964] "I Feel Fine"/"She's a Woman" - Beatles...

"Happy Trails": 1992] Legendary Country singer Roy Acuff dies of heart failure at 89...

"Sayonara Kenneth": 2004] Dan Rather announces that he will step down as anchorman of CBS News in March, 2005. Katie Couric is now the permanent replacement...

Debuted on this date: 1903] Enrico Caruso makes his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House, appearing in "Rigoletto"...1936] Life Magazine, created by Henry R. Luce is published...

"Hail Mary": 1984] Doug Flutie connects with roomie Gerard Phelan and Boston College beats Miami 47-45 in one of the greatest college games of all-time (Bernie Kosar was the Miami QB)...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

GMA's Robin Roberts (46), Bruce Hornsby (51), Chuck Schumer (56), Luis Tiant (66 maybe), Jack McKeon (76)...

Friday, November 24, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1859] British naturalist Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species" which explains his theory of evolution...
2. [1871] The National Rifle Association is incorporated and its first president is Charlt-oops, sorry. His name is Major General Ambrose E. Burnside...
3. [1953] New Brooklyn Dodger manager Walter Alston signs the 1st of 23-one year contracts...
4. [1963] Jack Ruby shoots and mortally wounds Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy (this happened live on television - still hard to believe)...
5. [1963] The NBA, NHL and AFL cancel their scheduled games, the NFL does not (Pete Rozelle considered this his worst decision as NFL commissioner)...
6. [1971] Hijacker D.B. Cooper parachutes from a Northwest flight over Washington State with $200,000 in ransom. His fate is still unknown although if you watch "Prison Break", he died attempting to break out of prison...

Recorded on this date: 1966] The Beatles begin recording "Sgt. Pepper"...

"Happy Trails": 1985] Big Joe Turner dies of a heart attack at 74...1991] Freddie Mercury of Queen dies of AIDS at 45...

Wedding Bells: 1998] AOL confirms that its buying Netscape for $10 billion...

"Guilty as charged": 1969: Lt. William Calley is charged with the massacre of over 100 civilians in My Lai, Vietnam in March, 1968...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

"Gray's Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl (28), Stanley (Chip) Livingston (56), Donald "Duck" Dunn (65), Pete Best (65), Paul Tagliabue (66) and William F. Buckley (81)...

Saturday, November 25, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1783] The British evacuate New York, their last military position in the U.S. during the Revolutionary War ("the British are going...the British are going")...
2. [1947] Movie studio executives meeting in New York agree to blacklist the "Hollywood 10" who were cited a day earlier and jailed for contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee...
3. [1980] Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Roberto Duran for the welterweight crown after Duran pleads "no mas, no mas" in the 8th round, ending the fight...
4. [1986] The Iran-Contra affair erupts as President Reagan and Attorney General Edwin Meese reveal that profits from secret arms sales to Iran had been diverted to Nicaraguan rebels...
5. [1999] 6-year old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez is rescued by a pair of sport fishermen off the coast of Florida (the saga of Elian begins)...
6. [2002] President Bush signs legislation creating the Department of Homeland Security and appoints Tom Ridge to be its head...

"Happy Trails": 1944] Baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Montain Landis dies of natural causes at 78...1974] Former U.N. Secretary-General U Thant dies from lung cancer at 65...1987] Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington dies of a heart attack at 65...

Laid to rest: 1963] The body of President John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery... Recorded on this date: 1986] 36 British and American stars (including Phil Collins, Boy George, Sting, U2, Duran Duran, George Michael & James Taylor) get together as Band-Aid to record "Do They Know It's Christmas" with proceeds going to Ethiopian famine relief, conceived by Bob Geldof)... Debuted on this date: 1940] Woody Woodpecker in "Knock Knock"...1949] "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" is played on the radio for the first time...1966] The Jimi Hendrix Experience make their London performance debut at the Bag O' Nails Club... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday": Barbara and Jenna Bush (25), Christina Applegate (35), Jill Hennessy (37), Amy Grant (46), John Larroquette (59), Ben Stein (62), Percy Sledge (66) and Ricardo Montalban (86)... Sunday, November 26, 2006... Timeline Memories... [1789] A day of Thanksgiving is set aside by President George Washington to observe the adoption of the U.S. Constitution... [1825] The first college social fraternity, Kappa Alpha, is formed at Union College in Schenectady (NY)... [1832] Public streetcar service begins in New York City... [1973] President Richard Nixon's personal secretary, Rose Mary Woods, tells a federal court that she'd accidentally caused part of the 18 1/2 minute gap in a key Watergate tape... [2000] Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certifies George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore in the state's presidential balloting by 537 votes... "Finito": 1968] Cream does its last concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London (the show is recorded and released as "Goodbye Cream" on February 20, 1969)... Premiered on this date: 1942] "Casablanca" starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman at the Hollywood Theater in Manhattan... "Guilty as charged": 1975] A federal grand jury in Sacramento (CA) finds Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, a follower of Charles Manson, guilty of trying to assassinate President Gerald Ford... MVP and "Rookie of the Year": 1975] Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn... Wedding Bells: 1982] Miles Davis and Cecily Tyson tie the knot (this will become a "love/hate" marriage for what seems like forever until Davis died)...1993] James Carville and Mary Matalin walk down the aisle with Republicans on the right and Democrats on the left... "Happy Birthday...happy birthday": John McVie (61), Rich Little (68), Tina Turner (68) and Robert Goulet (73)... Timeline Countdown: 19 days until Chanukah, 29 days until Christmas, 35 days until 2007, 42 days until the NFL playoffs and 70 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami... ...

Monday, November 20, 2006

Who's good enough to play Ohio State???

We're going to stay on the subject of college football because 1) It's the biggest story in sports and 2) It's a good lead-in to today's video link. By the way, our #2 reason is close enough to our #1 reason that it could almost be considered 1A, the lame excuse a manager gives to the former #1 pitcher who's been replaced by #2. In college football there's no dispute over the #1 team in the country - clearly Ohio State by virtue of their 42-39 win over #2 Michigan which is still #2 in the BCS Championship Series standings but USC is #2 in the coaches' poll and the Harris poll. The answer to who plays Ohio State in the championship game will be easily solved. Read on...

Should USC win their two remaining games against #5 Notre Dame and cross-city rival UCLA, USC will finish #2 and your championship game will feature OSU and USC. This sets up the second biggest game of the year this Saturday when arch-rivals USC and the Fighting Irish hook up. Should USC lose to either team, there will be a rematch between Ohio State and Michigan January 8th in Glendale, Arizona. Now wasn't that a lot easier than what the media is treating as the great mystery of the year???

Now, to one of the most bizarre endings of any football game. It happened on November 20th, 1982 when California defeated Stanford 25-20 with the Golden Bears returning a kickoff for the winning touchdown with 4 seconds remaining. The 55-yard return featured 5 laterals with Kevin Moen starting and ending the laterals by not only running into the end zone but by running over the Stanford band already on the field. Link to the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq5cpNRY16k...

An interesting footnote on the Ohio State 42-39 win over Michigan Saturday: if you played the numbers 4-2-3-9 in the Ohio lottery you would be picking up $2.19 million this morning. The game ended at 7:13 and the drawing was held at 7:29...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1620] Peregrine White is born aboard the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay. Peregrine is the 1st child born of English parents in present-day New England...
2. [1960] Frank Gifford gets knocked into Monday when the Eagles Chuck Bednarik hits the Giants running back from the blindside in a game that clinches the Eastern Conference title for the Eagles. Gifford is heard mumbling "hum-uh-nah-hum-uh-nah-hum-uh-nah" into retirement. As a reward Giff winds up with Kathie Lee...
3. [1977] Walter Payton runs for 275 yards in a 10-7 win over Minnesota, breaking the single-game rushing record held by O.J. Simpson (273 in 1976). In 2000, "Dancing With The Stars" champ Emmitt Smith breaks Payton's record...
4. [1982] 7-year old Drew Barrymore becomes the youngest host of "Saturday Night Live"...
5. [1983] An estimated 100 million viewers watch the controversial ABC-TV movie, "The Day After", depicting a nuclear holocaust...
6. [1984] McDonald's makes its 50th billion hamburger (on the same date, Tums and Rolaids announce selling their 50th billion tablets)...
7. [1994] David Crosby gets a liver transplant (Melissa Etheridge gets the old one)...
8. [1995] Princess Diana admits being unfaithful to Prince Charles on a BBC-TV show (the prince retaliates by ringing up Camilla)...
9. [1998] Afghanistan offers safe haven to Osama bin Laden (I just love hearing Christiane Amanpour pronounce "Afghanistan" and "Pakistan", don't you?)...
10. [1998] 46 states agree to a $206 billion settlement of health claims against the tobacco industry (let me guess, North and South Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky turned it down. Am I right people?)...

Commentary...

The Tommy Noonan Memorial Tribute is on for tonight (5-7) at Gallagher's Restaurant, 52nd Street between Broadway & 8th Avenue. The ceremony will be held upstairs. Friends of Tommy Noonan are welcome to attend...

"Happy Trails" to two giants in their particular field. On the eve of the big Ohio State-Michigan game, the legendary Wolverine coach, Bo Schembechler suffered a fatal heart stoppage while taping his TV show in the WXYZ-TV studios in Detroit's suburban town of Southfield. Schembechler had a history of heart problems and died at 77...

Ruth Brown's nickname of "Miss Rhythm" should have included the words "and Blues". The legendary r&b singer set the stage for so many female singers that followed her, including Etta James, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and so many others. Ruth Brown personified Rhythm & Blues, right down to her initials of R & B. Miss Brown died from complications of a stroke and heart attack at 78...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in every timeline]...

Airplay: 1995] A new Beatles recording, "Free As A Bird" begins airing on radio stations. The song debuted on ABC-TV the night before...

Released on this date: 1962] "Big Girls Don't Cry" - Four Seasons...

Debuted on this date: 1928] The Boston Bruins lose to Montreal 1-0 as the Boston Garden opens...1966] The musical "Cabaret" with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, opens on Broadway...

"Banned in Boston" (and everywhere else): 1969] The Nixon administration announces a halt to residential use of the pesticide DDT as part of a total phase-out...

Obit: 1975] General Francisco Franco dies of natural causes after nearly 4 decades of absolute rule in Spain. Franco was 82...

MVP...MVP...MVP: 1962] Mickey Mantle wins his 3rd MVP...

Wedding Bells: 1947] Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth marries Philip Montbatten, Duke of Edinburgh in Westminster Abbey (still married, the Duke in addition to being known as the current queen's husband is also officially known as her "consort" or as he put it "I felt like I'd been turned into an amoeba")...

"Book 'em Dano": 2003] Michael Jackson is booked on suspicion of child molestation in Santa Barbara (CA)...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Bo Derek (50), Joe Walsh (59), Judy Woodruff (60), Veronica Hamel (63), Norman Greenbaum (64), Dick Smothers (68), Richard Dawson (74), Estelle Parsons (79), Kaye Ballard (79), Evelyn Keyes (87) and Sen. Robert Byrd (89)...

Timeline Countdown: 3 days until Thanksgiving, 25 days until Chanukah, 35 days until Christmas, 41 days until 2007, 48 days until the NFL playoffs and 76 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Friday-Sunday, November 17-19, 2006

The game of the year...

Some are calling the game between #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan, the biggest game ever but how in the world do you measure something like that? Let's just call it what it is - the biggest college football game of the year. The winner is the #1 team in the country since it's the last game of the season for both and both teams are 11-0. The winner will get to stay #1 by winning the BCS National Championship Game in Phoenix on January 8th...

There have been games that would determine the #1 team this late in the season, around the same November 18th date in the past. In 1967, on the same November 18th date, #3 USC upset #1 UCLA 21-20 en route to winning their 1st national title since 1962. On November 19th, 1966, #1 Notre Dame and #2 Michigan State played to a 10-10 tie when Irish coach Ara Parseghian plays it safe, settling for a tie instead of a win (something he was roundly criticized for)...

Now, to the question of whether these two teams create the biggest rivalry in sports or is it the Yankees and Red Sox ? Let's trace the history of the two rivalries: The 1st game ever played between Boston (Americans) and New York (Highlanders) was in 1903 with Boston winning 6-2. The 1st game between Ohio State and Michigan was played in 1897 when the Wolverines posted a 34-0 shutout of the Buckeyes of Ohio State. The rivalries started even before then. The cities of Boston and New York have shared a rivalry since before the start of the American Revolution with Boston choosing independence and New York wanting to stay loyal to the crown. The rivalry between the states of Ohio and Michigan can be traced back to 1835 in the border dispute known as the Toledo War...

Take your pick. All I know is that at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon, we'll be watching the game of the year between #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan. For some comical background on the rivalry, click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSLSyHESRNA ...

November 17th Timeline Memories...

1. [1956] Jim Brown finishes his college career at Syracuse by running for 6 touchdowns and kicking 7 extra points in a 61-7 massacre of Colgate...
2. [1968] NBC-TV switches from an exciting Jets-Oakland game to "Heidi". Here's what we didn't see: The Raiders score 2 TD's in 9 seconds to hold on to a 43-32 win over the Jets. The final score is shown in a crawl over, what else ? "Heidi"...
3. [1973] President Richard Nixon tells an AP managing editors meeting in Orlando (FL) that "people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook" (in front of a news organization's meeting ? Nice timing Mr. President)...
4. [1997] From the Joe Gibbs (get elected to the Hall of Fame and then come back) school of thought, NHL great Mario Lemieux gets inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame and then returns to play (and eventually get into ownership)...
5. [2003] John Allen Muhammad is convicted of two counts of capital murder in the Washington (D.C.)-area sniper shootings (he is awaiting execution in Virginia)...

#1 on this date: 1965] "I Hear a Symphony" - Supremes...1975] "That's The Way (uh huh, uh huh) (I Like It)" - KC & the Sunshine Band...1984] "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" - (my boys) Wham...

Released on this date: 1980] "Double Fantasy" - John Lennon...

Debuted on this date: 1985] Howard Stern on K-Rock (WXRK)...

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered": 2003] Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governator of Cahl-ee-for-nee-uh...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in every timeline]...

Commentary...

After 23 years as host of "The Sports Machine", the syndicated sports highlight show based at WRC in Washington (D.C.), George Michael is stepping down in March. I was at George's going away party in Philadelphia when he left WFIL and gave him an aircheck of his first show at WABC New York. Good luck to you George, whatever you decide to do...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Daisy Fuentes (40), RuPaul (46), Howard Dean (58), Tom Seaver (62), Lorne Michaels (62), Danny DeVito (62), Lauren Hutton (63), Martin Scorsese (64), Bob Gaudio (64) and Gordon Lightfoot (68)...

...

Saturday, November 18, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1928] The 1st successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon premiers in New York City. It's Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" a.k.a Mickey Mouse...
2. [1978] People's Temple leader Jim Jones forces his followers to commit mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana by drinking a cyanide-laced fruit-flavored concoction. Only about a dozen escape. The final death toll: 913, including 276 children...
3. [1991] Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon free Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and educator Thomas Sutherland...

"Happy Trails": 1969] The Kennedy patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy dies in Hyannis Port (MA) at 81. He had suffered a massive stroke 8 years earlier...1994] Cab Calloway dies in a Delaware nursing home of a stroke at 86...

#1 on this date: 1963] "I'm Leaving It Up To You" - Dale and Grace...1973] "Photograph" - Ringo Starr...1987] "Mony, Mony" - Billy Idol (13 years after Tommy James version was #1)...

On "The Ed Sullivan Show": 1956] Fats Domino (sings "Blueberry Hill")...

On "Shindig": 1964] The Supremes and Righteous Brothers...

Wedding Bells: 1990] Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall tie the knot in Bali (they have 2 children after a marriage this is disolved in 1999 after allegations that Mick fathered a child by Brazilian model Luciana Morad)...

Premiered on this date: 1959] William Wyler's "Ben-Hur" at a Loew's Theater in Times Square...2005] "Walk The Line", the story of Johnny Cash opens...

Ch-Ching: 1987] CBS, Inc. agrees to sell its record division to Sony Corporation for about $2 billion (the pink slips are in the mail)...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

David Ortiz (Big Papi) (31), Owen Wilson (38), Gary Sheffield (38), Kevin Nealon (53), Linda Evans (64) and Brenda Vaccaro (67)...

...

Sunday, November 19, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1863] President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address as he dedicates a national cemetery at the Civil War battlefield in Pennsylvania...
2. [1954] Sammy Davis, Jr. losses an eye in a serious auto accident in San Bernardino (CA)...
3. [2004] In one of sports ugliest days, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers charge into the stands and fight with fans during an NBA game in Detroit. Officials end the Pacers' 97-82 win with 45.9 seconds left (fines and suspensions follow. Just yesterday, John Green, the fan who tossed his drink at Ron Artest, has been banned for life from Detroit home games. It took them 2 years to do this?)...

"Sayonara": 1959] The Ford Motor Company halts production of the unpopular Edsel (the car not the Ford offspring)...

Hanging up his spikes: 1966] Future Hall of Famer, Sandy Koufax announces his retirement from baseball, one month away from his 32nd birthday...

MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP: 2001] Barry Bonds wins his 4th (4 down, 3 to go)...

"Fly Me To The Moon": 1969] Apollo XII astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean make man's second landing on the moon...

Ch-Ching: 1954] Two automatic toll machines are installed on the Garden State Parkway (NJ)...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Jodie Foster (44), Meg Ryan (45), Ann Curry (50), Calvin Klein (64), Garrick Utley (67), Ted Turner (68), Dick Cavett (70), Larry King (73) and Alan Young (87)...

Timeline Countdown: 4 days until Thanksgiving, 26 days until Chanukah, 36 days until Christmas, 42 days until 2007, 49 days until the NFL playoffs and 77 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Thursday, November 16, 2006

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

The Good...

Not only is Emmitt Smith a lock for the Pro Football Hall Of Fame as soon as he's eligible but the man can dance too. He proved that last night when the viewers voted him the winner of "Dancing With The Stars", the #2 rated show on television. Stand by for a video link showing Emmitt and dancing partner Cheryl Burke doing "Can't Touch This", the free-form dance they performed in the finals...

The Bad...

Houston Texan offensive lineman Fred Weary, 29, was shot with a Taser before being arrested after a traffic stop Tuesday night after pushing an officer and refusing to put his hands on his car. Weary was taken to Houston's Central Jail overnight...

The Ugly...

O. J. Simpson. All that needs to be said is his new book and upcoming interviews on Fox television are titled "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened"...


The link to the Emmitt Smith video clip is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g70_YNC_kSY

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1915] Coca-Cola has its prototype for a contoured bottle patented. The bottle makes its commercial debut the following year...
2. [1952] In Peanuts, Lucy holds the football for Charlie Brown to fan on for the 1st time...
3. [1957] Jim Brown (Cleveland Browns) sets an NFL season rushing record of 1,163 yards gained after only 8 games...
4. [1957] Dick Lynch scampers around right end for a touchdown, ending Oklahoma's streak of 47 consecutive wins as Notre Dame beats the #1 ranked Sooners 7-0 in Norman (OK)...
5. [1959] William "Billy" Sullivan Jr. and a group of Boston businessmen is awarded the 8th and final franchise in the new American Football League. The Boston Patriots are born...
6. [1966] Dr. Sam Sheppard is acquitted in his second trial on charges of murdering his pregnant wife (Marilyn) in 1954 (this story was the basis for the TV series, "The Fugitive")...
7. [1982] An agreement is reached in the 57th day of a strike by NFL players. The 16-game season is shortened to 9 games with 8 teams seeded from 1 to 8 at the end of the season (the Washington Redskins will beat the Miami Dolphins in SBXVII)...
8. [1995] Attorney General Janet Reno discloses that she has Parkinson's disease (she will step down in January, 2001)...
9. [1999] Chrica Adams, pregnant girlfriend of NFLer Rae Carruth, is shot 4 times while sitting in her car. She will die a month later. The baby survives. Carruth is sentenced to a minimum of 18+ years for his role in the murder...
10. [2004] President George W. Bush picks National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice as his new secretary of state (succeeding Colin Powell)...

"Happy Trails": 1960] Clark Gable dies of a heart attack at 59...1961] House Speaker Sam Rayburn dies in Texas of cancer at 79...

#1 on this date: 1960] "Stay" - Maurice Williams and Zodiacs (the shortest #1 hit in the Rock and Roll era at 1:37)...1970] "I Think I Love You" - David Cassidy (& The Patridge Family) The song goes to #1 exactly 2 months and 4 days after the TV show debuts...1974] "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" - John Lennon (with backup vocals and piano by Elton John)...1980] "Lady" - Kenny Rogers (Am I the only one who thinks of Jerry Lewis when I see this title?)...

Released on this date: 1974] "Boogie On Reggae Woman" - Stevie Wonder...1979] "Wonderful Christmas" - Paul McCartney (Lynn Phillips Brough used to play this song in August, she liked it so much)...

Debuted on this date: 1959] The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music" (on Broadway)...

Wedding Bells: 1981] Luke marries Laura on "General Hospital" for a TV audience of 16 million viewers (this couple recently reunited for their roles on the soap)...1987] Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet rock down the aisle (they separate in 1990 and divorce in 1993...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

Commentary...

With so many football stories in the timeline, this is a good time to congratulate the New England Patriots for having the wisdom to finally cover that quagmire of a field at Gillette Stadium. As we speak FieldTurf is being laid on the field and it will be ready to play on by the next home game on November 26th. You can't hope to entertain maintaining a natural grass field with the amount of activity (soccer, live shows and football) conducted on that field. At one time the Patriots took advantage of the field in bad weather and got the edge on visiting teams but the field is so bad it's bad for the home team as well. Enough already. Good move...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Oksana Baiul (29), Lisa Bonet (39), Diana Krall (42), Dwight Gooden (42), Marg(e) Helgenberger (48) and Clu Gulager (78)...

Timeline Countdown: 7 days until Thanksgiving, 29 days until Chanukah, 39 days until Christmas, 45 days until 2007, 52 days until the NFL playoffs and 80 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...
...

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Here come de judge...here come de judge...

Judge Judy (Sheindlin) may rule the roost of the robed on TV now but there's no Judge Judy if not for the real judge who turns a youthful 87 today: Judge Joseph Albert Wapner. Following his service as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for 18 years, the calm but just, white-haired jurist became the first and most famous judge on the long-running "The People's Court" show. He has led a long and fruitful life as you'll soon see on the video link we've set up, but first while we're paying tribute to the most popular TV judge in the history of the medium, it's time for another tribute to the longevity of a man from a higher calling...

President Gerald Ford on Sunday became the longest-living U.S. President at the age of 93 years and 121 days, one more day than the late Ronald Reagan. Ford will celebrate by rooting his brains out for the Michigan Wolverines, the nation's #2 team as they take on #1 Ohio State on Saturday. He'll really celebrate if the Wolverines upset the Buckeyes. Congratulations on your historic achievement President Ford...

Judge Wapner was so well liked even "The Rainman" watched his show. The video feature that we've linked offers many surprises about the now retired judge including his earlier dating of a legendary Hollywood Glamour Girl. Enjoy: http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=1&pmmsid=1690319

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1926] The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) debuts with a radio network of 24 stations. The 1st network broadcast is a 4-hour special from the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria featuring big band music...
2. [1939] FDR lays the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington (DC)...
3. [1940] The Midtown Tunnel linking Manhattan and Queens opens to traffic...
4. [1956] Elvis Presley's movie career is launched when "Love Me Tender" premieres at the New York Paramount Theater. The film will earn back its $1 million cost in just 3 days and over the next 13 years Elvis will appear in 33 movies...
5. [1967] The Red Sox' Carl Yastrzemski wins the AL MVP in what my eyes was the best individual season performance I've ever had the pleasure to witness (Yaz won the Triple Crown that year. The last player to do so)...
6. [1969] A quarter million protesters stage a peaceful demonstration against the Vietnam War in Washington (D.C.)...
7. [1988] The legislative body of the PLO proclaims the establishment of an independent state...
8. [1992] Richard Petty's 35-year reign as stock-car king ends in a fiery crash when his famous #43 gets caught in a pileup in a race (unhurt, he will finish the race retiring with 7 Nascar championships and 7 Daytona victories. Both are records)...
9. [2001] Roger Clemens (then with the Yankees) wins a record 6th Cy Young Award (he's got one more up his sleeve)...
10. [2005] In Amiens, France, Isabelle Dinoire becomes the 1st person to undergo a partial face transplant. A mauling by an attacking dog earlier in the year led her to this...

"Sayonara": 1996] Alger Hiss, 92, a former State Department official who fell from grace in a Communist spy scandal, dies...

Lip Synch: 1990] A Milli Vanilli publicist admits that Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus never sang a note on their album and they lip-synched when they performed live (only allowed on American Bandstand, they were quickly banished from the music business which recovered by finding Vanilla Ice)...

On Hullabaloo: 1965] The Rolling Stones sing "Get Off My Cloud"...

Debuted on this date: 1969] Wendy's opens it's 1st restaurant in Columbus (OH). They now have 10,000 restaurants...1969] "I Want You Back" - Jackson Five...1990] David Bowie makes his Broadway debut in "The Elephant Man"...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Frida (Lyngstad) of ABBA (61), Sam Waterston (66), Joanna Barnes (72), Petula Clark (74), Edward Asner (77) and Judge Joseph Wapner (87)...

Timeline Countdown: 9 days until Thanksgiving, 30 days until Chanukah, 40 days until Christmas, 46 days until 2007, 53 days until the NFL playoffs and 81 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Two great coaches - like (K)night and day...

Coaches, like people are all different. The only thing that connects them is winning. One coach may be truly "hands on" while the other coach might be more introspective, cerebral and precise but get the most out of every player by respecting his or her ability to perform and be successful. Enter Bobby Knight and Don Shula. I mean do I really have to tell you which is which ? Despite the differences in personalities both coaches do what Oakland's Alvin Davis considers his mantra - "just win baby"...

Just last night, Bobby Knight gave a light tap on the chin to one of his players during Texas Tech's win over Gardner-Webb (weren't they former owners of the Yankees ?). This hasn't become a major story (yet) so apparently it was a minor event in the life of Knight. That win gives Knight 871 career wins as a coach, placing him 6 wins away from the legendary Adolph Rupp and 9 wins from topping Dean Smith (879) as the winningest Division I college basketball coach in history. Should Texas Tech win the next 9 games in a row, Knight will celebrate a very special New Year's Eve. If not, he'll be celebrating in January...

Don Shula is already in the record books thanks to what happened on this date in 1993 when his Miami Dolphins beat the Philadelphia Eagles 19-14 to give the coach his 325th victory, to move him past Papa Bear, George Halas as the winningest coach in NFL history. Shula would end his career with 347 wins, 173 losses and 6 ties. Both records are not likely to be topped - ever...

To see Bobby Knight's Top Ten Video Moments: http://www.devilducky.com/media/37587/

Correction: Yesterday's blog mentioned 1977 as the debut year for Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" appearing in newspapers. That was the last appearance, not the first...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1832] The 1st streetcar goes into service in New York. It was horse-drawn with room for 30 and the ride cost a whopping 12 cents (it ran on Manhattan's 4th Avenue between Prince and 14th Streets - 4th Avenue no longer exists)...
2. [1889] New York World reporter Nellie Bly a.k.a. Elizabeth Cochrane begins an attempt to surpass the fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phineas Fogg by traveling around the world in less than 80 days. Bly does it in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes in January, changing the song to "Around the world in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes"...
3. [1943] 25-year old Leonard Bernstein makes his debut with the New York Philharmonic, filling in for the ailing Bruno Walter prior to a nationally broadcast concert...
4. [1981] "Roo-mania" invades the U.S. charts with 4 of the top 10 singles done by Australian artists. Olivia Newton-John is #3 with "Physical" and Little River Band, Air Supply and Rick Springfield sharing the rest of the top 10...
5. [1986] The Doubleday Publishing Company agrees to sell the Mets to Nelson Doubleday & Fred Wilpon for $80.75 million (the company had purchased the World Champions for a then-record $21.1 million in 1980). Just yesterday the Mets broke ground on their new stadium which will be named "Citi Field" (with Citibank paying the Mets $20 million a year for 20 years for naming rights). Citi Field will open in 2009...
6. [1986] A record $100 million penalty is imposed on Ivan F. Boesky for insider trading (lets see if I put aside a million a year, it'll be paid off in 100 years)...
7. [1987] Sonny and Cher reunite on the David Letterman Show to sing "I Got You Babe"...
8. [1990] The Who's Pete Townshend tells us a bit more than we need to know as he confesses his bisexuality to "Newsweek"...
9. [1997] Disney's "Lion King" sets a Broadway record of $2.7 million in one-day sales...
10. [1999] The United Nations impose sanctions on Afghanistan for refusing to hand over terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden (we'll show those Afghans. We'll just stop buying their rugs and see how they like that! Puhlese)...

#1 on this date: 1961] "Georgia on my Mind" - Ray Charles...1972] "I Can See Clearly Now" - Johnny Nash...1982] "Up Where We Belong" - Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes (the song wins an Academy Award for "An Officer and a Gentleman")...

Released on this date: 1970] "Black Magic Woman" - Santana...

Premiered on this date: 1961] "Blue Hawaii" (the movie starring Elvis Presley)...

Wedding Bells: 1972] Britain's Princess Anne marries commoner, Capt. Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey (they'll divorce in 1992 and the Princess re-marries)...1996] Michael Jackson and mother-for-hire Deborah Rowe make their business arrangement official by making a mockery of marriage...1998] Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman unite for a marriage made in....well, Las Vegas (was it Carmen or Dennis in the bridal gown?) The ink on the marriage certificate is still wet when the marriage ends in 9 days...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Curt Schilling (40), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (52), Yanni (52), Stephen Bishop (55), Britain's Prince Charles (58) and Buckwheat Zydeco a.k.a. Stanley Dural Jr (59)...

Timeline Countdown: 10 days until Thanksgiving, 31 until Chanukah, 41 days until Christmas, 47 days until 2007, 54 days until the NFL playoffs and 82 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Monday, November 13, 2006

This comeback should just go away...

44-year old Evander Holyfield won a meaningless fight over the weekend against a fighter by the name of Fres Oquendo in 12 rounds - part of Holyfield's master plan of retiring as the heavyweight champion of the world next year. Now this is providing he gets a shot at the title successfully defended by Sergei Wladimir Klitschko over the weekend. This is a noble attempt at becoming the 1st heavyweight to hold the title 5 times but it must be abandoned before Holyfield winds up in worse shape than Muhammad Ali...

Last week the New York Post said "this time the 44-year old with clear signs of neurological damage will fight a more legit opponent, 33-year old Oquendo." The article went on to add: "FSN (the network that carried the fight) should have no trouble presenting tape of Holyfield being interviewed, say, 12-15 years ago, and being interviewed today - as a kind of judge-for-yourself comparison test."

When Holyfield was a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars" he suffered no damage other than embarrassingly showing off his two left feet. If he keeps fighting he'll go hum-anah-hum-anah-hum-anah when he brushes whatever teeth he has left. He might come out looking and sounding like this interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWPr6wEWHYg

On this date 7 years ago (Nov. 13, 1999) Lenox Lewis became the 1st British heavyweight champion of the world by winning a unanimous decision over none other than...Evander Holyfield...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1789] Benjamin Franklin writes in a letter to a friend: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes"...
2. [1805] Johann George Lehner, a Viennese butcher, invents a recipe and calls it the "frankfurter" (Lehner is immediately labeled a "hotdog" for showing off his new invention)...
3. [1927] After 7 years of construction, work is completed on the Holland Tunnel, connecting New York and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River. The first driver attempting to use the tunnel is turned around for not having Easy Pass...
4. [1942] The minimum draft age is lowered from 21 to 18...
5. [1956] Thanks to Rosa Parks, the Supreme Court strikes down laws calling for segregation on public buses...
6. [1979] Former California Governor Ronald Reagan announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination while in New York...
7. [1979] 76er Darryl Dawkins a.k.a. "Chocolate Thunder" shatters a fiberglas backboard doing a monster dunk in Kansas City and starts a new fad that provides ESPN an endless string of video highlights forever...
8. [1993] Top-ranked Florida State and #2 ranked Notre Dame (both 9-0) stage a showdown in South Bend (IN) with the Fighting Irish prevailing 31-24. The Irish go to #1 but lose the following weekend to Boston College and Florida State will win the national championship with a victory over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl...
9. [1995] Braves future Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux becomes the 1st major league pitcher to win 4 consecutive Cy Young awards (Roger Clemens has 7 but never won 4 in a row)...
10. [1998] President Bill Clinton agrees to pay Paula Jones $850,000 ending the 4-year legal battle over her sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Clinton does not admit guilt or apologize...

"Happy Trails": 1974] Karen Silkwood, 28, a technician and union activist from Oklahoma who inspired a movie of her life, is killed in a suspicious car crash...

Released on this date: 1961] "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - Tokens...1965] "Fever" - McCoys...1971] "Old Fashioned love Song" - Three Dog Night...2000] "One Night Only" LP - Elton John (recorded at Madison Square Garden 3 weeks earlier)...

Premiered on this date: 1968] "Yellow Submarine" (the movie) - Beatles...1997] "The Lion King" musical opened at the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway...

Debuted on this date: 1977] The comic strip "Li'l Abner" appeared in newspapers for the 1st time (I had the pleasure of meeting Al Capp, a mysteriously brilliant guy who supplied the first WRKO morning show with comedy material)...

Wedding Bells: 1960] Sammy Davis Jr. marries Swedish actress May Britt (the marriage lasts 8 years, Babe)...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

Commentary...

My thanks to Dick Summer for his mention in his latest blog (which we have linked). If there's a better story teller, I can't imagine who it might be. Nice job Richard...

Norm N. Nite sends along his choice for a "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" choice. Seattle Seahawks running back Marquis Weeks with a picture of his 100-yard kickoff return for a TD (in his senior year at Virginia U.). The caption contains the Weeks quote: "That was just instinct, kind of like running from the cops". Weeks thus becomes the 1st "Bad" emeritus...

And thanks to Harry Weinstein for the funny yet disgustingly revealing picture of a nursing home conga line which will never be shown here. It did make me laugh Harry...and some "Happy Trails" to announce, starting with 87-year old tough-guy actor Jack Palance who made us all laugh at the 1992 Academy Awards with his one-hand pushups. To Buddy Killen (I'm late with this one) who was a partner of Jack Stapp (my GM at WKDA Nashville) who founded Tree International. Buddy was 73 and had pancreatic cancer. This was a nice man. R&B singer Gerald Levert left us at 40 (I knew his Dad Eddie of the O'Jays when Philadelphia International was distributed by Epic)...and finally former All-Star shortstop Buddy Kerr who was 84 and was a star with the Braves, starting in Boston and in recent years worked for the Mets...Enough already, let's celebrate birthdays...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Jimmy Kimmel (39), Chris Noth (50), Whoopi Goldberg (57), Joe Mantegna (59) and Garry Marshall (72)...

Timeline Countdown: 11 days until Thanksgiving, 32 days until Chanukah, 42 days until Christmas, 48 days until 2007, 55 days until the NFL playoffs and 83 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Friday-Sunday, November 10-12, 2006

Remember the Vet...

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. It was originally known as 'Armistice Day' when WWI ended in 1918. To mark the occasion we have Ten Timeline Memories of events that happened on November 11th through the years. But what better way to remember those that fought and are still fighting to ensure our freedom than calling on Ray Charles for the singing of "America" - on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD-IgFhmVdI&mode=related&search=

Ten Timeline Memories of November 10th:

1. [1775] The U.S. Marines are organized under authority of the Continental Congress...
2. [1871] Journalist-explorer Henry M. Stanley finds missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone in central Africa and delivers his famous greeting: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" to which Livingstone replies: "And you arrrrrre?"...
3. [1951] Direct-dial, coast-to-coast telephone service begins as Mayor M. Leslie Denning of Englewood (NJ) calls his counterpart in Alameda (CA) and says "can you hear me now?", "can you hear me now?"...
4. [1954] The Iwo Jima Memorial is dedicated in Arlington (VA)...
5. [1975] The ore-hauling ship Edmund Fitzgerald sinks during a storm in Lake Superior with all 29 crew members on board (leading to the hit by Gordon Lightfoot, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" or as one CBS-FM caller asked: "Can you play the 'Wreck of Ella Fitzgerald?")...
6. [1980] CBS-TV network anchor Dan Rather claims he was kidnapped in a cab but it turns out that Rather refused to pay the driver for the ride (leading to the R.E.M hit: "What's the cab fare Kenneth?")...
7. [1982] The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is opened in Washington (D.C.)...
8. [1984] Backup Maryland QB Frank Reich stages one of the greatest comebacks in college football history, throwing 6 TD passes in the 2nd half and overcoming a 31-0 deficit as the Terps beat Miami 42-40...
9. [1993] John Wayne Bobbitt is acquitted on the charge of marital sexual assault against his wife Lorena Bobbitt (a.k.a. "The blade") (who is later acquitted of malicious wounding of her husband. Apparently cutting off one's genitals is not malicious enough in Virginia)...
10. [2003] Country and rock stars gather for a tribute to Johnny Cash, who passed away in September '03, by singing his songs at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville...

"Happy Trails": 1982] Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev of a heart attack at 75...1994] Jazz singer Carmen McRae of a stroke at 72...2001] Author ("One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest") Kesey. At 66 his heart stopped...

#1 on this date: 1965] "Get Off My Cloud" - Rolling Stones... 1974] "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" - Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO)...

Gold Standard: 1969] "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - Gene Autry (it was released in 1949)...

Released on this date: 1967] "Nights in White Satin" - Moody Blues...1973] "Rock On" - David Essex...1986] "Live 1975-1985" box set - Bruce Springsteen...

Debuted on this date: 1969] "Sesame Street" on PBS...

Wedding Bells: 1997] WorldCom Inc. and MCI Communications Corp. walk down the $37 million aisle, link by link and chip by chip...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

Commentary...

I was as shocked as all of you were when hearing the news that Ed Bradley died unexpectedly at 65. Steve Kroft, one of Ed's "60 Minutes" colleagues said that "we all knew about the leukemia but Ed thought it was under control. It must have broken out again in a vengeance". When I saw Ed Bradley do a lead-in to a story I always looked forward to it because he did such a great job with his interviews. He was "Mr. Cool" and a total pro. Ed Bradley R.I.P. You will be missed. Now "60 Minutes" has got to put together a special featuring the highlights of all of his stories...

Thanks to Paul Power for mentioning that Paul Mauriat had passed away. Famous for his 1968 #1 hit, "Love is Blue" Mauriat died yesterday in his native France. Mauriat was 81. No cause of death has been released by his family...

On the brighter side:

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Brittany Murphy (29), Shawn Green (34), Mackenzie Phillips (47), Sinbad (50), Ann Reinking (57), Greg Lake (59), Dave Loggins (59), Roy Scheider (71) and Russell Johnson (The Professor on 'Gilligan's Island') (82)...

...

Saturday (Veteran's Day) November 11, 2006...

Ten Timeline Memories of Veteran's Day...

1. [1885] George Patton is born on this date...
2. [1918] World War I ends when the Allies and Germany sign an armistice (thus "Armistice Day")...
3. [1921] The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated at Arlington Cemetary by U.S. President Warren Harding...
4. [1938] Kate Smith sings Irving Berlin's "God Bless America" for the 1st time on network radio...
5. [1940] The Jeep makes its debut...
6. [1942] During WWII, Germany completes its occupation of France...
7. [1972] The U.S. Army turns over its base at Long Bihn to the South Vietnamese army which symbolizes the end of our direct involvement...
8. [1984] President Ronald Reagan accepts the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a gift to the nation from the Vietnam Memorial Fund...
9. [1993] A bronze statue is dedicated in Washington (D.C.) to honor more than 11,000 American women who served in the Vietnam War...
10. [1996] The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund unveils "The Wall that Heals", a half-scale replica of the memorial that will tour communities throughout the U.S...

"Happy Trails": 1972] Berry Oakley (Allman Brothers) is killed in a motorcycle accident one year and 13 days after Duane Allman met the same fate - 3 blocks away (Oakley was 24)...

"Sayonara": 2004] Yasser Arafat who dies from unknown causes at 75...

Recorded on this date: 1958] "The Twist" - Hank Ballard & Midnighters...

Released on this date: 1967] "In and Out of Love" - Supremes...

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered": 1963] Brian Epstein and Ed Sullivan sign a 3-show contract for Beatle appearances...

MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP...MVP: 2002] Barry Bonds for an unprecedented 5th time...

Wedding Bells: 1986] Sperry Rand and Burroughs walk down the aisle with their baby "Unisys" becoming the 2nd largest computer company...

Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...

Carlista Flockhart (42), Demi Moore (44), Stanley Tucci (46), Warner Wolf (69), Jonathan Winters (81) and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (84)...

...

Sunday, November 12, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1920] Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis is elected baseball's 1st commissioner...
2. [1933] The first known photo of the "Loch Ness Monster" is taken (by the "Invisible Man")...
3. [1948] Former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other WWII Japanese leaders are sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal...
4. [1997] Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center (Yousef is serving a sentence of life without parole)...
5. [2001] American Airlines flight 587 crashes in Belle Harbor, Queens shortly after taking off (in perfect weather by the way) from JFK, taking more than 260 lives...

"Happy Trails": 1993] H.R. Haldeman, former Nixon White House chief of staff dies of undisclosed causes at 67...

"Convicted": 1996] Jonathan Schmitz 26, is convicted of second-degree murder for shooting Scott Amedure, a gay man who'd revealed a crush on Schmitz during a taping of "The Jenny Jones Show" (Schmitz is serving a 20-25 year prison term)...2004] Scott Peterson was sentenced to death for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay (Peterson is on death row)...

"Last call": 1970] The Doors make their last appearance with Jim Morrison in New Orleans...

#1 on this date: 1958] "Tom Dooley" - Kingston Trio... 1985] "We Built This City" - Jefferson Starship (this song was written as a tribute to the city of San Francisco)...

Released on this date: 1940] Walt Disney's "Fantasia"...1966] "Mellow Yellow" - Donovan...1984] "Like a Virgin" LP - Madonna...

Wedding Bells: 1998] Daimler-Benz, Chrysler and baby Daimler-Chrysler make 3...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Tonya Harding (36), Sammy Sosa (38???), Nadia Comaneci (45), Neil Young (61???), Al Michaels (61), Booker T. Jones (62), Bryan Hyland (63) and Ruby Nash Curtis (Ruby & Romantics)(67)...

Timeline Countdown: 49 days until 2007, 56 days until the NFL playoffs and 84 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

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Thursday, November 9, 2006

Larry Legend and Dr. J today and then a look back...

After a Hall of Fame career as a franchise player and one of the greatest to ever play the game, Larry Bird became a front office executive with the Boston Celtics, he left Boston to become coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1998 to 2000. In 2003 he assumed the role of president of basketball operations, a position he still holds at the age of 50...

Julius "Doctor J" Erving became a businessman and owner of a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Philadelphia when his Hall of Fame playing days were over. He also dabbled on TV as an analyst, joined the front office of the Orlando Magic in 1997 and as recently as 3 weeks ago had put together a group interested in buying the 76ers from Comcast-Spectacor (Philadelphia Daily News Oct. 20 Sports). The good doctor is now 56...

Both players were in their prime on the night of November 9th, 1984 when 'Friday night at the fights' broke out between the two superstars at the old Boston Garden. As great as he was, Bird talked trash better than most NBA players and kinda mentioned to Erving a time or two that he was stuffing Dr. J's stethoscope all game long (He would wind up outscoring Erving 42-6). A shoving match between the two developed into left hooks and right crosses and a bench-clearing brawl or as one spectator would put it: "I went to a basketball game and a hockey game broke out". The Celtics wound up winning that game 130-119..

Both Bird and Erving were given the night off at the 1:38 mark of the third quarter and there are clips of that game contained in the video "Larry Bird the best ever" which you can click on at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULvo7__wwBU&mode=related&search=

More on Larry Legend in my commentary...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1938] Nazi troops and sympathizers destroyed and looted 7,500 Jewish businesses, burned 267 synagogues, killed 91 Jews and rounded up over 25,000 in an event known as Kristallnacht or "Night of Broken Glass"...
2. [1953] The Supreme Court upheld a 1922 ruling that major league baseball did not come within the scope of federal antitrust laws...
3. [1961] Brian Epstein sees the Beatles play at the Cavern Club in Liverpool and thinks: "hmmm"...
4. [1965] The great Northeast blackout turns the lights out in 9 states and 2 provinces of Canada, affecting 25 million people for more than 13 hours...
5. [1982] Sugar Ray Leonard retires from boxing. He fights one more time in 1984 before becoming a boxing commentator for NBC...
6. [1989] Happy Germans dance on top of the Berlin Wall as Communist East Germany throws open its borders, allowing citizens to travel freely to the West...
7. [1996] It's the beginning of the end for Mike Tyson as underdog Evander Holyfield batters Tyson to win the heavyweight championship but Holyfield would hear more (make that less) from Tyson in the future...
8. [1997] The Lions' Barry Sanders becomes the 1st player in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in 9 straight seasons. In the same game Sanders passes former Cowboy Tony Dorsett for 3rd place on the all-time rushing list...
9. [1998] A federal judge in New York approves the richest antitrust settlement in U.S. history when a leading brokerage firm is ordered to pay $1.03 billion to investors who had sued over price-rigging of NASDAQ stocks...
10. [2004] Houston pitcher Roger Clemens wins his record 7th Cy Young award...

"Happy Trails": 1953] Dylan Thomas, a heavy drinker, dies from pneumonia at 39...1970] Former french president Charles De Gaulle dies from an aneurysm at 79...1988] Former Attorney General and major Watergate figure John N. Mitchell dies of a heart attack at 75...2003] Veteran actor Art Carney dies of natural causes at 85...

#1 on this date: 1966] "Poor Side of Town" - Johnny Rivers...1978] "MacArthur Park" - Donna Summer...1985] "The Theme from Miami Vice" - Jan Hammer...

Released on this date: 1962] "You've Really Got A Hold On Me" - Miracles...1963] "Louie, Louie" - Kingsmen...1973] "Piano Man" LP - Billy Joel...

"On the cover of the 1st Rolling Stone": 1967] John Lennon...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

Commentary...

Larry Bird had been out with that bad back of his for 3 weeks but I heard he would play that night while I was visiting San Francisco in the 80's. I took the BART to Oakland, got a ticket at the game at settled in to watch it but what I really saw was a clinic. Bird who would play most of the game - bad back and all, was taking shots from Santa Clara and getting nothing but net all night long. K.C. Jones was the coach then and when he would give Bird a breather, he would lay down prone out of bounds, stretching his back and then come in and just pop the 3's with his jump shot with laser precision. When he came out of the game he had 40 points and the Celtics won...

Plans have now been finalized for a New York Memorial Service for Tommy Noonan. It will be held upstairs at Gallagher's, between Broadway & 8th Avenue on Monday, November 20th. Time: 5-7pm. A special announcement will be made at the service for a T.J. Martell Foundation fund to be set up in Tommy's memory. If you knew and loved Tommy as much as we all did, you're more than welcome to attend...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Nick Lachey (33), Lou Ferrigno (55), Mary Travers (70), Bob Gibson (71), Whitey Herzog (75) and sportscaster Charlie Jones (76)...

Timeline Countdown: 52 days left until 2007, 59 days left until the NFL playoffs and 87 days left until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

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Wednesday, November 8, 2006

A good football story for a change...

Following the murder of University of Miami defensive end Bryan Pata last night and in light of all the recent fights in both college (including that ugly brawl between the U and Florida International) and in the pros (remember Albert Haynesworth stomping on Andre Gurode's head ?) it's time for a good football story - enter Tom Dempsey...

Tom, now 59 and wife Carlene were victims of Hurricane Katrina but are back home again in New Orleans. "The hurricane flooded me out of a lot of memorabilia, but it can't flood out the memories", Dempsey said recently. Tom is national sales director of a company called Intelesys, a consumer relations company dealing with car companies all over the United States. On this date in 1970 Dempsey, born without any toes on his kicking foot, didn't need any. All he did that day was set a record for the longest field goal in NFL history...

Dempsey describes the kick: "When I lined up to kick my record-setting 63-yard field goal, we had the ball in the closed-in area of Tulane Stadium. The winds sometimes would swirl and push balls wide to the left or right. I got a good snap and good hold and I knew I had hit it well enough to go the distance, though, the question of whether the ball would stay straight was in the back of my mind". Like an arrow Tom Dempsey. Like an arrow. When you look at the video of the kick you see the official looking up to make sure the ball cleared the crossbar. It did by the length of a toenail...

For another look at that historic kick, click on: http://www.cdol.com/saints/dempsey.html On October 25th, 1998 Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos also kicked a 63-yard field goal but that was in the rarefied air of Denver's Mile High Stadium...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [Election Day results: 1960] Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy defeats VP Richard Nixon for the presidency (the 'Age of Camelot' begins)...1966] Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts becomes the 1st black to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote (and last night the 1st black governor was elected in MA)...1966] Ronald Reagan is elected governor of California...1988] VP George H. W. Bush wins the presidential election over Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis...1994] Republicans gain control of the House for the 1st time in 40 years and win a majority in the Senate (yesterday's elections just reversed that)...2000] A statewide recount of presidential election ballots begins in Florida and after conceding the election, VP Al Gore retracts his concession to await results...
2. [1895] Wilhelm Roentgen while experimenting with electricity discovers the scientific principle involved and takes the 1st X-ray pictures (but not before using hair spray on his hair for the press coverage)...
3. [1933] The CWA (Civil Works Administration) is created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The organization is designed to create jobs for more than 4 million unemployed people in the U.S...
4. [1964] Judy Garland and 18-year old daughter Liza Minnelli perform together at the London Palladium...
5. [1966] The Orioles' Frank Robinson wins the AL MVP award and becomes the 1st player in baseball history to win the award (he did it with Cincinnati in 1961) in both leagues...
6. [1968] Jean Terrell (sister of heavyweight champ Ernie Terrell) replaces Diana Ross in the Supremes. Jean sang lead on "Up The Ladder To The Roof", "Stoned Love" and "Floy Joy"...
7. [1979] "The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage" premieres on ABC-TV. While the show was planned to be temporary, it evolves into "Nightline" in March, 1980...
8. [1995] Michael Jackson and Sony Corp. of America combine forces to create the world's third-largest music publishing with more than 100,000 titles...
9. [2000] Waco special counsel John C. Danforth releases his final report absolving the government of wrongdoing in the 1993 siege at the Branch Davidian compound...
10. [2004] Thousands of U.S. troops attack the toughest strongholds of Sunni insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq in an effort to end guerilla control of the city...

"Happy Trails": 2006] Johnny Sain ("Spahn and Sain and pray for rain") who died yesterday. Sain who suffered a stroke in 2002, had been in poor health. The former pitcher was 89...

Premiered on this date: 1991] "The Carol Burnett Show" (this resurrected version of her original show only runs for one season) on CBS-TV...

Debuted on this date: 1965] "Days of Our Lives" debuts on NBC-TV (it's still running)...

"D-I-V-O-R-C-E": 1968] Cynthia Powell Lennon is granted a divorce from John Lennon (after being married 6 years)...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

Commentary...

Ed Pyle (who I worked with in Tampa) now living in Los Angeles after a stellar career as news director at a couple of LA stations sends this e-mail on the Kinky Friedman candidacy for governor of Texas: "If Lester Maddox, (former FLA gov.) Claude Kirk, Ronald Reagan and Jesse Ventura among others can serve as governors, why not Kinky ? I'd pick him over all those others! In fact, he'd be my choice over the governor of my state!". That's from Ed Pyle, formerly of Los Angeles and now living in the witness protection program. (P.S. Kinky got 10% of the vote)..

In addition to the Democrats cleaning the Republican's clock yesterday, a few sports figures were in political races with the following results: Lynn Swann lost his bid to become governor of Pennsylvania, former NFL quarterback Heath Shuler won a seat in the House and track great Jim Ryun lost his House seat...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Jack (son of Ozzie) Osbourne (21), Tara Reid (31), Parker Posey (38), Courtney Thorne-Smith (39), Rickie Lee Jones (52), Alfre Woodard (53), Mary Hart (56), Bonnie Raitt (57), Morley Safer (75), Patti Page (79), June Havoc (90) and Norman Lloyd (92)...

Timeline Countdown: 53 days until 2007, 60 days until the NFL playoffs and 88 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Texas offers comic relief on Election Day...

Control of Congress is the biggest issue on this Election Day 2006 with all 435 House seats on the line and 33 Senate seats up for grabs. Elections for Governor are also being held in 36 states including the great state of Texas...

It's a foregone conclusion that incumbent Rick Perry (R) will be elected to another term as governor but one of the 4 other candidates facing Perry is none other than Independent candidate, singer/author/Imus bud, Kinky Friedman. Yes that Kinky Friedman...

Running as a non-politician, at least the Kinkster brings some comic relief to the race. I've linked one of the most unique political ads you're likely to see and after an eternity of listening and watching the disgraceful mud-slinging, half-truths, downright lies and worse, at least this ad will make you laugh. Something we all sorely need on this Election Day. Enjoy it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB9Tg0EyZzk&mode=related&search=

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. Election Days Past: 1874] The Republican Party is symbolized as an elephant for the 1st time in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly. 1944] President Franklin D. Roosevelt wins an unprecedented 4th term in office by defeating Thomas E. Dewey. 1962] Richard M. Nixon who fails in his bid to become Governor of California, tells reporters: "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore". 1967] Carl Stokes becomes the 1st black mayor of a major city (Cleveland). 1972] Nixon is re-elected president in a landslide win over George McGovern. 1989] David N. Dinkins is elected New York City's 1st black mayor. 1989] L. Douglas Wilder becomes the 1st elected black governor (VA). 2000] Rep. George W. Bush is elected president over incumbent VP Al Gore. 2000] Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the 1st first lady to win public office by winning a Senate seat from NY...
2. [1929] The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) opens in Manhattan...
3. [1959] Bill Russell & Wilt Chamberlain play against each other for the 1st time in the NBA as the Celtics beat Philadelphia 115-106 at Boston Garden. Chamberlain outscores Russell 30-22 but Russell pulls down 35 rebounds to Chamberlain's 30...
4. [1962] Blackhawks goalie Glenn Hall's NHL consecutive games record streak ends at 502 because of a back injury (Hall who played without a mask had never missed a game in 7 seasons)...
5. [1963] Elston Howard of the Yankees becomes the 1st black player in the American League to win MVP honors...
6. [1967] President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a bill establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. PBS is born..
7. [1973] New Jersey becomes the 1st U.S. state to permit girls to play Little League baseball...
8. [1975] Two-time Boston MVP Phil Esposito is traded to the Rangers (for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and 2 others) in a trade that shakes Beantown...
9. [1986] Willie Nelson makes a guest appearance on "Miami Vice" playing a corrupt policeman (the only thing better would have been a drug dealer)...
10. [1999] Tiger Woods becomes the 1st golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win 4 straight tournaments...

"Happy Trails": 1962] Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt dies of bone marrow tuberculosis at 78...1980] Steve McQueen dies at 50 of a heart attack following cancer surgery...

Wedding Bells: 1995] The Captain and Tennille renew their wedding vows on their 20th anniversary...

"D-I-V-O-R-C-E": 1982] Liz Taylor chalks up #7 (John Warner)...2000] Garth Brooks files for divorce from wife Sandy (the divorce becomes final in 2001. In December of 2005 he marries Trisha Yearwood)...

Premiered on this date: 1963] "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"...

Debuted on this date: 1965] "The Pillsbury Dough Boy"...

"Sayonara": 1989] Richard Ramirez, California's "Night Stalker" is sentenced to death (he's still on death row)...

"Guilty": 1991] Paul Reubens a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman pleads "no contest" to charges of indecent exposure in Sarasota (FL)...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Keith Lockhart (47), Nick Gilder (55), Joni Mitchell (63), Johnny Rivers (64), Barry Newman (68), Jim Kaat (68), Joan Sutherland (80) and Reverend Billy Graham (88)...

Timeline Countdown: 54 days until 2007, 61 days until the NFL playoffs and 89 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

...

Monday, November 6, 2006

The highest rated music awards show is back...

Quiz time. Of all of the following music awards show, which one has the best ratings:

a) American Music Awards
b) The Grammy Awards
c) The CMA Awards (or)
d) The MTV Video Music Awards

If you answered a, b or d, you probably think American Bandstand is still on. If you answered c grab your boots and scoot into your living room and get ready for the 40th Annual Country Music Awards tonight at 8 (est) on ABC-TV...

With the show in New York last November, the CMA's finished #10 in Nielsen ratings for the week with more than 36 million viewers, ranking behind only the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and the Emmy Awards during the 2005-06 television season for award shows. Tonight's show will probably top that...

The 1st CMA Awards were given out in 1967 but television coverage didn't start until 1968 (on tape) and 1969 was the 1st year it was carried live. Sonny James and Bobby Gentry hosted in 1967 when Eddy Arnold was named Entertainer of The Year. Red Foley, J.L. (Joe) Frank and Jim Reeves were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame...

If you're surprised how big Country Music is, you shouldn't be and whether you're a fan of traditional Country over what is being recorded today in Nashville you have a right to be but just know this: Country Music has millions of fans that disagree with you. Like it or not, Country is king. Music doesn't discriminate - people do...

Here's a video clip of Miranda Lambert from an earlier appearance on the American Country Music Awards. Miranda is up for the CMA's Best New Artist Award tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMdcpx4P-nw&mode=related&search=

1. [1869] Rutgers beats Princeton 6-4 at New Brunswick (NJ) in the 1st college football game. There were 25 players on each team, touchdowns were 1 point and the game resembled soccer more than football...
2. [1913] Mohandas K. Gandhi is arrested as he leads a march of Indian miners in South Africa (I wonder if there were any minor miners ?)...
3. [1923] Colonel Jacob Schick patents the 1st electric shaver...
4. [1935] Edwin H. Armstrong announces the development of FM broadcasting...
5. [1956/2001/2005 Election Day] 1956 President Dwight David Eisenhower is re-elected with a victory over Adlai E. Stevenson...2001 Michael Bloomberg wins the New York City mayoral race by beating Mark Green...2005 Bloomberg defeats Fernando Ferrer to win re-election...
6. [1965] Bill Graham's Fillmore West opens with Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead...
7. [1995] Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell announces that he plans to move the Browns to Baltimore (it gets worse when the Ravens win the Super Bowl)...
8. [1995] The Rangers' Mark Messier scores his 500th NHL goal against Calgary...
9. [1996] Michael Jordan scores 50 points for the 29th time in his NBA career...
10. [2002] A jury in Beverly Hills convicts Winona Ryder of stealing $5,500 worth of merchandise from Saks Fifth Avenue. She's placed on 3 years probation (Ryder replies "hum a nuh, hum a nuh, hum a nuh")...

Body snatcher: 1973] Singer Gram Parsons manager Phil Kaufman is fined $300 for stealing Parsons' body from LAX. Kaufman claims it was Parson's wish to be cremated and then adds "hum a nuh, hum a nuh, hum a nuh"...

Premiered on this date: 1967] Phil Donahue begins his TV talk show in Dayton (OH) and stays on the air for over 25 years with it...

On Shindig: 1965] The Rolling Stones, Strangeloves and Fontella Bass...

Released on this date: 1965] "It's My Life" - Animals...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

Commentary...

Fans of Dick Summer in Boston and New York will be happy to note that I've added a link to Dick's website which contains a free blog. The New York Daily News called Dick "a story teller". I'll agree with that. After my 7-11pm shift on WNOR Norfolk, I would listen to Dick religiously on my way home when he was on WBZ and then we got a chance to work together at WNBC. Welcome aboard Dick...

The Good...

30-year old Brian O'Sullivan, an amputee who wears a prosthetic leg ran the New York City Marathon yesterday. O'Sullivan has a suit filed against the NYPD for refusing to let him take a fitness test for the police force. His father, grandfather and brother were all members of the force and Brian's one wish is to follow them as a police officer. His suit is pending...

The Bad...

Wyoming senior center Daaron Brown has been suspended for 5 games for a violation of team rules (don't know what he did. I mean it could be something like having too many "a"'s in his name but there had to be a reason for the suspension)...

The Ugly...

The 20-year old nephew of former heavyweight champ Trevor Berbick and another man have been charged with beating him to death and leaving his body in a church courtyard in Jamaica (Yikes !!!). They have confessed to the murder...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Rebecca Romijn (34), Ethan Hawke (36), Maria Shriver (51), Glenn Frey (58), Sally Field (60), P.J. Proby (68), Eugene (Jive Five) Pitt (69), Stonewall Jackson (74) and Mike Nichols 975)...

Timeline Countdown: 55 days until 2007, 62 days until the NFL playoffs and 90 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

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Friday-Sunday, November 3-5, 2006

New York City Marathon Weekend...

Sunday is one of the biggest neighborhood gathering days of the year. It's a big block party in all 5 boroughs when the Marathon starts at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island and winds its way through 26.2 gruelling miles toward the finish line in Central Park...

This year's big celebrity starter is Lance Armstrong who's likely to have his own camera covering him so that he is not lost among the 37,000 runners in the race. An estimated 2.5 million spectators will encourage the runners from the street, rooftops and fire escapes and although that seems like an exaggerated figure, I believe it. First Avenue is the best spot to see the runners as they come off the 59th Street Bridge although they probably won't be feeling groovy - just tired...

The top male finisher in last year's race was (surprise, surprise) a Kenyan: Paul Tergat while Latvian Jelena Prokopcuka won the female marathon. The youngest runner to compete was 9-year old Scott Black in 1979. The following year, race organizers changed the minimum age to 18. That was the year we had "The Run for The Rosie" when Rosie Ruiz finished with a time (under 3 hours) that qualified her for the Boston Marathon the following year. In that marathon she finished with a record time. There was only one problem. Rosie cheated in both, taking the subway part of the way...

Rosie will not be in this year's marathon but 37,000 runners, most of whom just want to finish, will. Perhaps this video will give you the needed inspiration to lace up your running shoes one day and do it. Or at least toast the runners as they come by your watering hole: http://www.youtube.com/watch?=boauNvB9h6I

November 3rd Timeline Memories...

1. [1961] The Boston Patriots beat the Dallas Texans 28-21 at Braves Field when a fan sneaks onto the field and bats away Dallas QB Cotton Davidson's pass into the end zone as time runs out. The play stands, the Patriots win (we love these endings especially when the home team wins. Remember when that convict on work patrol cleared a spot on the field for a winning field goal ? Then there's the "tuck rule" imposed to favor Tom Brady in a big game against Oakland. We love this stuff or as Alvin Davis would say, "just win baby")...
2. [1988] Geraldo Rivera breaks his nose in an on-camera brawl with skinheads. The skinheads win, the skinheads win...Thhhhhhhhe skinheads win...
3. [1991] More than 300,000 attend a free concert in San Francisco's Golden State Park in memory of rock promoter Bill Graham. Performers include: the Grateful Dead, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joan Baez, Santana and a reunited Journey...
4. [1992] Two big winners on Election Day: Bill Clinton is elected our 42nd President, defeating President George H.W. Bush (and) Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun becomes the 1st black woman elected to the U.S. Senate. On Election Day in 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson defeats Republican challenger Barry Goldwater to win a term in his own right...
5. [1994] Susan Smith is arrested for drowning her two young sons, 9 days after claiming the children had been kidnapped (She's still serving life without parole in prison)...

#1 on this date: 1969] "Wedding Bell Blues" - 5th Dimension...

Released on this date: 1957] "Great Balls of Fire" - Jerry Lee Lewis..."At The Hop" - Danny & the Juniors...

Premiered on this date: 1971] "Play Misty For Me" starring Clint Eastwood (the movie that scared the pants off all disc jockeys)...1978] "Different Strokes" (which has a successful run for 8 years)...

Wedding Bells: 1979] James Taylor and Carly Simon tie the knot in Carly's Manhattan apartment (sadly they separate in 1982 and then divorce)...

Commentary...

Ron Alexenburg called me with the following information about a New York memorial service for Tommy Noonan. It will be held at Gallagher's on 52nd Street on Monday, November 20th from 5 to 7pm. Gallagher's was a must stop for Tommy whenever he visited New York. Also, in the planning stages is a foundation for bladder cancer research (Tommy's fatal disease) through the T.J. Martell Foundation. When details are complete I will pass that information along...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Phil Simms 51, Adam Ant 52, Dennis Miller 53, Roseanne Barr 54, Larry Holmes 57, Lulu 58, Shadoe Stevens 60, Michael S. Dukakis 73 and Bob Feller 88...

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Saturday, November 4, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1924] Nellie T. Ross (Wyoming) is elected the nation's 1st woman Governor, chosen to serve the remaining term of her husband William who died in office...
2. [1971] NBA great, Elgin Baylor of the Lakers announces his retirement because of knee problems...
3. [1979] Militants storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran as the Iranian Hostage Crisis begins (52 hostages will be held for the next 14 months)...
4. [1980] Ronald Reagan wins the White House, defeating Jimmy Carter soundly...
5. [1991] Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Bush help Reagan dedicate his Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley (CA)...

"Happy Trails": 1955] Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young dies of natural causes at 88...

Wedding Bells: 1842] Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd say "I do"...

#1 on this date: 1958] "It's Only Make Believe" - Conway Twitty...

Released on this date: 1967] "I Second That Emotion" - Smokey Robinson and the Miracles...1978] "Take Me To The River" - Talking Heads...

Debuted on this date: 1978] Boston plays Boston...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: 1991] Bobby "Blue" Bland, Booker T & M.G.'s, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, The Isley Brothers, The Yardbirds and Sam and Dave...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Matthew McConaughey 37, Jeff Probst 44, Kathy Griffin 45, First Lady Laura Bush 60, Loretta Swit 69, Doris Roberts 76 and Uncle Walter Cronkite 90...

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Sunday, November 5, 2006...

Timeline Memories...

1. [1940] President Franklin D. Roosevelt wins an unprecedented 3rd term (but will be the last president to do so by a new law enacted limiting our president to 2 terms). [1946] 29-year old Boston Democrat John F. Kennedy is elected to the U.S. House of Representatives...1968] Republican Richard M. Nixon wins the presidency over VP Hubert H. Humphrey and George Wallace...1996] Voters return President Bill Clinton to the White House for a second term. Clinton beats Bob Dole...
2. [1981] Former Miami Dolphin running back Mercury Morris is sentenced to 20 years for drug trafficking and possession of cocaine...
3. [1982] The Nets put the Cleveland Cavaliers in the record books when they hand the Cavs their 24th consecutive loss (99-91)...
4. [1990] Jewish Defense League Rabbi Meir Kahane, 58, is shot to death after a speech in Manhattan (his assassin, an Egyptian is later sentenced to life in prison)...
5. [1994] George Foreman becomes boxing's oldest heavyweight champ at 45 by knocking out Michael Moorer in the 10th round...

"Happy Trails": 1989] Pianist Vladimir Horowitz dies of a heart attack at 86...1960] Johnny Horton, 33, is killed in an auto accident in Texas...

Premiered on this date: 1935] The game of "Monopoly" is introduced by Parker Brothers...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Johnny Damon 33, Tatum O'Neal 43, Bryan Adams 47, Bill Walton 54, Peter Noone 59, Art Garfunkel 65, Elke Sommer 66 and Ike Turner 75...

Timeline Countdown: 56 days until 2007, 63 days until the NFL playoffs and 91 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

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Thursday, November 2, 2006

The 'Tipping Point" for payola...

What unfolded on this date almost 50 years ago started the radio payola investigations. While the biggest radio offender, Alan Freed wouldn't be indicted until May 9th, 1960, this event was payola's tipping point. The man who testified before a House Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight on November 2nd, 1959 is now 80 years old. A virtual recluse, he only uses his real name when authoring a book. He refuses interviews about the quiz show scandals of the 50's. His last known interview was on the Today Show in 1985. His name is Charles Van Doren...

In his testimony before the Congressional subcommittee in 1959, Van Doren admitting being given questions and answers in advance of his appearances on the game show Twenty-One, earning him more than $138,000 as a result. The movie "Quiz Show" in 1994 about the scandal was a box office smash for Robert Redford who produced and directed it. Van Doren became an outcast and was dropped from his post of assistant professor at Columbia University, becoming an editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica. He also wrote several books, none about the scandal...

And how did this lead to radios payola scandal ? In the wake of the quiz show scandals, ASCAP urged the same House subcommittee to look into the recording industry's practice of payola. The publishing company believed that BMI licensed songs were hits only because of payola and specifically the Rock and Roll records that were licensed to BMI. Hello payola investigations...

We've linked a clip of Jack Barry introducing one of Van Doren's appearances on 21: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3xp2aW7Q7M ...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1783] General George Washington issues his farewell address to the Army near Princeton (NJ)...
2. [1920] KDKA (Pittsburgh) is the 1st radio station to broadcast results of a presidential election (Warren Harding is elected)...
3. [1947] Howard Hughes pilots his huge wooden airplane known as the Spruce Goose, a flight lasting about a minute over Long Beach (CA) Harbor (the Spruce Goose was a catchy name but the plane was actually made of birch not spruce)...
4. [1948] Harry S. Truman surprises the experts (and the Chicago Tribune which bore the headline: "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN") by narrowly winning re-election over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey...
5. [1960] 66-year old George Weiss resigns as Yankee GM. He will resurface quickly, becoming the Mets 1st GM (he also brings in another former Yankee, Casey Stengel, as the Mets 1st manager)...
6. [1964] CBS Inc. purchases 80% of the Yankees for $11 million (they'll buy the remaining 20% at a later date)...
7. [1974] The Braves trade Hank Aaron to the Milwaukee Brewers assuring that Aaron will end his career where it began - in Milwaukee...
8. [1976] Former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter defeats Republican incumbent Gerald R. Ford, becoming the 1st president from the Deep South since the Civil War...
9. [1992] Infected with HIV, Magic Johnson retires from the NBA...
10. [1995] Joe Torre is named manager of the Yankees (leading them to 5 American League titles and 4 World Series wins in his 1st 7 years - but none since 2000)...

#1 on this date: 1968] "For Once in my Life" - Stevie Wonder...1971] "gypsy's, Tramps & Thieves" - Cher...1981] "Private Eyes" - Hall & Oates...1985] "Part-Time Lover" - Stevie Wonder...

Released on this date: "Be True To Your School" - Beach Boys...

Premiered on this date: "Girls! Girls! Girls!" starring Elvis Presley...

Ch-chingggg: 1976] New Jersey voters approve gambling in Atlantic City...

"D-I-V-O-R-C-E": 1979] Mick Jagger and Bianca divorce (after 8 years of marriage)...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

Commentary...

Visitation for Tom Noonan will be held this Friday (tomorrow) in Los Angeles. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Saturday, interment to follow. For more information contact: Steve Resnik at: (818.951.6700)...No plans yet for memorials but when I have them I'll pass it along...

Last night at the Celtic game: a simple, empty seat was adorned with 16 green roses and a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur cigar. It was Red Auerbach's seat at TD Banknorth. The Celtics wore black shamrocks on their uniforms with "Red" in green letters and those in the expensive courtside seats were given a commemorative cigar, identical to the one left in Auerbach's seat. A very classy touch by the home team...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

David Schwimmer 40, k.d. lang 45, Maxine Nightingale 54, Stefanie Powers 64, Pat Buchanan 68, David Blatt a.k.a. Jay Black 68 and Earl "Speedo" Carroll 69...

Timeline Countdown: 59 days until 2007, 66 days until the NFL playoffs and 94 days until Super Bowl XLI in Miami...

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Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Season #61 starts without the 'Godfather'...

When the 2006-2007 Celtics season tips off tonight at TD Banknorth Garden a familiar face, the face of the franchise, will not be there for the first time in a half century. The city of Boston pays tribute today to Celtic legend Red Auerbach with other Celtic heroes like Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, Jo Jo White and Robert Parish on hand for the ceremony at City Hall. Auerbach's body was laid to rest yesterday in Falls Church, Virginia in a private and simple ceremony in keeping with Jewish tradition. The Celtics are dedicating this season to Auerbach who died at 89 over the weekend with the wearing of a patch with his name on it...

Tomorrow, November 2nd marks the 60th anniversary of the first Celtics game in 1946. Played at the old Boston Arena, the Celtics lost to the Providence Steamrollers (huh ?) 59-53 and would finish the season with a dismal 22-38 record. Of course the fortunes of the Green & White would change dramatically in 1950, Red Auerbach's first season with the Celtics...

There's a terrific video tribute to Red Auerbach that contains great footage of the Auerbach era with the Celtics available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iESnNUeZ6o click on and enjoy...

Every ending contains a new beginning but with the passing of Red Auerbach, that ending may be permanent. No man past or present has meant more to a sports franchise and we'll never see his like again...

Ten Timeline Memories...

1. [1848] The 1st medical school for women is founded in Boston. The Boston Female Medical School (catchy name) will later merge with Boston University School of Medicine...
2. [1849] "Billboard Advertising" is published for the 1st time (it would later become known as "Billboard"...
3. [1938] Seabiscuit beats War Admiral in a match race at Pimlico Race Course. With 40,000 fans on hand and a national radio audience, Seabiscuit breaks the track record for a mile and wins a purse of $15,000...
4. [1950] Two Puerto Rican nationalists try to force their way into Blair House in Washington to assassinate President Harry S. Truman. One is killed...
5. [1951] Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella wins the 1st of his 3 MVP awards...
6. [1952] The U.S. explodes the 1st H (for hydrogen) bomb in a test at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands...
7. [1959] Montreal's Jacques Plante becomes the NHL's 1st goalie to wear a mask after being hit in the face by a puck off the stick of the Rangers' Andy Bathgate in a game won by the Canadiens 3-1 at Madison Square Garden...
8. [1964] The Dave Clark Five perform "Glad All Over" on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...
9. [1973] Leon Jaworski is appointed the new Watergate special prosecutor...
10. [2001] Scott Brosius hits a game-tying home run off of Arizona's Byung Hyun Kim, allowing the Yankees to beat the Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the World Series (Tino Martinez) hit one out against Kim the night before. The Yankees take a 3-2 WS lead...

"Happy Trails": 1947] The legendary racehorse "Man o' War" dies at the ripe old age of 30...1979] Former 1st Lady Mamie Eisenhower dies from natural causes at 82...1999] Football Hall of Famer Walter Payton dies of cancer at 45...

Wedding Bells: 1988] Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis walk down the aisle (this wedding will last 2 years...

#1 on this date: 1962] "He's a Rebel" - Crystals (Darlene Love)...1969] "Abbey Road" LP - Beatles (the 1st of 11 consecutive weeks)...1969] "Suspicious Minds" - Elvis Presley...1974] " You Haven't Done Nothin" - Steve Wonder (backed by Jackson Five)...1984] "Caribbean Queen" - Billy Ocean...

Premiered on this date: 1940] "A Night in the Tropics" (the 1st Abbott and Costello movie)...

Turning over a new leaf: 1946] WEAF changes call letters to WNBC...1959] WOV changes calls to WADO...

Hatfields vs. McCoys: 1970] In their 1st regular season meeting, the Giants beat the Jets 22-10 at Shea Stadium...

[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Jenny McCarthy 34, Lyle Lovett 49, Dan (America) Peek 56, Jim Steinman 58, Larry Flynt 64, Marcia Wallace 64, Gary Player 71 and James J. Kilpatrick 86...

Timeline Countdown: 60 days until 2007, 67 days until the NFL playoffs and 95 days until Super Bowl XLI.

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