A few notes from your loyal blogger

                A few notes gathered recently…

    

Parnelli Jones’ book, As a matter of fact I am Parnelli Jones, is a terrific read if you are an auto racing fan. Jones was one of the great ones and he had some stories to tell. Racing was different in his era and more drivers raced in different types of cars back then. Jones was among those who could win any kind of race.

          On the topic of racing, Danica Patrick has received criticism in some racing media corners recently and the barbs have not been fair.

          First, she’s 25^th in points and that’s not bad for a rookie. Dig deeper into the standings and you’ll see that her team, Stewart-Haas Racing, is not setting the world on fire right now. Ryan Newman is 17^th in the standings and Tony Stewart is 21^st. Thus, Patrick is right on par with her teammates.
          Next, she has received some harsh words for her vow last Sunday on the team’s radio to respond in kind to a driver she felt was roughing up her car during the race. She didn’t follow up on her comments with a payback but the point is her comments were not out of place or uncommon. Her words only received attention because of who uttered them. If she does eventually deliver a little payback, so what? Drivers have been doing that stuff since NASCAR started.
          Finally, Patrick is an attention-getter. Her good looks, her commercial success and her ability to land quality rides all generate the chance to succeed. Those attributes also bring along the critics and she seems to handle all of that pretty well.
          So, to paraphrase a recent critic, shut up and let her race.

          If you missed ESPN’s 30 on 30 documentary about the 1983 NFL draft, do yourself a favor and check the listings for the next presentation. The episode is named Elway to Marino and it is narrated by Tom Selleck. The show is 90 minutes long, so set your recording devices accordingly. It is an outstanding production.

          This year’s NFL draft, the first part of it anyway, will start at 8 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday night. We’ve been bombarded with what-ifs about the draft since the first hours after the end of the Super Bowl.

          But hidden in all the hoopla is the stiffest competition the NFL has faced in years for draft day television viewers. This time the league may have over-stepped its reach. Someone made a catastrophic error in judgment.
          This time, the draft will be carried live in direct competition with the season finale of Project Runway, the Heidi Klum property about clothing designers.
          In our house, long a bastion of peace and tranquility, all is well. In the immortal words of Mrs. Leeway, “You’ll be fine as long as both TVs work.”

          Thanks for reading.

A trip to see Niagara

We visited Fort Niagara and Niagara Falls this weekend. Both are among the most picturesque spots you could possibly find.

The fort is a historically important location. The fort is located on Lake Ontario,

very close to where the Niagara River feeds into the lake. Unseasonably cold when we visited, the fort invites photography. The green of the grass, the color of the bricks and the lake water in the background give a nice combination of hues and vantage points. The many cannons along the walls point in different directions, which direct the eyes of the viewer.

First a French fort and then a British installation, the United States finally took possession of the fort prior to the War of 1812. The location was an important one in the early history of our country.

The day we visited, there were reinactors in Revolutionary War dress discussing

various subjects related to the history of the fort, weapons of the era and the War itself.

According to the folks we talked to, the majority of the fort’s buildings are still made up of the original material (read that, “rocks”) and, unlike some historic places we’ve visited, visitors are welcome to walk into most of the buildings in the facility.

One strange item: There was a sign that, due to my limited knowledge of the French language, did not appear to be in either English or French. I have posted it here. Maybe you can read it.

Because of the cold weather, we discovered for ourselves how hard it was for the soldiers of the era to stay warm and what they did to deal with the wind and cold of winter. As an aside, the wind chill for the fort when we were there, according to something my wife found online, was 27 degrees. We saw a few snow flurries.

Still, it was an enjoyable visit. The history is right where you can touch it. There is a Visitors Center with exhibits and a 15-minute video about the history of the fort. I’d recommend the video, it is very well done.

The fort is in the same general area as Niagara Falls. You can visit both

attractions on the same visit but you can’t see both in the same day and do justice to either. If you can give yourself time, give both places the best part of a day.

We hit the Falls a day earlier and really enjoyed the Maid of the Mist boat ride. You can probably figure out for yourself that there are plenty of photo ops in the area around the Falls. If you bring a camera, bring something to wipe it down after the boat goes by the Falls. Your camera is going to get wet if you use it.

The Park does hand out plastic rain wear for the boat ride, but you can’t get photographs through the rain wear. Just be sure you know how to care for your equipment.

We did not go to the Canadian side of the international border to see the Falls from that vantage point, which we were told is prettier than the American side. Frankly, I don’t see how the Canadian side is nicer. Luna Island, on the U.S, side, was unavailable due to some construction, but otherwise everything we saw was lovely.

The walking trails were not open when we visited. The trails are available seasonally. But we’ll do that on another visit.

We did manage to visit Goat Island and I’d like to go back to the Island on a warmer day because there are plenty of nice locations to see there. As it was, we got some nice images anyway.

We visited the aquarium in the Falls park area, which was nice but a little

disappointing.

We very much enjoyed the busses that cruise around the Park. We saved a lot of steps on a sometimes rainy day by using the busses. We were able to pick out the spots we wanted to see and get there comfortably. When we were there the bus rides were free but we saw signs advertising the price of a bus ride. A seat on the busses might cost something during the summer months.

Included in this blog is a collection of images from both the fort and the Falls. Hope you enjoy them.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

The Barber's student

Carlos Quentin and the other players on the San Diego Padres roster should be very glad the late Don Drysdale is no longer pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Quentin is the Padres batter who was hit by a pitched ball during a game with the Dodgers. He charged the mound, started a brawl, and injured Dodgers pitcher Zach Greinke.

Drysdale learned much about his craft from Sal “The Barber” Maglie and Maglie was unbothered by the thought of a batter who was unhappy about inside pitches. Neither was Drysdale who, by the way, was large enough and tough enough to handle any batter that ventured from the batter’s box toward the mound.

Drysdale’s mantra was that the pitcher owned half the plate and the batter owned half the plate. The pitcher, Drysdale figured, could decide which half he wanted on each delivery. If the batter stuck his head into a Drysdale fastball, oh well. Bring up the next guy.

And if an opposing batter injured a Dodgers pitcher? Oh Lord, Drysdale pitched every fourth day. He’d have his moment.

In his book, Once a Bum, Always a Dodger, Drysdale wrote that he believed his teammates played hard behind him because of a simple piece of arithmetic he practiced. If an opposing pitcher threw at a Dodgers hitter, Drysdale threw at two opposing batters. Hit a Dodger and two of your teammates would be serviced by the Barber’s pupil, Mr. Drysdale.

Pitchers, by the way, had to face Drysdale as batters. There was no designated hitter. And remember, too, that Dysdale’s career started before batters wore helmets.

Anyone interested in stepping in without a batting helmet against an angry Don Drysdale? Not me.

Quentin has been hit by pitches 116 times in his Major League career. He is the most-hit batsman active in the Majors today. Do you think there might be something wrong with his approach?

Greinke was injured when Quentin rushed the mound and slammed into Greinke. The Dodgers’ pitcher is out for eight weeks or so. Quentin was suspended for eight games, which is in keeping with punishments for similar incidents.

But when Drysdale was pitching, the real punishment would have come in the batter’s box. Helmet or no helmet, the message would have been delivered one fastball at a time.

In all honesty, I think the game was better served when the players enforced the rules.

I once covered a high school player, a pitcher, who threw a 93 miles an hour fastball. He eventually played in the majors for 20 seasons and had that heater all the way through his career. When he was still playing high school ball, his pitching coach always wanted him to put a warm-up pitch halfway up the screen behind the plate just before the first opposing batter was due to come up.

The coach wanted the opposition to wonder if the pitcher had his control that day; whether that 93-mile an hour missile was going to be around the plate or traveling through the batter’s box as the game progressed.

When Don Drysdale was pitching, control was not an issue. Sooner or later (probably sooner), Mr. Maglie’s finest student would present the multiplicative formula, two of yours for one of mine, to the waiting multitudes.

And recess would be over.

 

Thanks for reading. And, wherever you are Double D, thanks for the memories.

A few racing images from Florida

                I photographed a short track race at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida over the weekend. This was an especially neat event, a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East stock car race. It was the first time the series had raced at 5 Flags in quite a while.

During practice, I tried to get an image of every car so I would be
sure to have at least one shot of the winner.

          I have included a pair of action shots and a pair of infield racing life-type images.

          The first shot is a pan during a practice session. The car, driven by Ben Kennedy, eventually won the race. The high, bright sun made for challenging conditions because a pan shot like this one requires a slower shutter speed in order to blur the background and emphasize the speed of the car.

Shooting pans from the infield is more challenging than shooting from the outside of the track because of the angles involved. These images were captured with my Nikon D90.

Showing just the tires...

Safety is an important consideration when photographing something as fast and intense as racing because, in the heat of the moment, a photographer can make unwise moves while concentrating on the camera. I have used a photo buddy in the past to keep me rooted in the best spot. I have done the same for other photogs as well.

The next pair of images shows a perspective image. That’s a group of Goodyear Eagles, mounted and ready for use by the racing teams. See how the feel changes between the image showing only the tires and the next showing the Goodyear technician in the distance?

The addition of the human element is almost upsetting in the balanced image of

...and adding something extra.

the tires. But it is that difference that can make a nice shot a real good one. I’d recommend that any photographer shooting a perspective image try to capture images both with the simple balance of the perspective view and another image of the same setting with something different added. This is an excellent chance to experiment.

This next image is a shot of a restart in the middle of the race. There were very few cautions during this race and I didn’t spend much time on the front straight. Thus, I had to get this one right and its okay. It does show the hard, close nature of the racing in that series.

Restart.

 

 

Hope you enjoy racing and these images.

 

Thanks for reading.

Remember Martin

Since we got the news about the bombing in Boston near the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday, one image has been on the mind: The image of a little boy who was on hand to watch his Dad complete the race.

The boy’s name was Martin.

I didn’t know Martin or his family, but the reports I have read indicate that he was a good kid. He loved his Dad and proudly held up a sign for his Dad to read near the end of the grueling distance classic.

Then Martin’s life ended. He was killed by the blast that killed two others and injured lots more. Martin’s sister was horribly wounded and Martin’s mother was also badly hurt.

We don’t know yet what cowards gutlessly blew up bombs in Boston yesterday, but we will find out. We don’t know why these idiots attacked a joyful American tradition, but we will know eventually. We don’t know how much planning they did or how far away they stood when the explosions began, but we Americans always eventually get this stuff figured out and we’ll do it this time, too.

Once upon a time, Americans shouted that we should remember Pearl Harbor. This time, when Mother Freedom drops the hammer on the murderers we now seek, I hope we remember Martin and his family.

 

         To the families and friends of those hurt or just frightened by what happened in Boston, I can only wish you a peaceful healing time. Please know that your neighbors across the nation are with you.

PFRA announces 2013 HOVG finalists

 

 

 

Dear Readers,

As a proud member of the Pro Football Researchers Association, I present below the information about the finalists for the 2013 class of the Hall of Very Good.

Any readers interested in more information about the PFRA should read down to the paragraph about the Association, which includes contact information.

Enjoy!

PFRA ANNOUNCES FINALISTS FOR THE HALL OF VERY GOOD

 

WARMINSTER, Pennsylvania – The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) announced today the finalists for the Hall of Very Good Class of 2013. The finalists are (in alphabetical order):

 

Grady Alderman

Position: Tackle-Guard

Teams: 1960 Detroit Lions, 1961-74 Minnesota Vikings

 

Erich Barnes

Position: Defensive Back

Teams: 1958-60 Chicago Bears, 1961-64 New York Giants, 1965-71 Cleveland Browns

 

Mike Curtis

Position: Linebacker

Teams: 1965-75 Baltimore Colts, 1976 Seattle Seahawks, 1977-78 Washington Redskins

 

Roman Gabriel

Position: Quarterback

Teams: 1962-72 Los Angeles Rams, 1973-77 Philadelphia Eagles

 

Cookie Gilchrist

Position: Fullback

Teams: 1962-64 Buffalo Bills, 1965 Denver Broncos, 1966 Miami Dolphins, 1967 Denver Broncos

 

Gale Gillingham

Position: Guard

Teams: 1966-76 Green Bay Packers

 

Larry Grantham

Position: Linebacker

Teams: 1960-72 New York Titans/Jets

 

Ken Gray

Position: Guard

Teams: 1958-69 Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals, 1970 Houston Oilers

 

Charlie Hennigan

Position: WR

Teams: 1960-66 Houston Oilers

 

Rich Jackson

Position: Defensive End

Teams: 1966 Oakland Raiders, 1967-72 Denver Broncos, 1972 Cleveland Browns

 

Bob Kuechenberg

Position: Guard-Tackle

Teams: 1970-83 Miami Dolphins

 

George Kunz

Position: Tackle

Teams: 1969-74 Atlanta Falcons, 1975-80 Baltimore Colts

 

Daryl Lamonica

Position: Quarterback

Teams: 1963-66 Buffalo Bills, 1967-74 Oakland Raiders

 

Tony Latone

Position: Wingback-Fullback

Teams: 1925-28 Pottsville Maroons, 1929 Boston Bulldogs, 1930 Providence Steamroller

 

Harvey Martin

Position: Defensive End

Teams: 1973-83 Dallas Cowboys

 

Lemar Parrish

Position: Defensive Back

Teams: 1970-77 Cincinnati Bengals, 1978-81 Washington Redskins, 1982 Buffalo Bills

 

Duane Putnam

Position: Guard

Teams: 1952-59 Los Angeles Rams, 1960 Dallas Cowboys, 1961 Cleveland Browns, 1962 Los Angeles Rams

 

Donnie Shell

Position: Defensive Back

Teams: 1974-87 Pittsburgh Steelers

 

Bill Stanfill

Position: Defensive End

Teams: 1969-76 Miami Dolphins

 

Jim Tyrer

Position: Tackle

Teams: 1961-73 Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs, 1974 Washington Redskins

 

 

The Class of 2013 will be announced in the spring.     

 

Begun in 2003, the Hall of Very Good seeks to honor outstanding players and coaches who are not in the Hall of Fame.

 

The Professional Football Researchers Association was founded in 1979 as a 501(c)(3) educational organization dedicated to research into and the preservation of the history of pro football. The membership includes many of the foremost football historians and authors. The PFRA publishes a magazine, The Coffin Corner, six times each year. More information is available at www.profootballresearchers.org.

 

Previous Hall of Very Good enshrines are:

Class of 2012

Bill Bergey, 1969-80 – LB

Curley Culp*, 1968-81 – DT

Kenny Easley, 1981-87 – S

Lester Hayes, 1977-86 – CB

Jack Kemp, 1957, 1960-69 – QB

Eddie Meador, 1959-70 – DB

L.C. Greenwood, 1969-81 – DE

Ray Wietecha, 1953-62 – C
Adolf "Swede" Youngstrom, 1920-27 – G

Class of 2011

Ken Anderson, 1971-86 – QB

Cliff Branch, 1972-85 – WR

Bobby Dillon, 1952-59 – DB

Cliff Harris, 1970-79 – FS

Harold Jackson, 1968-83 – WR

Andy Russell, 1963-76 – LB

Lou Saban, 1960-65, 1967-76 – Head Coach

Tom Sestak, 1962-68 – DT

Jerry Smith, 1965-77 – TE

Class of 2010
Robert Brazile, 1975-84 – LB  
Ed Budde, 1963-76 – G
Don Coryell, 1972-86 – Head Coach
Ox Emerson, 1931-38 – G, C, LB
Chuck Foreman, 1973-80 – RB
Bob Gain, 1952, 1954-64 – T, MG, E
Riley Matheson, 1939-48 – G, LB
Jimmy Patton, 1955-66 – DB
Drew Pearson, 1973-83 – WR
Ken Riley, 1969-83 – CB

Class of 2009
Bruno Banducci, 1944-54 – G  
Harold Carmichael, 1971-84 – WR
Blanton Collier, Browns assistant coach 1946-53 and 1962 and head coach 1963-70
Boyd Dowler, 1959-69, 71 – WR
Claude Humphrey, 1968-74, 1976-81 – DE
Ken Kavanaugh, 1940-41, 1945-50 – E
Verne Lewellen, 1924-32 – HB
Walt Sweeney, 1963-75 – G

Class of 2008
Dick Barwegen, 1947-54 – G
Randy Gradishar, 1974-83 – LB
Bob Hoernschmeyer, 1946-55 – HB
Cecil Isbell, 1938-42 – TB
Buddy Parker, 1951-64 – Coach
Spec Sanders, 1946-50 – TB
Jim Ray Smith, 1956-64 – G
Billy Wilson, 1951-60 - WR

Class of 2007:
Frankie Albert, 1946-1952 - QB
Roger Brown, 1960-1969 - DT
Timmy Brown, 1959-1968 - RB
Marshall Goldberg, 1939-1948 - B
Jim Lee Howell, 1937-1947, 1954-1960 - E
Glenn Presnell, 1931-1936 - B
Dick Schafrath, 1959-1971 - T
Jake Scott, 1970-1978 - DB
Ed Sprinkle, 1944-1955 - DE
Tank Younger, 1949-1958 - HB-FB

Class of 2006:
Charley Conerly, 1948-1961 - QB
John Hadl, 1962-1977 - QB
Chuck Howley, 1958-1973 - LB
Alex Karras, 1958-1970 - DT
Eugene Lipscomb, 1953-1962 - DT
Kyle Rote, 1951-1961 - E-HB
Dick Stanfel, 1952-1958 - G
Otis Taylor, 1965-1975 - WR
Fuzzy Thurston, 1958-1967 - G
Deacon Dan Towler, 1950-1955 - FB

Class of 2005:
Maxie Baughan, 1960-1974 - LB
Jim Benton, 1938-1947 - E
Lavvie Dilweg, 1926-1934 - E
Pat Harder, 1946-1953 - FB
Floyd Little*, 1967-1975 - RB
Tommy Nobis, 1966-1976 - LB
Pete Retzlaff, 1956-1966 - HB-E
Tobin Rote, 1950-1966 - QB
Lou Rymkus, 1943, 1946-1951 - T
Del Shofner, 1957-1967 - E

Class of 2004:
Gene Brito, 1951-1960 - DE
John Brodie, 1957-1973 - QB
Jack Butler*, 1951-1959 - DB
Chris Hanburger*, 1965-1978 - LB
Bob Hayes*, 1965-1975 - SE-WR
Billy Howton, 1952-1963 - E
Jim Marshall, 1960-1979 - DE
Al Nesser, 1920-1928, 1931 - G
Dave Robinson,* 1963-1974 - LB
Duke Slater, 1922-1931 - T

Class of 2003:
Gino Cappelletti, 1960-1970 - E-K
Carl Eller*, 1964-1979 - DE
Pat Fischer, 1961-1977 - DB
Benny Friedman*, 1927-1934 - TB
Gene Hickerson*, 1958-1973 - G
Jerry Kramer, 1958-1968 - G
Johnny Robinson, 1960-1971 - DB
Mac Speedie, 1946-1952 - E
Mick Tingelhoff, 1962-1978 - C
Al Wistert, 1943-1951 - T

*Voted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame after induction into the Hall of Very Good.

Facts, please, just the facts

Several years ago I was working at a sports car race at the Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. It was the first major event at that splendid facility and the feature race that weekend was everything the fans could have hoped for.

I was walking down a spiral staircase that Friday when my cellphone somehow popped off my belt and managed a short flight beyond the hand railing, whereupon it dive bombed its way through the middle of the stairs, three stories down.

First mystified and then amazed, I watched my phone crash onto the concrete walkway below. As landings go, this one sucked. The phone dissolved into several pieces and scattered in various directions. It was like watching the Coyote after going over a cliff in the old Roadrunner cartoons.

As you’d expect, I jogged down the stairs and picked up all the pieces, jamming them together just to see what happened. Unlike the Coyote, the phone was dead.

A lot of people feel today that there are aspects of education that are as ill-fated as the flight of my old cell phone. Simply put, it looks as if history instruction is on a crash and burn path. Maybe a crash and splash, like Amelia Earhart.

Ever hear of Amelia Earhart? Thank your teacher.

Math and science must be taught in our classrooms, as should reading and writing. And history must be a significant part of instruction, starting in the primary grades.

When I was a member of the county board of education where we lived in California, we reviewed text books for history and the books we reviewed included fewer actual facts than I imagined possible. Mostly, the book included fictional stories about non-existent people who reflected approximately what probably happened. Well, to be fair, the incidents in the book might not have happened. It was hard to tell.

That is what passes for history instruction today and I think it gives the students a severe lack of respect. Educational administrators today are fond of saying they need to engage the students using creative means. Judging from the books I reviewed a few years back, that means style, not accuracy, is the in thing.

To paraphrase Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, “That’s a (heck)uva price to pay for being stylish.”

I believe students today are as smart as they’ve ever been. They are as capable of learning as those of any other era, including my own. Yes, there are challenges now, just as there were in other eras. But if the challenges now are different from those of the past, they are no tougher. Does anyone capable of remembering the 1960s believe it is harder to teach now than it was then?

History is an extraordinarily important part of a student’s education. We need to teach it better. We might start by teaching the facts, kids. Here are the facts. Remember facts? We used to teach a lot of them without making stuff up and, incredibly, students used to learn.

The best way to avoid the mistakes of the past is to learn about them. We’ve made enough mistakes so that there is plenty to learn. Let’s teach kids what has happened and give them a decent chance to make a difference. They can’t fix anything if they don’t know what’s broke.

It is easy to blame the kids but what school children do not learn is not their fault. The fault belongs to the adults: Teachers, parents, state and district administrators and the jokesters who write textbooks.

When I was in grade school, wars were not mentioned when we were taught history. We learned about the so-called armed camps in Europe in 1914 one day and the next day the topic was the Great Depression. We learned about the rise of Hitler and the mean, war-like guys in Japan. The next day, we learned about rebuilding Europe and Japan.

The Civil War? We learned about slavery, secession and reconstruction. There was a Civil War era, but no Civil War.

How can we avoid the ugly mistakes of the past if we hide the past from our bright, young students?

Our education leaders have a difficult task in front of them but the toughest part will be overcoming the culture of nonsense they have built for themselves. Accurate instruction of history, a heavy dose of it, is needed beginning at the primary grades.

Otherwise we’ll just keep making the same dumb mistakes, generation after generation.

 

            Thanks for reading. At least you learned that much.

I promise to do better, really I do

It has been a very busy time recently and this blog has suffered. A new one is in the works, it is nearly finished now, and your loyal blogger will endeavor to be more consistent in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading.

 

Thanks for reading!

A very simple note this time: March of 2013 was the biggest month, in terms of page views, since this blog began. Please accept my thanks for reading.