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The 2010 season of the NFL lasted only
six weeks,..that is IF you are a fan of the
Dallas Cowboys. Last night the Boys absorbed
loss number 5 of the season versus only 1
victory this year. Dallas had high hopes of
being the first team to make it to the Super
Bowl which will be played in their own stadium
this season. If they want to go to the Super Bowl
this season they will have to buy a ticket.
Officially, the season ended last night on the
first snap of the second quarter when New York
linebacker Michael Boley went through the
Cowboys offensive line with the ease of a hot
knife going thru butter. He hit Dallas quarterback
Tony Romo and drove him to the turf. The collision
broke the left collarbone of Romo and he is expected
to miss eight to ten weeks (the rest of the season) while recovering. Romo's replacement last night was
Jon Kitna, and he immediately proved that he was NOT the man for the position. The final score of 41-35 is
not indicative of how the Giants dominated the Cowboys to remain in first place in the NFL's Eastern Division. The season may drone on for another ten weeks, BUT for Cowboy fans it ended last night.
They say if you hang around long enough
you will see it all... I was a member of the
media in 1972 when Bob Short brought the
old Washington Senators to North Texas. The Senators had played in Washington, DC for eleven years and perennially lived in the cellar of the American League. While in the Army I used to go see Senator games just
to see the opposition. Without fail, there was a
fan in the outfield seats with a banner that read:
"Washington...First in Peace...First in War... Last
in the American League."
Now after 39 years of frustration in Arlington, the
Texas Rangers are headed for their first World
Series. After Friday night's 6-1 win over the New
York Yankees, the Rangers will now play the winner
of the National League series between the San
Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies. The
Giants currently hold a lead in the series and could
close out the Phillies with a win on Saturday.
Pitcher Colby Lewis of the Rangers was simply 'great' in Friday night's win. The 1999 draft choice of Texas has bounced around from team to team and even played for a Japanese team before returning to the Rangers this season. He pitched 8 complete innings and allowed the Yankees only 3 hits. New York's only
run came by way of a mistake by the umpire. Still,..the celebration is on for the Metroplex as the step-child Rangers are finally the rage,..and the Cowboys are in a daze over their 1-4 start to this season.
There is something wrong with the voting
for Hall of Fame inductees into the NASCAR
Shrine. The HOF opened last year and the
first year inductees were Richard Petty, Dale
Earnhardt, Junior Johnson, Bill France, Senior,
and Bill France, Jr. Richard Petty is the all-time
winningest driver in the sport with 200 wins and
he was NOT a unanimous selection into the hall.
This week the 2011 inductees were announced
and already the smelly stuff has hit the fan. Lee
Petty (Richard's Dad), David Pearson, Bobby
Allison, Ned Jarrett, and Bud Moore were announced
as the latest honorees. I got no argument with
any of these names, BUT how do you overlook
Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip? Under what
criteria are we selecting inductees? I love Dale Jarrett's Dad, but Ned was a two-time NASCAR champ. Bobby
Allison did win the Daytona 500 three times, but he
was only NASCAR champ once. Both Cale and DW won
the NASCAR Championship three times..Yarborough did it three years in a row. The Charlotte based Hall of Fame says the voting is done by a select group with knowledge of the sport. I maintain the group needs to find a little more knowledge on the sport...OR turn the voting over to the fans of the sport.
Dwight David Eisenhower was born October 14, 1890
in Denison, Texas. Today is the 120th anniversary of his
birth. Ike's family was from Kansas and his father had a
grocery store that went bankrupt. The father went to
work for the railroad and that led him to Denison. The
railroad was just making his way into Texas and Denison
became the main hub of all rail traffic into the Lone Star
State. Although born in Denison, Ike did not know the
exact spot of his birth until he was a young man. An early
passport shows Eisenhower's place of birth as Tyler, Texas.
The Eisenhower family was only in Texas for less than two
years before returning to their beloved Kansas. It would be
here that Ike spent his youth. He would go on to school at
West Point, serve on the staff of General Douglas McArthur,
lead the American forces in North Africa, and then be named
Supreme Allied Commander of All Forces in the D-Day landing
at Normandy, France. Movies, books, and news accounts have
made the invasion look almost inevitable, but Ike carried a
hand-written note in his pocket for years. If the D-Day invasion
had gone sour he was ready to proclaim the failure on himself
alone. Eisenhower became the most popular man in the
world with the successful ending of World War II and Ike ran
for President in 1952. The black & white photo shows him
campaigning that year in Denison. When asked about his
main accomplishments as President, Eisenhower would later
proudly proclaim 'the Civil Rights Movement and the Interstate
Highway System' both getting their start during his administration.
Happy Birthday Ike !!
As Major League Baseball is on the brink
of its 2010 Post Season Playoffs, one of my
grandsons pushed my passion button the other
night. WTBS-TV was playing a promo for the
upcoming playoffs and one of the people handling
the broadcasts is Cal Ripken, Junior. I made the
comment that he was my favorite player back
in the 1980's & 90's. One of my grandson's asked,
"Who is he?" Being a lifelong fan of the Baltimore
Orioles, I took a deep breath and calmly informed
him that baseball owes it's very existence to Cal
Ripken, Jr. After a players strike robbed fans of
the 1994 World Series, the only thing that peaked any
kind of interest in baseball was the 'consecutive games
played' record of Cal Ripkin, Junior. In the 1970's the Mickey Mantle Little League World Series was played
in Sherman, Texas and I was there to watch 16 year
old Cal Ripken, Junior play. After 20 years in the Majors, Ripken slugged a home run his last time to come to bat. That is the way to punctuate a career. You might think this is just fan loyalty of one old man....but read on!
CAREER
- A 19-time MLB All-Star, Ripken was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29, 2007. Ripken received the highest percentage of votes ever for a position player.
- Known as the “Iron Man”, Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played (2,130) in 1995. He voluntarily ended his streak in 1998 after playing 2,632 consecutive games.
- The only team Ripken ever played for, the Baltimore Orioles, retired his uniform number in 2001.
- Ripken won numerous awards throughout his playing career, including American League Rookie of the Year (1982), AL Most Valuable Player (1983, 1991), eight-time Silver Slugger Award winner (1983-86, 1989, 1991, 1993-94) and two-time AL Gold Glover (1991-92).
- A member of the 3,000-hit club, Ripken reached the milestone on April 15, 2000 when he singled off Hector Carrasco in a game against the Minnesota Twins.
- In 1995, Ripken was named Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" and was elected to the MLB All-Century Team in 1999.
- Ripken holds the MLB records for most MLB All-Star Game appearances at shortstop (1983-1996, 2001) and most consecutive MLB All-Star Game starts (16). On two occasions, Ripken was named All-Star Game MVP (1991, 2001).
PERSONAL
- In 2001, Ripken established the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation in memory of his father. The Foundation helps teach life lessons through baseball to disadvantaged youth from all over the country and gives them a life-changing experience.
- In an effort to share their teaching philosophy with coaches and parents everywhere, Cal teamed up with his brother, Bill Ripken, to release their first instructional book, Play Baseball The Ripken Way.
- In 1999, Babe Ruth League, Inc. changed the name of its largest division (5-12 year-olds) from Bambino to Cal Ripken Baseball. Currently, over 700,000 youths play Cal Ripken Baseball worldwide.
- So as you watch the playoffs, check out my man
- Ripkin,.. I remember him for what he was, and admire him for what he is... My wife?..She just loves him for his big blue eyes!!!
It was the annual 'Fall Festival' in downtown
Denison today...Vendors were on both sides of
Main Street selling everything under the sun.
If you were hungry, this was the place to be.
Hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, popcorn,
candy corn,..You name it and it was there. Arts
and Crafts were evident all over the place too.
Denison is a real hotbed for artisans of all types.
One of my favorite parts of the festival is the
annual car show. There was about fifty or sixty
nice displays of American iron. I have included
just a few of the cars here, but limited space
keeps me from posting all of them.
