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| Pete Rose |
So what's my first nugget of a memory about Pete Rose? His flawed nature can never be put aside. Bad enough to keep him out of the Hall of Fame. But not as bad as for Art Schlichter. Schlichter couldn't even get off the ground as a pro quarterback.
Rose was a stellar player even while dealing with his flaws. He wasn't a power merchant but he sprayed hits all over the place. I haven't checked to see how baseball "analytics" or "sabermetrics" evaluated him.
My top game-based memory of Rose was what he did in the All-Star Game one year, plowing into catcher Ray Fosse and hindering the latter's career. Of course the All-Star Game was not worth that move by Pete. Also, Fosse should have stayed clear in the same way that Cam Newton backed away from trying to recover a fumble. Remember that? Bodily preservation. Can't argue with that.
Rose and Schlichter had their weakness with gambling. In Schlichter's case it became a monster that destroyed him. But maybe a re-evaluation is in order based on all the documented concussions that the man experienced in football. I can't begin to relate to that.
I have written about high school and college football so much. Ironically I never exposed myself to the serious dangers the sport poses. Yet I promoted it. That shouldn't be in the past tense because I still write about high school ball when I get the chance. I had the opportunity to share more than a few details of the MACA win over Detroit Lakes last Friday. My spirits were lifted. It still does mean something to me. It's hard to know how much reach I have using the online world.
I boasted to a friend that from Saturday through Monday I had a "monopoly" with my work. No other Stevens County media reported on the game beyond the "score," to my knowledge. And I think this is really a problematic void. It is so easy to harness online. The problem with a weekly newspaper is timeliness of course. People who think we have to be so dependent on a newspaper are behind the times of course.
The newspaper can stick around as part of our info world, albeit in a greatly reduced form from when I was with the Morris newspaper. It can stick around if it is a practical business venture of course. I understand that the Morris paper would be gone if the previous owner had had its way. It would have gone the way of the Hancock newspaper which vanished into thin air. And there truly is grounds for questioning that.
Hancock is a community with its own K-12 school still. Right there you have a foundation. I was surprised at the time of the Hancock Record's cancellation that there wasn't a sense of controversy or disapproval in Hancock. I did not sense an appreciable degree, if any at all. That should tell you that dependence on newspapers is indeed diminishing, probably seriously.
The vanishing act of the Hancock Record, courtesy of the behemoth Forum Communications of Fargo, has had repercussions for here in Morris. The paper was the "Morris Sun Tribune" in my tenure there: a twice-a-week product.
The problem now is that ever since Hancock lost its paper, the Morris paper has tried to absorb it. And don't you think they have done much too well with this? I mean, disproportionate attention to Hancock, sometimes in a way that really jumps out at you? And quantity of the Morris newspaper product had already eroded by going to once a week. And if you want to get technical, the page size began shrinking in steps a long time ago. Hey, that's "shrinkflation," right?
But does anyone really care with a newspaper? How much do people really care? Maybe people would've been disconsolate with the loss of a Morris newspaper. One might argue that the loss would not have been all that tangible. It would have been intangible in the sense that "hey, we lost something." Understandable, but why was this community not commensurately moved by the loss of the summer Prairie Pioneer Days? We showed we could lose a major symbol and source of pride for the community, and not give a rip about it.
I guess I cared, along with Kevin Wohlers. Us two had a little chat about it at a Wohlers family gathering. We sliced and diced the whole thing and shared background and theories. Ahem, like how Morris had an element of "leaders" whose top priority was to "get away to the lake" on summer weekends. To which I'd respond that not everyone lives like that.
Consider this
It's easy to point fingers, like to the fact that the Morris community band, the type of group for which the Killoran stage was absolutely designed, was not even invited to play at the park in PPD's last year of the original iteration. Not even invited! I think that says volumes about how maybe the cancellation of it all was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The community band made its triumphant return to the Killoran stage a couple weeks ago for the festive Thursday night event that had ice cream. I was so struck by the successful nature of it all. The Hispanics contributed a lot to the family atmosphere. A friend tells me that when the Hispanics are around, you see the "little heads." Bless them for prioritizing family in such a joyous way.
The white folks were once that way with us "boomer" kids. We were everywhere, it seemed. But if we had to depend on white people now, would be daunting. There are places that welcome the Haitian immigrants and why shouldn't they? All classes of human beings can be lifted up in this miracle nation, "America." A rule of law based on the Judeo-Christian ethic. Prosperity. Freedom. Abundant resources.
So it's sad to hear Donald Trump talk the way he does so much.
We're a month away from the election. Are we all whistling past the graveyard? A friend told me this morning that we might assume Harris/Walz will win. She felt Walz was not particularly impressive last night. To which I said as devil's advocate: Well then Trump will be president again. I noted that any hope of codifying Roe vs. Wade would be lost. I warned that Trump really could win in November.
My friend and I will have to cancel out the votes of the crusty older guys who sit in the middle section of DeToy's Restaurant. That's the best we can do: to cancel out two of those votes. But we need success, we need victory to ensure that Fascism does not rise up in America.
Trump tried fomenting a violent revolution four years ago to overturn the election. If our legal system were as strong as it should be, there should have been quick hell to pay for Trump and his accessories. No. So Fascism really is knocking at the door. Our congressperson was fine with opening the door for Trump.
A final note about Art Schlichter the ill-fated quarterback: a top memory for me was when he threw the interception against Clemson in college ball. He was playing for Woody Hayes. Remember Hayes? "Crusty" would not do him justice. He appeared to be in some mental decline. A Clemson linebacker intercepted Schlichter. The linebacker was brought down by the sidelines whereupon Hayes gave him an upper-cut punch.
There was such a "scrum," it wasn't real obvious to the TV-watchers. But I'm proud to note that I did notice the punch and I alerted my father. I don't recall the game announcers saying anything about it. So we tuned in to the news the following week and there was no doubt, so Hayes' career had to come to an end.
Hayes left football ignominiously, but an even stronger word needs to be reserved for Schlichter. The gambling addiction devoured him. But let's not put aside all the concussions that could have seriously impaired his brain. Just think if he had never put on a football uniform or helmet. Just think, think if our society with its school competition norms had not been such an allure for him. He was lured when he was underage and not in position to use the best judgment.
It's hell to pay if kids are caught with booze or cigarettes, right? But football? We continue to allow it? And to even reward our kids who "win?"
Look at the spectacle at our Big Cat Field for the home games. Yes, our community leaders like to go to the lake on weekends and they thump their chest too when the football team wins. Put aside any thoughtful or careful analysis of all this. We are who we are. And the community band sounded great at the park. Let's not let years roll by before the next such occasion. But we've done it before.
So it's October
Halloween is near so I'm "scared" of what the Federal Reserve and its chairman are going to say and do. The guy is in the news too much. He is tethered to inflation in case you're not aware. So I share on this as the crux of an email I sent to old colleague Jim Morrison a few days ago. He and I are sort of attached to UMM with our family names.
And how is UMM doing? Actually I start out the email with a thought or two about our august local institution. I'm not sure we should be thrilled. Trump got rid of the foreign students and they were UMM's "cash cow." Elections do have consequences.
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| The new U president |
The UMM campus seems awful dead to me.
Inflation is THEFT. Inflation is a TAX. Can't other people see this? I am resenting it more and more. Yes I can "give up things" but that contradicts the whole idea of acquiring wealth. We're supposed to live better, not worse.
I wonder if there will be a move to eliminate the Federal Reserve and institute some new kind of system. I am greatly bothered by two things that Powell said over the recent past. And BTW why is Powell's name on the tip of everyone's tongue? When we were young we didn't know who the Fed chair was, didn't care, it was a boring subject. Today it's top-of-mind. Why? Powell made the statement during the rate increases that "inflation is hard on poor people." And my response was: It's not the Fed's role to make comments like this. No one with the Fed is elected.
The second big disturbing comment was "time to start cutting interest rates." I guess that was right after Jackson Hole, right? What a name, "Jackson Hole."
"Time to start cutting" clearly indicates a pattern of rate-cutting, and why is Powell proclaiming this in advance? Why even bother having a "quiet period" just before a FOMA meeting? I have to laugh. Powell's statement sure disrupted my life. But I have to try to ensure that I have an income flow, and I think I've done that adequately, albeit with going over the FDIC limit in places. I have lost all flexibility in dealing with banks. I have to shave things down to 2-3 banks that I can trust. If I lose everything I'll have to turn to the government. Where else do people turn? In 2008 where did all the big shots turn? To the government for TARP. Who else was going to help? George W. Bush said "if we don't do this our economic system will collapse." Right away I was suspicious. But I guess I'm not as smart as all the New York Times people et al.
- BW
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