Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Turkey Trot Mania
26
Nov
One of the highlights of Thanksgiving Day each year is the running of the Turkey Trot in various cities around the country. They are very popular as people anticipating eating the large Thanksgiving feast run the race, usually a 5K, to burn off calories in advance of eating all that food. In researching this post, I was surprised to learn that here locally, in Buffalo, New York, we have the oldest and one of the most popular Turkey Trots in the country. Established in 1896, it not only is the oldest of its’ kind but also the oldest continually-running public footrace in North America. The Turkey Trot races usually are a fundraising event associated with some type of charity, and here in Buffalo they benefit the local YMCA.
Detroit and Dallas, which both host Thanksgiving Day NFL football games, also run Turkey Trot races, and Dallas boasts having the largest Thanksgiving race in the country. Berwick, PA has the annual Berwick Run For The Diamonds, a nine mile run established in 1908. Some other notable cities that hold Turkey Day races are Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Manasquan, New Jersey, Manchester, Connecticut, Andover, Massachusetts, and the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot held in the San Francisco Bay Area. Pictured below is by far the most unique Turkey Trot. Held in Cuero, Texas, which was named one of the “Coolest Small Towns In America”, it isn’t just a race but a race that is part of an entire November celebration known as Turkey Fest. Cuero is officially called the “turkey capital of the world”, and its’ annual festival includes not only the race but turkey calling and prettiest turkey contests, and a turkey toss. What sets Cuero’s turkey trot apart from the rest is that it’s not a foot race involving people, but a turkey trot using actual turkeys.
The Bob Kalsu Story
12
Nov
Yesterday was Veterans’ Day, a day when all the brave men and women who have served our great country are honored with a day of remembrance. Over the years there have been lots of stories of professional athletes who served bravely in combat during their youth, including legendary football coach Tom Landry, baseball star Ted Williams, football’s last 60 minute man – Chuck Bednarik, Steelers’ running back Rocky Bleier and recently, Cardinals’ safety Pat Tillman, who walked away from his big NFL contract to enlist in the Army after 9/11, then paid the ultimate price for that service, dying in what turned out to be a friendly fire accident in Afghanistan. One other athlete, who wasn’t a big name, was the only pro football player to be killed in action in Vietnam. That player was Bob Kalsu, an offensive lineman out of Oklahoma who appeared to have a bright future in the pros with the Buffalo Bills when he was called to duty. Kalsu had earned a spot in the starting lineup with the Bills in 1968, and was named the team’s Rookie of The Year. Following that season, Kalsu, in order to satisfy his ROTC obligation, entered the Army as a Second Lieutenant and arrived in Vietnam in November 1969 as part of the 101st Airborne Division. He was killed in action on July 21, 1970 when his unit came under enemy mortar fire at FSB Ripcord near the A Shau Valley. According to Thomas Militello, who was there the day Kalsu died, “he was killed trying to save the lives of his friends. He was a real hero.” His plight remained pretty anonymous for years, but in July 2001, Sports Illustrated printed an article bringing his courageous story to light. In 1999, NFL Films produced a feature story on Kalsu that won an Emmy, and a year later the Bills honored Kalsu by adding his name to their “Wall of Fame”. Kalsu’s story is a reminder that in this country’s history, people from all backgrounds, and all walks of life, have paid the ultimate price so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have. Kalsu only played one year for the Bills so his presence on the team’s Wall isn’t for his playing accomplishments, but the fact that 70,000+ fans can enjoy a Sunday afternoon cheering for their team, while living in a free country where all things are possible, is a direct result of the sacrifice he made. His may be the most deserving name to be honored on that wall.
Western New York servicemen stationed at FOB Kalsu in Iraq.
Reviewing Posts From Last Week
12
Oct
Sometimes it’s fun to look back at some of the comments I’ve posted here and see how accurate some of the things I said turned out to be. Here are a few from last week:
On the Yankees/Twins MLB divisional series: “the Yanks will win this series, although it won’t be a sweep like last season”. The Yankees did indeed sweep the Twinkies again. I’ll at least take credit for picking the winner right.
On Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay: “Even if Roy Halladay stumbles in his first playoff appearance (you never know how a player will handle the pressure no matter how good he is), the Phils have Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels behind him.” Halladay wound up pitching the 2nd no-hitter in postseason history in his first start in the Series. And of course, the Phils won Oswalt’s and Hamels’ starts also, with Hamels pitching a shutout, to sweep the Reds.
On the Giants/Braves series: “San Francisco not only has 2 strong starters in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, but also a strong bullpen led by closer Brian Wilson, who will give the Giants good vibrations by closing out each of their victories and is the key player in this series.” Lincecum was lights out in his start, and Wilson saved the final 2 Giants’ victories, protecting one run leads in the 9th inning both times.
Also on the Braves/Giants series: ” the Braves lost too many key players to injury, most notably Chipper Jones and Martin Prado, to win this series.” Prado’s replacement at 2nd base, Brooks Conrad, made 3 errors that directly cost the Braves a win in game 3.
On the Rays/Rangers series: ” The key player in the series is the Rays’ Evan Longoria, who is the key component in their lineup. The team struggled offensively at the end of the year with Longoria sidelined with an injury, and if he shows any rust and struggles, Tampa’s offense may struggle and give the Rangers an opening to pull off the upset.” This series isn’t over yet, with the fifth and deciding game being played tonight, but the Rays’ bats were silent in the first 2 games, then came alive, and in game 4 Longoria went 3 for 4 with a home run.
On the Bills running back situation: “Fred Jackson was a much more productive player last year but for some reason this coaching staff has fallen in love with Marshawn Lynch, and Jackson hasn’t had much chance to shine. It seems to me that the new coaches are making the same mistake with Lynch that they made with Trent Edwards. Like Edwards, Lynch was beaten out last year by a hungrier, more productive player but apparently won the starting job back. They’ll learn the hard way, like they did with Edwards, that for every positive play Lynch makes he’ll make 2 that go for losses, or as in the Jets’ debacle, result in costly turnovers.” Lynch then got the same treatment as Edwards – from the starting lineup to off the roster – when he was traded to Seattle on the day I wrote that post. Jackson then played a bigger role in the offense and responded with 73 yards on 12 carries against Jacksonville. He would have easily hit the 100 yard mark had the Bills’ defense stopped something and given the offense a few more opportunities.
On Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller: ” he needs to be more than just a sound technician. He needs to raise his game to match the hype and truly become the league’s top goalie.” After playing well in a season- opening win in Ottawa, Miller has surrendered 10 goals in 2 games, both losses.
Happy Labor Day!
06
Sep
NASCAR’s Roots
26
Jul
The recent opening of the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in North Carolina got me to thinking about the history of auto racing. NASCAR today is a mega-business, with the new Hall, sponsor-owned racing teams that are ultra-competitive and superstar drivers who are marketed like rock stars. Who hasn’t seen a commercial with Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson in it? Even older NASCAR legends like Richard Petty and Mark Martin have cashed in on the sport’s popularity. I love exploring the historic past of sports, and the history of NASCAR racing is amazing. Pictured above is an old Ford racing in the Daytona 500, when the race still took place on the actual beach at Daytona. A legend of the sport from that early era is Junior Johnson, who, like many of the early drivers, learned their craft by running moonshine in Appalachia. Johnson’s NASCAR career began in 1953 and was briefly interrupted in 1956 when he was arrested while working on the family still and spent time in prison. The sport was, and in many ways still is, a Southern good ol’ boy sport. And of course, when you’re talking good ol’ boys, you know there’s going to be a “Junior” among the group. You have to love some of the other names and nicknames of the early drivers – Speedy Thompson, Fonty Flock and Fireball Roberts, who was tragically killed in an accident in 1964. I’ve never been to a NASCAR race but they say when you’re down near the track during the race that the cars produce a thunderous roar that is amazing. I’ve been to local tracks in Ransomville and Lancaster and been in the area down near the track, and I thought that was pretty great. I can’t imagine what it’s like at the NASCAR races. There’s no doubt the sport has become extremely popular today. I hope today’s drivers appreciate the pioneers who made it what it is, just like the early players in all sports. I’m not a big racing fan, but I still smile at seeing old grainy black and white films of the former moonshine runners racing on the beach at Daytona.
Buffalo Bills Memorabilia
21
Jul
Last season the National Football League celebrated the 50th anniversary of the league that was once a fierce rival, the American Football League. The eight original AFL teams were allowed to wear “throwback” uniforms in selected games,honoring the early years of those franchises. Our local team, the Buffalo Bills, had one of the sweetest retro uniforms of any of the old AFL teams – in fact some fans have lobbied to have the “throwbacks” become the team’s regular uniforms. The team has produced a plethora of memorabilia over the years that have become popular with collectors, starting with early game day programs that feature the “Buffalo Bill” cartoon character. One of the team’s early logos featured a player, wearing jersey number 31, running with the ball alongside a herd of buffalo. That jersey number was not worn by any player for many years because of the logo. Of course, any Bills’ fan today worth his or her salt knows that young star safety Jairus Byrd now dons the number. Those annoying vuvuzela horns that dominated the recent World Cup soccer tournament were a huge story, but how many people remember that at one time the Bills sold similar red plastic horns to the fans at old War Memorial Stadium? Or that the horns so annoyed then coach Lou Saban that he had them banned from the stadium after only one game? How many of those horns are still around today? In the Chuck Knox era in the early 1980s, somebody in the Bills’ marketing department came up with the idea of the “Whammy Weenie”. It was some disturbing promotion for a hot dog company, if I remember right, and was green and kind of perverted looking. Fans were encouraged to shake them when the Bills did something good on the field (they had noisemaker-type beads inside). Here’s a link to read more about this infamous promotion: http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbflofeatures/whammyweenie.html
This was just a plain bad idea, and it’s doubtful if many of those “Whammy Weenies” survived, which makes it a great collector’s item. A great memorabilia item from the team’s glory days of the 1990s would be the “Zubaz” pants, a form of sweat pants with a strange, sort of “camouflage” design, in the team’s colors. A few pairs of these can still be spotted around even today, but they are usually as tattered looking as the old number 34 Thurman Thomas jersey that you have hanging in the closet. Yes, you wore it to the comeback game and it’s a good luck charm, so of course, you can’t possibly throw it out, right?
FIFA World Cup Finale
09
Jul
The FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament finally winds up on Sunday with a championship game between Spain and The Netherlands. I know soccer is the most popular sport on the planet but I’ve never had the slightest interest in it. I’ll admit I’ve been impressed with the athleticism of some of the players they’ve shown on the World Cup highlights, especially the goals scored on “headers”. Soccer to me is the best sport to start out youngsters in, due to its’ simplicity and the fact that all you need to play is a ball. All over the world the sport is played by kids whether they’re rich or poor, and in fact it is probably recognized as the one thing kids can enjoy in poverty-stricken nations. But here in the U.S., in my opinion, it is a bit of an elitist sport. When I think of soccer in the U.S., I think of this incident – once my son was playing in a baseball game on a complex that had other fields around the baseball diamond, and a foul ball was hit into a soccer field in the complex where a kids’ soccer game was going on. The ball rolled up to the feet of a father of one of the soccer kids, a rosy-cheeked snooty looking guy dressed in khaki pants, a golf shirt and a cardigan neatly tied around his shoulders. He picked up the ball and as players from the baseball field called to him to throw it, he twirled around and flung the ball into a nearby woods. It was unfortunate that those kids playing the soccer game had to hear the obscenities that the baseball players, mostly in their late teens and early twenties, heaped on this guy. But that pompous ass, to me, pretty much sums up soccer in the U.S. With all due respect to the Rwandan team that shares my website’s name, the Rayon Sports Football Club, I’m afraid this is one sports fan who will never warm up to the sport of soccer.
Happy Independence Day!
04
Jul
