johnstonwrites.com

Today's thoughts

Category: OLD SPORT SHORTS (Page 55 of 68)

An old guy’s perspective on all sports

Retirement is not without Hassles: What No TV? #498

April 18, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I think I set a retirement record for not turning on the TV! I did watch a on-demand movie, Molly’s Game, 3 days ago but that was the last time I hit the power switch on the remote. It’s usually at least on in the background, but my computer has been my sole companion this week. This oddity suddenly struck me today, as I sat here writing in silence this afternoon. It’s not as if I haven’t been exposed to TV at all. My wife has had it on in the living room and I’ve seen it on in bars and restaurants that I’ve visited, but I have remarkably not touched a remote control in all this time. A few more days of this and I might have to call the Guinness Book of World Records.

This was not my intent when the week started. I planned to watch the Cubs host the Cardinals, but two out of three of those games were cancelled because of the weather. I would have also watched the Trailblazer Playoff game, but got tickets to the unexpected loss at the Moda Center instead. I ran some errands, did my daily runs, and went to lunch today, but otherwise I was home with the dogs every morning and afternoon. No TV doesn’t sound like a remarkable achievement to you? It was my business for nearly 25 years, so the “boob tube” has been a mainstay for most of my life. Also, like most retirees, sitting in front of a television screen is a primary source of “cheap” entertainment, unless you have hundreds of channels to choose from as I do.

I will not be watching television tomorrow either. We’ll be on an early plane to Santa Monica, and stay in hotel rooms over the next four days. It will likely be a full week before I turn it on a TV again. The laptop was my alternative crutch the past few days where I do my writing, maintain diaries, read e-mail, check scores, and stream Amazon Prime programming. It wasn’t as if I lost touch with the world, just with the TV remote!

Streaming is the same as watching TV, you might counter. I will often have the TV on in my office and be fiddling with the two computers on my desk at the same time while checking the phone for incoming messages. It’s basic multitasking, a viewing habit that I developed many years ago! Watching a program on my computer and not turning on the TV eliminates one of these distractions, so I’m really much more focused on what I’m watching. At the same time, much of my commercial intake is eliminated, so it feels like a different experience. Plus, I carry the laptop from room to room, so I’m not stuck in a stationary spot all day like a “couch potato.” I could do the same with TV since there’s one in every room, but I don’t because there are too many remote controls involved.

I can watch TV both on my phone and on my computers, so as many as three programs could be on at the same time. That hardly compares to stretches in my broadcasting career when I had as many as eight TVs on different channels in my office, so I could constantly monitor the competition. I could see who was a breaking a news or weather story first, how the other stations were handling live coverage of local events, and who was advertising at any given time. As you can see, my working days were often consumed with television. In retirement, I limit most of my viewing to historical documentaries, current movies, and live sports, so I’ve cut back considerably on my viewing habits. This should explain why a week away from TV for me is worthy of the record books. 

 

Old Sport Shorts: The Uniform #494

April 15, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Another rainy weekend with little to do but watch movies. I did get out to a baseball card show but found little of interest at my limited budget. There are always lots of things that you’d like to have, but supply and demand dictates. I did go on E-bay and buy a Sherm Lollar signature catcher’s mitt that I saw once listed at twice the price. It will go nicely with the 63-year old jersey that I got for Christmas this past year. (See Post #257). It is one of my prized possessions. Here’s some history on it that I researched and included as part of the display in my office:

Sherm Lollar #10 Game Worn Jersey 1955

This uniform was worn in these first four home games at Comiskey Park in 1955:

4/14/1955 vs. K.C. Athletics W 7-1 1-3 with a triple, RBI and run

4/16/1955 vs. Cleveland Indians W 9-4 1-4

4/17/1955 vs. Cleveland Indians W 3-1 1-3

4/17/1955 vs. Cleveland Indians L 4-2 2-3 with an RBI

In this uniform, Sherm went 5-13 with a triple. The Sox team ended 1955 with a 91-63 record in 3rd place, 5 games behind the Yankees. 

Sherm Lollar was 30 years old in 1955 and played in 138 games, batting 426 times. In hitting only .261 he was still an All-Star and finished 11th in the AL MVP voting that was won by Yogi Berra. Teammates Nellie Fox (#7) and Billy Pierce (#18) also finished in the top MVP voting. Ted Williams finished 4th and Mickey Mantle #5.

1956 was Sherm’s best year as a hitter at .293. His 18-year career included 9 All-Star appearances, 3 Golden Gloves, and a .264 average. He also earned 2 World Series rings as a player and coach. He played 12 years with the White Sox, 3 years with the St. Louis Browns, 2 years with the Yankees, and 1 year with the Cleveland Browns.

This year’s White Sox team is off to another predictable slow start at 4-8. Since I first adopted Sherm Lollar as my favorite Sox player back in the 1959 World Series, it would be 46 years later until I finally saw them win the World Championship. I will give them another year to build a formidable team, and continue to support the Northside Cubs as a result of their success the past couple of years. Admittedly, I’m a fair weather fan, but Chicago baseball championships are a rarity, so unlike most city loyalists I support both teams to enhance my odds. I will struggle to determine a favorite when I see both teams play against each other in the Crosstown Classic later this year. I’m not sure what I’d do if they both made it to the World Series? The last time was 1906, only a hundred and twelve short years ago, so I won’t lose any sleep over that decision. 

Today is M.L.B. Jackie Robinson Day, so every player is wearing a #42 jersey, but both the White Sox and Cubs players did not take the field due to the cold, wet, wintry conditions in Chicago and Minneapolis. I wonder if they’ll wear their number 42 uniforms in the make-up games, since they are often sold to raise money for charity? The weather was definitely a strong factor in yesterday’s Cubs victory, fueled by an unbelievable 9-run 8th inning rally. I had checked the score after the 4th inning and found the Cubbies down 10-2 to the Braves, so like a true fair weather fan I gave up my intent to watch in favor of a movie. They ended up scoring 9 runs with just 3 hits and won 14-10. I had to buy the Topps Now card to document the victory, so another $9.99 invested in my sports collection. These particular high-quality, limited-edition cards are only sold during a 24-hour period and are a great way to document the season. So far, I’ve bought the Cub’s Ian Happ card showing his first pitch homer on opening day, the White Sox’s Matt Davidson’s 3-HR opening day card, and several Angel’s Shohei Ohtani highlight cards after the Babe Ruth like start by this rookie phenom from Japan. I’m sure there will be plenty of players featured on tomorrow’s Topps Now cards wearing #42 in honor of the player who broke the color barrier in baseball back on April 15, 1947 with the Dodgers, but none from the Cubs or White Sox. 

Retirement is not without Hassles: Sunday #488

April 8, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I thought it was Sunday, but there isn’t even a hint of sunshine. It’s just like any other gray day to a retiree like me. I did my three mile run this morning on the treadmill while I finished up Red Alert by James Patterson and Marshall Karp. The dogs were reluctant to go outside in the rain, but their bladders prevailed. Tally ran directly across the street dodging raindrops to do her business. Tinker, on the other hand, could not find a proper place to pee, and wandered aimlessly through the wet grass for what seemed like an hour. As I sit here drinking a Diet Coke and talking to my wife, we’re thinking about another visit to Cracker Barrel for what would be my third time this week. These are the things that make me a certified “creature of habit.”

There is a certain sense of peace in being a home body, while only venturing out to familiar sites. Buffalo Wild Wings to end each week is a good example. Movie night, cooking night, and date night help distinguish the days of the week. A different movie, recipe, and restaurant are the only decisions that need to be made when you’re in the routine of being home. It’s not boring at all considering the amount of traveling that we do. Nearly one week of every month is spent away from home, a percentage that’s been even higher so far this year. Marriott Hotels are our home away from home, utilizing everything from the lower end Fairfield Inn properties to the high-end JW Marriott and their world class resort hotels. However, there’s no place like home.

Tomorrow starts my wife’s work week – another Monday. Sunday, for me, was always the transition day, preparing for the job while struggling to preserve the weekend. I was never able to look at Sunday as “Funday” because of what always loomed ahead. As a result, the weekend hours began to shrink and pass by too quickly. The week seemed to skip from Friday to Monday to the point where I felt that I was always working, Also, back in the days of mowing, trimming, edging, and raking, weekends were nothing but a labor extension of the work week. Condo life eventually put an end to those responsibilities. My wife misses her garden, while I certainly don’t miss those yard work and home maintenance days. 

We ended up going to Biscuits for breakfast, our favorite haunt prior to the recent two Cracker Barrel location openings. Regardless, a hearty breakfast at either location usually leads to a nap. The Cubs, The Masters, and I.U. baseball might allow me to plow through the afternoon. In addition, my wife wants us to watch Pitch Perfect 3. By the way, Game Night was a very entertaining movie last night. It was a Friday Night Lights reunion of coach Kyle Chandler and back-up quarterback, Jesse Plemons, one of my favorite TV series. I often had dinner with the two of them during the filming of the show while we lived in Austin. They were both very good about mixing with the crew and lowly show extras like myself.

It should be a relatively quiet week. There will be no skiing, Broadway musicals, or Leadership breakfasts. The dogs get to go to the spa and we might go to the Nike Hoop Summit on Friday night.  It’s supposed to be spring-like weather tomorrow and then return to cool temperatures. The dogs were shorted their walk/run today, and Tinker responded with a fowl case of Tinkerrhea on the kitchen floor. She is the “Poopingest Pup on the Planet,” and after last night’s storms and the need for her Thunder Shirt was unable to control her output. (See Posts #370 and #371). I somehow managed to sleep through the high winds and heavy rain, exhausted after another tough day of retirement. What day is it again? 

 

Old Sport Shorts: The Weak in Sports #486

April 7, 2018 / / 0 Comments

It’s been a disappointing week of sports, starting with another Villanova NCAA Basketball championship, not that I would have been any happier if Michigan had won it all. Furthermore, the only two Cubs games that I’ve watched the opposition joyously walked-off in victory. Tiger Woods has not played well at The Masters, so his hopes of becoming the greatest comeback sports story in history are dashed. The Portland Trailblazers are still fighting to win their division after a couple of tough outings. Oregon State baseball has dropped out of the top spot in college baseball, while I.U. had finally made it into the Top 10 before being upset by rival Purdue. My White Sox also lost their last two after a great two-win start to the season. It was a “weak week” for all of my favorites.

As far as “upsets,” last week was no different. While on our cruise ship near Greece, I had little access to the world of sports. It was just as well that I was far removed from “March Sadness,” with no teams left to follow. I was instead looking forward to seeing Olympia, the site of the very first Olympic Games and a must-see mecca for any sports fan. Due to high winds our ship was unable to port, so that site still remains on my bucket list. I was hoping to find an ancient gold medal that no one else had stumbled upon. It’s still there!

Despite these setbacks, I still managed to add to my sports collection with a couple of Sherm Lollar photos, White Sox Opening Day cards, and two Topps Now cards of Shohei Ohtani, the Angels rookie sensation from Japan who hit his first three home runs this week. I also wait with anticipation for Indiana high school basketball standout Romeo Langford to finally make his college decision, now that the McDonald’s All-American Game is history. He had 19 points, including three 3-pointers as his East team lost to the West. He’ll next play here in Portland next week as part of the Nike Hoop Summit that I will be attending. I think I’m headed for more disappointment in hoping that he will elect to play for Indiana next year. The only positive for Hoosier basketball in recent times has been the women’s NIT championship that they claimed last week in Bloomington. Go Lady Hoosiers!

The Cubbies much anticipated home opener will be Monday against the hot, division-leading Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs struggled against them early last year, but hopefully The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field will bring out the best from the “Good Guys.” I did find out that my wife and I will be in Chicago for this year’s Crosstown Classic at Guaranteed Rate Filed, so I’ll hopefully get to see both of my favorites on the diamond this September. The only other baseball game I have planned so far this year is Oregon State when they play here against Portland University at Ron Tonkin Field in a few weeks. It will be my second Beaver baseball game this year after seeing them beat Cal Poly in Surprise, Arizona. They won their first 13 games this year, then added a 7-game victory streak, before uncharacteristically losing three out of the next four against Washington and Utah. They’ll face the state rival Ducks for a three-game series in Corvallis before traveling here to Portland to battle the Pilots.

Here’s to a strong next week!

Old Sport Shorts: What’s the score? #468

March 21, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Despite the fact that I’m thousands of miles away and didn’t pay extra for the international service, I can still keep up on sports (and Broadway) on the ship’s free wi-fi. This was not the case years ago when I traveled abroad. The only option was an Internet Cafe. Back in “prehistoric” days, you had to wait until you were back in the States to even listen to your messages. Imagine the stress of 10 days away from the office without word of any office challenges in your absence. Once you got off the airplane, you dialed into your voicemail system that usually indicated, “you have 96 unplayed messages.” Then, slowly but surely, you got a painstaking recap of your time off.

Even when traveling in The States, I would often have to go to a pay phone to retrieve my messages, hoping that a friend had left me a message about the score of the big game. What’s The Score? It’s so easy these days, but also intrusive. There was a certain sense of relaxation knowing that you were “off the grid.” Nowadays they want you to check-in for a conference call from across the globe thinking nothing of the fact that it’s the middle of the night where you are located. What happened to the once sacred excuse of “I’m on vacation or it’s the weekend?”

I have been easily retrieving the scores of my key games this week. I know the results of the Indiana High School Basketball Tournament, where the teams of the reputed top two players in the state have been eliminated. Romeo Langford of New Albany will be making his college choice soon, with a slim hope he will attend Indiana along with South Bend Riley’s Damezi Anderson. We hope to see “Wherefore art thou…going?” Romeo at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland a few weeks from now. Hopefully, he will stay “home” in Indiana rather than pick Vanderbilt or Kansas. With I.U.’s lack of recent success, I can’t say I would blame him for picking a perennial winner over perhaps becoming another Indiana basketball legend (even though it will be one and done!). Damezi, on the other hand, has not gotten the national attention as Langford, the #1 point guard prospect in the country. 

I was even able to find out that the I.U. college baseball team is on another winning streak, as is #1 Oregon State. These types of “minor sport” scores were impossible to get years ago when you were traveling. Unfortunately, the “red-hot” Portland Trailblazers finally had their 13-game winning streak snapped by the Houston Rockets. The game was at 3:30 a.m. Mediterranean time, but I had instant access to live scoring. I never once had to wonder “What’s the score?” In the end, I wish I hadn’t known, and that the streak could have been preserved a bit longer through “old-fashioned” ignorance.

The Cubs were having a great Spring Training season until I left the country. They’ve lost six of their last ten games, while the White Sox were 6-3 with a tie. I’ve kept up on both teams progress while I’ve been on the road, and will return to watch the regular season openers of “America’s Favorite Pastime” from my U.S.A. home, along with the Final Four & Championship. 

Finally,  I was completely up to date on all the “basketball bracket busters” that befuddled all of us in this year’s March to the Sweet 16. Michigan and an injury-damaged Purdue squad are the only teams left from the BIG, while overall #1 seed Virginia made history by losing to #16 UMBC. It was instant internet news all over the world. I got the word in Amsterdam and berated myself as an “American Idiot” for picking them to go all the way. Also, Xavier did not “mark the spot,” losing to Florida State. Loyola of Chicago became “God’s favorite” after Notre Dame failed to make the field. Six of the Sweet 16 are a #7 seed at best, with three #5’s, one #4, two #3, two #2, and two #1 picks left in the chase. I will be in Greece when the Final Four is determined, and could certainly stream the games on my phone if I really wanted to know “What’s The Score?”

 

Retirement is not without Hassles: Straws #458

March 12, 2018 / / 0 Comments

It was a gorgeous day of skiing. Obviously, several people took the day off to enjoy the rare sunshine at this time of year, but we still essentially had the slopes to ourselves. In comparison, Steamboat last month was cold and crowded, while the runs were sometimes too long for my aging legs. After all, I’m apparently only 9 years away from skiing free, and was able to get an all day Senior pass for $59, half the price of Colorado. The two-mile length of our run down the mountain today was enough to create a pleasant burn in my quads, not the unbearable, tired feeling of the longer, steeper, higher-altitude courses at Steamboat. It made me want to go back for more, as we made advance plans for next month.

This week’s Leadership Meeting will take place a day earlier and will involve the biggest day of college basketball all year long. Unfortunately, I really don’t have a horse in this year’s race, so it’s more sadness than Madness, for me. It’s appropriate that we’ll be out of the country, and so this will not be the focus of March. We’ll be crusin’ and boozin’ and my team won’t be losin’! Instead, my Indiana Hoosiers will be preparing for next year. Hopefully, Purdue, Butler, or even Notre Dame will represent my home state’s legendary reputation for basketball.

I’m learning to play “Stand By Me” on the ukulele, thanks to the help of a friend. My fingers get sore making the chord transitions, so it will take some practice time to build-up some calluses. The burn marks on my hands from cooking dinner last week have evolved into ugly, red scabs. My poor, multi-fingered appendages have taken a lot of abuse in retirement, so far. They were once rough & tough from shovel labor, shaking hands, and softball. Similarly, my poor feet are sore and my toe nails black from skiing, consequently I will need some luxury cruise pampering.

Our seventeen year-old cat, Frankie, has a urinary infection, so I will be back at the vet tomorrow. Pet.Vet. Debt. (See Post #351). Even our perfectly health schnauzer pup, Tally, needed eye drops for an infection last week. Pet expenses continue to mount, including the $1000 that we’ll need to pay a house/pet sitter while we’re away from home next week. We’ve begun to call Tally by the nickname, “Egbert,” since she loves to have a bite of our morning egg breakfast. Tinker, her older sister, is allergic to egg, so we have to be deceptive in the delivery. Tinker knows! Both dogs go to the groomer tomorrow to “get the stink off.” They accompanied us to wine country yesterday, glad to spend the day out of the house.

With all these pet duties tomorrow, I will have little time for writing. I need to start packing for our 15-day trip, and want to read The Diary of a Young Girl before our visit to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. My wife had nightmares from reading it, so it’s been tough for her to digest. I’m bored with my current book, All-American Murder, by James Patterson. It’s not one of his better works, but non-fiction rather than his imaginative specialty. I was also disappointed with the movie, Wrinkle in Time, from a childhood book that was my wife’s favorite. It was really not about time travel as I originally posted. (See #455). It had too much of Oprah’s ego invested, however some movie-goers actually clapped.

I’ve been really good about limiting my use of straws. My friend has a blog, www.offthecoast.net. He is certified as a Master Recycler, and involved with organizations like www.portland.surfrider.org. I now always carry with me in my car a zip-lock bag so I can reuse the straw I get at regular McDonald’s visits for a Diet Coke. It’s a small gesture on my part to support his efforts to protect our environment and reinforce an anti-straw campaign by my former employer KINK Radio.  I have become sooooooo… Portland!

Retirement is not without Hassles: By The Numbers #457

March 11, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I just got done posting both my longest and shortest blog posts these past few days. Over the next few weeks, with our travel schedule, it will be tough to keep up the daily pace. After doing this for a year, I’m due for another blog-cation. The last one I took was while I was running the Hood to Coast relay (Post #230) and was stuck in a van for a few days. In this occasion, I’ll be on a Mediterranean cruise ship, with unlimited access to alcohol. I’ll see the sites of Amsterdam, Venus, Croatia, and Greece along the way, and try to take the time to report on my journey. We were in wine country today, enjoying the sunshine, and I’ll be back on the ski slopes tomorrow, as my wife anticipates her first two-week vacation from work ever.

As I continue to reflect on my past, I thought it might be interesting to look at my life from a numbers standpoint:

0. Number of calories in a Diet Coke.

1.  loving wife of 17 years; sister; junior high attended; 43 year-old son; 97 year-old mother-in-law.

2. grade schools attended; marriages; high school buildings attended; step-daughters; houses lived-in as a child

3. college campuses enrolled; grand kids; cats lived with.

4. World Series attended (Cubs win!); strings on a ukulele.

5. I.U. NCAA basketball championships

6. pet dogs loved;

7.  homes owned.

8. days until our Mediterranean cruise; Tally and Maddie’s current age. 

9. ladies dancing (Limoges 12 days of Christmas collection); current Trail Blazer’s win streak.

10. Sherm Lollar’s uniform number (my lucky number) 

11. cities lived-in. Gavyn’s age. 

12. day of the current month. 

13. cars owned.

14. apartments rented; Tinker’s current age.

16. dollars currently in my wallet.

17, days until baseball opening day; Frankie’s current age.

18. Payton Manning’s uniform number with the Colts. 

20. employers who hired me; days left this month.

23. hours in a day (with time change).

24. each of our pup’s weight on the vet’s scale.

26. different jobs worked.

26.2. miles in the 1979 Detroit Marathon completed.

31. Reggie Miller’s uniform number with the Pacers. 

32. games won in 1976 I.U. undefeated season (32-0).

34. Walter Payton’s uniform number with the Bears.

61. My younger wife’s current age. 

66. years lived.

68. teams in this year’s NCAA basketball tournament.

72. My height in inches before Senior shrinkage. 

88. sit-ups and push-ups done each day.

93. Age that both my parent’s lived. 

100. days until my wife’s birthday.

146. Broadway shows attended with my wife (Post #454).

197. my weight today.

229. months together with my wife.

287. shopping days until Christmas.

294. days left this year.

436. days retired.

1273. different restaurants dined with my wife (date nights).

3361. consecutive days of running.

7,022. Days together with my wife.

 

 

 

 

 

2.

 

 

 

Old Sport Shorts: March MAD #447

March 2, 2018 / / 0 Comments

It’s March and I want to be excited and feel the Madness. However, I wrote about February Sadness (Post #421) but now I’m just March MAD. I love this time of year associated with basketball tournaments. This dates back to childhood and playing the Indiana High School basketball tournament in my basement with a bottomless Quaker Oats canister for a basket and a tin-foil ball.  I would set a timer for each quarter and run plays for each team, keeping score and moving the winners through the bracket. If the driveway was clear of snow, I would use a real ball and 10-foot-high basket to play the tournament game-by-game until I had a champion. It was hours of fantasizing about being in a team uniform after watching the Sectionals in the school gym, since basketball was rarely on TV at that time. I would listen to the games on our local radio station, where I eventually went to work. It was like a holiday when all the area teams would come to town and they would close the school as if it was a treasured “snow day.” That was long before “March Madness, when “Hoosier Hysteria” was king, and my very first tourney brackets were sponsored by the Peter Eckrich Company of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. They closed in 1972, just as I began to attend basketball games at Indiana University. 

When I was back in Indiana last week, the Sectionals were underway, except they do it in classes now by enrollment size, as opposed to the single-class tournament of my childhood where “David” often met “Goliath” on the hardwood. I couldn’t help but order the book, History of Our Hysteria: Indiana High School Basketball, as presented by the Indianapolis Star newspaper I was reading. It will be here soon and will hopefully pick up my spirits in what will likely be a disappointing round-ball March. It will be MAD rather than Madness for me this March, as my basketball is badly deflated. 

I watched last night as my Indiana Hoosiers blew a 16-point lead and lost to Rutgers in the BIG tournament. Rutgers finished last in the BIG conference regular season, but got the benefit of the home crowd in the misplaced MADison Square Gardens game.  Just before I ordered the “Hoosier Hysteria”book, I was reading an article about the “greedy, money-motivated,” expansion of the Big Ten Conference into Maryland and New York City, with most of the fan interest back in the Midwest, so attendance was suffering. I guess I’m bitter that Indiana drew the home town favorite, after a season of let-down after let-down. If the Hoosiers had won, they would have faced Purdue and have been eliminated anyways, but a victory might have earned them a consolation NIT invitation. Instead, I feel confident that the season is over. and it’s only the first day of March. This makes me MAD. I’ll probably be MAD next year too, until Coach Archie Miller puts a competitive team on the court and resumes our streak of NCAA tournament appearances that once stood at 18 under Bob Knight and Mike Davis.

The Wisconsin Badgers consecutive NCAA appearance streak ended last night at 19 with their loss to Michigan State, who will undoubtedly extend theirs to 21, even if they don’t win the BIG tournament. Outside of the BIG, Gonzaga will probably extend theirs to 20, Duke to 23, and Kansas to a record 29, while North Carolina (27) and Arizona (25) will make the field, but have missed a few years recently. Kentucky had a 17-year streak that ended in 2008 and UCLA’s 15-game run from 1967-1981, round out the top-10 tourney teams of all time. 

Yes, I will rebound from the disappointment of Indiana’s absence from the “Big Dance,” and continue to follow the high school tournament and Purdue throughout the month. I will also dutifully fill out my traditional NCAA bracket, and undoubtedly lose a few bucks to friends in the process. To make matters worse, I will out of the country for most of the NCAA tournament, but that is by choice. I will return to the states for the Final Four and the opening of baseball season with lots of great memories of Amsterdam, Venice, and Athens. So, it will be a very memorable March, and I will get over being MAD.

Diary of an Adoptee: Library Search #444

February 28, 2018 / / 0 Comments

I’m back in the homeland, wandering Indiana while dodging pot-holes the size of a child’s wading pool along the way.Yesterday’s trip to Shelbyville was disappointing, but I did get a couple of new clues on my likely birthmother’s family. They are all still total strangers, but precious“blood” relatives that should bear a resemblance, a physical connection that adopted children like myself never experience. It has captured my curiosity, as I continue to search for pictures, still hoping my information on this “second family” is accurate.

My web search of North Vernon revealed little. I will eventually go to the Jennings County library, but not on this trip. I apparently did miss spotting a picture of my birth mother’s oldest sister in the 1941 Shelbyville High School annual. So, at some point between then and 1949 the family must have moved to North Vernon where her one-year-older twin brothers went to high school. Their father was a farmer known as “Pete,” who only lived to be 61 years old. His wife, Ruby Mae, lived twenty-one years longer but died on her birthday. I was able to find photos of both of them in the Shelby County library file compiled by her great grand daughter Angie.

North Vernon and Shelbyville high schools are now both consolidations, with little history from my birth mother’s era on their respective websites. At least, Shelbyville maintains bragging rights to their 1947 state basketball championship that pales in accomplishment to only Milan’s title in 1954 preserved in the movie, “Hoosiers.” Milan was a school of only 161 students, while Shelbyville featured three black starters in a primarily white school. All-black and Catholic schools were barred from the single-class tournament in that era, that featured 781 high school teams in 1947. North Vernon, now Jennings County, has never had that kind of basketball success, an essential measure in Indiana schools. Supposedly, my birth father was a basketball player in high school, one of the few details I know about him.

I’m not sure where this incessant interest in sports comes from? It must be genetic, since my adopted father was a lefty and couldn’t really teach a right-handed son. He was never much of an athlete, but was at least competitive on ice, something I was never able to master. I seemed to be obsessed with basketball, a sport that remains a favorite, although my shooting and ball-handling skills are long forgotten. I never really played much baseball, but did learn to enjoy watching and arguing sports with my dad. As an adult, I played softball in primarily work-related leagues. I also ran some track in high school, but mostly short dashes and hurtles. Ironically, I always hated running long distances, although it’s the only sport I still do in retirement. I also wrestled in high school at the insistence of a friend. My adopted mom was never a sports fan and my grandparents were not at all sports-minded. Was the birth-father I never knew somehow still an influence, even though my athletic skills were only slightly above average?

I would like to know more about this man known as “The Marine.” However, the only one who knows his identity is my birth mother. It’s just another reason why the clock is ticking. She is presumably still alive, since no record of her death is on file. I’ve seen a recent picture, but don’t know her state of health. She’ll be 85 in a few months, living in Seymour, just 15 miles from North Vernon and 42 miles from Shelbyville, as the basketball bounces. I did see an address from her past in Thorndale, Texas, but otherwise she’s stayed close to home. I’ll be back in four months to do some more research.

 

Old Sport Shorts: Surprise #436

February 20, 2018 / / 0 Comments

This is post #56 of the new year, maintaining my one-a-day writing pace despite all the travel. I got to see my first baseball game of the year, as Oregon State predictably pummeled Cal Poly at the Texas Rangers/Kansas City Royals spring training facility in Surprise, Arizona. For me, it was a Surprise visit, but as Beaver’s fans might say, “it was no surprise in Surprise!” A new winning streak of 4 is underway, hopefully keeping pace with last year’s season where we saw them win 28 of their first 29 games and go into the NCAA tournament with another 20 game streak. (See Post #132). “Chester the Molester” is back in uniform, as the controversy over pitcher Luke Heimlich continues, after posting his first win of the season against New Mexico. The Beavers are back in action against Nebraska later this week, as the administration and coaching staff continue to support the kid, who failed to register as a sex offender after moving to the Corvallis campus. The reputation of the school being questioned by the media, but I saw no evidence of parental protest around the Surprise diamonds.

It’s a tough call, considering his age and the fact that he’s served his sentence. Does banning him from baseball make as much sense as allowing his potential star-power to help others avoid the same mistakes? After all, the whole purpose of a university is to provide education. It has to be tough on President Ray and his leadership staff, in lieu of other recent sex-abuse related incidents at major universities. There must be circumstances involved that we are not fully aware of, in judging the character of this young man. I suppose Luke could quietly hide in shame from the public, but he has chosen to face this awkward controversy every time he takes the mound. Also, there apparently has been little objection from his teammates.

The Cubs and White Sox start spring training this week, and college basketball is soon headed to tournament play. I’ve been pretty hard on my Hoosiers this year, but I can see the outstanding coaching influence of Archie Miller on their defensive play, something that’s been missing since the Bob Knight era. They finally could get a win against an upper tier BIG opponent with a road victory over Nebraska, extend their conference winning streak to 5  and perhaps pass Penn State in the standings. The Huskers already have 20 wins, are on the verge of earning a potential double-bye in the BIG tournament, and will probably receive an NCAA tournament bid. The Hoosiers have already lost twice to both Michigan State and Purdue, and hope to even the score against Ohio State on Robert Johnson’s Senior night, although that would be a huge surprise. They can’t score with any consistency, fail to convert under the basket, are terrible from the free throw line, and still turn the ball over too many times to be competitive. It’s been a tough season, but they still have a chance for a NIT consolation finish – not in tournament but much more than expected earlier in the season. It may not be total “Sadness” in March, but certainly no “Madness.”

Purdue has had a disappointing finish to the conference season, just as I took my first step on the band wagon. The Boilers have the potential for a magic March, but the league leading Spartans have stolen the BIG spotlight. Michigan seems to be peaking at the right time again, and Ohio State is just a slot above them in the national picture. That’s four BIG teams in this year’s top 20, already accounting for 6 Indiana losses this season between them. The biggest disappointment in the league is probably Wisconsin, who will need a BIG tournament championship to extend their NCAA tournament streak to 20. Despite their worst season this century, they still managed to beat the Hoosiers again in Madison this year. (See Post #383). It will be no surprise when Michigan State plays in its 21st consecutive NCAA tourney next month.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Contact Us

© 2025 johnstonwrites.com

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑