Award Tour

Yesterday I took a personal day to go to Mattingly's talent show. Her and two of her friends performed a gymnastics/dance routine that they have been working on for the last 2 months before their regular practices. (I will post the video soon, just haven't finished it yet). While we were there her teacher asked if we could make it today for the awards ceremony, and how they were sorry for the short notice but they had just found out about her award.

We didn't think anything of it until we found out that the awards ceremony was for 4th-6th grades. I questioned the secretary about it and all she could say was show up and you won't be disappointed. The only other presentation was the Patti Danalcheck Scholarship, but this required filling out an application that we did not fill out.

Well we went and watched many of our friends kids who are in the upper grade receive award after award for their participation and grades. So let me just say, "Great Job & Congratulations!" to Elizabeth Kovacs, Caroline Kovacs, Alex Orlando, Abby Peet, Gabriella Patete, Jordan Wallace, & Caitlyn Stimson). The most impressive part of the whole ceremony was the story about how many books Elizabeth Kovacs read to break the all time record for points earned. She not only crushed it with 700+ points, she did it without any recognition along the way needing only her own self motivation. Kov, you guys have a lot to be proud!

Anyway back to blowing my own horn. Mattingly received a $250.00 scholarship from the PTO for next school year. She was the winner of a contest between K-2 students. They had to draw a picture showing what being a Herald means to her. Mattie's had all of her friends and teacher on it and said, "I like this school because my friends are nice and they like me for who I am." Names were not placed on the pictures only numbers, the artist name was only revealed to the judges after they chose a winner. Mattingly this is a very big deal, Mommy and Daddy are extremely proud of you, and impresed by all you've accomplished this year.

Oh yeah and GO CAVS!

From Ruthless to Death Row

As I have stated before I have yet to hear an arguement strong enough one way or the other to help me make my mind up about my feelings on the death penalty. This in mind I tend to lean towards being against state executions; when in doubt err on the side of life. Not to mention the unlikely, yet always hovering possibility, that you might be ending an innocent life. Besides, other than the fact that these people know when they are going to die, what's the punishment? Myself I would have a much harder time dealing with spending the next 5 consecutive lives in an 8x8 cell. Hell, I go crazy during back to back snow days.

This being said, I may just offer to "Heet da Sweetch" on this guy myself based solely on the look on his face, (my apologies for the obscure Revenge of the Nerds II reference). Timothy Halton Jr., seen here in the sweet cross between a weight belt and an S & M outfit, is accused of killing Jason West. West was a Cleveland Heights police officer, and as you can tell his boys in the court room are none to pleased with Halton's antics. Halton started yelling profanities during the arraignment for reasons such as mistakenly not adding the Jr. to the end of his name. He also claims he fired in self defense, only problem is Officer West's sidearm was still holstered.

I am all for second guessing the amount of force, especially when deadly, officers sometimes use. Still, I like to believe in most cases it was necessary. They are human and make mistakes, like in the case of Amadou Diallo, the 23 year old immigrant who was shot 41 times by NYC police officers after reaching for his wallet. This was a tragedy, but STOP! and FREEZE! coming from an officer mean just that. Still this is a case where I don't mind people claiming racism, because this proabably doesn't happen if Diallo is a WASP. Bring in Jesse, Al and the rest of the camera lovers, because calling attention to it may save a life.

Except what happens when the officer is white and the suspect is black and the cop is the one killed? Where's Al? Where's Jesse? Where are the rallies? That's right there's no money in figting for what's right when it doesn't fit their usual rhetoric. And God forbid someone point out the obvious fact of skin color here, because racism is a one way street. It probably wasn't even racially motivated, he was just the cop unlikely enough to be in this thug's way, but that certainly wouldn't stop these 2 clowns from being on every cable news show in the country.

Want to learn a lesson? All you need to do is look at the faces of West's fellow officers, they certainly aren't seeing black and white right now. They see blue, the color all the brothers of the CHPD share with Jason West.

Thank U

Dear Enemy

Alright, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, a third time is an epidemic. What am I talking about? The obvious fact that the deer are pissed off and they are attacking my friends. Last week it was Laura. Last night it was Jerry. Who will be next? I dunno, but maybe we can classify this under the broad "War on Terror" label. Then we could kill all the deer, before they suicide bomb themselves into other local Datsuns and Buicks.

This will serve two purposes. First, I will once again be able to fly down back roads after dusk with the reckless abandon of a 16 year old. Second, with all the deer gone a lot of the "Sportsman's" argument against gun control laws will be gone.

I love when deer have been declared "over populated," when we are the ones whose population and gluttonous destruction of forest areas are the real threat. I think back to when I was a kid, we lived right at the edge of woods, and I didn't see a live deer until I was 11. Now I see them wandering down Lake Avenue at 2:00 in the morning. Is it because there are too many of them? Yes, there are too many Deerses to live comfortably in the wooded areas that haven't been paved over.

Now, I cracked on the hunters earlier, but they are the first to try and protect the deer's habitat. For example: two serious hunters that I know, Dave Lampela and my brother-in-law Steve Bellamy may get a couple of deer each season, but they also spend plenty of time setting up deer feeders and money buying feed.

My point, which I swear I had at one time: The deer were here well before the roads, the strip malls and the smarmy allotments so pay attention to the road and be careful out there...And that's one to grow on!

Silly Songs With Larry

Okay now I had to go and find this to either prove that I am not crazy or that I am certifiable, depending on your view point.

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

Just wanted to take a second to plug my buddy Chad Billec's new blog. He is a Lambda Chi so you Akron readers definitely know him. AS for those of you in Ashtabula you know him from The Armstrong Golf Outing Weekend. He's the one who had long hair, then he didn't. He also bears a striking resemblance to Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. I have added his link, ahead of Terry who seems to have abandoned the blogosphere, so check him out.

Here are 4 pictures see if you can figure out which are Billec and which are actor Alan Tudyk.








By the way the title is taken from a song off Veggie Tales, one of my favorites.

Heavy Fuel

I have been holding off posting because I didn't have much to say that wasn't about the CAVS and supporting LBJ's decision to dish the ball to Donyell Marshall. A host on FOX Sports radio said, "You gotta go for the dagger." Well my man, I'd say going for the wide open 3 for the win rather than the lay-up for the tie is the dagger.

Anyway, back to something that is really important and I believe all my friends will be behind, since none of you are multi-millionaire oil barons, Robert Dille excluded. Here is an email I received from MoveOn.org yesterday:

As of yesterday, gas prices are the highest in U.S. history—we just passed the 1981 record, even adjusted for inflation. Prices could reach $4.00 per gallon in parts of the country, just in time to crimp summer vacation plans. As consumers suffer, the oil industry continues to reap the windfall—breaking profit records on an almost quarterly basis. It's outrageous!

Enough is enough. Hearings start today on H.R. 1252, a House bill that would make gas price gouging a federal crime, punishable by 10 years in prison. Speaker Pelosi has said she'll move the bill to a vote this week—if there's the two-thirds majority required to fast track the bill through the process.

Oil company lobbyists are frantically trying to stop the bill. Your representative needs to hear from you today. Will you sign our petition asking Congress to pass the price-gouging bill—and then send it to your friends?

Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI), sponsor of the House bill said this of his motivation to introduce the legislation:

"In April ... crude oil was $7 a barrel cheaper than last year (but) gas prices were almost 50 cents a gallon higher. Clearly there's more at play than simply the world crude oil market."

In April, more than two-thirds of Americans reported that their gas bills were causing financial crunches, with a full third saying it was having a "serious" impact on their families.

That same month, the top two US companies, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco, announced a combined $14 billion in first quarter profits.

It seems like even the oil industry has gone too far this time, and it's time to balance the scales. The Senate passed a price-gouging measure out of committee last week, and the House bill now has over 100 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.

The oil industry is nervous. They've sent their lobbyists to the Hill in full force to stop—or at least weaken—these bills, and they're pulling out all the stops. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry front group of more than 400 oil and gas companies, even threatened that new laws could increase gas prices more.

Enough is enough. This summer, we can stop Big Oil from profiting at the expense of American families. Can you sign the petition to ask your representative to make gasoline a price gouging a federal crime now?

I did this yesterday and received a message this morning that they already had 143,000 signatures. As of right NOW! 356,569. It's hard to say they must be averaging 120 per minute, they've added a counter. It will take you a maximum of 45 seconds to type your name, you do not even have to leave a message, but you certainly can. 357,465!

Johnny (and Scotty) Hates Jazz

It is pretty easier for me to decide which team to root for out West in the NBA Conference Finals. I will be putting a full cheering effort behind Jay's Spurs, (Yes he actually loves every team in the West, Suns, Spurs, Warriors...)

I am not a huge Spurs fan, I liked the Admiral and have enjoyed watching Duncan's game since he was at Wake Forest, but I HATE CARLOS BOOZER. The CAVS tried to do him, and themselves, a favor by letting out of his contract to then resign him for more money and a longer term. Boozer deserved the increase because of his play and "undervalue" 2nd round pick contract. This whole process was illegal by NBA rules, nonetheless, it happens plenty. Utah found out about what was going on and the Jazz offered Loozer a max contract. The CAVS couldn't/wouldn't match it and off he went.

I had kind of gotten over all of this since he was hurt a lot over the last three years, and the Jazz struggled. Not to mention he just happened to be hurt every time the Jazz traveled to C-town, until this year, (A CAVS victory). Couple this with the play of Gooden and Varejao and he wasn't missed that much. But now seeing what he is doing in the playoffs after a career season, I have begun to imagine just how incredible the Cavaliers could be if he still wore the wine and gold.

Interruption-in a related story ex-Indian prospect Brandon Phillips who has become an Indian killer in this interleague weekend series just walked out from under a flyball in the grass behind 2nd base.

If he stayed we wouldn't be worried about who is going to step up and help King James every night. Nor would we be making laughable comparisons of Larry Hughes to Scottie Pippen. Boozer would be there scoring 20+ and nearly matching his points in rebounds every night. Also I would have actually gotten a chance to wear my, "It's All About the Booze" t-shirt before I threw it away.

At least we don't have to deal with looking at BamBoozer's acne anymore. And, neither Drew nor Andy have ever had Prince as their $70,000 per month tenant, then sued him for splashing some purple paint around the place to make it more livable.

GO SPURS!

Tonight's the Night

Some random thoughts about the Cavaliers before tonight's game:

D-Fence!
I heard a caller to the Bruce Drennan Show make a great point yesterday. He was talking about how Mike Brown gets all this credit for building a good defense, when in actuality all you have to do to play good D is decide you want to play good D.

He's right, if you work hard, slide your feet, hustle after loose balls, and get your hands up you are playing good defense. Especially by NBA standards. It doesn't take a genius to say double team their best player, or play man to man, or play zone.

However, on offense is where the CAVS look terrible. They have possible the best offensive weapon in pro basketball with LeBron and his skill set. Yet, no clue how to use him best. I don't know, but I'm not paid to know. Although I know most offenses start with screens, crisp quick passes, and guys cutting to the basket. The CAVS have none of this. They home a pick and roll at the top of the key works and if not they take a jumper 6 seconds into the shot clock with a hand in their face.

Zzzzzzzzzz
I love the big guy. But have you ever noticed that even his shots seem slower than most people's? Not his mechanics, (although they are), but after the ball leaves his hand. He some how defies Newtonian Laws of Physics and his jumpers fall from the sky as though gravity has no effect on them. What the CAVS need to do is bring someone in to study this phenomenon and harness it into some way to travel backwards in time. Perhaps to stop the Ron Harper trade, (Sorry Danny).

Skip-to-my-fool
During the half of Wednesday's game LeBron's, girlfriend who is 8 months pregnant, was carted out of the Quicken Loan Arena on a stretcher. After the game Bron told the media about the loss, “It's just a game.” While this quote may have become cliché in these circumstances it is hardly untrue, or an unneeded reminder.

Skip Bayless, rather showing any sympathy for the situation, decided to compare “Prince James'” heart and competitive streak to Michael Jordan's. I'm paraphrasing here but it went something like this, Jordan wouldn't have been bothered by that, or thought it was just a game. He would have gone out and won the game. All I can say to that is if that's true then Jordan is as big an Nifong, (my new blog-safe word for A-hole), as Bayless.

Media Day
Yesterday the question was asked on every national and local sports program if people really believed the CAVS have what it takes to be a championship team. Based on the fact that they came back home with a chance to close out the series against the Nets and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals, and instead stunk up their home court. Hell, let's face it they couldn't even make the score respectable when the Nets scored 6 4^th quarter points.

My answer: Do I believe this is a Championship team? No not really. Of course that doesn't mean that they couldn't win it all.

Still isn't what the CAVS did pretty much exactly what the Pistons did against Chicago? They have blown 2 chances to end that series after being p 3-0. Where are the questions about Detroit's heart, or Detroit's talent? Just more anti Cleveland media bias.

...Singing Surry with a Fringe on Top in front of Ira!
Ira Newble has been a non-facto for much of this season, yet SI.com reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala wrote a 2 page article about him Why? you ask because of a movement Newble is trying to get started in the NBA. Appears the Miami of Ohio grad has been doing some reading of current events, and has been mortified by what is going on in the Sudan. I don't want to rewrite the article here, but you should read it for yourself. Here's an excerpt:

Since early in 2003, the Sudanese military and its proxy militia, the Janjaweed, have been raping and dismembering and just plain slaughtering the land-tilling, non-Arab villagers. Newble read that some 500,000 Sudanese are dead and another 2.5 million are homeless, and he rubbed his eyes

Newble went on the net to do some of his own research and discovered that China has continually vetoed and UN peace keeping missions to the Sudan because they are in bed with the Janjaweed. They need their oil and many of their other exports.

Newble, knowing that the 2008 Summer Olympics, in which many of the basketball teams will feature prominent NBA players, are to be held in Bejing. He put together a small packet of information to inform his teammates about these goings on and wrote up a statement for them to sign. There is no threat of a boycott of the games but there is a judgment made against China's involvement, or lack there of, in the issue.

Lo and behold guess who hasn't signed it. Damon Jones and or beloved Bron Bron. Both have lucrative shoe deals involving China. Jones with a Chinese manufacturer, and LeBron with a huge Asian Nike marketing campaign. I will give Jones small leeway here, he's a guy not even playing in games and he's got this shoe contract that he has to hold on to, still he has to live with himself. But LeBron has the power to possibly do some real good here, on a global level, but is willing to let finances get in the way. I don't care what his contract says, that's a cop out! People are dying, women are being raped and mutilated, while LeBron gets publicity for riding a bike down Market St. I have a lot of faith in James being a good person, and I know he is young still, but this one is too obvious to ignore. Besides, does he really thing Chinese kids will stop buying his shoes if he signs it? It's not like the Chinese economy can afford to boycott Nike imports.

I will be in attendance at my local Locker Room to watch tonight's game.

Tonight the orange and blue delivers, hard working town hard working team!
CAVS BASKETBALL TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT!

Jersey Girl

Finally! The CAVS played a playoff game that actually had me interested and really into the game. I don't know why it has take so long, they have won 7 post season games now, all of them close, but I haven't gotten that excited until last night. I know the Wizards series they were supposed to win easily so that accounts for my disinterest there. and I was definitely looking forward to the second round, but even in those first 3 games my heart wasn't into it. I guess I needed them to lose Saturday to add some pressure to last night's game.

Now the first thing on my mind last night in the CAVS 87-85 victory was how in the world were they letting Mikki (Mike-E) Moore (25 points) look like he was Wilt Chamberlain inside? I know that he was getting the wide open shots in the paint because of the need to double team Vince Carter, (who had 9 assist most of them to Moore), but at halftime this problem should have been corrected. He's got a good enough jumper without giving him clean dunks.

Beyond Mikki Moore the CAVS continued to play outstanding defense Hell, the only other bad part of their D was when they kept giving offensive fouls at the end of the game allowing New Jersey to shoot free throws without facing the D and without time running off the clock. This drove me nuts, however nut as nuts as the stupid “Tyler Perry's House of Payne” commercials which run during every single timeout. I read in the PD that without MM's 25 points the Nets were 16 of 61 from the field for 26.2%. I'd say that's good defense.

Now the other issue that stuck out last night, which I'm sure Skip Bayless is whining about as I write this, was LeBron's performance at the end of the game. Was he clutch at the end of the game? Certainly not. He missed shots and more importantly free throws. Yet, the fact that people will consider last night a bad game for Bron Bron is only a testament to his ability. He had 30 points, 9 boards, and 7 assists, if that's a bad night, what would his averages look like if he had all good nights? He may not have been on in the 4^th but they certainly aren't even in the game if it wasn't for his play in the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters. He had a slow 1^st period, but wasn't shooting so how could he score? The 10 for 15 from the line is one of those things we'll just have to live with. But how about the now look pass from the corner into Z for the easy dunk? A pass so sweet, LBJ was already running up court before the ball got to Z, knowing the outcome.

Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but appears the CAVS will move on the the Eastern Conference Finals. This is the “next step” that Owner Dan Gilbert, and most of the team have been talking about all season. To me this is not the next step, the next step is beating the team that knocked them out last year in 7 games, the Detroit Pistons. This will be the real measure of where the CAVS stand as a franchise. They were within a rebound of closing out the series in 6 games, before losing in 7. Most say Motown has a better team this year without Big Ben Wallace, having added Chris Weber. But I believe the Cavaliers are also a better team. They have basically the same team, but now have playoff experience, a health Larry Hughes, an Ilgauskas who is playing in rhythm, an improved Anderson Varejao, and a much better defense. And we all know what wins championships...

Faithfully

Okay, finally here are some pictures of Mattingly's 1st Communion. These are actually the shots from my mother's camera, because mine is in Canton. I am also attempting to catch-up on a week that has been post weak.

This is actually her receiving her certificate not the Eucharist

Don't Stop Believing

Huge Congratulations to Karen for graduation this Saturday. This was the 40th Lakeland graduating class. The ceremony was nice, but held outside and I was dumb enough to sit next to one of the open panels in the tent. She still must complete a few more weeks of clinicals, they do more than nurses, but the difficult part is over. Especially since it seemed like this day would never get here.

Congratulations Baby!!!

Rock Your Socks Off

Okay, it's not a Journey song title, but this was special enough to break the streak. In a small art house by the House of Blues we saw these oversized Ken Petrochello tube socks on display in the front window. On the opposite side you could view his matching coaches shorts.

I am not sure what they were trying to commemerate, but I know nothing says artsy-fartsy more than Captain Kenzo's wardrobe.

Seperate Ways

The first place we stopped was Flannery's, we had one drink there while watching the 1st quarter of the CAVS game. Greg and I finished our beers pretty quickly, then were given our walking papers from Karen and Laura, "You guys can go ahead and go someplace else and we can meet you there." We initially said that's alright, but then when we decided it was a good idea our motives were questioned.

Greg and I headed up the street to A. J. Rocco's. It's a cool little bar a couple doors down from our dinner destination, Panini's. Here we were able to relax on the couches and speak of manly things as the Cavs took their only lead of the game. The girls eventually showed up and the Cavaliers fell behind for good. Well it was fun while it lasted.

By the way, check out how the shirt became part of a whole new outfit. Throw on jeans, take off tie, add new T-shirt.

Two facts about A. J. Rocco's

1. It is not owned by or named after Alfanzo James (Jimmy) Rocco.

2. They do not serve Budweiser products. Apparently E. G. sent the boys in like in the High Life commercials

Frontiers

We went to the House of Blues about 25 minutes before show time. We were there to see Frontiers, A Journey tribute band. I give the performance 5 out of 5 stars. The HoB obviously spent a lot of money to make this place look like a dive club, but it was well worth it. The atmosphere was perfect, the only downside were the $4.00 canned beers.


Frontiers themselves were incredible. How they managed to find a guy that sounds exactly like Steve Perry, I have no clue, but he was perfect. The room had plenty of space for standing around in General Admission ($10.00 per ticket). Marty O and I once discussed hiring these guys for a party behind his uncle's house on Harbor Av. I now gotta believe that if we'd have gone through with our plan we may have been elected Co-City Managers, possibly even Co-Emperors.


They played from 9pm to midnight with one 15-20 minute break. Name the Journey hit and they played it...perfectly. They even did a cover Steve Perry's solo hit, "Oh Sherrie."


Check out more about them at http://www.journeytributeband.com/


I am planning a trip back to see The Stone Ponys Band, a Springstreet Tribute on June 23. Let me know if you are interested.

The Girl Can't Help It

This guy, who may or maynot have been the Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels, REEEALLLY liked the show. At first I chalked up his Air guitaring, drumming, keyboarding and over exaggerated singing to having a good time and losing himself in the music. However, by the end of the night he had transformed from Journey lover to man lover. I think he was trying to get back stage to "party" with the band.

Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'

Me and Karen at the show

Thank you to Laura and Greg for inviting us on this trip. It was

a blast guys, we look forward to doing it again.

Any Way You Want It

Fake Journey did one final song for an encore, and it was the one I was looking forward to the entire night, Any Way You Want It. This was the only song I danced to, and what moves did I use? The ones I stole from Al Czervik, "So what? So Let's dance!"

It finally hit me last night. Rob and I have always joked around about how it's a very unspecific song. ("then we danced, then we sang...about a lot of things," "she does everything") Rob, this is the point of the song, those "things" are whatever you want them to be.

Open Arms

I got called to the office first thing this morning. Was I late? Was I in trouble? Was I getting fired? Was a parent ready to beat me up? Nope worse than all that, the Severe Behavior Handicap teacher was not going to be in, and the sub they had sent had no chance of handling the room. I was being asked by the secretary to take the room for the day and have him sub for me, as he had done Monday. Reluctantly I said yes, hoping to receive 72 virgins in Heaven.

It was pretty much chaos from the get go. At one point there were 7 adults and 7 students, and it wasn't enough. One girl ad flipped out and 2 school psychologists had her in a restraint hold. It went on for 20 minutes before I went over and offered to help. We flipped her onto her stomach, I had her legs above her knees, and one Psych had her upper body. Her arms were pinned under her which made her able to leave these nice claw marks on my left forearm, it's worse than it is in this picture. It was a Hell of a day.

This post was suppose to be about Mattingly's First Communion Sunday, but I can't find my camera, and probably left it in Canton. Some freakin' Peter Parker I'd make. Speaking of Spidey, Karen, Mattie and I went to go see the newest wall crawler movie. Terry tried to meet us there, but due to incompetence of his co-workers he had to handle a crisis.

I loved it, as I knew I would, but it comes in third in my rankings of the 3 movies, (2, 1, 3). The great part about the Spider-man characters is that it's really a story about putting the good of others before yourself, and the struggle no give up your dreams to do what is right. 3 had plenty of this, but it was a little more scattered than the previous two. As a reader of Spider-man comics, they could not have done a better job with Venom and Sandman. It looked completely realistic, while keeping the integrity of the comic panels.

Another cool plus was how obvious it was when scenes took place in Downtown Cleveland. I don't know the city enough to point out a specific intersection, but I am familiar enough to recognize store fronts. Check out the scene where Sandman robs an armored car.

Well I should stop before I give anything away. I promise Mattie pix as soon as I find my camera. Until then here is one of her as the 4th Simpson:

Hypnosis

"You know how I know you're gay?"

Because you sat at the Locker Room last night and drank 2 blue Hpnotiq Breezes.

For a few weeks now Jay and I have been intrigued by the cool looking blue bottle behind the bar with the weird spelling on it. Last night we couldn't take it any longer, we broke down, gayed-up and ordered a round. Hpnotiq itself is a blend of Vodka, Cognac, and tropical fruit juices. The drink is a mixture of Hpnotiq, Malibu, and Pineapple producing a beverage that, "will match your shirt."

Heres a photo of Jay B after 1 sip

I went back to Bud Light after this, and even mixed in a shot of Crown to regain my manhood. Overall it was a good drink, I couldn't drink a lot of it because of its sweetness, but I could envision myself sipping one on a Sunday Afternoon while sitting around the Jerk's pool. Also, I'm pretty sure Karen would like it. Is it possible she could actually add a 3rd drink to her repertoire? The others being a Washington Apple, and A Joe's Bar drink from South Bass Island. The idea of her walking into a bar and knowing what she wants is a huge weight off of both our shoulders.

After 4 straight weekends, I now don't know if I could go 8 days with out a batch of Hot Wings from "The Room." They may actually be better than Champions' wings but they will remain number 1 since I can no longer get them. However, Terry promises he has nailed the sauce and has been making them in his Fry Baby.

Four Dead In Ohio

I've spent a fair amount of key strokes making jokes at the expense of Kent State University. Generally these have been hysterical, to me anyway, but have been directed at sports teams or academics. However, as another May 4^th falls upon we are reminded of the tragedy that took place on Kent's campus 37 years ago, and for just one day I consider myself a Golden Flash, as I am sure many of you do as well.

I am sure most of you know the story. There had been 4 days of protest on campus against President Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia, thus broadening the scope of an already failing war in Vietnam, which was a nightmare to an already war weary public. Reports show that at times these protest got somewhat violent. Frankly, I am not knowledgeable enough about the events to say to what extent there was violence. The National Guard was called in, and here are the rest of the details straight from the FBI report

“...Most persons estimate that about 200-300 students were gathered around the Victory Bell on the commons with another 1,000 or so students gathered on the hill directly behind them." "...the crowd apparently was initially peaceful and relatively quiet." "...96 men of Companies A and C, 145th Infantry and of Troop G, 107th Armored Cavalry were ordered to advance. Bayonets were fixed and their weapons were "locked and loaded", with one round in the chamber...all wore gas masks. Some carried .45 pistols, most carried M-1 rifles, and a few carried shotguns loaded with 7 1/2 birdshot and double-ought buckshot." "...the combination of the advancing troops and the teargas forced the students to retreat." "...fifty-three members of Company A, 18 members of Troop G and two members of Company C, all commanded by General Canterbury and Lt. Col. Fassinger moved...pursuing the main body of students who retreated..." "...one group of students retreated to a paved parking lot south of Prentice Hall..." "...the Guard then moved...onto the field where it took up a position..." "...some of the students...then returned to within range of the Guard and began to pelt them with objects..." "...four Guardsmen claim they were hit with rocks at this time..." "...some rocks were thrown back at the students by the Guard." "...just prior to the time the Guard left its position on the practice field, members of Troop G were ordered to kneel and aim their weapons at the students in the parking lot south of Prentice Hall. They did so, but did not fire." "...the Guard was then ordered to regroup and move back up the hill past Taylor Hall." "...when the Guard reached the crest of Blanket Hill by the southeast corner of Taylor Hall at about 12:25pm, they faced the students following them and fired their weapons. Four students were killed and nine were wounded." "...the few moments immediately prior to the shootings are shrouded in confusion and highly conflicting statements. Many Guardsmen claim that they felt their lives were in danger from the students for a variety of reasons...because they were 'surrounded'...because a sniper fired at them...stones...the students 'advanced upon them in a threatening manner'..." "...we [the FBI] have some reason to believe that the claim by the National Guard that their lives were endangered by the students was fabricated subsequent to the event..." "...[a Guardsman] admitted that his life was not in danger and that he fired indiscriminantly into the crowd. He further stated that the Guardsmen had gotten together after the shooting and decided to fabricate the story that they were in danger of serious bodily harm or death from the students...the guys have been saying that we got to get together and stick to the same story, that it was our lives or them, a matter of survival. I told them I would tell the truth and couldn't get in trouble that way." "...also, a chaplain of Troop G spoke with many members of the National Guard and stated that they were unable to explain to him why they fired their weapons." "...available photographs indicate that the nearest student was 60 feet away" [at time of shootings]. "...no verbal warning was given to the students immediately prior to the time the Guardsmen fired." "...one Guardsman, Sgt. McManus, stated that after the firing began, he gave an order to 'fire over their heads'". "...the Guardsmen were not surrounded...they could easily have continued going in the direction in which they had been going." "...no Guardsman claims he was hit with rocks immediately prior to the firing..." "...only one Guardsman, Lawrence Shafer, was injured on May 4, 1970, seriously enough to require any kind of medical treatment. He admits his injury was received some 10 to 15 minutes before the fatal volley was fired." "...there was no sniper." "...the great majority of Guards do not state that they were under sniper fire and many specifically state that the first shots came from the National Guardsmen." "...the FBI has conducted an extensive search and has found nothing to indicate that any person other than a Guardsman fired a weapon." "...at the time of the shooting, the National Guard clearly did not believe that they were being fired upon." "...in addition, no Guardsman claims he fired at a sniper or even that he fired in the direction from which he believed the sniper shot." "...a minimum of 54 shots were fired by a minimum of 29 of the 78 members of the National Guard at Taylor Hall in the space of approximately 13 seconds." "...seven members of Troop G admit firing their weapons, but claim they did not fire at the students. Five persons interviewed in Troop G, the group of Guardsmen closest to Taylor Hall, admit firing a total of eight shots into the crowd or at a specific student." "...some Guardsmen had to be physically restrained from continuing to fire their weapons." "...Sergeant Richard Love of Company C...asserted he 'could not believe' that the others were shooting into the crowd so he lowered his weapon." "...when the firing began, many students began running; others hit the ground." "...in all, only two [student victims] were shot from the front. Seven students were shot from the side and four were shot from the rear." "...of the 13 students shot, none, so far as we know, were associated with either the disruption in Kent on Friday night, May 1, 1970, or the burning of the ROTC building on Saturday, May 2, 1970."

This is an important time in history to remember this tragedy as it parallels the state of affairs in today's America We have our war in Iraq and an impending war with Iran. At the same time we a country that is still in mourning over the massacre at Virginia Tech.

It has been debated for years now what exactly happened, the National Guard's stance has been that one guardsman fired accidentally which in turn caused the rest to open fire. While many students and other witnesses claim that they were given an order to fire. Alan Canafora, who was shot in the wrist, is asking for the case to be reopened. He believes he has new proof to back the claim of an order to fire. He became aware of a recording made on a reel to reel machine from a fellow student's dorm window. The version he has is a copy that is held in the archives at Yale University. He has had a company that specializes in sch things clean up the audio, and says there is audible proof of an order to “Get Set!” “Point!” and “Fire!” I have heard the recording only once, all that I can say for sure is that there is a voice yelling “Point” and cadences that match the timing of the other words. Still, I think this is worthy of consideration for re-examining the days events. If not for the families of the victims, then for the guardsmen who have had to live in silence, knowing that they weren't bumbling fools, but were indeed acting on an order from a commanding officer.

Unfortunately for the loved ones of those killed in Virginia, the Kent students at least died for a purpose rather than just because they were going to class. That incident lead to 4 million students going on a strike at over 900 college campuses. More importantly Nixon withdrew his military invasion of Cambodia, and the number of Americans against the Vietnam War increased.

I wonder if the college students today could pull themselves away from their iPods and Myspaces long enough to become knowledgeable and involved in the events of today's world. I like to think they could. I hope that those attending parties all over Akron today take just a second, between or during sips of beer, to think about what happened 10 miles East of them.

To learn more: Kent May 4th Center

67 shots
13 seconds
4 dead
9 injured

Love Me Two Times

During a text message conversation Jerry and I started naming off Major League Baseball players that wore an Indians' uniform more than once in their career.

Here is a list of who we came up with:

1. Brook "Jake" Jacoby
2. Hard Hittin' Mark Whitten
3. Who Who Julio Franco
4. Carlos "1 if by land, 2 if by sea, 3 if" Baerga
5. Candy Maldonado
6. Reggie Jefferson
7. Kenny "90 Feet" Lofton
8. John Farrell
9. Bud Black
10. Tim "The Lake Show" Laker
11. Juan "As in going going" Gonzales (okay the second stint only saw him get 45 feet down the baseline.

I want to say both Russell Branyon and Junior Ortiz returned to the tribe, but never made the big league team the second time. At least I can't find stats to prove it.

Feel free to add to the list while I go get the papers, get the papers

One Moment in Time

STOP EVERYTHING!!!

Can I please just freeze time right here and now? I am living in a Bizaro world. My favorite football team and NFL doormat Cleveland Browns are currently the toast of the league for pulling off a coup d'etat at this years draft. The longtime down trodden Cavaliers have just completed their first ever sweep of a playoff series, with not just LeBron James but also with help from the guys that are suppose to help. Namely Z and Larry Huge. Don't try to rain on my parade either and tell me who was hurt and what should of happened.

Most importantly, and I know it's early, but how about my AL Central leading Cleveland Indians? They've had snow-outs. Played home games in Milwaukee, (“In fact it's pronounced mill-e-wah-que, which is Algonquin for 'The Good Land'”). And have had umpires tack on runs 3 innings after a player crossed the plate. Through it all the Tribe is 14-8, they've won 7 out of 8 series, and are 1.5 games ahead in what is going to be a tight 4 team, season long race for the division title. Perhaps most impressive is the fact that they really haven't started hitting yet. They are sending down 2-0 Fausto Carmona, (Should be 3-0 thank you Brioschi!), because they don't have a spot in the rotation for him with Cliff Lee returning from his rib cage injury. Then there is spot started Jason Davis in the bullpen with a 1.29 ERA and future closer Fernando Cabrera and his 1.50 ERA coupled with 18 K's in 12 innings.

I know it's a long baseball season ahead. I know the CAVS swept a team whose 2 best players watched in suits. I know football season is a long ways away, and all three top picks could potentially be huge flops. BUT! I am choosing to live in the here and now, actually if I could I would stop time so I cold have this feeling forever. Hopefully this will feeling will last at least one more day since Indians Ace C.C. Sabathia (3-0 3.18) toes the rubber tonight, because I know by next week I will probably hate at least 2 of the 3 teams.

****Editor's Note check out the Mean Mr. Mustard post, (Thursday, April 26th 2007) Stadium Mustard posted and refuted my time line. Unfortunately, he was correct.