I can't get Faith Hill out of my head this week. You know she sings the lead-in song on NBC's Sunday Night Football: "I've been waitin' all day for Sunday night!"
Now for the first time since 2000 the Vikings are in the NFC championship game, and Viking haters all around us are prepared.
They are already circulating e-mails about Hell being about ready to freeze over. (Cute!)
They are calling us "bandwagon fans" because the team is winning this year, not considering that most of us have been Vikings fans forever---through thick and thin.
They can't wait to gloat if we lose to the Saints, and if we win, they can't wait to remind us of the Super Bowl record of Vikings teams of an earlier generation (1960s and 1970s). Better to not make the Super Bowl than win your conference championship and get there, right? Sort of like our high school basketball team---you know, we never want 'em to make the state tournament because they might lose once they get there. Great argument! Especially if their team is one of those who has never been consistently good enough to reach the Super Bowl at all or only consistently good enough to win their conference championship only once or twice.
Another of their sticking points is that here we are, after hating Brett Favre all those Packer years, we are now cheering for him. For a fan like me who was at the first-ever Vikings game vs. Dallas in Sioux Falls in August 1961 (one of 4,954 fans at Howard Wood Field), I'm not about to forsake my team, no matter whom they bring in as quarterback. But no one can argue what a success that decision has been. After all, the Green Bay organization decided they didn't want him. (Thank you, Wisconsin.)
There have been countless ups and downs these 49 Vikings seasons, so many thrilling games, so many heart-wrenching losses, but that's what being a fan(atic) entails. One of the worst was the first Super Bowl in which the favored Vikings from the "old" NFL took on Kansas City of the "old" AFL. The later Super Bowls (yes, there were three more) were major disappointments but not the heartbreaking loss the Chiefs game was. The sight of that pompous Chiefs coach Hank Stram strutting on the sidelines of that game still makes me ill.
Despite the four Super Bowl losses, one forgets some of the dramatic playoff wins there were en route to those Super Bowl games. Fran Tarkenton, Joe Kapp, the Purple People Eaters, Chuck Foreman, Ahmad Rashad, Cris Carter, and all the rest.
One of the toughest losses was the 1975 playoff lost at Metropolitan Stadium to Dallas when Drew Pearson caught a Roger Staubach pass in the final minute and was not called for offensive pass interference. I had to leave the house and drive around the streets of Onida for an hour after that one.
Was it 1997 that we were one reception away from the end zone with the winning touchdown at Washington in the NFC title game, but a wide-open Darren Nelson dropped the ball at the 5-yard line. Another was the 1998 team, which breezed through the regular season and seemed unbeatable, only to lose to a pathetic Atlanta team in the NFC championship game at the Metrodome when a kicker who hadn't missed a field goal for months and months, missed one that would have won the game and sent the Vikings to the Super Bowl. A couple years later the Vikings again went back to the NFC championship game but lost to the Giants, 41-0. That one didn't hurt nearly so much.
Now the Purple is back. Sunday's 34-3 domination and demolition of Michael Irvin's, Troy Aikman's, Jerry Jones' and America's Team was oh-so sweet.
I still can't sit comfortably on the couch and watch a Vikings game. After 49 seasons there is always a sense of impending doom. New-generation fans can't understand that. We who were here in the old days have that sickening feeling in the pits of our stomachs that something awful is about to happen. But this is a new generation. Nevertheless, I need to remain standing and prefer to watch in the company of nobody but myself. Keep the "Skol Vikings" song on the computer, shut the window blinds, shut off the annoying TV announcers and listen instead to Paul Allen, and hope for the best. What's the worst that can happen? Get some obscene Facebook comments from haters? (Not if I block 'em! Ha, gotcha there!)
The game in New Orleans should have tremendous ratings in prime time. And it can't come fast enough. Win or lose, it's been an exciting season. And what fun to have a couple South Dakota "boys" as starters on that defense! I could name some people who have been watching the Vikings who, for all I know, haven't watched a football game in decades! Maybe it goes on for another two weeks. The media love the Saints, the world loves the Saints, the Superdome will be noisy, but let's play the game and see what happens. And yes, the Facebook goes off at 5:30 so the haters can't spoil the evening for me, win or lose.
Skol, Vikings!
And to keep the Vikings' song handy to play when appropriate, go to www.google.com, search for "skol vikings", then scroll down to find the song. I have it already to go. Hopefully there will be enough touchdowns and field goals and enough super defensive plays on Sunday to keep the song blaring out of the computer all evening on Sunday.
But if not, there will be next year. But till it's over, this is a fun roll to be on. Enjoy the week, Vikings fans. Like 'em or not, the nation and the ESPN "experts" are talking about our team this week, and perhaps even more so next week and the week after. The haters will say it matters only if you get the ring. Baloney! Let's relish in the journey.
Past disappointments aside, maybe this is the year we move beyond them and get to the other side. Maybe not, but here we are, still alive for the championship game.
And in the meantime, yes, I admit I'm a hater, too. But it is sweeter than sweet that the haters who say their team is the Packers or the Bears or the Cowboys or the Steelers or the Broncos or the Giants or the Eagles or whoever have no team to cheer for in a big game until September. The Packers' website this week is counting down the days to the Pro Bowl game. Ooooh, that's a biggie. And the Bears' site is counting down to the NFL draft. Ooooh, can't wait for that!
Play ball. And may the better team wearing purple win again this week!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Christmas 2009
Thank you for being interested enough to search for this Christmas letter and then to read it! Merry Christmas to you and yours from Vermillion, S.D.
As 2009 began, I was still living with daughter Heather and grandson Dylan here in Vermillion while she finished law school at the University of South Dakota. Her graduation in May was one of our family's two major events. We had a reception for Heather at our local church here and attended another one honoring her and three law school friends in Yankton later in the day. Heather spent June and July studying for the South Dakota Bar exam and began work in the office of a federal magistrate judge in Rapid City in August. Later that month she learned she had passed the bar exam and was officially an attorney! It had been quite a three years for her and an amazing achievement---not only completing her law degree but also raising the most wonderful little 5-year-old boy you can imagine. I spent August in Rapid City with Heather and Dylan until his daycare at the YMCA opened at the end of that month.
For some reason I decided to stay in Vermillion for at least another year, so here I am, five hours from Heather and Dylan in Rapid City as well as Jason and Allison and five hours from Holly, Nathan, Olivia and Audrey in Rochester and another hour from Ryan in St. Paul. I have a small one-bedroom apartment that is big enough for me. I keep busy enough covering high school sports for The Vermillion Plain Talk newspaper, playing piano for the opera class at the USD music department, and accompanying several USD vocal students at their lessons, rehearsals and recitals. I also play organ once monthly at a Lutheran church out in the country and sing the rest of the time with the adult choir at the Vermillion UCC church.
The other major event in the Knox family in 2009 was Jason's marriage to Allison Ronning, his girlfriend for some seven years or so. They scheduled their wedding first for Halloween, then decided he couldn't miss work that night, so rescheduled the event for the night before Halloween. The wedding party and almost all the guests came attired in costumes, so it was quite the unique wedding, held in a wedding chapel into which Allison's brother-in-law and his ranch crew had transformed his machine shop. Jason and Allison live in Rapid City, and he continues as manager at the Dublin Square sports bar and grill downtown across from the Radisson Hotel. If you're looking for somewhere to go on a night out in Rapid City, that's the place! Jason turned 36 earlier this month, a fact I can barely fathom.
Ryan is still in the Twin Cities, living in an apartment in St. Paul and continuing to do theater as much as he can across Minneapolis and St. Paul. Again this past summer he spent two weeks at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji, Minn., and he is already cast in roles in two shows up there in the summer of 2010. Ryan will be 34 next April. If these kids are becoming middle-aged, what does that say about me!
Jason and Ryan are the world's best and proudest uncles. (Ryan calls his job "uncling," and he and Jase are both excellent at it!) Besides Dylan, my other two grandchildren are the daughters of Holly and Nathan Perli in Rochester, Minn. Olivia is a second-grade student at a brand-new elementary school in northwest Rochester and will be 8 in April. Audrey will be 3 in January. Holly, who like Heather turned 30 last August, continues her work as a registered nurse in the transplant unit at Methodist Hospital/Mayo Clinic. The Perlis have a beautiful home on Rochester's north side, very convenient to U.S. 52, the main freeway to the Twin Cities and to I-90. Nathan, who worked hard all the while Holly was completing nursing school, finally got his chance and completed his graphic arts degree this past year. He also is a valued employee of a firm that installs cabinets in newly-constructed homes. His most important role is father to my two granddaughters, and nobody could that better than he does.
Personally speaking, one of 2009's highlights was singing the national anthem with a nine-voice men's group from our local church at the College World Series in Omaha. We went down there to audition in April, were selected, and then performed in front of 20,000-some baseball fans prior to the Texas-Southern Miss game on a Sunday night in June. Another highlight came in early October when I went to Minnesota to attend the Twins-Kansas City next-to-last game of the regular season at the Metrodome. The Twins had to win every game that week, and they did win that one we saw with Michael Cuddyer hitting a homer in the eighth for a 5-4 lead and Joe Nathan saving the game in the ninth. It was the first Twins game I had seen since 1994, so I got there just in time since they move to outdoor Target Field this coming April. Seeing a game there is one of my 2010 goals.
For Thanksgiving all of us except Ryan, who had to work, gathered at the new cottage in Blunt as guests of De Welch Knudson and her family. For Christmas we are headed to Rochester a few days early to "do Christmas" since Holly has to work Christmas Eve and Day at the hospital this year.
I continue to write a column every sixth week for my former employer, the Custer Chronicle. Also in 2009 the Capital Journal in Pierre, another former employer, asked me to begin writing a column there, so I send them one every two weeks. I continue to keep busy producing via e-mail The Midweek Update, a compilation of news, sports, gossip, etc., for present and former Pierre area residents, enabling them to keep track of each other. The last time I checked, the mailing list was up over 2,000.
I must admit that I am a Facebook addict as well and check it regularly throughout each day for new "status reports" and "posts" from hundreds of people. I can claim that I get a lot of news for The Midweek Update via Facebook, and that is true.
Oh yes, there are Oliver and Winnie, the dogs who were here in Vermillion with Heather, Dylan and me from May 2007 until last summer. I miss them, too. They are in Rapid City with Heather and Dylan, and they added a little kitten, Charlie, this fall. I'm pretty much committed to Vermillion until next summer, but then we'll see, but I hear Rapid City calling. By that time I will be 71 1/2 years old, so I'm game to move only one more time!
My only brother, John, and his wife Linda continue to live in Onida, our hometown, which has been their home all of their married life. They are both now retired, but they play golf regularly, and John this year assumed head coaching duties of the high school golf teams in Pierre. Their daughter, Jayne; her husband, Clark Kraemer, and their two children, Allyson and Justin, are in Rapid City, another good reason to move out there eventually.
Merry Christmas!
As 2009 began, I was still living with daughter Heather and grandson Dylan here in Vermillion while she finished law school at the University of South Dakota. Her graduation in May was one of our family's two major events. We had a reception for Heather at our local church here and attended another one honoring her and three law school friends in Yankton later in the day. Heather spent June and July studying for the South Dakota Bar exam and began work in the office of a federal magistrate judge in Rapid City in August. Later that month she learned she had passed the bar exam and was officially an attorney! It had been quite a three years for her and an amazing achievement---not only completing her law degree but also raising the most wonderful little 5-year-old boy you can imagine. I spent August in Rapid City with Heather and Dylan until his daycare at the YMCA opened at the end of that month.
For some reason I decided to stay in Vermillion for at least another year, so here I am, five hours from Heather and Dylan in Rapid City as well as Jason and Allison and five hours from Holly, Nathan, Olivia and Audrey in Rochester and another hour from Ryan in St. Paul. I have a small one-bedroom apartment that is big enough for me. I keep busy enough covering high school sports for The Vermillion Plain Talk newspaper, playing piano for the opera class at the USD music department, and accompanying several USD vocal students at their lessons, rehearsals and recitals. I also play organ once monthly at a Lutheran church out in the country and sing the rest of the time with the adult choir at the Vermillion UCC church.
The other major event in the Knox family in 2009 was Jason's marriage to Allison Ronning, his girlfriend for some seven years or so. They scheduled their wedding first for Halloween, then decided he couldn't miss work that night, so rescheduled the event for the night before Halloween. The wedding party and almost all the guests came attired in costumes, so it was quite the unique wedding, held in a wedding chapel into which Allison's brother-in-law and his ranch crew had transformed his machine shop. Jason and Allison live in Rapid City, and he continues as manager at the Dublin Square sports bar and grill downtown across from the Radisson Hotel. If you're looking for somewhere to go on a night out in Rapid City, that's the place! Jason turned 36 earlier this month, a fact I can barely fathom.
Ryan is still in the Twin Cities, living in an apartment in St. Paul and continuing to do theater as much as he can across Minneapolis and St. Paul. Again this past summer he spent two weeks at the Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji, Minn., and he is already cast in roles in two shows up there in the summer of 2010. Ryan will be 34 next April. If these kids are becoming middle-aged, what does that say about me!
Jason and Ryan are the world's best and proudest uncles. (Ryan calls his job "uncling," and he and Jase are both excellent at it!) Besides Dylan, my other two grandchildren are the daughters of Holly and Nathan Perli in Rochester, Minn. Olivia is a second-grade student at a brand-new elementary school in northwest Rochester and will be 8 in April. Audrey will be 3 in January. Holly, who like Heather turned 30 last August, continues her work as a registered nurse in the transplant unit at Methodist Hospital/Mayo Clinic. The Perlis have a beautiful home on Rochester's north side, very convenient to U.S. 52, the main freeway to the Twin Cities and to I-90. Nathan, who worked hard all the while Holly was completing nursing school, finally got his chance and completed his graphic arts degree this past year. He also is a valued employee of a firm that installs cabinets in newly-constructed homes. His most important role is father to my two granddaughters, and nobody could that better than he does.
Personally speaking, one of 2009's highlights was singing the national anthem with a nine-voice men's group from our local church at the College World Series in Omaha. We went down there to audition in April, were selected, and then performed in front of 20,000-some baseball fans prior to the Texas-Southern Miss game on a Sunday night in June. Another highlight came in early October when I went to Minnesota to attend the Twins-Kansas City next-to-last game of the regular season at the Metrodome. The Twins had to win every game that week, and they did win that one we saw with Michael Cuddyer hitting a homer in the eighth for a 5-4 lead and Joe Nathan saving the game in the ninth. It was the first Twins game I had seen since 1994, so I got there just in time since they move to outdoor Target Field this coming April. Seeing a game there is one of my 2010 goals.
For Thanksgiving all of us except Ryan, who had to work, gathered at the new cottage in Blunt as guests of De Welch Knudson and her family. For Christmas we are headed to Rochester a few days early to "do Christmas" since Holly has to work Christmas Eve and Day at the hospital this year.
I continue to write a column every sixth week for my former employer, the Custer Chronicle. Also in 2009 the Capital Journal in Pierre, another former employer, asked me to begin writing a column there, so I send them one every two weeks. I continue to keep busy producing via e-mail The Midweek Update, a compilation of news, sports, gossip, etc., for present and former Pierre area residents, enabling them to keep track of each other. The last time I checked, the mailing list was up over 2,000.
I must admit that I am a Facebook addict as well and check it regularly throughout each day for new "status reports" and "posts" from hundreds of people. I can claim that I get a lot of news for The Midweek Update via Facebook, and that is true.
Oh yes, there are Oliver and Winnie, the dogs who were here in Vermillion with Heather, Dylan and me from May 2007 until last summer. I miss them, too. They are in Rapid City with Heather and Dylan, and they added a little kitten, Charlie, this fall. I'm pretty much committed to Vermillion until next summer, but then we'll see, but I hear Rapid City calling. By that time I will be 71 1/2 years old, so I'm game to move only one more time!
My only brother, John, and his wife Linda continue to live in Onida, our hometown, which has been their home all of their married life. They are both now retired, but they play golf regularly, and John this year assumed head coaching duties of the high school golf teams in Pierre. Their daughter, Jayne; her husband, Clark Kraemer, and their two children, Allyson and Justin, are in Rapid City, another good reason to move out there eventually.
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The 2008 Parkie Awards
Although the new year is already a month old, this is my first chance to visit with you since 2008 ended. We can't let the old year slip into oblivion without bestowing our annual Parkie Awards.
These have been a yearly ritual everywhere I've written newspaper columns over the past 30 years. There is a chance a couple of the recipients of a Parkie consider it a high point of their lives. There are more who didn't appreciate the distinction. Whichever the case, they're all worthy.
You have to first understand that sports plays a huge role in my daily life. Who plays when? What games are on TV? No wonder that most of what I remember from the year past has to do with sports, and so do most of my pet peeves. That's just the way it is, so bear with me.
Nevertheless, the 2008 Parkies go to:
Quote of the Year award: to the late Christopher Emmett, who said, after Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine refused to stay his execution by lethal injection, "Tell the governor he just lost my vote."
Sports Play of the Year award: to the Giants' Eli Manning, who escaped being sacked by a crowd of Patriots, scrambled back and fired a desperation pass downfield where Tyree made a miracle catch, keeping the team's Super Bowl-winning drive alive and breaking my Patriot heart in the process.
You Said What? award: to the film producer who, after he chose a site in western Iowa at which to film a movie entitled "South Dakota," explained, "We found the perfect South Dakota in Iowa."
Basketball Shot of the Year I Did See award: to USD's Rane Mergen, who grabbed a rebound and fired a successful length-of-the-court shot at the DakotaDome to beat the halftime clock against Augustana.
Basketball Shot of the Year I Didn't See award: to the Pierre Lady Govs' Steph Paluch, who was in position to rebound Drew Miller's missed three-point shot and tip it in at the buzzer to beat Watertown in the state "AA" semifinals.
Twist the Language award: to the once-legendary pitcher Roger Clemens, who said to a congressional committee about his personal trainer's claims that Clemens used steroids, "He misremembered."
Welcome to the Club award: to an honest Sen. John McCain, who said aloud early in the primary campaign, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should."
You Lived Up to Your Hype award: to USD freshman Louie Krogman, who led his White River team to the state "B" title despite incredible pressure and high expectations and who earned a starting spot on his college team, all in the same year.
College Play That Changed the Season award: to Texas Tech's Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, whose last-second touchdown pass play beat Texas and changed the dynamics of the college season nationwide.
Never Give Up award: to the amazing Tampa Bay Rays, who in Game 5 of the American League championship series were only seven outs from the World Series with a 7-0 lead but lost, but who then in Game 7 beat the mighty Red Sox 3-1 to win the pennant.
You Took My Breath Away award: to the hundreds of Chinese drummers whose synchronized performance at the Olympics opening ceremonies left me speechless.
Welcome Back award: to "Friday Night Lights," the wonderful NBC-TV show which refuses to die.
There's No "I" in "Team" award: to the NBA pro superstars who, first of all, gave up their summers to willingly represent the USA at the Olympics, and then who displayed amazing camaraderie and teamwork in melding into a true Team USA.
I Wish We Could Run That Play Again award: to whoever called the particular play in the first quarter of the first game of the season on which Patriot quarterback Tom Brady was lost for the year.
The Most Relaxing Hour of the Week award: to CBS-TV's "Sunday Morning," the only TV show worth getting up before 8 a.m. on a Sunday to see.
I'll Watch Golf Again When You Get Back award: to Tiger Woods, the only good reason to stay inside on a summer afternoon to watch people play golf on television.
Now What Am I Supposed to Read First award: to long-time Argus Leader writer/columnist Terry Woster, whose Sunday column was for years the first thing I always turned to in the Sunday paper.
Worst Singers in the World award: it's a tie---to the contestants on "American Idol" and to the people the Cubs get to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.
Explain This to Me award: to NFL and college football officials who will call unnecessary penalties on players who celebrate touchdowns but who do nothing to the 300-pound oafs who sack quarterbacks and then prance around the field doing dances and calling attention to themselves.
Did She Say What I Think She Said award: to the one and only Gov. Sarah Palin, who during a campaign interview, explained that she has foreign policy experience because her state is the first one Russian planes fly over on their way to the U.S.
How Will You Ever Survive award: to Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte, who faces the daunting task of getting by on $10 million per year instead of $16 million.
The Knox Parker award: to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who named one of their twins Knox. (I receive computer-generated mail address to "Knox Parker" all the time.)
We'll Miss You Each Day It Rains award: to the Metrodome, which is about to begin its last year as the Twins' home. Outdoor baseball will be great except when we drive 10 hours to see a game that is then rained out.
Tell Me What I Am Seeing award: to the idiot sportscasters who, the instant some graphic appears on the screen, stop in mid-sentence to read to me what I am reading.
Sports Moment of the Year award: to the USA's 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, who, on the first Monday night of the Olympics, lifted us off our couches as anchorman Jason Lezak chased down the trash-talking Frenchman and beat him at the wall to win the gold medal. (Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones swam the first three legs.)
You Are the Woman award: to Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt who with her bare hands knocked a raccoon off her deck as it was about to attack her dog.
Your Dad Would Have Been Proud award: to young Luke Russert, who eloquently eulogized his dad, NBC's Tim Russert, at the funeral and then went to work on the network during the campaign.
The New TV Show I Don't Miss award: to "The Mentalist." If you call me, don't bother me from 8 to 9 on Tuesday nights!
The Worst of Luck to You award: to the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers or Angels who, with any luck at all, will fail yet again to buy the pennant.
I'll Never Forget Where I Was award: to that moment at 10 p.m. on a Saturday in August when a group of diverse people gathered from a wedding reception, from a college reunion and from off the street to crowd into the bar at the Crossroads in Huron to watch Michael Phelps swim to his eighth gold medal at the Olympics.
Newcomer of the Year award: to Twins centerfielder Carlos Gomez, who had huge Torii Hunter shoes to fill but who became a fun guy worth driving 400 miles to see play.
Image of the Year award: to the individual faces of the crowd in Grant Park on Election Night as Senator Obama gave his address.
Photo of the Year award: to Brian Madetzke's shot of the Custer State Park buffalo roundup with one of the cowboys carrying an American flag in the midst of the thundering herd.
Call Yourselves State Champs award: to Darin Smith, Cody Hart, Isaac Parsons and Jared Foote (and Jared Fischer, who ran in the prelims) pf Custer High, who sped to victory in the state "A" medley relay.
Keep Trying award: to the Custer Breakfast Club, who had a great idea for using a beautiful part of town to entice visitors to stay in Custer. There will always be naysayers, but keep coming up with good ideas!
Be Careful What You Wish For award: to the Chronicle's Jason Ferguson, who last February said he would jump into his friend's swimming pool in Arizona if the Giants won the Super Bowl game.
Boob Tube award: to my new 8-month-old Lab pup Winnie, who sits entranced in front of the TV set and watches the pictures change. Sort of like me!
You Are the Man award: to CHS senior Jared Foote, who last spring shocked the world, not to mention his fellow competitors, by winning the Black Hills Relay's 400-meter special event against the state's best.
I Wish I Had Been There award: to the Roddy boys---Luke, who stole the ball, and Jake, who made the basket---as Custer beat Red Cloud in the Lakota Nation Invitational second round in December.
The Oscar for Best Actors award: it's a three-way tie---to (1) punters who feign being run into by potential kick-blockers, (2) soccer players who writhe around on the field in supposed agony after being run into and (3) big men underneath the basket who flop to the floor and draw charging calls. You're all a bunch of phonies, and the refs are dumb enough to fall for it.
How Hot Is It award: to Mitch McLain (as General Custer), Dave Ressler (as a cavalry soldier) and the other welcomers who, dressed in 19th-century costumes, greet bikers, tourists and other Custer visitors in the heat of the summer tourist season.
You Make Life Worthwhile award: to (it's the same each year!) my kids and grandkids.
These have been a yearly ritual everywhere I've written newspaper columns over the past 30 years. There is a chance a couple of the recipients of a Parkie consider it a high point of their lives. There are more who didn't appreciate the distinction. Whichever the case, they're all worthy.
You have to first understand that sports plays a huge role in my daily life. Who plays when? What games are on TV? No wonder that most of what I remember from the year past has to do with sports, and so do most of my pet peeves. That's just the way it is, so bear with me.
Nevertheless, the 2008 Parkies go to:
Quote of the Year award: to the late Christopher Emmett, who said, after Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine refused to stay his execution by lethal injection, "Tell the governor he just lost my vote."
Sports Play of the Year award: to the Giants' Eli Manning, who escaped being sacked by a crowd of Patriots, scrambled back and fired a desperation pass downfield where Tyree made a miracle catch, keeping the team's Super Bowl-winning drive alive and breaking my Patriot heart in the process.
You Said What? award: to the film producer who, after he chose a site in western Iowa at which to film a movie entitled "South Dakota," explained, "We found the perfect South Dakota in Iowa."
Basketball Shot of the Year I Did See award: to USD's Rane Mergen, who grabbed a rebound and fired a successful length-of-the-court shot at the DakotaDome to beat the halftime clock against Augustana.
Basketball Shot of the Year I Didn't See award: to the Pierre Lady Govs' Steph Paluch, who was in position to rebound Drew Miller's missed three-point shot and tip it in at the buzzer to beat Watertown in the state "AA" semifinals.
Twist the Language award: to the once-legendary pitcher Roger Clemens, who said to a congressional committee about his personal trainer's claims that Clemens used steroids, "He misremembered."
Welcome to the Club award: to an honest Sen. John McCain, who said aloud early in the primary campaign, "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should."
You Lived Up to Your Hype award: to USD freshman Louie Krogman, who led his White River team to the state "B" title despite incredible pressure and high expectations and who earned a starting spot on his college team, all in the same year.
College Play That Changed the Season award: to Texas Tech's Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, whose last-second touchdown pass play beat Texas and changed the dynamics of the college season nationwide.
Never Give Up award: to the amazing Tampa Bay Rays, who in Game 5 of the American League championship series were only seven outs from the World Series with a 7-0 lead but lost, but who then in Game 7 beat the mighty Red Sox 3-1 to win the pennant.
You Took My Breath Away award: to the hundreds of Chinese drummers whose synchronized performance at the Olympics opening ceremonies left me speechless.
Welcome Back award: to "Friday Night Lights," the wonderful NBC-TV show which refuses to die.
There's No "I" in "Team" award: to the NBA pro superstars who, first of all, gave up their summers to willingly represent the USA at the Olympics, and then who displayed amazing camaraderie and teamwork in melding into a true Team USA.
I Wish We Could Run That Play Again award: to whoever called the particular play in the first quarter of the first game of the season on which Patriot quarterback Tom Brady was lost for the year.
The Most Relaxing Hour of the Week award: to CBS-TV's "Sunday Morning," the only TV show worth getting up before 8 a.m. on a Sunday to see.
I'll Watch Golf Again When You Get Back award: to Tiger Woods, the only good reason to stay inside on a summer afternoon to watch people play golf on television.
Now What Am I Supposed to Read First award: to long-time Argus Leader writer/columnist Terry Woster, whose Sunday column was for years the first thing I always turned to in the Sunday paper.
Worst Singers in the World award: it's a tie---to the contestants on "American Idol" and to the people the Cubs get to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.
Explain This to Me award: to NFL and college football officials who will call unnecessary penalties on players who celebrate touchdowns but who do nothing to the 300-pound oafs who sack quarterbacks and then prance around the field doing dances and calling attention to themselves.
Did She Say What I Think She Said award: to the one and only Gov. Sarah Palin, who during a campaign interview, explained that she has foreign policy experience because her state is the first one Russian planes fly over on their way to the U.S.
How Will You Ever Survive award: to Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte, who faces the daunting task of getting by on $10 million per year instead of $16 million.
The Knox Parker award: to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who named one of their twins Knox. (I receive computer-generated mail address to "Knox Parker" all the time.)
We'll Miss You Each Day It Rains award: to the Metrodome, which is about to begin its last year as the Twins' home. Outdoor baseball will be great except when we drive 10 hours to see a game that is then rained out.
Tell Me What I Am Seeing award: to the idiot sportscasters who, the instant some graphic appears on the screen, stop in mid-sentence to read to me what I am reading.
Sports Moment of the Year award: to the USA's 4x100-meter freestyle relay team, who, on the first Monday night of the Olympics, lifted us off our couches as anchorman Jason Lezak chased down the trash-talking Frenchman and beat him at the wall to win the gold medal. (Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale and Cullen Jones swam the first three legs.)
You Are the Woman award: to Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt who with her bare hands knocked a raccoon off her deck as it was about to attack her dog.
Your Dad Would Have Been Proud award: to young Luke Russert, who eloquently eulogized his dad, NBC's Tim Russert, at the funeral and then went to work on the network during the campaign.
The New TV Show I Don't Miss award: to "The Mentalist." If you call me, don't bother me from 8 to 9 on Tuesday nights!
The Worst of Luck to You award: to the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers or Angels who, with any luck at all, will fail yet again to buy the pennant.
I'll Never Forget Where I Was award: to that moment at 10 p.m. on a Saturday in August when a group of diverse people gathered from a wedding reception, from a college reunion and from off the street to crowd into the bar at the Crossroads in Huron to watch Michael Phelps swim to his eighth gold medal at the Olympics.
Newcomer of the Year award: to Twins centerfielder Carlos Gomez, who had huge Torii Hunter shoes to fill but who became a fun guy worth driving 400 miles to see play.
Image of the Year award: to the individual faces of the crowd in Grant Park on Election Night as Senator Obama gave his address.
Photo of the Year award: to Brian Madetzke's shot of the Custer State Park buffalo roundup with one of the cowboys carrying an American flag in the midst of the thundering herd.
Call Yourselves State Champs award: to Darin Smith, Cody Hart, Isaac Parsons and Jared Foote (and Jared Fischer, who ran in the prelims) pf Custer High, who sped to victory in the state "A" medley relay.
Keep Trying award: to the Custer Breakfast Club, who had a great idea for using a beautiful part of town to entice visitors to stay in Custer. There will always be naysayers, but keep coming up with good ideas!
Be Careful What You Wish For award: to the Chronicle's Jason Ferguson, who last February said he would jump into his friend's swimming pool in Arizona if the Giants won the Super Bowl game.
Boob Tube award: to my new 8-month-old Lab pup Winnie, who sits entranced in front of the TV set and watches the pictures change. Sort of like me!
You Are the Man award: to CHS senior Jared Foote, who last spring shocked the world, not to mention his fellow competitors, by winning the Black Hills Relay's 400-meter special event against the state's best.
I Wish I Had Been There award: to the Roddy boys---Luke, who stole the ball, and Jake, who made the basket---as Custer beat Red Cloud in the Lakota Nation Invitational second round in December.
The Oscar for Best Actors award: it's a three-way tie---to (1) punters who feign being run into by potential kick-blockers, (2) soccer players who writhe around on the field in supposed agony after being run into and (3) big men underneath the basket who flop to the floor and draw charging calls. You're all a bunch of phonies, and the refs are dumb enough to fall for it.
How Hot Is It award: to Mitch McLain (as General Custer), Dave Ressler (as a cavalry soldier) and the other welcomers who, dressed in 19th-century costumes, greet bikers, tourists and other Custer visitors in the heat of the summer tourist season.
You Make Life Worthwhile award: to (it's the same each year!) my kids and grandkids.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
It may be time to change my e-mail address!
(For those you care, this is my column sent out to the Custer paper for the Dec. 17 issue:)
It's time to change my e-mail address!
The problem with being a voracious e-mailer is that it is far too easy to sign up for "stuff," some of which sounds appealing and attractive and some of which proves to be nothing more than an e-mail clogger. It takes time and patience to "opt out" of each of those e-mails from whom I never want to hear again, so I have decided it's time to simply close my present e-mail account and get a new one and then to be very careful who learns about that new address!
Why go to the trouble, you ask? This is why. I swear this is the gospel truth. The other day I received ALL of the following in my junk folder on the SAME day:
* "Need help with diabetes? Try GlucoBalame MD."
* "Get the world's best peeler for only $14.99."
* "Rebate processing jobs at home. Immediate placement!"
* "My Nigerian partners have absconded with my funds, and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is going to help me get my money if you will help me."
* "Lucidal, a revolutionary new formula to boost brain functions." (I actually pondered the idea of opening this e-mail. I could use a boost in brain functions.)
* Something totally in Spanish. I can't tell you what it said.
* "Zenaab-kabbah is seeking an honest partner." (Yeah, I'll bet you are.)
* "Be a happy driver. Save on auto insurance."
* "Recieve the funds you requested." (I hadn't requested any funds, and besides, I wouldn't get them from anybody who can't spell "receive" correctly.)
* "Parker, relief is here." (I could use some relief, but I'm afraid of what they're suggesting.)
* "Choose a designer handbag and you could get it free." (I think I'll stick with my wallet.)
* "Urgent response requested by Abudu Hassan." (I'm sure urgency was required, but he spelled it "ugrent.")
* "Parker, your future starts here." (I'm too old to start a future right now.)
* "Fed up with taxes, Parker?" (You bet, but not as much as I'm fed up with the people in government who are responsible for them.)
* "Respond urgently, my dear friend." (I think I'll pass.)
* "Whose fries are better?"
* "UK Lottery notification." (I've won the UK lottery countless times in my life. I'm yet to see a penny of it.)
* "How to burn fat with SkinnyBoost." (I already look as if I used SkinnyBoost. I can't afford to burn another ounce of fat.)
* "Want to meet some nice girls?" (Yes, always. But my description of "nice girls" and theirs is likely different.)
* "Anti-aging formula!" (Now they're getting my attention.)
* "Dermitage, Hollywood's Fountain of Youth." (Fine, I'm interested, but can I get it in South Dakota instead of Hollywood?)
* And of course, Viagra! (If I had much use for Viagra, this might be the first of my junk e-mails I would open.)
As you can guess, I make frequent use of the "delete" button on my computer.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Signs of the times:
Being a news junkie, I usually have CNN or MSNBC on throughout the day, so at least twice daily I see a shot of the opening bell and the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. What bugs me about that, however, is this: Why, especially in these rugged, shaky financial times, are those people standing up there by the bell applauding so deliriously as they ring the opening and closing bells? . . . . .
Since my car has been on the fritz for most of three months this fall, I hadn't bothered to fill the gas tank very often. The other day I pulled up to one of the outside pumps at a local station, one of those where you have to go inside and pay cash before pumping the gas. I handed the clerk a $20 bill, saying, "I don't have a clue how much it will take so give me that much for now." He looked at me strangely but said nothing. I went back to the car, pumped gas till it automatically shut off and was astounded to see it cost me only about $16. Whoa! The last time I remembered filling my gas tank it cost something like $50! The clerk was amused as I returned inside to get my change. . . . . .
Why didn't I ever think of this? I read the other day that an enterprising calculus teacher at a high school in suburban San Diego, tired (or broke!) from using his own money to pay for supplies for his classroom, solicited ads and printed them around the outside edges of the test papers he distributed to his students. Some of the ads were from local businesses, one from a dentist urging "brace yourself for a great semester," others from supportive parents. He sold out all the space on his semester test, and he has bookings for $350 worth of ads for next semester! I can only imagine what the superintendents and principals with whom I dealt over my 18 years of teaching would have said about this plan. . . . . .
-o-o-o-o-o-
The tradition lives: As I wrote this last Friday, I had already received 24 Christmas cards/letters from friends in my former haunts---Onida, Pierre, Rapid City, Custer, et al. It's good to welcome the mailman at the front door each morning when what he brings is friends' news and photos of the past year instead of bills!
For the first time in decades, I'm not going to get my Christmas letter into the mail before Christmas, but I'll get it done after the new year, perhaps during the first blizzard that shuts down Vermillion, if in fact we are fortunate to have such a couple days this year!
In the meantime, merry Christmas and happy new year to all who read the Chronicle (and you who log on to this blog, too!). I managed to see very few of you during 2008 (only if you came east of the river!), but I vow to rectify that situation in 2009, and perhaps a return move to the Black Hills area is in store. Enjoy your holiday season!
It's time to change my e-mail address!
The problem with being a voracious e-mailer is that it is far too easy to sign up for "stuff," some of which sounds appealing and attractive and some of which proves to be nothing more than an e-mail clogger. It takes time and patience to "opt out" of each of those e-mails from whom I never want to hear again, so I have decided it's time to simply close my present e-mail account and get a new one and then to be very careful who learns about that new address!
Why go to the trouble, you ask? This is why. I swear this is the gospel truth. The other day I received ALL of the following in my junk folder on the SAME day:
* "Need help with diabetes? Try GlucoBalame MD."
* "Get the world's best peeler for only $14.99."
* "Rebate processing jobs at home. Immediate placement!"
* "My Nigerian partners have absconded with my funds, and the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is going to help me get my money if you will help me."
* "Lucidal, a revolutionary new formula to boost brain functions." (I actually pondered the idea of opening this e-mail. I could use a boost in brain functions.)
* Something totally in Spanish. I can't tell you what it said.
* "Zenaab-kabbah is seeking an honest partner." (Yeah, I'll bet you are.)
* "Be a happy driver. Save on auto insurance."
* "Recieve the funds you requested." (I hadn't requested any funds, and besides, I wouldn't get them from anybody who can't spell "receive" correctly.)
* "Parker, relief is here." (I could use some relief, but I'm afraid of what they're suggesting.)
* "Choose a designer handbag and you could get it free." (I think I'll stick with my wallet.)
* "Urgent response requested by Abudu Hassan." (I'm sure urgency was required, but he spelled it "ugrent.")
* "Parker, your future starts here." (I'm too old to start a future right now.)
* "Fed up with taxes, Parker?" (You bet, but not as much as I'm fed up with the people in government who are responsible for them.)
* "Respond urgently, my dear friend." (I think I'll pass.)
* "Whose fries are better?"
* "UK Lottery notification." (I've won the UK lottery countless times in my life. I'm yet to see a penny of it.)
* "How to burn fat with SkinnyBoost." (I already look as if I used SkinnyBoost. I can't afford to burn another ounce of fat.)
* "Want to meet some nice girls?" (Yes, always. But my description of "nice girls" and theirs is likely different.)
* "Anti-aging formula!" (Now they're getting my attention.)
* "Dermitage, Hollywood's Fountain of Youth." (Fine, I'm interested, but can I get it in South Dakota instead of Hollywood?)
* And of course, Viagra! (If I had much use for Viagra, this might be the first of my junk e-mails I would open.)
As you can guess, I make frequent use of the "delete" button on my computer.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Signs of the times:
Being a news junkie, I usually have CNN or MSNBC on throughout the day, so at least twice daily I see a shot of the opening bell and the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. What bugs me about that, however, is this: Why, especially in these rugged, shaky financial times, are those people standing up there by the bell applauding so deliriously as they ring the opening and closing bells? . . . . .
Since my car has been on the fritz for most of three months this fall, I hadn't bothered to fill the gas tank very often. The other day I pulled up to one of the outside pumps at a local station, one of those where you have to go inside and pay cash before pumping the gas. I handed the clerk a $20 bill, saying, "I don't have a clue how much it will take so give me that much for now." He looked at me strangely but said nothing. I went back to the car, pumped gas till it automatically shut off and was astounded to see it cost me only about $16. Whoa! The last time I remembered filling my gas tank it cost something like $50! The clerk was amused as I returned inside to get my change. . . . . .
Why didn't I ever think of this? I read the other day that an enterprising calculus teacher at a high school in suburban San Diego, tired (or broke!) from using his own money to pay for supplies for his classroom, solicited ads and printed them around the outside edges of the test papers he distributed to his students. Some of the ads were from local businesses, one from a dentist urging "brace yourself for a great semester," others from supportive parents. He sold out all the space on his semester test, and he has bookings for $350 worth of ads for next semester! I can only imagine what the superintendents and principals with whom I dealt over my 18 years of teaching would have said about this plan. . . . . .
-o-o-o-o-o-
The tradition lives: As I wrote this last Friday, I had already received 24 Christmas cards/letters from friends in my former haunts---Onida, Pierre, Rapid City, Custer, et al. It's good to welcome the mailman at the front door each morning when what he brings is friends' news and photos of the past year instead of bills!
For the first time in decades, I'm not going to get my Christmas letter into the mail before Christmas, but I'll get it done after the new year, perhaps during the first blizzard that shuts down Vermillion, if in fact we are fortunate to have such a couple days this year!
In the meantime, merry Christmas and happy new year to all who read the Chronicle (and you who log on to this blog, too!). I managed to see very few of you during 2008 (only if you came east of the river!), but I vow to rectify that situation in 2009, and perhaps a return move to the Black Hills area is in store. Enjoy your holiday season!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
Here it is Nov. 26, and I returned to this site for the first time since Nov. 2 and just noticed that I misspelled "Chronicle" in the headline of the previous post. Good grief! Where's my Chronicle proofreader when I need her?
But anyway, happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone who happens to run across this page.
I shall attempt to post blogs more often one of these days.
But anyway, happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone who happens to run across this page.
I shall attempt to post blogs more often one of these days.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
My Nov. 5 Custer Chornicle column
Here's a positive thought to get you started:
If you are reading this on Wednesday, Nov. 5, it is only 421 days until Jan. 1, 2010, which will be the first day of a brand new election year!
If that thought doesn't jump-start the old ticker and get the adrenaline to flowing (or make you set fire to this page of the newspaper), I can't think what else might. The Cubs winning the World Series? Paris Hilton uttering an intelligent sentence? Your Powerball ticket bearing the winning numbers?
Since this column had to be written prior to the votes being counted Tuesday night, I don't have the luxury of knowing what you know---that quite possibly somebody assured himself of being chosen President-elect when the 50 states' electors get together in their respective state capitols next month to do the real voting that determines the winner.
I can't know what you now know---whether each of the 50 states was able, in this age of tremendous technology, conduct an accurate, honest, trouble-free election or if some state managed to screw it up yet again. Ohio? Florida?
It would be nice if, by the time you read this, the losing presidential candidate has returned to his current role, that of a U.S. senator. The work on his desk must have piled up a bit over the past few months.
But it would not surprise in the least to think that, as you are reading this on Nov. 5, one of the campaigns is still claiming the possibility that the announced result could and/or should be reversed or that the election was stolen or that it's the Big Bad Liberal Media's fault. (Isn't it always?)
After all, too many people have too much to lose if their candidate did not win the presidency, and I don't mean Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin. Staff positions in the new administration, cabinet posts, favors to be called in after the new man takes office---there was a lot hanging in the balance and maybe, depending on what happened last night, it is still hanging there.
But those of us who have found this election year fascinating and intriguing, at least until the last month or so, will have to find something else to occupy our daily attention. There just may not be as much reason to check in on Olbermann's, Matthews' and Maddow's take on things on MSNBC or Hannity's, O'Reilly's and Ingraham's opinions on that other cable news channel, the one that pounds its chest as being "fair and balanced."
I may have to return to sports talk radio all day long starting tomorrow. It may be a painful withdrawal.
But 2010 looms ahead. That election year will not be so all-encompassing, overwhelming and, for that matter, meaningful to the entire country as this year's was for the simple reason that there will not be a presidential campaign. (Thank you, God.)
But here in South Dakota it will likely be a most interesting year. In fact, 2009, which is almost here, may be interesting as well as would-be candidates position themselves for declaring their 2010 candidacies.
Just as there was the Johnson-Dykstra U.S. Senate race this year, in 2010 there will be another. Sen. John Thune's current term will be expiring. If he chooses to seek re-election, South Dakota will find itself in a rather unusual situation where, in a Republican state, an incumbent Republican will be favored in a statewide congressional race.
We will also be electing a new governor since Gov. Rounds cannot seek another term. Even the primary elections to name candidates for that office could grab the attention of us who become political junkies every election year.
In 2010 as in every other year we will be electing our one member of the U.S. House of Representatives. If Rep. Herseth Sandlin won yesterday, will she seek re-election or run for the governorship? Will Gov. Rounds go after the House seat? It will be a fun time, and it will be here before we know it.
Chances are there will be unexpected developments. The only thing we can count on for absolute certainty is that in 2010 there will be an abortion measure of some sort on the South Dakota ballot. Why? Because there always is.
-o-o-o-o-o-
CUSTER NOTES
I see the CHS choir will be headed to New York and Washington this coming spring. Having made five out-of-state trips with the Pierre band (one to Minneapolis, one to Denver, three to Chicago) during the years I worked for the paper there, I don't know I managed to squeeze my Chronicle time in between New York trips with the CHS choir. After all, doesn't somebody have to cover it for the paper? Take pictures and all that? Sorry I missed out again, choir. Send me a postcard. . . . . .
Custer friends of the late Jodi Beringer Larabee would be pleased at the new sign that has been erected on the front lawn of a USD sorority house just two blocks north of my house on Pine Street. The sign, which identifies the sorority, has a message at the bottom which reads, "In Memory of Jodi Beringer Larabee, Pledge Class of 1995." . . . . .
I happened to be in contact the other day with CHS alumnus Brandon Snyder, who already has put in three years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has also acquired a bride named Megan along the way. The Snyders recently moved to Jacksonville, N.C., but Brandon will be headed out on another deployment soon. We wish him the best and thank him for his service! Whenever I think of Brandon, I immediately recall his very last night of high school. He graduated in the middle of the year, and on that last night he pinned his wrestling opponent. It was a magical tear-jerker of a moment for those who knew that the very next morning he was headed to the Marine Corps. . . . . .
Megan Turner is in her second year at the University of Sioux Falls. Call it "the school of hard knocks" for Megan. During her freshman basketball season she was out a long while after a concussion sustained about Thanksgiving time last year. Now in recent months she missed three weeks of basketball drills due to her second consussion but is back at practice. She is listed on the JV roster for USF. Megan also goes out for track at USF. . . . . .
I know that several emergency responders and volunteers from Custer County were involved in the search for elk hunter Brad McGee, who was found dead west of Hill City two weeks ago. He was from my hometown of Onida. His mom, Patty, is Sully County auditor. I can't imagine what the week before the election was like in her office as the result of this tragedy. Brad and his wife were the parents of two little children. . . . . .
-o-o-o-o-o-
THE GLORY OF FALL
The Chronicle gang wouldn't be surprised if I came right out and admitted that I'm still computer-illiterate. (If the darn thing doesn't work right when I push the "on" button, then I don't use it! That's my philosophy.) But if I could take a photo and send it to you for use in the weather photo spot up in the corner of Page 2, I would snap a shot of the tree directly across the street from me as I sit here in my kitchen at home and look west.
My next-door neighbors, the Wards, have a tree out next to their curb which still has all of its leaves despite the fact that almost every other tree lost its leaves in the howling 60 mph winds of a week ago. As I gaze over there, it is almost as if everything else in the block, including every other tree, is in black and white, but this particular tree is in color. Reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, sienas---it is glorious.
You should be here in the early morning. When the sun rises over the second story of the Vermillion hospital a block east of us, the first thing in the block to the west that its rays strike is the Wards' tree. It is almost as if the tree is ablaze with fire until the sun rises high enough in the sky so that everything else is in sunshine.
The only negative aspect of the Wards' tree is that its leaves will end up over here in my yard, which will mean another raking Saturday sometime in November. As for today, with the temperature in the 60s and a weekend approaching, I don't even mind heading outside right now to rake the leaves that have already found our yard. It beats shoveling snow.
-o-o-o-o-o-
LEST WE FORGET
With Veterans Day less than a week away, it's time to make your plans to spend an hour of next Tuesday at the Custer schools' annual program. No community in the state does Veterans Day as well as Custer does. You should take pride in that.
Here is a link to a moving tribute each of us should take five minutes to watch. Then send it to veterans you know or others who would appreciate it, including veterans of our current wars and those who are currently serving:
If you are reading this on Wednesday, Nov. 5, it is only 421 days until Jan. 1, 2010, which will be the first day of a brand new election year!
If that thought doesn't jump-start the old ticker and get the adrenaline to flowing (or make you set fire to this page of the newspaper), I can't think what else might. The Cubs winning the World Series? Paris Hilton uttering an intelligent sentence? Your Powerball ticket bearing the winning numbers?
Since this column had to be written prior to the votes being counted Tuesday night, I don't have the luxury of knowing what you know---that quite possibly somebody assured himself of being chosen President-elect when the 50 states' electors get together in their respective state capitols next month to do the real voting that determines the winner.
I can't know what you now know---whether each of the 50 states was able, in this age of tremendous technology, conduct an accurate, honest, trouble-free election or if some state managed to screw it up yet again. Ohio? Florida?
It would be nice if, by the time you read this, the losing presidential candidate has returned to his current role, that of a U.S. senator. The work on his desk must have piled up a bit over the past few months.
But it would not surprise in the least to think that, as you are reading this on Nov. 5, one of the campaigns is still claiming the possibility that the announced result could and/or should be reversed or that the election was stolen or that it's the Big Bad Liberal Media's fault. (Isn't it always?)
After all, too many people have too much to lose if their candidate did not win the presidency, and I don't mean Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin. Staff positions in the new administration, cabinet posts, favors to be called in after the new man takes office---there was a lot hanging in the balance and maybe, depending on what happened last night, it is still hanging there.
But those of us who have found this election year fascinating and intriguing, at least until the last month or so, will have to find something else to occupy our daily attention. There just may not be as much reason to check in on Olbermann's, Matthews' and Maddow's take on things on MSNBC or Hannity's, O'Reilly's and Ingraham's opinions on that other cable news channel, the one that pounds its chest as being "fair and balanced."
I may have to return to sports talk radio all day long starting tomorrow. It may be a painful withdrawal.
But 2010 looms ahead. That election year will not be so all-encompassing, overwhelming and, for that matter, meaningful to the entire country as this year's was for the simple reason that there will not be a presidential campaign. (Thank you, God.)
But here in South Dakota it will likely be a most interesting year. In fact, 2009, which is almost here, may be interesting as well as would-be candidates position themselves for declaring their 2010 candidacies.
Just as there was the Johnson-Dykstra U.S. Senate race this year, in 2010 there will be another. Sen. John Thune's current term will be expiring. If he chooses to seek re-election, South Dakota will find itself in a rather unusual situation where, in a Republican state, an incumbent Republican will be favored in a statewide congressional race.
We will also be electing a new governor since Gov. Rounds cannot seek another term. Even the primary elections to name candidates for that office could grab the attention of us who become political junkies every election year.
In 2010 as in every other year we will be electing our one member of the U.S. House of Representatives. If Rep. Herseth Sandlin won yesterday, will she seek re-election or run for the governorship? Will Gov. Rounds go after the House seat? It will be a fun time, and it will be here before we know it.
Chances are there will be unexpected developments. The only thing we can count on for absolute certainty is that in 2010 there will be an abortion measure of some sort on the South Dakota ballot. Why? Because there always is.
-o-o-o-o-o-
CUSTER NOTES
I see the CHS choir will be headed to New York and Washington this coming spring. Having made five out-of-state trips with the Pierre band (one to Minneapolis, one to Denver, three to Chicago) during the years I worked for the paper there, I don't know I managed to squeeze my Chronicle time in between New York trips with the CHS choir. After all, doesn't somebody have to cover it for the paper? Take pictures and all that? Sorry I missed out again, choir. Send me a postcard. . . . . .
Custer friends of the late Jodi Beringer Larabee would be pleased at the new sign that has been erected on the front lawn of a USD sorority house just two blocks north of my house on Pine Street. The sign, which identifies the sorority, has a message at the bottom which reads, "In Memory of Jodi Beringer Larabee, Pledge Class of 1995." . . . . .
I happened to be in contact the other day with CHS alumnus Brandon Snyder, who already has put in three years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has also acquired a bride named Megan along the way. The Snyders recently moved to Jacksonville, N.C., but Brandon will be headed out on another deployment soon. We wish him the best and thank him for his service! Whenever I think of Brandon, I immediately recall his very last night of high school. He graduated in the middle of the year, and on that last night he pinned his wrestling opponent. It was a magical tear-jerker of a moment for those who knew that the very next morning he was headed to the Marine Corps. . . . . .
Megan Turner is in her second year at the University of Sioux Falls. Call it "the school of hard knocks" for Megan. During her freshman basketball season she was out a long while after a concussion sustained about Thanksgiving time last year. Now in recent months she missed three weeks of basketball drills due to her second consussion but is back at practice. She is listed on the JV roster for USF. Megan also goes out for track at USF. . . . . .
I know that several emergency responders and volunteers from Custer County were involved in the search for elk hunter Brad McGee, who was found dead west of Hill City two weeks ago. He was from my hometown of Onida. His mom, Patty, is Sully County auditor. I can't imagine what the week before the election was like in her office as the result of this tragedy. Brad and his wife were the parents of two little children. . . . . .
-o-o-o-o-o-
THE GLORY OF FALL
The Chronicle gang wouldn't be surprised if I came right out and admitted that I'm still computer-illiterate. (If the darn thing doesn't work right when I push the "on" button, then I don't use it! That's my philosophy.) But if I could take a photo and send it to you for use in the weather photo spot up in the corner of Page 2, I would snap a shot of the tree directly across the street from me as I sit here in my kitchen at home and look west.
My next-door neighbors, the Wards, have a tree out next to their curb which still has all of its leaves despite the fact that almost every other tree lost its leaves in the howling 60 mph winds of a week ago. As I gaze over there, it is almost as if everything else in the block, including every other tree, is in black and white, but this particular tree is in color. Reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, sienas---it is glorious.
You should be here in the early morning. When the sun rises over the second story of the Vermillion hospital a block east of us, the first thing in the block to the west that its rays strike is the Wards' tree. It is almost as if the tree is ablaze with fire until the sun rises high enough in the sky so that everything else is in sunshine.
The only negative aspect of the Wards' tree is that its leaves will end up over here in my yard, which will mean another raking Saturday sometime in November. As for today, with the temperature in the 60s and a weekend approaching, I don't even mind heading outside right now to rake the leaves that have already found our yard. It beats shoveling snow.
-o-o-o-o-o-
LEST WE FORGET
With Veterans Day less than a week away, it's time to make your plans to spend an hour of next Tuesday at the Custer schools' annual program. No community in the state does Veterans Day as well as Custer does. You should take pride in that.
Here is a link to a moving tribute each of us should take five minutes to watch. Then send it to veterans you know or others who would appreciate it, including veterans of our current wars and those who are currently serving:
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Debates have become 'must-see TV'
A Republican candidate for President has to be off-the-edge extreme to lose South Dakota's electoral votes, but it happened to Sen. Barry Goldwater back in 1964.
Yes, 44 years ago South Dakota actually supported a Democratic presidential candidate when the Lyndon Johnson/Hubert Humphrey ticket received 55.61 percent of the vote to the 44.39 percent earned by Goldwater/Miller.
Before checking the archives at the Secretary of State's website, I had assumed that, at least during the height of World War II, South Dakota might have supported President Roosevelt, but no. This rock-ribbed Republican stronghold voted for that party's candidates in both 1940 and 1944. In 1936, perhaps because he had held the nation together during the Depression, South Dakota supported the FDR/Garner ticket to the tune of 54.02 percent. (Probably because Alf Landon's vice presidential runningmate was named Knox.)
There's little doubt that South Dakota will go Republican as usual at the end of the current presidential campaign, regardless of the circumstances, and that is, to a certain extent, frustrating to one such as me who has no intention of voting that way.
One minute I'm thinking to myself, what's the sense of bothering to vote because we know how South Dakota will go, but in the next minute I remind myself that, in every case, not voting at all is a disgusting response, even if one's candidate or pet issue loses. For that matter, even if one overlooks the presidential race, we have a U.S. Senate seat and a U.S. House seat to fill, legislative races to decide and, as usual in South Dakota, a whole armload of assorted ballot issues, most of which people have referred to a vote.
So do your duty, pick up your absentee ballot now or vote on Nov. 4. (A reminder: If your voter registration is not updated, you have until Oct. 20 to get that done. Shame on you if you don't.)
Even before the Republican Party chose a 72-year-old two-time cancer patient as its presidential candidate and a woman from Wasilla, Alaska, who has a rifle rack showing in the back window of her pickup cab as its vice presidential nominee, I had determined that they don't get my vote. And even though you didn't ask why and you probably don't care what anybody in the Big Bad Media thinks, I'll tell you why.
About a month ago I heard one of the television commentators ask aloud the question that had crossed my mind way back in January when the primary elections began. And that question is this: What part of the past eight years makes the Republican Party deserving of another four (or probably eight) years in the White House? What makes them worthy of being rewarded for the last eight years?
Since the first time each of us began taking social studies and learning about the governmental process in our country, we learned that we have a powerful weapon to use against office-holders with whom we disagree---vote them out of office when the next election comes around. You may say that President Bush (and Cheney and Rumsfeld, et al.) aren't running for re-election so I shouldn't use that reasoning. Sorry, but what is my alternative? Pretending that Sen. McCain is a new man, a maverick, a reformer, even though he's been in the U.S. Senate for more than two decades is a bit of a stretch.
That's my take. I realize that the majority of voters in this state disagree with me. But whichever way you have decided to vote, just be sure to do it, either now in advance or at the polls on Election Day.
Regardless of your political persuasions and mine, we can agree that the debates this year should draw all-time record numbers of television viewers, starting Friday night when Sen. Obama and possibly even Sen. McCain face the questioning of Jim Lehrer on the campus at Ole Miss. It's enough to make me consider skipping high school football this week to stay home to watch the debate live. Rest assured, however, that the cable news networks will be rebroadcasting the debate later in the evening and early-morning hours if you aren't home to see it when it happens live.
Then there will come the one debate between Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin next Thursday, Oct. 2, followed by two more presidential candidate debates on Oct. 7 and Oct. 15.
In this crazy, memorable year of incredible interest in politics, these four debates could tip the scales. Even not, they will make for fascinating television viewing.
Thanks for reading this far as I expressed my views. I respect yours as well, even you who will reply to this as "Anonymous."
Yes, 44 years ago South Dakota actually supported a Democratic presidential candidate when the Lyndon Johnson/Hubert Humphrey ticket received 55.61 percent of the vote to the 44.39 percent earned by Goldwater/Miller.
Before checking the archives at the Secretary of State's website, I had assumed that, at least during the height of World War II, South Dakota might have supported President Roosevelt, but no. This rock-ribbed Republican stronghold voted for that party's candidates in both 1940 and 1944. In 1936, perhaps because he had held the nation together during the Depression, South Dakota supported the FDR/Garner ticket to the tune of 54.02 percent. (Probably because Alf Landon's vice presidential runningmate was named Knox.)
There's little doubt that South Dakota will go Republican as usual at the end of the current presidential campaign, regardless of the circumstances, and that is, to a certain extent, frustrating to one such as me who has no intention of voting that way.
One minute I'm thinking to myself, what's the sense of bothering to vote because we know how South Dakota will go, but in the next minute I remind myself that, in every case, not voting at all is a disgusting response, even if one's candidate or pet issue loses. For that matter, even if one overlooks the presidential race, we have a U.S. Senate seat and a U.S. House seat to fill, legislative races to decide and, as usual in South Dakota, a whole armload of assorted ballot issues, most of which people have referred to a vote.
So do your duty, pick up your absentee ballot now or vote on Nov. 4. (A reminder: If your voter registration is not updated, you have until Oct. 20 to get that done. Shame on you if you don't.)
Even before the Republican Party chose a 72-year-old two-time cancer patient as its presidential candidate and a woman from Wasilla, Alaska, who has a rifle rack showing in the back window of her pickup cab as its vice presidential nominee, I had determined that they don't get my vote. And even though you didn't ask why and you probably don't care what anybody in the Big Bad Media thinks, I'll tell you why.
About a month ago I heard one of the television commentators ask aloud the question that had crossed my mind way back in January when the primary elections began. And that question is this: What part of the past eight years makes the Republican Party deserving of another four (or probably eight) years in the White House? What makes them worthy of being rewarded for the last eight years?
Since the first time each of us began taking social studies and learning about the governmental process in our country, we learned that we have a powerful weapon to use against office-holders with whom we disagree---vote them out of office when the next election comes around. You may say that President Bush (and Cheney and Rumsfeld, et al.) aren't running for re-election so I shouldn't use that reasoning. Sorry, but what is my alternative? Pretending that Sen. McCain is a new man, a maverick, a reformer, even though he's been in the U.S. Senate for more than two decades is a bit of a stretch.
That's my take. I realize that the majority of voters in this state disagree with me. But whichever way you have decided to vote, just be sure to do it, either now in advance or at the polls on Election Day.
Regardless of your political persuasions and mine, we can agree that the debates this year should draw all-time record numbers of television viewers, starting Friday night when Sen. Obama and possibly even Sen. McCain face the questioning of Jim Lehrer on the campus at Ole Miss. It's enough to make me consider skipping high school football this week to stay home to watch the debate live. Rest assured, however, that the cable news networks will be rebroadcasting the debate later in the evening and early-morning hours if you aren't home to see it when it happens live.
Then there will come the one debate between Sen. Biden and Gov. Palin next Thursday, Oct. 2, followed by two more presidential candidate debates on Oct. 7 and Oct. 15.
In this crazy, memorable year of incredible interest in politics, these four debates could tip the scales. Even not, they will make for fascinating television viewing.
Thanks for reading this far as I expressed my views. I respect yours as well, even you who will reply to this as "Anonymous."
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