Goodbye, Steve

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I received a phone call today that, sadly, was like many others I have had in my life. I knew it was coming. But it's never a welcome phone call, even when it is expected.

A good friend of mine, Steve Davidson, died of cancer early today. I knew him when I lived in Little Rock in the 1980s. We haven't seen each other in quite awhile, but I have kept up with him through our mutual friend, Brady.

It was through Brady that I learned Steve was sick, and, in the words of Yogi Berra, it was like deja vu all over again. Another friend in our circle, Mike Culpepper, died of cancer more than 20 years ago, and I kept up with the changes in his condition through Brady. Steve, Brady and I were pallbearers at his funeral.

Brady and I spoke on the phone last night. He spent some time with Steve yesterday. Family and friends had been summoned to Steve's side in anticipation of the end, but Steve apparently surprised everyone. When Brady called me last night, I expected him to tell me that it was over. But, he said, Steve was still breathing when he left.

His breathing was increasingly labored, Brady told me, and he said he didn't expect Steve to live through the night. He didn't. Apparently, he died at 4 this morning.

The picture at the top of this post was taken when Steve and I arranged to meet in southern Arkansas in the fall of 1988. I had been living in Texas for a couple of months, and we got together one weekend. Steve was a deer hunter; I don't own a gun, but I brought my camera, as you can see.

See that little black lump behind Steve? That was my dog, Pepper, curled up into a ball and taking a nap. He was part black Lab and part something else. At that time, he was still a puppy, probably about 10 or 12 weeks old (I got him as a stray so I don't really know when he was born). He went everywhere with me in those days. He loved to run, to chase a rubber ball or do anything, really, and I recall that he thoroughly enjoyed that weekend in the woods. So did I — even though it was very cold.

Steve was Pepper's buddy, maybe moreso than any of my other friends (although Pepper really got along with everybody). I think it may have been because Steve was the first of my old friends to meet Pepper. As a matter of fact, they met on that trip to deer camp in October of 1988.

(I knew they would hit it off when I saw Steve giving table scraps to Pepper.)

When that picture was taken, we had been out hiking through the woods, and Steve had decided to sit down and take a breather. Pepper flopped down behind him and, as dogs do, caught a few Z's while we humans were resting and talking and laughing. When we got up to go, he was up and ready, too.

Somewhere, I have another picture of Steve with Pepper that was taken on that trip to deer camp. Steve was sitting in a folding chair at our campsite. Pepper was sitting next to him, and Steve was stroking his head. I'm not sure where that picture is, but, if I find it, I think I might have it framed. It's one of my favorites, and I need to have it on display.

Hard to believe that weekend was nearly 25 years ago. It's even harder to believe that I will never see Steve again.

Remember that circle of friends I mentioned earlier in this post? When I was living in Little Rock, we formed a computer football league, using a football game disk I had found for my old Commodore 64. The league survived for three years after I left Arkansas. Every time I came back for a visit, I packed up my computer, and my visits became football weekends.

Eventually, the league fell by the wayside. But our friendships never did. The league began to falter after Mike died, but it survived for another year or so. But that's another story.

When I left Arkansas, it was to enroll in graduate school. About a week after I moved, Mike and Steve came down for a visit. The three of us went to Six Flags Over Texas, and I'll never forget sitting on a bench with Steve and watching as Mike rode a roller coaster over and over again. It became a running joke with the three of us, one that Steve and I never mentioned again after Mike died.

Now, I'm the only living person who remembers that afternoon.

I was between my first and second semesters of grad school when Steve and Mike paid me another visit — around New Year's. As it happened, Arkansas was playing in the Cotton Bowl, and we decided, at the very last minute, that we wanted to go to the game. I tried to pull every string I could, never thinking that I could actually get something at the last minute — but, lo and behold, I was able to get three tickets, and we went to the game.

The Razorbacks didn't play too well that day, but the three of us had a fine time, anyway. I still have the game program I bought that day, and, from time to time, I thumb through it, and my thoughts return to that sun–splashed afternoon. For many years, it has been mostly a reminder to me of Mike. Now, it will remind me of Steve as well — and of the afternoon the three of us shared.

Again, I am now the only living person who recalls that experience.

Sports so often figured prominently in our friendship — and I am not speaking only of computer football or the Cotton Bowl.

When I first knew Steve, I was working on the sports desk of what was then the most widely circulated newspaper in Arkansas — the Arkansas Gazette. That job came with certain perks that appealed to Steve. For one, I had access to early editions of the newspaper, which came in handy on Saturday nights when the first edition of the Sunday paper complete with the coupons hit the newsroom.

On those occasions, I often brought several copies of the coupon inserts to Steve and my other friends.

As a member of the Gazette's sports team, I used to get a season pass to watch the minor league baseball team in Little Rock, the Arkansas Travelers. This wasn't as valuable as it sounds — admission to Traveler games in those days was only about two bucks a head — but I used it frequently on my nights off.

Since admission was free for me, I would pay for half of Steve's ticket, and it was like each of us got in for a single dollar. Besides, as a Gazette copy editor, I could go up to the press box and visit whoever was covering the game for the newspaper that night, and Steve went with me.

Steve enjoyed rubbing elbows with people whose bylines he had been seeing for years. And he got a kick out of the bird's–eye view of the action on the field.

Same thing applied to horse racing.

I didn't get a free season pass to the races at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, but whenever Steve and I went there together, I did get us in to the press box where we could see the writer who was covering the horses for the Gazette — and, on one memorable occasion, I introduced Steve to Terry Wallace, the fellow who called the races at Oaklawn.

I don't think I ever saw Steve so starstruck. He'd been hearing that man's voice call every race he had ever seen at Oaklawn — and there he was, shaking hands with him, chatting with him.

"I'll never forget that," he told me when we left the press box that day. I hope that was a pleasant memory for Steve over the years.

There is even a sports connection to the timing of Steve's death. Nineteen years ago today, the Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team defeated Tulsa in the regional semifinals. They ultimately won it all.

I kind of think that might have appealed to Steve.

Perhaps my greatest regret after Mike died was the fact that I never said goodbye to him. I should have. I had a couple of opportunities, and I let them slip through my fingers. Maybe I was scared. I don't know.

I'm older now, and I truly believe that if I had been in Little Rock this weekend, I would have been able to tell Steve that he had been a true friend and that I will miss him.

I think he knew. I hope he did.

A Tale of Two News Stories

For many years, I worked as a writer and/or editor for newspapers and a trade magazine.

In fact, one of my standing assignments for awhile was to write a weekly column about events that were coming up. That column was titled, "The Week Ahead." In that column, I told readers about things that were coming up.

I didn't confine myself to the county in which I lived and worked. I wrote about events that were scheduled in just about every part of Arkansas. I know it is difficult for natives of a place like Texas to understand, but, unless the weather is bad, just about any place in Arkansas is easily within a day's drive of any other place in Arkansas.

It was a unique job. Part of it was spent writing about things that had just happened — and part of it was spent focusing on things that were still in the future.

There were lots of dramatic moments during my years in print media — moments that often defined who we were — but I don't think I have ever witnessed a week like the one just past.

I hope I never go through one like it again, either — and I wasn't even part of the professional news media as this week played out — but I'm not sure what could be done to prevent it.

The week began innocently enough, I suppose, with the annual celebration of the Fourth of July. From my balcony, I was able to watch two or three fireworks shows that evening (when one is gazing into the dark horizon, I have found that it is hard to determine where one such show ends and another begins).

In hindsight, that was the proverbial calm before the storm.

The next day, all hell broke loose. In Florida, Casey Anthony was acquitted of killing her young daughter, and an anguished wail rose from coast to coast.

My impression, from the beginning, was that women more than men felt the sting of the verdict. I'm not saying that men weren't affected by it, too; some clearly were. But I heard and read far more quotes from women about it, and I saw far more women participating in protests against the verdict. And I have seen frequent posts about it on Facebook — again, mostly (but not exclusively) from women.

I think the verdict — whether it was the right one or not — cuts deeply against the grain of the protective maternal instinct.

As a young general assignment reporter covering murder trials for a newspaper in central Arkansas, I realized that the duty of an effective attorney is to present a plausible case in court. A prosecutor wants to win a conviction; a defender wants to win an acquittal. Toward those ends, they will construct arguments that benefit them the most.

While I did not watch the entire Anthony trial, it seems to me the prosecution was successful in offering an argument that women in particular found acceptable.

The members of the jury apparently did not feel that the prosecution met the law's requirements, though. I've heard a few jurors say, in recent days, that they wished the prosecution had given them the evidence they needed to convict — because many, apparently, believed the prosecution was right.

In their eyes, however, the evidence just wasn't there.

Every time I switched on my TV on Wednesday or Thursday, I saw someone talking about the verdict. Aware of the public's notoriously short attention span, I wondered what would seize its imagination next. I didn't have to wait long to find out.

On Thursday evening, about 25 miles from where I sit writing this, a firefighter from central Texas who brought his 6–year–old son to this area to see a Texas Rangers baseball game lost his balance reaching for a baseball and fell 20 feet to his death.

In the aftermath of that tragedy, I have heard of the special bond that existed between this man and his son, how they shared a passion for baseball and how they stopped on their way to the ballpark to get a baseball glove, hoping to catch a foul ball to keep as a souvenir of their special day together.

I think this story has reverberated with men because it has been my experience that most men really treasure these times with their children. Perhaps it is because I share their gender, but I think a lot of fathers resent the stereotype impression society has of abusive, distant or deadbeat dads.

Now, it is true that there are abusive, distant or deadbeat dads — more than I would like to acknowledge — but my experience is that the majority of fathers are dedicated to their children. They just don't get many opportunities to show it.

Most fathers miss out on the day–to–day stuff, not because they aren't interested but because they are busy with the jobs that put food on the table and keep a roof over their children's heads. Meeting one's obligations can be a lonely business.

It is more common for women to work outside the home now than it was when I was growing up, but my guess is that it is still the mothers (primarily) who put band–aids on skinned knees and provide milk and cookies after school. My guess is that they still do the prep work for birthday parties and have heart–to–heart talks. They just do it all a few hours later than they used to.

For fathers, a baseball game is a rare opportunity to share something with their children — and it really is the kind of thing that creates memories that last a lifetime. (There was a lot of truth in what the little girl said in "Field of Dreams" about adults being drawn to that Iowa field by the lure of memories.)

I still remember the night my family went to a major league game for the first time. It was in St. Louis, which was a day's drive from my hometown. My parents wanted to visit friends who were scattered along the eastern half of the continent, but we made the first stop on our road trip in St. Louis, where we knew no one, checked into a Holiday Inn near Busch Memorial Stadium and went to see the Cardinals play their rivals, the Chicago Cubs.

It was not a good evening for the Cardinals. The Cubs won, 12–0. It wasn't too bad early on. Neither team scored through the first four innings, then the Cubs scored twice in the fifth. That wasn't so bad. Going into the seventh, it was still only 2–0.

But then the roof fell in. Chicago scored 10 runs in that seventh inning, most after the Cubs had two outs.

You can look at the box score if you want to see how truly terrible it was. What I remember is sitting next to my father and watching run after run score — and, with each run, more of the fans around us got up to leave.

I don't think my father has ever been much of a baseball fan, but I was an avid collector of baseball cards in those days, and most of the kids I knew were Cardinals fans. Like most kids, I craved acceptance so, at that time in my life, I guess you could say I was a Cardinals fan, too.

Anyway, that game didn't turn out to be much fun for me. I remember looking at my father when the Cubs scored one of those runs in the seventh. He smiled and chuckled, then put his arm around me and held me next to him for a few seconds.

"Not much fun, is it?" he asked. I remember shaking my head. "Want to go back to the motel?" I nodded.

So we all got up — except for my brother, who had dozed off in his seat — and my father picked up my brother and carried him all the way to the car. I don't think he ever woke up.

On our way out of the ballpark, though, we stopped at a souvenir stand so I could get a cap. I wore that cap nearly every day — and almost constantly on weekends — for a couple of years, not because it was a reminder of a remarkable game but because it was a reminder of a rare evening with my father.

When I was a kid, I didn't see much of my father. He taught at a local college. He often left the house before I got up in the morning and usually returned either just before or after I went to bed at night. My mother was the one who observed the early milestones of my life.

Dad always attended school functions and things like that, but he was usually busy during the days. I didn't hold it against him. That was just the way it was — not just for me but for everyone I knew.

That night in Busch Stadium was special for me, and it remains special to this day. I believe that memories of similar experiences have made what happened in Arlington the other night so poignant for so many men. It cuts against the grain of the father–child relationship that they cherish.

No father wants his child to witness a horrifying accident like that — or to have an eagerly anticipated trip to a baseball game end with that child riding in the ambulance that carries his dying father from a ballpark to the hospital.

I think the two stories that have dominated the news for the last week have been chilling to both genders more for what they represent than what they actually are.

Guilty people sometimes go free, and loving parents sometimes die. We know that. But these two cases were special.

Casey Anthony is believed by many to have violated what may be the most sacred trust in humanity — the one that exists between a mother and her child.

And Shannon Stone died because he selflessly tried to catch a baseball to give to his son as a souvenir.

It all seems like a waste, doesn't it?

Ch- ch- ch- changes

I guess it was bound to come to this.

I’ve been writing a blog, Freedom Writing, for nearly one year.

I’ve enjoyed writing it, but it’s become a catch-all kind of blog.

You see, I have many interests, and it’s been hard to confine them to a single blog.

I guess the people who have known me all my life would tell you that I’ve always been interested in current events and politics.

And, in fact, I would estimate that the majority of my posts in the last year have been about current events and politics.

But I’ve also used my blog to write about other things that interest me — sports, movies, TV, music.

Obviously, there is some overlapping between subjects from time to time. In fact, in the last week or so, about half of my posts on this blog have dealt with sports or music, and the rest have dealt with current events.

But I’d like to be more topical.

So, starting today, I’m launching two new blogs.

My sports blog will be called Tomato Cans. (If you don't understand the name, I have a brief explanation posted at the blog.)

My entertainment blog will be called Birth of a Notion. That's a play on the name of one of the original blockbuster silent movies, "Birth of a Nation," which was quite an achievement in its day. It was remarkably innovative when it was released in 1915, although it has become controversial as the years have gone by for its sympathetic and fallacious treatment of the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.

But, when one is talking about the film "Birth of a Nation," one would be well advised to remember the words of film critic Roger Ebert: "'Birth of a Nation' is not a bad film because it argues for evil. Like Riefenstahl’s 'Triumph of the Will,' it is a great film that argues for evil. To understand how it does so is to learn a great deal about film, and even something about evil."

And, above all else, I believe a blog, whether it's about movies or sports or current events, should be a learning experience — for both the person who reads it and the person who creates it.

My Freedom Writing blog will remain active. I will post new articles on current events and politics, and all the entries I’ve posted in the last year will remain in its archive.

I still plan to do some blog writing most days, but my entries may not be in the same blog from one day to the next.

If my post relates to sports, I’ll write in Tomato Cans.

And if my post relates to movies or TV or books or music — or entertainment in general — I’ll write in Birth of a Notion.

Later on, an additional blog or two may be needed. I’ll address that need if it comes up.

Clearly, this will be a work in progress, as I decide which blog to use under which circumstances.

For example, comedian George Carlin died earlier this year.

In the event that something similar happens, I will enter my initial blog post at Freedom Writing.

But if that person is featured in a CD or a movie that is released after his/her death — and if I decide to write about it — my blog post will appear in Birth of a Notion.

Similarly, if someone from the sports world dies, I’ll write about it first in Freedom Writing.

After that, if I mention that person in a sports-related context, it will appear in my Tomato Cans blog.

I encourage my regular readers to support these two new blogs.

The Dean of Ballparks

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The exterior of Fenway Park in 1914.

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Now that Yankee Stadium has ended its 85-year tenure as the home of the New York Yankees, which stadium holds the title of dean of America's ballparks?

Actually, that much hasn't changed.

Yankee Stadium opened its doors in 1923. But the ballpark that has been open longer than any other was — and still is — Boston's Fenway Park, which, as baseball historians will tell you, was Babe Ruth's home for many years before the Bronx opened the House That Ruth Built.

In fact, Fenway Park opened in 1912. Ground was broken on the construction site 97 years ago tomorrow, on Sept. 25, 1911, and the first baseball game was played there the following April — a few days after the "unsinkable" Titanic sank in the North Atlantic.

And Ruth, who began his baseball career as a pitcher, played his first major league game with Boston in 1914.

Every other ballpark in the major leagues came into existence after Yankee Stadium. The oldest baseball stadium in the National League is Chicago's Wrigley Field, which opened in 1926.

With the noteworthy exception of Wrigley Field, all the other ballparks in the majors are mere infants by comparison.

In the National League, for example, the next-oldest ballpark after Wrigley Field is Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962.

All the other ballparks in the American League are still practically waiting for the paint to dry when compared to Fenway Park. The next-oldest baseball stadium in the American League — now that Yankee Stadium has closed its doors for good — is Baltimore's Camden Yards, which has been open since 1993.

Almost every major league baseball team plays in a ballpark that was built in the last 15 years. And almost all of those ballparks were said to feature something that distinguished the ballparks of yesteryear.

Why not renovate those ballparks instead of starting over from scratch? That seems like a fair question to ask. But the answer is different in each city. Maybe the location of the ballpark creates parking problems that can't be resolved or land can't be acquired to expand the seating sufficiently.

Maybe the stadium's location interferes with commerce. Maybe the financial operation has been poor and the owners had to sell to someone who doesn't care about history, just how much money there is to be made from buying and selling the land.

Sometimes, the structure is simply antiquated, unstable, and needs to be replaced.

Whatever the reason — and, in spite of the fact that the new stadium will be called Yankee Stadium and won't be given one of those hideous names that incorporates the sponsor's name (which could prove to be embarrassing if the sponsor goes out of business or has to endure a humiliating public scandal) — another monument to the past is coming down.

And we are the poorer for it.

It reminds me a bit of an episode of "Frasier," in which Frasier and his brother decide to buy and restore a restaurant that was significant in the family's history but is about to shut down permanently.

They decide to do this while having a one-last-time family dinner at the restaurant, after Daphne observes that, in her native England, they cherish their "antiquities," but Americans can't wait to tear them down.

It's not quite that simple. But it does strike me as ironic.

The Last Days of 'The Cathedral'

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If you're a sports fan — not just a baseball fan — you have to feel something in these, the final days of Yankee Stadium.

Yankee Stadium opened 85 years ago, in 1923, and it's been the home of baseball's New York Yankees ever since — except for the 1974 and 1975 seasons, when the stadium was closed for renovations.

Yankee Stadium has played host to college and pro football games, as well as some noteworthy boxing matches. Outdoor venues rarely host fights anymore, but it happened frequently at Yankee Stadium. Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney both won fights there in the 1920s, and Joe Louis beat Max Schmeling in Yankee Stadium in the 1930s — in a symbolic victory for America over Nazi Germany.

Tony Zale beat Rocky Graziano there in 1946, and Sugar Ray Robinson lost there in 1952.

In the final fight at Yankee Stadium — the only fight held there after the renovation — Muhammad Ali defeated Ken Norton in 1976.

It is as the home of the Yankees that the stadium will always be remembered. So many of baseball's greats have played there — Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, the list goes on and on.

And, because the Yankees have won so many world championships, it follows that there have been more postseason games played in Yankee Stadium than any other ballpark.

A total of 16 World Series championships have been clinched with victories at Yankee Stadium — nine by the Yankees, seven by their opponents.

Other than the Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals are the only team to wrap up more than one world championship at Yankee Stadium.

Unless a miracle happens and the Yankees sneak into the playoffs, Sunday night will be their final game at Yankee Stadium. The Baltimore Orioles will be the opponent. ESPN will be there to present the final game — and I'm sure there will be some nostalgic film clips from the stadium's 85-year existence.

The game "will be an open-casket funeral for the House that Ruth Built, with no shortage of eulogies, tears and fond remembrances," writes Jeremy Olshan in the New York Post.

"Though some 40 former Yankee greats are expected to pay homage to the Stadium," Olshan writes, "more notable perhaps are the two biggest absences: Yankee boss George Steinbrenner and public-address announcer Bob Sheppard, who are both too ill to attend."

Of the two, I would say that Sheppard's absence is the more significant. His distinctive voice has announced the players at Yankee Stadium since 1951. Reggie Jackson called him the "Voice of God." It's hard to imagine the final Yankee game at Yankee Stadium without the 97-year-old Sheppard at the public address microphone. But that's the way it will be on Sunday night.

Nevertheless, it should be a memorable day for the folks who are fortunate enough to be there. For three hours on Sunday afternoon, fans will be allowed to walk around on the field, reports the Associated Press.

Can't be there? Tune in that evening.

If you need something to help you get in the mood, ESPN Classic will be showing films of some of the great sports events that have occurred there in the last 85 years — including some of the noteworthy fights.

There's a slight chance of showers in New York Sunday night, but it doesn't look like it will be enough to dampen the occasion.

Among the many for whom the final Yankee game at Yankee Stadium will be a bittersweet experience is famed songwriter Paul Simon, who reminisces in the New York Times about a lifetime as a Yankee fan.

For those who are old enough to remember Simon and Garfunkel's classic songs in the film "The Graduate," there is a special poignance in the reflections of the man who wrote the lines, "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio/Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you."

And, in Simon's words, it's time to say "so long" to the House that Ruth Built.

Who's Going to the Fall Classic?

We’re about a week away from the conclusion of the major league baseball season.

Most of the pieces of the playoff puzzle are known, but it’s going to take a few more days before we know how they fit together.

Still, it’s possible to make a few assumptions at this point.

• In the National League, for example, it seems pretty clear that the Chicago Cubs are going to represent the Central Division in the playoffs. And they’ll probably wind up with the best record in the league, so they’ll have homefield advantage through the playoffs.
  
  The Cubs have a nine-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, who, while technically still in the race in the Central Division, are locked in a three-way battle for the wild-card spot.
  
  The Brewers’ two rivals for the wild card are also fighting it out for the Eastern Division title. The odds are that one of those two teams — Philadelphia or New York — will win the division, leaving the other one to battle the Brewers for the wild card.
  
  Mathematically, there are a few other teams that could make things interesting at the end if the Brewers, Phillies and/or Mets get cold and lose the rest of their games. Or someone else gets hot at the right time.
  
  And that’s certainly not unheard-of — it was only last year, after all, that the Colorado Rockies, after plodding along through most of the season, won 14 of their last 15 regular-season games, as well as a one-game playoff for the wild-card spot, and went on to play in the World Series.
  
  The Rockies are out of the picture this year, but a similar hot streak could propel Florida, Houston, even St. Louis into the playoffs. It’s not likely, but it’s possible.
  
  Over in the lackluster N.L. West, the Dodgers appear to be on the verge of winning the division title. But even a 3.5-game lead with about nine left to play isn’t necessarily safe in that division.


• In the American League, the Los Angeles Angels have already clinched the Western Division. The Angels are the front-runners for the homefield advantage, although Tampa Bay or Boston still could overtake them for that.
  
  The Devil Rays and the Red Sox are battling for the Eastern Division title. The loser almost certainly will be the wild-card team.
  
  In the Central Division, the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins are the last ones standing, but only one is likely to remain standing after next weekend.
  
  The Chisox have a 1.5-game lead today, but my guess is they’ll settle the matter once and for all next week when the teams meet in a three-game series in Minnesota.
  
  The numbers probably favor the Twins. They’ve won 65% of their home games, whereas the White Sox have won only 44% of their road games.
  
  And, after this weekend’s series in Tampa Bay, Minnesota plays all its remaining games at home.
  
  Again, there are a few teams that still have a chance — mathematically. If you’re a fan of the Yankees or Blue Jays, there’s still a chance. But the odds get longer each day.

Still, as Yogi Berra said, ”It ain’t over ‘til it’s over!”

Good News for SEC Fans

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(In these uncertain financial times — before you read any farther, I want to make it clear that, when I say "SEC," I refer to the Southeastern Conference, not the Securities and Exchange Commission.

   (I wish I had good news to report about the economy, but I'm afraid you'll have to depend on the nation's leaders.

   (Sorry about that.)

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As a graduate of the University of Arkansas living in Texas, I'm always interested in whether Arkansas' football games are going to be televised where I live.

Experience tells me that the key factor in whether an Arkansas game is televised around here is the Razorbacks' record. Even though there are a lot of Arkansas alumni living in this area, the Razorbacks don't tend to get televised here if they're struggling — unless they're scheduled to play a top-ranked team.

The big schools around here are the University of Texas and Texas A&M — with pockets of loyal supporters for SMU, TCU, Baylor, etc. The UT and A&M games are almost always televised — and, if Hurricane Ike hadn't forced Arkansas and Texas to postpone their game until the 27th, I could have watched the Razorbacks play the Longhorns last weekend.

(At this point, no decision has been made about whether the re-scheduled game will be televised — although I'm inclined to believe that it will be picked up, at least as a regional broadcast around here.)

This week, the Razorbacks are scheduled to play ninth-ranked Alabama.

The Razorbacks are undefeated — but unimpressively so, with narrow wins over Western Illinois and Louisiana-Monroe. Not exactly powerhouses.

I haven't found any indications that Arkansas-Alabama will be televised here (perhaps my friends in Arkansas will be able to see the game, but it doesn't look like it will be shown in my area).

But there should be a few pretty intense SEC games to watch tomorrow as it is.

• At 2:30 p.m. (Central), CBS will show the Florida at Tennessee game. Tennessee has received some modest support in the Top 25 poll but isn't ranked. That would almost certainly change if the Volunteers can beat Florida tomorrow. The Gators are ranked #4 by the Associated Press.
  
  This game probably won't get high ratings in the Dallas-Fort Worth area because Texas A&M is playing Miami (Florida) at the same time on ABC. But the Aggies appear to be going through a rather painful transition right now, so if that game gets out of hand, I wouldn't be surprised if many area college football fans switch to the Tennessee-Florida game.


• The big one in the SEC is going to be shown on ESPN starting at 7:45 p.m. (Central). Sixth-ranked LSU will be playing at 10th-ranked Auburn.
  
  Again, there is some local competition. The #7 Texas Longhorns will be playing Rice on FSN at 6 p.m. (Central). But, by the time LSU and Auburn get started, the Longhorns could well have their game under control.
  
  Even so, LSU and Auburn is clearly the marquee matchup of the weekend. Cory McCartney writes, for Sports Illustrated, that there are three things for football fans to care about in this game:
  
  
  1. "Defense. Defense. Defense." That's certainly true. You're not going to see any video game-like scores in this game.
  
  
  2. "Auburn's spread is still very much a work in progress."
  
  
  3. "LSU is about to test Auburn's run defense."
  
  McCartney predicts a close game — but you'll have to read his article to see which team he predicts will win!
  
  (I'll tell you this much — he thinks 17 points will be enough to win the game.)

Some questions will be answered this weekend, and those answers will have huge implications in the SEC race.

The Arrival of Football Season

This weekend, football season truly will be under way.

A somewhat abbreviated college schedule was played last weekend, and the NFL officially kicked off its season with the New York Giants' victory over the Washington Redskins last night.

And, in many places, including right here in Texas, most high school football teams opened their 2008 seasons a week ago today.

Regular readers of this blog know that I grew up in Arkansas. There, and elsewhere in the region, it comes down to this: Football rules in the South.

When I was growing up in Arkansas, the state was as divided as it could be on many issues, but it seemed that everyone came together for a few hours every Saturday when the Razorbacks were playing.

When you grow up in Arkansas, you learn pretty early that part of the territory, for a Razorback fan, is having to endure some rough years.

And 2008 promises to be a pretty rough year for Razorback fans.

Arkansas started its season last Saturday at home in Fayetteville with a 28-24 victory over Western Illinois. As Wally Hall observes at WholeHogSports.com, this year's Arkansas squad is "probably one of the youngest ever to take the field wearing the Razorbacks uniform" and some jitters were to be expected.

The Hogs, writes Hall, "will most likely improve during the season."

Perhaps they will, but it's far from certain whether that improvement will be reflected in the record.

Hall has been watching Arkansas football for a long time. He had been sports editor for the Arkansas Democrat for quite awhile when I was working on the sports copy desk for the rival Arkansas Gazette in the 1980s.

And he observes that six of the last 10 teams on Arkansas' schedule this year are ranked in the Top 25 — he doesn't mention that four of those teams are in today's Top 10.

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"They will improve as they gain experience, but at the same time the Razorbacks have the second-toughest schedule in the nation, and maybe the most difficult now that Alabama has knocked off Clemson."

Wally Hall

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Beyond that, Hall observes that two other opponents, Tulsa and Ole Miss, will be "highly emotional."

He doesn't mention any reasons why those teams will be so emotional, but I think I can guess at least two reasons:

1) Both schools have coaches and/or players who were at Arkansas in recent years.

2) Arkansas has had rivalries with both schools for quite awhile, although those rivalries never really matched the Arkansas-Texas rivalry when those schools were part of the old Southwest Conference.

Oh, and by the way, Arkansas travels to Austin next week to renew its rivalry with Texas, now ranked 10th in the Associated Press poll.

Here is the AP's current Top 25. Teams that are scheduled to play Arkansas are entered in bold.

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1. Southern Cal (1-0)
2. Georgia (1-0)
3. Ohio State (1-0)
4. Oklahoma (1-0)
5. Florida (1-0)
6. Missouri (1-0)
7. LSU (1-0)
8. West Virginia (1-0)
9. Auburn (1-0)
10. Texas (1-0)
11. Wisconsin (1-0)
12. Texas Tech (1-0)
13. Alabama (1-0)
14. Kansas (1-0)
15. Arizona State (1-0)
16. Brigham Young (1-0)
17. South Florida (1-0)
18. Oregon (1-0)
19. Penn State (1-0)
20. Wake Forest (1-0)
21. Fresno State (1-0)
22. Utah (1-0)
23. UCLA (1-0)
24. Illinois (0-1)
25. South Carolina (1-0)

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Sportscaster Jim McKay Dies

Do you remember the Summer Olympics of 1972?

Do you remember the tragedy of the Munich Games, when the Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes?

If you do, you will remember hearing the news from Jim McKay, who somberly reported the murders of all 11 athletes.

"When I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were 11 hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight."

Then McKay looked into the camera, with the saddest pair of eyes I've ever seen.

"They're all gone," he quietly told his stunned audience.

For many people, that phrase is as memorable as Al Michaels' "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" when the U.S. hockey team completed its improbable victory over the Soviets at Lake Placid in 1980.

Although he spent most of his career in sports, McKay's work in Munich required him to cross over into the hardest of hard news reporting.

His professionalism was rewarded when legendary news anchorman Walter Cronkite sent him a telegram that said, "Dear Jim, today you honored yourself, your network and your industry."

McKay died today, apparently of natural causes, at the age of 86.

The irony of McKay's passing, as Sports Illustrated reports today, is that he died only hours before Big Brown is scheduled to try to complete thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown by winning the Belmont Stakes.

It is ironic because McKay, longtime host of ABC's Wide World of Sports, considered horse racing his favorie sport.

It would be fitting if horse racing's 30-year drought in the Triple Crown came to an end this afternoon.

It might happen. Joe Drape of the New York Times says Big Brown is a "mortal lock" to win today's race against an "unaccomplished field."

If Big Brown wins the Triple Crown, I will have only one regret.

I wish McKay could be here to see it happen.

Where Baseball Needs to Go Now

Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle thinks the Mitchell Report is a "sad day" for baseball.

I disagree.

Sure, it's sad to realize that some of the biggest names in the game -- Roger Clemens, newly crowned home run king Barry Bonds and others -- have been cheating to succeed.

But this is one of those pivotal moments, a fork in the road. Major league baseball must make a real commitment to ridding itself of the cheaters, as surely as it did in the 1920s following the Black Sox Scandal.

If handled correctly, the rehabilitation ultimately will be joyful for the sport and its fans.

I'm not saying it won't be painful for a time. As it is for an individual who must deal with the withdrawal from an addiction to nicotine or alcohol or heroin, baseball must cope with its withdrawal pangs from performance-enhancing drugs.

But, as the old saying goes, no pain, no gain. And there is so much to be gained.

The release of the Mitchell Report is, as Jay Mariotti writes in the Chicago Sun-Times, "the first day of the rest of our baseball lives."

What kind of life that will be depends on how baseball's owners and players -- and fans -- react to this issue.

It's out there, no longer hidden in the shadows. Out there for all to see. Will we sweep it under the rug? Or will we learn from it?

News From The Sports World

The first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy is Tim Tebow of Florida. He was crowned the latest Heisman winner in New York last night in a ceremony that was carried live on ESPN.

The Gainesville Sun says Tebow is "tightening his grip on history."

But you didn't have to be in New York to make sports news -- or to be speculating on it.

* Barry Tramel writes, in The Oklahoman, that a four-team playoff in college football is "possible" in the near future. Four teams, he says, is about as many as you can expect.

His column today, however, points out that a playoff in college football is not a new idea. Such a proposal was brought before the NCAA convention more than 30 years ago. There was little discussion and the proposal was dismissed. And, in the 1990s, Division I-A voted heavily against a playoff proposal.

But Tramel contends that the current BCS "has the structure to expand its playoff from two to four teams. When the current Fox television contracts expire in 2011, the BCS bowls could establish a four-team playoff with no major reconstruction."

Meanwhile, Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star says forget it, a playoff system won't succeed in college football.

Who's right?

* In pro football, the teams are marching steadily toward their playoffs. Most of today's games have been played and we're getting a clearer picture of who will be in the playoffs -- in the NFC, anyway.

In the NFC, three teams clinched division championships today -- Dallas, Green Bay and Seattle. Tampa Bay could have clinched the fourth and final division title, but lost its game to Houston.

Things are a little more unsettled n the AFC, where it's been a given for most of the season that New England, still undefeated at 13-0, would be in the playoffs. The Patriots are playing against history these days. The Steelers, Colts and Chargers are close to clinching their divisions, but they haven't done so yet.

* Tom Dienhart of the Sporting News looks at what he calls college football's "coaching carousel."

He says Michigan has plenty of options left, but the other schools that are looking for new coaches may not find much to address their needs.

Many of those schools, Dienhart says, may have to hire assistant coaches rather than guys with experience as a head coach.

The prospect he mentions that intrigues me, as a graduate of the University of Arkansas, is East Carolina coach Skip Holtz, the son of Lou Holtz. If Skip Holtz is being mentioned as a possible coach at Arkansas, as Dienhart implies, he would be a candidate for his father's old job.

Lou Holtz was coaching the football team when I was a student there. And Skip was a student at Fayetteville High School with my brother.

The Wide World Of Sports

It's an interesting time to follow sports, whether professional or college ...

In baseball ...

* The Boston Red Sox wrote a somewhat predictable end to the fairy-tale saga of the Colorado Rockies. Colorado went on an astonishing winning streak just to get into the playoffs, then somehow got through the National League to qualify for the first World Series in its history. Yet the Red Sox went through the Rockies like a knife through soft butter, sweeping the series, 4-0.
* On the sidelines, the Los Angeles Dodgers apparently have wrapped up negotiations with former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre to fill their managerial vacancy. Since the Dodgers play in the same division as the Rockies, it ought to make next season even more intriguing.

In pro football ...

* Everyone's getting worked up about this weekend's clash between the unbeatens, New England and Indianapolis. It should be an entertaining game, featuring the two premier quarterbacks in the AFC, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And the winner will have the edge in gaining home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs.
* The Colts-Patriots game is only the latest marquee battle. A few weeks ago, the showdown between the Patriots and Cowboys was the big story. And, in a few more weeks, the big showdown will be Dallas and Green Bay. Whoever emerges victorious, the Cowboys or the Packers, is likely to be favored to have home field through the NFC playoffs.
* But the NFL can be unpredictable -- and we're not quite to the midway point of the season. So keep watching!

In college football ...

* It's been interesting to watch most of the teams that were getting all the preseason hype get knocked from their respective perches -- starting with Michigan's early season home loss to lowly Appalachian State.
* For those who like to watch big-name battles, November always has plenty of those, and this weekend features one from the SEC (LSU vs. Alabama), one from the Big 12 (Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma), one from the ACC (Florida State vs. Boston College) and a couple from the Big Ten (Wisconsin vs. Ohio State and Michigan vs. Michigan State). They should provide plenty of memorable moments.
* But, last weekend, on a day when football fans' attention was supposed to be on Ohio State-Penn State, the play of the year, if not the decade (and possibly the century) was being witnessed in the form of Division III's Trinity's 15-lateral game-winning touchdown play against Millsaps.

After several years of working among the most grizzled sports writers you can imagine, I think it's safe for me to say that only the most hard-boiled sports writer would not feel his pulse quickening at the sight of that Trinity play.

The Joys Of October

It's worth noting that this time next year, the presidential race will be in the home stretch, and the commercials and the mud-slinging will be at their peak.

So it's a good idea to enjoy the joys of October this year while you can.

That means the World Series. We've already got one shocking underdog -- the Colorado Rockies -- slated to play in the Fall Classic -- and possibly another one, if the Cleveland Indians hang on to beat the favored Boston Red Sox. The Rockies winning the National League championship is comparable to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team capturing the gold medal and the 1969 New York Mets winning the World Series. And you can bet it won't be long before the underdogs in the presidential campaign start comparing themselves to the Rockies.

Unfortunately, none of them can claim the same turf, since none of the candidates can say Denver is home.

And the joys of October includes college football and the traditional pageantry it boasts. Rivalries renew themselves in October -- and surprises occur. Last weekend, we had the rarest of events in college football -- both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams were beaten, causing a massive shakeup in the polls and reminding everyone that anything can happen.

The NFL is nearing the midway point of its season, with the Green Bay Packers sharing the top spot in the NFC behind the 38-year-old arm of Brett Favre. Favre is still a gunslinger and he reminds us, as George Blanda did a generation ago, that even the older guys can make their contribution in sports.

And, of course, basketball and hockey are getting under way, so there's something for everyone out there.

Enjoy the joys of October. They may be harder to enjoy next year.

American Indian Activist Dies

Vernon Bellecourt, a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM) who opposed the use of Indian nicknames in sports, died of complications from pneumonia Saturday. He was 75.

Bellecourt's brother, Clyde, was a founding member of AIM in 1968. Vernon soon became an active member and spokesman, participating in the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.

In his later years, Vernon Bellecourt was actively opposed to Indian nicknames in sports. Ten years ago, he was arrested in Cleveland during protests against the Indians' mascot, Chief Wahoo, when the Indians appeared in the World Series. Charges against him were dropped.

Bellecourt's death is a timely reminder of that protest, since the Cleveland Indians are appearing in the American League Championship Series again this year.

The protest did bear some fruit for advocates of Native Americans who opposed the use of Indian nicknames in sports. Many schools have changed their nicknames -- but many have not. And none of the professional teams, such as the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Redskins, have changed their nicknames.

Bellecourt's point about stereotype nicknames was well taken, but Native Americans weren't the only group to be so maligned. For example, the nickname for Notre Dame's athletic teams -- the Fightin' Irish -- perpetuates the image of drunken, brawling Irishmen.

And, in some cases, the slur is doubtful. Vancouver's NHL team is known as the "Canucks." Canuck is a slang term that was probably intended to describe French Canadians, but apparently it evolved to become a term used for Canadians in general. It is considered an offensive term by some Americans, but reportedly it is not considered offensive by most Canadians.

The Vancouver nickname is probably a good analogy to illustrate how some Native Americans probably aren't offended by some of the nicknames that Bellecourt and his followers opposed -- such as "Warriors" or "Braves."

And some of those nicknames clearly have historical significance -- such as Florida State's use of "Seminoles" as a team nickname.

Sometimes, though, the historical angle of a team's nickname isn't positive -- i.e., the use of "Sooners" as Oklahoma's nickname. In reality, the "Sooners" were 19th century criminals, illegally settling on lands in the Oklahoma territory before President Benjamin Harrison declared them available for settling. Not all of the Sooners seized their lands illegally, but most of them did.

Still, Native Americans are the ones who most often are maligned by derogatory team nicknames, and Bellecourt's point raised our collective consciousness. We should be grateful to him for that.

You can read his obituary at the Star-Tribune's website.