Like It's 1984

Many, many moons ago, back when Your Crusading Blogger was but a young chick (!) we used to watch a TV show called ABC's Wide World Of Sports -- which allowed us to sample every week "the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat".  And every Saturday I was a captive audience.

One Saturday, I believe in January of 1984 (OMG, 35 years ago?!  Gulp!), I was privileged to watch what was, for me, the breakout performance of Mary Lou Retton.  Cute, athletic, poised and exuberant, she tore up the stage at the McDonald's 1984 American Cup of Gymnastics, dominating in a way I had never seen before.  I described her triumphs that day to my mother, the real fan of gymnastics, who, alas, had missed the program because she had to work.

I was so impressed by Retton's talent and the mutual affection of her coach Bela Karolyi that I remember declaring to my mother as if it was the most sure certitude in the world, "That girl is gonna be a star."

And of course, my enthusiasm was justified a mere six months later at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.  Quite simply, Retton ruled.  Even my mother was taken with Mary Lou, she who would soon adorn Wheaties boxes.  I never thought I'd see another like her, not just in talent, but in spirit.

But I was wrong.  Hey, it's happened once or twice ;-)

Enter Katelyn Ohashi and her viral video:

Wow.  Just.  Wow.

Katelyn!  See you in Tokyo 2020, right?

More Katelyn.

Shout-Out To Some Good Samaritans

It seems like the leading story in everybody's mind right now is the partial Government Shutdown.  What did Donald Trump say? What did Nancy Pelosi say?  And Chuck Schumer?  Every day, a new chapter.  And as we are still stalemated, is there good news to report today?  Maybe tomorrow?

Rest assured, readers, Your Crusading Blogger has no desire to participate in the nauseating in(s)anity.  Instead, I have found some good news from the DMZ between the rock and the hard place.

New Jersey resident and Philadelphia corrections officer John Siciliano told CBS News last week he hasn't gotten a paycheck since December 29.  "I'm going to work everyday, and I'm not getting paid...scared because we never miss any payments and I'm angry at the bank because there's just no give."

What a difference a day makes.

Since that report, it was announced that several thousands of dollars have been raised to help the Siciliano family.  The same article lists some Oklahoma City residents, Coast Guard employees in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and government employees in Washington, DC, as beneficiaries of the kindness and generosity of fellow Americans.

The message this blogger is receiving, and wants to pass on here is this: it may seem like this whole country has gone crazy, but hey, folks, hey, world!

America is still America underneath!

And a big thank you to some Canadian air traffic controllers, who also got in on the act.

Now this blogger wonders, since the the GoFundMe for the "Trump Wall" is no more, perhaps we could find a way to similarly Crowd Fund more of our fellow citizens who are in the same boat as the Sicilianos?  Just a thought...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-2018-philadelphia-federal-detention-center-employee-interview/

Over-Egg The Pudding Much?

A Call-Out to those whom the shoe might fit.

Jeremy Kappell, meteorologist for WHEC-TV, Rochester, New York's NBC affiliate, was fired Sunday for inserting the word "coon" into the name Martin Luther King, Jr. while giving a weather report Friday.

Over the weekend, videos of Kappell's broadcast circulated on Facebook and YouTube, and WHEC conducted an "internal investigation and internal discussion" on Sunday, announced Kappell's firing Monday, earning along the way a lot of criticism for what many perceived as unnecessary delay doing so.

Folks, Your Crusading Blogger has no desire to make a big production here, so I will cut to the chase.   Here is the video, you decide.  Jeremy Kappell claims he jumbled his words.  Do you believe him?

Here is what I believe.  I believe we are in a season of profound and very quick societal change.  Much of this change is necessary and a long time coming.  The speed of this change is dizzying.  One element pushing, cheering the change on, and a push-back from the "Old Guard".  To many of us, even those who see the need for a lot of the changes, sometimes it feels like the whole world has gone crazy.  It is going to take some time for our society to settle in to some sense of equilibrium again.

I believe, if we are to get to this place of balance as quickly and painlessly as possible, it is important that we do not see offense and offenders around every corner.  "Over-egging the pudding" is a British term meaning to spoil something by trying too hard to improve it.  (Never heard that term?  Well, then maybe you'll understand Jeremy Kappell claiming he didn't know "coon" was used as a racial slur.  Neither would I, had I not watched All In The Family as an adult and heard Archie Bunker use the term.  All the racists I knew as a child had another epithet they used, and it began with the letter n).  Whenever we are making societal changes, especially such swift and sweeping ones, shouldn't we remember that perfect is the enemy of good?

It seems to me we need, in these troubled times, to cut each other some slack.  I believe we may all be collectively suffering from a little too much cortisol (stress hormone), making us a little edgy, and a little more likely to jump to conclusions and overreact.

I believe Jeremy when he says he jumbled some words.  I have no doubt that if this man has ever had a racist word to say, the social media detectives among us will sniff it out, old acquaintances will come out of the woodwork to enlighten and condemn.  I do not know this man; I do not know his heart.  I do know a little about news broadcasts, and I seem to remember that each portion of each segment is under a time crunch.  Meaning you only have x amount of time to deliver your portion, and you do not want to go over your allotted time.  You are hurrying to spit out a lot of information in a short time; it is easy to get your tongue tangled.

Who out there has not been afflicted with tripped, transposed and conflated syntax?  I remember at age 8, being outside playing, talking to my dog.  My mother was less than ten feet away in the kitchen with one ear on my verbal meanderings, when I attempted to ask my dog, "Isn't it a shame?" or " Isn't it a pity?"  Only it came out, "Isn't it a sh*tty?"  If my mother was like some folks out there, I'd have been sent to bed without supper.

I pray Jeremy Kappell will find a new and better opportunity when the time is right.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/01/rochester-weatherman-fired-mlk-
slur.html

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uC66TZxfSEw&feature=youtu.be#

Lady Byng Candidate?

It's hard being a superstar.  It's hard being the captain of an NHL team.  To be an elite player, and to continue playing at that level on the other side of 30, very difficult.

It's gotta be complicated to be Sidney Crosby.

And it sucks to be sent to the penalty box, especially when you're whupping up on the other team but good.  And so then imagine, you're this superstar, sitting in the penalty box, waiting for your incarceration to be over so you can get back onto the ice and inflict more punishment on the other team, in this case the New York Rangers, when all of a sudden, you hear:

"Hey, Crosby, you were voted third toughest Canadian, behind Celine Dion, and a close second to Avril Lavigne!"

Speaking?  Rangers fan Nick Lipeika, apparently a heckler of some note.  He continued his witticisms for Crosby's entire detention, par for Lipeika's course.

Seriously, dude?

How does one respond, if one is Sidney Crosby?

"Man, I'd slash that dude if I was Sid,"  Your Crusading Blogger grumbled, only half in jest, to her sidekick, Christine.

"Bet he gives him an autographed stick," smirked Christine.

Can somebody tell me why she's always right?

So, every year, the Professional Hockey Writers Association chooses a candidate to receive its Lady Byng Trophy given to the hockey player who is "adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability."

Yes, I know the young Crosby had the reputation of a whiner and a diver.  But he was team captain by his third year in the NHL, a nod from the Pittsburgh Penguins to Crosby's work ethic and good example, not to mention his amazing ability.  This player does things on the ice nobody has ever done, the likes of which we will probably never see again.  I don't know if his conduct with other players qualifies him for the Lady Byng Trophy.

But his reward to a "chirper" should.

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/01/03/sidney-crosby-autographed-stick-rangers-fan-chirping/