Bottom of the Bird Cage 5/27
We reached the 147th day of the year.
On May 27, 1930 in New York, the Chrysler Building opened to the public for the first time. It was the talents building in the world when it was completed at 1,046 feet. On this day in 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic for the first time.
Born on May 27, 1912 in Ashwood, Virginia was golfer “Slammin’” Sam Snead. One of the greatest golfers in history, he won 165 tournaments and three Masters titles. He had one of the sweetest swings in golf and many players at all levels tried to copy his tempo and rhythm. Snead passed away a few days short of his 90th birthday.
And on May 27, 2000 one of the greatest athletes in North America history passed away in Montreal. Maurice “Rocket” Richard died of complications from stomach cancer. He was 78 years old. A native of Montreal, Richard would play 19 seasons of hockey with the Canadians, and was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in 50 games and the first to reach 500 goals in his career. While he was with the Canadians, the team won eight Stanley Cups.
So dominant was he as a player that the Hockey Hall of Fame waived its waiting period for induction and took him in the year after he retired. When he passed away nine years ago, he had a state funeral that was broadcast live on television throughout Canada. Thousands paid respects to him as he lay in state at the Molson Centre before the services.
From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Peria Jerry almost died one day on the practice field. That was the major hurdle he overcame on his way to starring at Mississippi and becoming the Falcons’ first-round pick (24th overall) in the NFL’s 2009 draft.
There were other hurdles, including weight problems, lack of interest and alleged laziness as he followed a family tradition, climbing the football ladder out of rural Mississippi to the NFL. But for a fast-acting coaching staff, none of this would have happened. Back on a sweltering hot day in 2004, Jerry was on the practice field at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va.
“He got dehydrated, and his whole body locked up,” Hargrave coach Robert Prunty said. “We had to rush him to the hospital. His potassium was so low. Man, I thought I was going to lose that kid.”
Jerry, described as quiet and shy by those close to him, was fighting an internal battle. “He wasn’t telling anybody that he wasn’t eating or drinking,” Prunty said. “He was trying to lose weight.”
It’s what Jerry did after the life-threatening experience, one that landed him in a hospital, that really shook Prunty. “He wanted to come back out the next day,” Prunty said. “I’ve had some good ones come through here, but as far as toughness, I’ve never had a player as tough as Peria Jerry.”
One of the great things about the NFL Draft every year is that it brings over 250 new players into the league and each one of them has a story. Many of those stories are pretty basic tales of athletic gifts that were nutured and turned into a potential career in professional football. Just because a man or woman is a professional athlete is no reason they should be a role model. What others can learn from and appreciate is the path they traveled to their current position in life.
From the San Francisco Chronicle: Mom saddles up on Lucky, pink lariat in hand. Dad slides his Wranglers atop Chase. Sara sits Boss. Then Bear wraps his legs around Mighty Mite. And they’re off on their galloping quarter horses - the Ropin’ Pascoes of Porterville, the first family of steer roping in a land where being a cowboy is not a choice but a lifestyle. From this country cauldron was Bear Pascoe, the 49ers’ sixth-round draft pick from Fresno State, forged.
While many athletes talk about their “work ethic,” Pascoe lives it. He was rising before dawn and branding steers with the P/5 mark (the Pascoe family numbers five) before he was out of elementary school.
That he’s known to all as Bear instead of his given name, McKenna, gives him a leg up in the legend department. This is one big galoot, towering nearly seven feet from the bottoms of his boots to the crown of his battered cowboy hat. McKenna “didn’t fit him like Bear did,” mom Julie Pascoe said, recalling her nearly 10-pound baby boy. “He was just a big-old baby. Every time I picked him up, he’d be as heavy as a bear.”
Thus, “Bear” Pascoe, a fortuitous handle that suits this rangy strip of beef jerky, at 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds he’s a virtual physical match to his old man, Sean Pascoe. Working cowboys both, father and son favor Wranglers, snap-button shirts and sweat-stained Resistol hats.
Read this story and you can’t help but root for Bear Pascoe to make a place for himself in the NFL. The best part is if he would make the team with the 49ers, with their wine and cheese fans who think cowboys are only somebody from Dallas. As a state, California has its problems, but it’s a pretty remarkable entity that can accommodate Rodeo Drive and real rodeo riders like Bear Pascoe.
From the Chicago Sun Times: Bears fans have made a killing by re-selling their permanent seat licences at Soldier Field — and Chicago taxpayers deserve a cut of the action, Mayor Daley said today.
Days after the Bears protested the tax grab and five fans filed a class-action lawsuit that seeks to block it, Daley defended the decision to retroactively apply Chicago’s 9 percent amusement tax to roughly 2,700 permanent seat license holders who obtained the licenses from the original owners but did not pay the tax. “They’re flipping it,” Daley said of the owners who sold the licenses that give fans the right to then purchase season tickets. They start selling these licenses. . . . In other words, I bought it for $1,000. I sold it for $5,000. That’s all they’re doing. So, we caught ‘em. . . . Some of ‘em are just trying not to pay the tax.”
Bears season ticket-holders are furious about the city’s demand because they consider it double-taxation since the tax is already included in ticket prices. A 9 percent tax applied to a $10,000 PSL would cost the license holder $900. The fans’ lawsuit also seeks to re-coup at least $10 million worth of amusement taxes paid when the licenses were originally sold to fans by the Bears.
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This is going to get messy in Chicago and the outcome will be watched by cities and municipalities across the country. Governments are searching everywhere for more revenue and they will view this as an easy way to hit those with so called disposable income being spent on tickets to sports events, on both the college and professional levels. So many prime tickets on the college level for football and basketball are based on contributions to the school. Those payments would figure to be shielded from ticket taxes because they can be described as charitable, but don’t be surprised if some city, county or state tries to tax those hidden PSLs as well.
Give me “Slammin” Sammy Snead over a modern day hype the likes a Tiger Woods, et al - any day.
So too the greatest e’er, names Arnold Palmer & a Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, By Nelson, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, Bobby Jones - even Dr. Cary Middlecoff and yes, Happy Gilmore.
As with football players Chiefs past, the latter day golfers are but flotsam and jetsam that just don’t measure up those divot diggers yesteryear.
The Rocket was supremely talented; he was also an arrogant little SOB who only a Habs fan could love. When Richard was rightly suspended for his habit of assaulting game officials the fans practically burnt down the Forum.
As for the “wine and cheese” fans in SF - I’d rather watch a game with a Niners fan than a Chargers (or, God forbid, Raiders) fan any day of the week. Also, wine and cheese can be pretty damn good.
Well, folks, it appears that the “round mound of sound,” the 4x-sized columnist (if I may use that term loosely) for the KC Star, is starting his negativity campaign regarding Matt Cassel. We’re 3 1/2 months away from Cassel’s first handoff or pass as a Chief, and Whitlock’s already pretty well written him off. I guess he still thinks Jeff George is the Chiefs’ only QB salvation. Whitlock is pathetic. Rarely does he say anything nice about the Chiefs or Royals. He must see his role as that of a pot-stirrer? I don’t know who’s worse in that role, Whitlock or Jack Harry.