Today in 1955, Elvis Presley signed a management contract with Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk, an illegal immigrant from the Netherlands who named himself Colonel Tom Parker.
The number two single that day:
The number one British album today in 1969 was Cream’s “Goodbye,” which was, duh, their last album:
The texting shorthand term “smh” (“shakes my head”) didn’t exist in 1955 because texting didn’t exist in 1955.
But surely “smh” was invented for things like this: Today in 1955, CBS talent scout Arthur Godfrey made a signing decision between Elvis Presley and Pat Boone.
I mentioned Thursday that I was getting to announce my 16th state tournament in Green Bay Thursday morning.
The radio announcer and visitor in 2015, when the radio guy got to cover two state champion teams.
And I did. But it was, as CBS-TV’s Jim Nantz intones in Masters golf tournament promotions and as I said in my hastily created open, a state tournament unlike any other.
The girls basketball team was already in Green Bay. The high school fan bus, band coach and radio personnel left Thursday morning. About 20 miles on the way to Green Bay, we got a phone call from our guitar-playing son that the bus was going back to Platteville. Less than 12 hours after the WIAA said state would take place according to plan, the WIAA decided the games would take place but without spectators, except for 88 per school.
Suffice to say the ambiance was not what it usually was. At the beginning of the second game, a player was injured. The Resch Center was so quiet that up at the top, you could hear the TV announcers down on the floor.
All this took place while other breaking news was taking place back in Platteville that the newspaper editor (with the assistance of the passenger) got covered as BREAKING NEWS!
Readers know that one of the biggest events of my young life was playing in the band at the 1982 state tournament. I know how incensed I would have been had we been told that we couldn’t play at state. And that’s exactly what happened to our guitar-playing son, who got a shoutout by a team member at Wednesday’s pep rally at the high school. The WIAA’s decision, justified or not, basically ruined the state experience for everyone who wasn’t a player.
We left officially believing Platteville would be playing in the state Division 3 championship Saturday afternoon. Last night, the boys sectional semifinals were played, with the winners also to play Saturday to go to state.
Or not. Between Wednesday night and late Thursday night, the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League suspended their seasons, the National Collegiate Athletic Association canceled its basketball tournaments, and Major League Baseball suspended spring training and the start of its season.
And the WIAA announced late Thursday night that state and the rest of the boys postseason was canceled.
In a sense it’s the NBA’s fault, because it pulled the plug first, and, as a radio colleague said, “Monkey see, monkey do,” and everyone followed suit, justified or not.
It is strange to me that the NCAA flat out canceled its tournament instead of postponed it. It is similarly strange to me that the WIAA canceled its tournaments instead of postponing them. The players and coaches absolutely would have jumped at the chance to finish the tournaments in April, or May, or this summer.
I feel also for the people for whom my hobby is their line of work. The Facebook sports announcers group was full of people who are paid per game to announce, for instance, high school and college basketball and baseball. No games, no work.
Gary Wipperman had a similar experience Thursday. His conclusion is that life isn’t fair. And it’s not. And the kids who didn’t get to go to state at all, and the kids who didn’t get to finish the state experience they had earned, learned that the hard way.
This was used once. It was supposed to be used Saturday too.
I think the garbage that people like Limbaugh and Hannity have been pushing about COVID-19 are just that. I think Trump was very slow on the uptake. But I can’t help thinking that we seem unable to respond in a measured way to anything. Overreaction is seen as a sign of sincerity and concern. Yes, you can make an argument that closing down the world is the “safest” thing to do. But that doesn’t mean it’s necessary. You can be concerned about the danger for exponential spread of the virus without concluding that all public contact must halt. We run the risk of causing far more damage than the virus ever could because we can’t balance cross-cutting concerns. It must be all or nothing.
The number one single on both sides of the Atlantic today in 1960:
Today in 1965, Eric Clapton quit the Yardbirds because he wanted to continue playing the blues, while the other members wanted to sell records, as in …
The number one single today in 1965:
Today in 1967, the Beatles hired Sounds, Inc. for horn work:
At 1:15 or so this afternoon I will again get to announce a state basketball tournament on this radio station.
Someone on a sports announcer Facebook page asked the members how many state tournaments they had gotten to announce. In my case, the answer is five football championship games, three boys basketball tournaments, two girls basketball tournaments (with the right teams winning in each), two spring baseball tournaments, one summer baseball tournament, one boys soccer tournament and one girls volleyball tournament. That list includes six state champions. Not bad for a part-time announcer, who feels very blessed to be able to this as essentially a hobby that, unlike most hobbies, makes money.
The WIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament and the boys basketball sectionals scheduled for this week are continuing as planned.
The WIAA Executive Staff has been in continuous discussions with local and state health officials and organizations, as well as other high school associations in the Midwest. We continue to look at all the medical evidence and breaking information regarding COVID 19 to make the best decision possible with the information available to us.
While circumstances may change, all of the leading health resources we have been working with indicate the best way to proceed is to be overcautious and reinforce the universal guidance and precautions to know your health risk, especially those at higher risk for severe illness; wash hands repeatedly with soap or sanitizer; cover your sneeze or cough; keep hands away from your face; and if you feel sick, stay at home.
We will continue to monitor any new information, and if anything changes with our Tournament Series events, we will issue a statement. …
At this time, we have discussed options for continuing to conduct the WIAA Basketball State Tournaments. The staff at the Resch Center has been diligently working to ensure that the 2020 WIAA Girls Basketball State Tournament can be conducted in a safe environment.
Obviously increasing all of their cleaning efforts. This includes all departments
Wiping down all areas with disinfectants
Providing hand sanitizers for all of our staff working the event
Providing hand sanitizers available to the public and all of our restrooms will make sure all of our restrooms have hot water and soap
Concessions taking extra care with wiping down all counters and equipment
Overnight staff will be cleaning all confined spaces—locker rooms, elevators, meeting rooms will all be sanitized
Allowing and promoting if patrons want to bring in their own hand sanitizers or Purell
Major signage in the venue both static and electronic with messages provided by the CDC
… While we hear that universities and colleges have been closing their campuses, it is important to keep in mind that their student populations include international students who are returning to campus from spring break and countries which may have been infected more. In addition, those students are being quarantined as they return. …
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that the immediate health risk in the United States is low for the general public.
This is an appropriately measured response by the WIAA.
The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel. Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes. We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.
Except the NCAA tournament will not be the experience of a lifetime for fans who will not be allowed to see their team in action. (As if the coronavirus won’t be spread by millions of Americans in sports bars.) The only benefit from this might be from the Turner cable channels and CBS stations carrying the tournament, which will now be able to charge increased ad rates. It’s as if the media is rooting for chaos, or something.
This time, it comes via a video from this morning showing the former VP in a Michigan auto plant. After being challenged by a voter on his Second Amendment record, Biden explodes at the worker in what can only be called a rage.
It’s one of those things you have to see to believe.
On the issue being confronted here, the worker’s concerns are 100% valid. It was just a week ago that Biden announced he’d appoint Beto O’Rourke, who has called for full-scale gun confiscation of semi-automatic weapons, in charge of solving the “gun problem.” Biden has also stumped for an “assault weapons” ban, as well as other measures that would severely limit American constitutional rights.
But past that, Biden’s behavior here is just insane. He once again manages to fall into incoherence, calling an AR-15 an “AR-14” and calling semi-automatics “machine-guns.” Further, his demeanor toward the worker he’s speaking to is way over the line. He cusses, begins yelling, and jabs his finger in the man’s face. He also threatens to slap the guy in the face. This is not the behavior of someone who’s well.
Don’t believe me? Try to imagine a world where Donald Trump gets in a voter’s face, curses at them, and then gets physically threatening with them. How would people react? Would the media spend days on it, proclaiming as proof he’s unhinged and lacks the temperament to be president? You bet they would.
Biden is simply not up for running for President. This is a guy who needs to be sitting at home, dealing with whatever issues he’s got going on. This is not the first time Biden has gotten in a voter’s face. He physically accosted a Democratic primary voter back when his campaign was the ropes. Continuing to put him up in front of people is just cruel. He can’t handle it, physically nor emotionally.
It’s a testament to how partisan our media are that they aren’t making a bigger deal about Biden’s continued mental lapses and public belligerence. He can’t run from this forever and Trump will make it the cardinal issue of the campaign.
… simply unhinged behavior that indicates the stress of the campaign is accelerating the pace of Biden’s dementia onset. A few months ago, the tame, compliant Democrat media would have tut-tutted over it but now that Joe Biden is the presumptive Democrat nominee, it is all hands on deck to defend the indefensible. One of the first out of the box was The Atlantic’s David Frum. I’d just like to note that Frum was a speaker at the goat-rope-and-county-fair mash up that was the Summit on Principled Conservatism.
Kind of amazing that anybody thinks this video makes Biden look anything other than terrific. He shushes the aide who wants to lead him away – and then engages a hostile critic face to face, fact to fact. Impressive. https://t.co/yINIKi4Ffi
The unnamed Republican campaign vet/strategist is the journalistic equivalent of the ‘woke eight-year-old.’ It is a bullsh** designation used to try to launch a narrative. What Martin is really saying is ‘the professionals think what Biden did was great and wondrous but the rube voters don’t understand.’
There is virtually no one out there who hasn’t experienced this type of behavior from someone in a position of power. And you know what, no one thinks it is terrific. No one loves it. No one thinks it makes Biden look like anything but the worst sort of ass. Shouting down citizens who apparently know your record and rhetoric better than you, yourself, is not a good look.
If you want proof, here’s a simple test. If anyone thought this made Biden look like anything but a ill-tempered, doddering old fool, this video would be playing on every television station and cable news outlet non-stop both today and for the next week to help him in two critical rounds of primaries. But that will not happen. Other than FoxNews, you won’t see this video ever again.
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 