Closing

Closing day finally arrived, and after signing a couple dozen forms at the Chicago Title Company in Valpo Toni and I are proud owners of a condo in Chesterton, Indiana. We finally met the seller, a high school English teacher who seemed very nice. Yesterday we had our next-to-last walk through, and after he moves out on Monday, the final walk-through will occur. Last evening Miller realtor Gene Ayers called to tell us he found a house near the lake we might like. Told him it was too late. I think we’re ready for a condo, and Gary taxes are through the roof.

I finished Vonnegut’s “Timespace.” Like I had done in volume 40, he referred to retirement as being “out to pasture,” left to munch and ruminate. He repeated a joke about the Chicago Cubs moving to the Philippines and becoming the Manila Folders. He mentioned having a scotch and soda at a motel bar after giving a speech in Zaneville, Ohio, when in came a crowd of people who, in Vonnegut’s words, “seemed to really like each other. They had a lot to laugh about. It sure looked nice. It sure looked right.” Vonnegut asked the bartender who they were, and they turned out to be back for their high school’s fiftieth reunion. Vonnegut added that sadly he had missed his Indianapolis Shortridge Class of 1940 reunion. Pam Tucker recently wondered whether any unmarried guys would be coming to ours, which is coming up in October (so not to interfere with weddings, graduations, summer vacations, and the like).

The new Sports Illustrated has a major story about one of the first openly gay male athletes, Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas, whose nickname is “Alf” after the TV character. He is so popular and muscled up that supposedly his teammates are fine with it. On the cover are four Yankees who have played together for 16 years – Mariano Duncan, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettite (in between a short stint with Houston). One article mentioned a documentary due out on HBO soon about the Philadelphia Flyer teams of the early Seventies, known as the Broadway Bullies. The baddest of the bunch was Dave “Dutch” Schultz. In 1973 Milan Andrejevich and I had standing room only to a Black Hawks – Flyers game at the old Chicago Stadium. We were in the upper deck near the railing. Not knowing any better, I had my Bobby Clarke Flyers shirt on. A minute into the game Keith Magnuson hits Clarke with a hard check. Immediately Coach Fred Shero sent Schultz onto the ice. He heads right to Magnuson and starts pummeling him. Someone near me yells, “Get him, Schultzie,” and people turn and see me with my Flyers shirt on. Soon afterwards, someone tried to douse me with beer. I wore my coat over the jersey the rest of the game.