Wide World of Sports

  " Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sports... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of athletic competition.” ABC’s Jim McKay, “Wide World of Sports”

 

The Milwaukee Bucks boycotted an NBA playoff game in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin city near Milwaukee.  A half dozen white cops responded to a domestic disturbance report from a Black neighborhood.  Blake was getting into his car when an officer who had ahold of him shot him seven times in the back.  The police report claimed that Blake had a knife, but cops have been known to carry knives for the purpose of making such an accusation. Three baseball games were also postponed at players’ insistence, as well as two ice hockey playoff contests.  The Cubs’ Jason Haywood received permission to sit out a contest with Detroit. A 17-year-old Trump supporter traveled from Illinois to Kenosha and shot three protestors, killing two of them.

 

Sports are normally on TV at all hours of the days, especially basketball and ice hockey. Though I follow the Cubs, I haven’t watched more than a few innings.  Because the 76ers sucked against Boston, I mostly watched the NHL playoffs, first the Black Hawks and, once they were eliminated, the Philadelphia Flyers, whose 23-year-old goalie Carter Hart enabled them to eliminate Montreal.  Since it’s been a while since I followed the team, the only players I recognized were Sean Couturier and captain Claude Giroux (above, after scoring a goal). Down a game to the Islanders, the Flyers took a 3-1 lead into the third period of game 2 only to see their lead vanish. They had to ward off a power play just to force overtime.  Then a deflected slap shot by Flyer Philippe Meyer proved the game winner. Whew, close call!

 

Toni and I fared well in bridge against two couples who play at least seven times a week. They both use the very latest bidding systems while we play stick with Charles Goren’s 60-year-old system.

A new, “Texas Women and Ranching,” notes many Latina land owners raised large herds of cattle as well as at least four African-American freedwoman.  More recently, between 1947 and 1953 Kathryn and Nancy Binford launched the Tri-State All Girl Rodeo. The following citation is from the Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum in Fort Worth: “Nancy Binford, one of the country’s premier horsewomen, won many horse shows, races, and cutting horse championships, but she is be best remembered as co-producer, with Thena Mae Farr, of the Tri-State All-Girl Rodeos. Really “all-girl” from the contestants down to the judges, clowns and staff, the organization created opportunities for rodeo women not found in any other venue. Nancy also helped organize the fledgling Girls Rodeo Association (GRA, now the Women's Professional Rodeo Association, and served one term as president.”

 

This from IUN Region botanist Spencer Cortwright, whose passion is appreciating the wonders of nature and sharing his knowledge and discoveries of plants native to the Calumet Region.  He wrote: “Most thistles one sees along roadways are native to Eurasia, not the Midwest.  But some are, such as pasture thistle.  This particular individual, besides being beautiful and adored for nectar by butterflies, also supported a bird’s nest earlier in the season!”

 

Granddaughter Alissa visited for three days, able to work on her computer at our condo. One evening Toni made surf and turf (steak and scallops) with baked potatoes and salad. Next day, when it proved too hot to dine outside at Craft House with bridge opponents Charlie Halberstadt and Naomi Goodman, she served cod, corn on the cob, and French fries. That evening Alissa introduced to “The Moth” podcast. Eight people gave five-minute talks on a true experience.  The evening’s theme was “enthusiasm,” and the winner was a Guatemalan who’d come to the U.S. in the 1980s with his mother. Upon learning that a local store would soon be selling pollo (chicken) pepian, the Guatemalan national dish, prepared in a spicy sauce with pumpkin seeds and sesame, he put in an order, even though the price was way over his budget, and eagerly awaited the delicacy. When he took some to his mother, she shared it with a granddaughter, who promptly smothered it in ketchup, to the man’s horror.  The matriarch calmed him, pointing out that their heritage was being passed on, albeit with an America twist. Toni and Alissa even won the viewer scavenger hunt, showing off the found items, including a seagull’s skull, via the wonders of the internet.

 

Gary native Roland “R.J.” Peterson passed away.  He grew up in Miller Beach and graduated from William A. Wirt an served in the navy during World War II. At Purdue Peterson majored in mechanical engineering and then went to work with his father, whose company designed and sold the “River Queen,” first all-steel house boats. Living in Saugatuck, Michigan, where the Peterson family had often visited during the 1930s, R.J. expanded his father’s business and operated Tower Marina and revived the Saugatuck Chain Ferry. He saved the S.S. Keewatin, the Great Lakes passenger liner, and converted it into a popular museum.  He was involved in numerous marine enterprises in the Douglas-Saugatuck area, including the Red Dock café.