Every week during football season, I'd talk to my dad in the
press box following the game. Or else, early in the week when he
called to get caught up on scores around the Ohio Valley
Conference. Even though he lived in St. Paul, nearly 1,000 miles
from the Tennessee Tech campus, there was no more fervent follower
of Golden Eagle athletics than my dad, Bob Schabert. A sportswriter
for 40 years, he just couldn't get enough sports! He passed away in
April, 2007, and I miss talking with him. So, I've decided to carry
on our conversations with this blog. I'll write it on a random
schedule, kind of like the phone calls.
Comment? Send an email to: rschabert@tntech.edu
Blogs from
2009-2010
June 26, 2010
Hi Dad,
Well, we’ve had an awesome weekend…despite the hot
weather. We had a rare weekend with no events on the schedule so we
too advantage and hit the road for a short visit with Matt, Jennie
and Jacob in Bardstown, Ky. I’ve heard about Bardstown, but
this was our first time to visit.
Really, the reason we went was to run in a 5K on Saturday morning.
Jennie has run in about a dozen and I’ve run in one! This was
to be my second. The first time I did a little training for it,
running a mile or so every few days for several weeks. Still, the
temp at that one (it was in Owensboro, Ky.) was in the 90s, so the
heat was horrible. I ran about a mile, walked off-an-on for the
second mile, then tried (unsuccessfully) to run the third mile. I
ran it in 34:40, which I joked was my personal best. Of course it
was, it was my personal only!
So, this time, I didn’t train much at all. I ran two miles
on Monday night and two on Thursday morning, and felt pretty good
both times, so I was certain I could make it the full three, even
if I had to walk some. It wasn’t supposed to be competitive
or anything, just good exercise!
Ha! Fat chance. Once they say “go” I can’t help
but make it competitive.
So, we drove to Bardstown Friday evening. It took nearly four
hours including a stop for supper at White Castle in Lebanon.
Excellent pre-race dinner, by the way!
The run was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Saturday – and
that’s Eastern Daylight Time, so 7 a.m. to our systems! We
were up, showered, dressed and ready to go. Had a small breakfast
(sausage and egg biscuit and four mini donuts – again, I
probably broke all the dietary rules that the serious runners
follow).
Temp wasn’t too bad that early. About 500 runners and
walkers. Course was fairly flat. Made the first mile pretty easily
– didn’t even notice that we ran right past a donut
shop! The second mile had a few slopes, but it seemed to go on
forever. Kept telling myself to just keep my legs moving. Face was
getting pretty flushed. Breathing was fine.
Finally, the two-mile sign came into view. Made that, and was
encouraged that I was going to do fine. Hadn’t stopped
running yet, and was now beginning to pass a lot of people walking.
Ha! I was still running. I felt goooood.
That’s when I convinced myself I could ease up --
maybe walk a little. Went another quarter mile and stopped running,
but kept walking fast. Went 50 yards. Then another 50 yards. A few
people passed me. I didn’t like that. Ran 100 yards. Decided
to walk again, but only to the fire hydrant at the end of the
block. After that, I would force myself to run the rest of the
course.
Just past the hydrant there was a little uphill stretch, then
downhill. Then, around the corner, a long hill – up. Probably
biggest one. Uuuggghh. Had to keep running. Made the top, and saw a
water tent a few blocks ahead.
Took two this time, one to drink the second to pour on the back of
my neck and my face. The lady said “just a couple blocks to
go.” That couldn’t be right. I saw a green shirt in the
street directing runners, and he was at least six blocks ahead!
Then I passed the three-mile sign. And there was the turn onto the
St. Catherine’s College campus, where the start/finish line
awaited us. That guy in the green shirt was sstill four blocks
ahead, but he was picking up the cones! I was there. Just 100 yards
to go. I saw the clock and though it said 31 minutes.
Bummer, as I got closer, I could read 33:57 and finally crossed
the line in 34:04. Not my PR but good enough. That’s three
miles of about 11:20 each. Not horrible for my age and lack of
training.
Jennie ran the entire route, never walked a step, and finished in
about 35:20. Joan and Matt walked the course, so we waited for
them. Then the door prizes (not one of us won anything) and the
medals to the top three in each age category (again, not one of us
won anything – we like to say we each finished fourth in our
category but they only gave out the top three).
Ate a pancake breakfast then back to the hotel to clean up. Toured
the town, went back and napped, then went to dinner. And now
we’ve reached the main point of this particular blog!
It’s not about the 5K, but the restaurant we found.
It’s mentioned in the latest issue of Midwest Living, so we
gave it a try.
Incredible! Delicious! Oh-so-good. It’s a place called Kurtz
and it’s a few blocks from the square, just across the road
from My Old Kentucky Home State Park. This place began in 1937 by
Mrs. Kurtz, who converted the first floor of her family’s
home into a restaurant.
Today, 73 years later, it’s still being run by members of
her family. We ordered five different dinners, and all five were
fabulous. Service was great, the food was great, the atmosphere
– still on the first floor of the same building –
really pleasant. Of course we had to top it off with two kinds of
pie – their specialty.
So, to anyone who might read this, I highly recommend eating at
Kurtz in Bardstown.
Oh, yeah, we finished our trip with an outdoor concert in the
Farmer’s Market and a good night’s sleep. Man, we slept
well! I’ve developed a whole new appreciation for distance
runners such as Stephanie Place, Ashley Evans and Tiffany
Palmer!
On our drive home, we came back to Cookeville on back roads
through Thompkinsville, Ky., but that’s material for another
time!
Hope you don’t have any more tornadoes in Minnesota. Got a
big night of TV watching to do, so I’ve gotta run. Actually,
I’m not gonna run, not tonight anyway. But soon.
Never know when Jennie’s going to sign me up for another
5K!
Love,
Rob
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Hi Dad,
Well, we're sitting on our Southwest Airlines plane at the gate in
Minneapolis, and we're told we can't leave because storms are about
to hit Chicago. That gives me 45 minutes (at least), so I'll use
some of it to write a few quick notes. Heading back to Cookeville
today so I can score the Bobby Nichols Scramble, so it's absolutely
imperative that we get out of here and back to Cooke-Vegas
(although I have utmost faith that Kate could handle everything if
we're delayed).
Had a great week in Minnesota, culminating with the wedding last
night of Rachel and Nap. Was really impressed with Nap's family --
really wonderful people! Dave and Vicky and Heidi and Adam and
Rachel did a remakable job planning the event. As weddings go (and
you know I typically don't 'do' weddings) this one was pretty darm
good! The Photo Booth was the hit -- wait until we publish the
photos of Joan, Nancy, Allison and me! You'll hurt yourself
laughing!
Went to Cannon Falls Wednesday to canoe the Cannon River. What a
treasure that Southern Minnesota has with the Cannon, and further
south the Root River. Beautiful rivers and absolutely perfect
cannoeing conditions, even for us novices. Didn't capsize.
As promised, here's a quick review of the two places of lodging,
also known as our Bed & Breakfasts stops (mom's house and
Nancy's house).
Gerry's Oakdale B&B was good, perhaps a 4-star score. Service
was fine, but nothing special. Maids never made the bed but we did
sleep well. They also did laundry for us, so that was a plus. Food
was great one night -- roast beef, potatoes and carrots. Rest of
the meals were minimal -- make your own peanut-butter toast. Coffee
was excellent.
The Burnsville B&B, also known as the Steele City Sleep Joint,
had excellent atmosphere including extremely frivolous dog named
Tucker. Cats, too, but they were...well, cats. They pretty much
left us alone -- except the one that slept on my pillow above my
head! Food was... Well, let's move on. Breakfast on check-out day
was old package of coffee, frozen eggs and hot dog buns! They need
to improve on the food area. The shuttle service to the airport was
sensational -- agreeable driver who provided cold bottled water.
Probably the highlight of our stay. Just wonder how long
he'll keep his job. Seemed to be at odds with the
innkeeper.
Well, that's enough silly chatter. Now we only have 41 minutes
left before our next weather update. I guess I'll work on some
press releases!
Love,
Rob
Friday, May 28, 2010
Hi Dad,
Well, you would really love it here in Jackson at the OVC
Baseball Tournament. Big, spacious press box ath Pringles Park.
Kind of reminds me of going to games at the old Municipal Stadium
near Snelling Avenue in St. Paul when you covered games or did
P.A.
We played a late game last night -- didn't start until 9:58 p.m.
and lasted until close to 1 a.m. before the Golden Eagles claimed a
7-4 win over Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels are the No. 6 seed but
they sure put up a fight! You would also like watching Lee Henry,
our senior pitcher. He's certainly "old school" in wanting the ball
in his hands, no matter what. He threw 160 pitches! Complete game,
five-hitter. Just never gets rattled. Even after EKU tied it 4-4
with an unearned run in the seventh. He just kept wanting to come
back out and throw. He was named the OVC Pitcher of the Year, and
last night certainly backed up that vote.
Tonight it's No.1 vs. No. 2, with the winner advancing unbeaten to
the championship game. Should be a good one. Tech vs. Jacksonville
State. The Gamecocks won three from Tech way back on the first
weekend of the OVC schedule. I think we're a much improved team
since then.
Heading over the Casey Jones Village in a few minutes. They have
trains there! Need I say any more?
Tune in to the game tonight. You can hear it on the Internet
through Teamline. Do you have Internet?
I'll write again soon.
Love,
Rob
Friday, May 14, 2010
Hi Dad,
Okay, I know I'm supposd to write these, but I just couldn't
resist this article. It's from Big League Stew.com, a blog on
yahoo, that Kristen sent to me. So, I give them full credit
for the article and photo.
I remember when we visited -- we have a photo of you emerging from
the corn stalks! And, I still have the coffee mug that mom bought
for me at the concession stand -- it shows corn stalks, and when
you put hot drink into the cup, the players emerge! It doesn't
really work too well, anymore. I think it went through the
dishwasher a couple times.
Anyway, here's the article about the Field of Dreams being for
sale:
Real estate agents can often get hyperbolic when talking about a "one-of-a-kind" property, but I don't think anyone will dispute that label on the newest listing in Dyersville, Iowa.
After all, how many iconic movie sets are not only available for purchase, but can also be lived in? The 193-acre farm where Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones filmed 1989's "Field Of Dreams" has been listed for sale by its owners after over a century of family ownership and the Des Moines Register reports that the asking price for the whole lot is $5.4 million.
That'd make for a good-sized mortgage, but it'd also get you the big farmhouse, the baseball diamond that Universal cut out of the corn, a few more farm buildings and about 65,000 tourists a year willing to buy your T-shirts and postcards.
Additional features include a vague yet suggestive voice in the
sky, members of the 1919 Black Sox periodically showing up for a
night game and the opportunity to play catch with your father's
ghost.
It basically sounds like a great opportunity for anyone, so long as your brother-in-law isn't the dream-crushing character played by Timothy Busfield.
Former major league pitcher Ken Sanders is helping Don and Becky Lansing oversee the sale as they head into retirement and he says he's not quite sure who will end up as the buyer:
"It would be easy to guess a baseball player, a movie buff or even someone from the film's cast," Sanders said.
"But the movie's reach has been so widespread, potential buyers don't necessarily fall within those demographics. It could end up being a non-profit organization, a land trust or a foreign investor. We might all be surprised."
I know everyone's been joking all day about placing a bid on the house, but I'm completely serious in trying to convince my bosses to make this the new blogging headquarters of Big League Stew. Considering I could spend my lunch hour taking some hacks before eating at the unparalleled Country Junction restaurant nearby, it's a chance of a lifetime.
Head on over to SellFieldofDreamsMovieSite.com if you want to see all the real particulars (square footage, barn amenities, etc.) and put an offer together before I do. Or you can just listen to Terence Mann's "people will come" speech for much cheaper soul nourishment.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Hi Dad,
I got up early today, about 5 o’clock, and walked Turtle
around the block. As we walked, I remembered how you used to walk
Chief. Fifteen years ago, you volunteered to walk him and the two
of you went off around the block. Ten years ago, you were still
walking him, but the pace had slowed quite a bit. I remember one
time you were walking Chief as we drove home, and there you were,
the two of you, barely moving forward. By then your legs
weren’t as strong and you walked pretty slowly, and Chief
– what a great dog he was – he just moved along next to
you at the same pace. Never bothered him. If you went slow, he went
slow. If you went slower, he went slower. He was just happy to be
out walking, and he adjusted to whatever pace he needed to go.
One time I decided he and I would run around the block. We started
out strong with Chief out front pulling me along. By halfway around
the block, he was running along right next to me. And by the last
few hundred yards, he was running behind me, barely keeping up. The
leash reached backward as he tagged along. He was so, so happy to
get back to the house, get a big drink of water, and flop down on
the deck and recover.
I got up early to walk Turtle and to write – rewrite,
actually – in my book. I can’t believe I began writing
this thing in 1987 and it’s STILL not finished. I’ve
rewritten it about nine times now. This is the last, though.
I’m pushing through and going to wrap it up by August.
I’m setting August 16 – your birthday – as my new
deadline to finish. I want to get started on a new book, but
don’t want to start until this one is finished.
The problem is that I’m in the wrong profession to be a
writer. A writer (especially a novelist) needs time to write, and
that’s the one thing I just don’t have – time. I
don’t have nights or weekends to write because there’s
always games to cover and stories to write. And, once the
Internet came along, forget-about-it. Keeping our
website up-to-date takes so much more time. I’m really proud
of our website and we work really hard at making it the best we can
within our resources and restraints. I’ve heard someone tell
me that a website survey within the conference (some chat
room, I guess) had many comments listing the TTU website as the
best in the conference. That’s coming from fans of the other
schools around the conference, so it’s especially
gratifying.
We set out to make it special. My goals for TTUsports.com are to
go the extra mile with our graphics, with our writing, and with our
general content. We don’t usually get much feedback
(unless there’s something wrong), but I feel like we’re
doing a good job with it. We try to be creative in the graphics
that we produce to go with the stories – but that’s one
of the things that’s really taking more time. We can’t
just announce anything anymore. Every story has to have some type
of photo or graphic to go with it on the website.
Thankfully we’ve had a lot of great cooperation from several
photographers, who have provided us with plenty of photos to work
with. I thank them often, but can never thank them enough. So,
here’s a written word of thanks to Dean Carothers, John Lucas
and Michael Vigeant from Photo Services, Tony Marable (nice
bow tie, Tony), Thomas Corhern of the Herald-Citizen, and Jim
Dillon. Thanks to all of you. And, both Nick Heidelberger and Steve
Appelhans have done a really nice job in creating their graphics.
Thanks, guys.
Gotta run, dad. I haven’t even had a chance to see how the
Twins did yesterday. I’ll check out the standings in the
paper tomorrow and catch up on a couple days of games.
Bye for now,
Love,
Rob
April 17, 2010
Hi Dad,
Wow, it's been nearly two months since I've been here. I've talked
with mom a lot in that time, but somehow just never found time to
write here. The basketball season ended and the spring season got
into full swing, and now some of them are coming to an end. The
golf teams will be playing in the OVC tournaments next week, the
women's tennis team is finished for the year (actually, suspended
along with rifle due to the budget situation), the men's tennis
team plays in the OVC tournament semifinals today (against a
surprise No. 6 seed Murray State). The baseball and softball teams
are about mid-season for theo conference schedules and both are
hoping to kick it into a higher gear (translate: winning more) in
the coming weeks.
The football team hosts its Purple & Gold Spring Game today to
wrap up spring drills. We've got about 15-18 players sidelined
because of injuries of recovering/rehabbing from injuries last
fall, so it will be more like a controlled scrimmage. Still, I
think there will be a few fans in the stands in Tucker Stadium to
watch. Expectationas are really pretty high for the 2010 football
season. After opening against two monsters (Arkansas and TCU), the
Golden Eagles have a chance to win every one of their remaining
games and win the OVC. Lots of interst and support and I think
we'll see that result in pretty solid season ticket sales. We have
a great home schedule, hosting the four OVC teams which have been
the strongest over the past several years so the advantage swings
to the Golden Eagles.
Women's basketball just signed a couple more players to go with
four who signed early. I believe coach Messer will have this team
cutting down the nets before too long. You never met her, but I
know you'd love her team and her style of play.
The baseball team is just 1-5 in OVC Play, but we've faced two of
the best teams and all on the road. I expect the tide will turn
quickly -- this is really a good baseball team, with solid players
in every position and several good ones on the bench. Only question
has been consistency from the pitching staff, and I like the way
coach Cole works with them. Mark my words here on April 17, that
Golden Eagle baseball team will be one of the favorites come OVC
Tournament time.
Speaking of baseball, I like the makeup of the 2010 Twins and
apparently everybody loves the new stadium, Target Field. Matt,
Jennie and Jacob got a chance to see them play in Ft., Myers in
March (Minnesota beat Boston, 5-3). We're hoping to get to a game
at Target Field in June when we come up for Rachel's wedding.
I know you're not familiar with Facebook, but I recently put a
message out there asking anybody who saw it for their opinion on
this question: Which will be the highlight of our trip to
Minnesota, the wedding or the Twins game. Hah! All of the guys who
responded and even some of the ladies said the Twins game. Kristen
is certainly her father's daughter!
I'm hoping to write more often - but you know how that usually
goes!
Love,
Rob
February 27, 2010
Hi Dad,
Man, it has really been a while since I’ve posted anything.
We have been overwhelmed at work with the overlap of basketball and
the start of the spring sports. Today we host a basketball
doubleheader, a baseball game, two tennis matches (in Crossville),
and also run in Nashville at the OVC Indoor track & field
championships.
It’s been like that for a couple weeks. Last Saturday we had
nine teams in action, all on the road. Tomorrow is the football
team’s Awards Dinner, which I’ve been asked to emcee. I
don’t recall Tech holding a football awards dinner in the 28
years I’ve been here, but Watson Brown wanted to do this to
give recognition to his team and to present the Sgt. York Trophy. I
went to Nashville Tuesday with Watson, his seniors and several
others, for the O’Charley’s Dinner of Champions, where
the Nashville Sports Council presented the York Trophy to Tech. It
was a wonderful event, but things were a little messed up regarding
the Tech portion of the dinner. I’m sure they’ll get
things straightened out by next year’s dinner, and hopefully
Tech will be back to accept another York Trophy.
Well, we’re a little somber around our house today. Lucy
(you remember our annoying little Schnauzer?) was having seizures
last night and got progressively worse. We took her at 11 p.m. to a
vet in Livingston, left her overnight, and this morning we had to
have her put to sleep. We had her 11 years, so we’ll miss
having her around here. We’ve gone from having three dogs at
one time down to one remaining….good old Turtle. He’ll
have to carry the load around here as far as being on the lookout
and patrolling the back yard for squirrels and moles, and of course
he’ll be the one forced to get all the attention. He’ll
hate that, won’t he?
Final basketball games of the regular season tonight. It’s
always sad to see a season come to an end (double dose of sadness
for me today), although there’s always hope that the teams
will go far in post-season. The OVC Tournament begins Tuesday and
both teams will be on the road.
Spring training gets underway. I know you were always excited
about that, because it meant the MLB season was right around the
corner. I wonder if the Guardian Angels Men’s Club still goes
to a Twins game every year, without you there to sell the tickets.
I don’t know how you managed to sell 100 tickets every
year…but then, you seemed to know everybody in the entire
city, or they knew you! I don’t think there was a person on
the planet who didn’t like you. How did you do it? Anyway, I
hope the Men’s Club still makes the trip to the game.
I’m sure you would have been riding in the front of the bus,
especially this year with the new stadium. That’s one thing I
know you’d have enjoyed, seeing the new Gopher football
stadium and the new Twins ballpark.
Well, as you can tell, other than the news about Lucy I
don’t have much to talk about. Mom says she’s doing
pretty well. The treatments seem to be working well enough to keep
her stable. I’m hoping we can find a few days this summer to
get to Minnesota to visit her. We’ll keep looking at the
schedules and see if we can get away. If we do, we’ll be sure
to come by and visit.
I hope to write again soon, and hopefully I’ll have
something more substantial to report.
Love,
Rob
January 18, 2010
Hi Dad,
Well we open a four-game homestand this week with games against
Austin Peay and Tennessee State. On Thursday night we’re
doing a lot of promotions to try to get the student body to Eblen
Center. There are lots and lots of Tech students who have never
attended a game in Eblen Center, and we really need them and their
youthful enthusiasm and crazy antics to make the place come alive.
I would bet that there are very few current freshmen who have ever
been to a game – they certainly weren’t here in
November and December.
On Saturday, it’s Alumni Night for both teams. It will be
good to see some of the former players who come back to the event.
The games are against Tennessee State.
Next week, we have Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri coming
to town. We are in need of some wins for both teams, so hopefully
the home court will make a difference.
We have this new promotion at home basketball games, sponsored by
Pepsi Cola Bottling Group of Cookeville, called “Are You A
Rock Star?” and it’ offers $1,000 in prizes for the
winners at the end of the year. We need to get the word out to our
students so they can compete.
The problem we face is selecting the songs. Songs that
today’s college students listen to don’t have enough
widespread popularity for a majority of the fans to know, and
nobody under a certain age knows any songs from any previous eras.
I would say that very few – if any – college aged
students know any songs from more than about five years ago, and
that’s a shame. They’re missing out on the best music
of all time, the songs of the 70s and 80s.
I’m stunned when kids say they’ve never heard of some
of the biggest groups of all time. Everybody should be familiar
with groups such as Chicago, Kansas, Boston, The Doobie Brothers,
The Neville Brothers, America, Firefall, Yes, Three Dog Night. Yet,
almost every time I mention one of their songs, I get these weird
looks from the kids.
Hey, you always talked about the music of your generation. Maybe I
wasn’t familiar with all of it, but at least I knew who you
were talking about when you mentioned people like Guy Lombardo,
Perry Como, Glenn Miller, Kay Kaiser and Benny Goodman. And, by the
way, they had some pretty good stuff.
At a recent game we selected a song by Chicago, one of the biggest
hits of ALL time, and most of the people we asked to participate
had never heard of the song! How on earth is that possible. How can
the teens and 20-somethings have NEVER HEARD of the classic
groups!
So, we select another No. 1 hit from the 80s, and once again, we
were met with blank stares. It’s really sad how all the
great, great…did I mention GREAT…music from the 60s
and 70s and 80s is basically non-existent to anyone under 25. What
the heck are they listening to?
This is not just the rant of a 50-something person. The music of
those decades was outstanding (most of it – as with every
decade, there are always some really bad songs, too). How else
could you explain so many cover versions of older songs by
today’s artists? They recognize excellent writing and groups
who played songs with enthusiasm.
Sure, sure, sure, there are some good groups out there today. I
kind of like some of the songs by Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas,
Lady Antebellum. It’s just that there’s so much lousy
stuff out there today.
I don’t want to listen to any group or artist with just an
initial for a name such as T-Pain, LL Cool J, P Diddy and Jay-Z. I
don’t like artists with a symbol in their name, such as
Ke$ha. I don’t like music from artists with “Lil”
in their name. I don’t like artists who make up their own
spelling such as Ludacris or Eminem. I don’t like rap. I
don’t like hip-hop. I don't like old-time and twangy
country.
Some of today’s artists that I do like include Colbie
Callait, Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Paige. Just for
fun, I looked at a website of Top 40 hits. It gave the Top 40 hits
from every country, so I bounced around the world and found some
great stuff. I especially liked some artists from Greece, Germany
and Sweden. The Top 40 in Sweden included some nice stuff by Taio
Cruz, Calle Kristiansson, Mando Diao and Westlife.
The question we face in hosting “Are You A Rock Star?”
is that it’s hard to tell which of today’s songs will
the contestant know?
In my efforts to educate, I suggest five bands that few (if any)
have ever heard, but they were either really good bands or had a
great song. Here’s my list.
Paper Lace – A British pop band
from Nottingham that had hits on both sides of the Atlantic in the
early 1970s. They hit No. 1 with “The Night Chicago
Died” in he USA, a song about Al Capone released in 1974.
They also had the original recording of the Vietnam song
“Billy, Don’t be a Hero” and it reached No. 1 in
the UK. In America, Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods covered the song
and it topped the charts in the USA.
Marmalade – Another
“pop” band, this group hailed from Scotland. They were
originally formed as “Dean Ford and the Gaylords” in
Glasgow, and changed the name in 1966. During their early days, the
were unusual by having two bass players (wouldn’t
brother-in-law Dave Lowe love this group!) -- Graham Knight on
4-string and Pat Fairley on 6-string. Actually, they’re on
this list mainly because of their 1969 hit “Reflections of My
Life” which I consider among my 10 favorite songs of all
time. I always liked the strange-sounding guitar licks in the
middle, but didn’t know until recently that it was a
“backwards solo” which was the same thing The Beatles
did on “I’m only sleeping.”
Jigsaw – Another British band,
this group had one smash hit called “Sky High” which
was good enough to make them noteworthy. The song was actually
recorded for the film The Man from Hong Kong, a 1975 martial-arts
action movie starring George Lazenby. A famous Mexican wrestler
called Mil Mascaras used "Sky High" as his theme song. The rest of
their music is only average.
Player – A 1970s group, Player had
a chart-topper with “Baby Come Back” and the song has
had several new lives in popular television shows. The bass player
in the group, Ronn Moss, has been appearing since 1987 on the
daytime soap The Bold and the Beautiful as Ridge Forrester. The
song appeared in an episodes of The Simpsons and King of the Hill,
several movies, and most recently as the theme song in the ad
campaigns for Swiffer's line of cleaning products. The album by
“Player” is pretty good all the way through.
Starbuck – “Moonlight Feels
Right” by Starbuck is described as the definitive AM radio
driving song of the 70s. It is synth-pop at its finest with a
smooth melody and – get this – a marimba solo. Starbuck
is an Atlanta group, and its hit has been recorded by dozens of
artists and included on over 100 CD compilations.
And finally, my nomination for the worst band but they still
scored a hit with one great song:
King Harvest – Their 1973 album
“Dancing in the Moonlight” could be the worst
compilation of songs ever, BUT they had a monster hit with the
title song. It climbed to No. 13 in the US, and is played today on
all the oldies stations and karaoke joints. It was the most
requested song in the nation in roller skating rinks when it was
released. Outside of that song, the album is only worth listening
to one time – to hear just how bad the rest of the songs
were!
Well dad, I guess I’m really guilty of rambling this time! I
just watched Brett Farve and the Vikings crush the Cowboys. Sweet.
Kind of makes up for the time Drew Pearson PUSHED OFF defender Paul
Krause to score the winning TD in Metropolitan Stadium and beat the
Vikings in the 1976 playoffs. My friend Roger Ealey and the rest of
the Cowboy fans relish that play (he also thinks Kent Hrbek cheated
in the 1991 World Series against the Braves when he yanked Ron Gant
off first base and tagged him out, so I guess we’re
even).
At least this win will keep all the Cowboy fans quiet for
awhile.
Now if only we could beat Murray State and keep all the Racer fans
quiet. I guess this week we’ll settle for some wins over APSU
and TSU.
I’ll be in touch,
Love,
Rob
December 19, 2009
Hi Dad,
It’s a little bigger crowd than I expected tonight,
considering the weather isn’t very nice. The women are
hosting Belmont and the men host Bryan.
The funniest thing is happening right now during the women’s
game. We had graduation in here earlier today, and someone had lots
of helium-filled white balloons. About 20 of those balloons are up
against the roof right now, but every once in awhile one of them
begins to slowly descend. It floats down toward the court, so Matt
Dexter and Tyler Birdwell (facilities personnel) keep an eye on
them, and when they have a chance (like during a dead ball for a
foul), they run out on the court and snatch the balloon string out
of the air before it can interrupt the game. The fans all cheer for
them when they get the balloons!
My guess is that one of those balloons will come down during the
game and the officials will need to stop the action to retrieve it.
We’ll see!
We went down to Nashville Thursday night to see/hear Jason
Eskridge and Darnell Levine at their fourth annual Celebration of
Elves. If you’ll remember, Jason played football at Tech a
dozen years ago. He did a really nice job; I think his singing has
gotten stronger since last year.
Melinda Doolittle was there to watch and listen, and Joan was
thrilled. She got a chance to talk to her. Back when Melinda was a
contestant on finalist on American Idol (about four years ago),
Melinda was Joan’s favorite. She was very nice. When we got
home, I went online and checked her schedule and listened to one of
her new songs. And, of course, Joan said, “I think I’d
like her CD for Christmas.”
No problem. I’ll just return that diamond necklace I got her
and buy the CD.
John Blair – you remember him? Our volleyball coach?
He’s really a great guy, and is so willing to help out in
matters, both at work and away from the office. Talk about
unselfish, it’s John Blair. He repaired a couple pieces of
furniture for me a few years ago, last week he helped cut some
strips of wood for me to use on my train. He’s building a
cabinet to hold our poster archives. It seems anytime there’s
a need for something, John not only knows how to do it, he’s
willing to do it.
I really need to get him something for Christmas, but don’t
tell him. He doesn’t read this blog, so this won’t ruin
the surprise.
There really are a lot of good people in our Athletics Department,
but I know you don’t know a lot of them since several are new
in the past few years. I’m not going to try to mention any
more of them here, because I’ll surely overlook someone.
I’ll just add a blanket greeting to all of them, and thank
them for all they do. And, for being great to work with, from the
administration, to the coaches, to the clerical staff.
I remember when you used to visit, and you’d always spend
some time at Eblen Center stopping in to chat with Dave Coffey
(back in the early 80s), Frank Harrell, and any coach you could
find. I remember you spending lots of time visiting with baseball
coach David Mays, and with tennis coach Randy Smith. And, of
course, every time we went to Ironwood Golf Course, Bobby Nichols
was always willing to talk with you.
A lot of names and faces have changed throughout my 27-plus years
here. The facilites have changed quite a bit, too. You’d love
them. Tucker Stadium looks great. Eblen Center looks great. The
softball field, well you’d hardly recognize it with all the
Tory Acheson has done over there. By far the finest softball
facility in the OVC.
Well, gotta run. Time to grab the handheld mike and get out on the
floor for the toilet paper toss contest. Man, the things I do. Talk
to you again soon.
Love,
Rob
December 8, 2009
Hi Dad,
We went to see The Blind Side on Sunday. It was outstanding.
I’d rank it up there among my Top 10 to 15 favorite sports
movies. I think you’d like it too. The football scenes are
actually pretty realistic looking. That’s usually the problem
with sports movies -- the action scenes look fake.
The movie makes you a fan of Michael Oher, although I don’t
think it will make me a fan of the Baltimore Ravens. Just
can’t do that.
I know you don’t go to the theatre too often (you told me
your favorite movie actor is Wallace Beery, so that kind of dates
your movie tastes), but I want to talk about movies for a moment. I
was down the basement at Jim Rueda’s house in Mankato last
year and he said, “Schabes, take a look. The greatest
collection of the greatest sports movies ever made.” He
pointed to a small bookcase, which held approximately 100 movies,
all about sports. He’s collecting movies about sports.
So, naturally I decided to do the same. I’m way behind him,
of course. I watch for the $5 deals, and I’m up to 25 movies.
I get about one per month, so it will be a slow-growing
collection.
I’ve compiled a list of sports movies and have made a pretty
comprehensive list. I’m guessing I’ve missed a few, so
I expect to hear from some people once they see the list –
people pointing out which movies I’ve missed. Click here for a PDF of
the list.
Of course I haven’t seen many of these, so I can’t
judge them, but here are some I think are the “best”
sports movies (in no particular order):
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings
Eight Men Out
For Love of the Game
The Natural
Field of Dreams
Hoosiers
That Championship Season
The Scout
The Blind Side
Rudy
Tin Cup
Miracle
Cool Runnings
Grumpy Old Men
Grumpier Old Men
And, of course, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Sure,
it’s not a sports movie but it does have some soccer in it. I
have it on the list just because of the incredible scenery. Makes
you want to visit the Greek Islands.
So, there you go. My list of quality sports movies, in case anyone
is thinking about getting somebody a movie for Christmas (Not me
– I have almost all of those listed above).
Well, I was thrilled to see that Joe Mauer was named the American
League MVP. I called it back in October, didn’t I?
Coming up next Thursday, we’re going to Nashville to hear
Jason Eskridge in his annual Celebration of Elves Christmas
concert. We went last year and it was loads of fun. He played
football at Tech in the mid 90s and now has a singing career.
Dad, you should have been here this past weekend. We hosted the
state football championships in Tucker Stadium and it was the most
phenomenal event I’ve ever seen in my 28 years in Cookeville!
Sensational effort from the city of Cookeville, the Chamber of
Commerce and hundreds of volunteers. I don’t think the 2002
Salt Lake Olympics were any more organized than this event.
Tech Athletics had a big hand in putting in on since it was held
here, and credit goes to Misty Pearson and Ben Shannon. Awesome
work for about five solid months. Mark Wilson and Grant Swallows
were also highly involved. We had snow on Saturday, and they were
out there blowing off the field and clearing away the snow. How
many Division I Directors of Athletics can you think of who would
be manning a leaf blower to clear snow on the field and in the
stands? I can think of maybe two….maybe.
Anyway, the TSSAA Blue Cross Bowl – eight championship games
in three days – was outstanding. I know Minnesota holds
theirs in the HHH Metrodome, so weather’s not a factor. We
could have used a dome, since it was pretty cold, but I don’t
think that’s in the budget!
Well, now I’m just rambling, so it’s time to stop.
I’ll call again soon.
Love,
Rob
November 14, 2009
Hi Dad!
Well, I’ve finally found a few minutes to write. I have
jotted notes to myself several times during the past three or four
weeks about things I wanted to write about, but never found time to
just sit down and do it!
Today, I’m sitting in Minnesota with a few hours to kill,
so I’m going to just do it!
Man, are we in a busy time. We have about 14 events in the next 17
days, and they are all over the USA, stretching from Minnesota to
Texas to Utah to Kansas to Alabama to Kentucky.
Last night I saw an extremely talented Minnesota Gopher
men’s basketball team roll over Tech, 87-50, in Williams
Arena. Great atmosphere. Gophers are ranked 18th in one poll and
25th in the AP poll. I wasn’t impressed for the first 18
minutes, but they took over after that. They are sorting things out
with three players suspended, and I think Tubby Smith will get them
rolling. They might struggle in the Big 10 if they take 18 minutes
to get untracked, but if they solve personnel issues quickly they
will certainly have the depth and the talent to compete for upper
end of conference.
As for the Golden Eagles, it’s just way to early to say. We
don’t have much size, so we’re going to need to shoot
well and we didn’t last night. We shot about 28 percent and
had 27 turnovers, plus UofM blocked 15 shots. We won’t see
that too many times, but the turnovers are a concern.
Women’s team opened with a narrow loss to Alabama and two
freshmen and a sophomore stood out. Kellie Cook had 23 points in
her collegiate debut while Tacarra Hayes had 21 points and nine
rebounds. Another freshman who impressed was center Tiara Hopper
with 12 points and 10 rebounds. I like what I see from that team
– they play really hard. I think the fans are going to really
rally behind coach Messer and her team. Wouldn’t be at all
surprised if we’re in the hunt once the OVC gets rolling in
mid-January.
Football team ran into a buzz saw at Jacksonville State. Tech will
need to regroup and get ready to play when Murray State visits next
week. Lots at stake. Possible second place and a winning season,
plus a 5-0 record at home.
I saw Sid Hartman in the Minnesota Press Box. He's still going and
I think he's close to 90? I went and introduced myself, and the
first thing he said was, “how’s the Brewster kid
doing?” Clint is the son of Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster
and is on our roster at quarterback, but has not played this year.
He will be in the hunt for starting role next year, and I think
Sid’s going to mention him in his column tomorrow.
Couple other things I’ve been meaning to tell you about:
Perhaps the most ugly thing I’ve ever seen – couple
weeks ago the Tennessee Vols came out in black jerseys and orange
pants for Halloween. It was hideous!
Go Oregon Ducks. Go TCU under head coach Gary Patterson, former
assistant coach at Tennessee Tech. Go Texas under Mack Brown.
Florida’s going to be tough to beat.
I wanted to tell you all about our cruise last month –
unbelievable. Rode the donkeys up the cliffs on Santorini, toured
the island on a four-wheeler, saw spectacular views and lots of
olive trees on Corfu, visited ancient Ephasus and old Dubrovnik.
And being on board the Splendour of the Seas was great.
Mom’s doing pretty well. Nancy, too. Tonight we’re
heading down to Hastings to listen to Dave’s band play. Who
know, maybe I’ll get another chance to sit in on the cowbell.
I can play anything. Ever heard cowbell on Color My World?
There’s always a first time!
So, now that I’ve finished I need to drive over to Caribou
Coffee, next to Guardian Angels Church, and use their wireless to
upload this. I think I’ll stop by the cemetery and say hello
after I get it posted. See you in a few minutes.
Love,
Rob
October 29, 2009
Hi Dad!
Well, it’s three o’clock in the morning, and once
again I’m wide awake . I’ve been up in the middle of
the night quite a but, lately. It’s that
“overlap” time of year and we’ve been pretty
busy. We’ve got football, volleyball, soccer, cross country,
tennis, golf and rifle going on now, and basketball about to
start.
It will be an interesting season in Eblen
Center this winter, and both the men’s and women’s
teams have an uphill climb in the OVC. The women were picked eighth
and the men seventh. Those aren’t lofty expectations, but
they give both teams lots of room for improvement and to prove the
league coaches wrong.
We start next Thursday night with the
Gathering of Eagles and two exhibition games. It’s also
Poster Night, sponsored by First Tennessee Bank. The first 1,000
fans will get in free, teams will autograph posters, and it’s
the first chance to see both teams.
I don’t think most fans usually get
too excited about exhibition games, but this year might be
different. There are a LOT of new players on both teams, plus a new
women’s head coach, so I think the interest is really
high.
Homecoming this weekend. Should be a
pretty decent crowd in Tucker Stadium, since the game means quite a
bit. We haven’t played too well the past two weeks, so maybe
things will fall into place this weekend.
On Friday night we have our annual Hall
of Fame Dinner, and we’ll induct five new people. I think
we’ll have a great crowd at the dinner this year, with lots
of former football players returning since four of the five
inductees are from the football program.
Hall of Fame Dinner…you know what
that means. Yup, the now-famous “Sit-Down Game” to get
the program underway. I’ve been working on the list and I
think I’ve got some interesting new categories.
I think I’ll start with this one:
If you’re a Yankee fan…Sit Down! Take care.
Love,
Rob
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Hi dad,
Well it was a pretty good weekend around
here and it looks like it was up there, too. It’s
unbelievable that the Twins were able to tie Detroit and force a
one-game playoff. Especially with Morneau out. I think your bowling
buddy Ron Gardenhire should get consideration for AL Manager of the
Year and Joe Mauer should be MVP. But I don’t get a vote and
you know all the East coast and West coast voters don’t even
know how to find Minnesota on a map! (You know, I always liked
Gardenhire, but the fact that he took the time to come to your
funeral, and on the day of a home game no less…that just
proved to me what a decent person he is. The world of professional
sports needs a whole lot more like him.
The Golden Eagle football team played a
really good game Saturday night and got a big win over Austin Peay.
I didn’t get a chance to talk with you after the game, but it
was exciting. As Watson Brown said later, we really earned this
one. APSU never quit, and neither did we. A huge game for Lee
Sweeney – he set the career records for touchdown passes and
total offense and now he only needs five yards for the career
passing record, too.
He gave credit to his offensive
line – they did a great job of blocking for him – and
he can also thank Antonio Robinson and Tim Benford. Robinson made a
sensational catch in the end zone to give Tech a 24-17 lead, and
Benford caught a short pass and turned it into a 46-yard TD in the
fourth quarter.
We added the Wildcat offense and it
caught APSU by surprise. It was pretty exciting and I think Watson
and his staff did a great job of mixing things up with play calling
and offensive packages.
I also thought Dedrick Miley had a
performance worthy of Player of the Game consideration. He had a
huge blocked PAT midway in the fourth quarter that completely
changed the complexion of the game. Instead of being tied 24-24
with 6:30 to play, the Golden Eagles still owned the lead, 24-23.
The way APSU was moving the ball, I think the Golden Eagle staff
still felt like we HAD to score again, but it’s so much
easier when you have the lead instead of being tied. Miley has
blocked two kicks this year, and Tech has blocked 10 in
Watson’s 27 games at Tech. Not bad.
I also think one of the biggest factors was our kickoff coverage.
Remember last week at Kansas State? They had to returns more than
90 yards for touchdowns. We held a dangerous APSU return man,
Terrence Holt, to 19.3 yards per return.
Dad, the soccer team won a road
game at EKU and got a 0-0 tie with Morehead State, and now
we’re tied for first place in the OVC standing for points. I
think one more win could clinch a spot in the playoffs. Becky
Fletcher is turning that program around. I don’t think you
ever met her, but you’d like her. She’s pretty quiet,
but she knows the game and how to coach.
Volleyball got a big split on the
road, losing at Austin Peay but coming back to get a five-set win
on Saturday at Tennessee State. They’ve got some work ahead
of them, but I like our chances. John Blair and Jess Lane have the
team making strides.
The big event this week is the
Rodney Atkins concert Thursday night in Eblen Center. Rodney
Atkins. You’ve not heard of him? Well, they don’t play
his songs on your ‘all-talk’ station WCCO or your
‘golden oldie’ station KLBB, but he’s one of the
hottest country stars around. We could pack Eblen Center.
Well, I better get going now. Got about
70 things to do today so I’ll talk to you later. Take
care.
Love,
Rob
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009
Hi Dad!
It has finally stopped raining in Cookeville. I think
we had rain every day for about two straight weeks. Can’t get
out to cut the grass.
We’re just landed in Topeka about an hour ago,
rode the bus to Manhattan and came straight to the stadium. Weather
out here is overcast and cloudy today, but they expect sunshine and
nice weather for the game tomorrow.
I came out here once before with the team, back
in 1984, when Gary Darnell was the head coach. He had come to Tech
from Kansas State, so he arranged the game.
I really don’t remember too much about
that first game, except that we lost 28-12. I’m sure at the
time that I felt we should have won the game, even though they were
Division I and we were I-AA.
It’s amazing how many times in 27 years
here that we’ve lost a game and I came away feeling like we
should have won. Always the optimist.
Like last week. One play. That was the
difference. We should have won!
Anyway, back to K-State. We took a charter
flight into Topeka. Two planes, actually. Last time we came out
here we had a charter from American or US Air, or some big
commercial airline. We flew into Manhattan but we couldn’t
fly out from there after the game. Runway was too short for a large
plane loaded with heavyweight football players to get off the
ground, or some reason.
So, we rode a bus to Topeka. Or maybe Wichita. Anyway, the airport
terminal was under construction with a large expansion of the
concourse.
Gene Davidson – you remember Gene,
don’t you? He did radio forever along with Eldon Burgess
– anyway, Gene was a great guy. He was my roommate on a lot
of our trips. Lord, he snored! He was a pretty gullible guy, too,
probably because he was too nice to question anybody’s
honesty. Whatever you told him, he believed it.
So, I went behind the counter at the gate next
to where we were waiting to board, and I took the handheld mike and
I made an announcement, trying to sound real official. You could
hear it throughout the concourse.
“US Air passenger Gene
Davidson…Gene Davidson…please see the ticket agent at
gate 34.”
We were at gate 16 or 17, and gate 34 would
have been way down in the part of the new concourse that was under
construction. We all watched Gene look around, get his bearings,
then head off into the construction zone and disappear.
He was gone awhile, and we started boarding. We were
all on board, and no Gene! Those of us who were in on it began to
get a little worried about him. Pretty soon, we were a lot worried
about him. Just as a couple of us were about to deplane and search
for him, he came strolling onto the plane.
I never did find out whether he was out lost in
the concourse, or figured it out and played a little joke on us!
Knowing Gene, he just stepped out of sight and waited, letting us
get nervous before he decided to reappear.
He was a good one, ol’ Gene. We miss him,
too. He and Eldon were inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame back
in 1996. We still tell lots of ‘Gene Davidson’ stories
on the media vans when were driving to Morehead or Martin or
Murray, or some other distant destination. Those are some of the
best stories of all.
Like the time he lost his coffee on the back
seat of the 10-passenger van on the trip back from a basketball
game at the University of Georgia. A whole, full cup of steaming
hot coffee. He had it one minute and the next he couldn’t
find it. We never, ever found it, full or empty.
Well, I better get going. Don’t know if
I’ll have time to talk after the K-State game because we
leave right away. I’ll be in touch soon.
Love,
Rob