<B><C>Random Thoughts For The Week</B></C><br></br> <p></p>

 - At the risk of seeming nieve, I wish that in the search for answers in the Jovan Belcher tragedy of this past weekend, the focus does not get too bogged down in the Steroids/head injuries. I'm sure this will happen, given the media's penchant for quick, "magic bullet" theories . That being said, something tells me that there was more going on with this young man, other than PED's, and numerous shots to the head. I'm not a doctor, and I could wind up being dead wrong, but if Junior Seau's death serves as an example, it is that depression can be just as big of a factor in these tragedies, as any drug, or concussion side effects. <br></br> <p></p>

 - Here is my solution for the hand wringing and anxiety on the part of the Baseball Writers Of America, who are treating their votes for the 2013 Hall Of Fame, as if they were deciding the fate of a death row inmate: Anyone that in any way that was implicated for steroid use, or anyone who was caught, DOES NOT GET IN. I don't care what their stats are, I don't care what part of the record book they manipulated, by using PED's. Bonds and Clemens can't have it both ways. They did enough damage by cheating or"allegedly" cheating. They can't further tarnish the game and its legacy by going into the Hall, also. Unless someone can show me where it is written that someone has to get inducted every year, if there comes a certain year where noone goes in from a certain ballot, so be it.<br></br>,p></p>

 - It was a great SEC Championship Game, Saturday evening between Alabama and Georgia, some are calling it the best College Football game they have seen in years. The Notre Dame vs. USC game last week was entertaining as well. That being said, it really is ridiculous that we have to wait a month for the Irish and the Crimson Tide to bang heads in the National Title Game, but that is part of what makes college sports the joke that they are. Imagine teams winning the pennant, and having to wait a month for the World Series to begin., <br></br> <p> </p>

 - Speaking of local college football, there has been much debate as to whether what goes on with the B.C. Football program, in regards to the school's search for a new head coach, matters. You can put me in the "it doesn't matter" category. The Eagles have been down this road before, actually many times it seems, since Doug Flutie left The Heights. A new coach will behired, possibly with an NFL pedigree, recruiting will pick up, they'll win some games, maybe make it to an upper echelon Bowl Game, then the fun will begin. From there, said, as yet unnamed coach will inquire with  the Powers That Be at B.C. about stadium expansion, aggressive recruiting, among other things, and will be met with the same resistance that Tom Coughlin, Tom O'Brien, and Jeff Jagodzinski, among others did. That is the culture at Boston College, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.<br></br> <p></p>

 - The NHL owners and the NHLPA should just stop the nonsense, and cancel the season right now. Doing so will buy them about nine months until they have to start thinking about training camps,  etc. as well as the start of next season.. Yes it will mean the loss of revenue,(to say nothing of the money out of the pockets of the arena employees, as well as the financial hits to bars and restaurants surrounding the venues) on top of the league having to live with the fact it would be the only one of the four major North American sports, to have lost two seasons as a result of work stoppages. That being said, if the principles are not willing to throw the lawyers out of the room, and get serious about hammering out a long term deal, so that we don't have to sit through this dog and pony show every four or five years. <br></br><p></p>

 - I didn't think it was possible, but ESPN out-did itself once again, with the latest in the 30 For 30 documentary series, Voices Of Mississippi. The film tells the tale of the 1962 University of Mississippi team, who finished the year undefeated, despite the turmoil that engulfed the campus,  as Mississippi struggled to come to grips with the fact that it was time to integrate. As President Kennedy called in the National Guard to assure the safety of James Meredeth, that school's first black student, riots tear apart the campus as the troops arrive. The Mayor of Jackson further  ignites the situation by at first assuring President Kennedy that he will do all that he can to keep the peace, and then going back on his word on the eve of Meredeth's arrival, while using the football games as a speaking platform, while telling the crowds that Jackson will resist the perceived government intrusion, (in the southern rebel tradition), in an effort to integrate the University. Although the song, in my opinion, the song contains lyrics bordering on racist, the documentary ends with a woman singing a brilliant acoustic version of Dixie, as the closing credits roll. <br></br> <p></p>



 

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

I am not now, and never have been a big television watcher. Even growing up, other than a few shows here and there (The Cosby Show comes to mind), there are have been very few programs that I have had the desire to set aside time to watch. As I have gotten older, sports, documentaries, and news (MSNBC), make up what is on my screen when my TV is on.

That being said, the show that I consider my all-time favorite is the Twilight Zone. No matter how many times I watch the episodes (and I have seen all of them many times, between owning them on DVD, and taking in the 4th of July and New Year's Day marathons on the Scy-Fy Channel), I am always struck by Rod Serling's writing, as well as the quality of his monologues at the beginning and end of each episode. As great as the paranormal/Science Fiction episodes are, it was Serling's ability to tackle gripping questions, ones which challenge us a society, which set his story telling ability apart from many others. Heightened fears at the onset of the Nuclear Age, as well as the question as to why former Nazi Concentration Camps should remain standing, are two of many such topics that Serling handled beautifully with his writing.

Serling's ability to delve into the psyche of the common man, whether its a man's desire to escape to a quieter peaceful existence, and away from job and family pressures, or a school teacher who comes to the sad realization that his profession has passed him by, demonstrates his ability to bring emotion, and a deep human element into his scripts. This is an ability that I wish existed in more of today's television writers. It is with this in mind that I present my all-time favorite Twilight zone episodes.

Death's Head Revisited

Another episode in which Serling tackles a lingering question left over from a major historical event, in this case the Holocaust. A former S.S. Officer (played by Oscar Beregi) returns to a city which still contains the site of a former Concentration Camp. Upon checking into a hotel nearby, Capt. Gunther Lutze, while demonstrating much arrogance and smugness at the memory of the horrors that took place in the camp, and ones which he himself committed, decides to revisit the camp itself. After entering, all of the camp's doors slam shut, leaving Lutze no way out, and the spirit of the prisoners whom he tortured years before, emerge. One particular prisoner, Alfred Becker (played by Joseph Schildkraut0 reveals himself, to inform Capt. Lutze that a trial will soon commence, during which the Captain will have to answer for the crimes against humanity, which he is charged with.

As Becker proceeds to read Lutze's charges, and the gravity of the situation hits him, Lutze tries to escape, but trips, falls, and knocks himself out. At this point it is revealed that the entire encounter in the camp was a paranoid dream, causing Lutze to suffer a nervous breakdown. As the Captain is lead to a waiting ambulance, the attending doctor at the hotel asks why the camp, and others, remain standing. Serling answers this question with a brilliant closing monologue:

"There is an answer to the doctor's question...all the Dachaus must remain standing...the Dachaus, the Belsens, the Buchenwalds, the Auschwitzes, all of them... they must remain standing because they are a monument to a moment in time when some men decided to turn the Earth into a graveyard...into it they shoveled all of their reason, their logic, their knowledge, but worst of all their conscience... and the moment we forget this, the moment we cease to be haunted by its remembrance, then we become the gravediggers...something to dwell on and to remember, not only in the Twilight Zone but wherever men walk God's Earth..."

The Changing Of The Guard

Donald Pleasence puts in a brilliant performance in which he plays an English teacher, Professor Ellis Fowler, at private school, who has over-stayed his tenure. On the final day before the Christmas break, Professor Fowler is summoned to the Dean's office, and asked about a letter that was recently mailed to him, to which the Professor had yet to respond. Thinking that the letter concerned his contract extension, Professor Fowler assures the Dean that he plans on continuing his teaching career until the school itself is torn down. The Dean proceeds to inform the Professor that the letter did not concern an extension, to the contrary, it was a message informing Mr. Fowler that he is being replaced, as he passed the mandatory retirement age some years before.

We next see Mr. Fowler in his study at home, looking through an old yearbook, disconsolate, while contemplating his sudden termination. So downtrodden is the Professor that he refuses to eat, much to the concern of his housekeeper. It is during this scene, that Pleasence delivers some of the most beautiful, well written dialogue, in the history of the program. Suddenly, the Professor closes the yearbook, takes off his glasses, and reflects on his years of teaching...

"...They all come and go like ghosts...faces, names, smiles...the funny things they said or the sad things, or the poignant ones... I gave them nothing, I gave them nothing at all...poetry that left their minds the minute they themselves left,aged slogans that were out of date when I taught them, quotations dear to me that were meaningless to them....I was a failure, Mrs. Landers, an abject, miserable failure...I walked from class to class an old relic,teaching by rote to un-hearing ears, unwilling heads...I was an abject dismal failure,I moved nobody,I motivated nobody...I left no imprint on anybody...now, where do you suppose I ever got the idea that I was accomplishing anything?..."

The Professor proceeds to sink further into despair, and eventually decides to take a gun out of his desk drawer, and drive to the school to kill himself. Upon arriving at the school, he hears the bells ringing, as they do to signal the start of the school day. The Professor makes his way to his classroom, where he is met by the spirit of students that he taught through the years, who have since passed away. Much like the dialogue Pleasence delivered in the previous scene, the scene in the classroom is among the most moving and powerful, in the history of the Twilight Zone series.

One by one, students come forward, one who fought in the Phillipines during World War II, another who was among the first casualties on the morning of Pearl Harbor, and still another one passed as a result of a radiation leak, while working in the medical field, developing X-Ray technology. Each student who steps forward says that they remembered important lessons of bravery and loyalty, that the Professor had imparted to them, and others were able to quote the various poems that were taught in Mr. Fowler's classes throughout the years. This brilliant scene ends with the students telling the Professor that it is time for them to go, and suddenly their spirits disappear, as the school bell rings once again. At this point the Professor realizes that he did in fact make a difference in his students lives, and as a result, Mr. Fowler is able to make peace with his termination, and thus begin the next phase of his life.

Night Of The Meek

Another moving episode, in which Serling tackles the issue of the commercialization of the Christmas holiday, a relevant topic, even in the simpler time of the early 1960's. Art Carney delivers a magnificent performance as Henry Corwin, a man who each year plays the part of a department store Santa Claus, and whose one fatal flaw is a drinking problem, which causes him to be terminated, after falling down drunk, much to the astonishment of a customer, waiting in line with her son, to meet Santa. The woman proceeds to tell the store manager how appalled she was, that Corwin would report to work in such a condition, and that the store would hire someone to play Santa Claus despite an obvious drinking problem. The manager proceeds to fire Corwin on the spot, while telling him to "tie one on someplace else", while derisively referring to him as a drunk. At this point, Carney delivers an excellent piece of dialogue about the true meaning of the Christmas holiday...

"...As to my insubordination, I was not rude to that woman..someone should remind her that Christmas is more than barging up and down department store aisles and pushing people out of the way...someone has to tell her that Christmas is another thing finer than that...richer...finer...truer...and should come with patience and love...charity...compassion....that's what I would have told her if you'd given me a chance...I just wish, Mr. Dundee, on one Christmas, only one, that I could see some of the hopeless ones and the dreamless ones...just on one Christmas, I'd like to see the meek inherit the Earth..."

Despite its dramatic scenes and dialogue, Night Of The Meek also contains a comedic element, as demonstrated by Corwin's bag, which he stumbles upon, after getting fired from the department store. Later on that evening Corwin arrives at a holiday celebration at the rooming house in which in he lives. He arrives in a jovial mood, while handing out gifts to all of the residents of the house, which automatically raises suspicions, as to how said gifts were procured. Shortly thereafter, the manager who fired Corwin, Mr. Dundee, arrives at the party, accompanied by a police officer, Officcer Flaherty, as the store is missing merchandise, which Corwin is suspected of stealing. Mr. Dundee expects to see the goods that are missing, but when Corwin reaches into his bag, as ordered by officer Flaherty, all that is revealed are empty cans, and a stray cat. At this point Corwin admits that the bag contains supernatural powers, to Mr. Dundee's disbelief. Angry at having his time wasted, and as what he believes to be incompetence on the part of officer Flaherty, Dundee challenges Corwin to produce a bottle of Cherry Brandee, vintage 1903. Corwin replies that '03 was an "excellent vintage", and hands Mr. Dundee the very bottle that he requested.

The episode ends after the Christmas party lets out. Corwin stumbles out to the street, only to be confronted by an elf, who tells him that he needs to hurry up and drive the sleigh to the North Pole, so that the preparation can commence for next Christmas. Shortly after, Mr. Dundee and Officer Flaherty emerge from the rooming house, tipsy from sampling the Brandy. The two men then turn their attention skyward, to see Corwin driving the sleight through the air, bells ringing. Dundee and Flaherty then decide to proceed to Corwin's house the finish the bottle, with the year's holiday magic complete.

Never Underestimate The Power Of Sport

Many people have differing opinions, but I don't think that it can be denied that for better or worse (depending on one's point of view), that football is as much a part of the Thanksgiving holiday, as family, and the meal itself. In Massachusetts, we are blessed to be able to watch scores of high school games, as well as the NFL offerings, both pre-and post meal. This year, we were further blessed with the Patriots ending the holiday evening, with their contest\beat down vs. the NY Jets. It was during the prime time Patriots affair, that I contemplated the power of sports, and the effect it has on those of us that live and die with our teams.

Beginning as far back as I can remember, all of the mile posts of my life have been marked by sporting events. My earliest memories contain images of the Red Sox, and the Bruins...my elementary school, through Junior High years were marked by the Original Big three of Bird, Parish, and McChale, during a time period when clashes with the L.A. Lakers in the Finals, seemed like a rite of Spring. Our local teams entered into a bit of a recession as I entered high school, although during my freshman year, the Red Sox made their ill-fated trip to the 1986 World Series. My sophomore and senior years each were marked by a Bruins appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, both losing efforts, of course.

As I entered my 20's, Larry Bird retired, and with him, went the Celtics fortunes. My memories from this era, are mostly of national games/news events. The 1992 Dream Team at the Barcelona Olympics, the 1994 MLB players strike, as well as the emergence of the NFL, into the world-wide global sports power that it is today, are chief among those memories. The ground work of future Patriots success was laid, with the hiring of Bill Parcells as coach in 1993.

My 30's can best be described as the New England Sports Renaissance, or the Golden Age of New England Sports. The decade began with the Patriots bringing us out of the championship wilderness,with their thrilling victory over the St.Louis Rams, in Superbowl XXXVI. Two more Superbowl titles would follow, as would the Greatest Sports Story Ever Told, that being the Red Sox ending and 86 year drought, by winning the 2004 World Series. The remainder of the decade would also contain the Celtics winning championship number 17, and as my 40's began, the Bruins winning their first Stanley Cup in 39 years.

As wonderful as all of these memories are as a whole, it is the small, singular moments, that make these events special, and which demonstrate the power of sport, as well as the reason why these teams, and games, are so important to us. During all of the events mentioned above, I can recall who I was with, and where we were when all of those games were played. Whether it was watching the 1984 NBA Finals with my entire family, while staying up late on school nights in June, or shaking Johnny Pesky's hand on the morning after the 2004 World Series victory, while in a supermarket in our town of Swampscott, Ma. These are the memories that are etched into my mind, and whose memory will endure, as much as the actual games will.

The 2007 New England Patriots season is another such personal enduring memory. Although the ending was very disappointing, with the Patriots losing Superbowl XLII to the NY Giants, and thus the chance to complete to first 19-0 season in NFL history, it was that season's journey, which will always hold a special place in my heart.

The second half of 2007 was a personally trying period for my family and I, as my mother's health, already deteriorating as a result of Cancer, took a turn for the worse, and she would eventually succumb to the disease in December. As the Summer turned to Fall and October began, Red Sox quest for their second World Series title in four years, coincided with the Patriots chase for perfection. As November turned to December and Winter commenced, Mom was in home hospice care, with a dire prognosis. What these games provided for may family and I (the double header Patriots-Red Sox playoff/World Series games included of course), was the opportunity for atleast a few hours, to get our minds away from the abject sadness, which accompanies the loss of a loved one.

These games also provided Mom, a very big sports fan in her own right, an opportunity to enjoy her favorite teams, and engage in a favorite family past time, in her final days. Did it magically cure her?...No, but I would like to think that doing something that she enjoyed, while in so much pain, perhaps helped to make her a little comfortable. Those final days also afforded us the opportunity to get our last looks at Mom's beautiful smile. It also provided her children with an opportunity to derive some happiness and enjoyment, in a time when all else seemed lost. Perhaps it is a small thing in the grand scheme, but it is, and will always remain, the reason why these sports matter to us.