Tuesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“A banker is someone that lends you and umbrella while the sun is shining but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.”

                                            Mark Twain

I heard a good quote for you married guys or guys with heavy duty girl friends when you get into a squabble. Tell her “I went to the doctor the other day with a chest pain. They did an x-ray of my heart and found that you were in there. They knew that if they removed you I would die, so we have to find a way to keep you there.” I read that from in a item by Lou Holtz.

A while back the North Carolina Tarheels football team had 15 of their football players barred from playing against the always powerful LSU Tigers in their first game of the season. The NCAA is investigating the hell out of a lot of teams including the Tarheels. They are finding a lot of infractions especially in college player involvement with professional football player agents. There apparently is no middle ground on this issue. In my opinion there will always have this problem until professional football as a whole steps in and refuses forever to do business with any agent that illegally contacts/courts a player while the player is at the collegiate level or below.

This Date in History September 8

1187 Richard (Lionhearted) II the future King of England is born to Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry II of England. Richard gained the nickname “Lionhearted” during the Crusades. He was a superior warrior but was not a good administrator in peace time. During his return from one of the the Crusades he was captured and held for ransom somewhere in Austria. His mother, who had just been released from imprisonment for fostering an unsuccessful coup against her husband the king, found out about her son’s capture and asked for the Pope to intervene and intervene he did, for a price. After a gigantic ransom was paid of which a good portion went to the Vatican, Richard was released.

1966 The TV series Star Trek debuts. Even though the series only lasted for 3 years it had a hell of an impact on the entertainment industry. There were 5 or 6 big screen movies and 3 or 4 spin-off TV series as a result of Star Trek. In my opinion big screen movie “The Wrath of Khan” with Ricardo Montalban in the lead role was the best and “The Changeling” being the best TV show.

1926 Greta Garbo is a “no show” at her wedding to John Gilbert. This did not stop her and John’s relationship that continued for another 3 years. Greta was a weird but beautiful person. In her latter years she moved to a small apartment in Brooklyn, New York and tried to disappear. Greta was very jealous of her privacy and was rarely seen.

1863 The 2^nd Battle of Sabine Pass happens on this day. The US decided that they needed to blockade Sabine Pass to deny the Confederacy another port of entry. CSA Gen. McGruder called bullsh-t on that and captured Galveston from the US and prepared for the defense of Sabine Pass giving the Confederacy 2 ports of entry in Texas. An 8 ship US flotilla left New Orleans and arrived at Sabine Pass on this day and started up the river. But the Confederate artillery in Fort Griffin at Sabine Pass had pre-registered (aimed) their guns at the opening of the Pass and they opened a withering fire on the flotilla at which the commander of the flotilla ordered a reversal and they sailed their young asses back to New Orleans and decided to attack another place at another time.

1941 The siege of Leningrad begins. The German army, along with some Finnish troops, began to cut off Leningrad from any supplies in the hope that this great city of 3 million will surrender. Before the Germans had completely surrounded the city approximately 1 million people fled. They were in fact surrounded and the siege lasted for 872 days. The people in the city ate everything in sight, even each other until the Russian army attacked and broke the siege. The Russians exacted a terrible revenge on the Germans after that. After seeing over 26 million Russians die during the German onslaught and the discovery of places like Auschwitz, the Russian Army would not be denied in the massacre of the every air breathing German they encountered.

1941 Italy surrendered to the allies (So what else is new). Germany was expecting this to happen and already had an army on the way to occupy Italy before the allies. The end result was a ferocious seesaw battle between the allies and the Germans until the allied landing at Normandy. Very soon thereafter the German army in Italy surrendered because they knew they were cut off from their supply routes and home.

1935 Senator Huey P. Long of Louisiana is shot. Long was a bombastic and quite a colorful character in the history of politicians. Long eventually gave himself such power in Louisiana that not even a school teacher could get a job if he did not approve. He unabashedly admitted that he bought other politicians and shuffled them around like a deck of cards. He was shot by a Dr. Carl Weiss inside the state capitol building in Baton Rouge. Weiss apparently was pissed because his father-in-law, a former judge in Louisiana, had lost his job because he would not join the Long political machine. Long’s body guards killed Weiss instantly and Long died 2 days later.

Born today:

1896 US actor Howard Deitz. He said “A day away from Tallulah Bankhead is like a month in the country.”

1773 French writer Alfred Terry. He said to his wife “You look exceptionally ugly tonight madam, is it because we have company coming?” I see a divorce on the horizon, Alfred.

1915 American football coach Duffy Daugherty. He said “Not only is he ambidextrous, he can throw with either hand.” Shut up Duffy.

1924 US writer Grace Metalious (Peyton Place). She said “Unhappy women are those who wish they had something or done something that they could hate the most.” That reminds me of my third ex-wife.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow