Isolation Thought

I'm watching CNN and they are live from Columbus at the club where Dimebag got killed. There were about 75 people attending a vigil when you hear some guy yelling. Then into the frame runs a streaker. He prances around and yells for a while. Anderson Cooper tells the reporter, "It was hard to concentrate on your report because there was a naked guy behind you."

Peter J. Franklin died recently. For those of my age group who were into sports, there was no one like Pete. The man invented sportstalk as we know it today. And he was doing this back in the 70s. He was so popular that he convinced the Indians to have "Beat the Yankee Hankee Night" at Municipal Stadium. The crowds the day before and after that game would be crap, but they'd have at least 25,000 show up each year for that one. His greatest show each year was when he would bury the Indians, complete with the hokiest funeral music he could find. The Indians were so bad, you never knew when he would do it. Could be May, maybe June or July. I swear he buried them in April once. Pete was a great historian, knew sports ("good pitching beats good hitting") and was a trivia whiz.

Funny story. I have never forgotten the time a guy called his show and challenged Pete to tell him when the Tigers and Lions played in Detroit on the same day in the same stadium. Pete was puzzled and the guy said I'll call tomorrow with the answer. Next day, show moves along and the guy calls back. Pete was humbled and said he couldn't recall it happening. The guy's answer was that the only time the Tigers and Lions played in the same stadium on the same day in Detroit was when...The Clyde Beatty Circus was in town at Briggs Stadium in like 1947 or something. Of course, Pete yelled at the guy for about 10 minutes, a Franklin trademark. Truly an icon in local radio. His death recalls a simpler time when people actually listened to radio because it had a local identity, courtesy of folks like Pete Franklin.

Meal of Links

Jesus got hurt the other day. He's probably day-to-day on a much grander scale.

Was that hell freezing over? No, it was Denise Dufala getting engaged. The scary thing about this photo is not its age, but that someone owns a John Telich-autographed item. And does the man on the right have any legs?

Jay-Z is named President of Def Jam. I'm so old school I didn't know Russell Simmons sold his stake in Def Jam. In 1999!

Exercise Yard

Mia Hamm retired. Now she can concentrate on getting her husband off "the clear".

Visitor

27 Across: Ebbets Field favorite (5 letters) Answer: Reese