The Power Of One

Before the advancement of DNA testing, Ancestry.Com and the popularity of knowing one's "Family Tree", I grew up hoping that I was related to one of the two most famous Lee's in our country's history. And I vehemently prayed that I was not related to the other one.

General Robert E. Lee, (Civil War) occupied a spot of honor in my household. He ranked below Jesus Christ but above the current President of the United States. (I don't remember which President, but honestly it was true of all of them . . . at least in my childhood mind.) However, General Charles Lee (Revolutionary War) was a different story. If you are wondering why I was so passionate in my choice, let me illuminate you about the Battle of Monmouth.

Leonid Vorobyev & Friends

Moscow based musician Leonid Vorobyev has put together a band that sounds more like Chicago than Chicago! Leonid is the leader and founder of the band, Leonid & Friends. He is the band's producer, plays bass and piano, sings lead and backing vocals, transcribes all the musical scores and produces, mixes, and masters all their audio and video productions.

On his Facebook page Leonid recalls, "This was my crazy idea, in the fall of 2014, I had reached a pension age (60 in Russia) but I didn't want to retire, so I decided to make something special to celebrate the date". He gathered up some friends and covered the Chicago song, "Brand New Love Affair (Part I & II). The rest, as they say, is history.

Check out a video of his band performing "25 or 6 to 4" below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_torOTK5qc

A Man of Honor

Last week I talked about Bob Gibson, probably the greatest pitcher that I had the good fortune to watch. This week I wanted to talk about one of the athletes that I most admire, not only for his skill as a pitcher, but for his character and honor.

Bob Feller was a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in 1941. He was driving from his home in Iowa to Chicago to discuss his next contract with the Indians when he heard over his car radio that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor. Even though he had a family-related draft exemption, he informed the Indians that he was joining the Navy rather than sign his contract extension, and was sworn into the United States Navy two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Defining Greatness

There is no clear measuring stick to determine the greatness of a man's heart, but there have been men who were so great at their jobs that they changed the rules of the career that they chose. One of those men was Bob Gibson.

I was born too late to view Babe Ruth hit a homer in Yankee Stadium but I did get a chance to see Bob Gibson pitch. When I was eight years old, Gibson, who pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, absolutely ruled the sport of baseball. His dominance was so great that after the end of that 1968 season, Major League Baseball changed the rules of the game to help the hitters. First, they lowered the pitching mound by five inches and then they shrunk the strike zone, moving it from the batters armpits to the jersey letters. All of these changes were designed to help only one position, the hitter. These rules became known as the "Gibson Rules".