The Loss of A Friend

My first experience with newspapers were reading the Sunday comics. I loved the vibrant colors, the amazing creativity used to tell a story in such a small space, even the smell of the paper itself as you unfolded it to reveal the treasure within. As I got older I expanded beyond Peanuts, Beetle Bailey, B.C., Hagar the Horrible, The Phantom, and discovered the Sports section.

No more asking my friends if they knew if the Atlanta Braves had won the night before, or having to listen to boring news shows on the radio just in the hope of hearing the score. This was a life-changer! I mean, Tennessee Vols football (my other favorite team) played once a week in the fall and winter and I could follow them live on the radio, but keeping up with the Braves required a different level of commitment. Enter "The Paper". The Chattanooga Free Press had a sports section that remains to this day the bar of excellence for any paper I've ever read. They do an outstanding job covering area High School, College, and Pro Sports and we're not talking about a measly 4 page section. There were in-depth stories about the Vols, and the Braves! Mixed in with this wonderful content was the tranquility of retrieving the paper from the porch, settling on the couch, and immersing myself in a much bigger world.

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.