Bottom of the Bird Cage 5/4
The day is No. 124 of the 365 scheduled for the year.
It was on this day in 1863 that the Union Army retreated from the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia. It was a major victory for an undermanned General Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy. On this day in 1970 on the campus of Kent State University, the Ohio National Guard began shooting during an anti-war demonstration, killing four and wounding nine others.
And on this day in 2007 an EF-5 tornado that was 1.75 miles wide roared through Greensburg, Kansas wiping out nearly the entire village. Winds were estimated at 205 MPH and 11 people died in the storm that leveled 95 percent of the town’s buildings and left the other five percent so damaged they were no longer useable.
Greensburg continues its long process of rebuilding and spent the weekend celebrating the two-year anniversary of the event.
From ESPN. com columnist Greg Easterbrook:
Jack Kemp, star quarterback and innovative public-policy thinker, died Saturday. The Associated Press AFL MVP of 1965 as quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, Kemp went on to serve 18 years in the House of Representatives, became Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the presidency of George H.W. Bush, then ran as the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate in 1996. Kemp was a leading factor in the rise of Ronald Reagan conservatism in American life, and remained active in public-policy debates until the final months before his death. His were two singular achievements: First, to accomplish more after leaving athletics than he had before; second, to join that small fraternity of sports stars who have gone on to significant careers in serious pursuits.
Byron “Whizzer” White, who twice led the NFL in rushing, became a Supreme Court justice; Bill Bradley, who played for the New York Knicks, became a three-term United States Senator and 2000 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination; Alan Page, who played for the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, made the Pro Football Hall of Fame, went to law school and is now a justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court; Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, is in his second term as a U.S. Senator from Kentucky; Ken Dryden of Canada and Roger Bannister of the United Kingdom are the other sports celebrities whose lasting achievements came after they tied their sneakers for the final time. Kemp’s after-the-grandstands achievements rank with anyone in sports lore. Most star athletes spend their second act signing autographs and waving to fans; the real work of Kemp’s life began when he put the football down.
This is a good column on the feats of Jack Kemp as both quarterback and politician. Certainly in this country, he may go down as the most influential jock turned politician in history. Kemp’s view was libertarian and inclusive, both of which sometimes left him at odds with other Republicans. He was a remarkable man with a remarkable life.
From Denver Post columnist Woody Paige:
These are the times that have tried Pat Bowlen’s soul. The past 4 1/2 months have been the most tumultuous in the quarter-century reign of the Denver Broncos’ owner. He has fired, hired and traded and celebrated his 65th birthday and his 25th anniversary as an owner. What will May bring for Patrick Dennis Bowlen? In a wide-ranging exclusive interview, his first since a chaotic series of events began in mid-December, the Broncos’ owner and CEO declares:
Even now, he doesn’t understand why former quarterback Jay Cutler wouldn’t return his calls and wanted out of Denver. The Broncos will “probably not” win the Super Bowl next season. He would have preferred that the Broncos had drafted more defensive players last weekend. He has not spoken to Mike Shanahan since he fired him.
He has turned over additional organizational responsibilities to chief operating officer Joe Ellis. He has “absolutely” no plans to sell the franchise. His new coach, Josh McDaniels, committed “rookie mistakes,” but he fully supports him and is growing more assured he will be outstanding in the long term.
Bowlen’s exclusive conversation with Paige provides a few nuggets, including Bowlen’s strange admission that he’s been suffering from memory loss. This goes back to a conversation that Jay Cutler says he had with the Broncos owner after Mike Shanahan was fired. The quarterback says Bowlen told him the offensive coaching staff would be retained. Bowlen said earlier he didn’t remember any such talk with his player. Ironcially, Bowlen complains that Cutler didn’t return his calls and that’s why the trade was made to get the quarterback out of Denver. In light of his supposed memory loss then, how do we know Cutler didn’t return his calls and Bowlen just forgot? The whole Bowlen-McDaniels-Cassel-Cutler story will go down as one of the strangest the NFL has seen in some time. And you know Shanahan is somewhere, collecting his $7 million for this year, just smiling at the thought of what has happened after his forced departure.
From the New York Times: After three decades of steady growth in the number of teams and student-athletes, colleges and universities large and small, private and public, east and west, are slashing millions of dollars from their sports budgets. Colleges have dismissed athletic staff, reduced hours for pools and practice courts, and increased equipment and facility fees. Some have also cut the size of their travel squads, eliminated trips requiring air travel and done away with housing teams in hotels the night before home games.
Institutions facing fat deficits have risked the wrath of students, parents and alumni and cut scholarships and teams. The University of Cincinnati wiped out scholarships for three men’s sports: track, cross-country and swimming. Stanford University told its fencing teams to look for other financing. The University of Massachusetts dropped its ski teams, and Kutztown University in Pennsylvania eliminated its men’s soccer and men’s swimming teams. On Friday, the University of Washington said it would cut its swimming teams to save as much as $1.2 million, less than half of the spending that the athletic department needs to reduce.
“We just couldn’t make cuts across the board anymore,” said Blake James, the athletic director at the University of Maine, explaining why his department cut its men’s soccer and women’s volleyball programs. “We were bleeding our programs to death.”
The real world and its economic problems leave no corner of the sporting world unscathed. It’s one thing to get a bit of a chuckle as the New York Yankees have to eat crow and drop the price of their high-dollar seats because nobody will pay the freight. It’s another when young people are losing opportunities for a college education and continued participation in athletics because there just isn’t enough money to go around. We can all only hope that we’ve reached bottom and there’s nowhere to go but up.
The entire Denver owner debacle continues to wag its finger in the face of reality. It’s almost as if Bowlen wants to kill his franchise softly with his actions and non-actions. What’s the deeper story developing here?
We may never know.
I grew up in Greensburg. My fathers house was removed at ground level. It had been ten years since I left, but, I Knew some of the people that died. All things aside football, what Carl did for the High school and the football team was wonderful. I went to that High School and played on that field. His efforts to help rebuild were wonderful for that community.
This was about more than just football. I think it was time for him to go, but, as a person, he deserves credit for trying to help a situation that he was able to in some small way.
Gump,
That’s the legacy that the author of this blog should be pushing. I don’t think there would be very many people who could deny that Peterson did many good things for the community.
But personel wise, he sucked, especialy the last 10 years.
Agreed. Peterson’s time was up at KC…actually several years past “up”, in my opinion.
But the man was not Satan, as a lot of people would like you to believe.
The Denver piece starts with a paraphrase of Thomas Paine from the revolutionary days. I may be off on a word or two, but this portion goes as follows:
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot, will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country. But he who stands now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered. But we have with us the consolation that, the harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph.
I just love that.
WO’s are not the only ones who,s fingers get like this. http://withleather.uproxx.com/2009/05/torry-holts-finger-is-doing-great So do Linemen O and D. This is the first thing I thought of when Nieswanger became the Starting Center, knowing he has desires to be a surgeon someday. Better tape em up good Rudy!
FYI:
NFL Network tonight – Classic Games
Denver v. KC
“Elway v. Montana”
It’s a great game. DT’s impact is obvious…measured, in that, Marty sat him out the first half of the game for disciplinary reasons.
MUST SEE TV!!
Fair warning though– will make you cry watching how great KC’s defense used to be, but is no more.
We would all like to write our own legacy but that’s not how it works . Yes C.P. did a lot for the Chiefs & the community great things Yes . It was his arrogance & his refusal to admit wrong when clearly he was. That has cost C.P. a lot of the credit he deserve for our Chiefs . We on the outside well never know how much C. P. input was in the draft failures. The alienating of players would have to be his failure . In life we all well be weighted by our past not the future .
I would like to dislike Bowlen but he seems like a good guy.
It is always a little sad to see a old “enemy” decline, it seem to deminish ourselves (like we are enhanced by the power of the bad guys). Al Davis and h8s team are gone and it kills us raiderhaters. Now we may be losing Bowlen and Denver. Not much left, is there? It is time for the younger folks to step forward with new challenges and teams to hate.
Double A,
I’m right with you. I’ve been watching and recording the game. That was a classic. Watching Montana was like watching a brilliant surgeon at work. I always thought that we might have gone all the way if he stuck it out one more year with that great defense in 95. tm 1946, I feel your sentiment but I don’t know, I kind of enjoyed owning the hated Raiders for all those years. The rivalry was special though, wasn’t it? It may take a while but don’t stop believing.