Texas Football Fervor and the Pigskin Shrine

A friend of mine taught me some of the fundamentals of American football, the kind with tackling and blocking. American football is played with an oblong ball made of pigskin. The game was designed for cool weather, a fall or autumn sport. Texas has almost no fall or autumn weather and games are often played in 90-100 degree heat, especially in the first half of the season from Sept-Oct.

Most mysterious is the cult-like fascination with the sport. People in Texas or should I say... many Texans love the game. And Americans from coast-to-coast love the game.

Interestingly, football is such a violent game most people prefer watching the game, talking about the game, analyzing the game, its players and coaches and strategies, far more than they like playing the game. Football, most would agree, hurts to play. Playing and getting hurt or injured are not two activities we usually place side-by-side. Injury reports are a big part of football. They talk about players recovering or "getting healthy" but these are young men in their physical prime. They were already "healthy" until they played in a football game. They don't miss games because of illness-- a cold, flu, or pneumonia. They miss games because of orthopedic injury-- serious blows to the head, limbs, knees, neck, shoulders, etc. etc. So why do people love the game so much?

Perhaps there is the primitive appeal of big, strong man running into each other with unbelievable force? That is probably an over-simplification. The intellectual side of football is significant. Coaches, like good CEOs, must assemble a large number of players, at least 22 athletes getting starting roles in the game-- and many more than that when you add special teams players-- like kickers, receivers, etc.. The coaches use complicated plays to add to their teams effectiveness. The game has moved to a lightning pace-- and teams communicate plays from the sidelines in a matter of seconds. The slower team is often the losing team.

Marshall McLuhan, my favorite media philosopher, correctly predicted football would supersede baseball as the national pastime. McLuhan recognized that football had multiple activities occurring simultaneously-- and all of them could be nicely sorted out by the television cameras. The plays are slowed down and analyzed during instant replays. The replay for the national viewing audience involves the audience in the game for a great, in-depth experience. Baseball, McLuhan said, was too linear-- the game moves forward only based on the batter hitting the ball and does not reflect the all-at-onceness of modern communications.

Do we love football for its multi-tasking intensity? For its photogenic nature on the moving images of the TV screen? Those going to the stadium celebrate with tailgating-- cooking big slabs of meat, like ancient tribesmen celebrating the kill of an animal by the tribe's hunters. The sweet smells of cooked meat waft from the parking lots and open areas as you approach the stadium. You cannot help but feel the primal appeal. The crowd's emotions surge forward and rise from the stadium-- a roar of excitement like nothing you've ever heard before. And it all happens in the fall days, the summer harvest has passed, the crops collected, and celebration is in order.

Wayne Dyer and and the Sunny Side of the Street

"Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same very optimistic outlook." A Pollyanna is  "characterised by irrepressible optimism evident in the face of even the most adverse or discouraging of circumstances. It is sometimes used pejoratively, referring to someone whose optimism is excessive to the point of naïveté." 
(Took these quotes from Wikipedia.)

My father described me as a Pollyanna when I was a kid. I admit he had me pegged correctly.I have the personality traits of a Pollyanna especially in group situations where I can easily become a cheerleader for the success of others. When it comes to my own pursuits, I can get lost in depression, sink down, lose focus and give up the struggle. 

Wayne Dyer, the self-help guru, had Pollyanna-style personality traits. I listened to one of Dyer's  video presentations and he described his experiences growing up in an orphanage. He was the kid that helped the other children deal with the challenges of being in an orphanage. He welcomed the new arrivals to the orphanage, assuring the new kids it was a great place to be. 

Dyer passed away in 2015, at 75 years of age. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009. His health issues suggest the Pollyanna personality may conceal a great sadness beneath the cheerful veneer. Did Wayne Dyer cover his pain with an elaborate system of defenses? 

Wayne Dyer used a Pollyanna-like optimism to deal with a very difficult set of circumstances early in life.  He generously contributed to the happiness of others with his ideas and insights-- always eager to assist the newbies. We can only imagine what darkness he wrestled with in his youth as he struggled to stay on the sunny side of the street.

On The Sunny Side Of The Street
(Louis Armstrong recorded the song in 1933)

Grab your hat and get your coat
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Life can be so sweet 
On the sunny side of the street

LeBron James: America's Bravest Politician

LeBron James, 31 years old, a 6 ft 8 in basketball superstar for the Cleveland Cavaliers, may just be the bravest politician on the American landscape.

LeBron James began his career as a Cleveland Cavalier but departed the team with the goal of increasing his chances of winning a NBA championship. He famously conspired with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to sign with the Miami Heat. LeBron James, Wade and Bosh won several NBA titles  (2011-2013) with the Miami Heat but the success never completely silenced the critics.

LeBron James then made a gutsy, selfless decision-- he would return to Cleveland with the goal to win a NBA championship for a city that had not seen a championship since the Cleveland Browns won the NFL championship in 1964. Seems like James wanted to bring a measure of joy and pride back to his home state of Ohio!

LeBron paid a price for his quixotic goal. The pressure he felt surfaced when tears rolled down his face a few nights ago, the 7th game won and the championship earned.

How many politicians have put their career on the line to achieve such an daring goal-- one with stakes so high and chances for success so unlikely? Don't underestimate the odds against success. Just a few weeks ago... the Golden State Warriors seemed to be a dynasty, a juggernaut of superstar players. The Warriors had just completed a record-breaking season of 73 wins.

LeBron James made an audacious choice when be bet on himself and the city of Cleveland. Those of us of a certain age.... recall quarterback Joe Willie Namath's guarantee of a Super Bowl victory for the New York Jets of the upstart American Football League. LeBron never guaranteed a NBA title-- because such a guarantee would have been shaky at best. His achievement surpasses Namath and the Jets-- bringing to an underdog city, not just an underdog team.

Here's to King James or maybe President James or Senator James... a political leader in an era when sports/entertainment/politics all blend to a single entity. A politician is supposed to represent and support a geo-political entity-- like the state of Ohio. LeBron James raised the morale of a city and entire state. Sure he achieved his goal by using basketball talent and willpower but he achieved something akin to a political victory for his constituents.

Kanye West, a music talent, joked about a plan on running for president-- but when did Kanye do something for somebody else? LeBron James should be the one to consider politics as his Plan B career.

Janis Joplin and "Me and Bobby McGee"

We just watched a Netflix doc on Janis Joplin called Janis: Little Girl Blue. She was a Port Arthur resident. My wife went to high school with Janis's younger brother Mike and they were exactly 10 years younger than Janis. She died in 1970, soon after attending her 10th high school reunion in Port Arthur. 

The film actually had interview footage of Janis Joplin at her 10th high school Reunion. That footage made me a bit sad. She seemed to struggle to get her ideas out, like she still felt shy even though she had fame that extended around the world. Kind of like she returned to the scene of the crime, her high school experiences, and really could not shake the feeling. 

Interesting too that Paul Rothschild the producer who did "Me and Bobby McGee" with her had insights into her singing ability. He thought Janis had immense talent that maybe even she did not fully understand. I got the sense she could sing with phenomenal skill-- but the emotions were so strong they concealed her singing ability. Rothschild succeeded in opening her performance up with Bobby McGee--  and in that song there are more nuances of emotion than in her previous work. Apparently she was thrilled with the results. 

Summer Nights in Queens, New York (1959)

My parents told me we were moving to a "middle class housing project" in Queens. I guess they were right. The Arverne Houses, a series of 6-story red brick buildings, stood between the Atlantic Ocean and Jamaica Bay. The jets out of Idlewild Airport, later to be named JFK, flew overhead with great frequency. The noise didn't bother me. Actually it felt like freedom and power. Our family left crowded Manhattan for Far Rockaway and began a new life in these wide open spaces. The smell of sea air lingered all around.

On summer nights the kids would all gather around a grassy area, demarcated by chain link fences. Our building, 353 Beach 54th St., loomed nearby. My parent could summon me by shouting from the window of apartment 3E. The windows had steel frames. The utilitarian apartment buildings were built to last and they continue to last to the present day.

The kids, almost 90% Jewish, along with a few Catholic families and a sprinkling of African-American kids, found summer nights a good time for staging mock track meets. We had the animal strength of youth. We would circle that grassy patch, an asymmetrical oval, running and competing for stamina more than speed. Who could make the circle 10 times? 20 times? 30 times? We would walk the tops of the chain link fences like tightrope walkers, just to burn off energy and impress each other.

Ten years old and the pre-pubescent hormones had started to kick in. Who was out to impress? Myra, maybe Myrna or maybe Tina, all crushes from my sixth grade class. My best friends were three Jewish kids, Ira, the son of a bartender, and Larry, an Orthodox kid, and Joey, whose father had a tattoo signifying his survival of the concentration camps in Germany. The memory lingers, burned into my consciousness, a sold pillar of youth. Finally we would retreat back to our apartments. This was our America, red bricks, egalitarian, full of crazy kids games like Ringolevio and Johnny-On-The-Pony. One big kid named Eisenberg could not be brought down in Ringolevio-- maybe a future fullback for Far Rockaway High School?

We broke into teams for Johnny-On-The-Pony and the pony was a fire hydrant. The goal, pile as many teammates as possible on top of each other with the fire hydrant as a center of gravity to support all of us.

Feels like a Jack Kerouac vision before I knew about On The Road or had much of an inkling of west of the Mississippi. The innocence of youth, a Fifties America. I loved everything-- Mickey Mantle, the United Nations and the Disney TV show on Sunday nights. My frontier land stood just outside the apartment building.

Millennials Gotta Be Different -- Popular Girl and Boy Names

Are you a Millennial? Your parents tried to show some creativity in picking your name. The Baby Boomers had a limited group of names, making things seem bland. All of my classmates seemed to be John, Michael, Linda, or Kathy. Thing have changed. Nowadays... everybody wants their child to have a unique name!

The data below comes from the Social Security Administration and only applies to USA. The most common names are listed (top 21)-- along with the number of children receiving that name throughout the 2010s decade. Here it is:

2010s Girl Names

Girl # with name 1 Sophia 121,787 2 Emma 119,168 3 Isabella 111,984 4 Olivia 109,329 5 Ava 93,595 6 Emily 79,590 7 Abigail 76,894 8 Mia 75,583 9 Madison 67,825 10 Elizabeth 58,628 11 Chloe 57,522 12 Ella 53,439 13 Avery 50,336 14 Charlotte 49,957 15 Sofia 49,844 16 Addison 49,157 17 Natalie 46,303 18 Amelia 45,643 19 Grace 45,213 20 Evelyn 45,112 21 Lily 44,450 Boy # with name 1 Jacob 112,227 2 Noah 107,552 3 Mason 104,642 4 William 100,397 5 Ethan 99,209 6 Liam 95,953 7 Michael 95,382 8 Alexander 92,346 9 Jayden 89,352 10 Daniel 86,874 11 Aiden 86,204 12 James 83,105 13 Elijah 82,667 14 Matthew 81,038 15 Benjamin 79,108 16 Logan 78,253 17 Anthony 77,234 18 David 76,075 19 Joseph 74,916 20 Joshua 74,143 21 Jackson 73,601

The Fifties-- Top 21 most common names

Are you a baby boomer? The good old Fifties... a time when everybody wanted to be normal. The beatniks had not really taken hold. People were thrilled to have survived World War II. They chose names from a limited spectrum of choices. This data comes from the Social Security Administration. The most common names are listed (top 21)-- along with the number of children receiving that name throughout the 1950s decade. Here it is:

Boys:

	Boy Name
1	James	843,377
2	Michael	837,084
3	Robert	830,032
4	John	797,528
5	David	769,555
6	William	590,973
7	Richard	535,149
8	Thomas	454,169
9	Mark	382,419
10	Charles	360,979
11	Steven	333,513
12	Gary	329,751
13	Joseph	299,854
14	Donald	273,413
15	Ronald	271,011
16	Kenneth	262,683
17	Paul	253,081
18	Larry	245,535
19	Daniel	243,591
20	Stephen	207,171
21	Dennis	204,131

Girls:

	Girl Name
1	Mary	625,532
2	Linda	564,261
3	Patricia	459,587
4	Susan	437,688
5	Deborah	430,493
6	Barbara	345,686
7	Debra	341,282
8	Karen	332,483
9	Nancy	286,757
10	Donna	270,310
11	Cynthia	263,388
12	Sandra	251,533
13	Pamela	237,367
14	Sharon	232,782
15	Kathleen	224,300
16	Carol	222,620
17	Diane	210,605
18	Brenda	209,226
19	Cheryl	171,355
20	Janet	167,500
21	Elizabeth	165,641

Nowadays, for the Millennial generation it's different. Everybody wants their child to have a unique name! My next post will show the most common names from the 2000s decade.