Iconic Photos in Louisville Sports

I've kind of had the goal of making a tribute poster/display of the quintessential Louisville athletes. It would include these. I'm open to suggestions.

Ali (Clay at the time)-Liston

Best sports picture of all time. If you ever see the video, his arm is only in that position for an instant as he's yelling at Liston to get up. The picture caught Ali as both the amazing physical being and the world's greatest trash talker.

Secretariat at the Belmont

I don't know what I like more, the jockey taking a peak at the splits on the clock to see if he is going to take the record (he did) or the announcer's "...he is moving like a tremendous machine." line.

Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson

The importance of just being human. Continuing with one of the themes that I had last week on not having the time/what would I have done, Pee Wee Reese took a bold step during a game at Cincinnati early in Jackie Robinson's career. The fans were harassing (to put it mildly) Jackie in every way possible, and Pee Wee (a Southerner) simply went out and put his around Jackie like it was no big deal. This simple act was the beginning of the acceptance of Jackie in major league baseball, but Pee Wee always insisted he was just trying to be human. The world should follow his example.

Mary T Meagher Butterfly Mid-Stroke

While the photo isn't iconic, Mary T is. She will always be the "Madame Butterfly" to me. Her records in the 100m and 200m butterfly set a standard so high that they would not be broken for nearly 20 years (which is ridiculous in speed events). I haven't been able to find the article, but I remember reading in 1996 that when she carried the torch en route the Atlanta Olympics (where she now lives), her neighbors didn't realize that she was a gold medal athlete and (at the time) still held world records. I appreciate that type of modesty, but I must say the neighbors did ask her if she was interested in coaching the neighborhood swim team after that.

Darrell Griffith 1980 Championship

I was thinking that I should probably have a picture of Dr. Dunkenstein dunking the ball, but really this picture (I wish it was larger) is really what it's all about. Can you imagine, leading your home town team, to it's first ever national championship, being the star player? The feeling must be somewhere beyond elation around perfect (although, 2 others were close if Bush could have stayed healthy with Brohm in 2006).

From Fun Vampires via Geekadelphia: "Star Wars: Retold By Someone Who Hasn’t Seen It"

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Wow. That's great.

UPDATE: I don't know if I like the Keep the Faith reference or Hans Solo the best.

I'm Confused by Regulators...

So the same people that couldn't figure out if Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme and failed entirely to deal with the subprime mortgage market are going to investigate the way Apple disclosed Steve Jobs' illness. Am I the only one that is a little confused by this. Do I really want regulators to go into someone's medical records? I used to have faith that they have some knowledge in accounting (apparently they don't), but I know they don't know dick about medicine.

Will I always "too busy"?

Of the long list of rather arbitrary national holidays, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Patriot Day, President's Day, etc; I don't really care that much for them or care about their origins and only mildly about their purpose. While Memorial Day is supposed to be in remembrance of soldiers that have died in battle, it's mostly seen as the beginning of Summer. Likewise, Labor Day is more of a celebration of the end of summer. The one national holiday that I was always a big fan of was MLK, Jr Day.

As a suburban white kid from Louisville that grew up in the 80s, I have no real connection to King. But I've always appreciated the way that he, and many others in the civil rights movement, practiced nonviolent, civil disobedience. His talent as an orator, both brilliant and lyrical, will still bring tears to my eyes. During college and while we still lived in Louisville, I would often use MLK Day to read some of his speeches and essays online. I would often ask myself what I would have done during that time. I definitely think a lot of white America has a very sanitized memory of King. The peace loving preacher with a dream, not the boat rocking rabble-rouser that spoke out vehemently against prejudice, the Vietnam War, and Labor rights.

Since moving from Louisville, my experience on MLK day has been different. While at Northwestern, it was not a holiday. They did suspend classes from 10-2 and had Yolanda King (his daughter) speak, but I found it strange that school was still on. In Philly, it is a holiday at school, but I have found that I'm constantly busy with research, and have not been able to dedicate time and energy to thinking about these issues and ideas.

I like the new focus of MLK Jr Day. Now declared to be "a day of service" in remembrance of King. Now this is definitely a more worthy cause than the cookouts that I would celebrate on Memorial and Labor Days (not that those weren't fun, Word up Dupree Park!). But I find that I've been too busy to participate. Today, I had to finish a paper and maintain my cells I have growing for my experiments. In the 60s, would I have stood up for what was right, or would I have been too busy?

Or is too busy just an excuse?

The end of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's prophetic last speech from the day before he died:

R.I.P. Khan

In the pitch arguments of Star Wars fans and Trekkies, I was always on the side of Star Wars. During my youth, I always loved the Star Wars trilogy. By far more entertaining, the toys rocked, and who didn't make believe about their own light saber battles (that's why this commercial is so frustratingly off target, they start off so close to my childhood, it isn't a magic screen, their graphics are a lot closer to my childhood dreams, a handheld device in which a blade of light extends about 1 meter).

I was just never into the Star Trek franchise. Growing up with the special effects of Star Wars, the TV series from the late 60s just couldn't do it for me. I tried to watch the movies (although never really the Next Generation), but the action lacked the thrill I got from the Star Wars scenes. The first movie was kind of cheesy in it's premise of the Voyager spacecraft returning. Don't even get me started on installments 3-5.

The one exception was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The villain was cooler, not a race belligerent aliens, but a genetically engineered human. The stakes were high (Spock's "needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few, or the one"), and who doesn't love Shatner's furious "KHAN!!!" (heard at the end of the trailer here)? I remember being paranoid about bugs crawling into my ears for years after this movie.

I bring this up for two reasons. Today, Ricardo Montalban, the actor that played Kahn, passed away at age 88. I also remember him fondly as the villain from the first Naked Gun movie. And secondly, I am now looking forward to the release of the new Star Trek movie and think that everything coming out of the Skywalker Ranch nowadays is complete crap. Go figure.

Best quote from last night's game

"Somebody needs to call a timeout now. Not strategically. I wanna see that replay, Earl Clark dunking on the whole building." -Jay Bilas

You can witness it here:


The quote is around 1:05. More importantly, the replays start at 2:20. It prompted 2 phone calls from my brother e and to t. And I got Ris's claws in my legs when he jumped off my lap in a panic from my yelling.

Go Cards! After 2 tough games, you now have #1 Pitt on Saturday...

I'm not dead yet.

Okay, so I haven't had time to blog much lately. I hope to have some real original content soon. Until then just some quick notes.

1. I hate being in a situations in which I have to be the dick neighbor.

2. Big East basketball is going to give me a heart attack watching the Cards this season. Was at the Nova-UL game on Saturday (Thank you RC from College Park for the ticket) and I felt like a thief on my way out. (if you missed it, UL held on by one weathering 2 missed FT and 2 missed shots <2 ft from the basket) Whew, got one there, now we just have #12 Notre Dame and #1 Pitt this week.

3. I still hate writing, I hid myself in the Fine Arts Library today to get some work done. It worked for a while until I think they turned the heat off.

Go Cards! Go Steelers!

Blogs to come: Why I don't want to join Facebook and Why I have to be a dick neighbor (possibly, unless I can avoid it).

To 10 years with a faithful companion

Since 1998, I have had my red hoodie as my old standby clothing of choice. j gave it to me for our first Christmas, and hoodies were always a a staple of my wardrobe. I liked the simplicity of the "LOUISVILLE" over a negative image "1798" (these were made for the bicentennial celebration of the founding of the University of Louisville) embroidered on the left breast.


It has served me well in many different adventures, from San Francisco...


...to the falls near Lake Bled in Slovenia.


I was glad a couple years ago when I was in Boston meeting t and his brother d for lunch at Quincy Market, the first reaction I got from d after not seeing him for about 2 years was a deep belly laugh and "The red hoodie." Not being 6'5" with red hair, it was the only way to find me in a crowd.

So here's to you red Louisville hoodie, for the many years (and some memorable UL victories). Hopefully there are many more in your future (I've looked for similar replacements, and current choices lack the minimalism of its design).