I didn’t get as crazy as some people did for the eclipse (my daughter and two of my grandkids drove to Indy to watch it), but it was pretty cool. My wife and I threw a blanket down on our backyard hill and watched through our protective glasses
The glasses reminded me of the 3-D ones I wore as a kid to certain Westerns and how they made a charging Indian look like it was coming right down the theater’s aisle. But I digress.
The eclipse sure made me feel … well, pretty insignificant in the overall scheme of things. Maybe the coolest part of the whole deal for me was that it reminded me of Mark Twain’s book “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.”
Hank, the protagonist (played by Bing Crosby in the 1949 movie), saved his own life after being transported back to ancient times by saying that he could make the sun disappear. He had prior knowledge that an eclipse was going to happen on that day.
It really ticked off Merlin, the conniving wizard (who is a good guy in some King Arthur stories.)
With the “Connecticut Yankee” one of my favorite Twain books, I think I may pick it up and read it again. When my eclipse eyes come back into focus.
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My wife can now name three college basketball players — Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and Purdue’s Zach Edey. These days, I can’t name a lot more than that despite spending most of my career as a sports journalist.
But this year’s tournament was fascinating — for both me and my wife (and maybe you) — and she actually watched a few games from start to finish. That’s a definite first.
The three above mentioned players are what intrigued my wife, maybe Hidalgo the most. And me? I guess one of the reasons I stay interested was that I wasn’t going to finish last in my NCAA bracket pool.
This is my favorite time of the year, by the way. There is the NCAA basketball tournament, the start of the baseball season and the Masters all tucked close together on the calendar.
And then there’s my fantasy second baseball draft this Saturday, which really revs my engine. I don’t expect you to understand. I don’t even want you to understand.
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I love dogs as much as the next person, but do we really need to call what they eat something else instead of dog food? I want to throw a Wishbone at the TV when the prissy guy stirring his salad says to his soon-to-be-banished girlfriend, “It’s not dog food, it’s Freshpet.”
There are other commercials in the same vein with a friend or relative getting kicked out of the house or garage because they can’t understand why what a dog eats is not supposed to be called dog food.
If only dogs eat it, it’s dog food — whether it goes in the refrigerator or not.
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Although she is sure nice to look at, I’ve never really listened to Beyonce’s songs. That is until she decided to get a little revenge because of her perception of a snub she received at a country music awards show several years ago.
So she decided to really show them and has recorded her album, “Cowboy Carter,” that mixes country with other music genres. My personal favorite is her song, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” a No. 1 hit just like the album.
As far as I’m concerned, Beyonce can sing country from now until the cows come home. She is really good at it — with or without the cowboy hat.
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Since the 1970s, walk-up music has been part of baseball with former Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust getting a lot of the credit for starting it. For those of you who don’t know what a walk-up song is, it’s the music played at the ballpark just before a player enters the batter’s box. A psych-up song, so to speak.
Faust would actually play “Jesus Christ Super Star” when Dick “Don’t Call Me Richie” Allen would stroll to the plate. And when the behemoth Frank Howard was due to bat, she broke into “I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet.”
I think my favorite all-time walk-up song was when the Reds’ Joey Votto used “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones. I have to admit that many of the songs today are pretty much unrecognizable to me since most of the ball players are less than half my age.
I used to think that if I ever had a walk-on song, it would be “High on You” by Survivor. But I’m now leaning toward “Darth Vader’s Theme: The Imperial March.” At least if would make me sound tough.
So share with me what your walk-up music would be.
Contact Bill at [email protected]