Things Fall Apart

What would you do if your life suddenly fell apart?   Right now, at least in Los Angeles where I live, one of the fastest growing segments of the homeless population is people who work, but don't make enough money to pay rent.  Most of us accumulate a certain amount of stuff.  If you suddenly found yourself living on the streets, which objects from your life would you try and save? 

I recently took a walk along the L.A. River after one of our periodic "clean-ups" a nice way of saying a force out of a local homeless encampment.   There, I found these two old football cards.  I have to wonder if some guy who had spent years on his sports card collection, making sure he had every card from 1990, was he carting them around in a box?  When the clean-up crews arrived,  with only a few minutes to gather up the few remaining bits from his old life, did he drop Mike Tomczak and Pete Mandley? 

Are You Ready For Steeler Football

First of all, I want to express my disappointment that Steeler comes up as a misspelling.  What's America coming to?

It's opening week for the NFL, and it's time to celebrate another season of Pittsburgh Steeler football.  I confess, I wouldn't have bought these photos from 1984 if I hadn't grown up in a small town fifty miles from downtown Pittsburgh.  Even though I've spent more than half my life in Los Angeles, I'm still a Pirate, Penguin and Steeler fan.  My Steelers, we never lose.  Sometimes the game ends before we win.

I've gone on line and have been able to identify some of the players in the photos.  Number 82 is Hall of Fame wide receiver John Stallworth.  90, Bob Kohrs, 38, Elton Veals, 78, Mark Catano, 49, Dwayne Woodruff, 60, Randy R. Rasmussen, 40, Anthony Corley, and 94, Terry Echols.  And the mystery, number 87.  The final Steeler roster from 1984 listed 87 as Weegie Thompson.  I couldn't make out the name on 87's uniform, but the number of letters is wrong.  These photos were taken at the Steeler training camp at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and some of the guys in these photos didn't make the final roster.  Weegie must have inherited 87 latter.  And let's not forget, The Terrible Towel.

The Football Banquet

The high school season is over, the bowl season is just getting under way, and the pros are closing out the season. Take a look at the decorations. These five ladies are standing in front of a stage with a football themed graphic. Before school boy sports gained it's cult like status; before parents hired personal coaches to prepare their children for college and, with a bit of luck, a pro sports career, they would get all dressed up, and hold a pot luck diner at the local VFW hall and pledge money for uniforms, balls, and maybe a couple of new pieces of training equipment.

Are You Ready For Some Football

I did not play high school football, and in smash-mouth football obsessed western Pennsylvania that was not a popular choice. Sissy was the politest name I was called and , well let's put it this way; I was hit as much for not playing as I would have if I had played. Of course, my high school didn't have a very good team so that didn't necessarily mean anything. My high school team lost every game for three straight years. We came close to a win in my junior year. We were playing our arch rival and managed to loose by only six points. 6-0 to be exact. In the last ten minutes of the game, our opponents managed a seventy yard march to victory. Sixty yards on penalties. Fifteen yards when one of our players left the Field on the wrong side. There he was, a lone white uniform in a sea of blue. And just so you know, I am a fan. Steelers in the Super Bowl. I guarantee it!