The LuLac Edition #1949, February 17th, 2012

"Maybe I'm Amazed" logo.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that I had the very good fortune to meet Gary Carter on a number of occasions in my life. When I was writing a newspaper column on sports, I visited the Phillies at the Vet. They were playing the Expos and I wanted to meet Gary Carter, “The Kid”, the All Star Catcher. He was speaking with Harry Kalas (corrected) at the end of the dugout and was having an intense conversation. Since I didn’t want to interrupt him or worse yet, not get to talk to him, I simply lurked. After 15 minutes, Carter came my way and asked if I wanted to talk to him. I replied yes. He then said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get over here sooner but I was talking to Harry about something really important. I hope I wasn’t holding you up”. I was momentarily speechless and got on with my interview. Carter answered a bunch of questions about long forgotten games and incidents of the 1980s. But what was memorable to me was his concern about “holding me up”. Carter died at the age of 57 from brain cancer. He was one of the good guys.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that Whitney Houston who was a talented individual is being portrayed as someone who died before her time. Truth be told, she kind of hurried that along with her drug abuse. A friend of mine made the point that she didn’t have a drug problem until she met Bobby Brown. Their relationship drama rivaled that of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s in the 60s…but with less talent.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that Judge Dave Lupas let a convicted felon go on vacation to Mexico after she was busted in a county wide drug sweep in 2010. She had to petition the court for this special privilege. I just wonder if Lupas even read the petition. Lupas has been the victim of a decade long whispering campaign that included things like he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the lamp, that his family’s money got him elected and that he really didn’t have the chops to be a judge. Unfortunately this ruling just reinforces those nasty thoughts.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that my good friend Bill Kelly from WVIA TV & FM did not know that “Roderick Random” was a journalistic institution dating back to the founding of the Scranton Times in the 1880s. The “Roderick Random” column is featured every Saturday in the Times Tribune and is ghost written by the Times premier reporters. Borys Krawczeniuk writes it now but the venerable Joe Flannery wrote it for years. Bill Kelly was one of my very first bosses and it is a rare day when he misses something. (And then again maybe he didn’t, old radio guys have been known to “not know” while “knowing” to draw a subject out. Anyway, State Of Pennsylvania is a “must see” program for anyone interested in public affairs. Tonight’s show with 5 area news reporters (See LuLac Edition #1947-under Media Matters) will be repeated Sunday at 1pm on TV 44.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the Colbert Report was off the air and I really didn’t care. I always fast forwarded anything the man had to say because he was just downright silly. He’s getting paid a fortune for what literate drunks say to each other in bars on any given night.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the Obama budget has cut bacteria testing in produce. This is pretty rich to me. The First Lady is running around the country urging people to buy fresh fruit and veggies and the Professor In Chief does this. Do they not talk to each other?
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that Mitt Romney seems to be getting more and more like the clumsy widower on a first date. Some of the stuff coming out of his mouth is strained, over rehearsed and just plain strange. Maybe some Zoloff would help.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that it has been a little more than a year since Christy Kapel departed these modest woods. Hear she’s doing well in Cleveland.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that the Montrose Council members started shoving WBRE’s Joe Holden after one of their public meetings. One guy said that he was on Council for over a decade and never made it a practice to talk to the media. Gang, despite what the brochures say about the blueberries and the trees, this is the sticks we’re talking about. It reminds me of a former co worker from that area who used to tell us never to call her on Saturday when she was out shopping because “Rick doesn’t talk on the phone. Ever”. When we asked why, her response was, “He just never uses the phone”. When we pressed her and said what would happen if she had a medical problem , she said, “He’d run for help. He’s pretty fast”. It’s a different world up there and reporters like Holden are regarded as “revenuers”.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that many charities in the state are benefiting from people who want to give gifts in Joe Paterno’s memory. That outpouring of support is certainly solace to the family and certainly is a testament to the entire body of work that was Pateno’s life.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that WNEP TV weathercaster Joe Snedecker and I share the same birthday. On Facebook, all the rage a month ago was to post the song that was number 1 the week you were born. That song for me was Eddie Fisher “O My Papa” but I always found it ponderous. So I posted Perry Como’s “Wanted”. But here’s one that was riding near the charts a few months after I arrived.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that the following musicians endorsed these candidates. The lead singer of MegaDeath Dave Mustane is backing Rick Santorum. Gene Simmons of Kiss is backing Mitt Romney. Barry Manilow and Kelly Clarkson are backing Ron Paul. And this is who is backing Newt.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that Jeremy Lin, the newest star on the formerly floundering New York Knicks has had wild rumors abound about his personal life. The latest and thank goodness most inaccurate one is an arranged meeting with Kim Kardashian. Knick fans, and I’m one of them, would kidnap him for his own safety if that were true.
MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that ESPN/ABC’s Monday Night Football jettisoned former Eagle star Ron Jaworski who is a walking encyclopedia of the game. “MNF”, the originator of a 3 man broadcast booth now only has John Gruden and Mike Tirico