Thursday, August 16, 2012
Legends Lost: Music and Baseball
August 16th. Elvis died today.
It was a long time, ago, but it’s still hard to believe. It
caught everyone off guard. Sure, he was
getting fat and looked bloated. But
nobody thought he was dying, not even him.
Thinking about EP’s story recently I realized that he had
some things in common with another legend – Mickey Mantle.
That’s right. Think about it. They were both great talents
in their fields, shot to stardom in the 1950s, were great looking and had girls
swooning over them. Heck, even guys admired their looks, in a manly way.
The bad news is that they both burned themselves out.
Neither one took care of themselves and let their bodies waste away. And
neither one was bright enough to change their ways. I read once that Mickey
got scammed often by sharks after his money. He once invested in a mine of some
sort that didn’t exist. Elvis made a fortune, but not as much as he should
have. In a business where managers got fifteen or twenty per cent, Elvis paid
his manager, Tom Parker, fifty per cent. He was scamming Elvis all the way.
Imagine what they might have done if they only knew and
appreciated what they had. Imagine. That’s all we can do.
Saturday, August 04, 2012
My Favorite Olympians
The Olympics are on and people are swimming, diving,
running, jumping, throwing sharp objects, throwing heavy objects and playing
games like beach volleyball, soccer, tennis and shooting air rifles. Yes, that’s
an event.
So, this got me to thinking, at the age of
sixty-five, I’ve seen a few Olympic Games come and go. Who are my favorite
Olympic athletes through all of those years?
Right away, I can name two. Hal Connolly and Wilma
Rudolph. They had something in common besides the fact that they were U.S.
track and field athletes and champions.
Hal was the hammer throw gold medal winner in 1956.
He did this despite the fact that he grew up with a deformed left arm, having
suffered nerve damage at birth. It was over four inches shorter than his right
arm as an adult and his left hand was two-thirds the size of his right. Yet he
managed to learn how to throw the hammer, a sixteen pound ball attached to a
wire with a handle, better than anyone at that time.
I was lucky enough to see him perform one year, I
think it was 1957, when he competed in an AAU track meet that took place in my
home town of Needham, MA, as part of the Fourth of July celebration.
Wilma Rudolph was a thrill to watch on TV as she
sprinted to Olympic gold three times in the 1960 games. She was a beautiful
African-American who grew up in the segregated South, but became a star with
her Olympic performance, the first games to be televised internationally,
largely thanks to the invention of videotape. Wilma was born prematurely, at
4.5 pounds, and at four years old, she contracted polio. Fortunately, it was
mild and she overcame it.
Both of these champions had to overcome major
physical problems from their youth and went on to become Olympic champions and
record holders. I have other favorite Olympians, but these two champions jump
off the page for me.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Here's a link to my author website.
http://stevenmarini.com/connections/
My first novel, CONNECTIONS, is available as an ebook. I hope you'll check it out and enjoy. Thanks.
Steve.
http://stevenmarini.com/connections/
My first novel, CONNECTIONS, is available as an ebook. I hope you'll check it out and enjoy. Thanks.
