Archives for February 2020

PALMING THE BALL

February 29, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

Just some thoughts:

PALMING THE BALL

Yesterday I went with my wife to the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show at the Nashville Fairgrounds. (Nice guy, huh?)

Well, not necessarily my favorite thing to do but ok. When we got there we did one of them “divide and conquer” things. Meaning she went her way, I went mine. She to go pet the flowers, me to find a cup of coffee. Over the nearly fifty-five years of marriage I have found that divide and conquer has merit in many areas.

Image result for picture of a basketball player palming the ball

Image result for high school basketball in indiana pictures

As I was wandering around looking for that coffee outlet I heard a lady say, “I don’t know why they let them get away with palming the ball like they now do.” Wow. Bingo my ears stood up more than a beagle hearing their name called on hunting day. A woman using basketball language and not just any language but “palming the ball” language.

I looked, saw a lady and what I came to find out was her husband talking with one of the vendors. Then I heard her say, “I went to Heritage High School.” Now I cannot take it any longer.

I walked up to the couple and said, “Excuse me, but have you ever heard of Allen County War Memorial Coliseum? And I bet you are from Indiana, near Ft.Wayne, Indiana, right.?” Looking kinda half cockeyed she said, “Yea, but how’d you know?” “Lady first of all any lady that knows what palming the ball is has to be from a place where that game was played with more than just a passing interest.”

Seating view for Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Section 215 Row 14 Seat 12

From there the conversation took off. Yes, they were from Indiana. The fella says “We were there long before they had this class stuff they have now, that has now ruined the interest that once was there. ” Now I know they were truly Hoosiers. They went on to say “Hey our high school basketball sectional was played in that placed, War Memorial.”

I loved it. A lady talking about “palming the ball.” Her words, “They shouldn’t let them get away with that now, but they do all the time.” I bet if I had asked the lady she could have explained to me what a zone defense was, maybe even a 1-2-2 or 2-3 zone.

I loved it. Lady you are spot on.

(Palming the Ball–Where a player puts their palm under the ball and then turns the ball over rather than dribble the ball with the hand on top of the ball.)

I wandered off to find that coffee with a bit of a spring in my step. A lady, palming the ball, they shouldn’t let them do that, when there was no class system and Allen Memorial.

Every now and then man sees a bit of hope.

=========================================February 29, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

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ROBERT

February 28, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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ROBERT

“People would know when Robert was in town. The men would let people know, and if they saw him coming up the road, our mothers would make all the girls go inside. It was OK for our older brothers, uncles, or fathers to go see him play and get drunk, but it was off limits to us girls. They’d keep us inside and locked up.”

(Thus said of legendary blues man Robert Johnson)

Up Jumped the Devil—

The Real Life of Robert Johnson

Bruce Conforth & Gayle Dean Wardlow

Image result for picture of robert johnson with a group of folks

That’s has probably been said about many a musician, music man, that has come to many a town since the beginning of time.

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February 28, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

FAMOUS COACH

February 27, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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FAMOUS COACH

He probably was one of the most famous high school coaches to ever coach in all of Tennessee.

He was twenty-four years old in 1924 when he came to town. Some of the young ladies of the town thought him to be one of the most handsome of men they had ever seen.

ons, especially the Baptist of the town. It was 1924 and school board for Rhae Central High School had hired him to be their football and basketball coach. He had recently graduated college, worked on a farm for a few weeks near his parents home in Salem, Illinois when he heard of a school opening. Johnny, as he became known drove a yellow Dodge roadster and Saturday nights more than likely you would see him up in Morgan Springs dancing the night away. Some the parents disapproved of such going on’s

But as if often the case winning cures many criticism so when his football team beat the school biggest rival in football interesting he seem to gain favor with some who had once been his critics. Having grown up in Indiana that was a practice I often saw. Winning cures a lot of ills and silences a lot of voices.

John was a bit different for this town and time. He could be described as one who “would like to stretch your mind.” As would be the case he got to be a part of one of the biggest stretching of the times. For you see John, was John Scopes the biology teacher who would be at the center of the famous “Monkey Trial,” in Dayton, Tennessee. The trial that would bring fame to two men, William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow and to the town of Dayton, Tennessee.

Image result for picture of clarence darrow

Image result for picture of william jennings bryan

Top picture—Darrow

Bottom–Bryan

Image result for picture of sign in dayton tn about the trial

“Prayer can accomplish a lot. It can cure diabetes, find lost pocket-books and restrain husbands from beating their wives. But is prayer made any more efficacious by giving a circus first? Coming to this thought, Dayton begins to sweat.”

H.L.Mencken—Baltimore Evening Sun—July 9, 1925

The town I confess, greatly surprised me. The houses are surrounded by pretty gardens, with cool green lawns and stately trees. The two chief streets are paved from curb to curb. the stores carry good stocks and have a metropolitan air, especially the drug, book, magazine, sporting goods and soda-water emporium of the ëstimable Robinson.

H.L.Menken–Baltimore Evening Sun–July 9, 1925

Not too long ago I drove through Dayton and was reminded of this happening. If all goes as planned I hope to be at the re-enactment of this trial this coming summer.

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February 27, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

LEAVIN’ AND SAYIN’ GOOD-BYE

February 26, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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LEAVIN’ AND SAYIN’ GOOD-BYE

Railroad station, midnight train,

lonely airport out in the rain

And somebody stands there with tears in their eyes

Below is a picture of a Navy ship getting ready to leave shore. Wives, girlfriends telling the sailor good-bye. One of the hardest things in life to do is to tell someone “Good-bye.”

Below World War II picture of good-byes at a train station.

Image result for picture of telling soldiers goodbye at a train station

Image result for picture of telling soldiers goodbye at a airport

It was 1950, I was eight years old when my brother left our house, went off to the Korean War. I still remember that day. Good bye in anytime or circumstances is not easy. It’s hurts.

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February 26, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

OH THERE USED TO BE

February 25, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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OH THERE USED TO BE

Frank Sinatra used to sing “There Used to Be A Ballpark.”

It was lamenting the fact that old baseball ballparks were gone. Well, that can also go for old high school gymnasiums back in my home state of Indiana. These old gyms once were the center of the universe for young kids and communities.

“And the people played their crazy game

with a joy I’d never seen.”

The below picture is of the old high school gym I believe in Sullivan, Indiana. I played my last high school game there, February, 1960. On one of my trips back home I ventured off Highway 41 and drove into Sullivan. Just off the square still stands the old gym. I parked my car walked across the street. The old doors were chained but I was able to push them open enough and squeeze thru, walk in, stand and remember. I’m one of thousands of kids from that special time (1950s’) and era.

Image result for picture of old high school gyms back in Indiana

“Oh there used to be a gymnasium”

I’ll make one a bet. Anyone that played from that time, “What was your jersey number?” Hands down they could tell you. I’m thinking right now how many times I pulled that jersey off and on over my head. Also, how many times one would be so tired or the jersey so wet that a teammate would have to help one pull the jersey off.

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February 25, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

ALWAYS DOES

February 24, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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ALWAYS DOES

Talkin’ to myself and feelin’ low/ Sometimes I’d like to quit

Nothing ever seems to fit/ Hangin’ around

Nothing to do but frown

What I’ve got they used to call the blues

Nothin’ really wrong. Feelin’ like I don’t belong

Walkin’ around/ Some kind of lonely clown

Image result for picture of a person sitting looking out a window at it raining

Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you

Nice to know somebody loves me

Funny but it seems that it’s the only thing do do

Run and find the one who loves me

What I feel has come and gone before

No need to talk it out/ We know what it’s all about

Hangin’ around/ Nothing to do but frown

Paul Williams/ Roger Nichols

You know….Rainy Days and Mondays…they have a way of doing that…

Hope your Monday is good…

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February 24,2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

ALWAYS

February 22, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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ALWAYS

Image result for picture of two children walking along holding hands

“It always helps to have people we love beside us

when we have difficult things in life to do.”

Fred Rogers

Image result for a young married couple walking sitting with each other

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February 23, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

OUCH

February 21, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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OUCH

“There is a time for departure even when

there is no place to go.”

“There comes a time when you look in the mirror and you

realize that what you see is all you will ever be.”

“Time is the longest distance between two places.”

“A line can be straight, or a street,

but the human heart, oh no,

it’s curved like a road through the mountains.”

Quotes from Tennessee Williams

Image result for picture of tennessee williams

===============================================February 22 ,2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

ROBERT PENN WARREN

February 20, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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ROBERT PENN WARREN

I once heard someone say, “Good literature and good music are timeless.”

Four or five times a year I will go back to Indiana for a visit. It is about a five hour drive for me. Often I take that trip alone. Somewhere between the Tennessee and Kentucky borders I will see a road sign that says: “The home of Robert Penn Warren.”

He was actually born in 1905 in Guthrie, KY. I always look for the sign and every time I think of the classic book he wrote many years ago, All the King’s Men. I think it is timeless and one of the best books about politics and politicians.

Image result for picture of robert penn warren

Image result for picture of all the kings mens by warren

Robert Penn Warren - Third and Cherry Streets, Guthrie, Kentucky 42234

(Penn’s childhood home–Guthrie, KY)

“Politics is a matter of choices, and a man doesn’t set up the choices himself. And there is always a price to making a choice. You know that. You’ve made a choice, and know how much it cost you. There is always a price.”

Robert Penn Warren

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February 20, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson

REMEMBRING

February 18, 2020 By Larry Adamson Leave a Comment

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REMEMBERING

Remembering (stealing a line from the Bible) “Remembering fires that have been built before us.”

From a very early age I have always liked auto racing. I guess my Indiana roots would be the cause for that. In 1955, at the age of thirteen, I saw my first race at the Vigo County Fairgrounds. The following year my brother would take me to the Brickyards in Indy.

Image result for picture of ted horn the race drive in his car

Ted Horn was a name I heard early on when I would be around racing folks. He had been a well known race driver, raced a number of times at Indianapolis, but sadly would lose his life in a racing accident in California well before I ever started following racing. But the stories told by others always made me aware of him and even still today prompted me to read his life story. He came before me but with all I heard about him I wanted to know about him. His memory had been kept alive by those who came during his time and after him and thus I knew of him.

Recently a good friend of ours told me how in preparing for a house move one of his daughters went into the attic and looking through old boxes etc found a letter her dad’s grandfather had written many years before. Her father had no idea of the letter. He shared with me what the find meant to him, here these many years later.

Last night before I went to bed I happened to look at our youngest daughter’s face book page. It caused me to smile and reflect a bit. (It was a nice way to end my day) On her face book page was a picture of Perry Como. Strange one might think, ole Perry was not on her play list ever. Explanation of why Perry Como. She said, “Tonight I’ve been thinking of my grandmother, I need a bit of her, miss her.”

All three of our kids knew their grandmother had a thing for Perry Como. I find it interesting that today our granddaughter seeing a picture of him on a record album caused her to play his music and thus recall her grandmother. In fact her sister in Washington, D.C. would see her post and also post, “Yes I also need a bit of her tonight.”(Note: Many years after my father-in-laws death my wife and I took my mother-in-law to a Perry Como concert. It was special)

A letter written many years ago, or a Perry Como album, interesting how they created a memory. For years that letter had stayed in a box in an attic. Only years later would it be discovered by a grandson and the positive effects received. Or an old record album sitting in a record bin found and brought out for play.

May you and I be so lucky that in our lifetime someone thought enough to write words of encouragement and maybe a “at a later time find.” Or leave an old “Perry Como” album in our record bin.

Words of remembrance, words of encouragement, a well “kept remembrance.”

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February 19, 2020

Keep on,

Larry Adamson