Organized Murder

Harry Patch died last week. So who is Harry Patch? He was one of the last surviving British soldiers to have fought in World War I. Patch was 111 years old. Born in 1898 he was drafted into the 7th Battalion, Duke of Cornwell's light infantry. He spent four months in Flanders in France but never killed a German. He shot at their legs to wound them. He spent weeks in mud filled trenches going without a bath and wearing the same clothes. He endured lice and rats as big as cats.

He was once quoted as saying, "war is nothing more than organized murder.

Patches death leaves Claude Choules as Great Britain's last World War I veteran. Choules is 108. There are still two other WWI vets alive, one in Canada and one in the United States.

Seahawks Camp Opens

The short vacation is over, the Seahawks are back to work at VMAC in Renton preparing for the 2009 season. The first part of the first day is usually spent searching for numbers to see who's here and who isn't. There's not much mystery anymore since the public relations staff and head coach listed the missing players at at the first session. Marcus Trufant is on the PUP list with a sore back. PUP may be a cute dog to us but in ther NFL it means "physically unable to perform." It allows a team to replace that player on the roster temorarily. Baraka Atkins was excused to attend the funeral of a friend in Florida and top draft pick Aaron Curry isn't here and won't be until he signs his contract.

On the first day veteran offensive lineman Mike Wahl failed his physical exam and decided to retire. He had worked hard all during the off season but didn't quite get back to normal.

Everyone else who missed part of last season due to injury is back this year including 12 year veteran tackle Walter Jones, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and receiver Nate Burleson.

Training camp continues through August 21.

Angry White Men

The Republican Party has become the party of angry white men. Any progressive ideas anyone comes up with are met with the same reaction. "No." Don't white men realize they have nothing to be angry about except maybe their inability to deal with the fact that they have nothing to be angry about.

Our president has been in office less than seven months and has been attacked more than any single American president in history. Let the guy govern, let him work, keep him on notice that we're all watching but let him work. Hey just for a brief moment there I think I became an angry white man myself.

Hall of Fame

Had a chance to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York last week. As I was walking through the Babe Ruth exhibit, I heard a young dad explaining to his pre-teen sons that the Bambino was the only "true" home run king. "He hit 60 homers in 1927 and then the "cheaters" broke his record. I had to step in and remind the guy that Roger Maris broke trhe Babe's record in 1961 and was not a cheater. He did have the advantage of a 162 game season to Ruth's 154 game season but he was no cheater.

Soccer

After watching the inaugural season of the Seattle SoundersFC in MLS I've decided to start playing the game myself. Let's face it if my grand parents hadn't imigrated from Italy in the early 1900s I probably would've grown up playing the "World's game" anyway. It's never too late to learn something new. Gotta go practice my headers.

Playing for Nothing

Just finished reading "The Yankee Years," by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. It's the story of Torre's triumphant seasons as manager of the New york Yankees from 1996-2000 and the less than successful years that followed. Less than successful means the Yankees didn't win a World Series under Torre after they beat the Mets in October of 2000. They did get to the Series twice only to lose both times. The book details the departure of such stars as Bernie Williams and Andy Petite and the arrival of Gary Scheffield and Alex Rodriguez. As soon as I put that down I started reading, "They would have played for nothing," which follows the careers of some of the greats of the 1950s and 60 like Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson and Stan Musiel. Though I enjoyed both books I felt like reading the second one was like taking a shower on a hot day. It was so refreshing after reading about all the nightmarish stories about George Steinbrenner's frequent tirades and torre's constant effort to keep his players and owner happy.

Reading the second book also got me in a mood to buy old baseball cards again. Seems like they're the only ones that maintain or grow their value. Anything printed after 1975 is too plentiful to make it worth anything.

Every Precious moment

Who remembers that last day of school, the first day of summer vacation? Most of us have fond memories of stepping off the bus for the last time in late June without a care in the world. It's not that things in the world weren't a challenge, or dangerous, or frightening it's that we didn't know enough about it to care. The only thing that mattered was fishing and baseball and bike riding and friends. Summer meant 4th of July fireworks and a population of people who actually knew what they were celebrating on that day. Summer meant you were outdoors from dawn till dusk riding your bike with no helmet, making no contact with your parents until supper time and living every precious moment. We didn't have our faces on our cell phones all day because there was no such thing. We didn't waste hours on video games because there were none. We ran through poison ivy, got mumps and measles, went to the doctor and actually got treated without being asked how we were going to pay for it. I know, I sound like a baby boomer who's past was happier than his present. Not true. I'm very happy today but I think it's fun to point out that the "care free" season is here and for gosh sakes we ought to let our kids and grandkids enjoy it. Someday they'll write about the good old days when Twitter and Face Book will have gone the way of the Hula Hoop. By the way I bought a Hula Hoop on Craig's list the other day. Got a good price.

New title for FOX News

Why is everyone on the FOX news network so ticked off? Every time I see one of the poor souls they're upset over something. Lately they're up in arms because President Obama had the nerve to reach out to the Muslim world and suggest that they may be people too. Hey FOX news, I've got news for you, your act is old, negitive, boring and irrelevent. I'll go one step further, you're hate mongers disguised as news reporters and anchors. I'm happy to live in a country that allows FOX news to do what it does but I'm also happy to have quick fingers and a remote. As soon as I see Sean or Bill or Ann on HATE TV, I switch over to something that makes sense, like Family Fued or The Price is Right.

Quiet I Can't Hear the Music

Growing up in the 1950s I had plenty of opportunities to listen to disc jockeys fill time between songs. When Cousin Brucie or Dandy Dan Ingraham made a funny remark in between Elvis or Beatles songs that constituted "talk radio." For me and my generation it was all the talk radio we needed. I still listen to Cousin Brucie on Satalitte radio and he still makes more sense than any of the "talk" people I mistakenly tune in to today.

How much talk is too much talk? That's an open question of course and the answer is si9mple. When I get tired of hearing about the same topic I change the station.

In my home market, Seattle a lot of people are changinbg the station these days. They're changing to music and away from talk. In times like these I guess people feel more comfortable not hearing about "times like these." Music soothes the soul, settles the nerves, evokes the emotions. Talk too often has the opposite result.

I tuned out of talk radio about ten seconds after the last election. I love the new president but I'm sure I'll disagree with some of things he does in the next three years. I'll disagree on my own however, not with any prompting from Rush or anyone else.

So what about sports talk radio you ask? There's too much of that too. Two hours before the game starts I do not need to listen to "expert" anlayists tell me why one team will win and the other will lose. And when the game is over, I'm done, let me go on with my life. Please don't bore me with post game analysis let alone sound bites that don't change from week to week.

Good luck to all the radio talk show folks out there. I know you work hard and I wish you the best, just don't talk me anymore it distracts me from the music I'm trying to listen too.