It was good to be on the hill tonight at North Harrison High School’s football field.

The North Harrison Cougars were playing in a controlled scrimmage against the West Washington Senators.  Both teams look good.  Sure there were brain farts now and again and missed assignments.  Of course there were!  The season is young and the players are not seasoned!  I said that first!

There is always room for improvement.  And there is reason to celebrate tonight as well.  The Cougars showed a great deal on offense given the scrimmage format.  Both sides of the ball played well at times for sure.  Cougar fans should be optimistic.

There was a nice crowd for a scrimmage game.  Nice job by athletic director Hal Pearson for giving the stadium a nice look with the flag and the stadium banners that add a nice  touch to the atmosphere.  You don’t expect that for a scrimmage and behold…it was very nice.  By the way, the field at North this year is the best it has ever been.  I have seen a couple of them.

I can tell you it was tough for this old purist to look at a West Washington team wearing Silver helmets.  What in the name of Art Sanders is that all about?  Looks like they are going for a New England Patriots look and that just don’t fly in Indiana unless you have bad taste.

One thing that needs to happen in the future for these scrimmages, if they are not going to hit the quarterback, is to put red scrimmage vests on the QBs to remind kids to stay off of them.

First and goal is always a beautiful sight.

Came home tonight and turned on the Bears and Giants.

Oh my.  I went back in time.

When Boomer Esiason was playing quarterback at Maryland, I was all about him.  I thought he had IT.  And I wanted him to one day play for beloved Cincinnati Bengals.  I wanted Boomer Esiason to be the man to follow my first and foremost football hero, Ken Anderson #14.  Oh he was the man.

Well, the Bengals did what I told them to do.  They drafted Boomer.  Then I was nervous.  I wanted him to replace Kenny Anderson.  I also wanted him to replace Kenny when I was ready for him to do so!  I saw Ken Anderson make his last start in Riverfront Stadium in 1985.  He got hurt.  The team belonged to Boomer.

Fast forward to 2018.  Daniel Jones is playing quarterback at Duke University for the true quarterback whisperer…Coach David Cutcliffe.  Coach Cut was also Eli Manning’s coach at my beloved Ole Miss.  Watching Daniel Jones at Duke, I so wanted him to be drafted by my current favorite NFL team, the New York Giants.  I want Daniel Jones to replace Eli Manning one day…but I want him to do it when I am ready for him to do it.

The Giants drafted Daniel Jones this year.  Tonight against the Bears, Eli Manning went 4 for 4 for 42 yards and a TD to help his cause.  Daniel Jones fumbled the ball away and I was happy about it.  I want Eli to have one more season in the sun.  I am worried I can tell you.  I have seen this movie before.  Daniel Jones looks good.  I hope he has a wonderful career beginning with the 2020 season. I will cheer him on then.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Here We Go Now…

Those are the the first four words of a beautiful song by Tim Krekel.

They just seem to fit.  We need a football season like we have never needed one before.

I’d like to preface this year’s college football predictions with a thank you to Jon Robison who invited me to participate in a facebook challenge to post 10 pictures that capture the significance of football in a life.  facebook does have its brighter days and this was one of them for me.  In addition to posting a picture a day for ten days, the participant also nominates another person each day to join in.  Thank you, Jon.

So far these are the pictures I have posted.  Here, unlike the 10 day challenge which asks for pictures and no explanations, I will add a little commentary.

My Dad and my friend Barry Hall. Sitting in the original Blevins Stadium a few days before it came down.  They spent some good times there.

The North Harrison Cougars beating Salem in 1982.

Kicking one through at The Rose Bowl.  Talk about a thrill.

2014. My friend Jerry Brown and his son Clay.

Dad on the sideline at Brownstown Central.

1977 in the huddle at the Hines Family Reunion touch football game in Forest, Mississippi. I am on the far right.  Only picture I have of these times.

2013. With Dad at Notre Dame Stadium and the last game played there on grass.  They beat BYU 23-13.  I thought I knew cold before this day.  I didn’t. Snow flying, soft drinks freezing in the cups. Unreal.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL TIME!

2019 is going to be fun.

Full slate of college football begins on August 31st.  Memories memories.

It was August 31st in 2003 on a red hot day in Nashville.  Eli Manning brought his last team of Ole Miss Rebels into Vanderbilt Stadium and escaped with a 24-21 victory thanks to a 54 yard field goal by Jonathan Nichols late in the 4th quarter.  That is how it goes too often for the Commodores of Vandy.  Cody and I were there for that one.

Who could forget this guy?

Talk about a sweetheart!  This UT fan was melting my earwax while his Orange Defense couldn’t find the Crimson Tide player with the ball!

Good Old Rocky Top!

Like I said, it is going to be fun this year.  If you are an Indiana Hoosier fan you will really have fun.  We have been waiting some time to do this.

The national scene is much of the same old song and dance.  Crimson Tide and more Crimson Tide.  Tide fans should be glad the NCAA did not adopt a rule like the Indiana High School Athletic Association that penalizes winning teams and moves them to a higher class of play.  If that were the case the Alabama Crimson Tide would be in first place in the NFC South.

Let’s talk about my perennial favorites.

The Indiana Hoosiers

This is year three for the Tom Allen regime in Bloomington.  Year three was good to Coach Bill Mallory and year three will be good for Coach Allen as well.  Yes, this is me talking here.  The same guy who has bemoaned “the natural order of things” regarding the plight of Indiana Football.  We have seen this movie too many times, right?  I saw it thirty five years ago and it was a different picture.  This one looks much like that one.  Coach Mallory went 0-11 and 4-7 in his first two years and the Hoosiers were in a bowl the next.  Keep in mind you had to have a winning record in 1986 to make a bowl and there were about half as many of them as there are today.  Those Hoosiers were defeated by Florida State in the All-American Bowl.  They weren’t playing Pea Ridge or Squash Holler.

I have a stupid grin on my face like the one Andy Dufresne had on his atop a roof of one of the buildings at Shawshank Prison.

This will be year three for Coach Allen at Indiana and I BELIEVE it will be a good one.  I was in Shreveport in 1993 watching the last Indiana University football team that won eight games in a season.  They were defeated by Virginia Tech in the Independence Bowl. The 2019 Indiana Hoosiers will win at least 8 games before they settle into a nice hotel where they will be practicing for a solid bowl game.  I plan on being in Bloomington for a few games this year.  The one I have circled on the calendar in red in November 2nd against Northwestern.  That will be the earliest in a season that the Hoosiers have won seven games since October 30, 1993 when the Hoosiers bested Michigan State while fans threw snowballs at the Spartan sideline.  There was a foot of snow in Memorial Stadium that fans had the privilege of removing from their seats to sit.  Indiana 10 Michigan State 0.  The season record at that point was 7-1.  A 24-17 victory over Purdue gave them eight wins after stubbing the toe in two close ones against Penn State in the Hoosiers first visit to Happy Valley and Ohio State.

This is the year for the Hoosiers.  Have you seen RB Stevie Scott?  In front of him will be a solid line.  I could go on and on and on.  I just hope Indiana Hoosier fans have their wits about them and don’t boo or cuss the first time Coach Allen puts in the punt team.  He knows what he is doing.  He goes to practice everyday.

The OLE MISS REBELS

Coach Matt Luke took over a tough spot at Ole Miss with the departure of Hugh Freeze.  Last year they started promising putting up 47 points in a victory against Texas Tech followed by 76 points at home against Southern Illinois.  Then came the tough Crimson Tide calling to Oxford.  First play of the game?  75 yard TD.  Rebels 7  Tide 0.  So much for that.  The Rebs got beat 62-7.

In September my dear wife, Carrie, and I will join the  Petty Ridge Crimson Tide Bus and head to Tuscaloosa to watch the Ole Miss Rebels play the Alabama Crimson Tide.  I hope it turns out better than 62-7.

New  assistant coaching staff will bring improvement too.  Rich Rod is running the offense and Mike MacIntyre holds the keys to the defense.  This should be very compelling.

I think the Rebs will win six games and go to a bowl and win another one. 2015 was the last winning season for Ole Miss and that will change this year.  There is not a tougher division in football than the SEC West.  There are seven other teams in the SEC thankful for that for sure.

The MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD

What Coach Doc Holliday has done in Huntington is amazing.  Going into his 10th season, Coach Holliday has a 70-46 record.  The Herd will significantly add to that victory total this season. The schedule has three Friday night games and I am not a big fan of that.  That is television for you.  Look for Isaiah Green to impress at quarterback.  Many return on both sides of the ball from a team that went 9-4.  Oh, and lets not lose sight of the fact that Doc Holliday’s teams are 6-0 in bowl games.  That is some good coaching.

A trip to Boise State will be telling.  The Herd doesn’t usually bring it in games far from home unless it is the bowl game. A big road win at FIU was help at the end of the season last year.  It was a good way to “finish”.

IN THE END…

The Atlantic Coast Conference

Atlantic Division Finish

Clemson…Is Trevor Lawrence really that good?  We are going to find out.

Florida State…They better win a few.  Coach Taggart needs this year.

North Carolina State…Yes I do think highly of the Carolina teams. Solid team.

Syracuse…The Orange are improving and have a favorable schedule.

Wake Forest…A ton of upperclassmen on offense will make a difference in close ones.

Boston College…Some tell me I am not friendly to BC.  Look out for Kansas in game 3.

Louisville…I so hope I am wrong here.  I think they will win four games.  And improve in a hurry.  Great hire in Coach Satterfield.  U of L is a good place to coach and not have as many distractions as some other places where everyone wants a piece of you here and there.

Coastal Division Finish

Virginia…

Virginia Tech…

Miami…ANYONE GOT A COIN.  This is too too close to call.  Clemson wins the ACC anyway.

Duke…Coach Cut is always the underdog.  He will find another QB or he will make one!

Pitt…The Quick Lane Bowl is calling!

North Carolina…Coach Mack Brown back in the game and would love to go to the Quick Lane Bowl.

Georgia Tech….The Rambling Wreck will be one for a while.  Ball might find a different place…the air!

CHAMP: CLEMSON

THE BIG TEN

Y’all know how I despise fourteen teams in the Big Ten.  Rutgers needs to change their team colors to green to represent the dollars they help bring to the Big Ten Network in the New York market.  I wanted Missouri and we got Nebraska.  Maryland?  Green again.  That was my obligatory rant.  Thank you for understanding!

The EAST DIVISION FINISH

Michigan…It is time for old khaki-drawers to lead them to The Rose Bowl.

Ohio State…Justin Fields scares me to pieces.

Michigan State…And this with a loss to Indiana.

Indiana…Maybe a tie here with Sparty.  Don’t want to go too crazy.  8-4 before the bowl.  Never seen 9 wins in my lifetime. I don’t rule it out.  Coach Allen will get us there.      I BELIEVE!

Penn State…Trace McSorley will be missed.

Maryland….Coach Locksley gets his dream gig and he needs time.

Rutgers…Sound like something that would clog up the kitchen sink.

The WEST DIVISION FINISH

Iowa…Not just because I like them!  This division is a weak division and they have Nate Stanley and the rest of the division does not.

Purdue…No Michigan or Ohio State.  Rondale Moore is the best player in the country.

Nebraska…Honeymoon turned dumpster fire last year for Coach Frost.  They’ll get there.

Northwestern…I may regret this.  I will say it now.  The boys on the lake may prove me bad wrong.

Minnesota…Goldy is solid again this year.                                                                      I

llinois…Coach Lovie Smith has had it rough in Champaign.  I hope it gets better.

Wisconsin…YES.  Wisconsin.  Why?  Cos I can’t make them 9th.

CHAMP: MICHIGAN

The SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE

The EAST DIVISION FINISH

Georgia….These guys are holding the rest of the division at bay.  And will for a while.

Florida…Hate to do this.  Not a fan.  But they will win some games again.

South Carolina…After a tough one with Bama early they will win five SEC games.

Kentucky…Yes.  They got a taste and it is still there.  I know they lose a great deal but they gained so much more.

  Missouri…We need you in the Big Ten.  Trade for Maryland!  They ARE in the East!

Tennessee…Rocky Top is on the rise.                                                                                 

Vanderbilt…Bless their hearts.

The WEST DIVISION FINISH

Alabama…Next man up!  What a place this is right now.  Enjoy it while you can Al.

LSU… Geaux Tigers!  Wake up Governor Kingfish!  I-EEEEEE!

Auburn…Chasing Bama for some time now and will win a few close ones and surprise.

Texas A&M…May regret this low spot.  Kellen Mond is a great QB if healthy.

Ole Miss…Maybe not.   But I can’t put the Rebs lower!                                                 

Arkansas…2-10 record last year was ugly times.  They will be improved this year.

Mississippi State…Let’s hope it turns this way.

CHAMP: ALABAMA

The PAC 12 Champ:  Washington

American Athletic Champ: Central Florida

The MAC Champ:  Ohio

The Sun Belt Champ: App State

Big 12 Champ:  Oklahoma

Mountain West Champ: Fresno State

Conference USA Champ:  THE HERD!

Enjoy the College Football season, everyone!  Have fun with family and friends.  Don’t take it so serious you want to poison trees or anything.  And make some good memories.

As ever, I will be here with weekly predictions of twelve games every week.  If I do better than I did last year I will be shocked.

This game is fun.

One parting note.  McNeese State Athletic Director Bruce Hemphill is back to work after suffering a heart attack this summer.  He got back to work last week and is getting his stamina back and says “Geaux Pokes!”  Have a good season Coach Hemphill.  You are one of the good guys.

Speaking the College Football Rights!

Danny Johnson

Behind the curtain of these pages I can pull up every single picture I have ever loaded  for potential use.  It is an incredible mosaic of time, opportunity, celebration, family, friendship, travel, football, geography, music, and much more.

“IF” was a song made popular in 1971 by the group Bread.

“If a picture paints a thousand words then why can’t I paint you…”

Not unlike human nature would force when given a crack, I look at so many of those pictures in the inner sanctum of speaktherights,com and think about the pictures I missed.  Pictures that are in my mind that exist just as well and maybe if not better?  I can’t look at them later and be disappointed, right?

1.  Cody riding the wave.  We were in the Gulf of Mexico.  Orange Beach, Alabama.  Cody was about eight I would say.  He had a boogie board and I was out in the water with him helping him to CATCH A WAVE.  Now and again it looked promising.  Rolling white water would come our way.  I’d ask if he was ready.  He always was.  The waves seemed to lose steam just when we needed them the most.  I looked back again and thought holy cow!  Get ready!  It was a wall of water.  I was hoping he’d have a good ride and I hoped I would live through it.  He took off, I went under, I found my feet, I stood up just in time to see Cody riding high toward the shore with both arms raised and two fists shaking to proclaim victory.  That is a sweet photo in my mind.

2.  The View From the Swing in Brownstown, Indiana.  A hazy yellow sign in the distance.  I know that is what I saw.  Up the hill from my tree swing at 204 South Jackson Street, if you were being pushed to the West to look up to Main Street you could see the old Western Auto store sign glowing in the distance.  It was getting dark that night.  My Dad would have pushed me til midnight had I asked him to.  It was 1972 or 1973.  I sat on a wooden board of a seat attached to two well weaved strings that made your hands a little dirty.  All held up by a study maple tree.  I think there is a law office there now.  The Western Auto sign was a comforting sight.

3.  The Scoreboard.  It was 1988.  I figured we would see something like this again.  So far, we haven’t.  On the puny Indiana University Memorial Stadium Scoreboard at one open end zone, the first year the stadium had lights, Indiana 41 Ohio State 7.  Keith Jackson was there.  So was I, with my Mom and Dad.

4.  The Battery.  I wish I had a picture of me and Kelly Samons and Mick Rutherford together in our high school uniforms.  Mick snapped the ball, Kelly held it, and I kicked it.  Simple as that.

I could go on forever.  It could never end.  With that, I am a blessed man delighted to be able to…

Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

As I reported earlier in June, I somehow made it out of the Lake Erie Putt Putt Championship as the winner.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I have competed in this tournament for three years in a row now.  We are the only contestants, though I think the event shows a promising future.

Carrie is a master putter.  One of the best.  Consistent form and a style that certainly fits her game.  When they whisper around the green when she putts, they also hold their breath in anticipation of greatness!

2019

2018

2017 with a purse.

The course at Geneva-On-The-Lake, Ohio is a fine one.  Old and well maintained.

A couple weeks ago Carrie and I attended an outdoor concert in Nashville.  The Ascend Amphitheater along the river down below Broadway to the right.  It was a nice place to watch a show.  Train was the headliner.  The Goo Goo Dolls also played and that was old school rock and roll like I did not expect.  They were fabulous.

Train was as tight as ever.  Playing hit after hit at breakneck speed.  I think their intent is to not let the audience breathe too much.  They jump right into the next song.  It is amazing.

Live music is good for the soul.  In church, in a park, in a hall, in a larger venue.  Positive music is a great thing.

Singing the rights.

Danny Johnson

I did some walking after school today.  It helps when one can breathe outside.  It felt great to take some steps without worrying about tasting sweat from my upper lip.

We have a great place to walk at North.  I have my own lap.  I wish I would make it around my circuit more often.

Happy Birthday, Virg!

I had speaks today with an old friend.  It was good to hear his voice.  Virgil Ragland turned 51 today.  I got there in March.  Virgil was in the first class I attended at North Harrison in the 6th grade.  He camped out at first base when we played kickball and that was tough on me.  That was my territory in Brownstown, first base.  Virg didn’t give an inch and I respected him for it.

How many rainbows I threw to Virgil out on the football field.  I could throw it more 60 yards and he loved to catch it.  He did not, however, have my arm.  One reason I stayed in as good a shape as I did back them was the running up I did to haul in Virg’s toss.  Didn’t care.  That is just the way it was.  I had the option not to throw it so far.  I wanted to sling it as far as I could for as long I could and Virg liked to haul in those heaves .  40 yards is a nice toss for me these days.  The field seems a little bigger these days.  Whether I am throwing the ball or kicking it, I just can’t cover the territory like I once did.  Oh well.  I am still very thankful.

Virg and I coached some football together in another life.  That was fun.  He, like me, still appreciates the gridiron endeavors.  Today he told me a story about playing a touch game recently with his church youth group.  In fact, as Virg reports, the rutabaga has helped to increase attendance on Wednesday nights.  Amen to that!

Thank you, Virg.  You have been a good friend and you are doing great work.

Old number 88 still has it!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

Well, here we are.  Middle July and school is just around the corner.  This is a good thing.

I can do without the hot weather I can tell you.  I am not a great fan.  Sun burn is an evil thing, don’t you think?

Oh well, we shall press onward.

Twenty years ago today John Kennedy Jr. died in a plane crash.  Wonder what would have happened had he lived?  I would like to think we would not have a House of Representatives meeting today that looks and sounds like he said she said and liar liar pants on fire.

What the hell are we teaching kids anyway?

Stay silent when you know it is best to speak up for what is right?  That is not the answer.  Political crickets GOP style.

I get asked why I am as hard on the Republicans as I am.  It is easy for me.  I am a Republican.  I just expect more.  The high road rarely goes down Main Street.  1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is nowhere near the high road these days.

If the president knew how to act we would never know about these four freshmen congresswomen getting a limelight they should not be getting but are thanks to a president who can’t get his stuff together.

He can play footsie and fall in love with dictators.  That is easy.

He can tweet and call people names.  That is easy.

He has yet to lead.  Take a look around.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Jeff Lynne is the brainchild behind a musical movement that is so unique it has a genre all to itself.  Call it ELO and it moves from a tall hill into a valley and back we all have heard it resonate whether we like or not.  I like it.

Be it in a coffee commercial that features Ken Anderson the old Bengals quarterback sipping at a cup whilst watching game film with the ELO song Hold On Tight To Your Dreams playing or listening to the song Sweet Talkin’ Woman and looking at the one next to you and you both say, “That was a pool song when we were kids!” ELO tunes are never too far away.

Two great things my dear wife, Carrie, and I will probably never see again happen this past Wednesday.  And it almost did not happen.  One, we stood in the middle of Nashville’s iconic Broadway packed with music venues and honky tonks.

I have seen this road closed during the NFL Draft and during the Music City Bowl Parade of Bands, though only on television.  I was shocked we got to walk down the middle of the thing.

The other was seeing Jeff Lynne’s ELO at a sold out and rocking Bridgestone Arena.

No, I did not take this picture.

I took these.

It was a wonderful show that nearly did not happen for us.

I had a facebook post ready to go.  This it was in front of me along with a short narrative explaining that Carrie and I would not be going.

I was going to offer these tickets as a Merry Christmas to the first to contact me.  When I made the would be post I was talking to my Mother on the Telephone Line.  As I was about to press “Share” I told my Mom to hang on.  The stereo speakers I had turned down in an obligatory manner before I called my Mom had a faint sound I needed to turn up for some reason.  The song playing was ELO’s  Don’t Bring Me Down.  That was that.

A weakness from British Rockers is in my soul.  Listening to Jeff Lynne and his merry men and women play the tightest most precise music I have ever heard in my life was a pure joy.  Carrie and I both agreed it was one of those soundtrack of you life concerts like a Billy Joel or Elton John show.

Lending to the 71 year-old Jeff Lynne’s modest stage presence, the 18,000 or so in attendance gave polite applause and never went too crazy with it.  The English gent never asked for anything.  He just delivered the goods and humbly stepped up to the mic on occasion to say thank you.  That was refreshing.

Jeff Lynne’s ELO Nashville setlist

Standin’ in the Rain

Evil Woman

All Over the World

Showdown

Do Ya

When I Was a Boy

Handle With Care (with Dhani Harrison)

Rockaria!

Last Train to London

Xanadu

10538 Overture

Shine a Little Love

Wild West Hero

Sweet Talkin’ Woman

Telephone Line

Don’t Bring Me Down

Turn to Stone

Mr. Blue Sky

Roll Over Beethoven

Yes, listening to George Harrison’s son sing lead on The Traveling Wilbury’s song Handle With Care was nice.  Dhani Harrison, who was the show’s opening act, did a great job.

My favorite song was not played.  I was not disappointed.  Too much goodness for that.

Each time I walk along mid-calf deep in a piece of the Atlantic Ocean that is special to Carrie and me I sing it to myself:

The Floor Fan Still Works!

You plug it in and hold your breath.  You hope and pray it will still move on.  It did.  My great-grandmother Ivy Nowling’s old house on Bridge Street in Brownston, Indiana may be a memory.  The floor fan that sat in the living room is alive and well and on our back porch.

Geneva-on- the Lake, Ohio.

If you think everything in this country has taken off and moved too fast for your liking, go visit the slow pace of Geneva-on-the Lake, Ohio.  Don’t expect fancy.  Fancy does not live there.  Air-conditioning does not live in most places there.  The breeze off Lake Erie and the short summer will do that to a place.  East of Cleveland and before Erie, Penn, this place is a calming respite to what is zooming a few miles in the other three directions from it.

I won the third annual Geneva Putt Putt Golf Championship; it was close.  My dear wife, Carrie, is a formidable opponent!

And she is not a sore loser either!

Ashtabula has a cool bridge.

The hometown of football coach Urban Meyer, so sayeth the sign into town, Ashtabula, Ohio has a neat draw bridge we got to see in action.

You don’t see this everyday, unless you live in Ashtabula I suppose.

The Oswego 500 time trails.

Bridge Street, Oswego, New York.  Keep thy head on a swivel!  Indianapolis Motor Speedway knows no more daring drivers than this stretch of road..  I am sure there was a future NASCAR or INDY champion in the fray.  They all drove fast!

Sackett’s Harbor, New York.  Bring your long-johns in June.

It was June 14th.  The temperature was 47 degrees and the wind was steady at 25 mph and gusting to 40 mph.  With Lake Ontario at our backs, I have never never never never been so cold in June.  Didn’t know I could be.

Learned about this place in US History class.

Our spot for lunch was much warmer.

They Still Have My Paper Order in The Berkshires.

Hancock, Mass.  At the bottom of the hill from the place we stay there, you will find a country store.

I walk in a little after 7 AM and am greeted. “Hey, Dan!”  I then grab my paper order, New York Times, Boston Hearald, Boston Globe, New York Daily News, and the local Berkshire Eagle from  Pittsfield.  I love newspapers.  On the counter this is individually wrapped homemade goodies.  I’ll grab a crumb-cake or a couple cookies and tell them I will see them the next day.  It’s pretty cool.  They are real folks.

My last pick-up says it all.

The Train to NYC Grand Central Station is a great ride.

We drive down to Poughkeepsie to pick up the Metro North Train to Grand Central.  Off-peak it is a train ride that costs 17.50.  You can’t park a car for 10 minutes in NYC for that.  The ride is a little over an hour and a half.

The rail is to town is next to the Hudson River and there are many great sights.

Had the girls on The Facts of Life ever really taken the train to NYC, this is where they would have boarded to get to here:

One Day at The Met is wonderful and sad…you can’t see all you want to.

Your general admission 25 dollar ticket to enter The Metropolitan Museum along 5th avenue and Central Park is good for three days.  I wish would have had three days to look.  With all the permanent exhibits and galleries with their storied glory, this old rock and roller was looking forward to seeing a temporary exhibit featuring historical rock and roll instruments. A few of the pieces on view:

Buddy Holly was an incredible influence on The Moody Blues.  Justin Hayward speaks freely of his affinity for Buddy and what he means to him.   John Lodge talks of seeing Buddy Holly from the first row of the balcony of a theatre in Birmingham, England when he was teenage and was so moved.  The Moody Blues did those things for me.  Funny, though.  The Moodies sound nothing like Holly and I will never sound like Hayward or Lodge.  The common denominator is that we found a voice that spoke to our voices.

Was never the biggest Bruce Springsteen fan on the block.  Still, I knew this guitar from across the crowded room!

Of course.

One guy I would have wanted to have had a musical conversation with was Ray Manzarek.  He played keyboard for The Doors and I could have listened to him read the phone book and make it interesting.

Keith Emerson’s Moog Synthesizer.  Of Emerson Lake and Palmer fame, I have seen video of Emerson playing this thing.  Strangest musical circumstance I have ever seen.

Enough said.

Keith Moon’s drum kit.  No one before or since has created more thunder and finesse on a stool with sticks in hand.

Thought this great to see.

I was delighted to see two young men watching the historical instrument video so intently.

Good old FLW.

Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit at The Met.  Having admired and seen his studio in Oak Park and another home on the South Side of Chicago, it was good to see this old friend.

Speaking of old friends…

My hang it on the wall artistic hero, Edward Hopper, had these two paintings on view.  I looked for them as soon as we left the rock instruments.

Times Square is still an anthill.

The humanity.  Wow.  Sights.  Sounds.  Lights.  Horns. Am I ever glad I watch the ball drop from the couch in the living room after I nudge a sleepy Carrie and tell her its almost time.

Our walk from The Met through Central Park to Times Square was a raining adventure.  We had ponchos on and the old feet were wet on the train back some 27,000 steps later.

Carl likes The Berkshires.

Carl was glad to get some time to himself, I think, as we went into the city for the day.

But he was glad when I prepped some lobster roll.

I got this down to an art.  Fresh lobster helps.

We left The Berkshires and drove over to Walden Pond. 

Crossed most of Massachusetts on two lane roads and it was a grand drive.

Carrie and I walked around the pond.  What a gift for a Transcendentalist period fan of literature.  Thank you, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

From Walden we went to visit Bob and Michelle and their young’uns.  I don’t have a picture of New Hampshire to share.  That speaks to fact that when we are there we feel at home.  And I thank them for that.

And the Picture of The Post Award is:

A look toward Canada.

A look toward America.

Niagara Falls is a humbling sight.  And so many people and languages and perspectives providing refreshment during a time of such uncertainty, unrest, and unbelievable circumstances in this country.

The Strip in Pittsburgh was a pleasant surprise.

Our first trip to Pittsburgh, on the way home, led us to the most iconic road in town The Strip.  Filled with shops and eateries and I don’t know what all.  Easily one of the most diverse stretches of road I have ever seen.  Nothing fancy.  Real.

For a guy who was a staunch Bengals fan in the 1970s thanks to Ken Anderson, I was not a fan of the Steelers.  I did appreciate what they did.  4 Super Bowls in 6 years without deflating footballs is not too shabby.

Great times.

One last thing…

After traveling a few miles I found some of the things I find in my own back yard.  Most people are genuinely friendly.  Some folks out there would complain about the rope at their own hanging.  In some cases truly disadvantaged folks are working their asses off to make this a better place.  In some cases you will find very capable people choosing to be needy for their own purpose.  In all cases we can all do better.  Let’s keep doing that.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

I miss Lewis Grizzard.  He’d have a fit if he knew I just typed that while listening to a Cyndi Lauper song.

I found Lewis on a shelf at Books-A-Million in Clarksville recently.

I have read this book many times.

Lewis Grizzard died in 1994.  Twenty-five years ago for those of you keeping score. Born in Fort Benning in 1946.  Died in Atlanta in 1994.  He was 47 when he died.  He was a good son of Georgia for sure.   Lewis loved the South and so do I.  The passionate football fans.  The sweet tea.  How folks “carry” someone to the grocery instead drive them.  The smell of the pinestraw baking.  A particular dignity resides in the South.  For good or bad, it is there.  At least it was.  I want to believe it is still there.  I do question it though.  So many throwing their snuff cans in the ring of a politician from New York City certainly calls for alarm.

Lewis was an unashamed Republican when it was a great deal easier for some of us to be one.  What I would give to have Lewis on the back porch with me holding forth on the state of national politics today.  I can hear him now.

What strikes me these days is how the roles have been reversed in this country.  Ya know it?  I mean, didn’t we used to despise those liberals cos they were the whiny know it all bunch?  Who the hell has ever whined more than the the guy in the White House right now?  He’d complain about the rope at his own hanging.  But you can’t say that.  You’ll be called a terrorist.  Sound familiar?  We used to call liberals names back in the good old days.  The Republicans are the whiny know it all group now.  And it is uglier than a bowling shoe. 

Tell me about it, Lewis.  Tell me about it.

I mean what was better than making fun of Ted Kennedy?  He looks like a diplomatic whiz these days.  And what about…oh…don’t get me started on how John McCain was treated.  Do heroes only mean something when a camera and a parade are around?

Tell me about it, Lewis.  Tell me about it.  Let’s talk about something else.

Okay.  I guess you heard the Southeastern Conference has decided to let member schools decide whether or not they want to sell alcohol at college games.  Isn’t that hypocritical if I am watching an eighteen year-old score the winning touchdown in overtime and he can’t legally declare Miller Time to celebrate?  If that is the case (bad choice of words I suppose), aren’t I a hypocrite if I toast the winning touchdown?  Remember when a guy got on the PA and said a prayer before the game?  If you wanted to take a drink back then, you had to sneak it in.  That is the way it should be.   I don’t like it.  I don’t like schools making an alcohol profit off of a twenty year-old scoring a touchdown.  Cheers should be limited to the ones led by the cheerleaders on the field and not the “Cheers-leader” stumbling around.  If you approve this, go ahead and start making checks out to the college players.  You just lost the last vestige keeping you from it.

Tell me about it, Lewis.  Tell me about it.

Is that The Moody Blues you just put on the CD player?  You know I made fun of them in one of my books a long time ago.  

Yes, Lewis.  I know.  But I also know there is room enough for both of you on my shelves in the office.  And there is more than enough room for you and The Moodies in my heart.  Now, if we can only get John Kasich back in the thick of things.

What I would give to have that conversation with Lewis Grizzard.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

At this moment I am listening to The Moody Blues “Lovely To See You Live”  CD that was released in 2005. The video is in the basement with the workout equipment.

Fourteen years ago today my dear wife, Carrie, and I were at The Fraze Pavilion outside Dayton, Ohio listening to The Moody Blues play their classic rock.

In 2014, Carrie and I returned to The Fraze to see The Moodies again.

In 2017 I took my sister to The Fraze to see The Moodies perform DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED in its entirety.  It was the first time I had heard Days of Future Passed live.  That was the album I fell in love with in 1983 when I was 15.

The concert that Carrie and I went to at The Fraze in 2014 was memorable for a couple reasons.  First, we were hearing The Moody Blues!  Enough said.  Second, we had front row seats.  It was the only time I have had front row seats at a Moody Blues Concert with the exception of a front row seat in the balcony of The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in 2014 also.  That was nice too.  The Ryman was the last place Carrie and I saw The Moodies in 2017.  They played Days of Future Passed in the second set.

This was photo was taken in 2017.  The band was singing “Tuesday Afternoon”.

My friend Julie Ragins is in the far left hand corner of this picture.  She is quite the musical talent.  She and her husband, Curtis Brengle, are PEAR DUO.  LOOK THEM UP!  You won’t regret it.  She has such a sweet voice.

When Carrie and I were at The Fraze show in 2014 sitting on the front row I asked Carrie if she knew why there was a chalk marked X in front of our seats?  She was not sure.  I then told her that I was certain that was the “mark” for Justin Hayward and John Lodge to hit during the last song of the first set.  The song was THE STORY IN YOUR EYES.  And, I was right.

Here they came.  Their guitar necks were over our heads at one point.  It was all quite awkward in truth.

.

But it was fun.

There is a sound I am missing.  I knew I would.  I saw The Moody Blues more than 50 time between 1986 and 2017 and it was wonderful run!  I don’t see it happening again.  At the last show we saw at The Ryman in 2017, Carrie and I hit the doors before the band was off the stage taking it in.  It was the way I wanted it.

But today, as I listened to Justin Hayward’s guitar solo on the song I’M JUST A SINGER IN A ROCK AND ROLL BAND written by John Lodge, I felt so lonely.  That was the one thing in the Moodies shows I enjoyed the most, seeing Justin Hayward and John Lodge tear up that guitar solo. Through it all.  That guitar solo was it for me.  Why?  Cos I always wanted to play a good guitar solo.   I can’t.  I don’t know how.  I am a songwriter and a chord guy.  I am not a lead guitar guy.

That is why I have the ULTIMATE RESPECT for Justin Hayward.  He writes, sings, and he plays lead.  There are not too many of those guys.  Not to take away from John Lodge and Graeme Edge.  I have made enough recordings to know that the rhythm lets the rest of it happen.

Thank you, Justin, John and Graeme and Ray.  I don’t  think I write songs and record them with you in mind…but you have always been there in my musical journey nonetheless.

Your music has mattered to me.  I will never cease to be moved when I listen to your tunes.  They are a great part of the soundtrack of my life.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson