I have been asked to hold forth on the subject of The Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.  Life my Dad used to say, “If the Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise”, I will hold forth on golf and the Tournament that this week I made reference to as the greatest sporting event on the planet.

Yes.  I mean that.  You all know how much I love football.  I do.  I will never get enough of it as long as I am vertical.  Football is my game.  I think all athletics are noble pursuits for those that care about them.  I was raised on football.  My Dad was a football coach.  You know what he did today?  He played golf.

The Masters is the greatest sporting event on the planet because it is played over a 4 day span that lasts all day.  Have you seen where they play it?  Well….enough for now.  It is late and my dear wife, Carrie, just asked if I want to eat supper?  That would be a yes.

Tomorrow we have a date with golf!  And tell a few humorous stories along the way.

Speaking the “FORE LEFT!” rights.

Danny Johnson

As great as this night was…it should have been greater.  When Justin Hayward sang “Nights in White Satin” you better believe I was missing my dear wife, Carrie.  She had to stay home.  She was not feeling well.  If you are thinking it must have been bad…you are correct.

Who:  The Moody Blues on their 2016 Fly Me High Tour

Where:  The Louisville Palace

When:  Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Twenty four hours ago I was sitting in The Louisville Palace watching and listening to The Moody Blues sing to a raucous and engaged crowd.  Know this is not the first time I have seen The Moody Blues live.  What started a few blocks from the Palace at The old Louisville Gardens has never reached an end.  In thirty years I have seen The Moody Blues 53 times.  I don’t regret a second of it.  One guy I know recently looked at me and told me I was nuts.  I looked at him and asked how many years he has had season tickets to see the Indianapolis Colts….his answer…”Well…since the second year Peyton’s been there.”  That’s near a hundred home games, I told him.  He rethought his position.  I really don’t care.

This is what I know.  Last night I was able to have a great time with my Mom and Dad.  They too are fans of The Moody Blues.  I encouraged that to be sure.  When the concert was over my Dad looked at me and said, “That was the best concert I have ever seen.”  He meant it.  Know that Mom and Dad were attending their 5th Moodies show.  This was the one for the ages.

They had a good old time.

Song by song:

1. Gemini Dream from 1981 LP Long Distance Voyager.   Will forever be a clunker for me.  I know many folks like it.  I am listening to Long Distance Voyager as I type this, in fact.  Just not a strong song in my opinion.  It starts “Long time, no see…” and I get that.  But for me they have other in repertoire that are better.  It gets better in a hurry…from the same album comes…

2.  The Voice.  A classic Justin Hayward tune with a signature guitar lick and a great lyric.  A song full of positive energy and hope.

3. Stepping in a Slide Zone from 1978 LP Octave.  Inspired by the mud slides that were produced by rain storms during the recording of the only album the group ever recorded in America.  Before it was finished, original member, Mike Pinder, was out the door and has yet to be back.  A John Lodge tune, it is nice number to have in the show.  A great deal of energy in this one.

4.  You and Me from 1972 LP Seventh Sojourn.  Some call this album The Moody Blues best effort.  It may be.  That is saying something for a record with a paltry 8 songs on it…or is that part of genius?  Here is what I do know.  I like this song.  Moody Blues never hit you over the head with anything.  They sing what they write and write what they feel and it either works out or it doesn’t.  They have never been about media pushes.  They didn’t put their photos on the album covers.  There is one line in this song that I relish from a band that so many folks have painted into a psychedelia-cosmic corner.  The line goes…”We look around in wonder of the work that has been done by the visions of our Father touched by his loving Son.”  Amen indeed.  One of the best guitar solos ever.

5.  Gypsy from the 1969 LP To Our Children’s Children’s Children.  This album was themed around the space exploration of the day.  A guy walked on the moon that year.  The Gypsy is the space explorer.   Fortunately Neil Armstrong’s fate was better than this Gypsy’s.  Great guitar work again.  And the help of the flute playing by stagehand Norda Mullen (a Mississippi girl) is incredible.

6.  Nervous from Long Distance Voyager.  I remember being a young lad listening to this song very intently and very loud on a set of headphones.  John Lodge’s tune is a masterpiece.  I am so glad they took this tune out of mothballs a few years ago and put it in the show.

7.  Say it with Love from the 1991 CD Keys of the Kingdom.  I remember bringing the cassette of this album to my parents dining room table the day I got it.  We listened to it.  My Dad looked up and said, “This stuff is too good for its own good.”  Last night after the concert Dad looked at me as the house lights were brightening up the Palace and said, “That was the best concert I have ever seen.”  It was good for a reason.  Hayward sings it like I heard it at Kings Island in August of 1991 not long after it was released.

8.  Peak Hour from the 1967 classic LP Days of Future Passed.  The middle of the day never sounded so good.  A john Lodge upbeat tune that features an organ that sounds like it straight out of the Phantom and a Justin Hayward guitar lick that sounds like it belongs in a song by the beach.  One of three gems off Days of Future Passed in the show.

9.  I Know You’re Out There Somewhere from the 1988 LP Sur La Mer.  A crowd favorite and the single most favorite Moodies song of my Mom.  She LOVES this song.  The origin of her affection for this song goes back to the week this album came out.  Mom and I were driving down South to tend to some ailing relatives.  We played this song over and over and over again.  The last Top 30 hit for the band…so far.  I was at the concert where they debuted this song live.

10.  The Story in Your Eyes from the 1971 LP Every Good boy Deserves Favour.  A song we could probably do without and one that will never go away.  I would miss it I suppose.  The guitar work is great and the song is timeless.  Just read the lyrics.

INTERMISSION

The only picture I took with my piddly phone.

11.  Your Wildest Dreams from the 1986 LP The Other Side of Life.  I was a senior in high school when this tune came out and it a sentimental Top 10 hit.  It still shows up on radio now and again and really did a great deal to  give the band a shot in the arm.  Not much rocking.  Not much classic guitar.  This song doesn’t need it.  The sentiment of  the song does not warrant it.  One of my favorites.

12. Isn’t Life Strange a heavily orchestrated John Lodge number from the aforementioned Seventh Sojourn.  Quite the philosophical number.  It stands the test of time.  One of the songs I have heard in every Moodies concert I have attended.

13.  Tuesday Afternoon from Days of Future Passed.  An FM classic.  The first single that was released in America for the band in 1968.  Was seen in a Visa commercial a few years ago.  Was also featured on The Wonder years TV show and the movie 1969 with Keifer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jr. a few years…decades….back.  Note about this song is that at The Louisville Palace in 2013 Justin Hayward had trouble with his Fender Strat.  I would not work.  Tech came out.  Could not get it to work.  They did not waste time.  Justin picked up the red 335 and went on to the next number.  In the second set they did play Tuesday.  It has been in the second set of the show ever since and it belongs there.

14.  High and Higher from To Our Children’s Children’s Children.  All about the spaceship taking flight.  In the concert there is footage of a Saturn 5 Rocket taking off.  Graeme Edge comes off the drum kit to take center stage on this song.  This was Graeme a few years ago.  His birthday happened to fall on the day we saw the show this week.  He turned 75.  Notice the photo behind them.

15.  Fly Me High was released as a single in 1966 in Europe.  It was the first thing they recorded after Justin and John joined the group 50 years ago.  There was a first incarnation of the group in 64-65…what many called the “Go Now” Moody Blues.  That was a big hit for them.  The problem was they were trying to play blues music.  Graeme Edge has since said they had no business singing about bales of cotton because none of them had ever seen one.  When Justin and John joined the group they decided to write and perform their own songs.  It has worked out.  Before this tour I had only dreamed of hearing this song live.  I never thought I would ever hear this rather elusive tune.  I have it on CD…but predating Days of Future Passed, it was hard to think this tune would ever come back around.

16.  I’m Just a Singer in A Rock and Roll Band was the last song on the Seventh Sojourn album.  It is the beginning of what my old friend Corner King and I would call “The Big Five”.  From 1972 to 2002 they played this song, Nights in White Satin, Legend of Mind, Question, and Ride My See-Saw as the last five songs of the show.  We knew what we were getting.  There is a comfort zone there.  We enjoy it and we know we can count on it.  When Ray Thomas retired in 2003, Legend of a Mind was gone.  So now it is The Big Four.  I’m Just a Singer is still on classic rock radio.  I heard it Wednesday morning on 96.3 WJAA in Seymour.  John Lodge wrote this one.  He has said the sentiment is as simple as the title of the song.  The guitar solo Justin Hayward brings on this song is his most blistering guitar work.  It is over the top and polar opposite to what is coming in the next song.

17.  Late Lament is the poem by Graeme Edge that is recited on Days of Future Passed by the departed Mike Pinder.  In today’s live show Graeme recites it.  I first heard him recite in 1993.  Like Fly Me High, I was just as stunned then to hear these spoken words in concert.  He wrote the lines while he was in his 20s.  There is one line he speaks and puts a pause to now…”…senior citizens wish they were young…”  It is almost too much.  It is awesome.  This is the lead into the next song.  On the record, it follows the song.  THEE Moody Blues song.

18.  Justin Hayward sat on the side of his bed in the early morning hours as he was realizing the end of one love affair and the beginning of another.  He was 19 years old as the story goes.  That is what amazes me.  19 years old and writing lyrics like Nights in White Satin from Days of Future Passed.  Something was in store to be sure.  It is still the show stopper…literally.  The ovation for this song went about long as it took for him to sing it.  It was like that in 1993 when they played an orchestra show at The Louisville Gardens.  The cheering went on and on and on.  It always does.  This song will, as it suggests, never reach an end.

19.  Question from the 1970 LP A Question of Balance.  Another Hayward tune.  The day before he went into the studio to record this he had two songs.  One he called a fast protest sort of song and the other was a ballad.  The night before the session he took the best of both songs and put them together.  It is easy to understand this explanation if you are familiar with the song.  Part of it is fast and furious and the other part is soft and solemn.  Together they give you Moody Blues history.  It is an awesome tune that gets the crowd dancing without fail.

Encore:

20.  Ride My See-Saw from the 1968 LP In Search of the Lost Chord, which was their second album.  This is perfect see you later song.  It soars and and has a great beat…and a last great guitar solo of the evening.  Perfect.

There was so much energy at the show.  Standing ovation after standing ovation.  As it should be.

The Moody Blues are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I hope they never get there.  They are much better than that place.  Look at the roster of some that are in.  It is a joke.  The Beastie Boys are in the Hall of Fame and The Moody Blues are not.  Did I say joke?  If they are ever extended an invitation, I hope they tell the constipated folks at Rolling Stone magazine to stick the nomination up their Rolling Stone hindparts!

Now that is speaking The Moody Blues rights!

God Save The Queen!

Danny Johnson

It is getting late.  I need to get some rest.  I am excited.

I looked up the last day that I did any proper recording in the studio with Jeff Carpenter and discovered it was October 21, 2014.  That was 4 days before I found out the prognosis of what would be my Grandmother’s quick demise.  I was primed and ready to make some music then.  I didn’t.  My tune changed quickly when Granny got sick and died a month later.

I feel I am musically back.

I am going to see The Moody Blues again this Wednesday night at The Louisville Palace.  Thirty years later, I get to see them in the town I first saw them.  And this is perfect timing.

I saw The Moodies in 1999 and did not see them again until 2003.  I took a break from The Moodies at bit.  I was so busy at the time developing a style of my own musically.  I could not hear much more than the tunes I was chasing down in my head.  I am there again…somewhat.

Carrie, my dear wife, and I have seen The Moodies at least once a year since 2003.  Those guys are hard working musicians.  AI am blessed that the Midwest has been so good to them.

For better or worse, I have style that is mine and I know what it sounds like.  15 years ago I was trying to figure that out.  I feel good knowing, two cds and a great deal of playing later, that I can bring it.  In fact, I feel some of these new songs are very strong and willful.  There is some years behind them.  I am no longer hoping something sounds good.  I think it does sound good.  But…that doesn’t mean someone will want to listen to it over and over again.

I called Jefferson Carpenter and told him it was time.  It is time to record another one.  The time is now.  It will start with demos.  That means I sit there with a guitar and sing my songs while I am playing.  That is the first foundation.  Jeff will then pass these along to the guys that will help me musically.  John Burgard, Barry King, John Hayse, and Rod Wurtele are the guys I hope will work with me again.  I know their playing and they can make this songwriter feel pretty small in a hurry when they start throwing around a musical vocab I have no idea of.  I just write the songs and sing them.  Yes…I do write the words and the music.  That is a gift.  I will give you that.  For me, though, the fun is seeing true virtuoso guys take my songs to another level.  That is special.

That is where we are.  I am going to see The Moody Blues this Wednesday and I will say goodbye to them for a while.  Right now I am writing songs, putting chords to them, playing them over and over again and saying…”I hear that sound once more.”

I am blessed to have the ability…a friend with a GREAT studio…and guys that want to work with me.  It is as simple as that.  The best thing I have going for me is that I am a songwriter who feels smaller than anyone in the studio.  I know…I know…I write the material.  But I don’t really.  It feels more like this stuff was just given to me in and at the time I need it the most.   I’m excited.  To put those headphones on and hear drums and cymbals crash and guitars wail and I reach to turn the headphones up louder and louder!!!!  It is all too cool and it goes by way too fast.  That I certainly remember.

I will keep things updated here.  I certainly will try…as I….

Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

In honor of Dr. Millard Dunn, I bring forth a few images to share of Topsail and Wilmington.

He enjoyed the post I dedicated to him some time ago and asked that I share some photos on this trip.  It is my pleasure.

Soon after we arrived.

Sunrise

Carrie and I before heading to Wilmington for The Moody Blues concert.

Market Street approaching downtown Wilmington.

New Hanover High School is on Spring Break too.

A classic looking place.

Graeme Edge of The Moody Blues getting some fresh air before the show.

The Moodies.  Cameras and phones were not on display.  This was the last song.

This morning before I went out to get my papers.

Heading into the South of Topsail Island…the town of Topsail Beach.

The putt putt course.

Godwin’s Store and the new water tower.

The swing bridge in Surf City to the Island.  Since 1955, this thing still turns to make way for sea going craft.

So I didn’t speak the rights too much here.  I hope I photographed them.

Danny Johnson

I just finished one of the finest meals I have ever partaken.

My dear wife, Carrie, made flounder, fried shrimp, onion rings, and hush puppies.  We bought the flounder and the shrimp from nearby Thomas’ Seafood Market.  We are looking at the Atlantic Ocean right now.  The fish is as fresh as it is going to be.

I am a fortunate man.  My dear Carrie likes to cook on occasion.  I am glad tonight was one of those special occasions.  These vittles were unreal.

Kids, these were the leftovers.  Am I gonna have a nice sandwich tomorrow, or what?

This morning Carrie and I were ready to head to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher.  you could look it up.  We had a good time and we saw some strange sea critters and met some very nice people.

The wind was blowing as we took this picture near the Swing Bridge in Surf City, NC.

This is a good shot of the bridge.  It raises up and swings sideways to let large boats pass through the canal below it.  There is talk of doing away with it and making something more modern.  I hope it remains talk.

This evening I don’t know if I have ever seen such lovely shades of blue before.

The moon trying to make progress over the water.  That is him, that little speck on the right.

So yes, I am thankful for such a great day to be able to spend with my sweet Carrie.

Like I am not sure why Nolan Ryan was able to throw as baseball over 100 mph, I am not sure why I have been so blessed when it comes to so many things.  What do I mean?  Well, tomorrow night The Moody Blues are playing a concert just a few miles down the road from where I took these pictures today.  Carrie and I will be there.  We just happened to be on Spring Break when the Moodies scheduled a show here.  I don’t think it is a coincidence.  I will call myself thankful.  And along the way, I hope to…

Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

My dear wife, Carrie, made me the best pan of grits ever consumed today around noon.  I ate them for “brunch”?  I don’t know if I have ever had brunch before today.  If I have, no one ever told me that was what I was eating.  Brunch, that is.

Carrie and I got up about 6 AM this morning.  Neither one of us was hungry.  Looking at the Atlantic Ocean churning at 7:16 when the sun rose, I am sure, behind miles of clouds and darkness.  It was not a great sun rise.  It was a great morning nonetheless.

I wasn’t hungry this morning because before I went to bed last night I ate a bowl of ice cream.  I don’t do that very often.  I think the last time I did was along this very coast the last time we were here.  Before the ice cream I ate some barbecued ribs.  The crab dip was good too.  Should I go on?

So we didn’t eat breakfast.  I filled up on the Star-News of Wilmington, The News-Observer from Raleigh, and the Jacksonville Daily News.  Three good Sunday papers.  So I just got through one of them before we went to church.

Our church away from home, Faith Harbor United Methodist Church.  Rev. Duke Lackey is the pastor.  He spoke this Palm Sunday.  He reminded us of Jesus’ edict :COME, FOLLOW ME. Kids came through the sanctuary carrying palms.  The songs we sang we awesome.  We celebrated confirmations of about ten young people.  The service lasted nearly two hours and it seemed like we had to leave about them time we sat down.  That is some good worship.  Amen indeed.  When we walked out we lamented that it would be a long time before we would be back for another service.  The place is special to us.

We came back to our place and it was time for breakfast.  Carrie poached me an egg.  We had toast, ham, and my awesome grits.  It was a great morning.  It may be 47 degrees along this piece of North Carolina coast right now…but our hearts our warm and thankful.  Having a home away from home is a special thing to be a part of.  Carrie and I found that here many years ago.  Thanks in part to our old friend, Tim Krekel, we found this little strip of “Happy Town” that we are blessed and fortunate to get to visit now and again.

So what gives the rest of the day?  NCAA basketball tourney watching is probably out.  Anything after watching the Hoosiers defeat the Wildcats yesterday afternoon is anti-climactic.  I have a John Fogerty autobiography to read.  I have a great deal to write about.  And thankfully, I will be checking in here again sooner rather than later.

Grits for breakfast in the morning, to be sure.

Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

First the not so good.

Whilst I was motivating upon the elliptical this afternoon, I was mashing through more useless television stations than one could ever imagine really does exist until one wants to watch something meaningful.  Being the political season of presidential persuasion, I do check in on the bastions of political polarization that are CNN and Fox News (not in any particular order).  I saw a pathetic presence on Fox News speaking with former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina.  The Fox lady, Maria Bartiromo asked terrible questions, was quick to cut off Ms. Fiorina and really seemed to wish she was somewhere else.  I suppose what startled me more than anything was the newsperson’s casual tone and attitude toward someone whom has faced more music and needed to be a good sport more than the reporter ever will in ten years of television.

The media folks have seemingly taken a turn for the worse.  Respect, reverence, and civility must be passe.  I suppose they have been made to reflect on values with a hard medicinal swallow.  The political jockeys sure have lost it.  I never thought I would live to see the axiom of one step up and two steps back be recalled as one step up and three steps back when it applies to the presidential campaigning going on this year.  How can a candidate talk about values when they can’t display any values that are worth holding on to?

I don’t know.  Call me old fashioned.  I miss John Chancellor.

Yesterday I bought a Commodores CD.  The guys that met at Tuskegee.  What a sound was on that campus in 1968.  I have always had a soft spot for their sound.  It is smooth stuff.  I am a fan of block harmonies and you can hear some great unity and natural ease in their singing together.  When I was a senior in high school they, minus Lionel Richie who was making hit after hit as a solo artist, hit the charts with the Grammy-winning song “Nightshift”  which was a tribute to the late Marvin Gaye and the late Jackie Wilson.  I remember hearing it on WLS The Rock of Chicago.  It was played there much more than the local market.  I thought it was great. I still do.

My Mother and I have had fun singing “Sail On” together too.  She likes that tune.  The song “Three Times a Lady” is great whether they are singing it or Buckwheat is singing it.  Great music.

I suppose it is time for March Madness.  I do enjoy the Tourney.  I hope the Indiana Hoosiers win it.  They are not difficult to root for.

ON A SAD NOTE…

I just heard that noted author Pat Conroy died March 4th.  What a shock.  He had pancreatic cancer.  A few years ago my dear wife, Carrie, and I were face to face and having speaks with Conroy.  Carrie is quite the fan…and I like him too.  “The Prince of Tides” turned into a movie was awesome.  Conroy, who was a teacher for a brief time, held out his hand to me and introduced himself.  He knew we knew who he was.  He was being polite.  When I told him I was an English teacher, he looked at me intently with a bit of a wry smile and said “I wanted to be you.”  He was a genuine article.  I will miss him.

Have a good week and every now and then…Speak the Rights.

Danny Johnson

One for the ages.  That is a phrase that is thrown around like a corn hole bag during the 4th of July.  “That is one for the ages” is an overused saying.  I would venture that the last time you said that phrase you don’t remember what you were talking about when you said it.  I intend to buck that trend here today and encourage you to join me in remembering something special for a very long time…for the ages.

A week and a day ago I witnessed something I am so glad I was able to attend and enjoy.  The North Harrison Lady Cats high school basketball team played in the Class 3A championship against a loaded private school team in a game that reminded me why the state of Mississippi has private school champions and public school champions.  That is all of that kind of commentary I will deliver here.  You feel free to fill in whatever gaps you feel need to be filled in.

What a wonderful night that was in Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the former Conseco Fieldhouse, and the basketball mecca of all of the thousands of kids playing on high school teams from Evansville to Ft. Wayne.  Our team from Ramsey, you have to look close on a map, made it.

I grew up the son of a football coach.  I played the game every chance I had to do so.  Baseball was something I enjoyed playing also.  The 1979 Little League Trophy is my most prized possession of an athletic persuasion.  I like basketball.  I really do.  I love the smell of popcorn in the gym and the hardwood floors.  The band playing the school song is great.  The band playing Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4”, a song that my old school’s band played when I was in grade school, is a thing of auditory bliss.  I like basketball.   I really do. But,  I don’t love it.  When the season is over, I am usually glad that it is over.  After all, they play over twenty games!

When the 2015-2016 basketball season began, no one told me our girls would be playing for a state championship.  There is a team to our west, Princeton, that was the odds on favorite to run through all their opponents in the sectional, regional, and semi-state en route to the big dance at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.  A funny thing happened on the way to the regional.  Princeton got beat in the sectional.  Suddenly, with one lonely defeat of Goliath, there was a hopeful spark in the hearts of teams all over the state that would rival that of a Chicago Cubs fan.  Is it possible?  Could it be?  Do you think?  Why, yes…it could happen.  And it did for one team…The North Harrison Lady Cats.

Why did it happen?  Well, it didn’t just happen.  It worked out.  The emphasis on the word “work” in its most literal sense.  This team worked hard and it worked smart.  The team is filled with a bunch of coachable, unselfish, hardworking, don’t care who gets the credit as long as we win, hot dogs need not apply mustard, that rivals any other great team that I have ever seen.  That was the beauty of it all for me.  Sure it was great the Lady Cats made it to the state tournament.  They did it because we had a great team to root for.  No offense to any one player, but there was no one on our side that scared the other team.  Worried about them doing well? Yes.  Of course.  Scared to face?  No.  Little did they know.  This team would be respected in a hurry by its opponents.  All of them.

There was a story I read and alluded to one Sunday as I did the preaching during Youth Sunday when I was in high school.  The story was called “The Ship that Found Herself” by Rudyard Kipling.  It was about an embattled and faltering old ship that was falling apart and ready to give up.  The parts of the ship found it within themselves to “get it together” as it were.  They collectively grew stronger.  They found a way to finish what they started.  So did this high school basketball team.

Know that these young ladies are some of the most fortunate basketball players to have ever lived, given what they have been bestowed upon with the coaching staff on their bench.  Head Coach Missy Voyles is as solid as a rock.  She did an outstanding job of pushing buttons and pulling levers that needed to be pulled and had the wisdom to recognize times when she needed to keep her finger off the button and not grip any levers and let the players play out what they needed to in order to maintain that “found” attitude they discovered early in the team’s chemistry.  Missy would probably look at me and ask “What do you know?”  I would tell her I do know people.  I know teams.  I know a good one when I see one and I know ones that don’t have any business trying to play together.  Both scenarios are possible with any group.  This team had the “it” factor.  Not scared of it.  Not phased by it. They had “it”.  The girls on the team moving forward hope to keep “it”.  They will have to work hard to do so.

Assistant Coach Angie Hinton is an asset not many head coaches would have at hand.  Angie is a great math teacher and a great person.  I have known her for a very long time.  She is also a fantastic basketball coach.  She was the head coach at New Albany High School when that team won a state championship in 1999.  The last high school championship played at Market Square Arena (a round venue).

Assistant Coach Joe Hinton is in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.  His name is on the court at Floyd Central High School.  He won nearly 600 games as a boys high school basketball coach.  To say that his input is worthy would be like saying gold might be valuable.

Assistant Coach Alisha Briner is the newby.  I have enjoyed getting to know her this school year.  I have no doubt she provides an insight to players that can only come from the persona of a younger coach.  While I won’t pretend to know, I would venture to say that she played the role of “good cop” now and again when she wasn’t playing the other role.

You won’t find a greater coaching staff on a high school bench in America.

And the team.  Well, I will just refer to them as “The Team”.  I have not seen a more impressive group make such an improbable run than the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team.  That is what I think of “The Team”.  I won’t single out anyone left behind.  Carlie Burson and Jourdan McAfee are the only two seniors.  I gave them a ceremonial “good luck” before every step of the tourney.  I hope to acquire their autographs when the time is right.

This “Team” won 28 games and lost three.  One of those losses was at Seymour in early January on a Saturday afternoon.  They lost by one point.  One of the field goal attempts that did not go in got stuck on the orange rectangle that is between the rim and the board.  It just sat there…and did not come down.  I remember looking at that shot and thinking it was a sign that was meant to be.  I had never seen a ball sit back there like that before.  I have seen over a thousand basketball games.  I have never seen that before.  Perhaps that was a good loss.  Those do exist when you play twenty games in a season and you are not playing a conference foe or a great rival.

IMAGES

I leave you with some images and thoughts about the tourney run this team made.  The pictures are from my Canon Powershot Elph.  Don’t expect too much.

The Sectional was won on the NHHS home court.

Cutting down the net must be a fantastic feeling.

The regional was won at Charlestown.  What a nice facility they have there.

The crowd of BLUE was great at the Jeffersonville Semi-State game.

Lebanon was a formidable opponent.  They were, however, a one dimensional team that proves it helps to have five working together instead of four working to get the ball to one.

Cutting down a net at the semi-state.  Just look at the blue!

Last Saturday morning I found this on my television screen.  It was worth a photo.  Carrie, my dear wife, and I went over to my Mom and Dad’s house soon after I took this shot.  We met up with my sister and my niece and my brother and his wife.  We all headed to Indy.

I met up with my dear friend and former radio partner, Gus Stephenson.  Two old codgers holding their glasses while the picture is being taken.  Gus was in his customary short pants.  I would not have recognized him without them.  At least not until he would yell out my name like only he can.

And so it began.  The quest for a 3A title.

Not a bad shot and a nice score in the early going.

For the second half I needed to move to a vantage point, although on a larger scale, that was much more familiar and comfortable.  I don’t sit very well.  Not that I can’t.  I don’t want to.

Carrie and I will never forget what a great time we had that night.  Thanks goes out to a group that got us there.  The Team.

There was a ton of GoBigBlue in the house.  Thanks too goes to the band.  You sounded awesome.

Game action

Our fans on the BIG BOARD.

Tied with 5:13 left in the game.

Carlie Burson was named the Mental Attitude Award winner.

Carlie represented herself, her family, and NH with grace, dignity, and pride.

Jourdan McAfee holds the runner-up trophy.

And so it goes.

What a grand experience for so many people.  Count me among those very fortunate to have been there.

In closing, thanks to The Team and their coaches.  Your efforts gave the rest of us a moment in the sun.  Thanks…it was truly one for the ages.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Tomorrow night I am going to Charlestown to witness an Indiana phenomena.  It is called the high school basketball sectional.  Every high school team has its place in the tourney.  The boys tournament starts tomorrow.

Sectionals are first.  Regionals are next.  Semi-State follows.  If you make it out of there you play in Indianapolis for a State Championship.

This past weekend I saw one of those state title games.  Our school, North Harrison, was represented by the Lady Cats in the girls 3A State Title Game.  We did not win.  We didn’t lose either.  It was a wonderful experience.  I will write about it at length when it is time to do so.

I was spoiled as a child when it came to Sectional Tourney action.  When I was a kid I lived in Brownstown, Indiana.  We played ten miles up the road in the Seymour Sectional.  It was and still is played in a gym that hold over 8000 people.  I believe it is the third largest high school gym in the United States.  Our sectional tickets were perforated.  There was a different piece of ticket for every night the games were held.  That document in your hand was like gold.  Today I bout a ticket in our high school office and was handed one ticket good for the entire tourney.  It gets punched at each session I choose to attend.

Is there irony here somewhere?  Well, yes, there is.  My school’s team the North Harrison Cougars will play the Brownstown Central Braves tomorrow night.  The Braves don’t play in Seymour anymore.  Something called “class basketball” came into play over twenty years ago.  There are champs in 4 classes that are based on school size (enrollment).  I am not a fan.  With class basketball came the restructuring of the Sectional.  Brownstown no longer plays ten miles up the road.  Folks in Brownstown don’t like that.  I don’t either.  Next to the fabled Jackson County Fair, the Seymour Sectional was the premiere social event of the year.  It was a great deal of fun.  I am glad I was there to witness it.

Playing in a State Title game like the Lady Cats did over the weekend was awesome and almost makes me embrace the class system.  I wasn’t there, but when Damon bailey led his Bedford North Lawrence team to the state title, the one class, one champ state title, there were over 40,000 people in the Hoosier Dome watching it.  That will never happen again.

So be it.  It is today.  We are in the here and now.  I am going to show up rooting for the North Harrison Cougars tomorrow night.  But I am sure someone I meet up with from Brownstown will be pining about the good old Seymour Sectional.  I will probably join them.

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

It has been a long time since I sat by the phone waiting on a call.

I am doing just that right now.  My dear wife, Carrie, is out eating with some co-workers and I sincerely hope they are having a great time.  She is supposed to call, soon, I assume, and tell me where to meet her to pick her up to bring her home.  We are down to one car.  The main source of our transportation is getting brake work done.  We will need it this Saturday when we travel to Indianapolis to watch the North Harrison Lady Cats play for a State Championship Title in Girls Basketball.

So here I am…waiting on the call.

You don’t hear that much these days….”I’ll call you tonight!”  I suppose young people text each other all hours of the day and night.  I text.  I text when I want my dear wife to pick up a pizza.  I text other folks when necessary.  It is usually not necessary.

My phone is a relic,  compared to the phones around me.  I still like it.  It still works.  It has no apps.  I hear people talking about apps.  Is that how you spell them?

Before we had cell phones, I remember one night I was worried about how late Carrie was out with her pals.  I wrote a song in about the time it takes to sing it.  I was having some troublesome thoughts.  That song turned out to be one that helped someone out that actually did lose a loved one.  It was a surreal experience to hear them talk about it.  I wrote it thinking what it would feel like to lose out.  I was told I did it just that.  It kind of made me feel a little guilty.

Write me.  Call me.  Text me.  Skype me.  Face time me?  I have heard that face time reference but I don’t know what that means.

Many of you know I worked at Medora Schools for a decade and a half.  Today I met the lady the school board hired to be the new counselor when I left.  We were at the same professional meeting in New Albany.  I signed into the conference below her.  At one point her computer was not working and I offered to share mine.  I asked her how a few of the students back in Medora were doing.  I called them by name.  Her eyes got big and she called me by name.  I obviously left the place on as good of terms as I thought I did.  That was nice to affirm.  I told her I was glad she was being allowed the ability to focus on counseling and not try to fit in a few of the other duties I was assigned along the way.  The students, and she, will be better for it.

I’m still waiting on the call.  But it is still early.  Not reaching for my guitar yet.

Speak the rights.

Danny Johnson