Robert Conrad

Sorry to note the passing of Robert Conrad at the age of 84.
Conrad will be remembered by different ages of people for different roles.
Some might remember him from his 70s tv show "Baa Baa Black Sheep", others for being the insanely competitive captain on "Battle of the Network Stars" and others for the Eveready Battery commercials where Conrad snarled "I dare you to knock this battery off my shoulder".
However, to me and so many others, Bob Conrad is always going to be James West of  "The Wild Wild West" from 1965-1970 on CBS.


WWW was canceled before I turned two, so my fanatical fandom was right after it hit syndication and WWW along with Batman and Star Trek were the three standards of mine as a small only child (at that time).
I've written about the Wild Wild West before in 2012, I've written about Adam West and Leonard Nimoy's passings, so the passing of Robert Conrad completes my early 70s childhood television heroes and with the passing of Glen Campbell, the stars of all the shows that I enjoyed most from that time have passed away.
WWW wasn't always in syndication, but when it was I was usually around watching it.
I remember running home from school to watch it at my grandmother's house, I remember when TNT aired it for a while in the mid-90s and the network FETV currently has it on its station in the afternoon with two episodes.

Robert Conrad's James West ranks near the top of my favorite television characters, but I'm not sure he would have always been a blast to be around.
Conrad was a short person with an attitude that comes out often, most notably from his times on Battle of the Network Stars, and could be seen to have had a bit of a Napoleonic complex.
However, as I age, I'm starting to think unlike West and Nimoy that I might not have been a fan of Robert Conrad as much as I was a fan of "James West".
I didn't go out of my way to find or watch Conrad's other roles and I don't remember watching "Baa Baa Black Sheep", which was his starring television role that was the most successful after WWW, so maybe that indeed was the case.

I saw Conrad in person a few years back when I took Rachel to meet Shirley Jones.
The line for him was long and I wasn't quite up for waiting in the line after working all night, but you could tell that he wasn't in good health.
Conrad seemed in be in a lot of pain (Conrad was convicted of drunk driving in an accident in  2003 that injured him, the other driver passed away two years later, and left Conrad with significant nerve damage that left him partially paralyzed on his right side) and his signature was reported to be not very legible as it was very difficult for Conrad to write.
I've wondered about whether I should have stood in the line that day and to my surprise, I'm OK with that decision.
I'm not sure that I would have wanted to meet him when he was hurting and likely cranky from flying across the country and churning out autographs.
When you watch the clip below from that day, I think it was the right call for me!


Robert Conrad was a part of my youth and now I'm an aging middle termer looking back as the stars of my childhood pass away.
There is one advantage that the stars of television and film have over those of athletics and politics after they step off the stage- television and films that are important to people will never age.
And for giving me James West and the Wild Wild West and it being forever young, I'd like to say-
Thanks, Bob and I promise I won't even try to knock that battery off your shoulder.

Adam West,Batman and me

Adam West passed away today at the age of 88.
West was,of course,most famous for his 1966 portrayal of Batman,but he had become notable in recent years for his voice-over work on Family Guy as himself as "mayor" of the fictional town of Quahog.

I've written before about the importance of those 1960's shows that were in syndication to a kid living in a rural area like me.
The three most important to me were The Wild Wild West (although that was shown less and less due to the "violent" content in the feel good 70's) and as I noted in the past-Batman and Star Trek.
Batman-the television show was played for camp and it succeeded,mostly because the characters played it so straight that kids didn't take it for comedy and yet adults could enjoy it for the hidden meanings and between the lines reading.

There were several architects for the success of Batman,but for all the writing,guest stars and gimmicks,the main reason for that show still being watched fifty years after its run is Adam West.
West's Batman is the most kid-friendly of the Batman's (Batmen?),but is able to play it in a way that made his Batman perhaps the only one that is always good for a smile or a laugh.
It's the performance of West in a role that could have meant the end of his career (although he took his lumps for a while after the show was canceled) that holds up all of these years later.
His Batman is campy,that's true,but it's played with underlying heart and caring that manages to show that you don't always have to get in the dirt with villains.
West did get stereotyped with Batman,which so many actors then and now are often afraid of being with certain roles,but he managed to make many fans happy during the 70's and 80's and did it in a way that continued to pay his bills and take care of his family-he hit the road doing events like state and county fairs,auto shows and memorabilia shows,where people that wanted to meet West/Batman (with the show still in syndication,there was never a shortage of children wanting to see "Batman" years after it left network television).
This included this memorable visit to Memphis for their local wrestling show for a appearance with/against Jerry "the King" Lawler.
I never knew about this until recently,but notice West being very careful to not use the name Batman during this entire skit,although he does mention other DC characters along with Spiderman,who is a Marvel comic character.
West also voiced Batman quite often in various animation projects,most recently in a DC comics straight to DVD Batman movie with Burt Ward returning to voice Robin as well.


What really makes me smile when watching Batman isn't just the enjoyment of the show or the comic that read for years or even the toys from the show from my childhood,it's the memories.
Remember what I wrote earlier about the importance of television growing up in the country?
Well,I have so many memories of watching Batman and just as many of "playing" Batman as a child,mainly with my brother,but occasionally others.
You see during much of Batman's heyday in my childhood,we lived in an large older house that was formerly a church.
This meant tons of hideaways,crawl spaces and nooks and crannies for kids to find and play in and when playing something like Batman,there were plenty of spots to allow imaginations to run wild.
I remember my mom making Shane and I masks and capes to run in around in and kids being kids with the villains always foiled (it might have helped that they were usually invisible),we were always the winners in the end.

Just as important as the  "live action" was the toys.
The Mego action figures were such an important part of my childhood with again the line of "World's Greatest Super Heroes" that included both DC and Marvel characters in the same toyline (Imagine that happening today!) along with Star Trek figures as well.
Shane and I had both the Batcave and the U.S.S.Enterprise "play sets" and both showed the wear and tear of constant play.
The Batman figure didn't really look like West (Mainly because if it did,they'd have to pay him!),but it was still "him". as he fought the Joker,Penguin and Riddler (all three of those characters had figures made,but just as with Adam West,none of the three looked like the actors that portrayed them) to victory after victory.


Such good memories from childhood and the stars that were such a big deal from those times are slowly passing away as I age,of which Adam West was always one of those.
I'll wrap up with the most memorable scene to me,which admittedly is a silly one to select.
You couldn't count the amount of times that I quoted "Bruce Wayne" from the scene below with Cherie,who by now knows what's coming and rolls her eyes and of course,my partner in arms-Ryan.
You see,in many ways,Ryan's love of tv and obscure things comes from me from all those times watching them as he grew.
Batman in the 90's and his childhood was just as big of a part then as mine in the 70's and I bet he knows nearly as much about the Batman series as I do.
Combine Batman with 1960's pop stars (again,right up my alley) Chad and Jeremy and you have a memorable episode alone,even before its final scene.
"Every era has its music,art-manner of speech"-
Indeed they do,Mr .West.
Indeed they do.

Cleaning out the inbox:Passings

I told you the inbox was overflowing.
Overflowing to the point of not just a sports version and a non-sports version,but one just devoted to passings!

Editor's Note:I prepared this last night at work for release today.
In the interim,Adam West passed away-Had I known that then,that would have been the cover story-I plan on doing an Adam West post later tonight from the road office...

We start with one of the great racehorses that I saw during my time as a passionate horse racing fan as Holy Bull was euthanized at the age of 26.
The 1994 Horse of the Year won grade one stakes races from distances from six furlongs to a mile and a quarter and did it in the toughest manner possible-going to the front and staying there.
Holy Bull was the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby,but rebounded with wins against older horses in the Met Mile and his most brilliant performance-a dominant victory against his elders in the Woodward stakes,but his most remembered race was the Travers Stakes at Saratoga,where D.Wayne Lukas,trainer of Preakness/Belmont winner Tabasco Cat entered a "rabbit" to soften Holy Bull up for Tabasco Cat's run.
After a blazing mile,the rabbit (Commanche Trail) was far through,but so was a beaten Tabasco Cat,still the Bull had "Cause for Concern" as said by race caller Tom Durkin as Maryland bred closer Concern (who would win the Breeders Cup Classic later that year in a race absent of Holy Bull) appeared on the horizon and loomed as ready to storm by Holy Bull.
In as a courageous performance as you'll ever see,Holy Bull showed championship grit and held Concern at bay to win by a neck.
Holy Bull would sire a Kentucky Derby winner at stud in Giacomo.


Two Hall of Famers from different sports also passed recently as baseball's Jim Bunning and football's Cortez Kennedy each passed on.

Jim Bunning was elected to the Hall by their Veterans Committee in 1996 and it was long overdue as Bunning's credentials were certainly deserving.
Bunning won 224 games,two no-hitters,one of which was a perfect game in 1964 and was just the second pitcher ever to notch 100 wins and 1,000 strikeouts in both the American and National leagues.
Bunning pitched for four teams,but will be remembered by most as a Philadelphia Phillie and for likely being on his way to the 1964 Cy Young award and the NL pennant before a ten game losing streak with Bunning and Chris Short being pitched every other day by manager Gene Mauch in the center of the collapse-a decision debated to this day.
Bunning also was elected to the U.S Senate for two terms from Kentucky from 1998-2010.
Bunning was 85.


Cortez Kennedy passed away at just 48 years old.
Kennedy,who spent his entire career with the Seattle Seahawks was the third overall pick in the 1990 NFL draft and was a dominant defensive tackle after his college career at Miami,Florida.
The 2012 Hall inductee was a rare three down defensive tackle as Kennedy could both plug the running game and yet provide a seldom seen talent as an up the middle pass rush from defensive tackle.
I always thought Kennedy was an underrated player because he spent so many years on Seattle teams that ranged from average to bad in a market that tended to hide great players such as Kennedy and and 2017 HOF inductee Kenny Easley,
Kennedy was the 1992 defensive player of the year with 15 sacks on a 2-14 team that would pick second in the following years draft.
Honestly,I have always thought Kennedy was a better defensive tackle than the fellow Miami Hurricane Warren Sapp,who had a bigger reputation than Kennedy and a much bigger mouth as well...


Another baseball loss as Jimmy Piersall passed away at the age of 87.
Piersall,who won a Gold Glove in the outfield and was selected to two all-star teams with the Red Sox,was more famous for his emotional breakdown in 1952 and the resulting film based on that event "Fear Strikes Out" a 1957 drama starring Anthony Perkins of "Psycho" fame as Piersall.
Piersall was known for colorful behavior (running around in the outfield during at bats),fighting with other players (most famously a brawl with Billy Martin) and his days in the booth with the White Sox announcing games with Harry Caray,which saw him fired for being too critical of the hometown team.

Wrapping up with a thanks to Brad Adams for letting me know of the passing of "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers at the age of 65.
Somers was a undercard wrestler for most of his career for several territories before getting a big run with the AWA when they were a dying territory,yet had arguably their largest national exposure on ESPN with "Playboy" Buddy Rose as the company's tag team champions.
The team of Rose and Somers were the men responsible for making two young wrestlers stars on the national scene-the Rockers or Midnight Rockers as they were known as in the AWA-Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels in a series of really good matches that saw lots of blood (one match in particular on ESPN,brought heat from an unhappy network) and a terrific steel cage match that ended the feud with the Rockers winning the championship belts.