Goodbye to Merle and Mulligan

After a rough Thursday,I decided to do this on the blog rather than the podcast since tomorrow could be the debut of "Chasing Cardboard"which would then be posted on Sunday.

Country star Merle Haggard passed at 79 on his birthday last week.
Haggard,who was once told by Johnny Cash that "you are the man everyone thinks I am" had 38 number one hits from the 1960's through the 1980's and was best known for his songs that reverbed with the common man during that time period such as "Okie from Muskogee" and "Fightin' Side of Me".
I liked those songs of Haggard,who had served time in prison for attempted robbery (later fully pardoned by then California Governor Ronald Reagan,but Haggard could do more than right wing tunes.
Haggard could sing ballads such as "Carolyn" or honkytonkers like "Rainbow Stew",but of all of Hag's hits,my favorite was this-"I take a lot of pride in what I am".
The song was later covered by Dean Martin (another TRS favorite),but I prefer the Haggard version.
It speaks to hard working people everywhere and tells us all that having pride and dignity is about far more than possessions and money.
Haggard's catalog might not be quite as well known today as it was in past years,but if you are a fan of older country music,Merle Haggard's music is quite difficult to beat...



The other loss was of pro wrestling star Blackjack Mulligan,a worldwide star and father of Barry Windham at the age of 73.
Mulligan,who was a star as both a heel and "babyface" made his biggest claim to fame in the Mid-Atlantic territory on both sides of the fence,but made his biggest impression on me as a giant heel in the old WWF managed by Fred Blassie.
Mulligan went around the circuit with title matches against then champion Bob Backlund as well as many "battle of the giants" against Andre The Giant.
Mulligan drew huge money in the Mid-Atlantic against Ric Flair and the Masked Superstar among others.but outside that promotion was best known for wrestling Andre,Bruiser Brody and John Studd as there were few that could match the size of Mulligan (listed as 6'8,but more likely around 6'5).the
Mulligan also started his run through the 70's as part of the tag team of the Blackjacks as Mulligan adapted the cowboy gimmick of partner Blackjack Lanza.
One of many that used the "claw" as a finishing move,Mulligan's WWF run was most noted for using the claw to win TV matches against the no-hopers,which would be "censored with a huge X across the screen as it gave the illusion that Mulligan was squeezing so hard that "it was just too bloody to show on television" and therefore really get the claw "over" as such a huge finisher.
Mulligan would later return to the WWF as a good guy and host of "Mulligan's Barbeque" as the antithesis of Roddy Piper's Pit.

I hope to be back later with another overdue column..

Cleaning Out the Inbox

Time to clean out the inbox with a few notes of interest...

We will have more soon on the podcast or here on this,but this obit on the late Merle Haggard,who died yesterday at the age of 79 by Malcolm Jones is about as good of a tribute as you can get....
As a long time fan of Hag,it's a massive loss.....




Two different takes on the Boston Braves from Boston University and the Providence Journal.
The Journal piece is a little more basic and the BU article is far more detailed.
The BU article also focuses more on the home stadium of the Braves-Braves Field,which is now known as Nickerson Field.
The right field bleachers as seen in the photo are the only part of the seating that still stands to this day.
Nickerson Field was also the home for the one year existence of the USFL's Boston Breakers.
I'm always a huge mark for the stories from the teams no longer with us and you will (and have) see a lot of this type link through the years....

As a long-time and avowed SCTV fan,I had to add this article from the New Yorker on former SCTV stars Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara.
The pair currently star in Schitt's Creek,which is a Canadian television series,which can be seen here on the POP network.
I'd give it a chance,if it was on any other network.
POP is formerly the Tv Guide channel and only shows their programming on half the screen while scrolling the television schedule for the provider of choice as the program air.
That's incredibly annoying to me and maybe I'll find another venue to try the show as I have noted-I've been a fan of the two for years....

I haven't done very many games of daily coverage of the Devils this season,but I will be doing a season in review.
The best place to go for Devils info for years has been Tom Gulitti and the Bergen Record.
Gulitti's work on the Fire and Ice blog has been the first place that I have went for any Devils transactions,news etc and made my life much easier for what I write about the Devils.
Gulitti will be moving to Washington and writing for NHL.com,so someone else to be named will be taking over the Devils beat for the record next year.
He will be missed..

CNN.com looks at the final days of Al-Jazeera's American venture.
It's very interesting in the look behind the scenes at the mistakes,issues and problems that led to the demise of the network.
Nicole Mitchell,who long time readers will remember doing an extensive interview with us here,offers some comments for the piece.
I know the stigmas that come with the network,but I actually liked their network.
People that gave it a chance (and that was the hard part) found it very even handed and straightforward with none of the nonsense that passes for news on other networks...

That cleans things up for now.
More to come!