General Covid-19 comments

Detasselers

Gosh... I don't know why but this reminds me of when I was a kid. One summer I de-tasseled corn. Anyone who did it as a kid will remember it. It was the only job a 13 year old could get at the time. Fond memories other than the spoiled tuna fish sandwich that caused me to get my butt kicked after throwing up out one of the front bus windows on a hot summer Indiana day.

My wife Rita and her sister detasseled and so did my son and my nephew. It is still done here in Iowa for some companies. They all have memories, some more positive than others. I never detasseled but knew that any girl who did it was one worth dating and later marrying.
Iowa Dave
 
I have a 55' military surplus tower (set in a 6'x4'x4' concrete base without guys) that is heavy enough that I can sit on the top and rock back & forth only moving it a couple of inches.


Nice tower, and nice photo. Does the tower require maintenance, e.g. do you have to paint it?
 
Iowa Dave,


I beg to differ. Rico Petrocelli is my fav b-ball player name. Say it....it rhymes. Rico Petrocelli




Americo Peter "Rico" Petrocelli is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire Major League Baseball career with the Boston Red Sox. Listed at 6 feet 0 inches and 185 pounds, he both threw and batted right-handed.
 
Hey Habberdabber
I was thinking about other great baseball names after I posted. Rico certainly had a poetry about him. I liked a lot of ball players when I was growing up. I had a couple favorite teams. We also had minor league ball in Cedar Rapids. Whether it was someone local who got a pro contract and came to town on another team, or a player who later made good in the big leagues after you saw them play, baseball was pretty fascinating to me at the time.
A fine teacher in our school system was a baseball coach for many years. He taught gym and boys health. When he had a student teacher one spring, several of us would meet by his 1938 Chevy and he’d take us about a mile to the school field. We would work on the infield and prep it for games. Way better than class. Forty years later I had oversight for that field and about 40 others in the park system.
Then after I retired from the city I sold field supplies like bases and home plates, calcined clay, marking chalk, drags and all manner of field prep equipment and irrigation. I met George Toma several times. He was the God of Sod, in Kansas City for many years. He was humble and described his admiration for the great groundskeepers of the 40s 50s and 60s as “ I couldn’t shine his shoes”
Iowa Dave
 
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Books

Hi Jim
Another phrase you’re sure to like was the title of George Toma’s book “Nitty Gritty Dirt Man”
He went into the Groundskeepers Hall of Fame with a man he much admired, Emil Bossard.
Bossard was the groundskeeper for the Cleveland Indians and one of several fine groundskeepers of the Bossard family. I attended several Sports Turf managers conventions where people from small midwestern towns, college students and guys wearing Super Bowl and World Series rings learned, dined and drank together. Lots of fun.
Iowa We’re talkin baseball Dave
 
I am still contented to listen to Celtics, Red Sox, and Patriots broadcasts on radio because of all the sports I listened to as a kid on AM radio. Johnny Most was the greatest. Unapologetic homer however.
 
Way back before there was a Jacobs Field we went to an Indians game at that monster of a stadium by the lake. A hundred thousand seats? I forget. Anyway, we were there, along with about 2500 other fans. I forgot who they played but will never forget that quiet day.

Then, later that same year we came back, to see the Browns play the Steelers. I was inside buying a hot dog when Bobby Mitchell ran 45 yards for a touchdown. The place totally exploded.
 
Way before there was a fancy stadium with retractable roof for ball in Toronto we attended the very last season weekend of the first year Blue Jays at the old Exhibition Stadium on the Lake Ontario lakeshore. Boy was it cold and windy that day, our first games (a doubleheader). I can't even remember who they played and if they won.

Funny how a thread on covid has turned into one on baseball...
 
Sports Memories

Hi Myron
This sports shutdown does have a certain lasting effect of “cheating” sports fans out of some
magical moments. There are truly epic moments and then “notable” events where fans are treated to the mental pictures that just don’t go away. I tend to focus on those brief moments as opposed to who won, who set a record, or whatever. Cleveland has had a great sports history and the transformation of the area along the lake is beautiful compared to what it looked like 40 or 50 years ago. We drive through there on our way to Niagara Falls in September and it looks a lot better than when the river caught on fire in the late 60s.
We went to the Spring flower show in Cleveland in 1979. It was very enjoyable. Be Safe
Iowa Dave
 
Way before there was a fancy stadium with retractable roof for ball in Toronto we attended the very last season weekend of the first year Blue Jays at the old Exhibition Stadium on the Lake Ontario lakeshore. Boy was it cold and windy that day, our first games (a doubleheader). I can't even remember who they played and if they won.

Funny how a thread on covid has turned into one on baseball...
Hi: emers382... Was that the fateful day the Seagull got it from a fly ball? :whistling: Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie;)
 
I remember being sick and allowed to stay home and listened to the world series where Don Larsen pitched a perfect game. Ironically I lived across the street from my school and kept the blinds down for fear of being seen "up and about" while being "sick" by the school principal, Mrs. Christopher.
 
OK baseball stories. I tell my kids about getting out of the Army and going back to college at UIC. I scheduled all my classes for the morning so I could go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field when I felt like it. Road what today is now the Red line to Addison and for a couple of bucks got a grandstand seat and after the 3rd inning simply went down and sat in the box seats. The field announcer would give the paid attendance as 3 thousand 2 hundred and eighty four,four,four. I would ask myself where the other 3 thousand went.
 
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RE: Social distancing

Lived once within walking distance of Wrigley. Greatest mistake I ever made when in Chicago (SAIC) was never seeing a Cubs game.

New normal for political rallies
 

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Lived once within walking distance of Wrigley. Greatest mistake I ever made when in Chicago (SAIC) was never seeing a Cubs game.

New normal for political rallies

While stationed in Alameda, Ca during the 60's I had the chance to take a military hop to Hawaii for free but never took it........wish I knew then what I know now!
 
Hi Jim
That’s an interesting subject “opportunities I have passed up that never came around again.“
I can think of a number for myself.
Land between the Lakes is an interesting area however the Campground where the rally was held until last year has gone a long ways down hill. Poor restrooms , very questionable reservation practices and not much supervision for some of the large crowds attracted.
Iowa Dave
 
https://www.airway1.com/embraer-kc-390-debuts-on-coronavirus-fighting-missions/amp/

The link above shows the new Brazilian aircraft the Embraer 390 a replacement for the venerable C130.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that our scout troop took a high adventure and toured an AC130 gunship at Eglin AFB in Florida. One of those scouts went on to study computer programming and as an employee at Rockwell in Cedar Rapids Iowa spent the better part of 2019 designing and programming the cockpit display for this airplane. Yup, I’m pretty proud of my son Clayton Emory Smith.
Iowa Dave
 
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https://www.airway1.com/embraer-kc-390-debuts-on-coronavirus-fighting-missions/amp/

The link above shows the new Brazilian aircraft the Embraer 390 a replacement for the venerable C130.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that our scout troop took a high adventure and toured an AC130 gunship at Eglin AFB in Florida. One of those scouts went on to study computer programming and as an employee at Rockwell in Cedar Rapids Iowa spent the better part of 2019 designing and programming the cockpit display for this airplane. Yup, I’m pretty proud of my son Clayton Emory Smith.
Iowa Dave

You have good reason to be proud of your son’s accomplishments
 
https://www.airway1.com/embraer-kc-390-debuts-on-coronavirus-fighting-missions/amp/

The link above shows the new Brazilian aircraft the Embraer 390 a replacement for the venerable C130.
It doesn’t seem so long ago that our scout troop took a high adventure and toured an AC130 gunship at Eglin AFB in Florida. One of those scouts went on to study computer programming and as an employee at Rockwell in Cedar Rapids Iowa spent the better part of 2019 designing and programming the cockpit display for this airplane. Yup, I’m pretty proud of my son Clayton Emory Smith.
Iowa Dave
:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:
 

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