DECEMBER 31 UPDATE
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM TIMES SQUARE
SPY wishes a very happy, healthy and successful New Year to our readers.
COMMITMENTS
Heidi Johnson - S/S Deltona H.S./ Fl Ultimate Silver to Troy State
Francisca (Frannie) West, 18U Panthers Gold to Humboult University.
Michelle Snyder, SS,2bWashington Spirit Gold to Florida State University.
Andrea Rogers, C,3rd, Washington Spirit GoldUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham
Spokane Sliders, Spokane Wa.
Stephanie Trudeau Pitcher Dartmouth College
Randi Sandifer Catcher Montana State University
PICTURE OF THE YEAR
AOL offered 12 candidates for Photo of the Year. This was my choice.
Louis Sinco, Los Angeles Times
A Marine smokes a cigarette in Fallujah, Iraq, on Nov. 9,
CHICAGO BANDITS
A Chicago news group called “Redeye” has listed five people whom they believe made a difference in Chicago-area sports in 2004 – and projected a list of the five people whom they think will make a difference in 2005 – including Jennie Finch.
Jennie Finch
The Olympic gold medalist and former college All- American softball pitcher
whose signing with the expansion Bandits gives Chicago perhaps its first marquee
professional female athlete- if you don't count retired soccer legend Mia Hamm.
Finch is a highly marketable beauty who's now married to a bigmarket town.
Bandits have also posted their roster – in advance of the January 31 draft:
HOLD YOUR HORN
A man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy boulevard.
Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right
thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light
by accelerating through the intersection.
The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration
as she missed her chance to get through the intersection with him. As she was
still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of
a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her
hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched,
fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a cell.
After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the
door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was
waiting with her personal effects.
He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind
your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you,
and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate
holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do" bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday
School' bumper sticker and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk.
Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car."
ARTIE SHAW
The master clarinetist once said of rival Benny Goodman: he’s a technician, I’m a musician. Remarkably, Shaw quit playing in 1954 because he wouldn’t make the change to the emerging rock styles. His riff opening Easy to Love created many a mellow mood and Begin the Beguine is considered a swing-era classic. My favorites from that era: Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade and Shaw’s rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s beautiful Stardust. When I was in highschool, we had dances at the community center on Friday nights after football games. Since I was the youngest kid in HS – even when I was a senior, I was younger than many freshmen – I was the DJ. Stardust was for the best dancers – and dancing close, so I never spun it during the first hour to let the birds and bees sort out who’s hot and who’s not. Come midnight, I turned the lights down low and played Stardust again.
TEN THINGS GOD WON'T ASK on that day.
01...God won't ask what kind of car you drove,
He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have
transportation
02...God won't ask the square footage of your house,
He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
03...God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet,
He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.
04...God won't ask what your highest salary was
He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it
05...God won't ask what your job title was,
He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
06...God won't ask how many friends you had,
He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
07...God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived,
He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.
08...God won't ask about the color of your skin,
He'll ask about the content of your character.
09...God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation,
He'll lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.
10...God won't have to ask how many people you forwarded this to,
He already knows whether or not you are ashamed to share
this with your friends. (thanks to Ronnie Lombard)
RED LETTER DAY
Managed to read over 200 backlogged emails today. 116 to go.