NOVEMBER 11 UPDATE

COMMITMENTS

Valerie Moxim, 2B, Ohio Mustangs to University of Toledo

Leslie Stong, 1B/OF, Lady Irish, to University of Toledo

Johnna Bice, OF, Boise Blast Gold, to Western Baptist College

Jenni Bittle, P, OR Reign, Crater High School , to Western Baptist College

Torie Coury, SS/UT, Absolute Blast, to University of Washington
Sarah Losleben, P/OF, Absolute Blast, to University of Washington

Becky McCullough, P, 1B, Sorcerer Softball Gold, to Stanford University

Michelle Sullivan, Catcher for the Jersey Devils, NJ to LaSalle University

Brianna Cataudella (catcher/3B), Chicago White Sox Academy to Nebraska-Omaha

Maegan Castillo 3rd base American Pastime-Chuck to St. Marys

Whitney Cochran, OF, WA ASA Xtreme/WA Lake Breeze , to Southern Mississippi

Robyne Siliga - San Diego  Renegades Gold -Catcher - Georgia Southern

Sarah Smith Shortstop for American Pastime-Chuck to San Jose State .

Correction: John Wilson reports that Kristen Miller is now committed to Long Beach State .

’05 Commitment: Stephanie Blagaich: P/SS ~ Beverly Bandits ~ 05 Graduate verbally committed to DePaul University

SPY TRAVELS

November 12-13.  ASA Convention, Orlando

November 15-16   Worth Firecracker Tournament, Menifee

November 21-23    Batbuster Tournament, Orange County

I will stay in CA Nov 17-20 visiting friends and relatives.  I may not publish daily updates each and every day during that period.  I’ve got a tote bag full of humor which I will package in one or two segments.  And, Volume Six of SPY magazine will go online when I am through with the tournaments – and have the results of the National Team playing in Japan .  Some really great photographs of current and past players are ready.

VETERANS DAY

The reality of war was graphically depicted this morning in the Washington Post, which published thumbnail pictures of all the men and women killed in the last two months.

Beyond grief, beyond the loss of a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or sister, death has an opportunity cost.  Who knows what contributions they could have made to large or small portions of our world?  This one might have become a doctor, that one a research scientist, another may have had the gift of words and we lost a poet or dramatist, some would surely have continued their military commitment and provided the kind of training and leadership so essential to a modern military.  The insights needed to become a wise teacher may have followed this man or that woman to the grave.

Hopefully, as each of you think of wars present and past, there will be a moment of reflection on the so-called Forgotten War, the Korean conflict.  Speaker after speaker today solemnly recalled the Japanese sneak attack of December 7, 1941 , which cost some 2,500 American lives.  How many recalled the surprise attack of November 26, 1950 , when two million Chinese poured across the South Korean border.  Our allies, the ROK Army, turned tail, and the middle of MacArthur’s line was open, allowing the Chinese to surround US troops – whose commanders had no choice but to retreat – the first defeat of US armed forces in our history.  Braving a fierce winter storm, our troops fought a delaying battle down the infamous Gauntlet – and 5,000 were killed by the Chinese.  Worth remembering: the convention wisdom in Washington was that China was a Soviet puppet and Uncle Joe would keep them out of Korea ; besides, they didn’t have the arms.  The Chinese came across the border with no heavy weapons, wearing tennis shoes, and they routed the United Nations forces.  Korea was another political mistake, two countries carved out of one so that leaders we favored could take power in the South.

Ronnie Lombard forwarded the following piece, very appropriate to the day:

K


It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.



It is the VETERAN,
who salutes the Flag,


who serves under the Flag,


ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD,
AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.


On the ABC evening news, it was reported that, because of the dangers from Hurricane Isabelle approaching Washington DC, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment.

They refused. "No way, Sir!"

Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a serviceperson.

The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

CHRISTMAS

No one loves Christmas more than I – and I am forever grateful that God and circumstance have allowed me to join revelers at Christmas in some remarkable places – Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center in New York; the Q’damn in Berlin; the walking street in Vienna; the Champs Elysses in Paris (a glistening jewel during the holidays); Trafalgar Square in London; San Juan (hey, bubba, Feliz Navidad is a 24/7 fiesta).

Still, the calendar says Christmas comes after Thanksgiving.  But, the guy down the street had an electrician out until late Saturday night putting up enough lights to guide a 747 to a safe landing.  Stores are already decorated in some malls.  What’s the rush?

WAR MOVIES

I’ve seen Tora, Tora, Tora and Midway so often I think could play both Japanese and American roles.  No objection on my part to producers blending scenes from the former into the latter.  But, the historical inaccuracies!  Skip Gay is a pilot of a Navy dive bomber, shot down in the first wave of US planes attacking Admiral Nagumo’s carriers; but, when his plane hits the water, it is no longer a two-man TBF, it’s a Grumman Hellcat.  Similarly, in The Young Lions, Dean Martin, who has skipped all combat until the very end, and presumably not fired a weapon in a year or two, shoots Marlon Brando with an M-1 – firing from the hip – and the staccato burst sounds strangely like a Thompson.  I knew some guys who were rather competent with an M-1, myself included, and probably could not hit a target from that distance, firing from the hip.  An M-1 could fire faster than the Garand’s rated speed if you filed the sear and worked on the trigger – but a professional coward that Martin played would not be likely to do that.  Not as bad as Dane Clark jumping into a foxhole, firing a Thompson with either hand.  For technical reasons, a Tommy gun rises from left to right – and it takes two hands to keep it down.

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