Gary Haning, who coached the OC Batbusters to the 2002 ASA Gold National Championship, has resigned from his subsequent appointment as an assistant coach of the newly-formed USA Junior Women’s National Team. Haning, who had been a candidate for head coach of the USA team, had accepted the assistant coaching position after the tryouts at Chula Vista in September. Haning advised SPY on Tuesday but asked that we hold off any announcement until ASA/USA officials had time to receive his letter. Haning observed that his 2002-03 team is "inexperienced and need to work really hard if they are to contend for the championship" in 2003. In his letter, Haning thanked ASA for the opportunity to work with the team at the camp, and wished the team the best. There is no word at this time on a successor, but ASA announced a search had begun.

The Junior Women’s team will compete December 13-21 at the first Pan Americanb Junior Women’s Softball Championship in Hermosillo, Mexico.

Lowe, Caitlin. OF, Smoke, to Univ of Arizona

Reichling, Katie. UT,P, Johnston, IA, to Iowa State

Koyano, Nycole "Coco". SS,2^nd, OC Lionettes Gold, to Ohio State

Totte, Courtney. C, Oklahoma Twisters Gold, to Oklahoma State

Schwab, Megan. OF,1^st, Phoenix Storm, to Ohio State

Henry, Tara. OF, OC Batbusters, to UCLA

Ecker, Jaclyn. SS, Sacramento Rush, to Sacramento State Univ.

Runyan, Amelia. P, Cal Lite, to Princeton

Mitchell, Tonya. 3^rd,SS, AZ L’il Saints, to Univ of Minnesota

Koenig, Cassie. C,OF, AZ L’il Saints, to Villanova

Reader Bill Sward says Barney had a variety of jobs, and couldn’t seem to hold a steady job. Reader D. Glover says "Barney Rubble had many jobs, including Quarry Worker, furniture repossessor, travel agent, co-owner (with Fred) of "The Drive-In," and (again, with Fred) private investigator. But, I do not know what the job was on the opening of
every show."

Finally, Jarred Johnson weighs in with a definitive answer.

This question hits upon the central mystery of the Hanna-Barbera
pantheon, the Holy Grail of discussion among Flintstonephiles. Where does
Fred drop Barney off each morning, where does he pick him up at the end of
the workday, and what does Barney do in between?
At first, it appears that Barney may work at the quarry with Fred,
since he bowls on the quarry's bowling team ("The Flintstone Flyer"). The
exact nature of Barney's next job is unknown, but Fred inadvertently gets
him fired from it in "No Help Wanted," the 6th episode produced. (Fred
explains that he told Barney to "put his broom down"; Barney later remarks
that "it wasn't much of a job"). Fred then helps Barney secure a job as a
furniture repossessor, but this career is never mentioned again and appears
to have been brief. Other temporary positions include travel agent, co-owner
(with Fred) of "The Drive-In," and (again, with Fred) private investigator.
On one occasion we are clearly shown that he works at Pebbles Co.
Rock and Gravel (which may or may not be a competitor of Slate Rock and
Gravel), though we don't know what he actually does there or how long this
job lasted. At times, one is again tempted to believe he works with Fred in
the gravel pits; he certainly hangs out there a lot. Indeed, Barney briefly
becomes a vice president at the quarry (after once again losing an
unidentified job somewhere else) when he turns out to be related to Mr.
Slate; once again, he does not hold the position long.
But vague, cryptic references to Barney's job are sprinkled
throughout the original series, and at one point Betty (following Wilma's
example of using an impressive euphemism to describe her husband's career)
says that Barney is in "top secret work"--a deliberate nod to curious Barney
fans? (Or is Barney merely unemployed again?)
Series and specials subsequent to 1966 (beginning with the Busch
beer promotional campaign) more or less (though not always) agree that
Barney does, in fact, work alongside his pal Fred at Mr. Slate's. But the
nebulous nature of Barney's job over the course of the original series
remains a contentious issue.


Movie Trivia

Don Minard asks who played Sam in Casablanca? And, who uttered the famous line asking Sam to play it again (As Time Goes By). SPY adds: who did the producers originally hope to cast as Rick and Ilsa? And, what was notably wrong about the actor asked to play Sam?

Dennis Frady, who knew that the "piece" missing from GWTW was the music, explores another Hollywood legend. The first signing cowboy, Singing Sandy, could not sing, and the studio searched for an actor who could sing and play a cowboy – they found Gene Autry whose Angels won the Series. Question: who played Singing Sandy, and, what famous holiday song did Autry write and first sing?

SPY is off to Plantation, then to the ASA Council meeting, then the Firecracker in Menifee, CA (if we can find it with Jen Schroeder’s help) and then the Batbuster. But, our trusty laptop travels with us. Welcome any reports from the Renegade tournament, or for Plantation teams which we miss.

Happy Halloween. (Last year I went to a Halloween party wearing a real British RAF Spitfire pilot’s uniform, authentic from the cap to the boots. Alas, time has moved past the baby boomers who took no notice of history. A sweet young thing asked me if I was supposed to be a DC bus driver. If not for the Spitfire and the young men who flew them, the Beatles might well have become famous for an upbeat version of Lili Marlene.)

End

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