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Bar Chat

12/24/2014

Christmas 2014

[Posted Wed. a.m. ...the next Bar Chat will be Mon. p.m., Dec. 29]

Nebraska Quiz: The Cornhuskers were #1 in the final AP Poll in both 1994 and 1995. Name the quarterback and leading rusher for both squads (four different players). Answer below.

--Well we have a helluva Sunday night football game coming up, Cincinnati (10-4-1) at Pittsburgh (11-4) for the AFC North crown, with the early weather forecast for lousy weather, which is great for us television spectators. More importantly, it’s for at least a home playoff game, if not a bye.

Cincinnati placed themselves in this position thanks to a 37-28 win in Cincy over Denver (11-4), which deprived the Broncos of a bye.* Peyton Manning was not good....not good at all. 28/44, 311, but 2-4...four interceptions...with a QB rating of 61.8.

In the first seven games of the season, Manning was his old self, 22 TD passes and just 3 INTs.

In his last eight, he has 17 TDs, 12 INTs. In today’s game, that is less than spectacular. He’s 39 and aging before our eyes.

*With Denver’s loss, New England wrapped up home-field advantage through the playoffs (plus a bye), which is good, even though I’m hardly a Patriots fan. I want the chance for poor weather. New England provides that. C’mon, Polar Vortex, Jan. 10/11, 17/18.

At 1:00 PM ET, the AFC wildcard race will be decided as 9-6 San Diego faces off against Kansas City (8-7), and 9-6 Baltimore hosts Cleveland. If both win, San Diego is in. If Baltimore wins and San Diego loses, Baltimore is in. If both lose, it’s chaos.

Also at the same time, Detroit (11-4) is at Green Bay (11-4) for the NFC North title. It’s gonna be cold in Green Bay (20s) and Detroit doesn’t play well outdoors in the big chill.

So two delicious games there prior to Pittsburgh-Cincinnati.

--As the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Salfino writes, Odell Beckham Jr. is having the greatest rookie season of all time, at least since the Rookie of the Year award was created in 1967.

Heretofore, Randy Moss’ 1998 season in Minnesota was seen as the gold standard for a rookie campaign, but Beckham trounces Moss in yards per game (101.9 to Moss’ 82.1).

Beckham also has six games of 100+ yards in just 11 contests (remember, he missed the first four of the season), more than any rookie since the 1970 merger, according to Pro-Football-Reference.

Overall this season in the NFL, Beckham’s yards per game trails only Julio Jones (ATL) at 109.6 and Antonio Brown (PIT) 104.7.

But Odell didn’t make the Pro Bowl! Eight wide receivers were selected ahead of him. That’s the last time this will happen.

--Speaking of the Pro Bowl, the six quarterbacks are Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Romo.

For Manning it was his 14th selection, tying center Bruce Matthews and tight end Tony Gonzalez for the most in NFL history.

--According to reports, Jets owner Woody Johnson will consult with former NFL team executive Charley Casserley should Johnson decide to fire Rex Ryan and/or GM John Idzik. For some of us, this is a good sign Idzik is a goner, which warms our hearts this holiday season. 

Meanwhile, Jets fans are concerned with where we’ll end up on the draft list. Entering Week 17, here is the lineup.

6. Washington (4-11, .475 strength-of-schedule percentage)
5. Raiders (3-13, .565)
4. Jets (3-13, .554)
3. Jaguars (3-12, .509)
2. Bucs (2-13, .493)
1. Titans (2-13, .484)

Ties in the order are broken by the strength-of-schedule, rather than head-to-head. Many of us have no problem with Amari Cooper, the sterling receiver for Alabama, but will he be available at No. 4? The Jags could snap him up at 3, a good target for their ‘franchise QB,’ Blake Bortles.

[Hey, Deacon fans....was just looking at Mel Kiper Jr.’s list and our cornerback, Kevin Johnson, is tabbed at No. 22 in the first round by him.]

College Football Bits

Prior to New Year’s Eve/Day, the big bowl days for moi are Dec. 27 and 29, so I may be commenting on these next chat. 

I did not see any of the Memphis-BYU game in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, and it was a heckuva game, by all accounts, won by Memphis 55-48 in double OT.

But the story was the brawl after, which was pretty vicious, as these things go. Certainly BYU defensive back Kai Nacua’s face was a bloody mess after he was leveled, though then he sucker-punched Memphis tight end Alan Cross, who was being restrained by someone from the Tigers’ staff, in the head.

In the Boca Raton Bowl, Marshall finished the year at 13-1 with a terrific performance against Northern Illinois (11-3), 52-23. It could have been a truly dream season for the Thundering Herd, but that inexplicable 67-66 overtime loss to Western Kentucky killed their hopes for a New Year’s bowl game.

Meanwhile, before I went to post Sunday night, I had seen that Jameis Winston was cleared of violating Florida State’s student code but it was just a headline and didn’t want to say anything until it was confirmed.

Winston’s lawyer, David Cornwell, released part of the decision by Major B. Harding, a former Florida Supreme Court chief justice who presided over the school’s two-day hearing.

“In sum the preponderance of the evidence has not shown that you are responsible for any of the charged violations of the Code.”

Bottom line, while there is an appeal process, Winston will be playing for Florida State against Oregon in the semifinals of the College Football Playoffs at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, and should FSU beat Oregon, you can be sure Winston will be at the helm for the championship game, Jan. 12.

Harding wrote in his ruling (which was in the form of a letter to Winston):

“The burden of proof in all cases under the code is the preponderance of the evidence and rests with the university. Stated another way, the evidence must show that it is more probable than not that you are responsible for the charged violations. After a thorough review, the evidence before me does not satisfy this threshold, and therefore, you are not responsible for the aforementioned charged violations.”

The lawyer for the woman who accused Winston of raping her, John Clune, said in a statement that an appeal is being considered. “We are stunned and dismayed by the order. It’s not a decision at all but a statement that the judge couldn’t decide.”

[Separately, FSU gave coach Jimbo Fisher a new eight-year extension that will pay him a reported $5 million a year.]

College Basketball Review

AP Poll (Dec. 22)

1. Kentucky 12-0 (65 first-place votes...unanimous again)
2. Duke 10-0
3. Arizona 12-0
4. Louisville 10-0
5. Virginia 11-0
6. Wisconsin 10-1
7. Villanova 11-0
8. Gonzaga 11-1
9. Texas 10-1
10. Kansas 9-1
13. Washington 10-0
17. St. John’s 9-1
27. San Diego State...if you carry out the votes.

--So you know how I mentioned how awful Kobe Bryant is shooting this year? Sunday, in a loss to Sacramento, Bryant went 8 of 30 from the field and his field goal percentage this season after 27 games is .372! Geezuz, that’s putrid. Prior to this, his worst percentage for a full season (excluding his first two years where he mostly came off the bench) was 2004-05 at .433.

I mean we’re talking a pretty significant sample size thus far for the 2014-15 campaign.

So Jordan Teicher of the Wall Street Journal notes that in his career, when Kobe shoots between 10 and 19 shots a game, the Lakers win 71.5% of the time. When he shoots between 20 and 29 times, that number drops to 60.8%. And when Kobe attempts at least 30 shots in a game, the Lakers win only 41.7% of the time.

By comparison, according to Stats, when LeBron shoots it at least 30 times, his teams have won 55.2% of their games, while for Michael Jordan, the figure is 56.2%.

--Josh Smith, a talented forward, was waived on Monday by the struggling Pistons, even though Smith still has at least $26 million remaining on his contract. The 29-year-old is averaging 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game this season, though was hitting only 39% of his shots from the field.

Team president Stan Van Gundy said there was no incident or blowup that precipitated the move, the Pistons just want to give their younger players more of an opportunity to show the organization what they have.

--Break up the 76ers! They won their fourth of the season on Tuesday, 91-87 in Miami, as the Heat blew a 69-46 second-half lead.

--Shockingly, at least to some of us, the Pittsburgh Pirates earned the right to negotiate with South Korean shortstop Jung-Ho Kang. They have 30 days to try and sign the 27-year-old power hitter.

The Pirates came up with the highest posting fee, reported to be $5 million, so if they sign Kang, that money goes to his Korean Baseball Organization team, the Nexen Heroes.

If the Pirates do not sign him, Kang goes back to the Heroes.

--Good for Phil Hughes. The Twins hurler parlayed a very solid 16-10, 3.52 ERA season into a new five-year, $58 million contract that is essentially a three-year extension of his existing deal.

You know, when you look back at his performance, it really is amazing Hughes walked only 16 in 209 innings. He always had good control, but this was extraordinary. In fact he became just the sixth pitcher in baseball history to walk fewer than 20 batters while tossing at least 200 innings.

--Ask The Slouch...aka Norman Chad / Washington Post:

Q: Is it true that after a loss SEC football coaches punish their players by making them go to class? (Curtis P., Middleburg, Va.)

A: Yes. But North Carolina coaches are tougher – they punish their players by making them go to phantom class.

--Director of Bear Attacks for Bar Chat, Brad K., passed along a story from the Daily Mail by Jim Reilly.

“A 15-year-olld girl who suffered horrific injuries after being attacked by a bear only survived because she remembered to ‘play dead.’

“Leah Reeder, 15, sustained deep bites and gouges to her legs, back, neck and face, after the attack on Sunday in Eastpoint, Franklin County, on Florida’s panhandle.

“She was out walking her dog at 6pm when the bear suddenly appeared and tackled her.

“ ‘I was listening to music and I heard my dog start barking. It was like a black blur,’ she told Apalach Times from her hospital bed.

“She said the bear pushed her down, and she rolled on to her front side and started screaming.

“ ‘I guess nobody heard me,’ she said. ‘After I realized nobody was coming, I stopped screaming, and it started dragging me to the ditch. It lost its grip on my jacket and fell in the ditch and got up and ran away.’

“Leah was able to stagger a block back to where she was staying with her father.”

Poor Leah. Her injuries really were awful. The bear “bit her face open,” according to her mother. The girl has undergone plastic surgery.

It was the third bear attack in the region this year. The marauder hasn’t been captured as I go to post.

The state is now going to war with the bears. Any adults will be euthanized, according to a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Yup, it’s time to stop feeling sorry for the bruins in this country. They’re no longer cute. The black bear and his spot on the All-Species List is accordingly under review. Remember, we suspended the beaver not once, but twice, before. We can do the same to the Smokey.

--Finally, we note the passing of British singer Joe Cocker, who died on Monday of lung cancer at the age of 70.

Cocker became a rock sensation in 1969 when the then 25-year-old performed the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends” at Woodstock, which was a big part of the 1970 concert film “Woodstock,” the sweat-soaked Cocker throwing himself into the song like no other. Paul McCartney recalled hearing Cocker’s rendition and in a statement on his passing, said, “It was just mind-blowing, totally turned the song into a soul anthem, and I was forever grateful for him for having done that.”

After Woodstock, Cocker toured widely, including the “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” tour in ’70 that included as many as 30 musicians, among them Leon Russell.

Cocker was also known for his onstage contortions that John Belushi famously parodied on “Saturday Night Live.” I’m laughing just typing this because I vividly recall seeing this bit in 1975. A year later, Cocker appeared on the show to perform, joined by Belushi in imitation.

Cocker was born on May 20, 1944, in Sheffield, England and in 1959 began playing in a group called the Cavaliers. He was greatly influenced by Ray Charles.

In the mid-60s his career began to take shape, touring northern England at first, with his “Grease Band” playing Motown covers in pubs before he and partner Chris Stainton moved to London.

But it was Woodstock that made him famous, though he was constantly having issues with drugs.

“With a Little Help From My Friends” actually never charted in the Top 40, though for many of us we loved it anew because it was used as the theme song for one of the great comedy series of all time, “The Wonder Years.”

#7 “The Letter” (1970), with Leon Russell
#11 “Cry Me A River” (1970)
#5 “You Are So Beautiful” (1975)
#1 “Up Where We Belong” (1982)*
#11 “When The Night Comes” (1989)

*He won both a Grammy and Oscar for this duet with Jennifer Warnes that was featured in the soundtrack to the film “An Officer and a Gentleman.”

Incredibly, Joe Cocker isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Top 3 songs for the week 12/23/78: #1 “Le Freak” (Chic) #2 “Too Much Heaven” (Bee Gees) #3 “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (Barbra & Neil...ack...)...and...#4 “My Life” (Billy Joel...not his best...) #5 “I Love The Nightlife (Disco ‘Round)” (Alicia Bridges) #6 “I Just Wanna Stop” (Gino Vannelli...actually liked this guy...) #7 “Sharing The Night Together” (Dr. Hook) #8 “Y.M.C.A.” (Village People...the bane of every wedding reception...) #9 “(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away” (Andy Gibb) #10 “Hold The Line” (Toto...just a really crappy week...)

Nebraska Quiz Answer: 1994 – QB Brook Berringer, leading rusher Lawrence Phillips; 1995 – QB Tommie Frazier, leading rusher Ahman Green. In ’95, Nebraska was swept up in a scandal involving Phillips and an assault charge.

And now our annual Christmas special. I added a few tidbits.

Apollo 8

Growing up, one of the more dramatic memories as a kid was staying up Christmas Eve 1968 to follow the remarkable voyage of Apollo 8.  

If ever a nation needed a pick me up, it was America in ’68, after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, with the ongoing war in Vietnam and the dramatic Tet Offensive, and after LBJ’s sudden withdrawal from the presidential race, the turbulent Democratic Convention, and the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Yes, we were ready for a little space adventure.

Apollo 8 would be the first manned mission to orbit the moon. Commanded by Frank Borman, with James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders, it was launched on December 21 and on Christmas Eve the three began their orbit. What made it all even more dramatic was the first go round to the dark side of the moon, when all communication was lost until they reemerged at the other side. It was the middle of the night for us viewers, at least in the Eastern time zone, and I remember that Apollo was sending back spectacular photos of Earth.

Borman described the moon as “a vast, lonely and forbidding sight,” and Lovell called Earth, “a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.” The crew members then took turns reading from the Book of Genesis / Creation:

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

James Lovell would later say, “Please be informed, there is a Santa Claus.” And Borman concluded with, “Merry Christmas. God bless all of you, all of you on the Good Earth.”

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“NORAD’s tradition of tracking Santa’s sleigh began with a wrong number.

“Right before Christmas in 1955, Sears ran an ad offering millions of toy-hungry girls and boys the chance to talk to the big man himself. In Colorado Springs, the retailer published the local phone number to the North Pole as ME2-6681.

“There was only one problem: The number was one digit off.

“And that wrong number rang on the desk of a high-ranking officer in a bunker at the Continental Air Defense Command – the predecessor of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which has the less-than-festive mission of detecting and defending the continent against nuclear attack.”

Col. Harry Shoup took the first call on the command’s red phone. In an interview with the Post, Shoup’s daughter, Terri Van Keuren, recalled:

“ ‘The phone rang, and he picked up.  ‘This is Colonel Shoup, commander of this combat station. Who is this?’”

Silence on the other end. Shoup repeated himself, then “a meek little boy’s voice came over the line.

“ ‘Is this Santa Claus?’ he murmured.

“Worried there had been some kind of security breach, Shoup again demanded the caller’s name. He heard crying, and another query came through the tears.

“Shoup recognized he was in a moment that could destroy the little boy’s faith in Santa.

“ ‘Yes, I am,’ he said. ‘Have you been a good boy?’

After the two talked a while, Shoup asked to speak with the boy’s mother.

“ ‘He asked her: ‘Do you have any idea who you’ve called?’’ Van Keuren said. ‘She told him to take a look at that day’s newspaper.’”

So the calls flooded in and Shoup directed his men to answer as Santa.

Weeks later, Shoup, on vacation, dropped in on his men and spotted a sleigh on the huge plexiglass map of North America in the room. A subordinate was afraid he had just lost his job.

Instead, Shoup said, “There’s something good we could do with this.”

And so Col. Shoup called a local radio station with the news the command center was tracking Santa’s sleigh. Ever since then, NORAD has been tracking Santa.

The story of Phil Spector’s “A Christmas Gift for You,” as told by Ronnie Spector in her book “Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness…or…My Life as a Fabulous Ronette”. 

“One record that did feature all three Ronettes – and just about everyone else who worked for Phil – was Phil’s Christmas album, A Christmas Gift for You. Phil is Jewish, but for some reason he always loved Christmas. Every year he would spend weeks designing his own special Christmas card, which he would send to everyone in the business. In 1963 he took that idea one step further and recorded an entire album of Christmas music, with contributions from all the acts on his Philles label. All of the groups got to do three or four songs each. The Ronettes did ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,’ ‘Sleigh Ride,’ and ‘Frosty the Snowman.’ 

“We worked on that one forever. Phil started recording it in the summer, and he didn’t leave the studio for about two months. We’d start recording early in the evening, and we’d work until late into the night, sometimes even into the next morning. And everybody sang on everyone else’s songs, so all of Phil’s acts really were like one big, happy family for that one album. 

“While he was recording it, Phil told everyone that this Christmas album was going to be the masterpiece of his career. And he meant it. We all knew how important this project was to Phil when he walked into the studio on the last day of recording and announced that he was going to add a vocal himself. The final song on the record is a spoken message from Phil, where he thanks all the kids for buying his records and then wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, while we all sing a chorus of ‘Silent Night’ in the background. A lot of people thought the song was corny. But if you knew Phil like I did, it was very touching. 

“But then I always did have a soft spot for Phil’s voice. There was something about his phrasing and diction that drove me crazy. It was so cool, so calm, so serene. Phil wasn’t a singer, but when he spoke he put me in a romantic mood like no singer could. He was the only guy I ever met who could talk me into an orgasm.  

“Of course, he wasn’t doing that back then. Not yet, anyway. Phil and I were still just sweethearts in those days. We spent lots of time together, and we were very romantic, but we still hadn’t slept together. Maybe that’s why we were so romantic. 

“A Christmas Gift for You finally came out in November of 1963. But in spite of all the work we put into it, the album was one of Phil’s biggest flops. It was reissued as The Phil Spector Christmas Album in the early seventies, and nowadays people talk about it like it’s one of the greatest albums in rock and roll history. But nobody bought it when it first came out. 

“President Kennedy had been shot a few days before it was released, and after that people were too depressed to even look at a rock and roll record. And they stayed that way until well into the New Year of 1964, when – thank God – four long-haired English guys finally got them to go back into the record stores.”

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The Gospel According to Luke

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see - I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

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Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

A famous letter from Virginia O’Hanlon to the editorial board of the New York Sun, first printed in 1897:

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor -

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

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Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

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A Visit from St. Nicholas

By Clement C. Moore [Well, he really stole it, but that’s a story for another day. This is the original version.]

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap;
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof -
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

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World War I – Christmas Truce

By December 1914, the war had been picking up in intensity for five months. Ironically, the feeling during the initial phases was that everyone would be home by Christmas, though little did they know it would be Christmas 1918.

On Christmas Eve 1914, along the British and German lines, particularly in the Flanders area, the soldiers got into conversation with each other and it was clear to the British that the Germans wanted some sort of Christmas Armistice. Sir Edward Hulse wrote in his diary, “A scout named F. Murker went out and met a German Patrol and was given a glass of whisky and some cigars, and a message was sent back saying that if we didn’t fire at them they would not fire at us.” That night, where five days earlier there had been savage fighting, the guns fell silent.

The following morning German soldiers walked towards the British wire and the Brits went out to meet them. They exchanged caps and souvenirs and food. Then arrangements were made for the British to pick up bodies left on the German side during a recent failed raid.

Christmas Day, fraternization took place along many of the lines, including a few of the French and Belgian ones. Some joined in chasing hares, others, most famously, kicked around a soccer ball. British soldier Bruce Bairnsfather would write, “It all felt most curious: here were these sausage-eating wretches, who had elected to start this infernal European fracas, and in so doing had brought us all into the same muddy pickle as themselves. But there was not an atom of hate on either side that day; and yet, on our side, not for a moment was the will to war and the will to beat them relaxed.”

In the air the war continued and the French Foreign Legionnaires in Alsace were ordered to fight Christmas Day as well. Plus, most of the commanders on both sides were none too pleased. Nothing like the Christmas truce of 1914 would occur in succeeding years (outside of a pocket or two) and by December 26, 1914, the guns were blazing anew.

[Source: “The First World War,” by Martin Gilbert] 

“May You Always”

From 1959-2002, Harry Harrison was a fixture on New York radio, the last 20+ years at the great oldies station WCBS-FM. Unfortunately, he was forced to retire, which ticked off many of us to no end, but he will forever be remembered for a brilliant greeting titled “May You Always.” Enjoy.

As the holiday bells ring out the old year, and sweethearts kiss,
And cold hands touch and warm each other against the year ahead,
May I wish you not the biggest and best of life,
But the small pleasures that make living worthwhile.

Sometime during the new year, to keep your heart in practice,
May you do someone a secret good deed and not get caught at it.
May you find a little island of time to read that book and write that letter,
And to visit that lonely friend on the other side of town.
May your next do-it-yourself project not look like you did it yourself.

May the poor relatives you helped support remember you when they win the lottery.
May your best card tricks win admiring gasps and your worst puns, admiring groans.
May all those who told you so, refrain from saying “I told you so.”

May all the predictions you’ve made for your firstborn’s future come true.
May just half of those optimistic predictions that your high school annual made for you come true.
In a time of sink or swim, may you find you can walk to shore before you call the lifeguard.
May you keep at least one ideal you can pass along to your kids.

For a change, some rainy day, when you’re a few minutes late,
May your train or bus be waiting for you.
May you accidentally overhear someone saying something nice about you.

If you run into an old school chum,
May you both remember each other’s names for introductions.
If you order your steak medium rare, may it be so.
And, if you’re on a diet, may someone tell you, “You’ve lost a little weight,” without knowing you’re on a diet.

May that long and lonely night be brightened by the telephone call that you’ve been waiting for.
When you reach into the coin slot, may you find the coin that you lost on your last wrong number.
When you trip and fall, may there be no one watching to laugh at you or feel sorry for you.

And sometime soon, may you be waved to by a celebrity, wagged at by a puppy, run to by a happy child, and counted on by someone you love.
More than this, no one can wish you.

Ross Cameron / Sydney Morning Herald…I first read this in December 2009.

“Jesus is easily the most influential person in history, and the most universally loved….

“Of his early life, the record is almost blank; we are left with a few fragments….

“He was deeply literate in Jewish scriptures but silent on writings outside that tradition. We may assume he lived his entire life within 160 km of his birthplace – he never describes a foreign custom or place. After a major spiritual moment under the influence of John, he launched into local prominence as an itinerant preacher at age 30. Tradition holds that Jesus was a public figure for three years but modern scholars strongly believe a single year is more likely….

“Riding a wave of fame and popularity, Jesus moved the road show to the heavily garrisoned provincial and religious capital of Jerusalem, entering the city in the lead-up to the most holy day of the Jewish year. The Roman authorities are not known for their tolerance of burgeoning mass movements. Jesus fairly quickly found his way to the agony and humiliation of public torture and execution by order of the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate – famous for casual brutality. It was a routine event in a typical day in a Roman occupied city.

“History’s great riddle followed. His supporters immediately claimed Jesus rose from the dead. The four biographies of Jesus often contradict each other on minor details but nowhere so much as in the resurrection narratives. The difficulty with dismissing the claim altogether, however, is how otherwise to explain the instant, unprecedented explosion of the Jesus movement across the Mediterranean. The willingness of so many sane first-century beings – many of them witnesses – to suffer death rather than deny the central tenet of their faith, is also cause for reflection….

“We are left to ponder how one year in the life of a seeming nobody could transform the Roman Empire and the entire planet. The reason for the triumph of this nobody is to be found in his first recorded words. ‘Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.’ Jesus is specially kind to the weak and the outcast – to women, the poor, children, a madman in chains and a hated tax collector.

“In the pre-Jesus record, in virtually every human society, vast faceless classes of people were less valued than domestic animals. The world’s second-greatest philosopher, Aristotle, while writing the 101 course of every academic discipline, fervently endorsed the keeping of slaves as natural and desirable to good order. Slavery continued for centuries after Jesus but the impulse to end it was Christian. Beyond the Jewish scriptures, to which Jesus gave a megaphone, no one cared about those on the margins. Jesus establishes the sublime idea that everyone matters.

“Today that single thought has transformed our sense of what it means to be human. Major political parties of the earth, whether left, centrist or right wing (with the possible exception of the Greens) agree the welfare of the whole human race is our common goal. ‘Blessed are the meek’ evolved into ‘All men are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’

“From whatever perspective we come, thinking people ought to be able to agree, the birth of Jesus was a good day for mankind. I suspect I may never quite shake the childlike hunch that there is some uniquely divine imprint on the central individual of the human story. Happy Birthday, Jesus.”

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[From Army Times]

Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army was in a dire situation during the frigid winter of 1776. His army had been defeated and chased from New York, and forced to set up winter camp for his remaining 5,000 troops at Valley Forge, Pa., only miles from the capital city of Philadelphia. With morale at its lowest point of the war and enlistments coming to an end, Washington desperately needed a victory to secure reenlistments and draw in some new recruits. The outcome of the revolution was at stake. 

On Christmas night, Washington’s troops began to gather on the banks of the Delaware River at McKonkey’s Ferry. His plan was to cross the partially frozen river by midnight, march to Trenton and surround the garrison of Hessian troops (Germans fighting for the British) in the city in a predawn attack. 

Before the Army had even launched a boat across the river, it began to rain, then hail, then snow. Washington was behind schedule. Remarkably, the force crossed the river without a single casualty. At 4 a.m., Dec. 26, the ill-equipped army began to march toward Trenton, some with rags wrapped around their feet instead of shoes. 

Washington had achieved complete surprise with the dangerous crossing. The battle began when the Army encountered a group of unprepared Hessian sentries at about 8 a.m., and by 9:30 the garrison had surrendered. The Army had killed 22, injured 83 and taken 896 prisoners. 

By noon, Washington had left Trenton, having lost two men in the battle, and returned to camp at Valley Forge. He had won a major victory, inspiring the needed reenlistments. News of the battle drew new recruits into the beleaguered Continental Army. The revolution would live to fight another day.

A number of years ago, Rich Lowry wrote an op-ed in the New York Post on the genius of “White Christmas”:

“America’s classic Christmas song was written by a Jewish immigrant.

“Born in Russia with the name Israel Baline, he was the genius songwriter we know as Irving Berlin. He wrote ‘White Christmas’ for the 1942 Hollywood musical ‘Holiday Inn,’ starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.

“On set, the movie’s hit number was presumed to be another Berlin composition, the Valentine’s Day song ‘Be Careful, It’s My Heart.’ At first, it was. Then ‘White Christmas’ captured the public’s imagination and hasn’t quite loosed its grip since....

“Some estimates point to sales of all versions of ‘White Christmas’ topping 100 million....

“It is a song built on yearning. In lines at the beginning of the original version that aren’t usually performed, Berlin writes of being out in sunny California during the holiday: ‘There’s never been such a day/in Beverly Hills, L.A./But it’s December the twenty-fourth,/And I’m longing to be up North’.

“(Colleague Mark) Steyn thinks that if America had entered World War II a few years earlier, the song might never have taken off. But 1942 was the year that American men were first shipped overseas, and it was released into a wave of homesickness. (Berlin’s daughter) Mary Ellin Barrett says it first caught on with GIs in Great Britain. During the course of the war, it became the most requested song with Armed Forces Radio.

“The irony of the son of a cantor writing the characteristic American Christmas song is obvious. Yet, Berlin’s daughter says, ‘He believed in the great American Christmas.’ As a child on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, he loved to look at the little Christmas tree of his Catholic neighbors. He and his Christian wife Ellin (theirs was a scandalous mixed marriage), put on elaborate, joyous Christmases for their daughters. Not until later would they reveal that the day was a painful one for them because they had lost an infant child on Christmas.

“Berlin knew he had something special with ‘White Christmas’ as soon as he wrote it. He supposedly enthused to his secretary, ‘I just wrote the best song I’ve ever written – heck, I just wrote the best song that anybody’s ever written!’ The song evokes the warmth of the hearth and the comforts of our Christmas traditions in a way that hasn’t stopped pulling at heartstrings yet.”

Some tidbits related to “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” At first, Charles Schulz and his associates didn’t think they’d be able to pull the project off for CBS. Production was crammed into five months and CBS executives were none too pleased with the results. Schulz insisted on the biblical passage, animator Bill Melendez and producer Lee Mendelson weren’t so sure.

The rush to production led to a few mistakes, like Schroeder’s fingers coming off the keyboard while music is playing, and Pig Pen mysteriously disappearing for a second. Plus the barren Christmas tree lost, and then regained, a couple of branches. They just didn’t have time to change it.

Melendez, by the way, wrote the lyrics to “Christmas Time Is Here” in 15 minutes on an envelope, after Vince Guaraldi had come up with the music.

Separately, Mendelson recalled speaking to Schulz shortly before he died. “He said, ‘Good grief. That little kid’s never going to kick the football.’”

Linus [From “A Charlie Brown Christmas”]

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shown round about them. And they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, goodwill toward men.”

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. 

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