College Football / Division I-A Quiz: Who are the only 3 to
average 200 or more yards a game for a season? [Hint: All 3 are
since 1970.] Answer below.
[As part of our continuing effort to record the history of our
times, we present another important speech.]
President Bush, October 7, 2001…announcing that military
strikes had commenced.
On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes
against al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and military
installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
These carefully targeted actions are designed to disrupt the use of
Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the
military capability of the Taliban regime.
We are joined in this operation by our staunch friend, Great
Britain. Other close friends, including Canada, Australia,
Germany and France, have pledged forces as the operation
unfolds.
More than 40 countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and
across Asia have granted air transit or landing rights. Many
more have shared intelligence. We are supported by the
collective will of the world.
More than 2 weeks ago, I gave Taliban leaders a series of clear
and specific demands: Close terrorist training camps. Hand over
leaders of the al-Qaeda network, and return all foreign nationals,
including American citizens unjustly detained in your country.
None of these demands were met. And now, the Taliban will
pay a price.
By destroying camps and disrupting communications, we will
make it more difficult for the terror network to train new recruits
and coordinate their evil plans.
Initially, the terrorists may burrow deeper into caves and other
entrenched hiding places.
Our military action is also designed to clear the way for
sustained, comprehensive and relentless operations to drive them
out and bring them to justice.
At the same time, the oppressed people of Afghanistan will know
the generosity of America and our allies. As we strike military
targets, we will also drop food, medicine and supplies to the
starving and suffering men and women and children of
Afghanistan.
The United States of America is a friend to the Afghan people,
and we are the friends of almost a billion worldwide who
practice the Islamic faith.
The United States of America is an enemy of those who aid
terrorists and of the barbaric criminals who profane a great
religion by committing murder in its name.
This military action is a part of our campaign against terrorism,
another front in a war that has already been joined through
diplomacy, intelligence, the freezing of financial assets and the
arrests of known terrorists by law enforcement agents in 38
countries.
Given the nature and reach of our enemies, we will win this
conflict by the patient accumulation of successes, by meeting a
series of challenges with determination and will and purpose.
Today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader.
Every nation has a choice to make. In this conflict, there is no
neutral ground.
If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents,
they have become outlaws and murderers themselves. And they
will take that lonely path at their own peril.
I”m speaking to you today from the Treaty Room of the White
House, a place where American presidents have worked for
peace.
We”re a peaceful nation. Yet, as we have learned, so suddenly
and so tragically, there can be no peace in a world of sudden
terror. In the face of today”s new threat, the only way to pursue
peace is to pursue those who threaten it.
We did not ask for this mission, but we will fulfill it.
The name of today”s military operation is Enduring Freedom.
We defend not only our precious freedoms, but also the freedom
of people everywhere to live and raise their children free from
fear.
I know many Americans feel fear today. And our government is
taking strong precautions.
All law enforcement and intelligence agencies are working
aggressively around America, around the world and around the
clock.
At my request, many governors have activated the National
Guard to strengthen airport security. We have called up reserves
to reinforce our military capability and strengthen the protection
of our homeland.
In the months ahead, our patience will be one of our strengths –
patience with the long waits that will result from tighter security,
patience and understanding that it will take time to achieve our
goals, patience in all the sacrifices that may come.
Today, those sacrifices are being made by members of our armed
forces who now defend us so far from home, and by their proud
and worried families.
A commander in chief sends America”s sons and daughters into
battle in a foreign land only after the greatest care and a lot of
prayer.
We ask a lot of those who wear our uniform. We ask them to
leave their loved ones, to travel great distances, to risk injury,
even to be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives.
They are dedicated. They are honorable. They represent the best
of our country, and we are grateful.
To all the men and women in our military, every sailor, every
soldier, every airman, every Coast Guardsman, every Marine, I
say this: Your mission is defined. The objectives are clear. Your
goal is just. You have my full confidence, and you will have
every tool you need to carry out your duty.
I recently received a touching letter that says a lot about the state
of America in these difficult times, a letter from a fourth-grade
girl with a father in the military.
“As much as I don”t want my Dad to fight,” she wrote, “I”m
willing to give him to you.”
This is a precious gift. The greatest she could give. This young
girl knows what America is all about.
Since Sept. 11, an entire generation of young Americans has
gained new understanding of the value of freedom and its cost
and duty and its sacrifice.
The battle is now joined on many fronts.
We will not waver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we
will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail.
Thank you. May God continue to bless America.
—
Mount Rushmore
I had a super day on Monday, cruising the Black Hills of South
Dakota. Of course a highlight was a return to Mount Rushmore
after my last trip about 35 years ago.
Mount Rushmore was the dream of Doane Robinson,
superintendent of South Dakota State Historical Society, who in
1923 had a vision of a massive mountain memorial carved from
stone. But at the time Robinson thought that figures such as
Custer, Buffalo Bill, and Lewis & Clark should be the ones
featured in rock.
Robinson couldn”t accomplish anything, however, without
money and the support of some in Washington so he enlisted the
help of U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck, who then encouraged
Robinson to seek a sculptor. That turned out to be Gutzon
Borglum, one of America”s most prolific artists. Borglum was a
flamboyant sort who dreamed big, just like Robinson, but he told
Doane that his life”s work would not be spent immortalizing
regional heroes. No, he would carve Washington, Jefferson,
Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
In 1927, President Coolidge by chance had decided to spend a 3-
week summer vacation in the Black Hills. The locals made sure
everything was just right, including secretly stocking the
president”s fishing streams (and blocking the ends so that the fish
would have to stay in a confined area). Well, Cal was more than
satisfied with the experience and decided to stay not 3 weeks but
3 months. It was then a foregone conclusion that Coolidge
would pledge federal support for the Mount Rushmore project.
Over the next 14 years, what work was completed was totally
dependent on money so, actually, out of that time period about
six and a half years was actual labor, the rest of the time was
spent on fundraising.
Borglum died just a few months before completion, in the spring
of ”41, and his son completed the task months later. Of the
legacy he was leaving his country, Gutzon Borglum had the
following comments.
“Mount Rushmore is eternal. It will stand until the end of time.
Ten thousand years from now our civilization will have passed
without leaving a trace. A new race of people will inhabit the
earth. They will come to Mount Rushmore and read the record
we have made.
“Hence, let us place here, carved high, as close to heaven as we
can, the words of our leaders, their faces to show posterity what
manner of men they were. Then breathe a prayer that these
records will endure until the wind and the rain alone shall wear
them away.”
Mount Rushmore is so bold, so brash, so American. You can”t
help but stand there and think, “God I love my country.”
Tidbits
–Weeks ago I mentioned that Michigan was going to play
Michigan State in an outdoor college hockey game at E. Lansing.
Well, in case you missed it, that was this past Saturday and
74,500 were in attendance! That”s awesome, baby. And the
crowd evidently saw a spectacular game, as #1 MSU tied #4
Michigan with just 47 seconds left and it ended 3-3.
–Baseball facts.for the record. Ichiro”s 242 hits were the most
in the majors since Bill Terry had 254 for the 1930 NY Giants.
Cincinnati finished 27-54.at home! And to put Barry Bonds”s
177 walks in perspective, Sammy Sosa was second in the league
with 116.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/5/74: #1 “I Honestly Love You”
(Olivia Newton-John) #2 “Nothing From Nothing” (Billy
Preston) #3 “Then Came You” (Dionne Warwicke & The
Spinners.great, great song)
College Football Quiz Answer: 200-yard per game average – Ed
Marinaro, 209 (Cornell – 1971); Marcus Allen, 213 (Southern
Cal – 1981); Barry Sanders, 239 (Oklahoma State – 1988)
College Football Tidbits:
–Back in 1950, Pat Brady booted a 99-yard punt for Nevada in a
game against Loyola Marymount.
–Terrell Buckely, Florida State (1989-91) holds the record for
most yards on interceptions, career, 501 on 21.
–Johnny Jackson intercepted 3 passes for TDs in a single game
for Houston vs. Texas (31, 53, 97) in 1987.
–In 1939 Milton Hill of Texas Tech returned 20 punts in a single
game. [For just 110 yards.]
–3 players have returned 7 punts for TDs in their careers: Jack
Mitchell, Oklahoma (1946-48); Johnny Rodgers, Nebraska
(1970-72); David Allen, Kansas State (1997-99.including one
in 3 consecutive games in 1998).
–Southern Cal”s Anthony Davis holds the record with 6 TD
returns on kickoffs (1972-74).
Next Bar Chat, Friday…Yes, I did go to the world famous
Reptile Farm out here in Rapid City today. More than you ever
needed to know about snakes…Friday.
