Da\’ Bears Quiz (Chicago.1920 – 2000): 1) Who replaced
George Halas as head coach in 1968? [Hint: This fellow was at
the helm 4 seasons.and it\’s not Abe Gibron.] 2) Retired
uniform #\’s: Identify #42 and #77. 3) Most passing yards,
career? 4) Most pass receptions, career? Answers below.
President Bush on 9/11
[Speech on the 3-month anniversary, 12/11]
A great writer has said that the struggle of humanity against
tyranny is the struggle of memory against forgetting. When we
fight terror, we fight tyranny, and so we remember.
We remember the perfect blueness of the sky that Tuesday
morning. We remember the children traveling without their
mothers when the planes were hijacked. We remember the
cruelty of the murderers and the pain and anguish of the
murdered. Every one of the innocents who died on September
11 was the most important person on earth to somebody. Every
death extinguished a world.
We remember the courage of the rescue workers and the
outpouring of friendship and sympathy from nations around the
world. We remember how we felt that day; our sadness, the
surge of love for our country, our anger and our determination to
right this huge wrong. Today the wrong is being righted and
justice is being done.
We still have far to go and many dangers lie ahead. Yet, there
can be no doubt how this conflict will end. Our enemies have
made the mistake that America\’s enemies always make; they saw
liberty and thought they saw weakness, and now they see defeat.
In time this war will end, but our remembrance never will. All
around this beautiful city are statues of our heroes, memorials,
museums and archives that preserve our national experience, our
achievements and our failures, our defeats and our victories.
This republic is young, but its memory is long. Now we have
inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It\’s a memory
of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss
and mourning; it\’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice
and the love that lays down its life for a friend, even a friend
whose name it never knew.
We are privileged to have with us today the families of many of
the heroes on September 11, including the family of Jeremy
Glick of Flight 93. His courage and self-sacrifice may have
saved the White House. It is right and fitting that it is here we
pay our respects.
In time, perhaps, we will mark a memory of September 11 in
stone and metal, something we can show children as yet unborn
to help them understand what happened on this minute and on
this day.
But for those of us who lived through these events, the only
marker we\’ll ever need is the tick of a clock at the 46th minute of
the eighth hour of the eleventh day. We\’ll remember where we
were and how we felt. We\’ll remember the dead and what we
owe them. We will remember what we lost and what we found.
And in our time, we will honor the memory of the 11th day by
doing our duty as citizens of this great country, freedom\’s home
and freedom\’s defender.
God bless.
—–
NASA on 9/11
Lead flight director Wayne Hale, from Mission Control in
Houston.
"We\’re here today to mark a moment of solemn remembrance.
In stark contrast to the international cooperation and unity in our
efforts to take mankind literally to the stars, we\’re reminded of
our loss and sorrow due to the acts of violence and terror in an
unprecedented attack on freedom, democracy and civilization
itself."
Space Station commander Frank Culbertson said it takes time to
heal following events like 9/11.
"We, however, have been given greater resolve by these events
to continue what we are doing in the name of the positive and
worthwhile goals of international cooperation in science and in
space."
God bless you guys. Keep at it, we need another place to go.
—–
Troy Hurtubise
Harry K. alerted me to this 37-year-old former scrap metal dealer
from North Bay, Ontario who had an experience back in 1984
that would change his life. It seems that Troy was panning for
gold (another misguided youth.but he didn\’t go the route of the
Taliban, at least) when he was attacked by a grizzly. Troy came
out of this experience with all his limbs, but he vowed that day to
do something to protect humans from the animal kingdom. But
it wasn\’t until he saw the film "RoboCop" that his ideas
crystallized in the form of his "Ursus" bear-suit.
Harry K picks up the story. "Mr. Hurtubise and his bear-suit
were the subject of a documentary film ("Project Grizzly"), a
1996 project of the Canadian National Film Board, which
grossed some $30 million. If you\’ve never seen the
documentary, it\’s well worth looking for at the video story."
What Troy did was put fifteen years and $100,000 of his savings
into a 150-pound protective suit of titanium, plastic, chain mail,
galvanized steel, rubber and duct tape. He then tested it by
having a car run over him, along with being torched and
receiving pointblank blasts from a shotgun.
Hurtubise went bankrupt, but in the last few days his world was
supposed to change, as he finally tested the anti-bear outfit
against the real thing, a 1,300-pound Kodiak (a close relative to
the grizzly).
Well, according to Alison Motluk, "The first live tests of Troy
Hurtubise\’s grizzly-proof suit have found that its best protective
feature is its bizarre appearance."
First, he squared off against a 320-pound female grizzly who,
when confronted by the suit, cowered in fear. Alas, the long-
awaited test against the Kodiak, never came about. When a
1,200-pound beast was introduced to the bear-suits, sans
Hurtubise inside, the bear, after a cursory investigation of the
various materials, proceeded to rip off big chunks of it. Luckily
for Troy, the bear\’s handler wouldn\’t allow direct contact
between a Kodiak and Hurtubise, though Troy did finally step in
with the behemoth and the Kodiak approached. "I could feel his
breath coming through my visor," said Hurtubise. "I was
terrified." He was removed before it went any further. Troy
now realizes he better redesign the Ursus suit to allow for more
chain mail. We\’re looking at a spring 2002 date for the long-
anticipated full confrontation. If it works, Hurtubise may have
the last laugh, as the suit could have commercial applications for
firefighters and policemen, for starters.
Stuff
–Former Cowboys\’ player Nate Newton was arrested a second
time for drug possession in 6 weeks. But this time, he had 175
pounds of marijuana!! Goodness, gracious.
–Say a prayer for a great ballplayer, Ron Santo, who just had a
foot amputated due to complications from diabetes. It is an
absolute crime that Santo is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
–342 career HR, 1,331 RBI.in a dead-ball era.
–11 years with 20 or more HR (7 seasons in the Top Ten in this
category).
–4 years with 100 or more RBI (8 seasons in the Top Ten).
–11 straight seasons 154 or more games.
Dammit, get this guy in there!!!
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/12/64. I thought this was such an
interesting week.as well as a super example of just how great
music was back then.that I\’m listing the entire Top Ten.
1. Mr. Lonely – Bobby Vinton
2. She\’s Not There – The Zombies
3. Ringo – Lorne Greene
4. Come See About Me – The Supremes
5. I Feel Fine – The Beatles
6. Time Is On My Side – The Rolling Stones
7. You Really Got Me – The Kinks
8. Baby Love – The Supremes
9. I\’m Gonna Be Strong – Gene Pitney
10. Dance, Dance, Dance – The Beach Boys
Chicago Bears Quiz Answers: 1) Jim Dooley replaced George
Halas in 1968 and went 20-36 in 4 seasons. 2) Retired uniform
#\’s: #42 Sid Luckman. #77 Red Grange. 3) Passing yards,
career: Sid Luckman.only 14,686 in his 12 years as a Bear,
1939-50. You know, this is really pitiful for an 80-year
franchise. 4) Receptions, career: Walter Payton, 492.another
pretty pitiful stat.
Bears Notes:
–Johnny Lujack holds the record for passing / game, when he
threw for 468 in a 1949 contest. That same season he led the
league in passing, throwing for 2,658 yards in 12 games.
–Nice draft! 1965: The first two selections were #3 overall,
Dick Butkus (from Pittsburgh) and #4, Gale Sayers.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. William Faulkner…yes, really.
