RD thoughts - Sept 19 2006

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the delay, the posting did not take earlier, am trying again. RD


First off, how about that unbelievable game between the Dodgers and Padres at the stadium on the 18th? History was certainly made during this one; four consecutive home runs to tie the game at 9 in the bottom of the 9th, and a walk-off two-run home run by Nomar Garciaparra in the bottom of the 10th for the win, and to give LA repossession of first place in the NL West, and send the Padres back to the Wild Card leaderboard once again. This one will certainly rank with Kirk Gibson's heroics from '88 as one of the great comebacks in Dodger baseball history. The four home runs-in-a-row feat is only the fourth time that's ever happened in Major League Baseball, and truly a first in Dodger baseball history (Brooklyn or LA).

Pete Arbogast, the voice of SC football and the one-time voice of Dodger Stadium in the late-80s and early-90s, will be guest-announcing the game between the Dodgers and Pirates on the 19th. Anyone who is an Trojan fan (and/or a Dodger fan for that matter) are encouraged to come on out and support the Dodgers, and hopefully support Arbogast as well and convince the Blue crew to get him back on the PA side, if not become a Dodgers broadcaster. They certainly could've used him for the Dodgers-Padres game on the 18th, that's for sure.

Congratulations to contestant VickiAnn on the first episode of "The Price Is Right"'s 35th season. She became the biggest money daytime game show winner in CBS history by winning over $147,000 in cash and prizes, thanks in part to a double-showcase win. VickiAnn now ranks 4th among the top winners in daytime game show history, passing "Sale of the Century" winner Linda Credit, and trailing three other former SOTC champions: Barbara Phillips, Stephanie Holmquist and Tom O'Brien. Tom O'Brien holds the record, with winnings of more than $170,000. That episode by the way was taped on August 31, and aired on the 18th of September. It is production #3681K, for those of you who want to try to get a videotape of the episode from CBS.

In fact, the episode awarded a record $297,510 in cash and prizes (only $12,600 of it was cash), the highest amount of prizes awarded on any network game show on daytime television. A record seven automobiles (out of a possible 8) were won; the only car loss was "Lucky $even", in which a contestant played for a Cadillac. Tough to win one of those if you don't know how much those luxury automobiles are as opposed to playing that game for an at-average car worth around $20,000+. In any event, a Corvette was won in the now-much easier "Three Strikes" game, a van was won in "Pushover", and three, yes, three automobiles were won in "Most Expensive": A PT Cruiser, Jeep Wrangler and Chevy Malibu. A ski boat was also won, valued at close to $19,000. And Plinko was played, in which a player won only $11,600. For an episode like this, I'm surprised that the top prize was not increased to $100,000.

The showcase showdown, same old song and dance, $1,000 for one dollar, $5,000 for the green section, and $10,000 for the dollar in the bonus spin. I don't know about you, but $10,000 in 1978 was a lot of money. I think it's time for these guys to up the ante and perhaps award $25,000 or maybe $50,000 for the dollar in the bonus spin, and add a few more green sections for the $5K.

In case you are wondering, $10,000 in 1978 dollars are the equivelant to a little more than $40,000 in today's dollars.

When you adjust everything for inflation, $297,510 would be equivelant to about $80,000 in 1978 dollars. CBS back then had a winnings limit of $25,000; which remained in place for some 15 years before it was upped to $50K then $75,000. Today, CBS has no winnings limit. NBC had a winnings limit at one time of about $50,000; but by the 1980s there was no winnings limit, hence the high amounts awarded not only on "Sale of the Century" but on "Dream House" and "Blockbusters".

Now to some serious stuff...God bless Anna Nicole Smith to endure what she went through over the past week or so. What turned out to be a precious moment with the birth of her baby daughter turned into an absolute nightmare with the death of her son three days later! And I'm sure you are wondering, how is that possible? Her son was only 20 years old! No mother should ever go through what Anna Nicole is going through right now. And it makes you wonder, how is Anna Nicole going to get through this? She battled drug and alcohol problems which nearly killed her a few years ago, and you have to wonder if she will try to go over the edge again. Or, if Anna Nicole will remain strong to overcome this tragedy and live on for her son.

One has to wonder how Doris Adkisson survived through the deaths of FIVE of her six sons between 1959 and 1993. Doris is the matriach of the world famous Von Erich wrestling family, a group of brothers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area who dominated Texas wrestling in the 1980s and made a name for themselves during the height of the pro wrestling boom period in the 1980s. The patriach of course was Jack Adkisson, better known as Fritz Von Erich. Doris lost her first son, Jack Adkisson Jr in a 1959 electrocution accident. Her third son, David Von Erich, died in Japan from an intestinal inflammation in 1984. Mike Von Erich, her fifth son, committed suicide in 1987, less than two years after battling a rare form of toxic shock syndrome. In 1991, the youngest Adkisson, Chris, shot himself to death with a 9-millimeter handgun. Less than a year and a half later, Kerry Von Erich, the fourth son of Jack and Doris Adkisson, ended his life by firing a .44-calibur magnum through his chest. Fritz Von Erich, who has often been blamed by the media for these misfortunes, died in 1997 of brain cancer.

As a result of these tragedies, Doris now has only one son left -- Kevin Ross Adkisson, also known as Kevin Von Erich. Doris' lived through five unfortunate tragic deaths of her children, and managed to stay strong and continue living. Anna Nicole should follow Doris' example of how to get through this very difficult time, if not follow Kevin's example on how to keep on living.

It was very sad for me to read how Kevin in 1997 had a gun pulled on him by his own father (who was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer days before), who told Kevin that he could've done it (meaning commit suicide like his other brothers) if he had the guts. Kevin told his father that it took guts to stay here, and as a result, Kevin has four children, a grandson, and two nieces (Hollie and Lacey Adkisson), among others.

I'm sure Anna Nicole will survive this and become more stronger in time, just like Doris. Another example is Chuck Woolery, who lost a son in an accident over two decades ago.

For me, well, I have to keep it going and not let anything happen to me. I can't imagine the kind of pain my mom and dad would go through if I ended up dead before their time, let alone think about it. I have a few physical and medical issues that needs to be addressed, but I'm not worried about it to be honest; I'll be OK.

September 11, 2001 - in my own eyes

I've told this story to some people time and time again, and once again I will divulge what I went through on the darkest day this country has seen since the assassination of President Kennedy, if not the attack of Pearl Harbor 65 years ago.

The morning started out innocently, lots of fog in L.A., and I was planning to depart early so I can get the water route done before the sun came out. As I used to do in the past, I went on AOL to see any mail that came in, and the first image I saw was a huge fire on one of the World Trade Center towers. I was thinking at the time, that a terrible accident happened, and a commercial jet hit the tower, probably because the pilot may have suffered a fatal heart attack. That obviously was not the case. What happened was the plane was hijacked, and the hijackers in all probability killed the pilots prior to the tragedy.

It was shortly after 6 in the morning, and once I turned the TV on, I saw that the OTHER tower was on fire. What's going on?? This was no accident. This may have been a TERRORIST ATTACK in progress.

My friend in Florida, who is Angela, was also online, and I sent her a message to please be careful today, as a terrorist attack was in progress. Obviously, she was frightened at what was going on, and told me to do the same, since L.A. is also a huge target for terrorism, especially LAX. So I left around 6:15 or so, and flipped on the radio to what was going on. Pete Arbogast, who was the morning sports update reporter on KMPC, became news reporter that day as he calmly alerted the listeners to what was going on. KNX was providing non-stop news coverage, and what really scared me was the fact that other airplanes were being hijacked, and one of them were targeting the White House, if not the U.S. Capitol building.

The thoughts in my head were simply, "World War III may have just began".

By the time I got to Pomona, I simply hopped into the water truck, took off and began my route. I had a police scanner, thank goodness, so I know exactly what was going on. I delivered water in the San Bernardino-Redlands area, and got it done around noon or so. Ed, my supervisor at the time who is also a close friend, told me to just do the route and go home. Ed knows very well what was going on, and he was mad as hell, as you might expect. He was a Vietnam War veteran, so he's seen just about everything.

After the day, I headed towards Los Angeles, and what I saw was unbelievable. The streets in Downtown Los Angeles were deserted. A few cars were here and there, but everybody was gone. I'm thinking at the time everyone was told to evacuate all of the towers and go home for safety measures. Smart decision too, since the Library Tower was also a target during that horrible day. I was hoping to find any newspapers with "EXTRA" editions, but unfortunately there were none, perhaps because there was a limited supply of them, and if there were any extras in the newsstands, they were gone in a heartbeat.

I also remember the freeways were light, hardly anything was open that day, and the torch at the L.A. Coliseum was lit.

One thing that really puzzles me to this day is why the Emergency Alert System was not activated when the attacks were occurring. The EAS (and before that the EBS) are used to specifically alert the public of any impending danger. This country was under attack, and a National Emergency was in progress. Once the second plane hit the WTC, every EAS system in the United States should have been activated, including all NOAA Weather Radio transmitters and local and television outlets. Why that never happened is beyond me.

This was one of those days when the world just stopped. It happened on December 7, 1941, and it happened again on November 22, 1963. I contacted family back home in Vegas, and told them I was OK here.

It was sad, because I actually lived in New York, albeit for a year, back in 1968 when my dad was in Korea. I haven't been back in NYC since '77, but one day I will go there again.

For me, it was an experience I have never felt before. I've always heard people talk about the JFK assassination, as to where they were, how they heard about him being shot, what they were doing, and so on. Even some talked about where they were when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. But to experience a life-changing, and a world-changing event like this, I never experienced it before until then. The 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster was also one of those days in which life in the nation stopped for several days, as did the 2003 Columbia disaster.

Interestingly, at first, some believe the Columbia tragedy was the result of a terrorist attack. That was fortunately not the case.

One of the best stories I read about 9/11 was from Jerry Coleman, the longtime voice of the San Diego Padres. Coleman, as you know, served in World War II and the Korean War, and won numerou medals and was honored countless times for his call to America. He was so furious at what happened in New York and rightfully so, that he really wanted to go back and fight again. Go out there and bomb em all, that's what he said. He also made a point as to how World War II ended when the two atomic bombs were dropped in Japan.

Anyway, that's the way it was, as the great Walter Cronkite would say. September 11, 2001 -- a date which will certainly live in infamy, just like December 7, 1941 and November 22, 1963. Is the world safer now than it was five years ago? In some ways it is. There are more security laws, you have homeland security, soon everyone's going to need a passport to travel anywhere in and out of this country, and the whole lifestyle before 9/11 will never return again. Should the war in Iraq end? It should've never started in the first place, even though Saddam was a threat. The same could be said about Iran today, with that dangerous man running the country, whatever his name is.

I always believed that Jimmy Carter did one thing right in his four years as President: he never believed in going into war, and always felt that there were other ways to solve certain issues without firing a single shot. While some believe that Carter was weak in handling the Iranian hostage crisis, he never considered military action. He carried these traits with him to this day, and actually went to Cuba to convince Castro to change his ways. Reagan was the same way.

Well, I hope you enjoy your day wherever you are. Be safe as always. And to the victims of the World's worst act of terrorism, as well as the families of the these victims, you are all in my prayers.