Hoopin'NJivin'
InOuterRickeyVilleBogota, New Jersey that is, circa 1956.
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The adult in the picture is a still young Vin Scully who, in the wake of Red Barber's defection to the evil Yankees, was the 'new guy' calling play-by-play for the then 'Brooklyn' Dodgers.
Sixty years later, Scully can, and still does, do play-by-play on his own.
And he does it very well.
In addition, because he comes from that old school, he can still do without all of that over-the-top, abject homerism that is so all pervasive these days.
Still.
Mr. Scully's recent deification in in both baseball, and the wider world as well, is somewhat mystifying to me.
Then again, if it can happen to Frank Zappa, why not Vinny?
Gosh.
Maybe Fox News should look into this.
Because it all sounds like a series of stealth offensives in that war on that holiday that's coming.
Or some such thing.
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2 comments:
I always had something of a hate on for the Dodgers, having grown up up the Coast in the Bay Area, but I still like Sculley's commentary better than most of the trash that fills the airwaves. Trouble is, I find it increasingly hard to watch even Giants games when they won't ensure a fair shake for their stadium workers and when professional sport in general is such a shuck and a drain on the public purse and part of the bread and circus (minus the bread in most cases) that keeps the plebes pacified. While I didn't agree with a fair bit of his commentary, we mustn't forget that Zappa was also a fairly astute observer of human nature and political affairs, from which it's possible he got some of this twist-o-flex sense of "humour". There was much of his music that I just flat-out didn't like, but I would listen in on occasion to challenge my own assumptions before settling back into more traditional grooves (ruts?) My favourite Zappa tune is actually Little Richard done by Sugarcane Harris, so not really Zappa at all, but the album cover )Weasels Ripped My Flesh) was right up there in Zappa lore. I fear that it sounds as though I'm pleading his case (no need to do that, he's both established and dead), but he's also a musician who worked with and cultivated other superb musicians and something of a collector of varied music, which he then popularized amongst the following, in a lesser, but similar fashion to Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia and Paul Simon. All of whom may, sigh, be part of the grand distraction.
Danneau!
What a fantastic comment - thanks.
I completely agree with you re: what the Giants have recently wrought. This is especially distressing given that it is happening in a town with such strong labour roots.
'Tis funny, but when we first moved down there the Giants were still at Candlestick and it was still steroid and bash times in Oakland - as a result the perception was that it was the Giants that were gritty and working class while the A's were for the nouveau money boys from the spreading stain of SValley.
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