I need the Rams to win today and the total points scored equal 64 points.  That is what my guess was the contest on Rock Radio 96.3 WJAA the best radio station in America.

I doubt I will win.  I don’t deserve to.

I enjoy football more than the next man.  However, about Tuesday or Wednesday of this past week, I saw a news program on a television in our home whose sound we muted.  On the screen I saw Jared Goff, the LA Rams quarterback.

Oh my, I thought, the Super Bowl is this Sunday.

About ten weeks into the season I was hoping the match-up would be the Rams and the Chiefs.  ANYONE else…just don’t put the Patriots there again.

The Pats are there.  Therefore, my give-a-crap meter is running low.  I am afraid that experience will win out.  But I also remind myself that Tom Brady was a bit of a tater tot when he won his first one. I am sure the St. Louis Rams were favored that day against the Pats   New England won on a last second field goal 20-17.

The last time the Rams, albeit they were the St. Louis Rams, won the Super Bowl, they were playing the game in Atlanta. That was Super Bowl 34 when the Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans.

The Los Angeles Rams have never won a Super Bowl.  The last time they played in one it was played in my favorite stadium

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Rams in Super Bowl 14 in 1980 in the Rose Bowl.  When my dear wife, Carrie, were pass a football to each other on the field of the Rose Bowl, I pointed out to her that she just caught a pass at about the same spot that Terry Bradshaw hit John Stallworth with an over the should bomb.  That was it.  She was done.  Our game of catch in the Rose Bowl was over.

Go Rams!  And 64 points wouldn’t be too bad either.

Enjoy the game (if you can).

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

It has been over a week since I put something here.  That is too long.

If I am not writing here it means I am writing something else.  I can’t be two places at once.

Music has taken my evenings of late to a degree.  I have been writing a few new songs and this weekend I will go into the studio to demo these songs with my friend Jerry Brown in the house.  Jerry is an artist.  I asked if he would design the cover of my new CD that is a work in progress.  I certainly hope we get there.

I saw Jerry and his brother, Harv, and his son, Clay, last week at the Brownstown Central- North Harrison Lady Cat basketball game at BC.

The Brown boys were wrapping up the radio broadcast.  On the right is another dear old friend, Barry Hall.

North Harrison’s Lady Cats went into The Pit at BCHS and dominated the Lady Braves.  It was a great win for NH.

It is always good to enjoy the long drive home.

Before the game I walked out on Brownstown Central’s new turf field for the first time.  The goal posts I kicked on as a kid and teenager were not there, replace by nice new yellow ones.  It was all kind of surreal.  I was out there alone and it was a good thing.  I was kind of speechless.  Between the new stadium going in and now a new field, my boyhood field of dreams is a memory.  North Harrison didn’t beat Brownstown Central 59-0 on that field when I was a junior in high school.  We beat BC on that “space”.  Oh well.  That’s progress for you.

Looking forward to coming back in September to watch the Cougars take on the Braves.

Gulity pleasure.  I wrote this post listening to 1977’s Barry Manilow Live.  I had the LP when I was a kid. Now I have the CD.  Sans the scratches a nine year old kid puts on a record album, this stuff sounds better than ever.  I was all about Weekend in New England over forty years ago and I still love it and I am proud of it!

Now that is truly Speaking the Rights!

Danny Johnson

Jim Mora.  We will never forget him uttering “Playoffs?!” to a media person while he was the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

Today the NFC and AFC Champs will be crowned.  Those winners will play in the Super Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia providing there is not a political move to postpone it.  You just never know these days.

In the first game today, the New Orleans Saints host the Los Angeles Rams.  I am for the Rams.  My Granny would not have approved.  I hold a grudge when it comes to NFL and College football.  The Saints beat the Colts in the Super Bowl.  I can’t root for them.

When I was a kid the 49ers beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.  Have hoped for SF to get beat every time since.

If the Saints play the Patriots in two weeks, I might as well watch a marathon of Fraiser.

You can surmise that I hope the Kansas City Chiefs beat the New England Patriots in the second game this evening.  You would be right.  If you know anything of the Indianapolis rivalry against New England in the Peyton Manning administration, you know I will never root for the Patriots.

How cool is it that the two Super Bowls the Giants won with Eli Manning behind center were both against the Patriots.  It is awesome stuff for sure.

Late in the season, I was hoping that if the Colts did not get there, that we would see the Rams play the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.  I will be for the Rams if they get there I think.

Let’s see how things play out.

I am not as avid in my following of the NFL as I once was.  No, it has nothing to do with the National Anthem.  The game has changed and I don’t like it as much as I did.  I remember an article in a magazine in 1979 that led with this: “It’s Bombs Away in the new NFL”.  The reference here was a nod to the Air Coryell offense of the San Diego Chargers.  In 1978 the Chargers quarterback, Dan Fouts, threw for over 4000 yards in the first sixteen game season.  Joe Namath threw for 4007 in 14 games in 1967.

Still, the forward pass was gaining momentum.  Roger Staubach pulled out the shot-gun offense when they needed a big play.  These days most quarterbacks don’t even know what their center’s backside is about.  Maybe that is a good thing.  And, a QB throwing for 5000 yards is no one’s front page news now.

I suppose my heroes are gone.  I root for Eli Manning now.  He won’t play much longer.

At least we have some good games to look at today.  I am going to enjoy them.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnsojn

This was not the plan.

This is better.

Isn’t it nice when things turn out that way.  Reminds me of the song lyric that says “If you want to make God laugh, tell him what your plans are.”

This is post # 500 of speaktherights.com.  That is what I have tried to do.  I just want to speak the rights.  I had big plans to take a chunk of this weekend and put together some “best of” material with excerpts and a collection of favorite photos.  You know, some kind of celebratory milestone post.

In earnest, I have been giving serious thought about making post # 500 the last one.  I was talked out of it.  Our mothers can be persuasive that way.

But as is the case, I write when the spirit moves me.  I was moved tonight.

It has been years since I have been to a wrestling match.  I think I went with my Dad to a college wrestling meet when I was a kid.  One of his former football players was into wrestling and we went to watch him.

Tonight was Senior Night for the wrestling team at North Harrison High School.  From my perch in the Northeast corner of the gymnasium, I took in a sport that comports itself with more class and dignity than any game going.  Don’t get me wrong, I like celebrations.  I really do.  What I don’t like, is for an athlete to make a great play and then show out like he wants to run for public office and bring as much attention as possible to himself.  This posturing drives me even more crazy when the attention seeker’s team is losing a game by a large margin.

What I witnessed tonight, as North hosted a visiting Scottsburg team, was true sportsmanship and appreciation for each other’s efforts.

The wrestlers meet the referee on the mat and conducted themselves with class before and after they tried to pin each.  There was no dirty pool.  Well, not that I could tell.  The sportsmanship was what was impressive.

Also impressive was the talk given by NH coach Dusty Rhodes as he acknowledged the seniors and imparted a few words of wisdom to them.  It was heart-felt and sincere.  I was very proud to be there.

A match begins.

A young man from Scottsburg won this match.

One of the things I delighted in was how the wrestlers would interact with the coaches of the other team.

I get it.  This is a different sport.  It is not a match of team work.  It is you and the opponent and the mat.  I talked about it with senior wrestler Coleman Biddle today.  There was a conviction and a drive in his voice as he talked about it.  The sense, and I have seen my share of sport, I had was that this was an “it is all on me” thing.  The accountability factor is multiplied many times over with this attitude and this realization.  Still, there is a great deal of team spirit as mates cheer one another on and encourage them.

And coaches of the other team encourage opposing wrestlers.

It was a special thing to behold.

No.  This is not what I planned on for my 500th post of speaktherights.com.

This was better.

Thank you to the North Harrison Athletic department, the coaches, the wrestlers, and their parents.  None of this gets done without hard work.  That was certainly gracefully displayed tonight.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

It is January 5, 2019 and I am already sick of the political tone in this country.

What happened?  No No No…not a rendition from a “base” (ironic term) or a pundit or talking head on television.

What happened?

I doubt I live long enough to find out, and I am just glad I can sit here in and listen to an ELO cd and think about it all.  I am not wondering where my next pay check is coming from or, gads, even worse, when it is coming.

I feel sorry for the Government workers whose livelihood is in jeopardy.

I am sorry we have a president whom I doubt knows much about paying bills.

I am sorry a freshman congresswoman shot her mouth off with a vulgar term whilst speaking of her desire to see the current sitting president impeached.  That was not necessary.  Regardless of her convictions, there are higher roads for sure.

Just because the president talks like a potty mouth that should not give the rest a license to do the foolish same.

I am sorry the political party I grew up left me.  Alex P. Keaton would be sad too.

So I am back to my question?  What happened?  Was it the computer?  I doubt it.  Was it social media?  I don’t think so.

News channels taking sides in blatant ways that require no brain cells to sift information?  We may be on to something here.

One day a great scholar will hold forth on this place in time and he or she will have plenty of answers and they will be looking to this place in time as a place that was oxymoronic for sure.

A president that knows more than all of us about everything (according to him).

Two political parties that are good with letting their own suffer and live in fear of what to do next without funds.

Two political parties fighting over a border issue that is not as bad as it has been (pending on who you talk to).

Cold War enemies are playing sweethearts now.

So, we are stuck with what is best for the country?  You remember, the USA.  That place that folks used to look up to much more than they do now.  Boats of immigrants made this country the place it is.  I am not afraid of folks wanting a great life in this country.  I am more afraid of politicians trying to kill the American dream.

That was evident when the president was laughed at during an appearance at the United Nations.  What a country!

I wish politicians were as interested in the drug problems that are killing our young people as they are in arguing over walls, slats, fencing, and other ways to posture their separate causes.

I have said it before and I still believe it.  The generation of current thirtysomethings are paying attention.  They are the first “bunch” to live first hand with a new information age.  Not as much is new to them.  My toys are not their toys.  My toys are their way of life and things have changed greatly.  If Twitter is still around, they will know what to do with it.  I do hope I see that day.

Oh yes, Roll Tide!

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson

I am sitting on the couch watching college football as I type these words.  The bowl game picks have gone well so far.  22 winners and 8 losers so far, though it looks like my pick of Mizzou over Oklahoma State is not going to work out.  But, there is still time.

I hope and pray that 2019 is good to you and your loved ones.

We are in the middle of some strange times.  That is for sure.  God help us.

Last week I found something I had never seen before.  My dear wife, Carrie, and I were in Indianapolis.

Peyton Manning’s statue outside Lucas Oil Stadium, a.k.a The House That Peyton Built.

I have said it before.  Peyton Manning made football in Indiana.  The sport gained popularity exponentially while he was behind Jeff Saturday.

Peyton will always stand tall here.

I must say I am delighted that the current Colts are in the playoffs after starting the season 1-5.  Only the third team to do that.

Happy New Year and keep speaking the rights!

Danny Johnson

I tore my britches last weekend.  That is an old saying regarding a time when one may have messed up.  It was not an egregious error.  I was so overcome with joy that I forgot to take a photo to share.

I was shopping in Clarksville and about to head into a store.  Walking in along the outside store front, I looked up to see an old familiar face.  Man.  I couldn’t believe it.   It was Rob “Cube Root” Ray.  Old 0012 himself.  The greatest Roger Staubach fan I have ever known.  The UK Big Blue Fan from way back.  Cube had on a Wildcat T shirt, as it was supposed to be.

I gave Cube a hug.  We had not seen each other in more than two decades I know.  Guess what?  It mattered not.  We just started telling it all, as it is supposed to be.  I have been blessed to have cultivated many sweet friendships that have endured the test of time and distance and absence.  I am blessed that way.  I am not sure why.  There is certainly a great  deal of unspoken feeling between many old pals and myself.  We aren’t around to speak it.  But when we find each other, be it by design or old Providence, it sure works out.

So there.  That is my fun Winter’s Tale. Those folks are out there somewhere.  I love and appreciate them all.

This Christmas has a melancholy tinge to it.  Our son, Jarrett, is in Baghdad working at the US Embassy.  He is so missed.  When he gets home, we will certainly have another thankful Christmas party.

Yesterday we Carrie and I enjoyed the Christmas singing program at Unity Chapel.  My Dad did a great job of singing, as always.

So I will share a few images of Christmas this year.

Carrie and I made an annual visit to West Baden to look around for some mistletoe.

Talk about a beautiful place.  It is like a movie set.

The Eighth Wonder of the World is what this place was called.

From our dinner table.

From the third floor.

My mother has a weakness for Charlie Brown and his Christmas Tree.

So do I.

Another Christmas Tradition is getting out the Snow Man Mike Hunsucker made for us.  I miss Mike so much.

Finally, the Tyler Turkey made it to Ramsey.  I brought it to my house to carve.  My parents have had a Tyler, Texas Turkey from Greenberg’s sent to them for nearly thirty years now.  They never  disappoint.

Carving this baby was fun.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Love one another.  Help each other.  That is my Christmas prayer.  Amen.

Speaking the rights-

Danny Johnson

140-53.  That is the record this year with predictions.  I pick winners and pay no attention to point spreads.  I pick folks I want to win at times.  There are a few college teams I would not pick to win if there was money to be made.  I feel very strongly about it.

I don’t like to pick against the Indiana Hoosiers, the Marshall Thundering Herd, the Ole Miss Rebels, the UCLA Bruins, the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Duke Blue Devils, the Northwestern Wildcats, or the Kentucky Wildcats.

If I am anything, I am loyal.  Right now I am rooting on the North Harrison Cougars as they play the Brownstown Central Braves in high school basketball.  I got started late with my listening.  I wanted to be there but it was not to be.  My apologies to both Cougars and Braves that expected me to be there.

140 winners and 53 losers.  I am more than pleased with that.  Like I said, I picked some games I knew would not work out well just to be stubborn.

This is where I screw things up.  I think I was one game under .500 with my bowl predictions last year.  So be it.  It is a good time anyway.

These will be the images I will always carry on with when I think of the 2018 College Football Season.

2018-2019 Bowl Games

Cure Bowl…Tulane beats Louisiana Lafayette…The Green Wave has had a good season.  Getting a new stadium on campus certainly has been nice for them.

New Mexico Bowl…Utah State beats North Texas…Utah State has been impressive.  They can move the ball and play defense.

Las Vegas Bowl…Fresno State beats Arizona State….This is one I may screw up early.  I just like Fresno being able to move the ball.  But Arizona State has improved as the season has gone on.  Coach Herm Edwards has silenced some doubters as he has led ASU to good season in his first year on the sideline in many.

Camellia Bowl…Georgia Southern over Eastern Michigan…Erk Russell must be loving this as he looks down.

New Orleans Bowl…Appalachian State beats Middle Tennessee State…App State lost their coach.  They won’t lose this game.  Too much pride to play for.

Boca Bowl…UAB beats Northern Illinois…Man I hope I miss this one.  The NIU coach played center for Indiana some time ago.  Is a Boca Bowl like a Boca Burger?

Frisco Bowl…San Diego State beats Ohio…Another game I hope I miss.  I am a Coach Frank Solich fan from way back.  Go Ohio Bobcats!  Hey, I didn’t say I was completely sentimental with my picks.

Gasparilla Bowl…I don’t know what that means…Marshall beats South Florida…Yes I know they are playing on USF’s turf.  I don’t care.  It is the Herd and it is a bowl game.  Go Herd!

Bahamas Bowl…FIU beats Toledo…I watched this one once before and it was not a good time.  Go sing Christmas Carols instead.

Idaho Potato Bowl…BYU beats Western Michigan…The Cougars are still fun to watch.

Birmingham Bowl…Memphis beats Wake Forest…Coach Clawson has done a good job of turning around the fortunes of Wake.  Memphis has too much offense power.

Armed Forces Bowl…Army beats Houston…Gotta pick Army here, right?  Houston’s best defender is taking the game off and going pro.  Let him.

Dollar General Bowl…Buffalo beats Troy…And I doubt the ticket prices will be a dollar.  Buffalo has had a good season and win here will cap a year to remember.

Hawaii Bowl…Louisiana Tech beats Hawaii….The Bulldogs have a long trip and they will appreciate it more than the boys in town.  Coach Holtz will have them ready.

SERVPRO Bowl…Boise State beats Boston College…BC has not played well of late.  Boise should win.

Quick Lane Bowl…Georgia Tech beats Minnesota…Goldy is another team I usually root for.  Coach Paul Johnson is on his way out of Rambling Wreckville.   The option will leave Goldy dizzy.

Cactus Bowl…Cal beats TCU...I am certainly rooting for Cal.  Folks in Northern Cal need a reason to cheer and celebrate.

Independence Bowl…Duke beats Temple….And the beat goes on for Coach Cutcliff.  Another Bowl for a team that used to dream of being in one.

Pinstripe Bowl…Miami beats Wisconsin…I hope it is warm in NYC that day.  Would not call it for Wisconsin if I had to.

Texas Bowl…Vanderbilt beats Baylor...Vandy has some players and Baylor has had some late trouble.

Music City Bowl…Purdue beats Auburn…Saw Auburn play Wisconsin here many years ago.  Fun bowl game and Purdue wants to celebrate keeping its coach.  They should have fun doing it.

Camping World Bowl…Syracuse beats West Virginia….the Hotels in town are removing the couches just in case.

Alamo Bowl…Washington State beats Iowa State…Coach Leach has a good team and they should score 50 points or more.

Peach Bowl…Florida beats Michigan…And maybe Jim Harbaugh will trade in his Woody Hayes glasses for some wider frames.

Belk Bowl…Virginia beats South Carolina…UVA lost to Indiana so this may be a stretch.

Arizona Bowl…Nevada beats Arkansas State…Wolfpack will prevail.  They lost some close ones and the prep time will serve them well.

CFP Semifinal Cotton Bowl…Notre Dame beats Clemson…The Echoes are awake!

CFP Semifinal…Orange Bowl…Alabama beats Oklahoma….34-3 and the folks saying UGA did not belong look as foolish as I think they may be.

Military Bowl…Cincinnati beats Virginia Tech…Hokies beat Herd to preserve bowl streak in extra game scheduled after Hurricane season.  UC has a team.

Sun Bowl…Stanford beats Pittsburgh…Classic matchup in a great setting for a bowl game.  Sun Bowl is a golden oldie and a great tradition.

Red Box Bowl…Oregon beats Michigan State…Sparty just can’t put a game together this year.

Liberty Bowl…Mizzou beats Oklahoma State…I’m a man!  I’m fifty!  Soft spot for this bowl.  Coach Bryant coached his last game here in 1982.  In 1988 Indiana beat the tar out of South Carolina 34-10.  The best of times for an IU football fan.

Holiday Bowl….Northwestern beats Utah…This may be the best bowl game to watch.  Hoosiers won the Holiday Bowl against an undefeated BYU team in 1979 38-37.  Loved it.

Gator Bowl…NC State beats Texas A&M…Ryan Finley is the best QB I saw in oerson this year.  I guess he is playing in the bowl game but you never know.

Outback Bowl…Iowa beats Mississippi State…Hawkeyes, please come through for us!

Citrus Bowl…Kentucky beats Penn State…Benny Snell is going pro but will play for the Cats first.  UK needs this one.

Fiesta Bowl….LSU beats UCF...Yes, I know UCF has set the woods on fire.  LSU does not care.  They play in the SEC.

Rose Bowl…Washington beats Ohio State…Carrie and I will be looking at this one with good memories and I will say “I split that upright!”  Huskies, please make it all complete.  Not a Buckeye fan, Big Ten or not.

Sugar Bowl…Georgia beats Texas…UGA deserved better.  But what a match-up for the rest of us!

CFP Final…Alabama beats Notre Dame…It won’t be close.  Too much everything on the Bama team for ND to deal with.

Let’s see how it all plays out now!

I do know that North Harrison played a close one against Brownstown Central.  51-41 BC over NH.  Hang in there, Cougars.  You got a long road to go.  Make the most of it!

Speaking the end of college football rights…

Danny Johnson

Only until I looked in on speaktherights.com today did I realize there was a picture of a bridge and a post below it about Mrs. Bridges giving me a Christmas stocking with my name on it.

In a “can’t see the forest for the trees moment”, I thought that was pretty cool.

The Bridge.  The Surf City Swing Bridge in Surf City, North Carolina.  How many times did that little bridge allow my dear wife, Carrie, and me access to a twenty-six mile barrier island that has become our second home.

There were grooves in the pavement of the bridge.  It produced a low vibrating hum when you crossed it.  That sound heading toward the water was like a joyous symphony.  Heading away from the water after the visit, it sounded like a sad love song.

Called a “Swing Bridge”, it would swing around and out of the way to allow water craft to pass through the sound side of the island. Road traffic in both directions had to wait on it as it allowed maybe a single boat to pass, as it was.

This past week a new bridge was opened.  It opened ahead of schedule. We look forward to “crossing that bridge when we come to it.”

In the spring of 2017, this progress on the new bridge looked like this.

And now this.

Though we won’t travel over the old swing bridge again, there are memories and pictures and a place or two in the old heart for the relic.  We first crossed it in 2004.  We last crossed it this past summer.  Plans were to ride over it one more time in October.  A Hurricane had other plans.

And like an old 45 year old Christmas stocking that came from a caring, thoughtful, kind kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bridges, the old swing bridge has a place on the Christmas Tree too.  Thankful for all the precious memories.

Speaking the rights-

Danny Johnson

It hangs on the tree every year.  It has hung on one Christmas Tree or another every Christmas since 1973.  That is a long time.  My 50th year has been a good time in 2018.  On occasion I may get a bet wistful when I think about something that I have been looking at without fail for 45 Christmas seasons.

This stocking has stood the test of time better than I have.  It looks the same as it did when my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bridges, called me up to her desk to present this to me and tell me Merry Christmas.  It was a Christmas gift that has kept on giving. She gave one to each member of our morning class and one to each of her afternoon students.  This was when we went to kindergarten for half a day.  I am sure that was enough, given the “all boy” report she once gave to my mother.  Mrs. Bridges was being kind.  She probably meant “all pain in the butt”.

I wonder how many of my classmates over the years have held tight to this awesome and giving act of kindness and love for her students?  I hope there are some other than me.  There should be.

Nary a Christmas goes by that I don’t look at this stocking with my my name on it.  I am taken back to Brownstown Elementary School.  My kindergarten class was the first class to go to the “new building” for all six years K-5.  It was a wonderful place filled with kind and loving souls.  Patty Hall and Sue Sommers in the office.  Mr. Spurgeon was our principal and we respected the heck out of him and his ability to swing a paddle.  Our teachers were wonderful.  It was part of an idyllic childhood I was blessed with, one that I wish every kid could experience.  None of that has left me.

This past week I spoke on the phone with an old friend from Brownstown.  We were talking school stuff.  Our speaks did get off course for a moment or two and we laughed and took pause when we talked about old days.

Though I did not mention in it in the context of our speaks, we went to church together all those years ago, I thought about old Noble Foster as I spoke to my friend.  Noble was a great man.  He was a deacon of the church.  If he saw you in the hallway or the foyer, and you looked for him, he’d give you a wink and a handshake.  The wink was priceless from that skinny wrinkled face with eyes that twinkled like none I have seen since.  The handshake offered a peppermint or two similar to the ones in the photo above, sans the store advertisement.

It did not take long for these little candies to be referred to as “Deacon Cigars”.

A decade later in hallway or a classroom at North Harrison High School in Ramsey, where I relocated, it was not uncommon for this question to be asked by someone I knew.

“Anybody got any Deacon Cigars?”

The legend lives on.  Not long ago I was having speaks with a guy a couple years my senior, and he brought up the Deacon Cigars.  “Johnson”, he said, “You changed the candy landscape with those Deacons back then.”

“No, that happened an even longer time ago,” I said.  Then I turned my head sideways and said, “Let me tell you a story about an old guy I went to church with…”

Oh my.  Precious memories.  How they linger.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson