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Sunday smorgasbord: The impact of Ernie Banks’ death Friday remains. In the aftermath of the passing of Mr. Cub, yours truly ventured to the vault at ElliottHarris.com corporate headquarters (OK, so it was a room in the basement) to view a poster promoting the 2008 book Hoodoo: Unraveling the 100-Year Mystery of the Chicago Cubs that Ernie had autographed. Elsewhere, also prominently displayed, were a couple of other items he had signed. An uneducated guess (the only variety that you will encounter on this site) says Ernie’s autograph is unlikely to be worth much because he signed so much. Glimpsing at the memorabilia brought home a couple of significant realizations: Hold onto your memories rather than your possessions because such remembrances hold far more value. Embrace the past for the pleasantness that was; even more, embrace the ones you cherish while you have the chance to do so.
Video below of model Rosette Mogomotsi for your viewing pleasure.
* Speaking of Ernie, it will be interesting to see what steps the Cubs take to honor him. Something says it won’t be winning a World Series. If the team was going to win one (or even play in one) for Ernie, it should have come in his lifetime. And there was adequate opportunity, considering he retired after the 1971 season.
* Still speaking of Ernie, memo to whoever drew the cartoon depicting Harry Caray among those welcoming Ernie to the Pearly Gates. If a broadcaster would have been part of the welcoming group, it would have been Jack Brickhouse. If Harry was to welcome anyone, it would have been Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals. Caray broadcast Ernie’s games only when the Cardinals played the Cubs. Maybe the cartoonist didn’t think his audience would know who Brickhouse was. Which doesn’t speak too highly of the cartoonist’s audience or of the cartoonist, if you ask me (and even if you don’t ask me).
* And, yes, still speaking of Ernie, there was a moment of silence in his honor Saturday at SoxFest. Said Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf: “When you talk about Ernie, you have to smile. He was always in a great mood. I never heard him complain about anything. He was always upbeat. He always had a wisecrack. I know he was Mr. Cub, but he was really Mr. Baseball. He was really a great, great ambassador for the game.”
* Speaking of games, the NFL’s Pro Bowl is Sunday. Chances are extremely good that your humble correspondent will watch as much of that as he will of the NHL’s all-star game Sunday. Which is to say: not at all. Mainly because baseball’s all-star game is really the only one that approximates the sport that it supposed to represent. As for the NBA’s all-star contest? Lax defense (which tends to be what the NFL and NHL provide) does diminish that gathering of talent. Then again, lax defense is what some fans tend to see on a regular basis (and those generally would be fans of bad teams).
Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the evolved efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):
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