Monday Mix
Geneva, art by Dan Acher, photo by Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images, posted at theguardian.com:
RIP Hall of Fame Center Jim Otto, 86. Born in Wisconsin, he played collegiately at Miami, both ways, a LB on defense. He is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. Considered undersized by the NFL, he went undrafted in 1960 and was picked up by the AFL Raiders. He played his entire 15-year career with Oakland, 210 straight games. The team won the AFL championship in 1967 but lost to Vince Lombardi’s mighty Packers in Super Bowl II. Here are Double-O’s individual accomplishments: First-team All-AFL (1960–1965, 1967–1969), First-team All-Pro (1970), Second-team All-Pro (1972), Second-team All-AFL (1966), nine-time AFL All-Star (1961–1969), three-time Pro Bowl (1970–1972), NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, AFL All-Time Team. Despite his incredible ironman run, he was not without injury. He had 74 operations, 28 on his knee, and had multiple joint replacements. He was riddled with arthritis and developed debilitating back and neck problems. He suffered near-death experiences from medical procedures, including three life-threatening infections due to complications from artificial joints. He was the subject of The Jim Otto Suite, a series of three multimedia works by American contemporary artist Matthew Barney. He is survived by his wife, son and 14 grandkids. There’s a cliche among football coaches, one I used myself back in the day: “You have to be willing to pay the price.” Otto maxed out. Awesome, Sir. Facts from Wiki, photo from amazon.com:
Here’s a poster showcasing Matthew Barney’s work. Photo from Google Images:
Sign of the times. Headline from nypost.com: “Churches turn to armed security guards as gunmen increasingly threaten houses of worship.” Can’t blame ‘em.
Headline from foxnews.com: “‘Most ruthless’ Mexican cartels operate in all 50 states, bring turf wars to US: DEA.” Sadly, many Americans have made them rich and bold.
I find this news surprising and puzzling. From FN: “Denmark turns to Kosovo to alleviate its overcrowded prison system in $217 million deal.” According to statista.com: “Denmark is ranked as the second most peaceful country in the world, only behind its Nordic neighbor Iceland.” I don’t get it.
A helicopter goes down in Iran — let the conspiracy theories begin.
It is amazing how pathetic Michael Cohen is.
Not much action at the Anti-Inflation Book Shop on this gorgeous day. My thanks to the kind folks who combined to drop off seven books, and to the Latino restaurant worker, who bailed me out once again, buying several DVDs and Fire And Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff.
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE
FB: https://www.facebook.com/Vic-Fortezza-Author-118397641564801/?fref=ts
Read Vic’s Stories, free: http://fictionaut.com/users/vic-fortezza
