Bad Things Happening to Good People

Today was one of those days where you wish you could turn back the clock and find a way to prevent the days events from occurring.
As many of you have probably already heard, Dick Clark, America's oldest teenager passed away after suffering a massive heart attack at the age of 82.  Most remembered for his role as the iconic host of the country's favorite music and dance program American Bandstand, Clark embodied everything that was cool about music throughout the second half of the 20th century. That said, Dick Clark was much more than the host of a long running tv show. During a career than spanned the 50's through 2012, he was also a game show host and the owner of a production company that was responsible for dozens upon dozens of television specials, including "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve, that entertained people around the world for many years.  Last, but not least, Clark was the inspiration for many of today superstars in the entertainment world and helped launch the careers of many more.
So tonight, as we pause to reflect on the passing of a true American treasure, lets travel back with a few memories of Dick Clark over the years.

American Bandstand "Rate a Record" (late 50's/early 60's)


American Bandstand "Abba Interview) (70's)


$25,000 Pyramid Bloopers (80's)


EmmyTvLegends.Org interview ecerpt on the origins of Rockin New Years Eve (1999)



Then there is Pat Head Summitt, head coach of the Lady Vols basketball team from the University of Tennessee. Today she announced her resignation/retirement as Lady Vols head coach due to ongoing health problems.  Last year she announced to the world that she had been diagnosed with the initial stages of dementia. Determined to fight the illness as long as she could, she remained as head coach despite the shocking revelation. During the 2011/2012 season she took the Lady Vols deep into the NCAA women's tournament before losing to Baylor in an Elite Eight match up. Throughout her career she led by example. With hard work, class, sportsmanship and a balanced sense of priorities, she led her teams to eight national championships, 18 final fours, and 31 consecutive tournament  appearances over her 33 year Tennessee career. She also is the winingest coach in NCAA basketball (including men's) history with a 1098-208 record. In her lifetime coaching career, she never had a losing season. The only NCAA record she didn't break was one held by UCLA's legendary John Wooden of  10 national championships. She has eight. But her proudest accomplishments has nothing to do with wins, losses or championship trophies. Summitt's top priority has always been the well being and education of her athletes. Summitt, through her career, always maintained high standards without compromise which resulted in one of the highest graduation rates in NCAA history.  As we watch Coach Summitt leave UT as an active coach, we wish her the best and offer our prayers as she embarks on the fight of her life....and some would the fight for her life.  God speed Pat! You will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

Pat Head Summitt the Heroine (2009) Natchez, MS Blog
Reaction to Pat Summitt stepping down as head coach -- WBIR TV Knoxville, Tennessee

NCAA Video Honoring Pat Head Summitt


Til Next Time.........................

UT Lady Vols 2006 SEC Champs, March 05, 2006

Congratulations to the University of Tennessee Lady Vols
2006 Southeastern Conference Womens Basketball Champions

Today the 8th ranked Lady Vols defeated #3 LSU 63 to 62 to win the title game that was hard fought until the final buzzer. The Lady Vols take a 27-4 (11-3) record into the NCAA Womens Tourney which starts later this month. Seeds for the tournament are expected to be announced sometime this week.

In other weekend sporting news, the NASCAR Busch Series took its show south of the border again for its second race in Mexico City. Denny Hamlin held off Boris Said to win the Telcel-Motorola 200. Nextel Cup veteran and current Busch Series points leader Kevin Harvick finished third driving the US Coast Guard Chevorlet. Other service teams also fared well in Mexico City. The #25 Marine Corps Ford piloted by Ashton Lewis finished 13th and the #88 Team Navy Chevorlet driven by Mark McFarland had its best race of the year so far finishing 15th.

And finally, don't be suprised if you wake up tomorrow morning and find that one or more superstars from your favorite NFL team is standing in the unemployment line. Tonight, contract talks broke down between the players union and team owners. Long story short is that if an agreement isn't reached by midnight, it's expected that owners will start dumping the contracts of high priced veterans before they go into free agency in order to meet a salary cap that will be as much as 10 million dollars lower than it would have been if an agreement had been reached. It looks like they didn't learn much from the NHL fiasco of a couple years ago. Get the whole NFL story here.

(originally posted 3-5-06 on Yahoo 360)