Jonathan Davis’ Blog

Throughout the history of broadcast media, there have been many television journalists that have come into our living rooms on a daily basis and presented credible work that lifted them into the annals of greatness. Harold Dow was one of those journalists. He was there to give the rundown of many major events that took place that changed the course of society. He could interview anyone from individuals that a majors figures in the public eye to the most unknown person. He won major awards in his career. More so than anything, he was someone that his colleagues had a great deal of respect for because of his work and how he treated his others. Back on Aug. 21 though, he left us.

 

Last Saturday, Dow passed away at a New Jersey hospital from complications with asthma. He was just 62 years old. The veteran CBS News journalist, who is best known for his work as a correspondent for CBS’s investigative broadcast series “48 Hours” leaves behind his wife Kathy and their three children Danica, Joelle and David.

 

To fully understand what Dow meant to the CBS News family, his fellow colleague of “48 Hours” Peter Van Sant said on the CBS Evening News broadcast with Jeff Glor last Saturday night, “The world stood still this morning for the CBS News family when we had learned of Harold’s death.”

 

Dow began his career as a reporter at the CBS News Los Angles bureau from 1973-77. For the next five years, he served as a correspondent. The next year, he served as co-anchor on CBS News broadcast “Nightwatch,” which was an overnight news program that was on from 1982-92.

 

From that point, Dow moved up in the network serving as a correspondent for the CBS News magazine “Street Stories,” (1992-93). Since the 1970s, Dow served as a reporter for the “CBS Evening News with Dan Rather,” “Sunday Morning” and the CBS News legal series, “Verdict.”   

 

Prior to his career with CBS News that began in 1972, Dow was an anchor and reporter at Theta Cable TV in Santa Monica, CA. He also worked as a freelance reporter for KCOP-TV in Los Angles, news anchor for WPAT Radio in Paterson, NJ and a reporter, co-anchor, talk show host for KETV-TV in Omaha, NE.

 

The one thing that separated Dow from any other reporter of his time was his ability to interview anyone and he did interview many people.

 

He got the exclusive interview with Patricia Hearst back in December of 1976. She was the granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, who was kidnapped back on Feb. 4, 1974 by Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA).

 

He conducted the first network television interview with O.J. Simpson for “48 Hours” following the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. He was found not guilty of all charges on October 3, 1995.

 

What brought Dow to prominence was his breakthrough documentary back in September 1986, “48 Hours on Crack Street.”

 

The documentary was about the drug crisis that was plaguing many neighborhoods in the United States back then.

 

How good was this CBS special? It attracted an estimated sum of 15 million viewers.

 

“48 Hours” made its debut on CBS on January 19, 1988 and in the 22 years the show has been broadcast it has won 20 Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards and an Ohio State Award. In the middle of all the action were Dow and Van Sant.

 

Dow went from being an unknown man who grew up in Upper Saddle River, NJ to a gentleman that worked his way up in the news world and when he got to CBS, he made a name for himself that earned him the kind of respect that many like Van Sant will never forget.

 

He said to Glor two weekends ago that Dow was someone who could interview anyone from “a president to a pimp accused of murder to a rock star.”

 

“I could tell you I’m gonna miss him, but it doesn’t even come close. All I can say is God bless you Harold Dow and God bless your family,” Van Sant said.

 

Information and quotations are courtesy of the 8/21/10 6:30p.m. Edition of “CBS Evening News with Jeff Glor; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Dow; 8/22/10 article entitled, Harold Dow, Veteran CBS News Correspondent, Dies on www.cbsnews.com

There are very few professional players that can take the title of “greatness” and live up to it every since of the imagination both in the game as well as away from the game. One young lady lived up to that word in every since of the imagination on the hardwood. She did in high school, as a collegian, a professional and on the world stage. She captured championships at all three levels while doing it with grace class, dignity and establishing herself as a role model that young girls can look up to and believe that they can reach their full potential as long as they are willing to work hard each day. Nine days ago, this legendary woman of the Los Angles Sparks of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) received the highest honor by the organization that she played.

 

Back on Aug 10, during the halftime contest between the Indiana Fever and the Sparks, the organization held a retirement ceremony for their all-time great center Lisa Leslie, where they raised her No. 9 jersey to the rafters of the Staples Center.

 

The WNBA’s second all-time leading scorer became the second Sparks player to have their number immortalized. Penny Toler was the first to have her jersey retired by the Sparks.

 

While most of the nation may know Leslie as one of the most dominant women’s basketball players of all-time, which she has earned the right to be known for what she has accomplished on the court, she is recognized just as much as Sparks play-by-play analyst and the host of festivities Larry Burnett for her style, class and integrity as she is for the points she scored, rebounds she grabbed and the shots she blocked.

 

“This ceremony is about the positive impact that Lisa had on her city, her nation and the world of basketball,” Burnett to the audience last Tuesday night.

 

“It’s as much about that as it is about the gleaming spotlight that she has brought to shine upon the L.A. Sparks organization.”

 

To truly understand the kind of career Leslie has had as a Spark, all you have to do is look at the numbers themselves.

 

When her career concluded in 2009, Leslie was the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer with 6,263 points, which was surpassed by her former teammate Tina Thompson this past Sunday when she scored 23 points in a 92-83 defeat to the San Antonio Silver Stars putting her at 6,273 points at that time. She is also the WNBA’s all-time leading rebounder with 3,307.

 

She helped lead the Sparks to back-to-back titles in 2001 when they defeated the then Charlotte Sting and in 2002 when they defeated the New York Liberty. She also in both of those triumphs was named Most Valuable Player of the Finals.

 

Leslie claimed three WNBA Most Valuable Player Awards in 2001, 2004 and 2006. She made eight WNBA All-Star teams (1999-2003, 2005, 2006 and 2009), winning MVP honors in 1999, 2001 and 2002 and on the world stage at the Olympic Games, and she helped lead the United States Women’s National team to the Gold Medal in all four of her appearances in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

 

She made the All-WNBA first team seven times (1997, 2000-04 and 2006) and the All-WNBA Second team three times (1998, 1999 and 2005). She was the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year winner in 2004 and 2008 and made the All-Defensive First Team in 2006 and made the All-Defensive Second team in 2005.

 

Leslie is also the first WNBA player to reach the 6,000 point mark which occurred on Aug. 11, 2009. She was also the first WNBA player back in 2001 to earn MVP honors in the regular season, the All-Star game and the Finals.

 

Maybe her greatest contribution to the organization that cannot be measured in numbers how she was able to the transition of one Candace Parker, who was the No. 1 selection in the WNBA Draft two years ago.

 

To be the star player and the leader of the team for your entire career, having the air-apparent and what many consider the next generation of greatness part of the equation, it could have been easy to become one-minded and not want to help show the way for someone that great. Leslie did the opposite and became a great mentor to Parker and all she did in her first contest was score 34 points, a new WNBA rookie record. Grab 12 boards and dish out eight assists.

 

That is the one mark that Leslie left in her career. Her ability to be great while making her teammates and her opponents reach inside to bring their own greatness to the fore front is something that only a select few can do.

 

If there is one take away from her last press conference after  85-74 loss in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals to the eventual WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury back on Sept. 27, 2009 is how grateful she was that she had a chance to play basketball professionally here in the United States where many before her never had that chance and how it is her obligation that the WNBA product is not just recognized to all of America, but is represented at the highest level both on and off the hardwood.

 

“It is our duty. That’s what we do and I think that message has to be passed on,” Leslie said after the game where she scored 22 points and grabbed nine boards.

 

“Also another important message is how we represent ourselves. As women, we need to look like women. It’s important how we carry ourselves, how we dress on and off the court. A lot of those things have to be addressed and continue to address because we are the product and it’s important. They do. That’s just the bottom line and you need to be marketable and I think more women need to understand that in our league.”

 

One person who was a major cog in Leslie having the opportunity to have that great night of recognition was former Sparks head coach and now the head coach of USC Women’s Basketball team Michael Cooper, who himself has five NBA rings of his own that her won with the Los Angles Lakers back in the “Showtime” era in the 1980s.

 

“To see that young lady mature and grow and become the legendary player that she became, that’s the fun part about basketball,” Cooper said after the game, which was his last as Sparks coach.

 

“When you look at players and watch their development over the years and she could have just said, ‘You know what, I’m good enough,’ but every year, she was coming back to get better. That’s the thing I appreciate the most about her.”

 

What most retirement ceremonies like Leslie’s represents is the finished product of an athlete’s greatness in their sport. What it also represents is the tremendous amount of support and hard work that is put in by the individual athlete along with the many people that helped that athlete reach this great moment.

 

For Leslie, she said to the audience that she was able to reach this great pinnacle of her career thanks to support from her mother Christine, her uncle Craig, her older sister Dionne and younger sister Tiffany.

 

“It takes a village to raise a child and I just didn’t get to this stage. That whole village helped support me,” Leslie said at the ceremony.

 

That village also taught Leslie the greatest lesson in life that are vital to being successful like getting an education, being a solid representative where ever you go and that you can make it no matter if you grow up in the best or in her case not the best of circumstances.

 

We have come to know Lisa Leslie as a all world basketball player who rose to prominence starting at Morningside High School in Inglewood, Cal., as a collegiate at USC, as a professional with the Los Angles Sparks and USA Basketball. What she has also done along the way is become a fashion model at one time with the Wilhelmina modeling agency, be a guest star on shows like “Sister, Sister,” “The Game” and “One on One” and a basketball analyst for ESPN and the NBA on TNT. 

 

Today Leslie is married to her husband of now four years airline pilot and former U.S. Air force Captain Michael Lockwood and they have two children together a daughter Lauren Jolie Lockwood, who was born on June 15, 2007 and back on Apr. 6 of this year, the couple welcome their second child Michael Joseph Lockwood II. The couple has two other children as well.

 

On top of that, Leslie is a special guest commentator for “Sports Zone” ABC 7 Eyewitness News in Los Angles and has here own website www.lisaleslie9.com.

 

Lisa Leslie did not become a success overnight. She did not get to this point alone. She had the guidance and support of her mother, her siblings, coaches at each level of basketball and every other endeavor that has come her way. Now as a mother herself, she hopes to take the lessons and knowledge she has gained and pass that on to her own children.

 

“I hope to pass on a positive legacy for them. It’s always been important to protect my family name and represent this city; To represent this state; To represent our country to the best of my ability,” Leslie said.

 

Leslie was once a young woman who had dreams just like any other young girl. She had high expectations of herself. She wanted to be special. She put the work in on the court, in the classroom and in the game of life and she has been rewarded very well with a great success on the court, in her personal life and in her emerging endeavors away from the hardwood. She worked out a plan and so far it is working.

 

“I hope I have made all of you proud because I from the inner city here and I just want for all of you little girls and boys to know that you can do it,” Leslie said in closing to the Staples Center audience.

 

“You have to work hard, go to school, put your education first, write down your goals and you can achieve anything as you can see I have.” 

 

Information, quotes and statistics are courtesy of 9/27/09 Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angles Sparks vs. Phoenix Mercury on NBA TV; 8/10/10 10 p.m. contest between the Indiana Fever vs. Los Angles Sparks on ESPN 2; August 16 edition of Sports Illustrated; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Leslie; www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candace_Parker;www.lisaleslie9.com; www.jockbio.com/Bios/Leslie/Leslie_bio.html.

In the history of our great country and the highest court in the land, the United States Supreme Court, there have been 111 justices that have been appointed. These have been individuals that have decided on cases that have shaped our democracy for many years. Those verdicts that have been decided have made our society today. Yesterday, the confirmation of the 112^th justice to the court was a significant one.

                      

When Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said, “The total is 63, 37 the nomination is confirmed,” former Harvard University Law School Dean Elena Kagan became not only the 112^th justice to be named to the highest court in the land, she became just the fourth woman in the history to be named. She now joins justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and last year’s nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who became the first Hispanic person to serve on the Supreme Court.

 

Kagan, who is currently 50 years-old will become the youngest justice on the court and she will be succeeding the oldest justice John Paul Stevens who is 90 years old.

 

She will also be the first new justice in four decades to be named to the Supreme Court and not have any experience as a judge, according to NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O’Donnell.

 

Justice Kagan confirmation, which will become official when she is sworn in by Justice John Roberts tomorrow afternoon means that only 25 percent of the liberal side of the U.S. Supreme Court will be represented by a man, Justice Stephen Breyer. Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor and now Kagan make up the remaining 75 percent of the liberal side.

 

The justices representing the conservative side of the Supreme Court are Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, Roberts and Clarence Thomas.

 

“For nearly two centuries there wasn’t a single woman on our nation’s highest court,” President Barack Obama said yesterday.

 

While this was a great day of celebration, Kagan’s confirmation also put on display the partisan divide that is happening in our country at this very moment.

 

Of the 63 yeas, meaning yes votes in political terms, only five republican senators voted to confirm Kagan. Those five were Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). The only Democrat, who voted nea, no in political terms, was Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE).

 

A number of Republicans saw Kagan as someone who was more interested in advancing her own political ambitions instead of upholding the law as it is constituted.

 

There was no better example of this than her policy when she was the Dean at Harvard Law when she put a limit on the access of military recruiters.

 

“Dean Kagan I believe showed a willingness to bend the law and facts to advance her own political goals of protesting the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy,” said Sen. John Cornyn (D-TX).

 

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) back that up by saying yesterday at Capitol Hill that Kagan is “unlikely to exercise judicial restraint.”

 

Whether that may be true of not what Kagan brings to the table is something new. She brings someone who has seen the law from the other side. She is someone with life experience. She has worked in politics having served under President Obama as Solicitor General of the U.S. for a year as well as former President Bill Clinton as his Associate White House Counsel and Deputy Assistant to the President of Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Counsel from 1995-1999.

 

Earlier in her law career, Kagan was a law clerk for Judge Abner Mikva of the United States Court of Appeals in for the D.C. Circuit back in 1987 and then a year later for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the Supreme Court. After that, Kagan practiced law at the private level as an associate at the Williams and Connolly, a Washington D.C. law firm.

 

In 1991, Kagan joined the faculty at the University of Chicago Law School as an assistant professor and became a tenured professor of law four years later.

 

While at the University of Chicago Law, she published a law review article on the regulation of First Amendment hate speech entitled “Regulation of Hate Speech and Pornography After R.A.V.” It discussed the ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of “R.A.V. vs. City of St. Paul.” This was a 1992 case where the court struck down St. Paul, Minnesota’s Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance and as a result overturned the conviction of a teenager, who was referred to only as R.A.V. in court documents, for burning a cross on the lawn of the home of a African American family.

 

In the University of Chicago Law Review, Kagan wrote an article entitled, “Private Speech, Public Purpose: The Role of Governmental Motive in First Amendment Doctrine,” where she made the argument that our government has the right to have a restriction on free speech when the government believes that the speech is “harmful,” as long as the restriction is done with good intentions.

 

It is true that she has no experience as a judge as last year’s nominee, current Justice Sotomayor. She does have though life experience. She has dealt with cases and has written about cases that have an effect on our daily lives.

 

In Kagan, the court now has someone that can look at the case from a number of angles. With the way things are going on today and with might be coming up the turnpike, having someone with all that she has seen on the bench will be very valuable.

 

As Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who is also Chairman of the U.S. Judiciary Committee said of Kagan’s confirmation, “She’s earned her place at the top of the legal profession. No one gave it to her. She earned it.”

 

From the human perspective, having more diversity on the court show that a major part of our country, which at one time was male dominated can now say it is becoming more equal.   

 

When then President Ronald Reagan nominated the first woman to the Supreme Court Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981, which he vowed to do during his presidential campaign in 1980, it was not until 12 years later, according to ABC News Senior Congressional correspondent Jonathan Karl that the court installed a woman’s laboratory near the room where the justices deliberated.

 

To truly capture the scope of what it will mean to have three women officially on the highest court in the land tomorrow afternoon, Justice Ginsburg said once being the only female justice doesn’t look right.

 

“It’s lonely for me there,” she said. “There’s life experience that a woman has particularly because she’s grown up inside a woman’s body.”

 

For many years, the United States Supreme Court has been a place where only men made decisions on how our country was going to be shaped by decisions that were made in high profile cases. With the confirmation of Sotomayor a year ago and with the swearing in of Kagan in less than 24 hours, the way the court looks and how cases will be looked at will be different for years to come and hopefully years of solid change.

 

One of the things our country is going in the direction of is that men and women are different, but when it comes to doing the job at anything, particularly today, both sides of the opposite sex can do anything. All it takes is being given a chance and running with it. Former Harvard Law Dean Elena Kagan has gotten hers and I believe she will be a great justice, even if her duties as the junior justice include taking notes during deliberation, answering the door to bring papers, messages or even coffee.   

Information and quotations are courtesy of en.wikipedia.com, www.michaelariens.com; 8/5/10 6:30 p.m. edition of the “CBS Evening News” with Katie Couric; 8/5/10 6:30 p.m. edition of “NBC Nightly News” with Brian Williams, with the substitute anchor Lester Holt and report from Capitol Hill Correspondent Kelly O’Donnell; 8/5/10 6:30 p.m. edition of “ABC World News” with Diane Sawyer with report from Senior Congressional Correspondent Jonathan Karl; state abbreviations at www.usps.com.

When you think of the New York Yankees, there are many things that come to mind. The 27 World Championships that they have won; the straight to the point win at all cost owner George Steinbrenner; the amazing former players like Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and current stars like Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and many others. There is one very important person that has been there for many Yankee memories. A person that a lot of us cannot see, but we did hear him at the old Yankee Stadium and we heard him for over five decades. This past Sunday, that voice that introduced the players on the field was silenced.

 

The legendary public address announcer of Yankee Stadium of Major League Baseball (MLB), the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) Robert Leo “Bob” Sheppard passed away at his home in Baldwin, NY. He was 99 years old.

 

The man who was called by former Yankee great Reggie Jackson as “The Voice of God,” passed away over three months shy of his 100^th birthday.

 

Sheppard in recent years had been in poor health, which led to his departure from the Yankees when he called his final game on Sept. 5, 2007.

 

He finished his time with the Giants after their playoff defeat at home in the Wild Card Round versus the Carolina Panthers on Jan. 8, 2006. He was replaced by longtime understudy Jim Hall.

 

According to the Yankees, Sheppard went to the after life with his wife Mary at his side. He is also survived by his son Paul.

 

“I am deeply saddened by the death of Bob Sheppard, a good friend and fine man whose voice set the gold standard for America’s sports announcers,” said Steinbrenner, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 80 from a massive heart attack at his home in Tampa, FL.

 

“For over a half century, fans were thrilled to hear his unforgettable voice. Bob Sheppard was a great member of the Yankee family and his death leaves a lasting silence. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Mary and their family.”

 

At the funeral service held at the Fullerton Funeral Home in Baldwin on Tuesday, son Paul said of his dad, “He’s one of the few people I’ve ever known that never ever said a bad word about anybody. If he had a thought, he just never said anything. I wish I could say the same.”

 

Sheppard began each home game by saying to the Yankee faithful, “Good evening (afternoon)… ladies and gentlemen …and welcome… to Yankee Stadium.”

 

When he had to make announcements during the game, he would say to the audience, “Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen,” and would say what needed to be said.

 

It is this kind of simple way of making announcements in his deep resident voice and elegant introductions that made him dear to the Yankee organization and those in the stands for 56 years. He was also an announcer for the New York Giants for 50 years.

 

He first began his legendary journey with the Yankees on Apr. 17, 1951 when the Bronx Bombers played their home opener against their American League East arch rivals the Boston Red Sox.

 

That contest featured eight future Hall of Fame inductees: Joe DiMaggio, who was playing in his final season as a Yankee and was the first player Sheppard introduced; Mickey Mantle who was just beginning his Yankee career. The lineup also included Yankee fan favorite Yogi Berra, Johnny Mize and Phil Rizzuto. The future Hall of Famers on the Red Sox starting card were Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Lou Boudreau.

 

Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi said of Sheppard’s death on Sunday before the team’s contest at Seattle Mariners to close the 1^st half of the 2010 season, “It’s extremely sad. You think of about Ruth and Guheric and Yogi and Joe D. and Mantle and I think you mention Bob Sheppard and that’s how important he was to this franchise.”

 

From the beginning, Bob Sheppard left a lasting impression as an announcer. He was someone who never sought after the spotlight and he summed up his long run as an announcer for one of professional sports greatest franchises by following the three C’s. He was clear, concise and correct.

 

No one understood this better that WFAN Sports Radio host Ed Randall of Ed Randall’s Talking Baseball, who served as the temporary PA announcer in Sheppard’s absence.

 

“It really gave me a greater appreciation of the art form that was Bob Sheppard,” said Randall, who also has called television play-by-play for the minor league Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees.

 

Along with the three C’s, Sheppard believed that a home team’s Public Address announcer should never be another three C’s, colorful, comic or cute.

 

“There is no place in my mind for an announcer who’s a cheerleader,” Sheppard said once.

 

I guess that is why he said being called “The Voice of God” by Jackson was a “slight exaggeration.”

 

While that might be true, if there is one thing that was true about Bob Sheppard is that he was family to the Yankee organization, particularly the players and even the managers.

 

“He was part of the whole Yankee Stadium experience,” said team captain Derek Jeter, who thanks to audio recordings, has been introduced when he comes to bat at home by Sheppard. He made this request back in 2006. The PA duties are at the New Yankee Stadium are done by Paul Holden.

 

“I grew up listening to him and it’s a thrill for every player to get introduced by him. No disrespect to any other announcer, but you think of him the first thing that comes to mind is Yankee Stadium.”

 

In 56 years as the PA for the Yankees, Sheppard announced over 4,500 games. In that period of time the team won 22 American League (AL) pennants, 13 World Championships.

 

In that time he witness memorable moments from Roger Maris hitting his 61^st home run on Oct. 1, 1961 versus the Red Sox, Don Larson’s pitching a perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series on Oct. 8, 1956 against the Brooklyn Dodgers, which remains the only no-hitter of its kind in MLB postseason play.

 

The greatest moment of them all though was the first World Series at Yankee Stadium following the terror attacks of 9/11. At that game, which was Game 3 of the World Series, then President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

 

He was the announcer for the New York Giants for a 50-year period, in which the team won two Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

 

Sheppard also was an announcer for St. John’s basketball and football many other sporting events.

 

To think that this all could not have happened because when Sheppard was an announcer for the football Brooklyn Dodgers, the Yankees made him an offer to be their PA. He refused because it conflicted with his teaching schedule.

 

Sheppard started his professional career serving as a speech teacher beginning at John Adams in Queens, NY, then later at his alma mater St. John’s University. He was also a speech and debate coach Sacred Heart Academy Forensic Team in Hempstead, NY.

 

He eventually relented and for more than a 25 year period he worked both as a teacher and as an announcer, always maintaining in that time frame that being a professor of speech was much more important than his work on a public microphone.

 

It must be the reason why Sheppard said once that, “Most men go to work. I go to a game and with that attitude you have a sense that it’s a pleasure and it has been.”

 

With all of that to his credit, Sheppard will always be remembered as the voice of the New York Yankees. His named will always be remembered, particularly by the media because a media dining room in the new Yankee Stadium is named after him.

 

On top of that, the town rival New York Mets honored Sheppard at Citi Field on Sunday when they hosted their division rivals the Atlanta Braves.

 

As CBS 2 News reporter Dave Carlin put it in his report, “Pinstripes are the look of the Yankees and Sheppard’s voice the sound.”

 

Quotes and information is courtesy of 7/11/10 6:30 p.m. edition of “NBC Nightly News” with Lester Holt; 7/11/10 6:30 p.m. edition of the CBS 2 News with Rob Morrison with report coming from sports anchor Sam Ryan and Dave Carlin; en.wikipedia.org.

For his first seven seasons, a local kid from Akron, OH helped turned the Cleveland Cavaliers from unwatchable pretenders to stand on pins and needles every night contenders. He brought hope to a city that has had nothing but professional athletic heartbreak over five decades. Despite not winning a title yet in his NBA career, James has always been loved by the area that saw him grow before their eyes. On Thursday night, that all changed with an answer that came in 3.5 seconds asked to him in Greenwich, CT by ESPN’s Jim Gray.

 

In the one-hour ESPN Special entitled “The Decision” free agent superstar forward LeBron James when asked by Gray, “LeBron, what’s your decision?”

 

James answered by saying, “This fall, I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”

 

With that answer, the self-entitled “King” as he is known by in the National Basketball Association and in his Nike commercials said goodbye to the place he grew up and joined forces with all world guard Dwyane Wade and forward Chris Bosh, both of whom James is good friends with and who helped him win a gold medal on the 2008 Olympic team, also known as “The Redeem Team.”

 

There are several good things that have come out of this decision by the most prized free agent in recent memory.

 

For starters we know where he is going to play basketball next season and for years to come. Along side him will be some two of the best in the game today in Wade and Bosh.

 

Above all else, James feels this will give him the opportunity to reach his ultimate goal, which is to win a championship. Despite winning 66 and 61 games respectably the last two years, both of which were the best marks in the NBA, the Cavs lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Orlando Magic in six games in 2009 and to the Boston Celtics just this past year; both of whom represented the East in the NBA Finals, but lost to the Los Angles Lakers.

 

“I feel like its going to give me the best opportunity to win and to win for multiple years and not only to just to win in the regular season or just to win five games in a row or three games in a row,” James said about his decision.

 

“I want to be able to win championships and I feel like I can compete down there.”

 

The other good part that this decision that James has made shows how unselfish D-Wade, as Wade is known by in NBA circles, is and how he wants to sacrifice his ego and numbers to add more championship memories like he experienced in 2006 when the Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 4-2 in 2006.

 

For these three great players at this point in their careers, they want to win. In the case of Bosh, he only has 11 career playoff games to speak of in his seven-year career with the Toronto Raptors.

 

Wade since the Heat has won it all in 2006, the team has been knocked out of the playoffs in the first-round three of the last four seasons. In 2007-08 the team did not make the playoffs as they went 15-67, the worst record in the league.

 

James in his seven seasons has taken the Cavs from the bottom of the barrel to the top of the NBA landscape. He did lead the Cavs to the NBA Finals in 2007, but they were swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs.

 

So in a sense all three of them understand that they are joining forces to add jewelry to their legacies and those stats and gaining all the glory for what happens on the hardwood is not of great concern anymore. All that matters is winning.

 

“For me it’s not about sharing. It’s about everybody having their own spotlight and then doing what’s best for the team,” James said.

 

“At this point, D-Wade is the unselfish guy here. To be able to have Chris Bosh and LeBron James to welcome us to his team, it not about individuals here because if that was the case, D-Wade wouldn’t have asked us to join him or we wouldn’t have asked him if it was okay to come down there. It’s not about individuals. It’s about a team and that’s what this game is about.”

 

With all the good that this decision James made does bring, there is also a great deal of bad that this brought as well.

 

For starters, one of Cleveland’s own is moving on to hopefully greater pastures, which is winning multiple rings in Miami.

 

While that has brought great excitement, it has brought despair, pain, anger and undeserved sadness to a Midwest City that for a long time has yearned for a winner.

 

James’ decision to leave the Cavaliers is another in a long list of heartbreaking moments that have been the staple of Cleveland professional sports for close to six decades.

 

In the 1954 World Series, New York Giants Hall of Fame centerfielder Willie Mays made a spectacular play which has been called “The Catch” where he made an over-the-shoulder grab in deep centerfield of the Polo Grounds that robbed Cleveland Indians’ Vic Wertz of a big hit in the eighth inning of Game 1. The Giants won the opener of the series 5-2 and they swept the Indians in four games.

 

Cleveland fans would endure more heartbreak in the 1986 American Football League Championship (AFC) Game of 1986 between the Denver Broncos at the Cleveland Browns.

 

Broncos Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway led a 15-play 98 drive from the Broncos own two-yard line that culminated in a 5-yard touchdown strike to Mark Jackson that tied the game at 20 to 20. The play became known as “The Drive.” The Broncos won in overtime 23-20 thanks to a 33-yard game-winning field goal by place kicker Rich Karlis that sent the Broncos to the Super Bowl XXI, where they lost to the National Football League Champion New York Giants 39-20.

 

The next season, the Broncos and the Browns played each other again for the AFC crown again, this time in Denver.

 

This time around it was the Browns had an opportunity to end the Broncos season in front of their home crowd.

 

With 1:12 remaining and possession on Denver’s own three-yard line, Browns running back Earnest Byner was on his way to the end zone and giving the Browns the lead and for all intensive purposed the victory, but he was stripped of the football by Jeremiah Castille and the Broncos recovered the ball. They would go on to win the game 38-33 and went on to the Super Bowl XXII, where they would fall short to the Washington Redskins 42-10.

 

Ten years later, Cleveland’s baseball faithful would feel the sting of defeat again as in Game 7 of the World Series against the Florida Marlins.

 

After gaining a 2-0 lead after six innings, the collapse began in the bottom of the seventh inning when Marlins’ third baseman Bobby Bonilla’s home-run cut the Indians lead to 2-1.

 

With runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Marlins infielder Craig Counsell hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Moises Alou to tie the score at 2-2.

 

In the bottom of the 11^th, Marlins shortstop Edgar Renteria who had five walk-off hits in extra innings in 1997 hit one over pitcher Charles Nagy’s glove up the middle to centerfield that scored Counsell from third and the Marlins won the Game 7 3-2 and the series 4-3. It was the team’s first title in just its fifth season of existence. The game would come to be known as “The Single.”

 

There are two Cleveland sports heartbreaks that stand out amongst all the rest. “The Shot,” which represents the play Michael Jordan made when he hit a shot from the top of the key over Craig Ehlo at the buzzer that gave the Chicago Bulls a 101-100 over the Cavaliers and the first-round series victory in 1989 3-2.

Jordan would do it again to the Cavs four years later in the Eastern Conference Semifinals as he scored over Gerald Wilkins from about the same area and his buzzer beating shot gave the Bulls a 103-101 victory and series sweep 4-0.

 

The one heartbreak moment that the city of Cleveland will never forget was on the day of Nov. 6, 1995 when team owner at the time Art Modell signed a deal to move the Browns to Baltimore.

 

In their final season in Cleveland, the Browns went just 5-11, which included a 2-7 finish to the season.

 

What immediately were lawsuits by fans and then the city of Cleveland filed its own lawsuit. Even our own government of Congress held hearings on this.

 

Football did return to Cleveland three years later. However, the greatness and contending for championships has not and with James leaving, it seems like those good times are not coming back anytime soon.

 

When things go bad, they only get uglier and the gruesomeness of this whole situation did not take long to show its ugly face.

 

To fully understand how ugly this has gotten in just less than 24 hours, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert in a statement on the team’s website, “I personally guarantee that the Cleveland Cavaliers will win an NBA Championship before the self-titled former ‘King’ wins one.”

 

He went on to say of James’ announcement last night was “narcissistic” and “self-promotional.”

 

To all the fans of the Cavaliers, Gilbert in showing their frustration to James said that, “You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal.”

 

I can understand to some extent to what he is saying, but not all of it.

 

For starters, James did not leave Cleveland because of the money. If he wanted to stay, he could have because Cleveland could have signed him to the maximum amount.

 

James said he wanted to be in a place that he could win championships and many of them.

 

With the way the team was constructed the past few seasons, it was clear that the ownership and front office of the Cavs was trying to build a team around James that could give him that opportunity. Those teams unfortunately did not pan out when it mattered in the postseason.

 

When it comes down to it though, this was James’ decision and he wanted to do it his way. You really cannot fault him for that.

 

In his seven years in Cleveland, he took the Cavs to great heights. He made them relevant again. He put fans in the seats and he made his teammates better. He brought it each and every single night to the court in victory and in defeat.

 

I understand that in Game 5 of the Eastern Semis versus the Boston Celtics he had a rare off performance for him. Unfortunately it happened and the Cavs lost in Game 6 and their season came to a conclusion without an appearance in the championship series.

 

James made a choice. Whether it was the right choice remains to be seen.

 

It is clear that he must win at least two rings or more in order for this to even be deemed a success.

 

Before that process can even begin, the Heat still has to fill out the rest of the roster. While Heat president Pat Riley got the top free agents to come to Miami, he still has to build the rest of the team around them. The only other person that is in the fold now is point guard Mario Chalmers. Forward Michael Beasley, who was the No. 2 overall pick by the Heat in the 2008 NBA Draft was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves on July 8 to clear more cap space to for the Heat to sign James and Bosh and resign Wade.

 

To sum this whole saga up it simply comes to this. James had a major decision he had to make on where he wanted to play next season and beyond. He chose Miami in part because he wanted to play with Wade and Bosh because he is good friends with them and he respects their games the most.

 

He wanted to be a part of a team that he could win championships every year and he wanted to be in a place that would make him happy.

 

He made his choice and we will be watching to see what unfolds.

 

As far as for Cleveland, the truth of the matter is that their sports fans again have to deal with the reality of being spurned again. With that being said, you have to have hope. Things may look bleak now and they have been for a long time, but for seven years James gave them a lot of highlights and he won a lot of games. While he did not lead the Cavs to the mountain top of the NBA, they at least were in contention to get there, time just ran out. Will they have a chance to get there again, that is a wait and see. While Gilbert said with vibrato that the team would win a title before James does is as great an overreaction as you will ever see.

 

On Oct 29, 2003 James made his NBA debut at the Sacramento Kings. He had 25 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals in defeat.

 

In five of his seven seasons, he led the Cavs to the playoffs, each year getting out of the first round. He led them to the 2007 NBA Finals, where they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in four games.

 

In 2009-10, James averaged 29.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 8.6 apg in winning his second consecutive MVP award. In the 76 games he played this past season, he scored or assisted on over 48 percent of Cleveland’s points scored, which led the NBA.

 

In terms of how he transformed the Cavs as a whole, when the team went 17-65 the year before James was drafted, the average attendance at the then Gund Arena was 11,496, which comes to a 55.9 percent capacity. That ranked Cleveland dead last in attendance for home games in the league. The team value was not much better at $222 million.

 

In 2009-10, the Cavs went 61-21 with an attendance average of 20,562 coming to a 100 percent capacity, ranking them second in the league. The team’s value was $476.

 

To truly drive home the point on what James did in his seven-year career as a Cavalier, he scored 15,251 career points in those seasons, a 27.8 average per contest, which is the most in team history. If he had kept that pace, according to ESPN, he would have by the age of 36 become in the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He would have passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the top scorer in NBA history at this very moment and Karl Malone, who is second.

 

With all of his success as an individual, he has not won a title. He became just the third player in NBA history to have to MVPs to his name and no rings. The other two are current Phoenix Suns’ lead guard Steve Nash and aforementioned Malone.

 

James has made his choice. Many have said that it was the wrong way to go about, but it happened. We watched whether we wanted to or not. He made a choice that left some of us scratching our heads. It happened. Let’s move on and see what he does.

Information, quotes and statistics are courtesy of 7/8/10 9 p.m. ESPN Special “The Decision;” 7/8/10 11:35 p.m. edition of ABC News’ “Nightline” with Cynthia McFadden, report from John Berman; 7/8/10 11:30 p.m. edition of ESPNEWS

This past weekend, the basketball world said goodbye to a legendary coach of the hardwood. This great man did things in college basketball that may never be duplicated again. He made it to college basketball game on multiple occasions and won as many times as he got there. He turned talented player into great ones and even more so made them better people. Above all else, he left a mark on the game of basketball that made all of understand that value of the little things and the importance of being great in the game of basketball as well as in the game of life.

                           

Last Friday, legendary University of California, Los Angles (UCLA) coach John Wooden passed away from natural causes. He was 99 years old.

 

“He was not only the greatest coach in the history of any sport, but he was an exceptional individual that transcended the sporting world. His enduring legacy as a role model is one we should all strive to emulate,” UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said in a statement read on ESPN’s Sportscenter early Saturday morning.

 

Current UCLA Men’s Basketball coach Ben Howland said, “This is and will always be coach Wooden’s program. What he built here; the legacy; the tradition. His legend will never be forgotten.”

 

He is survived by his son James Hugh Wooden and his daughter Nancy Ann Muehlhausen.

 

Wooden’s wife of 52 years, Nellie (Nell) Riley when they met at a carnival back in July 1926 passed away 15 years ago from cancer.

 

In the 15 years that followed her passing, Wooden would on the 21^st of every month visit Nellie’s grave and then write a love letter to her that he would place in an envelope and add to a stack of the many he had written over the years on the pillow she laid her head on next to him during their life together.

 

What has help comfort Wooden is his Christian faith, which over time became a lot more important than what he did as a coach on the collegiate hardwood.

 

“I have always tried to make it clear that basketball is not the ultimate,” Wooden said.

 

“It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior.”

 

A strong believer in his faith, Wooden often told people that he did not fear death. He just was looking forward to the moment he can be reunited with his Nellie.

 

In his time on Earth as the so-called “Wizard of Westwood,” John Wooden constructed a legendary resume.

 

He won 10 NCAA titles in a 12-year span, which includes seven consecutive, both NCAA records. He has 21 Final Four victories, the most ever; most regular season victories in a row with 88 and 38 victories in succession in the NCAA Tournament.  

 

His overall mark at UCLA was 627 victories compared to 147 losses.

 

“Sometimes you get the ball rolling and it picks up momentum and a lot of things help keep it going,” Wooden once said.

 

“Our 10 championships at UCLA, they were jus the icing on the cake. There is more value in the journey than in the victory itself.”

 

To put into context what Wooden did in terms of winning in college basketball, the three other college coaches who have won multiple titles in have 11 combined. Legendary University of Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp won four NCAA titles and appeared in the Final Four on nine occasions. Former Indiana University  head coach and current ESPN College Basketball Analyst Bobby Knight on three NCAA crowns and made the Final Four seven times. Current Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who led the Blue Devils to the 2010 NCAA title this past April, garnered his fourth title in Duke’s 12th Final Four.  

 

“Many call coach Wooden the ‘gold standard’ of coaches. I believe he was the ‘gold standard of people and carried himself with uncommon grace, dignity and humanity,” Coach K said in a statement early Saturday morning.

 

“Coach Wooden’s name is synonymous with excellence and deservedly so. He was one of the great-leaders-in any profession-of his generation. We are so blessed that the sport of basketball benefited from his talents for so long.

 

To show how much Wooden is respected for his track record of winning titles, when he won his last NCAA championship in 1975, according to ESPN he walked into the interview and the media gave him a round of applause. If that does not say coach Wooden is one of a kind, I don’t know what does.

 

While coach Wooden was and is in the eyes of basketball lifers one of the very best, this was something that was not given to him, it is something that he earned and was taught.

 

Born in Hall, IN on Oct. 14, 1910 to Wooden grew into the example of what hard work, courage, concentration and commitment can get you, even if you do go through some hard times as he did with his family.

 

The family moved to Martinsville, IN when Wooden was 14 and when he reached high school; he helped to lead his team to the state championship final three years in succession, winning it all in 1927. He was selected to three All-State teams.

 

Upon graduation, Wooden attended the University of Purdue, where he was coached by Ward, “Piggy” Lambert. He led the Boilermakers to the 1932 NCAA National Championship, which was determined in those days by a panel of voters as supposed to the NCAA tournament. That changed in 1939.

 

Wooden was named All-Big Ten and All-Midwestern three years in a row (1930-32) at Purdue and became the first player ever to be selected as a consensus All-American three times.

 

He graduated from Purdue in 1932 with an English degree. He then spent several years playing pro basketball with the Indianapolis Kautskys, who were later named the Indianapolis Jets, Whiting Ciesar All-Americans and Hammond Ciesar All-Americans while teaching English and coaching in the high school ranks coaching for two years at Dayton High School in Kentucky and nine years at South Bend Central High School in South Bend, IN. In first season of coaching, Wooden had a 6-11 record the only time in his coaching career he had a losing record. He would finish his high school career with a 218-42 record.

 

After that in 1942 Wooden served in World War II when he joined the Navy. He served for nearly three years and left the ranks as a lieutenant.

 

He then coached at Indiana Teacher’s College, which is now Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN.

 

Along with being basketball coach, Wooden served as the baseball coach and athletic director, while teaching and completing his master’s degree in education.

 

In 1947, Wooden basketball team won the Indiana Collegiate Conference title and received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) National Tournament in Kansas City, MS.

 

The team did not attend because of the NAIB’s policy of banning African American players.

 

One of coach Wooden’s players that were African American on the team was Clarence Walker from East Chicago, IN.

 

The next year, Indiana Teacher’s College won the Indiana State conference title. This time around the NAIB reversed its policy banning African American players that year and coach Wooden led his team to the NAIB National Tournament Final, but lost to Louisville. This marked the first and only loss that a coach Wooden team suffered in a championship contest.

The one moral victory that was very significant is that Walker became the first African American player to participate in any post-season intercollegiate basketball tournament.

 

For all that he did at now Indiana State University, coach Wooden was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 3, 1984.

 

Twenty-three years prior Wooden was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for his achievements at Purdue University

 

The next year, coach Wooden moved on to the UCLA and he would help create 27 years of grand tradition and a history of winning, although the first championship at UCLA did not come until his 16^th season on the sideline.

 

“I am a slow learner, but you notice when I learn something, I have it down pretty good,” coach Wooden said one time.

 

Along with, coach Wooden said that winning to him never gets old. To me what makes all the winning special is that he never took it for granted and he made sure his players never took it for granted either.

 

“Trying to be patient and not getting carried away. Not permitting your players to feel that it’s already done because it isn’t,” Wooden said once.

 

What helped coach Wooden win at the rate he did was the fact he had talented players like NBA Hall of Famers Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ferdinand Lewis “Lew” Alcindor, Jr. at the time, along with of NBA greats like Jamaal Wilkes, Kiki Vandeweghe. He also had very good role players like current actor Mike Warren, Lynn Shackelford, John Vallely.

 

He taught these great players to be great not just through very intense drills in practice that did pay great dividends on the court.

 

“He knew to the precise second where we were supposed to be on the court and what he wanted to do instructionally,” said Warren, who played for Wooden from 1965-68.

 

 It was that kind of precision, consistency and attention to detail in practice that won games and championships for the Bruins and left other college basketball coaches like Jerry Tarkanian shaking their heads.

 

“Wooden was so basic in everything he did and you could breakdown film and you know exactly what they were gonna do, but you couldn’t stop them.”

 

Walton, who won two NCAA titles at UCLA under Wooden’s guidance said last Sunday night during at halftime of Game 2 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and Lakers that while coach Wooden was demanding, extracting, firm and challenging, he was fair and made it fun.

 

“We could not wait to get to practice each and every day,” Walton said.

 

He got this across to his player through a number of his Woodenism like, “It’s about what is correct. Not who is correct;” “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail:” “Do not mistake activity for achievement;” and Happiness begins when selfishness ends. Be quick, but don’t hurry.”

 

Along with that coach Wooden had two very valuable assets that he used that made him into not just a great coach, but a great author of several books and someone that many companies would bring in to speak to their employees.

 

His Seven Point Creed, which was given to him by his father Joshua when he graduated from grammar school said: “Be true to yourself; Make each day your masterpiece; Help others; Drink deeply from books especially the Bible; Make friendship a fine art; Build a shelter against a rainy day; Pray for guidance and give thanks for your blessings everyday.”

 

Wooden once said, “Success is not a destination. It is a journey. I believe in those things. I believe that practice and preparation to get there was the most important thing.”

 

The second greatest tool that Wooden has used to make his way to the mountain top of greatness was his Pyramid of Success. The five layers of words that are key to being successful.

 

The first layer of the pyramid is industriousness: “Success travels in the company of very hard work. There is no trick, no easy way.” Friendship: “Strive to build a team filled with camaraderie and respect: comrades-in-arms.” Loyalty: “Being true to yourself. Be true to those you lead.” Cooperation: “Have utmost concern for what’s right rather than who’s right.” Enthusiasm: Your energy and enjoyment drive and dedication will stimulate and greatly inspire others.”

 

The second layer of the pyramid begins with self-control: “Control of your organization begins with control of yourself. Be disciplined.” Alertness: “Constantly being aware and observing. Always seek to improve yourself and the team.” Initiative: Make a decision! Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all.” Intentness: “Stay the course. When thwarted try again; harder; smarter. Persevere relentlessly.”

 

The third level starts with condition: “Ability may get you to the top, but character keeps your there—mental, moral and physical.” Skill: “What a leader learns after you’ve learned it all counts most of all.” Team Spirit: “The star of the team is the team/ ‘We’ supersedes ‘me.’ ”

 

The fourth level of the pyramid comprises of Poise and Confidence. Poise is your ability to “be yourself. Don’t be thrown off by events whether good or bad.” Confidence is: “The strongest steel is well-founded self-belief. It is earned, not given.”

 

The last part of the pyramid is Competitive Greatness: “Perform at your best when your best is required. Your best is required each day.”

 

“All his human values all the personal characteristics that he preached to us that we would need in our life to be eventually successful that’s what the pyramid was all about,” said Walton, who won two NCAA titles at UCLA.

 

Vallely, who played guard for Wooden from 1968-70 said one time, “Winning and losing was not talked about during the year. There maybe a halftime speech that revolved around the vocabulary word enthusiasm or industriousness. He would attach the situation by dealing with some aspect of the pyramid’s success.”

 

What these two examples show us about Wooden is that he was someone that not only wanted to teach his players the X’s and O’s that would give them the greatest chance to succeed on the court, but gave them the greatest chance to make an even greater name for themselves off the court.

 

It went from the simplest of things like the proper way to wear your socks and shoes to his three main rules, which were never being tardy, using profanity and never criticizing a teammate.

 

“As a player, his impact was huge. Just teaching the fundamentals of the game, but for him, that was like Trojan horse,” said Abdul-Jabbar.

 

“He wanted us to be good parents. He wanted us to leave the university with a degree and go out into the world and do meaningful things and he was such a huge success in that also.”

 

Wooden’s ability and God like presence was something that gained him respect from all of those that he engaged with like former UCLA softball player Dot Richardson, who bumped into Wooden on her first visit to the school’s athletic department back in 1980.

 

“That face; Just his personality. The legend,” said the former Bruin shortstop, which played at UCLA from 1980-83.

 

“What an amazing man. What an amazing life and I know he’s in heaven with the Lord right now and that his wife is right there by his side.”

 

Maybe the two groups that respected coach Wooden and what he was about besides his former players were those in the media as well as many current college basketball coaches.

 

Fox Sports Prime Ticket broadcaster Vin Scully who calls games for the Los Angles Dodgers quoted Shakespeare when he said of Wooden, “His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him that nature might stand up and say to all the world, this was a man.”

 

Dave Newhouse of the Oakland Tribune said Wooden is the “best coach our country’s ever produced.”

 

Legendary broadcaster and a former one of UCLA Dick Enberg once said that “John Wooden is about as perfect a sports personality as anyone I’ve met in my 40 years of broadcasting. The man was a sport’s Abraham Lincoln. He was Winston Churchill. He was a scholar. He was a teacher. Plus he was a good person.”

 

Someone who truly understands the impact of coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success is Hall of Fame College Basketball broadcaster for ESPN Dick Vitale. As one of the first recipients of John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success Award, he remembers back when he was a teacher at an elementary school and he wrote letters to all the great college basketball coaches in America and the excitement he had when Wooden wrote a letter back that he shared it with his basketball team.

 

Current Connecticut Men’s Basketball coach Jim Calhoun feel’s said that if Wooden is not as important to the game of basketball as Dr. James Naismith, he’s right next to him.

 

“When I think of a basketball coach, the only one I ever thought of was coach Wooden,” said Syracuse Men’s Basketball coach Jim Boeheim.

 

“He’s the best of all-time. There will never be another like him and you can’t say that about too many people.”

 

He is the only of two people to be elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame as a player and as a coach. The other is former NBA player and Coach Lenny Wilkens. He won championships with talent. He made his players better on the hardwood and made them better people off the hardwood. His turned his prowess of X’s and O’s and produced seven books and has a day named in his honor that is celebrated on the 29 of February each year.

 

For all those achievements, I can say in my opinion John Wooden is one of the greatest coaches of all-time. Even more, he is one of the greatest symbols of all-time in the world of sports, amateur, high school, college and professional. There was no one better than him and there will never be another one like him.

 

Information and quotations are courtesy of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wooden; www.coachwooden.com/pyramidpdf; 6/5/10 7 a.m. edition of NBC News “Today” with Lester Holt, Amy Robach and Tamron Hall; 6/5/10 7 a.m. edition of CBS News “The Early Show” with Erica Hill, Chris Wragge and Rebecca Jarvis; 6/5/10 6:30 p.m. edition of “NBC Nightly News” with Lester Holt with report from George Lewis; 6/5/10 6:30 p.m. edition of “CBS Evening News” with Jeff Glor with report coming from CBS Sports anchor Dick Enberg; 6/5/10 9 a.m. edition of ESPN’s Sportscenter from Los Angles with Neil Everett and Robert Flores; 6/6/10 8 p.m. Game 2 of the NBA Finals of the Boston Celtics vs. Los Angles Lakers on ABC-T-Mobile Halftime Report with Stuart Scott.

There are very few actresses who can make there name on both Broadway and on the small screen. Actress Rue McClanahan was one of them. She starred on two very successful television shows and made many guest appearances on others, particularly in recent years. She also as animal welfare advocate and someone who beat a disease that takes the lives many women each year. Yesterday, this great actress whose work spans decades said goodbye to us.

Eddi-Rue McClanahan passed away early Thursday morning at New York-Presbyterian Hospital from a severe stroke and a subsequent brain hemorrhage. She was 76 years old.

McClanahan is survived by her estranged husband Morrow Wilson, who she separated from a year ago, her son from her first marriage Mark Bish and her sister Melinda L. McClanahan.

Both Bish and Melinda were by Rue’s side along with her nephew Brendan Kinkade when she passed on Thursday.

There will be no funeral service upon the request of McClanahan, according to “The Insider” correspondent and attorney Chris Jacobs. There are memorial services planned to honor McClanahan, which will take place this summer in New York and Los Angles.  

She is best remembered for in her role as Blanche Deveraux, the man hungry, aging southern belle on the late 80s early 90s NBC sitcom “The Golden Girls.”

McClanahan starred alongside Estelle Getty, who played Sophia Petrillo, Beatrice “Bea” Arthur, who played Getty’s daughter Dorothy Zbornak and Betty White, who played Rose Nylund.

The show lasted for seven seasons and 180 episodes that centered on the four women and their countless talk about life and sex. The show was “Sex and the City” for older women.

McClanahan is the third of the four “Golden Girls” to pass. Getty passed away on July 22, 2008 from natural causes. She was 84 years old. Arthur passed on Apr. 25, 2009 at the age of 86.

White in a statement said of McClanahan passing, “Rue was a close and deer friend. I treasured our relationship. It hurts more than I ever thought it would, if that’s even possible.” 

McClanahan was born in Healdton, OK on Feb. 21, 1934 by a beautician Dreda Rheu-Nell and a building contractor William Edwin McClanahan. She was raised in Ardmore, OK. After graduating from Ardmore High School she then went to the University of Tulsa where she graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in German and theater and was sorority member of Kappa Alpha Theta.

Before being on “The Golden Girls,” McClanahan began her acting career on stage. Her professional stage debut came at the Pennsylvania Erie Playhouse in 1957 where she starred in “Inherit the Wind.”

Her Broadway debut came in 1969 as she portrayed Sally Weber in John Sebastian and Murray Schisgal’s original production “Jimmy Shine.” The title role was played by acting legend Dustin Hoffman.   

McClanahan’s television acting debut came one year later as she played the role of Caroline Johnson on the CBS soap opera “Another World,” from July 1970 to September 1971.

She made a solid name for herself in the role as Vivian Harmon for six seasons (1972-1978) on the CBS sitcom “Maude.” She was the best friend of Maude Findlay, played by Arthur.

Seven years later they worked alongside each other again on “The Golden Girls” and the rest as they say is history.

McClanahan said in an interview one time about being a part of the NBC sitcom, “what a winner this is gonna be. Hope I get to be in it.”

She was definitely in it and her role as ABC “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer said yesterday that McClanahan’s character was a gladiator for vitality at any age.

That vitality won her the 1987 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also received three consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical.

The show won two prestigious awards earlier this decade by TV Land network. In 2003, the show won the award for Quintessential Non-Traditional Family and in 2008 claimed the Pop Culture Award.

Over the last decade, McClanahan has made guest appearances on shows like “Ladies Man,” “Hope & Faith,”   “Law & Order” and Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns.”

In 2003, she played Nancy Stringer in the musical romantic comedy film “The Fighting Temptations,” which co-starred Cuba Gooding Jr., Beyonce Knowles, Mike Epps and Steve Harvey.

In her personal life, McClanahan, prior to Wilson was married five times to Tom Bish (1958), Norman Hardweg (1959-61), Peter DeMaio (1964-71), Gus Fisher (1976-78), Tom Keel (1985-86).

She once told ABC’s “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts, “I thought I had to have a man in my life.”

Her message to all women, which she talked about in her 2007 autobiography “My First Five Husbands . . . and the Ones Who Got Away,” “Don’t get married out of insecurity. Don’t get married for any reason other than you are a complete person.

Along with her great acting career, McClanahan was an advocate for animal welfare and was one of the first celebrity sponsors of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

In 2003, she wrote to Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry that by him hunting pheasants cost him her vote and respect.

McClanahan’s faced health issues back in 1997 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she did make a complete recovery from.

In November 4, 2009 McClanahan had triple bypass surgery and on the Jan. 14 edition of “Entertainment Tonight,” that year, it was announced that she had suffered a minor stroke. Last March, White told Ellen DeGeneres on her syndicated talk show that McClanahan’s was doing much better and that her speech returned to normal.

Yesterday we said goodbye to someone who took as Sawyer put it a television stereotype and turned her into a member of the family. Rue McClanahan was the best friend we all wanted. Her talent as an actress brought her to great heights on the stage, on the small screen and into real life matters when it came to fighting for the rights of animals. She was special and we will miss hear greatly.

Information and quotations are courtesy of en.wikipedia.org; 6/3/10 5 p.m. edition of WABC 7 Eyewitness News with Diana Williams and Sade Baderinwa with report coming from Stacey Sager; 6/3/10 6:30 p.m. edition of ABC “World News” with Diane Sawyer; 6/3/10 7 p.m. edition of “The Insider” on WCBS 2.

From the late 1970s to the nearly the end of the 1980s, Gary Coleman was one of the finest actors of his era. He used one simple line on the hit television show rose him to iconic status. His comedic timing was second to none. He turned that acting ability into big time dollars. Unfortunately that great talent he possessed at his young age was as much as curse to him in the long term as much as it was a blessing in the short term. He had a tumultuous life behind the scenes as well as after the show concluded. It continued into adulthood and this pass weekend led to his undo passing.

Last Friday, Coleman, passed away on Friday afternoon at about 12:05 Mountain Standard Time at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Pravo, UT. Coleman’s death was the result from a brain hemorrhage he suffered at his Santaquin home last Wednesday.

Coleman’s family, according to last Saturday’s New York Post, said that he was conscious until midpoint of Thursday, but slipped into a coma and was placed on life support as his condition continued to worsen. He eventually was taken of life support.

Coleman is survived by his 24-year-old wife Shannon Price, who he secretly married in 2007 and his adoptive parents Sue and W.G. Coleman.

Coleman is the second of the three kids that were on Diff’rent Strokes to die at a young age.

Dana Plato, who played the part of Kimberly Drummond died on May 8, 1999 in Moore, OK from an overdose of Vanadom and Lortab. The death eventually was ruled a suicide. She was 34 years old. She was survived at the time by her 13-year-old son Tyler Lambert, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot to his head in Tulsa, OK. It happened 11 years to the day after his mother took her own life and just 72 hours prior to Mother’s Day. Lambert was 25 years old.

On yesterday’s edition of Entertainment Tonight (ET), many entertainers, who were also big in the same era as Coleman expressed their condolences via Twitter.

Former “Who’s the Boss?” actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, “Rest in Peace, Gary Coleman.”

Former American Idol Judge Paula Abdul tweeted, “I am so sorry to hear the sad news about Gary Coleman.”

Janet Jackson, who guest starred on the show as the love interest of Todd Bridges character Willis Jackson Charlene DuPrey (1980-84) tweeted, “I want to remember him as the fun, playful, adorable and affectionate man he was. He left a lasting legacy.

Bridges, who played Coleman’s older brother Willis Jackson on the show said in a statement to ET, “It’s a sad day. It’s sad that I’m the last kid alive from the show.”

 

Most remember miniature size Coleman, who grew to just 4-foot-8 at adulthood, as Arnold Jackson, the younger brother to Bridges character Willis Jackson on Diff’rent Strokes.  

The show was about these to African American boys from Harlem who moved to Park Avenue after being adopted by a wealthy Caucasian widower Phillip Drummond, played by Conrad Bain and his daughter Kimberly played by Plato. It focused on the issues of race, class and the trials and tribulations of growing up in the 1980s.

The show ran for eight seasons (1978-86) and Coleman became the star of the show. His unbelievable comedic timing and adorable young face captivated audiences.  His catchphrase “Watchoo talkin’ ‘bout ___?” catapulted him to iconic stardom that at that time seemed to keep him on top for as long as he wanted.

It also raised his salary on Diff’rent Strokes from $1,500 per episode in the first season to $20,000, then to $40,000 all the way up to $100,000.

“He’s a prodigy really,” Bain said of Coleman one time in an interview with ABC News. “He had comedy timing right from the first line of the first episode.”

The show also drew many major guest stars on the show like Mr. T, NBA Hall of Fame basketball player and former Los Angles Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammed Ali, David Hasselhoff.

The show managed to have First Lady of the U.S. at the time Nancy Reagan on in Season 5’s episode

“The Reporter,” to pitch her “Just Say No,” advertising campaign to discourage kids from recreational drug use.

While in front of the camera as well as financially Coleman was riding high, but behind the scenes, that was not the case.

Since he was born, Coleman has suffered from a congenital kidney condition that stunted his growth and made him appear younger than his age.

He received consistent dialysis on the Diff’rent Strokes set daily. By age 14, he had two kidney transplants.

“He had this huge plastic bag full of this dialysis solution and he had to fill the cavity of his abdomen with that and then drain it out every four hours and refill it,” Bain said of Coleman’s daily routine he went through to combat his disease.

Coleman’s adoptive parents Sue and W.G. Coleman faced a great deal of criticism for allowing their son to continue on working through the pain.

 

“He was sick. He has always been sick. He was born sick. He is always going to be sick, but he also was not working,” Sue Coleman said. “He decided that he wanted to do these movies.”

When “Diff’rent Strokes” ended on March 7, 1986, that was when the other drama of Coleman’s tumultuous life began.

Three years later, Coleman sued his adoptive parents for the misappropriation of his $3.8 trust fund.

The money allegedly was stipend by his parents and managers.

On Feb. 23, 1993, Coleman in the final ruling won only $1,280,000 of the $3.8 million, which he eventually spent up and filed for bankruptcy six years later.

Even with the fact that California law states that 25% of his income must be set aside for the future that mysteriously was gone. Coleman in the latter years from the decision spent all of his money and filed for bankruptcy in 1999.

In an interview that same year on ABC News’ “20/20,” correspondent Sylvia Chase asked Coleman who walked away with his millions.

Coleman answered, “You know even after the lawsuit was concluded, I still don’t know. I don’t know where $18.3 million went.”    

According to a story from ABC News “Nightline” Coleman’s adoptive parents, who served as his personal managers received 20 percent of what their son made from the show. The remainder of the money went to the advisors, lawyers and taxes.

“I don’t know. I’m not a book keeper. I was not an accountant. I didn’t handle any finances or anything,” said W.G. in reference to how his son’s money was mismanaged.

“All we did was sign documents and gave our approval, but only if the court approved it.”

His troubles unfortunately were just beginning. One year before filing for bankruptcy, which he did back in 1999, Coleman was working as a security guard. One day in 1998 while he was shopping for a bulletproof vest at a California shopping mall, he was approached by a woman named Tracy Fields, who worked as a bus driver. She had requested an autograph from the former child star, but instead got punched by Coleman. The situation soon became an argument and Fields mocked Coleman’s career as an adult actor.

Coleman was charged with assault when he was arrested. He pleaded no contest when the case went to court. He received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay Fields $1,665 dollars in hospital bills that were a result from the altercation.

With his acting career basically in the dumps, Coleman then took a stab at politics as a candidate for governor in the 2003 California recall election. His election was sponsored by the free newsweekly East Bay Express. Coleman’s chances for being in public office became very unlikely when Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy on the Aug. 6, 2003 episode of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Coleman stated that his vote would go to him. Schwarzenegger won the election by 1.3 million votes. Coleman placed 8^th in a field of 135 candidates, garnering 14,242 votes.

Two years later, Coleman was in the legal news again when he announced that he was sued the producers of the 2003 Broadway musical “Avenue Q,” which won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score, because of how they depicted him in the play.

The character in “Avenue Q” presented as Coleman worked as a superintendent of an Apartment complex where the musical takes place.

The producers of the play said they originally considered asking Coleman to play the role and he expressed interest in doing so. Coleman however never showed up for a scheduled meeting to talk about the opportunity. On Broadway, the role was originally played by Natalie Venetia Belcon. The role now is being portrayed by Danielle K. Thomas. 

Although the lawsuit did not materialize, Coleman stated at the 2007 New York Comic Con, “I wish there was a lawyer on Earth that would sue them for me.”

 

Coleman luck soon turned for the better on Aug. 28, 2007 when he secretly wed his 22-year-old girlfriend of five months Shannon Price, who he met on the set of the 2006 comedy film “Church Ball.”

In a 2008 interview with the entertainment show “Access Hollywood” Coleman called the first kiss he and Price shared “one of the best, most wonderful, empowering and powerful sensations I ever had in my 40 years of existence.”

The romantic high did not last long as on July 26, 2007 Coleman was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct by a Provo, UT police officer when he was seen having a heated discussion with his wife.

On May 1^st and 2^nd of 2008, the couple appeared on the court television show “Divorce Court,” to air their differences to judge Lynn Toler.

The problems that the couple faced came into true focus when Coleman said, “I have very low self-esteem. I don’t feel very successful in life.”

The couple after their two-show appearance did not divorce, but their issues with each other continued.

On July 3, 2009 Coleman and Price were involved in a domestic dispute in which Price was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. Both parties were cited for disorderly conduct.

On Jan. 24 of this year, Coleman was arrested on a domestic violence assault warrant in Santaquin and was subsequently booked into the Utah County Jail. He was released one day later.

 

There are many ways in which Gary Coleman will be remembered. Some will remember the amazing young child who used his iconic line “What’choo is talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” and turned it into a salary that went as high as $100,000 per episode.

Then there are those of us who will remember Coleman as the child star who never had the proper guidance that allowed him to have a much smoother transition into his adult years whether it is in front of the camera or behind. On top of that though, it is because of what happened to Coleman that we see the parents of current child star entertainers like Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers and those alike take a stock in their child lives and well beings and making sure they grow up with a sense of prospective and not a sense of entitlement. 

He did give us a glimpse into how he feels he saw his life when Chase asked him, “How do you escape being bitter?”

 

Coleman replied, “I don’t. I chose to be in this business. Ill informed as I was. I chose to be in this business and I will forever honor that choice.” 

Quotations and information is courtesy of 5/28/10 6:30 p.m. edition of ABC “World News” with Diane Sawyer, who was substituted for by David Muir and the report was courtesy of Sharyn Alfonsi; 5/28/10 6:30 p.m. edition of “CBS Evening News” with Katie Couric with the report coming from National Correspondent Jim Axelrod; 5/28/10 7:30 p.m. edition of “Access Hollywood” on WNBC 4; 52/9/10 edition of Good Morning America Weekend with Bianna Golodryga, Bill Weir, Ron Claiborne and Marysol Castro with the report coming from Stephanie Sy; 5/28/10 11:35 edition of ABC News “Nightline” with Terry Moran with report coming from Vicki Maybery; Entertainment News and 5/31/10 7:30 p.m. edition of Entertainment Tonight (ET) with Mary Hart and Mark Steines and en.wikipedia.org.  

From the late 1970s to the nearly the end of the 1980s, Gary Coleman was one of the finest actors of his era. He used one simple line on the hit television show rose him to iconic status. His comedic timing was second to none. He turned that acting ability into big time dollars. Unfortunately that great talent he possessed at his young age was as much as curse to him in the long term as much as it was a blessing in the short term. He had a tumultuous life behind the scenes as well as after the show concluded. It continued into adulthood and this pass weekend led to his undo passing.

 

Last Friday, Coleman, passed away on Friday afternoon at about 12:05 Mountain Standard Time at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Pravo, UT. Coleman’s death was the result from a brain hemorrhage he suffered at his Santaquin home last Wednesday.

 

Coleman’s family, according to last Saturday’s New York Post, said that he was conscious until midpoint of Thursday, but slipped into a coma and was placed on life support as his condition continued to worsen. He eventually was taken of life support.

 

Coleman is survived by his 24-year-old wife Shannon Price, who he secretly married in 2007 and his adoptive parents Sue and W.G. Coleman.

 

On yesterday’s edition of Entertainment Tonight (ET), many entertainers, who were also big in the same era as Coleman expressed their condolences via Twitter.

 

Former “Who’s the Boss?” actress Alyssa Milano tweeted, “Rest in Peace, Gary Coleman.”

 

Former American Idol Judge Paula Abdul tweeted, “I am so sorry to hear the sad news about Gary Coleman.”

 

Janet Jackson, who guest starred on the show as the love interest of Todd Bridges character Willis Jackson Charlene DuPrey (1980-84) tweeted, “I want to remember him as the fun, playful, adorable and affectionate man he was. He left a lasting legacy.

 

Bridges, who played Coleman’s older brother Willis Jackson on the show said in a statement to ET, “It’s a sad day. It’s sad that I’m the last kid alive from the show.”

 

Most remember miniature size Coleman, who grew to just 4-foot-8 at adulthood, as Arnold Jackson, the younger brother to Bridges character Willis Jackson on Diff’rent Strokes.  

 

The show was about these to African American boys from Harlem who moved to Park Avenue after being adopted by a wealthy Caucasian widower Phillip Drummond, played by Conrad Bain and his daughter Kimberly played by Dana Plato. It focused on the issues of race, class and the trials and tribulations of growing up in the 1980s.

 

The show ran for eight seasons and Coleman became the star of the show. His unbelievable comedic timing and adorable young face captivated audiences.  His catchphrase “Watchoo talkin’ ‘bout ___?” catapulted him to iconic stardom that at that time seemed to keep him on top for as long as he wanted.

 

It also raised his salary on Diff’rent Strokes from $1,500 per episode in the first season to $20,000, then to $40,000 all the way up to $100,000.

 

“He’s a prodigy really,” Bain said of Coleman one time in an interview with ABC News. “He had comedy timing right from the first line of the first episode.”

 

The show also drew many major guest stars on the show like Mr. T, NBA Hall of Fame basketball player and former Los Angles Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammed Ali, David Hasselhoff. The show managed to have First Lady of the U.S. at the time Nancy Reagan on in Season 5’s episode “The Reporter,” to pitch her “Just Say No,” advertising campaign to discourage kids from recreational drug use.

 

While in front of the camera as well as financially Coleman was riding high, but behind the scenes, that was not the case.

 

Since he was born, Coleman has suffered from a congenital kidney condition that stunted his growth and made him appear younger than his age.

 

He received consistent dialysis on the Diff’rent Strokes set daily. By age 14, he had two kidney transplants.

 

“He had this huge plastic bag full of this dialysis solution and he had to fill the cavity of his abdomen with that and then drain it out every four hours and refill it,” Bain said of Coleman’s daily routine he went through to combat his disease.

 

Coleman’s adoptive parents Sue and W.G. Coleman faced a great deal of criticism for allowing their son to continue on working through the pain.

 

“He was sick. He has always been sick. He was born sick. He is always going to be sick, but he also was not working,” Sue Coleman said.

 

“He decided that he wanted to do these movies.”

 

When “Diff’rent Strokes” ended on March 7, 1986, that was when the other drama of Coleman’s tumultuous life began.

 

Three years later, Coleman sued his adoptive parents for the misappropriation of his $3.8 trust fund. The money allegedly was stipend by his parents and managers.

 

On Feb. 23, 1993, Coleman in the final ruling won only $1,280,000 of the $3.8 million, which he eventually spent up and filed for bankruptcy six years later.

 

Even with the fact that California law states that 25% of his income must be set aside for the future that mysteriously was gone. Coleman in the latter years from the decision spent all of his money and filed for bankruptcy in 1999.

 

In an interview that same year on ABC News’ “20/20,” correspondent Sylvia Chase asked Coleman who walked away with his millions.

 

Coleman answered, “You know even after the lawsuit was concluded, I still don’t know. I don’t know where $18.3 million went.”    

 

According to a story from ABC News “Nightline” Coleman’s adoptive parents, who served as his personal managers received 20 percent of what their son made from the show. The remainder of the money went to the advisors, lawyers and taxes.

 

“I don’t know. I’m not a book keeper. I was not an accountant. I didn’t handle any finances or anything,” said W.G. in reference to how his son’s money was mismanaged.

 

“All we did was sign documents and gave our approval, but only if the court approved it.”

 

His troubles unfortunately were just beginning. One year before filing for bankruptcy, which he did back in 1999, Coleman was working as a security guard. One day in 1998 while he was shopping for a bulletproof vest at a California shopping mall, he was approached by a woman named Tracy Fields, who worked as a bus driver. She had requested an autograph from the former child star, but instead got punched by Coleman. The situation soon became an argument and Fields mocked Coleman’s career as an adult actor.

 

Coleman was charged with assault when he was arrested. He pleaded no contest when the case went to court. He received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay Fields $1,665 dollars in hospital bills that were a result from the altercation.

 

With his acting career basically in the dumps, Coleman then took a stab at politics as a candidate for governor in the 2003 California recall election. His election was sponsored by the free newsweekly East Bay Express. Coleman’s chances for being in public office became very unlikely when Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy on the Aug. 6, 2003 episode of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Coleman stated that his vote would go to him. Schwarzenegger won the election by 1.3 million votes. Coleman placed 8^th in a field of 135 candidates, garnering 14,242 votes.

 

Two years later, Coleman was in the legal news again when he announced that he was sued the producers of the 2003 Broadway musical “Avenue Q,” which won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score, because of how they depicted him in the play.

 

The character in “Avenue Q” presented as Coleman worked as a superintendent of an Apartment complex where the musical takes place.

 

The producers of the play said they originally considered asking Coleman to play the role and he expressed interest in doing so. Coleman however never showed up for a scheduled meeting to talk about the opportunity. On Broadway, the role was originally played by Natalie Venetia Belcon. The role now is being portrayed by Danielle K. Thomas. 

 

Although the lawsuit did not materialize, Coleman stated at the 2007 New York Comic Con, “I wish there was a lawyer on Earth that would sue them for me.”

 

Coleman luck soon turned for the better on Aug. 28, 2007 when he secretly wed his 22-year-old girlfriend of five months Shannon Price, who he met on the set of the 2006 comedy film “Church Ball.”

 

In a 2008 interview with the entertainment show “Access Hollywood” Coleman called the first kiss he and Price shared “one of the best, most wonderful, empowering and powerful sensations I ever had in my 40 years of existence.”

 

The romantic high did not last long as on July 26, 2007 Coleman was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct by a Provo, UT police officer when he was seen having a heated discussion with his wife.

 

On May 1^st and 2^nd of 2008, the couple appeared on the court television show “Divorce Court,” to air their differences to judge Lynn Toler.

 

The problems that the couple faced came into true focus when Coleman said, “I have very low self-esteem. I don’t feel very successful in life.”

 

The couple after their two-show appearance did not divorce, but their issues with each other continued.

 

On July 3, 2009 Coleman and Price were involved in a domestic dispute in which Price was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. Both parties were cited for disorderly conduct.

 

On Jan. 24 of this year, Coleman was arrested on a domestic violence assault warrant in Santaquin and was subsequently booked into the Utah County Jail. He was released one day later.

 

There are many ways in which Gary Coleman will be remembered. Some will remember the amazing young child who used his iconic line “What’choo is talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” and turned it into a salary that went as high as $100,000 per episode.

 

Then there are those of us who will remember Coleman as the child star who never had the proper guidance that allowed him to have a much smoother transition into his adult years whether it is in front of the camera or behind. On top of that though, it is because of what happened to Coleman that we see the parents of current child star entertainers like Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers and those alike take a stock in their child lives and well beings and making sure they grow up with a sense of prospective and not a sense of entitlement. 

 

He did give us a glimpse into how he feels he saw his life when Chase asked him, “How do you escape being bitter?”

 

Coleman replied, “I don’t. I chose to be in this business. Ill informed as I was. I chose to be in this business and I will forever honor that choice.” 

 

Quotations and information is courtesy of 5/28/10 6:30 p.m. edition of ABC “World News” with Diane Sawyer, who was substituted for by David Muir and the report was courtesy of Sharyn Alfonsi; 5/28/10 6:30 p.m. edition of “CBS Evening News” with Katie Couric with the report coming from National Correspondent Jim Axelrod; 5/28/10 7:30 p.m. edition of “Access Hollywood” on WNBC 4; 52/9/10 edition of Good Morning America Weekend with Bianna Golodryga, Bill Weir, Ron Claiborne and Marysol Castro with the report coming from Stephanie Sy; 5/28/10 11:35 edition of ABC News “Nightline” with Terry Moran with report coming from Vicki Maybery; Entertainment News and 5/31/10 7:30 p.m. edition of Entertainment Tonight (ET) with Mary Hart and Mark Steines.  

For people of a certain age, this television legend back in the early years when television was just getting off the ground, he came across to all that watch as a common man, who had a gift of getting the best of people both young and old. He entertained us with very little effort and even into his later years in life, he still had that charm and wit that made him television royalty. More than anything else, he never allowed personal tragedy to slow him down. The only thing that did was father time.

 

Yesterday, Art Linkletter, who hosted two of the longest running United States television shows passed away yesterday in Bel-Air section of Los Angles, CA. The Canadian television and radio personality was 97 years old.  

 

He is survived by his wife of 74 years Lois Foerster and two of his five children Dawn and Sharon.

In a statement to rightcelebrity.com, Linkletter’s son-in-law Art Hershey said, “He lived a long, full, pure life, and the Lord had need for him. Bear in mind he was 97 years old. He wasn’t eating well, and the aging process took him.”

To truly understand the amazing remembrance of Linkletter’s career and life, when he began his television career in 1952, it happen just two years before the world brought to us Oprah Winfrey and we all know what has happened after that.

He hosted two of the longest running shows in broadcast history “People are Funny” and “Art Linkletter’s House Party,”

The show “People are Funny” was a project that Linkletter started with John Guedel back in the 1940s in Hollywood when the show began on radio. The show employed audience participation, contests and gags.

This show served as a prototype for the types of game shows we see today like “Wheel of Fortune,” “The Price is Right,” “Jeopardy,” “Deal or No Deal,” and many others. “People are Funny” moved to television in 1954 and ran until 1961. 

The show that brought Linkletter over the top was “Art Linkletter’s House Party.” It was a show where he interviewed children and they would answer questions by saying what was on their mind. The show aired on CBS Radio from Jan. 15, 1945 to Oct. 13, 1967. It ran on CBS television from Sept. 1, 1952 to Sept. 5, 1969. 

Those interviews eventually became the wildly popular, “Kids Say The Darndest Things,” which was hosted by Bill Cosby. It aired on CBS from January 1998 to June 2000.

“It was kind of exciting for viewers because they understood we were making history,” Linkletter said once in an interview.

Along with making his name in television, Linkletter was a very good businessman and made a good some of money from a variety of investments.

Back in 1963, he became the spokesperson for Milton Bradley’s Game of Life. His picture appeared on the box with the statement that said, “I Heartily Endorse This Game.” He also on the $100,000 bills featured in the game.

The great success that Linkletter had in his career was pretty special considering how his life began.

Born Gordon Arthur Kelly in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada on July 17, 1912, he was abandoned by his birth parents and left on the door steps of a church. He was adopted by Fulton John Linkletter, an evangelical preacher and his wife Mary (née Metzler).

In his autobiography Confessions of a Happy Man (1960), Linkletter revealed that he had no contact with his natural parents or his sister and two brothers since his abandonment when he was just a few weeks old.

At the age of 5, Linkletter and his family moved to San Diego, CA where he graduated high school 11 years later.

In the early years of the Great Depression, Linkletter rode around the country in trains doing odd jobs.

In 1934, he earned his bachelor’s degree from San Diego State Teacher College, which is now known as San Diego State University, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

His was not just a success in television; he was also successful in his personal life.

His 74-year marriage to Lois Foerster is one of the longest of any celebrity couple in America. That is special considering that many celebrity couples can’t make it 74 days after they say ‘I do.’

They had five children; Arthur Jack, Dawn, Robert, Sharon and Diane. They would appear annually on his show.

Unfortunately, Linkletter would outlive three of his five kids. His daughter Diane passed away on Oct. 4, 1969 at just the age of 20 when she jumped out of a sixth floor kitchen window. Linkletter claimed that his daughter committed suicide because she was on, or having a flashback from, a Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). A toxicology tests done after the incident detected no signs of LSD use, and it is quite likely that the drug played a role in her death.

Linkletter took action speaking out against drug use to prevent other kids and families from suffering the same fate his daughter did.

Before his daughter’s passing, Linkletter recorded a record entitled We Love You, Call Collect, which won a 1970 Grammy Award for the “Best Spoken Word Record.” It included a discussion about permissiveness in modern society. The record featured a rebuttal by Diane called Dear Mom and Dad.

Linkletter’s son Robert died in an automobile accident on Sept. 12, 1980. His other son Arthur Jack died back in 2007 from lymphoma.

He said one time, “The most painful thing in life is losing a child.”

Even with those horrific happenings, Linkletter did not let that stop him. At age 79, he was still doing something that he loved skiing.

What has allowed a man, who has done a great deal, lived through a great deal and suffered major loss to still keep going. He said, “Don’t sit back. Don’t be an armchair, spectator on life. Stay in it.”

He stayed in it for 97 years and as he said made history. He survived being abandoned when he was just a few weeks old. He graduated from college and went on to make television history by being the only person to have five shows running at the same time on network television.

That hard work was rewarded in his final years of life. In 2003 at age 93, he opened the Happiest Homecoming on Earth in celebration for the fifth decade of Disneyland.  

He was once a spokesman for National Home Life, an insurance company. He also was   a political organizer and a spokesman for the United Seniors Association, now known as USA Next, an alternative to the AARP.

Linkletter also lent his hand to higher education as a member of Pepperdine University’s Board of Regents where he also received an honorary degree. He also received an honorary degree from the University of Prince Edward Island. He served for many years as a trustee at Springfield College and donated money to build the school’s swim center that was named in his honor.

At the 2003 Daytime Emmy Awards, Linkletter received a lifetime achievement.

Art Linkletter was someone who had dreams. He was someone who suffered great family loss. He made history and allowed the likes of Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest and Wayne Brady to be what they are today.

Linkletter said it best one time about his success in that, “Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things workout.”

Information and quotes are courtesy of 5/26/10 6:30 p.m. edition of ABC “World News” with Diane Sawyer; 5/26/10 6:30 p.m. edition of NBC “Nightly News” with Brian Williams, report coming from correspondent George Lewis; www.rightcelebrity.com-Lois Forester: Art Linkletter’s Wife by Sandy; en.wikipedia.com.