Dudski
Feb 5, 2007
6:12 PM OK, how does it work? Witness...

  Here we go, ladies and gents, I think you might know what to expect with this blogger...or then again, maybe not! Enjoy! the quickness, with which we...get along!

21 Questions to the man we call Dudski

#4 in a series by Doctor Clinch, aka yours truly

1. Looking back now in 2007, what were the biggest sporting events or athletes/sports figures that impacted you in your first 10 years of life? Watching the singing clam on the Ballentine Beer commercials during the Oriole telecasts as a child made me see the endless possibilities in life, in addition to making me deathly afraid of shellfish.

2.How much of an influence did your immediate family and extended family have on you towards sports? What else did they imbue in you? (That is a correct verb, yes?) My dad was a wonderful guy, big sports fan. He played high school football in Pennsylvania in, as he would put it “real football weather”. He was good enough to be offered scholarships but ended up in the Navy. I was born in a Naval hospital in Texas, so I ended up a fan of Navy football, the Cowboys, and the Astros. My mom and I would watch the Orioles (and the singing clam) on TV in Portsmouth while he was at sea. She’s 79 and we still watch the Orioles when I visit, and the Ravens (the Baltimore thing).

3. Any comments on outstanding mentors throughout your life? My high school civics teacher was the football coach and he talked me into learning the plays and keeping a stat sheet they reviewed as they watched film of the games. That ultimately got me deeply interested in sports and then into radio for 9 years. Not really a mentor, but one of those great guys who threw away remarks that had a lot more to them than it seemed at the time. For example, he always said that nothing anyone else had in life took anything away from you.

4. How much has region and ethnicity affected your attitudes? Grew up around the military and the South. I doubt being Southern means as much now as it did, but at the time it meant you were free to be yourself, but obligated to live up to what you should be. Can’t explain it, but you can feel the South, all the history good and bad, just like any part of it was only awhile back. It isn’t just where you’re from, it’s a big part of who you are. Same with being a Navy brat. Never served, but the lessons of doing the right thing and taking responsibility stick.

5. Why do you count the Army-Navy football game as quintessential? Does it make you emotional? Why? It’s what college sports should be. Real students playing hard because they love the game, not because there is a shoe contract waiting.

6. Which authors, sportswriters and other artists do you emulate and admire? Who would you interview? I'm just a hack, I throw it together fast and hope for the best. I suppose everyone takes bits of what they've read, but no one particular influence. Writers-Shakespeare, BLEEP [Rick] Francis, Colin Dexter, Douglas Southall Freeman. Sportswriter-Jon Saraceno of USA Today, because he isn't predictable. Can't think of any athlete in particular I'd want to interview, they are all practiced at not saying anything.

Dudski
Feb 6, 2007
6:54 PM

7. What years of your life do you consider for yourself the most "athletic" or physically gratifying? After college I played a lot of pickup basketball. I had “delusions of Maravich”. A 6’4” guy who wanted to dribble behind his back, throw no look passes, and pop long jump shots.

8. How much has diet and physical upkeep been a part of your lifestyle? Favorite exercise or game to do?  At fifty, it’s down to walking. I have a baskeball goal. It mocks me.

9. Major philosophies and beliefs, axioms or mantras? I am a Christian, and very aware of my flaws and shortcomings. I wish I kept more constantly in mind that every single person I meet is loved by God. If I did, I’d understand what Jesus meant when he said “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and be more likely to act accordingly.

10. Prior to blogging, how and where did you vent your thoughts? On comment cards in cheap restaurants.

11. If you could research and write a book on one decade (a 10 year period of your choice, say for example, from 1983-1993), what would it be? Why? 1900-1910. The beginning of our modern era, just before the wheels fell off. If you look at almost any geopolitical problem today and it’s roots trace back to World War I. It would be interesting to consider how they could of played it differently. Either that or 1963-1972 to see if civilization could have turned back before the centuries other great catastrophe, the designated hitter.

12. If I gave you 2-4 million dollars to only "travel with others", where would you go and who would you take? Who are these “others”, exactly? Sounds ominous. Shameless pandering to the two or three people that are reading this and haven’t fallen sound asleep-I think it’d be fun to go to a baseball game with the FOX bloggers. It’d probably be fun, there might be fights, and surely no hotel would ever let us come back. Nobody would be like we imagined.

13. Do you feel that modern conventions/big money surrounding athletics are corrupting and/or degrading the integrity of sports and public competition?  I sure hope so. If it didn’t what would we write about?

14. If you could have a day long conversation with three separate people from any time, (like Lincoln, Caesar, Adam, etc...) who would they be and why?  A day? Ceasar [sic] would be begging Lincoln to stab him and put him out of his misery if he had to talk to me for a day. Mr. Ed comes immediately to mind of course, of course, and Will Rodgers to see if I could change his mind about never having met a man he didn’t like. Possibly Groucho Marx, or Karl Marx, but only if I could talk to them at the same time.

15. Gastronomy, palettes and cuisines. Any thoughts, caveats? Bookbinders in Philadelphia, any J.W. Marriott, and Italian from any place on “the Hill” in Saint Louis.

16. I had a spare hour at work today, so I am handwriting (I was handwriting) these questions: does this seem long and drawn out to you? How many hours per week do you read? Write?  Not as long as it will seem to anyone who has to read my responses. I read about four hours a week, write about six.

17. What are your proudest professional accomplishments? Personal? What goals do you have in either department?  Professionally-that I have flirted with success but never went all the way. Personal-that small children and dogs like me. I have no goals.

18. Can you put a scale of 1-100 on your favorite sports, like MLB 95, NASCAR 2, tiddlywinks 0.5, etc...  It’s baseball 100%. Everything else is tied for second.

19. How is the best way to invest your time and money?   Nobody can tell anyone else that, with one exception. You definitely don’t want to give a 42 year old outfielder $15 million a year, if you have that sort of spare change around the house.

20. Tell us which Foxsports bloggers impress you and why...Current athletes? (Known or unknown...)  There’s so many. A few examples; Demoncicume [sic] has an edge to his writing, but challenges your preconceptions. Con Chapman is very, very funny with Gerbil Sports Network. People like Sleepless in Seattle, Rivjo, SoCal, NorcalFella, and others write well and their personality comes through very clearly. CarolynT is probably the most likely suspect to ever write for a living. And there are dozens more.

Athletes-Derek Jeter for being a baseball player’s baseball player. Pat Day (jockey, now retired) for being the coolest customer under pressure in sports over the past 50 years. Annika Sorenstram, the best combination of competitiveness and humility I can recall. Wayne Gretzky, who made people sit on the edge of their seats when he touched the puck. And, an unpopular choice, Barry Bonds, who I think probably is the best pure hitter since Ted Williams.

21. Your epitaph and auto-eulogy, in your own words...avoid epithets. (I think it is funny we make second or third graders do these; it could be taken as morbid but I do like the concept).  You can’t answer that without sounding pretentious (as if thinking people want to hear your answers to 21 questions isn’t bad enough). With all due respect, pass.   

Feb 6, 2007
8:05 PM

All right! There she goes. As always, everybody else is welcome to answer one of the above questions...

IN THE COMMENT STRING BELOW!

Let me see how you do, Signor Dudskierino...

And it's in the can! Thanks, kind sir! A few of these definitely made me laugh out loud. The Marx brothers...Did Lenin enjoy the music of Harpo, by chance? I suppose that is a malaprop, but you got great stuff, hehehe. I am a mere observer of the "Good Wit".

Let me be pretentious enough as a grateful co-blogger to tell you that this will be cherished by many; thanks for obliging the indulgence, it is a new thing of mine. I think Demonicume is next (# 5). Speakingswhich, if you see your two errors or so and wish to edit them, do so and let me know later. See how transparent this process is? Painful, even.

My epitaph for you: We laughed, we cried; we kissed two bucks good bye out in Covey's Cove; Jack Johnson is the real Muhammed Ali and some people can be funnier in one sentence than others in a whole lifetime of goofs and gaffes.

Yes, epitaphs and eulogies are best written by others, and you are far from being gone/eulogized from this arena. Out of 20 Foxbloggers, I told my wife, 12 would pick you as the best writer.

Them ain't bad odds, Texas Dudskeroo.

Peace and good luck; best of wishes, and muchas gracias otra vez.