Well it seems i'm losin' friends and associates at a rapid pace.George Carlin was special and in my life since the early 90's when i was immersed in the Las Vegas entertainment community. He was a fixture at Bally's and i was a permanent fixture at The Aladdin.
It was a time in Vegas that no longer exists late nite saloons and lounges where the stars mingled, drank ,laughed amongst the promoters ,media and fans .I got to know Carlin and truthfully can say .he had the quickest wit and mind of anyone i had ever met.
.The more he drank the funnier he got . He was from New York and grew up in the fifties and believe me he had a passion for New York sports and could rattle off all the old Brooklyn Dodgers along with the Yanks.Knicks and Rangers.
He called the Knicks the Knickerbockers and the Mets the Metropolitans. He did it in a very funny but sophisticated way.
His seven dirty words skit is not only a classic, but a social commentary on our lives in America . HIS HBO PROJECTS ARE CLASSICS AND HE HAS OVER 20 CD'S OF MONUMENTAL WORK FOR THE AGES.
Since this is a sports blog I would like to get George in your head by quoting his sports routine verbatum.
"There are only three sports:baseball,basketball and football everything else is either a game or activity."
What about soccer?
Anything where you can't use your arms can't be a sport."
Running ?
Running isn't a sport because anybody can do it. my mother can run."
Hockey is three activities taking place at the same time; ice skating,fooling around with a puck and beating the (expletive) out of somebody.If these guys had more brains than teeth,they'd do these things one at a time."
"Another reason why hockey isn't a sport is that it is not played with a ball .Anything not played with a ball can't be a sport.. The only other place you'll find a puck is in the urinal to control the smell in the bathroom."
Swimming.?"
Swimming is a way to keep from drowning"
Boxing?
Boxing is a way to beat the (expletive ) out of someone"
Golf?
"Golf is a game that might possibly be fun if it could be played alone.But its the vacuous, striving .male bonding joiners one has to associate with that makes it such a repulsive pastime."
There are many more sports quotes that he rendered , but my favorite was his hunting shot....
Hunting?
"You think hunting is a sport? Ask the deer."
POINT BEING HE WAS AND WILL ALWAYS BE A SOCIAL COMMENTATOR extraordinaire AGREE OR NOT AGREE HE MADE YOU THINK IF YOU HAD THE BRAINS TO LISTEN..HE WAS NOT AFRAID OF THE SO-CALLED POLITICALLY CORRECT THINKERS . HE KNEW DEEP DOWN ALL THEY DO IS DIVIDE AND MAKE BAD BEHAVIOR AND SULLEN LIFE STYLES ACCEPTABLE AND FAIRY TALES A WAY OF LIFE .
FACTS ARE STUBBORN THINGS AND IF YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN A JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF CARLIN ... PLEASE DO ...YOU MAY COME OUT A BETTER PERSON
FARE THEE WELL GEORGE CARLIN ...YOR BODY OF WORK WILL BE DEBATED AND ENJOYED UNTIL THE END OF TIME .....THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES....
POSTSCRIPT; HIS LAST PERFORMANCE WAS AT MY LOCAL HANG-OUT THE ORLEANS IN LAS VEGAS .MARGARET AND I GAVE MY TICKETS TO HER NIECE AND HUSBAND ...IN FROM PHOENIX. WE BABY SAT THEIR LITTLE GIRL CECELIA . I FELT GOOD WHEN THEY GOT BACK AND TOLD US THANKS AND THEY WERE NOW FANS. HE WOULD OF LIKED THAT HE WAS REACHING OUT TO A NEW GENERATION.
I have been a George Carlin fan since the 70s. Not only was he funny, but I always got the feeling he was trying to teach us something. I am very glad that he was here to share his gifts with us. Thanks for the laughs George. R.I.P.
niqued, aero13, and stevo... thanks for stoppin' by i'm usin that fare thee well so often i sent out a tm application to the library of congress ... carlin was one of a kind and will be missed live but his work will sell online and retail ... not to mention his tv......re-runs...
Nice memoir. Always cool to have a first hand source.
I have posted his football versus baseball bit, I LOVE it. The swearing in his pieces? Not so great but he is a very keen observer of American and human culture.
I also loved his rap on the Tonight Show a few years ago...
hey fuzz ... and ed thanks for stopping by.
your right -on with all the f-bombs... i told him years ago he could broaden his audiance ...if he left out the f- bombs .
the sales for his stuff hit the roof at retail and internet since his death .....
Tiger--Ive always been a big fan of Carlins he told it like it was- I would have loved to have kicked back some drinks with him and you that would have made for some great funny memories --I got turned on to Carlin by a freind that had some of his old LPS I was hooked after the first album.
He will be missed..RIP G. Carlin the best at what he did.
George Carlin had a way of making you think about things in sports that you otherwise would have never noticed in your life. I've always enjoyed Carlin's comparison of Baseball and Football. I'll share a tiny excerpt of it:
"Baseball is different from any other sport, very different. For instance, in most sports you score points or goals; in baseball you score runs. In most sports the ball, or object, is put in play by the offensive team; in baseball the defensive team puts the ball in play, and only the defense is allowed to touch the ball. In fact, in baseball if an offensive player touches the ball intentionally, he's out; sometimes unintentionally, he's out.
In most sports the team is run by a coach; in baseball the team is run by a manager. And only in baseball does the manager or coach wear the same clothing the players do. If you'd ever seen John Madden in his Oakland Raiders uniform,you'd know the reason for this custom."
