On The Sly

Reading comments on the previous blog sure made me wish I'd been born just a little bit earlier. I've read books about Ebbets Field and seen plenty of pictures of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds, but never had the opportunity to be there. By the time I visited Brooklyn as an adult, there were apartment buildings on the Ebbets Field site.

But there are two other major league stadiums that I've enjoyed. In 1991 I took my son Erik to Shea Stadium. He had officially become a New York Mets fan in 1986 at the age of eight, when the exciting Mets stole the World Series from the Boston Red Sox. Or, maybe the Red Sox gave that one away.

Nevertheless, a friend worked in the front office for the Mets that season and he offered some complimentary tickets. I was also lucky enough to be issued a media pass so that I could be on the field prior to the game. I had an opportunity to take some great souvenir photos while on the field, and briefly chatted with Mets' star second baseman Gregg Jefferies.

We were given excellent seats on the first base side and enjoyed the Mets victory that day. Erik broke into his piggy bank and bought some Mets memorabilia. Shea was a fun place to watch a game, especially when a Met homers and the Big Apple rises out of the Mets top hat in center field.

Shea Stadium will see its last major league game this season. The Mets will move into new Citi Field for the 2009 season. Chalk this stadium up as another victim of baseball's big business.

As much as I loved Jarry Park during the Expos' early years, my all-time favorite stadium would, of course, be Dodger Stadium. I have visited Los Angeles twice: 1998 and 2000. Each time I took in two games at Dodger Stadium, and with Foxy Gagnon in attendance, my team has four wins and no losses.

Joe Torre, take note! If a big game comes along this season, one that you need to win, give me a call, send me your private plane, and I'm there! Hopefully in my lifetime I will return to this site. Watching a game at Dodger Stadium is the closest I'll ever get to heaven. The palm trees over the outfield wall and the hills behind them are a view that no other big league stadium offers.

And then there's the Dodger Dogs, the finest hot dog baseball offers. And the Krispy Kreme doughnut stand. And the LA Dodgers souvenirs. I bought so many souvenirs that I had to ship three boxes home to Plattsburgh before we left California.

I'm ready for the 2008 baseball season. I think it'll be a good one for my Dodgers. Every baseball fan in New York should make an effort to get to one final game at Shea and at Yankee Stadium, as baseball history marches on.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If Jarry Park is my all-time favorite place to watch a major league baseball game, and Olympic Stadium is my least favorite, that means that all the others I've been to must be in between.

You may be surprised at how few other stadiums I've been to. In the last twenty years or so, I have fallen so much in love with minor league baseball that I have almost given up going to big league parks. I've probably been to over fifty minor league stadiums, but just five other big league stadiums.

Back around 1960 my Dad took my brother and me to Yankee Stadium. We stayed overnight at the Dugan's, my Dad's cousins, in Menands, near Albany, and took a bus to Yankee Stadium early the next morning. I was around twelve years old and as we waited for the gates to open, my Dad said, "Well, now that we are here, what do you think?" I looked up at him and asked, "Where is it?" He replied, "Right here!" while pointing to a brick wall. I craned my next, looking up at this towering building I was standing next to.

I guess I was envisioning Yankee Stadium would be a place like the only other ballpark I had been to, Bailey Avenue Ballpark. I was impressed with Yankee Stadium's massive size, and will never forget seeing major league green grass as we walked up the runway towards the field. We saw many of the Yankee greats that day: Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Tony Kubek, Hank Bauer, and I snapped pictures of all of them as they went through their pre-game workouts. Seeing my baseball card heroes in person for the first time is something I will never forget.

In 1966 I returned to Yankee Stadium as part of our senior class trip. Somehow Rod Dame, John DesRocher and I ended up in the Yankees' bullpen. I have no idea how we got there, but, there we were, standing right in the bullpen during the game. One of the players said we better get out of there, and told us, "Go that way!" We headed in that direction and there was the Yankees' bullpen coach, Jim Hegan, smoking a cigarette.

I knew right away who he was and asked if I could take his picture. He said, "Yes, but don't show my cigarette." I moved closer and took a great photo, which I later sent to him to be autographed. That autographed photo is one of my favorites in my autograph collection.

I've been to Fenway Park a few times, and love the atmosphere outside the stadium before the game. Thousands of fans waiting to get in, vendors galore, and memorabilia shops all around. Inside, the park has that old-time flavor, as you might expect. Just don't buy a ticket where you're stuck behind one of their big support posts.

And just know it -- the seats are built for the physically fit, not for a guy like me who loves to eat Fenway Franks. The seats down the right field line, where I usually sit, actually face center field, so I have to shift my body to the left to see home plate.

However, there is nothing like seeing the Green Monster in person, looming so large in left field. Even the most die-hard Yankee fans should make at least one trip to Fenway Park just to see the Green Monster and have a juicy Fenway Frank.

In 1993 I went to the SkyDome in Toronto with my friend David Fisher, who works with Epistle Sports MInistries, a Christian organization who minister to professional athletes. SkyDome, now called Rogers Centre, opened in 1989, so it was brand spanking new. It was modern and colorful, but it reinforced my notion that baseball should be played outside, not inside a domed stadium. Our seats were behind home plate, but up near the roof, on the highest level. It gave you the feeling that if you slipped while walking to your seat, you would feel as though you were falling out of an airplane.

I've also seen major league games at Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets, and Dodger Stadium, which is the closest I'll ever get to heaven! I'll blog those in Blog #299 next time!

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

We are ten days away from the opening of the 2008 baseball season, and I am ready! There is still snow and ice in the North Country, but I'm ready for the crack of the bat and the cheer of the crowd.

It's too bad that we have to travel so far to enjoy a major league baseball game. Boston is the closest. We were spoiled for so many years by having the Montreal Expos just one hour away. For many years I was a regular at Expos games, but near the end I became an infrequent visitor.

The Big O, Olympic Stadium, was not a friendly place to watch baseball. To me it was just a block of cement into which they tried to pour a major league baseball team. It was no match for the Expos' original home, Jarry Park Stadium.

Ah, that's what I miss. Jarry Park. Maybe a visit to the La Canoe Tavern before, after or during the game. The fans were close to the major leaguers at Jarry Park, and that's where I struck up a friendship with Montreal's pitcher Joe Kerrigan.

Kerrigan had been called up to the major leagues in July of 1976. I had his minor league baseball card and brought it to the game, hoping to get it autographed. Early arrivals at Jarry Park could stand right by the team's dugout and take pictures of the players and easily get autographs, eyeball-to-eyeball.

Sure enough, along came Kerrigan, a relief pitcher, with not a lot to do during the Expos' pre-game warmups. I asked for his autograph, and Joe was surprised that I had his minor league baseball card, a young Joe Kerrigan with the West Palm Beach Expos. We talked about sports collecting and he was, indeed, a friendly guy. He stayed and chatted with me for almost thirty minutes, stopping intermittently to sign autographs for other fans.

Near game time he invited me back to the next night's game. I accepted his free ticket and the next night we talked some more. We shared a common interest in sports collecting as Joe was a collector of World Series programs. As the season wore on Joe and I struck up a nice friendship and a few times we hit the nightclubs of Montreal after the game. During the '77 season he spent a day off in Plattsburgh, shopping with his wife at Pyramid Mall and then visiting the "Foxy Gagnon Baseball Museum."

What a mismatch! Joe Kerrigan, 6 feet, 5 inches, from Philadelphia, and Foxy Gagnon, 5 feet, 6 inches, from good old Plattsburgh. But that's what could happen at Jarry Park, the friendliest ballpark I have ever seen. During the Jarry Park years I often talked with Larry Parrish and Jose Morales, who sometimes would take my entire folder of pictures and baseball cards, and get most of them signed by the players in the Expos' dugout.

And Jarry Park had atmosphere! There was The Dancer, who danced up and down the aisles behind home plate between innings. There were the fans in the outfield bleachers who created "Jonesville" in honor of Expos' outfielder Mack Jones, who was dubbed "The Mayor of Jonesville."

There was Mr. Peanut, the vendor who would toss bags of peanuts two or three sections away, and remember all the while who had paid and who hadn't.

Roger Savard was the director of group sales for the Expos. He arranged for the Sports Collectors Club from Plattsburgh Middle School to have a tour of Jarry Park, escorted by former major league pitcher Ron Piche. It was fun and a great experience for all of us. I still have pictures of some of students, standing in the Expos' clubhouse.

There will never be another place to watch baseball like Jarry Park. We were so lucky in those days. We had the chance to watch a young enthusiastic Gary Carter grow into a Hall of Famer. We watched "Le Grand Orange," Rusty Staub, have three of his best seasons (1969-1971). We watched a tough-as-nails pitcher named Steve Rogers take a no-hitter into the ninth inning. And we cheered for guys like Coco Laboy and John Boccabella.

In 1977 the Expos moved into the spacious Olympic Stadium, taking the closeness away and creating a gap between the fans and the players. We never saw The Dancer anymore and, shortly afterwards, Mr. Peanut was told to stop throwing his bags of peanuts. Jarry Park became a venue for tennis events and festivals.

By 1978 Joe Kerrigan was pitching for the Baltimore Orioles and in Earl Weaver's doghouse, and Jose Morales had been sold to the Minnesota Twins. A few years later Larry Parrish was traded to the Texas Rangers.

At the Big O we had the chance to see great players like Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Bill Gullickson and more, but we never found that closeness that came with Jarry Park. We had the chance to see baseball greats like Pete Rose and Tony Perez wear the Montreal uniform for a brief time, but we never had the chance to talk with them, eyeball-to-eyeball.

I'd like one more game at Jarry Park, a La Belle Fermiere hot dog in one hand and my autograph book in the other. Now that's baseball!

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Have you ever heard ...

... Bob Butler introducing the Saranac basketball players on Senior Night? The county's tallest legislator has a voice to go with his size, and he does a great job of adding enthusiasm to what could be a boring ceremony. It's too bad Butler doesn't get more opportunities to sound off.

... K. C. Zaumetzer announcing at the Missing Children's Basketball Tournament in Ausable Forks? The young man follows in the footsteps of Bryan Benway, who is now announcing professionally for the Laredo (Texas) Bucks of the Central Hockey League. Zaumetzer did a great job last weekend, and, he, too, should get more opportunities to demonstrate his talents.

... Ducky Drake call a Plattsburgh State Cardinals hockey game? If you are a North Country resident within reach of the WIRY-Radio airwaves, then, without a doubt, you have. Nobody, and I mean even the pro guys, can call a hockey game like Ducky. If Ducky had ever been interested, I'm sure Plattsburgh would be history, and he'd be on the National Hockey League level calling games. But we've been able to keep him as ours for a long time now. Has Plattsburgh State ever honored Ducky for the great job he has done through the years?

... Jeanne Moos's CNN reports on everything from toothpaste to hush puppies? Maybe some people aren't aware that the creative television journalist got her start at WPTZ-Channel 5. Back in 1976 she became Channel 5's first woman reporter. It wasn't always easy, what with the North Country being somewhat traditional at times. Moos has won many awards during her more than twenty years at CNN, and now we brag about her connection to Plattsburgh.

... Charlie Stone's "snippets" on Sunday mornings on WIRY-Radio? I'm not sure if Charlie invented that word for his musical pieces, but he sure has created a popular audience-participation game. If you are a fan of those "oldies, but goodies" you need to give this game a try. Frankly, it drives me crazy! If you heard just five seconds worth of the song "Blueberry Hill," would you be able to identify the song? The game is so popular that it is difficult to even reach the studio during the "two-song play period," because you are likely to hear the busy signal at least 85 times! Between 9am and noon on Sunday mornings you can try Charlie's "snippets" -- and listen to some great oldies all morning.

... Mike Flynn tell the story of the "runaway bus"? It's a true story! Back when we were all in high school Mike and I and about fifteen other guys took an unexpected ride on our OLVA school bus. I could tell you the story, but nobody tells it like Mike. Be sure you have about twenty minutes to listen so that he can give you the full version -- as only Mike can tell it.

... Calvin Castine say, "And that's the way it was in beautiful downtown Altona ..."? Or wherever he happens to be videotaping one of several hundred television programs during the course of a year. Calvin created Home Town Cable twenty-five years ago and it would be hard to find a resident in the Northern Tier who hasn't been on his television show at one time or another. Calvin's first event was videotaped on June 7, 1983 -- the Section 7 softball finals between Northeastern Clinton and Peru. It aired four days later, and that was the start of Calvin's journey through the North Country. Working with Bob Venne ("What's Going On Here?") and Gordie Little ("Our Little Corner"), as well as several family members, Calvin is the "Godfather of Videography in the North Country." His tireless efforts should not be overlooked.

What have you heard lately?

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Some of us played our high school sports for coaches like John Flynn and Shorty Flynn. Maybe you played for Barry Branon or Al Pajonas. And there were coaches on the outskirts of Plattsburgh like Tony Papero and John Hamilton. One thing about all these coaches was that they were no-nonsense guys.

Oh, they would have their little moments of levity, but, for the most part, their coaching styles were based on teaching the fundamentals and discipline. If you played on their teams, you respected the coach and tried your best not to screw up.

If you did something against the coach's rules, the end of the bench was way down there, almost to the locker room. You knew better than to talk back to the coach or do anything to embarrass your team or your school. If you got into the coach's doghouse, you might never get out!

I'm not saying that such coaching styles were 100% right. And I'm not saying there is anything wrong with today's coaches, but I miss coaches from that old school. Probably because that's what I grew up with. That's why I was so happy to meet Joe Loudis, the boys varsity basketball coach at Mechanicville Central School.

His team played at the Plattsburgh State Field House last Saturday in the Class C Regional Finals game against Ticonderoga Central. Watching him coach and watching his team play was a joy to behold. He was fiery, clapping his hands in encouragement, shouting instructions incessantly to his players, all the while clutching a red towel tightly in his hand.

His stocky build reminded me of how Goose and I might look in another ten years. Goose pointed out to me that he looked like Rollie Massimino, the former coach of Villanova University. And I agreed. He was full of the fundamental instructions that our coaches used to yell at us. "Move the ball!" and "Use the backboard!" and "Run the offense!" and "Move your feet!"

He paced back and forth, chewing gum and obviously enjoying every second of the game. Even when one of his players became upset with an official's call, Coach Loudis noticed. "Be quiet!" he barked at his player. The player heard.

Much later in the game, the same player showed too much emotion again. Coach Loudis didn't like it. "Shut up!" he shouted. I think the player knew that the next move would be to the end of the bench.

At another point in the game Coach Loudis pulled one of his starters, and as the player returned to the sidelines, he reminded the player, "If you don't want to play, you sit!" Now where have I heard that before? Was it in 1965?

Mechanicville isn't Joe Loudis' first coaching job. He coached at Cohoes High School, where he was a business teacher for 35 years, from 1965-1988. He took the coaching job at Mechanicville in 1993 and, with a year off here and there, he's still on the sidelines.

A few years back he missed a year due to open heart surgery. He has rebounded nicely, giving all of us with heart ailments encouragement that life doesn't end with heart surgery. I know when I have my open heart surgery, I'm going to put a call into Coach Loudis, just for one of his pep talks.

Oh, one other thing. I couldn't help but notice that all the Mechanicville players had short haircuts. One even had an old-style flat-top just like I used to wear. I think if Goose and I could go back to high school and play one more game, we'd like to play for Joe Loudis. He just seems like he's from the old school. And that's our kind of coach!

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I suppose I should just worry about myself, and how I'm going to fill up my gas tank each week while living on a fixed income. And just worry about having enough money left over at the end of the month so that I can buy myself a bucket of wings.

But I've been noticing a lot lately, what with all this free time I have as a retired citizen of Clinton County. And, by golly, some of these things have started to bother me. That fact that I'm even bringing them up might mean that I have too much time on my hands.

But, it bothers me that no matter where one goes in downtown Plattsburgh, or any country road, for that matter, the streets and roads are littered with cigarette butts. I don't mean just one here and there. I mean, hundreds of those butts no matter where you look.

Today while I was walking towards the post office, I noticed that the man in front of me was smoking a cigarette. As he entered the front door he carelessly tossed his cigarette into the air towards the sidewalk, narrowly missing a passerby.

Even my driveway is becoming littered with cigarette butts, remnants scattered by friends who don't know how much it bothers me. If throwing a Big Mac wrapper out the window is littering, shouldn't tossing cigarettes butts be littering as well?

But that doesn't bother me as much as television talk-show hosts who ask a two-minute question and then interrupt the guest before they have spoken three sentences. It's as though the guest is nothing more than a prop for the host to expound his opinions. Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly are especially good at that. That bothers me.

But not as much as all those ads for medicine we've been seeing lately on television. If I need medicine, I'll rely on my doctor to tell me, not some guy on television. And that includes good old Smiling Bob, who is so happy about his new life.

And have you listened to the list of side effects of some of these medicines they are pushing? Gee, I "might have trouble breathing" or experience "in rare cases, fainting or even death," but at least my elbow won't hurt anymore.

And have you ever tried to read the small print in those ads? I'd like to know what they say, but the print is so small. In addition, there are about three hundred words and only three seconds to read it. That really bothers me.

Almost as much as that junk mail I get everyday. There must be a way for the government to put a stop to all the waste we receive each day courtesy of the United States Postal Service. I guess they are only doing their job, but I'd like to give my postman permission to trash any junk mail heading my way. I'm talking about all those credit card companies offering me a world of spending. And all those organizations looking for money. Hey, didn't they read On the Sly about me being retired?

I get at least two pieces of junk mail daily, so that totals about a dozen in one week or about 50 per month. In a year that totals around 600 pieces of mail my postman has had to carry to my door. My postman has bad knees as it is. Can you imagine the weight of lugging 600 pieces of mail to all nine houses on our street? No wonder it looks like knee surgery in his future.

I guess I'm lucky if that's all that bothers me lately. Cigarette butts, talk-show hosts, medicine ads and junk mail. Life must be pretty good after all.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

The Section 7 basketball tournament provided plenty of entertainment for fans. Sectional play in the North Country has provided some great memories through the years. There have been some huge upsets and some last-second buzzer-beaters for the championship. Anyone who ever played in a sectional final can tell you the outcome of that game in a heartbeat.

Again this year I had one of the best jobs around: court announcer for the sectional semi-finals and finals. Anytime someone offers me money to watch sports -- now, that's a great opportunity, plus you get one of the best seats in the house.

My main job is to announce the starting lineups, play some music while the teams warm up and at halftime, announce fouls during the game and announce the presentations of awards following the game. Again this year I worked with Rick Bruce, the official timer, and my brother Goose, the shot clock operator, and Laurie Kowalowski, the official scorer.

We missed Mark Donnelly this year. He's the athletic trainer and usually my sidekick at the officials' table. Mark is recovering from knee surgery and was unable to attend the games. Hopefully we get to see him during regional play.

In addition, the Section 7 basketball chairpersons, Jon Rebideau and Jennifer Trowbridge, are in attendance and sit directly to my left. If any emergency arises, they are quick to react to solve the problem. And emergencies do arise. Like a basketball rim might be crooked or a basketball might have too much air or a court announcer's microphone might not work.

Plus, they have to keep an eye on the crowd and make sure that schools are being courteous in their assessments of the opposing team and the referees. They also have to write little notes for the court announcer to read to the crowd, such as, "Noisemakers are not allowed at sectional and regional tournaments." And, best of all, they notify the officials' table when the pizza arrives.

Working alongside them this year were Rick Smith from Ticonderoga and John Reynolds from Indian Lake. It made for a great group of game officials at the table, and you can bet there were plenty of jokes and playful jabs throughout the tournament.

My co-workers do all the important jobs, while I get to look around, observe the crowd, chat with passersby and think about what music to play next. It also gives me time to come up with deserving awards for some of the participants.

The major awards, of course, went to the teams winning the Section 7 championship this year:

Girls - Class D - Schroon Lake, coached by Carmine Decker
Girls - Class C - Seton Catholic, coached by Carrie Converse
Girls - Class B - Northeastern Clinton, coached by Andy Landry

Boys - Class D - Westport, coached by Brad Rascoe
Boys - Class C - Ticonderoga, coached by Dan Dorsett
Boys - Class B - Plattsburgh, coached by Chris Hartmann

But now the first annual On the Sly Basketball Awards for this year's sectional tournament:

Coach Who is Most Fun to Watch - Jim Zullo (Indian Lake boys) - Coach Zullo, was has nearly 500 wins, was the most animated, and you can tell how much fun he was having, despite the anguish he exhibited at times. He went through hundreds of expressions and even came over to the table during the game to apologize for yelling.

Coach Whose Voice Didn't Hold Up - Steve Pelkey (Moriah girls) - Coach Pelkey tried shouting out instructions to his ladies but by the second half his voice kept giving out mid-sentence. He also hit a few high notes along the way.

Coach Most Likely to Play in the NFL - Ike Tyler (assistant, Westport boys) and Kevin Richardson (assistant, Plattsburgh boys) - If I ever need bodyguards in a big city, these are the guys I'm bringing with me. Nobody would dare tangle with either of these friendly, but imposing, statures.

Best Dressed Coach - Carrie Converse (Seton Catholic girls) and Shelly Young (Ticonderoga girls) - Both of these coaches easily outdressed their male counterparts. Ms. Converse's matching ensemble drew raves and Ms. Young's school-colors purple shirt was outstanding.

Most Unique Coach's Name - Hokey McKinley (Westport girls) - Easy winner for a great guy and great coach

Pony-Tail Award - Nice-guy referee Tommy Edwards tried to find a pair of scissors to cut off my ponytail!

Eddie Rostak Lookalike Award - Carmine Decker (Schroon Lake girls) - Goose and I have said it for years, but when I told Carmine about this he didn't know who Eddie Rostak is. Would love to get a picture of them side-by-side.

Brotherhood Award - Andy Landry (Northeastern Clinton girls) - Andy, the long-running successful coach at NCCS, is my fraternity brother. Maybe next year we can pull out our old Pi Alpha Nu sweatshirts for one of the games.

Most Likely to Make a Hollywood Movie - Larry Converse and Jim Baker (Seton Catholic boys) - I know I've said it before, but if there were ever two guys who remind me of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, it's these two. With their Hollywood looks both of these coaches could easily be stars on the big screen. And, like Redford and Newman, they never seem to get old. They still have their youthful looks.

Most Likely to Make a Hollywood Movie (runner-up) - Andy Landry and Norm Bonneau (Northeastern girls) - Here's another long-running pair who have kept their looks, despite the stress of sectional, regional and state-championship play. They are great coaching partners.

Ray Charles Award - Brian Cross (Moriah boys) - During his exciting semi-final win Coach Cross refused to look at his players shooting foul shots in the closing minutes. Instead he would grab his water bottle, stand behind the bench and face the crowd and wait for the crowd reaction. At a most critical moment, senior guard Don Tesar sank two foul shots with 25 seconds left in overtime, while Coach Cross looked away.

Foxy Gagnon Lookalike Award - Jeff Reynolds (Indian Lake boys) - No, he isn't bald with a ponytail and a potbelly, but I couldn't help but enjoy this sharpshooter, who hit five long-range three-pointers and finished the semi-final game with 27 points. Okay, so I never hit a three-pointer in my life, but he is about the same size that I was when I played. And his style of play is the style of play that I wished for in my youth.

Head Honcho Award - Jon Rebideau, Section 7 boys basketball chairperson - the former Northern Adirondack coach has been our leader at the officials table since he took over from Don Parks back in, um, well, a long time ago. He always finds a way to keep his workers smiling. We hope he never leaves.

Most Dedicated Award - Mark Christiansen and Kirk Fraser, who direct operations at the Field House - During the course of events on any given day at the Field House, these two guys log plenty of miles. It's an expansive building and they cover a lot of ground. When the microphone malfunctioned one night, they went to no ends to make sure the problem was fixed by noon the next day. When I arrived the following day I was greeted by new equipment. They got the job done!

I probably missed an award or two this year, but, hopefully, there will be a second annual On the Sly Basketball Awards blog next year. Congratulations to the coaches and athletes and referees on a great 2008 Section 7 tournament.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 6:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

As an English teacher for 35 years, I always enjoyed how our language is always changing. It would be fun to make a list of words that hadn't been invented yet when we were kids. It would be a long list.

One word I've been hearing a lot about lately is "doppler." It seems as though a doppler has become an important part of weather forecasting. Science was never one of my strong subjects, despite the efforts of Sister Mary Celestine when I was in high school. So, I won't pretend to know much about this new-found doppler and its role in predicting snow, rain, sunshine or the legendary "mixed-bag."

I had to do some research to discover that a doppler is actually named after an Austrian physicist -- Christian Doppler, who was born in 1803. He died at the age of fifty, but a century later he has made quite a name for himself. The Doppler effect is the "apparant change in frequency of waves when either the source of the waves or the observer moves toward or away from the other."

I don't get it.

But it sure must be important. Fox44-TV has a triple doppler. I'm not sure if they ever had just a regular doppler or a double doppler. I think when they started their local news broadcast they immediately signed up for the triple. Just to be safe they'd be getting the weather right.

But it seems that WPTZ-TV outdoes them. They have the super doppler. I think that sounds as though it outdoes the triple doppler. I'm watching for CNN to come up with their super-duper doppler weather report.

Times sure are changing, and I wouldn't want to stand in the way of progress. But Bird Berdan used to predict the weather without any dopplers. He didn't even have one. I'm not sure what he used to predict the weather. Maybe just a barometer. My Dad had a barometer on our living room wall for a while when I was a kid. I guess so that we'd all know what the weather would be like in our living room over the next few days.

When we cover outdoor sports events for public-access television, I like to inform the viewers of the temperature that day or night. Since I didn't have to predict what the weather would be like the following weekend, I didn't need a doppler. I just use my "Accu-Stat Thermometer." That's about as high tech as I dare get. And that's only some plastic outdoor thermometer that never seems to work correctly.

Most days if you leave it on top of the bleachers in the hot sun it registers somewhere about 150 degrees. I might be covering the game in short sleeves, but I know it isn't 150 degrees. So much for the "Accu-Stat Thermometer." Maybe if I'd invested in a doppler I would have been able to report something more accurate.

If you google "doppler," you will get over 17 million selections, most of which are far too scientific for this blogger. It's an interesting word. And that Christian Doppler sure is lucky to have an entire radar effect named after him.

Maybe someday day there will be the "Foxy Gagnon Effect." I can only wonder what that might refer to.

Posted by Foxy Gagnon at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)