Clarence Clemons

Sad news over the weekend; Clarence Clemons passed away at the age of 69. My friend "BP" is a huge fan of Springsteen, and this is the way he describes the importance of Clarence to the E-Street Band...

"Without Clarence, there would have been no E Street Band, at least as we knew it. His contributions to “Jungleland,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,” “Thunder Road” and “Born to Run” are enough for an entire career. And that is just on a single album. I was listening to “Rosalita” yesterday while I was watering my garden and kept thinking back to all the times I’ve seen Bruce and the E Street Band (starting in Chicago on “The River” tour and most recently in Boston on the “Working on a Dream” tour) and all the joy that came from Clarence’s playing. Nobody enjoyed performing more than Clarence and his enthusiasm was contagious. Every time he had a sax solo, the crowd would erupt with a force like a touchdown being scored at Soldier Field. Speaking of Soldier Field, Bruce and the E Street Band played Soldier Field in August of ’85 on the “Born in the USA” Tour. I was there with 70,000 of my closest friends and it was A PARTY! In recent years, health problems limited Clarence and he had to sit for portions of shows due to hip and knee problems. But, you knew when it was time for the solo in “Badlands” (a song Bruce still plays almost every night on tour) Clarence would be there to let his horn howl. As Bruce posted on his website this weekend, his loss is “immeasurable.” R.I.P Big Man."

E-mails, we get e-mails...

Got this clarification from Bob Kruchten regarding his appearance w/father and son on ESPN this weekend...

"Hello Rick - ESPN aired the piece featuring Dad, Paul and I and a 3 generation Yankees family titled 'Generational Allegience' already once on SportsCenter this morning and told that it will air a couple of times throughout the weekend on both ESPN and ESPN 2. Did not see it yet on-air. The main airing will be in Baseball Tonight prior to Sunday Night Baseball at 6 CT with the game starting at 7 CT on ESPN. Thanks for making this happen - the whole experience has been fantastic and all the credit is yours! I owe you big-time! Happy Father's Day! PS. Happy Birthday to Bridget!"

E-mails, we get e-mails...

"KR" writes...

"When I saw you did a post about Katie Couric I was hoping to see her cheerleading photo again. Please tell me you were kidding yesterday when you said you weren't going to show it anymore."

Sorry "KR", but I was feeling a bit guilty/sexist, so I did make a deal with myself to stop showing it. I was demeaning her news credibility, so I'm not going to show it anymore. I did find a few other cheerleading pictures you might enjoy, however. The credibility of the following people wouldn't be damaged, so I post them without guilt.

This is Eva Longoria from her cheerleading days.

That's Madonna from her cheerleading days.

This cheerleader was elected President in 2000 and 2004.

E-mails, we get e-mails...

"WC" writes about my earlier post regarding the first Cubs game at Wrigley...

"Isn't it interesting that the Cubs played their first game in Wrigley Field on Hitler's birthday? I looked it up--he turned 27 that day. I believe he was fighting in World War 1."

Not sure what you're implying there, "WC" (a White Sox fan, by the way), but yes, you're right. It was Hitler's birthday. It's a little odd that you knew that, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about (rolling eyes).

In case you're wondering, this is what he looked like at the time. He's the one sitting on the right. He hadn't yet ruined the mini-Chaplin mustache for eternity; he still had that more bushy look going. Also, for the record, I'm fairly certain he wasn't a Cubs fan.

E-mails, we get e-mails...

"BP" writes to remind me of another reason we all watched "All My Children" in college...

"I watched “All My Children” in the 80’s, too. Since every girl at U of I watched it, it was a great conversation starter. “I can’t believe what Tab did to Dixie ” and you’re off and running. I hadn’t seen the show in years until last summer when I took off Fridays from work. I happened to flip it on and found out that someone had killed Adam’s twin brother, Stuart. Today, my girlfriend watches another soap and Dr Cliff from AMC is on it. She laughs because I am usually in another room while she watches her show but I always yell “Dr. Cliff!” or “Where’s Nina?” where I hear his baritone voice from the TV set."