Cute Mascot

Here is one of the cutest and funniest mascots in action.  The person inside has to be rather small because he or she completely turned around inside the costume twice during the routine.

Drum Major Tryout

I never thought much about drum majors, even though I love marching bands.  I noticed them strutting in front of their bands and occasionally tossing batons.  And I knew they had major leadership responsibilities.  But it was the band's marching and music that always drew my attention.

This video of a try out for Ohio State University's Drum Major was among the related videos highlighted with a band performance video I watched, so I clicked on the link out of curiosity.  This guy's talent talent blew my mind.  Incidentally, he won the try outs.

Berlin (1936) in Color

This fantastic video shows Berlin in 1936, the year of the Olympics, in color and excellent resolution. I found it on YouTube in the UnknownWW2InColor channel maintained by the Romano Archives. That channel, which I subscribe to, contains hundreds of color films from the WW2 era made by government, press and private photographers of all the participants.

This video was remastered in high resolution, so it looks great in full screen.

Giggles

                                                               WORLD PEAS! 

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse

I first saw this newsreel of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse when I was very young. It is most likely the reason that I am always a wee bit nervous whenever I drive on a bridge The bridge, which crossed Puget Sound in the state of Washington, opened on July 1, 1940 and collapsed four months later, on November 7, 1940. World War 2 caused postponement of plans to replace the bridge. The new bridge opened in 1950.

Tom Brokaw Explains Canada to Americans

In this beautiful little piece aired on NBC prior to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics newsman Tom Brokaw explains the unique relationship between the United States and Canada.

Pete Maravich

Pete Maravich was one of my favorite basketball players. This video found on YouTube shows highlights of his fantastic career both in college and the pros. In addition to being an outstanding scorer at both the collegiate and professional levels he was an outstanding passer and one of the all-time most colorful players.

Maravich played three seasons for Louisiana State University ending in 1970, a period in which freshman were not permitted to play on varsity teams, and had a ten year career in the National Basketball Association in which he averaged over 24 points per game and led the league in scoring one season.

The following charts illustrate his dominance as a scorer in college:

Top Five Major College Scorers in a Career (Total Points)

 3,667 - Pete Maravich   Louisiana St.   1967-1970   44.2 PPG
 3,249 - Freeman Williams   Portland St.   1974-1978   30.7 PPG
 3,217 - Lional Simmons   LaSalle   1986-1990   24.6 PPG
 3,165 - Alphonso Ford   Miss. Val.St.   1989-1993   29.0 PPG
 3,066 - Harry Kelly   Texas Southern   1979-1983   27.9 PPG


Top Five Major College Scorers in a Season (PPG)

 44.5 - Pete Maravich   1969/70   Louisiana St  . 1,381 Points
 44.2 - Pete Maravich   1968/69   Louisiana St.   1,148 Points
 43.8 - Pete Maravich   1967/68   Louisiana St.   1,138 Points
 41.7 - Frank Selvy   1953/54 Furman   1,209 Points
 40.1 - Johnny Newman   1970/71   Mississippi  923 Points

In January 1988 Pete Maravich collapsed and died after competing in a half-court pickup basketball game.  He was just 40 years old.  An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a rare congenital heart defect; he had been born with a missing left coronary artery.  His right coronary artery was grossly enlarged and had been compensating for the defect.



This YouTube video is a tribute to Maravich on CBS television shortly after his death.