Another How it used to Be

I am somewhat a sports fan, have been all of my life.

Presently watching a rerun of an Ohio State, Michigan game from 1969. How times have changed.

NO tribal dances after making a good play or a touchdown, they acted like they had done it before, gave the ball to the official, no "high fives," none of those jumping into each other, not sure what that means. I always felt that if I was a coach I would insist they save their energy for the game and not use it up in "tribal exhibitions."

NO TV replays of each play, 2 or 3 or 4 or more times. NO red flags to determine if the call was correct or not.

The field and surrounding area are void of advertising, no scoreboard at the bottom of the screen to let me know the score and the down and the time and the temperature and upcoming TV shows. There is a small gold M on the 50 yard line, yard markers and nothing more.

AND ...... ONE announcer, Keith Jackson, not a press box full of "experts," there is someone in the booth with him, but he says very little.  Actually, in this game, and I remember watching it at a local bar, the Draft House, which I owned at the time, Ohio State was highly favored to win the game. Bo and Woody were the coaches. VIP seats were a row of benches against the brick wall that surrounds the playing field. On the sidelines were a few cameramen, cheerleaders and the teams.

Game is almost over, big upset, Michigan is going to win. Game is over. Ohio State sideline is sad, Michigan sideline is happy, "the upset of the century," both teams are leaving the field, together, no big celebration, they just played a game, and one team won. Woody is walking off, no police escort, Bo is walking off, no police escort, no microphones being shoved in their faces. They played a football game to see who could win, not to sell Honda s, and, their were NO TV timeouts for commercials.

I miss those days, just pure football, the focus was on the game, how great was that?

Honor in War - A great story

Look carefully at the B-17 and note how shot up it is - one engine dead, tail, horizontal stabilizer and nose shot up. It was ready to fall out of the sky. (This is a painting done by an artist from the description of both pilots many years later.) Then realize that there is a German ME-109 fighter flying next to it. Now read the story below. I think you'll be surprised...

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton , England . His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying the B-17 over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named Franz Stigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot.

Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to, and slightly over, the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe ..

When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who were alive - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

When asked why he didn't shoot them down, Stigler later said, "I didn't have the heart to finish those brave men. I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do that. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in a parachute."

Both men died in 2008.
 
Thanks to Jim Madison for this, too good not to pass around