Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

Some idea sand thoughts on Memorial Day.

Deer Pictures
I have a motion activated trail camera that we got to try and catch pictures of the fisher cat living out back. It caught some pictures of the Deer that has been eating the birdfeeder empty:

BUSTED!

Kevin Harvick Wins at Charlotte
My man and best driver in the world, Kevin Harvick #29, won last night at Charlotte when fan mega favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas on the final turn of the final lap! Unreal:

They call him "The Closer", and he is that. Love it.

American Hero Joe Louis
When I think about Memorial Day I think about all the soldiers all over the world that every day do what they must. For many it is a desire to serve the United States and an honor for the duty. For all it is still a job they have to do, but unlike working in biotech lab or trading futures in the pits, our best face situations that could claim their life in the various fronts of conflict ongoing. I have NO IDEA the courage and resolve it takes to perform active duty in the US Armed Forces. I am so thankful in any case, home safe soon boys!

Joe Louis was an American hero. What that man did all through World War II for troops was amazing. What was disgusting was the US IRS going after Louis, who donated two full match purses to the Army and Navy relief funds, for income taxes! This debt followed Louis his whole life and even forced a comeback when he was very old. Louis was knocked out by Rocky Marciano during this time.

Anyways, what comes to mind? How about Joe Louis fighting German hero and the only man to beat him, Max Schmeling? On the cusp of the Nazi build up for World War II, the German powers were ecstatic for the chance for their fighter to beat the American Heavyweight Champion, and a black man as an added bonus. It is hard to figure the build up of such a fight years later, but the pressure must have been enormous for both fighters.

From Wikipedia:
The rematch between Louis and Schmeling is one of the most famous boxing matches of all time, and is remembered as one of the major sports events of the 20th century. Following his defeat of Louis in 1936, Schmeling became a national hero in Germany. Schmeling's victory over an African American was touted by Nazi officials as proof of their doctrine of Aryan superiority. When the rematch was scheduled, Louis retreated to his boxing camp in New Jersey and trained incessantly for the fight. A few weeks before the bout, Louis visited the White House, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt told him, "Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany." Louis later admitted: "I knew I had to get Schmeling good. I had my own personal reasons and the whole damned country was depending on me."

When Schmeling arrived in New York in June, 1938 for the rematch, he was accompanied by a Nazi party publicist who issued statements that a black man could not defeat Schmeling, and that when Schmeling won, his prize money would be used to build tanks in Germany. Schmeling's hotel was picketed by anti-Nazi protesters in the days before the fight.

On the night of June 22, 1938, Louis and Schmeling met for the second time in the boxing ring. The fight was held in Yankee Stadium before a crowd of 70,043. It was broadcast by radio to millions of listeners throughout the world, with radio announcers reporting on the fight in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Before the bout, Schmeling weighed in at 193 pounds; Louis weighed in at 198¾ pounds.

The fight lasted two minutes and four seconds. Louis battered Schmeling with a series of swift attacks, forcing Schmeling against the ropes and giving him a paralyzing body blow (Schmeling later claimed it was an illegal kidney punch). Schmeling was knocked down three times, and only managed to throw two punches in the entire bout. On the third knockdown, Schmeling's trainer threw in the towel and referee Arthur Donovan stopped the fight.


Here is the fight, and the short right hand that Louis uses to end the fight is an incredible short range shot:

German authorities blocked the radio broadcast when Schmeling got in trouble. Tough shit boys.

Have a good night.

8 comments:

Jennifer Hillier said...

Awesome pic! The deer looks so guilty! Ha, love it.

Hope you had a great weekend!

EconomicDisconnect said...

And you too! Yes, that big boy has been cleaning out the bird feeder big time!

EconomicDisconnect said...

The deer picture is from last night, I forgot to set the timer for the correct date.

scharfy said...

Joe Louis throws whippy punches. Sits down on all of them. Lovely stuff.

David Batista said...

Ah, awesome Joe Louis love here! And to think, that fight happend in my own back yard -- just down the street from where I live. Wow!

watchtower said...

GYSC, have you caught the Fisher on film yet?
We don't have them around here but they look like a cool animal.

If you have Fishers up there where you live then I assume you have Martens too?

I've never seen either one of those animals in real life, but I have seen a Mink or two while fishing...always cool to see animals in the wild!

EconomicDisconnect said...

Watchtower,
yes we saw a huge fisher last year! Thing is scary. I have seen martens and minks here as well. They have otters at the Quabbin Reservoir, those guys are funny!

GawainsGhost said...

That looks like a mooose deer to me. Not that I've ever seen one; we don't have deer like that down here. Because this area is mostly mesquite scrub desert, the deer are small so as to move through the brush. To get a trophy buck in Texas, you'd have to go to the northwest plains or the panhandle. The deer grow very large up there.

I have seen all kinds of wildlife though. Everything from jaguars, pumas, black bears, and chachalacas, which is basically a Mexican roadrunner. Actually, this area is a major birding center. Almost every migratory bird flies through here on the was south. I've seen pelicans, albatrosses, egrets, name it. I even saw a pygmy owl once, and that is an extremely rare species. I've talked to birders who have been coming down here for 50 years that have never seen a pygmy owl. They get real pissed when I tell them I saw one. It's like the Holy Grail of birding.

In fact, we have the World Birding Center just outside of town. It's a major tourist attraction, especially for the Winter Texans. You would be surprised at all the birds you can find there during migratory season.

I've never heard of a deer eating bird feed though. That is strange. Good job on busting that criminal.