Oh, Kentucky

The Kentucky Standard's Forrest Berkshire and Randy Patrick weigh in with a terrific, thick series of stories on how depictions of the black experience have changed in Bardstown arts and history.

Good jobs news from Coal Run and Franklin.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Kentucky) is restructuring itself, and you can learn more and weigh in on the proposed changes.

First Aid Kit, so hot at the HP in 2018, is on the docket for July's Forecastle Festival in Louisville.

Turning to sports, the KHSAA's tweaks to its state golf tournaments aggravated the Golf Channel crowd.

Rest in peace, "Joe Franklin Fulks, Corporal US Marine Corps." (Steve Flairty in the Northern Kentucky Tribune revisits the triumphant and tragic tale of the "Kuttawa Clipper.")

Oh, Kentucky

The marker designates Bowling Green as the Confederate capital of Kentucky during the Civil War. SGA members have penned a resolution to remove it for good. https://t.co/yMUaH5EDlG

— WKU Herald (@wkuherald) February 19, 2019

Free yoga in South Louisville, courtesy of the Kentucky Yoga Initiative, which works "to build healthy and compassionate communities by empowering individuals to ignite change in their lives through the transformative practice of yoga."

Per Channel 3, Reidland High grad Trevor "Ricochet" Mann made his Monday Night Raw debut last night--and won!

Bounceback at Midway.

Madisonville's newly reopened homeless shelter says it needs $19,000 per month to stay open.

Oh, Kentucky

Trump's emergency declaration for border wall funds could cut money for projects like a Kentucky middle school.

Graham: "It's better for the middle school kids in Kentucky to have a secure border. We'll get them the school they need, but right now we've got a national emergency" pic.twitter.com/Vty1rbx979

— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 17, 2019

Guns, guns, guns: Bowling Green.

On "Somerset's blossoming downtown."

Hiring in Frankfort (for Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives archivists) and Lucas (for Barren River Lake State Resort Park recreation workers, etc.)

Turning to sports, the first eliminations for Kentucky's 2019 boys' and girls' high-school basketball championships are determined tonight.

NFL73 Draft (Real/Pretend)

I love to pretend, and today I'm pretending that I'm at the 1973 NFL draft, which took place for real at the Hotel Americana in New York. We're just a couple of picks in, and everything just went crazy:

The Baltimore Colts desperately wanted LSU Quarterback Bert Jones, and they mentioned Bubba Smith to the Oilers in exchange for the right to draft first. But when the Oilers held out for more, the Colts traded Defensive Lineman Billy Newsome, a durable player but no Bubba, to New Orleans for the second pick on the first round.

That left the Oilers in a quandary. If they took Jones, they would have three young and possibly unhappy quarterbacks—Jones, Dan Pastorini and Lynn Dickey—with 25 clubs waiting for one to be discarded sometime next August or September. Houston's indecision was obvious when the actual drafting began. Instead of announcing the No. 1 pick immediately, as is customary, Coach Bill Peterson fidgeted for more than half of the allotted 15 minutes before naming Defensive Tackle John Matuszak of Tampa. Scouts strongly doubt that Matuszak is any Bubba Smith. The Colts, drafting next, got the man they wanted, Bert Jones.

That's all real, from the Feb. 12, 1973, Sports Illustrated "Scorecard" section. But it's obviously going to have terrific bearing on my pretend, because we're only 13 selections away from the first choice of the (formerly real) Evansville Crimson Giants (now pretend), right after (pretend) Idaho at No. 14 and before (then real) Oilers (now defunct) again at No. 16.

Comments flow!

Previous and future NFL73 reports:

-- NFL67 wrap (as posted Jan. 13, 2013)
-- NFL68 wrap (as posted Jan. 11, 2014)
-- NFL69 wrap (as posted Jan. 11, 2016)
-- NFL70 wrap (as posted Jan. 17, 2017)
-- NFL71 wrap (as posted Jan. 16, 2018)

-- NFL72 wrap (as posted Feb. 2, 2019)
-- (Pretend) expansion (as posted Nov. 19, 2018)
-- Blockers for O.J. (as posted Oct. 29, 2018)
-- Divisional playoffs (as posted April 4, 2015)

-- NFL78 so far (as posted Jan. 31, 2019)
-- NFL79 so far (as posted April 15, 2015)
-- Welcome to Madisonville, Fran Tarkenton! (as posted Jan. 3, 2009)
-- NFL14 so far (as posted Jan. 28, 2019)

-- NFL15 so far (as posted Sept 13, 2015)
-- NFL16 so far (as posted Jan. 8, 2017)

Newsstand, February 1973

I have an idea for a new HP feature, which I think might bring us all some mirth and insight. I'm considering it part of #freakinweekend family of posts, and, an ongoing basis, #newsstand might even be only the occasional focus of "The Freakin' Weekend"-labeled posts. But, for its debut today, "Newsstand" gets its own standalone header, and here we go.

No surprise that this month's Golf Digest reveals Jack Nicklaus as its player of 1972, but the sublime LeRoy Nieman cover mustn't be missed!

February 1973 me believes that Cesar Cedeno is headed to a Hall-of-Fame career, and Baseball Digest is steeling my conviction.

I really like it that World Soccer, "The International Magazine," expects February 1973 us to know who this dude is without any labeling or even identifiable jersey markings.

In Chess Life & Review, David Levy has a compelling report on “Church’s Fried Chicken Inc. First International Chess Tournament:”

Not since New York 1924 has there been such a strong tournament in the USA … Bill Church evolved the idea of this magnificent event almost two years before the first pawn was pushed. While he and his wife Kaye were on a visit to San Francisco in February 1971, they were invited to the home of George Koltanowski, where Bill took a beating from Kolty at the chessboard. “To make a long story not so long,” recalls Koltanowski, “the Churches took my wife Leah and me to dinner. Even if it doesn’t pay to win it costs to lose. And it was then, by a chance remark, that the idea of the first Church’s Fried Chicken International Tournament was hatched.

In New York, there's a feature on the New Yorkest of Knicks:

Most of the New York Knicks’ front-line stars came from out of town. Frazier, Reed, DeBusschere, Bradley—they’re here because they came here. But one of the brightest new Knicks is a home-town boy, and the crowd loves him for it. Dean Meminger grew up in Harlem, made the All-City team, and realized the great ghetto dream of making it big. Tony Kornheiser, who covers pro basketball for Newsday, relates the rise of Dean the Dream.

Turning away from sports (mostly), the February Crawdaddy centerfold is the board for its “American Buy-Buy-Buy Centennial Game.” It’s a more-meandering Monopoly-style layout with corner squares for “Revolution” and “Disneyland” (instead of “Jail,” “Free Parking,” etc.) Here are some of the spaces, printed in all-caps, typewriter font:

-- “BURN SOCIAL SECURITY CARD AT DISNEYLAND. MAULED BY MECHANCIAL CROCODILE. GO TO V.A. HOSPITAL WHERE YOU’RE FORGOTTEN.”

-- “WORKERS STRIKE AT YOUR FACTORY FOR NATIONAL HOLIDAY ON BETSY ROSS’ BIRTHDAY. LOSE TEMPER AND ONE TURN.”

-- “STOCK IN RED, WHITE AND BLUE A.B.A. BASKETBALL SOARS. DRIBBLE AHEAD 1 SPACE.”

Newsweek this month clues us in on "The Hottest Movie,” Last Tango In Paris, and asks “Whatever Happened To Black America?” 

Meanwhile, in Canada, ...

Here are some features from other titles this month in February 1973:

-- Rolling Stone, “Joan Baez in Hanoi: 12 Days Under the Bombs”

-- Cosmopolitan, “101 Ways a Man Can Please You—If You Would Only Tell Him”

-- Guns&Ammo, "GUN CONTROL IS NOT CRIME CONTROL!"

-- Good Housekeeping, “EXCLUSIVE: John Wayne in his very private world” and “Make our nubby-knit pull-on sweater, page 76"

-- For Teens Only, “DATE DONNY!” and “Be a part of the great date debate between SUSAN, DAVID, MAUREEN & BARRY!”

-- SHAZAM! It's Captain Marvel.

-- Better Homes and Gardens, “Tax deductions—an easy-to-follow chart” and “Design a kitchen just for your family”

-- Mademoiselle, “women are the creators of male chauvinism—a sizzling interview with esther vilar”

-- Popular Science, "Before You Buy: The Facts About MICROWAVE OVENS”