Oh, Princeton

You hardly ever hear anyone--even anyone from Princeton--call it "kuh-WELL" County anymore. It's almost, absolutely almost always "CALD-well" County. But that changed over the second half of the last century, and, if you don't believe me, would you take the word of the 1960 Caldwell County High School cheerleaders?

I cannot believe that this amazing BBC movie directed by Denis Mitchell exists and that I had not discovered it until an hour ago or so. For Pete's sake, do yourself a favor, stop everything you're doing and watch it in case the internet or you or whatever doesn't exist later this afternoon.

I'm pretty sure that's Princeton Dotson's Dwight Smith shooting jumpers in closeup at about 20:30.

Warning Explicit Content

Oh, Kentucky

Well, I just discovered my new favorite Facebook follow ...

Oh, except for, perhaps, the Winter Road Report series from The Crittenden Press ...

In the wake of New Hampshire vice-presidential-hopeful Matt Bevin's "soft" soundbites, Kentucky's social-media-sensation elementary-school principal goes a little harder-edged with his latest video.

And speaking of the governor, here's "Refreshing the Finest," Phase II.

Christmas parades: Murray, Dec. 1, and Scottsville, Dec. 7.

Oh, Kentucky

The Road to Wrestlemania goes through Corbin.

Paintsville is putting on Seussical Jr., and auditions are Friday.

In Beaver Dam, it's hello to Beef O'Brady's but so long to Denny's.

Henderson's old Dairy Bar is now Yum Yum Chinese, and you might know the from from Great Wall in Princeton.

Two Democrat and one Republican member of the six-person Madisonville city council have changed their political affiliation to independent.

Good jobs news from Barbourville.

Oh, Kentucky

Kentucky Community and Technical College System at sunset and it's 39.1 F pic.twitter.com/7hMCi8geET

— KCTCS WeatherSTEM (@KCTCSWxSTEM) December 5, 2017

 

Christmas parades: Irvington and Owensboro, Nov. 18; Central City (Rep. Melinda Gibbons Prunty (R-Belton) was there), Nov. 19; Ashland, Nov. 21; Lebanon, Nov. 24; Brownsville and Danville, Nov. 25; Greenup, Nov. 28; Cumberland, London, Monticello and Richmond, Dec. 1; Arlington, Barbourville, Beaver Dam, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Corbin, Fordsville, Georgetown, Glasgow (things got contentious), Harlan, Hartford, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Marion, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Somerset and Winchester, Dec. 2; Dawson Springs, Evarts and Nortonville (there, too), Dec. 3; Mount Sterling, Dec. 4; Lexington, Dec. 5; Bardstown, Dec. 7; Frankfort, Dec. 8; Augusta, Cave City, Edmonton ("Christmas Dreams Do Come True"), Elkton, Hanson, Hopkinsville, Paintsville, Salem and Whitesville ("One Team, One Family, One Holiday"), Dec. 9, and La Center (sixth-annual Ballard County parade) and Oak Grove, Dec. 16.

On JFK in the Jackson Purchase.

Anton International is expanding.

Naming This Video 'Fire of the Century' Was Really Clever

The Best Made-for-TV Movie About TV of All Time

My favorite movies are made-for-TV movies about TV. The best one of all time (5 stars, highly recommend) is going to be the one that someone does about the night that Don and Kay Knotts play bridge at Pat and Marjorie Harrington's place in Westwood.

Eight teams left

Quick question:  When was the last time the First Region won at least one game in the State Tournament for three years in a row?

Answer:   1951-53.  Cuba reached the final in 1951 and 1952, and then Tilghman reached the final in 1953.  But last night, Calloway County upset Knott Co. Central, meaning that we have a Jackson Purchase team in the quarter-finals for the third year in a row.


Quick question:  When was the last time that Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4 -- the four westernmost regions -- all advanced to the quarterfinals of the State Tournament?

Answer: 1960.  To give you a sense of how long ago that was, check out these scores:

Symsonia 69, Meade Memorial 60
Hopkinsville Crispus Attucks 64. Clinton Co. 62
Owensboro 77, Lincoln Institute 75
Beaver Dam 61, LaRue Co. 56

That's right:  three of the four Western Kentucky schools that went to the quarter-finals in 1960 no longer exist.

So live it up, Western Kentucky!  We don't get too many chances like this one.  Plus, the four Western Kentucky teams will be playing each other, so our end of the Commonwealth will have two teams in the semi-finals.  That hasn't happened since Tilghman and Henderson County reached the semi-finals in 1999.

Our gain is Appalachia's pain.  The 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th regions have all been eliminated prior to the quarter-finals.  This is the first time that's happened since 1989.

OK, here are the scores from yesterday:

(1) Lou. Ballard 83, Johnson Cent. 69
Boyle Co. 60, Lex. Catholic 59
Bowling Green 86, Elliott Co. 44
Calloway Co. 73, (4) Knott Co. Cent. 68 (2 OT)

And that sets up the following quarter-finals today (all times Central):

11 A.M:  (7) Owensboro (28-4) v. (8) Hopkinsville (27-5)
12:30 P.M:  (9) Cov. Catholic (30-5) v. Lou. Doss (27-6)
5:30 P.M.:  (1) Lou. Ballard (32-2) v. Boyle Co. (27-6)
7 P.M.:  Bowling Green (29-5) v. Calloway Co. (30-3)

Something Robert Penn Warren Wrote That Did Not Win The Pulitzer

He won for fiction in 1947 for All the King's Men, and he won for poetry in 1958 for Promises: Poems 1954-1956. But Guthrie's Robert Penn Warren did not win for You, Emperors, and Others: Poems 1957-1960, which is where "Mother Makes the Biscuits" comes from. I don't care; I love it--plus, it's really hard to repeat.

Mother makes the biscuits,
Father makes the laws,
Grandma wets the bed sometimes,
Kitty-cats have claws.

Mother sweeps the kitchen,
Father milks the cow,
Grandpa leaves his pants unbuttoned,
Puppy-dogs bark, bow-wow.

All do as God intends,
The sun sets in the west,
Father shaves his chin, scrape-scrape,
Mother knows best.

Clap hands, children,
Clap hands and sing!
Hold hands together, children,
And dance in a ring,

For the green worm sings on the leaf,
The black beetle folds hands to pray,
And the stones in the field wash their faces clean
To meet break of day.

But we may see this only
Because all night we have stared
At the black miles past where stars are
Till the stars disappeared.

VIII Olympic Winter Games, Squaw Valley 1960

The story of Squaw Valley's going after and getting the 1960 Winter Games--well, Alexander Cushing's going after and getting them, more precisely--is great.

From pages 582 and 583 of the 1961 Collier's Encyclopedia Yearbook:

Squaw Valley, a tiny California village in the High Sierras, was host to 850 athletes from 31 nations for the VIII Winter Games. Snow fell on the opening day, February 18, but thereafter the weather was excellent. The winter events began amid some grumbling about the site and the state of preparation, but the criticism turned to praise before the closing ceremonies on February 28.

The Russians, who competed in the Winter Olympics for the first time in 1956, greatly increased their supremacy, gaining seven gold medals and earning more than double the points of any other country in the unofficial scoring. The United States repeated its triumphs in both the men's and women's figure skating, and achieved a major upset by winning the hockey championship. In total points, the United States rose to third from sixth in 1956. …

The American hockey team was unbeaten with five victories, including a 2-to-1 triumph over Canada, the Canadians' only defeat. Backed by the excellent goal tending of Ted McCartan, the Americans defeated Russia by 3 to 2. The Soviet Union finished the tournament with two victories, two defeats and one tie.

In the finale of the round-robin play, the United States trailed Czechoslovakia, 4 to 3, after two periods. During the intermission, Soviet Captain Nikolai Sologubov visited the American dressing room and suggested that the disconsolate team try inhaling oxygen to offset the 6,200-ft. altitude. Taking this advice, the Americans went on to score six goals in the third period and defeat the Czechs, 9 to 4. Three of the last-period goals were scored by Roger Christian, who totaled four for the game.

The winter carnival attracted 240,900 spectators during the 11 days of competition, but did not prove a profitable venture for the promoting organization. However, the State of California provided financial backing and will develop the site further as a state park.

Bobsledding was omitted from the program because too few nations indicated an interest.

Medals table:

1. Soviet Union 7 gold, 5 silver, 9 bronze

2. Germany 4, 3, 1

3. United States 3, 4, 3

4. Norway 3, 3, 0

5. Sweden 3, 2, 2

6. Finland 2, 3, 3

7. Canada 2, 1, 1

8. Switzerland 2, 0, 0

9. Austria 1, 2, 3

10. France 1, 0, 2

11. Netherlands 0, 1, 1

11. Poland 0, 1, 1

13. Czechoslovakia 0, 1, 0

14. Italy 0, 0, 1

15. Argentina 0, 0, 0

15. Australia 0, 0, 0

15. Bulgaria 0, 0, 0

15. Chile 0, 0, 0

15. Denmark 0, 0, 0

15. Great Britain 0, 0, 0

15. Hungary 0, 0, 0

15. Iceland 0, 0, 0

15. Japan 0, 0, 0

15. South Korea 0, 0, 0

15. Lebanon 0, 0, 0

15. Liechtenstein 0, 0, 0

15. New Zealand 0, 0, 0

15. South Africa 0, 0, 0

15. Spain 0, 0, 0

15. Turkey 0, 0, 0

("Winter Olympics." Collier's Encyclopedia Yearbook (New York: Crowell-Collier Publishing Corporation, 1961) 582-583.)

Belated Seasons Greetings, 1960-61!

The HP staff should get Football Holiday as a paid day off.

Oh, Kentucky

(I)t goes to show how caring and compassionate this community is through their ability to wrap their arms around those who face a life altering circumstance.

I love #TBT:

From Barkley Regional Airport's Facebook page: "For Throwback Thursday, we go back to 1960. It's amazing how times have changed. An Ozark Airlines DC-3 on the ramp, the red nose of the plane tell us it was owned by Northwest Airlines before Ozark bought it. The windows behind the car are where the vending area is today. and just a short chain link fence keeps people away from the plane. — at Barkley Regional Airport."

Good jobs news from Lexington.

The USDA says 1 in 6 Kentucky households cannot afford nutritious food.

Bridge construction has Louisville's homeless on the move.

Elizabethtown ups its ante toward a Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

Russellville's Confederate monument is getting fixed.

A bestselling author of Amish fiction is coming to Glasgow.

Here's some bookmobile love, Bell County-style.

Marshall County's first high school was in Benton, opened in 1909, and the Kentucky Historical Society is commemorating the guy who helped establish it--along with doing a lot of other neat things.

Hall-of-Fame Night in Cadiz

The fancier affair is tonight—a banquet in the school’s cafeteria, at which the formal induction will take place—but Trigg County High School went ahead and also celebrated its third Athletic Hall of Fame class amid a basketball doubleheader last night at Wildcat Gym.

Between Caldwell County’s 56-20 win over Trigg County in the girls’ game and Trigg’s 83-60 win over Caldwell in the boys’, Cadiz warmly recognized Ladonna Diggs (a member of the school’s 1972 and ’74 Class A state track-and-field champion), Allen “Buddy” Perry (an assistant coach for Trigg County’s 1971 and ’72 Class A state football champs) and the school’s 1962-63 boys’ basketball team. Ms. Diggs was so honored, the 55-ish ex-cheerleader for the dear, ol’ black and white of Trigg County somersaulted her thanks again and again to the faithful in the mostly filled, 2,575-seat Wildcat Gym.

That 1962-63 basketball team is the one that opened the facility on old U.S. 68/Ky. 80 that the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats still use today. A fire in June 1960 had destroyed both Trigg County’s high school and gym. So, for two years, the basketball teams practiced in a Cadiz warehouse and played all of their games in away gyms. The '62-63 Wildcats then opened their season with nine straight home games—and nine straight wins. Trigg County, in fact, played 23 of its 26 games that season at Wildcat Gym and finished 23-3. Even the Seventh District and Second Region tournament games were played in the new joint. After winning the district tournament, the Wildcats then eliminated Livingston Central for their first-ever region-tournament victory. In the Second Region semifinals, Princeton Dotson ended Trigg County’s season with a 52-33 decision. Driving down Ky. 139 from Princeton to Cadiz for Friday evening’s game, I heard the current coach say on WKDZ say that so many folks came out to that Trigg-Dotson game that some of them who were turned away at the doors climbed onto the roofs of adjoining buildings to watch through the windows of Wildcat Gym.

That Princeton Dotson team included Dwight and Greg Smith, the brothers who would go on to excel at Western Kentucky University along with Clem Haskins in the middle 1960s. Both Smiths were drafted into the NBA, but Dwight never made it; he was killed, along with his and Greg’s sister, in an automobile accident on Mother’s Day 1967. Because Dwight was killed at age 21, his image is suspended in time—forever the college senior. And so it was a little strange to see his old Second Region high-school rivals, these 1962-63 Trigg County High Wildcats, on Friday night. Unlike Dwight Smith, these guys are, of course, old men—gray and ample.

After their fellow inductees Ms. Diggs and Mr. Perry, the Wildcats of 1962-63 were introduced one by one and walked to center court to roars. All but a couple of the surviving members were there, and WKDZ said that each of them is expected at tonight’s banquet. One of the players who has died was represented at the game by his daughter, and she came out to cheers. The coach came out to cheers. The manager came out to cheers. Wildcat Gym cheered them all.

Obviously, I sat on the wrong side of the gym to get a decent picture.

The hall-of-famers sent back to their reserved seats in one corner of the gym, things moved on, then, to the contemporary business of homecoming formalities. A girl in a cocktail dress and one of the boys’ basketball players were crowned, and then the whole court—except for the basketball players—took seats amid balloons and flowers on the stage at the north end of the floor.

Then the basketball resumed. The Trigg County boys warmed up to a very loud playing of “Let Me Clear My Throat” by DJ Kool (featuring Biz Markie and Doug E. Fresh), which I found surprising given that the song is 17 years old. (I shouldn’t’ve been surprised, however, given that the Trigg band was playing Bob Segar’s 34-year-old “Old Time Rock-‘n’-Roll” when I arrived at Wildcat Gym).

The Caldwell County starters and then the Trigg County starters were introduced, and then the PA announcer announced, “You can take their pictures off the milk cartons. Welcome back to Wildcat Gym, The Black Hole!” I don’t know what the story is here, but I think “The Black Hole” must be the nickname for a group of 50 to 75 young fans—they all appeared to be Trigg High students—dressed mostly in black and congregated at courtside. Given the PA announcer’s couching of the situation, my guess is this little klatch of Cameron Crazies had maybe been banished for a game or two. Before the game, I saw a well-groomed, middle-aged guy in new jeans and a white sport coat—probably the school principal, because he was busy with this and that all night—talking seriously with the ringleader of the crew. And then just before tipoff, one of the game’s three officials came over and talked to that same kid, who looked a good bit like a young Chevy Chase—tall, dark and mischievous. He was in black T-shirt, back shorts, long black socks and black sneakers, and he led the group in all sorts of chants and howls throughout the game. Boys and girls, adults and students alike were fixated on the the guy's every move.

Trigg County came out and ran up a 20-9 lead after one quarter, as it threw in three-pointers galore. With each one, the PA announcer bellowed, “ANOTHER! … TRIGG! … TREEEEEEEEEEY!” Except it took me (an idiot) forever to figure out what the heck the guy was saying (Treg Trey? Trey Trey? I’m sitting in Trigg County; how could it take me so long to figure that out?).

In the second quarter, Caldwell County’s 22—the tallest kid on the floor—had a fluid block, rebound and outlet assist for a layup, and that sparked the Tigers to a surge of transition baskets. They weren’t selling any sort of program in the lobby (do they still sell programs at high-school bask- … wait, didn’t they sell programs at Heath’s basketball games in the ‘80s?), so I don’t know, but my guess is that 22 is no older than a sophomore. He’s pretty good, but it looks like he might’ve just spurted about 5 inches in the last year. He seemed still a little unfamiliar with his own big frame, and he seemed a little bashful at the start of the game. But 22 and the rest of the Tigers got it going in the second quarter, and Trigg’s lead was down to 37-29 at half.

One would have to think—and one could probably find out pretty quickly if one wasn’t scared anymore just to walk up to someone and simply ask—that Caldwell would be Trigg’s biggest rival. The schools are not even 25 miles apart. Trigg has won the Second Region in boys’ basketball twice; in girls’ basketball, never. Caldwell has one boys’ regional title and three girls’. Both schools have won two football state championships.

No doubt the locals would dispute this point, but Cadiz and Princeton have always to me to feel pretty similar. Even their differences feel to an outsider to fall along a pretty narrow band. Cadiz has about 2,500 people; Princeton, about 6,500. Cadiz is known for country ham; Princeton, for tobacco. Cadiz’s is a strip, and Princeton’s is a square, but both towns have quaint and relatively active downtowns. Cadiz doesn’t have a Taco John’s (Princeton's on Facebook), but Princeton doesn’t have a Ferrell’s Hamburgers (Cadiz's photographed below). Trigg County has an out-of-sight archery program; Caldwell had Emma Talley.

I’d gotten a little focused on typing and missed a lot of the early second half. But Trigg had zipped out to a 67-50 lead with 5:27 to go in the fourth. New Trigg County High School Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Allen “Buddy” Perry had seen enough. Before he beat the crowd to the parking lot, Mr. Perry sought out the principal-looking dude, shook hands and appeared to say thanks for the evening.

As (fantastic) WKDZ previously reported, Mr. Perry was as an assistant coach on the Wildcats’ early ‘70s state-championship football teams. He worked with the lines, and one of his pupils was David Sadler, who (famously so here—there are signs at the edges of town) went on to play football at the University of Alabama. But that’s not all that Mr. Perry did around Trigg County High. He also coached the baseball team for a while. And he coached the wrestling team for a while. And he coached the golf team for a while. And he was an assistant track-and-field coach for a while. And he was athletics director for a while one time and then for a while another time. And, then, WKDZ says, “following his retirement, Coach Perry stayed involved in Trigg County athletics by running the clock for Trigg County basketball games for over a decade.”

I’m a person who has a tendency to feel a little discouraged that Earth is a mostly caustic and prickly place. But I come out to something like a high-school basketball game in a community like Cadiz, and this world feels warmer. The folks don’t even necessarily need to directly reach out to me; in fact, it’s even more effective just to watch and listen to all of the different folks being nice to each other. 

One can see why Mr. Perry couldn’t get enough—still hasn’t been able to get enough—of hanging out around a place like Wildcat Gym.

Oh, Kentucky

Good jobs news from Murray. Bad from Bowling Green and Hebron.

Still dry in Estill County.

The state's education commissioner has completed his tour of all 174 Kentucky school districts.

Corbin is getting a Marshalls.

Covington appears to be getting rid of adult softball.

What would've ranked as Wednesday's second- or third-craziest development in college football was quickly defused.

Oh, Kentucky

I got the first cup.
Chick-fil-A today might pour better cups.
But I got the first,
and I'm thankful; it could've been worse.
Up, I now am perked.
Time to get to work ...

We are sincere about making positive changes for Kentucky.

The HeathPo politics desk might want to weigh in with analysis of Gov. Beshear's missing Fancy Farm. Or the debate format this October at Centre.

Bullish jobs news from Bowling Green, Corbin, Grayson, Lexington, Louisville, Owensboro and Winchester.

Bears in Corbin.

Good for the Paintsville Main Street Players, but where now will the firearms auctions take place?

Uniontown considers buying a police car.

I would guess that this was Woodie Fryman's old school.

The Clinton County High Bulldogs' boys' basketball team won the 1960 Fifth Region tournament, and a 1989 grad has done his part to make sure no one ever forgets.

"Eight or nine wins and a conference championship would be nice."

"Watch the Players IN FULL PADS!"

Rest in peace, Andy Griffith

I have a stupid and awful tendency to get agitated with my fellow survivors when someone I love dies. It irritates me when others mourn differently than I do. I get mad because I judge that they're not somber enough, or I get mad because I judge that they're too somber. Or I get mad because I judge that they celebrate the wrong things from the dead person's life--or that they missed the point or took away the wrong lesson. Any and all of the above. It's a wrong-headed, illogical and unhelpful way to live at a moment when one needs to be living right for the sake of not only himself but also for his brothers and sisters around him. But darn if I don't fall into that same manhole every time I walk down this street.

Andy Griffith died Tuesday, and I was surprised that it so staggered me. The man was 86 freaking years old. He'd been old for a long time, and there'd been reports off and on of his being sick. So many of the other people that I associate with him in my head--Don Knotts, Howard Sprague, Helen Crump, Goober, Patricia Neal, Dad--are already dead. Why would the news of Andy Griffith's passing surprise anyone? Well, it did me, and I ended up spending pretty much the rest of Tuesday in a haze of reading fantastic obituaries and tributes written by folks who are more adept at catching clues and collecting and expressing thoughts than I am.

Anyway, the focus on A Face in the Crowd has really--stupidly and awfully--agitated me the rest of the week.

Hey, I love this movie, too. I've got a VHS copy that I recorded off TV 15 years ago, and I'll bet that I've watched it a dozen times and loaned it out to at least that many friends and family. It's a great story; it's a great-looking thing, and Andy Griffith is one sweating, throbbing, laughing, crying, yelling, moaning force of manhood in that movie. It's a fierce and virile performance, and the people who made the movie obviously knew what they had, because the script for the trailer compares the 28-year-old, newcomer lead with Marlon Brando and James Dean.

"If Andy Griffith had won an Academy Award for A Face in the Crowd--as he should have done--his whole career might have been very different," Go Heath remarked around the HP office watercooler Tuesday afternoon. "As it was, he never got the chance to play as many dramatic roles as he should have had."

That's true.

But, man, oh, man, am I ever thankful that it worked out the way it did. Because had Andy Griffith gotten to be Marlon Brando or James Dean, we probably would've never gotten The Andy Griffith Show.

The Andy Griffith Show is my favorite take-me-to-a-time-and-place TV show of all time, and that's not the half of it. TV Land is going to run marathons of episodes today and tomorrow. They're going to kick things off at 10 Central this morning with "The New Housekeeper," the Oct. 3, 1960, debut, and you can see that Andy Griffith and the other people who made the show understood right off the bat the story terrain they intended to explore. There are strategic and personnel tweaks throughout the series' eight-season run. But, from the start, The Andy Griffith Show was funny in the way it was going to be funny and it was about what it was going to be about.

And what it was about, was living in loving community. It's about the balances to be struck or to throw out of whack between sweetness and authenticity and between compassion and justice. It's about the tension in a community between hospitality and security, and it's about what's it's like to deal with the problems of sameness and change in single individuals or in multiple individuals. And when it gets it right, as it often does--not "The Gospel According to The Andy Griffith Show," but "The Andy Griffith Show According to the Gospel"--it's as good as anything ever.

Andy Griffith's life story is filled with all sorts of bad stuff: feeling lesser than when he was a kid, getting too full of himself professionally when he was an adult, divorces and other family tragedies, horrible illnesses, falling off a roof. He was just another man, but I do find a lot of things about him to think about and to admire. Primary among them is that the signature piece of work of Andy Griffith's life on this Earth concentrated on no less than the nuts and bolts of what's it's like to actually live out, together, the kind of community that Jesus calls us to. (Calls us one and calls us all.) "Andy Griffith created aspirational television," Brad Hirschfield put it in Wednesday's Washington Post.

Amen, brother.