Last car I drove with a clutch was a Vega. It was fun to drive except for parking uphill and then having to get it going again. Annoying as hell.
Driver side door was held closed with clothesline. Was bought used. We didn't let it die a natural death. It was a victim of the great Newport illegal fireworks explosion in March 1981. It was parked in the alley directly across the garage bay where they were making M 80's. Blew that little sucker up on its side with wood sticking through the side. Then husband worked in print shop that faced Monmouth. Would have been a big national story if Reagan hadn't gotten shot the same day.
My 65 Cutlass Supreme was sweet. So was the 2009 Sonata V6. Not a car person.
I said for years that when the Bengals developed a bandwagon I would jump on. And so I did when they went to the Super Bowl. Reds are my team but I am giving them some space. I check scores. When they were playing Oakland I decided it was time to watch Moneyball again. Movie holds up well.
We are watching some NBA playoffs here. The guy on the couch hasn't gotten over Tim Duncan's retirement completely, but it's okay.
Doc, the former Enquirer was a good newspaper. The current Enquirer is a half step above a tabloid and headed south. Lucky for your readers you still write. Keep at it.
I called my friend, Dr Fred Freud, Siggies's great grandson, a master psycho sports psychologist, and posed the burning question of loyalty. Here's his response....
"I have a clear-cut term for when mein kranken patients root for a dysfunctional team/organization mitout question. It's called codependency. I feel it's healthy to abandon ship until their team gets itz act together. Supporting a broken organization is a poor use of vun's time und emotions. Vould you buy, or sleep in, a broken bed mit ein lumpy mattress?? Nein! you vould toss that Schnitzelpooper out instantly. Mein Freunden, free yourselves from rooting for terrible teams; say bye-bye to dumb owners. You'll feel much better. If they fix zee Kapootness, you can come back. Never tolerate mediocrity or worse."
Smart guy, ol' Fred Freud. Loyalty is to be earned, then given. Bad owners don't deserve long term support.
I once had a Falcon, with a Falcon engine. Ran as fast as a Mustang with a Falcon engine, which means slow. I called it the Baby Mustang. Nobody seemed much amused with my clever nickname. It was a tank. It came with a faded Red body and Black top. I fixed that. I painted the body with a old can of Dark Green Linseed Oil Porch, Deck, and Barn Roof paint. Laid it on real nice with a good horsehair bristle brush. I personally felt it ran faster after that, especially when pointed at a barn. I put a new floor in it, since the old one was gone. The daggone windsheild wipers ran off the carb vacuum. They stopped mid wipe everytime BabyM chugged up a hill. Talk about exciting! One minute you see the road, the next you don't. I wish I still had it. I could put it in one of those fancy old car shows. People could get in it and sit on the springs. Sigh***....those were the days, weren't they?
First: 1987 GMC short bed, step side truck. Orange like Home Depot, straight out of Dazed & Confused. I cut grass starting in middle school to buy it.
Dream car: lifelong Corvette guy, had a C5, C7, C8. Now I have kids so the Blackwing Caddy with a Vette motor is in the garage. If I could get one car without caring about price, would definitely be a V12 of some kind. Just because it has 12 cylinders.
Chevette’s were GM’s bloated bureaucratic attempt to thwart the Japanese post oil embargo. And it was a gigantic POS like most of their econobox offerings back then.
Bought a F150 Lightning EV last month. Best truck I’ve ever owned hands down. Fast, zero emission, and cheap to operate after you get past the purchase price.
My first TWO cars were Chevy Chevette's. After I totaled my 1979 4-speed manual Chevette with an AM radio (thanks to a drunk driver), my dad took the $600 he got from the insurance and went out and purchased a 1981 5-speed manual model with AM/Radio radio. Talk about a sweet upgrade. I did enjoy telling people that I drove a 'vette just to see their reaction when they saw it.
Pretty much the same with regard to the NBA but found myself watching yesterday since it was 50 degrees out - Steph was unreal, as unreal as J Butler had been the previous two games - but do yourself a favor and read the story of Steph's speech to his mates the day prior after their embarrassing loss to force game 7:
My father bought any mother her first car, a 64 1/2 Stang coupe, also midnight blue (no stripes) - my oldest brother got to drive it to high school and the local drive-in and on dates, of which he had countless just due to the Stang itself - including his "Snowball" with a stunning young lass then named Mimi Chesterton. She would go on to B movie stardom and 1970 Playmate of the Year fame as Claudia Jennings before she lost control of her convertible on the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu. I, 10 years younger, once entertained her playing Tumblebugs while my brother got ready for their date that night.
First car was a used 65 Mustang which was great..:till the engine cracked. My younger-self car dreams aspired to muscle cars, particularly the AMC AMX: when getting 10 mpg on leaded gas was something to brag about.
I've never had any trouble staying away from GASP or PBS when the teams were unworthy of support. That part's easy. What I can't do is train my heart or imagination to follow other teams. I've tried it. I even felt actual joy when Jack McKeon won the WS in '03 with the Marlins. But there is no replacement for the class of enjoyment I experienced when a team I've cared for all my life wins a Title.
This isn't going to impress any gearheads out there. But if I could have one car for Sunday driving, it would be a 1962 Impala SS convertible. Cream yellow with white upholstery.
I can’t relate people being a big fan of a team then stopping when not performing well. I tried to turn my back on the Bengals. But that was an intellectual decision. The emotional tie I had wouldn’t allow it. 🤷🏻♂️.
One of the better Beach Boys’ tunes. We saw Brian Wilson and his musicians last summer and he was still good. Two buddies and I drove a 1955 Chevy 6 cylinder, automatic with no A.C. to Santa Monica and made it as far back to Joplin, Missouri before it blew up. We went back the next year in his Super Sport 396/ 360 horses with no problem! Doing stupid things is part of being young and making stories to tell, if you’re still here to to tell them. I’ve been very lucky and I’m so fortunate to have so many wonderful friends. Appreciate every day the guy upstairs allows you more time to tell stories as you enjoy the people around you !
Personally, being a fan of a team is a binary thing, but level of engagement is a sliding scale. Big difference between having a devoted tailgate vehicle and sneaking peaks from the overpass to see if injured players are back at Wednesday practice vs. simply watching from home every Sunday. I've run the gamut with the Reds and Bengals based on the level of attention they've deserved-always claiming fandom. On the other hand, I can't fully enjoy the success of teams (even if they're local) if they haven't been 'my' team since childhood. This is mainly the case with the Bearcats and Buckeyes. I will root for both if they're on, and wish them all the best. UC's recent run was fun...the OSU titles have been memorable, but neither gives me any sort of butterflies in the stomach as the Reds, Bengals, or Muskies. Everybody does their fandom differently-and more power to them.
That whole newsroom atmosphere was part of what attracted me to journalism. I had visions of booze bottles in desk drawers, cigars and cigarettes polluting away, paper flying everywhere, keyboards clacking and the hustle and bustle of a newsroom breaking great stories, upholding freedom of speech and the press and, in general, looking like the Daily Planet from the "Superman" films.
Oh, how delusional I was. The closest I came to any of that was the UC News Record newsroom, 2009-2012. My internships with Cox Media Group and the Enquirer had me sitting alone, in a quiet newsroom, with maybe 10 other folks in it, tops. My first full-time gig in Indiana had me in a newsroom that had all of five folks in it, though the décor and the empty desks told me what that newsroom used to be.
Sadly, I think I entered the game a few decades too late to experience that newsroom scene that Dowd wrote of.
When it comes to cars, I'm currently aiming for whatever the record amount of miles is for a Chevrolet Cobalt. I've got a 2008, affectionately named Gertrude and nicknamed "Gerturd" by my wife, which just crossed over the 290,000-mile threshold last week. I've put roughly 250,000 of those miles on it myself since 2011. I've replaced one starter, one alternator, one timing chain and one battery in it -- that's it, besides the regular oil changes, brakes or the occasional need for a CV joint. The realistic goal is to get it to 300,000, but I'd love to get her to 400,000 or more. Sadly, to try to extend her life, I've limited her drive time to the Tri-State only, so 400,000 may be a whole other decade away.
When it comes to bandwagoning, the older I've gotten, the more understanding of it I've become. I hated kids in school who, growing up here, suddenly were Yankees fans or Braves fans because of a few world titles. But now, at 46, I get it. I wouldn't continue to spend my money and eat at a restaurant, just because I'd eaten at that restaurant since I was a kid, if that restaurant had gone to crap (i.e. Ponderosa). So, I don't blame folks who want to pitch their original team in the trash and find a better one. As you perfectly said, the team wouldn't give two hoots if you died tomorrow (like most employers as well), so why should you give two hoots about them if they stink?
Go ahead and climb back on that Pirate bandwagon for a while. As far as fans go, I am not a fair weather fan. I hang with the Reds in that I keep a check on them and I will get to a game or two. Used to be, I’d get there 10 or 20 games a year. No more. Being in Pa. for 9 years now, I watch on MLB occasionally. I still call myself a Reds fan though.
My car…My first ever purchase was a 1968 Corvair, yeah, I know, the death trap car…cost me 2200 bucks. I had it from 1969 until 1974. It was a, 4 on the floor, 2 door bucket seat little dude that would fly. It’s color was something called butternut. And, yeah, it tried to kill me a couple of times by spinning out on curves because, with the rear engine, it was never balanced. I loved that damn thing though… for all kinds of firsts that happened in it…if you get my drift.
"I’m not dying for a team that wouldn’t grieve my death." Shouldn't every fan drop every sports team from their passion list based on this criteria?
Of course, my fandom ebbs and flows with the team's fortunes.
Rambler, pinto, chevette, and rust-bucket dodges.
I know you've explained before, but how were you a Pirates fan (Bob Prince) when you were from Philly / DC area ?
Last car I drove with a clutch was a Vega. It was fun to drive except for parking uphill and then having to get it going again. Annoying as hell.
Driver side door was held closed with clothesline. Was bought used. We didn't let it die a natural death. It was a victim of the great Newport illegal fireworks explosion in March 1981. It was parked in the alley directly across the garage bay where they were making M 80's. Blew that little sucker up on its side with wood sticking through the side. Then husband worked in print shop that faced Monmouth. Would have been a big national story if Reagan hadn't gotten shot the same day.
My 65 Cutlass Supreme was sweet. So was the 2009 Sonata V6. Not a car person.
I said for years that when the Bengals developed a bandwagon I would jump on. And so I did when they went to the Super Bowl. Reds are my team but I am giving them some space. I check scores. When they were playing Oakland I decided it was time to watch Moneyball again. Movie holds up well.
We are watching some NBA playoffs here. The guy on the couch hasn't gotten over Tim Duncan's retirement completely, but it's okay.
Doc, the former Enquirer was a good newspaper. The current Enquirer is a half step above a tabloid and headed south. Lucky for your readers you still write. Keep at it.
I called my friend, Dr Fred Freud, Siggies's great grandson, a master psycho sports psychologist, and posed the burning question of loyalty. Here's his response....
"I have a clear-cut term for when mein kranken patients root for a dysfunctional team/organization mitout question. It's called codependency. I feel it's healthy to abandon ship until their team gets itz act together. Supporting a broken organization is a poor use of vun's time und emotions. Vould you buy, or sleep in, a broken bed mit ein lumpy mattress?? Nein! you vould toss that Schnitzelpooper out instantly. Mein Freunden, free yourselves from rooting for terrible teams; say bye-bye to dumb owners. You'll feel much better. If they fix zee Kapootness, you can come back. Never tolerate mediocrity or worse."
Smart guy, ol' Fred Freud. Loyalty is to be earned, then given. Bad owners don't deserve long term support.
I once had a Falcon, with a Falcon engine. Ran as fast as a Mustang with a Falcon engine, which means slow. I called it the Baby Mustang. Nobody seemed much amused with my clever nickname. It was a tank. It came with a faded Red body and Black top. I fixed that. I painted the body with a old can of Dark Green Linseed Oil Porch, Deck, and Barn Roof paint. Laid it on real nice with a good horsehair bristle brush. I personally felt it ran faster after that, especially when pointed at a barn. I put a new floor in it, since the old one was gone. The daggone windsheild wipers ran off the carb vacuum. They stopped mid wipe everytime BabyM chugged up a hill. Talk about exciting! One minute you see the road, the next you don't. I wish I still had it. I could put it in one of those fancy old car shows. People could get in it and sit on the springs. Sigh***....those were the days, weren't they?
Good one today, lifelong car guy….
First: 1987 GMC short bed, step side truck. Orange like Home Depot, straight out of Dazed & Confused. I cut grass starting in middle school to buy it.
Dream car: lifelong Corvette guy, had a C5, C7, C8. Now I have kids so the Blackwing Caddy with a Vette motor is in the garage. If I could get one car without caring about price, would definitely be a V12 of some kind. Just because it has 12 cylinders.
Chevette’s were GM’s bloated bureaucratic attempt to thwart the Japanese post oil embargo. And it was a gigantic POS like most of their econobox offerings back then.
Bought a F150 Lightning EV last month. Best truck I’ve ever owned hands down. Fast, zero emission, and cheap to operate after you get past the purchase price.
My first TWO cars were Chevy Chevette's. After I totaled my 1979 4-speed manual Chevette with an AM radio (thanks to a drunk driver), my dad took the $600 he got from the insurance and went out and purchased a 1981 5-speed manual model with AM/Radio radio. Talk about a sweet upgrade. I did enjoy telling people that I drove a 'vette just to see their reaction when they saw it.
Pretty much the same with regard to the NBA but found myself watching yesterday since it was 50 degrees out - Steph was unreal, as unreal as J Butler had been the previous two games - but do yourself a favor and read the story of Steph's speech to his mates the day prior after their embarrassing loss to force game 7:
https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-steph-curry-delivers-epic-speech-chilling-pre-game-7-moment
My father bought any mother her first car, a 64 1/2 Stang coupe, also midnight blue (no stripes) - my oldest brother got to drive it to high school and the local drive-in and on dates, of which he had countless just due to the Stang itself - including his "Snowball" with a stunning young lass then named Mimi Chesterton. She would go on to B movie stardom and 1970 Playmate of the Year fame as Claudia Jennings before she lost control of her convertible on the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu. I, 10 years younger, once entertained her playing Tumblebugs while my brother got ready for their date that night.
First car was a used 65 Mustang which was great..:till the engine cracked. My younger-self car dreams aspired to muscle cars, particularly the AMC AMX: when getting 10 mpg on leaded gas was something to brag about.
I've never had any trouble staying away from GASP or PBS when the teams were unworthy of support. That part's easy. What I can't do is train my heart or imagination to follow other teams. I've tried it. I even felt actual joy when Jack McKeon won the WS in '03 with the Marlins. But there is no replacement for the class of enjoyment I experienced when a team I've cared for all my life wins a Title.
This isn't going to impress any gearheads out there. But if I could have one car for Sunday driving, it would be a 1962 Impala SS convertible. Cream yellow with white upholstery.
1966 Ford Fairlane GT or 1969 Mercury Cyclone GT. Had several 60’s/70’s/80’s Z28’s..wish I’d have kept the 1971 Z-28🙄
I can’t relate people being a big fan of a team then stopping when not performing well. I tried to turn my back on the Bengals. But that was an intellectual decision. The emotional tie I had wouldn’t allow it. 🤷🏻♂️.
One of the better Beach Boys’ tunes. We saw Brian Wilson and his musicians last summer and he was still good. Two buddies and I drove a 1955 Chevy 6 cylinder, automatic with no A.C. to Santa Monica and made it as far back to Joplin, Missouri before it blew up. We went back the next year in his Super Sport 396/ 360 horses with no problem! Doing stupid things is part of being young and making stories to tell, if you’re still here to to tell them. I’ve been very lucky and I’m so fortunate to have so many wonderful friends. Appreciate every day the guy upstairs allows you more time to tell stories as you enjoy the people around you !
Personally, being a fan of a team is a binary thing, but level of engagement is a sliding scale. Big difference between having a devoted tailgate vehicle and sneaking peaks from the overpass to see if injured players are back at Wednesday practice vs. simply watching from home every Sunday. I've run the gamut with the Reds and Bengals based on the level of attention they've deserved-always claiming fandom. On the other hand, I can't fully enjoy the success of teams (even if they're local) if they haven't been 'my' team since childhood. This is mainly the case with the Bearcats and Buckeyes. I will root for both if they're on, and wish them all the best. UC's recent run was fun...the OSU titles have been memorable, but neither gives me any sort of butterflies in the stomach as the Reds, Bengals, or Muskies. Everybody does their fandom differently-and more power to them.
That whole newsroom atmosphere was part of what attracted me to journalism. I had visions of booze bottles in desk drawers, cigars and cigarettes polluting away, paper flying everywhere, keyboards clacking and the hustle and bustle of a newsroom breaking great stories, upholding freedom of speech and the press and, in general, looking like the Daily Planet from the "Superman" films.
Oh, how delusional I was. The closest I came to any of that was the UC News Record newsroom, 2009-2012. My internships with Cox Media Group and the Enquirer had me sitting alone, in a quiet newsroom, with maybe 10 other folks in it, tops. My first full-time gig in Indiana had me in a newsroom that had all of five folks in it, though the décor and the empty desks told me what that newsroom used to be.
Sadly, I think I entered the game a few decades too late to experience that newsroom scene that Dowd wrote of.
When it comes to cars, I'm currently aiming for whatever the record amount of miles is for a Chevrolet Cobalt. I've got a 2008, affectionately named Gertrude and nicknamed "Gerturd" by my wife, which just crossed over the 290,000-mile threshold last week. I've put roughly 250,000 of those miles on it myself since 2011. I've replaced one starter, one alternator, one timing chain and one battery in it -- that's it, besides the regular oil changes, brakes or the occasional need for a CV joint. The realistic goal is to get it to 300,000, but I'd love to get her to 400,000 or more. Sadly, to try to extend her life, I've limited her drive time to the Tri-State only, so 400,000 may be a whole other decade away.
When it comes to bandwagoning, the older I've gotten, the more understanding of it I've become. I hated kids in school who, growing up here, suddenly were Yankees fans or Braves fans because of a few world titles. But now, at 46, I get it. I wouldn't continue to spend my money and eat at a restaurant, just because I'd eaten at that restaurant since I was a kid, if that restaurant had gone to crap (i.e. Ponderosa). So, I don't blame folks who want to pitch their original team in the trash and find a better one. As you perfectly said, the team wouldn't give two hoots if you died tomorrow (like most employers as well), so why should you give two hoots about them if they stink?
Go ahead and climb back on that Pirate bandwagon for a while. As far as fans go, I am not a fair weather fan. I hang with the Reds in that I keep a check on them and I will get to a game or two. Used to be, I’d get there 10 or 20 games a year. No more. Being in Pa. for 9 years now, I watch on MLB occasionally. I still call myself a Reds fan though.
My car…My first ever purchase was a 1968 Corvair, yeah, I know, the death trap car…cost me 2200 bucks. I had it from 1969 until 1974. It was a, 4 on the floor, 2 door bucket seat little dude that would fly. It’s color was something called butternut. And, yeah, it tried to kill me a couple of times by spinning out on curves because, with the rear engine, it was never balanced. I loved that damn thing though… for all kinds of firsts that happened in it…if you get my drift.