Tom McMahon

1930 Packard Hood Ornament for Your Desk

1930 Packard Hood Ornament for Your Desk

We Don't Recognize Good Fortune When It Hits Us In The Face

Literally. Although he certainly didn't feel that way at the time, Max Schmeling later came to appreciate the advantages of having lost to Joe Louis in their second fight:

"Looking back, I'm almost happy I lost that fight," Schmeling said in 1975. "Just imagine if I would have come back to Germany with a victory. I had nothing to do with the Nazis, but they would have given me a medal. After the war I might have been considered a war criminal."

You Know, I Had The EXACT Same Thought Too!

Here's the complete post from Cal Lanier:

It's bad enough seeing this kind of damage without knowing it was caused by a selfish pr**k who couldn't get it together enough to off himself without involving three trains and hundreds of lives. However, I have to confess that my first thought on hearing about the crash was, "LA has commuter trains?"

Milwaukee Brewers to Raise Prices for Cubs and Yankees Games

From The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

The Milwaukee Brewers said Friday that the team will implement variable ticket pricing for the first time in its history, meaning that fans who want to buy single game seats to see the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees will have to pay more. ...

Rick Schlesinger, Brewers executive vice president of business operations, said more than half of Major League Baseball teams have variable pricing plans in place, some of which apply to more than half of their home games. The team decided to try it on what are expected to be the most popular games of its 2005 home schedule. In 2004, all 10 Cubs games drew at least 40,000 fans, almost double the team's single game attendance average.

Max Schmeling: The Duty Of A Man

The caricature, of course, is of Max Schmeling, "The Nazi Superman", vs. Joe Louis, "The Brown Bomber". The reality is a bit more complicated. Schmeling himself never joined the Nazi Party, and did other things that ticked off Hitler to the point that he had Schmeling assigned to a dangerous job as a paratrooper. The thought was that Schmeling would get killed and be A Big Fallen Hero for the Third Reich. Except Schmeling didn't get killed, and had the last laugh on everybody by living to age 99, passing away to-day.

Here's an excerpt from a 1993 History Today article:

Fearing the worst, in November 1938 Lewin senior asked Schmeling to hide his sons from the Nazi terror and Max unhesitatingly agreed to do so. For some days the Lewin boys remained in Schmeling's apartment in the fashionable Excelsior Hotel in Berlin. Schmeling informed the front desk that he was ill and gave orders that no one be allowed to visit him. When the anti-Jewish rioting abated, Henri and Werner were transferred to another location in the German capital. In 1939 the Lewins fled Germany and spent the war years in deprivation in the sizeable Jewish refugee community in Shanghai. The brothers emigrated to the United States in 1947. Starting as a waiter in San Francisco, Henri Lewin went on to become a highly successful hotel owner in California and Nevada and a sometime fight promoter. Not until 1989 was Schmeling's Crystal Night heroism made public. At a party honouring Schmeling which was held at Las Vegas' Sands Hotel, of which he was president, a tearful Henri Lewin told the story of how the German pugilist had risked fame and fortune to save the lives of two frightened Jewish adolescents. Schmeling had placed in jeopardy his name and reputation, said Lewin. If we had been found in his apartment, I would not be here this evening and neither would Max', he added as Schmeling wept. While it is probably an exaggeration to suggest that Schmeling would have forfeited his life for his courageous deed, his standing as a national hero would surely have been undercut. Not surprisingly, it is Henri Lewin's opinion that Schmeling is a man of the highest character - a champion outside the ring as well... a truly great German.'

Schmeling himself has never discussed the Kristallnacht incident: not in the countless interviews he has given, nor in his published reminiscences. He has modestly told the Lewins that what he did for them in 1938 was the 'duty of a man'. The melancholy truth is that there were precious few real men in Germany in that era, righteous men, who fulfilled their moral duty. Max Schmeling, the reputed diehard Nazi, was one.

The Death of Alfalfa

Carl Alfalfa Switzer

From CrimeLibrary.com:

With the passing of so many years, few seem to remember the death of Carl Switzer, who was best known during the 1930s and '40s for his portrayal of the youthful, freckle-faced Alfalfa character of the Our Gang comedy series.  His early stardom jarred his entire life.  His childhood on and off the set was adventuresome and gainful, but in later years took a downward spiral. Was Switzer murdered in cold blood?  Or was Carl Switzer's death justifiable?  The answer depends on whose version of events you believe. We may never know.

Green Bay Packers Christmas Ornament

Green Bay Packers Christmas Ornament

The Green Bay Packers and Christmas -- both will be back before you know it!

Fat, Drunk, and Stupid Is No Way To Go Through Life, Son.

Animal House's Dean Wormer is dead at 72. And in one of those "Life Imitates Art" stories, those words were taken to heart by actor Stephen Furst ("Flounder") who went on to lose a lot of weight.

Double Secret Probation. Were there ever any scarier words uttered in film? Oh, the evil that lurks in the hearts of men . . .

The Civil Aeronautics Board Aircraft Accident Report on the Buddy Holly Plane Crash

The Civil Aeronautics Board Aircraft Accident Report on the Buddy Holly Plane Crash

Since this plane crash has become such a part of American Folklore, it's rather fascinating to read the actual CAB report on the accident.

A Roving Band Of Negro Youths On A Tire-Slashing Rampage!

It's not one of the Ten Magic Phrases of Journalism for nothing, you know. I mean, there are so many ways to run with this story:

• Son of Former Democratic Milwaukee Mayor On A Tire-Slashing Rampage!
• Son of Newly-Elected Democratic Congresswoman On A Tire-Slashing Rampage!
• Democratic Activists On A Tire-Slashing Rampage!
• John Kerry Campaign On A Tire-Slashing Rampage!

Just all part of the Climate of Fear and Intimidation we Wisconsin Republicans have to live with, day in, day out. It's all part of being The Good Guys, I suppose. Speak Truth To Power, Friends!