April showers definitely brought April showers and showers and showers.
Now that May is upon us, I hope we don’t have to contend with the same pattern as April. Time to bring on the heat.
Today is the second and final day of the West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival and, by the late afternoon, the 48th festival will come to a close.
As tradition has it, the festival experiences rain and this year has been no different. It’s a curse, I guess, but organizers are used to the adverse conditions and go with the flow.
The huge arts and crafts tent can accommodate of lot of shoppers and the food tent covers many diners.
So, no matter the weather today, get out there and support the festival. After all, the show must go on.
Tebow Time
Last weekend was Tim Tebow weekend at the Railriders and I had the privilege of shooting two of the three-game series.
I don’t what the guy has going for him, but he still has a large following.
The former Heisman Trophy winner, college football’s highest honor, did not fair too well in the professional football ranks but, lucky for him, he had baseball as a backup.
He started out in single “A” baseball before moving up to “AAA” and is now just one step away from playing in the big leagues for the NY Mets.
Of course, one of my assignments was to photograph Tebow in the field and at bat.
Prior to the game starting, Tebow and fellow teammates were in the outfield warming up with exercises followed by playing catch. I got myself positioned behind the person Tebow was tossing to and I started snapping away.
I was standing in foul ball territory with my back to the stands, which rapidly filled with people watching Tebow. Many of his fans wanted an autograph or a photo with him.
While I was framing a shot of Tebow throwing, I was standing about 20’ to 30’ behind his catcher. Then, I noticed the ball flying over the catcher’s head.
I moved the camera and, as the ball was sailing towards me, I moved to my right and kicked the ball with my left foot. It was really close and I was quite surprised I got my foot on the ball.
Getting hit by a baseball isn’t quite as bad as getting hit by a hockey puck in the elbow, something I experienced a few years back. But it would have smarted for sure.
I feel bad for Tebow, who does a lot of great things off the field, but the pressure he experiences has to be tough; he’s always under a microscope.
Rest in peace
“And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand, They danced by the light of the moon, The moon, The moon, They danced by the light of the moon.” – from “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat” by Edward Lear.
Those words now adorn the grave marker of the late Bud Collins, a giant journalist in the tennis world, the boxing world, TV broadcasting, an award-winning writer and a man I had the honor and pleasure of working with in 2008.
Bud passed away three years ago, but on a sunny April 27 of this year, his ashes were finally buried at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA.
It was a lovely ceremony as documented by his wife, Anita Ruthling Klaussen, on social media.
There were plenty of flowers, friends and dignitaries from around the world (after all, Bud was internationally known), a musician playing the flute and saxophone and a few eulogies, as well.
Bud, whose birth name was Arthur, was known for his colorful pants and ties and a few in attendance wore Bud’s ties, shirts and sweaters.
The cemetery, according to Anita, is a certified arboretum with plenty of gardens. Her husband’s grave is under a mulberry tree in front of a pond with pink weeping cherry trees.
Funerals are sad, even if it’s a three-year span between death and burial. In this case, though, it was a celebration of Bud’s life and family, his tennis community and fans from all over the world who miss him.
Bud was the most knowledgeable source in the sport of tennis and he even wrote “Bud Collins’ Tennis Encyclopedia.” I have two editions myself, one personalized for me. I’ll always cherish that book as well as the time I spent with Bud and Anita.
A photo of the three of us adorns my home, along with tennis notes he wrote while covering the professional women’s tournament we we worked together.
The name Bud Collins may not be a household name but, in Boston, Bud was the king, working for both the Boston Herald and Boston Globe.
Bud was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 2002 and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994. The Media Center at the site of the U.S. Open in NYC had been renamed the Bud Collins Media Center a few months prior to his death in 2016 at the age of 86.
Now that his ashes have been returned to Mother Earth, he will wait for his beloved Anita when they will walk hand in hand and dance on the sand’s edge by the light of the moon.
Quote of the week
“The past always looks better than it was. It’s only pleasant because it isn’t here.” – Finley Peter Dunn, American journalist
Thought of the week
“When we love one we love, our bitterest tears are called fourth by the memory of hours when we loved not enough.” – Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian poet
Bumper sticker
“Only fools are positive.” – Moe Howard, American comedian/actor
