A TIP OF THE DISSECTOR’S MEMORY MACHINE TO JIM MCCAY

From his report for ABC at the Munich Olympics:

“When I was a kid my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They have now said there were eleven hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone.”

Today, we are in a world where you are bombarded with information from all angles. And nowhere is this more prevalent than in sports journalism. But we are a collection of hacks. From ESPN, to the Boston Globe to WorldGolf.com, today’s sports journalists will never understand the games, the moments, or the vitality of athletic competition with the depth of a McKay.”

William Wolfrum (Hey Mr. W, don’t forget the legendary Jimmy Cannon!)

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT COLLIDE IN BOSTON
NEW ECONOMIC WORRIES RATTLE THE FINANCE WORLD
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE UN FOOD SUMMIT?

Whenever I am in Boston, the heavy hand of history seems to touch me and sometimes hit me upside the head. My big event was not the National Media Reform Conference—but the Local Schechter Renewal Ceremony.

in this case, the party for my dad Jerry Schechter, organized by brother Bill and partner Sandy, a 90th birthday party, drew a big crowd to a local church with “delegations” of neighbors, cousins, wannabe cousins, old friends, children of older friends, three sons, two grandchildren and a posses with origins in New York, Jamaica and Nigeria.

There was a News Dissector in tears, and poems read from relatives in Germany and Belarus, a number of nurses, doctors and at least one union official. Wisdom was shared along with deli sandwiches from Michaels of Coolidge Corner. The heat outside was suffocating but the old man hobbled through the sanctuary and blessed us all with his life and insights.

Then, on Saturday night, we enjoyed some DVD’s of a TV show we used to watch when our then Boston cousins gave us that luxury of luxuries, the holy of holies, a TV set. It was back in the late 40’s, the first in our building.

That first set was a 7 incher with a large magnifying glass. The show we always watched was Sid Caesar’s Show of Shows and other satirical programs, what I realize now was the old Yiddish theater “elevated” to the small screen.

The writers for that always mishuganah program included Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Woody Alan, Neil Simon and others—a whole Mishbookah of wise guys who assembled daily in what was called the “writer’s room,” where they screamed at each other and threw things at each other and came up with skits and shticks that were brilliant then, and still funny all these years later.

I realized what a TV baby I had been, and, to some degree, remain.

And then on TV on Boston, three subjects seemed to dominate: the weather, hot, hot and hotter, Hillary, cool and cooling and the Celtics playoffs, off the charts. (Hooray–they won. After a run-away, it became in the end a squeaker, Kobe be praised.) To remind us of this b-ball legacy, Holy Cross in Worcester created a statue to their big alum, that Celtic golden oldie Bob Cousy. He would never make it in the Game today but he said he was more psyched to discuss today’s team than his triumphs in years gone by. The footage of him in action is impressive.

Finally, I stopped to see old friends on my way out of town on my “cheap” $3.99.9 per gallon gas. I learned that the home we were having bagels in once belonged to the Kennedys. Jack lived there and baby Bobby was born upstairs. Later, I heard a radio report reprising Ted Kennedy’s tribute to RFK on this day in 1968 at his funeral. Now, that’s history. (In those years, Father Joe parked wife Rose in Brookline while he was cavorting in LA with movie stars.)

Today June 9 is the anniversary of JFK naming Winston Churchill an American citizen in ’63, Bruce Springsteen concluded his record deal with Columbia Records on this day in ‘72. There was also a Tax revolt in Hertogenbosch, wherever that is, in 1625 on this day, and it was, finally, my parents anniversary.

Ok, enough of this.

While the press seems to be focused on Hillary’s speech on Saturday, I was more taken with my dad’s major policy address, of course, and the major talk on the decline of journalism given by media conscience/consciousness raiser Bill Moyers in Minneapolis at the National Media Reform Conference.

It was the first Media Reform conference I missed, but fortunately, Free Speech TV was carrying it and his amazing oration—once a preacher, always a preacher—is on You Tube. (He should run for the Senate. If Al Franken can win a nomination, as he did this weekend in Minnesota, Moyers certainly can.)

I was proud that this media legend chose to quote me twice. That was not the highlight. Watch it and decide which of the many points he made resonates with you. (Dan Rather also spoke. Scroll Down.)