When President Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law in 1972 a dramatic change in female participation in organized sports ensued. That law actually did not mention sports as it had a more encompassing purpose in education. However, it soon led to an explosive expansion of womens’ sports. For younger generations it is perhaps difficult to grasp how profound the change was for girls and womens’ sports. Throwing out national statistics about the difference in the number of men and women participating in organzed sports before and after Title IX may not be sufficient to fully understand that change. Which is why Papa’s 1959 high school yearbook has been consulted.

Nine sports for boys were offered at my high school. Counting “B” teams in football, basketball and cross country there were twelve teams. A lot of opportunity for boys to play a sport. It seemed natural to me. Boys were used to playing sports long before high school. I played in grade school and in junior high. In the 1959 yearbook many boys were pictured as participants. Tennis had ten team members while football had sixty-one.

However, there were no teams for the girls. None. Zero. The closest sport at school for females was co-ed intramural bowling. The world of sports after Title IX changed very quickly. Not just in high school and college but also on local recreation fields. In the grade schools and junior highs. Your mothers and peers were eager to sign up for localy offered sports. It was like a dam burst. Ball fields and indoor areans expanded. After enduring coaching boys soccer, Papa spent 7 or 8 years coaching girls soccer. (What a change! Asked to gather around me to hear my wonderous insight, the boys scattered like marbles in all directions. When I first made that request to girls, they hustled into perfectly formed rows.) My memory is that there was plenty of opportunity in sports for young girls after the 1970’s. Now, there are pros, college scholarships, and other school teams in addition to thousands of girls playing all manner of sports on a recreational basis. Current news reports discuss conflicting definitions of equality in womens’ sports. Be aware that such hot topic discussions were not on the mind of many folks in 1959. I have proof from a yearbook. It’s a good marker of the enourmous advancement that Title IX brought to females in sports. A change worth celebrating.

In the 1950’s the top selling beer in America was Schlitz, “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous”. Papa remembers that Schlitz was the sponsor of a decent movie featured weekly on Saturday Night Theater on WTMJ. By decent I mean of recent vintage. I recall mostly watching silent films and cowboy movies on television. Viewing options were quite sparse. That is what made the Saturday night movie special. I think there were only two commercials during the braodcast. That was nice also. The show’s host, Jack Brand, sat in an easy chair alongside an end table with a bottle of Schlitz and a tall pilsner glass. After introducing the movie, he’d pour a near perfect head of beer. (Papa was always disappointed because my inner self wanted him to over pour and make a mess.) But, he’d simply drink some beer from his masterpiece and it was off to the movie.

As a youngster I assumed that the #1 selling beer in the country would always survive. Schlitz didn’t. It’s decline as a major beer producer was both fast and surprising. It was my first introduction to the concept of change in the business world. They claim change is good. Such champions of regression are insensitive to the pain of a man wandering grocery aisles searching for a box of Wheaties. I have also witnessed the fall of another #1 product of 1950. As a boy on South 75th Street I lived a mere five blocks from Allis-Chalmers. It was the leader in tractor production. It also made turbines, generators, transformers and electric motors. It was a slower fade away but today at the corner of 70th and Greenfield only a plaque commemorating its role in the Manhattan Project remains of a once giant industrial complex.

Now, as to beer ads it is imprtant that you know it is widely believed that Schlitz started its decline by a decision to speed up the brewing process. Better beer by chemistry? At any rate, the taste of the beer changed. For the worse. (Proving again that not all change is good.) My memory is that an ad was devised that would halt the decline of Schlitz sales. A blind taste contest. On national television. What better venue than during a Super Bowl? With a retired NFL referee. I think the entire concept ended as vague and/or inconclusive. Schlitz sales never recovered.

Recently, the current number one beer producer of beer has ventured into promotion of an activist/political point of view in its own ad campaign. A certain amount of controversy has been stirred up. It seems reasonable to ask why do it. The intense reactions to the beer company’s adoption of a rather unorthodox approach to beer drinkers prompted my memory of that Super Bowl beer ad. That was a promotion intended to save a brand. It will be interesting to see if this 2023 beer sales promotion fosters or kills sales. One never knows what change may be happening right in front of our eyes. Is it a losing gamble to change horses (Clydesdales) in the midst of competition? Cheers.

Year ten of Papa’s life stands out with vivid memories. Television was in its infancy and much of the news came from radio. However, what I most remember are from News Reels. These were often played at movie houses as well as at school assemblies. The events described might be from a week or more prior to showing but the narrator’s voice coupled with film of far away places captured my imagination.

The armistice ending the Korean War was of most significance in 1953. Communist China and North Korea’s invasion had at least been halted. Jubilant crowds in London for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation seemed quaintly out of date to my eyes. Except that it will be in color, I suspect the next coronation won’t be much different for me seventy years later. Conquering Mount Everest was feted as another unattainable goal finally reached. It was a human achievement to celebrate. There was still a fascination with “firsts”. Not that many years later I was just as inspired when JFK said we’d put a man on the moon in the 60’s. And, this country did.

Yet, so much of 1953 was also impacted by the fear generated by Socialist Totalitarians represented by the Soviet Communists. After stealing secrets to build the A-Bomb in the 1940’s, the USSR exploded a hydrogen bomb for effect in 1953. That year the Rosenbergs were executed for their roles as Soviet spies. The murderous monster Stalin also left planet earth that year. For a nine/ten year old kid I knew the significance of these events. I remember knowing the name of the other Soviet monster that died that year. Secret Police Chief Beria. It was as clear as a bell that one did not want to live under a government run by the main communist thugs; Stalin and Beria. We felt sorrow for and prayed for the plight of children behind the Iron Curtain.

Beria is a name you will hear following today’s indictment of a leading Presidential candidate/former President. The Soviet Secret Police Chief bragged ” show me the man and I will show you the crime.” An Attorney General/Supreme Court Justice appointed by FDR warned of the dangers represented by Beria’s disdain for fairness. Robert Jackson said prosecutors should not be out to get the person but rather chose prosecutions that are needed. Beware of reacting to public clammer/hysteria for scalps of opponents. Trump’s indictment is a “first” that does not inspire. A prosecutorial dam has been broken. It better turn out to be a near perfect case. If not, and it becomes seen as for political gain, who can doubt a precedent of fair game crimes might be used against future enemies.

You will hear much debate and perhaps see more turmoil about this pending criminal case as well others being teed up before the 2024 election. I am not holding my breath for calm discussions. I do hope that you become engaged and have the opportunity to think long and hard about legal issues. I remember reading many opinions from Justice Jackson in my casebooks. I have a great respect for the legal pillars of our constitutional republic. Never voluntarily give up the right to due process. Even a supposed political champion did not get it right by implying the defendant gets a chance to prove innocence in our system. That is wrong. America’s system is based on the presumption of innocence, Defendants do not have to prove it. Beware of sliipery talk on the basics. That is where informed voting by you comes in. I believe I gave each of you a pamphlet that contained the founding documents. Now, is a good time to read it/reread?

Today marks the founding of the Republican Party. (March 20, 1854) Is it the party’s foundational principle of anti-slavery that prompts Papa’s memory today? Of course, BUT. The organizing meeting credited as the party’s start happened in the Badger State. In Ripon to be precise. I am always eager to make a connection. The Republican Party, as it still does today, irritated democrats. So much so that those in the South seceded from the nation by 1860. The horrors of the Civil War followed. A conflict of differing principles. Afterwards, the mostly Republican sponsored 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the US Constitution were adopted.

However, before Papa was aware of history the quiet city of Ripon warmed my heart with a different anticipation. Rippin Good cookies were produced in Ripon. Much is faint to me but a windmill shaped cookie from the company sticks in my mind. It seems the cookie company has ceased production. I checked my other favorite (Johnston) and they also no longer make cookies. But, I do recall my dad driving to West Milwaukee and buying five pound bags of “broken cookies” for $1.00 at the company’s back door.

Papa spent a week in Ripon during 1960. I was selected as a delegate to Badger Boys State which was held at Ripon College. A very good time. Dormitory life. Met new friends. Talks and practical exercises in government. At age 16 it was a first taste of independence from home. Not as significant as men who gathered in Ripon for the purpose of ending slavery.. But, the impact of being near the site of the GOP’s historic founding was stirring for a young man.

With what seems to be mostly depicted as a messy world in the news, it is hard to get to the core of my original intent for this blog. That intent was HOPE. It was not a matter of hope for you but because of you. I do have faith in you and your generation once much of the media/internet quiets or becomes too transparent to stomach. Papa senses that the crazies are getting past their expiration dates and that common sense is set to seep back into our culture. One reason might be viewing a supposedly “educated” leader on television demonstrating on an issue. She was so over the top that it is easy to feel more damage than good was done for whatever cause she espoused. Yikes.

However, television has also presented a few opportunities to see fresh, younger politicians who also foster hope for the future. With U Tube, news outlets and C-SPAN video archives you can watch two men who give hope for their generation when ready to take the reins of leadership. If you get a chance look up Ro Khanna of California and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. They are members of the US House of Representatives and each appears familiar with common sense. (Papa’s political hope.) It appears that they are two guys who could get together and hammer out solutions to problems. That may sound like a pipe dream because our political parties each have some crazies in tow but mostly due to their “never give an inch” mentality that serves re-elections well. It may be slow in coming and I may not be alive to see the day but I can see each/both of them in higher office. Keep an eye on them.

February 22nd marks a memorable moment in U S history that you can view. On February 22nd, 1980 the USA hockey team defeated the Soviet Union team in the Winter Olympics. The US team was mostly made up of amateurs; young college players ( two Badgers) and a few players who had low minor league experience. The Soviets were professional, full time players who I think had won 4 of the last 5 Olympics. They dominated the sport and were predicted to be easy winners again by all accounts. The US team was a huge underdog.

However, the US beat/upset the Soviets in Lake Placid NY. The match was televised. Of course a Badger* scored two of the US goals. With ten minutes left in the last period the young USA team led 4-3. Papa watched that game and I can attest that those were ten of the longest minutes ever, which is what the team and all fans said. The big bad Russians/Soviets were all in during those final ten minutes. It was furious. At the finish the game was described as a miracle by the announcer. (Do you believe in miracles?) Inspirational doesn’t fully justify the emotions of that day. Besides the thrill of victory in sport, remember we were still locked in a cold war with the Soviets. For me it was another nail in the coffin of Sputnik. (Sadly, what goes around comes around with today’s new Russian wanna be Poo Bah.) That game was well documented and had a TV movie made. In 2004 the movie “Miracle” was released. Watch it. It’s good and you will get a sense of the drama of that match.

Before the US existed another event happened on a historic February 22nd. George Washington, our first President, was born. More consequential of course but you can actually watch the hockey match/documentary/movies. Papa loves sports but that Olympic win was a WOW moment.

(* Later to coach Badger Women’s team to six National Championships. And, counting.)

The citizens of the US are in the midst of great confusion over the shooting down of balloons/objects in the last ten days or so. It is a potentially very scary/serious situation that has been fumbled into chaos by leaders who miss a passing grade on simple transparency. It is a fiasco that gives Papa regret that I wasted a post on the “Keystone Kops”. To save myself I remembered another movie/term that seems to fit “Balloon Gate.”

My mind went to the memory of a silly Don Knotts westen movie. Jets criss crossing in the air and firing $400,000 missles at stuff that is floating around North America (one miss) led me to think we might be better off with high flying Sopwith Camels pilots who are armed with bows/arrows or shotguns to deflate blimps. The function could best be outsourced to hunters. My silly thoughts reminded me of the old movie cited above. However, my brilliance vanished when the reality of end of life reared its inevitable head. Is Papa lossing it?

“The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” movie not only didn’t feature Don Knotts; it wasn’t even a western. It was a gangster movie. There is a lesson here. There will be times that you are absolutely positive that certain things happened becasue you remember them happening. Memories can be tricky. I’ve talked to people about events witnessed by both parties and it turns out that our recall is not quite the same. Some parts might be remembered the same but other details differ. Once a pal and I talked about a classmate falling out of a tree. One version ended with a broken arm and the other resulted in a fractured leg. Old memories fade and I suspect get wrapped into similar events/people/circumstances. Portions of events from a long time ago may also have been more important to one person while another was struck by a different portion. If you ever in the situation where your memory/testimony will be needed I suggest writing the facts down close to the time of the event. Short term memory is usually better but it can fade or be blended with time.

Balloongate’s trigger for Papa ended up wide of the mark. But, my memory bank still retained a small dposit. There was a silly western movie with Don Knotts. (“Shakiest Gun In The West”) And, there was a western movie called “Over The Hill Gang.” There’s a ton of blending going on in Papa’s brain.