A weekend icon loss; Pats might be heading for trouble

The weather is getting cooler.  I'm still using "cooler" because it seems to be unusually warm for this time of year.  It said on the TV the other day that we've had a couple of inches of snow so far, but with the temperatures as they are, that snow didn't last too long.  Here it is just two weeks before Christmas and the ground around my house is still not frozen.  Ski enthusiasts, I'm not one, are still able to get their skiing in as most of the mountains are making snow at night.

And the Monday weather doesn't promise too much change, either.  Nights will be getting colder, but the daytime temperatures will still be nice.  Actually, surprisingly, they're almost normal but without any real cold and without snow, it remains rather nice.  We have only one possible storm on the horizon.  There could be some rain Thursday.

Not a whole lot going on around the Gator Place.  We've completed our Christmas shopping, except both Mrs. Gator and I have admitted to each other we don't have presents for each other yet.  Sure, I've a couple of minor things for her and she's got a couple for me, but that major present remains elusive.  One of the problems of getting to our age, I think, is that we're in a stage of life where it's getting shorter, so if we need something or really want something during the year, we just go out and get it so we can enjoy it.  That makes Christmas a tough time.

We recently bought tickets to our favorite theater in Pennsylvania and we're planning a trick there next July.  Perhaps that trip can serve as a nice present.

There are a lot of people not too much younger than I that lost a television icon over the weekend.  The Ed Sullivan of Portland television passed away.  Dave Astor had his Dave Astor Show on the TV from 1956 to 1971 on first WGAN-TV then on WCSH-TV.  Teenagers were highlighted on the show singing or lip synching to the popular teen music of the day.  Many of you will remember the Saturday night show.  Teens lined up vying for a spot.

Edited at 8:10 AM to correct some information:  I just heard on the radio that the Dave Astor Show actually had its debut on WPMT-TV in 1953.  I would still have been in high school then, and I can almost remember watching it a few times.  However, I'm very unsure if the memory is really from its later years after I returned to Maine.  I do remember the TV station, but there's a chance our family TV couldn't receive it.  I'm sorry for the error in this posting.

I was living in Florida in 1956 and was rapidly leaving my teen years behind.  By the time I had returned to Maine, I was on the wrong side of the age bracket so I never did get involved with the Dave Astor Show.  But I do remember watching it occasionally.  It was a big teen hit of the day.  And it was local.

Dave Astor was 92 years old.

The Occupy Maine group, that bunch that has taken over Lincoln Park in downtown Portland, have voted to sue the City of Portland for violating their free speech and assembly right.  The City has ordered them to leave the park by Thursday.  First up is an attempt to get a restraining order preventing the City from enforcing it's order.

I agree with them that they have the right to peaceful assembly and free speech.  If I lived in Portland I'd be very upset that the City has allowed them to take over public property and pay for the protection and cleaning of the park resulting from the tent city.  I'm not sure that Constitution allows the taking over of public property and creating a small neighborhood.

Municipalities all around the country have taken the same steps as Portland in ordering the end of the encampments.  Others have been much more forceful than Portland.  The Augusta Occupy group did attempt to get a restraining order, but a judge there declined to issue one.  Now we'll have to see what happens in Portland.

The New England Patriots just might be in for a surprise and perhaps a loss this coming weekend.  They'll be facing the Denver Broncos and their phenominal young quarterback Tim Tebow, a Heisman Trophy winner and one who led the Gators to a couple National Championships.  When Tebow took over the quarterback spot for the Broncos, the team had a one win, four loss record.  In his first start Tebow brought them from behind for a win but lost his second start. 

Tim Tebow, you'll probably know, was said to not be able to play NFL football.  Bad mechanics, you know.  Well since that one loss, he's won six straight.  It is, however, the way he wins that could cause the problems for the Patriots.  Tim waits until he's behind in the fourth quarter and brings the Broncos out of the shadow of defeat with a remarkable comeback, and wins, frequently in overtime.

If the Broncos can stay within a couple TDs of the Pats next weekend, and having been watching the Pats' extreme difficulty in closing out games.  Sure, they've been doing it, but Sunday's win over the lowly Washington Redskins (which was being quarterbacked by another Gator, Rex Grossman) was a perfect example.  Except for just one bad pass catching attempt by the 'Skin's end as time was running out allowing the Pats to intercept, the outcome might, probably, have been different.

If Tebow can get into that same position next week, the "no pass" defense Pats just might be in big trouble.  Denver, incidentally, was in the race for the first draft choice when Tebow took over the team and now they're in first place and playoff bound in their division.

And another sports spectacular, one that shows the idiocracy of today's rules.  High school and college players cannot show any emother in a game.  That ridiculous rule was called by a referee in a recent game in Boston.  A player racing for the winning touchdown, one that would have given his team an undefeated season and a championship, raised one arm over his head while heading for the goal line.  The ref called unsportsmanlike conduct, called the TD back, and the team lost both.  I think it was a horrible call.  I can't imagine kids not being allowed to be excited while playing a game.  Excitement just might hurts someone's feeling.  Well, such a rule just might hurt someone else's feelings.

I guess it's just like the banning of "Christmas" in schools and stores because the word might cause hurt feelings.  Well, allowing other religions to celebrate just might hurt my feelings; but I don't count, do I?

Gator