A Day That Will Live In Infamy

For many of us there are three dates that will forever remain etched in our mind, not counting personal things like birthdays and anniversaries. Those dates are
September 11th, November 22nd and December 7th. 9/11 of course needs no explanation and if you are 50 or older you probably remember November 22nd as the day JFK was assassinated. Those of you in the younger generation may need a reminder as to the significance of today. This is the 69th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which claimed the lives of 2,400 Americans and the next day led President Franklin Roosevelt to declare war on Japan as he proclaimed “December 7th, 1941…a day which will live in infamy.” Today is a bitter reminder for those that survived the attack on the U.S. Naval base in Hawaii and the anniversary is traditionally marked by the return of some of those survivors although sadly that number is dwindling. There will be a day not too far from now in which there are no survivors still alive but December 7th will indeed always hold historical meaning and purpose and should not be forgotten.


Unless you are my age or older you have no idea what Monday Night Football was like years ago. Before ABC began televising a weekly Monday game in 1970, pro football fans pretty much were limited to watching a couple of games on Sunday.
Monday Night games became events and the main announcing trio of Frank Gifford, Don Meredith & Howard Cosell were superstars. Meredith, a former Cowboys quarterback died over the weekend at age 72 and it’s made many of us think fondly about how special those Monday games were. Ironically one of the significant moments during one of those games took place on December 8th, 1980…..30 years ago tomorrow. In the final moments of a tight game between the Patriots and Dolphins, Cosell was the voice that informed America that John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York. For years after that Howard accepted praise for interrupting the game to deliver the sad and stunning news. However what many don’t know is during a commercial break before that he pretty much refused to make the announcement until he asked Gifford for his opinion. Frank said without question you have to let people know so Cosell reluctantly agreed and I’m sure until he died he never gave Gifford any credit.