Monday, February 7, 2011

Super Bowl Wrap

When Sunday's Super Bowl XLV ended, the Pittsburgh Steelers led the Green Bay Packers in practically every statistic except the most important one: the final score.
The Steelers were ahead in first downs, total net yards, total rushing yards, almost even in passing yards and had the advantage in time of possession. Obviously, Pittsburgh's three turnovers which led to 21 Green Bay points, were the difference, especially the pick of Ben Roethlisberger's under-thrown pass in the first quarter and Rashard Mendenhall's fumble, caused by linebacker Clay Matthews, in the fourth.


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Breaking away from sports for a paragraph or two, I found the answer to a question, thanks to Google, that has been eluding me for over 40 years. In the summer of 1968, I attended a concert headlined by the classic rock band The Who at the Shrine Exposition Hall in downtown Los Angeles. I went to the show on an invitation from two girls, one Kris Kagel who I knew from high school. I was to be their "chaperon" because the father of her friend, whose name I can't remember, wouldn't let her go downtown at night unless I drove them in my car.
When we got to the Hall, which was located at Jefferson Blvd. and Figueroa Ave. near USC, the show had already started and the opening band was almost done with its set. They sounded great and I asked the girls if they knew what the group's name was? Kris said they were a blues band from England.
Well, it turns out that the band was the original Fleetwood Mac, fronted by Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood.


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add Shrine Exposition Hall: Six months earlier, I went to a concert there that featured Iron Butterfly and the Doors. The Shrine Exposition Hall had no seats, so the audience had to either stand or sit on the floor. I took a friend of mine at the time named Julie Croke and the thing I remember most about the show was that she misplaced her wallet, which was a light blue purse, after we sat down on the floor to listen to the bands. Fortunately, somebody about 10 deep behind us found it, with everything still intact.

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