Friday morning I took a look at my Instapaper queue and didn’t see much to share. A bunch of new stuff popped up Friday afternoon and over the weekend, so now we have some things to read together.
I’ve had enough weird hobbies in my life to have spent some time in Radio Shack. So it’s been a little sad to read about the company sliding into oblivion in recent years. They finally hit rock bottom last week, declaring bankruptcy. Three links related to that news.
First, sports writer Patrick Reusse with an ode to his TRS–80 Model 100 portable, which changed the way he did his job. It’s amazing how easy it is to file my stories when I’m covering a game. It was not that long ago when it was a huge chore to get text back to the copy desk.
A sportswriter weeps for old friend Radio Shack
This goes back a couple months, but Jon Bois wrote about what it was like to work at Radio Shack. Spoiler alert: it was not a great place to start a career.
A eulogy for RadioShack, the panicked and half-dead retail empire
Finally, this site will let you (virtually) flip through decades’ worth of Radio Shack catalogs. I randomly picked one from 1979. Just reading through the lengthy section about stereos is worth the time.
Unlike the past couple years, I will not be covering the girls state swimming and diving championships next week. Volleyball takes precedence over the chance to sit in a steamy natatorium for four hours.
But I wish I could be there. Our local school, Carmel, will be swimming for their national-record tying 29th straight state title. They will get that, and easily. At Saturday’s sectional meet, they won every point that was up for grabs.
The Indianapolis Star took a deep look at the team, which features as many as 20 girls who could swim in Division 1, and three girls who may become Olympians. Their best swimmer has already won three junior national championships and then a gold medal in the relays at the world short-course championships last fall. All that talent has some national experts saying that they are the best team in the history of American high school swimming. Amazing stuff.
Best in U.S. history? Carmel girls swim team making a case
Danny Manning is on my Mount Rushmore of boyhood athletic heroes.[1] When he left KU to become the head coach at Tulsa, I was not sure if he was cut out for running a program. He always seemed so reserved when he spoke to the media. His voice is not one that rises above the din of a crowded arena. And while he did wonderful things coaching KU’s big men during his run as an assistant, he didn’t seem to burn to run his own program.
I was pleased at his success at Tulsa and then surprised that Wake Forest hired him last summer. That’s a tough job, with the ACC getting bigger, deeper, and tougher in recent years. But I’d love it if he has much success there.
Danny Manning Relishing New Life, Challenge of Resurrecting Wake Forest
There are going to be a lot of “SNL at 40” articles in the next few weeks. Here’s a good one by TV writer Bill Carter, walking through his history with the show.
Bill Carter on Covering ‘SNL’ and Lorne Michaels: “Many Lost Their Minds in Pursuit” of His Approval
A warning that our final link is blasphemous, offensive, and wildly inappropriate. But if you can overlook all that, it’s fantastic.
- Manning, George Brett, Magic Johnson, Roger Staubach, Michael Jordan. ↩