CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ONE: MURDER AND SPORTS

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ONE: MURDER AND SPORTS

We didn’t win. By now, you probably know that, although the Florida winners (Melbourne Beach) have not yet come forward. And we made it through a rare tornado warning this morning, Sunday, January 17, 2016. There was no tornado, but the winds were fearsome for a short while and the rain pounded Slow Motion. Now it’s bright sunshine and 81 degrees. It’s a particularly good day for a few Americans flying out of Iran’s air space back to the U.S.A. On a much more personal note, it’s a good day for walking without the rollator and the cane. Sure, I’m still lurching along, but I’m walking! Some day, Carnegie Hall! (You know, “practice, practice, practice…”).

“Making a Murderer” – Avery and Dassey murdered Ms. Halbach. The documentarians embedded themselves with the defendants and their family for 10 years. They had more than enough time to prepare their one-sided documentary featuring only some of the incriminating evidence and leaving out important items such as the DNA (from sweat) of Avery on the latch under the hood of Ms. Halbach’s vehicle. One of the documentarians said that this DNA was “merely circumstantial”, which indicated to me that she has no knowledge of criminal law, particularly the jury instruction which says that direct and circumstantial evidence should be given equal weight. It also shows that she has not covered very many murder investigations, since 99 percent of them involve primarily circumstantial evidence. Come on, you don’t expect the murdered person to ID the murderer in court, and how many times does a murderer commit murder in front of a neutral witness? I’ll answer that – almost never. And so, DNA is usually the critical “circumstantial” evidence that proves a murderer’s guilt. In this case, it was not only Avery’s sweat DNA, but also the victim’s blood DNA found on a bullet fragment in Avery’s garage, which forensic experts said was shot from Avery’s rifle. I would have prosecuted that case in a hot minute. That’s one that even the cherry pickers in my office would have taken to trial. I’m not a fan of Nancy Grace, but she has nailed this case correctly. Read her summary of the overwhelming evidence against Avery and Dassey. And before you shed any tears for Dassey, watch and listen to the 3 and ½ hours of his videotaped confession, with his defense investigator present. If he’s as dull normal as the documentarians say, he could not ever have made up the details of the murder of Ms. Halbach, which just happen to corroborate the “circumstantial” evidence showing his and Avery’s guilt.

It’s amazing to realize how many people in this country can be duped by a film. On the one hand, it’s good to know that the presumption of innocence is alive and well among our citizens. But it is certainly disheartening to learn, once again, that many people hold police in such low esteem that they easily buy into a cockamamie police conspiracy theory in the Avery case. Who had the motive to kill Ms. Halbach? She had been to the defendant’s property about 5 times before the last time, when she was murdered. She had told the Auto Trader folks that she did not want to return because Avery “creeped” her out. He had greeted her on one occasion wearing just a towel. Avery called Ms. Halbach several times right before she was murdered, disguising his identity on the phone, luring her out to his property. Avery told fellow inmates that he planned to build a torture chamber when he got out to use to rape and murder women. He showed them the design. Avery told Nancy Grace, when the police were still looking for Ms. Halbach as a missing person, that he had seen her the day of her murder. He recanted later, saying that he had not seen her that day. He “planted” a phone call to her phone after he murdered her, to set up his lie that he had not seen her. All of the victim’s burnt bones and some of her clothing and personal possessions were found in Avery’s fire pit, entwined with some of his junk. It was some of Avery’s relatives who saw him tending a fire at the fire pit on the day of the murder. Had enough yet? If not, please have the integrity to tell a prosecutor during voir dire that you do not trust police, so that you do not serve on a jury and refuse to convict, no matter how strong the incriminating evidence, because of your strong bias against police.

How did the Detroit Pistons blow out my Golden State Warriors last night? Now that’s a real mystery, especially with a healthy Curry scoring 38 points. Still, a record of 37 wins and 4 losses at mid-season is very impressive. The next two games, against Cleveland and Chicago, may show whether or not the Warriors are currently running on fumes, or whether the Detroit debacle was an aberration. I have such vivid memories of attending Warriors games with Big Al when I was a season ticket holder in the 80’s. “Dominique is Weak”, Big Al would shout, or “Jay Bee!!!!!” for the mediocre Warrior center, J.B. Carroll. Good times. Big Al has gone on to fame and fortune as a Senior Writer for Sports Illustrated, mostly golf, but his first cover story, as a college student, was about his week spent with Ken Griffey, Jr. They were about the same age at the time, and they both had a blast. Now Junior is going into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Big Al some day will go into the Golf Writers Hall of Fame. If you want to read it, look for the SI with Frank Thomas on the cover – Frank and Junior were both featured in that issue, the two best players in baseball at the time. Big Al writes under the name of Alan Shipnuck. I recommend all four of his books to you, starting with Blood, Sweat and Tees, moving on to the story of discrimination against women by Augusta, then to the Christina Kim book giving us an insider’s look at the LPGA, and most recently the co-authored novel (with Michael Bamberger), Swinger. Reading Big Al as he writes about a mythical pro golfer’s sexcapades in Swinger is disconcerting, because I always think of him as a prepubescent 9 year old, so I attribute the graphic sex stuff to Bamberger.

My mother was the biggest sports fan I have ever met. I would call her on a Friday or Saturday when I was in college and invariably she had a football game on the radio and one on TV. She listened to the Liberty High School games and watched the Penn State games. As for the pros, she was a Steelers fan, because so many Penn State stars like Franco Harris, played for the Steelers. She herself was a gifted tennis player in high school. I remember her taking up a racquet in the 1970’s at the Wagoner Compound in Huron City, Michigan – she was in her 60’s, and she was still very good. Mother imparted her love of sports to all of us. Sue played girls’ little league – hardball – the first in the nation – growing up in Bethlehem. Talk about inequality – her team played on a dirt field with lots of deep ruts in it which gave her a lot of fat lips as she tried to grab balls coming around 2^nd base. My brother’s team, by contrast, had a beautifully groomed grass field, which my father himself mowed to give the boys a soft cushion to land on when chasing balls. My brother’s team had full uniforms. The girls were lucky to get shirts with number on them. This was well before Title IX. Even with the gross inequities, some women stars shone bright – Joan Joyce, for example, was the premier softball pitcher in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, playing for the Raybestos (Bridgeport, Connecticut) Brakettes and Orange Lionettes. You could look her up, but here’s a partial list of her records and accomplishments:

38 shutouts in a season (1974)

Most innings pitched in a game (29 in 1968 against Perkasie)

Two no-hit, no-run games in National Tournament (4 times)

Most victories in a season (42 in 1974)

Most consecutive all-star team selections (18)

Eight time MVP in National Tournament (1961, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975)

Career doubles (153)

Brakettes team batting champion (1960, 1962, 1967-69, 1973)

Highest batting average (.467 in 1971)

50 perfect games

150 no-hitters

Lifetime ERA of 0.09

Led Brakettes to world championship in 1974

Struck out Ted Williams at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, Connecticut, 1961 and struck out Hank Aaron in 1978 – exhibition games

Threw over 70 miles per hour

Suffice it to say, Joan Joyce was/is amazing by any standards. I watched her pitch in the 1970’s for Raybestos at their home field in Connecticut. Her catcher was about 16 years old. The sound of the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt was a loud explosion. No one got on base against her in that game. She was hitting the cover off the ball, going 2 for 2, then she didn’t get a hit the third at bat, and another pitcher entered the game the next inning. A fan shouted: “See what happens when you don’t get on base?” We all laughed. To this day Joan Joyce is involved in softball, successfully coaching the Florida Atlantic University team. You could look it up. Oh, and by the way she has been inducted into nine Halls of Fame, including the National Softball Hall of Fame, the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame, and the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame as one of only three Americans.

Meeting Joan Joyce and watching her pitch was a highlight of my life in New Haven, Connecticut in the 1970’s. I was Executive Director of the Connecticut Women’s Educational and Legal Fund (CWEALF) and spent almost all my time educating and litigating for women’s equality in all fields. Carol Johnson worked with me, and her partner, Judy Dixon, was the coach of the women’s tennis team at Yale. Judy also had the distinction of working with Bud Collins on PBS covering professional tennis matches. That’s right, PBS. Judy and Bud were nominated for an Emmy for their outstanding work. Judy had been a very good doubles player on the Women’s Tour, having played with the likes of Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals. There was one lowlight in her announcing career. Bill Cosby (yes, that one) was a big tennis fan and, with his celebrity, he wormed his way on to one of her broadcasts with Bud. Here’s what he did to Judy. While they were on camera, he put his hand on her thigh and was rubbing it. This was not in sight of the camera, as they were at a table and he put his hand under the table to fondle her thigh. Ever the professional, she continued to cover the match that was going on. Cosby was too big to topple at that point – or at least not worth losing her job. I helped her fight for equal treatment at Yale, getting two of the four indoor tennis courts for the women’s team and filing a claim of discrimination based on the salary difference between her and the much less experienced male coach of the men’s tennis team. So Yale gave him the title of “captain” of the tennis teams to try to justify the higher salary. It was a load of crock. Oh, the stories I could tell about Judy’s titanic battles with the odious male coach. But that’s Judy’s story – I’ll let you know when her book comes out.

In case you were wondering, I walk with a cane now, and sometimes walk without a cane. Yes, I’m walking, trying not to imitate “Lurch”, and getting better each day. It’s still odd to put on my right leg in the morning. I mean, it’s been just 10 months since I had my own matched set and was running around with reckless abandon. I have not tried to run, but my physical therapist says that I try to walk too fast. That’s a good thing. I am excited, no doubt about it. Jake wants to run a half marathon with me this year. That would be incredible. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Baby steps – that’s where I am now, baby steps. And I’m quite happy about that for the moment. Being free of the walker and cane is very liberating, if only for short walks. Next time I hope to report more progress. Stay tuned.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY: LIVING LARGE IN LARGO

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY: LIVING LARGE IN LARGO

Breaking news! El Chapo has been captured! Again! Philadelphia police officer was shot at point blank by assassin with stolen police gun, who pledged allegiance to ISIS! U.S. missile sent to Spain for military exercises was sent back to Cuba last year – by mistake! 292,000 jobs were created in December, 2015! The stock market plummeted the first week of 2016 – worst start ever! It’s the eighth day of January 2016 -- Twenty three days left until the Iowa caucuses!

Here in Key Largo, on Slow Motion, the Admiral has put up a cloth sun screen on the sundeck and I got my prosthesis adjusted to help me walk better. I’m transitioning from the rollator (walker) to a sturdy cane that stands by itself. The Admiral made chicken stir fry, jambalaya and SOS this week. Oh, he also gave me breakfast in bed one morning and the next morning he served up a delicious omelet. We turned off the air conditioning and actually slept under a sheet and a quilt a few nights when it dropped into the mid-sixties. We have watched the news (breaking news!) every night this week, and I watched the CNN special with President Obama and Anderson Cooper and a “town hall” on guns and violence.

Now which of these two paragraphs was more interesting to you? If the point of reading this blog is to catch up with me and the Admiral and our life on Slow Motion, it’s got to be the second paragraph. If, sadly, you come to this blog to get the latest headline news – really? – then the first paragraph is the winner. It is no question that we are pummeled by the news stations, twitter, iPhone news breaks, and other social media twenty four hours a day with the latest killings, gun fights and Trumpisms. So when you come to this blog, I try to make it an island of sanity, calm, and ordinariness – except for the occasional political rant. It’s a chance for you to relax and take a few minutes away from your hectic schedules to read about our laid back, slow-moving, food-focused lives. Not that your lives are better than ours, or vice versa, but they are just very different. And you have a standing invitation to visit us to experience for yourselves this difference, particularly if you are willing to work as crew on Slow Motion and help us travel to various ports.

Tonight, Saturday January 9, we are learning about Madagascar and the fact that 90% of its woodland has been destroyed by “slash and burn” agriculture. But there is a national park of some 40,000 acres which has been preserved where the golden lemur (500 left in the wild) jumps from tree to tree. Anthony Bourdain, who took us to Madagascar, suggested to his hosts that ecotourism is not a great option for the island’s economy. So one of his hosts asked: “What is a better option?” No answer. Oops, the Admiral switched to the Pittsburgh/Cincinnati wild card playoff game. Talk about culture shock. This is an unusual evening for us, watching television programs. Usually the Admiral and I read or play Sudoku or a wicked card game on our IPads. The Admiral just walked to the corner gas station to buy tickets for our billion dollar retirement fund. We’ll know in a few hours if we won – of course we will win. This is 2016 – the year of good luck. And good luck starts with winning the lottery. Just write down the three things you want the most and mail it to us, and we’’ ll take care of it. The Admiral says if we win the lottery, we’ll send out for pizza. Always the big spender.

I have gone to a new physical therapist since December 24, and she is very good. She is a native Key Largan, with licenses in Florida and in North Carolina to ply her trade. She put a cane in my hand the first time I visited, and I was very skeptical about keeping my balance. But, miracle of miracles, I am now walking around with a cane, feeling older than my years. Canes are symbolic of old age, except when they’re in the hands of an expert tap dancer. I am not tap dancing yet, so I fit the old age stereotype. Still, the cane makes me feel like walking on my own is just around the corner. I need to put a few more miles on the cane before I fly solo, however. And when I’m not channeling an “older American” with my cane, I go to the fitness center of the Courtyard Marriott to work out for 45 minutes. My favorite piece of equipment is the stationary bicycle. When I’m riding the bike, I feel “normal.” It’s an odd term to use, I know, but “normal” for me is still defined as having two working legs with feet attached. I have come very late to this amputation condition, and I can’t ignore all those years of walking, jogging, hiking, and biking – fast – with reckless abandon. That was my “normal.” The “new normal” is a lot slower and a lot less reckless. It requires patience to learn to walk again, to endure the pain and the pressure – patience has never been my strong suit.

It’s Sunday afternoon, and already we’ve had an eventful day – not by world news standards, but in the world of Slow Motion. I got my weekly deep tissue massage and when I returned to the boat, we moved Slow Motion to another dockside location in the canal, with the help of our fellow boaters. It was great to hear Slow Motion’s engines, and at one point, all I wanted to do was cruise out to the ocean. Alas, we were headed to another tie up less than 100 yards away, closer to the dreadful Skipper’s Restaurant live Muzak, but with a better Wi-Fi connection. Trade offs.  I also have the challenge of steps when I go to the shower and restroom. But so far, when I start lifting the rollator up the steps an angel appears out of the blue to help me. It’s a different angel every time. I can do this myself, but I must look like I’m struggling. At our new location, Slow Motion does not hug the dock as closely, so the Admiral has a new worry – Can Ann avoid falling in the drink when getting on and off the boat? I tell him that I will be super super careful, but of course he still worries. We have entered the Inner Sanctum of the Pelican Brotherhood, another concern, given their penchant to poop nuclear waste on boat decks. We have rubber snakes to scare them off, and the Admiral constructs a complex spider web of string across the deck on the bow. It seems to work. Time will tell whether they invade us or we evade them.

Just so you know, there was no winner of the lottery. We have to buy more tickets to win our $1.3 billion. The numbers will be announced on  Wednesday. Your checks will be in the mail by Friday. You can take that to the bank. We expect that you will use some of your winnings to visit us and travel to Key West with us on Slow Motion. Then you too can experience firsthand what it’s like to live large in Largo. See you soon!