Baker's heartbeat

Some of the Baker family football fans, shown here at a college game Professional football in America has taken a step back as the Monday Night Football broadcast has fallen from favor, probably because of the Thursday Night edition. NFL officials: This is too much! Monday Night Football was born 50 years ago and caught on almost immediately as it was widely available on ABC-TV, and was the only professional game to be found on a weeknight. Keith Jackson, "Dandy" Don Meredith and Howard Cosell started the tradition, which this year features Joe Tessitore doing the play-by-play and former Louisiana State University standout Booger McFarland on color commentary with Lisa Salters on the sideline. I have no quarrel with any of the 2019 talent: McFarland, especially, is well-researched and prepared. They all are trying very hard, but none were nationally-known stars, like their predecessors. Monday Night Football was broadcast on ABC-TV for 35 years. In 2006 the progr...

Swing set works for adults, too, in a playground in NE Davenport. "How would you like to go up in a swing, Up in the air so blue? Oh I do think it's the loveliest thing, Ever a child could do." -- Robert Louis Stevenson, 1885 My mother, the English major, used to recite that poem when she pushed me on a hand-made swing in the backyard of our home in Edina, Minn. I thought about that experience recently when taking an exercise walk in Davenport, along the trail that lines Eastern Avenue. Near the trail is a park, and that park includes swings. One a recent sunny weekday I jumped on one of the swings, and the muscle memory kicked in as I swung into the air with a view to the Eastern Avenue branch of the Davenport Public Library. "This is happy," I thought to myself, and troubles, worries, melted away. Energized after several minutes I hopped off and decided to try and find a swing to use on a regular basis, which should be easier now that we hav...

Modern blended family (mine) enjoying spring sunshine The most beloved TV show of the 1960s and 70s? Many would name "The Brady Bunch," but not this writer. Nope, my Dad and I watched "Monty Python's Flying Circus," broadcast on US television 1969-74. We enjoyed the antics of Eric Idle, John Cleese, Michael Palin and others. As one example: The "Ministry of Silly Walks" had us convulsed as cast members trotted across the screen showcasing various walking styles. That was first shown Sept. 15, 1970. So "The Brady Bunch" was not part of life in the 1970s, which included my schooling and Dad's work in Tipton, Iowa. I knew about it, of course, as the other kids in class would talk about America's favorite blended family. Flash forward to 2019 when as a HGTV watcher I now am viewing "A Very Brady Renovation." The HGTV network has done an excellent job on this project, but it is also a bit odd. They are slavishly re...