Thanksgivukkah
* There will be chaos in the kitchens on Thursday November 28, 2013. According to the Religious News Service (RNS) it “last happened in 1888 and, according to one calculation, won’t happen again for another 77,798 years: the convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. This year Nov. 28 is Thanksgiving and the first full day of the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, which begins at sundown the previous night. Earlier this year, when the rarity of the synergy began to dawn on the American Jewish households, they began concocting ‘Thanksgivukkah’ mash-ups.”
The chefs in the house won’t know whether to roast a turkey or slice a brisket. Food neuroses may become endemic across the nation. “Cooks have created recipes for everything from pumpkin latkes (Hanukkah’s signature potato pancake) to turkey brined in Manischewitz (the syrupy kosher wine Americans love to make fun of but drink anyway). Hanukkah and Thanksgiving align not just in time but thematically. The quirk of Thanksgivukkah is that the Hebrew calendar, which follows the sun and the moon, and the Gregorian calendar, where Thanksgiving sits on the fourth Thursday of November, have aligned such that the two holidays are on the same day for the first time since 1888 — 25 years after President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a holiday. Pretty soon school kids will think Thanksgiving started when the Wampanoag’s sat down with the Maccabees and the yams lasted for eight nights.”
A Jolly Good Fella
* Most likely, by the time you read this, many others will have weighed in with the same thoughts. The USC football team could have a long hard winter as the Trojans and Athletic Director Pat Haden ponder the various head coach possibilities for 2014. There is a happy fella who is liked by the players, coaches, alumni and fans. This good natured recruiter par excellence has magically transformed the team’s record from a flimsy 3-2 to a respectable 8-3 and led them to bowl game eligibility. As in “The Wizard of Oz” sometimes there is no place like home. Our Rhodes Scholar athletic director (AD) Pat Haden should seriously consider interim USC Head Coach Ed Bergeron for the permanent head coaching position.
Go to the Bench
* After another disappointing year the Angels did make some positive coaching changes about a month ago. Dino Ebel was moved from third base coach to bench coach. He is well liked by the players and might be able to awaken the cemetery that is the Angel bench. Hopefully he should give the bench a less confused look. The third base coaching position will be taken over by Gary DiSarcina. A former Angel shortstop he is well liked and respected by the players and fans. Perhaps the most productive change will be the hiring of Don Baylor as hitting coach. He is one of the best Angel hitters of all time and will have a lot of work to keep his interest. Also well liked he has seen and done it all and has the ability to relate to the players when they go into their perennial slumps. Maybe he can awaken the bats of Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. All three of the aforementioned new coaches have strong Angel ties and loyalty. Now all the Angels need to do is add starting and relief pitchers that don’t arrive injured or 1000 miles past the hill. Unfortunately the halos have little left to trade or purchase in the player or high cash markets.
It’s Always the Good Guys
* Every night the ten and eleven clock news begins with a sickening string of the daily murders, suicides, vehicle accidents and gang shootings. As reported, by the TV news, virtually all of these involve the death or deaths of teenagers who are A students, great athletes and student leaders who are well liked and respected. Friends of those killed always comment that they will miss his/her wonderful smile. It seems as if those killed are always the good guys. I am curious. Aren’t the bad guys ever eliminated?
