For more than two decades the great Larry King wrote a notes column in the USA Today. For those of you who can't remember when the USA Today was a major newspaper, it was a four section weekday newspaper that delivered the news in a unique way with colored pictures and features along with the latest in news, politics, money, sports and entertainment.
If you traveled, it was the must-read and if you wanted the latest in sports, you grabbed the red section and got sports news, columns, pictures, charts and a scoreboard page loaded with everything from game recaps, to stats and standings and the latest odds.
When you wanted entertainment, you grabbed the purple "Life" section and got everything from hollywood gossip, movie reviews, music and book news and once a week the paper carried Larry King's notes column. King, the famed talk host, would write about sports, politics, Hollywood and observations in a unique style...but it worked. It was a staple of the USA Today and a go-to item for any reader.
Larry King passed away on January 21st. He was 88 years old.
So to honor King's column, here comes a Friday notes column....King style:
How can anyone be mad about college basketball in March...I could watch Jacob deGrom throw fastballs all day...Dikembe Mutombo doing his finger wave in a commercial at age 54 is classic...NFL media deals worth billions and billions proves nothing can stop that league..."Operation Varsity Blues" documentary on Netflix is superb...Chicken noodle soup tastes better with crackers crumbled on top...In the old days, I could turn on the TV for an NBA game and know which teams were playing by looking at the uniforms. These days every team has six different uniform combinations and I don't know if it's the NBA or college game...Tom Selleck has aged well...Why do umpires yell something other than "strike" when calling a strike behind home plate?...You are too young if you can't remember when St. Louis had the baseball and football Cardinals...Why does popcorn smell and tastes better at the movie theatre than at home?...I used to be able to name the manager of every baseball team. I can't today...Who doesn't like a good nap in the late afternoon and then wake up and eat dinner?...I'll take Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Matthew Fitzpatrick for the Masters and give me Max Homa as a longshot...The Yankees have one world series title since 2000. The Boss would not be happy with that...To me, instant coffee tastes as good as a $5 drink at those fancy places...Whoever Russell Wilson plays for I am a fan...Do they even make sitcoms for network television anymore?...I remember Patrick Ewing when he played for Georgetown. He was the most dominant big man I had seen at the college game. I loved him as Knick. As a coach at Georgetown he's been average. But watching him coach his team to a conference title makes me root like crazy for him in the tournament. But I think Colorado might be too tough for the Hoyas...Patrick Patterson signed only a one year deal with the Vikings? How is that possible?...Ryan Fitzpatrick will start for a 9th team after signing with Washington. I don't if it says something more about him or the lack of quality quarterbacks that someone else signed him to be a starter...Hockey is a beautiful game...Why were the Skipper and Gilligan so unprepared for that voyage?...I like a good bounce pass in basketball...
Final thought: Larry King's first on-air job in radio happened in 1957 when an announcer at a radio station in Miami quit. The station turned to King and put him on as a DJ for a three hour shift
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