On Nov. 22, 1963 the Fords purchased the Detroit Lions and J.F.K. was assassinated. Which tragedy was worse?
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On Nov. 22, 1963 the Fords purchased the Detroit Lions and J.F.K. was assassinated. Which tragedy was worse?
I was getting on the Second Avenue bus in front of Cass Tech around 4:00 going home from school. Somebody had a transistor radio.
Those two events do not belong in the same sentence.
Aw, come on people!
I'm sure JFK would have thought about it.
Yes Nov. 22 is that year after the Ford family got the Lions. The team did fine but went down hill after Sanders.
What about CS Lewis and Aldous Huxley? Talk about getting overlooked!
Too soon? Apparently so. Bad taste? Well...everything is ammunition for social media salvos in this current cultural atmosphere. 3 divisional wins in 58 years. One sterling all-world running back. And a lot of fan sorrow brought on by inflated beer prices, and deflated game outcomes. Whereas, the actual sorrow of November 22, 1963 produced a funeral poem, that was published with illustrations, about the murdered President's son - "6 White Horses: An Illustrated Poem about John John," written by a young Ann Arbor teen, Candy Geer.
6 white horses came today to take my Daddy far away Mommy said I must be good And stand as big as Daddy would...
Her worldwide success with this poem was certainly more immediate than WCF's football team's success. [[I believe I watched Miss Geer recite her poem on "Swingin' Time" with your host, Robin Seymour, back in 1964.)
Several years ago, I did a long piece for Hour Detroit marking the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination. One thing I remain uncertain about is whether the Lions' game at Minnesota was televised in Detroit on Sunday, Nov. 24, the day before the funeral. I never could get a definitive answer, and memories are understandably fuzzy. I know regular programming was pre-empted all weekend on the big three networks, and Sunday was especially tumultuous because Jack Ruby shot Oswald early that afternoon---the first murder ever broadcast on live TV. Was the Lions' broadcast interrupted by what had just happened in Dallas? I know the game was played, with both teams playing rather listlessly. Pete Rozelle later said letting the NFL play that day was the biggest mistake he ever made as commissioner. In retrospect, I'd have to agree.
Ironically, I missed Ruby shooting Oswald by just seconds because I was out in the street playing football with my buddies. When I came into the living room everybody was shouting about what they had just seen. I was nine years and I felt like the whole goddamn world was unravelling.
Anyway, if interested, here's the link to the JFK piece. I even quoted longtime DY alum Ed Golick.
https://www.hourdetroit.com/communit...arkest-friday/