A REPORT FROM THE COAST OF OREGON

It's wednesday morning and day 4 of Kim and my all too brief vacation to the glorious Oregon coast, a trip that was originally scheduled for last summer as a "Brothers Heagle" reunion, but was waylaid by bad news on the health of Kim's mom.

We wanted to take advantage of the original tickets which cost us $340 a piece. We were told when we were forced to cancel the trip that we would be able to use the tickets as long as we did so before May 15. We were also advised that there would be a "substantial penalty." Substantial indeed! The new tickets cost us an additional $328 a piece!

My brother Bob graciously agreed to drive us up to the Minneapolis airport this past sunday, and we were in the air and on our way via Frontier Airlines by 2:30 PM. With a layover in Denver, we landed in Portland, Oregon, around 7:45PM.

Brother John and his counseling partner, Sister Fran Ferder met us at the gate. From there it was another hour and a half drive down the Oregon coast to John's beautiful home which is right on the ocean at Glen Eden Beach.

The next day was spent touring the region by car. (I have taken many pictures and will post on the blog when I get back home.) Kim didn't seem to be affected by jet lag, but truthfully, it pretty much knocked the wind out of me!

Living right on the ocean, the weather can be totally different than it is only 10 mile or so inland. It is, of course, much cooler here by the sea. Overall the weather has b een magnificent and this vacation has been just the ticket!

Since our return flight tomorrow leaves fairly early, we are going to have John drive us up to Portland tonight, motel it near the airport and be in position tomorrow. I am excited about this prospect as on the way up the coast we will get a chance to see Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose", the huge eight engine aircraft he built in the thirties. We saw it at a distance on the way down.

I am also glad we will have a little time in Portland as I was very impressed with the city on our way through. Portland is purported to be one of the "greenest" cities in the country.

I will have a more in depth report on our stay when I get back home - I just wanted to write this so those who read the blog know why it has been so quiet as of late.

The only thing we are having difficulty with? We are both missing our furry little pals, Hammy and Stella, and are hoping they will still know us when we get back!

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"HE AIN'T HEAVY" COMING TO WAUSAU ON FRIDAY, MAY 15!

I have always loved traditional small bodied 12 fret acoustic guitars with the slotted peghead - guitars that date back to the mid 1800's; the kind that went west with the homesteaders, the kind that cowpokes might pull out of the chuck wagon before turning in around the camp fire.

That's why when I was forced to sell a really great little parlor guitar that I had found on my travels, I felt that my "arsenal" was empty.

Then this Cort guitar caught my eye through computer reviews and I began seriously to try to locate one for myself. finally about two weeks ago I found a dealer in Florida who carries the exact guitar I was looking for. The original Cort had a rosewood fingerboard which had a very elaborate flower pot inlay on the neck.

The newer model (which I bought and is pictured here) is equipped with no fancy inlay but comes with an ebony fingerboard - which I much prefer to rosewood.

I have been playing this guitar around the house and office for a couple weeks now and I am really starting to appreciate its sound. All my other guitars are big old dreadnoughts with huge sound - particularly on the bass side, but this little parlor is as delicate little lady with a wonderfully clean and sparkling soprano high end. The bass side is a bit thin as is to be expected in a small bodied guitar, but overall, this has been a very good investment considering that it cost well under $500.00.

The top is solid cedar, the back is solid rosewood, and the sides are rosewood laminate. Eventually I will install a two pick up configuration which will help it be heard loudly and clearly when played through my P.A. system.

For now, it is the house guitar -- and it is a great 68th birthday present!

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I am pleased to announce that "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", the upcoming show with my brother, Father John, has found a venue in Wausau, Wisconsin for Friday night, May 15th. We will start our three day run with a performance at Wausau East High School, which I understand has a magnificent new auditorium.

My thanks to my manager Elizabeth Fischer for all the diligent work in lining up another great room!

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SOMALI PIRATES DEALT WITH HARSHLY -- AND CORRECTLY

It felt really good to awaken to today's news that Captain Phillips has been rescued from the hands of Somalian "pirates" off the coast of Africa. Over night, three snipers were parachuted onto the Bainbridge, out of sight of the perpetrators, where they set up their extremely accurate hi-powered sniper rifles on the fantail of the ship.

When it appeared that there was a likely chance that Captain Phillips was about to be executed, the snipers quickly downed the pirates with head shots, and then wounded a third.

The killing of the pirates could have a dangerous ripple effect in the region, where pirate attacks are common:

"This could escalate violence in this part of the world, no question about it."

Indeed, some pirates vowed revenge for the shooting, reports Reuters:

Somali pirates were quick to vow revenge over the shooting of their comrades, as well as a French military assault to rescue a yacht on Friday.

"The French and the Americans will regret starting this killing. We do not kill, but take only ransom. We shall do something to anyone we see as French or American from now," Hussein, a pirate, told Reuters by satellite phone.

And to that, I say it is high time we begin arming all crews that have to steer through these waters with the best high power weapons we have. Let these common criminals go up against the massive firepower that could be made readily available to all crews -- not to mention use of attack helicopters with hellfire cannon.

It is time for a little "Blackhawk Down" Payback!

Kudos to the Obama administration for showing strength when it is needed!

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The month of March brought on my first really unpleasant experience with eBay since I began buying and selling some four years ago.

On March 5, I won a Rawlings football helmet, white, no face mask, size 7 1/8 - 7 3/4, and paid for it immediately on line with my eBay Master Card. I intended to use it to make a re-creation of a "Lance Alworth, San Diego Chargers helmet to add to my collection. On March 16, I received a box containing a Rawlings helmet, but it had a face mask and was the wrong size! it was a small.

I immediately e mailed the seller and shipped the helmet back on March 17. I waited over a week with no results and then finally e mailed the seller to ask what was going on. I was informed that by mistake his "shipper" had set my shipment aside and it had gone overlooked for over a week.

Finally I got an e mail on April 6 telling me that my purchase had now been re-shipped.

The box arrived this past friday. I opened the box and found that HE HAD SHIPPED THE SAME INCORRECT HELMET BACK TO ME AGAIN!

So now I am keeping, on his instruction, the incorrect helmet, until the correct one is shipped. UNBELIEVABLE!

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THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE SPEAKER STAND AND EVENTUAL CONCLUSION

This morning around 11 AM I get a cell phone call. A young woman's voice says: "Hi, I am on Highway 94, about 20 miles west of Eau Claire on my way to Milwaukee. Corey Petersen asked me to drop off your speaker stand and cable. Is there a place near the highway that I could meet you?"

I explain that there is. It will be an easy meeting for both of us as I only live about two miles from the Wisconsin State Patrol Headquarters at the junction of Highways 53 South and Interstate 94.

So my equipment is back with me where it belongs. I am happy about that. but I am still pissed at Corey Petersen. He didn't even have the decency and common courtesy to give me a call last night and tell me that the problem of delivery was solved. No, instead the selfish bastard let me worry about it until 11 o'clock this is morning.

I am only glad that I am the kind of person that finds that kind of behavior reprehensible. I can only hope that karma will nail his ass somewhere down the road.

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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Songs revisited.
Some of the artists of the 60's are revising their hits with new lyrics to accommodate aging baby boomers.
They include:
Bobby Darin -- Splish, Splash, I Was Havin' a Flash.
Herman's Hermits --- Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Walker .
Ringo Starr --- I Get By With a Little Help From Depends.
The Bee Gees -- - How Can You Mend a Broken Hip.
Roberta Flack--- The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face.
Johnny Nash --- I Can't See Clearly Now.
Paul Simon--- Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver
The Commodores --- Once, Twice, Three Times to the Bathroom.
Marvin Gaye --- Heard It Through the Grape Nuts.
Procol Harem--- A Whiter Shade of Hair.
Leo Sayer --- You Make Me Feel Like Napping.
The Temptations --- Papa's Got a Kidney Stone.
Abba--- Denture Queen.
Tony Orlando --- Knock 3 Times On The Ceiling If You Hear Me Fall.
Helen Reddy --- I Am Woman, Hear Me Snore.
Leslie Gore--- It's My Procedure, and I'll Cry If I Want To.
Willie Nelson --- On the Commode Again


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Riddle of the Day

Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one.

Michael J. Fox has a small one.

Madonna doesn't have one.

The Pope has one but doesn't use it.

Clinton uses his all the time.

Bush is one.

Mickey Mouse has an unusual one.

Liberace never used his on women.

Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his.

Cher claims that she took on 3.

We never saw Lucy use Desi's.

What is it?

Answer below!





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The answer is: 'A Last Name.'


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BEWARE OF "PHISHING" PHONECALLS FROM THOSE CLAIMING TO REP CREDIT CARD COMPANIES

I consider myself to be pretty wary when I get unsolicited telephone calls about my credit cards but this afternoon I got a call that completely fooled me --- for a while. I think it was because it started with a recorded woman's voice saying something like: "If you are interested in getting the APR on your credit cards lowered to 6 per cent, the time is running out so please press 9 now".

And the sucker is hooked! I pushed 9 and in a few seconds was connected to a man who told me he is from Universal Card Services and wants to help me lower my credit card bills. he then starts out asking general questions -- how many cards do you have, what is the debt amount accumulated, what kind of cards do you hold, what are the last four digits of the cards, the last four digits of your social security number - this sent up flags and I asked who he represented. He again told me "Univeral Card Services" and that his name is Robert Johnson and then gives me the last four digits of his social security number so set my mind at ease.

Then he asks to go back to the credit cards and start over again, only this time he wants the entire 16 numbers from my Master Card. That's when I told him the conversation is over. He gets all indignant and tells me that i am losing out on a chance to save money and I tell him I would rather pay the percentage rate I am presently paying than give out the information he is seeking and he hangs up on me. Oh - and before he hangs up I also tell him I am a member of LifeLock, a identity theft company.

Then I sweat bullets for about five minutes and decide I had best call LifeLock.

when I explain what has happened the gal is most helpful. we contact my Master Card holder and cancel the card immediately as that is the card whose numbers he is after. it becomes clear that it would be that card because it is the card I use to make on line purchases and I have received "phishing" e mails about that account in the past.

So be forewarned. Do not give out any information at all on the telephone. I learned the hard way today. And it was that opening "save you money - lower your rate to 6 per cent" that blinded me.

Dumb, dumb, dumb!


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NITSCHKE PROJECT COMPLETE - HELMET, CORRECT FACEMASK ADDED

THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THE PACKERS OF THE 1960'S THAT MAKES THEM EVEN BETTER THAN THE PACKERS OF SUPER BOWL XIII. And it isn't just because they are the Packers of my youth.


Yes, Brett Favre will probably go down as the BEST QB the Packers ever had. But I disagree. I am and always will be a devoted Bart Starr fan. Starr is a man of quiet dignity and he accomplished something Favre never did -- back to back MVP's of the first two Super Bowls.

But today I salute the king of defense - the man most feared on the playing field in those days -- Mr. Ray Nitschke.
Ray had an uncanny ability to be where he needed to be to make a game turning play. How many times did he intercept a key pass in a playoff game? I still see him clearly in the 1965 Championship game against the Cleveland Browns - fully extended, tipping a pass from a would be receiver in the end zone to save us 6 points.

That is why my most recent helmet project was an attempt to recreate his helmet. I had a great time in the process. First, for true afficiandoes. I know that he did not wear a Rawlings helmet - he was a Riddell man. If youi ever go to Green Bay, walk through the hall of fame and you will find one of his helmets - the one that has a spike through it. fortunately Ray wasn't wearing it at the time when a pole fell and landed on it!
If you ever see his autograph you will find that you can read his name clearly. He said that if someone thought enough of him to want his autograph, the least he could do was to write it legibly.
As I said, I really had a great time with this project. finding the right color paint was a challenge and I love the color description on the spray can I finally ended up using: "OLD CATERPILLAR YELLOW". (and that's not as in the larvae stage of abutterfly but rather the color of the earth moving caterpiller.

"HE AIN'T HEAVY" TICKETS GOING FAST AT TAINTER, SECOND SHOW ADDED

If you get a chance today, go to www.huffingtonpost.com and check out the Billy Bob Thornton Interview on CBC radio. I think you will agree that ol' Billy Bob just ain't a "morning person". Can you say asshole?

It's official - the Tainter Memorial Theater is adding another show of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" on sunday, May 17. Originally my brother Father John Heagle and I were to do a 2PM show sunday afternoon, but as of yesterday there were only a few tickets left for that show - and this before any serious publicity for the show had been advanced.

The second show will be at 7PM.

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This week's hi-jacking of an American freighter laden with food for the starving in Africa is just the latest atrocitiy committed by small groups of Somali "pirates" - I prefer to call them terrorist-thugs .

Now I know that the Indian Ocean is a large body of water but one would think by now that our government would have taken some steps to counter-act these attacks.

In my mind, I see fighter planes flying very high cover - one per ship - and I mean very very high cover - so high that there is no way they can be seen by the interlopers. When the "pirates" make their move in their small craft, the fighter plane can drop quickly from out of the clouds and blast them to such minute pieces that it would take a magnifying glass to find anything of the remains.

I think the "pirates" might start taking a second look at their activities.

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Or maybe just put Billy Bob Thornton on board the freighter, sleep deprive him and don't let him have coffee.


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HOW I LEARNED TO HATE KAROKE EVEN MORE

Last Friday, April 3, I did a show in Oakdale, Minnesota, as part of a fund raiser for a very worthwhile organization which provides low-cost housing in the Twin Cities by (and I am not sure I have this right) buying the actual property and then allowing the builders to live in the houses on the land without having to purchase it.

Also present was a Karoke outfit (anybody who does what I do or works as as real musician knows how we feel about these entrepreneurs) by the name of "Coryoke" run by a guy named Cory (get it?). You can visit his site (oh, please do) at: www.coryoke.com.

Any way, while I am packing up MY sound system I notice the "roadie" who is assisting Mr. Cory in dismantling HIS system, taking down MY speaker and folding up MY speaker stand, which is aluminum silver in color. (If you go to the coryoke site, there is a photo of his gear and you will note that it is all BLACK stuff).

Then I see Mr. Michael Anderson, the man who hired both the karoke dude and also hired me, over telling the roadie that not all the sound stuff belongs to them.

After I get what I think is everything back into my vehicle I take a final inventory (which I always do before leaving somewhere far away) and realize that one of my speaker stands is missing.

Mr. Anderson and I go back in and make a thorough check of the premises and sure enough, my speaker stand has been taken by the karoke guys. Now I am pissed. I mean, look at that sound system on the coryoke page again. Is there anything remotely aluminum finished to it???

I ask Mr. Anderson if we can't pursue them yet that evening and get my stand back, but he vetoes that and tells me that he will contact them first thing the next day -- and everything will be swell.

Since I don't hear from him on saturday, on sunday I fire off this e mail to the address provided:

Michael:

Just touching base to see if you were able to find out what happened to the errant aluminum silver speaker stand that I will be very much in need of this coming saturday, April 11th. I will be playing at Leaker's Bar and Bowling Alley in lovely down town Glenwood City - if whoever took the stand wants to ship it there, that's okay by me, but I need to know if that is how it is being handled. Otherwise, it can be shipped directly to me:

Larry Heagle
4888 Hobbs Road
Fall Creek, Wisconsin 54742

Here are my telephone numbers:

cell: 715 590 8222 (best bet during the day)
house: (715 834-8815 (best bet evenings)

I also wanted to say thank you for allowing me to be a part of the fund raiser this past weekend and that I hope that funds were indeed raised! The crowd was a great audience to work for and that always makes it easier for me. So thank you, thank you, thank you. I had a bit of trouble staying awake on the way home, but that was solved with a huge cup of coffee!

Larry


I then receive this in reply:

Hi Larry,

I spoke with Cory Petersen, the owner of the Kareoke system on Saturday and he told me he had your stand and speaker cable, which his roadie took by mistake. I sent him all your contact information at 9 pm. this morning as he told me he would take responsibility to get your equipment back ASAP.

His business phone is 651-770-0331 and he's located atr 6337 47th Street North St paul , MN 55128 If you have not heard from him by Monday afternoon give me a call at (763) 228 7137 and I will follow up. His website is www.coryoke.com

Glad you made it home safely. I'm naturally wired so I don't ever get sleepy after a gig.

Michael

Since I do not hear from Corey Petersen on monday, I call Mick back and he says he will get right on it.

Finally, late afternoon, today, I get a call from Corey Petersen which leads to this e mail to Mr. Anderson:

Mick:


"Hi Larry,

I spoke with Cory Petersen, the owner of the Kareoke system on Saturday and he told me he had your stand and speaker cable, which his roadie took by mistake. I sent him all your contact information at 9 pm. this morning as he told me he would take responsibility to get your equipment back ASAP."

Mick -

I thought I would send you this snippet from your past e mail in which Corey Petersen tells you "he would take full responsibility to get my equipment back as soon as possible." Today (tuesday mid afternnon) I got a call from him asking how I want to handle it - I tell him to ship it to me and he had best get on it as it is already tuesday - he tells me he has a better proposition: HE WILL BUY MY STAND FROM ME AND I CAN GO OUT AND GET MYSELF A NEW ONE.

Well, Mick, I am afraid I lost my temper with him and told him that he should get whoever took my stuff to drive the stand and cable to Glenwood City and drop it off at "Leaker's" where I am working this coming saturday. I told him that I am a responsible professional - if I had made the same mistake I would have called and apologized the next day and driven the equipment to St Paul and dropped it off.
I told him I wanted to hear back from him yet today that this problem is solved. It is now after 6PM and I doubt very much that I will be hearing from him.

so I am appealing to you again. I need my stuff! I should've tracked the son of a bitch down that night.

Excuse me for venting. I will let it ride over night and if I don't hear from him I will call you tomorrow. Maybe you and I will have to meet half way in order for me to get it back! God I hate people who do not take responsibility for their own mistakes but want to take an easy way out.

Larry

TO BE CONTINUED

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ATTENTION ANIMAL LOVERS! A WAY TO HELP CREATURES WHO CANNOT HELP THEMSELVES!

Hi, all you animal lovers. This is pretty simple... Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.

It takes less than a minute (How about 20 seconds) to go to their site and click on the purple box that says "Click here to Give - It's Free!" You don't have to fill anything out, and it's just counting clicks.

This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

THIS IS NOT A JOKE OR AN TTEMPT TO MESS WITH YOUR COMPUTER. IT WORKS AND YOU CAN HELP!

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LOOK WHAT I FOUND WHEN I CLEANED MY CLOSET! MY CLOTHES!

One would think that cleaning a closet is a pretty mundane topic. Okay. Granted. But what I went through yesterday to get the photos posted today is not something that could e put up on You Tube without a lot of compression! it took me THREE HOURS (or was it four? I lost all feeling in my legs and to my brain) to accomplish the task.
I'll tell you what is really frightening. What you are looking at is after I filled three lawn bags with clothes bound for Good Will - not to mention three grocery bags with the junk that litttered the closet floor! The closet looks over-stuffed as it is right now! How in hell did I manage to dislodge anything from the hangers before?? How in hell could I even locate an item of clothing I wanted to wear?

I will say this. there were articles of clothing in there that I didn't even know existed.

Now I find myself drawn to the bed room just to open the closet door - which I couldn't close before - and to gaze upon the outstanding neatness of my handiwork, knowing that I will actually be able to find the exact shirt I want at any given time.

When we first moved into the house, Kim got a look at "her" closet, which is a whole room across the hall. It was originally a laundry room, complete with washer and dryer, but the previous owners (my guess would be the wife) decided it should be the walk in closet and so now, it is.

I was told I could have the closet in the bed room. With a little luck, I can actually turn around in it with the door closed.

by the way, don't look at the right side of the closet - it's too embarrassing! I didn't realize it when it started a couple of years ago, but that is my eBay fed football jersey collection. I think there are somewhere around 40 jerseys in there. I have lost count.

But now I can at least see them!

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Heaviest Element Known to Science: An important discovery.




The Heaviest Element Known to Science:

Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has made a startling
discovery in finding
the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element, Governmentium (Gv) has one neutron,
25 assistant neutrons,
88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons,
giving it an atomic
mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called
morons, which are
surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles
called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert;
however, it can be
detected, because it impedes every reaction with which
it comes into
contact.. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a
reaction that
would normally take less than a second, to take from
4 days to 4
years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It
does not decay, but
instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion
of the assistant
neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually
increase over time, since each
reorganization will cause more morons to become
neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of morons promotion leads some
scientists to believe
that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a
critical concentration.
This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical
morass deposits. The location of Governmentium deposits is
found in every state capital and a
mother lode in Washington, D.C.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes
Administratium, an element
that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium
since it has half as many
peons, but twice as many morons.

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TWO MORE NFL TEAMS REPRESENTED - LARRY LOSES SPEAKER STAND IN OAKDALE!

So I found a Riddell VSRY2 large helmet on ebay through a pawn shop out east and I could tell that it was pretty beat up so I put a top bid of $34.00 on it and won it at $31.00 When it arrived two days ago I was really glad that I hadn't spent more as the interior is filthy and the screws holding the snaps, etc, are really corroded.

After scrubbing out the interior, I set to work dismantling the face mask, padding and all the screws. I went to Menard's and bought a large can of navy spray paint as well as a can of clear lacquer to finish it off with when I had enough coats of navy on the helmet.

I had a lot of trouble getting even distribution of the paint - I must have put four coats on it before I turned to the clear. When I applied the clear -- disaster struck! all kinds of "spider-webbing" on the surface.

The next morning was spent wet sanding with a very fine grit until all the spider webbing was finally gone. (well nearly, anyway.) then I re-sprayed with two light coats of navy and decided to quit while I was somewhat ahead.

This afternoon, the black striping for the Forty Niner helmet that was inadvertently forgotten in shipment arrived so I was able to finish the 49'er helmet too.

Now all that is left in "Helmet World" is the arrival of a white Rawlings helmet from Dan Dunn Collectibles out in Maine. I already have the decals and numerals to make a representation of Lance Alworth's helmet when he played for the San Diego Chargers.

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I worked last night in Oakdale, Minnesota doing a fund raiser for a fine group of people who gather together to raise money so taht people who ordinarily would not be able to make a down payment on a modest home can do so as this group buys the land that the house sits on. substantially reducing the cost to the home owner.

I had one of those nights where everything "clicked" and the 45 minute set felt like 20 minutes! Unfortunately I did not get on until around 9:30 PM so I didn't get home until well after midnight.

There was one hitch in the vening's proceedings. They had a DeeJay working the floor also - and when he packed up his gear, he somehow managed to pack up one of my speaker stands - which I didn't notice until he was long gone and I was doing my final walk through to be certain I had everything and discovered it missing.

Now said DeeJay is going to have to figure out how to get that stand back to me by the time I have to work this coming saturday at Leaker's in Glenwood City!

That's it for today -- need to write credit card bills and get a nap -- I am getting grouchy!

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LATEST HELMET ADDITION - NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

When I think of the New Orleans Saints, two things come to mind: the outstanding play of quarterback Archie Manning, nd the really down seasons when the fans came to the Superdome wearing paper bags over their heads.

Recently I completed my salute to Archie Manning - the helmet you see pictured in this blog. Although Archie never was on a championship team, he raised two very famous sons whom have both won Superbowls.

Quoting from the wonderful book "Colors", the chapter on the Saints was written by William D. Taylor. Taylor has this to say about the franchise:

"Living in Louisiana, be it realistic or sterotypical, it always seems politics has its influence on everything, including pro football. After hosting various exhibition games in the 1960's, the City of New Orleans eagerly hoped to get its own franchise.

In 1966 the NFL started talks with the American football League on a merger, but some in Congress felt it would violate anti-trust laws.

Leave it to down-home Louisiana influence, as Senator russell Long and representative Hale Boggs made a deal with commissioner Pete Rozelle where if they got an anti-trust exemption passed through Congress, then New Orleans would get their franchise.

That was accomplished on October 21, 1966 and Dave Dixon, the true brainchild who brought pro football to the crescent city was elated to hear the good news while stasnding outside the Halls of Congress.

On November 1, 1966, "All Saints Day", the announcement was made that New Orleans was the newest member of the NFL. Oil magnate John Mecom, Jr., of Houston, was designated the majority stockholder and president. The team introduced the colors of black and gold, in honor of "black gold", the nickname for oil and a state government income staple through the 1970's.

The Saints made their debut on Septembeer 17, 1967 when rookie John gilliam returned the opening kickoff in franachise history for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams before 80,000 fans at Tulane Stadium.

Later in their history, to the dismay of all Saints fans, 1980 marked the year of "The Aint's". The team lost 14 consecutive games and many of the frustrated faithful attended home games in their own custom uniform. They watched through the cutout eyes of paper grocery bags during the abysmal 1-15 season.

Southern politics and pro football crossed paths again in 1988 when a Super Bowl championship quarterback made a slanderous comment about the Saints helmet logo. during an NBC telecast of a Saints-Raiders game at the Supeerdome, "Broadway" Joe Namath said of the tteam's Fleur-de-lis symbol: "Back in my day, if we had guys playing with flowers on their helmets, we'd laugh 'em out of the league." The next day the Louisiana legislature passed a n on-binding resolution calling for an apology from Namath.

(The Fleur-de-lis or "Flower of the Lily" represents the court of King Louis XIV from the 1600's and was adopted during the French occupation of New Orleans.)

--- In most staates, politics and pro sports franchises make for strange bedfellows. But in Loouisiana, for better or worse, they seem to go together like red beans and rice."

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! GRANDPA ANS WAS AN INNKEEPER

Here's an interesting (to me, anyway) piece of Chippewa Valley history that was forwarded to me by Jerry Way. It is a part of a program from the Rex Theatre and if you have really good eyes or an immense magnifying glass maybe you will be able to decipher the advertisement on the right half of the page. It is an invitation to stay at "The Ottawa", a hotel that was owned by my grandfather, Anson Heagle.

Let's see if my 67 year old, glasses assisted vision can make out what the advertisement says:


STOP AT THE OTTAWA
FIRST CLASS ALWAYS
EUROPEAN OR AMERICAN PLAN
BEST MEALS 50 CENTS
ROOMS $1.00 to $1.50
A MODERN HOTEL
YOUR PATRONAGE SOLICITED
ANSON HEAGLE, PROP.
CHIPPEWA FALLS, WIS.

Now, of course, I am trying to remember where Jerry said this was found. I think he said someone found it when they began tearing out walls during renovation.

I knew that my Grandpa Heagle was quite a "wheeler dealer" in his day. He ran a saw mill in Gilman and sold farm real estate. I did not know until Jerry sent me this that he was also an innkeeper. Pretty cool logo! And I like the name as well. Maybe I should return to my roots and start a folk singing trio and call ourselves "The Ottawans".

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