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Holding the Mailbag Open
This, that and the other . . .
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The New England Patriots’ for-the-ages comeback from a 28-3 deficit to a 34-28 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 – that’s “LI” for all you Romans out there – brought to mind a famous heavyweight title fight from LXXVI years ago.
Billy Conn, the challenger against heavyweight champion Joe Louis in 1941, was leading after 12 rounds – 7-5, 7-4-1, 6-6 on the three judges’ cards – but was knocked out with two seconds left in the 13th round.
Conn later said to Louis: “Hey, Joe, why didn’t you just let me have the title for six months?”
Replied Louis: “I let you have it for 12 rounds and you couldn’t keep it. How could I let you have it for six months?”
I can just imagine Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan telling Patriots QB Tom Brady: “Hey, Tom, you had already won four Super Bowls, why couldn’t you just let me have one?”
To which Brady would reply: “I let you guys have it for the first 59 minutes of the game and you couldn’t keep it!”
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From the mailbag: Christine Weidenheimer complimented my column on Mary Tyler Moore and the importance of chasing dreams, and added: “The real reason for this note is to say, ‘Don’t ever give up holding doors open for strangers.’
“If you did that for me, I would greet you with a smile and a ‘Thank you’ for making me feel special. I’m sorry the woman who told you, ‘I’m quite capable of opening a door myself,’ was so unpleasant.
“May good manners and friendliness never go out of style!”
And may they come back into style in Washington D.C. and the White House.
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“I loved Mary Tyler Moore and your comment of tossing your hat over the wall was so inspirational,” wrote Jane Rozanski. “I’ve similarly used Shirley MacLaine’s inspiring quote for years: ‘To get to the fruit, you have to go out on a limb!’ ”
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Climbing out on a limb at risk of receiving mean-spirited emails, as I always do when I mention politics in this space, let me add one more comment about the White House bully pulpit – emphasis on “bully.”
For anyone who wants to print up the T-shirts, I offer this hastag slogan free of charge: #NotMyBullyPuppet.
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More mail, more inspiration, this time from Ted Stekkinger, who wrote:
“There is almost nothing more satisfying than achieving a goal or dream you set for yourself. I was a person that had always tried to be conscious of that, but lost that awareness as I got older and had to have an awakening to get me back on track after I almost lost my life after an illness.”
Stekkinger, now 65, knows the satisfaction of a dream pursued – and achieved. In recent years he has completed hikes of 1,400 miles from his home in Santa Paula to Canada; 500 miles from France to Spain; and 600 miles again in Spain – all while pulling a two-wheeled cart instead of using a backpack.
“I sustained a fairly debilitating injury on my last adventure that has stopped me from starting my next challenge I had planned to start this month,” Stekkinger continued. “But I am already working hard at thinking of ways I can still go after it.
“Like I have always told my three children, ‘Think of ways how you can do something, and not why you can’t do something.’ ”
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Carol Williams, a former teacher – mostly high school – for 40 years, supported my recent comment about kids today being given too much homework.
“I always advocated for conservative homework assignments,” she wrote, “but NO assignments over the weekends. Kids and their families need time to participate in other activities that allow for a rounded lifestyle.
“I always told my kids that school was their job, and people get time off on their jobs for other life activities.”
Like pursuing their dreams.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com.
Check out my new memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece”
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