The Larry Kane Report

I love baseball, and for the last 46 years, I’ve been mesmerized by Phillies baseball. For many of those years, too many, there was disappointment, sometimes crushing. The exceptions would be 1980. On October 21st of that year, my 38th birthday, the Phillies beat Kansas City to win the World Series. The Phillies won 91 games that year, but went all the way.

In 1983, the Phillies played in the World Series again, this time losing to the Baltimore Orioles. In 1993, the Phillies made the World Series again, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays. The next appearance was in 2008, when they beat the Tampa Bay Rays. They returned in 2009, and lost to the Yankees.

There is a point I’m making here. If you add it up, it reads like this: Five World Series appearances in 30 years: 1980, 1983, 1993, 2008, 2009. Two championships.

Yet, it seems like the sky has fallen, baseball life as we know it has vanished, and the past season was a big waste. I vigorously disagree. Friday’s heart-stopper was a stunning downer, but how can you forget the 2011 season, the drama, the comebacks, the pitchers, the fielding, the thrills and spills. The season was filled with electricity. The ending fizzled. The hitters didn’t hit. But it may have been one of the greatest pitching duels that I’ve ever witnessed. We all waited with bated breath on every pitch.

One of my favorite broadcasters on WIP Radio said he was not looking forward to a long harsh winter after the Phillies loss. I think it will be a great winter. We’ll survive December and January,  then Phillies report for Spring training, and all that grieving over the final game will be replaced by anticipation. Isn’t that what it is really all about. Anticipation. Suspense. Hopes.

In the meantime, we are all in a “how low can they go” mood about the Eagles, so the stage is set for a turnaround. I hope. The Flyers are skating fast and looking great. The NBA is on the door of death, because, right now, no one seems to care, and that is bad news for the negotiators.

But as far as the Phillies, I have fond memories of a special season, and I’m not going to let a 5-game playoff series ruin it. You probably think I’m dreaming, but I’m an optimist and I refuse to join the “herd”. The “herd” decides the season was a disaster. It was not.

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You may never meet her, but you should. She is one of Philadelphia’s greatest contributors to business and community. Her name is Joanne Calabria, and starting in 2002 she began to turn Philadelphia pink. And that is for real.

Joanne, Vice President for Communications for the CBS Television Stations, based at CBS 3, had an idea. Faced with several family members challenged by breast cancer, and working with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, Joanne, piece by piece, company by company, convinced some of the office buildings to go pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October. The unstoppable Joanne, a broadcast executive admired by her peers at all the other stations, started making inroads. By 2005, the skyline of Philadelphia was pink, and each year since, the program got bigger and bigger. Sports teams joined in the think pink campaign, and there was so many enhancements by businesses and civic organizations that the campaign is now part of the fabric 0f Philadelphia.

It is hard to engage an entire community. People have to be called. Buildings are surveyed. Lights have to be installed. People have to be called again. Through it all,  Joanne marched on, undaunted, determined to convince Philadelphia to light up pink.

“Lights For The Cure” are on display for their tenth year, and again, the Inquirer and Daily News are involved, along with the City parks and recreation department.

It all began with one person’s idea and determination. And now, a hundred buildings are glowing in pink. Congratulations to Joanne Calabria for ten years of service to the people of the Philadelphia area.

PALIN – HARDLY A WHIMPER

After a year of hype and bluster, Sarah Palin announced the only choice she could make. She will not run for President. Bottom line to this story: Ego and erratic statements, coupled with a lack of credibility, can destroy even the most charismatic candidates. Nothing further to say, except that the news about Palin arrived and vanished as fast as she has in Iowa and New Hampshire this past year.

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It is distressing to see the media herd galloping around the possible Chris Christie run for President and the “issue” of the Governor’s weight. This is not an issue appropriate at this stage of the Republican race for President. This country is full of age prejudice, sexism, ethnic prejudice, and now poundage, which is pure bigotry. The columns, comedy, and satire in the last few days has been disgraceful.

If  Christie decides to run, he will be judged on his candor, confidence, consistency, and yes, humility under fire. I have never see a person elected President without a certain amount of humility. Christie’s hero, Ronald Reagan, delighted the American public with a commanding but self-deprecating style. In that respect, the usually swaggering and uncompromising Christie seemed to soften up in recent weeks, and his New Jersey approval ratings went up!

His issues are his issues. His policies are public record. His contempt for the media is pretty clear but unreasonable considering that he’s gotten a fair shake. His view on foreign affairs is still emerging. Whether he runs or not, Chris Christie must be judged on what he stands for, not how he looks. Now, if health threats are uncovered, that’s a different story, but attacks on his weight at this point are out-of-bounds.

PERRY “HUNTING” FOR TROUBLE

The Rick Perry camp is in a daze about a controversy that could shake his foundations. In question, is the name of a family hunting camp , a derivative of the “N” word . People like fellow candidate Herman Cain want to know why it took the Perry family so long to take it down from a rock at the entrance to the hunting lodge. . Herman Cain, seizing on the issue Sunday, saying there “isn’t a more vile, negative word than the N-word.”

“For him to leave it there as long as he did, until before, I hear, they finally painted over it, is just plain insensitive to a lot of black people in this country,” Mr. Cain, who is black, said yesterday. It is interesting that other candidates in the race have not touched the issue. Are they afraid that rejecting racism will hurt them? What’s going on here?

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One of the nation’s experienced drug czars, former Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey warns that the greatest security threat to America right now is the gathering storm on the border with Mexico. The general says that drug cartels are affecting the life of American border communities, and many beyond them, with violence, threats of terrors, armed robbery, and murder. In fact, he charges that 200 American cities have been infiltrated by the drug cartels. His warning, he says, is a wake up call to national leaders to start viewing this crisis as a genuine security threat. No response from Washington, yet.

CHRISTIE GETTING TRAVEL POINTS

The New Jersey Guv is headed for Missouri,  Louisiana and California. All this travel in the middle of a hard push by Wall Street Republicans, the moderate Eastern branch, to get him into the race. National Polls show that over 50 percent of Republicans are unhappy with their Presidential choices. Will he run? Probably not, but a three-stop tour to GOP fund-raisers in the aftermath of some weak GOP debates is VERY interesting.

One day after I said that “Rick Perry is For Real,” he got clobbered by Herman Cain in the Florida Straw Poll. “Straw” is the key word here. The poll, as in Iowa dominated by super conservatives, is not scientific, but it does send a message to Perry that he may have taken his blunt style to extremes. And what about Mitt Romney. He didn’t compete for the  Florida Straw Poll, but front-runners should still do well, and he did not do well in Florida. Bottom line to this story – the Fla. results were a message to Perry that the party stalwarts want someone who can not only win the nomination, but carry the country in November 2012.

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I watched the Republican debate last night, and I’ve reached a conclusion: Rick Perry is the Teflon candidate for 2012. They battered him, and they battered him again. He seemed totally unaffected. The man is a cool customer, and his more extreme views are well covered, and almost vanish into the woodwork, because his personality is so strong. Perry seems to upset the usually unflappable Mitt Romney.

Also at the top of his game was Jon Huntsman, who received the news that he’s gone from almost zero to ten percent in the New Hampshire polls. Huntsman remains the candidate most feared by the Obama White House.

Untold political story of the week: In most national surveys, President Obama beats Romney or Perry. It’s still early but the brawl for the White House could make 2008 tame by comparison .

QUESTION?

Are they any police cars patrolling “95″ in Philadelphia? I have not seen a police car in months. A speeding car, out of control, is as dangerous as a bullet. The highway seems more frightening than ever.

SCHOOL DAZE

Philadelphia needs an elected school board. The School Reform Commission is a failure. Republicans in the Pa. Legislature should stop trying to change the electoral vote system for President and start really reforming Philadelphia’s school system. The children deserve a lot better.

I LEFT MY HEART IN…

Tony Bennett must have left his brain in San Francisco. His radio comments berating the U.S. over 9/11 and suggesting that “they” bombed us because we bombed them, were outrageously stupid.  And this from someone I’ve admired and enjoyed all my life. He apologized. But it was too late.

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