Category Archives: History

Behold the simple shipping container. Its a large, steel box that can carry tens of thousands of pounds of cargo. Its also stackable and designed to fit on ocean freight ships, trains, and even trucks. These containers have been an unnoticed cog in the worlds highly complex manufacturing network for decades. But not anymore.

Thanks to the pandemic, the shipping container is now at the center of the global supply chain crisis, which has interrupted the delivery of everything from medical supplies to holiday gifts. Because of widespread manufacturing delays and bottlenecks, there arent enough of these boxes in the right place and at the right time. There are also too many containers at shipping terminals, which is clogging up ports and blocking more cargo from arriving. Exporters, meanwhile, are struggling to find the empty containers they would normally use to send their products to customers abroad. These shipping container problems are continuing to pile up as the larger manufacturing system they helped enable also struggles to adapt.

The disruption has gotten so bad that some US politicians want the government to take on a bigger role in regulating shipping. Last week, a bipartisan group of House members passed legislation that would allow the Federal Maritime Commission, the USs international ocean transportation agency, to pressure shipping companies to prioritize empty containers for American manufacturers and farmers.

We werent always so dependent on these big metal boxes, though. The first commercial container ship voyage set sail in 1956, and it was only in the 1980s that this form of ocean freight really took off. As global trade proliferated, businesses realized that containers could make shipping cheaper and easier to manage at scale. Because these containers were standardized theyre typically 20 feet or 40 feet long thousands could be loaded onto a single cargo ship at once.

Previously, most of the goods that moved in containers were manufactured goods made in one country and were being exported to another country, Marc Levinson, an independent historian who studies the global shipping industry, told Recode. But starting in the late 1980s, businesses figured out how to combine cheaper shipping thanks to containers with cheaper telecommunications and improved computing to create long-distance supply chains.

These developments created the foundation for todays just in time approach to global manufacturing. This system has made all sorts of products cheaper to make abroad and allowed individual companies to specialize in niche components, like the chemicals used in plastic packaging and specialty computer chips. Its also been a boon for the container shipping industry, which rakes in billions of dollars every year moving raw materials, parts, and finished goods between factories before theyre finally delivered to consumers. Even Amazon is trying to break into the cargo shipping business now.

But as the pandemic made clear, this system has plenty of downsides. When one product is made across multiple facilities, a single disruption, like a Covid-19 outbreak, can ripple through the supply chain and cause massive problems. And the pressure to meet stringent delivery timelines can be grueling and even dangerous for people with supply chain jobs, like factory workers and truck drivers. Low-cost manufacturing has also fueled overconsumption in wealthy countries, where consumers have come to expect that the exact product they want will be available on demand.

So how did we get here? To learn more about how the shipping container helped standardize todays global supply chain and set us up for our current crisis Recode spoke with Levinson, who is the author of Outside the Box: How Globalization Changed from Moving Stuff to Spreading Ideas and The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger. As Levinson explains, the shipping container is a lot more complicated than it looks, and solving our supply chain challenges will require far more than just producing more boxes.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

The worlds entire ocean shipping network seems to rely on these highly standardized boxes. Can you talk about how we became so dependent on these particular shipping containers and what makes them so special?

The modern shipping container was first used on domestic shipping routes in the United States in 1956 and has been used internationally since 1966. Like a lot of innovations, it took businesses a while to figure out how to take advantage of them. But starting in the late 1980s, businesses figured out how to combine cheaper shipping thanks to containers with cheaper telecommunications and improved computing to create long-distance supply chains.

This was a big change from what existed before. Previously, most of the goods that moved in containers were manufactured goods made in one country and were being exported to another country. But with these cost changes, it became possible to spread out suppliers among countries and to do each part of the manufacturing process where it was most efficient. Manufacturers and retailers began building these sorts of supply chains in the late 1980s.

There might be several stages of these sorts of shipments from one place to another before the finished good is shipped to the end user. That was an entirely new form of trade and is really responsible for these long and complicated supply chains.

Can you talk about how standardized these shipping containers are?

Most of the shipping is in a container thats 40 feet long, and it has the same devices at each corner. These are called corner fittings, and they enable a container to be lifted by a crane in any port, rail yard, or truck yard in the world because theyre identical.

There are different sized containers used for domestic freight in the United States. Many domestic container shipments are actually 53-foot containers. And there is a business at certain ports, especially in California, of removing imported goods from 40-foot containers and stuffing them into 53-foot containers to save domestic transport costs.

Could you explain the journey of a container through the supply chain?

Imagine a factory that is turning out a product. It will stuff that product into a shipping container. Or if it doesnt have enough to fill a shipping container, it may contract with another company, a freight forwarder, and could share the container with other cargo. The container will be moved to a port by truck or by train. It will be stored on a patio near the docks, awaiting the ship that the cargo owner or the freight forwarder has agreed to use.

When the ship arrives in the port, that container will be moved to the dock and loaded aboard the ship. The loading process is very much computer-driven. Each container is designated to go at a specific location within the vessel. And the outgoing containers are moved next to the ship and lifted by cranes into the proper storage space aboard the ship. This process can take anywhere from a few hours to several days, depending on the size of the vessel.

The ship sails a specific route. Typically with container shipping, a shipping line offers a specific weekly service on a single route. Its called a string. So every Tuesday, the vessel will leave this port, and it will call at this other port three days later, and will call at this other port 10 days later. And 22 days later, it will arrive at the final destination.

Then it will sail back to port where it began, with stops at ports along the way, and keep that route with an identical ship on a weekly basis.

It sounds like the system is pretty dependent on recycling these containers again and again and again.

This entire movement from the factory to the port to aboard the ship to the arrival port to a rail yard and then finally to a distribution center its all arranged at once. The shipper makes a single arrangement to have essentially end-to-end service, so theres not a process of negotiating separately with a trucking company, a ship line, and so forth.

The pandemic is impacting the availability of so many different types of products, from phones and laptops to basic medical supplies. Can you explain why all of these problems seem to be coalescing around global logistics?

Governments around the world stimulated their economies in order to avoid a recession due to the pandemic. Many governments have provided income support to workers who were losing their jobs because of the pandemic. Many governments have pumped money into different kinds of public works programs to keep people employed. Many central banks have lowered interest rates to stimulate their economies. So all of these actions have really driven economic growth.

But at the same time, because of the pandemic, people have had a hard time spending on services. Its not easy to take a holiday trip. Many restaurants have been closed or people dont feel comfortable eating in restaurants. Its hard to go to an indoor concert or theater performance. So theres been this enormous growth in spending on goods.

Theres just been much stronger trade in goods than people anticipated. Those macroeconomic trends have led to large increases in the volume of containers moving around the world. Because of delays in the process, its taking a container longer to go from its origin to its final destination where its unloaded, so the container is in use longer for each trip. Youve just lost a big hunk of the total capacity because the containers cant be used as intensively.

Weve had in the United States an additional problem, which is that the ship lines typically charge much higher rates on services from Asia to North America than from North America to Asia. This has resulted in complaints, for example, from farmers and agricultural companies, that its hard to get containers in some parts of the country because the ship lines want to ship them empty back to Asia, rather than letting them go to South Dakota and load over the course of several days. So weve had exporters in the United States complaining that they have a hard time finding a container that they can use to send their own goods abroad.

So how is this impacting those US-based exporters having a hard time shipping goods overseas?

It helps to understand how freight transport is arranged. Almost all freight internationally moves under contract. You dont show up at the dock and say, Here, Ive got a container. Can I send it? A shipper signs a contract with a shipping line for, say, six months, and it guarantees a volume of 100 containers every Tuesday.

So if you are a large shipper of a national retailer or a large international manufacturer, youve probably got much better terms of service than if you are a small shipper. If youve got a small factory and you send out a couple of containers every week, you dont have the bargaining power that a multinational manufacturer has. And in the current situation, that determines who has access to containers and who has access to shipping space. The giants may be favored over smaller businesses that just dont have the bargaining power.

Weve talked a lot about the companies that rely on shipping containers, but what about the shipping industry itself? How much competition is there in the shipping industry right now?

The international ocean shipping industry has become highly concentrated over the years due to mergers. These are attributable in part to the enormous cost of building large container ships. If new players want to come into that industry, I think thats a good thing. It will increase competition in container shipping and I think that will probably benefit consumers. There are some specific issues related to Amazon in terms of carrying freight for third parties who may be its customers as well as its competitors.

Could you elaborate on the specific issues related to Amazon?

Amazon arranges shipping for much of the cargo that it owns and sells directly, but it also can arrange shipping for other parties, like, for example, companies that sell on Amazon Marketplace. In some cases, these vendors are competing with Amazon. They sell the same products that Amazon itself sells. Handling the shipping may give Amazon insight into the businesses of its competitors. This relationship between Amazon and sellers on Amazon Marketplace has been something that has been looked at by antitrust authorities and others.

Is there anything else that you would do to improve the situation right now, even amid all these very large macroeconomic trends?.

Many of the container ship lines that still exist have grouped themselves into alliances. Youve got three alliances of ship lines that can dominate world trade, and there have been accusations that theres not enough competition in ocean shipping because of these alliances. Governments in the United States, Europe, and Asia may want to take a look at that and consider whether the alliances are a good thing or whether theyve gone too far.

There are also some communication issues here. Its hard to get insight into the entire supply chain. Computer systems may not talk to one another. Companies may not want to share information with one another. That may be something that governments look into to see whether they can help improve that situation.

Are there things that we should do now to prepare for the next disaster or pandemic?

This is a business decision. Individual companies create their own supply chains. My own view is that when companies started building these complicated international supply chains, they focused overwhelmingly on production costs and on transportation costs. They didnt pay much attention to risk, including the risk of business interruption. Its pretty obvious that companies now are focusing much more on risk, and that requires potentially a different strategy for managing their supply chains.

In the meantime, companies are still struggling to find these boxes. Is it time maybe for us to stop building swimming pools out of shipping containers?

Ive never seen one. I was not aware of that. Ive certainly seen bars and apartments and retail stores built out of shipping containers. If people find that chic, more power to them.

See more here:

The supply chain and the shipping container shortage, a brief history - Vox.com

Go to any surfing beach today and youd be hard-pressed not to find someone throwing a shaka handthumb and pinkie extended, three middle fingers curled against the palm. The iconic gesture, sometimes referred to as a hang ten or hang loose, has traveled far from its Hawaii origins. Today, American presidents, London nightclub goers, and even the emoji keyboard all sport the shaka hand.

Saa Tamba, owner of Tamba Surf Company on Kauai, has been throwing shakas his whole life. Its just, from my perspective, a way of saying hi, a way of saying goodbye, and spreading some good spirit, you know, the eternal spirit of aloha, he says. Tamba is quick to clarify that the shaka isnt a wave. Youre kind of like throwing it out there, you know, to your friend or someone away in the distance. So theyre kind of like catching the shaka, he says. Tamba throws different shakas for different reasons. Theres the casual, one-handed shaka and theres the strong, double-handed shaka for flagging someone down at a crowded concert, or saying hello to a friend you havent seen in a while.

The shaka hand grew in popularity across Hawaii in the mid-20th century thanks in part to used car salesman David Lippy Espinda, who was the first to link the gesture to the wordwhich is not actually Hawaiian in origin, but more likely Japanese. As a sign-off for his 1960s television ads, Espinda would throw a shaka and then say his catchphrase: shaka, brah! In the 1970s and 1980s, the gesture also featured prominently in reelection campaign ads for Frank Fasi, Honolulus longest-serving mayor. While Fasi and Espinda helped make the shaka hand more recognizable in Hawaii, surfings surge in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s helped export the gesture abroad. As Tamba puts it, surfing spread it more than anything else.

But the origins of where the shaka hand came from are far murkier than its global rise to emoji-keyboard stardom. One of several versions of the story suggests the gesture originated with early Spanish explorers asking for a drink. Another claims it came from mid-19th-century Chinese immigrants using the gesture to signify the number six.

However, according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the prevailing origin story goes back about a century to Hawaiian plantation worker Hamana Kalili. His job was to feed sugar cane stalks into the rollers of a machine that would squeeze out the canes sweet juice. One day, Kalilis hand got caught in the rollers and he ended up losing his three middle fingers. The company, the Kahuku Sugar Mill, gave him a new job as a security guard; every time he waved, hed make whats now known as the shaka hand. From there, local children mimicked and spread the gesture.

Accidents like Kalilis certainly happened on Hawaiian plantations, perhaps even fairly often. You know, there must be dozens of people with three fingers missing in the middle of the hand, says historian Mike Mauricio of the Hawaii Plantation Village. While we know Kalili actually existed, Mauricio is unconvinced theres enough evidence that he specifically originated the gesture.

University of Lisbons Cristiana Bastos, principal investigator of the Colour of Labour: the Racialized Lives of Migrants, agrees that Kalilis role in originating the gesture is uncertainbut says the story is about more than one individual. While the story is mythic, she says, Kalilis tragic tale serves as a reminder of a time where plantations were very important in Hawaii. The role of Indigenous Hawaiians in plantation history is often overlooked, Bastos adds. Ironically, the modern, feel-good shaka gesture is, in some ways, one of the echoes of that little-known, often brutal chapter of Hawaiian history.

When Hawaiis plantations got going in the late 1800s, countless workers endured terrible conditions to grow and harvest white gold, or sugar cane, a very sharp, unforgiving plant, says Nicholas B. Miller, assistant professor at Floridas Flagler College and a former researcher at the Colour of Labour project. The grim day-to-day working conditions only degraded further when harvest approached. Sugar cane fields would be set on fire to burn away the plants leaves, exposing the sugar-bearing stalk for easier collection. During these mass burns, Miller says, the fields would look like the pits of hell were opening up.

Kalilis work at the plantation, both before and after his accident, which occurred around 1917, reveals one aspect of plantation history thats often overlooked: the role of Indigenous Hawaiians as laborers well into the 20th century. Whats really interesting about [the Kalili] legend is that it implies that a native Hawaiian was involved in the sugar economy well after native Hawaiians are not really seen as part of that world, Miller says. Instead, historians often focus on the migrant contract workers coming to Hawaii, sometimes not mentioning that there were Indigenous Hawaiians, too, says Bastos.

In the opening decades of the 20th century, thanks to an influx of immigrants, plantation laborers became a far more diverse population. Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Norwegians, Koreans, Filipinos, Russians, and Puerto Ricans all came to find work in the sugar economy. As the islands population expanded in both size and diversity, Miller says the society was split into haole peoplewhite outsiders who ran the plantationsand locals, which essentially encompassed everyone else. With foreign-born plantation workers considered as local as Hawaiians, the centuries-long history of the islands Indigenous community became increasingly overlooked, just one more ingredient in what has been popularly presented as a harmonious melting pot of diversity.

If you look from the perspective of Indigenous Hawaiians who were dispossessed and who were not called in that celebration [of diversity] in equal terms, or in the terms that they would want for themselves because they were there beforehand, says Bastos, then you dont get to see this as harmoniously.

Whether or not Kalili was the originator of the shaka gesture ultimately doesnt matter. Even apocryphal stories can reveal important truths about who we are, and remind us of forgotten histories. His tragic accident shows us that Indigenous Hawaiians had a greater presence in the islands plantation history than is often acknowledged.

So the next time you see a surferor an American presidentthrow a shaka, remember there is some deep history behind what Tamba, like most people, think of as just a good way of spreading good vibes.

Link:

The Dark History of Hawaiis Iconic Hand Gesture - Atlas Obscura

Meilan Solly

Associate Editor, History

Few gossip columnists wielded as much influence in mid-20th century Hollywood as Walter Winchell, a syndicated newspaper writer and radio commentator known for his scintillating indictments of prominent public figures. As political winds shifted between the 1930s and 50s, Winchell targeted celebrities for offenses both real and imagined. Aviator Charles Lindbergh, for instance, attracted the columnists ire for espousing anti-Semitic views and expressing his support for the Nazis. Winchell also accused French performer Josephine Baker, who spoke out against racial discrimination in New York City, of harboring communist sympathies. Perhaps most surprisingly to modern audiences, the media tastemaker even singled out television icon Lucille Ball.

Known for her career-making turn as Lucy Ricardo, the ditzy star of the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy, Ball skyrocketed to fame when the show premiered in the fall of 1951. She attracted Winchells unwelcome attention two years later, in September 1953, when she was questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) as part of its quest to root out communism in the entertainment industry. Tuning in to the radio personalitys Sunday evening broadcast from her ranch in Californias San Fernando Valley, the actress heard Winchell offer up a scandalous blind item: The top television comedienne has been confronted with her membership in the Communist Party! Initially reluctant to identify herself as the comedienne in question, Ball changed her tune after publicist Howard Strickling suggested that Winchell was referring to comic Imogene Coca. I resent that, Howard, she reportedly declared. Everyone knows that Im the top comedienne!

Balls brush with the so-called Red Scare is one of three central conflicts dramatized in Aaron Sorkins Being the Ricardos, a new biopic that unfolds over five days in September 1952. The Trial of the Chicago 7 writer and director condenses the historical timeline for dramatic effect, placing the 1953 communism scandal, Balls 195253 pregnancy with son Desi Arnaz, Jr. and the 1955 publication of a tabloid article detailing Desis wild night out within the same week. Featuring Nicole Kidman as Ball and Javier Bardem as her husband Desi Arnaz, the Amazon Studios film strives to reveal a previously unseen side of the famous couples personal and professional relationship. As Sorkin tells Entertainment Weekly, The only thing better than a story people dont know is a story that people think they know but theyre wrong.

Heres what you need to know ahead of the movies arrival on Amazon Prime Video on December 21. Being the Ricardos is currently playing in theaters.

In short, yes, but with an altered timeline and dramatic license typical of a historical drama. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sorkin, who wrote and directed Being the Ricardos, centers the action around the filming of a single I Love Lucy episode, Fred and Ethel Fight. J.K. Simmons and Nina Arianda play William Frawley and Vivian Vance, whose characters, Fred and Ethel Mertz, respectively, lend the episode its title.

The movie follows the sitcoms cast from a Monday table read to a Friday taping in front of a live audience. Behind the scenes, the stars must navigate a series of crises, including potentially career-ending accusations of communist ties, reports of Arnazs infidelity and CBS response to Balls pregnancy. Interspersed with these events are flashbacks to the early days of Ball and Arnazs relationship and black-and-white scenes from I Love Lucy that showcase the actress comedic, visionary genius.

When writing the script, Sorkin drew on Arnazs autobiography and home movie footage provided by the couples daughter, Lucie Arnaz, who gave the director permission to take the gloves off and portray her parents in all their complexity. Ball could be really tough and difficult, says Kathleen Brady, author of Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball. She could also be thoughtful, considerate and caring. [She] had a much greater bandwidth than most human beings.

By placing three chronologically separate events within the same week, Sorkin tells the Hollywood Reporter, he created all of these interesting conflicts, and thats what Im looking for. Points of friction that add up to something that you can write about.

Born in New York in 1911, Ball studied acting at the same school as Hollywood legend Bette Davis. Compared with star pupil Davis, Ball struggled to find her footing, with teachers telling her mother, Lucys wasting her time and ours. Shes too shy and reticent to put her best foot forward. Though Ball eventually overcame this stage fright to work as a model and actress, she failed to find success as a leading lady in Hollywood and was consigned to bit parts in B movies.

In 1940, while working on the set of the RKO film Too Many Girls, Ball formed an instant connection with Arnaz, a 23-year-old bandleader and actor whose family had fled Cuba in 1933. The couple eloped that same year and spent the better part of the next decade pursuing their respective careers. Then, in 1950, a joint opportunity arose: My Favorite Husband, a radio program starring Ball and Richard Denning as a husband and wife navigating the highs and lows of married life, was slated to make the jump to televisionand this time around, Ball wanted her actual partner by her side.

Initially, CBS executives balked at the idea, saying, We dont think viewers will accept Desi, a Latin with a thick Cuban accent, as the husband of a typical, red-headed American girl like Lucille Ball. After Arnaz and Ball took a successful vaudeville version of the show on the road, however, the network changed its tune. I Love Lucyreleased under the auspices of the couples newly formed Desilu Productionspremiered on October 15, 1951, to instant acclaim.

Being the Ricardos opens around a year after the sitcoms debut, in September 1952. Though the film suggests that a trio of crises broke out around the same time, the events in question actually took place over several years. Chronologically, the first was Balls pregnancy with her second child, Desi Jr. At the time, strict morality codes prohibited sexually suggestive content, including the act of procreation suggested by an expectant mothers presence, from appearing on television. Despite being married, Lucy and Ricky Ricardo couldnt even sleep in the same bed. Instead, they spent their nights in adjacent twin beds.

CBS was reluctant to acknowledge Balls pregnancy on air, and many of those involved in the show feared that it would be canceled. But Arnaz pushed back against the networks suggestions of hiding Balls belly behind furniture and props, asking, What is so wrong if she has a baby in the show as Lucy Ricardo? Executives eventually agreed to incorporate the pregnancy into the showon one condition. None of the characters could use the word pregnant, which was deemed too vulgar for television; instead, they were told to use euphemisms like expectant and the French term enceinte.

Broadcast on November 24, 1952, Lucy Is Enceinte found the title character breaking news of her pregnancy to Ricky in characteristically bumbling fashion. After learning of his impending fatherhood, Ricky sings Were Having a Baby (My Baby and Me) to Lucy in a tender scene underscoring the real-life couples affection for each other. Ball delivered Desi Jr. via caesarean section on January 19, 1953, the same day that some 44 million Americans tuned in to welcome the birth of Ricky Ricardo Jr. Contrary to the networks fears, the public eagerly followed both the plotline and the actual pregnancy. Counting letters, telegrams, gifts and telephone calls, [Ball] and Desi received over one million indications of public interesta figure never before even approached in the entertainment world, according to Hollywood writer Eleanor Harris. Ball soon returned to work, and Little Rickyplayed by a succession of actors throughout the shows runbecame a mainstay of the Ricardo household.

The next major crisis featured in Being the Ricardos took place in September 1953, when news of HUACs investigation of Ball went public. A House of Representatives committee established in 1938 to look into communist activity in the United States, HUAC initially questioned the actress in April 1952. The following September, the committee brought Ball back in, reportedly to review the statements shed provided the previous year. After a two-hour interrogation, which was kept private, committee members told Ball that shed been cleared of any suspected wrongdoing and assured her that her testimony would remain sealed. Two days later, however, Winchell revealed the investigation to his national audience. ([S]omehow, writes Brady in Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball, HUAC let it leak out.)

The groups interest in the comedian stemmed from events that occurred in the mid-1930s. Early in her career, Ball had brought her family, including Fred Hunt, the grandfather who served as her father figure (her own father died when she was a child), out to Hollywood. Hunt had a very keen sense of social justice based in part on all that he had suffered in his life as a working man, says Brady. He believed in [labor organizer and five-time presidential candidate] Eugene V. Debs, socialism and communism. He told Lucille and her brother to register as communists, and during a lunch break from filming in 1936, the actress did just that.

Ball attributed her actions to wanting to please her aging, eccentric grandfather. I didnt intend to vote that way, she told investigators. As I recall, I didnt. [But] we didnt argue with [Fred] very much because he had a couple of strokes and if he got overly excited, why, he would have another one. The star added, In those days, [registering as a communist] was not a big, terrible thing to do. It was almost as terrible to be a Republican in those days.

In addition to the 1936 registration record, HUAC questioned Ball about her purported appointment as a delegate to the Communist State Central Committee by known communist Emil Freed and her membership in the Committee for the First Amendment, a collective of actors and filmmakers formed in support of the Hollywood Ten, who were imprisoned and blacklisted in 1947 for refusing to disclose potential communist ties to HUAC. Speaking out at the time, Ball said, The way to [defend the Constitution] is not by shutting up the man you disagree with. Years later, she struck a more conciliatory tone, telling HUAC that she had no knowledge of Freed and failing to recall anything about her involvement with the First Amendment committee.

Though the government deemed Balls responses enough to clear her name, the court of public opinion presented another trial entirely. The Los Angeles Herald-Express ran a doctored photo of Balls registration card, omitting the section stating that shed canceled her membership, under the all-caps headline LUCILLE BALL NAMED RED. Columnist Jack OBrian predicted that Ball will retire a lot sooner than she thinks; a fan writing to Winchell, meanwhile, declared, The show should be called I Loathe Lucy, and every real American feels that way, too. Arnaz and Ball were terrified that the show was going to go off the air and it was going to be the end of their careers, says Brady. One of their dearest friends, Larry Parks, who was a rising star at the time, [had had] his life utterly destroyed by this committee. And theyd seen it [firsthand].

After discussing the veracity of the charges with the I Love Lucy stars, network executives and representatives of tobacco company Philip Morris, the shows commercial sponsor, agreed to stand by Ball. On Friday, September 11the day when filming of the sitcoms second season was set to commenceArnaz addressed the controversy in front of a live studio audience. Lucy has never been a communistnow nowand never will be, he told the crowd, as recounted in Balls autobiography. I was kicked out of Cuba because of communism. We despise everything about it. On Saturday, the complete transcript of Lucys testimony will be released to the papers, and you can read it for yourself.

Luckily for Ball, Arnaz, and the rest of the cast and crew, the audience responded with rapturous applause. Arnaz called out for his wife to join him, saying, Now I want you to meet my favorite wife, my favorite redheadin fact, thats the only thing red about her, and even thats not legitimate. Overcome with emotion, the actress (a natural brunette) thanked the crowd, then turned and walked back through the curtains with tears in [her] eyes.

Publicly exonerated by HUACs chairman, Representative Donald L. Jackson, that same evening, Ball held a press conference at the Desilu Ranch the following day. One reporter in attendance said, I think we all owe Lucy a vote of thanks, and I think a lot of us owe her an apology. Winchell himself soon walked back his comments, albeit without taking responsibility for his own role in the public relations disaster. [T]onight, he claimed, Mr. Lincoln is drying his eyes for making [Ball] go through this.

Despite its potential to bring the couples careers to an abrupt end, this brush with the Red Scare soon blew over. Arnazs direct approach to the crisis likely played a role in the quick resolution: As Brady says, He really demanded his rights as an American, and that was something that had been denied to a lot of people [investigated by HUAC]. Ball, for her part, never voted again. Show business was her religion and her politics, Brady explains. Thats what she really cared about.

The third central conflict explored in Being the Ricardos is Arnazs infidelity, as chronicled in the Hollywood tabloid Confidential. In the film, Ball confronts her husband with two stories headlined Desis Wild Night Out and Does Desi Really Love Lucy? He initially denies the claims but eventually admits to sleeping with call girls. Theyre hookers, he says. It doesnt mean anything.

In truth, says Brady, Arnaz was a womanizer who had many wild nights out. He was an extraordinary businessman and actor but drank and gambled compulsively to cope with the pressures of his career. He was loved around the country, of course, but he was not loved as much as Lucille Ball, Brady adds. And that hurt his ego enormously, as it probably would hurt anybody.

Confidential ran Does Desi Really Love Lucy? as its January 1955 cover story. Filled with salacious details of Arnazs purported extramarital encounters, the article suggested that he had proved himself an artist at philandering as well as acting. It quoted Arnaz asking a friend, Whats [Ball] upset about? I dont take out other broads. I just take out hookers.

When the Confidential story came out, I Love Lucy was nearing the midpoint of its fifth season. Balls publicist, Charles Pomerantz, later told People:

I gave an advance copy to Desi, and Lucy said, I want to read this story. It was during a rehearsal day, and she went into her dressing room. Everybody was frozen on the set. She finally came out, tossed the magazine to Desi and said, Oh, hell, I could tell them worse than that.

According to Darin Strauss, author of a novel about Ball, the Confidential article is said to have drained the joy from their marriage. The final episode of I Love Lucy aired on May 6, 1957. A longer-format, modified version of the series titled The LucyDesi Comedy Hour followed the Ricardo family through the end of the 1950s but drew to a close in the spring of 1960, when Ball filed for divorce.

Arnaz sold his shares in Desilu to his ex-wife in 1962, making her the first woman CEO of a major Hollywood production company. Under Balls leadership, Desilu developed such iconic shows as Star Trek and Mission: Impossible. The former couple remained friends until Arnazs death in 1986 at age 69. Ball died three years later, in 1989, at age 77.

I realized what [Ball] was doing in terms of trailblazing for so many women and her ability to take things on and then recover from failure, which I thought was fantastic, Kidman tells the Hollywood Reporter. She would get up, brush herself off, with Desis help, and she would just move forward and tackle things. Her biggest failures turned out to be the thing that would drive her into the next success and ultimately lead her to what we know, what we revere her and revere the show and revere their art, together. What they did together is gorgeous.

Recommended Videos

Read more:

The True History Behind 'Being the Ricardos' - Smithsonian

There's something beautiful and stunning about rising at 4:30 a.m. and walking through the predawn darkness to attend Simbang Gabi, a yearly nine-day Advent novena that began in the Philippines. The novena typically starts on Dec. 16 and runs through Dec. 24. Catholic churches are lit with parol, a star-shaped lantern that originated in the Philippines and resembles the star of Bethlehem, and filled with fast-tempo, vibrant music.

Simbang Gabi celebrations began in the Philippines in 1668 when Spanish missionaries brought the practice from Mexico as part of their evangelization in the country. Spanish priests held early morning, predawn services so that fisherman who finished up their workday late and farmers who were starting their days early could gather for worship.

During this time, along with different faith practices, different agricultural techniques were introduced to help tend to the land during different seasons to yield greater harvests. In An Introduction to Philippine History, Jesuit Fr. Jos Arcilla writes that the Philippine people were taught to read and write, which helped them read the catechism, and they marked their days with prayers such as the Angelus, which is recited at sunrise, noon, sundown and early evening.

Little by little, times and schedules were marked around Sunday Mass and celebrating certain feast days, like Christmas and Easter. Days were marked by God at the center. Arcilla also points out there were times missionaries couldn't find a Spanish translation for a word in Tagalog (which is one of the main languages of the Philippines) and began replacing words such as Dios for God instead of the Tagalog word Bathala. Slowly, the lifestyle that the Philippine people knew became Eurocentric, oriented around Spanish life and faith.

In Brown Skin, White Minds: Filipino-/American Postcolonial Psychology, psychology professor E.J.R. David explores how this history with colonialism has shaped the lives of Filipinos in the United States, who are currently one of the largest U.S. Asian groups. David explores how European colonialism impacted and continues to impact the Filipino community all around the world, including its impact on how we see ourselves today as Catholics.

In the United States, there are more than 4 million Filipino Americans, and 65% of that population identifies as Catholic.

To be Filipino American Catholic maybe means not wanting to disrespect the elders and generations of ancestors who practiced this deep faith for centuries. There is a sense of shame that comes about in our communities when we disrespect elders and start to question a history that spans 500 years.

These are the elders who came to the U.S. with a suitcase, maybe two. These same elders worked in the agricultural fields of the Central Valley in California or perhaps came to pursue science or engineering careers through the 1965 Immigration Act. These elders also used the example of a church community to lift each other up, cook for each other when their community was hungry, or gave money when a community member died.

To be Filipino American Catholic in these times of 2021 means to want to wrestle with a complex and oppressive history, knowing your faith sustains you no matter what. It also can mean to walk away and not want to practice a faith that was shared so aggressively.

These last two years have shown us as a nation that understanding deep oppression in communities and within our society means uncovering a history that at times is fraught with pain, whether it's yours or another's.

Our history as Filipino Catholics in the U.S. was not something many of us have had the privilege of hearing in our classrooms or religion classes. I can't remember a single image of a parol in my religion books growing up. We didn't talk about it in my Catholic elementary school, which had a large and growing Filipino population in the 1980s in the San Francisco Bay Area. The parol is literally the mark of how we celebrate Christmas and how we as a community lit the path for each other on a darkened street in the pre-dawn hours of Simbang Gabi.

The beginning of questioning Catholic faith as a Filipina American and its history began at an in-depth level for me in the months following the death of George Floyd.

I began reading about Black history and Filipino American history to better understand how we as two collective communities shaped the United States. At times, the history was heavier than expected.

There was a deep desire to decolonize both my mind and the history I'd known for generations. The fiction I was beginning to read by authors whose last names resembled mine spoke to me in a way that Flannery O'Conner and Graham Greene never did.

When we speak about anti-racism or racial equity, a large part of our conversation centers around decolonization. It's an unlearning of what was passed down to you and your community. It's centering the histories and stories that were in place long before people, histories, religions were forced to change.

We as a people are proud of our Catholic faith and the strength it gives us. I wonder what it would be like to also be proud to know of the history of the faith that existed before Christianity.

For Filipino Catholics, Simbang Gabi celebrations are joyous and an opportunity to wrestle with our complicated history with Catholicism.

What would it be like if we brought up those complicated histories at our salu-salo (family gatherings that include food)? Or maybe around our multigenerational dinner tables sa Pasko (at Christmas)? Our tables are places of prayer but what about the history for what we pray?

How might we model what it means to hold the tension of Christianity but the deep knowing of a harmful legacy at times with our people? We are a people who believe. Who follow. We build chapels in our shopping malls in the Philippines because Catholicism is deep in our blood. It's important we know and embrace our past even if it's harsh.

When it's time to celebrate Pasko and we are hanging bright and colorful parol in our windows for neighbors to see, maybe we take time to acknowledge. We acknowledge our multigenerational gatherings and we acknowledge our history. We pay tribute to our ancestors and their blessings. We acknowledge our strength as a people and our desire to understand our truth.

Go here to see the original:

Simbang Gabi is joyous and a reminder of Filipinos' complex history with Catholicism - National Catholic Reporter

Goldstone is a writer whose most recent book is "On Account of Race: The Supreme Court, White Supremacy, and the Ravaging of African American Voting Rights."

In days past, the worst thing that could be said about American history classes was that they were boring. No longer. The American history curriculum is now a battleground. From both ends of the political spectrum come demands to teach middle and high school students about the development of the United States to comport with their own political ideology.

As with so much of the bickering that plagues the nation, the conflict has coalesced around questions of race, with each side accusing the other of substituting indoctrination for education. Unfortunately, both are correct.

To those on the right, contrivances such as critical race theory and The New York Timess controversial 1619 Project undermine not only education but also the very foundations of American society. In a September 2020 speech promoting patriotic education, President Donald Trump declared, We must clear away the twisted web of lies in our schools and classrooms and teach our children the magnificent truth about our country. We want our sons and daughters to know they are the citizens of the most exceptional nation in the history of the world. He described teaching racial history as child abuse.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Conservatives have taken up the call to purge classrooms of divisive material. There have been demands to ban or even burn books that do not show the United States in a pristine light. In Texas, state Rep. Matt Krause initiated an inquiry of books that contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. He listed more than 800 titles including The Confessions of Nat Turner, Between the World and Me, and books written by Isabelle Wilkerson, Amnesty International, and even Anna Quindlen, John Irving and Michael Crichton.

To critics on the left, institutional racism is the linchpin of the American experience. In the original print version of the 1619 Project, editor Jake Silverstein wrote that celebrating 1776 as the year of our nations birth ... is wrong ... and that the countrys true birth date, the moment that its defining contradictions first came into the world, was in late August of 1619.

That version of the project spawned sharp criticism from historians who could hardly be described as Trump conservatives. James McPherson, Pulitzer Prize winner for Battle Cry of Freedom, stated that he was disturbed by what seemed like a very unbalanced, one-sided account, which lacked context and perspective. MacPherson joined four other eminent historians in a sharply worded letter to the Times, in which, among other objections, they noted: On the American Revolution, pivotal to any account of our history, the project asserts that the founders declared the colonies independence of Britain in order to ensure slavery would continue. This is not true ... every statement offered by the project to validate it is false. They also took issue with the claim that for the most part, black Americans have fought their freedom struggles alone.

Although the Times denied bias, the online version was altered and when the 1619 Project was released in book form, additional changes had been made.

What is unfortunate is that, as Adam Hochschild noted in his review of the book edition, the 1619 Project is a wide-ranging, landmark summary of the Black experience in America: searing, rich in unfamiliar detail, exploring every aspect of slavery and its continuing legacy, in which being white or Black affects everything from how you fare in courts and hospitals and schools to the odds that your neighborhood will be bulldozed for a freeway.

That the impact of racism has been underemphasized is indisputable. It has been endemic in America from the nations very onset, be that 1619, 1776 or 1787, when the Constitution was drafted. At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, the economics of the slave system impacted virtually every serious debate in which the delegates engaged.

Fact was often distorted by myth. The banning of the slave trade after 1808 in Article I, Section 9 is often categorized as an anti-slavery provision while it was anything but. Virginia, which grew tobacco, was drowning in a burgeoning slave population and wanted desperately to sell its surplus at exorbitant prices to the Lower South, where rice was cultivated in dreadful conditions and slave mortality was high. Led by slave owner George Mason, Virginia delegates insisted the African slave trade be banned. The Lower South refused Africa was a far cheaper source of slaves than Virginia. The North insisted on a free flow of commerce, some of which was in the slave trade. Eventually, delegates from the North and Lower South struck a deal of which the 20-year extension was part. In response, Mason refused to sign the Constitution, although his refusal has since been cast in loftier terms and today a major university bears his name.

White supremacy has factored into American history through westward expansion, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Redeemer period, Jim Crow, the civil rights movement, and remains a key to political power. And bigotry has not been confined to African Americans Asian immigrants faced enormous obstacles in assimilating into American culture, as did immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Native Americans have been treated abominably and remain disproportionately doomed to poverty, alcoholism and disease.

So to pretend that American history is solely magnificent truth is absurd. Equally absurd, however, is the notion that race was the only determinant in how the United States developed as a nation and that whites universally, or even predominantly, were oppressors and non-whites were victims. White Americans helped found the NAACP and some such as Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were willing to risk, and sometimes give, their lives in pursuit of equal justice.

The history of the United States is neither simple nor straightforward, but rather one of ongoing struggle, and struggle has two sides. The best way to teach American history is to present those sides fairly and let students struggle to find meaning from them.

From Your Site Articles

Related Articles Around the Web

Read the original:

U.S. history curriculum should focus on education, not indoctrination - The Fulcrum

The history of the NFL is littered with some really terrible head coaches. One-year wonders like Chip Kelly, promising assistants like Josh McDaniels who were promoted too soon, guys like Hue Jackson and Marty Mornhinweg, who struggled to win any games. As memorable as those guys are, conjuring bad memories just by mentioning their names, we might be witnessing something very, very special: The worst head coach in NFL history.

Urban Meyer isnt the first successful college coach to fail in the NFL. Hell Nick Saban went 6-10 with the Dolphins, and Lou Holtz carried the Jets to a 3-10 record in 1976. What separates Meyer from those guys is the arrogance and rapidity hes not only losing games, but lighting the entire Jaguars franchise on fire while doing it.

From the second he was hired, Meyer began showing how ill-prepared he was for the NFL. This is a man who decried the free agency system because he felt it was necessary to meet with players to judge their character before signing anyone. Then in his sage wisdom he created drama in training camp by signing Tim Tebow to play tight end, for no other apparent reason than giving his friend a job.

All this was forgivable if it got results on the field, because in the NFL winning cures everything. Nobody expected Meyer to turn a 1-15 team into a juggernaut overnight, but when you talk-the-talk of being a winner, with a winning culture, and establishing a new era in Jacksonville well, you damn well better deliver.

When that didnt happen immediately, Urban began pouting instead of putting his head down and grinding. In fact, the most grinding Meyer did this season was on a woman half his age in an Ohio bar during the Jaguars bye week. It created even more drama for the Jaguars who were hopeless on the field, and hapless off of it. Then Meyers attempts to smooth it over were met with condemnation by players, who laughed at him, and had no respect for how he handled the meetings surrounding the incident.

It was around this time fans began rightfully questioning Meyers coaching ability. The issue wasnt just that the team was bad, its that there was no improvement from week to week. If anything, we were seeing regressions in Trevor Lawrences game, starkly opposing Mac Jones in New England who was surging ahead with Bill Belichick. Here was Lawrence, a cant-miss prospect with every tangible and intangible tool a team could want, and he was playing boring, uninspired, mistake-filled football that was partly because of terrible personnel around him, but also awful coaching.

So Meyer did what he does best, he started passing the buck. Whenever there was a question about the teams approach, or an in-game decision, Meyer had an answer that took any focus off him. It was the players failing to execute, or him having no control over his assistants and all this boiled over when a report emerged that Urban referred to his staff as losers while he, naturally is a winner. Just the kind of winner who goes 2-11 and looks like a kid who dropped his ice cream cone after every loss.

Oh, he also infuriated wide receiver Marvin Jones by talking down about the players that the mild-mannered leader of the offense left the facility and had to be coaxed back to return. This is a player who has been in the league since 2012, respected by teammates. Hes played for Matt Patricia in Detroit, who isnt exactly known for being a softy, but less than one season with Meyer and he was walking out.

And just when you thought this couldnt get any worse. That there wasnt a possible way for this whole scenario to sink any lower, we had the starkest example of Meyers complete ineptitude.

Andre Cisco isnt just some guy, he was the Jaguars third round draft pick this year. A player the team should be looking to build around. Not only is he not seeing the field to get some reps while the team is struggling, but Meyer doesnt even have a grasp on whether hes playing at all.

This all amounts to a coach who has totally checked out. Urban Meyer simply doesnt care. Maybe he never really cared to begin with. From the second he walked into the NFL he never learned that the kind of self-aggrandizing bravado needed to inspire boosters and sign recruits is wasted energy in the NFL. The only thing that matters is results, and with an even playing field Meyer has been left wanting, again, and again, and again.

The NFL is full of bad coaches, but ones that cause real, lasting damage are a rare and terrifying commodity. By all reports the Jaguars arent willing to stop the bleeding, and Meyer will retain his job. The question now becomes: For how long? In the span of months hes turned a terrible team with hope for the future, into a terrible team with no signs of life. What happens if hes given that rope for another year? Or perish the thought, another TWO years. Meyer is already doing the impossible: Inspiring apathy in Jaguars fans, some of the most fiercely loyal fans in the entire league, even with their team sucks. One coach has stopped them from caring, at a time they should be enjoying Lawrences rookie season, even if the rest of the team is bad.

All this amounts to one unassailable fact: Urban Meyer is a loser. No amount of screaming Im a winner! Will change that.

Original post:

Urban Meyer may be the worst coach in NFL history - SB Nation

The five best series concludes today with a look at the five best relievers inChicago Cubshistory.This series is based on last yearsall-time top 25 rankings. Unless otherwise noted, statistics are for each players tenure as a Cub, and references to WAR are to the Fangraphs version unless otherwise noted.

None of these guys appear in the all-time top 25; its just very difficult for relievers to accumulate lots of WAR unless they are enormously durable. Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, generally viewed as the best reliever in baseball history, leads the reliever WAR totals with 38.6, the same as Hall of Really Quite Solid member Mark Gubicza.

A lot of trails lead out of this clearing, involving questions such as the value of WAR as a statistic and whether relievers should be in the Hall. For the purposes of this post, well ignore those. Relievers are in the Hall, and WAR is at least one way of ranking them. The philosophical debates can (and will) take place elsewhere.

#5 Sean Marshall 2006-11, 2.67 ERA, 2.80 FIP, 112 ERA+, 4.9 WAR

Take that 112 ERA+ with a grain of salt because Marshall began his career a a starter. For the years he was primarily a reliver (2008-11) his ERA+ was a robust 132. Marshall seldom closed for the Cubs, but he was a reliable late-inning reliever over that four year span. The only lefty in the top 5, Marshall was no LOOGY; he regularly faced righties and particularly in 2010 and 2011 was extremely effective at getting them out.

#4 Pedro Strop 2013-19, 2021, 2.88 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 142 ERA+, 5.7 WAR

Where is Scott Feldman now? The Cubs should at least do him a solid and have a bobblehead day. Strop was the buy-before-midnight bonus in the trade for Jake Arrieta, and like Arrieta he became a key piece in the curse-breaking pitching staff. A heavy groundball pitcher, Strop kept the ball in the yard while coming in third in strikeout percent for Cubs relievers (28.1) and second in WHIP (1.05).

#3 Carlos Marmol 2006-13, 3.15 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 124 ERA+, 6.8 WAR

As an outfielder in the minors Marmol couldnt hit, so he spent the rest of his career exacting revenge on those who could. The right-hander leads all Cubs relievers in a number categories, including games (470), strikeouts (657) and walks (311). Unlike Strop, Marmol was flyball pitcher, but he did a good job keeping those flies on the right side of the ivy. Toward the end of his career Marmol shifted to a groundball approach, perhaps in response to diminishing stuff. It didnt work; balls started leaving the yard with alarming frequency and he was done at age 31.

#2 Lee Smith 1980-87 2.82 ERA, 2.75 FIP, 134 ERA+, 14.9 WAR

Quick: name five Black pitchers on any teams 26-man roster. While youre thinking, Ill write this note about Lee Smith.

Smith was built like a main battle tank; he is one of the first pitchers I remember seeing who personified mound presence. I can still see his remarkable facial expression as he got ready to deliver: a forbidding mix of scowl, wince, and snarl. (Chicago Tribune columnist Mike Royko theorized that this reflected Smiths agony at having to pitch for the Cubs.) If I can still see Smiths expression, I imagine several hitters who faced him still can as well.

Smith leads all Cubs relievers in saves (180) and hes third in the majors (478). He had at least one save with eight different teams, which Im guessing is a record, and in any case is damn impressive. I wouldnt argue much if you wanted to put him at number 1.

Ok, here are five of the most notable Black pitchers on active rosters (there arent a huge number more): Marcus Stroman (Cubs if you missed this one, go to your room); Triston McKenzie (Guardians); Justus Sheffield (Mariners); Taijuan Walker (Mets); Javys BFF Amir Garrett (Reds).

#1 Bruce Sutter 1976-80, 2.39 ERA, 2.32 FIP, 171 ERA+, 16.1 WAR

Another Hall of Famer, Sutter is second all-time in Cubs saves (133); he edges Smith because of his more dominant rate stats. Hes often credited (or blamed) for being the first of the one-inning closers who would become fixtures in the game. Sutter was part of a transition in bullpen usage that would culminate with Tony LaRussas usage of Dennis Eckersley in the late 1980s, but the trend away from starting pitching has been around since the 1920s.

The days of Sutter-ish relievers may be waning. In 2021 neither leagues saves leader amassed 40; the last time that happened in a full season was 1982.

The days of Paul Assenmacher (1989-93, 4.7 WAR) have also probably drawn to a close. While with the Cubs, Assenmacher pitched two seasons of over 100 innings each, almost all in relief. Seasons like this are now rare, though that may change if roster rules are changed to limit the number of pitchers.

While rummaging around his attic in January 2016, Hector Rondon (2013-17, 4.0 WAR) found a strikeout pitch. Rondon would whiff nearly 30% of the batters he faced in 2016 and 2017.

Trailblazing Willie Hernandez (1977-83, 3.9 WAR) would get to a World Series just 33 years before the team that brought him up. He sent the Cubs a postcard.

Want your voice heard? Join theCubbies Crib team!

While he only pitched 26 2/3 regular season innings for the Cubs, Aroldis Chapman (2016, 1.3 WAR) certainly deserves a mention as the closer for the World Series squad. He had a video game ERA (1.01) during the regular season, but put up slightly more mortal numbers in the postseason. Joe Maddon very belatedly admitted what anyone watching the games could see: he overused Chapman in the playoffs. But flags fly forever, and most Cubs fans have probably come to terms with that.

Read the original post:

Who are the 5 best relievers in Chicago Cubs history? - Cubbies Crib

Many expected the Chicago Bears to be blown out by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. While that ended up being the case in the second half, the first half was competitive and entertaining, especially for Bears fans.

But it was the second quarter that proved to be one of the most explosive quarters of not only the season but in NFL history, where there were a total of six touchdowns scored.

It was the first time in NFL history (since complete NFL scoring data in 1925) that there were a total of five touchdowns of 35-plus yards in a single quarter.

Three of those belonged to the Bears and two to the Packers, where three were thrown by quarterback Justin Fields.

Wide receiver Jakeem Grant had two scores a 46-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Fields and 97-yard punt return touchdown. Wide receiver Damiere Byrd added a 54-yard touchdown from Fields.

Fields also tossed an ill-advised pick-6, which was returned 55 yards for a score by Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas.

The Bears led the Packers 27-21 at halftime, but it didnt take long for that lead to diminish. Chicago was outscored 24-3 in the second half, including 17-0 in the third quarter alone.

But Bears fans will always have that first half.

Read more:

Second quarter of Bears-Packers game was most explosive in NFL history - Chicago Bears Wire

Saturday's game between No. 9 Tennessee and No. 3 Stanford is more than a top 10 matchup.It's a part of a decades-long series started by two of the best coaches in the history of basketball.

The Lady Vols and Cardinal have faced off at least once every season since1988, with the exception oflast season Stanford optedout of traveling to Knoxville due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tennessee is 25-12 against the Cardinal, and legendary Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt was 22-7 against Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer.

When the series started, Summitt and VanDerveer were alternating years of winning the NCAA Tournament title. Summitt won her first NCAA titles in 1987 and 1989; VanDerveer won her first in 1990, then it was Summitt in 1991 and VanDerveer again in 1992. The winner of the Tennessee-Stanford matchup each of those seasons went on to win the national championship. In the 1990-91 season, Tennessee beat Stanford three times.

A YEAR AGO: Tara VanDerveer and Pat Summitt's relationship never wavered, so it's fitting Stanford coach broke wins record

REIGNING CHAMPS: Stanford nips Arizona, wins first women's NCAA basketball championship since 1992

"We lost a lot of games to them, but I think that we always got better because of playing them," VanDerveer said Monday. "I was a great friend of Pat's,she was an incredible person andI'm really thankful that we had the rivalry.

"I call it a win-win. No matter how we did, it was always going tomake us better. If you win the game,that's great. And if you don't, you know, it's always gonna make the team better. We always just took it on as a challenge,and it was a great challenge for our team."

Both Summitt and VanDerveer are trailblazers in women's basketball, and two of the winningest coaches of all time a title Summitt held until VanDerver got her 1,099th win on Dec. 15, 2020. VanDerveer has 1,131 career wins, continuing to hold the title of winningest coach in women's basketball.

While VanDerveer caught up to Summitt in wins, she still has five NCAA titles to go to tie Summitt's eight championships.

VanDerveer said the excellence Summitt established as a coach played a part in her own successes, too.

"I think a lot of the success that we've had, has been the fact that we've gotten to play them, play great competition, so, I thinkPat's had a hand in our success and my success," VanDerveer said."I'm happy to be part of the conversation with Coach Summitt."

VanDerveer will have a familiar face at the head of Tennessee's bench in Kellie Harper, who played against VanDerveer from 1995-99. Harper went 2-2 in her playing career against Stanford, and called the series a tradition.

"I've always admired Coach VanDerveerandhow she coaches, how she carries herself and I did as a player and still do as a coach," Harper said."I've had the opportunity to coach against her a few times, even prior to get into Tennessee. You know her teams are always going to be tough. They're well coached and really play intelligent basketball. So we know what we're gonna see and it'll be a great challenge."

9-0 START: No. 9 Tennessee Lady Vols stifle Georgia State, led by double-doubles from Tamari Key, Jordan Horston

Tennessee is off to its best start under Harper at 9-0, and the home game Saturday (5:15 p.m. ET, ESPN2) against Stanford (6-2) presents its greatest challenge yet.But VanDerveer sees Harper and Tennessee as a challenge, too.

"I'm not sure which is harder heras a player or her as a coach," VanDerveer said of Harper."She was a great player, and she's a great coach.I think she's done a fabulous job. I just appreciate the opportunity to play against them."

The Lady Vols are No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game, tallying an average of 50, carrying on Summitt's legacy of being a tough rebounding team.

"Pat always had this (saying): offense sells tickets, defense winsgames and reboundingwins championships," VanDerveer said."So we know that we'll have our work cut out for us coming Knoxville, you've got to rebound the basketball, no doubt."

Cora Hallcovers University of Tennessee women's athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll.

The rest is here:

Tennessee vs. Stanford is more than a game. It's tradition and a tribute to greatest coaches in history - Knoxville News Sentinel

Christopher Berinato| For Savannah Morning News

Where to find the strange and wonderful in Savannah

That's So Savannah columnist Christopher Berinato talks about how he finds the stories he writes about.

Savannah Morning News

With Christmas around the corner, fleets of delivery trucks continuously zig-zag through neighborhoods making sure the piles of gifts people ordered online get to them on time. Ive had trucks stop in front of my own home multiple times some days. Although the incredibly short wait period between clicking the buy button and receiving the item is a modern technological miracle, supply chain woes during the pandemic have made me realize how much Ive taken the logistics of transportation for granted.

Before planes, trains, and automobiles...(and drones?)…the options for transporting large amounts of goods were pretty limited. Horses and carts are slow, and rivers only go wheretheywant to go.

Thats So Savannah: Neighboring Hilton Head home to fascinating sculptures

Another, less obvious, but effective, option was to dig your way there. That is what Georgia did when it chartered the Savannah-Ogeechee Barge Canal in 1824.

Between 1826 and 1830, African and Irish laborers dug a 16.5 mile canal connecting the Savannah River and the Ogeechee River (with 6 locks in-between). Slaves (later freemen) led mules up and down the canal as they towed barges, and for a while it was a boon for business in southern Georgia.

The first few years of the canal were a bit of a mess as rotting wooden locks and constant erosion of the embankment eventually forced the parent company into bankruptcy. The new company improved the locks and widened the canal, and consequently it was successful for the next twenty years.

Goods like rice, cotton, bricks, and peaches from plantations were moved along the canal to markets. The canal was particularly important for moving lumber from the large sawmill located at the basin.

That's so Savannah: Kazoo lovers can learn history of musical instrument in nearby Beaufort

Use of the canal slowed down during the Civil War. Then when yellow fever hit the region, everyone blamed the canal for the severity of the outbreak, hurting business even more. By 1890 the canal shut down, replaced by railroads as the preferred mode of transport.

Thats So Savannah: What sculptures can you find in Port Wentworth?

Today the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Part of the canal is home to the Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center where visitors can learn about the history of this well-preserved example of 19thcentury transportation and walk along several miles of trails that run through the 184 acres of swamp. The nature center also has many local animals including the state reptile the gopher tortoise and the state bird the brown thrasher.

The Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center is located at 681 Fort Argyle Rd. For more information visitsavannahogeecheecanal.org.

Christopher Berinato is the author of Secret Savannah: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure.

See more here:

Thats So Savannah: Savannah-Ogeechee Canal is a piece of transportation history - Savannah Morning News