Purple Flag on Saturday

Labor Day

Today is the beginning of the traditional last fling of summer, the Labor Day weekend. The reason that Labor Day is a September holiday is partly due to events that took place in Chicago.

Labor Day was born in New York in 1892 when the Central Labor Union of NYC declared "a holiday for the working man" and the Knights of Labor organized a parade. They held their next parade in September 1896, though organized labor in Chicago had their own event in May of that year, when the Haymarket Riots broke out around Randolph Street and Des Plaines Avenue, near the central business district.

An estimated 300,000 workers around the country were striking in support of the 8 hour workday. There was a peaceful rally taking place at Haymarket Square when, around 10:30 p.m., officials decided that it was time to disperse the crowd. The crowd resisted the police line and a bomb was thrown, killing a police officer. All hell broke loose. When the melee ended, seven policemen were dead, sixty officers were wounded, 4 civilians had been killed and an unknown number wounded, as many were afraid to seek medical attention, fearing arrest.

Eight men were convicted of the murder of the Chicago policeman who was killed by the bomb blast. One of the convicts received 15 years, two others eventually received life in prison, four were executed by hanging and the last one committed suicide the day before the executions. Three, five, seven, yep, that adds up to eight.

President Grover Cleveland, concerned that celebrating Labor Day on May 1 (the date of Labor Day in most of the rest of the world) would commemorate the Haymarket Riots and strengthen the socialist movement, threw his support to the September date in 1897. Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday in 1894.

By the way, ol' Pres Grover had been wed in the White House in 1886, when he married his former ward, Frances, the 21 year old daughter of his late former law partner, Oscar Folsom. Grover was 49 at the time. This tidbit has nothing to do Labor Day, it was just too weird to leave out, 'cause how often can you dish about Grover Cleveland, so you have to take advantage of these opportunities when you find them.

The picture at the top right is not Grover Cleveland, it is the Cleveland Indian, Chief Wahoo, which (also) has nothing to do with either Grover Cleveland or Labor Day, but it's a very cool mascot, even though is it extremely not PC.

Back to Labor Day, when there's nothing else on TV and you tune in Jerry Lewis (now in his 32nd year of the telethon and off steroids and percadin) or you head for Taste of Polonia for some stout food and robust music (or robust food and stout music, in either case, the Polish Cultural Center is at Lawrence and Milwaukee), your weekend par-tay has roots that are more than 125 years old.

Oh, and count yourself notified, Labor Day is the official end of white shoe season, too.

KICKOFF!

College football starts tonight and rolls through the weekend. Get a good butt groove going on the couch and get watchin'. Here's the games that I'm tracking:

--THURSDAY--

Jacksonville State @ Georgia Tech

JState is the new home of QB Ryan Perriloux, whose exemplary behavior got him booted from LSU. My prediction isn't on the game, it's on Perriloux: he won't see a second year, may not even finish this one.

Vanderbilt @ Miami Ohio -3

Vandy will be dandy.

NC State @ South Carolina Gamecocks -12

Lay the points, take the 'Cocks

Oregon State Beavers -3 @ Stanford

Coach Jim Harbaugh's Cardinal will cover..

--SATURDAY--

Syracuse @ Northwestern -12

The 'Cats are going to score, but can they play "D"? 'Cats will win... by 6.

Utah @ Michigan -4

The Wolverines are supposed to have a down year, but they'll win the home opener and cover.

Akron Zips @ Wisconsin -27

Here's the numerical challenge of the day: lay the points, the Zips aren't in this class..

Northern Illinois @ Minnesota -8.5

This spread has been steadily shrinking. NIU thinking says they can win straight up. I say MN.

Illinois @ Missouri -8.5

MO covers, sorry Illini.

USC -20 @ Virginia

Another big number, a little more than the Trojans can cover.

The Whole World Was Watching

As the Democrats have convened in Denver to anoint Barack and Joe B. (Bill Clinton deserves an Emmy), there is a notorious anniversary at hand. Forty years ago, beginning on August 25, 1968, the Democratic Party threw its quadrennial soiree in Chicago and a whole bunch of uninvited guests crashed the party to voice their displeasure with war in VietNam. There were YIPPIES (Youth International Party), the SDS (Students for a Democratic Society), the Weathermen, the Chicago police, the Illinois National Guard and more, thrown together in a roiling stew of violence, arrogance, brutality and fear.

In the months prior to the convention, we had already been stunned by the murders of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Huge riots followed King's killing in April, while there was intense sadness after Kennedy was shot to death in June. The war in VietNam was raging at full throttle and fatalities were mounting. An offshoot of the SDS, the Weathermen, had begun to punctuate the anti-war message with their own acts of violence.

The Democratic party and the TV networks, sensing trouble, wanted the convention moved to Miami, where the Republicans had held their convention. Richard J. Daley would have none of it. He promised to "enforce peace". Such a curious phrasing; it foreshadowed the events that would unfold, on television, in Chicago's front yard. The messengers of peace would include 11,900 policemen, 7,500 Army troops, 7,500 National Guard troops and 1,000 Secret Service agents.

The convention was being held at the Chicago Amphitheater (a dump even back then) at 41st Street and Halsted. The Democrats were headquartered 4 miles north at the Hilton. The protesters were trying to camp in Lincoln Park, 4 more miles further to the north. The protesters held an anti-war rally Sunday night with a bonfire (fueled by some park benches) in Lincoln Park. The park closing time was 11 p.m., and the messengers of peace marched in to assure that the park was vacated in a timely fashion. Violence was widespread. Battles would recur nightly in Lincoln Park and Grant Park.

On Wednesday, the protesters began to march to the Amphitheater. The police and soldiers stopped them. A riot that came to be known as "the Battle of Michigan Avenue" ensued, with plenty of media coverage to record the events. These actions would later be pronounced by a government inquiry to have been "a police riot". Richard J. Daley would reject the finding and give his policemen a raise.

Inside the convention, the Democrats argued and protested as a minority attempted to fashion a peace platform for the party. Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Massachusets denounced the "Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago". The Hubert H. Humphrey/Edmund Muskie ticket was officially slated and went on to lose the general election to Richard Nixon.

President Nixon continued to bomb the hell out of VietNam while negotiating for peace.

On March 20, 1969, a grand jury indicted 8 policeman and 8 civilians. The eight civilians were charged with crossing a state line to incite a riot. They were the first people to be charged under a law that had been passed the previous year.

The law was the 1968 Civil Rights Act.

Peace in VietNam would officially come in January of 1973.

The whole world was watching. Still.

Today, Meet Joe South

Yesterday, Joe B.

Today: Joe South.

Joe South is a musician and song writer who is one of the finest talents that you probably don't know about. If you're on the younger side, you've probably never heard of him. If you're of the more, um, experienced perspective, well, you've still probably never heard of him. You have heard his work, though.

Joe was born in Atlanta in 1940. He had a hit at 18 with a gimmick song, but made his reputation in the music business as a session guitarist for some really big names. Joe recorded with an eclectic constellation that includes Aretha Franklin, Tommy Roe, Bob Dylan, Eddy Arnold, Wilson Pickett, Marty Robbins and Simon & Garfunkel. Joe South is probably the only thing those stars have in common.

He wrote a lot of hit songs. The biggest commercial success was "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden". Joe also wrote hits for Freddie Weller, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Deep Purple, the Osmonds and Billy Joe Royal. Again, probably the only thing they had in common was Joe.

Joe South hit it big as a performer in 1969, winning a Grammy for "Games People Play". He also had hits with "Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home" and "Walk a Mile in My Shoes". Joe is credited with creating the music genre called "Country Soul". Performing wasn't his thing and he had his demons to deal with, so Joe's performing career was brief, but there was some gold left for us to listen to.

You feel Joe South's music as you listen. So, if you have a few minutes of private time, courtesy of YouTube, you can meet (or reacquaint yourself with) the incredible music of Joe South. Sit back and let it roll over you. Here's his three big hits as a performer and one he wrote that was a big hit for Deep Purple. The visuals are crappy (I try not to even watch!), but the music is sweet!

Games People Play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5znh58WITU8

Don't It Make You Want to Go Home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AirBbS4R7Z0&feature=related

Walk a Mile in My Shoes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM9Es4N4oGU&feature=related

Hush, from Deep Purple http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilz5SxrHA3E

I hope that you'll enjoy them.