“War is so much different today. Communication is different. Medical help is different. Even coming back is different. Today you get on a plane, come home from being in hell and two days later, you’re shopping at the mall.”

— McLean County Circuit Court Judge Robert Freitag, and a veteran of Iraq.

In the antiquated World War II film clips and old war movies, the soldiers always dug into trenches, fired their rifles, talked to each other via walkie-talkie and endlessly pulled out grenade pins with their teeth.

Dental health was different back then and flossing with rusty metal rings more accepted.

War?

It was hell, unadulterated hell, as it still is. But everything (Read more…)

About a year from now Illinoisans will know who’s going to be their governor and who will represent them in Springfield and Washington, D.C.

In fact, the campaign will have been so long at that point that you might feel you know them too well.

The somewhat fuzzy electoral picture began to clear last week when the period to file to get on the primary election ballot came to an end. It showed there are 859 people seeking various offices in the Feb. 2 primary. (Read more…)

The Illinois Prairie chapter of Delta Waterfowl based in and around Bloomington-Normal deserves a round of applause after Field & Stream magazine named the 4-year-old group a “Hero of Conservation.”

The announcement was made in the publication’s November edition and noted the chapter’s efforts to build and distribute more than 300 wood-duck and mallard nesting structures. Several were put at McLean County’s Comlara Park/Evergreen Lake and at Clinton Lake in DeWitt County. Other locations include Chautauqua Fish and Wildlife Refuge on the Illinois River and many privately-owned ponds throughout Central Illinois.

The conservation effort helped two boy scouts achieve the rank of Eagle. The magazine also cited other projects the chapter carries out to get kids involved in the sport. (Read more…)

Reality TV is very popular and is sometimes quite educational. I’ve learned a lot from watching “Wife Swap.” For those who haven’t seen it, each show features two families. The two wives swap homes and families for two weeks. The first week, the wives follow the rules of the family they are staying with. The second week, the families follow the rules of the visiting wives. Each week offers opportunities for the families to learn from each other.

“Wife Swap” picks families that are extreme opposites — discipline vs. no discipline; health food nuts vs. junk food junkies; respect vs. no respect; workaholism vs. laziness; controlling parents vs. parents with no control; serious vs. fun; neat-niks vs. slobs; manners vs. no manners.

The wives usually spend the first week frustrated, but they tend to play along. When the second week hits, families often fight against following new rules. They seem more interested in influencing the other family to learn their extreme behavior. (Read more…)

Not long ago I joined a crowd standing at a ball game and faced the U.S. flag during the national anthem.

I put my hand over my heart, sang the familiar words and thought of my great-uncle Don. He taught me to never take for granted the sight of Old Glory, and to remember that “freedom isn’t free.” Many people have paid the price on my behalf, some with the ultimate sacrifice.

Don Phillips was my grandmother’s younger brother, who died in 1995. He was a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany, during World War II and I’ve written about him before. However, nothing I write captures the spirit of patriotism as well as Don’s words in his letters to family in Chenoa and Pontiac during his 20 months as a POW. So I’m offering those words again to honor Veteran’s Day. (Read more…)

Walking recently through softly falling leaves, I started thinking about what a phenomenal process leaf drop is. Like most happenings in nature, there is an important reason why leaves fall. It’s not just so we can complain about raking them.

Plants need a coping mechanism for winter or they perish. Trees, like perennial plants, have to survive the freezing temperatures and harsh winds of winter. Some parts of trees, such as stems, twigs, and buds, are able to survive extreme cold. The tender leaf tissues of broad-leafed trees would freeze in winter, so these trees must shed their leaves. Evergreen trees, however, have needles that are covered with a protective, wax-like coating, and fluids inside their cells contain substances that resist freezing. (Read more…)

 Is that Lil’ Bo Peep? Yes, Halloween has come and gone again, and Hazel Sampen, of Normal, will just have to wait another 52 weeks before going out to trick or treat again.

That’s Hazel pictured here, as she appeared the other night, as son, Kurt, took her around on the anointed Halloween rounds so others could enjoy her latest Halloween get-up, too.

Hazel Sampen, 92

Hazel is only 92.

 Today’s deep thought
As mulled by Connie Haney, of Carlock:
“Has anyone noticed that in Bloomington-Normal, East Street runs north/south, North Street runs east/west and South Drive runs east/west?”

 Doodie calls? So we endured the era (Read more…)

The easy thing is to bemoan the $425 million the New York Yankees committed to three free agents in the offseason. If you needed another reason to loathe the richest franchise in professional sports, it was there for you months ago.

Spring training had not yet convened and your postseason parting shot was locked and loaded. Wednesday night, you fired away after the final out of the Yankees’ World Series clinching Game 6 victory over Philadelphia.

“They bought another title!” you screamed at the television. (Read more…)

It wouldn’t be a great idea to make any lasting impressions from Wednesday’s hour-long public basketball scrimmage at Redbird Arena.

Yet there were plenty of positive signs for Coach Tim Jankovich – and one real warning signal.

Three of the newcomers – freshman guard Terry Johnson and juco transfers Austin Hill and Tony Lewis – did a lot of good things. (Read more…)

One of the best Illinois high school athletes of the past decade is giving Illinois State a long look. (Read more…)

A belated thanks to Illini head basketball coach Bruce Weber and associate head coach Wayne McClain for coming to Decatur to do my radio show Sunday night at Hickory Point Golf Course. We had a great crowd of 300 on hand for a two-hour show and the coaches were great.

A few followup basketball notes:

Wednesday night is the Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser at “The Beef House” in Covington, Ind., where 400 Illini and Purdue fans will gather to hear Weber and Purdue coach Matt Painter talk basketball and jab fun at each other. Helping them do it is former Flyin’ Illini-turned-TV analyst Stephen Bardo, and former Purdue assistant-turned-TV analyst, Steve Lavin. (Read more…)

Professional wrestling kingpin Vince McMahon failed in his attempt to get a pro football league established. His XFL came and went in 2001, lasting one season.

Maybe it’s time to try again.

Football appears to be gravitating toward McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment, muddying its waters over the weekend with WWE-type behavior. (Read more…)

Apologies for not posting over the weekend. Here’s my much overdue observations from the Thunder’s four-point weekend and a little bit about the next four games, which could be a little rough for the PT.
(Remember: Take these thoughts for what they’re worth.)
After having seen the Thunder twice this weekend, you have to be, at least, encouraged by the early results.
Friday’s victory was, for the most part, well-played. Not so much Saturday, but good teams (correction: talented teams) can usually win by battling even when they don’t have their best fastball. A win is a win.
In particular, they seemed to play with a sense of urgency Friday — a positive trait among winning hockey teams.
One of the plays that stands out in my mind was when D Matt Frick dove to the ice to poke the puck away from an attacking forward. It didn’t lead to a Thunder goal, but it broke up a rush. That kind of stuff has to speak well to teammates.
Jarrod Skalde is encouraged by what he’s seen so far. But he’s not naïve either.
Here’s what he had to say this morning about that:
“I remember feeling pretty good about how we were playing two weeks into the season last year. But you could start to see the holes in our lineup by game 8, game 9, game 10. I’m encouraged this year, but I’m realistic, too. … We still have stuff to work on. Other teams are going to get better and better.”
Goaltending
Before the season, I got the impression that Skalde intended to use his goaltenders in a little more balance. That has not been the case at all through six games. Paulo Colaiacovo has clearly been the No. 1 guy over Andrew Martin. He’s played 325 minutes to Martin’s 34. Colaiacovo will start tomorrow night against the Mallards at home.
Said Skalde: “Marty Brodeur plays 60-65 games a year. Our schedule is a little different (compared to the NHL). But I’m just going to keep going with Paulo. But there will be an opportunity for Andrew Martin. We’ve got 4 (games) in 5 (days), 3 in 3. He’ll be going in there somewhere. … I’m really happy (with Colaiacovo). I had high expectations for Paulo. I think he’s played well, but I still think he can play better. He’s been a big positive for us.”
Cole Ruwe
Was talking to defenseman Cole Ruwe for a bit, too. He’s basically a local guy. Grew up in Pekin — that’s local … local-ish, anyway.
Smart guy, too. Got a degree in business administration from Nichols College in Massachusetts in three years. Enrolled in graduate school his fourth year and used his final year of eligibility. As you might guess, he’s always got family in the seats for home games.
We’ll probably dive a little deeper into him in the coming weeks.
Talk amongst yourselves. —ME

COLUMN DIARY, a check of big headlines, small wonders and other worldly events:

October 2009

1. Legislators in Springfield re-portedly all getting their flu shots so they “won’t miss any sessions this winter.” No immediate word if that’s good news or bad.

2. Olympics 2016: Chicago not their kind of town.

3. David Letterman lists No.1 reason for Occasionally Also Wishing You Were Not (Read more…)

 `Well, one of them is 8-feet tall, and real ugly, and has a spike through his neck, and …’ : When a resident called Bloomington police at 2:30 a.m. the other morn to report a fight along East Jackson Street, the dispatcher asked the caller to describe those involved, at which point she said she frankly couldn’t.

It was a Halloween party where the disturbance was occurring.

Those fighting were in costume.

 Today’s deep thought

As mulled by Ben Rogers, of Normal:

“Do they NOT have any trash cans in a major league dugout? All you see are cups and trash on the ground of the dugouts. Is it not (Read more…)