Today's Potluck Quote (5 out of 10): Nadia Comaneci

Today, a writing site asked on Twitter to write a five-word sentence in which an elite athlete takes a change in his or her life. My response was: "Simon Biles converts to Judoism." Yea, I'm not sure how well it might get received either, but with that in mind we quote another Olympic gymnast legend Nadia Comaneci of Romania; her husband Bart Conner runs a gymnastics school in Norman, Okla., a town that is also home to the Oklahoma Sooners, a team that won this year's NCAA college gymnastics championships this year.

Yes, of course, we are writing this in conjunction with the 2012 Rio Olympics! Kudos to current Romanian gymnast Catalina Ponor for coming back to the sport and competing in the Olympics at age 28.

Today, Bob Costas will probably try to boost our enthusiasm for synchronized swimming.

Here is today's potluck quote of the day: "You should also appreciate the goodness around you and surround yourself with positive people."

http://www.bartandnadia.com

http://www.bartconnergymnastics.com

Quote of the Day/Week_ Nadia Comaneci

Today we start quoting international athletes who have gold or silver medals at the Olympics with a quote from the legendary Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, 50, who is now married to American gold medal-winning gymnast Bart Conner. The gymnastics power couple reside in Oklahoma. There is also a gymnastics academy named after Comaneci in Izmir, Turkey.

Last week, we quoted American gold medal gymnast Dominque Dawes.

Here is Nadia's quote:

"As an Olympic champion gymnast, I have always stayed involved in my sport."

Casualties of Modern Technology- The VHS Tape (Entry 2 of 12)

Sorry for the six day layover at the airport in Atlanta (well, it would take too long to explain why I was really gone for this long), but let's get back to bizness (deliberately spelled wrong for all you English teachers out there; in-joke) here with an entry dedicated to the VHS cassette tape or videotape, which have all but vanished from the face of the earth.

My friend Jason Garnett actually held a VHS Night at the Shadowbox Microcinema in Roanoke, Va., where the film "Rad" (1986) with former Olympic gymnast Bart Conner- of all people- was screened. The film actually revolves around the world of BMX racing.

"Rad" was one of three feature films in the mid-80s to star men's gymnastics stars. The other two included "Gymkata" (1985) with Kurt Thomas and "American Anthem"
(1986) with Mitch Gaylord, a film that also featured a very gorgeous Janet Jones who later married hockey icon Wayne Gretzky.

Amazingly enough, no one in Hollywood thought of making such a film starring women's gymnastics darling Mary Lou Retton, but perhaps that was a good thing.

The videotape was first sampled in 1951 by Bing Crosby Productions, according to Wikipedia. Videotapes became widely available in the 1970s. Since VCRs were very expensive until the 1980s, there was little consumer demand for them. That all changed very quickly and cult films, like the South African wonder-hit "The Gods Must be Crazy" (1984), were more widely seen than the films were during their theatrical runs.

But, by the 1990s, dvds came and well the proverbial credits started to roll for the VHS tape.

SIDEBAR: We want to wish Parker Posey a happy 43rd birthday. No, we do not know her personally.

Road Trip (Entry 3 of 20)- Duke to Arizona

Hey, we are actually pressed for time today (yes, it does happen from time to time) so no time to give a quick tribute to Elizabeth Taylor (she was great in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf") or tell how you can give a donation to the tsunami earthquake victims in Japan (perhaps redcross.org can help), so we will get to the heart of the matter.....


Today, we are asking you the blog reader, all 19 of you, how far it is from Elmo's Diner on 9th Street in Durham, NC, (there is also an Elmo's Diner in nearby Carrboro which is part of the two-restaurant chain) and Little Anthony's Diner on E. Broadway in Tucson, Ariz.

Duke University, which is located in Durham, plays the University of Arizona, which is in Tucson, tonight at 9:45 p.m. New York Time in Anaheim, Calif, in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

It helps that one of the ten most annoying people in world is sitting in close proximity to me at a public library here in Skokie, Illinois*, (to help me get outta here quicker), so is the answer:

a) 32 hours
b) 34 hours
c) 35 hours
d) 36 hours

If you get the answer right, we might get you a cat toy or a yo-yo, but then again, maybe not!

*-We are not actually in Skokie, but my aunt and uncle lived there for many decades and it is where my cousins on my father's side grew up. Olympian Bart Conner supposedly was teammates with my cousin Brent on the high school gymnastics team!

High School of the Week- Springfield Southeast (Illinois)

Though he is actually an alumnus of The Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, we are featuring a photograph of President Barack Obama with our High School of the Week entry for Springfield Southest High School in Springfield, Ill., because the state capital of Illinois is effectively where Obama's political career began to flourish when he was a member of the state senate there some ten years ago.

We must profess that Illinois offered many potential choices for High School of the Week selection process: Actor Bruce Dern, who recently turned 76, is an alumnus of New Trier High School in Winnetka, Bill Murray graduated from the private Loyola Academy in Wilmette, the classic 1985 teen angst film "The Breakfast Club" was filmed at Maine North High School in Des Plaines and my cousin Brent Gokbudak went to Niles West High School in Skokie where his teammate on the gymnastics team was none other than future Olympian Bart Conner! (All of these schools are in suburbs of Chicago).

But we chose Springfield Southeast HS, a school with an enrollment of some 1,350 students according to Wikipedia, over all of them. The school nickname is The Spartans, and there are both boys and girls hockey teams at the school as well. Elbert Kern is the football coach for The Spartans. And Jason Wind is the school's principal.

Of course, even folks in Karachi, Pakistan, know that Seymour Skinner (his 'real name' is Armin Tamzarian according to Wikipedia) is the principal of the elementary school in the fictional Springfield on "The Simpsons." There is speculation that the Springfield in the cartoon series was based on Springfield, Mass., but that has never been verified.