Archive for October, 2011

Should I Write Customized Books?

October 29, 2011

This week I succeeded, after considerable struggle, to create ebooks for Prostate Cancer and the Veteran. Now, people who have a Kindle or a Nook or another device, including a PC with ebook software, have this book available to them—and at a lower cost than the print version. I won’t go into the gory details of converting a print book to an ebook but converting to the Kindle was easier than converting to the Nook (ePub format). I won’t bother with other formats unless there is demand for them. Also, I understand that some devices have software that allows them to read books in Kindle or Nook format.

Writing this short book and creating print and ebook versions along with receiving requests for information on various Carlisle players has caused me to think about making little books on individual players or families of brothers who played. Each book would contain the three introductory chapters that provide background on the Carlisle program, the team and Pop Warner. That would be followed by a chapter or chapters on the player or players being covered in the book. Ebooks could also be created when requested.

I don’t plan on charging off on a project to create any individual player books but will seriously consider it if enough people request them. So, if you’re interested in a single player or family of players, let me know. Otherwise, I won’t know that there is anyone out there interested in a book on a specific player. I could also create books based on a specific relationship. Two that come to mind are Carlisle Indians in the NFL and the Carlisle Indian School – Washington State College Connection.

As I said before, if there are no requests, I must assume that there is no interest.

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Veteran Service Officers

October 25, 2011

My proton therapy treatment for prostate cancer was completed two months ago today. So far, so good.  Last Thursday, I spoke at the annual training meeting of the New Jersey Association of Veteran Service officers in Atlantic City. It was a great meeting. I was received well by the VSOs in attendance and learned much from other speakers. I was pleasantly surprised by the interest the VSOs showed in helping the vets they serve. VSOs are generally government workers who are employees of the counties in which their offices are located. Government workers can sometimes be less than interested in helping the public. Not so with the VSOs I met. Most of the men and women I met at the meeting were veterans. That surely influences how they relate to vets seeking assistance. Some of the VSOs were also disabled. If memory serves, three of them used motorized chairs to get around and another one used a manual wheelchair.

My talk was fit in at the end of a packed schedule. Even though they were attending a banquet a little later that day, most stayed for my talk and listened attentively. Some asked good questions and afterwards some informed me of benefits that aren’t widely known. For example, a 100% rating is not always the maximum. Under certain conditions, disabled vets can be awarded considerably more than 100%.  I doubt if I am eligible for Special Monthly Compensation (SMC), but the old sergeant I served with may be because he has a number of serious medical conditions, more than one of which is an Agent Orange disease.

Several people took copies of Prostate Cancer and the Veteran home with them because it contains some information that is new to them. Of course, they already knew all about dealing with the VA.

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More on Carlisle vs the Big Ten

October 16, 2011

Several details regarding Carlisle’s dominance over the Big Ten teams they played need to be addressed. First off is when the games were played. The first of these games was played in 1896 and the last in 1909. 1908 is the last year for a post-season road trip as the Penn State games were regular season games played against an in-state team that wasn’t their equal. 1907 was the only one of the seasons in which these games were played that Carlisle had a one-loss season. None were played in Carlisle’s 1911-13 glory days.  Warner complained that the bigger teams stopped scheduling games with Carlisle after they became strong. It appears that he was accurate in the case of Big Ten teams.

Eight of these games, a slight minority, were played when Warner wasn’t coaching Carlisle. He did coach the Indians against Chicago in 1907, Minnesota in 1907 and 1908, Northwestern in 1903, Nebraska in 1908 and Penn State in 1907-1909. Penn State was improving at the time but hadn’t reached the level of Carlisle’s major opponents. Pop Warner considered the victory over Amos Alonzo Stagg’s 1907 Chicago team to be one of his greatest because Stagg thought he had his strongest team to date that year. 1907 was the first year in which Carlisle was defeated but one time. It was also the first year the Indians defeated Harvard, one of the Big Three.  The only loss was to another of the Big Three, Princeton. It was also the first year that Carlisle beat two of the Big Four, Penn and Harvard.

1908 marked the end of Carlisle’s post-season trips to play Big Ten teams. That year the Indians defeated Nebraska in the teams’ only meeting 37-6 and they lost to Minnesota 11-6, in their last meeting with the Gophers. Newspaper accounts alluded to something happening in the game to sour the two schools against playing each other, but I haven’t uncovered the details yet.

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Carlisle vs the Big Ten

October 12, 2011

This year Nebraska joins the Big Ten bringing the number of schools in the Big Ten up to twelve and leaving the Big 12 with only 10. It came to mind that the Carlisle Indians once played Nebraska in 1908 because a history professor at Nebraska is using “Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs” as a textbook. Other than Penn State, these games were usually post-season road trips played against the Champions of the West or strong contenders for that title. That the Indians went 13-3-1 in road games against these much larger schools. This is more evidence that shows Carlisle’s record needs no embellishment.

 

School Times

Played

 Wins Losses Ties Years
Chicago 1 1 0 0 1907*
Illinois 2 2 0 0 1897, 1898
Michigan 1 0 1 0 1901*+
Minnesota 3 2 1 0 1906*, 1907, 1908
Nebraska 1 1 0 0 1908
Northwestern 1 1 0 0 1903*
Ohio State 1 1 0 0 1904
Penn State 6 4 1 1 1896, 1905-1909
Wisconsin 1 1 0 0 1896*
Total 17 13 3 1  

Notes.

1. * denotes Big Ten champions or co-champions.

2. + denotes national champions.

 

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My Absence

October 7, 2011

Early in the summer, I announced that posts to this blog would be irregular for a time without stating a reason for the disruption. The reason for my absence was that I was spending the summer in Bloomington, Indiana receiving treatments for prostate cancer at the Indiana University Health Proton Center.  Choosing a treatment modality, proton therapy, that is not widely known was the result of extensive research. The research uncovered some things that were completely unexpected. The one that had the greatest impact was that I was probably exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam in 1967. Those who served in Vietnam during the time that Agent Orange was sprayed are eligible for disabilities and treatment from the Veterans Administration.  Unfortunately, the government does not put the same emphasis on informing veterans who were harmed while serving their country that it does soliciting “clients” for its welfare programs.

Knowing that I was far from being an isolated case, I decided to write a small book that veterans can use to help them navigate the VA and healthcare systems. My treatment for prostate cancer is complete and, after only seven months since first applying, my VA disability was approved. Prostate Cancer and the Veteran should make their process a bit easier than mine was.

This blog won’t be back to its old regularity just yet because, the day before my last treatment, I had a bicycle accident that fractured a vertebra. I’m far from being 100% yet and it appears it will take some time for that to happen. I do have a blog article underway. Carlisle Indians vs the Big Ten may surprise some people.

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