The Swallow's Nest

The Attraction to Tragedy

What is it about tragedy in the human experience that I'm drawn to? Last night I viewed a compelling short film, part of ESPN's 30 for 30 called The Legend of Jimmy the Greek. Jimmy The Greek was a blast from my past. Growing up on the East Coast of the United States in Boston and being a pretty big football fan from my childhood onwards my brother, cousin, and I used to rush home from church to tune into The NFL Today on CBS followed by that week's game (usually the Patriots). For 12 years "the Greek" joined Brent Musberger, Irv Cross, and Phyllis George and gave his predictions for what team would win each game on the slate for that day. Jimmy Snyder (his real name) was himself a big time gambler. That's what put him on television in the first place and that's what took him off and eventually out (of this world in April 1996). While he never mentioned gambling terminology on the NFL Today, it was clear that he was speaking to all the betting people out there. Football fans loved him.

Here was a guy that came from nothing and out of nowhere, built up a career as a major force in television, and then his big dark heart was revealed to a reporter (with camera rolling) when he offered these blatantly racist comments:

"The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred to be that way — because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs. This goes back all the way to the Civil War when during the slave trading, the owner — the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid."

With those words, the Greek (for good reason) lost his job at CBS and his life spiraled down, down, down. These comments are only part of the reason Jimmy was a tragic American story. Fritz Mitchell's excellent documentary style film draws on his friendships, his ex-colleagues, his son, and other sports writers and followers to portray a man saddled with much anger and resentment and pain that he never spoke about and therefore ate away at him from the inside. He and his wife lost three children to cystic fibrosis, which didn't help his already wounded and hurting soul. I urge you to see the piece if you can. ESPN will keep re-airing it. Check the website for details here. 

Why was I drawn to this tragic figure? Why am I drawn to other tragic figures of human history? I think in part because Jimmy The Greek was part of my history and therefore my own story. Even viewing the footage of the old CBS set that was on from 1975-1989, those old, old graphics (pre-historic!), the CBS sports coat with the eye sown into the breast pocket, the old wired lapel microphones, and there sat Jimmy at the edge of the set with that shirt and tie and big gold chain draped around the outside. Wow did this take me back in time. The 1980s was a somewhat tragic time for me and for someone I used to watch Sundays the tragedies were unfolding behind the scenes. What I found notable within myself as I watched the story was how even the auxiliary stuff - a television set, a vintage graphic - served as a reminder of those days gone by and of the tragic within the human. Made me wish I could have been with The Greek before he died, maybe to offer hope, healing, help? 

On many different levels I would like to have those old days back. Is that why we call them the "good old days"? But I know they are gone forever. I will never again be young, racing home from church to watch football, mesmerized by the set with all its graphics, gadgets, and wizardry. I don't live anywhere near my brother, my cousin, or our old childhood home. And the hurts and pains of the past are part of my permanent history. The days blow by, but occasionally some reminder, some smell, some song stumps us and settles us and then unsettles us and we stop to remember. And when we remember we see how tragic our own lives can be or maybe will be in the end. May God have mercy on Jimmy the Greek and may God have mercy on us all.

Here's the old NFL Today crew. The Greek is top left. 

Here's the old graphic for the show (look at that!):

Review: Making Jack Falcone

I've always been fascinated by the mob. What guy hasn't? The psychology of it is what intrigues me the most, but there is something to be said for the gangster who can walk into a restaurant and take over the place, pull a tight wad of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket to pay his own bill and the tab of anyone else in the joint he happens to like, and hug his short, fat Italian mother while she slaps a few wet kisses on his flabby cheeks before he steps outside for a smoke between the main course and dessert. This makes me wonder what it would be like to be a wiseguy. That's what convinced me to buy, and it turns out love, the Making of Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family.  

But the twist in this story that adds a layer of intrigue is how one FBI agent could be talented enough to infiltrate not one but several crime rings and make a difference for his country by taking down criminals too numerous to list here. Talk about talent and using one's abilities to make the world a safer, better place! This is an autobiography, and a fascinating one at that. Joaquin "Jack" Garcia is a Cuban born American with a talent for acting, bluffing, and out smarting that allows him to get on the inside of the Gambino crime family in New York and work the case as a friend and confidante to Greg DePalma who was so high up in the family he once cared for the famous criminal John Gotti when Gotti was in prison. Talk about pulling the wool over people's eyes, this is a well told story that makes the mob look flat out dumb.

You're thinking, "this has the mixings of a movie, not a book." Well, you'd be right and wrong at the same time. It will be a movie soon under the direction of Steven Soderbergh (who I really like) and if it's done right it will hold its weight with other famous mob movies like The Godfather, Wiseguys, Goodfellas, The Untouchables and Donnie Brasco. But a lot of people have seen those films and walked away from the theatre wanting to be in the mafia. The feeling I took away from this book was that I wanted to be in law enforcement stopping these crooks. See the difference? Why be a mobster when you can police these punks right to prison? If you want to stay on the good side of the law, but still be associated with the mafia Agent Garcia shows the way.

And he doesn't pull any punches revealing how incompetent the FBI and other agencies can be. He's willing to call out by name people in the bureaucracy that didn't do their jobs very well or who made bad decisions with cases in order to promote themselves up the ladder. Being an undercover agent is hard work. The consequences are death of you screw up, and by working multiple cases undercover Garcia risked his life every moment of the day and night. You read about it in this book. So don't wait for the movie. If you're interested in what really happens in these families or if you're just looking for something exciting to read before bed, I recommend Garcia's story. The making and unmaking of Jack Falcone is captivating. And it's non-fiction. I spent a little time every several chapters looking up names of the gangsters on-line to see if they were still in prison, if they were still alive, what they are doing now, etc. You can tell I was taken by the story. And there is a lot of good information on the Internet that's fun to read. 

Here's a cut from my favorite chapter (8 "A Cry for Help From the Bronx") in which he describes the mafia. Listen to how he can go from describing the seriously scary aspects of their nature to the funny and ordinary:

"The reality is that these people [the mobsters] aren't wonderful and they aren't generous. Greg DePalma told me over and over again that for a made man, his crime family comes ahead of his blood family. He told me often that if your kid was on the operating table, and your boss called you in, you had to immediately leave the hospital and report to him. You could send flowers later to your kid's funeral...They also kissed each other on the cheek a lot. Why can't wiseguys just shake hands? I could have lived without all that kissing...For guys who care little for how much they weigh, they certainly put a great deal of emphasis on personal grooming...The first time I went out with the fellas for a manicure, I had to get over the initial shock of doing something that is perceived as not masculine...I also had to get a regular haircut and shave...Mob guys are well versed in the finer things of life...They're also into fine tailoring...They had to have the right shoes too...wiseguys were extremely conscious of the status that various aspects of fine clothing and jewelry bestow...Mob guys, incidentally, never buy retail [120-123]."   

What I liked about this book: the psychology of being a mobster and the psychology of being an undercover agent; I like the author himself - he seemed real, down-to-earth, honest, and he served as an inspiration to me to lose weight; and I liked that Garcia was an immigrant to the States who took advantage of his education and natural abilities to do good and to defend innocent people in New York, Miami, and elsewhere. He should have gotten a lot more credit for all his hard work. 

What I did not like about this book: the language can be rough (par for the course in the criminal world and necessary for a book like this, but still); I wish he had spent a little more time developing the unmaking of Falcone; and the book seemed a bit rushed at the end. That could be more the editor's fault than the author's. 

Birthday is for Books

Last week for my birthday I got the best presents anyone can give me: books. One lovely couple brought me a gift certificate to Page One here in Hong Kong and I love the way this bookstore promoted reading on the card and again on the little, high tech certificate itself. The card read:

Even if you read books every day, you'll still never finish reading all the books in the world. 

But do make it a ritual.

The certificate reads:

Brush your teeth twice a day - Read 2 books a day - Every toothbrush begins with Page One

Book Mark

This week's question: does your house have a communal bookshelf? If not, is your bookshelf centrally located so everyone has access to it? 

Yes & yes. As my beloved will tell you our house has books everywhere. There are two large bookshelves in the dining room/living room and then we built in a large shelf into the wall in the office/study. All of these official shelves are stacked and stocked with books. Then I am using the large bay window sills in the study and bedroom to stack more of the library. So visitors could see a lot of the collection, but not all of it unless they were nosy. And this doesn't count what I am currently reading, which is scattered around my desk, one book is on the window sill by the television and then I have a small credenza near the dining room table that has some reads chilling out on it. Put it this way: come to our home and it will be obvious I'm a reader. 

Tales from the Bookstore

This evening I went spotting at the Hong Kong Airport and, as is my custom, I dropped into the airport bookstore. Often I find the books there are more expensive (duh!) but they also have newer titles and often they come out in paperback first at the airport (duh again). This evening one booked jumped off the new rack by the front door. The color and picture on the cover captured my attention. The book is The Men Who Stare at Goats. For the life of me I could not figure out where I had heard about this book before, and then it hit me. A film by the same title is about to be released in Hong Kong (next week) and I saw the poster for it down at IFC Mall in Central. 

I read the first chapter and I'm kind of intrigued by it. It is the true story of a division within the U.S. military of psychic spies. Here's a little description from Amazon, "As Ronson reveals, a secret wing of the U.S. military called First Earth Battalion was created in 1979 with the purpose of creating 'Warrior Monks,' soldiers capable of walking through walls, becoming invisible, reading minds and even killing a goat simply by staring at it. Some of the characters involved seem well-meaning enough, such as the hapless General Stubblebine, who is 'confounded by his continual failure to walk through his wall.' But Ronson (Them: Adventures with Extremists) soon learns that the Battalion's bizarre ideas inspired some alarming torture techniques being used in the present-day War on Terror."

Now I wish I bought the book when I had the chance. When will I learn? I have not seen it anywhere else in my city bookstores and I do not feel like going back out to the airport anytime soon, although that could change. This story sounds fascinating - kind of a mix between paranormal, adventure, and mystery. 

Have you heard about it? Read it? Seen the movie?