Ideas

Phelps' life denies colleges' drinking argument

Somewhere in Maryland, there's a state employee who owns a piece of the gold Michael Phelps will bring home from Beijing. This fellow was never part of MP's training team, and neither mentor nor boyhood friend. In fact, he's someone Phelps probably doesn't like to think about - the state trooper on duty when the great athlete did something foolish and dangerous. The trooper stopped Phelps from driving out of Salisbury under the influence of alcohol, saving not only the Olympian's life but possibly someone else's. The man-dolphin magnificence we just saw in the Summer Games might never have occurred had that trooper not been there for Phelps one night in November 2004.

Frederick N. Rasmussen

'God Bless America' muse honored World War II effort in Charm City

August 24, 2008

Jack Hook, longtime secretary-treasurer of Local 40-543 of the American Federation of Musicians, trombonist and connoisseur collector of old-time radio shows, sent me a tape the other day of singer Kate Smith's performance on WCAO radio in Baltimore during World War II.

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Phelps' life denies colleges' drinking argument

Frederick N. Rasmussen