Today is Abe Lincoln’s birthday, and if he were still alive, he’d be pretty damn old. Now, old Abe has been inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame because he was a pretty good wrestler. They estimate he was in 300 wrestling matches and only lost once. Now I was checking into it; it sounds right. Heck, he’d be in the Hall of Fame for it, but not the WWE one.

In Abe’s own words, the only man to beat him was my great-great-great-great grandpappy, Lorenzo Dow Thompson. Lorenzo didn’t get into the Hall of Fame. He could have, but he didn’t want to be in it. I did watch the match-up on YouTube, and it wasn’t even close. Granddad took the best of three falls. You won’t find it on YouTube unless you have an exclusive account (you don’t).

But you can read about it. Lincoln remembered his wrestling days on the campaign trail in 1860 from the excerpt. He told Risdon Moore, a college professor whose father served with Lincoln during the Black Hawk War, that he was undefeated until Lorenzo Dow Thompson threw him. (By the way, as much fun as I could have with the name, I believe it to be wrong)

In the words of Lincoln himself, “Gentleman, I felt of Mr. Thompson, the St. Clair champion, and told my boys I could throw him, and they could bet what they pleased. You see, I had never been thrown or dusted, as the phrase then was, and I believe Thompson said the same to the St. Clair boys: they might bet their bottom dollar that he could down me. You may think a wrestle, or “wrastle,” as we called such contests of skill and strength, was a small matter, but I tell you, the whole army was out to see it. We took our holds, his choice first, a side hold. I think realized from his grip for the first time that he was a powerful man and that I have no easy job. The struggle was severe, but after many passes and efforts, he threw me. My boys yelled out, “a dog fall,” which meant then a drawn battle, but I told my boys it was fair, and then said to Thompson, “Now it’s your turn to go down,” as it was my hold then, Indian hug. We took our holds again, and after the fiercest struggle of the kind that I ever had, he threw me again, almost as easily at my hold as at his own. My men raised another protest, but I again told them it was a fair down. Why, gentlemen, that man could throw a grizzly bear.”

Old Abe was a known storyteller, but he is in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, and Lorenzo Dow Thompson isn’t some long-lost relative, but who cares?

Just for fun (and accurate on the theme song, linked below)

How many criminal cases did Perry Mason, portrayed by Raymond Burr, lose? I didn’t know until recently.

Everyone knows he lost one. On the web, you can read it was either two or three. On the Carson show, Burr said three, and I figure he’s the person that should know.

When the series first came out, my mom never missed an episode. After moving to Lancaster, the show was on from 12:05 to 1:05, so I went home for lunch every day to watch it. I learned a trick from Perry Mason that I used in court, which always worked without fail. Only one attorney called me on it. It didn’t help him, though.

Heck, I even taped the theme song and played it as I walked down the hall toward the courtroom to try a case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT4wkkkaFTc

Thought inflation: “A nickel for your thoughts.”

In 1996, Charlie Sheen bought 2,615 California Angels baseball game seats. Sheen wanted to catch a home run, preferably by Cecil Fielder. Sheen and three friends sat alone but had no home runs in the game, so they ended up ball-less.

These are the people some want to identify with them when it comes to politics. Tell me, which of your friends has bought over 2600 tickets at a cost of over $6.500.00 to a baseball game for four people? I’d venture to say none.

Childhood was filled these cultural touchpoints. For example, when you’d rather play outside or watch something else on TV, but the next day at school, everyone’s buzzing about the latest big event. Or those family gatherings where the adults were excited about some new music or show, and you were just not quite getting what the fuss was about.

One such time for me was February 9, 1964. Beatlemania hit the United States that date when an astounding 74 million viewers watched The Beatles perform on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

As a young boy intent on watching “The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh” on Disney, I wasn’t one of the astounded. With a young mom, then 29, who loved all the latest music, I couldn’t win. My mom insisted we watch The Beatles instead.

It wasn’t until the next day, when I heard everyone at school yakking it up that I understood the significance. I went from hating the Beatles the night before to living the lie by maintaining a facade of adoration for the group.

The Beatles started with “All My Loving” and performed five songs, split into two segments. Ed Sullivan, who initially knew little about the band, featured them on his show nine times.

However, it was not their first appearance on American television. They appeared on the Jack Paar Show on January 3, 1964, but clips of the Beatles performing live versions of “From Me to You” and “She Loves You” were shown.

Funny, for all the hype, their hair wasn’t really that long. I never saw my episode of “The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.” I did come to love the Beatles, even though they screwed up my Sunday night 61 years ago.