The star-crossed career of Michelle Wie has taken another bizarre turn this week. The 18 year old has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to play in the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, a men’s PGA event, this week. What’s the big deal, you say? Wie has, after all, played in men’s events before. What makes this a bit different is that she is skipping an LPGA major in order to play with the guys this time around.
The Women’s British Open will be played this week and it seems some of the ladies on the LPGA don’t appreciate Wie’s blowing off one of their four biggest events of the year in order to play with the boys. Annika Sorenstam, an 11 time major champion and winner of 73 LPGA events, said that if Wie couldn’t qualify for this weeks’ ladies event she didn’t have any business playing against the guys. David Leadbetter coached Wie for years and said that she has a lot more to lose than gain by playing against the men at this stage in her career and faults her parents for steering her in the wrong direction.
The gents on the PGA tour seem ambivalent about Wie’s participation in this weeks’ event. David Duval said Wie’s attempts to play with the men, “has never bothered me in the least.” Though he did add, “I’m not sure the PGA Tour is the place to gain confidence. You can get your head beat in pretty quick out there.” Scott McCarron added, “I think it is great. It’s creating a lot of buzz for the tournament.”
McCarron’s comments actually get right to the heart of why Wie has been invited to play this week. The Legends Reno-Tahoe Open is, to be blunt, a second tier PGA event. The top 50 players in the world will all be playing in the World Golf Championships in Ohio this week. The highest ranked player participating this week is Ben Crane at #87 in the world. This is not a great recipe for high television ratings. The solution? Invite the one time phenom Wie. This creates instant buzz and controversy, generates interest, and might, just might, get some viewers to check out a tournament they would not care about otherwise. This is a move that has very little down side for the tournament sponsors. It is true that Wie’s attempts to play with the men have lost their novelty. However, it just may work one more time as the second tier field gives Wie her best shot at actually making a PGA cut. If not, it certainly won’t hurt the ratings.
Wie, herself, seems unconcerned with the criticism. She said, “All I’m thinking about is trying to play good golf.” I guess that is fair enough. However, I feel Wie needs to first establish herself on the LPGA tour before trying to mix it up with the boys. She has, or at least had, the potential to be one of the great women golfers of our time. Hopefully, she will realize this and get back to competing against the ladies. Otherwise, Wie could find herself playing the part of the Washington Generals to the PGA men’s Globetrotters on a regular basis. I would hate to think someone as gifted as Wie would squander her talents as a mere novelty act. Hopefully, somebody in the Wie family will visit the Wizard and get a brain. Otherwise, Michelle Wie may forever be remembered for what might have been.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Washington State Trip
Hello, all. I have just returned from a week long trip to Washington State. I had always wanted to visit the Pacific Northwest and when the opportunity presented itself I jumped on it. I, and some friends, camped between Mt. St. Helens and Skookum Meadow. It has to be the most beautiful country I've ever seen (at least in person). Of course, my being a bigfoot geek, it held extra appeal as Skamania County is the number one county in the United States for bigfoot sightings. Alas, despite our best efforts, the big fella failed to make an appearance. However, I did manage to spot several elk, a couple of black tailed deer, a fox, and a black bear. We also saw a whole lot of bear scat, cat scat (bobcat, probably), some very large canine prints, and one set of VERY big cat prints (had to be a cougar). We were surprised to hear barred owls which are common in Texas, as well. According to the locals, the barred owls are supplanting the endangered spotted owls in the region. I was awakened on my last morning by a large bull elk bugling from the valley below our camp site. Pretty cool.
It was a terrific time and hope to return one of these days. I have attached a slide show above made up of some of the pictures I snapped while on the trip. The pictures just do not do justice to the scale and majesty of the area but they are pretty nice and I hope you enjoy them.
My best...
It was a terrific time and hope to return one of these days. I have attached a slide show above made up of some of the pictures I snapped while on the trip. The pictures just do not do justice to the scale and majesty of the area but they are pretty nice and I hope you enjoy them.
My best...
Monday, July 14, 2008
Nineteen Somethin'
I saw Star Wars at least eight times
Had the Pacman pattern memorized
And I’ve seen the stuff they put inside Stretch Armstrong.
I was Roger Staubach in my back yard
Had a shoebox full of baseball cards
And a couple of Evel Knievel scars on my right arm.
From : “Nineteen Somethin” by Mark Wills
I’m a pretty sentimental guy. I’m not one of those pack rat types who never throws anything away because it has some sort of memory attached to it. I am more sentimental when it comes to remembering people and places from the past. I do not spend my time looking back as that is a good way to run into a telephone pole. However, sometimes something will trigger a memory of someone or something from my past. It seems that music and smells trigger my memories like nothing else. The feeling can be so strong that it makes me wonder if time travel, on some level, is really possible. I had such a moment just the other day when the song “Nineteen Somethin’” by Mark Wills came on the car radio. While this is not a song from my youth, the lyrics nail my early childhood as no song before ever has.
I was born in late 1966. As a result, my earliest memories come from the ‘70s. I, and my brothers, did see Star Wars at least eight times. I’m actually thinking it was more like twelve times. I, too, have seen the stuff they put inside Stretch Armstrong. During one memorable battle between Stretch and his evil nemesis Stretch Monster, the “stuff” came leaking out. It was a red gooey liquid that looked like melted strawberry jello. I can personally attest that it is not easy to get out of carpet. This proved to be a negative to my mother. However, it turned into a positive as this forensic evidence allowed for the prosecution and conviction of the much more durable Stretch Monster. He would never threaten society again.
Some of the most enduring memories I have from the ‘70s are of Evel Knievel and his many appearances on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. It is hard to get kids today to understand just how big Evel was back in the day. His motorcycle jumps seem tame compared to many of the X-Game type stunts performed today. However, nobody had seen anything like it in the ‘70s. You also have to remember that this was back before cable television. We were pretty much limited to the three main networks. There was a rumor of a public television station in our area but we couldn’t get it. Much of the programming on the networks left a lot to be desired (a lot like now). So, when Evel was scheduled to make a jump on a Saturday afternoon it would draw Superbowl like ratings. I’ve often wondered how many broken armed little boys showed up in emergency rooms across the country on the afternoons after an Evel Knievel jump.
As a result of Evel’s popularity, a line of toys was created. The toys were a huge success. The heart of the toy line was the Evel Knievel stunt cycle (see pic above). The set consisted of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, an Evel Knievel action figure (remember boys have action figures not dolls), and a base. The way it worked was that the Evel action figure was placed on his motorcycle, which was then placed on the base. The base had a handle, which you turned. This engaged a gear on the base, which, in turn, turned a gear on the toy motorcycle. Once the spinning reached the proper speed the motorcycle would disengage and take off. Sometimes the bike required a bit of a push to get free from the base but the results were always spectacular. Though I was never able to get Evel to replicate the back flip I saw on the commercials, I jumped many a row of shoes. What made it even better was how the tires of the motorcycle were made of real rubber and left great skid marks on the light colored linoleum of our home. Again, mom did not see this as a positive. I have to give mom a lot of credit, however, as she put up with a lot of black marked floors and baseboards in the hall that were permanently scraped free of paint due to Evel’s less than graceful landings. Truly the Evel Knievel stunt cycle was one of the greatest toys of my childhood. I think it was about a year ago that Evel Knievel died. Part of my childhood went with him.
As I mentioned before, I was in my car when Mark Wills began singing “Nineteen Somethin’” the other day. My lovely wife of sixteen years noticed my far away look as the first verses played. She asked me what I was thinking about. I replied simply that I wasn’t thinking. I was remembering.
My best…
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Ballad of "Baggy"
Coaching middle school boys is…well, very different than coaching high school boys. My main duties as a middle school coach are to teach solid fundamentals and do all I can to keep as many boys as possible in the program. I’m expected to send as many players as I can up to the high school football team. The theory is that the more kids they have to pick from, the more good athletes they will be able to find. It makes sense if you think about it and it is good for me as it lessens the pressure to win every game on the middle school level. The drawback is that I’m expected to keep pretty much everybody. It is true that some kids who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time in middle school will blossom into good athletes in high school. However, I’ve found that 99.9% of the time a middle school spaz will grow into a high school spaz. This is the true story of one of those kids I had to endure knowing full well he would never play a down in high school.
“Baggy”, the nickname his fellow students bestowed upon him, was actually kind of a cute kid. He was very short and pudgy. He wore round glasses with black frames that made him look like a cross between an owl and Harry Potter (Sort of a mini Larry King). The lenses were very thick. The kid had the eyesight of a mole. He was a very poor athlete and, possibly, the slowest kid I’ve ever coached. I could have timed his forty yard dash with a sundial. The other kids picked on “Baggy” unmercifully. They were terrible to him. I don’t think a day went by that somebody didn’t pull “Baggy’s” underwear up to his neck. I really felt bad for him and tried to protect him as best I could. Then a funny thing happened. I realized that “Baggy” was a horrible little kid. He was rude, obnoxious, crude, and a general dill weed. The other kids didn’t pick on him because he was some little helpless nerd. They were just retaliating for some terrible thing “Baggy” had said to them.
As the season went on I still had to protect “Baggy”. This kid could not keep his mouth shut and all my other players wanted to kill him. I was often tempted to put “Baggy” into some sort of practice drill where he would get what was coming to him, but I didn’t. I’d like to say it was my superior morality that prevented me from doing this but it was more my fear of lawyers. Anyway, the season progressed and I managed to keep “Baggy” alive. I even managed to get him into each game for a play or two.
Our second to last game was against a team from across town. I hated away games that year because I had to sit next to “Baggy”. I had to do this to protect him from the horde in the back of the bus that wanted to do him much bodily harm. I REALLY did not enjoy his company on these bus rides. Well, we arrived and the game began. Needless to say, “Baggy” did not play early in games when the outcome was still in doubt. He typically played one play a game toward the end of the fourth quarter once it was clear which way the game would go. This game was different, however, as we were a lot better than our opponents and got out to a big lead in the first half. So, I put “Baggy” in at cornerback for the last play of the second quarter (CB is a good place to hide a bad athlete in middle school as most teams don’t throw often). The opposing coach took one look at him and called a sweep to his side of the field. Their running back was a big guy and took dead aim at “Baggy” in the flat. Now the poor kid was terrified and completely frozen in his tracks. Their running back could have easily gone around him. However, he lowered his shoulder and collided head on with “Baggy”. At the point of contact their seemed to be some kind of explosion. Small colorful objects flew in all directions. I really thought “Baggy” had blown up and his innards were being propelled all over the field. As “Baggy” lay on the field like a slug, I saw he was, in fact, completely intact. However, Smarties, Sweettarts, and Butterfingers surrounded his limp body. It seems “Baggy” tended to get hungry during games and had stuffed candy in his uniform pants to snack on while waiting for his one play. The referee never even blew the whistle to end the play. He just stood over the prostrate body of “Baggy” and softly said, “Unbelievable.”
The quality of football might not be as good in middle school as it is in high school. Nor do we play in huge beautiful stadiums. But I do know one thing. You will never see a fourth string cornerback blow up like a piñata on a Friday night in Texas. That sort of fun is reserved for Tuesday afternoons only.
My best…
“Baggy”, the nickname his fellow students bestowed upon him, was actually kind of a cute kid. He was very short and pudgy. He wore round glasses with black frames that made him look like a cross between an owl and Harry Potter (Sort of a mini Larry King). The lenses were very thick. The kid had the eyesight of a mole. He was a very poor athlete and, possibly, the slowest kid I’ve ever coached. I could have timed his forty yard dash with a sundial. The other kids picked on “Baggy” unmercifully. They were terrible to him. I don’t think a day went by that somebody didn’t pull “Baggy’s” underwear up to his neck. I really felt bad for him and tried to protect him as best I could. Then a funny thing happened. I realized that “Baggy” was a horrible little kid. He was rude, obnoxious, crude, and a general dill weed. The other kids didn’t pick on him because he was some little helpless nerd. They were just retaliating for some terrible thing “Baggy” had said to them.
As the season went on I still had to protect “Baggy”. This kid could not keep his mouth shut and all my other players wanted to kill him. I was often tempted to put “Baggy” into some sort of practice drill where he would get what was coming to him, but I didn’t. I’d like to say it was my superior morality that prevented me from doing this but it was more my fear of lawyers. Anyway, the season progressed and I managed to keep “Baggy” alive. I even managed to get him into each game for a play or two.
Our second to last game was against a team from across town. I hated away games that year because I had to sit next to “Baggy”. I had to do this to protect him from the horde in the back of the bus that wanted to do him much bodily harm. I REALLY did not enjoy his company on these bus rides. Well, we arrived and the game began. Needless to say, “Baggy” did not play early in games when the outcome was still in doubt. He typically played one play a game toward the end of the fourth quarter once it was clear which way the game would go. This game was different, however, as we were a lot better than our opponents and got out to a big lead in the first half. So, I put “Baggy” in at cornerback for the last play of the second quarter (CB is a good place to hide a bad athlete in middle school as most teams don’t throw often). The opposing coach took one look at him and called a sweep to his side of the field. Their running back was a big guy and took dead aim at “Baggy” in the flat. Now the poor kid was terrified and completely frozen in his tracks. Their running back could have easily gone around him. However, he lowered his shoulder and collided head on with “Baggy”. At the point of contact their seemed to be some kind of explosion. Small colorful objects flew in all directions. I really thought “Baggy” had blown up and his innards were being propelled all over the field. As “Baggy” lay on the field like a slug, I saw he was, in fact, completely intact. However, Smarties, Sweettarts, and Butterfingers surrounded his limp body. It seems “Baggy” tended to get hungry during games and had stuffed candy in his uniform pants to snack on while waiting for his one play. The referee never even blew the whistle to end the play. He just stood over the prostrate body of “Baggy” and softly said, “Unbelievable.”
The quality of football might not be as good in middle school as it is in high school. Nor do we play in huge beautiful stadiums. But I do know one thing. You will never see a fourth string cornerback blow up like a piñata on a Friday night in Texas. That sort of fun is reserved for Tuesday afternoons only.
My best…
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Two Sides of Sports
I suppose, since I’m a coach, it goes without saying that I’m a big sports fan. That doesn’t mean that I don’t see the negative side of sports. I see the overzealous parents who drive their kids too hard, the way top athletes are spoiled and never held accountable for their poor behavior, and the ugly business side of sports that cause teams to dump fan favorites, inspire labor disputes, and lead to all the contract holdouts and demands of greedy players. However, when all is as it should be, sport reveals character like nothing else I know. You find out who is truly tough, who has the most guts, and who can rise above adversity to perform at their highest level. This weekend I got to see both sides of the sports coin. On the negative side, Brett Favre has decided to hold the Green Bay Packers hostage for about the third year in a row. On the positive side, I saw what had to be one of the greatest tennis matches in history as Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the men’s final at Wimbledon.
Favre, who retired six weeks after finishing up his 17th season last year, has decided he wants to play football again. This really doesn’t sound so bad on the surface as he is truly one of the all time greats to play the quarterback position. The problem is that Favre has pulled this routine several years in a row now and it is getting old. Favre has placed his team in a bad position. The Packers have three choices: allow Favre to return (and start), trade him, or release him. The Packers silence on all this speaks volumes. They really want him to stay retired. General Manager Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy have worked hard with Favre’s long time back up Aaron Rodgers getting him ready for the season. Rodgers has waited patiently for years for his shot and now, again, Favre has jerked the rug out from under him. The Packers really can’t trade or release Favre. Thompson and McCarthy don’t want to be known as the guys who ran, arguably, the greatest Packer ever out of town. Neither can they afford the backlash they would get if Favre were to lead another team to the playoffs while Rodgers struggled. I think Brett Favre should play football as long as he wants to and is able. I just think he needs to quit his flip- flop act so his team knows how to plan for the future. John Madden often says, “The great thing about Favre is that he is like a big kid out there.” That may be so, but kids tend to be selfish and self absorbed. They fail to see how their actions affect others. At some point all kids need to grow up and act like adults. That time is here for Brett Favre.
Meanwhile, over in jolly old England, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer staged a Wimbledon final for the ages. I’m not really a huge tennis fan. To be honest, Wimbledon is about the only tournament I pay much attention to at all. However, you did not have to be John McEnroe to recognize the greatness displayed on Centre Court this past Sunday. Nadal, the up and coming French Open champ, was taking on Roger Federer, winner of five consecutive Wimbledon titles. There have been whispers this year about Federer slipping a notch. Nadal only upped the ante at the French where he humiliated Federer in straight sets. By the time this 4 hour 48 minute marathon was over, you realized that Federer hasn’t lost a thing. Instead, Nadal has just come on like a freight train. Federer showed the heart of a champion after losing the first two sets and fending off two match points in a fourth set tie- breaker. Nadal showed his mettle by regrouping after losing what seemed to be a commanding lead to win the deciding fifth set 9-7. Gone is Federer’s 65 match winning streak on grass and hopes of becoming the first man since the 1880’s to win six Wimbledon titles in a row. Instead, Nadal as ascended to the Wimbledon throne and wrested the title of best in the world from Federer (whether the rankings reflect it yet or not). However, if it were ever possible for two opponents to come out looking like winners, this was it. Rarely have I witnessed the guts, mental toughness, athleticism, and sheer will to win that I saw Sunday from these two men. It got right to the heart of why, despite the bad in sports, I remain a fan. It is the kind of thing that made me want to get into coaching all those years ago. I hope some of my athletes watched this match. I don’t coach tennis but the intangibles on display on the grass court of Wimbledon transcend any individual sporting discipline. What I hope my kids saw was what it takes to be a winner. A big thank you goes out to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the reminder of just how good sport can be. They gave their best so I will leave you with mine.
My best…
Favre, who retired six weeks after finishing up his 17th season last year, has decided he wants to play football again. This really doesn’t sound so bad on the surface as he is truly one of the all time greats to play the quarterback position. The problem is that Favre has pulled this routine several years in a row now and it is getting old. Favre has placed his team in a bad position. The Packers have three choices: allow Favre to return (and start), trade him, or release him. The Packers silence on all this speaks volumes. They really want him to stay retired. General Manager Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy have worked hard with Favre’s long time back up Aaron Rodgers getting him ready for the season. Rodgers has waited patiently for years for his shot and now, again, Favre has jerked the rug out from under him. The Packers really can’t trade or release Favre. Thompson and McCarthy don’t want to be known as the guys who ran, arguably, the greatest Packer ever out of town. Neither can they afford the backlash they would get if Favre were to lead another team to the playoffs while Rodgers struggled. I think Brett Favre should play football as long as he wants to and is able. I just think he needs to quit his flip- flop act so his team knows how to plan for the future. John Madden often says, “The great thing about Favre is that he is like a big kid out there.” That may be so, but kids tend to be selfish and self absorbed. They fail to see how their actions affect others. At some point all kids need to grow up and act like adults. That time is here for Brett Favre.
Meanwhile, over in jolly old England, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer staged a Wimbledon final for the ages. I’m not really a huge tennis fan. To be honest, Wimbledon is about the only tournament I pay much attention to at all. However, you did not have to be John McEnroe to recognize the greatness displayed on Centre Court this past Sunday. Nadal, the up and coming French Open champ, was taking on Roger Federer, winner of five consecutive Wimbledon titles. There have been whispers this year about Federer slipping a notch. Nadal only upped the ante at the French where he humiliated Federer in straight sets. By the time this 4 hour 48 minute marathon was over, you realized that Federer hasn’t lost a thing. Instead, Nadal has just come on like a freight train. Federer showed the heart of a champion after losing the first two sets and fending off two match points in a fourth set tie- breaker. Nadal showed his mettle by regrouping after losing what seemed to be a commanding lead to win the deciding fifth set 9-7. Gone is Federer’s 65 match winning streak on grass and hopes of becoming the first man since the 1880’s to win six Wimbledon titles in a row. Instead, Nadal as ascended to the Wimbledon throne and wrested the title of best in the world from Federer (whether the rankings reflect it yet or not). However, if it were ever possible for two opponents to come out looking like winners, this was it. Rarely have I witnessed the guts, mental toughness, athleticism, and sheer will to win that I saw Sunday from these two men. It got right to the heart of why, despite the bad in sports, I remain a fan. It is the kind of thing that made me want to get into coaching all those years ago. I hope some of my athletes watched this match. I don’t coach tennis but the intangibles on display on the grass court of Wimbledon transcend any individual sporting discipline. What I hope my kids saw was what it takes to be a winner. A big thank you goes out to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal for the reminder of just how good sport can be. They gave their best so I will leave you with mine.
My best…
Introducing the Coach
Today I'm introducing a little comic strip I have messed around with for years called "Coach". It is simply about the trials and tribulations of a middle school coach in a small town (sounds familiar). I suppose it is semi-autobiographical to a degree, but mostly it is fictional and just for fun. So, any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental (mostly). My artwork is a bit primitive but, hopefully, it won't take away from the effect (I'll post some real drawings I've done some other time). The strip appears a bit small on the blog screen. All you have to do is double click on it and you can read it at its full size.
I hope you will find it humorous.
My best...
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Case For Sasquatch
I mentioned in my introductory post that I’m a member of the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy and actively investigate bigfoot sightings in the Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas region. This would be considered a pretty unusual hobby by most. I suppose that it is, indeed, unusual. However, I strongly believe in the existence of these animals. I will not try to convince you, the reader, that the sasquatch is a real flesh and blood animal. Through painful experience, I have learned that such efforts are usually a waste of time. Instead, I will simply convey to you the reasons that have convinced me that these animals are more than myth and do exist. This will take longer than you might think, as I’ve researched the topic extensively. One of the first factors that caused me to stop and ponder the possibility that these animals existed are the many Native American and First Nations accounts of sasquatch-like creatures that pre date U.S. History.
Most people think that bigfoot was “born” in October 1958. That is when the Humboldt Times carried a picture of a road worker named Jerry Crew holding a plaster cast of a 16” long, human-like, footprint (see above picture). Crew made the cast from tracks left behind by “something” that visited the road construction site he was working on in Bluff Creek, California. The story hit the wire services and “bigfoot”, the tongue in cheek name given to the maker of the footprint, became part of the American lexicon. Whether these original tracks were authentic has been debated, but the point is that most people believe that nobody had an inkling that large, hairy, hominids might be roaming the woods of North America. This is a fallacy as many First Nations peoples knew of the sasquatch.
There are numerous stone and/or wooden carvings that seem to depict sasquatch-like creatures. For example, First Nation stone carvings dated between 1500 B.C – A.D. 500 show creatures with decidedly simian characteristics. Early paleontologist Q.C. Marsh, in an 1877 address, said, “Among many stone carvings that I saw there (Columbia River) were a number of heads which so strongly resemble those of apes that the likeness suggests itself.” Roderick Sprague, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Idaho, said the carvings collected along the Columbia River showed, “non human but anthropoid features” and that “a relationship between these stone heads and the sasquatch phenomenon is suggested.” There are also examples of the sasquatch in wooden carvings and totems among various Native American tribes. A sasquatch mask created by Chehalis First Nations member Ambrose Point, clearly depicts a sasquatch. The mask is very large and, no doubt, is intended to reflect the size of the creature it represents. This mask was made in 1938, many years before the Bluff Creek incident hit the papers. Included in the pictures above is a copy of a Buk'wus mask made by the Kwakiutl tribe.
There are several examples of pictographs and/or petroglyphs, created by early Native Americans, depicting animals that seem to point to the sasquatch as the model. Probably the most well known example of pictographs comes from Painted Rock on the Tule River First Nations Reservation in California. These pictographs depict the “Hairy Man” of legend. This was a creature much larger than a man who was covered in hair and was cannibalistic (see third picture above). Petroglyphs found on the Rio Grande River north of the Pueblo village of Conchiti, New Mexico, show the hairy cannibal giantess that terrorized the tribe during it’s early history. One of these petroglyphs shows the giantess with an oval whistling mouth and is identical to the image of the D’sonoqua (wild woman of the woods) carved on a wooden totem by the Kwakiutl tribe 2,000 miles to the northwest. One other well known image was carved into a tree by native peoples in what is now the Salt Fork State Park in southeastern Ohio. It depicts the “grass man”, a bigfoot-like animal, the people of the region knew well.
The bottom line here folks, is that nearly every tribe that inhabited the North American continent knew of, and had a name for, what we call bigfoot long before the famous Bluff Creek incident. The Lakota Sioux called this creature Chiyetanka. The Turtle Mountain Objibway called it Rugaru. The Cree called it Windigo. Other tribes who knew the sasquatch were the Colville, Kwakiutl, Tsimshian, and Salish who called these animals S’cwene’y’ti, Buk’wus, Ba’oosh, and Sasqits, respectively. These are just a few examples and many more can easily be found with minimal effort. The fact that the widely distributed first Americans knew of these animals, had names for them, incorporated them into their art and mythology, and gave very similar descriptions as to their appearance, gave me much food for thought as to whether the sasquatch could indeed be a real flesh and blood animal.
In my next post on this subject, I will discuss how early newspaper accounts (pre 1958) helped me reach the conclusion that there really could be something to all this sasquatch stuff. Until then…
My best…
Much of the information cited came from Chris Murphy’s “Meet the Sasquatch”, John Green’s “Sasquatch : The Apes Among Us”, and Jeff Meldrum’s “ Sasquatch Legend Meets Science”. I would highly recommend each of these books to anyone who wants to become more knowledgeable on the subject of bigfoot.
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