Archive for January 2025
Figure Skater, Commentator, Innovator: Dick Button Dies at 95
As a long-time figure skating fan, I remember hearing the voice of Dick Button during many important competitions over the years. He loved figure skating, partly because he’d been so good at it himself.
Button won gold medals in 1948 and 1952, when skating rinks were still outside. He was the first to do a double Axel jump, and the first to do a triple jump of any sort whatsoever.
For me, though, I remember Button as a commentator. (USA Today columnist Christine Brennan said Button preferred the term “narrator.”) Button could explain figure skating so well, people who never skated like me were able to understand it. He knew it was both a sport and an art form, and he described it on both levels.
Button lived a good, long life full of love, happiness, and the sport he chose as his own, figure skating. That he died so soon after the terrible helicopter/plane crash in Washington DC (where at least four figure skaters were lost, two of their parents, and at least three coaches) seems both oddly appropriate and heartbreakingly sad.
The memories I have of Button’s narration that are the most precious to me are these:
US figure skater Christopher Bowman, in 1992, wasn’t thought to have a prayer of being in the top five at the Olympic Games. Bowman was known for showmanship and for skating a completely different program nearly every time he was out on the ice. Bowman’s program started off with a jump combo that Button was expecting, but nearly everything else was different. I could hear both the frustration and the pride that Button had regarding Bowman, as Bowman was thought by some to have wasted his potential. 1992 Bowman was possibly his finest hour as a figure skater, and Button knew it.
US figure skater Tonya Harding, long before the attack by her soon-to-be-ex husband on rival Nancy Kerrigan, skated brilliantly to finish third at the 1992 US Figure Skating Championships. Button wasn’t sure Harding would land on the podium, but he was happy she did. He considered her a complete skater, not just an athlete, which was high praise from him.
Finally, Button was a big fan of one of my favorite figure skaters ever, Johnny Weir. He once called Weir’s skating “liquid gold” as it was so smooth and attractive.
I’m glad Dick Button had such a long and memorable life. I’m also glad he was there for so long as a broadcaster, educating many (including me) about the joy and pain to be had in figure skating.
To say Button will be missed is an understatement.
Written by Barb Caffrey
January 31, 2025 at 1:11 pm
Posted in Remembrance, Sports figures
Tagged with broadcasters, Christopher Bowman, Dick Button, double Axel jump, educators, figure skating, figure skating broadcasters, ice-skating, innovators, Johnny Weir, men's figure skating, narrators, News, skating, sports, Tonya Harding, triple jump, United States figure skater
Young Figure Skaters and Their Coaches Aboard Plane in Recent DC Airport Crash (Updated)
The Washington Post reported today, January 31, 2025, that there may be as many as twenty young skaters, parents, and their coaches who were on American Eagle flight 5342. This page will be updated as more information comes in. These skaters and their parents, along with their coaches, deserve to be remembered.
While no official word has come yet, the Boston Figure Skating Club has released the names of several skaters and coaches who were on board a flight to Washington, DC, from Wichita, Kansas last night. That flight collided with a helicopter; no one knows yet how it happened, but it’s believed no one survived.
There were sixty-four crew and passengers on that flight. Among them were two young skaters, Jinna Han and Spencer Lane; their parents, Jin Han and Christine Lane; their coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. Han was only fifteen years old, and Lane was just sixteen years old.
Edited to add: Two young figure skaters from the Washington Figure Skating Club also have passed away, those being Everly and Alydia Livingston. They were fourteen and eleven, respectively. Their parents Donna and Peter Livingston also perished.
Edited to add: Figure skater Cory Haynos, sixteen, and his parents, Stephanie and Roger Haynos, also were among the victims. He’d just landed a triple Axel jump for the first time at the developmental camp. That is a huge accomplishment for a young skater, and his potential, like the other skaters who passed away, was limitless.
Edited to add: Skaters Brielle Beyer and Edward Zhou, both of the Figure Skating Club of Northern Virginia, have also passed away. Beyer’s mother, Justyna, and Zhou’s parents, Kaiyan Mou and Joe Zhou, were also victims.
Also edited to add: Delaware Figure Skating Club lost coach Alexandr Kirsanov and young skaters Angela Yang and Sean Kay.
The United States Figure Skating Championships were held this year in Wichita. That’s why the young skaters and their coaches were there. After the championships, there’s usually a developmental camp for skaters with potential to climb higher. (Everyone in figure skating goes to these championships if they have the financial wherewithal to do so, unless they’re ill. It’s a very small community in a number of ways.)
I don’t know anything about Jinna Han or Spencer Lane, except that they were good skaters. They had excellent coaches (who, as noted above, have also died). They had boundless optimism, as future Olympic hopefuls must. They were hard-working, as figure skating is a demanding discipline. They wanted the best in life, the best in their sport, and the best from themselves, which is why they had stayed longer to attend that important developmental camp.
I do remember seeing their coaches, Shishkova and Naumov, skate back in 1994, when they won the world figure skating championship. They were brilliant, both technically and artistically. It’s not a surprise to me at all that they became coaches, nor is it a surprise to me that they were excellent coaches. (Not every figure skater becomes a coach, but those who do tend to be outstanding as they understand everything about it from the beginning of their careers until the end of their performing days.)
I mourn them all.
Edited to add: Coach and retired figure skater Inna Volyanskaya, a citizen of Russia, also perished in this crash.
The human cost is incalculable.
As one of the skaters said online at a social media site (I can’t remember which, as I heard this reported by local radio in Wisconsin rather than saw it), “Hug your loved ones. Hug them every day. Hug them hard.”
None of us knows the future. None of us knows what day will be our end, or how it will come. We can only make the best of the time we’re given.
One thing I do know about those figure skaters and their coaches is, they definitely did that. They lived in service to their art and to their sport. Their parents did everything they could to give their children a chance to excel in one of the most exciting, yet expensive, sports that has ever existed. The costumes, the choreography, the coaching, the ice time…sometimes it seems like the bills go on and on, all for a few brief moments in the sun.
Yet those brief moments in the sun — their short programs, their long programs, their experiences as they go to various events, etc. — are worth everything.
I wish this hadn’t happened. I don’t understand it.
But the unknown skater who said “Hug your loved ones” is right. That’s all we can do, as we continue to celebrate our own few, brief moments in the sun.
Written by Barb Caffrey
January 30, 2025 at 5:03 pm
Posted in heartbreaking stories, Sports figures
Tagged with aircraft disasters, airline collides with helicopter, airline crash, Blackhawk helicopter crash, Christine Lane, Evgenia Shishkova, figure skating, Figure Skating Club of Boston, ice-skating, Jin Han, Jinna Han, Kansas, News, skating, Spencer Lane, sports, US Figure Skating Championships, Vadim Naumov, Washington DC airport crash, Wichita
Cold Weather, Bob Uecker, and Reggie White…
The past week at Chez Caffrey has been bleak, cold, and miserable. It’s also coincided with a lot of angst, stress, and difficulties that I can’t go into, but have nothing to do with my writing, my editing, or my music.
Except, of course, for draining my energy, but that happens. Hopefully I’ll get it back at some point.
Anyway, I thought I’d discuss a bit more about Bob Uecker, the Brewers broadcaster (also an actor and comedian), as something came to me after I’d written my post not long after Uecker’s death had been reported to the media. Uecker reminds me, somehow, of Packers legend Reggie White, nicknamed “The Minister of Defense.” Mind you, Uecker could be profane in private (he admitted this), whereas Reggie White did not swear at all. But both men had the ability to talk with you, one on one, and make you believe you were the most important person in their life at that time.
How do I know this? Well, while I didn’t meet Bob Uecker, I did meet Reggie White years ago. (He died at the untimely age of forty-three due to obstructive sleep apnea.) He was signing one of his books at the local mall (as he knew most of his audience was likely to be in Wisconsin, he spent time at quite a few malls), and I went to talk with him. I told him I could not afford his book, not then, but I would try to get it later (I did, too; while I don’t have the copy anymore, I enjoyed reading it as it was half-affirmations and half-tough love).
Now, there are a whole lot of things people can do when someone comes up to them and says, “Hi, I see your book and can’t buy it right now.” Some responses aren’t polite. Some are, but are the equivalent of a brush-off, like “Go away, kid, you bother me.” Then there’s what Reggie did.
As there was a momentary lull, he said he needed to stretch his legs (he put this differently, but it was very polite), and would I like to walk with him? (I did not use a cane then.)
My answer was, “Absolutely yes!” (I would’ve said “Hell yes,” but Reggie was a minister. Couldn’t say that!)
At any rate, Reggie and I chatted. About football. About life. About the Bible, as I had a question for him…after this, he offered to give me a copy of his book because he knew I’d been telling him the truth (I wanted it, but hadn’t been paid yet, so couldn’t get it). I told him no, that I would buy it — and I did, with my next paycheck.
Bob Uecker and I never met. I might’ve seen him a time or two going into Brewers games when I was younger at old Milwaukee County Stadium, but my interactions, such as they were, tended to be at arms-length: his broadcasting, his acting, and his comedy.
That said, the people who had one magical conversation with him said much the same things of Uecker that I just said about Reggie White. And Uecker’s star power was akin to White’s, especially in Wisconsin, where Uecker was born, raised, and died.
It’s good to know that fame does not change some people, and they remain good, kind, decent, and honorable despite the temptations in their path to do and be otherwise. Bob Uecker and Reggie White were good people, and while Uecker lived to be ninety and White lived to be only forty-three, their impact on people will last far longer than their lives.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
Written by Barb Caffrey
January 25, 2025 at 8:02 am
Posted in Green Bay Packers, Remembrance, Sports figures
Tagged with baseball, Bob Uecker, comedian, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster, MLB, NFL, Reggie White, sports
Bob Uecker, Voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, Has Died
I woke up today to the news that my childhood hero Bob Uecker, long-time voice of the Milwaukee Brewers, has died. He was 90.
While that’s a good, long life, Uecker was what I’d call an “American original.” He was a great broadcaster, yes, but also was an actor, a comedian, wrote two books (including Catcher in the Wry), a philanthropist, and was one of the more unforgettable people I’d ever watched, read about, or listened to during the course of my lifetime.
When I was very young, I listened to Uecker on the radio broadcasts with Merle Harmon. (Yes, that goes back a ways, doesn’t it?) Harmon was the play-by-play guy back then, while Uecker was the color man. At one point, Harmon felt Uecker was ready to start doing innings by himself, so the story Uecker often told was that Harmon simply didn’t show up one half-inning. Uecker had to do the game by himself. Harmon eventually did come back and finish the game, and they had a few more good years as radio partners before other announcers came in.
By that point, Uecker was the top dog. Everyone he mentored, whether it was Pat Hughes, Corey Provus, or current announcers Jeff Levering, Lane Grindle, and Josh Mauer, later became far better broadcasters with what assuredly seemed like more knowledge of the world around them.
There have been many tributes already, from former MLB commissioner Bud Selig; former Brewers players Brent Suter (now a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds) and Ryan Braun; current announcers Grindle and Levering; current players Brandon Woodruff and Christian Yelich; current manager Pat Murphy; and finally, former manager Craig Counsell. Other announcers, both on TV and radio, have chimed in, along with some of the actors Uecker used to work with (Tracy Tofte worked with Uecker on the sitcom “Mr. Belvedere,” and visited Ueck three weeks ago). Fans went out to American Family Field (formerly known as Miller Park) and left cans of Miller Lite at the base of Ueck’s statue outside the stadium in memory of Ueck’s famous commercials for Miller Lite years ago. (They also left flowers, memories, and at least one Brewers baseball cap.)
All I can tell you is, Uecker was the announcer for the Brewers when I was young, as I grew up, and as I matured into the person I am today. He was funny, articulate, often charming, sometimes scathing, but always, always interesting. He made people laugh, even on the worst days of their lives. He charmed iconic TV host Johnny Carson so much that Carson gave Ueck the nickname “Mr. Baseball,” first ironically, then wholeheartedly. (Carson also had Ueck back over one hundred times on his show, including during the last week Carson hosted.)
I think, though, the reason I liked Uecker so much was because he was from Milwaukee. He didn’t lord it over anyone. He enjoyed people and liked cheering them up. He was frank, unassuming, and down-to-earth, and he absolutely loved his job as Voice of the Brewers.
His playing career wasn’t great; he hit .200, was known more for his defense than his offense, and retired at age thirty-three. He tried scouting but wasn’t great at it. Then he reinvented himself as an announcer, became a very good one, then a great one. Did stand-up comedy, charmed Carson (as previously mentioned), acted in Major League (my favorite baseball film ever) and of course on “Mr. Belvedere.” It seemed like anything Ueck turned his hand to, he succeeded.
But Uecker was human, and sometimes awful things happened to him. He had pancreatic cancer, which he fought, that eventually went into remission. He’d had open-heart surgery. He nearly died from a bite from a brown recluse, too. But worst of all, two of his children predeceased him: one because of San Joaquin Valley Fever, the other because of ALS. He leaves behind a wife, kids, grandchildren, the entirety of “Brewers Nation,” and many others who knew of his life, work, and charitable concerns.
In short, Bob Uecker was almost like a family member in a way, even though he didn’t know me from Eve. He was the best-known exponent of Wisconsin in general and Milwaukee in particular, showcasing the charm and humor and razor-sharp intelligence most of us who live here wish we had.
Ueck was the “Voice of Summer” to many — not just me — and he’ll be greatly missed.
Written by Barb Caffrey
January 17, 2025 at 12:18 am
Posted in baseball, friendship, heartbreaking stories, Informational Stuff, Milwaukee Brewers baseball club, Persistence, Prescient observations, Public figures, Remembrance, Sports figures
Tagged with baseball, Bob Uecker, in memoriam, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, radio announcers, sports, TV announcers, Wisconsin
The LA Fires: Hell on Earth
Folks, I only lived in Northern California for a few years, but while I was there I noticed the weather patterns. (My late husband Michael had lived there for decades, so we talked about this from time to time.) In the summer, Los Angeles (LA) has a Mediterranean climate. In the fall, usually there are big rainstorms where sometimes homes not only can get flooded, but mudslides can take homes completely off their foundations. In the winter, the winds kick up, and if there’s been sufficient rain over the past nine months or so, there’s a lesser chance to have fires.
That’s not the situation right now.
California has been experiencing slightly different but much worse weather patterns in the fall and winter, partly because there hasn’t been enough rain during the previous months to do any good. So, with drought conditions, fires can start very quickly, and get very, very bad almost as the drop of a hat.
What caused the awful fires that have been going on now for about a week is a combination of factors, but the fact the region was in a drought is the main problem here. I call it “Hell on Earth” because whole blocks of residences are just plain, flat gone.
And the fires aren’t done yet.
There’s so much ash in the atmosphere in LA that some folks have said it looks kind of like snow. (Too bad it’s not. There is some moisture in snow.) The winds are unpredictable, awful, and the fires seem to be going every which way.
I’ve seen some politicians complain that the Democratic Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, might’ve done better here. I think that’s unfair criticism. The Mayor of LA, Karen Bass, also has been heavily criticized, with rumors going around that she’s fired the fire chief (untrue) and other such nonsensical things.
Look. Even if any of the criticism is remotely true, it is irrelevant. These people could have done everything right, and this still would’ve happened.
Why? It comes down to climate, weather patterns, and a worse than usual drought system. It’s a perfect storm of badness. Add those high winds, and you get chaos.
You get Hell on Earth.
Some in this world don’t seem to understand just how expensive it is to own real estate in any part of California, much less a usually extremely desirable location like LA. A $5.5M dollar home might be a $400,000 home somewhere else. (Under the current, inflated prices most people have to deal with.) A modest lot with a home on it is insanely expensive in California, especially in LA or San Francisco or San Diego.
People have lost everything they’d ever worked for. Some were retirees. Some were still in the workforce and were middle class or perhaps even lower middle class (if they’d inherited their home or a whole family had bought it together). By no means were all of the people affected movie stars, wealthy people who can buy everything they need at any time…no, most of the people were regular sorts.
Some of those who’ve died…one man was trying to get his son, who was severely disabled, out of the house and couldn’t do it. Another man was trying to save his house and refused to leave when the firefighters told him he had to go, and was found with a hose in his hand. Others died because the winds shifted so quickly, they could not get out.
The death toll right now, I think, stands at something like twenty-four people. That number’s only going to go up, and it could go way, way up depending on whether they can get any of the three major fires going on well contained. So far, they haven’t been able to do that, though there has been progress.
Still. The fire and police departments out there are working as much as they can — 12 hours on, 12 hours off — to help people. All sorts of people have come out of the woodwork to help, including the man I recommended to you all, actor Steve Gutenberg, helping others in whatever ways they can. (Jimmy Kimmel, on his nightly program on ABC, called Gutenberg “a national treasure” tonight. Rightfully so.)
These people will need enormous amounts of money and time and help. I hope they get it all. No one wants this. Even the politicians blaming other politicians, which I wish would not be happening during this crisis (save the kvetching until the fires are completely out, please!), do not want this. Devastation like this usually is only seen in wars.
Again, I hope these folks who’ve lost everything are able to rebuild and recover and restore their lives. I also hope those who have been injured fighting the fires will fully recover, and that the poor souls who couldn’t get out in time will be mourned.
It is our duty as human beings to help others that are hurting whenever we can. Those of us far from the action, who can’t go and feed people, and who can’t donate clothes (not in time to get there), but want to do something need to look at places like legitimate animal rescues (as many pets have been separated from their owners and need to be housed and fed and cared for) along with whatever the Los Angeles Fire Department recommends.
It may be — is — Hell on Earth out there. But we have to try to make it better if we possibly can, because as the saying goes, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
Written by Barb Caffrey
January 14, 2025 at 5:05 am
Posted in Community Activism, heartbreaking stories, in general, Prescient observations
Tagged with California, climate-change, compassion, disasters, drought, faith, fires, hell, Jimmy Kimmel, Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles fires, News, Southern California, Steve Gutenberg, weather-related disasters
Kindness Matters…Still
So far, 2025 as a year has not been kind to most of us. There is so much going on that’s awful…whether it’s politicians saying things that are nonsensical (not just United States politicians, either), wildfires breaking out and causing sudden evacuations in California, the colder-than-cold winter (caused so far by relatively high humidity, at least in Southeastern Wisconsin, along with the cold temps, making this the type of cold weather that chills one to the bone), it can be hard to find good things to talk about.
Good things still happen, though. They happen all the time.
Here’s one good thing that happened to me last weekend. I had just finished shopping for food and had a sudden craving for onion rings. (I hadn’t had them in over a year.) I went to a Burger King and ordered what I could afford: a medium-sized order of onion rings and a value soda. To my surprise, the cashier gave me a large-sized order of onion rings plus the soda, and didn’t charge me anything.
I was perplexed, and asked her again if she wanted the money I’d planned to spend. She said, “May you have a blessed day” and refused my money. I said, “May you have one also! Thank you!” and drove off with a smile on my face.
I have to say those onion rings are probably the best I’ve ever tasted, too.
I also read, today, the story of actor Steve Guttenberg’s actions out in California. He’s now sixty-six years old and is known mostly for the series of films starting with “Police Academy.” I hadn’t thought about him in years, though he’s an excellent comic actor…anyway, Guttenberg’s actions during the current crop of awful wildfires out in California have been exemplary. He has said — my best approximation — that if you are able-bodied, or if you are able at all, you need to help others.
See, the wildfires are so bad out there that people have been leaving their cars with the keys inside, just trying to get away. Some of the folks who’ve had to do this are older, or are mobility impaired (as I am), and Guttenberg dislikes it when people just act like they’re all for themselves and forget about everyone else. He has pointed out that this is a community of people, and they all need help. He’s going to stay there and help as long as he can, because he’s a human being and he cares.
Maybe as many as ten years ago, or fifteen years ago, this would not have been a story, even though it happened to a well-known actor. It is now because so many people have forgotten the axiom “one hand for the self, one hand for the ship.” (My father was in the U.S. Navy, as I’ve said before, and that was one of his favorite sayings ever.)
Mind you, “so many people” is still a minority rather than a majority, thank goodness, or we’d not see actions like those of Steve Guttenberg. Or of the cashier at Burger King, either, for that matter.
So, as you go about your week, keep this in mind: Kindness matters. (Still.) Do your best to be kind, help others, and treat everyone the way you want to be treated: with respect and dignity. That’s what’s needed in this world, now more than ever…and that’s why I wrote this blog, because I was so happy to see it.
Written by Barb Caffrey
January 8, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Posted in Heartwarming stories, in general, Prescient observations
Tagged with blog, Burger King, California wildfires, humanitarian efforts, kindness, life, movies, onion rings, Police Academy, Random Acts of Kindness, Steve Guttenberg, writing
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