Monday, May 12, 2008 | 2 a.m.
Last Tuesday I heard my hometown mentioned on CNN — and it had nothing to do with a freak snowstorm or a refinery blowing up.
The talking heads were talking about the possibility of Whiting, Ind. — and all those towns of lesser import in Lake County, such as Gary, Hammond and East Chicago — nudging Barack Obama over the top in the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton.
It didn’t happen, even though many thought it would, because it sure took a long, long, time to count those “absentee” ballots. The blue-collar Dems back home kept Wolf Blitzer up way past his bedtime, which may explain why he nearly got into an on-air fistfight with the Gary mayor.
It had been 40 years since Whiting figured so prominently in the political process. In 1968 Bobby Kennedy came to my hometown when he was running for president.
It was April or May but probably closer to May, because in April it can snow on the shores on Lake Michigan and this was one of those first warm days of spring where you left your jacket at home and might play catch with the old man when he came home from the mill. Bobby Kennedy was supposed to speak at city hall at 5 o’clock. By 3:30, 119th Street, the main drag in our town, looked like the Fourth of July Parade, minus the Elks, the Moose and the Knights of Columbus.
I remember going down to the empty storefront serving as Kennedy campaign headquarters, only to be told that all the bumper stickers and the blue buttons with his name on them were gone. A woman inside another empty storefront gave me a whole handful of white buttons with Eugene McCarthy’s name on them. That was like opening a pack of baseball cards expecting Ernie Banks but getting John Boccabella.
“McCarthy?” I asked. “Who’s he?”
Gimme a break. I was only 11.
Anyway, we waited .... and waited ... and waited ... for Bobby Kennedy to show. Not being too well versed in the political process, I remember thinking that maybe he was literally running for president. Maybe he got tired in Lafayette. Maybe he was walking the rest of the way.
Unfortunately, it was a school night. Around 9 o’clock, mom ordered me home. When Bobby Kennedy finally arrived, I was putting on my pajamas.
“The last speech at Whiting, 10 at night and five hours late, was bedlam.”
That’s how the Blogosphere recalled it. Bedlam.
The next day, the nerdish Alan Plewniak became the most popular kid in the fifth grade. His mom hadn’t made him come home and he had taken a photograph of Bobby Kennedy on the steps of city hall.
His face looked red. Either Alan’s F-stop was screwed up or RFK really had run from Indianapolis.
A month later I remember the nuns asking us to pray and Miss Pat, our teacher, turning on the old black-and-white TV in our classroom. Her eyes were red.
Bobby Kennedy had been shot in Los Angeles the night before and she was crying.
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ESPN Friday Night Fights: Chris Byrd vs. Shaun George, Friday (Time of first bell TBA), Cox Pavilion
Byrd was the WBO heavyweight champ eight years ago and beat Vitali Klitschko. George is a seven-year pro. Usually, when the best they can say about somebody is that he’s a seven-year pro, I bet on the other guy.
TICKETS: $25-$75
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ALSO WORTH A LOOK
ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs: Utah Grizzlies at Las Vegas Wranglers, 7:05 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, Orleans Arena
This is playoff hockey, my friend. So you might not see a bunch of fights and cheap interference penalties in the third period.
TICKETS: $15-$39.25
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