Why Do GI’s Complain About Korea?

» by GI Korea in: USFK

Introduction

Recently there were cooperative cross postings on Roboseyo’s blog as well as Ask A Korean on Why Expats Complain About Korea? The cross postings drew a lot of debate around the Korean blogosphere on why expats complain so much about living in the Land of the Morning Calm. Well in the same spirit The Korean and I thought it would make for interesting reading if I posted on why GI’s Complain About Korea while he posted on Why Koreans Complain About GI’s. Hopefully everyone will find these two postings to be interesting and at least thought provoking reading on why each side complains about the other.

Below is a list of reasons why GI’s complain about Korea in no particular order. I’m sure I probably missed a few so readers feel free to add to the reasons Why GI’s Complain About Korea in the comments section below.

Unaccompanied Tours – There are probably fewer things that upset people stationed in Korea then having to go to Korea without their families. This complaint is getting worse because of the number of people serving a year or more in a conflict zone and then coming back to the US to just receive orders to go to Korea for another year away from their families. I had an E-6 who deployed to Afghanistan with the 101^st Airborne and then came back to the US for a few months to just be deployed again with the 101^st for operation in Iraq when Operation Iraqi Freedom began. He spent a year in Iraq and then came back to the US to come down on orders to Korea. Needless to say he wanted out of the Army because his wife with three kids was about to divorce him. He ended up eating his way out of the Army and I can’t say I blame him.

There are plenty of more people in Korea in the same situation. In response more and more soldiers are bringing their families to Korea in a non-command sponsored status which means they have to pay to fly their families to Korea and house them here on their own. Think about it if the average servicemember has a wife and two kids that means he would have to buy three airplanes tickets to Korea and then three more to fly them back. That is probably at least about $6,000 in airplane tickets the servicemember is paying for. Then think the servicemember would then have to pay for some furniture and other items for whatever apartment he is living in since he couldn’t ship any of his household goods to Korea. That is even more money out of his pocket. Then he would have to pay to send his kids to a private foreign high school since they are not authorized to use any of the USFK schools. These non-command sponsored servicemembers are taking a huge financial hit by bringing their families to Korea. To make matters worse many of these soldiers live in cheap apartments in the ville which exposes their families to all the unpleasantness of the ville culture.

There are plenty of other issues non-command sponsored family members face with medical and dental for example and all these issues pile up to cause a major reason why servicemembers complain about being stationed in Korea.

Living Conditions – This is actually something that is improving every year but just a couple of years ago there were still USFK soldiers living in quonset huts. I don’t know of any soldiers living in quonset huts now (if anyone knows any then feel free to comment) which is a big accomplishment but nevertheless there are still units that have soldiers living in conditions that are less then what they would expect if stationed in a stateside unit.

Likewise as mentioned before families that are non-command sponsored find themselves in cheap off post apartments in the ville that are sub-standard to what they would expect to live in back in the states. Even families that are command sponsored find themselves in Yongsan for example living in the Hanam Apartments which I have often heard referred to as “The Ghetto”. This is a decreasing reason why soldiers complain about being stationed in Korea, but nevertheless still a reason.

Shady Landlords – Finding an apartment in Korea for those both command and non-command sponsored often means dealing with shady land landlords and corrupt rental agencies. Landlords in Korea are infamous for ripping off GI’s of their deposit money because they delay giving the money back to the servicemembers because they know the servicemember has a Permanent Change of Station date of when they must fly out of Korea and thus prevents them from taking any legal action against the landlord.

These shady landlords are also known to run secret power lines from the servicemember’s apartment to their apartment in order to make the servicemember pay for that person’s electric bill among a host of other shady practices. GI’s living off post being ripped off by these people is just another reason why GI’s complain about Korea.

Taxi Drivers – There are few things more annoying then dealing with the off post taxi cab drivers that are out to rip GI’s off. Commonly the cab drivers do not run the meter and then charge soldiers three to four times the amount the meter would read. The prices even go up higher the closer to curfew the soldiers trying to find a cab find themselves.

These cab drivers even try other shady tactics in order to fleece money out of soldiers. I was in a cab late at night heading back to my camp after pulling Courtesy Patrol at Stanleyville when the cab driver stopped in the middle of nowhere and then demanded I pay more money or get out of the cab. I told him no way and wrote down his contact information from the taxi’s panel. He was a bit surprised and was trying to push me out of the cab but I still got his details. I called my wife and she picked me up and the next day she called the taxi company and complained and the cab driver was forced to give me an apology over the phone later on.

There are plenty of other ways cab drivers try to rip off GI’s but I should also state that this complaint does not represent all cab drivers in Korea. This complaint refers to cab drivers around the GI villes especially Uijongbu and Dongducheon. I have taken taxis plenty of times in Seoul and other areas and never had these issues. However the constant harassment and shadiness from the cab drivers in the soldier ville areas is definitely something that causes soldiers to complain about Korea.

The Ville – The Ville is mixed bag because there are plenty of soldiers that love the Ville because of its sleaziness while just as many others can’t stand it for the same reasons. I fail to see the fun in paying $20 for a drink for a scantily clad juicy girl to talk to you for 10 minutes if that. However, plenty of younger guys enjoy wasting their money on this but there are plenty of other who do not and wish there were better entertainment options in the villes.

Also for us servicemembers who have served in Korea for a long time we know the shady things the people in the ville pull off. For example I would never by a non-bottled drink in the ville because of the fact that many of the club owners recycle ice and left over drinks to give to other customers. Even with bottled beer the club owners buy through the blackmarket beer that has reached its expiration date to sell to GI’s in the ville.

I could go on and on about the shady things that goes on in the ville but I think everyone gets the point. The shady villes with their shady taxi drivers is the one place in Korea where the majority of soldiers spend the most of their time so it is no wonder why soldiers would have negative perception of Korea if the ville is what they mostly see. Even for many of the guys that initially like the ville life, by the end of their tours even they usually tire of it. I know the ville is not real Korea but to many soldiers it is and is another reason why GI’s complain about Korea.

The Curfew – There are probably fewer topics discussed more then the USFK curfew policy. Everyone has an opinion on this to include the new USFK commander who issued his own change to the curfew policy. You can see what I think the curfew policy should be by reading here.

The prior curfew policy was initially established after 9/11 supposedly for force protection reasons. Everyone knew this wasn’t the case and the real reason was to keep soldiers away from Koreans to reduce incidents. As much as I like the former USFK commander General Bell, he even went further then the force protection reasons to say that the curfew was to make sure that soldiers got enough sleep at night so they are ready to fight the North Koreans the next day. This is all rubbish and insult to the intelligence of most servicemembers.

Since General Sharpe took command of USFK and changed the curfew policy he admitted the curfew was a punishment on all the soldiers for the actions of a few which confirmed the curfew wasn’t in place for any force protection reasons or to make sure soldiers got a good nights rest in preparation to fight the North Korean invasion the next day. Currently the curfew on weekends is from 3AM to 5AM with the 12PM curfew in place on work days. With only a two hour curfew you might as well as just do away with the curfew all together.

When incidents start happening again because they will; it’s a statistical certainty, the curfew will probably be changed again and only feed a whole new round of complaining about being stationed in Korea.

Cannot Drive – Being able to legally drive a civilian vehicle is something the vast majority of USFK servicemembers are not allowed to do. With most people in the rank and file this is not a big complaint since they all mostly live on post without their families. However for married soldiers that live off post this is an issue. I know plenty of soldiers who moved their non-command sponsored families to Korea on their own dime and live a good distance from where they work and have to walk or ride a bicycle every morning. This is made worse when you have to walk the long distance in the rain to get to work. I also know of command sponsored families who are lower ranking and cannot drive who face the same problem. Keep in mind it is not just the soldiers that have to walk but their families as well if their spouse needs to go to the PX or commissary.

The new USFK commander General Sharpe recently made a change to the driving policy like he did with the curfew policy in order to address these issues. Now soldiers can put in an application to get a driver’s license and own a car that needs to be signed by the first O-5 in their chain of command. This is a good change for the people who have to walk a good distance from where they live to get on post. The new policy also allows anyone to get a license or own a car or rent a car if approved by their first O-5. However, how many O-5’s are going to allow Private Tentpeg or Sergeant Windbag to own their own personal car? Probably none.

There will probably be a few commanders who allow soldiers to rent a car over a four day weekend for example but after a few soldiers get hit with DUI’s which will eventually happen because they are already happening now, how many of these O-5’s do you think will ever sign off on a private or lower ranking sergeant ever renting a car again? Not many, which will give GI’s just another reason to complain about being stationed in Korea.

Crazy Drivers – I think this goes without saying because anyone that has driven a vehicle in Korea or just observed driving practices from sitting on a bus for example should know full well how crazy Korean drivers can be. This is for a variety of reasons and mainly because of the incompetence of the police force which is unwilling to ticket people for breaking driving laws.

However, having to drive large military vehicles through this traffic is extremely stressful especially when you know if an accident happens it will be blamed on you no matter who is at fault, which just adds another reason why GI’s complain about Korea.

Koreans are Rude – This is something that has already been talked to death here on the ROK Drop but it is still something you can hear servicemembers complain about all the time. It only takes a new servicemember one trip to the shopping center and being elbowed by dozens of ajummas to get people complaining about how rude Koreans are.

If an Incident Happens It is Always the GI’s Fault – This is just pretty much a fact of life in Korea that if an incident happens between a Korean and a GI the assumption from the start is that the servicemember is at fault. A GI in Korea is truly guilty until he can prove themselves innocent. GI’s can be assaulted, kidnapped, and forced to make coerced statements on national television by Koreans and who gets charged with a crime? The GI’s of course.

Another soldier was convicted of attempted rape and the judge told him to appeal because the decision to convict him was so dubious. Incredibly on appeal the soldier’s sentence was thrown out after he had already served months in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.

One of my personal favorite incidents was when my battalion commander was driving to Camp Red Cloud and his driver cut in front of a tow truck to get in the proper turning lane. The tow truck driver was pissed that he got cut off and later on down the road he passed my battalion commander’s vehicle and then got in front of him. At the next stop light the tow truck driver put the vehicle in reverse and slammed the front of my battalion commander’s vehicle with the tow truck causing extensive damage. The tow truck driver then called the police to say he was rear ended. Despite the protests from my battalion commander, his driver was found liable for causing the accident. You can only imagine what my battalion commander thought of Koreans after that incident.

He is not alone and these incidents pile up to give GI’s even more reasons to complain about Korea

Lack of English in Korea – Not all things GI’s complain about are fair criticisms and this is one of them. Many servicemembers have been stationed in Europe before where English is widely spoken where in Korea it isn’t and makes every day interaction with Koreans very difficult. However, I don’t expect Koreans to speak English and I speak enough Korean to get by just fine. However, soldiers given orders to Korea for a year that are bitter to be here in the first place are not going to take the time to learn Korean.

This lack of being able to communicate thus keeps them in the ville area, which only further skews their views of Korea and Koreans in general.

Korea is Boring – This is something I hear all the time and it mainly comes from people who do nothing but go to the ville on weekends. This all goes back to my prior point about not being to communicate thus causing servicemembers to stay in the ville and do nothing else.

When servicemembers tell me this I quickly respond with a list of things for them do usually starting with the USO or MWR programs which have lots of tours going on. The first time I came to Korea eight years ago and knew nothing about the place I would go on just about every USO tour they had. Through those tours I learned enough about Korea to go out and do things on my own, which there is plenty to go see and do. However, this is not the case for many soldiers thus giving them something else to complain about.

Korea Smells – Here is something else I hear a lot guys complain about is how bad Korea smells and lot of this has to do with USFK facilities being located near rural areas with rice paddies that smell of manure. This is a dumb complaint but yet something you hear over and over again.

I have also heard many servicemembers complain about how Koreans smell like kimchi. Once again this one is dumb. However, I once overheard a soldier complain to a KATUSA before about how all the KATUSA stink when they come back from lunch of kimchi and it is hard to work because of the smell. The KATUSA calmly replied that it is hard for the KATUSA’s to work coming back from lunch because all the soldiers’ breath smells like hamburgers and how hard it was for them work because of the smell. It is all a matter of perspective, but still something people complain about.

Korea is Dirty – This is another one that I hear a lot and I think it is once again linked to the scummy villes that soldiers spend most of their time in. However some things such as people littering on the sidewalks as well leaving huge amounts of garbage in the country side after having a picnic is something that does not help this stereotype go away.

Policies that Treat GI’s Like Children – Servicemembers hate being treated like children, especially servicemembers of older ages. In USFK polices tend to be created to address issues with the 18-22 year old age group that causes the majority of issues yet the policies that are created for this age group are expanded to include everyone in the ranks. Believe me this causes a whole lot of complaining.

The Anti-US Protesters – These people are the subject of much scorn when the various anti-US issues flare up especially when these people are out protesting in front of the camps or assaulting servicemembers during training exercises. These idiots, though a small portion of the population, often cause servicemembers to complain how ungrateful Koreans are for everything the United States has done for them.

Conclusion – As you can see the reasons for why GI’s complain about Korea are various with some of the complaints being legitimate, others being more directed towards USFK policies rather then Koreans, some complaints are unwarranted, while others are just plain dumb.

A lot of these complaints I think will quickly go away if tours in Korea are normalized and servicemembers are allowed to bring their families to the peninsula combined with doing away with the over regulation of servicemembers’ lives in USFK. That is why I am a strong advocate of the USFK transformation plan which the Korean government and the anti-US groups are doing everything possible to delay and stop from happening. These actions only further give reason for servicemembers to complain about Korea.

However even if this transformation ever happens it won’t stop all the complaints. I’m sure there will be plenty of servicemembers who still complain because soldiers just like anyone else love to complain, but let’s hope it is only about stupid stuff and not over some of the legitimate complaints listed above.

Korea doesn't want to share its citizens' criminal backgrounds with the U.S.?

GREAT POST FROM BRIAN IN JEOLLANAM.

Korea doesn't want to share its citizens' criminal backgrounds with the U.S.?

So, let me get this straight, foreigners in Korea are forced to produce a criminal background check in order to get an E-2 visa, but South Korea is having qualms about complying with the United States' same request as part of a potential visa waiver program?

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Monday that consultations on South Korea joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP) with the United States were on schedule with the goal of concluding them by the year-end.

Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young denied a newspaper report that the VWP for South Koreans would likely be delayed due to differences between the two countries over ways of sharing the criminal records of tourists.

. . .

Some South Korean lawyers claim that sharing the criminal records of citizens is in violation of basic human rights, while Washington insists it is one of the basic standards to be met by those countries wanting to join the VWP to help protect American nationals and interests from terrorists or criminals who have committed felonies.

HT to ROK Drop on this one. To use South Korea's Ministry of Justice's words:

I just don’t understand why they cannot make some exceptions to accommodate the needs of their own nationals. In Korea, criminal records can be easily obtained online. But they don’t have a centralized system.

Actually, that was arrogantly said in relation to foreign embassies' hesitation to provide criminal histories to comply with new E-2 visa regulations. South Korea implemented those new rules in 2007 without checking first with whether other countries would be willing or able to follow them. South Korea was quite keen on this idea, and immigration put out a release saying in part:

The Korean Government will prevent illegal activities by verifying requirements of native English teacher and tighten their non-immigrant status [...] [and will] eradicate illegal activities of native English teachers who are causing social problems such as ineligible lectures, taking drugs and sex crimes. English teachers, who disturb social order during their staying in Korea such as illegal teaching, taking drugs and sex crimes, will be banned from entering South Korea.[...] [They will] prevent illegal English teaching activities and the taking of drugs and sexual harassment of English teachers, [...] teachers who disrupt the social order by taking drugs, committing sexual harassment and alcohol intoxication.

Perhaps the U.S. should do the same in kind. After all there are roughly 230,000 Koreans staying in the U.S. illegally, and I'll bet they're not raising unicorns and kissing babies.

And for the record I'm not opposed to teachers having to submit criminal background checks, as a country has the right to allow or bar whomever it pleases, and set its visa regulations any way it sees fit. Thus, it's not unreasonable in the least for the United States to ask for passengers' criminal histories. If I understand it correctly, a criminal offense doesn't bar one from entering the country, but it does exclude one from entering visa-free under the VWP. My gut reaction is to say no to a VWP with South Korea, because wasn't it contingent on the KORUS FTA, an agreement squashed with apparent impunity? But, that's not what developed nations do, how grown-ups behave, and my temper is one reason among many why I'm not a diplomat. Hey, maybe the VWP will mean I can stay in South Korea visa-free for longer than 30 days

Happy 12th Birthday my Daughter. Claudia McStay

Once again we are separated and once again I have no # to call and to wish you a happy birthday nor an address to mail you a birthday gift.

I want you to know that I love you very much and miss you and your brother Sean each day.

HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

LOVE DAD.

Good bye, my old friend.

If I were to ever have a mistress, then it would be baseball and the home would be Yankees Stadium. From when I first became a fan of the team back in 1974, I have watched with tears of joy as they have won World Series and been sad when they have lost them. I have watched many games on tv with this beautiful stadium in the background. I never got to go to see a live game here and I will always regret it.

All of these photos were just awesome to me and I uploaded a lot of them here today. Enjoy the photos and Go Yankees in 2009.

Jeter’s address capped Yankee Stadium sendoff

By Gordon Edes, Yahoo! Sports

NEW YORK – And so, before they turned out the lights a final time on Yankee Stadium , they asked Derek Jeter to be equal to the big stage one more time. Not with his glove or his bat, but with a hand-held microphone.

“I was scared to death,” Jeter said of standing in front of the mound, surrounded by his teammates, and addressing the throng of 54,610 that had come to bid farewell to Yankee Stadium. “When I was younger, I used to get really, really nervous when you have to do an oral report in front of 25 people.

“I guess I’ve come a long way.”

t was unscripted – Jeter did not write down a word beforehand, he said. He wasn’t even sure he would speak until club officials, who had approached him with the idea a couple of days earlier, came to him just before the game and said they were proceeding with their plan.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I really didn’t know what I was going to say. I had an idea. Specifics, I didn’t know.”

Last week, Jeter had distinguished himself by surpassing Lou Gehrig for most hits in Yankee Stadium. Sunday night, when so many Yankees past and present took a final pinstriped curtain call – Yogi and Whitey, Reggie and the Goose, A-Rod and Mo (but oddly, barely a mention of George Steinbrenner or Joe Torre) – there were distant echoes of a dying Gehrig, standing in front of another Yankee Stadium crowd, and declaring himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

"For all of us here,” Jeter said in the aftermath of a 7-3 Yankee win over the Baltimore Orioles in the last of 6,580 games played here, “it’s a huge honor for us to put this uniform on and come out here and play every day.

“There’s a lot of tradition, a lot of history, and a lot of memories. The great thing about those memories, you’re able to pass them along from generation to generation. And while a lot of things are going to change – we’re moving across the street – there are a few things that aren’t going to change. That’s pride, tradition, and most of all, we know we have the greatest fans in the world.

“We want to have you take the memories of this field, add them to the new memories that will come at the new Yankee Stadium and continue to pass them on from generation to generation. We just want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world.”

And then, to the accompaniment of Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” Jeter led his teammates – Andy Pettitte, who started and won the last game here, Johnny Damon, who hit a three-run home run to erase an early 2-0 deficit, light-hitting catcher Jose Molina, who will go down as the last Yankee to homer here – in a long, slow lap around the field.

On deck, the wrecking ball.

The sign that can be seen from the Major Deegan Expressway, the one that announces when and whom the Yankees play next, bore a different message Sunday.

“Thanks for the memories,” it said.

Across 161st Street, atop the shiny billion-dollar palace still under construction, a new sign had been set in place a couple of days earlier. “Yankee Stadium,” it proclaimed in 10-foot letters.

Sunday night, the old hardball cathedral, proclaimed at birth 85 years ago as The House That Ruth Built, was given last rites. Julia Ruth Stevens, Babe’s 92-year-old adopted daughter and self-proclaimed Red Sox fan (a conversion caused by years of living in New Hampshire), helped pronounce benediction with the ceremonial first pitch.

“I said the other day that playing in Yankee Stadium is sort of like performing on Broadway.,” said Jeter, who was presented a Waterford crystal bat by Steinbrenner”s son, Hal, for his record-setting hit.

“I’ve never performed on Broadway,” Jeter said. “But it seems like every time you play at Yankee Stadium the lights are a little bit stronger here, just like you’re performing on stage. I always dreamt of doing it, but it’s been above and beyond anything I’ve ever dreamt of. You just don’t realize how special this place is.”

Unlike so many other autumns for a team that has won 26 World Series, 39 American League pennants, and made 47 postseason appearances, much of the drama had to be manufactured in the final game. The Yankees were trying to avoid the embarrassment of elimination from playoff contention on the same night they were closing the Stadium. The Red Sox had won earlier in the day; a loss and the Yankees officially would be out of the wild-card race.

(Not that Yankee fans had lost any of their native insouciance. The garment of choice for one spectator Sunday night was a sweatshirt that read, “Hey Red Sox fans, there never was a curse, your team just sucked.”)

So the Yankees trotted out stars, past and present, decked out in the uniforms they wore when they played, or at least that was the idea. “They said this was an authentic uniform,” said 83-year-old Yogi Berra, who has played on more World Series winners (14) than anybody. “I don’t know. We had woolen uniforms, but nothing like this.”

Bob Sheppard, the public address announcer who for over 50 years made it sound like God speaking when he moved his lips, was unable to attend because of the bronchial illness that had sidelined him all season. But he sent pretaped messages, including one in which he recited the Yankees starting lineup. “They’ve offered me a car service,” Sheppard told the New York Daily News. “They would probably send an ambulance or maybe a hearse, if that’s what was required. I just don’t think it would be prudent.”

The M and M boys, Mantle and Maris, both deceased, were represented by their sons, David Mantle and Randy Maris, both of whom bear startling resemblances to their dads.

Billy Martin Jr. was there for his father, as was Michael Munson for his. Cheryl Howard, the daughter of Yankees catcher Elston Howard, stood at home plate with Berra and Joe Girardi, the former Yankees catcher and current manager. Kate Murcer, hand in hand with her children Todd and Tori, strolled out to center field as the crowd watched highlights of Bobby Murcer, the Yankees outfielder and broadcaster who died in July of brain cancer. Helen Hunter, widow of Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter, was embraced by Ford and Larsen and Hunter’s old teammate, Ron Guidry, while Rivera escorted Phil Rizzuto’s widow, Cora, to shortstop.

Willie Randolph, fired by the Mets as manager in June, returned here, where he had served as captain and coach, to a roar of approval, which grew louder when he slid into second base, nearly upending a TV cameraman.

Berra, asked what he’d like to keep as a memento, didn’t hesitate. “Home plate,” he said.

Pettitte said he hoped to buy the pitching rubber. Jason Giambi said he planned to take his locker, first base, and hopefully a few seats from the upper deck. “I hit a few balls up there,” he said. Don Larsen, who threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series, a singular accomplishment, scooped dirt from the pitching mound into a plastic cup with the help of the Chairman of the Board, Whitey Ford. Mariano Rivera, who fittingly closed out the Orioles, Brian Roberts rolling out to first baseman Cody Ransom for the final out, said, when asked if he planned to claim any dirt for himself, said: “I’m going to get a bucket.”

Damon, who called the day “kind of nerve-wracking” because of the pressure not to lose the finale, had grander designs for a souvenir. “I’m still hoping the foul poles end up in my yard,” he said. “Unfortunately, that may be a couple of years, but I don’t think too many people would know what to do with them. But I’ve got a perfect spot for them.”

Bids for the demolition of the stadium reportedly are not scheduled to be accepted until after the first of the year; the city doesn’t expect to finish tearing it down until spring, after the new stadium opens. The city and the team plan to sell mementoes – fans were warned they’d be prosecuted if they tried to take anything, though officials overlooked the fans chipping yellow paint off the foul poles.

The demand for keepsakes was far less pronounced in 1973, when Yankee Stadium underwent an extensive two-year renovation . One man, author-historian Bert Randolph Sugar, reportedly hauled away 17 U-Hauls worth of stuff, including Ruth’s old bat bag, underwear still inside.

“I think it was more the people, not the stadium,” said Bernie Williams, who returned from a self-imposed two-year exile to take part in the pregame ceremonies and received one of the night’s biggest ovations. “You can talk a lot about the magic, the aura but what really made the stadium was the fans.

“Concrete doesn’t talk back to you. Chairs don’t talk back to you. It’s the people who were there that root for you, day in, day out, that makes this place magic.”

Hideki Matsui put off knee surgery so he could play.

“Today, I was just trying to imprint everything on my heart,” said Matsui, adding that George Steinbrenner’s absence had registered with him in a significant way.

“It’s very sad,” he said. “This is his team, and in a way, this is his stadium. It was kind of sad he wasn’t able to make it.”

Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said he did his crying a night earlier.

“I was sitting alone in the black, in the center-field bleachers,” said Jackson of his visit to the place where he’d hit the last of his epic three home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. “I went over there with security. That’s where I had my tears.

“I had my ‘feeling sorry about things,’ if you will. They weren’t sad tears, they weren’t happy tears. They were tears of joyous emotion of having had the opportunity to have played here, to have been in the Stadium, done things in the Stadium, that I was able to do because I played for the Yankees, and because George Steinbrenner brought me here.

“I looked at the ballpark, I looked at the field. I appreciated it. I respected it.”

Williams, a skilled guitarist, was asked what music he would have chosen for the occasion.

“I would probably say, ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame,’ ” he said. “A very sad rendition of ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame.’ ”

Europe, thy name is Cowardice


Not everyone beyond the borders of America hates America. Read this powerful piece from Mathias Dapfner, Chief Executive of the huge German publisher Axel Springer AG. He has written a blistering attack in DIE WELT, Germany's largest daily paper, against the timid reaction of Europe in the face of the Islamic threat.


A few days ago Henry Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe - your family name is appeasement." It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true.

Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives, as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to toothless agreements.

Appeasement legitimized and stabilized Communism in the Soviet Union, then East Germany, then all the rest of Eastern Europe, where for decades, inhuman suppressive, murderous governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities.

Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo, and even though we had absolute proof of ongoing mass-murder, we Europeans debated and debated and debated, and were still debating when finally the Americans had to come from halfway around the world, into Europe yet again, and do our work for us.

Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European Appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians.

Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore nearly 500,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace movement, has the gall to issue bad grades to George Bush... Even as it is uncovered that the loudest critics of the American action in Iraq made illicit billions, no, TENS of billions, in the corrupt U.N. Oil-for-Food program.

And now we are faced with a particularly grotesque form of appeasement. How is Germany reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic Fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere? By suggesting that we really should have a "Muslim Holiday" in Germany?

I wish I were joking, but I am not. A substantial fraction of our (German) Government, and if the polls are to be believed, the German people, actually believe that creating an Official State "Muslim Holiday" will somehow spare us from the wrath of the fanatical Islamists. One cannot help but recall Britain's Neville Chamberlain waving the laughable treaty signed by Adolph Hitler and declaring a European "Peace in our time".

What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians, directed against our free, open Western societies, and intent upon Western Civilization's utter destruction.

It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than any of the great military conflicts of the last century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by "tolerance" and "accommodation" but is actually spurred on by such gestures, which have proven to be, and will always be taken by the Islamists for signs of weakness.

Only two recent American Presidents had the courage needed for Anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. His American critics may quibble over the details, but we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand: Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the German people from nearly 50 years of terror and virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic War against Democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed.

In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner, instead of defending liberal society's values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China.

On the contrary - we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to those "arrogant Americans", as the World Champions of "tolerance", which even (Germany's Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic, so devoid of a moral compass.

For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt, and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy - because unlike almost all of Europe, Bush realizes what is at stake - literally everything.

While we criticize the "capitalistic robber barons" of America because they seem too sure of their priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive! We'd rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or our dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid vacation... Or listen to TV pastors preach about the need to "reach out to terrorists. To understand and forgive".

These days, Europe reminds me of an old woman who, with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a neighbor's house.

Appeasement? Europe, thy name is Cowardice - God Bless America!

Well it was an interesting Chuseok. I stayed home but still I liked what I did.

on Friday and Saturday 12-13th. I just stayed home and stayed low. I knew that the traffic would be bad and I just stayed at home and took a few naps.

Now on Sunday, I did a few things.

1. I went out with Kevin, Julie and Kim to see the movie Mamma Mia.

(Now lets explain a little before we go on. This semester I am mentoring a couple Julie and Kevin. They are so cute together..I just want to puke (Joke.) Kevin has his masters from the UN. Julie Wants to start her's soon. Kim is a young lady from Canada with a masters and this is her first time living overseas.

We had a nice time at the movie and we all liked the film.

2. I later went to the Site E party and once again the police were called. Man we must be getting one heck of a rep here. We have a party and the cops get called.

Monday I took it easy in the morning and then went to Phil's and took of the drunken chicken.



Now also congrats to Phil and Victoria. they are now preggers and I with them both the best.

Phil said that they used to cook chicken like the above photo in Canada, I have no idea but it was delicious and It was nice.

Now for a nice surprise that I had during Chuseok.






When I went to Dan and Greer's wedding in NZ, I discovered this beer named SPEIGHTS and I really enjoyed it. So you can imagine my surprise when Ben told me that his friend forgot to bring back a 12 pack from NZ. Well I had a 12 pack and I really enjoyed it during the Korean holiday Chuseok. I shared a few bottles and I really enjoyed having the beer once again. So sPEIGHT'S Please start to ship this lovely beer to Korea.

So I had a nice holiday season.

I named this blog "The Final Cut" in honor to one of my favorite albums when I was in High School. "Pink Floyd-The Final Cut" I am a huge fan and have their entire catalog on my hard drive. I was sad today when I received the news today of Richard Wright, passing on due to cancer. I am sad that one of my all time favorite bands will never fully reunite.

Pink Floyd member Richard Wright dies at age 65

AP


Richard Wright, a founding member of Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.

The rock group's spokesman, Doug Wright, who's unrelated, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He said the band member's family did not want to give more details about his death.

Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason in college and joined their early band, Sigma 6. Along with the late Syd Barrett, the four formed Pink Floyd in 1965.

The group's jazz-infused rock and drug-laced multimedia "happenings" made them darlings of the London psychedelic scene, and their 1967 album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," was a hit.

In the early days of Pink Floyd, Wright, along with Barrett, was seen as the group's dominant musical force. The London-born musician and son of a biochemist wrote songs and played the keyboard.

"Rick's keyboards were an integral part of the Pink Floyd sound," said Joe Boyd, a prominent record producer who worked with Pink Floyd early in its career.

The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973's "The Dark Side of the Moon," which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote "The Great Gig in the Sky" and "Us and Them" for that album, and worked on the group's epic compositions such as "Atom Heart Mother," "Echoes" and "Shine on You Crazy Diamond."

But tensions grew among Waters, Wright and fellow band member David Gilmour. The tensions came to a head during the making of "The Wall" when Waters insisted Wright be fired. As a result, Wright was relegated to the status of session musician on the tour of "The Wall," and did not perform on Pink Floyd's 1983 album, "The Final Cut."

Wright formed a new band Zee with Dave Harris from the band Fashion, and released one album, "Identity," with Atlantic Records.

Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and Wright began recording with Mason and Gilmour again, releasing the albums "The Division Bell" and "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" as Pink Floyd. Wright also released the solo albums "Wet Dream" (1978) and "Broken China" (1996).

In July 2005, Wright, Waters, Mason and Gilmour reunited to perform at the "Live 8" charity concert in London — the first time in 25 years they had been onstage together.

Wright also worked on Gilmour's solo projects, most recently playing on the 2006 album "On an Island" and the accompanying world tour.

Gilmour paid tribute to Wright on Monday, saying his input was often forgotten.

"He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound," he said. "I have never played with anyone quite like him."

I HAVE NO IDEA EXACTLY HOW, TO SAY THIS NEWS MADE ME FEEL.I GREW UP IN EL PASO FROM 1974-80. BOTH OF MY PARENTS ARE BURIED THEIR, SO THE PLACE WILL ALWAYS BE HALLOW GROUND FOR ME.

EVERY MARCH THE EL PASO TIMES WOULD RE-TELL THE STORY OF THE 1966 TEXAS WESTERN (UTEP) MINERS AND HOW OUR LITTLE SCHOOL WON THE NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP. THEY WOULD ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE BEAR AND HOW HE STARTED A TEAM WITH "ALL THOSE BLACK PLAYERS" AND THEY UPSET KENTUCKY 72-65. THEY WOULD ALWAYS TALK ABOUT A MAN BY THE NAME OF DON HASKINS (THE BEAR) AND HOW HE HELPED TO PUT TOGETHER, STILL TO THIS DAY, THE GREATEST UPSET IN NCAA BASKETBALL HISTORY.

NOW.. HE IS IN IS OWN GLORY ROAD AND WE WILL MISS HIM AND BE LESSER MEN BECAUSE HE IS NO LONGER WITH US.




Haskins a pioneer for justice, common man By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports

Don Haskins was the John Wayne of basketball, a one of a kind throwback, a coach’s coach and a man’s man who finished his career in an era overrun by the Armani-clad phonies.

When he retired in 1999 after 38 years at the University of Texas at El Paso, I dropped him a congratulatory note. A few years earlier I had written a magazine story about him and his decision to start five black players in the 1966 NCAA title game.

He got the note and called. “Now that I’ve got nothing to do, come down and visit,” he said. This was rare for a reporter. You don’t become friends with these guys. I wondered why he wanted to. Now I treasure that he did.

He picked me up at the airport in his pick-up truck. We drove into the desert to “chase clouds.” This was a good time to Haskins and what we generally did on my many ensuing visits.

A bottle of Jose Cuervo usually came along. Sometimes we’d slip into Mexico for a cerveza. Maybe we’d shoot beer cans or play pool in some little dive. One time we got up early and watched the sun come up with jackrabbits along the Rio Grande.

Mostly he’d talk and I’d listen.

Our conversations are over. Don Haskins died Sunday afternoon after a long illness. He was 78. I’m like a lot of people who loved him; richer for every moment spent with him, frightened at the prospect of going on without him.

He was a man of great courage and conviction who essentially gave up on making it to the big time of college basketball when he dared to start all those black players. Almost no big school would touch him after that. He was typecast as an outcast in a dark and unforgiving time.

He was a powerful and demanding coach known as “The Bear,” winner of 719 games and a Hall of Fame inductee. He was so tough he had a heart attack at halftime of one game and refused a stretcher. He walked to the ambulance.

He was more than that though. He was a fun loving, one-of-a-kind character. A pool hustler (he beat Willie Mosconi once), a golf gambler (he teamed with Lee Trevino) and all-time storyteller. He once had a golf bet with another coach where the winner got a home game between their two teams.

He was from a better era of sports, when it wasn’t so big, wasn’t so corporate, wasn’t so corrupt.

One time the Final Four was in Minneapolis. I was there covering it. Haskins used to show up to resell his complimentary ticket and then bail, always enjoying that he was making some quick cash off the NCAA, an organization he despised.

This time he was staying a night. He told me to meet him. He gave me the address. Normally with Haskins you went somewhere simple and smoky. For years, his favorite bar was in the lobby of a Travelodge Hotel. The guy was a walking Merle Haggard song.

At games, he relented to “dressing up” by wearing a clip-on tie. He threw more than one of them at a ref, occasionally forcing them to throw Don Haskins out of the Don Haskins Center. Planning ahead he had a buddy park a little trailer out back with a cooler full of beers.

All this considered, I thought jeans and a T-shirt more than appropriate.

The address turned out to be a big theatre, where the NCAA was holding a Final Four party. It was a big to-do and Haskins was the guest of honor. After all these years the NCAA was trying to make nice. He’d have little of it, using the opportunity to rip the association for its corrupt compliance system and for favoring East Coast teams.

The place was full of powerful people. There were conference commissioners, athletic directors, television executives and magazine editors. Everyone was in a suit. When I noticed Haskins had pressed his flannel shirt I knew I had been tricked.

“Why didn’t you tell me this was a fancy thing, I would have worn a coat and tie,” I asked him.

“I like having someone dressed worse than me,” he said. “That way when people say, ‘Did you see the guy who doesn’t know how to dress?’ they aren’t talking about me.”

---

The story of the 1966 Texas Western Miners was perfect for a Disney movie: On the night before the title game against Kentucky, Haskins decides to start five black players, they win and all is good.

Haskins liked “Glory Road.” He hated that part. He never said it publicly. He was above that. Fact is he had started five black players from Day 1, and the movie made Haskins look like he was afraid to do so. That pained him.

To pretend everything was great after the championship was a stretch, too. Racial slurs were never his greatest enemy. It was far more personal.

He was 36, with a wife and four kids. He had a low-paying job at a school no one had ever heard of. It had taken the family three years of living in the football dorm to save up for a house.

And he had a decision to make. A decision none of his coaching peers could understand why he was contemplating.

There was an old coaching axiom back then, when many college teams were still segregated. If you coached at a school that allowed black players, the joke went: “you played two at home, three on the road and four if you were behind.”

You never played five, especially in the South. Jackie Robinson had come along well before in baseball, but he was one black on a team full of whites. An all black team presented a different image to America.

Every coach knew it, including all of Haskins’ friends.

“They’d say, ‘Don, are you crazy?’ ” Haskins said.

By starting five black players, as he planned to do, the upward arc of his career would be over. He had started as a high school coach in a town of 253. He was a talented guy, big money and big opportunity awaited. Not this way though.

If he won, bigger, richer schools would see him as the coach of “the black team.” They’d never hire him. If he lost or, heaven forbid, there were any discipline problems with his players (there weren’t), he’d be fired and likely never work in the NCAA again.

“I understood what they were saying, I just said, ‘Piss on them,’ ” Haskins said. “Piss on them all. I brought these kids here; I’m playing my best players.’ “

The victory helped integrate not just schools but entire conferences – the ACC, SEC and Southwest Conferences were segregated at that point. Almost immediately the floodgates opened.

“He literally got thousands and thousands of black kids scholarships to college,” said Nolan Richardson, a former Haskins player. Later in life some of those players he had never met would approach him at airports and restaurants and thank him.

Haskins, as his friends predicted, got zero job offers. The only major school to ever try to hire him was his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Today if someone won an NCAA title at a mid-major, they’d choose their multimillion dollar job. Not in 1966. Not with that starting five.

He did get hate mail by the bucket. And the NCAA dispatched an investigator to look into the players’ academics (they were legit). He was shredded in much of the national media. Sports Illustrated even concluded he was exploiting blacks, not helping them, a charge his old players still bristle at.

“For a long time I said winning that championship in 1966 was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” he said.

In recent years he was no longer bitter about those days. He had come out on top in the end. The world had come around on the Glory Road he paved.

People began to appreciate that in a sports world filled with hyperbole, a young man gave up so much personally because it was the right thing to do. The thing no one else would.

---

I’d visit El Paso often, even if just for a few days. We’d get in the truck and drive. To Columbus, Alamogordo, Lubbock, Puerto Palomas, Dell City, Nutt, Wherever. We’d just drive and talk. Talk and drive. We’d call each other most days to discuss everything from politics to football picks to how you raise your kids.

Long after Haskins had stopped teaching players what Henry Iba taught him, he was still a coach.

There was a wisdom you could gain being around him. What he did in the 1960s was a characteristic, not an isolated action. It carried over into almost everything.

Haskins was a champion of the common man. In El Paso he is a legend, the biggest celebrity the town has ever had. Yet he never would eat at fancy restaurants or hang out with the local movers and shakers. He favored blue-collar bars and Mexican grocery counters. He skipped the Hollywood premiere of the movie, citing his health. The night before, though, he watched the Rose Bowl with lots of friends and more tequila.

As his fame grew due to Glory Road, both the movie and the book we co-wrote, he never changed. Twice he turned down chances to meet President George W. Bush. The White House asked him to join the president for breakfast in El Paso. He chose instead to eat with me at a little spot in an old motel. The next time, when the president invited the 1966 team to the White House for a dinner, Haskins skipped the offer. But not before making sure every team manager, university employee and friend of his he could think of got to go.

We once did a book signing in a saddle blanket shop in El Paso and over 2,000 people showed up. He wasn’t feeling well. We kept trying to get him to go home and rest. He wouldn’t stop signing until the line was done. It took 11 hours.

“They came here expecting this,” he said.

He’d organize massive humanitarian efforts across the border without the media ever knowing. He’d leave an overworked waitress a twenty for a cup of coffee. He’d walk into a small bar full of Mexican day workers and buy the whole place a round, a nod of respect to everything they dealt with. He gave real advice to real people, giving halftime speeches until his final days. He was the definition of color blind.

He grew up in Enid, Okla., during the great depression. He never forgot where he came from.

He had an army of people like me, some of us guys half his age of all races and creeds and colors. He showed us how to live and how to lead and sometimes just told us outrageous jokes. I have a great father I’m exceptionally close with. I wasn’t looking for a second one. Haskins wasn’t looking for another son. It just happened.

He was 36 when he won that national title, when he changed history for the better and his career prospects for the worse, when he stood up like no coach ever. I’m that age now. I wish I could say with certainty I would be strong enough to do the same.

The more time I got to know him though, I learned where “piss on them” came from.

I realized that Don Haskins could only make one decision back then. I realized courage and conviction are not one-time things. I realized what principle really meant.

And I realized what he was trying to teach me in that truck of his, through all the long drives and longer laughs, through the desert dust that’ll forever kick up behind us.

A goodbye for basketball coach Don Haskins

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer

EL PASO, Texas (AP)—Dozens of fans, many wearing UTEP orange and blue, solemnly filed past Don Haskins’ wooden casket Tuesday at center court of the arena named for the pioneering basketball coach.

A song softly played from the soundtrack to “Glory Road,” a film about the school’s improbable 1966 NCAA title run when it was known as Texas Western College.

The Hall of Fame coach, who retired in 1999, died at 78 Sunday from congestive heart failure. Haskins is credited with helping break racial barriers by starting five black players during the 1966 championship against all-white Kentucky.

Scoreboards at the Haskins Center were lit with the final score—Texas Western 72, Kentucky 65—while a spotlight was trained on his championship banner in the rafters.

A private funeral is scheduled for Wednesday. A public memorial, expected to draw thousands, is set for Thursday at 6:35 p.m.—tip-off time for televised college basketball games.

Just about anyone who’s lived in El Paso for any time has a Haskins story, from seeing him drive through town in his old pickup to spotting him at a local bar. But those who knew him best, including former players and coaches, say Haskins did his best to keep attention off himself.

Haskins, known in El Paso as “Coach” and as “The Bear” by much of the college basketball world, passed up lucrative offers during his career. He chose to stay at the school that gave him a head coaching job as a relative unknown.

Haskins was remembered this week by fans, colleagues and former players for his passion for the game—he was known to call former UTEP coaches to chat about their new teams—and his dedication to his family and El Paso.

USC coach Tim Floyd, a former Haskins assistant, said he once got a call from the mayor of Van Horn, a small town about 120 miles east of El Paso, to thank Haskins for giving a ride to a family of five stranded along the highway.

“He’d been coyote hunting and saw a station wagon broken down,” Floyd recalled this week. “He put them (the family) in his truck, drove them to El Paso, put them up in a hotel for two nights, and gave them $1,000.”

The family drove to Los Angeles after Haskins also helped get their car repaired. The coach never told anyone about it, not even his wife, according to Floyd.

Floyd said he never told the story before, mostly because Haskins wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know.

“I’m only telling it now because he’s gone,” Floyd said. “I want people to know.”

Haskins: A winner who was not just about winning

Getty Images

When Glory Road came out a few years ago, Don Haskins got a different reaction from when he lived it the first time. The Bear had no idea what he was getting himself into when he started five black Texas Western players in the 1966 NCAA basketball championship game against Kentucky. Wanting simply to win, he started his best players.

"I was young," he told The Dallas Morning News in 2005, "and I wasn't thinking."

He didn't mean he wouldn't have done it. He meant he had no idea people could be so ugly, ignorant and cruel. In only two weeks after the historic win by Texas Western, now UTEP, he received 40,000 hate letters. Most were from the South., but he also heard from civil rights leaders accusing him of exploiting black athletes. The response was so overwhelmingly negative that Haskins at one point declared that he wished he'd never won the title.

Time eventually softened both sides. Unlike coaches now, who move at the least provocation or success, he stayed in El Paso. He drove his teams hard, especially on defense, and none harder than the '66 champs. Not that it showed in their easy demeanor off the court.

"They were the most confident team I ever saw," he said. "It drove me nuts."

Haskins was gruff and funny and well-respected in his profession. The rest of the world was slow to catch on.

In his last years, as his body slowly deteriorated, his wit remained. When he could still make games, even the refs paid homage.

"I tell them they look a lot better than when I was coaching," he said.

Everything about basketball looks different from the way it looked before 1966. Haskins made it happen. Here's hoping he took some comfort in that.

El Pasoans visit Don Haskins Center as coach lies in state

By Stephanie Sanchez / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 09/09/2008 01:00:50 PM MDT

UPDATE: People were slowly walking into the Don Haskins Center at UTEP on Tuesday, where former UTEP basketball coach Don Haskins lies in state.

The scoreboards in the Don Haskins Center show the final score of the 1966 Texas Western College game against Kentucky, 72-65.

On a flat screen, there is playing a slideshow of Haskins' pictures, where underneath it reads, Don Haskins: 1930-2008. Softly playing in the background was the Glory Road movie's theme song, People Get Ready, sung by Alicia Keys and Lyfe Jennings.

On the arena floor were lit up flags that read Texas Western College NCAA Champions 1966.

The east side of the arena was set up like a game day, with 15 chairs where the team would be sitting.

On the second chair over, where Haskins would have sat, there was draped a black cloth, and on it was a rolled up program like Haskins would often carry.

Next to the chairs was a single table with a basketball and a shot clock.

People walked slowly in a rectangular direction around Haskins open wooden casket. On top of the casket was an arrangement of red, green and yellow chiles.

Some of the visitors stopped and prayed and many were wearing UTEP colors, including at least one old Texas Western jersey.

There was heightened security around the Don Haskins Center, and all visitors must enter through the tunnel adjacent to Glory Road.

ORIGINAL STORY: EL PASO -- In memory of college basketball Hall of Fame member and legendary former UTEP basketball coach Don Haskins, who died Sunday, the Haskins family will have two events this week so the public can pay respects.

"It's something they wanted because he's their father and husband, but he belongs to El Paso. There has never been a greater man to come through El Paso and do more for this city," said longtime family friend Jim Paul. "The family's attitude is we're going to share him as much as we can. But for the close family and close friends, the service and burial should be just for them."

Haskins will lie in state between noon and 8 p.m. Tuesday and a memorial service will be at 6:45 p.m. Thursday. Both events will be at the Don Haskins Center, said Bob Stull, University of Texas at El Paso athletic director.

The Haskins family will have private funeral services Wednesday.

Flags will fly at half-staff starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, Stull said.

Paul said if Haskins were still alive, he would not agree with the events planned for him.

"I know what he'd say. He'd say, 'What in the hell are you doing? I don't need this,' " Paul said. "He was a very simple man with simple means. He came from a simple family during the (Great) Depression. He loved everything he did, but he would rather give than receive. He was just a really humble man."

Haskins, who died of congestive heart failure Sunday, was nationally known for leading Texas Western College, now UTEP, to the 1966 NCAA men's basketball championship with five black players as starters against an all-Anglo Kentucky team.

On Sunday, the star coach's death sent a shock wave throughout El Paso, across Texas and other states. The community and many local officials poured out their memories of Haskins as they grieved his death.

"He belongs to El Paso and this is the way the family says we'll give him to you all you want, just allow us privacy to bury him. They know he belongs to El Paso; he stayed here and never wanted to leave," said Paul. "I can tell you that he would be fired mad at me and Mary (because of the events). At this particular time, we'd say 'You know what Haskins, this one time we're not asking your opinion. You're just going to go with it.' "

Haskins' 'Glory Road' trip will shine forever

By Bill Knight / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 09/09/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT

EL PASO -- Thunder rolled in over the city Sunday night, loud booms announcing its arrival. Soon the skies opened and rivers ran down Mesa Street on the night El Paso lost its own force of nature.

Don Haskins, The Bear, passed away late Sunday afternoon at age 78 but his legacy -- in the form of both stories and actual events -- will live on. Late in his life, years after he had been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and years after he had been praised by almost every notable coach, Haskins received a double tribute.

First came "Glory Road" the book, then came "Glory Road" the motion picture.

Haskins enjoyed it all. Oh, he occasionally fussed and groused about this or that. But he loved it, loved seeing it all come to life again and loved even more seeing all his old players on a regular basis.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer wanted Haskins to do a cameo role in the movie, said it just had to be done. Haskins, unassuming as always, would have no part of it. Finally, Bruckheimer went to the last resort. He begged. Haskins, under that ever-gruff exterior, was far too soft-hearted to say no. So he griped a little more and did it.

The little scene, Haskins in coveralls, bellowing "You want to fill 'er up?" simply jumped off the screen to El Pasoans and to his friends around the country. It was priceless. But it was not easy.

"They had me do a jillion takes on that," Haskins said afterward. "Finally, after the 16th take, I just said, that's it. That's the best I've got. I'm done."

Haskins stalked off and the film editors were left to take their best effort. They chose well.

Later, when he received a nice check in the mail for his appearance, Haskins asked Bruckheimer, "You got any more lines I can say?"

That was vintage Don Haskins -- strong and fierce and gruff, and unassuming and humble, and, more than anything, funny.

On Monday, Bruckheimer's office was calling, wanting to know where to send a tribute to the man. Sunday, Josh Lucas, the actor who portrayed Haskins, sent an e-mail saying it was "nothing but a total blessing to have been involved for a tiny slice." The movie, as movies do, will live forever. People will continuallybe introduced and re-introduced to the genius of Haskins, to his strength of character, to his 1966 NCAA men's championship basketball team.

Dan Wetzel wrote a wonderful book about Haskins, doubling the pleasure for posterity. In a tribute to Haskins on Yahoo.com on Monday, Wetzel wrote, "The guy was a walking Merle Haggard song."

Wetzel, like so many friends and so many former players, is on his way to El Paso to pay final respects to this giant of a man, this John Wayne of the coaching world.

In a telephone interview, he talked about the man he wrote a book about and the man who became a special friend.

"I loved him from the start as a reporter," Wetzel said. "I had an interview set up and I was expecting about an hour. Four hours later we finished. Everybody knows what he did in 1966. Just because Coach Haskins never got back to the Final Four doesn't mean he did not continue to do things the same way throughout his career. Courage and conviction are not one-time things. The dignity he showed so many people is special.

"You know, we all think we are never going to be able to have an impact on society the way he did," Wetzel added. "But all of us can notice a waitress struggling a little bit and leave her a big tip. Coach would see someone struggling, someone extra tired, and leave a $20 tip for a cup of coffee. Very few of us can do things that can impact the world. But when you do the little things every day, the big things come easy. That was Coach."

Wetzel said writing the book was a special experience, a moment in time that forged something new in his life.

"It was an unbelievable experience, spending all that time with Coach," Wetzel said. "I remember telling my publishers that most of the interviews were done in a GMC truck with a bottle of tequila riding shotgun. They laughed and said that was a funny story. I told them that that was no story, that's what happened."

Haskins was the most competitive man you would ever meet. He was also a restless soul. He loved to ride in his pickup, cruising the outskirts of the city at around 15-20 miles per hour.

Laughing, Wetzel said, "If Don Haskins were with the Border Patrol, no one would ever get in illegally. He knew every piece of sand in the high desert."

Pausing, Wetzel added, "He just had this greatness about him."

To most, including Wetzel, Haskins was a modern-day John Wayne -- standing strong, doing the right thing and not really worrying what anyone else thought about it.

That is the way he coached and that is the way he lived and that is why he started those five talented young black men against Kentucky that March night nearly 43 years ago in Maryland.

In his final days, Haskins was very ill and very uncomfortable. He had a little television next to his bed and it flickered 24 hours, black and white Westerns rolling across the screen.

He was a real cowboy.

Nevil Shed, one of the Glory Road Gang, a member of that 1966 team, said, "You talk about Glory Road. Coach Haskins is now at Glory Road."

Fall 2008 Reviews by Mike McStay

Now, this could be a very interesting Fall 2008. The next Harry Potter film has been delayed until next summer and the new Tom Cruise one has been given a late December release.

Here are my top 10 films that you need to see this fall and the top 10 that you need to pass on. I will list the opening date for the films here in South Korea.

FILMS THAT YOU NEED TO SEE THIS FALL.

1. Quantum of Solace (November 5, 2008)

I know that this was an easy choice. It preview looked good and it will be nice to see James Bond back into full revenge mode. As of now, the film has an early release date for Korea.

2. Bolt (December 18, 2008)

Disney here is going for the 3-D cartoon look here. It has an interesting plot and looks like it will be a money maker for Disney.

3. Twilight. (December 12, 2008)

This is one of the more interesting films for this fall release. Will the target audience (Young girls and mothers) go see a love story with a vampire? Will we see more of these films. This one deserves at least a look to see what it's all actually about.

4. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Unknown South Korean release date)IMAX

I should have hated the first one, but I actually liked it. I have the same feeling about #2. It will play at the Imax's here in Korea. This could be a nice hit for Dreamworks.

5. Defiance. (Unknown South Korean release date)


James Bond and Oscar winning director Ed Zwick take on the Nazis. The preview looked good and the back story on this actual event was great. Hope we get to see it in Korea.

6. Righteous Kill (Unknown South Korean release date)

De Niro and Pacino working together in a movie. That works for me. It is a police drama and the preview looked good. Hope we get to see it in Korea.

7. Changeling (Unknown South Korean release date)

Clint Eastwood directing Angelina Jolie. Just on that alone it is deserving of a look. The film is based on the Gordon Stewart Northcott case. Once again, I hope that we can see it here in Korea.

8. Pride and Glory (Unknown South Korean release date)

Colin Farell and Ed Norton working together. Ok, sold me on this one. The preview was ok and I will see it. This could be a tweener (not a big film but not a small one either) Either way, it is definitely worth 1 viewing by you, the reader.

9. Body of Lies (October 23, 2008)

Leonardo DiCaprio and Russel Crowe together in a film directed by Ridley Scott. Throw in terrorism and the CIA, this one looks good. Will try and see it if it comes to Korea.

10. Soul Men. (Unknown South Korean release date)

A few months ago, I had this film saved as a fall sleeper. With the recent passing of Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes now the film will serve as a memorial to these 2 great artist. Please see it when you can.

10 Films that you'll need to pass on this fall 2008.

1. Valkyrie (Unknown South Korean release date)

I saw the preview of this film and with all of the bad German accents in this film, it just made me shudder. How can this many good actors be in this film? It looks like a huge train wreck at the box office.

2. The Day the Earth Stood Still (Unknown South Korean release date)

Yes this is a remake of the 1951 classic film with the same name. I have no idea why they decided to remake this film and it's just wrong to remake a perfect, classic film.

3. Punisher: War Zone (Unknown South Korean release date)

We have a new Punisher in this film. We have a new bad guy and we have a huge mess of a film because of it. I have no idea why they even decided to try and make a #2 when the last one was not that good in the first place.

4. Australia (December 25, 2008)

The film is so good that it will out-gross "Titanic" massive box office Dollars. This is one of the predictions that is floating about this film. I just have a bad feeling about this film. What I have heard about this film has not sold me.

5. Four Christmases (Unknown South Korean release date)

All of the bad stories that came out because the main actors never got along. The story looks bad and with the number of good actors, it just has that bad smell that makes me want to pass on this film.

6. Max Payne (November 20, 2008)

Another game based on a video game and it looks horrible. The preview I saw just looked like one huge mess with no rhyme nor reason. It looks empty and that is never good for a film.

7. Sex Drive (Unknown South Korean release date)

A teen movie about a boy going to meet a girl that he has met online. The preview did not make it laugh and it was supposed to. I just have a bad feeling about this film. It looks cheap and rushed together and this is never good for a movie.

8. Saw V (Unknown South Korean release date)

Now let me see, Jigsaw is dead and now someone else is doing his work? Are you kidding me? Why are they even making another one. I have seen all 4 and sad to saw will probably see #5 and the entire time I will ask myself, "Why?"

9. Lakeview Terrace (Unknown South Korean release date)

Samuel L. Jackson takes a turn as a racist cop. The preview looked like a bad "Z" film and it just has a over-acted SLJ trying to be a hyper police officer. It just gave me sick feeling after I watched the preview.

10. Eagle Eye (October 9, 2008) IMAX

Now when I saw the preview, I just looked at the screen and stated, "Are you fracking kidding me?" I also have learned that this will be an Imax film for fall, 2008. I have no idea if it will play at the Imax's here in Korea. I hope not, it has the feel of a bad film and the preview did nothing to dispel my thoughts about this film.

Well these are my 10 hits and misses, once again, "I see the crap, so you don't have to."