Posted: Friday, May 9, 2008 12:00 am
Was Johnny Cash ever in prison?
Not for any crime he ever committed.
"The Man In Black" championed prisoners' rights throughout his career and started singing at prisons in the late 1950s. Most notably, he performed at Folsom Prison in Folsom, Calif., and also at San Quentin, which is north of San Francisco.
His performances at the prisons resulted in two live albums: "Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison" (1968) and "Johnny Cash at San Quentin" (1969).
Cash landed in jail, not prison, seven times in his life for various misdemeanors, most of them drug-related. Each stay lasted only one night.
His most infamous run-in with the law occurred in 1965 while on tour. He was arrested by a narcotics squad in El Paso, Texas. Officers suspected he was smuggling heroin from Mexico, but it was prescription narcotics and amphetamines hidden inside his guitar case. As they were prescription drugs rather than illegal narcotics, Cash received a suspended sentence.
Cash died on Sept. 12, 2003. He is considered one of America's most underrated musical icons. And for our money, "Sunday Morning Coming Down" is one of the finest songs ever, in any musical genre.
I saw some Badgers were taken in the NFL Draft. Was anyone from Marquette University selected?
The man who asked this question couldn't get through asking his question without cracking up.
Ha-Ha. We bet you know every word of "Varsity" and jump around between the third and fourth quarter with the best of them. Wisconsin's collegiate version of the Hatfields and McCoys again rears its head.
Marquette played competitive collegiate football from 1892 to 1960. The Golden Eagles have played football as a club team since 1967 and are said to be the oldest collegiate club football team in the country.
Their schedule last season included Xavier University, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and Miami University of Ohio. All play in the Midwestern Club Football Conference. Marquette also played NCAA Division III schools Carroll College, located in Waukesha, and Mequon's Concordia University.
It's not 80,000-plus screaming fans on a Saturday at Camp Randall, but it's something.
Speaking of something, the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs and Marquette, then known as the Golden Avalanche, played on Jan. 1, 1937, in Dallas in the first Cotton Bowl. MU lost 16-6.
Several former MU footballers played on various Racine teams in the early days of the NFL: Alfred Bentzin; Don Curtin; John Fahay; Norbert Hayes; Irv Langhoff; Frank Linnan; George McGill; Richard "Jab" Murray; Fred "Fritz" Roessler; Vincent Shekleton; and Whitey Woodin played for the Racine Legion or Tornadoes between 1922 and 1926.
We hate to disappoint, but we must reiterate that neither the Legion nor Tornadoes later became the Detroit Lions, a popular Belle City myth.
Learn more about MU club football at:
http://marquetteclubfootball.com
For the record, Wisconsin cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu, kicker Taylor Mehlhaff, defensive tackle Nick Hayden and wide receiver Paul Hubbard were selected in the 2008 NFL Draft.
Why are there bluish-purple neon lights under the State Street Bridge? I don't see any under any other bridge in Racine.
This question comes in every once in a while, and the answer is always deceptively simple. They're decoration.
"They're there mainly just to highlight the bridge's architecture," said Tom Eeg, Racine's Assistant Director of Public Works.
There are white lights under the Main Street bridge - it's been lit since 1994. It's so you can see the trolls. And the towers. Since there are no towers on the State Street Bridge, the city put in the bluish-purple neon lights. Eeg said the lights went on in 1999.
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