Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

cycling / Monday / video — Comments Off
10
Jun 19

Putting in a few more miles

I went over this particular route a few weeks ago, but I’m getting smarter …

I turned around before the really hard part!

That let me throw down the fastest time of the year on the last stretch of road before the end of the ride. Still four seconds off last year’s fastest time ever on the same segment. That was in July of last year, so I have a few weeks to improve that particular challenge on a seasonal basis. If I can’t, the only possible conclusion would be that I’m getting slower.

(I already know this to be true.)

friends / history / memories / photo / Thursday / Twitter / video — Comments Off
06
Jun 19

The 75th anniversary of D-Day

A good friend of ours is a US Army officer, a paratrooper. Five years ago, he had the opportunity to jump into France as a part of the 70th anniversary ceremonies commemorating D-Day.

He jumped with this flag, which hangs in my office.

Here’s a video of his jump. He went out the door of a German plane on a beautiful day over Normandy.

That view makes it difficult to imagine jumping into the dark, knowing the enemy you’ve been training for is waiting below.

Ernie Pyle came ashore soon after and helped people back home understand what the men and boys in Europe were up against:

"Pyle’s first column about the D-Day landings, published on June 12, 1944, gave his readers an honest accounting of how daunting the invasion had been…"

Ernie Pyle's desk is one floor below me. His personal effects are two floors away.https://t.co/NAcikTWrMn pic.twitter.com/HD2jienjzK

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) June 5, 2019

And then, of course, Ronald Reagan talked about some of those famous exploits at the 40th anniversary:

"We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent… The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States and the American security guarantee is essential…" https://t.co/8IHYFfryBt

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) June 6, 2019

Instagram / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
04
Jun 19

That’s about right

View this post on Instagram

New, perfect, office decoration.

A post shared by Kenny Smith (@kennydsmith) on Jun 4, 2019 at 6:24am PDT

IU / journalism / Monday / photo / television — Comments Off
03
Jun 19

Catching up with another friend and former student

‪I don’t know what you did with your Saturday afternoon, but I spent part of mine catching up with the great Lauren Becker. It’s like Old Home Week around here right now, which is great. It’s such a treat when nice people come back to visit.

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‪The IUSTV news director emeritus is currently covering South Bend and Michiana for WSBT. She was nice enough to spend part of her afternoon telling me all about how our program is helping set up tomorrow’s reporters, and realizing how so much of my advice is, in fact, brilliant. I should have rolled tape on that part, just to share with future students.

She told me about a few of the stories she’s working on, the experiences she’s had in her first year on the job and all she’s learned.

I’m going to have to get her back down here when the students are on campus and let her tell the TV folks what they’ve got ahead of them. And especially that part about how my advice is pretty useful.

family / Friday / links — Comments Off
31
May 19

It’s like Ray Bradbury said …

“If we are interested in Mars at all, it is only because we wonder over our past and worry terribly about our possible future.”

Today I put my grandfather’s name on the list to go to Mars.

I bet he would have liked the idea of that. You can see some of his books here. And you can send your name, or the name of a loved one, to the red planet as well. Go here to go to Mars.