Cleve Herman, the individual with the eye patch, was some kind of attack sportscaster in Los Angeles. I think it was on Channel Eleven he held forth, a little sports reporting and a healthy dose of ego wrapped in a loud voice and relatively frail "issues" is the way I remember it.

In 1954 I was going to college and working at a parking lot at 1360 South Hope Street, Los Angeles. I was accustomed (and encouraged) to close the lot for half an hour before the evening rush to the hospital next door. There was a neighborhood bar at the corner of Hope and Pico Boulevard where the counterman made a decent hamburger, and when I could afford it I'd go for the $1.00 Burger Basket and Beer special.

One Saturday night, must have been football season, I was munching away and checking out Cleve's blather, when I recognized his next guest: it was my Dad, Director of Admissions and Registration at USC. He gave Cleve a pretty good outline of admission policies relative to football players as special cases (they weren't, as far as policy was concerned; the amount of guidance they got from "counselors" was another matter). Cleve was not that pleased, and apparently a little resentful, since there seemed to be no mud to stir up in that area.

I'd guess there's little chance I'd have thought to put this down if I hadn't come across ol' Cleve's presence in that picture. Serendipity..

  RACING Site Map                        WHOLE Site Map                 PERSONAL Site Map