After all these years...

...I decided it was time to write a letter to the editor of BYU's newspaper, the Daily Universe. Last Wednesday I read this article: Then I wrote the following in response to the above article, because, well, I just had to. (Anything to take a break from thesis-writing, right?!)

A Vote for Rocky

I do have to differ strongly on one opinion offered in Mr. Walker's viewpoint piece (May 21, "'Rudy' is cream of the sports movie crop"), and that is that "Rocky" is merely a film about "mentally slow boxers." This is utterly false. Most of the Rocky films contain fabulous analogies for life (like most of the films that made the list) and are worth watching multiple times. Besides, who doesn't love the famous line from a battered, bloodied, and bruised Italian Stallion: "Adrian!!!"?

In our family, we watched "Rocky" the night before my husband took the GMAT, and the musical theme to Rocky may or may not have been sung by my husband while I was delivering our son eight months ago.

And, for the record, Sylvester Stallone does a much better job in "Rocky" than Dennis Quaid did in "Miracle." But I do think that Kurt Russell was great as Coach Herb Brooks, if that is who you were really referring to.

Stacey Hoopes Herndon, Va.

Because just writing the letter wouldn't be very exciting, I guess I should mention that it was printed in Thursday's newspaper. I'm almost as famous as those two Davids that happened to make the front page!! :)

And, after all these years out here, and being a Utah resident now, I still paid homage to my original home state in my signature. This brings a song to mind that I will share here, written by James Bland, an African-American musician and songwriter, many moons ago. I did read that this is no longer the official state song, as of 11 years ago, but I somehow missed the memo. And no, I never learned this in school, as you can probably see why.

Carry me back to old Virginny, There's where the cotton and the corn and taters grow, There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime, There's where this old darkey's heart am long'd to go, There's where I labored so hard for old massa, Day after day in the field of yellow corn, No place on earth do I love more sincerely Than old Virginia, the state where I was born.* CHORUS: Carry me back to old Virginny, There's where the cotton and the corn and taters grow, There's where the birds warble sweet in the springtime, There's where this old darkey's heart am long'd to go. Carry me back to old Virginny, There let me live 'till I wither and decay, Long by the old Dismal Swamp have I wandered, There's where this old darkey's life will pass away. Massa and missis have long gone before me, Soon we will meet on that bright and golden shore, There we'll be happy and free from all sorrow, There's where we'll meet and we'll never part no more.

*Okay, okay, so maybe I wasn't born there. But I don't remember Georgia at all.