What is the New Year if not a time of hope, of rejuvenation? Cut back on the booze, take brisk walks, try to view life afresh. So why not mark this time by shucking off all weary prior knowledge of Bob Greene?
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Bob begins with a Scottsdale dateline, talking about how football is popular there this time of year. Then he declares that all young athletes today with “any special talent” are immediately “telecast into every cable-ready home in the land” and “will be used to make a profit for someone.”
Not exactly true. But today we are forgiving, so we will go on to the meat of the story: Clarence “Bevo” Francis. Somewhat disorienting, since after that introduction Bevo is a non sequitur. He played basketball, not football. He played for an obscure school in Ohio, not Arizona. He’s not a current player–he played in the 1950s, that magic decade Bob keeps on a chain around his neck to wave like a talisman against the wicked modern world.
The irony of a good player going unviewed, the changes sports have undergone, seem fresh discoveries to Bob. “Oh, what the sports merchandisers could have done with Bevo today,” he mourns. Does Bevo share his sadness? Drawn into the story of Bevo, we can’t help but wonder, oh, for instance…what happened to Bevo after he left sports. Bob doesn’t say.
–Ed Gold
