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All my memories of Robinson were enhanced the other day when I dragged myself to see “42 — The Jackie Robinson Story." As a movie, it was OK, perhaps 2.5 stars. But for me, this Hollywood version of a segment of Robinson’s life was chock full o’ nostalgia.
Pro scouts — lots of good ole boys — the head coaches and the pro general managers make more mistakes and more misjudgments on the few days of the glorified April NFL draft than their football players do during the 16 games of the autumn season.
The separation between the professional and the amateur is a chasm. The novice — the amateur — has hopes. She — or he — starts with the deepest of ambitions. He — or she — aspires someday to play the chosen sport well enough to become a professional.
Jerry Green started writing sports for The Detroit News on an ancient Remington typewriter. That was in 1963, after seven years with the Associated Press. As the technology advanced from the typewriter through a variety of gizmos to the computer and the Internet and e-mail, Green advanced with it.
In 1967, Jerry was assigned to cover a new event called the Super Bowl. He kept covering Super Bowls year after year, never stopping. Even after his quasi-retirement in 2004, he has been recalled to active duty for a week to cover Super Bowls for The News. Now he is one of four sportswriters/survivors who have covered every Super Bowl.
Jerry was on The News' sports staff for 41 years and covered several World Series, major golf tournaments in the USA and overseas, Stanley Cup championships and NBA Finals. When he was the AP, he covered the Lions' championship season in 1957; so he makes a valid claim that he is the last surviving Detroit sportswriter who covered the Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons and Lions championships.
Nowadays in retirement, Jerry writes a Sunday column for The News' Web site. He has also written eight books, the most recent on the history of University of Michigan football.
His credo, as a columnist: "My columns reflect the performances of the teams on the field, the ice or the court."
Jerry won the Dick McCann Memorial Award presented by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. He was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. In addition, he was voted Michigan's Sportswriter of the Year 10 times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
And, "Oh yes," he says, "I have been criticized for being old-fashioned and a curmudgeon, and I confess all of that is true. I happen to love sports history."
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