Big Leather Couch

Born on the west side of Chicago, Darryl played running back at John Marshall High School. He was offered a scholarship to play football at Purdue University where he was converted to a wide receiver.

He played at Purdue from 1970 until 1972. He received his bachelor degree in 1992 in a commencement ceremony which was described as “stirring.”

In 2004 Stingley returned to Purdue to be inducted into the Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.

"The Purdue family has lost one of its treasured heroes in Darryl Stingley," athletics director Morgan J. Burke said. "His strength and courage will never be forgotten. On behalf of the entire university, our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

In 1973, Stingley was the first round draft choice of the New England Patriots of the NFL. He played for the team from 1973 until 1977.

During a 1978 pre-season game against the Oakland Raiders, Stingley was running a crossing pattern. As he went into the air to catch a pass he took a violent hit from the elbow of Jack “The Assassin” Tatum. Stingley fell to the ground immediately.

He had to be taken off the field on a stretcher and in the coming days it was learned that he had broken his fourth and fifth vertebra and was a quadriplegic.

Over the years he gained some use of his right arm which allowed him to use an electric wheelchair.

Tatum never apologized for the hit, continuing to claim it was a “clean hit.” In 1980 he wrote a book titled “They Call Me Assassin” and tried to contact Stingley. Stingley refused to speak to him.

In 1983 on the 25th Anniversary of the hit, HBO tried to get both men into the studio to discuss the play. Again, Stingley refused calling the event a “publicity stunt.”

Stingley became the Director of Player Development for the Patriots. In 1983 Stingley co-authored his memoir entitled “Happy To be Alive” with Mark Mulvoy.

In 1993 he started a non-profit organization to assist troubled youths in the Chicago area.

He was pronounced dead yesterday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital after being found in his home unresponsive. The cause of death has been attributed to heart disease and pneumonia complicated by quadriplegia.

Stingley is survived by his wife Martine and three sons; Hank, John and Derek, who plays defensive back for the Albany Firebirds in the Arena Football League.

THE COUCH NOTE: Jack Tatum would eventually face his own disability as his left leg was amputated below the knee in 2003 due to a staph infection caused by diabetes. Tatum also suffered from an arterial blockage that almost cost him his right leg. He currently uses a prosthetic leg to walk around or a wheelchair. Tatum currently works in increasing awareness of diabetes. To facilitate this goal, he created the Ohio-based Jack Tatum Fund for Youthful Diabetes, which finances diabetes research. Prior to Super Bowl XL, ESPN Andrea Kremer did an interview with Tatum confirming that he still has few regrets about paralyzing Stingley.




All of New England is patting themselves on the back today. The Red Sox bid $51,111,111.00 just to get negotiating rights to “Dice-K” and then signed him to a $52,000,000.00 contract.

The Red Sox $103,000,000.00 pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka stuck out 10 hitters in 7 innings and helped the Red Sox win 4-1 yesterday.

Pretty impressive outing …EXCEPT IT WAS AGAINST THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS!!!!!

The Royals went 61-100 in 2006; 56-106 in 2005 and 58-104 in 2004.

La Grange
By ZZ Top
BestAudioCodes.com

With apologies for the late posting today. THE COUCH actually fell asleep on.....are you ready for this??? The couch last evening!
As an addendum to Monday Matinee, we want to add a post script to the tale of "Hoping To Meet Quickly", the story of meeting the lawyer who married...

It was now about 24 months later and THE COUCH was at his desk at work.

Phone rings and he answers. female voice. "Hi, how are you?" "Ummm, OK and you?"

She asks, "You don't know who this is do you?" "Actually, no clue."

"Well, I will give you a hit...you took me on a limo ride once."

Now, this, as a hint, was not going to cut it, "Ummm, you have to be more specfic then that." "You mean you took other women in limos?"

Beginning to get a bit annoyed at this game, "Well, I guess that is what it means, now who exactly is this?"

Then it comes out. She tells us her name and how she was so sorry at what happened, and how her girlfriend told her that she should have called off the wedding and given us a chance. Then she says it... yup, you guessed it...

"Well, you know, I filed for a divorce last week, and i am living in the city now. Would you like to come over this afternoon?"
THE COUCH has married at this point, but because of what happened with this woman - for a split second - the little brain says "Yeah go over, give her what she wants and then leave and tell her never to bother you again."

Big head prevails, "Sorry, I got married...have a good life..." click

Maybe SHE heard the crickets!
In September of 2002, Warren Hill was at a flea market in Manhattan. Hill, from Montreal was a collector and would buy vinyl records.

He brought his buy home, and with a friend Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records in Portland, OR writes in the current issue of Goldmine Magazine, they came upon a find.

"We cued it up and were stunned — the first song was not 'Sunday Morning' as on the 'Velvet Underground & Nico' Verve LP, but rather it was 'European Son' — the song that is last on that LP, and it was a version neither of us had ever heard before!" Isaacson wrote.

What Hill had purchased was one of only two reported copies of the in-studio acetate from the 4 days the Velvet Underground recorded their first album in 1966 at Scepter Studio in NYC.

Hill and Isaacson photographed the album, made a digital backup copy of the music, and decided to put it up for auction on eBay on November 28th. When bidding closed Mr. Hill had turned a $0.75 investment into a sale of $155,401.00! The buyer is known only by their eBay screen name.



Nice to see David Stern, he the Commissioner of the NBA has realized his faux pax trying to introduce a "composite" basketball instead of the tried and true LEATHER !!!!

Mr. Stern... all you had to do is ask the readers here and they will tell you ....NEVER REPLACE THE LEATHER!
You Go Girl... Nicole Richie got busted after fellow motorists called 911 to report a black SUV (what else!) was driving on the wrong side of the road and erratically.

After failing a roadside sobriety test, the "85 lb." (according to the police report) Richie was booked and released after taking a drug test. No results on that yet, but our girl Nicole, reportedly told the CHP officers Jon and Ponch, that she may have been "token' the herb don cha know", earlier in the evening.

The reports that Paris Hilton was the one who made the incriminating phone calls to police, and was seen lurking behind a bush as the cops did the roadside test are unconfirmed.
Tick tock goes the clock. The Boston Red Sox only have until Thursday to complete a deal for Japenese stud pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka.

The Red Sox were the "winners" in a bidding war to just get the chance to negotiate a deal with Matsuzaka.

The deadline is Thursday. If they can not get a deal done then they lose negotiating rights and the pitcher heads back to the Seibu Lions.

OH, the price the Red Sox paid to the Lions just to negotiate with Matzuzaka...$51 million!

Now if they can't get a deal done, they do get their money back.

On a good note for Yankee fans, Matsuzaka's agent has said his client is worth "well in excess of one hundred million dollars."

sheesh.....never blame the players if there is a work stoppage or lockout in baseball ever again. It is the owners who are paying all this money!
So, George Clooney wakes in the morning and his knees hurt and he thinks "I'm 45." This from the new People Magazine's "2006 Sexiest man Alive" winner.

All at once... 1, 2, 3 ..."ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh poor georgie!"
Remember, tomorrow is WORDLESS WEDNESDAY NAME THAT TUNE on THE COUCH. And we will again be posting in the morning, instead of midnight, to give some other regions of the world a chance at playing.
We leave you with a clip we found that we think you will all enjoy.
Eric Clapton & Sheryl Crow...

St. J - P.B.U.A.B.W.A.B

Thanks for sitting on THE COUCH, hope you enjoyed your stay.

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Keep that spark of insanity kids...It helps keep you an individual.

SONG INDEX: Source: allmusic.com
LAGRANGE: Composers: Frank beard, Billy Gibbons & Dusty hill