[theoddz]

Alex Trebek, longtime host of the popular game show, Jeopardy, has passed away from pancreatic cancer at age 80.

I didn't know Alex Trebek personally, of course, but I do have a rather funny story about him. My story about Alex goes back to 1984, when I worked in the field of television production for my hometown's then ABC affiliate, WSAV-TV 3, in Savannah, Georgia. This was after I got out of the Marine Corps in 1981. Savannah has always had a huge celebration on St. Patrick's Day, due to our very large Irish population and Savannah's celebration of that holiday is second only to that in New York City, so it's a pretty big occasion and draws large crowds and and an equally large parade. Bands, celebrities, public figures and large rowdy celebrants are known to descend on Savannah for this yearly event.

The folks at WSAV knew that my mother and I had moved from Savannah to Iowa/Illinois for my last year in high school, before I joined the military, and I suppose it was along this line of thinking that seemed to have them, as a group, under some kind of strange impression that I MUST know how to drive the John Deere tractor that was to pull the WSAV station parade float!! Actually, I had absolutely no idea about how to drive a tractor. I could (and did) drive a motorcycle and, of course, a car back then, but I was completely clueless as to how a tractor was operated. I wasn't even from Iowa/Illinois or any kind of "farm country". I was a city kid to the core!! Anyway, my manager politely smiled, patted me on the head and said, "No problem. We'll lash the two steering pedals together and it'll be simple for you." I was young, stupid and silly but agreed to try to do my bit and give it a try. What was going to be even better (read more stressful) to this situation was the fact that Alex Trebek, the celebrated long time host of the show, Jeopardy, was going to be riding on the station float for the parade.

The morning of the parade finally arrived and the morning was foggy, chilly and overcast. I had consumed 2 large Stanley thermos bottlefulls of hot black coffee to warm me up and carefully maneuvered that John Deere tractor into position for the guys to hitch up the WSAV float. A few minutes later, there was Alex Trebek, dressed in his suit that was covered up by an extra large plastic Hefty trash bag that had a hole cut out for Trebek's head to poke out of. One of the other production assistants was conscripted to hold an umbrella over Trebek's head to keep his hair from getting wet. He climbed up on the float and, with the throngs of screaming women fans screaming wildly, calmly took his seat atop the float. I admired his perceived confidence in my tractor driving skills, but the truth was that I was just hoping to be able to make it through the parade route without running someone over or ploughing the float into something, like the curb, or a band or some of the folks gathered on the sides of the parade route . I hadn't quite gotten the touch of the clutch down, so for me, it was a herky jerky, inch by inch movement that got us started down the street with the parade.

I was gradually getting used to the movement of everything, but it was a painfully slow process, marked by the sudden lurchings and brakings of that damned tractor. Every time we slowed, stopped or resumed our procession, I nearly knocked Alex Trebek off of the back end of that float and on to the hard asphalt of the street, in front of his adoring masses. I remember looking back over my shoulder to check on things and locking his eyes with mine. What I saw then can only be described as his complete and utter antipathy towards me.

Just when I thought that things couldn't have possibly become any worse, those 2 quarts of hot black coffee that I thought I was so smart to consume in that cold fog before the parade......hit. And it hit HARD, because I ended up having to piss so bad, I thought my eyes would cross. Of course, I'm certain that the entire desperate state I was in, physically, caused my feet to punch those steering/braking/accelerator pedals on that tractor exponentially harder, and thus, the herky jerky motion still worse!! How I managed to hold my poor bladder without completely soaking myself halfway through that parade had to be a pure and complete act of divine intercession at its best.

To this day, I look back on that St. Patrick's Day in Savannah as one of my "finer" moments. I will also forever remember, with a certain fondness, too, Alex Trebek and that "I'm gonna smack the taste right out of your mouth" look in his eyes as he scrambled to hang on to his perch on that wet slippery float while wearing that silly-ass giant Hefty bag "raincoat".

Well, the next time someone is looking for someone to drive a frippin' tractor.....can just keep lookin'. Just don't look at me.

RIP Alex. I applaud your courage.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/08/enter...rnd/index.html

~Theo~ .......still cannot drive a tractor.