Countdown to Kickoff

[Swayin]

This was a tradition for years on GCN and OOTS - the kickoff to countdown, and I thought I would bring it here. Basically, you post a picture that illustrates that day's "number" - so to start off, it's 100. @TheYancey would usually figure out a way to post some scantily clad model from the '60s or some crazy oddity. Some folks post cars or random things that coincide with that day's number; I usually post naval stuff because I'm a naval history nut. But you get the picture, and if its still confusing, you'll get the deal quickly enough. And on a side note, I know @Homebrewcock and others will pour one out for OrlandoGamecock, RIP, who took on this chore for years. 'Lando was a great guy and this and every countdown is dedicated to him!

On to kickoff, and everybody join in with your pix if you feel so inclined!

 

[Swayin]

Originally laid down as CL-100, the USS Newark, the ship was converted to an Independence-class CVL, CVL-30, the San Jacinto. The San Jacinto joined Task Force 58 in time to participate in the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" in June 1944, and was the carrier from which future US President George H.W. Bush flew his Grumman TBM Avenger.

 

[Spur's Addiction]

 

[kingofnerf]

Jeff Burton's #99 from back when Roush Racing employed drivers who could actually win a race. LOL

 

[Swayin]

DD-99, the U.S.S. Luce, was a Wickes-class destroyer laid down in 1918 and decomissioned and scrapped in 1936. The Wickes class was a huge leap forward in naval engineering in terms of speed and armament, and many "four stackers" served through World War II when they were transferred to the ship-needy British Navy as part of lend-lease.

 

[Homebrewcock]

I will pour one out for Lando.  Maybe even blast some KISS for him.  Right before he passed I sent him Ace Frehley's latest album.  Not sure if it got there in time honestly.  Love ya Lando!!!!  You were a great friend.

 

[Swayin]

I will pour one out for Lando.  Maybe even blast some KISS for him.  Right before he passed I sent him Ace Frehley's latest album.  Not sure if it got there in time honestly.  Love ya Lando!!!!  You were a great friend.

Amen brother!

 

[gamecock88]

 

[Swayin]

The USS Tuscon, CL-98, was one of the last members built in the very successful Atlanta class of light cruisers built around roles as key members of the anti-aircraft screen.

 

[kingofnerf]

"Old 98".  Legendary Michigan football player, Tom Harmon, father of former UCLA QB and NCIS star, Mark Harmon.

He played football in the days when your nose was your face mask.

At the end of the 1940 season, Harmon won numerous awards, including:

• On November 25, 1940, the Maxwell Memorial Club announced that Harmon had been chosen as the winner of the Maxwell Award as "the nation's No. 1 football player for 1940".
  
• On November 28, 1940, Harmon was announced as the winner of the Heisman Trophy as the country's outstanding college football player with a record count of 1,303 votes.
  
• On December 10, 1940, Harmon was named the male athlete of the year across all sports in annual polling of sports experts conducted by the Associated Press. Harmon received 147 points in the poll, nearly tripling the points received by runner-up Hank Greenberg.
  
• Harmon was also a unanimous All-American, receiving first-team honors from the All-America Board, the Associated Press, Collier's Weekly, the International News Service, Liberty magazine, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, Newsweek, the Sporting News, and the United Press.
  
• In mid-December 1940, Harmon was unanimously selected as the most valuable player in the Big Ten Conference.
  
• Harmon and backfield teammate Forest Evashevski, described as Michigan's "two-man gang", were both selected by conference coaches for the third consecutive year as first-team players on the Associated Press All-Big Ten Conference team.
  

Career statistics and legacy

In his three seasons at Michigan, Harmon rushed for 2,151 yards on 399 carries, completed 101 of 233 passes for 1,396 yards and 16 touchdowns, and scored 237 points.  During his career, he played all 60 minutes eight times.  Harmon also scored 33 touchdowns, breaking Red Grange's collegiate record of 31 touchdowns.  He led the nation in scoring in both 1939 and 1940 (a feat that remains unmatched).  His career average of 9.9 points per game stood as an NCAA record for ten seasons.

Harmon was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1962, the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1974, and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor (as one of five inaugural inductees) in 1978.  In 2007, Harmon was ranked 16th on ESPN's Top 25 Players in College Football list. Harmon was also ranked fifth on the Big Ten Network's program "Big Ten Icons", honoring the greatest athletes in the Big Ten Conference's history.

In November 1940, Michigan's equipment manager announced that Harmon's jersey number, 98, would be retired when Harmon played his last game.  About 73 years later, Michigan un-retired Harmon's jersey as part of its Michigan Football Legends program. During a ceremony in September 2013, Harmon was honored as a Michigan Football Legend, and Devin Gardner was chosen as the first Michigan player since 1940 to wear the jersey.

His military service in WWII was equally the stuff of legends.

Military service

In May 1941, the draft board in Lake County, Indiana, announced that Harmon had been classified as 1-B and deferred as a student until July 1, 1941.  In July 1941, Harmon was granted a further 60-day deferment based on his claim that he was the sole support for his parents.  In September 1941, he appeared in front of the draft board seeking a permanent deferment.  His request was denied, and he was classified as 1-A. Harmon, then working as a radio announcer in Detroit, stated that he intended to appeal the ruling.  His appeal was denied in October 1941, and he was given until November 1941 to enlist.

Harmon applied to enlist as a cadet in the United States Army Air Corps in early November 1941. He was granted permission to enlist as a cadet in March 1942.  Despite rumors that he had washed out of flight school, Harmon underwent his first 60 hours of flight training at the now defunct Oxnard Air Force Base in Camarillo, California, and then finished basic flying school at Gardner Army Airfield in Taft, California, in September 1942. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and a twin-engine bomber pilot and assigned to Williams Field in Arizona in October 1942.

In April 1943, an Army bomber piloted by Harmon, and nicknamed "Old 98" after Harmon's football jersey number, crashed into the South American jungle while en route to North Africa. Harmon reported that he had been flying through heavy rain turbulence for two hours. When Harmon tried to fly the plane to an opening in the weather, there was a sharp crack from the right wing and engine, and Harmon was unable to pull the plane from a steep dive. After ordering his crew to bail out, Harmon parachuted from the plane at 1,500 feet. He ended up in a tree 20 yards from where his plane crashed. Out of a crew of six, Harmon was the sole survivor of the crash and spent several days working his way through jungle and swamp.  He ultimately came upon natives in Dutch Guiana who escorted him in a dugout canoe to a village, where he was taken by outrigger canoe to a base of the Antilles Air Command.

The newspaper article in the link below is pretty self-explanatory.

https://aadl.org/aa_news_19430424-harmon_en_route_pg5

Then he had a similar experience after getting shot down over China as a P-38 pilot.

After a brief assignment as a Lockheed P-38 Lightning pilot in North Africa, Harmon was assigned to duty with the 449th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in China in the summer of 1943. In October of that year, while escorting bombers on a low-level mission over Kiukiang, Harmon's P-38 was shot down over the Yangtze River by a Japanese Zero during a dogfight. According to some accounts, Harmon shot down two Zeros in a dogfight over the Kiukiang docks and warehouses.  Harmon was forced to bail out into Japanese-occupied China. He was later rescued by anti-Japanese Chinese guerrillas.  Harmon was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for his actions with the 449th Fighter Squadron.

Harmon returned from China in January 1944.  In November 1944, Harmon's account of his war service was published by Thomas Y. Crowell Company under the title, "Pilots Also Pray".  He was promoted to the rank of captain in April 1945, and he was discharged from the military at the end of the war on August 13, 1945.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Harmon#Los_Angeles_Rams

On March 15, 1990, Harmon suffered a heart attack at the Amanda Travel Agency in West Los Angeles after winning a golf tournament at Bel Air Country Club. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he died at age 70.

Someone's life doesn't get any more hardcore than that of the late Tom Harmon.

Sa-lute!!

 

[Spur's Addiction]

 

[Blitzkrieg]

View attachment 2731

 

[Blitzkrieg]

^ 98th Division

 

[kingofnerf]

The #98 RCA Ford Thunderbird John Andretti drove to victory in the 1997 Pepsi 400 at Daytona for Cale Yarborough.

Excellent article in the link below.

https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2017/06/30/1997-pepsi-400/

In commemoration of John Andretti, StarCom Racing is entering a replica of his Ford Thunderbird RCA paint scheme in the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR at Darlington Raceway May 7-9.

In its seventh year, the weekend pays homage to NASCAR Hall of Famers, legends, team owners, and valuable sponsors throughout the racing industry. The 2021 Official Throwback Weekend is not era-specific, which has paved the way for the inspired John Andretti throwback car while bringing awareness to the #CheckIt4Andretti foundation.

The car—designed and sponsored by Bos Klein—is a replica of the paint scheme of the RCA car Andretti raced in the 1990s. The car features a red and white split design with the #CheckIt4Andretti logo prominently displayed. Quin Houff will race the replica.

https://starcomracing.com/2021/05/starcom-racing-to-honor-john-andretti-in-darlington-2021-throwback-race/

 

[Homebrewcock]

 

[kingofnerf]

Kurt Busch vs. Jimmy Spencer.  Good times.

 

[Skyhawk96]

 

[Swayin]

CL-97, USS Flint

 

[Homebrewcock]