ROGUE CUP CHALLENGE #9-'The Roguening'

[IAMTAT]

Ready for the REVEAL, FCD.

HA!  Unreal!

I'm not sure I understand how he figured it out, but it turns out, Jinmi is correct.  Statement #1 is the one which was not entirely true.  Here's the rest of the story...

Oh, and indcidentally, Faux is also correct about something...yes, Super Bowl VII was, in fact, played in Los Angeles (which is where I had dinner with Earl Morrall and family the night before the Super Bowl).

Okay...here's the rest of the story...

Well, it turns out that all three statements are true for the most part.  The only answer which is partially incorrect is….Statement #1.
 
Statement #1 – For many years I actually believed the baseball was signed in 1968.  I was too young to remember it correctly.  One day I took the ball to a sports memorabilia place to establish the value.  I told the guy the story and he just laughed at me.  I was pretty embarrassed…UNTIL he told me what I should do after I left his store!
 
He then went on to tell me, the ball was clearly original, and one of the only ones he’d ever seen.  He said I should have known right away that it wasn’t signed in 1968 because right across the official ball silk screening on the leather was the signature of none other than Billy Martin.
 
Billy Martin didn’t become the GM of the Detroit Tigers until 1971, but most of the Hall of Fame players and players who had been in the World Series in ’68 were still on the Detroit roster.  The ball was actually signed in 1972.
 
And just some other footnotes for those who may be curious.
 
Statement #2 – Is true.  And the responses I gave to Faux and Jimni’s questions are accurate how that event came to pass.
 
Statement #3 – Also true.  The Morrall’s were close family friends of ours, and I was friends with their two boys, both of whom were younger than me.  For any football historians, you will know that Bob Griese, the then QB for the Miami Dolphins, broke his leg early in the ’72 season.  Earl Morrall, who was a seasoned veteran on the squad, who came to Miami after playing with the likes of Johnny Unitas for the Baltimore Colts, got the starting slot for the Dolphins that year.  Morrall took the Dolphins all the way through the balance of the ’72 season undefeated, and through the playoffs undefeated…UNTIL the 3rd Quarter of the AFC Championship game when Coach Don Shula pulled Morrall and put the now healed Bob Griese in.  The Dolphins won that game, and went on to win the Super Bowl VII in January of ’73.
 
Our dinner with Earl Morrall, and his wife and kids that evening, the night before the Super Bowl was a  somber one.  A dinner I remember as being very bittersweet even to this day.  Earl Morrall was ever the optimistic NFL player, and everyone was ecstatic to be going to the “Big Show”, but it was unlikely that our friend would get to play unless Griese got hurt again (something I found almost difficult not to wish for!)  Morrall had brought them all the way to the Super Bowl, and Shula pulled him in favor of Griese.  That was the thanks he got.  I was not happy.  None of us were, and although he would have never admitted it opening, I’m sure none of us were more unhappy than Earl himself.
 
P.S. – I also alluded to an ‘Extra Credit’ statement in my opening statement.  Just for grins I’ll throw that out here now too. It was going to read as follows…
 
Statement #4 – I received a hand autographed copy of the book “The Winning Edge”, by Coach Don Shula.  He autographed the inside of the jacket and handed it to me personally.  I thanked him and walked out of the room…and threw the book in the trash on the way out.  I never spoke to, or saw, Coach Shula again.
 
Explanation – Also a true statement.  My mother saw me do this and grabbed the book out of the trash.  She had secretly saved the book and gave it to me after my first year of college at the University of Utah.  The book is sitting on my bookshelf today.  I’ve never read it.
 
Note – I just looked on my library bookshelf, and oddly the book is not there.  I was going to retrieve it to read the inscription here.  That’s very strange.  Truth be told though, I really don’t care.  In fact, I’m sure it’s around here somewhere and when I find it…I’ll probably throw it in the trash again!  (Dead serious too.)  In any case, I remember he spelled my name wrong, right after I had finished telling him how to spell it, and that just poured salt in the already open wound from several years before.

On the other hand, I also have Earl Morrall's book "In the Pocket", also autographed by my friend.  When I was looking for Shula's book, I did take the time to make sure Morrall's book was still there.  Whew!

Sadly, Earl Morrall passed away in 2014.  May he Rest in Peace.  A gentleman, and athlete, a true legend of the game...and a friend.  My friend.

And that, my friends, is (all) a true story!

Lastly, I am happy to answer any other questions people may have.  Hopefully this was fun for you all.  For me, it dredged up some both happy and not so happy memories of a time quite a while ago indeed.

Thanks!

Congratulations to JINMI...and to you, FCD for a match as interesting as you are. You are one amazing dude.
Thank you, all for the great questions and answers.

JINMI and FAUX...Thanks for playing. You two were awesome.

JINMI...you are the new 'Lying Rogue'.
I hope you'll pay it forward with another great challenge.

-TAT

Do you want to wait for participants or get the....ball...rollin?

You have the helm, sir.