Atlanta, GA.
VP Credit/Operations/Sr. Credit Officer. 15yrs exp. in equipment leasing. Strong financial analysis and management skills. Experience developing and maintaining profitable customer/vendor relationships.
Email: credops@msn.com

Atlanta, GA.
Senior Credit Officer in middle-market equip. finance, vendor, 3rd party, specialty, flow credit to the fortune 1000. Team builder, originations capable, strong work ethic, ability to multi-task.
Email: kyletrust@hotmail.com

Atlanta, GA.
10 yrs experience in credit/collections/recovery/documentation in the leasing industry. P&L responsibility, team builder & strong portfolio mgnt skills.
Email: mortimerga@adelphia.net

Boston Ma.
Challenging position where my skills, professional experience, organization, leadership, strategic thinking, creativity, energy, passion, competitive nature will enable me to define opportunities and personal development.
Email: bernd.janet@verizon.net

Corona, CA.
VP credit Consumer Credit prime/sub prime Auto lending/leasing/mortgages. 20+yrs exp. If you are looking for someone to affect the bottom line I am that person. Will relocate.
Email: amosca2000@yahoo.com

Danbury, CT.
Skilled in team building, management & training.Seasoned credit, portfolio and risk management professional. Experienced in developing, implementing underwriting, portfolio management policies & procedures.
Email: vgjmoro@aol.com

Fairfield, CT.
Credit manager. Success building high performance teams, problem solving & providing tactical guidance. Extensive expe. servicing venture-backed, healthcare, graphic arts, machine tool & general mfg. industries.
Email: sailer0102@aol.com

Fort Lee NJ.
Credit and Documentations 3 Years Experience. Looking in NJ/NY. Email: angitravis@mail.com

Irvine, CA,
I have over 16 years of Credit/Collection experience in the finance industry. Prompt results, extremely effective and knowledgeable, professional, excellent manager and team player.
Email: newportresources@sbcglobal.net

Los Angeles, CA
Over 15 years experience in Credit/Operations with Small Ticket and transactions up to $500,000.00. CLP, with excellent relationships with most major lenders.
Email: jonbh123@earthlink.net

Mill Valley, CA
Senior corporate officer with financial services credit background. M and A, fund raising and workout expertise.
Email: nywb@aol.com

New Jersey, NJ
Credit Analyst with 10+ years experience in small-ticket lending up to $500,000. Experience with both vendor-direct and with brokers.
Email: b.leavy@worldnet.att.net

New York, NY.
V.P. Credit & Collections w/23 years exp.looking for a situation where I can utilize my varied & extensive knowledge of credit/ collections/risk-management & leasing.
Email: rcouzzi@yahoo.com

New York, NY
3+ years of leasing credit / contracts experience. Currently in the leasing industry and moving to NY! Exp. working at both funding source and broker.
Email: lease4you@mail.com

New York, NY.
5+ yrs leasing credit exp./highly proficient knowledge of Ops: documentation & recovery. Currently in the SMB segment - moving back to NY/NJ area.
Email: SMBOPS2004@aol.com

Orange, CA.
Credit/Operations Manager 15 years exper., looking for a new home. Have handled both middle/ large ticket transaction, plus muni & international finance.
Email: equiplender@aol.com

Phoenix, AZ.
Credit/Leasing Manager- 8 years underwriting. Proven performer,strong negotiator and sales support. Worked with the best- Randy Schiell, Chuck Brazier, Jim Lahti.
Contact: Elizabeth Rose (480)510-7434
Email: ravenfinance@aol.com

San Francisco, CA.
10+ years Credit Analyst experience underwriting for a direct lessor, regional bank and vendor leasing company. Have CLP and will make decisions ( won't rely on a FICO score for enlightenment.)
Email: pmtorres1@yahoo.com

Seattle/Tacoma, WA.
description: Extensive experience in Credit Management, Relationship Management and P&L responsibility. I make the right decisions and add
real value.
Email: cuda1970@comcast.net

Leasing News has been writing about NorVergence, the telecommunication company and the leases they have put together for almost two years. We received many questions and complaints and tried to be helpful, plus warn others.

It seems every search on the subject in Google, AOL, and other search engines also brings up paid messages with e-mail addresses to join a “class action” or “let me represent you.” A battleground has been drawn and both parties are heading into a major confrontation. This position appears to have frozen business people into warriors wanting to go to battle with sword, battle axe and bludgeon. The clamor has attracted not only consumer fraud departments of the various state attorney general offices, but legislators, local radio, television and business journals to the cause of the small business person hurt by the big bad equipment leasing companies.

I think it has come time to take an editorial stand and call for all parties involved to stop fighting, calling each other names, freezing your position, as it is hopefully still time to make amends and settle the differences.

“I agree you should take a stand and I believe settlement is a valid alternative. If the leasing companies win, and probably will, the political fallout could be disastrous. Go For IT!! “

“Trying to determine who is right or wrong in the NorVergence situation is like trying to separate the Jack Daniels from the coke after it is mixed (Southern Redneck Sayings 101). Seems like there is enough guilt and ‘failure to do the job' to go around, but I cannot understand the Private Label sources not doing a better job, especially if they were non-recourse funders. Private Label by definition means billing and collecting in the NorVergence name instead of the funders name which gives the lessees a false feeling of security about the vendor. The old credit pros like Bob Quinn, Bob Fisher, Jim Merrilees, Dwight Galloway and Charles Randall would have made the NorVergence executives give their DNA and first born child before they would agree to be their Private Label funding source. Maybe these funders are the ones to take the major hit since they had the job of protecting their lessees by researching the vendor and they do not appear to have done so in this case. From what has been published, a simple background check would have caught the bad guys since this was their second major scam in the last few years. RW Professional caught Private Label funding sources off guard after they were already on-board as an established source, but no one seems to have checked NorVergence out from the git-go.”

It was almost one year ago today that we asked readers about what they were interested in reading here, plus at the conclusion, the response confirmed they understand and encouraged our mission:

Before doing so, for readers sophisticated in equipment leasing, here is a typical “NorVergence” “private label” lease contract, where the NorVergence sale representative working on a generous commission, told the customer to sign to obtain their monthly service ( “and save a lot of money!!!.” Note: the first payment due 60 days after date of acceptance, venue to the renter's office, no explanation of Article 2A

( but waiving all rights and remedies,) and “catchall” at the end that the “assignee is a separate and independent company.”

The signers saw this as a “rental contract” as it states on the top, similar to a telephone or cable contract. It was presented by the NorVergence salesman, rarely explained, in the hundreds of users I spoke with by telephone or e-mail, and was based on the service NorVergence provided through their “partners” Quest, Worldcom, SunMicrosystems, and a host of major companies named on their sales literature and web site.

If the “renter” assumed anything, the telephone providers would have a financial interest in this and they were regulated by federal law.

Yes, there is a lot more to the story, as we have printed, and perhaps when you as a professional view the contract itself, you may get a better understanding of this alleged scheme that turned out to many as a “con job, ” a series of events that not only pushed the provider into Chapter 7 bankruptcy but cut them off from any local and long distance telephone service to their company and left them holding a worthless monthly payment.

(The PDF contract copy is best read at 125% to 150% view in Adobe, and you can print it.)

There will be no regular edition from December 27th to January 5th, although there may be a holiday edition from time-to-time during this period.

All ads will remain on the web site and will not be counted in the contract period.

There will be no regular edition from December 27th to January 5th, although there may be a holiday edition from time-to-time during this period.

New banner ads will be accepted after the first of the year to start running on January 5th.

David G. Mayer's Business Leasing News is not included in the Alexa report list as it does not have its own individual site and Alexa finds Patton Boggs, LLP Attorneys at Law. The rating is not valid as it includes all those who visit and communicate with the law firm. When Business Leasing News has its own individual web site, it will be included in the Alexa survey.

It should also be noted that several of the web sites have their "list serve" posted via their site, meaning their e-mails are counted as a visit to the site, whereas they are "list serve" communication. These are technically visits to the web site, but primarily to use "list serve."

These comparisons are compiled by Leasing News using Alexa and should be viewed as a "sampling," rather than an actual count from the website itself. Other than as noted above, we believe the ratings are reflective as most have stayed in the same position, basically, for over a year.

The Alexa tool bar works on most browsers.
They are partnered with Google.

You may download their free tool bar A graph and analysis of the last three months are available.

( Note: the lower the number, the higher you are on the list. It is based on all web sites. Leasing is only a very small part of the various sites such as Yahoo, MSN, Google, etc. )

[headlines]

“After what I believe may be a modern tenure record at one leasing company, almost 32 years, I am stepping down as President of Mellon Leasing Corporation at the end of the year to seek other challenges, hopefully in the leasing business. I have enjoyed following the business the last few years as a reader of the Leasing News and would like to change my subscription address to ***********

“Bob Rodi was right about there being no such thing as broker protection given banks' sophisticated marketing computers, but this is nothing new.

“The great fallacy of the concept of “broker protection” is that for the last 30 years or so, about 60 days after the lease is funded, the UCC filing information is in the hands of every high volume leasing entity in the country and every one of them is saying the same thing, “This guy qualified for one lease, he should qualify for another.” Thus that name is put into a database and called regularly for the next five years (right on up to the “my records show your lease is expiring…” phone call).

“Therefore, a broker's funding source calling customers is the least of his troubles. If you want repeat business, the only answer is to stay in touch with your customers on a regular basis and provide them with value added services along the way. Maybe then you have a chance of keeping them.”

Kenneth D. Goodman, CLP
Goodman & Associates
Equipment Leasing - Consulting - Training
24137 Grayston Drive - Lake Forest, CA 92630
888/852-7560 - fax 949/583-7275
ken@leasegood.com

“I was shocked after reading your recent article regarding Main Street National Bank as it relates to me. Kit, I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about this. There was no "hard fact" in this regard from me at all. During my tenure at First Sierra Financial as I mentioned to you when you called me before, I enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Tom Depping and Bob Quinn and have the utmost respect for each. Although I enjoy reading Leasing News and appreciate your efforts on behalf of our industry, I am disturbed that you would print my perspective without confirming same directly from me.”

which was on line. We apologize. The reference was to the original articles written four to five years ago, where on two occasions, he said the opposite. But if he says it isn't so, we believe one of the top former CPL Pegasus producers. It is our error.

By the way, we then also checked with all the others mentioned, to learn if they felt the same today. They did. We also received many other comments from readers, which we thought were “unfair” to print, even if some wanted to sign their name. We want to promote good business and hope Main Street National Bank succeeds. Editor)

(We did report on this in the regular section, but more in News Briefs, as we could not get permission to use the newspaper or TV stories in our regular edition, due to a time factor, as I think we could have received permission. This is a serious matter, but more a bank fraud, although there were leasing companies also stuck on this, plus over 100 employees were let go. According to public records, “approximately (70) banks and leasing companies are involved with a fraud estimated to be in excess of $60 million. In reality, this is much like CMC, among a few others, that will wind its way through the bankruptcy procedure. There is not much to report. It is a sad fact the major principal involved, Barton Watson, committed suicide on the morning of Wednesday, November 24,2004, as the company was being put into receivership. It is certainly a very sad story. Editor )

The Equipment Leasing and Financing Foundation's new report entitled, Indicators of Success: How Does Your Company Compare reveals the company attributes most associated with success and profitability in the leasing industry, and it is full of surprises. For example, would you believe that corporate culture is a better indicator of profitability than funding expertise? The study identified forty-six attributes in a series of interviews with top executives, then surveyed the industry to determine how the attributes relate to profitability. The results are in this new report, and every company in the industry should have this information: it is, quite literally, a prescription for success in the leasing industry. What is more, the results are reported by market segment, so they are certain to be applicable to any company.

Foundation donors can receive a copy at no charge; non-donors may download a copy for $75. Follow this link to the Foundation's website. Study is available through the Foundation Library at
http://www.leasefoundation.org/.

**** Announcement ***********************
-----------------------------------------------

    Yule time, also called Alban Arthan. One of the “Lesser Sabbats:”during the Wiccan year. Yule marks the death of the Sun-God and his rebirth from the Earth Goddess, Annually, on the winter solstice. Much of our language comes from our Viking heritage directly or through their conquering of England and France, influencing their language more than any other people. December 21-March 20, 2002, in the Northern Hemisphere winter begins today with the winter solstice, at 5:21 PM, California time. Note that in the Southern Hemisphere today is the beginning of summer. Between Equator and Arctic Circle the sunrise and sunset points on the horizon are farthest south for the year and daylight length is minimum (ranging from 12 hours, 6 minutes, at the equator to zero at the Arctic Circle). Actually, the longest night of the year is the 12-13 th of December, but this is the official start of the Winter solstice.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec21.html
    1620- According to Governor William Bradfords History of Plymouth Plantation, the Pilgrims, aboard the Mayflower, reached Plymouth, MA, “sounded ye harbor, and founde fill for shipping; and marched into ye land, & founde diverse cornfields, and ye best they could find, and yea season & their presente necessitie made them glad to accepte of it.... And after wards tooke better view of ye place, and resolved wher to pitch their dwelling; and them and their goods.” Plymouth Rock, the legendary place of landing since it first was “identified” in 1769, nearly 150 years after the landing, has been a historic shrine since. Contrary to common belief, the Pilgrims tried several locations first, including Provincetown Harbor, Mass, where the first social contract for a New England colony, was drafted and signed by 41 adult males. The Pilgrims did not settle there, but went on after a time to Plymouth. Physician Dr. Samuel Fuller was on board, in fact one of the signers of the Mayflower Compact. For some time he was the sole physician in Massachusetts. Ina letter dated June 28, 1630, written at Salem, MA, to Governor William Bradford of Plymouth, he described one of the customary treatments, in which he “let some twenty of these people blood.”
    1790 -- Samuel Slater's thread-spinning factory goes into production, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The beginning of the Industrial Revolution in America. The workers at his machines are 4 to 10 years old.
http://www.woonsocket.org/slaterhist.htm
http://john.ourjourneys.org/slater/early.html
http://inventors.about.com/cs/inventorsalphabet/a/textile_2.htm
    1829—Birthday of Laura Dewey Bridgman - struck deaf and blind at two, she was the first blind-deaf mute to be taught successfully. LDB eventually helped teach others with disabilities. She learned to read through a Braille-like system and "spoke" through tapping out an "alphabet." as taught her by Samuel Gridley Howe at the Perkins Institute for the Blind, Boston. Howe's methods of teaching her are still being studied today and his journals as well as Bridgman's are carefully read for their insight and aid for teaching all those with disabilities. The records kept by Howe and by Bridgman's teachers are invaluable to modern researchers investigating the education of the disabled, as they are the first detailed records of the education of a deaf-blind person." She lived her entire life at Perkins, dying at age 60.
http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/ndxbridgman.html
http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/bridgman1.html
http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc0.asp?DOCID=1P1:30431105&num=
3&ctrlInfo=Round9c%3AProd1%3ASR%3AResult&ao=
    1830—Birthday of early American author Mary Virginia Hawest Terhune. Her novels often centered around southern plantation life. Her first novel Alone (1854) sold more than 100,000 copies She also wrote advice books, and popular biographies. She wrote syndicated columns on women's affairs for the Philadelphia North American (1900-10) and the Chicago Tribune (1911-17).
http://www3.telus.net/womenswork/mary_virginia_terhune.htm
http://mn.essortment.com/maryvirginiate_rapi.htm
http://web.ask.com/searchcp?q=Mary+Virginia+Terhune&t=Mary+Virginia
+Terhune&cache=00*2s45u99erpnnw&url=http://www.math.ttu.edu/~wle
wis/family.htm&page=&ws=1
    1850 -- Celia, a black slave is hung for killing her master. Her tragic story and the underlying cruelty and the societal-approved prerogative of the male to sexually satisfy himself with his property - slave or wife - was told in Meltan A. McLaurin's historically accurate book Celia, A Slave, New York: Avon Books, 1991. Robert Newsom, a widower, bought Celia when she was about 14, raping her for the first time on the way back to his Missouri plantation. He set her up in a cabin behind the main house and in time she bore two children. As the trial transcripts relate, in trying to resist her master's advances, she killed him with a stick. White women rallied to her side claiming that women had a right to resist rape whether they were slaves or not, but not surprising in the all-male judicial system upheld the male prerogative and the right of ownership prevailed in court. All appeals failed and she was hanged for murder. Melton A. McLaurin's book Celia, A Slave (New York: Avon Books, 1991) attracted a great deal of interest when it was first published because it was the first time anyone had attempted to reconstruct the life of an "ordinary" slave, a woman at that. All the real facts that are known about Celia are taken from the transcripts of her trial. At about 19, she began developing a mind of her own and even became involved with another slave, George.
http://www.click2famoustrials.com/celia/celia.htm
http://www.jacksonvillestory.com/Celia%27s%20Sad%20Fate.htm
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=464114&
sourceid=1500000000000001827190&dest=9999999997
    1892- Walter Charles Hagen, golfer born at Rochester, NY. Hagen won two US Opens, four British Opens and five PGA Championships. He was extraordinary in match play, including the Ryder Cup, because he was a master scrambler and absolutely unflappable. He was also a colorful showman who brought the game to the masses and helped to increase prize money. died at Traverse City, MI, October 5, 1969.
    1892 - Portland, OR, was buried under a record 27.5 inches of snow.
    1903 – American detective writer Lawrence Treat born, wrote under the name Lawrence Arthur Goldstone, often called the "father" of modern police procedural novel.
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/treat.htm
    1909- Barney Ross, boxer born Barnet David Rosofsky at New York, NY. Ross was the first boxed to hold two titles simultaneously. He won the lightweight crown in 1932 and the welterweight crown in 1934. He also won a Silver Star during World War II as a Marine. died at Chicago, IL, January 18,1967.
    1909 - Although called introductory high schools, the McKinley and Washington schools of Berkeley, California, were the first authorized, junior-high schools in the United States. They taught grades 7,8 and 9.
    1912- Joshua (Josh) Gibson, Baseball Hall of Fame catcher born at Buena Vista, GA. Gibson is regarded as the greatest slugger to play in the Negro Leagues and perhaps the greatest ballplayer ever. Gibson starred with the Pittsburgh Crawford's. his long home runs are the stuff of legend. In 60 recorded at bats against big league pitching, Gibson batted .426. He died at 35 years old just three months before the integration of baseball in the major leagues. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972. Died at Pittsburgh, PA, January 20, 1947.
http://www.blackbaseball.com/gibsonjo.html
    1913-The first crossword puzzle was compiled by Arthur Wynne and published in a supplement of New York World . He basically redesigned a Victorian-era game called The Magic Square as a feature for the Pulitzer newspaper.
    1914 - Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand and Mack Swain appeared in the first feature-length comedy that was six reels long. Mack Sennett directed the film called, "Tillie's Punctured Romance".
    1929- the first hospital insurance group plan was effected by Baylor University Hospital, Dallas, Texas. the plan was inaugurated by Dr. Justin Ford Kimball, executive vice president of Baylor University. The first group insured were the Dallas public school teachers, who paid 50 cents per month for 21 days of hospital treatment.
    1929-an exceptional snowstorm swept across the southern Plains through Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. 26 inches fell at Hillsboro, TX and 18 inches fell at El Dorado, AR
    1937- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was exhibited in Los Angeles, CA. It was an instant hit. Disney took a tremendous gamble with this 3-year artistic venture, as fantasies usually did not (and still do not) fare well at the box office. He had much of his own money tied up in the film, and Snow White had the potential of financially ruining him. The film was originally budgeted for $250,000, but ended up costing $1,480,000. The film utilized the talents of 570 artists and contained 250,000 drawings. Would adults sit through a cartoon that ran nearly an hour and a half? But the pre-release fears were unfounded. The public and most critics were enchanted and impressed with Disney's painstakingly crafted fairy tale. Never before had anyone so successfully produced a full-length animation film, and it was quickly dubbed into 10 languages. In England, children under 16 were not allowed to see the film unless accompanied by an adult, and it was under partial ban in South Africa and the Netherlands. The film ran for an unfrequented 5 weeks at New York's Radio City Music Hall and for 31 weeks in Paris. Snow White set new attendance records around the world, marking the dawn of a new age in animation. It became the first movie to earn $1 billion. In its nine theatrical releases it earned approximately $1 billion in 1994 US Dollars. the home video version of Snow White was officially released on October 28, 1994, after receiving about 27 million retail orders, making it the top-selling video up to that time.
    1937---Birthday of Jane Fonda, considered a controversial figure because she visited Hanoi during the Viet Nam war. She won Academy Awards for her work in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978) and she was nominated three more times. She won the Emmy for The Dollmaker (1984). One of the nation's most distinguished actors, she may never be fully honored because of her anti-war activities during the Viet Nam war. She went to Hanoi and through radio broadcast begged America to stop the bombing. She has been called Hanoi Jane ever since by the right wing extremists who distorted her message and purpose. Her workout books and videos became very popular in the 1980s. She dropped out of films when she married Ted Turner, the TV mogul, in 1991 (divorced in 200). In 1994 she narrated A Century of Women, a TV series that celebrated women's achievements in the 20th century.
    1938- Cootie Williams's Rug Cutters record “Delta Mood.”
    1940- rock singer and composer Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore. The oldest of four children, Zappa and his family moved to California while he was still in his teens. After graduation in 1958, he played with various lounge bands and began composing songs, one of which, "Memories of El Monte," was recorded by the Penguins of "Earth Angel" fame. In 1964, Zappa took over a rhythm-and-blues band called the Soul Giants and turned them into the Mothers of Invention. Their irreverent blend of satire and rock 'n' roll was featured on half a dozen albums in the '60s. Zappa began a solo career in the '70s, and made a surrealistic film of rock 'n' roll life called "200 Motels." All told, he released more than 50 albums, including "Jazz From Hell," which won a Grammy Award for best rock instrumental in 1988. Zappa died of prostate cancer on December 4th, 1993.
    1942-- soul singer Carla Thomas was born in Memphis, the daughter of veteran performer Rufus Thomas. She was the first Memphis soul artist to have a national pop hit, "Gee Whiz" in 1961. The success of that disc led to the formation of the Stax Records company. Thomas had another pop hit in 1966 with "BABY," and the following year recorded two duets with Otis Redding, "Tramp" and "Knock on Wood," both of which made the Billboard
Top 30.
    1943-Birthday of guitar player Wolfman Washington, New Orleans, LA
http://www.xtrememusician.com/info/artists/profiles/2659.html
http://www.offbeat.com/text/wolfman.html
http://walterwashington.com/index1.html
    1945 - The FCC assigned television channels to several licensees, including CBS and NBC in New York City and Radio Corp. of America in Camden, New Jersey.
    1946- Louis Jordan's single, "Let the Good Times Roll," debuted on the Rhythm and Blues charts.
( lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec21.html )
    1946-- guitarist Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys was born in Hawthorne, California. The three Wilson brothers - the others were Dennis and Brian - formed a group called Carl and the Passions with Mike Love and Al Jardine in 1961. The band's name was changed to the Beach Boys to take advantage of the surfing craze in southern California. Among their surfing hits for the Capitol label - "Surfin USA," "Surfer Girl" and "I Get Around." The Beach Boys turned in a more experimental direction in 1966, recording "Good Vibrations," a number-one song that took six months to produce and was at the time the most expensive single ever made. The Beach Boys continue to perform, primarily as a nostalgia act.
    1947- Metronome All-Stars record “Metronome Riff.”
    1950---Top Hits
Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Nevertheless - Jack Denny
If You've Got the Money Honey I've Got the Time - Lefty Frizzell
    1954-- Chris Evert, tennis champion, had 125 consecutive clay-court victories and has been called the world's best clay-court woman player of all time. She was ranked the world's best player 1974 to 1978 and in 1980 and 81. She was the U.S. singles champion 1975-78, 80, 82; Wimbledon champion 1974, 76, and 81, and won at least one Grand Slam singles title for 13 consecutive years. Between 1973 and 1979 Evert won a record 125 consecutive clay-court matches, and won the French Open on clay a record seven times.
    1958---Top Hits
The Chipmunk Song - The Chipmunks
Problems - The Everly Brothers
One Night - Elvis Presley
City Lights - Ray Price
    1964 - A great warm surge from the Pacific Ocean across Oregon and northern California brought torrential rains on a deep snow cover resulting in record floods.
    1965 -- An overflow crowd of 76,251 jams the Cotton Bowl, giving Dallas its first home sellout. The Browns beat the Cowboys 24-17.
http://images.nfl.com/history/images/1121.jpg
    1966- Apollo 6, first moon voyage launched, manned by Colonel Frank Borman, Captain James A. Lovell, Jr and Major William A. Anders. Orbited moon Dec 24, returned to Earth Dec 27. First men to orbit the moon and see the side of the moon away from Earth.
    1966 - The Beach Boys receive three gold-record citations for the single "Good Vibrations," which hit Number One eleven days ago and the albums "Little Deuce Coupe" and "Shut Down, Vol. 2."
    1966---Top Hits
Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron - The Royal Guardsmen
Winchester Cathedral - The New Vaudeville Band
That's Life - Frank Sinatra
Somebody Like Me - Eddy Arnold
    1968-the first Astronauts to orbit the moon were Colonel Frank Borman, Captain James Arthur Lovell, Jr., and Major William Alison Anders, who made 10 lunar orbits in Apollo 8, launched by a three-stage Saturn 5 rocked from Cape Canaveral, FL, at 7:51am. The spacecraft reentered the atmosphere and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 147 hours 11 seconds later.
    1970 - Elvis Presley went to the White House to volunteer his help in fighting United States drug problems. President Richard Nixon gave him a federal Narcotics Bureau badge.
    1974---Top Hits
Cat's in the Cradle - Harry Chapin
Angie Baby - Helen Reddy
You're the First, the Last, My Everything - Barry White
I Can Help - Billy Swan
    1979- The Eagles, Chicago and Linda Ronstadt perform at a benefit show for the presidential campaign for California governor Jerry Brown, who also happens to be Ronstadt's boyfriend. The show at the San Diego Sports Arena is followed-up by a similar show at the Addin Theater in Las Vegas. The two shows bring in over $450,000.
    1979-- Willie Nelson's movie debut, "The Electric Horseman," which also starred Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, opened in North American theatres.
    1979- Frank Zappa's "Baby Snakes" premiered on Zappa's 39th birthday. The film combined concert footage, backstage antics and animated clay figures.
    1982---Top Hits
Maneater - Daryl Hall & John Oates
The Girl is Mine - Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney
Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson
Somewhere Between Right and Wrong - Earl Thomas Conley
    1985 - Bruce Springsteen's album, "Born in the USA", surpassed Michael Jackson's "Thriller", making it the second longest-lasting LP in the top 10. springsteen's album lasted at it peak for 79 weeks, and was second to "The Sound of Music" with Julie Andrews that lasted: 109 weeks.
    1985 - Bruce Springsteen's album, "Born in the USA", passed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to become the second longest-lasting LP in the top 10. It stayed there for 79 weeks. Only "The Sound of Music" with Julie Andrews lasted longer: 109 weeks.
    1986 - Atlanta center Jeff Van Note, who at 40 was the oldest pro football player, played his 246th and last NFL game as Atlanta beat Detroit, 20-6.
    1988 - Pan Am World Airways Flight 103 was the victim of a terrorist attack when the jet exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. The 258 passengers, crew, and several people on the ground at the site of the crash were all killed.
    1988 - Seven cities in the eastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date, including Charleston SC with a reading of 78 degrees. A storm in the northwestern U.S. produced 22 inches of snow at Idaho City ID in two days, and up to two feet of snow at Happy Camp CA. Ski resorts in Idaho reported three to six feet of snow on the ground.
    1989 - Forty cities in the north central U.S., including thirteen in Iowa, reported record low temperatures for the date. Havre and Jordan, MT, tied for honors as the cold spot in the nation with morning lows of 43 degrees below zero, and the temperature remained close to 40 degrees below zero through the daylight hours. Dickinson ND reported a morning low of 33 degrees below zero and a wind chill reading of 86 degrees below zero. The high for the date of 16 degrees below zero at Sioux Falls SD was December record for that location.
    1990---Top Hits
Because I Love You (The Postman Song) - Stevie B
Justify My Love - Madonna
Impulsive - Wilson Phillips
I've Come to Expect It from You - George Strait
    1997- Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions became the third player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season when he gained 184 yards against the New York Jets. the Lions won, 13-10. He reached the 2,000 yard mark with a 2-yard run with just over two minutes left in the game. On the next play, he broke free for 53 yards, a gain that allowed the Lions to run out the clock and clinch a playoff berth. The other members of the 2,0000 yard club are O.J.Simpson, who rushed for 2,003 yards in 1973, and Eric Dickerson, who ran for 2,105 yards in 1984 ( this book is not up to date and there are surely some more members of this elite group today ).

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure's face,
my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children's race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn't hard to tell.

They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,
to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy's desire.
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,
was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”

But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,
the little boy who thought he'd win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,
and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.

As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn't win it now.
Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.
But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”

He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that's all,
and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.

He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.
“I'm hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn't try to race.”
But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father's face
with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”

So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.
“If I'm to gain those yards,” he thought, “I've got to run real fast!”
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...
but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.

Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.
“There's no sense running anymore! Three strikes I'm out! Why try?
I've lost, so what's the use?” he thought. “I'll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad, who soon he'd have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven't lost at all,
for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”

So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn't quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he'd ever been,
still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.

Three times he'd fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.
They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace.

But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
you would have thought he'd won the race, to listen to the crowd.

And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn't do so well.”
“To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”
And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,
the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.

For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.
And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,
another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”