Get out the door and 20 minutes with n.p.r. News Dick catch up on what happened while you were asleep and look ahead at the stories that will shape the day listen every day. Human Rights Watch wants a ban on the development of autonomy us robotic weapons even if many day sions don't sign or ignores any Daugherty of Human Rights Watch says laws against murder do not prevent all murder but that does mean we should not ban murder that story and all the latest news Saturday and Weekend Edition from n.p.r. News. 'd this morning at 8 o'clock on w d t e Delaware public media from Delaware State University this is 91 point one w. D.d.e. Dover broadcasting in collaboration with the University of Delaware w d d e Delaware source for n.p.r. News online and streaming at w d t e dot org major funding for only again is provided by Geico offering car insurance as well as services for homeowners and renters insurance through the Geico Insurance Agency additional information can be found at Geico dot com or 180947 auto. W.b. You are involved and I'm Bill Littlefield and this is N.P.R.'s sports program only a game. Thank you thank you very much we've got a great show for you today former major league pitcher Barry Zito is waiting in the wings he's going to talk about his life in music and baseball and music. But 1st the vote will be coming on and paying a tribute to beloved golfer Chichi Rodriguez. And our last day coming all the way from Stockholm Sweden Hello Stockholm want to miss this one folks music and sports today only a game don't leave your seat the show is now to begin. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington on trial Snider hurricane Harvey is a weakening this morning the National Hurricane Center in Miami says it's now a Category one storm as it moves inland Harvey was a Category 4 hurricane when it came ashore last night bringing with it heavy rain powerful winds and the prospect of catastrophic flooding from member station in Austin so you to Hazen reports governor Abbott is urging residents to put their lives 1st and their property 2nd he says the state has deployed hundreds of buses to help residents evacuate landfall is just the beginning the storm is expected to move inland and then hover the governor says that will likely mean heavy rain across much of Texas over the next several days what you don't know and what nobody else knows right now will be the magnitude of flooding that will be occurring over the coming days in the aftermath of the initial surge Abbott says unauthorized residents will not be asked for their I.D.'s at evacuation centers his top priority is to protect lives for n.p.r. News I'm citing Hasan in Austin officials are waiting for daylight to assess the damage but early reports from the Texas Gulf Coast include reports of collapsed roofs and walls at least $200000.00 people are without power the Trump administration has announced a new round of economic sanctions against Venezuela and N.P.R.'s Scott Horsley reports it's in response to what the White House calls for in his weightless slide towards dictatorship the new sanctions prohibit American citizens from buying any newly issued debt from the Venezuelan government or its state owned oil company better Vesa the administration stopped short however of blocking oil imports from Venezuela treasury secretary Steve minutia and says the u.s. Is trying to strike a balance minimizing harm to the Venezuelan people while ramping up pressure on the regime of Nicolas Maduro these measures will undermine ability to pay off political cronies and regime supporters and increase pressure on the regime to a bad. It's disastrous path the u.s. Is willing to relax sanctions sma soon as Venezuela restores democracy and holds free and fair elections Scott Horsley n.p.r. News the White House and a radical Muslim cleric with a large online following has been indicted on terrorism charges in New York City as N.P.R.'s Hansi Lo Wang reports a law enforcement official tells n.p.r. That Shaikh Abella Faisal was taken into custody by local authorities near Kingston Jamaica according to an indictment filed in a New York State Supreme Court he's been charged with recruiting and providing support for the Islamic state prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney's office say Faisal allegedly communicated with an undercover New York City police officer a claim he offered to help the officer travel to the Middle East to support foreign fighters abroad according to intelligence officials Faisal's online videos have inspired many people to radicalize including the man who pleaded guilty to trying to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in 2010 Faisal is expected to appear in court in Jamaica on Monday on 01 n.p.r. News New York and this is n.p.r. News. For Delaware Public Media News I'm Katie Pike Yes the 2017 to 2800 Farmer's Almanac is now out nationwide and Delawareans reading it are in for a shock as we hear from Delaware Public Media's Kelli Steele This year marks the 200th edition of The Farmer's Almanac which lots of Americans turn to for a peek ahead at what the weather may hold for the coming year and the Farmer's Almanac is predicting a very snowy winter for Delaware but National Weather Service meteorologist Joe McKenna says it's hard to say if that's true right now my feeling about the Farmer's Almanac is if it works for you use it as you know my dad used to use it all the time you always claim that work well I don't think that's always the case but you know if it works for you use it our feeling on this coming winter though is that you know anything can happen at this point in time this fall the Farmer's Almanac says a hurricane or tropical storm could be on the horizon for the Atlantic seaboard on September 28th through 30th and October it says will be fair and windy for the most part Kelli Steele Delaware public media and New Castle County now has a group dedicated to developing and expanding their parks the New Castle County Parks task force met for the 1st time earlier this week county executive Matt Meyer says the task force will guide plans to develop existing County and land into parks in several under-served areas like Adam or if you go there during the summer after school during the school year you'll see to it playing outside in the street they don't have many places to go Meyer says the county has plans over the next year to turn an open field in as more into a park with basketball courts Meyer established the park's taskforce in July in an effort to create new parks in several underserved areas of the county or improve current parks. And in the forecast in Dover a slight chance of showers afternoon mostly sunny with a high. Near 77 tonight partly cloudy with a low around 61 thanks for listening to Delaware public media stream us on line in Delaware public dot org. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include the estate of Joan b. Kroc whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help n.p.r. Be the model for high quality journalism in the 21st century and the listeners who support this n.p.r. Station. This is only a game I belittle feel a while ago we happened upon an unlikely bit of sports lore in an equally unlikely place the annals of Evan garde art rock you might remember the band Divo best known for their 1980 hit with it and for appearing in hats that looked like flower pots and yellow hazmat suits they were weird more weird is the story of how an equally colorful athlete became a kind of mascot for the band reporter Sean Cole explains to understand what happened you need to know that Divo has a pretty considered philosophy and that is that the human race is in a state of d.m. Pollution hence the name of the band their songs are about things like corporate control and blind conformity and they were visual artists 1st before they even wrote any songs and this was in the early seventy's in Akron Ohio so one of the founders Jerry Casale says they were always trying to figure out what devolved art would look like you know because we were very very and now and put off at the same time by pop culture like the lowest end of like Ad graphics terrible t.v. Commercials so we're walking through the K.-Mart Nope it was the predecessor to Kmart it was click this is Mark Mothersbaugh another founder of the band I should probably mention here that this was more than 4 decades ago so a lot of the details are fuzzy for folks anyway there in the department store. We were looking for some. We were collaborating on a visual art piece together and walking through the sports section and there's these 6 practice golf balls in a clear plastic pouch sealed shut at the top with a cardboard display head the kind that you hang on a metal hook and on that display head is an illustration of the smiling face of the renowned golfer t.j. Rodriguez I saw it and I just loved it it was a picture of him in front of a golf ball so his head's kind of haloed by a big golf ball kind of imitating something that I'd already been printing which was human heads in front of the moon and it made us laugh we chuckle we have to have that and of course golf was almost symbolically like the most. Kind of bush walk pursuit that you could have especially that time your parents were rich you didn't get to go golfing if we ever imagined ourself on a golf course it was probably as a caddy how boring it looked in on t.v. And they announce and yeah but the one guy who stood out was Gigi because he didn't fit with the rest of the golfers at all he wore these loud pants and bright shirts and he had this famous hat that only he wore which had a specific hat band and you know Panama strong Panama kind of yeah so they took the package down Mark used the picture in a self published manifesto he was writing about being a quote unquote spud boy in the rubber town of Akron but other than that nothing really happened with it. We were already putting on ourself would you single Be still. Somehow and I don't really remember the moment but we had the idea of putting on that cover on the cover of the 45 b. Stuff was a kind of jokey anthems. Liberating the literal Stephanus uptightness of politicians televangelists So using that image of Cheech on the cover was a kind of comment on commercialism and America's obsession with selling and in this case selling plastic golf balls and the Americana of the golf or beast if came out in 1980 on step records they wrote the song well before they signed with the label and it was distributed in the u.k. Were not as many people were familiar with g.g. And then about 4 months later Devo got its big break Warner Brothers signed the band for their 1st full length album and that says Jerry is when the real deal evolution began Ok we've laid that whole thing out and working up to this moment and then comes the real Divo twist that only a corporation could provide you know other words what we're talking about we become part of. This new album have the very long title of question are we not man answer we are do you go Jerry Markon the others thought since the picture of Chichi worked so well on the be stiff single Let's just stick with it and put it on the cover of this record the guys worked with the Warner Brothers art department getting everything mocked up and ready to be approved for production and then about 2 days later we get this call and it's a big crisis the call was from the vice president of business affairs for Warner Brothers David Berman who was a guy that you would cast in a movie about the music business as the villain or as the hero will do it's depends on your point of view he was very smart very good at what he did and played hardball and the 1st communication is I'm a golfer and I'm a fan of golf and I know Chichi right. I've met Chichi Rodriguez you cannot use g.g. Rodriguez that is completely and totally false This is David Berman I told you not everybody's memory is crystal clear regarding the story not only have I never met I have never seen Chichi Rodriguez other than on television I'm not going to make fun of a friend of mine I've never met him I've never spoken to him I'm not going to get this company sued that part is accurate says David Berman about maybe being sued yes he did play hardball but he says his objection was purely a legal one purely and California law is crystal clear you can't use somebodies name or whiteness for commercial purposes without their permission had nothing to do with my being a golfer other than because I was I knew that it was clearly Cheechoo our biggest but it wasn't the fact that he was a likeable it could have been worse 17 or would have done the same thing Wade who is Rory Sabbatini he's a golfer but nobody likes you or 17 also Rory's have a teen was born in 1906 and would have been 2 years old when the Divo album came out anyway just because Holly says this was a total shock to the band were dumbfounded and crestfallen we don't know what to who and but of course we're stubborn we're not giving up so Devo decides to write cheesy Rodrigues a letter to formally ask his permission but the way these things work as soon as the record company starts spending money they want to see a return on their investment plus Devo was scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live less than 2 months after the record was released in August of $78.00 so if production was late no album to promote Meanwhile the band had another idea involving another piece of d.f. Illusionary art as an artist rendering of what the last 4 presidents would have looked like had you combined them so Kennedy Johnson Nixon and Ford all mashed together is a picture Mark Mothersbaugh had lying around and it was just it is bizarre face that had John Kennedy's hairline and it had Lyndon Johnson. And Richard Nixon's know so the band brings that image to the Warner Brothers are department on the idea that why couldn't we just mute h.e.g. Is fake it's. So that it isn't Chichi anymore it was like building an old Mr Potato Head toy they grafted Johnson's ears and Nixon's nose on cheesehead reversed the mouth of David Berman from business affairs doesn't even remember this that the image was altered so I sent him the original g.g. Image and the Potato Head collage so he could compare looking at it today. I wonder why I approved it because to me it still looks like she. Put Obviously I must have Jerry Casale and about 3 weeks later a letter comes back from Ci Ci's Representatives. Saying Yes Gigi thinks it's fine to use that image he just wants 50 records at Christmas time to give out to his friends and family he wanted to say to his friends or family let Legler come on a record right he like that Mark Mothersbaugh and so it was at that point it's like we couldn't go back it was they'd already printed the cover so now we had this mutilated Potato Face for an album cover and it didn't really look like the handsome Chichi anymore so I'm sure he was quite surprised when he got a box of them in the mail all our efforts were in fact in earnest but what it looked like in the end is that Divo had meanly tripped. Rodrigues and put out something that made him look. It was you know it was a mess although along with the records one of the other Senshi a check for $2500.00 so it wasn't a total loss for him the band was never in touch with g.g. Again except he did send Mark Mothersbaugh a couple of publicity shots of himself saying if you want to use more pictures of me use these and now it's almost 40 years later and a few questions still remain I really want to know if she ever listened to that record and what he thought of it yeah that would be the big question. Well why don't you interview Chichi Rodriguez Hello hello t.j. Rodriguez Yeah who is this Sean call I reach Chichi at a country club naturally in West Palm Beach Florida he's 81 now still handsome still plays golf now and then not professionally does a lot of philanthropic work through his foundation and an annual charity event it's really an honor to talk to you it's my honor to talk to you Johnny it's Sean But that's Ok she remembers his manager getting the letter from Divo his manager who is also from Akron Ohio so there was a connection there and he says yes he did ask for a box of records and he did hand them out to his friends and family did you notice when you got the record that it didn't quite look like you that much what he looked like me you know I look at the pluses it look like me a little bit they had looked like me he didn't even know anything about all the Michigan was that went down at Warner Brothers didn't know what all that they were worried he would sue them Sure them well anybody that wore a bus somebody assuring them that their show crew could that they shoot people and they think that people are going to sue them I thought it was to this young people trying to make a career out of it and I could help them and that's sad because I like I like to do something good every day of a lot of my life and I love I want to leave the the earth and I found it so even young sort of vanguard punk musicians you want to help yeah. Did you listen to that record Yeah I listened to one thought just once I put it away if you didn't like it no I didn't like it I like Fraction I threw on not King Cole and they mark who was my favorite you know. To run to your music or something to bring your down so that's that big question answered but there was a 2nd big question that I'd had this entire time which was what did she think about his face or a mutated version thereof being on the cover of an apocalyptic weirdo art rock bands 1st album like did that make any sense to him and it did in the end because of course she knows he's Chichi knows how much he stands out how outlandish and likeable he has none of that is lost on him in fact it's purposeful. Golfer show business and. When you're on stage you've got to give the people a show and that's what the will of the people came out and gave the people a good time though so that is the similarity between you and diva Yes So in a way it really makes sense that they used you on the cover of their record I think they were geniuses and it takes a genius to recognize another. One could argue again Jerry Casale what we were put through by David Berman actually achieve something here better than just using a found image. So what you're saying is corporate interference plus the faces of 4 American presidents who prosecuted the Vietnam War and its aftermath and this wonderfully dandy golf legend all of the other yeah it's more Divo than that the original Chichi image of that's what I'm saying it's Devo in action like do you need example of what we're talking about your dues and in possibly the most diabolical Divo twist of all this Ali is a big golf in these days watches it on t.v. All the time. Many thanks to reporter Sean Cole for spending years not kidding years running down that story for us John speech got us thinking about the intersection of sports and music and we figured why not make a theme show out of it so that's what we're going to do stay tuned for more musical sports stories unless they are sporty music stories coming up on only a game from n.p.r. . On the Next Radio Lab. Pay $350000.00 to kill an endangered black rhino if we are at war. In the fight over one Rhino killing one animal so that they can be looked after. Ridiculous in a critical question how do we really value this animals survival want to. 3 our 91 point one w d.d.e. From Delaware Public Media. President Donald Trump has always claimed to be a billionaire when I say about 10000000000 I'm not doing that to brag but he makes a lot of players so you asked me to figure out how much money Donald Trump was worth what we found out on the next reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting in p.r. And. This afternoon at 4 on 91 point one. From Delaware public media support for only a game comes from Geico offering auto insurance coverage for cars trucks or rescue these and providing 247 customer service more information on auto insurance at Geico dot com or one $8947.00 auto and linguistic a $360.00 with news in slow Spanish news in slow French and news in slow German programs weekly language learning shows with discussion of current events more at news in slow dot com news in slow language learning through current events. I'm Bill Littlefield and it's time for 3 stories you should know it's also time for the football season to begin Didn't I say that last week what's the hold up anyway at some middle schools across the u.s. There will be no football any longer and that's where we're going to begin this week I'm joined by Sports on Earth Will Leitch via Skype and Julie to Caro and update anchor and host of Chicago's $670.00 the score Welcome back to both of you thanks Bill Julie go long look over your left shoulder the past is coming to you yeah there's been a lot of stories recently sort of a rash of reports about high schools and youth football program shutting down across the country Statistically I guess it's down about 4 and a half percent nationwide and obviously there's a lot of reasons for it some districts have changing demographics or if you live out in the suburbs like I do there are always new team starting in poaching players from old teams so old programs go away new programs start up but I think one of the issues that particularly on the heels of this huge New York Times piece they did on c.t.e. In football where they actually showed slices of n.f.l. Players brains and showing you know talked about what had happened to them throughout the course of their lives as a result of playing football you have to ask the question Are parents finally sorting to pull their kids out of the sport because of the threat of injury so you know there's sort of a question I guess of this is a nationwide movement taking place right now in high school and youth football and if schools can withstand the liability that there are undoubtedly going to see down the road if kids develop c.t.e. Will you may be the perfect man to respond to this because you live in football country what say you in areas where football is incredibly popular like here in Athens Georgia it is an inescapable thing basically you find a lot of this has to do with wealth and with income generally speaking here in Athens and certain communities that the wealthier participation is down but in parts of Athens that are not as wealthy it is the same as it has always been here. I think that it's telling is that literally a park here in Athens where on the left side of the street people are playing soccer and on the right side of the street people are playing football and I think you can tell a pretty clear economic divide between them 40 odd years ago I taught for a couple years at a private school in New Jersey and intramural football was a huge tradition they called it house football house against house I've been told that recently that tradition is threatened seriously by the arrival of lots and lots of students who have no interest in playing football not because they're afraid they'll get hit in the head or because their parents are worried about their futures but because these kids come from countries that are so sensible that football isn't happening in them. So it's not all about head injuries and liability it's partly that the population is changing to some extent and some of these people are coming from places where football is not part of the package I guess yeah I think you hit the nail right on the head and I think we'll did as well you know with the community that was featured in The Chicago Tribune article where their longtime football career and shut down is a very wealthy very upper middle class very white suburb and in the areas around Chicago that are much more blue collar you still see football happening all the time so I think that well is right that there is a class divide here and eventually I wonder if football won't be something more analogous to Bach scene where you see sort of people from lower socio economic groups really being the main participants will I understand you want to move us along to professional football yeah it's all along the same line there really it's just a step from a to b. a C. You know the n.f.l. As successful it is has a ton of issues in the is the deal with m c t 2 is yours with the players union the the it's almost kind of over leveraged in the broadcast sector clearly we're seeing changes in the way the networks work and a lot of that money that's going to the n.f.l. May not be there in 4 years a ton of problems there are going to require a creative inventive imaginative mind to move the n.f.l. To the next step. If I have decided that person is Roger Goodell that is the event of my mind I know the name they decided there was an ass of this week that his contract has been or will be extended to the year 2024 which bill is literally when the next eclipse is. And of course the reason for this is for all of these issues that the n.f.l. Has to deal with really the $32.00 n.f.l. Owners only care about one are we making more money than we were last year and so far the answer to that under Goodell's rate has been yes I think we may look at this moment as one of the n.f.l. And major mistakes because this is a guy who on whose watch these problems have developed exacerbate in the 1st place the idea that he will be able to solve them in the next 7 or 8 years I think is asking for trouble I feel like the n.f.l. Is sort of like the Roman Empire right before things started to go south right I mean you can only get so big and then eventually people start attacking you from all sides in the whole thing goes you know falls apart as the league last season for the 1st time we started seen some really bad football particularly on Thursday nights and people started tuning out I also wrote a piece recently saying that the only reason the sport is actually growing in fans is because of women and people overseas so that's a real problem clarify for me growing because of women you know men have started I think tuning out football to some extent while there's a lot of women who are still discovering the sport I started watching women are a huge factor and not only in watching sports but also in buying the merchandise I think women buy something like 80 percent of sports merchandise most of which we buy for our kids so they have a vested interest in keeping women happy This reminds me a lot of when like a coach has like a couple good seasons and they know who gets really exciting gives them a contract extension for like 7 years down the line and 3 years and the like we're going to have to buy him out this feels like a good alibi Alza to Asian in 3 or 4 years I think the problem is that he has kind of not helped are just going to get worse. And a visually they're going to chip away at that bottom line and then the owners will notice boy given the numbers football generates I hate to even think about what a buyout would cost if Goodell doesn't last the length of his contract it would be phenomenal let us finish with some baseball the Little League World Series will conclude on Sunday this week I visited a friend who's been watching that little league world series on t.v. He used to coach high school baseball he was very excited told me some of the Little League teams that he'd seen could have beaten some of his high school teams and he's enjoying the whole thing very much I never continue to think televising the Little League tournament is a bad idea it's too much hoopla too early and not in terms of pressure but in terms of telling his kids hey something really important is happening and even though you're 12 years old I haven't been watching so maybe my friend has got it right and I'm wrong does anybody want to stand up for 12 year old pitchers and hitters in high def Julie. You know I used to find the Little League World Series really wholesome and quite a relief from professional sports but the more I've been involved in youth sports out in the suburbs the more I've sort of grown to hate it and the parents and everything about it so when I set in seems now I feel like I'm just seen like the overly involved parents the kids who have all the resources the ones who can travel to Orlando and Boston in California for tournaments so when I see it from that angle I'm really it's not something that I'm into at this point will you a little league world series on t.v. Fan or not one of the many things I think about when I lie in bed at night conjuring the planet is how pleased I am that when I was 12 there was no internet so therefore all the things that I did with when I was 12 that were incredibly stupid even stupider the things that I do now were not documented any time anything is on television at all it's not like you're just watching it and then the moment passes if you do something silly or you fall down or you have like a funny joke you become a member I guess if anything worse for like a 12 year old kid. Of a comment like Amy more I give it have that last around forever there was a kid it was very kind of amusing they asked him like if he had the eye crushes as a kid he said oh yeah Miss Thompson from home what's up and that sounds like really funny right like how clever that's now the rest of his life I think you make a good point but the flipside also works and that is the 12 year old athlete who is so much better than all the other 12 year olds you know he strikes out the side every inning or he hits 4 home runs in every game and he might have peaked as a 16 year old he might just be like all the other 16 year olds and as a 24 year old he might recognize that maybe he should have gotten a degree and in accounting instead of trying to play baseball for a living it's kind of you know that builds up that expectation of something glorious and turn on and it isn't glorious and eternal for. Most of these kids even if they're really good little league players I think that's a really depressing thought the idea you know we've always had people always trying to relive their high school glories athletic days now we've got people in high school trying to relive their right to actually write because they're on t.v. . My guest for this week's edition of 3 stories you should know which I'm sorry does seem to be ending on a bummer have been Will Leitch Sports on Earth and Julie to Karo an update anchor and host for Chicago 6 many of the score thank you both of you thanks Bill as always an honor. To see. The parents of former Major League pitcher very Zito may have fallen in love too and that King Cole tune could have happened that way they were both working for him when they met Barry's future mom as a backup singer and dancer and his future dad as an arranger and and. Barry was born after his parents had left the Nat King Cole orchestra the family moved to San Diego where according to 0 though the weather was great the opportunities for his dad were limited there was no music industry so my father then didn't have really an outlet creatively so Dad was in the market for something to do and young Barry gave it to him t. Ball he didn't know a whole lot about sports and so he would read these baseball books and night by himself and the next day we would go through a couple pages and I would learn all these things and of course I thought he knew the whole book in and out but really he was just a couple pages ahead of me. Those must have been some baseball books Barry Zito became a heck of a major league pitcher one. Cy Young Award but I'm getting ahead of myself while he was still a kid Zito got some career advice from his father the musician who taught him nothing about music he actually didn't want me going into music he knew how difficult it was to make it in the music world and his approach was always you know you master 3 pitches and baseball will send out the scouts to the ends of the earth to find you whereas you could be the greatest musician ever but if you don't have the right people behind you pushing you in the right machinery may never go. Still the Nat King Cole connection must have been lurking somewhere in Young's Ito psyche because after the scouts had in fact come looking for him and the Oakland Athletics had signed him he figured correctly that as a minor league ballplayer he'd have a lot of time to kill I wanted something to do while I was going to be stuck in the hotel rooms and on these bus trips so I got a signing bonus and I bought a guitar you know just started learning how to play a couple chords Barry Zito is ascension from Plunker of chords to semi competent sideman happened during the off season courtesy of his sister who'd embrace her music heritage gotten a degree from the Berklee College of Music and started performing so I kind of really up my game to be a part of her band. Meanwhile Zito had been upping his other game the one his father had taught him so he wouldn't have to be a musician he made his major league debut in 2000 with the A's he won that some Young Award in 2002 and in 2006 he signed with the Giants for $126000000.00 No pitcher had ever signed for more so he should've been on top of the world but he wasn't you know you kind of get boxed in and I think as a professional athlete to a certain stereotypes a lot of times I think my whole career I felt a little bit out of place in a locker room and I would say things that you know were probably a little bit different or maybe making myself more. Honorable men than most and you know I got labeled as flaky or eccentric and if you don't fall right into that stereotype you know now you're just kind of an outcast. Some of his teammates were happy enough with what they did Cheve and were achieving Seato wasn't generally in society were raised to worship these idols these false idols I guess you could call it of you know money fame adoration success. But for the people that do get some of that stuff you realize it's empty and what was I shooting for this whole time and I think there's a sense of despair once you realize that it's not there it's not and that the despair if that's not too dramatic a term for what the multimillionaire pitcher was feeling was fed by his Ito's failure to live up to the expectations created by that record breaking 126000000 dollar contract Zito lost 30 games in his 1st 2 seasons with the Giants winning only $21.00 San Francisco fans started booing him he was called a bust at the end of the 2010 season he was left off the postseason roster San Francisco won the World Series without him it was a very painful time for me that offseason in l.a. And I think part of me just wanted to get away from baseball and I went recorded with a few friends at this really great studio in Burbank I would wake up and train from like 7 to 11 for baseball and then I'd go right to the studio in my sweaty athletic gear up until about 1030 at night during the next season Zito wrote the song Home spotlight told last. Last trade of family and friends and then in the end. Of the press. Is asked one. Thing waiting in the aftermath was the reason for. No wonder he'd spent such long hours in the studio finding reasons for it all can't have been easy Meanwhile his wife was concerned she told him to slow down there would be plenty of time for songwriting after baseball and Zito took her advice and his state of mind improved he also credits his faith it all worked and in 2012 he went 15 and 8 and one games in both the National League Championship Series and the World Series which meant he had a World Series ring he really felt he'd help the team earn he pitched for a couple more years. Finishing up with Oakland's AAA team in Nashville which was spectacularly convenient I started co-writing here in Nashville literally the the week that I retired and haven't stopped since I made a secret to life but I know what it's not. I think I'm just genuinely more in love with what I do now than I probably ever have been meaning I suppose that if you're a professional musician and you have a kid you should probably steer him toward baseball since that's the path that will eventually lead him to a happy life in music or something. Tag and we need answers. That we beat just very Zito z.p. No secrets was released in January it reached number 39 according to Billboard Country Album sales and that made Zito the 1st sa Young winner to appear on the Billboard charts but a tragic. Scene in the 1970 s. Sweden's top teenage musical sensation had a secret talent not many of his fans knew of that he played tennis very well any even I think he'd be to be on board once I thought the split people tell me that's just ahead on only a game and you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter at only a game n.p.r. . For over 30 years the Melvins of the building a die hard fan base while simultaneously confounding labels and critics saying about the little we're scratching their heads and wondering what it was is. What we do with this don't do anything with it well you're supposed to figure that one out the mighty Melvin's joins us to talk one jeopardy rotating bass players and fact checking 90 Seattle rock scene the style gym today or 6 on 91 point one. From Delaware Public Media. Every one of those dreams where a celebrity takes over your life and nobody even notices you're not there it actually happened to me earlier this year when Tom Hanks hosted wait wait don't tell me I'm Peter Sagal and I am definitely not Tom Hanks so the whole experience was disorienting turned into the most Hanks or if it episode of The News Quiz ever from n.p.r. . Today at noon on 91 point one w. D.d.e. From Delaware public media later today on This American Life Karl's not a lawyer but after his friend was thrown in prison and after 3 denied appeals with 3 different lawyers says that he couldn't do any worse in that fashion I realized the evidence which we would need the proof is right in the neighborhood. There wouldn't be anybody more fit than somebody who grew up in the neighborhood around investigator. Today just today at one on $91.00 w. D.d.e. From Delaware public media support for only a game comes from the listeners of Boston and Loomis sales an investment partner working to navigate challenging financial markets around the globe and offering investment strategies to clients worldwide since 1026 Learn more at Loomis Sales dot com and 5th generation incorporated maker of Tito's handmade vodka still independently owned by Tito beverage distilled and bottled in Austin Texas American made and gluten free recipes and more at Tito's vodka dot com. I'm Bill Littlefield coming up next week only a game a 4 time n.b.a. All star finally finds peace behind the counter at Starbucks but right now it's time for my conversation with Charlie Pierce about the week's news Philip Charlie Bell on Tuesday night trade further energized an already lively n.b.a. Offseason the Cleveland Cavaliers get Isaiah Thomas several other players and a draft pick and the Boston Celtics get Kyrie Irving do we see Thomas scoring 52 against the Celts on opening night or Discovery Irving torch the Cavaliers I don't know I think you're going to see Isaiah Thomas try to get 52 against the Celtics automake Knight I'm fairly sure that obviously was a gigantic deal a lot of people's opinion of this trade depends vitally on how good you think the Brooklyn Nets are going to be next year I mean I think because of the dress because there's a draft pick there that could be valuable or could be ne I think it's a wash really the one thing that that makes me nervous for the Celtics is that they've lost a lot of their best offensive players in the off season on the other hand you've got to remember and I think a lot of you forgot this Kyrie Irving is only 25 years old yes exactly and they've got him on a pretty decent deal for a guy of his caliber So I'm saying it's a wash the Dodgers are enjoying a terrific season Charlie except for pitcher Rich Hill on Wednesday night Hill had a no hitter going through 9 innings which is generally enough but hadn't scored any runs either Still you have to give Hill credit for blaming himself rather than his teammates for what happened in the 10th inning Yeah he gave up a home run lost the game you know this is one of those things I mean this is what you know and there's the legendary Harvey Haddix game their loot legal raga game which was lost on a bad call you know rituals been a real effective professional pitcher for a long time I hope you can enjoy the memory of the 1st date after innings though. August is almost over are you ready to predict who's going to make baseball's postseason and beyond that which team will succeed the Chicago Cubs as champion and wait I don't really care about your prediction I just wanted to say Chicago Cubs and champion Oh I want more not one more time I actually like the Astros I think the Astros can do some damage their pitching is a little bit weaker they've got to get through the Indians who are probably the best in the American League the Red Sox continue to be extremely weird pretty clearly better never team in their division but you know incredibly up and down you know wheel and deal and still I like the Astros you want to outside pick I will pick the Astros to win the World Series Jets fans have reason to rejoice I guess this week coach Todd Bowles announced and I'm quoting we're not going to be a terrible team I know is the Jets but was that really the best you could do 1st of all he's wrong Ok that's that's the worst part of that they are going to be a terrible thing with here but I don't think it's very reassuring for Jets fans the best the coach can do before the 1st game of the year is we're really not going to be terrible it would only have been better if he said we're not going to be a terrible team get your tickets now. E.s.p.n. Made a note where these deafening decision this week they pulled an announcer by the name of Robert Lee from the University of Virginia home opener and assigned him to another game instead e.s.p.n. Said they were worried about Mr Leask safety others say their reasoning is silly what about you their reasoning is silly I agree I mean I'm not going to make a big political thing out of it because you know Major Media Corp makes questionable personnel move it's not a school it's not big mess not as good now. Apparently they did it because they were afraid that evil people on the entered tubes were going to make fun of them which is really a stupid reason to do anything as I've learned we don't often talk about the sport of swimming but I think what professional swimmer Fernando Alvarez did this week demands attention he asked the officials at the World Championships to observe a minute of silence to honor the victims of the terrorist attack in Barcelona they said no so Fernando Alvarez paid his respects all by himself he stayed on the starting block a minute before he dove in I have never seen a gesture quite like that before he said it's really wonderful and it's probably the best thing to happen to Barcelona sports this week and you write about it right now I don't know. Earlier this summer speaking of the little sports name or the talented and accomplished soccer player from Brazil left see Barcelona to play for Paris and Your Man this is good for fans of Paris and your men it's even better for lots and lots and lots of lawyers as I hear. Barcelona is suing Neymar for breach of contract they're not going to pay him his $26000000.00 euros in bonus payments he was supposed to get this summer it's a mess and this is a franchise that generally doesn't have messes going to new suing them back and he's suing them back and sacked with plenty of land and here we go. Just when you think you know what this controversy needs the involvement of Fifa. Neymar has reported birth Alona to feet over the unpaid renewal bonus he was due this summer I'm sure is figuring out how to get a piece of. That football team over there is swindling me let me bring in better swindlers you know they did have a guy who is known as Mr 10 Percent so. And finally Charlie 53 year old author Malcolm Gladwell famous for lots of things that he's written and said is apparently not satisfied with that he wants to challenge the Bron James to a race and he has proposed a mile as an appropriate distance you want to make some you know you give me a line on this if it happens I mean I'm an educated man Bill but I don't know Malcolm Gladwell satellite you know any so I'm not going to make any predictions claims to have run a 5 minute mile or a when I go I mean it was 53 I didn't run it last week I couldn't tell you but I mean if you could arrange this for charity I'm not entirely sure Le Bron James would do it you can find the sports writing of Charlie Pierce in Sports Illustrated from time to time and of course he joins me each week on only a game Thanks Charlie thanks. Subscribe to only a game yet it's the best way to make sure you never miss an episode go to i Tunes stitcher or wherever you get your podcast. Our hour of sports story set in music is coming to an end but we have one more tailed off for an encore if you will and it comes to us from Stockholm Sweden now you might wonder at 1st where the sport comes in but it's coming I promise Here's reporter Tom Hanley. 2 years ago I moved to Sweden with my girlfriend Amanda comes from Stockholm we're driving around with me do you want to listen to a song and I say yeah of course and then she asked me How do you have to listen to take you to start. To stud I had never heard of him and Amanda says it's good to listen to this one song and so she slides in the cd and the song starts playing and I start listening. See me. Getting you. Lol again. To having seen. Karen she being. Not just covering. Their fishing. Song that song. Was. With her. Was. From. The name of the song was a leaner and as soon as we got home I started wondering who to start was and who come to think of it was this hill even if you're singing so passionately about a good obsessed and then I found this. Thank you if both I want to feel that the only known people are from Sweden or Sadly it was a bit embarrassing it was lovely really but it's a relief and a pleasure to welcome from freedom had that thought that sucked need to fence gold and Friedel instead of standing on a ski slope in Switzerland introducing Ted and one of the t.v. Specials. Apparently before they were at meeting Frieda had back to head in was a bag that I. Love at night but eventually my life and Sweden started to funders and routine and I gave up trying to find out more about Ted and Helena That is until recently when I heard the song on the radio again and came back to me I decided that I had to find out who Alina was and what I found was a tragic story involving one of Sweden's most promising young musicians and a championship tennis player named to leeana. 1st I listen to the lyrics Cafferty the song is about Ted falling in love with the Selena but not knowing how to tell it and so it struck me that he must've known as a friend maybe I started to track down those who knew Ted and I found this guy my name is Yana chauffeur and a guitar player and I also write music I met Ted Knight in 71 through his producers which was building various men on the show these were the other 2 members who would one day make up they were total look out for new talent and in the end they found a 15 year old kid who Ted who'd been composing his own songs from the age of 6 that 1st album came out right in $72.00 and was called wanderings we were very happy there was a very happy recording and we were very we found each other turned to me. Ted quickly became Sweden's 1st teen idol who was a household name up and down the country as albums went gold and he made one hit record after the other but he had a secret talent that no many people knew about he played tennis very well any even I think he beat be on board once I thought that's what people tell me. Hello all it was. All the famous Swedish tennis players. I think she was also involved in Bjorn Borg I don't know what he did to Katie that song. Is so fantastic so. I started looking all around Sweden for the Selena and Leo out and I came up empty handed I realize that if I was ever going to find Lena I'd have to look for a field I never realized how far I would have to look in the end I tracked down hill you know all the way in Australia My name is Helen a. Lot Helene is tennis talents were discovered at a young age much like Ted's musical talents had been there was a man who was a professional hockey player that came from Czechoslovakia he was a political refugee his name was some Brodsky he was travelling around in the countryside and and looking for talents he was looking at the boys but then the My father asked if they could throw me in and I was about I think I was about 9 or 10 at the time. He said then this is the future champion he said totally loved it and so you know worked in a game and go better and better cut the u.s. Open in 1977. My ranking was high at the time I was ranked 32 in the world at the time and I was number one in Sweden I'd be called by and in the 2nd round and then moved into playing Chris severed now Chris Everett was one of the best tennis players around at that time by the end of her career she would win 18 Grand Slam titles and I lost 6262 but it was a really it was a close game and I had lots of chances and after that game I felt that I had really done well and that I you know for the future I felt that you know I can even do better next time. When I was at the height of my career which was in probably in 77 I contracted glandular fever in the states glandular fever is better known as morning and that basically finished my career even though I tried coming back you're trying to perform at your your top level all the time like that is the tennis players life and when you just under perform all the time it's fierce so meaningless tennis is still a big part of Italy in this life the grandchildren are to taken over but I wondered how she met and what she thought about that so maybe I'm John Boehner we were going out from where we were pretty young you know from about maybe 16 or something like that and I knew Ted during this time but Ted and I we got together a bit later on we spent an enormous amount of time together and we've been very. Close spiritually so we we were just talking our way through days and nights and yeah it was lovely eventually Ted and there Lena broke up they stayed friends and kept in touch for a while but lost contact willing to move to Australia. It was only later after they'd broken up that really you know heard the song that Ted had written about. I was really surprised when I heard the song and I didn't even know whether it was from me or anything but I was hoping that what I found out later that it was it took a few years until I found out that he actually wrote it about me Yana Schaeffer whoever remained a close friend with Ted playing a most of his records and he told me all about Ted's life a life that started with such joy and hope but ended so tragically young a started to see a change into its mental condition in 1901 when Ted went out to America to escape the fame back home in Sweden. When he had decided to go to Oregon he was tired of being idle and everybody recognized him so he wanted to do something else and over that he became a news little Shane's and then he came back to me in 1902 I think also me called Help him to do a new album and but that was something else it wasn't the same Ted as from the beginning after the Soudan came out Ted toured extensively for 3 years people sort is a comeback for the kid who had once topped the charts in the seventy's However tragedy struck in the summer of 1970 Ted age 41 jumped in front of a train in the Central Station of stucco and committed suicide I was very very. Vertical but other wasn't 100 percent surprised because I had known I had a feeling on the last record that he had some very. Dark side here was his wanderings in the in the lyrics in the last record was not happy at all so I was in the clear surprised but what I was very sad Halina was living in Australia when she learned of Ted's death I heard that he was mentally unwell and we didn't make contact in any way you know before he died. If I can wish for something you know I had a good day like if you can play maybe just a little bit if you have time is it did I'm a fantasy of 10 a by Ted I love that song I found it fitting that asked me to play this song and not the song that had brought me to her in the 1st place it did a more fantasy is a song about fantasies and dreams and how fragile they can be Ted's dream came true he found fame in respect of this beautiful songs but in the end he could not run the sadness inside Helene on the other hand had to say goodbye to a dream of becoming a tennis player and her time with Ted has become just a story she tells her grandchildren saw me. Live co-manager and always asked me about them. Being yaar. That's reporter Tom Henley he produces a park asked called Saga. Only a Game is produced by Martin Kessler and Gary while like with help from Alex Schroeder our technical director is Mark East Neal our senior producer is Karen given our final word comes from Picher musician Barry Zito who tells us about the dark times in his life you know I was a bit destructive when I was single and I was living in l.a. And putting a lot of eggs in the wrong baskets you know I mean sure I get it eggs baskets I'm Bill Littlefield we return next week with more sports N.P.R.'s style on only a game thanks for listening. Support for only a game comes from college find where college mentors selected from Harvard Duke Northeastern and other schools work with high school students through a near peer mentorship to help students discover their passions build resumes and start a college application process college find dot com and 5th generation incorporated maker of Tito's handmade vodka still independently owned by Tito beverage distilled and bottled in Austin Texas American made and gluten free recipes and more at Tito's vodka dot com. For many kids back to school usually means hot debate over which backpack to buy but this year discussions about race immigration and President Trump could be on the table for educators ready to tackle these touchy conversations should baby I'm Michel Martin Well take it to the barbershop That's next time on All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. This evening at 5 a 91 point one w. D.d.e. From Delaware public media only a game or public media is sponsored by you our listeners and by Bonnie Anderson who has adopted the u.d.d. Ease only a game.