Just seems fitting to recall this

It's Memorial Day weekend. The Cubs are playing the Dodgers in LA. Rick Monday was a Cub who went on to play for, and now broadcast for, the Dodgers. So this has been on my mind.

In 1976, the Cubs were playing the Dodgers in LA. Rick Monday was still wearing Cubbie blue (as opposed to Dodger blue, which, truth to tell, is not all that variant a hue) and playing centerfield. Two LA fans somehow got onto the field during the game and, to protest, set an American flag on fire.

He ran at them full bore. Remember, he's a major league ballplayer in his prime. Fast, strong, with phenomenal reflexes. He knocked the kids over and saved the flag.

What were they protesting? I don't know. In 1976 the Viet Nam War was finally over. Did they get arrested? I don't remember.

I like to think that Rick Monday saved the flag out of respect to those valiant souls who went to Viet Nam and died there. That's how I remember it, anyway. If you know otherwise, please keep it to yourself. I need to believe in baseball and patriotism. Especially as I celebrate Memorial Day.

3 terrific performances in one completely average movie

The first news story I heard this morning was about Ms. Lohan's drunk driving. It's easy to let that distract you as you watch this movie. And is there an actress who brings more personal history to each and every part than Fonda? It doesn't help that some scenes play like a Lifetime made-for-TV movie.

So while I can't say Georgia Rule was a good movie, there were times that I was completely into it. The casting is inspired. You can believe these three are grandmother, mother and daughter. All three (yes, the troubled Lindsay, too) are so good in their roles they do dissolve into this family and you care about whether one of these gals is telling the truth, and whether the other two really do believe her story.

It's also good to see Fonda on screen, and while at first it's jarring to see Cat Ballou as a grandmother, there's also something very positive about it. She's a beautiful woman -- a natural beauty with age spots and crow's feet and hands that have done hard work. It's terrific to see that on the big screen for a change at a time when some actress' faces don't even seem to move.