Mad Dog blues

This has not been a bang-up spring so far, according to Mr. Obvious. The country has been shut down by a deadly pandemic. Crazy people -- including Our Only Available Impeached President, the Crazy in Chief -- are duping desperate citizens into believing it's all a hoax cooked up by the president-hating media. And for those of us of a certain age ...

Well. It's like some malevolent higher being has decided to kill off large chunks of our childhoods.

First Al Kaline, Mr. Tiger, shuffled off this mortal coil.

Then the second baseman of the 1960s Cubs, Glenn Beckert, passed to his reward.

And now Mike "Mad Dog" Curtis is gone, too, at the age of 77.

If you grew up in the '60s and early '70s, and you followed pro football and the Baltimore Colts in particular, you knew about Mad Dog. He was the middle linebacker who anchored the Colts' soul-crushing defense in those years, a guy who was drafted as a fullback and then switched to the defensive side where he could better indulge his thirst for ruining opponents' days. Four times a Pro Bowler and twice first team All-Pro, he was the AFC Defensive Player of the Year in 1970.

Which was the year the Colts beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl V, and Mike Curtis sealed the win with a late interception.

Oh, yeah. And he also did this. Which might been the most greatest tackle of his career.

You didn't mess with Mad Dog, or with his game. You just didn't.