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Dexter Jettster

My Favorite Star Wars Character is without a doubt – Dexter Jettster.  If you are a Star Wars veteran you will know that “Dex” is the Coruscant Informant that the young Obi-Wan Kenobi visits to get information on the “Kamino Saberdart”.

Dexter Jettster is a colorful character with an exciting past filled with wild experiences.  His resume reads like a space-age renaissance man: prospecting, smuggling, running guns, a stint as a professional fighter and a reliable Jedi informant.  Dex tops it all off by completing his dream of being a cook and restaurant owner in the best of part of the city–planet.  I can’t thank enough George Lucas and his Star Wars Teams for creating this wonderful and memorable character.

Dex is a grizzled old character who always wanted to have a place where people would come to eat.  It’s also a place where Dex could intermingle and share his stories of adventure and mystery.  Don’ you get that feeling when Obi-Wan enters Dex’s diner and the waitress yells to Dex: “It’s a Jedi by the looks of him”.  Dex’s response from the serving window expresses the warmth and friendliness of the diner that is Dex’s world.

My Favorite Star Wars Character is probably one of the least known and appreciated.  I don’t think Dexter Jettster makes any of the top 10 Star Wars favorite lists.  He is an unassuming and unique character who has a very small cameo spot in Attack of The Clones.  But I love it when Dex comes out of the kitchen and gives Obi-Wan a big hug while also using one of his four arms to pull up his pants.  Dexter is infamous for his short T-shirt revealing his big belly button and potbelly hanging over his grease stained apron.  He’s not attractive by any physical means but for me, Dexter Jettster is My Favorite Star Wars Character.

I should think that you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge and… heh heh heh… wisdom. ~ Dexter Jettster

You can check out his scene in Attack of The Clones below:

For the record – this blogger feels Frank McCourt is wrong.  Bud Selig, the Commissioner of the MLB is not Un-American.  A few days ago I wrote a blog on “Baseball Ownership”  In that writing I spoke about what I thought baseball teaches us.  This last week I read in a local paper how Frank McCourt is claiming “foul” and that Bud Selig is “Un-American” because he cares about the game of baseball, its fans, players and owners.

Frank, you are way out of line and I think you need to learn some lessons from this game.  Commitment, for one, is not about you are first and the team and fans are second and third.  No, the team and fans are first.   The owner is always last.  Ownership of  anything is a sacrifice.  It’s “a tough row to hoe.”  But, that is what ownership and commitment are all about.  When I was a kid I worked for a wonderful woman by the name of Daisy Coe and she taught me that the business always comes first; everything else comes second, third and fourth.  The owner comes last.  That is what commitment means.

Every player on any team has struggled, sacrificed and done without in order to be excellent! What you probably are gonna say is the players get paid millions.  Yes, they do today, but, that wasn’t always the case.  In the early days of Baseball a lot of the players struggled.  They just wanted to play ball.  It’s that spirit and work ethic: Practice, Sacrifice, Training, Failure, Humility and Development.  These things make good players and sometimes great human beings.  Owners need to honor them, acknowledge them and share them.  The Owners are the custodians and caretakers of the game.

Ownership is not an entitlement; nor a bragging point – “Oh, I own a baseball team” and it’s not a passive kind of property.  When there is any “doing without” it’s the owner who does without so that the team and the fans can have what they need and want.  If you don’t believe this, I don’t think you should be an owner.  It’s not cut-out for everyone.

Frank and Jaime – it’s tough.  Somewhere along the line you lost the focus and the team became secondary.  Look, the team and the fans are number #1.  That’s your responsibility.  If you are out spending 100 million dollars (for personal uses) and the team is in debt millions,  then you’ve lost sight of what baseball ownership is all about.

Warren Buffet has been in the same house for 40 years.  He’s worth billions but he truly understands his priorities and knows what comes first: his business.  It comes before vacations, petty arguments, divorces, six mansions etc. etc.  I know it’s tough Frank and Jaime, but, at some point you have to learn this.  That’s the ethic.

Baseball is a game.  In this country it’s an institution.  It represents a lot of the original ideals in which this country was founded.  The Commissioner, Bud Selig, is not un-American as Frank says.  Mr. Selig is the master custodian of the game and his sole job is to protect it’s authenticity and heritage.  If dog and pony shows take over, the MLB could go the way of the carnie – dare I say more.

If Mr. Selig feels he needs to take over the LA Dodgers and the franchise I’m sure he’s thought this over.  Has this happened before in baseball history?  It’s a serious decision and I’m sure he doesn’t take it lightly.

Frank McCourt said he is willing to be transparent.  Frank, if you are willing, then be fully transparent on everything.  Don’t  say that something is “not necessary”  Be transparent!

Mr. Selig is in charge with caring for the present while staying true to the past and looking forward to the future.  The McCourts simply need to grow up.  No amount of money can hold them back from doing that.

It’s time to get Pete Rose back into baseball!  For several years, one of my hopes has been to be able to sit down with Pete Rose and thank him for all the great fun, thrills and spectacular excitement that has given me and the other fans in the game of baseball.  One of my fondest baseball memories of the 70′s is that of the Big Red Machine and how they ruled the National League from 1970 to 1976.  It was simply amazing to watch true real talent without steroids!

I was in Las Vegas about 18 months ago walking through the Caesars Palace Forum Shops when I spied a line of people outside a sports shop.  I got closer for a look-see and there he was:  Pete Rose signing pictures and talking with fans who sat down with him.

I know what you’re gonna say; “Well, you know, he gets a percentage of what’s being taken in on account of him being there.”  Yes he does and he should!  The Sports Shop gave me a choice of pictures and a frame and I jumped in the long line. Finally, here I was, sitting with Pete Rose and I did it.  I thanked him.  He wrote a line, “Gregg, a great fan.  Pete Rose.”  I walked away on cloud nine.  But I couldn’t stop thinking: “Wow, how great it would be to see him in baseball again.”

I strongly feel, as many others do as well, that Pete Rose should be allowed back in baseball.  The Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig needs to cut Pete some slack.  It’s been 22 years for God’s sake.  He’s paid for his sins. Actually, he’s more than paid for being in his prison without bars. Come on Bud, cut him some slack.  Pete Rose needs to be on the baseball field.

Why? Pete has just turned 70, but he still has a lot to give to the game, the players and the fans.  He needs Us and we need him.  If you haven’t noticed for the last 22 years, since Pete has been gone from baseball, the game has been stuck in its darkest years of its of history.  I strongly feel we should give him the opportunity to spark us again.  I believe the game, the fans and the players need what he has to offer.  After all, Pete is the spirit of baseball; he is the muse of the game.  Charlie Hustle has the vigor, the drive and the passion that has long been lost in the game.

Outta of my way! Here comes Charlie Hustle!

There is a lot of criticism of Rose: what he’s done blah blah blah.  Not that I’m trying to downplay that but I just feel we need to bring closure to these dark steroidal driven years of baseball.  What Pete did pales in comparison to the last 22 years of steroid record book keeping.  Let’s be real, most of those home-run stats are worthless.  Pete Rose is the genuine article.  He has never been anyone else but himself, warts and all.  What you see is what you got with Pete and unlike many of the players of the last 22 years, Pete earned everyone one of his 4,256 hits.

It was great to meet him in Las Vegas, but, it would be so much better for this fan to see him on the field, in the dugout and involved in the game again… full-time.  Come on Mr. Selig… what do you say?