"Do we deserve a second chance? How did we fall into this circumstance?" were the lyrics which made up the song 'Twist of Fate'. It was one of the 10 hottest singles in December 1983. The song came from the movie 'Two Of A Kind' starring John Travolta as an inventor Zach and Olivia Newton-John as an actress Debbie. In the movie, Zach and Debbie were two people who held the world in their hands as only they had a chance to save humanity after God decided to end the world by unleashing a worldwide flood (similar to Genesis 6) and restart (or reset) the world over again.
However 4 angels (Charlie, Ruth, Earl and Gonzales) tried to change history by promising God a miracle and asking him to give the human race one last chance to reform. The angels turned to Zach and Debbie who decided to make a great sacrifice by proving the world was a good place after all. The movie was written and directed by John Herzfield.
Back in August 1916, 'The Pittsburgh Gazette Times' made the comment, "Fate is a word that comes so handy when fortune fails to come our way or when misfortune persists in following us. Some regard fate as predetermined and inevitable necessity. It is so much easier to believe that whatever happens to you is your fate, even if it had not been contemplated a moment before it occurred. Man, above all creatures, or things, is allowed to choose his fate. He suits himself to such destiny as he desires, whether good or bad. Whatever your fate, be sure you had a free hand in shaping it."
Bernice Bede Osol, born under the sign of Scorpio into an innovative and inventive family, studied astrology since 1955 when she was majoring in psychology in college. Bernice believed astrology was a science of logic. In the 1970s, Bernice supplied astro-graph analysis to Newspaper Enterprise Association. She told readers in 1972, "Destiny is merely the choices you make in your day-to-day living. Astrology tells you what you're made of; the choices you make either bring you worthwhile rewards or situations that are frustrating and annoying."
W.C. Gorden was a football coach. In conversation with Orley Hood back in 1979, he gave his opinion, "I guess you have a tendency to think in the negative, look for excuses, when you’re on the road with a tough game coming up. But you have to try to think positive. We're at a definite disadvantage, playing on the road under unfavorable weather conditions against a senior balls club. I think we’ll do OK as long as we don’t beat ourselves if we can eliminate our mistakes. You have to be positive.
"You can’t fool the players. You can fool sportswriters, but not the players. You go back in your mind and think of the good football teams that have won under adverse circumstances. Take last year (in 1978) , for instance. We had every advantage over Florida A&M in our playoff game in Jackson. It was brutally cold and they were a warm-weather team. We were playing at home. And they came right on in and beat us. Playing teams like Eastern Kentucky helps you in those critical situations. Experienced players are those who have had experience against tough teams in pressure situations. They can handle themselves in a crisis.
"After a few more years of coaching, I’d like to move into the classroom and teach. That’s what I like best. I really don’t think it’d be that hard for me to give it (football) up. Your whole life revolves around it (football). It limits you. You can’t articulate anything but football. There are just too many things I have to sacrifice. Fate and destiny have guided me. Everything my whole life's worked to my advantage. I’ve been lucky all my life. When I was a kid, I’d go to a bingo game, and I’d win. I’d go to a raffle, and I’d have the lucky number. I’m not a smart person. I just let fate and destiny handle things."
Looking back on a beef sale at the start of the 20th century, Harvey Griffin made the observation in 1970, "As a man grows older he often wishes that fate, destiny or whatever rules our lives would draw a curtain between the present and the past. It is often a bitter thing to remember what you were in the vigorous and romantic days of youth. Yet there is a certain fascination trying to relive those younger days, even in the dim and misty light of memory.
"But when you have the papers, old documents depicting the events of a former time, it is queer what a stimulant the sight of a once-known name is to memory. As a result of delving into a box of papers dating back half a century, I have before me catalog of the first annual sale of the Montana Hereford Breeders Association, held in Billings on March 10, 1919. The 22 bulls in the sale brought an average price of $486, the 17 cows averaged $368, with an overall average for the 39 head of $435. When one begins to translate these figures into 1970 dollars the success of the sale needs no further emphasis."
