Football – Page 3 – DarylCagle.com

I went out to see Eddie Izzard last night in Los Angeles. It amused me to hear him preach his common sense atheist perspective while most of the audience roared but some obviously pious faces in the crowd grimaced.

I agree with Eddie on most political and religious issues, but there was one point in the show where I wished I could argue with him; he turned serious and pleaded with his adoring American audience to be interested in the World Cup and to love soccer, because if everyone in the world would love soccer, we’d have a chance at world peace. I think I was the only person laughing at that.

I had to laugh; I don’t think Eddie has ever noticed how the English behave at soccer games.

In terms of American football, I’m fortunate to live in Santa Barbara/Los Angeles, where there is no pro football team and the local university, UCSB, has no football team. Â I live in atheist football heaven!

America’s disinterest in soccer is an excellent measure of our healthy state of mind.

I’m saddened to write that Larry Wright, who has worked as an editorial cartoonist for the Detroit News for decades, is retiring at the end of this month. We syndicate Larry’s cartoons to more than 800 newspapers. Â Larry was one of the first cartoonists to join us when we launched our syndicate nearly ten years ago. Â Larry writes:

It is difficult for me to accept an end to editorial cartooning — IÂ started doing it in my first newspaper job in 1961. I have beenÂ retired from the Detroit News since April 2006 but they kept me onÂ for 3 free-lance cartoons a week till the economy crash in 2008 hadÂ them cut me to 2 a week. As things got worse they cut me down to oneÂ a week a few months ago and are cutting me off the end of the year.

It’s not like I’m facing poverty. I have a full pension from GannettÂ and I just signed a new three-year contract for Kit ‘n’ Carlyle, aÂ daily panel I’ve been doing for United Media since 1980.

Although we will miss him, Larry will be keeping busy.

The Detroit News still has me doing regular free-lance editing and photography of collector car shows on the Detroit News website. It’s called Joyrides and has had a big audience since the late 1990s. I also get to show off my Corvette convertible at these shows.

See an archive of Larry’s editorial cartoons here; he is well known for his conservative views and for cartoons about health care, the automobile industry and Detroit sports. Â A few of Larry’s recent cartoons are below. Â We miss him already!