Ringo!

It was certainly an amazing evening that we experienced at Heinz Hall last night to see Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band perform for two hours of fantastic rock and roll music.  

The former Beatle has been touring with his All-Starr Band in one incarnation or another since 1989, and the current six man crew has been with Starr for the last three years. The band includes such standard '70's and '80's era rockers as Todd Rundgren, Gregg Rolie of Santana, Steve Lukather of Toto, and Richard Page of Mr. Mister.  Each of these gents had their turns performing well known songs of theirs, and you got the feel that this was not just a concert for the public, but just a bunch of terrific musicians getting together to have a kick-ass jam session.  These guys love what they do, they're good at it, and it really shows.

But the guy that everyone came to see was Starr, and he did not disappoint.  You really are seeing Rock & Roll Royalty when you see Ringo Starr perform in person.   As Scott Mervis put it in his Post-Gazette review today, about the time that Starr led the band, and the audience in a rousing version of a certain song, it is the time when you in the audience start thinking, "Wow, that's Ringo Starr doing 'Yellow Submarine' right there."

As most people know, Starr was the oldest of the four Beatles.  He is 75 years old now and you would never know it by watching him perform.  He looks fit and trim, moves like a guy at least twenty years younger, and obviously loves his work.  Only four people ever knew what it was truly like to be a part of the greatest rock and roll phenomenon ever, and only two are still with us, but Ringo comes across as a really regular guy.  He's just a musician and singer who loves to perform, knows what his audience wants, and he gives it to them along with his constant message of "Peace and Love".

While all of he band members were terrific, I have to comment on Todd Rundgren.  To be honest with you, I couldn't tell you the last time I had a conscious thought about Todd Rundgren, but when he sang "I Saw the Light" it brought back a lot of nice memories.  It was a hit in 1972, the time when Marilyn and I started dating.  Need I say more?  Rundgren is now 67 years old, has put on some weight, and wore some ridiculous psychedelic outfit (that's him, second from the right in photo below), but he never stopped moving on stage.  He was terrific.

Ringo closed the show, not surprisingly, by doing "With a Little Help from My Friends".  He took his final bow with his Band and left the stage, leaving only his six mates to take the final bow.  I found that to be a remarkably humble and thoughtful gesture.

On a personal note, we had dinner before the show with friends Dan and Susan Bonk and John and Donna Sebastian, and sat with Dan and Susan during the show.

It was wonderful evening, and as we were saying goodnight, Susan commented that we should all consider this night as the perfect start to our Holiday Season.  I couldn't have said it better.

(By the way, all the photos in this post are courtesy of Dan, who obviously has a better  camera than I.  My photos of the night didn't turn out nearly as well, nor did I think to take a selfie.  Thank you, Dan,)

World Series Prediction, Short and Sweet

I am calling for a World Series victory for the these guys....

The reason is simple, and not very original....pitching.  The Royals probably have a better eight man lineup than the Mets, but I think that the combined talents of deGrom, Harvey, Syndegaard, Matz and the bullpen will prevail.  But really, how great would it be if this goes to seventh game, the Mets starter needs to come out early, and all 42 years and 300 pounds of Bartolo Colon comes out of the bullpen in long relief and heroically pitches the Mets to a Game Seven victory?  Right out of Hollywood, right?  Not that I am predicting that, but it would be fun.

So, here it is: Mets in six games.  And just for an added proposition bet - Lucas Duda for Series MVP.

As always, watch, but don't bet.

Pitt 23 - Syracuse 20

So, there I was, watching the Pitt game and grumbling to myself throughout the second half of the conservative play calling by the Pitt coaches when, lo and behold, Pat Narduzzi pulls a fake punt play out of the playbook and turns the tide of the game. And Pitt goes to 6-1.

Two lessons to be learned here, folks:

1. There is a reason I spent my life in the health insurance industry and was not a football coach.
2. The coaches now the talents, and the limitations, of the their players  far better than do those of us watching at home.

A really big game this Thursday night at Pitt, 4-0 in ACC play, takes on North Carolina, 3-0 in ACC play. 

Closing out with this photo of the day from yesterday's game, and the team awaits Chris Blewitt's successful FG attempt that won the game.

Hail to Pitt!

Movie Review: "Bridge of Spies"

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's film critic Barbara Vancheri began her review of "Bridge of Spies" with this simple sentence:

"No one does decency like Tom Hanks."

That, in a nutshell, is why this movie from director Steven Spielberg works so well and is so good.  Tom Hanks.

Of course, there is more to it than that.  There is a terrific story.  In the height go the Cold War, insurance lawyer Jim Donovan (Hanks) is selected to defend a man accused of being a Soviet spy.  Everyone, including the judge in the case, wants a perfunctory trial, a quick conviction, and, it is hoped, and even quicker execution.  Donovan, of course, thinks that a trial should be just that - a fair and impartial hearing in accordance with the U.S. Constitution.   As a result of his stand, Donovan becomes a pariah of sorts to his colleagues, his government (great line from a CIA agent: "Don't go boy scout on me, Counselor."), the people with whom he takes the morning train, and even his own family.

But everything changes when an American, U2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers, is shot down over Soviet airspace, paraded before the world, and tried and convicted as a spy and sentenced to ten years of USSR-style imprisonment.  Just as Donovan predicted, a plan is hatched to exchange Rudolf Abel, the spy that Donovan defended, for Powers, and to whom does the CIA turn but lawyer and negotiator Jim Donovan to make the deal.  The whole process of the Powers-Abel exchange is complicated when Donovan learns that an American student who was in the wrong place at the wrong time has been arrested in East Berlin and charged with espionage by the East German government.  Donovan thinks that this kid should be a part of the deal, too, and I will say no more.

For all you youngsters out there, this is a true story based on actual events.  I am old enough to remember the "U2 incident", as it came to be known, and the Cold War paranoia of those times.  No one can create a mood and paint a picture of an era better than Spielberg, and his images of a cold and snowy East Berlin in 1961, still devastated by the damages of World War II bombings, really bring home the bleakness and fear of that era.  

And as for Hanks, well, he delivers again.  He is a Cold War version of Attticus Finch in this one, doing what he knows to be right while all the while realizing the horrors of the situation that circumstances have thrust upon him.  Plus, he has this damn cold and all he really wants is to get home and sleep in his own bed.  Who can't relate to that?

We are in that time of the year when Hollywood releases what it deems to be its best pictures, the ones that will rack up all the Oscar nominations and awards.  Not sure how many nominations, if any, "Bridge of Spies" will receive, but I can tell you that both Hanks and Spielberg, multiple Oscar winners and nominees in the past, remain at the top of their games in this one.

Four stars from The Grandstander on this one.

Happy Birthday, Whitey Ford

Birthday greetings go out today the New York Yankees great and Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, who turns 87 on this date.

In doing some research earlier this year for a SABR presentation, I came across some remarkable information on Whitey Ford.  Nothing that was new or previously unknown, but the passage of time, and the proliferation "Post-Season" baseball stats that now inundate us from the Fox and TBS broadcast booths, has caused some of the records of Whitey Ford to recede in memory, but they are nonetheless remarkable still.

By any measure, Whitey Ford had a remarkable career.  Sixteen seasons, all with the Yankees, a 236-106 record with a career ERA of 2.75.  Ford totaled 156 complete games, 45 shut outs, and had eleven seasons where he pitched at least 200 innings.  Ford pitched on eleven Yankees teams that won American League pennants, and six of those teams won the World Series, and it is Ford's remarkable performance in those eleven Series that I want to note today.

It has now been fifty-one years since Ford pitched on the Fall Classic, and it should be noted that Whitey Ford STILL holds the World Series records for....

Games Started - 22

Innings Pitched - 146

Wins - 10

Losses - 8

Strike Outs - 94

Walks - 34

He also pitched three shut outs in the World Series, which ties him for second place in that all-time category.

When a great athlete lives a long time, he may sometimes be forgotten as the people who saw them play get older and older and fewer and fewer.  New stars come along, and the mists of history obscure past heroes.  However, as we get ready to watch the World Series that will begin next week, let's not forget the stars of the past, and Whitey Ford, was surely one of the biggest of those stars.

Happy birthday!

Game Six, 1960, Forbes Field

Old Movie Review - "Born Yesterday" (1950)

As the ad pictured above states, "Born Yesterday" was a hit Broadway play by Garson Kanin, that was made into a George Cukor directed movie in 1950.  I watched this movie for the first time just last night.  I had seen clips of this movie from time to time over the years, and three years ago, I saw a production of the original play staged by the Pittsburgh Public Theater.  I confess that I was most familiar with this movie, not so much for the fact that Judy Holliday won the Best Actress Oscar for this role, but for whom she beat out to win that Oscar, but more on that later.

The plot of the movie is a variation on the Pygmallion theme.  Holliday plays Billie Dawn, the quintessential Dumb Blonde, who is the mistress of Harry Brock, a rough and tumble, crude and crooked business man, played by Broderick Crawford.  Brock comes to Washington DC in an effort to bribe a Congressman or two as a way of making his businesses even more profitable.  So as not to be embarrassed by his not-so-bright mistress, he engages a Washington journalist, Paul Verrall, played by William Holden, to tutor her and "smarten her up".

The predictable happens.  Holliday turns out to be a lot smarter than anyone thought, she comes to realize just how crooked and awful a person Crawford is, and, of course, she and Holden fall in love.  Holliday originated the role of Billie Dawn on Broadway to much acclaim, but, as is often the case in Hollywood, she was not the first choice to play the role in the movie, Jean Arthur was, but through some series of machinations, Holliday eventually got the part anyway, and good for the movie viewing public that she did.

It is a nice little comedy with a nice message.  The cast is terrific.  Holliday was quite a  comedic talent - the scene of her and Crawford playing gin is a classic - Crawford is excellent as the contemptible Harry, and as for Holden, well, let's just say that "Born Yesterday" keeps in tact a string for me of having never seen Holden be less than absolutely terrific in anything that I have ever see him do.

The movie was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay, but its only win was Holliday's Best Actress Oscar, and let's talk about that one. That Oscar victory has to be one of the greatest of all time because of whom she beat out for the prize.  Also, nominated that year were what many consider two of the greatest roles for an actress in the history of movies:  Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Blvd." and Bette Davis in "All About Eve".  I had always thought that this was a case of two clear cut front runners splitting the vote and allowing for an upset win by Miss Holliday.  In doing some Internet research on this, I learned that the vote was indeed split, but not so much between Swanson and Davis, but between Davis and Anne Baxter, who also received a Best Actress nomination for "All About Eve".  Regardless, Holliday was terrific as Billie Dawn, and her Oscar was well earned.

Now, here's a real trivia question for you, after an all-star ballot of Holliday, Swanson, Davis, and Baxter for "Born Yesterday", "Sunset Blvd.", and "All About Eve", who was the fifth actress nominated for the prize that year? Give up? it was Eleanor Parker for a movie called "Caged".

Oh, and here is a brief portion of that gin game that I alluded to earlier.

Romancing the Jones

Quite a big football weekend here in Pittsburgh, but let's start out with what might have been the biggest surprise of the season thus far.

STEELERS 25 - CARDINALS 13

That the Steelers defeated the Cardinals yesterday was surprise enough.  That they did it behind the quarterbacking of Landry Jones was downright amazing.  You know the story by now: an ineffective Mike Vick was injured in the third quarter, replaced by Jones, playing in his very first regular season action after three years as the third team QB, who then proceeded to lead the Steelers on two field goal and two touchdown drives, and a 25-13 win over the favored Arizona Cardinals.  To say that this was shocking is an understatement, but the Ben-less Steelers now sit at 4-2.  Amazing.

Some observations:

• It was thought by many, including Yours Truly, that the defense of the Steelers would be its undoing in 2015, but, amazingly, the defense has played surprisingly well.  True, they did surrender about a zillion yards to Carson Palmer and the Cardinals offense, but all that the Cards could do with those zillion yards was score one TD and two FG's.
• And it needs to be noted that coming into this game, the Cardinal's 38 ppg scoring average was the highest in the NFL.
• Forcing four turnovers can have that effect on a team.
• Speaking of turnovers, the Steelers have forced eleven of them in six games thus far.  In all of 2014, they only produced 21 of them.
• Antonio Brown needs to shut up, stop hectoring his QB on the sidelines, and be more concerned with how his team can win a ballgame, as opposed to how he can pad his stats.
• The Steelers threw only seven passes in the first half with Vick at quarterback.  Have Vick's skills as a QB eroded to such a degree that the Steelers cannot trust him to open it up and pass freely?  If so, why did they sign him as a back-up QB in the first place?
• I didn't listen to any of the post-game call-in shows, but tell me, how long did it take for some Yinzer to call in and suggest that the Steelers now trade Ben Roethlisberger, while his value is high, and install Jones as the #1 QB?  I'll bet it didn't take more than thirty minutes.
• Kuddos to Facebook friend Dave Glass for being the first to observe that we might have seen the "Wally Pipp-ing" of Michael Vick yesterday by Landry Jones.
• While legions of Steelers loyalists probably hated it, I kind of got a kick out of Troy Aikman verbally slipping and referring to the Steelers QB as "Tom Landry".  Perfectly understandable mistake.
• Speaking of Aikman, that Miller Lite commercial of him buying beer at the convenience store is quite good.

But let's not allow that Steelers win to overshadow this one...

PITT 31 - GEORGIA TECH 28

In the excitement of an unexpected Steelers win, let's not lose sight of what I feel to be a really, really nice win for the Pitt Panthers on the road against Georgia Tech on Saturday.  It was wildly entertaining game, that was eventually decided by Chris Blewitt's 56 yard field goal, the longest field goal in Pitt history (that that, Freddy Cox!).  Memories of the beatdown that Tech put on Pitt at Heinz field last year (and really, the beat down that Pitt put on itself in that game with those six fumbles), made this one especially sweet.

What I liked best about this game was this.  With the score 21-21 at the half, and Tech scoring on and making big plays against Pitt, Pat Narduzzi gave the usual coach-speak blather to the on field reporter about how "we need to make some adjustments on defense", and guess what?  Pitt really DID make those adjustments, and held Tech to only seven points in the second half.  Seeing something like that really happening before your eyes is really encouraging if you are  a PItt fan.

So, Pitt now sits at 5-1 and has cracked the Top 25 for the first time since 2010.  The schedule is going to start to get tougher with Syracuse on the road, and then North Carolina and Notre Dame at Heinz Field in the next there weeks, but it is hard not to start getting excited about we are seeing out of Pat Narduzzi and his Panthers this season.

As I said, a nice weekend for Pittsburgh football fans, although the Penn State and West Virginia fans in the tri-state area can't be real pleased about how their favorite teams fared this weekend.  I'll just let it go at that.