To Absent Friends - Larry McMurtry

 Larry McMurtry

1934 - 2021

American novelist Larry McMurtry died last week at the age of 84.  I confess that I have only read two of McMurtry's novels, but they were among some of the best works of fiction that I had ever read.

One of them became a memorable motion picture, released in 1971...

And this one, a novel that can only be descried as "epic", won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1986.  It 1989, it was turned into one of the great television mini-series of all time and starred Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones....

His novels, per his obituary in the New York Times, "demythologized the American West with his unromantic depictions of life on the 19th century frontier and in contemporary small town Texas."  In addition to over thirty novels, he is credited with writing over thirty screenplays, and he won an Oscar for one of them, "Brokeback Mountain" in 2006.  His novel "Terms of Endearment" was adapted into a movie that won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1983.  His debut novel, "Horseman, Pass By", was made into the 1963 movie "Hud", starring Paul Newman and won three Oscars.

In addition to his Oscar and his Pulitzer, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 by President Obama.

He was also book collector and antiquarian bookseller of some note, amassing a collection of over 400,000 volumes.

Reading about him upon his death has inspired me to seek out and read many of his other works, which should be a good self-improvement project for the year 2021.

RIP Larry McMurtry.

"Promising Young Woman"

 

The publicity for "Promising Young Woman" describes the movie a "woman's revenge thriller", and that is an accurate description.  It also could have borne a dedication to Brett Kavanaugh, as the actions of the protagonist, Cassie, wonderfully played by Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan, clearly are motivated by the long ago deeds of entitled young men that were described in such detail during the Justice's confirmation hearings.

When we first see Cassie, she is in a bar, dressed sexily, and drunk to the point of almost being passed out, while three young professionals stand at the bar, leer and make crude remarks about how she is "obviously just asking for it." One of the creeps offers to call her a cab or drive her home, ends up taking her to his apartment, and begins the process of attempting to have sex with her.  The operative word here is "attempting", because it turns out that Cassie isn't drunk, and she has her own reasons for allowing herself to be brought into this guy's apartment.

We soon learn that Cassie is a thirty year old woman who still lives at home with her parents, and that she was once a promising medical student until she inexplicably dropped out of med school, and is now holding down a dead end job in a "shitty coffee shop."  What is it with her and what is motivating her? 

This is a very taut thriller, and any mayhem or violence is implied or happens off camera.  It is pretty much the perfect example of how Alfred Hitchcock defined "suspense" (and I am paraphrasing here):  "Suspense" isn't watching a building blow up; "suspense" is watching a meeting take place around a conference table while knowing that a bomb has been planted in a briefcase under the conference table.  Will it blow up, and, if so, when?  Just watch the scene when Cassie meets with the Dean of the Medical School, played by Connie Britton, and you'll see what I mean.

Carey Mulligan has been nominated for Best Actress for her performance in this, and it is well deserved.  She really is amazing in this one, especially in the way she can change expressions by a simple shift of her eyes that can tell you that she is not a sloppy drunk but a calculating woman with something else entirely on her agenda.  It is hard to believe that this young woman Cassie is being played by the same actress who portrayed the middle aged war widow in "The Dig."  I guess this is what makes her such a terrific actress.

The movie was written and directed by Emerald Fennell, who also played Camilla Parker-Bowles in "The Crown."  She is only 35 years old, and she has been nominated for Oscars for this movie in both the screenwriting and directing categories.  "Promising Young Woman" also is an example of a point that I was trying to make when I wrote about the movie "Nomadland" last month.  What makes a great or even a good movie?  Is it sweeping and gorgeously shot scenes that are cinematic art, or is it a movie that just truly entertains you?  "Nomadland is a piece of  art, no doubt, but not a movie that will truly entertain you (my opinion, of course).  "Promising Young Woman" does both.  Great acting, great directing and production values, and a story that grabs you right from the beginning and never lets up, and THAT is entertainment.

This is one very suspenseful movie that leads to a dynamic conclusion, and I will give no spoilers, but I will give a hearty recommendation that you see it.  

Three and One-half Stars from The Grandstander.

Oh, and if you are wondering why The Grandstander has yet to weigh in on the Academy Awards nominations that were announced last week, it is because I was waiting to see this movie.  I have now seen five of the eight films nominated for Best Picture, so you can expect my thoughts and comments in the near days ahead.

The many faces of Cassie, 

as played by Carey Mulligan

I've Got A Basketball Jones

(Hip Early 1970's 

Cheech & Chong Reference)

For the past four days, I, like many American sports fans, spent most of my waking hours jonesing on the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, aka, March Madness.  Maybe it was the fact that there was no tournament last year, or maybe it was the fact that this COVID-induced disjointed college hoops season caused me to not get fully engaged in the sport until now, but whatever the reason, man oh man, did I enjoy these last four days in front of the tube.

And, yes, I have random observations to make, and here they are, in no particular order of importance......

First round upsets in the tournament are always fun and exciting, but when the dust settles and the Sweet Sixteen is determined, it is usually the Blue Bloods of college basketball that remain standing.  Only Oral Roberts University can be considered a "cinderella" at this point.  Of the other fifteen schools, ten are from Power Five conferences, two are from the basketball rich Big East, and Gonzaga, Loyola, and Houston, while they are not P5 schools, they are all rich in hoops tradition.

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Yes, Creighton is a member of the Big East.  Last time I looked, Nebraska was still west of the Mississippi River.

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Maybe it's because I live in an eastern city, but I find that coverage of college basketball contains a HUGE East Coast and Midwest bias.  The Big Ten sent eight teams to the tournament, sentiment was almost unanimous that the B1G was the strongest conference in the country, and yet only one of those teams is among the final sixteen, one didn't survive a play-in game, and two others lost in the first round, including second seeded Ohio State to 15th seeded Oral Roberts.  By contrast, five west coast teams, Gonzaga, USC, UCLA, Oregon State, and Oregon are still standing.

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Just about every "expert" and bracketologist out there had Villanova losing to Winthrop in the first round.   You know what happened.  While Winthrop kept it close, Villanova was never really in any danger at all of losing that game, despite playing without two of their best players.  I honestly believe that if the two teams played ten times, Villanova would win eight or nine times.  In the second round, the Wildcats rolled over North Texas, and they remain standing.  Sometimes bloodlines and a coach like Jay Wright really do mean a lot.  A whole lot.  They next face Baylor, and will no doubt be underdogs, but how surprised will you really be if Villanova wins that game?

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Count me among the many who do not care for Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, but he is some coach.   The Orange finished eighth in the ACC this year and here they are in the Round of Sixteen.  I heard that this is 25th or 26th time he has taken a team to the Sweet Sixteen.  That's amazing.  In the second round he went up against a superior WVU team who has a great coach too in Bob Huggins, and Huggy was completely outcoached by Boeheim.

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Is there anything more exciting than seeing a highflying and exciting basketball game being ground to a halt in the last few minutes of a game while the zebras spend countless minutes agonizing over a replay to see whether the ball was last touched by the guy in the white shirt or if it actually grazed off the fingernail or shoelace of the guy in the blue shirt?  Or seeing them then spend another two or three minutes deciding whether there is 1.7 or 2.4 seconds remaining on the clock?  And then there are the endless time outs and parades to the foul lines.

Talk about buzz kills.

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I note that the trend to baggy and well-below-the knees basketball shorts seems to have gone by the wayside.   Current styles are shorter, but not as short as the nut-cutters worn by players in basketball's jurassic era.  They are looser than in the old days and stop in mid-thigh, several inches above the knee.  A good and a stylish compromise, I believe.

However, I'm not crazy about the leggings that more and more players are wearing.  I guess they serve a purpose, but aesthetics isn't one of them.

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The four network coverage of games remains one of the great innovations ever in sports television.  I remember being skeptical when this was first introduced by CBS and Turner several years ago, but now I couldn't imagine it any other way.  Halftime? Switch to another game.  Commercials?  Switch to another game.  Game you're watching turning into a boring blow-out? Switch to another game.  

What could be better?

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Speaking of commercials, the Capital One spots with Chuck, Sam, and Spike, with Jim Nantz as a Plus One, remain the gold standard.  The new one this year that shows them all as little kids at their first game should win an award.

I've loved the commercials that note the return of watching this event that was missed last year, and I love the one for Apple AirPods of the hip-hop kid dancing through he neighborhood and joining in with kids jumping rope.  

Most other commercials were old and aggravating by midway through the first day, especially that creepy one for Coke Cherry-Vanilla in the convenience store. Eeuew.

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I would also like to call bullshit on those who have speculated that this tournament is somehow tainted or deserving of an asterisk because of either (a) the disjointed nature of the regular season, (b) the uncertainty up to the last minute of who would or would not be able to compete in it,  (c) the lack of spectators, or (d, and most ridiculous of all) the fact that neither perennial participants Duke and Kentucky were not included.

If a tournament is held at all, and it is being held, and if you make it through the six round grind and win six games, you are a Deserving Champion.  Period.  No asterisks required.

Another ridiculous sentiment that some are floating is will Gonzaga, should they win it all and finish 32-0, something that has not been done in 45 years, do they deserve to be included in the same conversation with other undefeated teams - Bill Russell's USF team, Frank McGuire's UNC team, the Wooden/Alcindor/Walton UCLA teams, or Bob Knight's Indiana team?  The answer is YES!!!!  Gonzaga will have played a schedule that was set out for them, and then survived a 68 team tournament.  If they end up beating every team that comes before them, they are, by definition, one of the great teams of all time.  You want to argue that Alcindor's Bruins were better, fine, that's what sports are all about, but don't short change their accomplishments.

And yes, I know that that previous paragraph, can be rendered completely moot between now and April 5, but I like the Zags chances to at the very least get through the Regionals and into the Final Four.

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Based upon various nieces and nephews choice of colleges, I made a number of what I call "loyalty bets" this weekend.  Lost money on Ohio State (Brian and Francie), North Carolina (Bonny, Michael, and Sofie), St. Bonaventure (Bill), Georgetown (Katie), and went 1-1 on Ohio U (Zach).

Prior to the beginning of the tourney, I made four separate $8 bets at various odds on each of four schools to win the whole enchilada.  All four schools remain alive, and here is how the payouts would go for me if any of them win: Gonzaga $24, Baylor $56, Houston $176, and Alabama $184.

So you all know how I'll be cheering this coming weekend.

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Not counting last year, when, of course, there was no tournament, this is the first time in many years that I had not spent at least one of the first two days of March Madness gathered at a local sports bar with groups of friends to watch the games.   Of course, such gatherings are fun and you can't put a price on camaraderie, but I have to say that I was able to get more into the games themselves by watching them in the comfort of my home.  You can pick what game you want to watch at a given time, the food and drinks are cheaper, and really, when it comes to camaraderie, who better to watch games with than Mrs. Grandstander?

The Nora Ephron Trilogy, plus One

A few weeks ago, I did a write-up on a book that I had read about Nora Ephron (HERE), called "I'll Have What She's Having", and it was about Nora Ephron and the making of here three now iconic Romantic Comedy movies, 

"When Harry Met Sally" (1989)

 "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993)

 and "You've Got Mail" (1998)

After reading the aforementioned book, we made it a point to watch all three movies (all written by Ephron; she also directed "Sleepless" and "Mail") in the order in which they were made.  All three of them were and remain sweet, funny, and totally delightful.  They all hold up totally, except for the fact that in 1998, AOL was still a thing and you could get a cup of coffee at Starbucks for only $2.95.  All of them are worth watching again and again.

In ranking these movies, I go 1. Harry and Sally,  2. Mail,  3. Sleepless.  Mrs. Grandstander differs slightly: 1. Mail, 2. Harry and Sally, 3. Sleepless.  We both agree that they could all probably be ranked in any order as 1., 1a., and 1b.

As for the "plus one" in the headline, thanks to a tip from our pal, Tim Baker, we found this documentary streaming on HBO Max:

This 2016 documentary was written and directed by Ephron's son, Jacob Bernstein, and it is a remarkable look at a remarkable woman.  She wasn't perfect, and she could be difficult to work with and for, she divorced twice, and experienced strained relations with her parents and sisters at various times in her life, but no one denies her remarkable talents and abilities.  When she died in 2012, her death made front page news all over the world.  This is a film that is worth seeking out and viewing.

Rating all four of these films as an entry, they earn Four Stars from The Grandstander.

To Absent Friends - Joe Tait

 Joe Tait

"The Voice of the Cavs"

1937-2021

People often ask me - okay, maybe not often, but sometimes they ask me - "How do you decide who gets an Absent Friends recognition?"  

My answer is that it is a completely subjective thing on my part.  Sometimes the person being recognized may be relatively unknown to most readers, but they are of special interest to me, or there is something just just "connects" me, on some level, with the person being recognized.

Such is the case with Cleveland sportscaster Joe Tait, who died last week at the age of 83.   Tait is being properly eulogized as the longtime radio and TV announcer for the Cleveland Cavaliers.  He was the team's first play-by-play guy and broadcast over 3,000 Cavs games before he retired in 2011, a career that led him to being formally recognized and honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame.

So why am I noting this? Well, many of you may know that right after we were married, Marilyn and I moved to Cleveland, Ohio.  That's where my job was.  We lived there for four years, 1974-78, and we spent many an evening over those four years listening to Tait broadcast not only Cavaliers games, but Cleveland Indians games as well.  He was a terrific play-by-play guy.  Great voice.  Seeing his name and learning of his death made me feel bad, but it also brought back a lot of nice memories, and THAT is why Joe Tait becomes an Absent Friend.

Couple of things that I remember about Joe Tait.

1. He began every Indians broadcast, regardless of the weather or how lousy the team was, by saying "This is Joe Tait, and it's a BEAUTIFUL night for baseball."
2. He signed off every broadcast by saying "Have a GOOD night, everybody,"
3. He made a conscious decision to not drink alcohol, not for any high moral reasons, but because he knew that the lifestyle of a sports play-by-play guy, being on the road half of the year and always having access to hotel bars, could have led him to having big problems down the road.

I also noted in his obits that he retired in 2011, when he would have been 74.  That's an advanced age to retire, but he apparently recognized when it was time to hang up the mic.  I can name a lot of sportscasters who need to learn that lesson.

RIP Joe Tait.

Ben's Coming Back

 

A couple of Saturdays ago, I was in the car and heard Joe Starkey come on the air on 93.7 The Fan to do a solo Saturday afternoon show.  To start off, Joe said that he had lots of topics to discuss that afternoon, but one of them was NOT going to be Ben Roethlisberger and his ongoing contract  will-they-or-won't-they dance with the Steelers.  "I've become exhausted talking about it, and I just need a day away from it," Joe said.  Yep.  Couldn't agree more, which is why I have not talked about it in this space since that God-awful playoff loss against Cleveland in January.

Has any subject been beaten to death more in the papers, on radio and TV, both local and national, and social media than the Steelers-Ben Drama?

Well, now it's over (and it is STILL being beaten to death on The Fan), and we know that Ben will be back in 2021 for one more go-round with the Steelers.  In no particular order of importance, here are some Grandstander thoughts on the subject.

• First of all, I am glad that he will be back. Period.
• If Ben is coming back for only one more season, I am glad that it will be with the Steelers.  The image of Franco Harris in a Seahawks uniform kept going into my mind throughout this whole mishegas, and I would have positively hated to see Ben playing out the string in Houston or Philly or the Jets.  
• From a football perspective, I am not convinced that Ben is done.  I still think that there is enough gas left in the tank for him to lead the Steelers to a winning and even a playoff season, provided, of course, that the Steelers do some things to beef up both the offensive line and the running attack.  It will also help if the receivers don't drop so many passes.
• I am also not convinced that Mason Rudolph is NOT the answer in the Steelers QB succession plan.  I've addressed this before, so I am not going to go into it  yet again.  However,  2021 will be the fourth year of Rudolph's rookie contract and it doesn't appear that the team is in any hurry to offer him an extension, so what the hell do I know?  If they do not do so, it is probably that the Rudolph will be gone after this season, and then what?
• Dwayne Haskins was a first round draft pick of the Washington Football Team, and he proved to be a bust and was released at the end of last season, only to be signed by the Steelers.  Some sub-thoughts on that:

1. Haskins displayed a distinct lack of maturity and self-discipline while in Washington.  How much of that was his fault, and how much of it was the fault of the WFT organization, which at times over the last several years have made the Pittsburgh Pirates seem like the very model of a great sports organization.  
2. If he thinks about it, maybe Haskins will say to himself, "If an organization like the Steelers wants me, maybe I better buckle down and take advantage of this opportunity."
3. It cost the Steelers nothing to sign Haskins.  If he flames out, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
4. At some point, somebody felt that Haskins was worth a first round draft pick, so there is obviously some talent there, and if Mike Tomlin and the Steelers manage to bring it out in him, terrific.  If not, then see Point #3 above.

• Whatever happens, Season Number 18 for Big Ben looks to be his last one, and the Steelers need to be thinking to 2022 and beyond.  The team seems ambivalent, at best, about Rudolph, and Haskins is a gigantic question mark, so what happens in this year's Draft will be of interest to Steelers fans, all of whom all well aware of the parade of quarterbacks who toiled under center for the team AT (After Terry) and BB (Before Ben).

And as cornball as it is, I am glad that Big Ben will be getting a Farewell Tour with the Steelers in his final season.  As Captain Renault once said of Rick Blaine, I'm a rank sentimentalist.

Turn Back The Clock: March 10, 2020

Today I am choosing to reprint in its entirety my post from one year ago tomorrow, March 11, 2020, for it celebrates the events of one year ago tonight, March 10, 2020, the night that the Robert Morris Colonials defeated St. Francis (PA) for the Northeast Conference Championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

At the time that I wrote this, and certainly as we watched the game and celebrated the victory, no one had any way of knowing that in three days, the sports world - and pretty much everything else - would be pretty much shut down due to the Corona Virus pandemic, and that that basketball game would be that last live sporting event of any significance that would be held in Pittsburgh until the Pirates and Major League Baseball would begin the abbreviated 2020 season at the end of July.

What a long strange trip it has been.

Enjoy this memory.....

This Is Why You Follow Sports

On more than one occasion over the last ten plus years of writing The Grandstander, I have used the expression "this is why you follow sports" when writing of one especially thrilling game or contest.  Last night Marilyn and I experienced such a night when we headed out to our alma mater, Robert Morris University, to watch the Colonials take on St. Francis in the Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Championship Game.

As is known by now, RMU won the game 77-67 (and the game wasn't as close as that score indicated) and secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. They will no doubt be a very low seed and will lose convincingly to one of the NCAA blue bloods with a #1 or #2 seed, but no matter.  When you play in a mid-major conference like the NEC, last night is what you play for, and all of the elements were in place for just a terrific night.  It was the culmination of the first season the RMU's beautiful new Events Center, they were playing a team with whom they split the season series, and the place was sold out - 3,800 people and a packed student section.  The joint was loud and raucous and it was just a joyous event.

I have been lucky in my life.  I have been to NFL playoff games and World Series games and Stanley Cup Playoff games and NCAA playoff games.  I've been to US Opens and the Masters.  But last night a game between two small colleges in a minor league NCAA conference gave me a sporting moment as pleasurable and as fun as anything that I have ever attended.

It's why you follow sports.

"Coming To/2 America" (1988 and 2021)

The biggest new movie release of this week is Eddie Murphy's "Coming 2 America" the sequel to his 1988 hit "Coming To America."  Right off the bat, I could not honestly remember whether or not I had seen the original, so last night, I found it on Amazon Prime and watched this now 33 year old movie.

Just to refresh your memory, Murphy plays Crown Prince Akeem, heir to the throne of the African nation of Zamunda.   Not feeling so keen on an arranged marriage, Murphy and Simmi, his chief aide-de-camp (Arsenio Hall) go to America to, according to his father, the King (James Earl Jones), sow his royal oats, but for Akeem, to see if he can find true love.  They land in a totally shitty section of Queens in New York City, and  classic fish-out-of-water comedy hijinks ensue.

Predictably, Akeem finds true love with an American girl, Lisa,  and they live happily ever after, but not without leaping over hurdles along the way, including Lisa's current boyfriend and her own father.  It's a sweet story made memorable by Murphy's and Hall's performances, which include them playing dual roles as older barbers in a Queens barber shop, where they constantly argue about, among other things, who was greater, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, or Cassius Clay ("I'm callin' him the name his Momma gave him!").

This will give you an idea as to just how long ago 1988 was.  In the opening credits, receiving 16th (I went back and counted) and final billing was a young actor named Samuel L. Jackson.  Yep, long before "Pulp Fiction" and Capitol One commercials, Jackson had a bit role in this Eddie Murphy comedy.  He played an armed robber in a fast food joint who screamed obscenities throughout, so, essentially, he played "Samuel L. Jackson" in this one.

Now it is thirty-three years later, the king is on his death bed and Akeem is about to become king.  Akeem and Lisa remain happily married and have three daughters and therein lies a problem: Zamundan law requires that only a male can succeed the king.  

It is learned (don't ask how) that on that long ago trip to America, in a coupling of which he has no memory (again, don't ask, but it was all Simmi's fault), Akeem fathered a son.  So, back to America for Akeem and Simmi to find "the bastard", groom him to become the next crown prince, and thus avoid a war with the country next door to Zamundia, which is called, amazingly enough, Nexdoria.

More fish-out-of-water stuff with Akeem's son Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler), his Uncle Reem (Tracey Morgan), and in a really funny role, Leslie Jones as Lavellle's mother, who, among other things, puts Queen Lisa back in touch with her Queens home-girl roots.  Oh, and the guys from the barber shop are still there.  In fact, it is the one place in Queens that hasn't changed after 33 years of gentrification in the old neighborhood.

Like the original, this sequel ends up being a rather sweet happily ever after story, and this new one has some gorgeous costuming and some dazzling musical numbers, including a return visit from that famous Queens band, Sexual Chocolate.  There are also a couple of fun cameos that I will not mention here so as not to spoil the fun for you.

If you are like me, and either didn't see the original "Coming To America" or have no memory of it, you really should see it before you see "Coming 2 America", because there are constant references to plot points and comic bits from the original, and every character from the original is also in this one.  A lot of what gets said and what happens in the new one will be lost on you if haven't seen or don't remember the original.

I liked both movies and give each of them Three Grandstander Stars.