"The Big Time" by Michael MacCambridge

Please note the subtitle of this new book by Michael MacCambridge: "How the 1970's Transformed Sports in America".  If you are my age, the book will bring back some cool memories for you.  If you are much younger, say in your twenties of thirties, the book will open your eyes to world that is barely recognizable today.

Consider these conditions in the word of sports at the dawn of the 1970's.

• Player's Associations existed but were largely impotent when fighting the ownership in sports leagues.  
• Free Agency in sports did not exist.
• Women's sports, if they existed at all at the college level, were afterthoughts and not much more that intramural or club sports.
• The University of Texas, winner of the 1969 then-mythical National Championship in college football, did not have a single African-American player on it's team.  The same was true for such football powerhouses as Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida.
• The Super Bowl had only been played four times, and it wasn't even called  the Super Bowl.  It was the NFL-AFL World Championship Game.
• The American Basketball Association existed, but was struggling to meet payrolls and stay in business.  It did have Dr. J though, and that would prove to be most significant.
• The World Hockey Association had yet to be born.
• The NBA Playoffs were televised on tape delay.
• There was no Monday Night Football.  In fact, there were no sports on prime time network television.
• There was no internet.
• There was no ESPN

You get the idea.  Then several momentous events took place.

• In 1972, Congress passed and President Nixon signed into law the Education Amendments Act.  Tucked into that was a provision that contained were thirty-seven words, words that comprises Title IX of the EAA: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."  (There has been revisionist speculation that had he realized the full implications of Title IX, Sports Nut Dick Nixon would never have signed the bill.)
• Two days before Christmas in 1975, arbitrator Peter Seitz made a ruling in the case involving baseball players Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally that declared them to be free agents, ended the reserve clause, and opened the door to free agency, not only in major league baseball, but effectively, in all other professional sports in America.
• In September 1973, an exhibition tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs was nationally televised in prime time on ABC from the Houston Astrodome, drew record ratings and, when King dispatched Riggs handily, opened the door for women in sports in ways unimaginable at the time.  

MacCambridge, who wrote the terrific biography of Chuck Noll, "Hs Life's Work", a few years back, summed it up in the opening chapter of the book:

"The new decade would witness the emergence of spectator sports as an ever-expanding mainstream phenomenon, as well as show remarkable changes in the way athletes were paid, how they played, and how they were perceived.......By the end of the 1970's sports would become a decidedly big business, a microcosm of the larger social fabric, a social glue that crossed all demographic boundries.  One could also begin to see what was to become of sports as a transcendently lucrative profession that would serve as both the last big tent in American popular culture, and a stage upon which many of the nation's more nettlesome issues in morality, ethics, and values would be played out."

Here are just a couple of takeaways that I had from the book.

• I knew that Billie Jean King was an important figure in sports history, but I really never thought of just HOW important she was.
• Bowie Kuhn was as stuffed shirt horse's ass.  I knew that, but I never realized just HOW BIG a horse's ass he was.
• Marvin Miller.  Probably the most significant figure in sports history, outside of Jackie Robinson.  I did know that.
• And I learn about an absolutely astounding stipulation that Pittsburgh favorite Connie Hawkins had in his contract with the Phoenix Suns. Read the book.

If you're in my age neighborhood, the book will bring back a lot of memories.  Some good, but not all of them. And if you're one of those kids out there who consider Barry Bonds and Magic Johnson "old-timers", the book is a terrific and entertaining history lesson.  And for the local folks, lots of good Pittsburgh Stuff in there about the Seventies Steelers and the We are Family Pirates.

Four stars from The Grandstander.

Catching Up with The Oscar Nominees

We spent much of this past weekend catching up on the movies that have been nominated for Best Picture of the Year by the Motion Picture Academy.  We saw three of them via the wonder of Streaming. Allow me to share my thoughts on them in the order in which we saw them.

"American Fiction" 

This movie found itself at the top of many critics' Ten Best lists for 2023, and it is a well deserved.  It tells the story of an African American writer, Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, played by Jeffrey Wright, who writes serious fiction and real novels.  However, he is having a hard time getting his newest novel published.  What is even more frustrating, the best seller lists are filled with novels by Black authors that are describing the "Black experience" in ways that White editors, publishers, and readers are just lapping up.  One night, Monk begins writing, as a lark, one such novel.  It is filled with gangstas, mutha-fuckers, thugs, and white cops beating up on Blacks.   And he writes it under a pen name, Stagg R. Lee, who is using the pseudonym because he is "an escaped fugitive", which only adds to the cachet of the novel.  Well, guess what happens?

His agent takes the manuscript, the publishers are fighting each other over it, and a Spielberg-type movie guy is willing to pay millions for the movie rights.  Funny complications ensue.

All of this takes place while Monk faces several family crises at the same time - the death of a family member, an aging parent slipping into the clutches of Alzheimer's Disease, and dealing with an estranged brother.

I would describe this as a "serious comedy."  The satirical nature of the movie is both smart and funny, and the family issues are relatable to all of us.

Four Stars from The Grandstander.

"Anatomy of a Fall"

German novelist Sandra, her French husband Samuel, and their eleven year old sone, Daniel, live in the French mountains near Grenoble, France.  She has been published, but he has a years long case of writer's block, and is now having to teach part time, all while working on renovating the attic of their home in order to turn it into a Bed & Breakfast to help with the finances.  Aside from Samuel's annoying habit of playing raucous techno music EXTREMELY LOUD and on a continuous loop while he works in the attic, all seems fairly normal with the family.

One day, though, Samuel winds up dead, the victim an accidental fall from that third floor attic window where he was working.  Before long, though, questions arise as to whether or not this fall was really an accident, and soon Sandra is arrested and put on trial for the murder of her husband.  What then ensues is a courtroom drama, and seeing the French court system in action was fascinating.  Flashbacks, investigations, a recorded conversation on a flash drive, and the testimony of eleven year old Daniel makes for a terrific movie. 

I was unfamiliar with any of the actors in this film, but I will give full props to Sandra Huller, who played Sandra.  She is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and if she wins it, it will not be an injustice.

Four Stars from The Grandstander.

"Maestro"

Or, as I prefer to call it, the "Bradley Cooper Vanity Project."

Cooper is certainly one of the better actors working in the movie biz these days, and he has proven himself to be a very good director, but this biopic of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein has Oscar Bait written all over it and just screams of Cooper saying "Look at me acting and give me an Oscar!"  I guess he is getting his wish because he has been nominated for an Oscar in three different categories: Actor, Director, and Original Screenplay.

Which is not to say that he doesn't do a great job of portraying Bernstein.  He talks like him, looks like him, and man, oh man does he smoke like him.  That Bernstein lived to the age of 72 and didn't die of lung cancer is miraculous.   And a truly deserved Oscar nomination for Carey Mulligan, who I have never seen be anything less that great in anything, as Felicia Montealegre, Leonard Bernstein's wife.  Her scenes depicting her battles with cancer later in life were all too realistic, and were, speaking from my own personal experience, very difficult to watch.  Mulligan is also nominated for Best Actress, and, like the above mentioned Sandra Huller, she would be most deserving of the honor.

It's worth seeing, but be prepared for a LOT of Bradley Cooper acting.

Two and one-half Stars from The Grandstander.

********

So, we have now seen seven of the ten Best Picture nominees, fifteen of the twenty acting nominees, three of the five directing nominees, and six of the ten screenwriting nominees.  Pretty good representation.  We are determined to see Past Lives, available on streaming, and Poor Things and The Zone of Interest, which are available only in theaters, but not showing anywhere currently in Pittsburgh, to my knowledge.  We want to see them before the Oscars are presented on March 10.

Of the seven Best Picture nominees that I have seen, here is how I currently rank them, if I were a voting member of the Academy:

1. Oppenheimer
2. The Holdovers
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. Killers of the Flower Moon
5. American Fiction
6. Barbie
7. Maestro

This list will be updated as I see the other movies, and there will be my usual Oscars Prediction Post, too.  All my opinion, of course, and you know what is said about opinions and everybody having one.  

 

"Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White

Once upon a time, back in the 1958-59 school year, I went to the bookshelf that was in the back of our third grade classroom at St. Philomena School, and took out the book "Charlotte's Web".  Not sure what possessed me to select that book, but I did.  I began to  read it and became completely enthralled with the story.   I spent every spare moment reading this story of the little girl, Fern, who saved the runt-of-the-litter pig, named him Wilbur, raised him throught he first weeks of his life, and visited him and his fellow barnyard animals at her uncle's farm.   The animals could all talk to each other (only Fern was able to hear and understand them).   In addition to Wilbur, there were geese, sheep, cows, a wily rat, and an amazingly wise and understanding spider named Charlotte.

(Cute and adorable aside here.  When my parents asked what was the name of this book that I couldn't get my nose out of, I confidently replied "It's called Car-lotties Web."   Yes, as I read the book, I kept reading the title character's name as "Car-lottie."  To this day, I think of that whenever I see the name Charlotte.  My parents really laughed at this, but I know that they were thrilled that I was reading a book and not just watching television all the time.)

I always have remembered that book and its impact on me as a young reader.  About twenty or so years ago, we bought a copy of it with the intention of rereading it, and, of course, I never got around to doing so until just this week.  I remembered this 1952 classic as being about animals that talked and a spider that spelled out words in her web, but the Adult Me wanted to see just what this book was actually about.

"Charlotte's Web" is about  friendship and self-sacrifice.  It is about loyalty and respect for others.  It as about sudden fame and how it affects people.  It is about how children grow up.  And it is about the circle of life, and that circle's ultimate conclusion, death.  E.B. White wrote of all of these things in a frank yet understated style.  It is no wonder that the book is still being widely read to this very day.

Adult Me saw all of these things as I read this book a few days ago,  The big question in my mind though became, what did Eight Year Old Me see and read and feel when I read this book sixty-five years ago?   Did I understand what was happening to Charlotte as the summer wore on and she got more tired with each passing day?  And how did I feel when  - spoiler alert - Charlotte died?  Did I get sad? Did I cry?  I don't remember, but surely I felt something when that happened.   I really wish that I could get into a time machine and recall what Eight Year Old Me felt as I read this book.

If nothing else, I am pretty sure that the lessons being taught in "Charlotte's Web" were passed on to me, if only subliminally at the time.  It may well have been the first real "book" that I ever read on my own.   One impact that I know that it had on me was it introduced me to the joy of reading, and for that alone, I owe it a great debt.

Farewell, Ron Cook

This is not breaking news at this point, but last week, Ron Cook, long time sports columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and 93.7 The Fan radio host, retired from the business.

Like any good sports columnist, Cook knew how to push buttons among his readers.  Many were the times I read one of his columns and thought "what a grumpy old bastard this guy is", but the very next day, I'd be reading his newest column. Why?  Because (a) Cook did know his stuff, and (b) he was a damn good writer.

In his second gig, that of sports radio talk jock, Cook, along with partner and fellow PG columnist Joe Starkey, offered something that is missing among the current breed of sports talk radio hosts:  Reasoned and mature opinions on the sports matters of the day.  No brash "hot takes" meant to incite listeners and make the phone lines buzz.   The "Cook and Joe Show" was the only show on The Fan that I could listen to for more than fifteen minutes at a time.   It will be interesting to see how the station will proceed with Starkey and that 10:00 to 2:00 time slot going forward.

As for the Post-Gazette, the past decade has seen litany of talented writers leave that organization: Ed Bouchette, Dejan Kovacevic, Barbara Vancheri, Brian O'Neill, Tony Norman, and now Cook, and I am sure that there are others that I have left out.  This says a lot about the shrinking ink-on-paper newspaper business, and it also says something about the PG itself, with it's union busting ways, and the kooky (to be kind) editorial positions that it has taken in recent years.   Who is left at the paper that would make me want to read it and subscribe to it?  Gene Collier and the aforementioned Joe Starkey.  That's it, that's the list.  When they're gone, the only reason left to read that paper will be the paid death notices.

In Cook's farewell column this past Sunday, which you can read HERE, the paper headlined it with this picture:

I don't really have to identify 

anyone here, do I?

Not sure if Cook had a hand in selecting the photo to accompany the column, but if it were me, that is sure the one that I would have selected.

Ron Cook has left The Burg and will now reside in Fort Meyers, FL.  One can only wish him a long, healthy, and happy retirement.

My Gambling Year

A little background.

I've never considered myself a gambler.  Never bet with an illegal bookie.  Office block pools for weekly Steelers games and the Super Bowl was the extent of it.  Oh, and about  ten year run in a fantasy baseball league and poker games with friends once or twice a year.   That was it.  That was the list.

Then the State of Pennsylvania legalized casinos and then it legalized sports betting.  It was fun to make the occasional five or ten dollar bet at the Casino on the upcoming Steelers game, or on who would win the NCAA tournament.   I said that I would never ever get one of those gambling apps for my phone.  Didn't want it to be too easy to make bets, I said.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck us all and changed everything.  All of a sudden, the occasional trips the the Rivers Casino were out of the question, so I then did what I said that I would never do.  I took $150 and opened a Fan Duel Sports Book account.   Thus, making small wagers on various games became a hobby and a distraction for me.    I also decided that I would keep track of my wagers and wins and losses.  I've made a lot of bets, but hardly any were for more that five dollars, and $10 or $20 bet is a huge exception, usually reserved for a "big event" like the Super Bowl, World Series, the Masters, or World Cup.  Plus, I would know that if I was just losing all the time, I could then stop.  Oh, and when my account got above a certain level, I would withdraw fifty or one hundred dollars and treat myself to something.  For example, my earbuds are known as the "Phil Mickelson Ear Buds" based on a ticket I cashed on his PGA Championship win of a few years ago.

Also, and this is not an unimportant fact, making small wagers and tracking them served as a distraction for me throughout the final two years of Marilyn's illness and up to the time of her death.  She knew that, encouraged it, and took great delight when I had a good night at the window.  She was special, that's for sure.  Happily, Linda continues to share that support and enthusiasm.

Anyway, so how did I do with my little hobby this year?  My gambling "fiscal year" begins on the day after the Super Bowl, and it ends on Super Bowl Sunday.  Here is how #bettheSproulecess, as it has come to be known by some, did in 2023-24:

	Amount Bet	Amount Won	Net	# of Wagers	ROI
February 14 thru 28	$‎ 176.19	$‎ 219.18	$‎ 42.99	41	24.4%
March	$‎ 445.08	$‎ 455.97	$‎ 10.89	108	2.4%
April	$‎ 407.57	$‎ 456.70	$‎ 49.13	139	12.1%
May	$‎ 426.02	$‎ 434.41	$‎ 8.39	130	2.0%
June	$‎ 401.29	$‎ 497.97	$‎ 96.68	119	24.1%
July	$‎ 309.28	$‎ 275.58	$‎ (33.70)	72	(10.9%)
August	$‎ 351.38	$‎ 355.54	$‎ 4.16	89	1.2%
September	$‎ 382.42	$‎ 432.90	$‎ 50.48	96	13.2%
October	$‎ 386.85	$‎ 346.14	$‎ (40.71)	125	(10.5%)
November	$‎ 299.03	$‎ 342.98	$‎ 43.95	94	14.7%
December	$‎ 405.62	$‎ 424.96	$‎ 19.34	112	4.8%
January	$‎ 401.36	$‎ 368.85	$‎ (32.51)	87	(8.1%)
February thru Super Bowl	$‎ 162.12	$‎ 238.78	$‎ 76.66	48	47.3%
2023-24 Totals	$‎ 4,554.21	$‎ 4,849.96	$‎ 295.75	1,260	6.5%
2022-23 Totals	$‎ 3,980.71	$‎ 4,512.35	$‎ 531.64	1,037	13.4%
2021-22 Totals	$3,390.33	$3,500.06	$109.73		3.2%
Three Year History	$11,925.25	$12,862.37	$937.12	2,297	7.9%

$4,554.21 covering 1,260 bets (average wager: $3.61) returned $4,849.96, a profit of $295.75 for a Return on Investment of 6.5% (7.9% over three years).  Not as good a percentage as the professional gamers shoot for, but much better than what my money market savings account at PNC Bank is returning.  This year the Super Bowl allowed me to close on a high note.  I had made 22 wagers on various game and prop bets totaling $66.83 and ended up cashing in for $129.81, a 94% ROI!  God bless Patrick Mahomes!

As for the new gambling year, I started by making one $7.50 wager on the Duke Blue Devils -7.5 over Wake Forest yesterday.  The Dukies won by eight, and returned $14.64.  Let's hope that that is a nice omen for 2024.

Good luck in 2024 to all of you plungers out there.

Well, That Was SOME Super Bowl, Wasn't It?

If you are a regular reader of The Grandstander, you know that one phrase I often say is "This is why you follow Sports", and Super Bowl LVIII contested yesterday between the Chiefs and the 49'ers was certainly one of those instances, although for much of the game, it didn't seem like it would be.

The game was scoreless after one quarter, and San Francisco led 10-3 at halftime.  The 49'ers dominated  much of the game and should have had a bigger lead.  Both teams lost fumbles deep in the other's territory as they were marching toward the end zone.  Patrick Mahomes had thrown an interception, and Travis Kelce had made one catch for one yard.  It appeared that we were headed towards a duplication of the 13-3 Patriots win over the Rams a few years ago.

The Chiefs scored ten points in the third quarter to take a 13-10 lead, so things had picked up some.  Four minutes into the fourth quarter, the 49'ers scored a touchdown, and then something happened that changed everything:  the point after touchdown attempt was blocked.  A potential four point lead was now a three point lead for SF, and that changed everything and not just for the people in block pools.

The teams then exchanged field goals, with the Niners going ahead 19-16 with 1:53 remaining in the game.   Then, when the lights were the brightest and the heat was the hottest, Patrick Mahomes took over.   The Chiefs drive the field and that is when the specter of the failed PAT came into play.  If San Francisco has a four point lead, the Chiefs have to score a touchdown.  KayCee gets stopped inside the ten and on fourth down, Harrison Butker kicks the field goal to tie the game 19-19  with :03 remaining and send it into overtime.

We'll never know if the Chiefs would have scored a TD if they had to there to win it.  With Mahomes at the helm and the team rolling, you would certainly like their chances, but the FG was as sure a thing as there was.   We all know what happened then, but to summarize for the record:

• The 49'ers win the coin toss and elect to receive.  They drive the field, but are forced to settle a field goal.  SF 22 - KC 19.
• The Chiefs take the kickoff and proceed to drive  seventy-two yards in 12 plays.  This includes a critical scramble for eight yards by Mahomes on a fourth and one play five plays into the drive.
• Seven plays later, 1st and goal from the three, Mahomes hits Mecole Hardman in the end zone for the winner, and the Chiefs win their third Super Bowl in four seasons, 25-22.
• Bedlam ensues.

What had started out as a low key game, if, that is, the Super Bowl could ever be described as low key, turned into one of great drama and excitement, and it confirmed  the Kansas City Chiefs as a true dynasty with three Super Bowl wins within four seasons.  It also reaffirmed the fact that if Patrick Mahomes isn't the best football player in the NFL right now, he is certainly the most exciting, and that Andy Reid is certainly one of the best coaches to ever stroll an NFL sideline.

Kudos go to the 49'ers.  They are a very, very good team, and Brock Purdy certainly now belongs in the upper echelon of NFL quarterbacks, but some questions must be raised about head coach Kyle Shannahan. This is now the second Super Bowl where his teams have blown a fourth quarter lead not to mention him being OC of the Falcons team that blew that 28-3 lead to Brady and the Patriots a few years back.  And now there are stories that are intimating that the Forty-Niners were not fully aware as to how the overtime rules in post season games worked.  If that is true, that certainly falls at the feet of the head coach.

*********

I started the watching the game by taking notes around the events surrounding the game itself, and this is what I came up with:

• How about that opening with Frank Sinatra singing "My Way" over clips of the two teams.  Can you say "over the top" and just a little bit too self-reverential?
• What was with Post Malone's teeth?
• Reba McIntyre did the Anthem in 1:35.6.  Very good job but 5.36 seconds too long.
• There's going to be a movie version of "Wicked"?  I can't wait.
• Loved the Lionel Messi Michelob Ultra commercial with Dan Marino making an appearance at the end.
• The Dunkin' Donuts commercial with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Tom Brady, and Jennifer Lopez was great.
• I am guessing that the RFK Jr. for President ad using animation and music from his Uncle John's 1960 campaign could not have gone over well with the extended Kennedy Family.

After that, I pretty much stopped paying attention.  Don't ask about Usher's halftime show.  We were eating dinner (which is one good thing about a 48 minute halftime break) and weren't paying all that much attention to it.

********

In other sports news, the Pirates made a free agent signing yesterday, veteran catcher Yasmani Grandal.  To be sure, Grandal is not Johnny Bench, but it is a signing that could - COULD - be significant for the team this upcoming season.

Leave it to the Pirates, though, to announce it on the morning of the Super Bowl.  Does the team actually TRY to avoid making news?

Super Bowl Sunday

You want an official Grandstander Prediction on today's extravaganza, I'll say go with the Chiefs who are, surprisingly anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 point underdogs.  When all seems equal, go with the team with the better quarterback, and Patrick Mahomes is now THE best QB in the game.  How's that for Breaking News?

But enough analysis.

I once stated that the Super Bowl is the most heavily wagered upon sporting event in the world.  I was quickly, and I might add, correctly, shouted down, and was told that the FIFA World Cup is the most heavily wagered upon sporting event in the world, followed by the Super Bowl, and NCAA March Madness.  The World Cup won't be contested for another two years, so the NFL's showcase is number one here in 2024, and how have I contributed?

I have made a total of 22 wagers on today's Super Bowl. Amount bet: $66.83 (plus three free $20 bonus bets from ESPN Bet). Potential return: $471.61, although that won't happen because some of these wagers cancel each other out, eg, three different bets on possible game MVP. Also, some of these bets were futures bets, which is why you see bets made on both the Chiefs and 49'ers to win.

Here are some I'll really be rooting for:

• Mahomes/Purdy each score TD ($2 returns $84.46)
• KC/SF defense each score TD: ($.50 returns $29.88)
• Kelce/Pacheco/CMC each score TD ($5 returns $25.08; also used one of those $20 freebies on this one that would return $103.99)

And just to go on the record, here is a complete list of all my wagers, none of which involve coin toss results, the length of the National Anthem, or Taylor Swift.

I'll report back tomorrow as to just exactly "how I did", along with other thoughts on the Super Bowl.

		Bet	Return	Net
Super Bowl	Chiefs +1.5 over 49ers	10.80	20.80
	Chiefs +2.5 over 49ers	5.75	10.75
	Chiefs over 49ers ML	5.00	10.50
	UNDER 47.5	5.00	9.55
	49ers WIN	5.00	17.00
	Chiefs WIN	5.00	25.00
	49ers ML	0	16.39		$20 Bonus Bet
	Chiefs ML	0	20.40		$20 Bonus Bet
	Aiyuk/Samuel 20+ yds 1st qtr	2.50	5.00
	McCaffrey/Pacheco/Kelce TD	5.00	25.08
	Mahomes/Purdy TD	2.00	84.46
	KC Defense TD	1.00	8.50
	SF Defense TD	1.00	8.00
	KC/SF TD	0.50	29.88
	McCaffrey 2 TDs	2.28	7.30
	Mahomes Over 1.5 TD passes	3.35	5.58
	Purdy Under 1.5 TD passes	3.35	6.63
	PH Over/BP Under 1.5 TD pases	3.30	10.70
	Mahomes MVP	2.00	4.90
	McCaffrey MVP	2.00	11.20
	Kelce MVP	2.00	30.00
	Kelce/Pacheco/McCaffrey TDs	0	103.99		$20 Bonus Bet
	Game Bets	36.55	130.39	0
	Prop Bets	30.28	341.22	0
	Totals	66.83	471.61	0