Revisiting "Seinfeld"

 

To get us through the winter and early spring months of this year, Linda and I decided that we would binge watch the comedy series "Seinfeld".  We started with the pilot episode in Season One and made it though all nine seasons and 173 episodes.  Linda was a sporadic watcher of the show, so much of it was new to her.  I thought that I had seen them all, but soon discovered that I had missed quite a few during the first three seasons.  I also learned that Linda had never seen the now infamous Finale, but more on that later.

I am happy to say that the show holds up (if you can overlook cordless telephones the size of cinderblocks).  It is still funny, sometimes tears-in-your-eyes-pee-your-pants funny, especially some of the antics of Cosmo Kramer  (sabotaging a laundromat washing machine with concrete, wearing skinny jeans, showing up and "working" at some corporation, accepting a Tony Award).  I have long maintained that the character of George Costanza belonged on the Mt. Rushmore  of Sitcom Second Bananas (along with Ed Norton, Barney Fife, and Corporal Agarn), and I still do, but if you make an argument that Kramer belongs on the Mountain, it would be hard to argue against you.

Upon this re-viewing of the series, I can say the the show got funnier every season and reached it's peak in Season Seven, the season that involved George's engagement to Susan Ross, the events leading up to the wedding, and how it all came to an end.  It's only my opinion, but I think that while it still had its high comic moments, it started running out of steam in Seasons Eight and Nine.

As we were plowing through it, Linda asked something along the lines or "Do Jerry and Elaine get together in the end?"  That's when I realized she had never seen the Finale, and I decided to say nothing of it until she saw it.  Her opinion was the same as everyone else's: It was terrible way to end the show.  I have a friend who told me that the final  episode pointed out the self-absorption of the characters, that they were essentially just not nice people, and as a result, he's never been able to watch reruns of the show.  I get it.  However, it didn't make me want to not do the binge thing that we did, and I know that I will keep watching reruns of the show whenever the mood strikes.

Just some of my favorite thoughts when it comes to the series in no particular order:

• The marble rye
• Close talkers
• Jerry's parents
• George's parents
• Festivus, which has become a real thing, by the way
• Not that there's anything wrong with that
• The Puffy Shirt, which came about because of a..
• Low talker
• NEWMAN!
• Jack Klompus
• The Summer of George
• The Human Fund
• "Get OUT!!!"
• Elaine dancing
• Marisa Tomei
• Puddy
• Kramer's entrances
• They're real and they're spectacular
• The faces that Elaine could make
• That's gold, Jerry. GOLD!
• Bookman the library cop
• George Costanza - just about everything about him
• These pretzels are making me thirsty

I know that as soon as I hit the "publish"button on this, I'll think of a dozen more classic bits that have woven themselves into the everyday thoughts of those of us who watched and loved the show.

As time has gone on, we have seen Michael Richards get pretty much culture canceled for an unfortunate stand up routine that he did after the show ended.  Jason Alexander did a  series called "Listen Up" that never made it past one season, but you see him popping up all the time on commercials and guest acting gigs on television.  Julia  Louis-Dreyfus has won a slew of Emmys for the show "Veep" and has made some pretty decent movies.  Jerry Seinfeld has continued doing stand-up, and just made a movie for Netflix called "Unfrosted".  It won't make any ten best lists, but it was entertaining and, more important, funny.  I also see hints on the internet that he has taken to becoming a "cranky old guy" now that he has hit age 70.  I haven't seen that personally, but hey, that's how these arcs usually go.  He has, if true, become his Uncle Leo and his dad, Morty.

I suppose that it is difficult for actors to overcome when that have become so solidly identified in the public's mind with one character or show.  It happens a lot in show biz, but if your legacy is to be identified forever as being a part of one of the classic television shows of all time,  I am guessing that any actor would say "sign me up", or in the case of Cosmo Kramer, he would say "Giddyup!"

To Absent Friends - Bill Walton

 

The news today of the death of Bill Walton from cancer at the age of 71 came as a stunner to me.   Part of the reason for that, no doubt, is due to the fact that he was a year younger than I, and part of it is because, well, Bill Walton was just such an indomitable figure on the court and an almost larger than life figure off of it.

I am not going to try to summarize Walton in prose.  Instead, just some bullet points to summarize his career:

• Played on two California State High School Championship teams out of Le Mesa, CA
• Played on two NCAA championship teams at UCLA
• Played for two NBA Championship teams, Portland and Boston
• Three time NCAA Player of the Year
• Two times NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player
• NBA MVP (Portland)
• NBA Sixth Man of the Year (Boston)
• NBA Finals MVP
• Key player for UCLA during their 88 game winning streak that covered three seasons, still an NCAA men's basketball record.
• In 1973 NCAA title game against Memphis State, Walton shot 21-for-22, scored 44 points and had 13 rebounds
• Member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
• Named one of the NBA's Top 50 players of all time in 1997
• Attended over 1,000 Grateful Dead concerts
• Underwent 39 surgeries over the course of his basketball career

The second to last bullet point suggests what a free spirited guy he was, and the last bullet point is to suggest that for all of Walton's accomplishments, they could have been even greater had he not had such an injury riddled career.  Twice in his pro career he missed two full seasons.

Walton was always an outspoken person. He was a peace activist during his college years at UCLA, and was once arrested for taking part in an anti-war demonstration.   He remained outspoken against what he considered to be injustices in society for the rest of his life.

After playing, Walton turned to broadcasting, and his, uh, loquaciousness set him apart from most ex-jocks who go behind a microphone.   I can remember hearing him doing color on some college hoops game and thinking, maybe if you had to listen to him over to course of an entire season, you'd get tired of him, but for one game, nothing was more entertaining to listen to than the stream-of-consciousness style of Bill Walton.  

His OBITUARY IN THE NEW YORK TIMES tells the story that Walton was a stutterer as a young man.  He worked hard to overcome it, and went on to a career not only in broadcasting but as motivational speaker.  He would tell his audiences that overcoming his stutter was "my greatest accomplishment and your worst nightmare."   Once during his working career, my brother Jim attended a conference where Walton was the featured speaker, and he loved it.  The Times obituary also tells a terrific story about Walton returning to Portland in 2009 to receive some award from the State of Oregon.  I won't try to summarize it here, but click on the link to the obit and had it.  It's a great story.

The passing of some celebrities can make you feel sad, some more so than others.  To me, the passing of Bill Walton is one of those.

RIP Bill Walton.

Coach Wooden and his star player

Walton and Kareem battle it out in the NBA

The Coach and his two greatest players

The world's most famous Dead Head

 

The Lions in Winter

Let's Catch Up With The Steelers

It has been awhile since I have written of our favorite football team, so, as the team is wrapping up their voluntary/mandatory OTA's this week, let's take a look at how things are shaping up with the Steelers 61 days before the start of training camp in Latrobe, 74 days before the first exhibition game, and 104 days before the Opening Game of the season.

Let us begin by talking about the Draft that took place a little over a month ago.  To refresh your memories, here are the players selected  by  GM Omar Kahn and HC Mike Tomlin.

1. Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington
2. Zach Frazier, C, WVU
3. Roman Wilson, WR, Michigan
4. Payton Wilson, LB, North Carolina St
5. Mason McCormick, G, South Dakota St
6. Logan Lee, DE Iowa
7. Ryan Watts, DB, Texas

With their first three picks, the Steelers addressed two of what every "expert" agreed were their primary pre-draft needs, offensive line and wide receiver.  Add last year's Number 1 pick Broderick Jones to Fautanu and Frazier, and you have the makings of an O-line that could be a strength for years to come, and Roman Wilson has been drawing raves in OTA's, for whatever that is worth, so he could be the guy to team up with George Pickens that will make us all forget the Swann and Stallworth Era.  As for the other four guys, who knows, and I am certainly not going to try to evaluate how good they are, how great they might become, or where they will fit in with the Steelers going forward.  I am always mindful of what long ago Steelers defensive lineman Ben Magee once told my Dad in a lunch counter encounter in downtown Pittsburgh many, many years ago:  "You don't know nothin' about these guys 'til you get them in training camp."

About the only thing resembling actual news coming out of OTA's was the fact the Team Captain, DL, and Walter Payton Man of the Year Cam Hayward didn't show up for them.  Apparently, Cam is looking for a contract extension, not a restructuring, as he is about the enter his 14th NFL season at the age of 35.

Hayward has been nothing but a very good and even great player ever since he arrived.  He is a bonafide team leader, and a solid member of the Pittsburgh and southwest Pennsylvania community.  Perhaps no Steeler since Franco Harris or Joe Greene has been as universally beloved amongst the Steelers Nation fan base than Hayward, and even at his advanced football age, there is no reason to believe that he still can't be a strong contributor to Steelers in 2024.  However, let's be clear about one thing:  the Steelers once cut Franco Harris over contractual issues.  FRANCO HARRIS!!  They are not a team that will blink when it comes to a contract negotiation such as this.  Cam has said that he would consider playing elsewhere if he doesn't  get what he wants, and that would be too bad.   Let's hope that it  doesn't come to that.

Then there are the quarterbacks.

Of course, everyone is excited about the new duo of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.  Who will be the Steelers starting QB come September?  In THIS COLUMN today in the Post-Gazette, Paul Ziese makes that we shouldn't be kidding ourselves about any "competition".  Wilson will be the man unless and until he can't be due to injury.  I won't restate it here, but read the column.  Fields is a reclamation project, although that may be too strong a label to put on it.  He will sit behind and learn under Wilson, and then the team will make a decision come 2025 as to whether or not he is "the future.'

On personal note, Linda and I took a week's vacation to St. Petersburg Beach in Florida.  during that time at various points I wore either a Steelers golf shirt of Steelers quarter-zip, and when I did, I learned that the concept of a "Steelers Nation" is a very real thing.  Hotel desk personal, bellhops, bartenders, and other vacationers never ceased to comment on what I was wearing and say things like "I can't believe that they got Russell Wilson AND Justin Fields for practically nothing."  A little kid at the pool, about ten years old, said to me "Do you like George Pickens?"  When I said that I did, he said "So do I because we're from Georgia." And these were people who weren't natives of the Pittsburgh area or traveling from there on vacation.  These were people from all over the country.  It really surprised me, but perhaps it should't have.

One final comment on the Draft.  Drafting an offensive lineman Number one certainly isn't a sexy pick, and who knows if Fautanu will work out, but as I mentioned on Facebook on draft night, the last time the Steelers used their first pick to draft a Polynesian guy named "Troy", things worked out pretty well for them.

To Absent Friends - Susan Backlinie

Actress/stuntwoman Susan Backlinie died earlier this month at the age of 71.  The name probably doesn't mean anything to you.  Maybe the name of her most famous character, Chrissie Watkins, does, but, again, probably not, and this is why I love to scour the obituaries, because Backlinie/Watkins appeared in the opening scene of one of the biggest Hollywood blockbuster movies ever:

Susan Backlinie

1946-2024

Posing with a photo that 

you may have seen before.

Yep, Chrissie Watkins was the ill-fated late night skinny dipper on the beaches of Amity ("Amity, as you know, means friendship.'") in Steven Speilberg's classic 1975 thriller, "Jaws".  She was the title character's first victim.  Tens of millions of people have seen "Jaws" but who knew the name of that actress whose death "was no boating accident!"

She only has 11 acting credits in IMDB,and I love how she was billed in some of them.  She was "Charlie's Water Ballet Performer", in "The Great Muppet Caper" (1981), "Polar Bear Woman" in Speilberg's "1941" (1979), and "Pretty Blond Woman in Crowd" in 1976's "Two Minute Warning".   She grew up in West Palm Beach FL, and was a cheerleader and a state swimming champion in high school.  One of her early jobs was performing as a mermaid in the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park tourist attraction in Florida before moving to California.  IMDB shows no acting activity for her since a 1982, but it does tell us that she was married four times.

She was never a star in the usual sense, and was probably pretty much unremembered until the news of her death arrived, but a person who played such a memorable and pivotal part in one of the greatest movies ever deserves to be remembered.

And I cannot post this with out including a clip of THIS SCENE, the one that assured Ms. Backlinie of screen immortality.  

RIP Susan Backlinie.

To Absent Scoundrels - OJ Simpson and Cyril Wecht

There are some figures in our culture who, when they leave this mortal coil, deserve commentary, but how can we ever call then Absent Friends?  So welcome to this new Grandstander category, Absent Scoundrels, and let me tell you, I am hoping that I'm still around so I can write the Entry of at least specific one one of these in the future.   Regardless, let us tell the tales of the first of these Scoundrels.

OJ Simpson

1947-2024

When Orenthal James Simpson died last month at the age of 76, a common theme of the news reporting of the death went something along the lines of "Did anyone ever fall from the heights of popularity and fame into infamy as fast and as far as OJ Simpson?"

He came upon the national scene as a Heisman Trophy winning running back at the University of Southern California.  He was the overall #1 draft choice in the NFL's 1969 Draft, and went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Buffalo Bills and, briefly, the San Francisco 49ers. (More on football later.)  He was the first running back to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in what was then a 14 game season.  He was so popular that he became the first black athlete to become commercial spokesman for corporate America.  Who OJ ran through airports for Hertz Rent-A-Car, he opened the doors that Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Serena Williams, Patrick Mahomes and others walked through in subsequent generations.  He became a sportscaster and an actor of some moderate note.  How can anyone ever forget him as Nordberg in all of those Naked Gun/Police Story movies?

Then came the fall. His ex-wife and her friend were murdered in cold blood outside of OJ's home in Los Angeles.  He was arrested - and if you saw it, you will never forget that LA freeway police chase of Simpson's white Ford Bronco.  He was tried and acquitted of the murders, but the court of public opinion never forgave him, and he became an outcast and a pariah for the rest of his life.  Years later, he was arrested again for armed robbery and served hard time for that crime until his release on parole a few years ago.

Simpson smirks with lawyer 

Johnny Cochran upon 

acquittal of his wife's murer.

But let me mention one specific OJ football memory that I have from well before The Fall.  It was September 28, 1975 and the Bills were playing the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium, and yes, I was there to witness the Bills defeat the Steelers 30-21.  In that game, Simpson had 28 carries for 227 yards, including one TD run of 88 yards.  Yes, 227 YARDS.  Think about it.  The Steelers were the defending Super Bowl Champs and would win that game again after the '75 season.  The Steel Curtain Defense - Greene, Greenwood, Holmes, White, Ham, Lambert, Blount, Schell and the rest of them was at it's absolute peak.  Considering the team against whom he did it, some might say that this was the greatest single game a running back ever had.

That 88 yard TD run?  I've included it for you HERE.

He may well be among the top ten or fifteen football players ever, but when he died few people felt bad about it.

Dr. Cyril Wecht

1931-2024

Cyril Wecht was forensic pathologist, and may well have been one oof the smartest and most intelligent people to ever serve in his field.   In that role was consulted nationwide and served as an "expert witness" in many many famous cases, including that of President Kennedy - he was a prominent debunker of the Warren Commission Report - and Elvis Presley.  He became a "talking head" on CNN and other national news outlets whenever a mysterious or infamous death and or murder was in the news.   He served as  Coroner for Allegheny County and was an Allegheny County  Commissioner, and in those roles, he was for a time a Big Cheese in Democratic politics in Allegheny County.

No question, as a pathologist and a coroner he knew his stuff as well or better than anyone.  As a public official, however, he proved to be a mean and small man, filled with hubris and vitriol.   His many letters to the editors of Pittsburgh newspapers  excoriating the editorial staff, or of anyone else who felt crossed him were venomous and hate filled.  My newspaper columnist friend Brian O'Neill can spend entire lunch hours telling stories of the profane letters that he received for Wecht over the years.  A local Pittsburgh radio personality told the story this week of how Wecht once called his mother, who worked in County Controller's office, the "C-word" right to her face in front of the office staff.   Stories such as this were legion upon the news of his death last week at the age of 93.

My friend Dan and I were discussing Wecht over lunch yesterday, and Dan observed "What kind of life did you lead if after you die, all anyone talks about is what a prick you were when you were alive?   Is that how you want to be remembered?"

Adios OJ and Cyril.  Only your families are going to miss you. Maybe.

Catching Up On My Reading (and A Movie)

Inspired by watching the "Capote vs. The Swans" mini-series, I took it upon myself to reread Truman Capote's magnum opus, "In Cold Blood".   Published in 1965, it is the story of the 1959 killing of a family of four in the tiny town of Holcomb, Kansas, and the aftermath of the crime, including the search for, and the arrest, imprisonment, and execution of the two killers.  The subtitle of the book says it all:  A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences.

I remember reading this book when I was in high school, probably in 1967 or 1968, well over fifty years ago.   Like my recent rereading of "Charlotte's Web", I wanted to see how much more I would get and absorb out of reading a book at age 72, after a lifetime lived, as opposed to reading it as a 16 or  17 year old.  As I have learned from such experiences, seventy-plus years of living allows you to see things way differently than what you saw as a high school or college kid.

First off, I more fully appreciated Capote as a writer.  The guy sure knew how to paint a picture by putting words on a page.  For example, the first three pages of the book describes the tiny town of Holcomb and it ends with this paragraph, which portends all that is to follow in the book:

That, my friends, is WRITING.

Capote vividly paints the picture of the Clutter Family, father and mother Herb and Bonnie, daughter Nancy, and son Kenyon, and the small village in which they lived.  Everybody knew everyone, everyone respected the Clutters, no one ever locked their doors.  And then came the night that the killers, Dick Hickok and Perry Smith, came to the Clutter farm, ostensibly to rob them of the large amounts of cash that Herb Clutter always kept on hand.  In actually, Clutter never kept cash on hand in his home, and after slaughtering the family, the killers left with a portable radio, a pair of binoculars, and seventy dollars in cash.  Smith and Hickok then went on the lam and avoided capture for almost two months.   The book tells the story of the police work that had to their capture, trial, incarceration, and eventual execution.

"In Cold Blood" is often described as a "non-fiction novel", and I never quite understood the term.  Yes, the book reads like fictional thriller, but it's about real people and real events.  I suppose that it could be called a "novel" in the sense that Capote often portrays conversations that took place place between and among the different players in the story, particularly Smith and Hickock.   Supposedly, Capote took over 8,000 pages of notes while researching and writing the book, so maybe these conversations are all accurate, but my guess is that Capote took license in the creation of many of these conversations.

What struck me most in reading about the two killers, Dick Hickok and Perry Smith, is what complete losers and total bums they were.  Everybody is born equal, so we say, and have the same chances as anyone else, so we say, and Capote spends much of the book postulating on how these two guys turned out the way that they did.  It is known that Capote spent much time with the two killers, particularly Smith, in their days on the Kansas Death Row, and developed some degree of empathy for them.  Maybe you will as well if you read the book, but I am guessing that many will feel that Smith and Hickok got exactly what they deserved.  My own feeling is that these two guys are examples of how two lives can be so completely wasted.  How many more people like Dick Hickok and Perry Smith are still walking among us today?  We probably don't want to know the answer.

Anyway, reading the book, prompted me to seek out and watch the 1967 movie made from the book.

Written and directed by Richard Brooks, the movie had only two really recognizable names Robert Blake as Smith and John Forsythe as Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent Alvin Dewey.   Scott Wilson, who played Hickock, did go on to have along career (80 credits in IMBD) as a character actor until his death in 2018.  Blake's story is better known. he was a child star, and went on to a fairly long and successful career (164 credits), including the long running TV detective show, "Baretta".  He was also arrested and tried for the murder of his wife, (a case of life imitating art?), but was acquitted of the crime in 2001.  Blake hadn't acted in  anything since 1997, and his final years were spent trying to pay his legal bills.  He died in 2023 at the age of 89.

As for the movie itself, it can best be described as "gritty."  Filmed in black and white, it certainly captured the feeling of small town Kansas (the actual Clutter home was used in the on location filming).  It was a box office hit and was nominated for four Oscars, including Brooks for both Screenwriting and Directing.

Grandstander Ratings: Three and One-half Stars for the book; Three Stars for the Movie.

I also read this one:

The book tells the story of the Crew from the University of Washington that won the Gold Medal on Eight Man Crew at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, aka "The Hitler Olympics".

The book tells the stories of the depression era college students who stayed together for four years to win this ultimate prize.  As such, it is a story that is inspirational to be sure.  However, to me the most fascinating part of the book was the description of what was happening on the world stage from 1933-36, particularly in Europe and Germany, and the last hundred or so pages of the book describing those Olympics were the best part of the book.   Read about the propaganda machine of Joseph Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl and the glorification and adulation of Hitler, and tell me that you can't see parallels to what we have been seeing in America this last eight years?  Remember the the maxim that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it.

On a more positive note, the Epilog of the book describes how the members of that crew kept in touch with each other for the rest of their lives, and would row their boat, the Husky Clipper, on every ten year anniversary of the 1936 Games.   That part truly was inspiring for me.

I give the this book Three Grandstander Stars.  A movie version of this book was released last year and is available on streaming currently, and I suppose that I will be getting around to seeing it one of these days.

The Pirates at the 20% Pole

Regular readers know that I usually wait until thirty games have been played in a new baseball season before making any serious commentary on how our Pittsburgh Pirates are doing.  By that time, batters have accumulated enough AB's and pitchers enough IP's to make some reasoned judgement on "how they're doin'."

As in 2023, the Bucco started off hot and after eleven games, they were at 9-2 and in first place in the NL Central Division.  Twenty-one games later, things have balanced out, to say the least, and here are your NL Central standings as of this morning:

A 5-16 record after that hot start, and ensconced in last place of a division that appeared be eminently win-able coming out of spring training.

Surprisingly, the pitching, especially the starting pitching has been quite good, and the story of the season so far has been the performance of 22 year old rooking Jared Jones.

As he has been routinely serving up pitches at 100 mph and being among the league leaders in strike outs, Jones has indeed been fun to watch, even if his last start against the Giants this week didn't go so well.  He has given fans something to excited and optimistic about.

Then there are the Pirates bats.  Simply stated, the Pirates offensive output has been truly offensive in these thirty-two games.  In their last game against the Oakland A's on Wednesday, the Pirates started guys with BA's of .162, .168, .205, .212, and .217.  Ke'Bryan Hayes, Brian Reynolds, and Oneil Cruz, the guys who were to be the offensive core of the lineup, are batting .264, .248. and.239, respectively, and Cruz has been striking out a prodigious rate.

Andrew McCutchen, who appeared as a pinch hitter yesterday, and has been used as a DH all season is hitting .188.  Cutch, easily the best and most beloved Pirates player of this century, appears at age 37 to be finished.  The team will be needing to make a hard call on his future soon, it would seem.

Over the winter, my friend Dan made the frequent comment that went along these lines:  "If the Pirates are really serious about wanting to win and compete in the National League, they will need to sign a first basement who can still play, and can hit."  The name Rhys Hoskins was frequently batted around amongst our crotchety breakfast group.  But the Pirates didn't do that.  Instead, they signed Rowdy Tellez.

In 31 games and 83 at bats, Tellez has 1 home run, 7 RBI, and is batting .205 with an OPS of .552.  In other words, he stinks, and he becomes just another name in a long line of washed up players (Jeromy Burnitz, Derek Bell, Lonnie Chisenhall, and others that have long been forgotten, with good reason) whose biggest attribute was the one that the Pirates value the most:  They all came cheap.   It's nice that Tellez appears to be a decent guy, a team player, and good guy to have in the locker room, but that ain't winning any games for the Pirates these days.

And perhaps most infuriating of all is the case of pitcher Paul Skenes, chosen by the Bucs with the first pick in the first round of last years draft. 

Despite limited use last season and in spring training this year, Skenes looked to be the Pirates best pitcher, if not the best player in the entire organization.  In 23 innings pitched at Indianopolis, Skenes has struck out 41, while allowing one earned run (0.39 ERA), and WHIP of 0.87, while frequently exceeding 100 mph with his pitches.   Yet he remains in Indy as the Bucco Brain Trust continues yammering about checking boxes and "the plan" that they have for Skenes.   Skenes has shown that he has nothing to prove or learn at the Triple-A level, and the major league team is floundering, so there is no reason that Skenes should NOT be in Pittsburgh right now if, that is, you care about winning baseball games in 2024, and not just saving dollars by putting off Skenes arbitration and free agent eligibility an extra year or two.

But, regardless of who the manager of general manager may be, it has always been thus on Bob Nutting's Pirate Ship of Fools.

As I often say, it ain't easy being a Pirates fan.