To Absent Friends - Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon

Freddy Cannon

1936-2026

One of American Rock 'n Roll's big stars of the "pre-Beatles" era left us this week when Freddy Cannon does at the age of 89.

Born Frederick Picariello in Massachusetts , Cannon came on the scene with two big hits in 1959 - "Tallahassee Lassie" which he wrote, and "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans", but his biggest hit came in 1962 with "Palisades Park" which peaked at Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart.  Among people who have cited Cannon as influential to them are Mick Jagger and Robert Plant, and author Stephen King mentioned Cannon's music in four of his novels.  "Tallahassee Lassie" has been covered by both the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac, and  the  Beach Boys, among others, have covered "Palisades Park".  It is also said that Cannon holds the record for most appearances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand with 110.

Ands let's face it, is there a better nickname in all of rock 'n roll than Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon?  I think not.

Cannon continued to write, produce, and perform into the 2010's.  You can see him perform his biggest hit "Palidsades Park" on this 1:58 clip.  Thank you, YouTube!

RIP Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon.
 

Quick Hit Critiques

Some (hopefully) brief and (hopefully) informative Critical Commentary  to aid you in your viewing and reading pleasure.  I present them to you in alphabetical order.

This new novel opens as follows:

"Someone will die here this morning, at this suburban train station. It will happen in the next five minutes when the 7:06 to London Victoria arrives."

Ilona Bannster then describes five random people on the platform and tells us that it is one of these five who will die: a mother and her unruly child, and old lady, a young man with a gambling problem, and a gruff and quasi-obnoxious businessman.  Between amazingly suspenseful real time descriptions of the events taking place on that train station platform over the course of the next five minutes, Bannister gives us the back story for each of them.   She lets you, the reader, whom she addresses in the second person, decide who you think will be the one to die, how that person will die, and whether or not that person deserves such a fate, or shall it befall one off the others.

It is a most interesting and somewhat unique way to tell a story. I found it to be a really good read and give it Three Grandstander Stars.

"Five Star Weeknd" is an eight part mini-series streaming on Peacock based on a best selling novel by Elin Hilderbrand.  It stars Jennifer Garner as a social media influencer specializing in food, cooking and baking, and the fancy presentations thereof.  In the opening of the first show, we see police arriving at her door to inform her that there has been a terrible accident and that her husband did not survive.  We then flash forward six months, and Garner, still struggling with the grief of this devastating loss, is planning a weekend retreat at her lavish - and  do mean lavish - Nantuckett beach house.  The guests for the weekend will be four women from various stages of her life: her oldest friend who is like a sister to her, a college friend, a woman from the "Moms' group" (yeah Garner has a college age daughter that spices up the mix a bit further), and a woman whom she has never me but with whom she became friends after the she reached out to Garner after her husband's death via Garner's enormous social network of followers.  Each of these four ladies are determined to help Jennifer G. get through her grief spiral, but each of them are also carrying some  burdens of their own as they arrive for the meticulously planned weekend.

Yeah, it's a real soap opera, but  Garner's castmates Chloe Sevigny, D'Arcy Cargen, Regina Hall, and Gemma Chan assure that this is a high quality soap opera.  Each of the eight episodes are about 45 minutes in length so it requires a time commitment, but Linda and I binged it in three sittings.

On a serious note, the story also makes some telling points about how people deal with grief and the interactions of families (Garner and her daughter in this case) as they struggle to come to grips with this unbearable change in their lives.  If you know me, you know why this aspect was of special interest to me.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

When a young woman's mother dies, her two older brothers receive the bulk of her estate (she was fairly wealthy self-made entrepreneur), and she is left with series of DVD's that her mother recorded before she died and a "life list" of things to do that the young woman made when she was only twelve or thirteen.  The DVD's instruct young Alex that she needs to complete this life list within twelve months, and only them will she receive her as-yet-to-be-disclosed inheritance.

Some of the things on the list are silly:  do stand-up comedy, get a tattoo, play one-on-one with a New York Knick.  Some are quite serious: become a good teacher, make peace with your father, find true love.  

Sofia Carson, an actress with whom I was not familiar, was thoroughly charming in the role of Alex, as was Kyle Allen, another unfamiliar, to me anyway, actor as the young lawyer who serves as executor to Mom's will.  The mother was played by Connie Britton, the only actor in the movie that I knew.

The movie was somewhat predictable.  I mean, you knew within the first twenty minutes how the "true love" part was going to resolve itself, but there were enough meaningful parts of the movies that made it well worthwhile, especially the performance of Miss Carson.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

Christopher Nolen's, arguably one of today's most important and influential film directors, "The Odyssey" will no doubt be the biggest movie of the summer of 2026.

It is big.  It is sweeping. It is no doubt a piece of brilliant movie making, and it is based on a classic tale that is over 3,000 years old.

It will also no doubt receive critical acclaim and will probably garner a passel of Oscar nominations.

I give you all of that, and will concede that it is a great piece of film-making.

But it's not a movie for me.  Just couldn't get into the story, and man oh man, is it violent.  Lots of people die in lots of very gruesome ways in this one.

I did like how the story of the Trojan Horse was depicted, though.

It is also 2 hours and 52 minutes long.  In fact, this was me saying good-bye to Linda as I left for then theater last Friday morning:

Two Stars from The Grandstander.

I have been aware for some time that the producers of "The Big Bang Theory" were planning a spin off of that show that would feature the character of Stuart Bloom, the owner of the comic book store, played by Kevin Sussman, as well as the characters of Stuart's girlfriend Denise, Bert the geologist, and physicist Barry Kripke.

Before I go on, allow me to make some observations about the original show.  I come by these because we spend just about every weeknight watching at least one rerun of The Big Bang Theory. (1) While Sheldon Cooper and his eccentricities were the coming hub around which the show revolved, he was also a real jerk.  Even his fellow nerd scientists would never have put-up with his bullshit in real life and they probably would have punched him out early on. (2) Penny and Stuart, and maybe Bernadette, had the funniest lines over the course of the series. (3) Among all of the scientists and geniuses, the smartest person among all of them was Penny.

Okay, back to the spin-off series.  It debuted as a series on HBO Max this week and we watched the first episode last night.  It is a sci-fi story of a post apocalyptic multi-verse that resulted from some experiment conducted by Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard that went horribly awry.  It is now up to Stuart, of all people, to try to set things right and restore order to the world.

We didn't like it.  We will not be watching future episodes, and we were barely able to get through episode one.  If the producers of TBBT wanted to milk some more money out of the cash cow that was the original series, God bless them, that's the American Way, I suppose, but this sure wasn't the way to go about it.

One-half Star, just for the effort, from The Grandstander.

Spain Reigns!! (and other soccer thoughts)

The 2026 FIFA World Cup ended yesterday with a perfectly satisfying result:  The best team won.  Spain defeated Argentina 1-0 in Extra Time, and it was a thoroughly dominating performance.   A worthy champion was crowned.

In a tournament that was dominated by star players - Messi, Mbappe, Kane, Bellingham, Haaland et al - the "star" of the Spain team was, as one of the commentators put it, the team itself.  No one single player stood out, but the team played to such a level that there can be no doubt as to the worthiness of this championship victory.  In eight matches Spain had one goal scored against them.  ONLY ONE GOAL.  That is astonishing, even in a sport where scores of 0-0, 1-0, or 2-0 are commonplace.  Every match that I watched where Spain played, my impression was of a team that just suffocated opponents defensively.  This was illustrated yesterday when Argentina, featuring the great Lionel Messi, had 0, as in ZERO, shots on goal in 120 minutes of play.  How is that even possible?  That is a level of defense that not even the Steel Curtain Steelers or the '85 Bears could match.

Some final thoughts now that this thirty-nine day festival (and it WAS a festival!) has concluded.....

• As I approach my 75th birthday a few weeks from now, I find myself cherishing, if that is the right word, these quadrennial events like the Olympics, World Baseball Classic, and Presidential elections.  I mean, how many more of these am I going to be around for, right?, so I found myself really into this World Cup.  I didn't miss a day of coverage that was offered on Fox Sports.  I didn't watch every match, but I watched a lot of them, and I enjoyed them beyond all expectations.
• I truly came to appreciate the game itself and some of its intricacies.  If you search through The Grandstander archives, you will find plenty of past references  wherein I spelled out typical American objections to the sport (too slow, they don't score enough, they don't even try to score) but no more.  Soccer may never become "the beautiful game" for me, but I am done knocking it.
• I am going to take a deeper interest in following the sport, and I think that the way to do that is to pick one specific team and follow them rather than just randomly watching any game that happens to be on NBC or Peacock on some random Saturday or Sunday morning. That team will be Manchester City of the English Premier League.  Why Man City?  Erling Haaland playsI for them.

• I loved many of the announcers that were used to cover these matches, especially the British ones.  My absolute favorites were the team of Darren Fletcher on play-by-play and Owen Hargreaves on color.  I wish ABC/ESPN would hire them for Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl this coming season.
• The Fox Studio host team of Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was terrific, and they would have been absolutely perfect if they hadn't been saddled with blowhard Alexi Lalas.  Lalas epitomizes the term "ugly American".
• I have not-so-jokingly said that Zlatan should replace Kirk Herbstreit on NFL Thursday Night Football.  
• The World Cup is the most heavily wagered upon event in the world.  Upwards of $1.5 billion is wagered upon it world wide, and I did my bit to contribute to the total.  In all, I made 149 separate wagers on the World Cup totaling $372.65 (average wager of $2.50), and realized $478.69 in returns, a profit of $106.04, or a 28.5% return on investment.  Wish that I could do half as well on MLB, the NFL, and the NCAA.
• Is there a better cheer and or victory celebration in any sport that is as fun as the "Norwegian Row"?  I think not.
• While I have no problem with the host nation's Head of State being in attendance at the final game and even being involved in the awards presentation, how about how the American President had to be literally pulled away from the Spanish team by FIFA Punjab Gianni Infantini as their on-stage victory photos were being taken?  He just had to make it about himself.  Note that neither the Mexican president nor the PM of Canada  acted in such a gauche manner.  (Just think of what he'll do at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.)
• I also heard that as the American President was being introduced in the stadium yesterday, thousands of people in the stands held up red cards.  Pretty good statement there.
• Throughout the tournament, my painstakingly constructed Legos World Cup Trophy has sat by the TV set in our living room.  I now have to find a more permanent and less obtrusive spot for it.

• It is interesting to note that Spain now holds both the Men's and Women's FIFA World Cup titles, with the women winning it in 2023.  The Women's tournament will take place next year, 2027, in Brazil.   Wonder if that will merit the same wall-to-wall television coverage that this just completed men's event just had?

So, as we bid adieu to the 2026 World Cup, let us have one more salute to the Champions....

Espana!

How The Pirates Treat Their Paying Customers

On Saturday, July 11, my friend David Cicotello and I attended the 4:05 game between the Pirates and Brewers at PNC Park.  The Pirates won the game, which was nice, but that wasn't my biggest take away from the "ballpark experience" that day.  You can read about it in this letter that I will be sending to Pirates President Travis Williams.  I reproduce it for you below:

July 19, 2026

Mr. Travis Williams

President

Pittsburgh Pirates

115 Federal Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Dear Mr. Williams,

On Saturday, July 19, I attended, along with over 29,000 other fans, the second game of the split double-header between the Pirates and Brewers.  We arrived on the north side early, around 2:30.  Realizing the logistics involved in emptying PNC Park after the first game of the double header, which concluded at about that time, we waited until about  3:00 to get into a line to enter the ball park.   We got into a line that began at the corner of Federal and General Robinson Streets, a line that would eventually lead to the left field gate where the Willie Stargell statue is located.

Eventually, the line started to move. Then it stopped moving.  Then it moved a couple of feet.  Then it stopped moving. You get the idea.  It soon became apparent that there was a strong likelihood that we would miss the beginning of the game (which, in fact, did happen).  After about thirty minutes or so, the Stargell statue came into view, and I could see that there was one gate open.  In a gate area with four portals for entry, there was ONE GATE OPEN.  We also could see that there was another line to get into that ONE OPEN GATE that was coming from the  other direction on Federal Street.  It was like trying to funnel the Mississippi River through a drinking straw.  

At some point a gentleman wearing a Pirates lanyard and ID badge, Ryan Niemeyer, your VP of tickets sales appeared, and I asked why was only one gate open?  To which he replied “we didn’t have sufficient security to open more that one gate”, and to that I replied “Why not?”  He had no answer for that.   This was a day where a huge crowd was expected because of the highly promoted (hyped?) Pirates Country Weekend, where there was a highly promoted give-away item involved, and the Pirates didn’t anticipate having sufficient security on hand to allow more than one gate to be open to ease the entrance of paying customers into the ball park?  Did the team learn nothing from last season’s Paul Skenes Bobblehead debacle?

There is a term in the military for this: “Cluster____.“ I will let you fill in the last syllable of this term.

It has become a cliche in Pittsburgh to say that “the Pirates are cheap” or “the Pirates can screw  up a one car funeral” or “do these guys have ANY idea of what they are doing”, but after being a part of that mess on July 11, what else can one think?

Let me say that I am not a casual fan.  I attend roughly 10-12 games a season.  I have come to accept that the actual part of the organization that, you know plays the games, operates with one hand tied behind its back due to Mr. Nutting’s, uh, shall we say, frugal way of operating the team, but still, I come to the ball park, buy the merch and the eight  dollar soft drinks, and watch the Pirates on TV.  I will be a fan until I die, but, WOW, considering how the organization treats its paying customers, as exemplified by what happened last Saturday, you folks don’t make it easy to be a Pirates fan.

I am anxious to hear your response.

Sincerely,

Bob Sproule

I shall let you know what response, if any, I receive from Mr. Williams.  By the way, here is a picture of the scene at PNC Park that day as we tried to get into the ballpark.

A 53 Year Old Movie: "Soylent Green" (1973)

 

I had never seen this 1973 sci-fi classic, but like many people, I did know what the punch line to the movie was, but I will give no spoilers here, not even for a fifty-three year old movie.  I recorded it off of TCM the other day and watched it over the weekend.

The movie takes place in "the future", when the world has been over populated (New York City alone has a population of 50 million people) and the entire world is an environmental disaster.  There is no food, no shelter, and people have devolved into savages.  Oh, and the future year in which this dystopian disaster has befallen: 2022!!

Charleston Heston in full lock-jawed intensity plays a NYC cop who is trying to solve the homicide of the Chairman of the Soylent Corporation, the firm that provides the world's only food source.  That product, Soylent, comes in many colors, but its newest product, "soylent green", made from sea plankton, is the best of the lot, but it is still severely rationed and its scarcity is causing riots among the population.  It is a very grim world, this world of 2022.

Actually, director, Richard Fleischer does a great job in painting the picture of this dystopian (yeah, I've now used this world twice, but it is such a cool word to use) landscape.  For that reason, this is a pretty neat movie to watch.  Another reason to watch is the cast.  In addition to Heston, it included.....

Edward G. Robinson.  Robinson was eighty years old and suffering from cancer when he made this final film appearance.  He died shortly after the movie wrapped up filming.  Heston later said that being able to act "with Eddie" made this movie one of the most special of his career.  Robinson's presence alone may make this worth watching.

Leigh Taylor-Young.  Miss Taylor-Young was all of 28 years old when she made this movie.  She appeared in television's Peyton Place (she replaced Mia Farrow). married co-star Ryan O'Neal, and was quite the thing in the early 1970's.  She was quite beautiful, but I had long since forgotten her.  She is now 81 years old, lives in Washington DC, and has worked regularly right through 2024.  Good for her.

Joseph Cotten, was 68 years old when he made this one and his role was brief.  He was the Soylent Chairman who got bumped off early in the picture.

Chuck Connors.  Television's Rifleman and ex-Brooklyn Dodger and ex-Boston Celtic was 52 years old when he made this.  Connors was only 71 when he died in 1992, and he had amassed 221 acting credits in a career that lasted right up until the year of his death.

Whit Bissell.  Was there ever a character actor with a better name than "Whit Bissell"?  Bissell died in 1996 at the age of 86 and had an astonishing 349 acting credits to his name in IMDB.  As I often say, Stars are Stars, but you can't make movies without guys like Whit Bissell.

Other notable actors that appeared in "Soylent Green" were Brock Peters, Paula Kelly, Dick Van Patten, and ex-Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Henry.

"Soylent Green" was a 1970's era Message Movie, and while it may have been ham-handed in some aspects of delivering that message, it was still fun to watch.  Again, I'm not going to give away the ending, but if someone offers you a tasty snack of soylent green, you might want to take a pass on it.

Surprisingly, Three Stars from The Grandstander.

More World Cup Comments

Allow me to follow up on THIS POST from June 26 as the 2026 FIFA World CUP heads into the quarterfinals round.

The Round of 16 matches were completed last night, and seven of the eight matches were tightly contested and tremendously exciting to watch.

• France defeats Paraguay 1-0 on a penalty kick goal by Kylian Mbappe
• Morocco defeats Canada 3-0
• Spain defeats Portugal 1-0 on a goal in stoppage time
• Norway defeats Brazil 2-1 with both goals being scored by Erling Haaland, and the "Viking Row" becomes the signature fans event of the tournament
• England 3 - Mexico 2 at Aztec Stadium, where the Mexican National Team never loses.  The English scoring came from stars Jude Bellingham with two goals and Harry Kane with a penalty kick.  There was ten minutes of stoppage time in this one, and the furious attacks by Mexico and the defense by England in those extra minutes was beyond exciting
• Switzerland and Colombia finished 0-0, and the match was won by the Swiss on penalty kicks
• And in perhaps the best match of this round, Argentina 3 - Egypt 2.  Egypt scored at 15' and 67' to hold a 2-0 lead.  It looked like the defending champions, and their great star, Lionel Messi, who had actually had a penalty kick blocked early in the match, were on the ropes and were about to be sent home.  Then Cristian Romero of Argentina scores at 79' and the Giant was awoken.  The game was then tied at 83' on an impossible goal by who else but Messi, and Enzo Fernandez then scored two minutes into stoppage time.  It was an almost indescribable match to watch.

Then there was the one game that was not so great:  Belgium 4 - USA 1.

We all know the backstory on this one. The suspension of American player Folarin Balogun because of a red card he was given in the previous match was reversed after the American President made a phone call to FIFA prexy Gianni Infantino asking that the red card and suspension of Balogun be "reviewed".   I had been wondering for months leading up to the World Cup, and I am sure that I was not alone, just what the American President was going to do to insert his grubby presence into the event and embarrass the country yet again in the eyes of the world.  He didn't let us down. By making yet another event into something about himself, the President managed to make the USMNT, which had been celebrated and almost heroic in their performance up to this point, into villains and a team that the whole world then began to root against.  All the good will generated by America and Americans leading up to this point evaporated thanks to the 47th President.

Belgium, motivated beyond measure by the this chain of events, proceeded to swamp the USA 4-1, and the match wasn't even THAT close.  Belgium is undoubtedly a better team, and would no doubt have won this match anyway, but thanks to the interference of the American President and the shady machinations of FIFA, they turned into a steamroller and the USA never had a chance.

Had the US won this game, it would have been seen as tainted in the eyes of the world, and the team's victory would have carried an orange asterisk next to it that would never have been erased.  Oh, and if the USA  had won, guess who would have taken credit for it?  At least that travesty has been avoided

I loved the Belgian's team response of "Overturn This" to FIFA after the match and their mocking victory dance to "YMCA". 

So, after twenty-seven consecutive days of soccer, the World Cup takes a one day break before the quarterfinals begin tomorrow.  I have reproduced the bracket at the top of this post.  The betting favorites, per Fan Duel, are France, Spain, England, and Argentina.  Each match will no doubt be tense and exciting, and each will probably be decided by one goal.  At least one of them will probably go into extra time, and maybe even have to be decided by penalty kicks.  

If any match does not go according to chalk, I think that it will be the one between England and Norway.  I look forward the Harry Kane and Erling Haaland matchup.

My prediction is that this will produce a final four (my apologies to the NCAA for using this trademarked term, which is why used lower case F's) that will lead to a Championship matchup between France and Argentina, just like four years ago.

Some of the Stars that will be on display over the next three days:

Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland. Kylian Mbappe

Harry Kane, Lamin Yamal

On The Occasion Of Our 250th Birthday

The Grandstander is going to take a break from the Fun & Games of Life upon which he usually opines and turn serious and introspective for a moment.  He'll be back for his usual nonsense soon.  Please bear with me.

In the days leading up to July 4, 2026, our Semi-Quincentennial, as it is officially categorized, I found myself looking back to fifty years ago when we celebrated the nation's Bicentennial.  I was 24 years old at the time, and I certainly remember all of the hoopla that surrounded the event.  Remember the "Bicentennial Minute" that aired every night on national television for two years leading up the July 4, 1976?  I do.  It was a happy and a joyous occasion.  Gerald Ford was the President of the United States at the time.  The circumstances of how Jerry Ford became our 38th President were in fact a testimony to our system of government and our Constitution. 

I found myself thinking of President Ford over these past several days, and I honestly had no memory of him as it related to the events surrounding the Bicentennial celebrations. I figured that he no doubt made a Presidential speech somewhere to celebrate the occasion, but I know that he did not make the occasion all about himself.  Didn't demand, say, that the government issue celebratory currency with his likeness upon it.

President Ford speaks in Philadelphia

July 4, 1976

Well, the internet which didn't exist in 1976, made it very easy to learn about what the President did that day.  He traveled to Philadelphia and stood before Independence Hall where he delivered THIS SPEECH to the American people.  The speech lasted for all of eighteen minutes.  At no point did the President talk about himself or make any mention of his immediate predecessors, or of any other contemporary government figures.  At no point did he talk about Jerry Ford. He even made it a point, as he began his remarks, to thank Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp and Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, neither of whom were of the same political party as Ford, for their hospitality in extending to him the invitation to speak in Philadelphia.

I urge you to click on the link above and take the eighteen minutes to listen to Ford's remarks of July 4, 1976.  I have only read about the comments made in a 75 minute speech last night by the 47th President, but I am confident in saying that America would have been better served had the national news outlets simply replayed President Ford's speech from fifty years ago.

World Cup 2026 Comments

Before I start, a comment about last night's USA 3-2 loss to Turkiye.  Both the US position in the group (first place) and their slotting in Knockout round of 32 were known so the game meant nothing to the USA, win, lose, or draw.  And that's how they played it.  They rested guys to avoid injuries and for reasons involving yellow cards (which I think I understand, but am not totally sure about), and only played their best player, Christian Pulisic, for thirty minutes, and as a substitute at that.  It looked like the match was destined to be a draw, but then Turkiye scored, literally, on the last play in seven minutes of stoppage time.  Seemed like a devastating way to lose a game to me.  I only hope that this loss doesn't rob the USMNT of the momentum that was built up over their two earlier wins in group play.

Now for the what I really wanted to write today.

Over the past fifteen days I have found myself enjoying this FIFA World Cup Tournament more that I ever anticipated.  Let me spell it out in bullet point form.

WHAT I HAVE LIKE ABOUT 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP

• The Stars.  Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland, among others, have delivered beyond imagining.  Messi has all five of Argentina's goals, including a hat trick in the first game.  He established the all time record for career goals scored in World Cup play with 18. Mbappe, with four goals now stands at 14 career goals will surely pass Messi someday, possibly even this year depending on how the tournament plays out.
• The Coverage.  There have been anywhere from three to six games to watch on television everyday for the last two weeks.  You could - and I often have - been watching World Cup matches on any given day from 1:00 in the afternoon to midnight.
• The Announcers. Many if not most of the play-by-play announcers have been British, and, all due respect to the Jim Nantzes, Ian Eagles, Al Michaels', and Joe Bucks of the USA, no one can turn a phrase like the Brits.  Maybe it's the accents. Example:  One announcer, when chiding some player's somewhat relaxed style of play said that "he needs to put down his brandy and cigar and start playing some proper football."  Pitt needs to hire that guy to replace Bill Hillgrove.
• The Pagentry.  The packed stadiums, the way the teams march on to the field before the matches, the flags and the anthems.  Can't be beat.
• The Game Itself.  By watching so many games in such a concentrated period of time, I have come to appreciate its  nuances. Like how the defenders play. Like many Americans, I would always say "why don't they score more...why don't they shoot more....why don't they even try to score?", and I have come to learn that the reason for all that is that they CAN'T shoot or score more and it is because of the defensive play of these elite teams.   
• Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as Fox Studio hosts.
• The Fans From Other Countries. The Tartan Army from Scotland who completely overtook Boston with their marching and bagpipes, literally drinking Boston taverns dry, and taking over Fenway Park at a Red Sox game and singing in unison for the entire nine innings.  The Norwegians and their "Viking Row".  The thousands of people from countries that you, or at least I, would never have expected to travel to North America to attend these matches.  The singing and the organized cheering throughout the matches.  I heard some guy on a national radio sports show say that when you witness this, you realize that we in America just don't know how to be fans.  He might be right.
• The News Reports About The Visitors.  Social media has been awash with stories and reels about how wonderfully all of these folks from other countries have been received here in America.  The hospitality and kindness of the Americans.  And how the visitors have been in awe of things like American fast food restaurants, Buc-ee's stores, and, of all things, ranch salad dressing.  I was afraid that the current leadership of America would somehow manage to suck all of the joy out of hosting this global event, but, happily, it hasn't happened.  At least not yet.
• A Look at the Stars:

Messi

Mbappe

USMNT

Haaland

WHAT I HAVE NOT LIKED ABOUT THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP

• Alexi Lalas as a Fox Studio host.  I made comment in Facebook that pairing Lalas with Henry and Zlatan would be like doing a documentary on the New York Yankees and having it hosted by Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Phil Linz.  The guy is a total putz.
• The general stink of greed, graft, and corruption that surrounds anything associated with FIFA.  Example:  Corporate names of American stadiums are verboten, so SoFi Stadium and MetLife Stadium have now become "Los Angeles Stadium" and "New York-New Jersey Stadium", and so on.  That's okay on the face of it, yet, the pitches themselves on which the matches are played are surrounded by electronic ad boards that run constantly throughout the match hawking some corporate sponsor or another.  Also, have you noticed that when a player of coach is interviewed after a match, they stand in front of a backdrop that is plastered with forty of fifty corporate logos.  Not even the International Olympic Committee, which is pretty shady itself, allows that.
• Alexi Lalas.
• Speaking of the FIFA punjabs, the TV cameras caught a shot of FIFA major domo Gianni Infantino and some of his henchmen during one of the recent matches:

• Doesn't it look like they're having a great time?  Probably wondering about what country or government they're going to shake down next.  As my old buddy, the late great Chuck Spatafore would have put it, they look like the Nuremberg Jury.
• Oh, and did I mention Alexi Lalas?

Okay, big match today involving France and Mbappe versus Norway and Haaland.  Can't wait for that.  Group play ends tomorrow and the Knockout Rounds begin with one match on Sunday followed by five straight days with three matches each that will whittle the field down to sixteen teams.

Keep on enjoying the futbol, everyone!

A Vacation Ten Miles From Home

Intriguing headline headline is it not?  

Some background.

On Wednesday, June 10, a longstanding friend of Linda's was getting married.  A wedding is a private affair between the husband and wife, so I'm not going to mention any names, but the backstory for this one could have been a Nora Ephron screenplay.  To wit:

• The bride and groom were each other's date for their high school senior prom in 1970!
• As often happens, life took them their separate ways, they married, had children and grandchildren, and, sadly, lost their spouses after long and loving marriages.
• Not sure how it happened, but they somehow got back together, and, long story short, they got married last week.
• When I first met this couple four years ago, I was amazed to learn that the groom grew up on block away from me on Saline Street in Squirrel Hill.  He went to Allderdice High School, I went to Central Catholic, so we never knew each other, but we no doubt crossed paths with each other at Murray Pharmacy, the Lorretto Avenue Giant Eagle, and Mineo's Pizza many times in our formative years.  Only in Pittsburgh, amiright?

The wedding was a traditional Jewish wedding, and this was the first time that either Linda or I ever attended a Jewish wedding, and we absolutely loved it.  The music, the prayers, the participation of the attendees was very moving, and the wedding reception was an absolute blast.  So much fun.  How great it was to experience this event.  

Okay, now about that vacation.  The wedding took place at the William Penn Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, and when we got the invitation, we decided that we would make it an in-week getaway for us, and we booked a room for two nights at the William Penn, one of the great big city old-time luxury hotels, the kind that they just don't build anymore.

We checked in on Wednesday morning, and that day, of course, was spent with the wedding and the events surrounding it, but we awoke on Thursday morning (still not believing the 29 point comeback of the Knicks the might before) and decided to explore our home town.  We decided to walk into town and take a look at the newly remodeled Market Square.  In all honesty, we were unimpressed with the new look Market Square.  It was also 89 degrees so the several block walk was a killer.  We had a great lunch at the City Works Restaurant in PPG Place.  We then took a slow walk back in the heat, with a stop at a Milk Shake Factory.   Back to the William Penn for a mid-afternoon cocktail, then dinner at the Ritual House in the Union Trust Building.  Back to the Tap Room at the William Penn where we watched both the Stanley Cup playoff game and the Pirates-Dodgers game.  We concluded this getaway with breakfast at the William Penn's Terrace Room, where you can get the best Eggs Benedict anywhere, before checking out and heading home, but not before stopping at the new Arts Landing space and taking in the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

All in all, a terrific 48 hour whirlwind for Linda and Bob.

I will close by offering a commentary on a paradigm change that I found amazing.  I worked in dahntahn Pittsburgh for over thirty years.  To me, it was a bustling place with people shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalks and lots and lots of jammed traffic on any given business day between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM, where a pedestrian took his life into his hands merely trying to cross a street.  I know that things changed when the COVID-19 pandemic closed things down and people began working remotely, but I was still shocked when I saw that the sidewalks were not crowded, and vehicular traffic was virtually non-existant.  Let me show you.

Here is a picture that I took from our hotel room at midnight on Wednesday.  Our room overlooked Mellon Square Park and Smithfield Streets and Sixth and Seventh Avenues.

Pretty picture and no traffic, but it was midnight, so why would there be?  This next picture was taken at 8:30 on Thursday morning.  Gotta be lots and lots of traffic going into work, right?

Nope.  You could have fired a cannon down Smithfield Street and not hurt anyone.  Just wait until evening rush hour at around 5:15 though.  That will no doubt be a madhouse.

Not so much.  At least I see a bus there at Seventh and Smithfield by what used to be Gimbels. Maybe there were some people on that.

Despite all of that, both the City Works for lunch and the Ritual House for dinner were filled.  Where did they come from?

I know that both the city fathers and the business leaders are doing what they can to get people out of their remote locations and back into those office buildings, but will it ever again be like the City I worked in in the 80's, 90's and 00's?  Like I said, the whole scene amazed me.

To Absent Friends - Gene Shalit

 

Gene Shalit

1026-2026

Legendary movie and entertainment critic and regular on the Today Show Gene Shalit died this weekend at the age of 100.  Tributes to Shalit and the amazing way that he had with words and puns in his film reviews have been all over the media in the days following his death ("Ishtar ishterrible"), and they are great fun to read.

Tis post will be my story of one of his reviews  that sticks in my mind.  It was in 1977 for the Paul Newman hockey movie "Slap Shot".  Shalit didn't care much for the movie and I remember happening to be watching the Today Show when he said:

"Slap Shot is has an R rating, which means that no one under 18 can see this movie unless accompanied by a parent.  Any parent that would take a kid to this movie deserves to be slapped.  Or shot!"

How great was that?

RIP Gene Shalit.

They Are The Champions

Both the NBA and the NHL wrapped up their Championship Series this weekend, and both results were quite satisfactory in our home.

The New York Knicks won their first NBA title since 1973 in five games over the San Antonio Spurs in what can only be described as astonishing fashion.  Here was their Playoff run:

• Fell behind two games to one to the Hawks in the first round then won three straight games to advance to the second round
• Swept the 76ers in the second round
• Swept the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals; in Game 1, the Cavs led by 22 points with 7:00 minutes remaining in the game, and the Knicks tied it and won it in overtime
• Defeated Spurs in five games to win The Finals

But that last bullet point doesn't even begin to describe just HOW the Knicks won those five games.  The Spurs had double digit leads in all five games, and could have, and perhaps should have, won all of the games that they lost.  After losing the first two games, the Spurs rallied to win the third game in Madison Square Garden, and appeared to have a Game Four win in their hip pockets, a win that would have tied the series.  They held a 27 point lead over the Knicks at the half, and got that lead up to 29 points in the third quarter.  No NBA teamed ever overcame a 29 point deficit in an NBA Finals game.  Until this past Wednesday.

The Knicks kept chipping into the lead, while the Spurs, with perhaps the most dominant low post "big man" in all of basketball, Victor Wembanyama, kept attempting , and missing, long range jump shots and three point attempts.  The Spurs still held a seven point lead with a minute to play, but the Knicks kept at it, and the Spurs kept missing shots, and it all came to an end when OG Anunoby tipped in a missed shot by Jaylen Brunson with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Knicks an unbelievably improbable 107-106 win.  

OG Anunoby becomes Bobby Thomson in Game 4!

We watched that game unfold from our hotel room at Pittsburgh's William Penn Hotel (why we were there will be the subject of another post coming in the next day or two), and simply could not believe what we were seeing.  As I often say, a game like that one is why you follow sports.

The real star of the Knicks was Jalen Brunson, who was named MVP of the Series.  After the Knicks fell behind by double digits is Game 5, Brunson willed the Knicks to overcome the deficit and scored 45 points in New York's 94-90 win.  He'll never have to pick up a check in a New York City restaurant for the rest of his life.

MVP

A couple of comments on two other key figures in these Finals.

I was tremendously impressed with Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown, and after pulling off that unprecedented comeback in Game 4, how could you not be, but more than that, his calm demeanor on the sideline throughout all of these games stood in sharp contrast to his coaching counterparts on all levels of basketball.  He never whined or screamed at the refs.  When he had a beef, he would calmly address it to the official in question.  Most of the time, he stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets.

In a profession that is filled with Danny Hurleys, it's refreshing to see a guy like Mike Brown on the sidelines.

Make no mistake, the San Antonio Spurs are a very good team.  Led by their star player, 22 year old Victor Wembanyama, and other young stars like Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, the Spurs will be back on this stage again and will win NBA championships over the next five to eight years.  Wemby is a force of nature and when you see how he can dominate a basketball game at this point in his career, it boggles the mind to think of how much better he will become as he matures, and I use the word "mature" purposefully here.  I love watching him play, but it was disappointing to see some of the, shall we say, churlish behavior on his part both on the court (Is he a dirty player?)  and in post game interviews and interactions with other players.  Hell, he's only 22 years old, so let's all hope that he outgrows some of that stuff as he gets older.  He will be, if he isn't already, the Face of the NBA, and he needs to realize that there is some responsibility that comes along with that. 

*****

One night later, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Las Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 to win the  NHL's Stanley Cup in six games.

I can sum up our actions to this by restating these comments from my June 2 post:

"Our rooting interest will be with the Hurricanes, not only because of her preseason wager, but because her sons  Jeffrey and Justin and their families reside in Raleigh now and are Hurricanes fans, and because she wants to see ex-Penguin Jordan Stahl win another Cup."

So the Canes checked all the boxes for Linda and I throughout this series, and Jordan Stahl even won the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Series!   Oh, and the "pre-season wager" referred to above was a five dollar bet that Linda asked me to place for her back on October 3 that yielded a $52.50 payout on FanDuel.

*****

In other sports news, the FIFA World Cup kicked off last Thursday, and on Friday the USA began play in their Group with a rousing 4-1 win over Paraguay.

It was great fun to watch, and in fact, this whole tournament has been and will continue to be fun to watch play out over the next thirty-four days.  Every day during group play there will be as many as four games matches being contested, and it has been fun to watch throughout these first five days of competition.  I won't be glued to every contest, but I will be watching certain matches with great interest, like when the USA plays, or when Argentina, led by the great Lionel Messi, plays.  Their first match is Tuesday night.   The USA takes on Australia on Friday night.