Farewell Hines Ward, the Greatest Steeler WR of 'em All

It comes as no surprise, but the Steelers made official what everyone has pretty much guessed would happen - Hines Ward will be released by the team.

It is a hard thing to watch when an elite professional athlete comes to the end of the line, as was certainly the case with Ward this past season. I will not be critical of Ward for wanting to keep trying to play, nor will I be critical if he signs with another team, even if it is with a traditional rival such as Baltimore, New England, Oakland, or Cleveland. If Hines wants to keep at it, who are we to say that he shouldn't be able to do so. Pro sports are a cruel industry: the game itself will let a player know when time is up. Maybe the Steelers are wrong and are giving up too early on Ward, but everyone will know very soon once training camps begin next summer.

I am old enough to have seen Lynn Swann and John Stallworth play their entire careers, and I will say this about Hines Ward - he is the greatest wide receiver in Steelers history.

Franco Harris ended his career with one shortened season as a Seattle Seahawk, but he is forever remembered as a Pittsburgh Steeler. The same will be the case with Hines Ward.

Good luck, Hines, and thanks for everything.

To Absent Friends - Davy Jones

Very saddened to hear for the death today of Davy Jones at the age of 66. The Monkees were a purely made for TV group that NBC created in hopes of cashing in on the tails of the Beatles and other British pop groups of the mid-sixties. It was a hunch that paid off big time. The Monkees, both the TV show and the group itself hit it big, and the band, which started out as four actors playing the role of a rock band, became a huge act during my high school years. The band even cashed in on the nostalgia craze in the late 80's by touring once again.

Jones became the heart throb of the group, but he also brought some serious acting and musical talent to the part as well. While starring as the Artful Dodger in the Broadway musical "Oliver" in 1964, he appeared with the cast of the show and performed a number from it on the Ed Sullivan Show on the very night that The Beatles made their American TV debut in February, 1964.

RIP Davy Jones.

Some Random Thoughts on a Tuesday Morning...

• I am happy to say that I did not waste one single minute of my life by watching any of the NFL Scouting Combine.


• This is the same combine that over the years led NFL teams to make Jeff George and JaMarcus Russell overall #1 draft picks, and made teams agonize over whether Ryan Leaf might be a better pick as overall #1 than Peyton Manning.


• Unlike many, I have always been a fan of Bob Smizik, but his criticism of Frank Coonelly, even before the DUI citation, goes way beyond normal criticism and seems to border on the personal. It's one thing to stick a knife in a guy's back, but it's quite another to to twist the knife while throwing salt on the wound.


• I know that Angelina Jolie is considered by many to be the most beautiful and sexiest woman in the movies today, but she does nothing for me.


• The newest Jonathan Kellerman novel, "Victims", featuring Alex Delaware, was released today. Guess what I'm going to be doing when I sign off of here this morning?


• I watched a movie last night called "A Face in the Crowd" from 1957, directed by Elia Kazan, and starring Andy Griffith and Patricia Neal. Good movie. All about the power of the media and it's cultural and political influence. Still very timely, and, from the viewpoint of 2012, this was one way ahead of its time. Griffith was really good in this dramatic role, but don't expect the folksy, friendly Andy of Mayberry if you watch this. Andy, playing a guy named Lonesome Rhodes, was not a very likable guy in this one. As Robert Osbourne observed on TCM, he never played another character like this again.


• Speaking of movies, it is "Godfather 40th Anniversary Week" on American Movie Classics. As one always does, I got hooked watching for about a half hour last night (saw Jack Woltz wake up with the horse, saw Luca get sent to sleep with the fishes, and heard "leave the gun, take the canollis"), but then shut it off. Since AMC edits for language and throws in lots of commercial breaks, you are better off going to your DVD collection to watch these classics.


• I am late to the party, I know, but I spent a good part of last week watching Season One of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire on DVD. Great series. I'm not yet ready to put it up with The Sopranos, but still a very good show. Can't wait for the DVD release of Season Two. At the risk of sounding like a real geek, I absolutely love the costumes and the period recreation of 1920 Atlantic City. Really good stuff.


• Did you catch any of the Accenture Match Play over the past weekend? I was happy to see American Hunter Mahan win this one. Mahan now moves into the top echelon, if he wasn't already there, of young American pro golfers, and here's one thing to really like about him - he plays fast. When it's his turn to hit, he already has the club in his hand, he walks up to the ball, and he hits it! Very refreshing.

The 87th Precinct

Looking for something to read the other day, I went to the bookshelf and pulled out a copy of "Cop Hater" by Ed McBain. This book was written in 1956 by novelist Evan Hunter using the McBain nom de plume. This book would be the first in a series of over 50 87th Precinct novels that McBain wrote until his death in 2005. McBain and his 87th Precinct has been given credit as the genesis of what we now call the "police proceedural" genre of mystery fiction, and while Steven Bocchco will never admit it, the TV series "Hill Street Blues" owes an enormous debt to the characters, tone, and plotting of the 87th Precinct stories.

I believe that I have read all of these books over the years. They are terrific reading, and can be enjoyed in re-readings, as I proved this past weekend, again and again. Pick up a copy of any 87th Precinct novel. You will quickly get to know the Detectives Steve Carella, Bert Kling, Meyer Meyer and the others, and you will be hooked. Guaranteed!

The Oscars for 2011

Some thoughts on last night's Oscar Awards and the telecast....

• I have written of my thoughts on "The Artist" many times, so I won't rehash them again. I can't say that it is an undeserving winner, but I do not think that, ten years from now, we will be looking back on it and saying "Man, that really is a GREAT movie."


• As for Best Actor Jean Dujardin, while my preference was George Clooney of "The Descendants", I can't argue that Dujardin didn't deserve the Oscar.


• On the other hand, I am betting that American movie audiences will see a passel of great performances by Clooney in the future before we ever see another one from Dujardin.


• I have yet to see "The Iron Lady", but I am delighted that Meryl Streep finally picked up her third Oscar.


• Speaking of three Acting Oscars, Katherine Hepburn holds the record with four, and Streep now joins three other actors with three. They are Jack Nicholson, Ingrid Bergman, and Walter Brennan. Walter Brennan????? As they said on Sesame Street, which one doesn't belong?


• Leading up to the Academy Awards, Octavia Spencer won every award for her role in "The Help." Nobody, and I mean nobody, predicted anyone else as winner of the Best Supporting Actress honor. Yet, when her name is called, she is tearful and shocked to the point of being almost unable to speak. THAT, my friends, is acting.


• Then there was Christopher Plummer's speech. Very classy.


• I also liked that Director Michel Hazanavicius paid tribute to Billy Wilder in his acceptance speech.


• Regular readers will also not be surprised to know that I am very happy that Woody Allen won for Best Original Screenplay for the wonderful "Midnight in Paris." True to form, The Woodman was not in attendance to accept his Oscar.


• As for the telecast itself, I thought it was great. I thought that Billy Crystal was terrific as the host, and I thought the whole thing moved very quickly even though it lasted a shade over three hours, or about an hour shorter than you average Yankees-Red Sox game.


• I would go so far to say that Crystal should host every year, but having a year with some stiff like James Franco hosting serves the purpose of making you appreciate Crystal as Host all the more.


• Loved the film of the "Test Audience" for "The Wizard of Oz" as performed by the Christopher Guest repertory company. How can you not love Fred Willard? Makes me want to go rent "Best In Show" immediately.


• Did you read Rob Owen's rather dyspeptic review of the telecast in this morning's Post-Gazette? Sounded like he is trying to edge out Ron Cook as the Grouchiest Guy at the PG. Maybe a career as a TV critic will do that to a person.


• Best Gown of the Night? Jennifer Lopez, hands down!


• I also loved the Cirque d'Soliel performance.


• In terms of sheer numbers, the big winner was "Hugo" with five Oscars, all in technical categories. I have no problem with that, and to hear the winners in their acceptances, it is obvious that Martin Scorsese must be a true genius and a great guy for whom to work.


• Speaking of technical achievement, why no nominations for "A Very Harold and Kumar 3-D Christmas"?


• I most definitely did NOT miss the performances of all the nominated Original Songs.


• Come to think of it, since there were only two such songs nominated, should this even be a relevant award anymore?


• I thought that the commercials on the telecast were great, better, as a whole, than the Super Bowl. Ellen DeGeneris in those commercials for JC Penney was terrific.


• The Grandstander went 7-for-8 in his Oscar predictions, missing only on Streep's Best Actress win. Not as good as BigPoppy at the Tonys, but not bad.


• Of the nominated and winning movies, I still need to see "Iron Lady" and "War Horse", although I am thinking that the latter viewing will probably come when it is released on DVD.


• And if you still haven't seen them, do make it a point to see "The Artist" and "The Descendants." Both really good, if not great, movies. And "The Ides of March." As stated in previous posts, that may have been a better movie that any of them, in my humble opinion.

And the Oscar Goes to....

The Grandstander's Broadway Correspondent asked recently if I was planning on posting my own Oscar predictions. Well, such predictions would be, at best, uninformed since I have not seen all of the nominated movies. However, after seeing a few of them, and reading informed opinions of knowledgeable critics, and seeing the tea leaves that have settled after the Golden Globes and SAG awards, I will offer the following:

Best Picture - "The Artist." My personal vote would go to "The Descendants" of those pictures that have been nominated, but I would also add another editorial comment that "Ides of March" was a better movie than either of them.

Best Actor - Jean Desjardin, The Artist. Again, I'd vote for George Clooney, but I'm guessing that the Academy will go for the foreign actor over a popular and commercial American actor. It will make them feel like they are putting "art" over mere commercial success (remember Roberto Begnini a few years ago?).

Best Actress - Viola Davis, The Help. Meryl Streep, and also ran, again.

Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer

Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Director - Michael Hazenavicous, The Artist

Best Original Screenplay - Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris. I'm really pulling for this one!

Best Adapted Screenplay - The guys who wrote The Descendants.

There you go. Eight predictions. No chance that I will be as perspicacious as our Man who predicts the Tonys for us each year, but what the hell.

Enjoy the show on Sunday night!

"Oh, Baby, I Love It"

If you have attended meetings of the Pittsburgh SABR Chapter, you may be aware that it has become kind of a standing joke that a book that ALWAYS seems to be on the book exchange table is "Oh, Baby, I Love It" by that renowned lightning rod for criticism, Tim McCarver. Greg Crouse of the Cleveland Chapter and I have exchanged this book at least three different times over the years.

Well, after picking this book up, again, at the Cleveland meeting last month, I decided that I would actually read the thing. The book was written in 1987 while McCarver was a broadcaster with the Mets (and the Mets were coming off a World Series win), so it is now, 25 years later, an historical period piece, but it isn't all that bad. If nothing else, you can read great stories about Bob Gibson, one of my own all-time favorites, and Steve Carlton. He also raves about Dwight Gooden, at that point a three year major leaguer, and mentions how it appeared that Doc was headed towards being one of the all-time greats. Tim obviously had no crystal ball regarding the road that Gooden was destined to head down.

The last 55 pages of the book are devoted to the Mets championship season of 1986, and I admit that I pretty much skimmed over that section, but I found it interesting that he devoted slightly less than one full page to the well remembered Game Six, and the famous Mookie Wilson to Bill Buckner ground ball gets two sentences. Now, of course, the legions of McCarver Haters out there will no doubt rake him over the coals for not giving this play pages and pages of flowery George Will-type prose, but keep in mind that this was written in the months just after that game was played. I find it interesting how the prism of history may have elevated the memory of this game to a level that a contemporary account did not foresee.

I also found it interesting, as I always do in such books, when McCarver talks about how a player reacts and feels when his career is over. Tim had prepared himself for a post-playing career, but so many players do not. Kind of sad, really.

As baseball books go, this one will never make you forget "Eight Men Out", "The Glory of Their Times", or "Ball Four", but you could do worse in the baseball literary field. "Oh, Baby, I Love It" will be on the Book Exchange Table at our SABR meeting on April 28. Drop by and it's yours for the taking!