To Absent Friends - Sam Huff

 

Somewhere in the 1959-1960 time frame, I was being indoctrinated into becoming a "sports fan" by my Dad, two older brothers, and my grandfather (something for which I will always be grateful to them), so it was time to start watching football, baseball, and basketball on television.  When it came to football, of course, it was the Steelers, Pitt Panthers, and probably Notre Dame, but even at such a young age, I quickly became familiar with one name, the name of a player from the New York Giants - middle linebacker Sam Huff.

Middle linebacker is arguably one for the more glamorous defensive positions in all of football.  You know the names....Butkus, Nitschke, Lambert, Lewis, Erlacher....but the first of the great and glamorous middle linebackers was Sam Huff.  There were reasons for that. First and foremost, Huff was good, really good.  He played in New York at a time when the Giants "owned" Manhattan and the NYC television market,   a  time when the marriage between the NFL and the television networks were in the first blushes of a powerful and lucrative marriage that is still going strong almost seventy years later.  Huff was a dominant player in the 1958 NFL title game between the Giants and the Colts that went into overtime.  It has been dubbed the "greatest game ever played", and if it wasn't actually that, it certainly can claim to being the most important game ever played as it announced the dominance that Pro Football was to have on both the American sporting public and network television.

In 1960, it was Huff whom CBS chose to have mic'd for a game that became a television documentary, "The Violent World of Sam Huff", narrated by Walter Cronkite, no less.  It was seminal moment in how the public came to see just what a brutal and remarkable game that pro football was.

Midway through his career, the Giants traded Huff to the Washington Redskins, where he played with distinction and finished his career as a player-coach under Vince Lombardi.  Huff went on to a career in radio and television as an announcer for the Redskins Radio Network, where he become a respected, revered, and beloved football guy in the Washington area.  Listening to stories told on Monday by Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon on both the Kornheiser Podcast and PTI about Huff gave you a real feel for just what Huff meant to that Washington Football Team fan base.  The Washington Post also printed an "Appreciation" for Huff by sportswriter Leonard Shapiro on Monday.  You can read it here.  It is worth your time.

As was said in "Hamilton"...Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? How many people under the age of fifty even knew who Sam Huff was when they heard the news of his death last week?   It's too bad, but that is why we need history lessons, kids.

It's Quiet Uptown

Readers know of my penchant for writing about Absent Friends.  For the last four plus years, I feared the coming of the day when I would be writing of the absence of the Greatest Friend of all, my wife, Marilyn.  Marilyn lost her nearly five year battle with cancer one month ago yesterday on October 12.  I have waited a month before even attempting to write anything about this awful event in my life, and as I type these words, I wonder if I will be able to finish.  So here goes...

It is a testimony to her that there were any number of people who have said to me words to the effect that "I never even realized that she was even sick."  Marilyn never wanted her illness to define her.  She wanted to forge ahead with her life - and our lives - as if nothing changed.  Annual dinner parties took place, holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries continued to be celebrated, neighborhood social events, and vacations continued to occur.  As always, she was always more concerned about everyone else (like me!) more than she was herself.  Once in awhile she would rail at the Unfairness Of It All, but she never once complained with a "why me?" attitude, and those moments passed quickly and she soldiered on.  She seemed to accept her fate and put herself in God's hands much more readily than I did.  In fact, I doubt that I will EVER get over the Unfainess Of It All, but I guess that is what made her such a good person, certainly a better one than I.

When the end came, it came quickly, and after fighting so long and so valiantly, she knew what it was right to say "it's over."  She was sad to be leaving all the many people who loved her, but she knew that God wanted, and maybe even needed, her back.  "Take care of yourself, and be okay" was the constant theme of all of our conversations in those final days.  She put others ahead of herself right up to the very end.

So here I am, one month later.  Volunteering for twelve years at the Caring Place has taught me a thing or two about grief and the nature of grief.  I have learned that grief is a journey that never ends.  That there will be good days and bad days.  Now I am experiencing that first hand, and learning that it is the little things, the mundane things, that really trip you up.  I could take delivery of her cremains from the funeral director and not bat an eye, but removing her toothbrush from the bathroom and throwing it away or replacing paper napkins  in the kitchen were acts that had me crying for 20 minutes.  (Yes, I said paper napkins. Those of you who knew her surely get the reference!) There have been and will be other such moments, "paper napkin moments" as I have come to call them.

One more.  On Thursday, I was at the Pitt football game at Heinz Field.  When it started to rain late in the game, others began pulling out their rain ponchos and putting them on while I just then remembered mine hanging in the closet at home.  "Well" I said "another example of how my life has changed.  No way in Hell that Marilyn would have let me out of the house without packing the poncho."  At least I was laughing about it.  Sort of.

I have been overwhelmed, truly, by the support of family and friends.  You expect it from Family, but the friends? Wow, what a treasure it is to have good friends.  Not only the people in our closest circle of friends, but people from church, both of our workplaces (I saw people from Highmark whom I hadn't seen since I retired), the neighborhood, from acquaintances on Social Media, and the staff and fellow volunteers from the Caring Place.  They absolutely embody the words of the Caring Place pledge: "I am here for you.  You are here for me. We are here for each other."  

I move forward.  I think of her constantly and talk to her every day.  This is the one "Absent Friends" post that I never wanted to write.  There is a void in my life that will never be replaced, but I know that I have to "take care of myself" and "be okay."  It's what she wanted.  I know that while it  may forever be quiet uptown, I also know that I will never stop telling her story.

One final word to the readers, if you are in a loving, committed relationship, married or otherwise, never let a day pass without telling your partner that you love him/her.

Wonder Women

"No Time To Die" (NO SPOILERS!!)

I took in the newest James Bond movie, "No Time To Die", yesterday.  As anyone with even the slightest interest in such things knows, this is Daniel Craig's final appearance as 007 in this most lucrative of film franchises.  I have liked Craig in the role, but good for him for choosing to move on.

So how was this one, and what was it about?

It was about a villain who has somehow brought about the destruction of the evil organization, SPECTRE.  And he might be somehow related to Bond arch villain Blofeld?  He also has developed some type of microbots that when they get on your skin does....something irreparable and terrible?  Why is he doing this?  Who knows and who cares?  Sensible plots are about the last thing that are important or even necessary in a James Bond movie, but "No Time To Die" checks all of the other boxes and delivers another solid Bond thriller:

• A handsome and dashing Bond who looks good in a tux and still drinks his martinis "Shaken, not stirred."
• Beautiful women.
• Gorgeous costumes.
• Spectacular scenery.
• A loathsome villain in Rami Malek.  His character's name is Lyutsifer, pronounced "Lucifer."  Subtle.
• Chase scenes.  Numerous spectacular case scenes.  In cars, on motorcycles, and even on foot.  Some amazing stuff.

Did I mention beautiful women?  The main "Bond Girl" in this one is French actress Lea Seydoux....

...and Cuban actress Ana de Armas....

Miss de Armas played Paloma, an agent for either the CIA or MI5, I wasn't too clear on that point, who assisted Bond in an operation in some scuzzy bar in Cuba.  I think it was in Cuba.  She had just completed "three weeks in training school" which caused 007 to shudder a bit, but she proceded in totally kicking the asses of a battalion of Bad Guys along with James Bond, and doing so while wearing a low cut, backless, slit-up-both-sides evening dress that was spectacular, to say the least, while drinking those shaken and not stirred martinis.  Her character only got about ten or so minutes of screen time, but I think I could take an entire movie based on Paloma's adventures.

My only quibble with NTTD is that it lasted for two hours and forty-five minutes.  Way too long.  That takes at least a half-star off of my rating.

Also, and again, if you have listened to some of the talk surrounding this movie, you know that there is a development in this movie of major importance to the entire Bond Film Franchise.   Makes it hard to write really extensively about the movie without giving it away, but I think that I pulled it off here.   I will look forward to talking with others who have seen it and be able to discuss what happens next.

Two and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander (would have been Three if it was about 20-30 minutes shorter.)

The World Series Begins....

 

For numerous reasons, I have been completely detached from the MLB Playoffs here in 2021.  I probably have not seen five innings total throughout the games that have been played thus far.  However, that ends tonight when the World Series, once but no longer America's most preeminent team sports event but still a pretty big deal, begins.  The Houston Astros will be playing in the Fall Classic for the third time in five seasons, and the Atlanta Braves will be making their first appearance since 1999.

I shall be rooting for the Braves to win it all this year, and that has nothing to do with the Astros of 2017 Cheating Scandal infamy.  They are a good team and fun to watch.  However, I will be rooting for Atlanta for primarily one reason: first baseman Freddie Freeman.

I can remember watching Freeman early in his career, circa 2011-12, playing against the Pirates and thinking, "this guy is a really nice ball player" and he has proven to be just that over his career, averaging .295, 28 HR, 97 RBI, and an OBP of .893.  He has been a five time All-Star, two time Sliver Slugger, a Gold Glove winner, and is the reigning NL Most Valuable Player.  He also seems to be wildly popular among his peers, because every time an opponent reaches first base against the Braves, Freeman is seen yucking it up talking to him, the umpire, and the first base coach.   It seems that there is nothing not to like about the guy, so I for one am hoping that Freeman lights it up big time on the game's biggest stage.

In a World Series Pool that I have entered, I have picked the Braves in six games, so let's go with that as the Official Grandstander prediction.

Enjoy the Series, folks!

Grandstander Power Rankings - Week 7

 Big changes in the GPR this week:

1. Cardinals 7-0
2. Bucs 6-1
3. Packers 6-1
4. Rams 6-1

The Cowboys (5-1) and the Bills drop out because they didn't play this weekend.  The Ravens (5-2) drop out because they got waxed by the Bengals.  Wow, that was some shellacking in Baltimore yesterday.

Knocking on the door....Bengals (5-2), Bills (4-2), Cowboys (5-1), Raiders (5-2), Titans (5-2).

Week Eight Games worth watching.....

• Steelers (3-3) @ Browns (4-3).  Because that one is always of interest, locally, at least, and a Browns loss could really set them back from their pre-ordained (in some circles) trip to the Super Bowl.
• Packers (6-1) @ Cardinals (7-0) on Thursday night.  This one should draw a lot of eyeballs to TNF on Fox!
• Giants (2-5) @ Chiefs (3-4) on MNF. Both teams with losing records, and the Giants stink on ice, but this will be a real litmus test for the Chiefs: Just how good - or bad - are they really?

Pitt 27 - Clemson 17, aka Pickett's Charge

A phrase that I often use in this space when writing about a particularly notable game or contest is "this is why you follow sports."  Pitt fans experienced just such a moment when the Panthers outplayed and defeated the Clemson Tigers and, more importantly, their self-righteous coach, William Christopher Swinney, by a score of 27-17.  I know that I have been at sporting events that have been more enjoyable, but it's hard to remember one in the immediate afterglow of that win yesterday at Heinz Field.

The game turned on a most improbable play, when Pitt linebacker SirVocea Dennis intercepted a shovel pass from the Clemson quarterback at midfield and sprinted alone and untouched into the end zone for a touchdown that upped the score to 21-7 in Pitt's favor.  None of us could ever remember seeing an interception of a shovel pass before, and undoubtedly no one in the entire stadium was more surprised to have the ball land smack in his breadbasket than Dennis himself.

It can also be considered the game where Pitt's senior QB Kenny Pickett announced himself to the nation at large as a serious Heisman Trophy candidate.  He threw two TD passes yesterday and no interceptions (he has thrown only one INT all season).   Even more impressive was how he took control of the game in the fourth quarter.  Pitt controlled the ball for over thirteen minutes of the fourth quarter, and when they took possession with a bit more than seven minutes remaining, Pickett himself ran for gains of six and seven yards for first downs on two third down plays in that drive that allowed Pitt to bleed the clock out until the it read 00:00.

The afternoon and evening at Heinz Field yesterday was fun, exciting, and exhilarating, and games and days like that are why you follow sports.

Oh, and speaking of Pickett and the Heisman, back in August, I placed a $1 bet on him to win that Trophy at 100-1 odds.  He wins it, I get a hundred bucks.  That same $1 bet made today would only win you nine (9) bucks.

Grandstander Power Rankings - Week 6

The NFL cruises through another exciting week, and the GPR becomes tougher to figure out each week, but here we go.....

1. Cardinals (6-0).  When you're undefeated, you're #1
2. Cowboys (5-1).  Dak Prescott continues to roll.
3. Ravens (5-1). They romped over the Chargers, a good team.
4. Bills (4-2).  Despite loss to Titans, still could be the best in the AFC when all is said and done.

Knocking On The Door:  Bengals (4-2), Bucs (5-1), Chargers (4-2), Packers (5-1), Rams (5-1),  Titans (4-2).

Coming up in Week 7....The bye weeks begin.  Frankly, not a lot of games that scream "MUST SEE" at you this week, but here's two:

• Bengals @ Ravens.  Just how good are the Bengals?  
• Chiefs @ Titans.  Patrick Mahomes vs. Derrick Henry.  Bet the Over, whatever it is.