Championship Sunday Reflections

Random thoughts on this past Sunday's NFL Championship Games.....

• Without question, the single most dazzling play of the the weekend, if not of the entire season, was the 27 yard touchdown run by Patrick Mahomes that (a) put the Chiefs ahead 21-17, and (b) effectively ended the game.  We are seeing a passing of the torch in quarterbacking in the NFL (a subject of a future Grandstander post whenever I get around to organizing my thoughts on the topic) with a new wave of young and exciting QB's getting ready to take over, but there can be no doubt as to who the best of the New Wave is, and that is the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes.

• What the Tennessee Titans did to close their season, make it into the Playoffs as the final wild card team, and then defeat both the Patriots and the Ravens on the road, was remarkable.  Mike Vrabel should be the Coach of the Year because of it.  It was great story.
• The Titans fell because the Chiefs were able to take Derrick Henry out of the ballgame, and they did so not only with the explosiveness of Mahomes and his receivers, but by controlling the ball themselves and eating up a lot of the clock on drives.  San Francisco, take note.
• If the 49'ers-Packers NFC title game had been a prizefight, the refs might have stopped in midday through the second quarter.  Vince Lombardi must have been rolling in his grave watching the Packers defense get shredded by the 49'ers.
• Aaron Rodgers (much like Lamar Jackson the week before against the Titans) rolled up lots of gaudy passing numbers in the second half, when the game was already lost, but he came up small in the first half with an interception and two lost fumbles that led to a 27-0 halftime lead for San Francisco.  His facial expressions and body language throughout that game were those of a beaten man.  Very un-Rodgers-like.
• Raheem Mostert.  I must confess that up until Sunday, I had never heard of this guy, and with good reason.  In the last two years, he has been cut by six different NFL teams, and the 49'ers are his seventh team.  This past Sunday, however, we saw him rush for over 200 yards and score four touchdowns.  There is a very strong likelihood that he will never even come close to another day like that again in his career, but for one day, and maybe one day only, he was a reincarnation of Jim Brown and OJ Simpson rolled into one.
• Mostert went to Purdue University where he also ran track and was a teammate of my friend Stephanie Bonk, so I can claim two degrees of separation from him.

So this leads us to a very interesting Super Bowl match-up in two weeks.

After watching the playoffs for the last three weeks, I don't think that there is any doubt that the two best teams survived and are advancing to Miami.  This leads to the final Grandstander Confidence Rankings (GCR) of the season:

1. Chiefs
2. 49'ers

San Francisco is a very good team, and if any defense might be able to contain Mahomes, it might be this one.  The Niners can also run and control the ball, to the point where QB Jimmy Garoppolo only had to throw eight passes in the game on Sunday.  That could serve to keep KC and Mahomes off of the field, but the same was said about Derrick Henry and the Titans going into the AFC title game, so the Chiefs know how to play defense, too.

It is an intriguing match-up, to be sure, and I won't give an official prediction until closer to Super Bowl Sunday, but I will restate my long held belief:  When in doubt, go with the team with better quarterback, and we know who that is.

RMU Speakers Series - Douglas Brinkley

Historian Douglas Brinkley was the featured speaker at  the RMU Speakers Series fourth installment for the 2019-20 season.

Over the course of Brinkley's ninety minutes on stage, he gave those of us in attendance a graduate level course in the American Presidency.  He began with Thomas Jefferson, talked extensively about Abraham Lincoln, waxed eloquently on the contributions of the Roosevelts, both Teddy and Franklin, took us through Truman, Ike, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan, both Bushes, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and, of course, the Current Occupant of the White House. He even made a James Polk reference in his talk.  James Polk!!!

He indicated that the results of the 2020 election could be "seismic", and urged that everyone needs to be sure to vote.  

And on top of all of this great info, he concluded the Q & A session with stories of Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Bob Dylan!!  And he told us that his next book will be on Hank Aaron, timed for release in 2024, the 50th anniversary of the year the Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record.  I can't wait for that one.

We could have listened to him for another couple of hours at least.

Another Four Star evening courtesy of the RMU Speakers Series.

Donnie Shell

Word comes down this morning that former Steelers safety Donnie Shell will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year as part of the Hall's special "Centennial Class."

Shell played fourteen seasons, all with the Steelers, and had 51 interceptions.  He was a member of all four of the Steelers' 1970's Super Bowl champion teams.  He becomes the fifth member of the Steel Curtain defense to enter the Hall (Joe Greene, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, and Mel Blount are the others) and the fifth member of the Steelers' 1974 rookie class to go into the Hall.  Draftees Lynn Swann, Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster are the others.  Shell was signed as an undrafted free agent.

It's always fun to see one of the members of those great teams being honored, and to once again be reminded of how truly great those teams of that era were.

Congratulations, Donnie Shell!

The Oscar Nominations

Some personal observations in the wake of the announcement of the Academy Award nominations earlier this week.

• The hue and cry from the general movie going public was the "snub" of Greta Gerwig, who did not receive a nomination for Best Director for "Little Women."  Personally, I am not remotely qualified to judge all of the movies and directors out there, but "Little Women" was one of the best movies that I saw last year, and I would have loved to see Ms. Gerwig snag a nomination, if not the Oscar itself.  Whether sexual politics were involved in the nominations is an argument that I will let others fight.
• I have seen four of the nine Best Picture nominees: "Ford v Ferrari", "The Irishman", "Little Women", and "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood."  All are worthy nominees.  Of these four, my personal favorite was "Once....", and it would get my vote, although I would be delighted if "Little Women" grabbed the top prize.
• My thoughts on the five Best Picture noms I have not seen:
• "Jojo Rabbit" - A story where Hitler is played as comic imaginary friend, does not appeal to me, although enough people whose opinions I respect say don't let that turn me away from this one.  I may need to see this one.
• "Joker" - Everything that I have heard about this one tells me that it is just not my kind of movie.  Doubt that I will see this.
• "Marriage Story" - The story of a marriage falling apart.  A custody battle for the kid.  Oh, yeah, THAT'S something I want to see.  I am also told that it is writer/director Noah Baumbach's own personal story, so I want pay to see his self-therapy?  Mrs. Grandstander watched this and she said it was "okay", but she also said that she knows that I wouldn't like it.  I don't care how good the acting is, and I am sure that it is, I don't want to sit through her people's misery.
• "1917" - I am not drawn to this one, although I am intrigued by the idea of how it was shot in a series of long continuous takes.   I will probably check this out at some point.
• "Parasite" -  I am also not drawn to a foreign language film with subtitles, but, again, enough folks whose opinions I value say that this is really a good one, so I may try to catch the one.
• A big surprise was the lack of love shown by the Academy for "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood."  Its only nomination was for Tom Hanks for Best Supporting Actor.
• Speaking of Best Supporting Actor, that is the category that can best  be described as a true All-Star Ballot: Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Brad Pitt.  All have Oscars on their resumes (although's Pitt's is as a producer, not an actor).  The front runner for this one appears to be Pitt, and I hope that he does get the win.  
• No love for Robert De Niro for "The Irishman"????
• Scarlett Johansson get nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.  When this has happened in the past, the actor usually snares the Supporting award.
• "The Irishman" garnered ten nominations, and it will be interesting how the Academy will treat this one since it is a Netflix production.  Will be there anti-Netflix, anti-Movies-made-primarily-for-streaming-services bias?  That will be an interesting storyline to follow.  (This applies to "Marriage Story"  and "The Two Popes" as well.)
• My guess is that the Best Director winner will be between two of Hollywood's darlings, Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.  Two factors will tilt it towards Tarantino, I think.  One, the anti-Netfix factor against Scorsese, and two, Tarantino's movie as almost a love letter toward Hollywood, and Hollywood loves to honor itself, so QT finally gets his Best Director Oscar.
• The Best Actor/Actress categories seem to be fait accomplis  for Joaquin Phoenix ("Joker") and Renee Zellweger ("Judy").   Nominated for a fourth time, I would love to see Saoirse Ronan win her first Oscar, but it will be hard to top Zellweger's performance.
• The Academy could make up for Gerwig's Best Director snub by awarding her the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, although Steven Zallian could get this one as a way to honor "The Irishman".
• The Original Screenplay award could go to Tarantino if he doesn't get the Director Oscar for "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood."  That has happened for him in the past ("Pulp Fiction" and "Django Unchained").
• Every year there is a movie that gets a ton of nominations in different categories but ends up getting shut out on Oscar night.  What will be that movie this year?  I fear that it could be "Little Women."

The Grandstander will put forth some official predictions as the night of the awards draws nearer.  In the meantime, a couple of plugs for my favorite movies of the year....

Bill Cowher

It was big news this weekend when the announcement was made that former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  I was always a big fan of Cowher's when he was here with the Steelers, and I am certainly happy that he has reached this pinnacle.

Rather than list all of his accomplishments that led him to this point, if you are interested enough to be reading this you already know what they are, I will instead turn this one over to my pal Tim Baker, who posted this story on Facebook on Saturday night when the Cowher news became public.  It's a pretty good one.  Take it away, Tim.....

Congratulations Coach Kaahr!!! I have a story, of course.

In my sophomore year, I was a backup O-lineman just trying to figure out how to avoid getting killed every week. And on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Carlynton HS, the guy I was backing up went down. Coach Mac called my name and in I went.

I spent the rest of the afternoon getting my en-tire ass kicked all over the field. I was too dumb to quit so I kept getting smacked around. They guy doing the smacking? Bill Cowher! 

I learned a valuable lesson that day. That I wasn't going to be able earn a living with my athletic prowess and I had better hit the books. Thanks for that Coach!!!!

I will conclude with some photos of the Coach that typify him and his time with the Steelers.  I think that I will need to be making a trip to Canton in the Fall just to see how that famous jaw is depicted on Cowher's bronze bust.

Congratulations, Coach!!

NFL Playoffs and the New GCR

Once again, the National Football League delivered the goods to its fans this past weekend in the Divisional round of the Playoffs.

• 49'ers over Vikings.  This is the one game that I missed die to other obligations.  It seems that this was the most pro forma of the four games this weekend, so if I had to miss one, that was probably the one to miss.
• Titans over Ravens.  This was easily the most stunning result of the weekend as sixth seeded Tennessee ousted the 14-2 Ravens.  The numbers show that presumptive league MVP Lamar Jackson had a big night with over 100 yards rushing and 400+ yards passing.  However, he also had two interceptions and a lost fumble, all at critical times, and at points when it could have made a real difference in the ball game, he failed to convert two different fourth-and-one opportunities.  Jackson is a marvelous player, fun to watch, and as a Steelers fan, I dread having to face him twice a year for the next decade or so, but he came up short on Saturday, despite the 500 yards of offense.
• Chiefs over Texans.  After falling behind 24-0 early in the second quarter, the Chiefs scored touchdowns the next seven times they had the ball and won in a blowout, 51-31.  This was stunning in a whole different way than the Titans win was, and it proved that Patrick Mahomes and not Lamar Jackson (not yet, anyway) is still the New Sheriff in town.
• Packers over Seahawks.  It was a valiant comeback effort by Seattle at Lambeau Field, but Aaron Rodgers and the Packers held on and won 28-23.  Russell Wilson certainly made it exciting, but Rodgers is letting the world know that he ain't done yet.

This all sets up one of my favorite sports days of the year - NFL Championship Sunday when the Super Bowl participants will be determined.  To me, the Super Bowl itself is often anti-climactic after this doubleheader.  Anyway, that leads us to the revised Grandstander Confidence Rankings after this weekend:

1. Chiefs (#2 last week)
2. 49'ers (#3)
3. Packers (#4)
4. Titans (#8)

Can't wait to see what the betting lines will be when I toddle on down to the Rivers Casino later this week.

********

Meanwhile, another football game will be played tonight to settle the National Champion of College Football.

The match-up of two undefeated teams, LSU and Clemson, and their marvelous quarterbacks, Joe Burrow and Brooks Lawrence, should be terrific and a fun game to watch.  My only question is...why wasn't this game played last Monday night instead of tonight, sixteen days after the semi-final match-ups on December 28?  It lends the game an air of "anti-climax" after such a long delay. 

My prediction, and my money, is on LSU (at -5.5) to win the game.  Can't wait to hear the mellifluous tones of Ed Orgeron.

To Absent Friends - Hal Smith

Hal Smith

1930 - 2020

His 1960 Topps Card

On October 13, 1960, in the bottom of the eighth inning of the seventh game of that year's World Series, Pirates catcher Hal Smith hit a three run home run that put the Pirates ahead of the heavily favored New York Yankees 9-7 and a mere three outs away from securing the Pirates first World Series championship in thirty-five years.  Smith's home run, according to the great Mel Allen, who was broadcasting the Series on NBC, would become the "most significant, important, and most remembered home run in World Series history."  And it was.  For about twenty minutes.

Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Pirates and World Series history gets my reference above, so I won't go into detail here.  If you don't get it, just go to your Google Machine and type in "Bill Mazeroski 1960 World Series."

Hal Smith had what can best be described as a journeyman major league career: ten seasons, five teams (two years with the Pirates), 879 games, a .267 batting average and 25 home runs and 142 RBI.  That Game Seven home run was easily the highlight of that career, and had the Pirates only been able to retire the Yankees without them tying the game in the top of the ninth, perhaps it would be a statue of Smith outside the right field gate at PNC Park today.  Such are the vagaries of life.

Smith was in attendance at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh back in October 2010 when the newly discovered video of the complete 1960 Game Seven was premiered.  After his eighth inning blast, host Bob Costas stopped the video tape and had Smith stand and be acknowledged.  He received a standing ovation from the packed house at the Byham. It took fifty years, but Pittsburgh fans that night acknowledged the man who hit the most forgotten important home run in Pirates history.

It was sad to me that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was only able to devote a single crummy paragraph to Smith's passing in the "roundup" section of its sports pages on Saturday, the day after Smith died at the age of 89.

RIP Hal Smith.

By the way, of the twenty-five players on the World Series roster for the Pirates in 1960, only nine are still with us: Vernon Law, Dick Schofield, Bill Mazeroski, Bill Virdon, Dick Groat, Bob Skinner, Roy Face, Joe Christopher, and Bob Oldis.  Of those, Oldis, 92, is the oldest, and Maz, who will turn 84 in September, is the youngest.

Smith greeted by Clemente and Groat after his 

famous home run in Game Seven