As regular readers know, I am a big fan of the world's greatest rock & roll band, The Beatles, so allow me to recommend yet another publication on the Fab Four. It is a tabloid published by USA Today on The Beatles in celebration of "The 50th Anniversary of Rock's Greatest Band". Now available at your local newsstand for $4.95. It is done in typical USA...
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
It has been a few days where some ghosts from the Pirates recent past have revisited the scene.First, the Pirates recalled pitcher Bryan Morris from Indy to fill a bullpen spot just in case he was needed on Sunday. He wasn't, and he was then promptly sent back to Indy. More to the point, Morris is the last remaining piece from Neal Huntington's first big trade - the three way deal that sent Jason Bay to Boston, Manny Ramirez to LA, and an assorted...
I was saddened to hear of the death yesterday of Nora Ephron at the age of 71. She was a most talented essayist, writer, screenwriter, and director, with credits that include "When Harry Met Sally", "Sleepless in Seattle", :Heartburn", "You've Got Mail", and "Julie and Julia". She was a true talent and will be missed.RIP Nora Ephr...
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I had mentioned a few days back that I did a lot of reading on my vacation last week, and I know that you have all been anxiously awaiting what I have to say about what I read. Here goes...Let's start with John Sandford's newest Lucas Davenport novel, "Stolen Prey". Regular readers know what a big fan I am of this series, and this latest entry doesn't disappoint....
Monday, June 25, 2012
While on vacation last week, we learned of the passing of two pop culture figures, artist Leroy Neiman and British actor Victor Spinetti.Neiman is most known, I suppose, for his paintings of sports figures, an example of which is included at the top of this post. However, a Google Images search under Neiman's names reveals lots of other cool works that he did over the...
Sunday, June 24, 2012
The world doesn't stop just because I go on vacation, so let's clean out the Mental In-Box, Post-Vacation Edition....The Sandusky Verdict. I know that last fall I said that I was not going to write any further on the topic of Jerry Sandusky, but the recently concluded trial brought the stench of this guy and his crimes back in the spotlight. No, I was not in the courtroom, and no, I did not hear every piece of evidence presented, and,...
So, have you all noticed the absence of The Grandstander in recent days? Oh, you haven't. Well, anyway, we were away last week on our annual sojourn to the beautiful beaches of Currituck County on North Carolina's Outer Banks. It was yet another great week down there, but a bit different for all of us due to the fact that circumstances prevented Jill, Ryan, Gavin,...
Thursday, June 14, 2012
So, I am sure that many of you are clamoring for a Grandstander prediction for the US Open now underway at Olympic Country Club in San Francisco. After his win two weeks ago at The Memorial, Tiger Woods is the betting favorite and the trendy pick, and I suppose he has as good a shot as anyone.Fans of Phil Mickelson, and I am one, wonder if Lefty will ever be able to capture a US Open, after he has finished second five times in this Championship...
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
I heard the news today that Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson died yesterday at the age of 60.Boxing is pretty much a niche sport today, if not an outright joke, but it wasn't always that way, and if you can remember the Olympics of 1972, 1976, and 1980, you will remember that Teofilo Stevenson of Cuba won the gold medal in the heavyweight division in each of those three Olympiads....
Please be warned that if you have not yet seen all episodes of the recently concluded Season Five on "Mad Men", the article below may contain some spoilers. Read, then, at your own risk!**********************************************************************************We didn't realize it as we watched it, but this past Sunday night's episode was the season finale of "Mad Men". That 12 weeks sure went fast.Anyway, while this finale lacked...
Admittedly, while my knowledge of the NBA is pretty much confined to what I hear Tony and Wilbon discuss on Pardon the Interruption, plus watching the fourth quarter of Game 7 between the Heat and the Celtics the other night, I have to admit that I am somewhat looking forward to avidly watching (OK, avidly may be too strong a word for it) this series between Miami and Oklahoma City.By all accounts, OKC is an up and coming power in the NBA led...
Monday, June 11, 2012
Turner Classic Movies aired the 1939 all-time great movie, "The Wizard of Oz", last night. I was not among those watching (or even DVR'ing). By almost every critic's and film historian's account, "The Wizard of Oz" is in the Top Ten, if not Top Five, of greatest American movies ever made. You won't find me giving it those kinds of kudos.Why is that? Well, once upon a time, before cable TV and Ted Turner, "The Wizard of Oz"...
It had to be a disappointing night in Hatboro, PA last night when they opened the envelopes at the Tony Awards. The Grandstander's Broadway Correspondent, Big Poppy, aka, the Truly Arrogant Guest Prognosticator, fell short of his hoped for eight correct predictions out of ten. By my reckoning, Big Poppy went 5-5 in his predictions for Broadway's Tony Awards.Oh, well, Big Poppy, even Stengal's Yankees didn't win the pennant every year,...
Last night Marilyn and I ventured north to the Strand Theater in the heart of beautiful downtown Zelionople, PA to take in the first Seneca Valley Film Festival. For over two hours we watched about two dozen short films and videos that were written, directed, produced, and starred students from Seneca Valley High School. We had a horse in this race as our nephew, sophomore Zach Stoner, had a hand in several of these offerings, both in front...
Friday, June 8, 2012
Who could have asked for more on this just completed Pirates road trip? Two series wins over the Hated Brewers and the first place Reds. The team now sits two games over .500 and two games out of first place.The series with the Reds was a classic. In the first two games, teams with seemingly insurmountable leads were pushed to the brink and forced to use their closer to win the game while the go-ahead run was either at the plate...
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Remember the great Neil Simon play and movie, "The Sunshine Boys"? The story concerned a great vaudeville comedy team of Lewis and Clark (played by George Burns and Walter Matthau in the movie). They were funny, and everybody loved them, but there was problem: they hated each other. Like most of Simon's stuff, it was hilarious, and if you've never seen it, make it a point to do so.Anyway, we in Pittsburgh have our own version of The Sunshine...
If you are a fan of the late Jack Benny, and I realize that everyone reading this under the age of, oh, 55 or so, has now stopped reading, you may recall that a recurring joke on his radio and television shows was a reference to a movie that Benny made in 1945 called "The Horn Blows at Midnight". The movie was supposedly a bomb and so awful that people on the show would...
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
I have eagerly awaited, and have finally received, the Tony Award predictions from Loyal Reader and The Grandstander's Broadway Correspondent, Big Poppy, aka The Sage of Landview Street, or, as he calls himself, TAGR, the Truly Arrogant Guest Prognosticator. No need for me to do anything but cut-n-paste his email prognostications to me. I have seen none of these plays/performances, of course, but I'll whole-heartedly endorse any prediction...
Every year on this day, I always go back and re-read a section from Andy Rooney's 1995 book, "My War."There have been only a handful of days since the beginning of time on which the direction the world was taking has been changed for the better in only one twenty-four hour period by an act of man. June 6, 1944, was one of them.What the Americans, the British, and the Canadians...
Last week on Facebook I mentioned that I was not going to waste another minute of my life reading or listening to anything related to Mike Wallace and his contract situation with the Steelers. Life is too short, I figured, and many people on Facebook agreed.To that list, I will add another: I will not read, nor listen to, long convoluted analyses on the signability of Pirates first round draft pick Mark Appel. This also includes...
Monday, June 4, 2012
Cleaning out the Mental In-Box....I moseyed up I-79 today to the campus of Slippery Rock University to take in a first round game of the PIAA Quad-A Baseball Championship Tournament. The Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils, sparked by a two hit, two run performance by third sacker Anthony Paladino, defeated Erie Bishop McDowell, 7-4. The Blue Devils await the results of another opening round game in Butler this evening, but it just could be that...
Saturday, June 2, 2012
The subtitle of Chris Ballard's great new book says it all: "A Small town, An Unlikely Coach, and A Magical Baseball Season."In 1971, the baseball team from Macon High School (enrollment 250) of Macon, Illinois (population 1,200) had that magical baseball season by not only making the state high school championship tournament, but making it all the way to the championship...
Friday, June 1, 2012
Jack Twyman died on Wednesday of this week at the age of 78. In an era of ESPN, 24 hour sports coverage, and endless highlight shows, guys like Jack Twyman are all but forgotten, and you have to be pretty much over 60 years old to have any memory of seeing Twyman play in a Hall of Fame NBA career that ran from 1955 through 1966, but his is a career - and a life - worth...
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