When The Legend Becomes Fact…

The Liberty Valance Effect

Mythology has always played a big role in sports, particularly when dealing with eras in which the majority of games were not routinely televised and saved for posterity. If we had bucketloads of clips available of greats from the past only one click away the way we do of contemporary athletes it’s safe to say we could find plenty of examples of Joe DiMaggio throwing to the wrong base or of Bill Russell blocking a shot out of bounds. In cases such as these the common narrative has been fixed in cement. There are many examples of how, yes, the legend has become the fact. Most of them are fairly harmless, but there is at least one which continues to irritate me to this day whenever I hear it.

The longest surviving example is likely the Babe Ruth story. It’s fairly familiar; Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in order to finance a production of No, No, Nanette, thereby dramatically altering the histories of two separate franchises as well as the sport itself for generations. While it’s true that Frazee needed an infusion of cash for his theatrical holdings, not only did No, No, Nanette premiere several years after the Ruth sale, but it was also a big hit at the time. Those specific details of the story grew legs partially because the title No, No, Nanette sounds like a show that Monty Burns would have attended. The myth isn’t quite as funny as the real story, but no big deal. It doesn’t change the essential facts, so no sense making a big deal out of it.

Another example is the legend of the 1972 Miami Dolphins. One time a story came out stating that 3 members of the team were neighbors and shared a champagne toast after the last undefeated team that season suffered their first loss. Eventually that anecdote morphed into a belief that the entire team would gather together each year in celebration, ignoring the fact that the former teammates are scattered across the country, with varying degrees of physical or financial issues that just might hamper them from hopping on a cross country flight at a moment’s notice. “Boss, I’m gonna need to take Monday and Tuesday off. The Colts just lost.” The legend really took off in 1985, as that season’s dominant Bears team went 15-1, with the only loss being a Monday Night Football game in Miami, as multiple members of the ‘72 team attended that game and ostentatiously whooped it up on the sidelines. Once again, no harm no foul in this case, especially because several members of the squad embraced the myth and cherished their roles as wrestling heels.

This is the one that really irks me. The story is simple; the US men’s basketball team loses in the semifinals at the ‘88 Olympics and has to settle for the bronze. So, in response, NBA players are made eligible beginning in ‘92. Simple, right? Not so fast. The campaign to include professionals in both the Olympics and World Championships was spurred on by Eastern European basketball federations. After the iron curtain fell they understood that it would be impossible to keep their top players out of the NBA, yet they still needed their national teams to be as strong as possible. USA Basketball, in fact, was one of the few federations to vote against including pros. (To be fair, it’s likely they counted the votes ahead of time and voted no so that it looked like they were taking the high road.) Any implication that the spoiled Americans changed the rules to tilt things their way is just plain false. Additionally, the ultimate benefit of NBA inclusion worked out as perfectly as its proponents wished it would. The blowouts in the ‘92 games made it crystal clear that international teams had a lot of catching up to do. For years the stereotype of European players was that they were selfish shooters that were passive on the boards and on defense. If it was once true, it’s no longer the case. If there was no NBA presence in the Olympics would there be an infrastructure that could produce the likes of Nowitzki or Giannis? Maybe. Maybe not. But to say that the seismic change was due to the US whining over the fact that they fell short one time of winning a gold medal that should have been a national birthright is entirely untrue and that thinking should have stopped long ago.

I’ll end this portion on a more positive note by looking at the Stephen Strasburg saga. For years the story was that the Nationals arrogantly spoiled their chance at a World Series title by prematurely shutting Strasburg down in his comeback season from Tommy John surgery. That argument ignores some key facts. First off, his presence would not have made a difference in the 2012 NLCS. The Nats lost games started by Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann and Edwin Jackson. In fact, one of the games they won was started by his rotation replacement Ross Detwiler. Strasburg would not have changed the outcome even with a Bumgarneresque run. In fact, Washington wound up shutting him down earlier than intended, as he got rocked in his final 3 regular season starts. The guy was clearly gassed and would have had nothing left to give in the playoffs. (In hindsight the mistake they made was announcing his innings limit and then using him as a standard rotation piece. Teams are now more proactive when it comes to plotting a pitcher’s workload - pulling someone an inning early, finding a way to occasionally skip a start, etc. That way a pitcher theoretically could still have something left in the tank come October.) Anyhoo, this talking point rarely comes up anymore. The Nationals did eventually win a championship in 2019, with Strasburg winning the WS MVP award to boot.

SNL Recap

It was pretty apparent that the writing staff went into this week with two thoughts in mind concerning this week’s host. Michael B. Jordan has an almost supernatural level of self confidence, and he is an aesthetically pleasing man. Most of the bits this week were based around either of those two ideas. As has been the case too often lately, the host was better than the material given to him and too many sketches had one memorable line but otherwise were not strong enough to stand out.

Another ho bum cold open, with Mikey as Merrick Garland holding a press conference introducing FBI agents who had searched homes of Pence, Harris, and Obama in search of classified documents. It didn’t take off until Bowen’s agent acted giddy over the fact that he was in Obama’s house, amazed that he actually ignored a call from Beyoncé. The monologue went with the “cast members interrupt the host” template as several of the females wandered on stage to hit on Jordan, culminating with Ego in a wedding dress and Punkie shooting her shot despite the fact that she’s openly gay. “Even vegans get a cheat day.”

My favorite this week was the State Farm sketch, in which Jordan as Jake in the familiar red polo shirt insinuates himself into a family while cheerily selling the product. It was reminiscent of a roach spray parody with Don Cheadle from a few seasons back right down to the casting of Heidi as the wife and Mikey as the cuckolded husband, but Jordan’s performance made it a keeper.

Other than that I kind of liked the Toyota ad. There was a strong specificity to the premise which worked very well. “Make a hard left!” And with a host who is the star of a popular movie franchise about a boxer, it was good to see Heidi bring back the girlfriend from every boxing movie to Update as she traded lines with Jordan as Adonis Creed. She is strong at creating characters, and this is a good one.

With the huge cast turnover this year, it was inevitable that many of the recurring bits have had to move to cold storage. I have seen few instances this season of the show attempting to intro new ones, which is quite a change from its history. I got the vibe that the towel boys sketch may have been a trial run at creating a new regular sketch. It has a bit of potential; I liked their observation that hotel guests Chloe and Ego looked like old Little Mermaid and new Little Mermaid, but ultimately it felt a little too close to the old Key & Peele valet sketches for my taste. If nothing else, it gave newbie Marcello Hernandez a spotlight. The show can be brutal for rookies. Last week Molly Kearney was featured multiple times, but not so much this week. Their only appearance this week was a non-speaking appearance in the Southwest Airlines piece.

Overall, Jordan seemed to have a great time and he allowed himself to act uncharacteristically goofy. Next week Pedro Pascal makes his hosting debut. That could either go very well or very, very wrong.

He Was Just Trying To Get Home

I’ve tried my best to avoid watching the Tyre Nichols footage, but I have read the written descriptions of its content, and it is as horrifying as feared. Nichols should still be alive, as should George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and any number of people on a depressingly long list. The tragic fact is there are too many, particularly among those that actually have the power to make a difference, who are lacking in empathy and are unwilling to acknowledge other’s pain.

Shockingly, lawmakers taking a knee in the Capitol Rotunda while wearing kente cloth changed nothing. Similar to the cycle of events that occur after a mass shooting, we hear words of sympathy followed by dismissive scoffs from the usual litany of horrible people. Nothing changes and it’s just a matter of waiting until the next tragedy occurs and we go through it all again.

I wish I could share some real wisdom, or offer a solution, no matter how naive or unrealistic it might be. But I’ve got nothing. Real change can never occur unless and until there is a will to do so, and sadly I can’t foresee it. THIS is why it’s necessary to say that Black Lives Matter. Whenever I see cable news talking heads scoff over tragedies such as this I find myself in disbelief. What is missing in your soul that you need to score points against the libs by exploiting and dismissing other people’s pain? How do these people look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the day?

Tom Verlaine 1949-2023

Because Television never managed to receive mainstream commercial success the duo of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd doesn’t get mentioned often enough when people discuss the great guitar combos but they absolutely rank with the very best. The interplay between the two at their height was impeccable. Verlaine in particular really stood out with those distinctive guitar tones of his. It’s a bit of a cliche to disparage the musical talents of the classic era CBGB bands. While it’s somewhat true that the primitive feel many of them displayed in the early going was a major part of their appeal, Television was a notable exception. Here was a guy who obviously listened to a lot of Coltrane, was clearly inspired by him, and certainly had the chops to pull it off.

I can’t honestly say that his music is in my personal heavy rotation, but it’s always a treat to pull out Marquee Moon or Flash Light and listen to some impressive shredding. Bon voyage, Mr. Verlaine. You done well.

As an aside, as they have begun to age we’ve been losing so many members of the classic rock pantheon. Only a few weeks after losing Terry Hall it’s sobering to see punk rockers and new wavers also start to succumb.

In Closing

Enjoy the week everyone and thanks for reading.