Frizzi: Steroid Era reaches the Hall of Fame
- Details
- Published on 12 January 2014
- Written by Donn Frizzi
Recent events in Major League Baseball made me remember a time in the not too distant past when baseball players resembled Transformer figures kids played with.
With big necks and bulging forearms, the ballplayers of the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s looked more like East German weightlifters. It must've been due to improvements in training and nutrition! Past superstars didn't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Musial, Banks, Clemente, Aaron and Mays didn't look like that. Babe Ruth sure didn't look like that!
And neither do today's baseball players!
The ballplayers of that era literally powered baseball to new heights. The 1998 home run duel between the Cardinals' Mark McGwire and the Cubs' Sammy Sosa brought fans back to the game they had deserted after baseball went on strike in 1994 and cancelled the World Series. McGwire hit 70 home runs, overtaking Roger Maris' mark of 61. Sosa followed with 66 homers.
I remember when Cardinals Broadcaster Jack Buck proudly announced, "Number 70! How much more can you give us, Big Mac? Number 70!"
Then, the Giant's giant, Barry Bonds, broke McGwire's record by hitting 73 homers in 2001. In 2002, Bonds hit his 600th career home run, less than a year and a half after hitting his 500th. I was at Milwaukee's Miller Park on Sept. 23, 2006 when Bonds surpassed Henry Aaron's National League career record of 733 home runs. Bonds took over as the all-time home run leader from Aaron when he hit his 756th homer in 2007.
Yet, when the Baseball Writers Association of America submitted their ballots for what players would be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, neither Bonds or McGwire or Sosa came close to getting 40 percent of the vote. Neither did Roger Clemens and his 354 wins and 4,672 strikeouts. Neither did former Peoria Chief Rafael Palmeiro and his 569 career home runs and 3,020 base hits.
Three players, former Peoria Chief Greg Maddux, his Atlanta teammate Tom Glavine and the White Sox's Frank Thomas made it to the Hall in their first year of eligibility. Last year, with Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa and Palmerio on the ballot, no player received the necessary 75 percent to enter the Hall of Fame.
None.
Not one.
Palmerio is now off of future Hall of Fame ballots because he received less than 5 percent of the vote this year.
What Congress and the courts couldn't do, what Major League Baseball and the Players Union wouldn't do, has apparently fallen on the BBWAA to be judge, jury and executioner. The writers have made it clear: They will punish players who have been linked to performance enhancing drugs or PEDs by not voting for them for baseball's Hall of Fame.
The Steroids Era is again rearing its ugly head. Now, it's tainting the voting of the Hall of Fame. While I agree with the idea of omitting those who have been known to have taken PEDs, some writers have taken their responsibilities to the extreme.
MLB.com's Ken Gurnick voted only for pitcher Jack Morris. He said he did not vote for any other player because they played in the steroid era and that it was unclear who did or didn't use PEDs.
In an article on The Sporting News' website, Gurnick was quoted as saying:
"It's not a personal thing. It's an indictment of an era."
"The players' union fought drug testing and did nothing to stop rampant PED use in the 1990s and early 2000s," he said."I don't feel like I can vote for any of the players from that era."
Gurnick indicated he will not cast votes in any future Hall of Fame elections so as not to deny votes to Mariano Rivera or other candidates.
ESPN's Dan Le Batard went further, but for a different reason. LeBatard felt that the voting process for the Hall of Fame had become "sanctimonious." He decided to speak up against those writers who were sending back blank ballots in protest to having players on the ballot linked to PEDs. LeBatard's form of protest was to turn his ballot over to Deadspin, a sports information website, and let its readers vote on his ballot.
According to USA Today, Le Batard's reasoning was "I don't like how they do business over there at the Hall of Fame, where they're sitting there and they're being sanctimonious and they're keeping all the steroid guys out.''
As a result, the BBWAA took LeBatard's vote away for good.
For the record, here's how Deadspin voted: Jeff Bagwell. Craig Biggio, Bonds, Clemens, Maddux, Edgar Martinez, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling and Frank Thomas.
Both Bagwell and Piazza have been suspected of but have not been linked to PED use.
Biggio has not, although he and his 3,060 hits barely missed getting into the Hall by just two votes (74.8%). He was the top vote getter in 2013, getting just 68.2% of the vote.
Players like Bagwell and Piazza, both of whom have Hall of Fame credentials, will most likely be kept out due to guilt by association. So far, nothing has linked them to PED use. Piazza has reportedly denied steroid use in his new autobiography, "Long Shot", due out on Feb. 12. But we've become jaded. In his Jan. 11 article on NBC Sports' Hardball Talk website, Craig Calcaterra said that "Some people speculated that the release date, coming after the Hall of Fame announcement, was arranged so that Piazza could say scandalous things in his book, safe with the knowledge that he was, as reason would have had it, already elected to the Hall."
Baseball fans have heard the Brewers' Ryan Braun emphatically deny PED use only to eventually admit that he made "a huge mistake" when slapped with a 65 game suspension.
Now, we have Alex Rodriguez, who while on the record in several interviews denied any PED use, was suspended for the 2014 season and postseason. Much like Bonds, Clemens and Palmerio, A-Rod has likely ruined his career and his chance to get into the Hall of Fame.
Fifteen or so years later, the Steroid Era continues to stink up the game of baseball and it will for many years. I was as excited as anybody to see Mark McGwire beat Roger Maris' single season home run record. I was just as saddened when he couldn't answer questions in a congressional hearing "without jeopardizing friends, family and myself."
I rooted for Barry Bonds when he was a Pittsburgh Pirate. I rooted for Rafael Palmerio when he was a Texas Ranger. I was proud to see Sammy Sosa wear number 21 in honor of Roberto Clemente. I was excited to see a Roger Clemens-Nolan Ryan pitching duel.
When Bonds broke Henry Aaron's National League career record of 733 home runs, it was among signs and catcalls berating Barry of steroid use. There was no fanfare. Just polite applause from polite Brewer fans.
When Bonds was chasing Aaron's all-time home run record, the celebration was subdued at best. Many still consider Aaron to still be the legitimate home run leader in Major League Baseball.
When Bonds returned to Pittsburgh in a Giants uniform, he was greeted by a sign from a Pirates fan who had not seen a winning season since 1992, which was Bonds' last year as a Pirate.
The sign read, "The Pirates. Steroids free since 1993."
I kept hearing the word "comeuppance" while watching the W.C.Fields version of "David Copperfield" on Turner Classic Movies. It's a Dickensian sort of word that was used to describe the fate of the sycophant, Uriah Heep. Heep was ruined when his plan to blackmail Mr. Wickfield was discovered by Mr. Micawber (Fields).
One sad part of the Steroid Era is that without PEDs, it is largely believed that Bonds, Clemens and A-Rod would've easily been first ballot inductees into Baseball's Hall of Fame. They didn't need to take PEDs to enhance their already exceptional skills. They may eventually be inducted, should time heal baseball's needle wounds and should the Hall of Fame's Veteran's Committee look at stats and stats alone.
But the saddest part would be to not vote for a player based solely on innuendo. Players should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. But they won't be.
Cheating and lying. Hearsay, speculation and gossip. The Steroids Era has even tarnished the plaques in Baseball's Hall of Fame.
Movie review: Even Uncle Walt would have approved
- Details
- Published on 09 January 2014
- Written by Tim Wyman
(8 stars)
(125 Minutes, Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images)
Walt Disney would have greatly approved of "Saving Mr. Banks."
"Saving Mr. Banks" is a delightfully sweet film that tells of the process trials, tribulations, and pratfalls of how Walt Disney (the man, not the company) obtained the movie rights to "Mary Poppins" from author P.L. Travers. The movie harkens to the happy ending Disney movies of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and kind of transports you back to those simple days that included Uncle Walt on Sunday night.
Starring Emma Thompson as Australian/British author P.L. Travers, we are immersed for two glorious hours in the idyllic, utopian Disney world (pun intended) of 1961 when Disney invites Travers to the Disney Studios in Los Angeles in order to give final approval on the movie script for the now-iconic "Mary Poppins."
Now mind you, with Hollywood's recent strong penchant for morphing reality and truth into something completely fabricated for the sake of what they feel will sell more tickets, I was rather guarded going into this movie. Plus, as a proud former cast member of the Walt Disney Company, I knew I would react poorly to a movie that tried to cast Disney in a bad light (try staying out of politics, Hollywood. You hear that Meryl? I'm talking to you). However, I am happy to report that after a lot of research (don't let me fool you, it was Google searches over my lunchtime), most of what made the screen actually happened.
The plot mainly involves itself with trying to understand the genesis of Traver's famous children's book and her internal difficulties with releasing the rights to "Mary Poppins" to the world's most famous animator. The movie is beset with frequent flashbacks to turn-of-the-century Australia where we observe the development of Travers' relationship with her alcoholic, yet doting father. If I have one criticism of the film, it is that these frequent flashbacks became muddled and moved forward at a snail's pace.
Her father is adeptly played by Irish actor Colin Farrell and this may well explain why flashbacks occurred so often. When a director has an actor of Farrell's talent, often too much screen time is unnecessarily given. I would be curious if the part was expanded after Farrell was secured.
It is noteworthy that most of the mainstream media lambasted the darkness and lack of warmth of Emma Thompson's character in comparison to the whimsical charm of Uncle Walt, but I thought writers Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith and actress Thompson did a remarkable job bringing the depth and level of character to P.L. Travers in this film.
Yes, Mrs. Travers was a darker person with a very serious sense of her work, but one of the great charms of the film was the examination of the nuanced differences between American and British people. British humor is dry, full of sarcasm, and generally delivered with a deadpan expression, and Thompson nailed some of the best lines of the film. Americans prefer familiarity while Brits are much more formal and proper. Thompson, a Londoner herself, did a wonderful job bringing British haughtiness to the screen.
The relationship between Thompson's character and her U.S. limo driver, played by the always-brilliant Paul Giamatti, is one of the many pleasing aspects of the film. Giamotti portrays an amalgamated, nondescript chauffeur whose genuine kindness and warmth wins a quick friendship with Travers and rightly demonstrates that Travers was not a one-dimensional priggish Brit.
It is worth pointing out that the trailers are somewhat misleading in that Walt Disney, played by Tom Hanks, is the antagonist of this film. In reality, Hanks screen time in this film is severely limited. Hanks, while about five years younger than the age of the Disney that he is portraying, still has that cherubic face that makes him appear vastly younger than he is.
One of the forced aspects regarding Hanks' performance was Disney's smoker's cough. Legend has it that all cast members knew when Disney was approaching because of his cough, but the hacking stood out and seemed forced. Overall, Hanks seemingly played Disney well and captured his personality accurately, according to those who knew Disney personally, and short of a wonderful scene between Hanks and Thompson at the end of the movie there was not much there for Hanks.
I was disappointed that the filmmakers allowed a shot of Hanks' Disney stubbing out a cigarette. Disney, a voracious lifelong smoker who died of lung cancer, worked very hard at protecting his and his company's public image. The Walt Disney Company, which produced the film, asked for one item from the moviemakers and that was to not show Disney smoking. I guess I will never understand Hollywood, but I do not grasp what this added to the film or how it furthered the plot.
Special commendations go to B.J. Novak (The Office) and Jason Schwartzman for their portrayal of the Sherman brothers, who wrote all those wonderful songs for "Mary Poppins" including "Supercalifragilisticexpiailidocious," "A Spoonful of Sugar," and the award-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee." (As a side note, if you have ever been to Disneyland or Disney World and wanted to kill someone by the time you made it through the queue of "It's a Small World" because of that stupid song, these are the guys who wrote it.) I found myself singing along with all the songs, especially as they wrote "A Spoonful of Sugar" for Disney. Thank goodness I was alone in the theater.
Especially noteworthy was the eye candy that the costumers and set designers gave us. The California-era 1960s dress, with its bright, vibrant colors, was brilliantly recreated, and the recreation of the Disney Studios looked like it fell out of the "Wonderful World of Disney" television show. Being a minor Disney aficionado, I went into the film looking for anachronisms and found none. IMDB pointed out that the train station in Fantasyland got a complete overhaul in 1983, but that is rather minor in my humble opinion.
This movie was a delightful two hours in the theater, but it falls just short of an Oscar contender as the early scuttlebutt had hoped. It very may well garner Thompson a Best Actress nomination, and also may well be one of the now ten nominees for Best Picture, but that would be more of a comment on lack of good movies from Hollywood this year.
Despite a few, albeit limited, shortcomings with the writing, "Saving Mr. Banks" is worth your movie dollar. Take the (older) kids and enjoy, because a little bit of the old-time Pixie Dust magic is back at Disney.
I give this film 8 of 10 stars.
Frizzi Toon: Winter in central Illinois
- Details
- Published on 07 January 2014
- Written by Donn Frizzi
Streight: A powerful secret to nailing a job interview
- Details
- Published on 08 January 2014
- Written by Steve Streight
Want to get that job? Want to know the single most powerful secret to nailing a job interview?
Even if you're not asked, explain how you would solve a typical problem that is related to the job. Or, even better, ask what one of their toughest problems is at the company at which you're applying.
If they won't tell you what a major problem is at the company, then say, "Well then, here's what I have observed to be a very common problem in this industry, one that is very difficult for most companies to solve."
Assert yourself, show some initiative, and say, "May I now tell you my thought process for solving the problem of __________________?"
Go into details about what you would do to solve a problem, how you would identify the real root of the problem, how you would test your hypothesis, how you would analyze what is wrong or lacking, and the steps you would take to fix it.
If you have actually solved a similar problem in the past, without revealing too much about the company you worked at talk about how you solved the problem there.
An anecdote about an actual problem-solving event is even better than a theoretical approach. But if you're young or new to the field, a theoretical approach, well thought out and well stated, is good too.
Tackle the problem and communicate to the interviewer the expertise you would bring to the situation. Explain how amateurs would handle it and what makes your approach better.
Also add, "You know what the biggest myths are about ________________?" or "Let me tell you what I see as the biggest mistakes people make in _____________." Explain why these are myths or mistakes and what the truth is.
I can almost guarantee no other job applicants will do anything like this. They'll be passive sheeple, just hoping they have memorized the "correct replies" to standard interview questions.
They probably won't show any initiative. They won't seize control of the interview and use it not as an interrogation of themselves, but as a platform to perform in a hypothetical situation.
See the job interview not as a scary event where you're being tested, but as an exciting opportunity, a stage on which you get to display your superior talents and knowledge.
Prove that you can handle the job. Have a blog that showcases your expertise so the interviewer can see more of your vast intelligence and skill.
Job seeking is war. You must win the war with advanced firepower and overwhelming gusto. You must out-maneuver your competing job seekers. This is one way to do it.
Companies aren't looking for employees to hand paychecks to; they're looking for problem solvers who will increase their revenue. Prove that you're a problem solver.
The Beatles: 'Really big show' 50 years ago
- Details
- Published on 02 January 2014
- Written by Bill Knight
In the winter of 1964 there were three main TV networks, and weekends wound down with CBS' "Lassie" at 6 p.m., either ABC's "Wagon Train" or NBC's "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" at 6:30 and – depending on the guests – back to CBS for "The Ed Sullivan Show" at 7.
One Sunday night – Feb. 9, 1964 – kids didn't care which standup comic, Broadway star, animal act or entertainer balancing plates on a stick was scheduled.
The Beatles would play.
"February 9, 16 years old, I sat glued to the TV, literally with my face within a matter of inches from the screen, while my parents sat bemused behind me," remembers Peoria musician and retailer Craig Moore. "When my stepdad dared to speak and even to say something derogatory about the group on screen, I told him to 'shut up,' which was miles beyond any remark I had ever dared make to any adult before."
That night 50 years ago will be commemorated this Feb. 9 at the new Limelight Eventplex, 8102 N. University in Peoria, where more than four hours of music is planned, featuring rock 'n' roll and much more, from reunions of local favorites the Dave Chastain Band and Ready Steady Go to a string quartet from Bradley University and a high school marching band.
Feb. 9, 2014, a Sunday, is exactly 50 years to the day, and the show starts at 7 p.m., 50 years to the minute since Ed Sullivan shouted, "And here they are: the BEATLES!"
The new venue is opening for the first time to host the event, called "It was 50 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play: a celebration."
Of course, the Beatles selflessly influenced the music, the culture and the world, and in that spirit the performers will donate their time and talents and the proceeds will go to charity. With admission likely to be between $15 and $20, the show will benefit the Washington High School Tornado Relief Fund, St. Jude's and the Central Illinois Dream Factory – whose volunteers will be taking tickets.
Advance tickets will soon be available at Younger Than Yesterday, 2615 N. University in Peoria, and other area outlets.
The lineup of groups includes the Black Roses, Bradley University String Quartet, Encounter At L-5, the Flying D'rito Brothers, Heavy Shake, Joel Madigan, Men of Fortune, the Nikbeats, the Temporary Tribute Band, and Greg Williams, plus the aforementioned reunions of the Dave Chastain Band and Ready Steady Go – its original early '80s lineup.
Moore stresses that the concert won't be a slew of impersonators or drab cover versions of familiar tunes.
"We're not requiring rote copies," says the impresario, bassist and producer. "We want to hear the songs as the bands playing them would naturally do them."
The bands are all accomplished performers.
Black Roses are getting regular airplay of their first single, "Back Off," on WWCT-FM 99.9.
Heavy Shake is the Heath & Greg duo joined by bassist Ryan Simpson from Golden Fleece.
Men of Fortune will do a special electric arrangement of an otherwise acoustic Beatles track, plus providing sitar and tabla during a very special acoustic segment.
The Temporary Tribute Band in August backed Jim McCarty (Yardbirds, Renaissance) for a Peoria show, and that lineup (Josh Bradshaw, Don Mabus, Moore and Matthew Warren) will be joined by Dan Sutton and a few guests for the Feb. 9 set.
"Nip Beer, specializing in keyboards and optimism for the Dave Chastain Band, will be here with bandmates Dave Chastain, Mark French, Bud Pruett and Tommy Jernigan," Moore says. "The boys are going to revisit their 1981 John Lennon Memorial Show appearance that took everyone by surprise back then as it will – even more so – this time around, without a doubt.
"This show is all about the music itself and the impact the Beatles and their music has had on countless musicians and listeners alike, not to mention culture around the world, beginning on that night in February 1964," continues Moore, whose first band, the Pagans, formed in 1965 and the next year became GONN.
Moore has performed, recorded and promoted music from bands (including GONN, Smokehouse, Ready Steady Go, and Speechless) to storefronts (the Peoria Record Company on West Main Street, Younger Than Yesterday now on North University).
"I bought my first Beatles record, 'Please Please Me,' in March of 1963," he recalls. "I was thrilled by the sound of it."
Months went by with some rumbling in the news: a news feature on CBS-TV and another piece on Jack Paar's show.
"Then radio started playing 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' around December and Capitol Records got on board and went nuts with a publicity campaign," Moore says. "This record had the same audio effect on me and everybody else that 'Please Please Me' had had on me a year earlier, and in January it hit Number 1. Ed Sullivan started promoting their upcoming appearances, and [the LP] 'Meet The Beatles' came out, which was undeniably the most thrilling LP I had ever heard in my life.
"I was the [Keokuk, Iowa] high school DJ, playing records at all three lunch periods, after game dances, etc., getting invited to parties always with the caveat 'bring your records,' which was fine by me," he continues. "When I had started playing 'I Want To Hold Your Hand,' the reaction was loud and positive, but once the Beatles appeared on 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' it turned into girls screaming bloody murder! For the record!
"The next day and over the next weeks and months, every record by the Beatles and every British band that followed in their wake elicited screams in the cafeteria as if the bands were there in person," he adds. "Every new Beatles record that came along was like a new commandment being handed down from Mount Sinai."
This winter, apostles of the Beatles songbook and impact will continue to spread the Word (and music!).
Co-sponsored by WWCT, the event has a Facebook page – "It was 50 years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play - a celebration of the Beatles' debut in America" – with Moore posting up-to-date information as it develops, plus links to videos of some of the bands.
"Being for the benefit of so many," Moore says, recalling the line from the LP, "a splendid time is guaranteed for all!"
