Category Archives: Immortality

July 3, 2012 in Sports

Seattle Times

Associated Press photo

Seattles Casper Wells broke up Baltimores perfect game with a seventh-inninghomer. (Full-size photo)

SEATTLE Two and a half months after Philip Humber achieved immortality at Safeco Field, and a mere four days after Aaron Cook raised Eric Wedges ire with an 81-pitch shutout at the same venue, Wei-Yin Chen took the Seattle mound on Tuesday.

Something magical and maddening almost happened for Chen. Almost. And then something totally unforeseen happened for the Mariners, who charged hard after what would have been their most rousing victory of the season.

But in the end, it was the Orioles who rallied last, and best, to pull out a 5-4 victory at Safeco Field.

After the Mariners scored three in the eighth to tie the game, Robert Andino delivered a two-out homer in the top of the ninth off left-hander Charlie Furbush to provide the margin of victory. Andinos homer to left his first since May 7, and fourth of the year came on a 2-2 pitch and ended Furbushs scoreless streak at 22-2/3 innings.

The Orioles All-Star closer, Jim Johnson, worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save, and the Mariners stirring rally had an anti-climactic ending

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Andino's homer in ninth lifts O's over Seattle - Tue, 03 Jul 2012 PST

By FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Through his decades-long career, Andy Griffith was beloved, yet somehow taken for granted. He early on gained immortality as Sheriff Andy Taylor. But his skill at playing cornpone decency blinded fans to his ability to master other roles.

It simply seemed that, as a denizen of make-believe Mayberry, N.C., Griffith, with his wide grin and gentle drawl, wasn't acting, but instead a natural. (Note that Griffith was overlooked for so much as an Emmy nomination for "The Andy Griffith Show," while his comical co-star, Don Knotts, bagged five trophies as Deputy Barney Fife.)

Sure, being Andy Taylor would've been plenty. But for Griffith, who died Tuesday at age 86, there was more to the act.

- As a reference point in understanding Griffith's range, there's no better place to start than with his first film, "A Face in the Crowd." Released in 1957, it would be notable for just the other names attached: director Eliza Kazan, writer Budd Schulberg, co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau and Lee Remick. But the film belongs to Griffith as Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, a drifter who becomes a power-mad media star with an evangelical streak. The film is a pioneering exploration of the corrupting influence of television in the wrong hands, and Griffith is riveting as a ruthless TV guru.

- A year later, Griffith showed his stuff as a comic actor in "No Time for Sergeants." In this hit film he reprises his role from the Broadway play as Will Stockdale, a country lad whose simple-mindedness is matched by his eternal good cheer. No wonder he turns the military upside down when he is drafted into the Air Force. Griffith is able to keep the performance riotously broad, yet believable and appealing. He proudly demonstrates his ability to read by struggling through a children's book: "Once they was a boy named Tony, who wanted a pony. So he went to his mama and sayed, 'May I have a pony?' And his Mama says, 'Naw, Tony, you may not have a pony.'" Hearing him, you laugh but also share his pride at plowing through it. And then there's the scene where, overeager as ever, Will rigs up the toilets in the latrine to respectfully "salute" the officers.

- The success of "Sergeants" helped pave the way for Griffith's hit sitcom (as well as inspiring a spinoff, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."). Serving as a pilot for his prospective new series was an episode of a popular comedy, "The Danny Thomas Show," in which Thomas' character was stopped for speeding in a small town where Andy Taylor was not only the sheriff, but also justice of the peace and editor of the paper. Playing bumpkin-boss to the hilt, Griffith was an ideal foil for the city slicker Thomas, whose condescending attitude finally got him thrown in the clink. The episode was a success, and a few months later, in October 1960, "The Andy Griffith Show" premiered. In that series' early episodes, Griffith's sheriff retained its clownishness. But soon he realized he was surrounded by comic giants (particularly Knotts), so Andy Taylor claimed his role of down-home dignity amidst his eccentric fellow citizens. Sheriff Taylor still carried the show, but you couldn't really tell - it rested light as a feather on Griffith's shoulders.

- "Hearts of the West" is an amusing, if largely forgotten, comedy released in 1975 and starring a baby-faced Jeff Bridges as a 1930s writer of Wild West novels who heads to Hollywood, where he's cast in B-movie westerns. In a supporting cast that also includes Blythe Danner and Alan Arkin, Griffith plays Billy Pueblo, a crusty western actor in a performance with as much grit as charm. After Bridges' character has injured his privates by landing on a horse for a scene without wearing a cup, Billy exclaims with harsh compassion, "Didn't anybody tell him?" Then he righteously lectures him on how to deal with the powers-that-be: "Whenever they want something special, like that kind of a jump, you've got to wait 'em out. You wait till the price gets high enough to make it worth your while."

- "Matlock," which ran nine years starting in 1986, was a pleasant, prolonged postscript to "The Andy Griffith Show" in the form of a light-hearted formulaic drama. A Southern lawyer instead of a Southern lawman, Matlock, with his slower gait and head of silver hair, could have been Andy Taylor at a later stage of life. Set in Atlanta, there was no sense of community on the show, as there was with mythical Mayberry, but Matlock, as a steadfast individual, embodied the same upright values and sense of order that helped make Sheriff Taylor so endearing. Matlock was a reassuring figure for viewers to visit, and Griffith made him that way.

- Griffith's Ritz cracker commercials. Nearly every actor who can do commercials does them, even though, too often, these mini-performances trivialize substantial work they may have done in other spheres. Not so with Griffith and Ritz, for which he served as a spokesman in the 1970s. So memorable were those ads that, 20 years later, he would speak of fans still approaching him and echoing the tagline: "Gooood crackuh." No wonder. The ads captured what people knew, or thought they know, about Griffith, and loved: the Andy Taylor in him. Griffith did grand work, maybe did it too well to have been granted the full complement of roles that he deserved, and that his Andy Taylor image may have denied him. But when he told the world, "Everything tastes great when it sits on a Ritz," there could be no dispute. In those few words he was exhibiting good-heartedness, a love of life, and appreciation for life's small delights. And viewers got it. "Mmmm-mmmmm! Gooood crackuh!" Good guy.

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A few ways to enjoy and celebrate Andy Griffith

Success on a racetrack can result in immortality. Even the casual sports fan can recite the names of Foyt, Andretti, Unser, Mears, Franchitti, and Owens.

Yes, all have been driven or in this case have driven in their chase for glory. The former at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while the latter at a dirt course set up around a ball diamond at Plank Hill Park in a pit stop along Indiana 16 called Twelve Mile.

The 50th edition of the Twelve Mile 500 Lawnmower Race, which makes it the oldest of its kind anywhere in the nation, will kick off the first of three races at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Dean Owens wasnt born into the sport of racing; he just stumbled upon it when a neighbor told the 13-year-old about a group of guys that gathered each Fourth of July in a park nearby to race lawnmowers. The year was 1969 and they had been doing it for six years prior. The moment that Owens laid eyes on the competition he knew that he wanted to immerse himself in the sweat, oil, dirt and yes, fear of speeding through trees in a cluster of mayhem.

I got pretty excited about it, Owens recalled.

The excitement spread throughout the mechanically-inclined Owens family and eventually Deans two brothers, his father, his son, and even his sister tested their skill and guile.

It was quite a family affair, Owens said.

Owens will be competing in his 38th race on Wednesday, which is a new track record of the sorts.

I consider myself very competitive, Owens said. But I have a ball doing it.

The race is broken into three categories: Briggs and Super Stock (both of which are four-cylinder races) and a two-cylinder Modified race in which Owens said anything goes.

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Legendary driver may call it a career at infamous race

Actress Janet Leigh shown in May 2002, has died after a long illness at the age of 77. Leigh attained screen immortality as a murder victim in Alfred Hitchcock's film "Psycho". (UPI Photo/Ezio Petersen)

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NEW YORK, July 2 (UPI) -- A&E Network says it has ordered a series called "Bates Motel," based on the 1960 Hollywood film classic "Psycho."

Bob DeBitetto, president and general manager of A&E Network and BIO Channel, and the network's executive vice president of programming, David McKillop, announced Monday it had ordered the 10-episode first season of "Bates Motel" from Universal Television.

Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin are serving as executive producers. Preproduction and casting are to begin immediately.

"We are proud to be partnering with Carlton Cuse and Kerry Ehrin on their thrilling reinvention of one of the most compelling characters in cinematic history," DeBitetto and McKillop said in a statement. "It's a provocative project from two of the best storytellers in the business and we're looking forward to getting started."

Cuse was a producer of the TV series "Lost" and "Nash Bridges." Ehrin's producing credits include the TV series "Parenthood" and "Friday Night Lights."

"Bates Motel" is inspired by Robert Bloch's 1959 novel and Alfred Hitchcock's genre-defining film, "Psycho," starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin and Janet Leigh.

The TV show is described as "a contemporary exploration of the formative years of Norman Bates' relationship with his mother, Norma, and the world they inhabit," a synopsis said.

It is to premiere on the network in 2013.

See the article here:
A&E orders 'Bates Motel' series

United with old suspicions laid to rest, Sergio Ramos can happily partner Gerard Pique (below). Photo: AFP

AFTER decades of being the great underachievers of world football, Spain are not only on the cusp of history in Kiev tonight; they have reached the brink of immortality.

Such is the insatiable global desire for success in football that prolonged reigns are almost impossible as champions are deposed with haste as the game evolves.

Occasionally, however, a team comes along that is so far ahead of the curve that it takes a small eternity to catch up. Perhaps the last time of such domination was Brazil's reign between 1958 and 1970, when they won three of four World Cups.

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Spanish defender Gerard Pique. Photo: AFP

Yet even they were not immune from being outclassed by their local rivals. After winning the South American Championships (the precursor to today's knockout incarnation, the Copa America) in 1949, they wouldn't win another continental title for almost 40 years. Being at the top, even when you're the greatest, is tough.

Plenty have come close but no team has won three consecutive knockout major tournaments. At 4.45am tomorrow, Spain will chase that slice of history to call their own: Euro 2008, World Cup 2010, Euro 2012. Perhaps this squad is even young enough to have a crack at Brazil 2014.

They enter as favourites and rightfully so. Spain remain unbeaten in competitive football since the first match of the World Cup in South Africa, a shock 1-0 defeat against Switzerland. They bounced back to not only win that tournament but every match in qualifying for this tournament.

Other than a semi-final exit from the Confederations Cup in 2009, their last competitive international defeat was in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Northern Ireland, a 3-2 defeat in Belfast in October 2006. It was a seminal moment. Days afterwards, Raul, Spain's all-time leading scorer and most capped outfielder, was dumped, aged just 29.

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Spain's long reign set to roll on

Aiden O'Brien's Camelot could become only the 16th horse to win the Epsom Derby and Irish Derby.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- This Saturday, Aiden O'Brien's unbeaten colt Camelot will be aiming to add the Irish Derby to his Epsom Derby victory from earlier this month. It's a neat double, achieved by only 15 horses before him. But his trainer has his eye on another prize.

Camelot has already captured the English 2,000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby. Assuming everything goes to plan this weekend, his next target will be the St. Ledger Stakes at Doncaster in September -- and racing immortality.

For Camelot stands on the brink of that rarest of achievements, the English "Triple Crown" of thoroughbred racing.

Royal regulations for Ascot's fashionistas

Only 15 horses have ever done the treble in the century and a half in which the 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and St. Ledger Stakes have been run.

Three of those, wartime winners Pommern, Gay Crusader and Gainsborough will forever have an asterisk next to their names as racing was considered too disrupted in that period for their achievements to stand, making the "official" figure as low as 12.

The last Triple Crown winner was the great Nijinsky, way back in 1970 (although the brilliant filly Oh So Sharp did win the "Fillies' Triple Crown" -- the 1,000 Guineas, the Epsom Oaks and the St. Ledger -- in 1985).

Few horses these days even attempt the full set. Since Nijinsky (who, incidentally, also won the Irish Derby en route to his treble), only two other horses have won both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby, and both of those -- Nashwan (1989) and Sea The Stars (2009) -- opted for a tilt at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe instead of the St. Ledger.

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Camelot eyes horse racing immortality