Now that we have finished with the Top 10 of the unsung comic adaptations, let’s turn our attention to the best of recent years. In terms of time, the forerunners of today’s comic film explosion – Tim Burton’s “Batman,” Richard Lester’s “Superman,” Lester and Richard Donner’s “Superman II” and John Milius’ “Conan The Barbarian are not included, but are well loved by this writer. By the same token, I have yet to see “Ant-Man” but I don’t believe that it would have cracked the Top 10 in any event. (I have seen “Avengers: Age of Ultron” but its omission from this list is not an accident.)
10. X2: X-Men United (2003) dir. Bryan Singer – there was something about the early 2000s Marvel films – the establishing or origin films were just OK, but the sequels were excellent. This was the case with X-Men (with another two coming up); the second film developed the characters and with a better handle on the material, Singer delivered the best mutant film of the initial trilogy.
9. “V for Vendetta” (2005) dir. James McTeigue – like “Watchmen,” another Alan Moore written novel, V was supposed to be unfilmable, but McTeigue (with support of “The Matrix’s” Wachowski brothers) produced the most political and perhaps “adult” of all of the comic adaptations. Set in a fascist England, V (Hugo Weaving) is a former prisoner who aids and is later aided by a young woman “Evey” (Natalie Portman) in his cause. Like the graphic novel, the portions where Evey is “captured” are unsettling and her continuation in V’s cause questionable. Released in the time that George W. Bush was President and Tony Blair England’s Prime Minister, it resounded more than any other film on these lists.
8. “X-Men: First Class” (2011) dir. Matthew Vaughn and ”X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014) dir. Bryan Singer (tie) – just when it appeared that the X-franchise was dead except for Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine character, this was a reboot that really worked. Making a prequel set in the 1960s when Charles Xavier could walk and with the original X-Men was an inspired move and Vaughn did a wonderful job with James McAvoy as the young Xavier and indie star Michael Fassbinder as Magneto in a Cold War comics set against the Cuban Missile Crisis. And if that was inspired, what would be more inspiring than to bring the older and the newer X-Men together in one of the most beloved story arcs in all of comics, Days of Future Past. Both films were excellent.
7. “Sin City” (2005) dir. by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez – Miller’s hard boiled comic vignettes found their ultimate outlet on the big screen as the original black and white characters and landscape came alive on screen. Bruce Willis Clive Owen, Rosario Dawson all made that world interesting. As I wrote before, if the sequel had been made five years earlier, it might have been as big a success as the original.
6. “Blade II” (2002) dir. Guillermo del Toro – the Mexican filmmaker’s introduction to many Americans, the sequel was bigger and better than the original, with Snipes’ Blade teaming with his hated vampires to fight the Reaper vampires who feast on humans and vampires. Del Toro would follow up with the Hellboy films and his masterpiece thus far: Pan’s Labyinth. (The Hellboy films, especially the second would be honorable mentions.)
5. “The Dark Knight” (2008) dir. Christopher Nolan – Nolan’s reboot of the Bat-franchise destroyed by “Batman & Robin,” one of the worst comic book films of all time “Batman Begins” was notable in that Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) didn’t appear as Batman for the first hour, but Wayne’s road to become Batman was fascinating (almost making it to this list). Like many other films on this list, once the “origin” story was out of the way, the filmmakers could get down to business. Of course, the centerpiece of this film is the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning performance as the Joker; but Nolan is clever, never letting the audience see the Joker except when he is menacing someone else, so he remains an enigma to everyone in the film and the audience.
4. “Marvel’s The Avengers” (2012) dir. Joss Whedon – every fanboy’s dream was to see all of Marvel’s biggest characters on the screen at the same time, and The Avengers was true wish fulfillment. Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man up against a galactic evil (Thanos) and his worldly sub-boss Loki. Like in the Thor movies (the first of which would make an honorable mention list), Tom Huddleston’s Loki steals the film as the God of Lies, but the set pieces are huge, the fight grand and the odds the biggest.
3. “Spider-Man 2” (2004) dir. Sam Raimi – as I wrote above, I thought that the first “Spider-Man” was alright; it “didn’t suck” but I didn’t love it. It was kind of flat and I wasn’t sold on Tobey McGuire as Peter Parker, but the second film deepened the characters, added one of my favorite actors – Alfred Molina as a tortured Otto Octavious who loses his wife and become Doctor Octopus. The CGI Spider-Man in the first film was jumpy and didn’t look real; the computer generated Spidey in the second film was much better and the big action pieces, especially a fight on an elevated train (filmed in Chicago, not New York) were superb.
2. “Iron Man” (2008) dir. Jon Favreau – hardly ever in the history of film has an actor, his persona, and his personal history been so perfect for a role. Robert Downey, Jr., one of the best actors of his generation, but with a history of drug abuse, bad behavior and jail was the absolute perfect choice to play flawed playboy, alcoholic and mechanical genius Tony Stark. Downey’s charisma and pathos with personal demons made this film stand above most of the other comic movies. While the sequels have not been nearly as good (having the annoyingly self important Gwyneth Paltrow as girlfriend/assistant Pepper Potts hasn’t helped) with the only positive being Ben Kingsley’s “Mandarin” in Iron Man 3, Downey is by far the biggest star in the Iron Man and Avengers films.
1. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014) dir. Anthony Rizzo and Joe Rizzo – taking Captain America (Chris Evans) from the first film set in World War II, making him a vital part of Avengers, and then having the sequel set in modern times with S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrated by Hydra, the scientific group of Nazis was truly inspired. Add in The Winter Soldier, who was Cap’s sidekick Bucky, believed killed in the war but resurrected by the Soviets to become a killing machine, and you had a film that worked on many levels. Cap trying to come to grips with today’s world and his old friends and loves aging while he did not; plenty of crosses and double crosses in the spy world; and a big end with Cap having to stop multiple helicarriers and Hydra. This was the film that felt like the old Jim Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Cold War comics.
Once again, this is my list – I’m curious to hear what are your favorites…

Every workday morning, I listen to the news radio station to get the 5-day weather forecast and see if there are any traffic nightmares early in the morning. I also get an update on local sports and a few headlines. Before stepping in the shower however, I get to hear the morning business report, and I think that it’s long past time to eliminate the business report – it’s irrelevant.
How can I say that? Aren’t I in a business line of work? How can this be meaningless?
When I was growing up, there were still a high number of family farms, and the commodity futures prices were important to the farmers hedging their harvest prices. I didn’t completely understand the concept, but I could see how this would be important. The radio report in the morning starts out with the NYSE futures, in effect, bets on how the market would open and in which direction “investors” think the market will go that day. Stock markets around the world are no longer places in which companies can generate capital; they are nothing more than casinos with bets being made on interday changes in company share prices.
The change in the price of one share of stock can be a few cents to a few dollars. To you and me, it would cost more in fees to trade shares than any loss of gain would change one’s financial status. So who are these “investors” that the media are so concerned over? It is supposed to be all of us, that is anyone with a 401 plan, or mutual fund, but actually, it’s the fund managers and people of great wealth who are doing this trading. Any individual “day traders,” unless they are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, are automatically at a disadvantage by the bigger, more technically sophisticated traders.
Which brings me to an old rant – who are these Wall Street analysts anyway? What do they know that’s more than anyone else? Why are their projections so important? The answer is – they shouldn’t be, but because that is the “scorecard” of winners and losers, these analysts control the game. For decades, I have said that if I was the CEO of a company that was profitable, let’s say my company earned $0.10 per share, but some snot-nosed MBA in some room on Wall Street said that he (its almost always a he) expected my company to earn $0.15 per share for the quarter, my company had a disappointing quarter and my company’s share price would go down.
My ficticious company had solid earnings, and let’s say it was equal to the same period last year, but because “the Street” projected high revenues, the company didn’t reach it’s goals. Not my goals, mind, you; somebody else’s goals. If I were in that position, I would tell the analysts to come and run the business then, since they obviously know better than I do.
That’s the problem with the “analysts;” there’s no accountability and they have no “skin in the game.” They can sit and forecast to their heart’s content with no problems. And if they’re wrong, does the market suddenly say that “XYZ film is always overly optimistic and their projections are suspect.” Do people start ignoring XYZS company’s projections?
“Business” in the 21st Century is a big sham with the oligarchs making billions on the backs of the 99%, but they keep pushing the lie that anyone can be them if they work hard enough or invent something. Actually, to be in their club, you have to have gone to the best business schools, know the right people, and oh yes, having rich parents doesn’t hurt.
The “Stock Market” and “Wall Street” are casinos where people bet on companies like horses at the race track. And the average guy doesn’t have enough knowledge or fast enough technology to win the game.
The first step is to see through the game; see the sham for what it is. Ignore the business reports; don’t read the articles; only pay attention to your company or the business sector that affects you. Other than that, tell the media that we’re not buying into their nonsense.

The NFL, specifically Commissioner Roger “Goofball” Goodell, has taken its sweet time handing down a ruling regarding New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s appeal of his four-game suspension stemming from Deflategate, and now, one potential reason many have been identified.
According to Bleacher Report, who quoted Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, “settlement discussions have indeed occurred” between Brady’s team and the league. However, settlement talks have not resulted in a deal, which is why nothing has been decided or reported. The main issue is potential litigation in Federal court by Brady that may wipe out the previously ruled four-game suspension
This past Tuesday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the media at a luncheon in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and said that the league is being very thorough and want to make sure all aspects of the case are considered. He also expressed that there was no timeline to a final decision or announcement. Reportedly, attorney Gregg Levy has been advising the commissioner throughout the last few months and he may believe that a suspension would be hard to support in court.
When Goodell took office, he talked a lot about “cleaning up the sport;” that is, taking a hard line on players who broke the league’s substance abuse and personal conduct policies. This “Sherriff Roger” image took quite a hit in light of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson incidents, but of course, these are two black players. Squeaky clean Tom Brady is a different story.
It appears that he is firmly in the middle of the Deflategate scandal, having two equipment assistants deflate game balls after the balls had been inspected by the officials, but before the AFC Championship Game. The fact that the New England Patriots have been caught cheating before as a team makes this a serious allegation, even though the Patriots would have defeated the Indianapolis Colts that day no matter what the air pressure in the footballs were.
This is the integrity of the sport we’re talking about here. No matter how good Brady has been, unless the evidence says no, I cannot understand how a Federal court could overturn a suspension between the league and essentially an employee. If I were to do something wrong and was caught, would my employer rescind my suspension because I could sue?
Reportedly, there are four hard line owners that are not only against lifting the punishment, they are against reducing the sentence. For once, good for them; if the NFL lets white Brady off, then suspensions are meaningless for everybody.
If I were the Commissioner, I would take Brady in a room privately and tell him that if he doesn’t accept the suspension and sues the league, he can forget getting into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, kind of the signification that you were not only a Hall of Famer, but one of the best ever. I know that this is blackmail and collusion, but I would tell “Mr. Supermodel-Wife-Superstar-Quarterback” that if he sues, the Patriots will not get the benefit of any doubt of any issue that the team has with the league.
No one is bigger than the league, not even Tom Brady. There had better be very compelling evidence of innocence, otherwise, Brady should be a big boy and take his punishment LIKE A MAN!!!! If he can’t do that, he should be willing to accept the consequences in the league office and in the court of public opinion.

Over the weekend, one of the movie media links that I like on Facebook published an article about that author’s guilty pleasures – movies that the world either forgot about or considered bad that the writer actually enjoyed.
At first, I was going to share the link and put in my own films, but I thought that this was worth more than just a Facebook post (although this link will of course be shared there); a full article was needed. So I put on the thinking cap, went through my DVD/Blu-ray list and tried to come up with my 10 favorite guilty pleasures.
So, I came up with ground rules: first, even though the entire James Bond or Hammer Dracula/Christopher Lee movies or the entire Japanese Godzilla series could fill the entire list, I decided to eliminate them. Television shows and cartoon series could not be included. In addition, films that just evoked nostalgia or genres that always get my attention, like horror or martial arts movies couldn’t just be picked because I watch them – they had to stand as films on their own.
Finally, and most important, all of these films either had to have been panned or given mediocre reviews when they came out, or didn’t age well. So films like “Gardens of Stone” by Francis Ford Coppola, or “Dead Again” directed by Kenneth Branagh, or “V for Vendetta” directed by James McTeigue were ineligible. So, in alphabetical order are a Top 10 list of 12 films (two ties) that I will stop to watch whenever they’re on:

“The Abominable Dr. Phibes” dir. Robert Fuest, (1971) – I was never a big fan of Vincent Price’s horror movies growing up, but this film about a living ghoul who tries to avenge his wife’s death by murdering the nine doctors he considers responsible for his wife’s death in a manner that corresponds to the Biblical nine plagues of Egypt. Weird, over the top, and featuring the great Joseph Cotton, this is one of the stranger films of the period.

“Blue Thunder” dir. John Badham (1983) – as often as I quote this film here on Evilopinion.com and in regular conversation, this was a shoe-in to appear. Roy Scheider is a Vietnam veteran helicopter pilot who is supposed to test a military copter in Los Angeles in preparation for the 1984 Olympics. The bad guys, led my the always sinister Malcolm McDowell want to use the military hardware for their own ends. But it was the quotes and demeanor of Warren Oates in his last appearance that takes this movie beyond simple city actioner (not to mention the film’s precognitive vision of a militarized police force).

“Deep Blue Sea” dir. Renny Harlin (1998) – the only film to show up on my list and the Facebook one, this is the second best shark attack movie, but in this one, sharks have been altered to give them human-like intelligence, and the sharks get loose in the underwater laboratory and start mealtime. Thomas Jane is the hero in his first big starring role, but featuring L.L. Cool J in one of his earliest acting roles and the omnipresent Samuel L. Jackson as the head of the research facility. Violent, more suspenseful than one would think, and a lot of fun.

“Godspell” dir. David Greene (1973) – I have long disavowed my religious upbringing, but back in the mid 1970s, the Chicago ABC station always showed a horrible, badly edited copy of this movie Easter weekend late at night. It became a staple for me – the psychedelic costumes and having Jesus and his disciples running around 1970s New York City made for some interesting visuals. But the treat are the songs (the only outwardly religious music on my iPod), and the performance by a very young Victor Garber (“Titanic,’ “Argo”) as Jesus.

The Flint movies – “Our Man Flint” dir. Daniel Mann (1966) and “In Like Flint” dir. Gordon Douglas (1967) – it was the 1960s and the world was James Bond mad. The Bond films were the most popular series in the world and as a result, super-spies were everywhere, on screen, on television, in advertising. While the Bond films, especially the Sean Connery entries were subtle comedies, James Coburn’s Flint was even more super – them smartest, most athletic spy in the world – he even provided his own spy gadgets. The Flint movies were even bigger spoofs than the Bond films were, but they were silly and fun and Coburn was as cool as Connery.

“Marooned” dir. John Sturges (1969) – Sturges, who directed “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Great Escape” directed this film about three American astronauts in orbit around the Earth but are stuck as their retro-rockets didn’t fire and the capsule running out of oxygen.. Gregory Peck was the head of the space agency on Earth trying to get them home with James Franciscus, a young Gene Hackman and Richard Crenna the astronauts imperiled. It takes Peck and David Janssen to bring them home. This film is overlong and moves at a glacial pace, but I have always liked it.

“McLintock!” dir Andrew V. McLagen (1963) – another television staple of my youth, it still pulls me in when it comes on today. John Wayne, in a comedy that mocks his onscreen persona and Maureen O’Hara play the separated couple in the West fighting each other in a classic big city/small town argument over when their daughter will stay when she leaves college. Add in Indians, fights, heavy drinking, and a Cro-Magnon view of men and women and you have an early 1960s entertainment. All that said, I still love this movie, one of Wayne’s favorites as he financed the film himself and owned the rights.

The first two of three Sabata movies – “Sabata”(1969) and “Return of Sabata” (1971) both directed by Gianfranco Parolini. The “Man With No Name” – nicknamed spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood made Eastwood an international star and introduced the genius of Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone to the world. So, more movies like that were order and a series on a gunfighter named “Sabata” had more of the same violence and featured Lee Van Cleef who figured prominently in the Leone films. Van Cleef was always as interesting as Eastwood was and could convey a man with good and bad sides to his personality. Both of his films in the role were good. A third Sabata film was made with Yul Brenner in the title role, but it just wasn’t the same without Van Cleef.

“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” dir. Kerry Conran (2004) – this film was one of the first almost completely “green screened” films – backgrounds and most of the exteriors and vehicles were created via computers. Set in 1939, Jude Law was the Captain trying to defend the world from a horde of robots bent on domination. Gwyneth Paltrow (before she became publicly insufferable) was the intrepid reporter covering the story and joining Sky Captain on his adventures. This film was also historic as it “starred” the late Lawrence Olivier – recreated in the computer with the permission of Olivier’s estate. The film didn’t do the big business expected, it was probably too much of a throwback to the old serials and perhaps too stylized and clunky compared to the CGI to come to be a hit.
“The Trip” dir. Michael Winterbottom (2010) – the only film of this list that I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival, I knew Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon from other British films/comedies and Mr. Winterbottom is a one man British film industry with the “7 Up” series and so many other films. As an Anglophile of the highest order, this was one film I wanted to see. The film is the story of two men on a driving trip through the countryside of England, dining at various restaurants to write a travelogue/review article for a food magazine. Both Coogan and Brydon play fictionalized versions of themselves, and as both are comics and gifted mimics, there are lots of gags about life, and show business. The best parts are the contests between the two over the best imitations: particularly the Michael Caine imitation contest is particularly hilarious. Considered a bit sexist and misogynistic by some (fairly) as Coogan sleeps his way through the entire film and treats most of the women in his life as disposable or difficult, but it is damn funny and it takes work to get me to move off the couch if its on.

So, gentle reader, these are some of my guilty pleasures. What are some of yours?

I have often said here that I really feel sorry for athletes. Yes, they have fame and often wealth, and can get away with a lot, but on the other side, they never know who to trust. And for all of the deserved blame that they get for fathering lots of children, some of these women see the athlete as a dollar sign and the baby as a means to money.
Family members, financial advisors, lawyers, agents; we have seen numerous instances where athletes end up bankrupt or penniless because of other people. Most of the time, we see ex-athletes trying to help current athletes avoid the problems that they have had to face. But there is nothing worse than being sold-out by one of your own. Ask any black person how they feel about Clarence Thomas, Allen West, Norman Cain or Dr. Ben Carson, all black men whose self-loathing/hatred for other black people is so acute that they have actively worked to punish their own people. There is nothing worse, in many people’s opinion. Will Allen is now accused of doing similar harm to other athletes.
Former NFL cornerback Will Allen, who played 12 seasons including stints with the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins was indicted this week on 23 felony counts stemming from an alleged Ponzi scheme run by the 36-year-old and a co-conspirator. According to court records obtained by the Palm Beach Post, Allen faces “12 counts of wire fraud, six counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of illegal monetary transactions.” Each charge of wire fraud could result in a 20-year prison sentence with shorter sentences for the other felonies.
Prosecutors allege Allen and 52-year-old accomplice Susan Daub ran Capital Financial Partners, a business that offered short-term loans to professional athletes but ultimately defrauded investors of nearly $14 million. Of the $31.7 million obtained from investors, only $18 million went to the loans.
“The defendants sold investors on the idea of lending money to pro athletes, but we allege that’s not where a large portion of the investors’ money went,” Paul G. Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston office, said in a statement to the Post. “As in any Ponzi scheme, the appearance of a successful investment was only an illusion sustained by lies.”
So, here is this former athlete who is defrauding other athletes. If true, Allen truly is the lowest of the low. Many young athletes have little life experience, much less financial expertise to manage often huge fortunes, and while they often get a few years of high living, the hard life that many knew comes back to reclaim them after the money is gone.

Over the 26 years since Peter Edward Rose agreed to be suspended for life from Major League Baseball, I have been a defender of him being in the Baseball Hall of Fame. That he bet on baseball as a manager was unquestioned, but I was one of the only people that thought that he should not be reinstated into baseball. (Of course, as my friend William Weinbau at ESPN reminded me, he would have to be reinstated in order to be eligible for the Hall. I still think that a special case could be made here).
My arguments were simple: they couldn’t prove that he bet while he was amassing his record 4,256 hits, but Willie and ESPN’s excellent investigative reporting showed that he did indeed bet while playing, always on the team he was playing for, but he knew the rules and broke them anyway. The other part of my argument is that it is ridiculous to have a morals clause for the Hall of Fame since one of the reportedly more reprehensible men was one of the “Original Six” men to be enshrined first: Ty Cobb. (Babe Ruth was no angel either as were many other Hall of Famers.) Unlike the steroid bunch, Rose’s bets would never have caused him to throw a game, sine he always bet on his team.
So now, what should baseball do with “Charlie Hustle?” As the All Star Game and festivities are in Cincinnati this week, Rose has been allowed to participate on the field, and he reportedly has a broadcasting job. There had been an attitude that perhaps Rose had served his penalty and that it was time to let Pete back in. Those calls died when ESPN broadcast its segment on Rose’s bets while playing. The pattern of lying until the evidence is overwhelming has been Rose’s modus operandi since 1989, and he left a bad taste in many people’s mouths by “coming clean” in a book to make money which is Rose’s main preoccupation. The decades he spent lying about his bets soured him to almost everyone outside of Cincinnati.
Reportedly, Rose will meet with Commissioner Rob Manfred sometime in the near future. I think that the ESPN report dooms Rose’s chances, at least while he is alive, which may be the appropriate punishment for the all time hits leader. Everyone says that Rose isn’t too bright, and I think he sees that his autographs which are around $130 on baseballs on the Internet right now, would suddenly go up if he could write “HoF (insert year here)” after his name on them. There’s nothing he wants more than to be on that dais in Cooperstown being returned to the sport’s good graces.
I still think that a Baseball Hall of Fame without Pete Rose is truly lacking. However, I’ve been taken in as have so many others by his lies and deceptions. He bet on baseball and he knew that it was the cardinal sin. He believed (still does) that he is above the rules. So, the ultimate punishment is for him to not be reinstated while he is alive. And if he says that he wants his family to refuse posthumous enshrinement, to hell with him and do it anyway. Pete Rose has gone past the point where his opinion means anything to the sport.

When you are young, there are two things that you think will go on forever: your parents and your childhood heroes. Superman, Batman and Spider-Man never age, but they are paper and ink. Our parents, heroes, indeed ourselves, are human and humans die. When parents die, we are left “alone,” but many of us have spouses and children to fill that void, but who fills the void when your childhood sports heroes pass away?
I ask the question because one of my all time favorites died yesterday: Ken Stabler died at the age of 69 after being diagnosed with colon cancer. Along with Dick Butkus, Gale Sayers, Muhammad Ali and Dick Allen, Stabler has always been one of my favorites. He was a bad boy – he partied VERY hard (I think of Mac Davis in “North Dallas Forty”) while playing for Paul “Bear” Bryant at Alabama and with the Oakland Raiders. John Matuszak was a roommate and the debauchery they inflicted on the world was truly legendary. But Stabler was also a winner, earning an NFL MVP Award in 1974 and a Super Bowl Championship. The only place he didn’t make that he deserves to be is the Hall of Fame, and maybe posthumously, he will get there too.
One might ask: how did a straight-laced inner-city kid become a fan of a hard partying star from a still segregated football team? Well, back in those days, the AFL was broadcast on NBC and my friends and I watched both leagues, but there was something about that outlaw league with the wide open offenses and tough defenses that made us fans. My grandfather was a Chicago Bear season ticket holder (being very light, he was able to pass for white because black people didn’t have season tickets back then), so watching the Bears with him was one of my favorite memories. He didn’t think much of the AFL, but I did, and I fell in love with the black and silver of the Oakland Raiders. They were the bad boys, and I liked their QB, The Mad Bomber Darryl Lamonica. Running down: short yardage; Lamonica and owner Al Davis would go deep, often catching the defense off guard.
I was a Lamonica fan, but the announcers kept talking about this long haired, blond young quarterback named Stabler. I was very hesitant, but Stabler was very good subbing for Lamonica in 1972, leading them to the 1972 semi-finals before losing to the Steelers on Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception.” (I still have not seen that whole play since that day because it sucks so bad; only that the Dolphins beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship to go to the Super Bowl has allowed me to live with it all these years.)
I had come to like Stabler and I remember being for the decision to start him when the Raiders opened the 1973 season 1-2. Stabler and the Raiders won five straight games after that and he went on to seven seasons in Oakland before he finished his career with stints in Houston and New Orleans. Despite being from Alabama, Stabler stood up for all of his teammates, black and white.
And he did party. One story was that he had broken team rules (no surprise there) and got to bed at 4 AM on the day of a game. According to his autobiography, he called the defense to huddle with him on the sidelines before the game started. He told them that if they could hold the other team in the first half, he’d sober up by halftime and win the game. The defense held the opponent to seven points and Snake threw three TDs in the second half and the Raiders won the game. Despite his reputation for “winging it” especially in terms of the game plan, he actually was one of the most accurate QBs of his day.
After he retired, I was always appalled that he never got far in voting for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and one day the great Chicago Tribune sportswriter Don Pierson wrote about being a HoF voter and I responded. I was lobbying for my old Northwestern alum Chris Hinton, who appeared in seven Pro Bowls, but on bad teams to get into the Hall after another lineman, who had only for All Pro appearances had gotten in. It turned out that Sports Illustrated writer Paul “Dr. Z.” Zimmerman, who was a lineman way back in his life, wielded considerable influence over the voting process, and he “chose” which linemen were “worthy” in his eyes and who would get in, which explained Hinton.
As to Stabler, Zimmerman wrote me to never ask me about him again, that he would never vote for him. Apparently, at some point in Stabler’s career, a sportswriter was investigating the qB over something, grades, drugs, partying, I don’t know; but the writer was stopped in Alabama and drugs were found in the writer’s car. Was Stabler in on it? Did it even occur like the rumors say? We will never know, but it proved to me that Zimmerman, who retired after a series of strokes debilitated him in 2008, was a power mad, egotistical SOB.
As I listed in the first section, I had five sports heroes growing up, and I’ve had the great honor of meeting all but one. I’ve met Mr. Butkus a couple of times – once at a book signing, and another at a SI reception that The Sportswriters were invited to; I met Mr. Sayers. I literally ran into Mr. Ali on a downtown Chicago street. He was already ravaged by Parkinson’s, but he was still able to walk and he was carrying legal briefcases: his lawyer was trying to get to court to sue someone, I think. I’m a little shorter than Ali, and I turned a corner and was nearly eye-to-eye with The Greatest. I could only say “Hello Champ,” and he smiled and walked on. I admit that the first thing I thought about was the Richard Pryor standup bit about Ali having “a Joe Frazier flashback.” Like Pryor, even diminished, Ali would have beaten me like a pulp on the street.
I like to get autographed memorabilia, but I never go to autograph shows – they are just too profit motivated than I am, but I went to two shows, both times to see Mr. Stabler. The first time, I got all the way to Rosemont, paid for parking and found out that Stabler had cancelled. The second time, he showed up and I paid for one autograph, but we got to talking. I told him the Dr. Z story and about coming to the earlier show which he did not attend and he signed a couple of things for free. I liked him, he was self-effacing and seemed to like having a black fan in Chicago.
Butkus is 72; Sayers is also and in poor health. Stan Mikita is 75 and suffers from dementia; Muhammad Ali is 73 and is also in poor health; Dick Allen, the only one I haven’t met but I have an autographed picture, is also 73 but I saw him at U.S. Cellular Field when the White Sox celebrated him a few years ago and he looked pretty good. All of these men are closer to the end than the beginning, and they will eventually be gone, like all of my parents.
Goodbye Snake. Somehow, I think that you and “The Tooz” are partying in the hereafter. Somehow, I think it just got a lot more fun there.