#Mike Helton

[docrotten]

KISS ME DEADLY (1955) – Episode 192 – Decades of Horror: The Classic Era

“Look, Mike, I like you. I like the way you handle yourself. You seem like a reasonable man. Why don’t we make a deal? What’s it worth to you to drag your considerable talents back to the gutter you crawled out of?”  Wow. Where would you want him to drag himself if you didn’t like him? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Doc Rotten, and Jeff Mohr along with guest Bill Mulligan – as they take a deep, deep dive into Kiss Me Deadly (1955), a horror-adjacent, science-fiction film noir.

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 192 – Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror The Classic Era is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which all now include video episodes of The Classic Era! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://classicscifichannel.com/; https://classichorrorchannel.com/; https://wickedhorrortv.com/

Synopsis: A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious “great whatsit.”

Directed by: Robert Aldrich

Writing Credits: A.I. Bezzerides (screenplay); Mickey Spillane (novel)

Cinematography by: Ernest Laszlo (photography by)

Produced by: Robert Aldrich (producer); Victor Saville (executive producer) (uncredited)

Selected Cast:

Ralph Meeker as Mike Hammer

Maxine Cooper as Velda Wickman

Cloris Leachman as Christina Bailey

Gaby Rodgers as Lily Carver

Wesley Addy as Lt. Pat Murphy

Albert Dekker as Dr. G.E. Soberin

Paul Stewart as Carl Evello

Nick Dennis as Nick Va Va Voom

Jack Elam as Charlie Max

Jack Lambert as Sugar Smallhouse

Mort Marshall as Ray Diker

Marian Carr as Friday (as Marion Carr)

Juano Hernandez as Eddie Yeager

Marjorie Bennett as Manager

Fortunio Bonanova as Carmen Trivago

Strother Martin as Harvey Wallace

Mady Comfort as Nightclub Singer (as Madi Comfort)

James McCallion as Horace

Jesslyn Fax as Horace’s Wife

Robert Cornthwaite as FBI Agent

James Seay as FBI Agent

Silvio Minciotti as Mover

Paul Richards as Attacker

Percy Helton as Doc Kennedy

Leigh Snowden as Cheesecake

Jerry Zinneman as Sammy

Kitty White as Club Vocalist

Ben Morris as Radio Announcer

Sam Balter as Radio Announcer (voice)

Joe Hernandez as Radio Announcer (voice)

Bing Russell as Police Detective (uncredited)

Charles Lane as Doctor (uncredited)

Eddie Beal as Sideman (uncredited)

Leonard Bremen as Man in Parked Car (uncredited)

Yvonne Doughty as Receptionist (uncredited)

John George as Popcorn Vendor (uncredited)

Art Loggins as Bartender (uncredited)

Mara McAfee as Nurse (uncredited)

Leonard Mudie as Athletic Club Clerk (uncredited)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) might not be a certifiable horror movie, but this extraordinary film noir is certainly horror adjacent. Director Robert Aldrich, cinematographer Ernest Laszlo, and screenplay writer A. I. Bezzerides do themselves proud in this adaptation of the Mickey Spillane novel. Ralph Meeker, as antihero Mike Hammer, is supported by superb performances from a long list of recognizable character actors. Film noir — even horror adjacent science fiction film noir — is not for everyone, and indeed, the Classic Era Grue Crew are divided. Either way, Kiss Me Deadly must be seen, and there is much for the crew to discuss. Where else will you find a search for a “great whatsit?”

At the time of this writing, Kiss Me Deadly (1955) is available to stream from the Classic Sci-Fi Movie Channel and on physical media as a Blu-ray disc from Criterion. 

Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era records a new episode every two weeks. Next in their very flexible schedule – this one chosen by Daphne – is Earth vs. the Spider (1958), aka The Spider! Yes, it’s time for a B-I-G movie, as in Bert I. Gordon! The Grue Crew can’t wait!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel, the site, or email the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com

To each of you from each of them, “Thank you so much for watching and listening!”

Check out this episode!

[prettyhennytea]

Pretty Henny’s Tea Spill: Alabama vs. Western Kentucky

A Classic Match Up Returns

Get ready for a thrilling college football showdown as the Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. This matchup marks the first meeting between these two teams since 2016, and it promises to be a battle of offensive firepower.

A Look Back

Alabama has dominated the Hilltoppers in their previous encounters, but the 2016 game was a memorable one. Despite a 28-point victory, Western Kentucky’s offenses, led by Jeff Brohm, presented a significant challenge for the Tide.

A New Era for Western Kentucky

Since that 2016 game, Western Kentucky has undergone a transformation under coach Tyson Helton. The team has developed one of the most prolific offenses in the country, thanks to the coaching influence of Bobby Petrino and Jeff Brohm.

The Petrino Connection

The Hilltoppers’ offensive scheme is rooted in the principles of the “spread” offense, popularized by coaches like Mike Price, Dennis Erickson, and Chris Ault. Bobby Petrino played a key role in adapting and refining this style, and his influence continues to be felt in college football.

A Modern Approach

While Western Kentucky’s offense is based on the spread principles, coach Tyson Helton has added his own twist. He focuses on a more passing-oriented approach, incorporating elements from successful offenses like those led by Lincoln Riley and Lane Kiffin.

A New Quarterback

The Hilltoppers will have a new signal-caller under center this season in T.J. Finley. The transfer from Texas State brings experience and talent to the position and has the potential to be a game-changer.

The Alabama Challenge

Alabama, a perennial powerhouse in college football, will be a formidable opponent for Western Kentucky. The Tide’s defense, will be a tough test for the Hilltoppers’ high-powered offense.

Prediction

While Western Kentucky has made significant strides in recent  years, Alabama’s dominance in college football makes them the favorite in this matchup. However, the Hilltoppers’ offensive firepower could make this a more competitive game than expected.

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

Kiss Me Deadly

In her film debut, Cloris Leachman says, “I could tolerate flabby muscles in a man, if it’d make him more friendly.” The film that follows is neither flabby nor friendly, but it’s one of the great film noirs with one of the bleakest endings in the genre. Contemporary critics didn’t care for Robert Aldrich’s KISS ME DEADLY (1955, Apple+), but it has grown in reputation over the years, particularly with Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard calling it the single greatest influence on the Nouvelle Vague. Ralph Meeker’s Mike Hammer is far from a crusading private eye at first. He’s lost his gun and his license and concentrates on setting up honey traps with his secretary/lover Velda (the wonderful Maxine Cooper) so he can blackmail cheating husbands. Then he picks up a near-naked hitchhiker (Leachman) who’s escaped from a mental hospital to which she was committed because she knows about “the great whatsit,” one of the best MacGuffin’s in film history. When she’s murdered, Hammer figures whatever she knew must be worth money. Then one of his few friends is murdered, and it gets personal. The corruption he encounters is everywhere, from the government to the kiss of a beautiful blonde. And Hammer is a part of it. Meeker does a marvelous job in the role, changing masks depending on whom he’s trying to manipulate and betraying a bit of glee in beating up attackers and recalcitrant witnesses. Aldrich and A.I. Bezzerides wrote some great punchy dialog for the film (and appropriated the phrase “the great whatsit” from 1932’s THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME), and Ernest Laslo createed some eerie visuals, shooting through objects and casting shadows to create an off-kilter, dangerous world. There’s a lot of good work in the cast, but it’s hard to believe Aldrich couldn’t find a better actress than Gaby Rogers to play the blonde femme fatale. Her tinny line readings sound like a bad imitation of Judy Holliday, or maybe Lina Lamont without the humor. The rest of the cast includes Albert Dekker as a crooked doctor, Paul Stewart as a mob leader, Juano Hernandez as a boxing trainer Wesley Addy as a police lieutenant who may be in love with Hammer, Marjorie Bennett as a landlady (one line, but she delivers it with aplomb), Percy Helton as a coroner, Fortunio Bonanova as an opera singer, and Jack  Elam and Jack Lambert as two dim-witted hired thugs.

[xoxostephanie11]

[latemodelsportsman]

Thoughts on those potential new manufacturers:

DODGE:

Sergio Marchionne is full of it, so Dodge could return or could not. He's been looking to boost Chrysler's nameplate in hopes of selling it off to someone. GM balked at the opportunity, but VW called his bluff last week. Who knows what Dodge will do, but I honestly wouldn't count on them returning based solely on Marchionne's history. Still, it would be cool to see them return. They killed the Viper and the Viper racing program, so perhaps they might be looking to drop some cash in NASCAR again. Outside of the Marchionne variable, what team would become the Dodge factory team? They made a play for Childress back in '12, but Childress declined.

VW/Audi:

VW was looking to get into NASCAR back in '10, going so far as repeated meetings with NASCAR brass and visits to several races. They walked away and later announced plans to return to F1, which was axed by Dieselgate. Dieselgate also took down Audi's motorsports program. It would make for good public relations if Audi/VW made a push into NASCAR. Still, it's a long shot.

Buick:

This one makes a lot of sense. They could benefit from the exposure, as they've quietly been making a comeback in the industry. 1: They have a checkered history in NASCAR, winning three championships in a row in the early '80s. 2: They could bring back the Grand National nameplate to much fanfare from the Old Guard. 3: A Buick program would have immediate access to Chevy's R&D, chassis, and engine. It would be pretty easy for Buick to slide back in and be accepted into the sport. The question is, which currently floundering team would Buick sink it's $ into as their flagship? Answer: Roush-Fenway. Jack wants out, but he's not going to go cheap or quietly. Buick could make him an offer he can't refuse.

Nissan:

They could dip their toes into NASCAR by running the Titan. Truck sales have been lagging, and the standard Titan is no slouch. If the program went well, they could expand into Xfinity and Cup with the Altima and Maxima to combat rival Toyota on American soil. I can't see longtime fans accepting Nissan any easier than they did Toyota, so it probably wouldn't go over too well. Thoughts?

[mosaicbrokenheartss]

WHEN IT'S THIRD SEASON COMING OUT?!

[sdsportsdomination]

AZTECS ROCKEY LONG NAMED TO PAUL “BEAR” BRYANT COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST

AZTECS ROCKEY LONG NAMED TO PAUL “BEAR” BRYANT COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD WATCH LIST

 PRESS RELEASE  AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION AND MARATHON OIL ANNOUNCE WATCH LIST FOR 32nd ANNUAL AHA PAUL “BEAR” BRYANT COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD HOUSTON – The college football season is heating up and this year’s American Heart Association (AHA) Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards Watch List includes a who’s who lineup of new faces and old favorites. Representing the nation’s best in college football, these…

[fieriframes]

[Mike Helton standing in a room, caption: I knew if Paul saw me trying to build a flying machine...]

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

NASCAR is niche. A recent Morning Consult survey of the sport’s fans found that they’re much more male, white and Southern than other sports fans are. It’s a subculture status that some fans have relished but which NASCAR itself seems eager to shake — in the last two years, its TV ratings bottomed out after peaking in the mid-2000s, according to SportsBusiness Journal. They’ve declined for six years running, in fact. Since the mid-aughts, the sport has actively sought to expand its fan base — seeking race venues outside the South, for example — and in doing so, sometimes drawing the ire of its core fans. “We believe strongly that the old Southeastern redneck heritage that we had is no longer in existence. But we also realize that there’s going to have to be an effort on our part to convince others to understand that,” then-NASCAR President Mike Helton said in 2006.

Like so many institutions in American life, the sport was grappling with what its place would be in a more diverse county and culture.

So when the NASCAR Cup Series’ only Black driver, Bubba Wallace, called for a ban of the Confederate flag earlier this summer, saying “No one should feel uncomfortable when they come to a NASCAR race,” NASCAR readily complied. It had already formally asked fans to stop bringing the flags to events in 2015 following the murders of nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., by a white supremacist. President Trump weighed in on NASCAR’s decision, tweeting that its flag ban was to blame for its “lowest ratings EVER!” (ratings are actually up following the flag ban).

But according to the Morning Consult survey from June, 44 percent of NASCAR fans agree with the president and said that fans should be allowed to bring the flag to races. Only 30 percent were fine with the ban. And at NASCAR races in June and July, Confederate flags reappeared. Not in the stands, but high above them; a group called the Sons of Confederate Veterans rented planes to fly the flag over the racetracks. The group’s leader, Paul Gramling Jr., told the Columbia Daily Herald that “The Sons of Confederate Veterans is proud of the diversity of the Confederate military and our modern Southland. We believe NASCAR’s slandering of our Southern heritage only further divides our nation.”

Gramling’s statement about the “diversity” of the Confederate army and his use of the term “modern Southland” speak volumes. Enslaved men were conscripted as soldiers and servants in the Confederate Army — they were hardly volunteers for the Southern cause — and Gramling’s “Southland” conjures the image of a cohesive nation, as if the Confederacy, which existed for less than five years, had not been decimated long ago.

The SCV and NASCAR’s oblique tussling might seem like a fringe issue in an election year when a pandemic and an economic crisis imperil millions of lives, but their divergent visions of what the culture of the American South is — who it’s for and of — embodies much about the political and cultural climate in which we find ourselves. Trump and NASCAR are in similar positions: overly reliant on a slowly shrinking, mostly white base. NASCAR is trying to expand its audience in order to stay relevant; Trump is not. The sport has realized something that the president can’t seem to grasp, which is that overt shows of racism turn most Americans off.

Electoral politics has played a role in normalizing on a national level the kind of neo-Confederate views that the SCV — and Trump — have condoned and promoted in recent weeks. You don’t have to have grown up in the American South to have thought that the Confederate flag was inextricably tied to what the SCV calls “Southern heritage,” but which really means a particular slice of Southern white culture. Going back decades, blocks of white votes in the South have been courted aggressively by non-Southerners who have played to the culture that has grown around these symbols and a particular nostalgic language about the Confederate past. During his 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan, a California governor of Illinois birth, appeared in Neshoba County, Mississippi — where Freedom Rider activists were famously murdered in 1964 — and gave a speech about “states’ rights,” which was read by many as euphemistic in the most loaded way possible, given the context of the place. The country had gotten comfortable with delicate work-arounds like that — the Civil War wasn’t about slavery, it was about states’ rights. For decades, parts of the country have tolerated a semantic category that blandly normalized a strain of white resentment at the Confederate defeat. Sometimes the language is more blunt, of course: the War of Northern Aggression, “the South will rise again” or “It’s only halftime.”

According to the 2010 census, 55 percent of the country’s Black population live in the South. While the region is still nearly 60 percent white, its Black and Hispanic populations are significant, and while traditionally rural, diverse, growing cities like Atlanta and Charlotte have become important business hubs. North Carolina’s Research Triangle region boasts the sort of academic power and national draw often associated with the Northeast Corridor’s Ivy League. NASCAR’s bid to diversify, geographically and otherwise, is in keeping with the modern South’s changes.

But strong vestiges of the racist Confederacy have held on in the region. Mississippi removed the Confederate stars and bars from its state flag only last month, becoming the last state in the Union to do so. While the majority of Americans — 52 percent — favored the removal of Confederate statues from public spaces, according to a Quinnipiac University survey from June, 52 percent of those from the South opposed removal, the only region of the country where a majority supported keeping the statues.

In the midst of a floundering campaign, Trump grasped onto Southern white culture — that particular strain of it — as a way to pull his head above water. A large base of his support does indeed lie in the South, as has been the case for all recent Republican presidential candidates; Bill Clinton won Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia in 1996, but no Democrat has since. Trump ran a race-baiting campaign in 2016, and his 2020 campaign has continued to play on long-standing tropes of racial fear, like violent “liberal Democrat” cities. Ironically, his use of federal law enforcement officers in Portland, Ore., is about as far from states’ rights as you can get.

But Trump seems to be speaking to the SCV types and not the more “mainstream” white voters he actually needs to win. The SCV, for what it’s worth, is more than the “historical, patriotic, and non-political organization” that its website says it is. Its branches have donated to Republican politicians and it controversially purchased the Silent Sam Confederate statue that was torn down at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In other words, the group is representative of the types of (white) voters who are Trump’s ride-or-dies.

But Trump has misjudged — or refuses to see — that much of white America is changing how it thinks about racial issues. A Monmouth University survey from June found that 49 percent of white Americans thought police were more likely to use excessive force against a Black person, up from only 25 percent in 2016. A Morning Consult poll from May and June of this year found that 49 percent of white Americans supported the protests unfolding across the country, and 54 percent of suburbanites supported them (white people are the majority in 90 percent of America’s suburban counties, according to Pew Research Center).

Someone seems to have leaned into Trump’s ear and told him he needs these white suburbanites in order to have a fighting chance of winning in November. Last week, he called on “The Suburban Housewives of America” — as if harkening to a membership organization from 1955 — and said that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden would “destroy” their American dream by promoting affordable housing for all in the suburbs. In Trump’s framing, by hoping to diversify the suburbs, Biden would destroy the “Suburban Lifestyle Dream.” A majority of Americans in a Pew survey conducted in 2019 said Trump had made race relations in the country worse, and while white, Black and Hispanic people still differ in their views on racial issues, it’s clear that recent events have brought greater racial awareness to the forefront of white Americans’ minds.

Republicans are increasingly worried about Trump losing a state like Ohio — once thought solidly in Trump’s camp — in large part because of the president’s diminishing support in suburban areas. (I wrote at length about this Ohio suburban phenomenon back in 2019.) His embrace of the racist totems of the white South — which large swaths of the white South itself eschews — could now potentially cost Trump with the Midwestern or Northeastern (whatever you want to call Pennsylvania) voters he needs to hold onto in order to win.

Trump, a New York City-born pol who doesn’t quite seem to “get” the ‘burbs — and has never been a particularly subtle political thinker or communicator — crucially misunderstood that the muscular Southern racism the Confederate flag has long represented doesn’t work in the white suburban realms of respectability anymore. That cohort — Republican and Democratic — absorbs and displays its biases more mutedly in 2020. Trump, who came to political power riding a wave of racist conspiracy theory — it was only fair to ask questions about whether the first Black president was actually American, wasn’t it? — now suddenly seems ill-equipped for the political times.

He forgot that most of the country requires a modicum of plausible deniability in its dog whistles.

[coasttickets]

Pac-12 Conference Postponed

The Pac-12 conference has decided to postpone all sporting events for the rest of the year. That means no soccer, no volleyball, and no football.

USC football coach Clay Helton says, “I'm disappointed and sad for our players and coaches for the amount of hard work that they put in, in preparation for a season. [I’m] sad for our student population that's having to deal with a pandemic, and it interfering with the college experience right now, and what they're having to deal with.”

USC’s rising star quarterback Kedon Slovis says, “We all kind of thought it was coming to a head at some point. But it was really sad to see that we knew that we were not going to be able to play anymore.”

This cancellation of fall sports is a public health decision.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Seth Gamradt represents USC in all health and safety-related issues at the Pac-12. He says, “Everything points to this being a benign illness in the young people in the collegiate age group, especially in the elite athletes, but it doesn't have to be. There have been some cases that have cropped up around the country of athletes who've had COVID and recovered, who have been noted to have myocarditis. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can come after a flu illness or after a cold illness. That can place the heart at risk in the future.”

That risk is too high, Pac-12 health officials say. It’s too much of a gamble to have a player recover from COVID, end up with an enlarged heart, and then sustain a big hit on the football field.

Not only are athletes affected, but fans and marching band members.

Bryant Chang plays trumpet in the USC marching band. He says, “I've been [in] band for all four years of college. So this is very bittersweet for me because I was really looking forward to this last year.”

Kate Johnston also plays trumpet in the USC marching band. She says, “It's also really sad just because we've spent this whole summer online, and I've been doing nothing. And now I have to do more of nothing. And at first I was like, ‘Okay, well at least I'll have band.’ Because they said at first we were going to do a social distance band. And I was like, ‘That's some stability, that's still going to be really fun.’ But now that's not happening.”

There will be financial impacts too, from lost ticket revenues to TV deals and sponsorships.

Mike Bohn, USC’s Athletic Director, says USC alone is looking at tens of millions in lost revenue. “At USC, the football enterprise represents 80 to 85% of our revenue, and obviously the donations that are tied to that are factored into that as well.”

Seasonal jobs that won't be available this year for both students and lower wage workers who take tickets, sell concessions, and provide security.

The Pac-12 is hoping that the fall slate of sports could be played in spring 2021.

[thecollegefootballguy]

2020 PAC-12 Coaching Power Rankings

Hello folks, it’s time to bust out the power rankings once again. I’ll be rating coaches against their peers conference by conference. Remember, with power rankings I weigh both recent and overall career success. I’ve adjusted my metrics a bit since last time so there might be more movement here than usual.

Let’s see where each man stands.

Check out last year’s rankings here.

-

The PAC-12 has spent the last few years in the doldrums, the conference went from being a consistently strong Power conference to being one of the worst. Basically the only thing keeping the PAC-12 from the bottom is the dreadful ACC, who still have a national title contender in Clemson. There’s nothing approaching that out West.

Making matters worse, the league lost some incredible talent in the past few months. The shocking retirement of Chris Petersen at Washington was a huge blow (he was the #2 coach in the rankings last year). Petersen was leading one of the hottest programs in the league and it could spell further disaster for a conference so depleted of talent. Mike Leach’s (#4) exit for the SEC means two of the top five coaches have departed from the PAC-12. Mel Tucker leaving for Colorado after one 5-7 year isn’t quite the same in terms of importance, but it’s not great that Western coaches can get poached by other conferences who can pay much better.

Honestly, I’m pretty pessimistic about what’s going on in coaching circles for the PAC-12. As a whole, I might rate the league dead last among P5s in terms of head coaching talent. There are flashes of brilliance here and there, but a lot of programs are spinning their wheels.

-

12. Jimmy Lake

First time head coach

Movement: N/A

Washington DC (ha) Jimmy Lake inherited the position upon the retirement of Chris Petersen. Lake has big shoes to fill, but the Huskies are a well oiled machine and should lead to a smooth transition.

-

11. Karl Dorrell

Overall Record: 35-27

Movement: N/A

Karl Dorrell makes a surprise jump back into the college game. The former UCLA head coach has spent most of the last decade bouncing around the NFL. As head man of the Bruins, he led a mostly mediocre team that had a breakout season in 2005 before reverting back to mediocrity. It feels like a pretty uninspired hire if I’m being honest, but Colorado had to scramble to find a new coach well after the coaching carousel had ended.

-

10. Jonathan Smith

Record at Oregon State: 7-17

Movement: Up 1 spot

Oregon State improved from 2-10 to 5-7 in Jonathan Smith’s second year. The rebuild in Corvallis is going a bit ahead of schedule if you ask me. I’m curious to see how much more OSU improves next season. I think a bowl is well within reach, especially if UW and WSU take a step or two back.

-

9. Nick Rolovich

Overall Record: 28-27

Movement: N/A

The third newbie to the PAC-12 is very familiar to West Coast football. Nick Rolovich spent the last four years rebuilding Hawaii football back to respectability. The Rainbow Warriors won the Mountain West’s West Division last season, a huge improvement from their place as a league bottom feeder before Rolovich came home. Now Rolovich is off to face a new challenge, and keep the ball rolling in Pullman after Mike Leach’s departure. Nobody has won in Pullman for an extended period of time, and there basically has never been two successful coaches at Wazzu in a row. Let’s see what happens.

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8. Kevin Sumlin

Record at Arizona: 9-15 Overall Record: 95-58

Movement: Down 1 spot

You know, things could be going better for Kevin Sumlin and Arizona. It seemed like a strong hire, but the Wildcats really haven’t played any good football since Sumlin took over. He’d be lower on the list in other conferences, but with so much turnover in the PAC-12 and the strength of his tenures at Houston and A&M he kind of coasts along, only dropping one spot this year.

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7. Herm Edwards

Record at Arizona: 15-11

Movement: Up 3 spots

Some things are going well in the state of Arizona. Herm Edwards has shocked more than a few people, myself included, with the job he’s done in Tempe so far. The Sun Devils finished 3rd in the PAC-12 South with wins over ranked Michigan State, Cal, and Oregon teams. The win over the Ducks drove the stake in the heart of Oregon’s Playoff hopes. It’ll be interesting to see if ASU can take the next step and seriously contend for the division.

-

6. Justin Wilcox

Record at California: 20-18

Movement: Up 2 spots

Something is brewing in Berkeley. The Cal Bears have been steadily improving for the past three seasons since Wilcox came to town. Most importantly, he brought the Axe back across the Bay for the first time in ten years, avenging loss after loss to Stanford. Things are looking up.

-

5. Chip Kelly

Record at UCLA: 7-17 Overall Record: 53-24

Movement: Up 1 spot

I don’t know man. Chip Kelly going up 1 spot despite two losing seasons speaks to a few things. First of all, his time at Oregon was going so well because it’s doing some heavy lifting here. Secondly, it’s that the PAC-12′s coaching is pretty depleted because going 7-17 over two years should put him much lower no matter what he’s done. Lastly, two coaches in the top four left and he only moved up one spot, so there is a bit of hilarious justice there. God damn he really did well at Oregon, look it up. I really wonder what’ll happen if he can turn things around at UCLA.

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4. Clay Helton

Record at USC: 40-22 Division Championships: 2 (2015, 2017) Conference Championships: 1 (2017)

Movement: Up 1 spot

Most USC fans actively hate Helton and want him gone but he moves up a spot because Petersen and Leach left. For Helton’s part, the 8-5 record was tied for the third best in the PAC-12 last year, so hey, that’s something right?

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3. Mario Cristobal

Record at Oregon: 21-7 Overall Record: 48-54 Division Championships: 1 (2019) Conference Championships: 1 (2019)

Movement: Up 6 spots

Ok now we’re getting to the seriously good coaches. Mario Cristobal’s Oregon stormed back to the top of the PAC-12 in 2019, winning the conference and the Rose Bowl. With Petersen’s retirement and USC and Stanford spinning their wheels, there is a lot of optimism in Eugene that the Ducks can really stake their claim atop the league for a long time.

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2. Kyle Whittingham

Record at Washington: 131-64 Division Championships: 3 (2015, 2018, 2019) Conference Championships: 1 (2008)

Movement: Up 1 spot

Kyle Whittingham stands alone as the old man in the PAC-12. He’s spent 15 mostly successful years as the head man in Salt Lake City and it seems as though the Utes are in the middle of another period of strength. The past few years has seen Utah dominate the South Division, though they still haven’t been able to win the league outright. It doesn’t look like anything is gonna change anytime soon.

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1. David Shaw

Record at Stanford: 86-34 Division Championships: 5 (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017) Conference Championships: 3 (2012, 2013, 2015)

Movement: Same

David Shaw suffered his first losing season ever as a head coach in 2019. Yeah injuries played a part, but Stanford has seen a slight decline in quality for the previous few seasons. Shaw doesn’t fall in the rankings, but he was probably only saved by Petersen’s retirement from losing his spot on top. His considerable lead over the field is starting to shrink. I’m curious to see where things go from here.

[rochadomarcio]

Amazônia, a floresta que pulsa em nós #AmazôniaCentroDoMundo Indígenas, ribeirinhos, jovens europeus ativistas pelo clima e cientistas se uniram no coração da floresta, na Reserva Extrativista Rio Iriri (PA), em defesa da Amazônia e do planeta. Ficha técnica: Produção: Instituto Socioambiental Direção: Azul Serra Roteiro: Marcelo Maximo, Azul Serra, Isabel Harari Produção criativa: Marcelo Maximo Direção de fotografia: Azul Serra Captação de áudio: Marcelo Maximo Edição: Caio Ferraz Colorista: Luisa Cavanagh Motion graphics e finalização: Fred Silveira Assistente de edição: Adilson S.Junior Finalização: Quanta Post Produção de som: Satélite áudio Direção musical: Roberto Coelho, Kito Siqueira, Hurso Ambrifi, Daniel Iasbeck Producão musical: Roberto Coelho, Kito Siqueira, Hurso Ambrifi, Daniel Iasbeck, Mike Vlcek, Thiago Colli, Charly Coombes, Helton Oliveira e Ian Serra Finalização de áudio: Ricardo Bertran, Celso Moretti, Marla Cornea, Isadora Penna Coordenação musical: Ana Cordeiro, Mariana Tardelli, Rafa Oliveira Assistente de coordenação musical: Renan Marques Imagens das queimadas: Brigada de Alter Imagens veleiro: Rob Jacobs Imagens cobertura de apoio: Caio Ferraz, Rob Jacobs, Brigada de Alter, Extintion Rebellion, Youth for climate, Fridays for future Equipamento de camera: Dcine Equipamento de som: Fred França e Elite cam Agradecimento: Associação dos Moradores da Reserva Extrativista Rio Iriri (Amoreri), Eliane Brum e a todos os participantes do encontro "Amazônia Centro do Mundo".

[xoxostephanie11]

[sonic-wildfire]

Sonic Characters’ Favorite Baseball Moments (as part of the sports AU)

Sonic: Dave Roberts steals second base, Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS

Tails: Kirk Gibson’s walk-off home run, Game 1 of the 1988 World Series

Knuckles: Barry Bonds’ monster home run at Yankee Stadium, 8 June 2002

Shadow: Jose Bautista’s go-ahead HR and bat flip, Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS

Rouge: Adam Wainwright strikes out Carlos Beltran, Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS

Amy: Troy Tulowitzki avoids Matt Wieters’ tag at first, 4 September 2015

Cream: Javier Baez nearly throws out Denard Span, Game 4 of the 2016 NLDS

Big: Mariano Rivera earns his 602nd career save, 19 September 2011

Vector: Vladimir Guerrero throws out Alberto Castillo, 7 July 2001

Espio: Todd Helton performs the hidden ball trick, 19 September 2013

Charmy: Gary Matthews Jr. robs Mike Lamb of a home run, 1 July 2006

Silver: Jose Reyes’ throw rips Edwin Encarnacion’s glove, 14 August 2013

Blaze: Kerry Wood strikes out 20 batters, 6 May 1998

Infinite: Carlos Villanueva throws a 57 MPH pitch, 21 August 2013

Ray: Greg Maddux throws 76 pitches in a complete game, 22 July 1997

Mighty: Troy Glaus’ go-ahead double, Game 6 of the 2002 World Series

Jet: Jeff Conine guns down J. T. Snow at the plate, Game 4 of the 2003 NLDS

Wave: Dave LaRoche strikes out Thomas Gorman, 9 September 1981

Storm: Giancarlo Stanton hits a home run out of Dodger Stadium, 12 May 2015

[goalhofer]

Best Baseball Nicknames Of All Time

Luke “Old Aches & Pains” Appling

Frank “Home Run” Baker

James “Cool Papa” Bell

Charles “Chief” Bender

Wade “Chicken Man” Boggs

Lou “The Franchise” Brock

Max “Scoops” Carey

Earle “The Kentucky Colonel” Combs

“Wahoo” Sam Crawford

Bob “The Heater From Van Meter” Feller

Frankie “The Fordham Flash” Frisch

Lou “Biscuit Pants” Gehrig

Leon “Goose” Goslin

Rich “Goose” Gossage

Burleigh “Ol’ Stubblebeard” Grimes

Tony “Captain Video” Gwynn

“Sliding” Billy Hamilton

Charles “Old Tomato Face” Hartnett

James “Catfish” Hunter

Walter “The Big Train” Johnson

“Honest” Joe Kelly

Chuck “The Hoosier Hammerer” Klein

Connie “The Tall Tactician” Mack

Greg “Mad Dog” Maddux

Mickey “The Commerce Comet” Mantle

Juan “The Dominican Dandy” Marichal

Bill “Little Joe Chest” McGowan

“Steady” Eddie Murray

Stan “The Man” Musial

Branch “The Mahatma” Rickey

“Bucklefoot” Al Simmons

Ozzie “The Wizard Of Oz” Smith

Norman “Turkey” Stearnes

Don “Black & Decker” Sutton

Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas

Harold “Pie” Traynor

Zack “Buck” Wheat

Ted “Teddy Ballgame” Williams

Bruce “Eggs” Benedict

Andruw “The Curacao Kid” Jones

Larry “Chipper” Jones

Eddie “Mattress” Mathews

Brooks “Human Vacuum Cleaner” Robinson

Andrew “Ben Nintendo” Benintendi

David “Big Papi” Ortiz

Shane “Flyin’ Hawaiian” Victorino

Dave “Kong” Kingman

George “Sultan Of Swat” Ruth

Todd “The Toddfather” Frazier

Cesar “The Chief” Geronimo

David “Stormy” Weathers

Mike “The Human Rain Delay” Hargrove

“Sudden” Sam McDowell

Harry “Suitcase” Simpson

Andres “The Giant” Galarraga

Todd “The Toddfather” Helton

Steve “Father Time” Reed

Larry “The Canadian Clubber” Walker

Charlie “Chuck Nazty” Blackmon

Aurelio “Senor Smoke” Lopez

James “McCannon” McCann

Jeff “Bagpipes” Bagwell

Johnny “Cash” Damon

“Famous” Amos Otis

“Double Barrel” Darrell Porter

Vladimir “Big Bad Vlad” Guerrero

Daniel “Le Grande Orange” Staub

Edward “The Chairman Of The Board” Ford

Ruben “Slam-wich” Sierra

Garry “The Secretary Of Defense” Maddox

ElRoy “The Bullpen Baron” Face

Kyle “The Lobster” Lobstein

Mark “The Shark” Melancon

Al “The Mad Hungarian” Hrabosky

Leon “Bip” Roberts

John “The Count” Montefusco

Randy “Big Unit” Johnson

Kyle “Corey’s Brother” Seager

Len “Large Lenny” Barker

Prince “Uncle Phil” Fielder

Juan “Senor Octubre” Gonzalez

Kevin “Shrek” Mench

Robbie “The Lawnmower” Ross; Jr.

Josh “Bringer Of Rain” Donaldson

“Nat” Gio Gonzalez

[mitchbeck]

CANTLON: (2/5) UCONN GETS LATE WIN OVER PC

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - Ryan Tverberg’s late breakaway goal with 4:17 left gave the UCONN Huskies a 2-1 win Friday night over the visiting Providence Friars at the XL Center. “Certaintly, we're very pleased with tonight’s win," remarked UCONN Head Coach Mike Cavanaugh. "I told the boys we were in the same position last week in the third period with a tied game. Tonight we found the right play to win the game.” The Huskies won their third-straight Hockey East game. Their record improves to 9-6-0 in league play and 13-11-0 overall.  The Friars record falls to 8-9-1 in the league and 17-11-2 overall. They remain in seventh place now one point behind Merrimack and Providence College. TVERBERG WITH THE WINNER The winning play started just before a shift change as John Spetz got the puck to Artem Schlaine who in turn carried it out of the zone and smartly put it off the right-wing boards. Tverberg did the rest. Tverberg got inside position on Max Crozier for the breakaway. He got Jaxson Stauber, in net for the Friars, to make the first move, which opened the five-hole. Tverberg slipped his backhander by Stauber's right pad. Tverberg ended a 12-game scoreless drought with his tenth goal on the season. He also had an assist on the first goal for a multi-point effort. UCONN who just came off of a close, tight, physical game against Quinnipiac, found themselves in another game just like it. BALANCED ATTACK The Huskies received offensive contributions from all parts of the lineup. Jonny Evans, Carter Turnbull, and Spetz each had five shots on goal. Harrison Rees put four on the net as did Tverberg. Nick Capone, Schandor, Vlad Firstov, and Jake Flynn each had three shots. The two teams scored both goals early in the second period. Providence opened up the scoring on the back end of a brief power play as Parker Ford made a cross-ice pass to Crozier who buried his third of the year at 47 seconds past Darion Hanson. HUSKIES ANSWER BACK At 1:50 as Firstov was standing next to the Huskies bench before departing for his line change. He kept the puck in and got it to Spetz. A tightrope walk ensued for Spetz along the blue line as he went from the right point to dead center where he launched a high-rising shot. Traffic was going on in front of the Friars' net. Stauber was moving his feet and went against the grain shot for his goal. “It happened quickly. The puck came up between Vladdy’s legs and just went on my stick. I was thinking at the time to get to the middle. I just shifted it on net I don’t know who was in front (Tverberg). It was a great screen. It just floated in.” Spetz said of the goal. Cavanaugh was ebullient about Spetz's play. SPETZ “John Spetz might have had his best game of the year, tonight. Not only scoring a goal but playing well on both ends of the ice. In our defensive end, he did an excellent job.” Spetz complemented his coaches on his improved play. “The last couple of games I had slappers and one-timers that just missed the net. I did a little work with Coach (Todd) Helton this week keeping my head up when I shoot. That was the big reason for the goal, I kept my head up the whole time. Sometimes you bury your head and hope. That was brought to my attention to keep my head up and be calm out there.” The Huskies believed they had the goal ahead goal on a shorthanded play, which would have been their first shortie of the season. After an extensive and lengthy video review, the goal was nullified. The gamble in challenging the play paid off for Nate Leaman's team. Jachym Kondelik’s smart follow-up was between Nick Poisson and William Callahan on Chase Bradley’s breakaway at 14:11. It came just ten seconds into Turnbull’s penalty. FIRST PERIOD The first period was an extension of the Quinnipiac game with a dose of big hits as PC had the puck forcing UCONN to chase the game. Right off the bat, the Huskies took a penalty that negated an early power play. UCONN didn’t register a real shot on goal until the 12-minute mark off the stick of Shandor. UCONN tried to change the game with their ice breakers with some big hits on the Friars. The first came from Tverberg on the left-wing boards near the PC blue line on Ford of their first line. Then twin hits first from Jacob Gourley at center ice on Chase Yoder that sent him flying and then Capone suckered into a powerplay on Jamie Engelbert, but UCONN gave it right with a  penalty of their own shortly thereafter. LINES FIRSTOV-KONDELIK-O’NEIL GATCOMB-EVANS-TURNBULL SCHANDORE-SCHLAINE-TVERBERG BRADLEY-CAPONE-VEILLEUX WHEELER-REES BERGER-SPETZ KINAL-FLYNN GOURLEY HANSON TERNESS SCRATCHES Austin Metcalfe Cassidy Bowes Gavin Puskar John Wojciechowski Sasha Teleguine Ryan Keane UCONN MEN'S HOCKEY HOME Read the full article