October 2, 2012

1. Today is the birthday of the love of my life. Happy Birthday, Judy Lynne Denman Edge!

2. “‘Dad was a hard man to know,’ says John S. D. Eisenhower, who just turned 90. ‘But the balance that Thomas achieves between Eisenhower the public servant and Eisenhower the man is, in my opinion, as close to the mark as we are likely to see.’

--From the VANITY FAIR review of Evan Thomas’ new book, IKE’S BLUFF. I have just begun reading the book, and, so far, it is very engaging. Thomas’ premise is that Eisenhower used his skill to bluff, as demonstrated all his life in games such as bridge and poker, to get the United States out of the Korean War and shield the U. S. from War World III. I will offer a brief review when I finish the book.

3. I think that three interesting quotes from the current issue of WORLD MAGAZINE’s are very telling:

            a. The first is from Rupert Everett, an actor from Great Britain who is well known for practicing homosexuality—“I can’t think of anything worse than being brought up by two gay dads.”

            b. The second is offered by Nick Cassavetes, a Hollywood director whose credits include THE NOTEBOOK, “Love who you want. Isn’t that what we say?” The context for that quote is a new movie his is directing that includes in its plot line an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister. I doubt Cassavetes believes in incest; he is probably trying to provoke buzz for what he knows will be a controversial movie. Still, the most interesting aspect of Cassavetes’ conversation with the media is this: a major principle undergirding gay marriage—adults should be able to love who they want—could also be used in an argument supporting adult incestuous relationship.

            c. The last quote is from the Chief Inspector in North Yorkshire England. He addressed it to Sarah Catt, who had pled guilty to ingesting poison so as to cause her child to miscarriage—one week before the due date of the child’s birth, “What you have done is rob an apparently healthy child, vulnerable and defenseless, of the life which was about to commence.”

4. How many songs released in 1962 can you name? My two teen-age daughters can name at least one: “Moon River.” They learned to enjoy the music of that piece from a movie called BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S.” The young singer, Andy Williams, wanted to record that song, but his record company would not let him. They thought young listeners would not understand some of the lyrics. So Williams changed companies to Columbia and recorded the song on a concept album of movie themes. I was shocked to learn that the song was never released as a single, yet it endures to this day. Fifty years and still playing makes a good song. When I think of Andy Williams, I think of “Moon River.” RIP Andy Williams.

5. Around ten years ago, ESPN Classics ran a show called LOST TREASURES. It was produced by NFL FILMS. We did not get the channel, but some friends of mine did. I took the unusual step of asking them to record a particular episode. You may wonder why.           

            I did so because it featured a retrospective of a program that NFL FILMS produced way back in 1967. The show was called NFL ACTION.

            In this particular episode, producers had miked the middle linebacker of the Pittsburgh Steelers (the late Bill Saul) during a game with the Washington Redskins. You could hear every sound made on a typical NFL play: the grunts, the snarls, and, yes, the profanity. Meanwhile, the camera followed the middle linebacker everywhere he went.

            On a normal play, Redskin Quarterback Sonny Jurgenson would clearly and audibly call offensive signals; Saul would call defensive signals. Jurgenson would hand off to a running back. Saul would tackle the ball carrier and a pile up would ensue. Saul’s microphone, underneath the pile, transmitted sounds akin to a thundering herd of buffalo.

            I will never forget as a grade schooler watching this very episode one Sunday afternoon on CBS. I was mesmerized. It was during this time that I fell in love with pro football.

            Through the years, I have regularly watched NFL Films. In the third grade, local boys in the neighborhood and I would play a game called “Joe Kapp”, named for the then quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, whom we admired greatly.

            We would have a wide receiver, a pass defender, and a quarterback, who pretended to be Joe Kapp. Sometimes, we would run plays in slow motion. Although we called this game “Joe Kapp”, really what we were doing was trying to act out what we were seeing on NFL Films.

            So several years ago, when I asked my friends to record the program, I was not simply asking them to videotape a documentary. I was asking them to hand over to me a VHS tape that could potentially transport me back to my childhood.

            Steve Sabol, who along with his dad, Ed, was responsible for NFL Films, passed away last month, a victim of cancer. I never met Steve Sabol, yet I've had a long-distance friendship with him for almost 50 years.

            I am not alone. Say the words “John Facenda” and any long-time NFL fan will know I am talking about the voice of NFL Films. Steve Sabol utilized Facenda’s vocal talents and wrote his scripts.

            To this day, the music of NFL Films motivates me. I still have CDs of the music of NFL Films dating back to the sixties. My children have even grown to appreciate it after hearing it for so many years on family trips. Although Steve Sabol did not write that music, he was the one who inspired it and fit it to film.

            How do you maintain excellence in art, entertainment, and inspiration for fifty years? Steve Sabol did. Some of Hollywood’s finest directors learned from and were motivated by NFL Films.

            But I return to my own experiences. It is hard to move and inspire a child. Steve Sabol somehow did.

            Thanks for everything, Steve.

*Thanks to Peter King for the inspiration for this blog's title.