Hall of Fame Archives - Page 2 of 10

Academy Awards nominations et al.

baseball, The Daily Show, JEOPARDY!

As I’m sure I mentioned once upon a time, I pay attention to the Academy Awards nominations. In the early 1990s, I’d listen to the radio at work and jot down the major selections. Now I can wait ten minutes and find it online.

The issue of an awards snub currently seems particularly energized. Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg denies it happened this year but one of her The View costars says otherwise. A guy on my Facebook feed says no, and is accused of mansplaining.

THR writes: “One irony of the backlash to the Barbie snubs is that it has attempted to pit women against women. (Barbie Land would never!) One column has been excoriated for appearing to diminish the performances of the nominated actresses in defense of [Margot] Robbie.”

For me, it’s clear I need to see more performances. There are five women Best Actress in a Leading Role:

Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)

I’ve seen only Mulligan.

Likewise, these folks were nominated for Best Directing:

Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

I’ve seen only Oppy, so I can’t say of Greta Gerwig was snubbed or not.

Best pics

Ten films were selected as Best Picture nominees. The ones I’ve seen I’ve starred:

*American Fiction (Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers)
Anatomy of a Fall (Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers)
*Barbie (David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers)
*The Holdovers (Mark Johnson, Producer)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers)
*Maestro (Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers)
*Oppenheimer (Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers)
*Past Lives (David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers)
Poor Things (Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers)
The Zone of Interest (James Wilson, Producer)

Time to get to the theater, where these films have either shown up for the first time or have made an Oscar nom return.

I won’t be seeing these films, though. Razzie Awards: ‘Expend4bles’ Leads Nominations. ‘Exorcist: Believer’ and ‘Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’ also nabbed multiple mentions.

MLB HOF

I’m happy Adrián Beltré, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer were selected for the Baseball Hall of Fame. But I’m sad that, in his 9th try out of ten chances, reliever Billy Wagner came up five votes short.

Gary Sheffield: HE was snubbed, falling off the ballot after receiving 63.9% of the vote, with 75% needed.

Next year’s ballot will include Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia. Both should get in on the first ballot, with Ichiro, the only MLB player I know to have his first name on the back of his jersey, a mortal lock.

I’m sad to read that Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame infielder Ryne Sandberg has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and has begun treatment. Part of it is that my father died of the disease.

NFL playoffs

Go, Detroit Lions! General Motors is delaying a shift on Sunday so that their workers can see the Lions’ NFC title game completion against the San Francisco 49ers.

Like the return of Michael Jordan to the Bulls

I’m glad Jon Stewart is back on The Daily Show, even if it’s once a week on air, plus serving as executive producer, at least through the election. TDS veterans are thrilled. I liked the top-secret intrigue in luring him back.

J!

To my surprise, I found this season’s Celebrity JEOPARDY more interesting than the previous iteration. It’s also a lot more fun than the regular game’s interminable Champions Wildcard, where they bring back players from the past three seasons. That said, I’m rooting for Martha Bath, who won back in 1972 when Art Fleming was the host and then won again a couple of years ago.

Celebrity J! fans criticized ABC for revealing the winner ahead of the final tournament: ‘Thanks for the spoiler.’ An ad for Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program featured the winner. (If you’ve recorded it without watching it, I’M not going to provide a spoiler.) Luckily for me, I watched it fast-forwarding through the commercials.

2024 Hall of Fame (baseball)

Jim Leyland

Adrian Beltre, Rangers at Orioles 7/19/2017

On January 23, 2024, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will announce the results of its Hall of Fame vote. Any electees will be inducted into the 2024 Hall of Fame during the HoF Weekend on Sunday, July 21. They’ll be joined by previously announced legend, manager Jim Leyland, selected by the committee deciding on Contemporary Baseball Era Non-Players

Of the 26 people on the ballot, 14 were on for the first time. Here are the possible picks.

If I could actually vote, the first one I’d pick would be Gary Sheffield (10th and final year, 55%). But I expect he’ll come up short because of both the steroid allegations, his mouth, and his mediocre defense.

The next three have also been on the ballot for a while
2. Todd Helton (6th year, 72.2%) – definite HoF numbers diminished in writers’ minds because his home games were in a mile-high stadium, but he’s on the cusp of 75%, and I expect he’ll make it
3. Billy Wagner (9th, 68.1%) – a solid reliever for many years

4. Andruw Jones (7th year, 58.1%) – great defensive outfielder. He provided great offense, too, until his numbers took a precipitous drop.

I suspect Helton and Wagner will make it to the HoF.

Newcomers

5. Adrián Beltré (1st year) – with over 3,000 hits, decent power and batting average, plus a great glove, he’s the only newbie who is close to a lock to get into the Hall

6. Matt Holliday (1st year). A solid performer for a lot of years.

7. Jimmy Rollins (3rd year, 12.9%) – I’m hoping his numbers would go up in a less crowded ballot, but it hasn’t been the case

8. The problem with Carlos Beltrán (2nd year, 46.5%) is the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Many voters don’t see his guilt to be significant enough to keep him out of the Hall, if not this year then down the road.

9. Francisco Rodriguez (2nd time, 10.8%), a solid reliever, not getting much love

10. Andy Petitte (6th year, 17.0%). He came clean about his using PEDs early, and MLB did not ban it at the time. But I doubt he will ever make the Hall.

Not voting for

Alex Rodriguez (3nd year, 35.7%). A great offensive and defensive infielder, one of the greats in baseball history. As Wikipedia noted, “Rodriguez amassed a .295 batting average, over 600 home runs (696), over 2,000 runs batted in (RBI), over 2,000 runs scored, over 3,000 hits, and over 300 stolen bases, the only player in MLB history to achieve all of those feats.” Yet, he was using PEDs after they were banned and lied about it. He was ultimately suspended for the 2014 season. His vote increase from the previous year was negligible.

Manny Ramirez (8th year, 33.2%), a quality player, served a 50-game suspension in 2012 for the second drug policy violation.

Omar Vizquel (7th season, 19.5%), a great defensive shortstop, “is seeing his chances at the Hall of Fame disappear because of two scandals involving domestic violence and sexual harassment.” The latter is particularly lurid. His vote count went DOWN by over four percentage points.

Several others I would consider include first-timers Chase Utley, Joe Mauer, and Bartolo Colon.

November rambling: Ham Sandwich

Vote for Rebecca Jade!

Can conservatives be allies against climate change?

Electronic waste is a growing problem globally.

Trump Proposes Imprisoning Journalists Who Don’t Name Sources

Political Attack Ads: Bad for You, Bad for America

Borowitz satire: Republicans Blindsided That People Who Vote Believe in Democracy

Cherokee delegate could be seated in the House of Representatives

John Aniston, ‘Days of Our Lives’ Star and Father of Jennifer Aniston, Dies at 89. I started watching DOOL, and the evil Victor, in 1990 for about three years.

KFC apologizes after its German Kristallnacht promotion

Our Kids Can’t Do the Math

The first anti-racists

The Rise of DISCMASTER

Russel Kwong, a student worker at Cornell Program on Applied Demographics, has updated New York State reference maps with names and locations of incorporated villages, cities, towns, and American Indian reservations. They are now based on 2020 Census geographies.

She Spent a Decade Writing Fake Russian History. Wikipedia Just Noticed.

How Do You Cope with Being Ghosted?

John Green: Instantly Debatable

The Hollywood Reporter’s Comedy Star of the Year: Quinta Brunson

Andy Borowitz satire: Elon Musk Accidentally Includes Himself in Latest Round of Mass Layoffs

The Oatmeal comic: Taking selfies from various angles, and I have firsthand experience with the undead

Jaquandor linkage

Now I Know: The Tale of Monkey Island and The Tiny Lie in Your Pantry and Why You Shouldn’t Piss Off The Architect and The Sugar Cereal Edition of Where’s Waldo and The Ultimate Fortune Teller? and The Original Chicken Dance? and Trick-or-Treating… But on Thanksgiving?

Abolitionists

Descendants and sponsors traveled from a dozen states to participate in the abolition symposia and inductions of three abolitionists to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro, NY. Mary Liz Stewart and Paul Stewart nominated and presented Stephen Myers on behalf of the Underground Railroad Education Center (UREC) in Albany, NY. The UREC is located in the 19th C home of Stephen and Harriet Myers. Two descendants of the Myers joined the Stewarts on stage for the unveiling of the banner which will be installed in the Hall of Fame.

Also inducted were Rev. Robert Everett and Calvin Fairbank.

Incidentally, UREC is deactivating its Twitter account “in response to irresponsible decisions at its highest level. Tweets supporting unsubstantiated reports, allowing hate speech, and allowing accounts to be held by dangerous individuals are not acceptable.”

MUSIC

Rebecca Jade has just been nominated for Smooth Jazz Network’s 2022 “Breakout Artist of the Year”! You can vote DAILY from now until December 2nd! Vote HERE. Also, she will be joining Dave Koz and Friends for a very special 25th Anniversary Christmas tour from November 25 to December 23. Tickets HERE.

Drive My Car – Peter Sprague featuring Rebecca Jade

Music from The Story of an Unknown Actor by Alfred Schnittke

Coverville 1419: The Herman’s Hermits Cover Story II

A Big Black Lady Stops the Show – Capathia Jenkins from Fame Becomes Me, with Martin Short

This Must Be The Place – Ham Sandwich

Here’s That Rainy Day – Aubrey Logan

Man Of La Mancha – Richard Kiley and Irving Jacobson

Poet and Peasant Overture by Franz von Suppe on solo piano

Jim Kalas (John W. Kalas), RIP

Psalm 84

His given name was John, but he was always Jim Kalas. I knew him from my time at Trinity United Methodist Church from 1983 to 2000, but I would continue to see him occasionally when the FOCUS Churches would meet during the summer.

One thing many folks knew was that he was an avid swimmer. I found this article from North Central College in Naperville, IL. He was inducted into the college’s sports Hall of Fame for Men’s Swimming in 2015 based on his accomplishments in the pool back in 1955.

Speaking of a Hall of Fame, Jim had the same deep, mellifluous voice as his brother. Harry Kalas, who died in 2009, was the longtime announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies. Harry was the 2002 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award, awarded by an arm of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jim and his wife Mary attended the ceremonies in Cooperstown.

The college article about Jim gave some useful biographical information. “After graduation, Kalas went on to earn a Bachelor of Divinity degree from the University of Chicago in 1958 and a doctorate degree in philosophy from Columbia University in 1962 before beginning his career as an assistant professor of philosophy and religion at Lake Forest College.”

TUMC and SUNY

At Trinity, he was very active on various boards, as I was for a time. He was also an educator. I attended several of his sessions, reading sections of a Bible version that Jim had translated from the original Greek. He was slated to offer a monthly Bible study of Genesis, promising to look “at the present day meaning of some of those old, familiar and fascinating stories.”

His primary vocation, though, was as an administrator for the State University of New York, overseeing various areas over a quarter century, including research, economic development, and international programs. He was interim president of the College at Potsdam c. 1997

Jim retired, allegedly, in 2000 as an associate provost, He later joined the University of Albany as a part-time professor in educational administration and policy studies.

He was always very active, serving on the board of The Capital Area Council of Churches, among other tasks.

My job

Here’s a story I told two years ago, but I never gave attribution before. Shortly after he retired, Jim told me that I almost didn’t get the job as a librarian at the NY Small Business Development Center in October 1992.

“There were one or more persons on the committee who were concerned about my race. Specifically, the job required that the librarian in that position create liaisons with the state directors and other staff in the other states’ lead centers. Many of them were in the South, of course. The search committee feared that these folks wouldn’t cotton to working with a black person. So I was rejected for that reason.

“Then, someone up the State University of New York food chain told them, ‘You can’t do that!'” SUNY protocol prohibited them from excluding me because of my race. SUNY is the host institution of the NY SBDC. I ended up getting the job after all.” That someone was Jim Kalas, my boss’s boss’s boss at SUNY.

Brahms

Recently, my wife thought she saw him walking in the retirement community where my MIL lives. He must have moved there relatively recently, after his wife Mary, who I liked, died last year. Jim and Mary had been married 49 years.

Sometime this century, Jim told me that he wanted How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place sung at his funeral, which will be on October 1 at Trinity. The song is part of the German Requiem by Brahms, sung in English. It’s based on Psalm 84. I’ve sung it several times. Jim, who had a nice singing voice, probably had as well.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, class of 2022

Belafonte!

I was well-pleased with who got into the class of 2022 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It turned out that the top eight on the fan poll were selected. * I voted for them

Duran Duran* (934,880 votes), who I voted for as soon as ADD asked; it was a tight race for a while, but DD ran away. I own but one DD album. And it’s the album that people who own only album own, Rio. Here are some videos.

Eminem (684,237). I own none of his music. But I did see the movie 8 Mile. His channel.

Pat Benatar* (631,299), and they rightly included her partner Neil Giraldo; she led early in the fan poll. I may own something on vinyl. The Benatar Giraldo channel.

Eurythmics* (442,271). I LOVE Eurythmics. I have two or three of their albums, plus the greatest hits. Also two Annie Lennox albums. One of my favorite MTV videos is Would I Lie To You. Their channel.

Dolly Parton (393,796); saying that she was undeserving may have been the most rock and roll thing she ever did. I have one of her solo albums, plus the complete Trio albums with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Her channel.

ALSO

Judas Priest (365,999). I own none of their music. Their channel.

Carly Simon (335,489). I have three or four of her albums on vinyl, plus one and the greatest hits on CD. But the Simon Sisters show up on a couple of compilations I own. Her channel.

Lionel Richie* (302,877). maybe one LP. I have one Commodores greatest hits CD. His channel.

The others who got in:

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (YES!). Their channel.

Allen Grubman. If you don’t know him, and I didn’t, here’s a 75-minute video from the 1990s.

Jimmy Iovine (yes) – an 18-minute video of the record label owner and producer

Sylvia Robinson -watch the video of The God Mother & Pioneer Of Hip-Hop’s Big Business (R.I.P. Queen Sylvia Robinson)

I’m sorry I didn’t know Elizabeth Cotten, though I know all of her acolytes: Pete Seeger (for whom she was a nanny!); Joan Baez; Bob Dylan; the Grateful Dead; Taj Mahal; and Peter, Paul, and Mary, among many others. Surely I know her most famous song, Freight Train.

HARRY BELAFONTE – I’ve written about him here and here and probably a dozen other times

The also-rans on the fan ballot. Devo* (224,723), Kate Bush (207,523); Rage Against The Machine (190,063); Dionne Warwick (186,038); A Tribe Called Quest (145,287); New York Dolls (120,958); Beck (99,771); MC5 (93,666); and Fela Kuti (69,656), who was in the top two in the fan poll last year.

As I have said MANY times, they need to add Estelle Axton!