STARTING FIVE
Peyton: All My Glovin’
1. Meet the Zane Beadles!
So, 111.5 million people apparently tuned into Super Bowl XLVIII, making it the most-watched television program in history –even if the real NFL championship game took place two weeks ago in Seattle. Anyway, next Sunday will mark the 50th Anniversary of another TV event, that also took place on a Sunday night in the New York metropolitan area, that at the time was the most watched TV program in history, with 73 million viewers: the Beatles’ debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
“He’s right,” says John. “That is a really big shoe.”
There’s a nice write-up on the weeks leading up to the appearance, as well as the appearance itself, in Rolling Stone. It was the launch of Beatlemania and, in many ways, the Sixties. The Beatles played five songs that night (one was a cover), and here’s footage of some of them. My favorite: All My Loving.
One note that often gets lost: with the media, early in their careers, the Beatles were total charmers. They were witty and affable. Mick Jagger used to refer to them as “the four-headed monster.” The RS article points out that in the months before the Beatles arrived, when nobody here knew them, they were roundly dismissed. Time and Newsweek wrote withering articles about them. It was only one the media met them, and were so roundly won over, that the craze began.
You see, Lester Bangs was right: Friendship is the booze they serve you.
2. House of Cards
So this is what became of Verbal Kint.
Before Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Netflix came along, my knowledge of TV shows and a house of cards was limited to a Brady Bunch episode –and, yes, it was Tiger who ruined it.
Well, Season 2 of House of Cards is on the way, and I am EXTREMELY proud to inform you that one of my favorite people from the steakateria, one of the best people I’ve ever met at any job, Jeremy Holm, is now a part of the cast. You can see him in this trailer, albeit briefly, in two scenes. He’ll be the guy near the end saying, “I’m agent Green.” He shows up earlier, too.
Season 2 will be released on Valentine’s Day, February 14. Watch your step, Vice-President Underwood.
3. And Yet the Band Yaz Never Played There
“She’s got a Fenway about her/I don’t know what it is…”
So, Billy Joel will be playing Fenway Park on June 26, which inspired my old SI on Campus colleague Matt Waxman to write and suggest a few abridged song titles. Which led to further pun-tificating from myself, Steve Rushin, Greg Auman and a tweep named Michael Atchison. Behold, our set list:
“Only The Good Cy Young”
“Just The Way Uehara”
“You May Be Rice”
“Mo Vaughn Out (Anthony’s Song)”
“An Innocent Manny”
“Allenwebster”
“All For Pena”
“Jonlester Alexa”
“It’s Still Rock and Roll, Bill Lee”
“The Lonborg Time”
4. The Triumph of Jamie Casino
Casino Royale! The action figures should be out soon.
You’re a Georgia-based personal injury lawyer and your local ad, which appeared at halftime of the Super Bowl but not on a national basis, goes viral. Maybe because it was made without the input of fourteen layers of supervisors and three focus groups. As someone noted yesterday on TV, when a national ad costs $4 million per 30 seconds, very few companies have the courage to place it in the hands of one or a few people. And so what happens is you wind up with absolute crap like that Time Warner Cable ad with P. Diddy. The Jamie Casino ad, now that’s original.
5. Daria
Daria Werbowy, bringing 70’s chic back to the newsstands.
That’s Canadian model, by way of Ukraine, Daria Werbowy who is currently gracing the covers of both Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. Werbowy is 30.
This is Werbowy’s fifth Vogue cover.
Reserves
New York Mess ace Matt Harvey and SI swimsuit model Anne V. have split up. So, if you’re keeping score, he’s gone from Tommy John Surgery to Leo DiCaprio Syndrome. “Not as easy as it looks, is it?” says Tom Brady.
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My write-up on Philip Seymour Hoffman in Newsweek.
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The Hall
Charter Inductees: Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner
1937: Tris Speaker, CF; Cy Young, P.
1938: Grover Cleveland Alexander, P; Eddie Collins, 2B
1939:Nap Lajoie, 2B; Joe Jackson, LF
1940: Billy Hamilton, OF; Cap Anson, 1B
1941: Wee Willie Keeler, RF; George Sisler, 1B
1942: Rogers Hornsby, 2B; Pie Traynor, 3B
1943: Mickey Cochrane, C; Frankie Frisch, 2B
1944: Ed Walsh, P; Old Hoss Radbourn, P
1945: Lou Gehrig, 1B; Kid Nichols, P
1946: Ed Delahanty, LF; Lefty O’Doul
1947: Pud Galvin, P; John McGraw, INF
1948: Carl Hubbell, P; Addie Joss, P
1949: Harry Heilman, OF/1B; Monte Ward, P/SS
1950: Cool Papa Bell, CF; Jimmie Foxx, 1B
1951: Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, P; Josh Gibson, C
1952:
Paul Waner, RF; 1926-1945, Five teams, mostly Pittsburgh Pirates
“Big Poison” (brother and teammate Lloyd Waner was known as “Little Poison”) collected 3,152 hits and finished his career with a lifetime batting average of .333. When people say, “If you fail two out of three times at the plate in baseball, they put you in the Hall of Fame”, that’s Paul. In 1927 he collected extra-base hits in a record-14 consecutive games, a mark that has only been equaled once (by Chipper Jones in 2006). Waner won three National League batting titles and he and Lloyd hold the Major League record for most hits by siblings, 5,611.
Charlie Gehringer, 2B; 1924-1942, Detroit Tigers
Can we get Detroit to have a retro night with these tiger-head jerseys next summer?
“The Mechanical Man” was as consistent as they come. Seven 200-hit seasons, two distinct 500-plus-consecutive-games-played streaks, and the second-highest number of career assists for a second baseman (7,068) in Major League history. The 1937 American League MVP, Gehringer played every inning of the first six All-Star Games.
Remote Patrol
The Tonight Show
NBC 11:34 p.m.
Leno is leaving. Again.
It’s Jay’s final week on the air — again…not that he’s happy about it…again — so catch tonight’s episode when he’ll have the hottest man in Hollywood, Matthew McConaughey, as a guest along with Charles Barkley. That’s a solid couch worth of luminaries.
The HOF is getting interesting. By my count, as of 1952, there are 21 guys who were in the regular hall who have not yet made the Walters Hall. The bulk are Veteran’s Committe guys from 1945 & 1946. But there are still some notable omissions from the BBWAA. Mel Ott still waiting?
Proud of the Joel playlist and still not sold on whether “We Didn’t Start Pedroia” works or not. Should have gone with it!
Well done on PSH. Have seen him more as a supporting actor than a lead, but want to go back and see Capote and other films he carried from the center.
Sorry, again, to hear of a wave of layoffs at your old office. Harder and harder to remember what the good jobs are in writing …
I tried to leave a comment yesterday but alas, it was intercepted by a Seahawk.
I stole that line from Jimmy Fallon’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno last evening. They both handled what could have been an awkward scene with great humor and aplomb. I predict Jimmy Fallon’s star will rise to Carsonian levels.
Anyone who still writes Thank You notes has my vote!