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Breaking News! Sat night Mar 22 10PM TCM underrated "Angels in the Outfield" (1951) + Updates on Columbia Women & Wisconsin Men Basketball

I usually end my blogs with TCM tips. But time is of the essence now. You're in for a treat tomorrow night Mar 22.

 TCM airs the original - accept no substitutes! - "Angels in the Outfield" from MGM in 1951.  It is directed by Clarence Brown, the man who learned his craft in early days of

silent movies from Maurice Tourneur [father of the Noir director Jacques Tourneur ["Out of the Past", "Easy Living" the 1949 version and many more], Clarence Brown became the man whose craft made Greta Garbo a star and later shepherded Elizabeth Taylor in her first films.

 

"Angels" stars Paul Douglas, a onetime pro football player and NBC announcer/sportscaster who made his acting name in the Broadway version of "Born Yesterday". He plays Guffy McGovern, the crusty manager of the tailend Pittsburgh Pirates who becomes a winner thanks to the human touch of 24-year-old Janet Leigh playing a Household Hints reporter for a Pittsburgh newspaper. (Pgh natives will love the on-location photography of Forbes Field and its environs - Ralph Kiner hits a home run in one scene and Sam Narron, one of the 8 Narrons in pro ball, has a line as s first base coach.) Douglas's biggest help comes from the orphan girl Bridget played by 8-year-old Donna Corcoran who didn't become the next Shirley Temple but she lives in posterity for this believable part. 

 

Bridget sees angels in the outfield helping the Pirates win games.  Her supervising nuns are played by Spring Byington and Ellen Corby. Keenan Wynn plays a nasty broadcaster as only this talented actor can. He leads a crusade to ban Guffy from baseball for being loony enough to see angels. (Bat Guano in "Dr. Strangelove" was a few years ahead in Wynn's future.)

 

James Whitmore is the uncredited voice of angel Gabriel, coach of the Heavenly Choir.   I can't fail to mention Bruce Bennett who plays aging pitcher Saul Hellman/ Bennett is probably the best athlete ever to play in the movies (he won the silver medal in the shot put in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and earlier played for Washington Huskies n 1926 Rose Bowl.)  Bennett was notable opposite Ida Lupino in "The Man I Love" (1946) and vital to the success of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1946). 

If you disagree on my enthusiasm for this film, feel free to make comments. 

 

If this film is not enough for the first Sat night of spring, before "Angels" there is a 15-minute short, "Donkey Baseball" (1935), one of promoter Ray Doan's many hustles during the Great Depression.  After "Angels", Babe Ruth stars in a 1936 short, "Home Run on the Keys" with Rez Confrey who made a hit with "Kitten on the Keys".  Babe is trying to sell a song about baseball to the radio.  Have not seen this one and it could be a hoot.   

 

AND NOW SOME EXCITING NYC HOOPS NEWS! 

At 4p today Fri Mar 21 NYU men's basketball team plays for Division III title against Trinity from Hartford CT. Also at 4P the women go for their second straight title and their 62nd win in a row in a rematch against Smith of Northampton MA.  Use your search engines to find where you can see these games.

 

My Columbia women's team won their First Four game in thrilling fashion last night (Th Mar 20).  Trailing by 13 at the half, aggressive defense and timely offense pulled

off a 63-60 victory.  Next up tomorrow Sa Mar 22 at 2P on ESPNEWS is West Virginia University.  Followed by Harvard, conquerors of Columbia in the Ivy League tourney.

 

Wisconsin Badger men live on with a Saturday match against tough Brigham Young tomorrow (Sa Mar 22) 745P CBS - all times are EDT.

It has been a dream college season for yours truly.  Columbia women were expected to do well and they have exceeded expectations.

Wisconsin men were picked for 12th in the now-18-team Big Ten.  The Badgers are proof that players with the help of coaching preparation win games, not pundits or fans.

But how we love to root them on.

 

More next time on today's MLB which opened the season in Tokyo earlier this week with two predictable wins of the Dodgers over the Cubs.  Baseball should

open the season in Cincinnati where it used to for many many years.  And if they claim that Jackie Robinson's debut game on April 15 1947 was the greatest

moment in the sport's history, why not start the season then?  Of course, the powers don't believe that about JR's debut. They even purged that story from their website as "DEI infected" until they were shamed to return it. 

 

But I will not end this post on a down snarky note.  "It's not my style," Ricky Nelson says to John Wayne in "Rio Bravo".  Instead I will give the last word to

Columbia women's coach Megan Griffith in the post-game presser after the 63-60 win over Washington:

"I like to teach young people how to do hard things together - maybe it's something missing in today's society."

 

Amen sister!  Until next time, stay positive test negative and take it easy but take it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On the Agony And Ecstasy of Late February College Basketball & Words of Wisdom From Baseball Scouts + TCM Tips (correction added on Delbarton School)

George Washington's 315th birthday - Sat February 22 2025 - will long live in the memory of this fan of Wisconsin men's and Columbia women's basketball.  The agony occurred in midday when on FOX national TV, the Badgers, ahead by 12 at the half and 15 midway through the second half, allowed Oregon's Ducks to go on a 13-2 run in the last six minutes of regulation and win in overtime, 77-73.  Oregon coach Dana Altman's suffocating defense forced the Badgers into a season-high 17 turnovers, many of them late in the game. Center Nate Bittle, back from two seaons of injury, led Oregon's offense with help from the Villanova transfer guard TJ Bamba (who was born in the Bronx but went to HS in Denver) and sophomore forward Kwame Evans, a fearless lefty who was born in Baltimore. 

 

Only positive thing about this loss is that it came in February not in March.  Having followed Wisconsin basketball intently for over a half-century, it seems we never play well when our national rankings increase.  We still have scoring machine John Tonge, the 6th-year transfer portal surprise, but only one real point guard, the undersized 6 0" senior Kamari McGee who doesn't even start but is one of the team leaders.  When we had the big lead on Saturday, I thought about how much McGee has meant off the bench and how his shot-making has improved.  Same story for senior reserve forward Carter Gilmore who even saved the Iowa game on the road with career-high offense. I can always root for sophomore big man Nolan Winter - great name for a Wisconsin player! - who hit a big 3 in OT to give us a brief lead against Oregon.  

 

Fans will blame inconsistent longtime center Steven Crowl for his six turnovers on Sat. and sophomore guard John Blackwell for his crucial late game booboos. And the haters of coach Greg Gard, silent during our winning streaks this season, always emerge after any loss. Yet the schedule ahead is not too bad for Badgers if they learn the lesson that Yogi Berra's line applies to basketball, too - it ain't over until it's over and you must play hard all game.

 

Up next is Washington at home on Tues Feb 25 9P EST on extra-priced Peacock. Then a biggie at Big 10 leader Michigan State on CBS next Sun Mar 2 at 130P. Followed by Wed Mar 5 arch-rival Minnesota at home on Big Ten Network at 830P and Penn State at home Sa Mar 8 1P BTN (all times EST).  The following week is the annual Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis.  This year the three teams with the worst record in the expanded Big 18 are sent home early so Washington, Penn State, and Minnesota cannot be overlooked because they are opponents with hopes alive for squeezing into the tournament.    

 

My ecstasy came later in the day when I got a ride to Princeton to see Columbia rally in the 4th quarter to beat the perennial-Ivy League champion Tigers, 64-60.  The Lions' victory moves Columbia into first place with a 10-1 record with a one game lead over both Princeton and Harvard with three

games to play before the conference tourney this year at Brown in Providence on FSa Mar 14-15.  

 

Down 6 points entering the 4th quarter on Sat., guard Maria Arrendola hit a 3-point shot that started a 13-0 run that gave Columbia the lead for good.  Sophomore Riley Weiss, who grew up in nearby Hewlett, NY, scored a career-high 34 points, 16 in the last period. Senior co-captain Kitty Henderson hit the dagger late in the 4th quarter that gave the Lions the cushion they needed. 

 

I was part of almost 200 ardent Lions fans seated behind the Columbia bench. Although we were outnumbered 10-1 by Princeton faithful, our chants of "DE-FENSE!" and "LET'S GO LIONS!" could be heard.  It was Princeton's first home loss in over 30 games and the first time we've beaten them twice in one season in almost 10 years.  Seated in the row behind me and rooting hard for her alma mater was Abbey Hsu, Columbia women's basketball all-time scoring leader who will be going to the Connecticut Sun's training camp in April. (Teammate Kaitlyn Davis, who played a graduate year at USC, will be going to the Liberty camp.)

I told Abbey she was almost as good a fan as she was a player. 

 

In addition to loving acronyms - Columbia coach Megan Griffith has coined a good one for her program:  EDGE:  Energy/Determination/Grit/Excellence - 

I'm somewhat of a sucker for inspirational slogans.  I saw a fan in the Princeton  crowd wearing a T-shirt that read:  LIFT/LAUGH/LOVE.  Pretty good one for the aspiring athlete in your family.  I've also loved the T-shirt I saw years ago worn by a Tampa Bay Rays baseball trainer:  CHAMPIONS ARE MADE WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING.  And here's an original one to remember the Five Towns of Long Island's Nassau County close to the NYC borough of Queens:   

WILCH - Woodmere, Inwood, Lawrence, Cedarhurst, Hewlett (home town as noted earlier of Columbia's budding star Riley Weiss).

 

One last note on women's basketball in the NYC area:  The NYU women are now at 55 wins in a row and counting.  They will host the first two rounds

of the Division III playoffs on FSa Mar 7-8 at their home court Paulson Center on Mercer Street in Greenwich Village.  So likely will the men's team under coach Dave Klatsky, a 2003 graduate of Penn. They sport a 23-1 record as they, too, enter the playoff season.  I find it hard to imagine any school in any division that has gone this far in one basketball season with only one loss between them.    

 

NOW IT'S TIME FOR BASEBALL!

The annual New York Pro Scouts Hot Stove League dinner in late January offered some memorable speeches and tributes.  Anthony Iapoce, a 33rd-round 1994 draft choice of the Milwaukee Brewers, received the Jim Quigley "Service to Baseball Award" (which I was honored to receive 15 years ago). Service to baseball is no exaggeration for Iapoce whose career in baseball included over 10 years as a minor league outfielder (reaching Triple A at the highest), scout for several organizations, minor league manager in 2023 for the Tiger's Triple AAA Toledo franchise, and now entering his second year as Detroit first base coach.

 

Iapoca offered his general praise for the scouts who have "mastered simplicity" by becoming "detailed observers" and "active listeners".   He then specifically praised Jim Fleming the scouting director who hired him for the Marlins and insisted that every scout go to high school games with him and give appraisals not mere judgments. Anthony also tipped his cap to Tony LaCava, who when he hired him for the Blue Jays, stressed: "I want you to give your opinions." 

 

Another speaker at the late January dinner at Leonard's Palazzo in Great Neck Long Island was Bruce Shatel, High School Coach of the Year from Delbarton Prep in Morristown, New Jersey (alma mater of Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe and Rangers RHP Jack Leiter).  "Why do you coach?" Shatel said he is often asked. Because he gets the thrill of a double into the gap hit by one of his players, he answered.  He added that he loved the thrill of seeing a well-executed 3-2 pitch that leads to an out. 

 

One sad note that I just learned while preparing this post.  Bobby Malkmus, born on the Fourth of July in 1931 in Newark NJ, passed away on Feb 23.

He had major experience as a Milwaukee Braves second baseman in the 1950s before the trade of Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst in 1957.  Malkmus was a long time Cleveland scout and a minister.  His presence at scout gatherings will be greatly missed.  

 

As for news of baseball on the MLB level, I am glad that most of the ballyhooed free agent signing season is over.  I have never begrudged players making a lot of money in a career that usually is quite short. But let the buyer owner beware of handing out multi-year contracts.  I don't like seeing super-agent Scott Boras's mug day in and day out on the TV and computer screens, sharing the space with his clients. I also think that the MLB season is ridiculously long and the number of teams in the playoffs are far too many.  But there is too much grouching in this world.  I'm happy for the return of baseball and upcoming warmer weather and for now I'll leave it at that.

 

The upcoming TCM baseball movie tip not to miss is Th Feb 27 at 7A (EST): "Speedy" (1928) - Harold Lloyd's great silent movie about the misfortunes but optimistic resilience of a baseball-loving young man. The scene where awed taxicab driver Lloyd transports his hero Babe Ruth to a game at Yankee Stadium is must-viewing.

 

W Feb 26 at 8P "Going My Way" (1944) Bing Crosby as a priest and St. Louis Browns fan with Barry Fitzgerald & Frank McHugh, dir. Leo McCarey. There's more baseball references in this film that I recalled on first viewing.  Not just Bing wearing a Browns sweatshirt.  After 1944 was the year of the only all St. Louis

World Series, won by the Cardinals in six games.  And Bing made a cameo in the 1951 underappreciated baseball film "Angels in the Outfield" (1951).

  

M Mar 3 8P "Pride of the Yankees" (1942) returns again and it is always worth seeing for the great cast of Gary Cooper/Teresa Wright/Dan Duryea/

Walter Brennan and Babe Ruth and Bill Dickey appearing as themselves. 

 

Non-baseball movies worthy of seeing include:

M Feb 24 5P "When We Were Kings" (1996) Leon Gast's movie about the hoopla surrounding the Sept 1974 "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali & Geoirge Foreman.  It is as much about the big music concert as it is about the fight. 

Later that night at 8P Hitchock's early classic "Suspicion" (1941) with Cary Grant

 

Tu Mar 4 highlights John Garfield movies from dawn to dusk. Most of them are from his heyday from the late 30s through the late 40s but his last film for Warners (and produced by his own company) "The Breaking Point" (1950) must be seen at 615P.  His blacklist started shortly thereafter and in 1952 he died of a heart attack at the age of 39.  (He suffered from a heart condition that kept him out of World War II service.) 

Cast includes Phyllis Thaxter as his wife, Patricia Neal as a femme fatale to end femme fatales, Wallace Ford, and Juano Hernandez.  By far the best film version of "To Have and Have Not" by Ernest Hemingway. 

 

That's all for now - stay positive test negative (for as long as the new Health czar RFK Jr. allows for tests) and take it easy but take it.  

 

     

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