Heaven Can Wait

We need more Joe Pendleton in
our lives.

We all need more Joe Pendleton in our lives these days.  How can anyone argue that the fantasy football world isn't a safe place to be in the crazy divisive world in which we live. Reality these days, especially for the old school sports fan, kinda sucks. It sure seemed like the sports and sports heroes we grew up watching back in the 20th Century were just better and more inspiring. Heck, even the movies were way better, and among the best was the ultimate football fantasy trip taken by Warren Beatty in "Heaven Can Wait." 

Why is it such a great movie? Where do I start? Great writing and a great cast would be the first place.  Of course there is lot of Dyann Cannon in low cut revealing outfits, and additionally, there is the great music score. More importantly, and this is key, this is a NFL movie that shines with its fantasy journey of a ghost that comes back to inhabit the body of another Ram QB, to fulfill his and his team's greatest wish. To me, it is almost the perfect football movie and time capsule of the NFL of the 1970s. With that, stay tuned to this blog space for more on the great Joe Pendleton!

Something for Joey

The golden age of football movies was clearly the 1970s, and while I am sure others would say otherwise, how can you argue against "Brian's Song," "Heaven Can Wait," "North Dallas Forty," "The Longest Yard," "Semi Tough," and heck even "Gus: The Field Goal Kicking Mule."  There was a magic and simplicity to all these movies that, when you watch them now, make you remember just how much you miss that polyester era when Howard Cosell ruled Monday night and the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to always be playing the late afternoon game. However, occasionally you would see the perennial NFC West champs, the Los Angeles Rams, on which team John Cappelletti played and whose younger brother died tragically of leukemia, the story of which was made into both a book and a tearjerker TV movie called "Something For Joey."  Though I missed it when it was on TV when I was a kid, apparently, it was a popular TV movie here in Japan, and is readily available on YouTube, the free stream of which is available here for your viewing pleasure.

The NFL Goes To Hollywood