1. Ed picked me up around 10:00 and we glided out to Smelterville to see fellow KHA Class of '72 member, Wanda. Her husband, Gary, died on Monday. We had a good visit. Wanda's dad, Tom, was there. Wanda and Tom told some stories about Gary. I didn't know Gary collected toys like Tonka trucks and GI Joes and I didn't know he enjoyed putting puzzles together. As we left, another friend of Wanda's arrived. We'll see Wanda again on Monday at the service being held on Monday at 11:00 at the funeral home uptown. Afterward, Gordon and Sheila Milholland will host a potluck and celebration of life at their house up French Gulch.
2. The college basketball season is just getting underway and, for the first time, I spent several hours watching as much of four different games as I could: Xavier vs Indiana, Villanova vs Michigan State, Virginia vs Baylor, and Illinois vs UCLA.
Some brief observations:
* Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis is a powerhouse player. He not only scored in a variety of ways, but blocked shots on the defensive end. He impressed me with his savvy and versatility.
*I can hardly wait for the Big East conference season to get underway. I would imagine that as they mature under coach Sean Miller, in his second stint at the school, Xavier will reduce their turnovers, continue to be strong inside, and will be one of its conference's premier teams.
*Unfortunately, I didn't see Villanova's comeback against Michigan State. I had to slip out and do a little shopping at Yoke's. Villanova is no longer coached by Jay Wright, who retired, and I'm curious to see how they perform under first year coach, Kyle Neptune. I didn't see a lot of this game, so I might be wrong, but it looked to me like Villanova needs stronger play from whoever their point guard will be but that Eric Dixon has matured into a dynamic force, both in the key and, at times, from the outside.
*I thought UCLA was way too dependent on Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez. I would imagine that as the season develops, they'll develop more trust in other starters and will continue to get bunches of points from David Singleton off the bench.
*Illinois has rebuilt itself into a superb team. Tonight, at least, Terrance Shannon looked like he might be the country's best player to come out of the transfer portal. It looked to me like Shannon has a highly athletic group of teammates. Freshmen Jayden Epps, Skyy Clark, and Sencire Harris all made significant contributions to Illinois' winning effort, as did their versatile big guys, Matthew Mayer, Coleman Hawkins, and Dain Dainja.
*Virginia looked as springy and athletic as I've ever seen one of their teams look under Coach Tony Bennett. In particular, Armaan Franklin lit up a very good Baylor team with great outside shooting and athletic plays on both ends of the floor. It will be interesting to see if this performance was an aberration or if UVA will be not only the strong defensive team they always are, but a formidable offensive threat as well.
Scores:
Indiana 81 Xavier 79
Michigan State 73 Villanova 71
Illinois 79 UCLA 70
Virginia 86 Baylor 79
3. Before the games came on, I watched a short video on the Criterion Channel featuring Criterion curatorial director Ashley Clark introducing one of my favorite movies of all time, The Long Good Friday (1980). In particular, Clark talked a bit about this movie's opening ten minutes when barely a word is spoken, but we see the events transpire that sets the whole revenge plot of the movie into motion. I wanted to watch this opening again and I did, remembering how perplexing it was the first few times I saw this movie and determined this time to sort out what I was seeing and how to to remember how it all gets clarified much later in the story.
I did my best to commit the opening sequence to memory and then to watch Bob Hoskins' dramatic first appearance in this movie before switching to baseball.
When the games were over, I couldn't stop myself.
I watched The Long Good Friday again for about the 15th time (at least) in my life. The movie's violence is brutal, sometimes nearly unbearable. The story is superb. The acting is muscular, and, at times, tender -- especially Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. The movie is not only a compelling study of the character Hoskins plays, East London mobster Harold Shand, but is a prescient study of England, especially in anticipation of what the Margaret Thatcher-led government will mean for England over the next eleven years. (She's never mentioned in the movie, but somehow she, or at least her vision for England, is always present in the movie.)
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