This is the first time in over 30 years that I'm unable to watch Monday Night Football. I cancelled cable back in February and the game is now on ESPN so . . . I'm not too upset although I like Mike Turico and I love Tony Kornheiser as a writer so I'd be curious to just check it out. I could get a real good deal right now from DISH Network but I've been buying so many DVDs that I've got more than enough to watch. Heck, that's one of the many things that keeps me from posting here and I'm getting grief from people like Jason Crane, Tim Madigan, and others to get off my duff and resume posting.
Speaking of sports and great DVDs, I just got a seven DVD set of the 1979 World Series. The set consists of every game, that's right - I said EVERY GAME of the series between the Baltimore Orioles and the "We Are Family" Pittsburgh Pirates. It's awesome! I cannot express the joy I get by literally escaping into the past and watching some of my earliest baseball heroes flash across the screen: Willie Stargell, Al Bumbry, Manny Sanguillen, Eddie Murray, and many more. And are you ready for the broadcast team - Keith Jackson, Don Drysdale, and the man himself, that's right, that boisterous barrister of broadcasting, Howard Cosell.
I think I mentioned this before when talking about the fabulous Dick Cavett DVDs but this is the way vintage television should be presented to us - in its entirety. I grow so frustrated with DVDs or syndicated versions of old shows, specifically variety shows, that edit out "dated" material that the producers think we won't understand or be interested in. Hell, that's exactly what I am interested in! Personally, I think television, just like old radio or magazines, is a time-capsule of popular culture and of our history. Give it to me uncut, not watered down. If I want boring, unchallenging programs I'll watch current TV.
I'd link up to the DVDs from the 1979 World Series but it's been so long since I've used this that I need to go and re-learn how to do that. I'll try to put up a picture though, I can usually handle that. For those interested, I ordered my set off of Amazon because they had a pretty good sale. There is also the entire set for the 1975 series that I'll probably get as well. In 1979 I was rooting for the Pirates so this is a happy series for me to watch. In the 1975 series I was rooting for the Red Sox so that won't be as enjoyable but is was a great series. And that series was broadcast by Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek, and Joe Garagiola - that alone is worth the price of the set to me.
Let's not forget about the great Willie Stargell. The 1971 World Series, which was also between the Orioles and the Pirates, was the first baseball I ever recall watching on TV. Living in Rochester, New York, everyone in town was rooting for the Orioles because we were their Triple A farm club at the time. Being the young independent spirit that I was, with all my family, friends, and neighbors rooting for the Orioles, I naturally rooted for the Pirates. That's how I discovered Roberto Clemente who quickly, along with Brooks Robinson of the rival Orioles, became my first baseball hero. On that same Pirate ball club there were three other players I remember with great fondness: Manny Sanguillen, Al Oliver, and Willie Stargell. Like Clemente, Stargell was larger than life. He was a secondary figure to Clemente on that 1971 ballclub but by 1979 he was known to his teammates as "Pops" and had become the undisputed leader of the team. He was a great ballplayer, as you'll see from these games, and a great humanitarian, as you'll hear from Howard. Like Clemente, he too died much too soon.
True story: I was watching the first quarter of the Giants/Eagles game this afternoon and the Giants had the ball first and 10 on their 20 yard line or thereabouts. The Giants snapped the ball and picked up 11 yards and another first down on the play. A great play call for the Giants, right? Then tell me why the Eagle's defensive player who made the stop after the 11 yard gain jumped up and was beating his chest and pointing at the Giants after the play!?! He IS aware that the object of the game when his team is on defense is NOT to give up yardage and NOT to allow the opposing team to get first downs, right? Seriously, someone needs to remind him of this fact. Showboating can get annoying enough when you're beating your chest after you make a really important and impressive play but when you start beating your chest after the other team just beat you on a play that goes beyond annoying into just plain stupid. 
