First, let’s handle our BID-ness on this pre-football frenzy Friday, starting with this week’s Rushmores.
Rushmore of most universally identifiable three-letter abbreviations: Wow, way, Way, WAY more than I expected to sift through, and the sports angle to this when it comes to leagues also crowds the team picture because NFL and NBA are surefire. Two with sports relations but also societal relevance get eliminated as ERA – earned run average and the Equal Rights Amendment – and SEC – Southeastern Conference and Securities and Exchange Commission – have multiple options. The other two for sports are MVP – which makes a run on the main Rushmore too – and RBIs. TV feels like its own category too, you know. There also are people, especially presidents. The JFKs, LBJs, FDRs. And the current short-hand slang. LOL, OMG and a slew of others. As for the big picture, I’ll offer USA, etc., FBI and CEO. (Side question: Is WWII, three or four letters?)
Rushmore of best sports moments for teenagers: A bunch from the tennis world, but Boris Becker at 17 at Wimbledon was the first one I thought of. Andruw Jones homering in his first two ABs in the 1996 World Series. (He would have been a teenage MVP if Wohlers hadn’t hung that slider in Game 3.) Moses Malone, the first high schooler drafted into the NBA in modern times and the first teenager picked for the All-Star Game. And of course Bennie the Jet Rodriguez said Smalls’ bacon in the documentary “The Sandlot.”
Rushmore of modern Marvel movie characters (and the lil’ 5-at-10, who will turn 14 early next week, had a say in this one): Iron Man and Thor are no-doubters. Like Cobb and Ruth. My son says Captain America and was intrigued by the suggestion of Loki, considering his see-saw turns from hero to villain. The toughest omission for me is Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, who is off-the-charts likable as well as super.
Rushmore of Ted: “Ted” the movie, which was right on the edge in terms of timing to be made – and that will encompass Ted Bears – Ted Williams, Ted Roosevelt, and I love the suggestion of Ted Knight, who was glorious as Elihu Smails. And by all accounts, Knight loathed all the antics of the rest of the cast and crew in “Caddyshack.”
My father would have been 80 today.
We will have an NFL survivor pool. Details to come Monday. Deal? Deal. Also coming Monday the first installment of a 5-at-10 bracket challenge that will run through football season. Deal? Deal.
Also, Chas had a couple of very fine and usable questions, but college football filled the bag in the 11th hour. Chas, I’ll get back to the Paralympics stuff, especially.