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Good-bye, Augustus
Robert Duvall died Monday. He was 95.
He was, simply put, the best.
There may have been single better acting turns. Heck, there are singular performances so true and forever that the actor and the role are forever linked.
Think Brando — Duvall’s professional hero — as Vito Corleone.
Think Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
Think Stewart as George Bailey.
Think … well you get the idea.
But Duvall was so true, so genuine, so unworldly gifted, that he made every role his masterpiece.
Whether he was a supporting player — Boo, Tom Hagen, Lt. Colonel Kilgore, Max Mercy in “The Natural,” the editor in “The Paper,” his cameo in “Slingblade” — or was the only redeemable part of star-studded underachievers like “Days of Thunder” and “Gone in 60 Second,” — he had a top-1% type of Hollywood career.
And maybe that’s what made him so extra extraordinary.
He was the power hitter who stole bases and could bunt. The defensive specialist who could score 35 when needed. A Jerry Rice-level receiver who impacted every game whether he had two catches or 22.
Because his staring roles — from Bull Meechum in “The Great Santini” to my personal favorite of Augustus McCrae in “Lonesome Dove” or the leads in “Stalin” and “The Apostle” — were turns that could be the envy of almost every other acting career over the last century.
I’ll echo something said late Monday in the marathon chat in this very space about the legacy molded by Duvall’s epic greatness.
His Rushmore — while impressive assuredly — may or may not be the best personal collection of four movies of any actor of my lifetime.
But Duvall’s 10 best — hell, his 20 best — are unquestionably and undeniably as good as anyone.
And that’s because Capt. Gus McCrae was better than everyone else.
Rest easy, sir. And thank you for sharing your greatness with us.
Rings a ding-ding
The Olympics are in full swing.
The stories — as well as protected adult relations considering the prophylactics being used in Italy — have been impressive.
There’s the juggernaut of the U.S. women’s hockey team, which is dashing every opposing side’s dream of pulling off a Miracle. The U.S. women have handed out five straight shutouts. Sounds like Spy’s sophomore year of high school.
Anywell, where were we?
Now add in the history landed by Elana Meyers Taylor, the 41-year-old American monobobber. (Side question: Monobobber? That seems like the term for the best contestant at the Halloween carnival at the apple-bobbing event, right? Monobobber? OK.)
Taylor, a momma of two with five medals before Monday, was already the most decorated Black woman in Winter Olympics history. Monday was her first gold, and it made her the oldest individual gold medal winner in Winter Olympics history. Cool.
At the other end of the “Wide World of Sports” spectrum — from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat — comes more details of the Quad God’s weekend disappointment.
Ilia Malinin took to social media to share the impact of “vile online hatred” and Olympic pressure after his fall-infested showing in figure skating.
I have sympathy for everyone dealing with emotional and mental health issues, and the comments online — whether you are an elite athlete like Malinin or a keyboard cowboy like you know who — can be a scary and hate-filled desert.
But Olympic pressure? Boss, that’s the stakes and what produced the grand rewards, no?
The Olympics are magical, and it’s more than just the patriotism.
The human effect is true and real and forever connecting.
Take the Norwegian skier who was in contention for gold Monday — just days after the passing of his grandfather — before falling short of his dream. In the aftermath of his unsuccessful run, the Norwegian threw his poles in frustration, unstrapped his skis and walked to a nearby wooded area to be alone.
I may never go 60-plus miles an hour down a snow-covered hill with extended swords on my feet, but that type of human disappointment and emotion is universal.
And assuredly doesn’t need any extra online angst. Ever.
Selections deductions
So Selection Sunday is March 15. Beware the Ides of March, my friends.
We have debated much of the SEC, and my over/under of invites at 8.5 last week may be a shade low.
But with the recent slides of Texas A&M, Georgia and Auburn, the unknowns are more interesting than the knowns.
But the SEC details can be much discussed, from teams to stars. (Side note: Darius Acuff now gets my vote as SEC player of the year. That kid balls.)
Here are some bigger picture talking points now that we are less than a month away from seeing the brackets.
> The Big 12 is ferocious and likely will have five teams — Arizona, Iowa State, Houston, Kansas and Texas Tech — getting a 3 seed or better.
Iowa State has toppled Kansas and Houston in the last 72 or so hours. That’s awesome.
> Maybe the most interesting national storyline right now is unbeaten Miami (Ohio), which is nationally ranked but is hearing growing whispers that it may need to win its conference tournament to get an NCAA tournament bid.
That’s right, the last standing unblemished team in the sport may be forced to be an auto-qualifier because it has not played a single Quad 1 opponent this season.
A regular-season collapse notwithstanding — and tonight’s game at UMass seems perilous on several levels — the optics of keeping a 31-0 Miami team from the regular season out of the tournament because of a MAC tournament upset seem dreadful.
> The heavyweights seems more pronounced and powerful than ever, no? Duke flexed that last night in a destruction of Syracuse. Michigan flexed that over the weekend with a whipping of UCLA.
Side note: Duke goes to Michigan on Saturday night.
Giddyup, as we are about to focus our eyes (Ides) on March.
This and that
> Man, hours after news of Duvall’s passing comes the headline that famed civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate Jesse Jackson has died. He was 84.
> Need a pick-me-up this Tuesday a.m.? Here’s a YouTube of a young Kenny Chesney talking about dreams and living them and then breaking down on stage in Indianapolis, only to have the crowd sing every word of his hit song, “Better as a Memory.” I can admit it — I was dead flippin’ wrong about Chesney, who landed hard in country music and got a lot of blame from old-school “rednecks, white collars and blue-ribbon beer” folks like me. Count me as a Chesney fan.
> A surreal morning doing our daily online scanning. The deaths of Duvall and then Jesse Jackson notwithstanding, there also was this story in which Ted Levine apologized for the acting role that made him famous. Levine was “Buffalo Bill” in the smash hit “Silence of the Lambs.” He said he regretted the role for the way it depicted transgender folks in the 1991 classic. Can I ask a question here: Am I the only one that saw Buffalo Bill and simply thought what a psychopath and never thought, “Wow, what a transgender psychopath?” Did Anthony Perkins apologize for his portrayal of Norman Bates because he threw a dark cloud on the males with mommy issues?
> Miami is purging its roster, including cutting high-priced WR Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins may be in the worst shape of any team in the NFL. Yuck.
> Big night for the Heise family. Nate drilled a key 3 in Iowa State’s comeback win over Houston. His sister, Taylor, scored a goal for the U.S. women’s hockey team in its win earlier Monday.
Today’s questions
True or false, it’s Tuesday. Morning, Ernie.
True or false, at the age of 11 you thought you would play professional sports for a living.
True or false, Robert Duvall is the greatest actor of the last 50-plus years.
True or false, the SEC will get more tournament invites than the Big 12.
True or false, you have watched more of the Winter Olympics than you anticipated.
True or false, elite wide receivers are overpriced and are a bad investment.
You know the drill — answer some Ts or Fs, ask some Ts or Fs.
As for today, Feb. 17, let’s review.
Man, some bona fide GOAT contenders celebrating today.
Michael Jordan is 63. Fitting that his birthday is today considering what the weekend was for him with a Daytona 500 win and the memories of what the dunk contest used to be when the stars participated, right?
Jim Brown would have been 90 today. What a dude.
Brown would be there, but who else joins him on the Rushmore of Cleveland sports?
Go.