College Football Week 8 Awards October 20, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Al Golden, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Boise State, BYU, Central Florida, Charley McClendon, Charlie Strong, Clemson, Clemsoning, college, Dabo Swinney, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Furman, Gary Pinkel, Gators, George O'Leary, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Hurricanes, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Jimbo isher, Kansas, Kansas State, Kevin Sumlin, Les Miles, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Miami, Miami (Florida), Michigan State, Missouri, Mizzou, Navy, NCAA football, Noles, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Red Raiders, Rutgers, SEC, Seminoles, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, sword of Damocles, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, twilight zone, UCF, UCLA, UMass, Vols, Volunteers, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: George O’Leary, Central Florida
Poor guy: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a clue: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Al Golden, Miami (Fla.)
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Desperately seeking … anything: Mark Richt, Georgia
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Baylor (defeated Iowa State 71-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Miami (defeated North Carolina 27-23)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Arkansas (lost to Alabama 52-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Iowa (lost to Ohio State 34-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Georgia Tech (defeated Syracuse 56-0)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Southern Miss
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville
Did the season start? Northwestern
Can the season end? Georgia
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: No. 24 Auburn 45, No. 7 Texas A&M 41
Play this again, too: BYU 47, Houston 46
Never play this again: Baylor 71, Iowa State 7
Forget about this one, too: Georgia Tech 56, Syracuse 0
What? Central Florida 38, No. 8 Louisville 35
Huh? No. 24 Auburn 45, No. 7 Texas A&M 41
Are you kidding me? Ole Miss 27, No. 6 LSU 24
Oh – my – God: No. 5 Florida State 51, No. 3 Clemson 14
Told you so: Tennessee 23, No. 11 South Carolina 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 1 Alabama
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Pittsburgh @ Navy
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ BYU
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 1 Alabama
Must win: No. 20 South Carolina @ No. 5 Missouri
Offensive explosion: Boise State @ BYU (Friday)
Defensive struggle: Michigan State @ Illinois
Great game no one is talking about: Houston @ Rutgers
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Pinkel of Missouri vs. Steve Spurrier of South Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida Atlantic @ No. 11 Auburn
Why are they playing? Furman @ No. 13 LSU
Plenty of good seats remaining: Western Michigan @ UMass
They shoot horses, don’t they? No. 6 Baylor @ Kansas
Week 8 in Review:
Rarely is there a week when there are so many upsets, that it’s impossible to give all of them their just due. Normally, four categories are enough, from “What?” to “Oh-My-God”. Yet this time around, we needed several more categories, for the undefeateds and top-ten teams ended up dropping like flies. To wit: No. 7 Texas A&M fell to Auburn, No. 6 LSU fell to Ole Miss. Stanford, after paying dearly for taking a game off and thus laying an egg against Utah, turned right around the following week and took out undefeated, then-No. 9 UCLA. Do we have to remind ourselves of how then-No. 8 Louisville (now No. 18) basically gave the game away to now-No. 21 Central Florida? Say this out loud: Missouri beat Florida. In so doing, the reader is likely to ask oneself, “in what Twilight Zone or alternate football universe does that happen?” Yet it did; what’s even more other-dimensionly is that Mizzou was actually ranked ahead of the Gators when they triumphed (No. 14 vs. No. 22, respectively). The Tigers, still undefeated, are now ranked at No. 6.
Then there was the purported “ticket to die for” of the week, and on paper it certainly was that, what with then-No. 3 Clemson at home against then-No. 5 Florida State in a titanic intra-conference clash — on paper, at least. The only problem was, the Seminoles showed up for battle, whereas the Tigers, apparently, not so much. The ‘Noles asserted themselves from the opening kickoff to the final whistle of the game, and demolished the home team, 51-14, despite Clemson’s hitherto superior ranking. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was hoping that the team could put an end to the concept of “Clemsoning”, (look up the second and third definitions of the term on Urban Dictionary), but after last night’s performance, that concept shall live on for a while longer.
Meanwhile, let us compare the heretofore Top Ten to today’s new rankings:
1.) Alabama
2.) Oregon
3.) Clemson
4.) Ohio State
5.) Florida State
6.) LSU
7.) Texas A&M
8.) Louisville
9.) UCLA
10.) Miami (Fla.)
Today (Oct. 20, 2013)
1.) Alabama
2.) Oregon
3.) Florida State
4.) Ohio State
5.) Missouri
6.) Baylor
7.) Miami (Fla.)
8.) Stanford
9.) Clemson
10). Texas Tech
Curious to note: Alabama and Oregon are still No’s 1 and 2 respectively. So far, so good. But Florida State, now at No. 3, leapfrogged over Ohio State, who is still at No. 4. Mizzou, having beaten some formidable teams, has skyrocketed to No. 5, while Baylor sits at No. 6 (personally, I find the latter’s offense more potent than the former; were it only that the two could knock heads in a BCS game!). Meanwhile, the Miami Hurricanes, laboring in the shadow of the NCAA’s Sword of Damocles, have quietly crept up to the No. 7 spot in a spectacular turnaround under Coach Al Golden’s leadership. Stanford is back in the top ten after defeating hitherto unbeaten UCLA, and Clemson remains in the top ten at No. 9 despite a thrashing at home against the Seminoles. Tech rounds out the new top ten, and appropriately so, given that they’re currently unbeaten. That current status, however, shall be seriously called into question the following week, though, as they shall play Oklahoma on the road, then Oklahoma State and Kansas State at home, then they face Baylor and cap things off against Texas. The truly brutal part of the schedule is about to commence for the Red Raiders, hence they shall have the opportunity to prove their worthiness of their new ranking. As LSU’s Charley McClendon said long ago, “[I]n football, and in life, you’ve got to keep proving yourself.
Oh, and don’t look now, but Auburn has climbed up to No. 11 from the No. 24 spot.
On a related note, two programs who were once esteemed as “football factories” but had something of a decade-long slump seem to have returned to that status this year; Florida State and, to a lesser extent, Tennessee. The former demonstrated that convincingly before a national, prime time audience. The latter demonstrated that over the course of the past three weeks by giving Georgia the fight of their lives on Oct. 5, then coming back to beat South Carolina yesterday. No longer is playing the Vols a relative “gimme” on the SEC schedule as it was several years ago. Everyone else in the conference ought to be put on notice.
College Football Week 7 Awards October 13, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Bill O'Brien, Bob Stoops, Boston College, Bret Bielema Arkansas, BYU, Charleston Southern, Clemson, Colorado, Dan Mullen, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Houston, Iowa State, Kent State, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Pyrrhic, Red River Shootout, Ron English, Rutgers, South Alabama, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Toledo, UCLA, UConn, Utah, Utah State, Washington, West Virginia, Western Carolina, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Glad I’m not him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Lucky guy: Bill O’Brien, Penn State
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a clue: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Desperately seeking … anything: Ron English, Eastern Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Arizona State (defeated Colorado 54-13)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Clemson (defeated Boston College 24-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to Nebraska 44-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas (defeated No. 12 Oklahoma 36-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: South Carolina (defeated Arkansas 52-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia
Did the season start? Utah State
Can the season end? UConn
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: Penn State 43, No. 16 Michigan 40, 3 OT
Play this again, too: No. 9 Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38
Never play this again: Auburn 62, Western Carolina 3
What? Wisconsin 35, No. 19 Northwestern 6
Huh? Texas 36, No. 12 Oklahoma 20
Are you kidding me? No. 25 Missouri 41, No. 7 Georgia 26
Oh – my – God: Utah 27, No. 5 Stanford 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Florida State @ No. 3 Clemson
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: BYU @ Houston
Best non-Big Six matchup: Kent State @ South Alabama
Upset alert: No. 11 South Carolina @ Tennessee
Must win: No. 9 UCLA @ No. 13 Stanford
Offensive explosion: No. 16 Texas Tech @ West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Navy @ Toledo
Great game no one is talking about: Utah @ Arizona
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Pinkel of Missouri vs. Will Muschamp of Florida
Who’s bringing the body bags? Iowa State @ No. 15 Baylor
Why are they playing? Old Dominion @ Pittsburgh
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Miami (OH)
They shoot horses, don’t they? Charleston Southern @ Colorado
Week 7 in Review:
A day of upsets and near-upsets: that is how one could characterize Week Seven. True, many favored teams survived the week unscathed. For example, Louisville convincingly beat an underrated Rutgers team to maintain their top-ten ranking. Texas Tech at No. 20 survived a surprise onslaught from Iowa State and beat the Cyclones by a touchdown. Then there is No. 14 South Carolina, who obliterated Arkansas, 52-7. No. 11 UCLA had little trouble against Cal, and No. 15 Baylor beat Kansas State by 10 points – unimpressive compared to previous victories this year, but a “w” nonetheless. No. 9 Texas A&M managed to survive a 4th quarter scare on the road against Ole Miss. Meanwhile, No. 1 Alabama keeps rolling along, and No. 2 Oregon handily beat a strong No. 16 Washington team, 45-24.
With all of that said, all the upsets practically turned the rankings – under the top four, at least – upside down. To wit: No. 25 Mizzou took out No. 7 Georgia between the hedges. Apparently, beating LSU at home then being giving another strong contest the following week at Tennessee made those two past wins Pyrrhic, in hindsight. Speaking of games taking more than usual out of a team, losing to Ohio State at home most have done that to Northwestern, for even at No. 19 – despite last week’s loss – they laid an egg on the road to unranked Wisconsin, 35-6. Michigan, hitherto at the 18th ranking, allowed for unranked Penn State to squeak by them in triple overtime. Need we rehash the Red River Shootout? Everybody, yours truly included, had given Texas up for dead. Yet the Longhorns came out swinging against the No. 14 Sooners, delivering a power rushing attack between the tackles, and doing so effectively. Usually, over the course of a decade, it was Oklahoma who always had a runningback to ruin Texas’ day. This time, it was oddly the other way around. Never before has crow tasted so good. To cap things off, unranked Utah upset No. 5 Stanford 27-21.
America’s Greatest Music: It’s All In The Game October 7, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1, 1951, 1958, ballad, Calvin Coolidge, Charles Dawes, Dick Chaney, hit song, It's All in the Game, Joe Biden, MGM, Nat "King" Cole, No. 1, records, stereo, Tommy Edwards, vice president
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What do these two have in common? On the left is Charles Dawes, who wrote a melody that would, four decades later, become a hit song on two occasions by the same artist, Tommy Edwards, on the right.
In the year 1912, a fellow named Charles G. Dawes penned the melody to a song that would become a decent pop hit 39 years later, and a smash hit 46 years later. Dawes, then 47, would be more famous (okay, not that much more famous) for becoming the 30th Vice President of the United States, second-in-command under the taciturn yet highly effective Calvin Coolidge. But the melody that he wrote eventually was put to lyrics, and the song became “It’s All In The Game.” Unless either Dick Chaney or Joe Biden writes a No. 1 hit for Justin Timberlake, Dawes will hold the record for being the only V-POTUS that also wrote a No. 1 song in any era (the Rock Era, in this case).
Tommy Edwards first recorded a version of the song in 1951, and to the trained ear, it is very reminiscent of a Nat King Cole ballad. Below is that original version:
Seven years later, he breathed new life into the song at a time when his recording career seemed on the wane. But stereo recording was just coming into vogue in 1958. This development provided the right opportunity for the folks at MGM Records to dust off some of Edwards’ old reportoire, and take this older song, and update it to a rock ‘n’ roll ballad. If there any doubts about the new, youthful music aspect, the piano triplets should assuage them! But regardless, the result was pure magic; not only was it a No. 1 hit (55 years ago this week, to be exact), it remains a timelessly endearing love song, and indeed, one of the best records ever produced of any era. Hear for yourself, preferably with a significant other, if they are handy!
College Football Week 6 Awards October 6, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big XII, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Buckeyes, Butch Jones, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Dave Doeren, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kentucky, Larry Fedora, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Mississippi State, Missouri, N.C. State, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Paul Rhoads, Penn State, Pittssburgh, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Western Carolina, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Lucky guy: Mark Richt, Georgia, and also Mack Brown, Texas
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee, and also Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a clue: Mack Brown, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dave Doeren, NC State
Desperately seeking … anything: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 20 Texas Tech (defeated Kansas 54-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: South Carolina (defeated Kentucky 35-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Oregon 57-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio U (defeated Akron 43-3)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona State
The Fix is in: Texas
Did the season start? Cincinnati
Can the season end? Western Michigan
Can the season never end? Baylor
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Georgia 34, Tennessee 31
Play this again, too: Rutgers 55, SMU 53, 3OT
Never play this again: No. 8 Florida State 63, No. 25 Maryland 0
What? Ball State 48, Virginia 27
Huh? Missouri 51, Vanderbilt 28
Are you kidding me? South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20
Oh – my – God: Indiana 44 Penn State 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (Dallas)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Georgia Tech @ BYU
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Utah State
Upset alert: No. 14 South Carolina @ Arkansas
Must win: No. 9 Texas A&M @ Ole Miss
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ No. 15 Washington
Defensive struggle: Miami (Ohio) @ UMass
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ No. 24 Virginia Tech, or, No. 19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier of South Carolina vs. Bret Bielema of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Clemson @ Boston College
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Army
They shoot horses, don’t they? Temple @ Cincinnati
Week 6 in Review:
There are times when in hindsight you know that you should have trusted your instincts instead of trying to out-think the room (which, let us be honest, can never end well. Just ask the NFL when they decided to put the upcoming Super Bowl in frigid New Jersey). Case in point: last week, yours truly tried to out-think the room – against my own better judgement – in prediciting that this week’s “offensive explosion” would be Ohio State @ Northwestern. Yes, it was a good game, worthy of a Musburger-Herbstreit broadcast tandem. And yes, the overall score was not exactly paltry at 40-30 (in favor of the Buckeyes, naturally). But then there was Baylor vs. West Virginia, whose score was so high, we needed our collective oxygen tank (final score: 73-42). What was my main reticence in following my instincts and selecting this game for a more accurate prognostication? The fact that West Virginia has been wildly inconsistent this year. One week they embarrass themselves against Maryland, the next week, they upset Oklahoma State. Right now, we the fans do not know what team we are getting week-to-week with the Mountaineers.
All Good Games at Night?
Aside from the satisfying SEC slugfest between Georgia and Tennessee in the 3:30 time slot, and the 3-OT shootout between Rutgers and SMU, all the good games this past week were in the evening. LSU vs. Mississippi State (3 out of 4 quarters, at least), South Florida vs. Cincinnati (surprisingly), Ole Miss vs. Auburn, TCU vs. Oklahoma, Kentucky vs. South Carolina (the Gamecocks allowed for it to be a good game, regrettably), Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Washington vs. Stanford, even Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP (!) all turned out to be competitive, engaging matchups. It was one of those nights where you wished you had four or five flatscreens, all right next to each other, so as to enjoy as much simultaneous action as possible.
A Tale of Two Rivals.
Oklahoma did it the right way. They played a highly respected TCU bunch in a close, hard-fought game, and triumphed in the end, 20-17. There is a school of thought, not one without merit, that states that this is the perfect approach before throwing down the following week with a bitter rival. To follow this line of logic, the Sooners are well-prepared for the Red River Shootout this upcoming week.
On the other side of the coin is Texas, who thought that they could beat up on Big XII lightweight Iowa State as a tune-up. As things turned out, they needed not one, but two scandalous calls by the referees to get their behinds out of some seriously hot water (basically, two “gift” calls of not recognizing fumbles as actual fumbles). Let that sink in for a moment.
College Football Week 5 Awards September 29, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Uncategorized.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Army, Auburn, Boston College, Butch Jones, BYU, Clemson, college, Colorado, Dana Holgersen, Duke, Ed Orgeron, Florida International, football, Georgia, Georgia State, Houston, Kansas State, Lane Kiffin, Les Miles, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami, Mike Gundy, Mississippi State, Navy, NCAA, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pat Fitzgerald, Pat Haden, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, Temple, Tennessee, Tony Levine, Troy, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah State, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Richt, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Tony Levine, Houston
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Desperately seeking … anything: Lane Kiffin, USC
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 15 Miami [FL] (defeated South Florida 49-21)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Tennessee (defeated South Alabama 31-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Wake Forest (lost to No. 3 Clemson 56-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Northern Illinois (defeated Purdue 55-24)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Louisiana Tech
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oklahoma State
Did the season start? Purdue
Can the season end? Wake Forest
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9 Georgia 44, No. 6 LSU 41
Never play this again: No. 3 Clemson 56, Wake Forest 7
What? Tennessee 31, South Alabama 24
Huh? Arizona State 62, USC 41
Are you kidding me? Northern Illinois 55, Purdue 24
Oh – my – God: West Virginia 30, No. 11 Oklahoma State 21
Told you so: No. 12 South Carolina 28, Central Florida 25
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 15 Washington @ No. 5 Stanford
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Army @ Boston College
Best non-Big Six matchup: BYU @ Utah State
Upset alert: Kansas State @ No. 21 Oklahoma State
Must win: No. 10 LSU @ Mississippi State
Offensive explosion: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 15 Northwestern
Defensive struggle: Air Force @ Navy
Great game no one is talking about: No. 24 Ole Miss @ Auburn
Intriguing coaching matchup: Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern vs. Urban Meyer of Ohio State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 2 Oregon @ Colorado
Why are they playing? Georgia State @ No. 1 Alabama
Plenty of good seats remaining: Florida International @ Southern Miss
They shoot horses, don’t they? No. 7 Louisville @ Temple
Week 5 in Review:
Last week had so many horrible, “body bag” matchups that we were all better off just firing that week’s worth of games into the Sun, never to hear from it again, and good riddance! This week was different. First off, there was one of the games of the year in LSU @ Georgia, which did live up to its billing. Even the noon games, normally throw-aways, were intriguing. South Carolina v@ UCF was surprisingly competitive. Ditto with Oklahoma State @ West Virginia, and the results of that game were positively shocking. The evening games were also very entertaining, what with Arkansas giving Texas A&M a solid game, and Wisconsin doing the same at Ohio State.
Meanwhile, out on the west coast, a real offensive explosion took place between USC and Arizona State, and ironically, the 62-41 result in favor of the Sun Devils resulted in some much bigger fireworks after the game. As soon as the Trojans got back to Los Angeles, USC athletics director Pat Haden literally pulled head coach Lane Kiffin aside on the tarmac to inform him that his services will not be needed for the remainder of the season. Yes, Kiffin’s overall record in four seasons was 28-15, which is not terrible, but it’s not up to USC standards, either. Moreover, he lost 7 of the past 11 games, was 3-2 this year, and lost both of his conference games thus far. Things clearly were headed in a negative direction. Yes, the NCAA had unduly hamstrung the Trojans’ program with restricted scholarships all because somebody not affiliated with the program had given Reggie Bush’s parents a sweetheart deal on a house in San Diego. Still, after four years, one would expect some meaningful progress to be made from the undue setback, and unimaginative offensive play-calling, combined with inept execution is most certainly not a reflection of progress! Ed Orgeron, the defensive coordinator, (and formed Ole Miss head coach) has been named the interim head coach. Who says the SEC is geographically insular?
ETC.:
West Virginia’s upset win at home over ranked Oklahoma State could probably save Dana Holgersen’s job after his ignominious loss to Maryland the previous week. Louisville, meanwhile, remains a formidable team, but the only problem is, their temporary conference home (American) is so weak that every other game is a “body-bag” game. Take the upcoming week’s game at Temple, for example. South Florida and Memphis do not do the Cardinals’ strength of schedule any favors, either. On a positive note, the Oct. 18 game against Central Florida could turn out to be a dandy of a game, folks!
America’s Greatest Music: Artie Shaw’s “Non-Stop Flight” and others September 27, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: America, American, Artie Shaw, Begin the Beguine, Benny Goodman, Clark Gable, Cole Porter, diamond anniversary, Gowns for Roberta, Great, Greatest, Helen Forrest, Howard Hughes, I Have Eyes, Jerome Kern, lindy hopper, Martin Scorsese, music, Night and Day, Nightmare, Non-Stop Flight, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Songbook, The Aviator, What Is This Thing Called Love?, You're a Sweet Little Headache
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As I stated in my previous AGM entry, there are those occasional recording sessions in history where not just one legendary record is cut, but a whole plethora. Today (Sept. 27) marks the Diamond Anniversary (that’s 75 years, for those of you who are graduates of Indiana University — or the University of Kentucky, for that matter) of one such session undertaken by Artie Shaw and his orchestra. On Sept. 27, he and his band cut, for one, “Nightmare”, a haunting tune which he used, oddly enough, to open all of his live gigs.
But that is not the half of it. In addition to “Nightmare” (also used frequently throughout the Martin Scorsese biopic “The Aviator” about Howard Hughes), Artie Shaw also cut the definitive rendition of “Non-Stop Flight,” a popular staple with Lindy Hoppers to this very day!
Things did not stop there, for Artie Shaw and his band also recorded the Jerome Kern hit “Yesterdays” from his musical “Gowns for Roberta” (the same musical in which Kern also wrote the legendary song “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”), and thus we have the triple-whammy of one of the greatest of all songwriters writing a song that belongs in — or at least near — the upper echelons of the Great American Songbook, and the record is performed by one of the greatest legends in American Popular Music in Artie Shaw. The quality of music does live up to the billing, too!
Next up we have “What Is This Thing Called Love?” Much like the aforementioned “Yesterdays”, it too is the same sort of “triple-whammy,” except this time it was penned by Cole Porter, not Jerome Kern. Artie Shaw had an incredible knack for scrapping the wonderful lyrics of Cole Porter tunes and rendering them as instrumentals, yet somehow still doing the songs considerable justice (e.g., “Night and Day,” “Begin the Beguine,” “What Is This Thing Called Love?”, just to name a few). No wonder that when Porter finally met Shaw face-to-face in the late 1930s, the first thing he said to the King of the Clarinet was “[H]appy to meet my collaborator”!
For the last two tracks, Shaw brought in Helen Forrest on the vocals to sing a nice little ditty already featured in this blog, “You’re a Sweet Little Headache”. Part of that song can be heard in a scene in the very-underrated 1991 film “The Rocketeer”.
The other tune for which Helen Forrest sang was “I Have Eyes”. Much like the previously-mentioned tune, Benny Goodman recorded it around the same time, during the same year, and Martha Tilton provided the vocals for both. It therefore makes for a fun time for vintage music devotees to compare and contrast the respective merits of both songs and their counterpart recordings!
The Goodman version can be heard below for reference:
While I personally prefer the sound of the reed section in the Goodman rendition, overall I prefer the Artie Shaw version, for its sound is smoother, Shaw’s clarinet is more melodious, Helen Forrest’s vocals “click” a bit more effectively with that tune than Tilton’s for the same song, and the tempo on the Shaw record is much bouncier. Moreover, I say all of this as a Goodman fan! Such is miraculous effect that Artie Shaw had on key records, so relatively many of which were produced 75 years ago today.
Why are all these Artie Shaw records such a big deal? A huge chunk of that answer lies in the fact that he left an indelible impression on our cultural landscape. To wit, as Mark Steyn pointed out in his fantastic obituary piece on Shaw over nine years ago:
“On the eve of World War II, Time reported that to Germans America meant ‘skyscrapers, Clark Gable and Artie Shaw.'”
College Football Week 4 Awards September 22, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, body bag, Boise State, Bowling Green, Brady Hoke, Bronco Mendenhall, BYU, Central Florida, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Dana Holgersen, David Shaw, Duke, FIU, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida International, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Jim McElwain, Kansas State, Ken Niumatalolo, Kent State, Kyle Flood, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, MTSU, Navy, Nick Saban, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, P.J. Fleck, Pac-12, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tim DeRuyter, Troy, UCF, UCLA, UConn, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: David Shaw, Stanford
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Lucky guy: Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State
Poor guy: Bronco Mendenhall, BYU
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brady Hoke, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dana Holgersen, West Virginia
Desperately seeking … anything: P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 7 Louisville (defeated FIU 72-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 11 Michigan (defeated UConn 24-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Troy (lost to Mississippi State 62-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Colorado State* (lost to No. 1 Alabama 31-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa (defeated Western Michigan 59-3)
Dang, they’re good: Stanford
Dang, they’re bad: Western Michigan
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arkansas
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Central Michigan
Can the season never end? UCLA
GAMES
Play this again: Fresno State 41, Boise State 40
Play this again, too: Pittsburgh 58, Duke 55
Never play this again: No. 4 Ohio State 76, Florida A&M 0
What? Iowa 59, Western Michigan 3
Huh? Fresno State 41, Boise State 40
Are you kidding me? Texas 31, Kansas State 21
Oh – my – God: Maryland 37, West Virginia 0
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 LSU @ No. 9 Georgia
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Northern Illinois @ Purdue
Best non-Big Six matchup: Navy @ Western Kentucky (honorable mention: Akron @ Bowling Green)
Upset alert: No. 23 Wisconsin @ No. 4 Ohio State, or, No. 12 South Carolina @ Central Florida
Must win: No. 10 Texas A&M @ Arkansas
Offensive explosion: Arizona @ No. 16 Washington
Defensive struggle: MTSU @ BYU
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech (Thurs.)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Ken Niumatalolo of Navy vs. Bobby Petrino of Western Kentucky
Who’s bringing the body bags? South Florida @ No. 15 Miami
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: Kent State @ Western Michigan
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Duke
Week 4 in Review:
*: This was the “body bag” game that did not quite turn out to be one. On paper, Colorado State was to be the lamb being led to the slaughter. After all, the fortunes of the Rams have been nothing like the halcyon days under former head coach Sonny Lubick. Moreover, in a week where every other game seemed to be a body bag game, this one should have been no different. Consider an under-performing Mountain West Conference team journeying over a thousand miles from Fort Collins, Colo., to Tuscaloosa, Ala., only to go into one of the most hostile places in the land in which to play football, with none other than Nick Saban, arguably the best coach in the business, to be the pitiless executioner.
All things considered, the 31-6 loss could have been much worse. The Rams actually did a good job of gaining yardage against the Crimson Tide. The only problem was, the bulk of that yardage was between the 20 yard-lines. Once Colorado State made it into the red zone, Alabama started to show more of its true defensive colors, as the score attests. Still, head coach Jim McElwain – coincidentally, the former offensive coordinator at Alabama – came in with a sound game plan, and that was to keep his team’s offense on the field for as long as possible, and conversely, to keep Alabama’s offense off the field as long as possible. They took plenty of risks – including lots of screen passes – in order to try to make that happen. One thing that was particularly telling of some degree of success in the overall game plan, despite the loss, was that Saban kept his headset on and kept coaching his team literally as the final second of the fourth quarter ticked off the clock. One normally does not see that sort of behavior from a coach – no matter how skilled they are in the business – during a so-called “body bag” game.
But this game aside, even some of the better matches on paper (say, Tennessee at Florida, or Michigan State at Notre Dame) turned out to be exercises in ineptitude on both sides of the ball. Even Purdue, who acquitted themselves well against Notre Dame last week, came out flat against Wisconsin this week.
Speaking of “body bag” games, though, this weekend was lousy with them. Records have become so important in terms of one’s BCS standings, that teams have largely become risk-averse, and since most conferences do not mandate that at least nine conference games be scheduled (notwithstanding the Big XII and Pac-12), we the fans had to suffer through lots of garbage matchups (hello, Florida A&M @ Ohio State) this past week. Next week will thankfully be different, though, as most teams have some sort of conference game, and even those that do not still [mostly] have some interesting opponent to play (e.g., Northern Illinois at Purdue, South Carolina at an up-and-coming UCF, Oklahoma at Notre Dame, and Navy at Western Kentucky). The bottom line is, let us blot this past week out of our memories, and just look forward to that which is immediately ahead.
College Football Week 3 Awards September 15, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 40 Acres, Aggies, Akron, Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, Boilermakers, Boise State, Boston College, Brian Kelly, BYU, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, Crimson Tide, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida International, Florida State, Fresno State, Gary Andersen, Gary Patterson, George O'Leary, Georgia Tech, Greg Robinson, Hawaii, Johnny Football, Johnny Manziel, Kansas State, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Mack Brown, Mark Dantonio, Mark Helfrich, Michigan, Michigan State, Nevada, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon Sate, Penn State, Purdue, Rebels, Ron Turner, South Alabama, South Florida, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Todd Graham, USC, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, UTSA, Weber, Western Kentucky, Willie Taggert, Wisconsin, Zips
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Glad I’m not him: Gary Patterson, TCU
Lucky guy: Todd Graham, Arizona State
Poor guy: Gary Andersen, Wisconsin
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: George O’Leary, Central Florida
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Ron Turner, Florida International
Desperately seeking … anything: Willie Taggert, South Florida
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 10 Florida State (defeated Nevada 62-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 11 Michigan (defeated Akron 28-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tennessee (lost to No. 2 Oregon 59-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 21 Notre Dame 31-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: USC (defeated Boston College 35-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Florida International
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Penn State
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? South Florida
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Alabama 49, No. 6 Texas A&M 42
Play this again, too: Oregon State 51, Utah 48
Never play this again: Utah State 70, Weber 6
What? Arizona State 32, No. 20 Wisconsin 30
Huh? South Alabama 31, Western Kentucky 24
Are you kidding me? Texas Tech 20, No. 24 TCU 10
Oh – my – God: Central Florida 34, Penn State 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 19 Florida
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Utah State @ USC
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Fresno State
Upset alert: Purdue @ No. 24 Wisconsin
Must win: Kansas State @ Texas
Offensive explosion: Boise State @ Fresno State
Defensive struggle: Hawaii @ Nevada
Great game no one is talking about: Utah @ BYU, or, North Carolina @ Georgia Tech
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Dantonio of Michigan State vs. Brian Kelly of No. 22 Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida International @ No. 7 Louisville
Why are they playing? Florida A&M @ No. 4 Ohio State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTSA @ UTEP
They shoot horses, don’t they? Louisiana-Monroe @ No. 20 Baylor
Week 3 in Review:
The game that has been billed by the media and built up in the minds of many a fan nationwide certainly lived up to its billing/hype yesterday. No. 1-ranked Alabama is sure to retain atop the mountain of college football rankings after defeating the home team No. 6 Texas A&M in a thriller of a game. The key to the success of the Crimson Tide was figuring out how to contain the Aggies’ QB Johnny Manziel, by not allowing him sufficient access to the outsides of the hash marks and instead forcing him inside, up the middle (both of running and throwing) as a means of containing the threat of his talents. In the end, it worked. Best of all, “Johnny Football” seemed surprisingly humble, contrite, and team-oriented during the postgame press conference. After witnessing all of his antics the previous weeks, this was a rather pleasing development. Time will tell if he truly did learn a lesson or two from this loss, or whether he will devolve back to the cocky, reckless punk he was earlier.
Other random thoughts:
A curious case of both Michigan and Notre Dame arose this past Saturday. The former team had to struggle at home to beat the Akron Zips, and only doing so in the last minutes of play. Meanwhile, Notre Dame, an ostensibly revitalized, nationally viable team under head coach Brian Kelly, had to earn – in every sense of the word – a win against a Purdue team whose performance prior to this game was suspect at best. Perhaps this strange case is a result of a hangover from big game between the two the following week. Lots of media hype and team energy went into that game, and as anybody who has any real experience in college football can tell you, one of the biggest challenges in the sport is trying to get 19-20 year-olds to play consistently week in and week out. Or, it could be at both Akron and Purdue are better than we thought they were. Concerning the latter, it could have been that the Boilers were looking past Indiana State (could you blame them?) and devoted some extra prep time to dealing with the Fighting Irish. Certainly a plausible scenario, no? What remains intriguing about this case is that, in all likelihood, Michigan and Notre Dame will be just fine. But it could also be that Akron and Purdue are on the rise from the doldrums in which both programs have been stuck for the past several years. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, Texas lost another game, this time at home, against a respectable opponent in Ole Miss. The Longhorns were supposed to have gotten things together, so we were told. After all, before last week’s BYU debacle (in which they lost 40-21), they were ranked No. 15 in the nation. This week, the Rebels came into Austin ranked #25. Yet the Horns lost again, this time 44-23. It is conceivable that Texas could turn things around and that the defense could get more settled under new defensive coordinator Greg Robinson. Or, it could be that the wheels are coming off the program, and as much as Longhorn Nation likes head coach Mack Brown personally, it is time for a changing of the guard. Right now, though, things are not looking good on the 40 Acres, and the prognosis for the second Saturday in October is not that rosy, either.
America’s Greatest Music: A love song “twofer” from 75 years ago today. September 15, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1938, 75, Al Bowlly, Artie Shaw, Babe Russin, Begin the Beguine, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Cadillac, Casablanca, Claude Thornhill, Columbia, Cozy Cole, diamond anniversary, Dinah Shore, Dinah Washington, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Forever Young, Frank Sinatra, Haven Gillespie, J. Fred Coots, Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Marie, Marlene Dietrich, Martha Tilton, Mel Gibson, Nan Wynn, Nat "King" Cole, Packard, Patti Page, Paul McCartney, Peggy Lee, Ray Noble, RCA Bluebird, Rick's Cafe Americain, Sarah Vaughn, Sid Ascher, Teddy Wilson, The Very Thought of You, Tommy Dorsey, Tony Bennett, Vaughn Monroe, Vocalion, You Go To My Head
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A 1938 Cadillac is shown on the right and a 1935 Packard (similar to a 1938 model) is shown on the right. This image montage is included for visual reference to some of the text below. Photos by the author.
Sometimes certain recording sessions prove to be particularly fecund, if not downright one for the ages. That was especially the case, for example, when Artie Shaw and his band cut the legendary record “Begin the Beguine,” in addition to other greats such as “Any Old Time,” “Back Bay Shuffle,” “Yesterdays,” and so on, all on July 24, 1938 for RCA Bluebird. It happens that way in recording sessions, sometimes: things just happen to click, and one great record after another is put to acetate for all of posterity to appreciate.
Such turned out not to be the case with the recording session the Billie Holiday undertook 75 years ago today (Sept. 15) for the Vocalion label (a Columbia subsidiary at the time), this being contrary to that which I wrote in this very article earlier. I apologize for misleading the readers, as I did get my discography information incorrect, which led to the inaccurate info. Nevertheless, these are two incredible, timeless records that were produced in 1938, and both just so happened to be the [arguably] definitive versions of two songs that definitely belong in the Great American Songbook.
One is “You Go to My Head.” Written by the relatively obscure duo of J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie — interestingly, the same pair that wrote “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”; seriously! — the song itself has been recorded by numerous artists and has become a venerable pop/jazz standard over the course of three-quarters of a century. Nan Wynn and Teddy Wilson (on piano, naturally) took a stab at the song the same year Lady Day cut her version. Marlene Dietrich recorded a version the following year, and in the years since then, luminaries including Frank Sinatra (1946 and 1960), Lena Horne, Doris Day (1949), Charlie Barnett, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett, Dinah Washington (1954), Dinah Shore, Patti Page (1956), Louis Armstrong (1957), Ella Fitzgerald (of course; 1960), and many others all have a version under their respective, figurative belts.
An outstanding yet relatively obscure version was done live in 1938 by Benny Goodman and his band during a Camel Caravan radio broadcast from Chicago, with Martha Tilton on vocals. Goodman’s sound and ‘take’ on the tune certainly did it justice, as is the case with most Goodman records. But the one that stands out above all is Billie Holiday’s version from that same year (she actually cut this track on May 11, 1938, not Sept. 15, as originally posted).
How could it not? The very first thing the listener hears — and never forgets it when he/she does for the first time — is a fantastic opening tenor sax solo by Babe Russin (a member of Goodman’s band at the time, though the year prior capped off the legendary Tommy Dorsey record “Marie” with another great solo!) that simply oozes Art Deco imagery in the listener’s mind. For best effect, try hearing the record while beholding the styling craftsmanship of, say, a 1938 Cadillac or Packard! Claude Thornhill on piano and Cozy Cole on the drums make for a nice touch, too.
But that’s just the beginning. Holiday’s expressiveness was practically tailor-made for the lyrics, and how they so accurately personify the incredible sensations one experiences of adoring “the one”, the potential significant other, despite how diligently the rational side of our minds tries to remind us of key apprehensions. Hear for yourself!
On a related note is another love song, one just as timeless, and that being “The Very Thought of You.” (And this was recorded on Sept. 15, 1938!) The lyrics focus more so on the pure adoration aspect regarding the feelings one has for a significant other, and how “the one” tends to become the center of one’s focus.
Sid Ascher — later the manager of Tony Bennett — wrote the song in 1934, and sold the rights to the great British bandleader Ray Noble, who cut a fine version of it that year with Al Bowlly providing the vocals. Bing Crosby himself did his own version that same year. Vaughn Monroe recorded his rendition a decade later, and the inclined movie connoisseur can hear a band-accompanied piano instrumental of the song during a scene inside Rick’s Cafe Americain in the 1942 hit film “Casablanca.” Doris Day later sang a version of the song for the 1950 film “Young Man with a Horn.” Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Nat “King” Cole all have their respective versions (the latter of which is particularly lovely), and Paul McCartney and Tony Bennett recorded a duet of it together.
But as is the case with the previously-examined song, Billie Holiday’s version stands out above the others.
A rather modern, repeated reference to this record can be heard throughout the 1992 film “Forever Young” with Mel Gibson; the song being used as something of a constant, a source of continuity, a bridge to two very different eras and how certain things were meant to stand the test of time, much like the song itself.
America’s Greatest Music: You’re a Sweet Little Headache September 12, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Pop Culture.Tags: 1938, 75, American, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, big band, Bing Crosby, Cole Porter, diamond anniversary, Disney, golden age, Helen Forrest, Indiana Jones, Irving Berlin, Last Crusade, Martha Tilton, pop culture, RCA, standard, swing era, The Rocketeer, You're a Sweet Little Headache
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In a slight change of pace, this particular tune does not merit itself into the Great American Songbook. Nevertheless, it is a lovely little ditty, one that a few bands recorded during the Swing Era. The main reason we highlight this tune right now is because it was recorded on this day (Sept. 12) 75 years ago.
One thing is for certain, and that is that Benny Goodman’s “sound” certainly did the tune justice. An uptempo “businessman’s bounce” — something at which Benny’s band excelled — this record is also a good example of the lilting tone effect heard in Goodman’s woodwind section, something he practically perfected that year.
While Benny Goodman did not have a monopoly on this song, his is arguably the definitive version, what with his aforementioned sound, combined with his gutsy style of play. Martha Tilton’s vocals make for a very nice addition, too. With all that said, other prominent recording stars took their stab at this song around the same time, including RCA stablemate Artie Shaw (who recorded it with Helen Forrest singing the lyrics that same year [1938])*, and even Bing Crosby lent his vocal talents to the ditty in question the following year.
A more modern pop cultural reference to this recording can be heard in the ever-popular film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” during the apartment scene in Venice, where one can hear the Elsa Schneider character play the tune on an acoustic phonograph (making the recording sound 10-15 years older than it actually was!).
So while the lyrics do not rate the song itself as highly as a good Cole Porter or Irving Berlin standard, it nevertheless merits our attention as a solid record during the golden age of American popular culture — enjoy!
*The Artie Shaw version one can briefly heard in the very underrated 1991 Disney Film “The Rocketeer,” which also takes place in 1938.
