NAIA PLAYOFF MATCHUPS FOR SATURDAY
The NAIA playoffs feature 20 teams, with the top 12 seeds having a 1st Round Bye.
The WILLIAM PENN UNIVERSITY STATESMEN will host the TEXAS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY RAMS.
Kickoff is at 1:00PM Eastern Time on Nov 22nd. Continue reading
Filed under college football
MRS. COLUMBO (1979-1980) – During its brief 13-episode run of hour-long episodes, this detective series – produced by Fred Silverman – was also titled Kate the Detective, Kate Callahan and Kate Loves a Mystery. Much Ado About Nothing might have been a more fitting title given all the energy expended trying to make this Kate Mulgrew program a success, but for so little return.
For readers who weren’t fans of the Columbo series starring Peter Falk, let me point out that his police detective character frequently mentioned his wife, who was never seen in any of the episodes. By 1979, Columbo was off the air (though it would be revived in the late 1980s), so Fred Silverman launched Mrs. Columbo, starring the detective’s never-seen wife nosing her way into murder mysteries and solving them herself.
Silverman launched this series over the objections of Columbo‘s producers Richard Levinson and William Link but had to credit them as “creators” of the concept of Columbo’s wife. Peter Falk had no connection to Mrs. Columbo, either so his character never even made a guest appearance or cameo. Falk referred to the show as “Disgraceful.” Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
CCCAA PLAYOFFS FOR 2025
The Nor-Cal and So-Cal’s top two teams each get a Bye in Round One. Here are this Saturday’s First Round matchups.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
The 4th seeded CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO RAMS will host the 5 seeds – the FRESNO CITY COLLEGE RAMS.
Kickoff is at 3:00PM Eastern Time.
The 3rd seeded DIABLO VALLEY COLLEGE VIKINGS will host the 6 seeds – the BUTTE COLLEGE ROADRUNNERS.
Kickoff is at 4:00PM Eastern Time.
The (1) College of San Mateo Bulldogs and the (2) Modesto College Pirates have a Bye. Continue reading
Filed under college football
HEADLINES
DOWN GOES NUMBER THREE – In NCAA Division Three, the 25th ranked FRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE DIPLOMATS welcomed the number 3 team in the nation – the JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BLUEJAYS. A 7-0 Bluejays lead in the 1st Quarter became a 21-14 advantage by Halftime. The Diplomats forced Overtime with a 21-21 tie, and in the extra session won out 29-28.
NUMBER FOUR TOPPLED – In NCAA Division Two, the VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS traveled to face the country’s number 4 UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA ARGONAUTS. By the midpoint, the Argonauts were out in front 30-23. From there the Blazers tied the score 44-44 to end Regulation, then went on to win in Overtime 47-44.
NUMBER SIX TAKES A FALL – Over in the NAIA, the number 9 MORNINGSIDE UNIVERSITY MUSTANGS visited the 6th ranked DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS. The Mustangs were on top 13-7 in the opening Quarter and 20-14 at the Half. After the break the Defenders knotted things up at 28. In Overtime Morningside U. triumphed 34-28. Continue reading
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SORRY I’M LATE. Real life intervened. Just in, so here’s a 2015 look at Australia’s superheroes mostly from the 1970s to the 1980s. The success of this post inspired me to go on to cover the superheroes of several other countries and time periods.
DARK NEBULA
Debut Year: 1982
Secret Identity: Mark Medula, an astronaut in Australia’s fictional space program.
Origin: Returning from a flight to Mars, Colonel Mark Medula docked at the Threshold Space Station, which had just been seized by the alien warlord Cerellus.
Medula tried to stop Cerellus and the resulting chaos killed Medula’s body, but, amid all the cosmic energies being unleashed, that body became inhabited by both Cerellus’ soul and Medula’s soul.
Mark Medula’s body gained incredible superpowers and went on to battle Earthly and interplanetary menaces as the superhero called Dark Nebula. Cerellus often challenged Mark for control of their shared body, further complicating Dark Nebula’s adventures.
Powers: Dark Nebula has super strength and can fly, both in space and in a planet’s atmosphere. He is invulnerable and wields a combination of potent cosmic energy and dark mystical energy. Those combined scientific/ supernatural forces can be used to fire Darkfire energy beams from his hands and employ force fields. He also has psionic abilities like telepathy and ESP.
Comment: Dark Nebula’s adventures combine the cosmic head-trips of Jim Starlin’s Adam Warlock/ Magus storyline with some of the surreal mysticism of Dr Strange at his best.
Arguably the greatest Dark Nebula story arc was the one where he was off in deep space having a “deep” adventure while back on Earth his archenemy the Grandstander (Think of the Joker but with powers on Sinestro’s level at least) was impersonating him to ruin his reputation.
It endangered his marriage, too, since his wife had no idea why the man she thought was her husband never came home anymore after his public escapades. When Dark Nebula at last returned to Earth he had to tangle with the Aussie superteam the Southern Squadron who were out to bring him down for the crimes the Grandstander had framed him for.
When the misunderstanding was finally straightened out the Southern Squadron joined forces with Dark Nebula to tackle the Grandstander. This crossover was as much a milestone in Australia as the Avengers/ Defenders War in the 1970s was in the U.S. Continue reading
Filed under Superheroes
BEARCATS! (1971) – This unique action-adventure series was set in the American West of 1914 and starred Rod Taylor (who also produced) and Dennis Cole as renowned trouble-shooters who commanded huge fees for their services. “If you can put a price on it, you don’t need them badly enough” was the program’s tagline.
This short-lived series cleverly used the mix of past and present in America’s southwestern states in that time period as cars and biplanes began sharing the scenery with horses and carriages. Part Wild, Wild West and part Diesel-Punk, the stories featured the two leads clashing with villains who often used primitive tanks and other “futuristic” devices.
The Bearcats named themselves after the Stutz Bearcat automobile they rode around in.
PILOT MOVIE: POWDERKEG (April 16th) – Mercenary trouble-shooters Hank Brackett (Rod Taylor) and Johnny Reach (Dennis Cole) are hired by a railroad tycoon to rescue 73 hostages being held aboard a moving train. Their captors are led by a Mexican bandit chief who demands his brother’s release from prison in exchange for the hostages. Guest stars were Michael Ansara, Fernando Lamas, Luciana Paluzzi and Tisha Sterling.
EPISODE ONE: THE DEVIL WEARS ARMOR (September 16th) – The Bearcats are hired to stop a gang of bank robbers who travel from town to town using a stolen 1914 prototype tank to carry out their thefts. John Vernon, Kathleen Lloyd (as a nun), Sherry Bain and Paul Koslo guest starred. Continue reading
Filed under Forgotten Television
Charles Buchinsky, better known as Charles Bronson, was a World War Two veteran who went on to superstardom as one of the most iconic “tough guys” in film history.
Balladeer’s Blog has reviewed several of his westerns so far, but this time I’ll examine Bronson’s offbeat, uncharacteristic starring roles.
SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR (1971) – This Eurothriller directed by Nicolas Gessner was also released as Two Minds for Murder. Charles Bronson stars as an amnesiac patient of sinister brain-surgeon and psychiatrist Laurence Jeffries (Anthony Perkins himself).
Jeffries knows his wife is cheating on him and subjects Bronson – billed as the Stranger – to unethical psychological programming to make him think the brain surgeon-psychiatrist’s wife is really his wife, then manipulate him into murdering her.
In the role of unfaithful wife Frances Jeffries is Bronson’s wife Jill Ireland, since we’re in the period when Charles dragged her into everything with him like she was Linda McCartney to his Paul. The story isn’t plausible, of course, but artsy Eurothrillers always accentuated atmosphere and “what if” situations over realistic plots.
Anthony Perkins tones down his twitchiness a bit and Bronson is credible as the manipulated amnesiac thinking he’s met the wife his memory loss wiped from his mind.
To say anything more would give away too many spoilers. Continue reading
Filed under opinion
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another educational institution whose sports team has a more creative name than the overused Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs and Wildcats.
NUNEZ COLLEGE Continue reading
Filed under Cool names and cool logos
It’s Veterans Day, formerly called Armistice Day, which marked the end of World War One on “the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918. For Balladeer’s Blog’s final World War One post this year here’s a look at the first seven American pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille.
Lafayette Escadrille
QUICK FACTS: The French Foreign Legion connection to this storied squadron of American pilots came about because the United States did not enter the First World War until April of 1917 even though it began in 1914. Many American flyers volunteered to fight for the Allied Powers against the Central Powers.
*** Originally called the Escadrille Americaine, the unit had to drop that name when Germany, the Ottoman Turks and other Central Powers nations complained to the U.S. stating such a name indicated a violation of its official neutrality at that point in the war. The new name was the Lafayette Escadrille in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat who served in America’s Revolutionary War.
*** This unit was active from March 1916 to February 1918, at which time it was disestablished and its pilots were absorbed into the official United States armed forces because America had by then been one of the belligerent nations for nearly a year.
*** Officers of the escadrille were French, which was standard for the French Foreign Legion.
*** 224 Americans served in the Lafayette Escadrille, with 51 slain in battle and 11 more dying from other causes. 15 pilots became Prisoners of War and 11 became Aces.
*** Two lion cubs became the escadrille’s mascots. The pilots named them Whiskey and Soda.
THE FIRST SEVEN PILOTS OF THE LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE:
NORMAN PRINCE – This founding member of the unit was a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He was an early enthusiast of the new field of flying and earned his pilot’s license in 1911.
Norman shot down five enemy aircraft and had four more probables before being killed in a crash-landing in mid-October of 1916. The French awarded him the Legion of Honor, a military award established by Napoleon himself. Prince also earned the Croix de Guerre and the Medaille Militaire. Continue reading
Filed under Neglected History
Veterans Day is tomorrow, so here’s another World War One post.
BLOOD AND IRON (1917) – Written by Robert Hobart Davis & Perley Poore Sheehan.
Dramatic diesel-punk depiction of advanced technology being used in World War One. In Germany one of the Kaiser’s scientists is experimenting with replacing lost limbs and organs with mechanical replacements.
He has been trying to create cyborgs out of maimed German soldiers from the front lines. Continue reading
Filed under Ancient Science Fiction
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