I watched a lot of TV this weekend. Everything from the Food Network to golf to the Grammys and highlights of the two Bronco Super Bowl victories. All in all, just biding time until baseball starts.
The big news this weekend, I suppose, is that singer/entertainer Whitney Houston apparently succumbed to a tragic lifestyle that seems oh-so-familiar to celebrity entertainers. She was six months short of her 49th birthday. The death of Whitney Elizabeth Houston came on the eve of the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, a woeful irony in that all of the music world had come together to honor the talents of both emerging and established entertainers for their accomplishments in the last year. This same ceremony had bestowed the iconic Grammy Award to Whitney Houston for top female pop vocal in 1986 ("Saving All My Love For You"), the first of her six Grammys, and a small portion of her total 415 awards in a professional career that began at the age of 16. Who can forget her rendition of The Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem, at the 1991 Super Bowl? The XXVth SB was held in Tampa during the Gulf War, when patriotic fervor was stoked by her memorable performance. (Giants beat the Bills 20-19, Scott Norwood, wide right). Many people blame her ultimate demise, in large part, to her destructive relationship with singer Bobby Brown and her addiction to cocaine and a variety of prescription and non-prescription medications. It's sad to see that an entertainer, or any person for that matter, fall to such depths of low self-esteem that success at the highest level cannot assuage a broken ego. The Grammy Awards Show paid numerous tributes to her passing, along with others who died in the past year. Another troubled entertainer who died from a doomed lifestyle in the past year was Amy Winehouse, who died of alcohol poisoning last July, two months shy of her 28th birthday.
In stark contrast to troubled, tragic entertainers, Taylor Swift and Adele (full name Adele Laurie Blue Adkins) seem to represent grounded and secure individuals, free from the bondage of self-doubt and low self-esteem. I have watched 60 Minute features on both singers, and it was refreshing to see how secure they both seem to be, even in the face of world-wide idolization and accolade. History is filled with both sides of the story when it comes to famous entertainers. On one side, we all know the troubled stories of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Freddie Prinze. On the other side of the coin are some others that performed Sunday night at the Grammys: Sir Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Walsh, Glen Campbell and Tony Bennett. Campbell, the original Rhinestone Cowboy, is suffering from Alzheimer's and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in what will probably be his last public performance. We all have our own troubles to bear, and fame and wealth would probably change most of us. Athletes and entertainers get too much blame, and credit, for the attention they get. Kinda like NFL quarterbacks. Enjoy them while you can.
Another odd imbalance this weekend is that Tiger Woods gets more attention for playing like a hack in the final round of the PGA tournament at Pebble Beach than Phil Mikkelson gets for winning with a final round 64, and besting Tiger's final round 75. Mikkelson (who won by two strokes) began the final day 6 strokes behind the leader, Charlie Wi, and 2 strokes behind the "surging" Tiger Woods. Poor Tigger, was in the same group as Mikkelson, and didn't smile all day, nor did he have any reason to. What a contrast: the crowd pulling for good-guy, family man Phil Mikkelson, as he triumphed and was met by his beautiful and equally popular wife Amy with genuine affection as he walked off the 72nd hole, championship in hand. Meanwhile, a dour and lonely (at least publicly) Tiger Woods was left to explain his meltdown in the final round, again, in a situation where he used to routinely throttle his opposition. Everybody I know, knows how much I dislike Woods. I have, ever since I determined that he was a smug, arrogant, holier-than-thou celebrity put up on a pedestal by his phony father and a blind, adoring army of sycophants who swooned at his magical skills and beautiful wife. How's that workin' for ya, Eldrick?
This year's Super Bowl has come and gone, and it was relatively satisfying to see the Patriots, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady get ambushed by the New York Giants. It's hard to believe that it's been 13 years since our beloved Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII, in John Elway's last game. The NFL Channel is playing 30-minute recaps of all the Super Bowls and I watched the SB XXXII and XXXIII episodes. I still get chills when I see Elway dive for, and get helicoptered on a third-and-six against the Packers to keep a drive alive for the go-ahead touchdown when the score was tied 17-17. Remember that block by Ed McCaffrey on the Packer linebacker Brian Williams? The score was tied 24-24 as the Broncos were on the Green Bay 32, second down and nine, just before the two-minute warning. Elway scrambled to his left, popped a check-down pass in the flat to fullback Howard Griffith, who caught the ball right at the line of scrimmage and began heading upfield. As he was turning the corner at the 35, Packer LB Williams was angling towards Griffith, intent on laying the wood to the Bronco runner. Eddie Mac peeled back from his route and just blind-sided the unsuspecting Green Bay defender, sent him abruptly onto his backside, stood over him and wagged his index finger at him, like former Denver Nugget Dikembe Mutombo used to after he blocked a shot.
It was fun to hear the sideline planning in SB XXXIII between John Elway, Mike Shanahan and Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak about how Falcon safety Eugene Robinson was cheating up to support the run defense on play-action pass situations. The Falcons' kicker Morten Andersen missed a gimme 26-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter with Denver nursing a 10-3 lead. The Broncos took over at their 20 and on first down, Elway faked the handoff to Terrell Davis, backpedalled, and found a wide open Rod Smith, who victimized Mr. Robinson's neighborhood for an 80-yard touchdown. The Broncos were never threatened the rest of the game, and won 34-19. That same Eugene Robinson, was on the Green Bay Packer team that Denver spanked in Super Bowl XXXII. The same Eugene Robinson who was captured on video exhorting his teammates on the sidelines that, "C'mon now. This team (the Broncos) is not better than us, they're not even good!" The same Eugene Robinson who was honored the night before SB XXXIII by Athletes In Action with the Bart Starr Award for "high moral character". The very same Eugene Robinson that was arrested by a female undercover police officer for solicitation of oral sex for $40, that very same night! Remember John Elway scoring the final Bronco touchdown on a quarterback sneak, and smiling in the end zone, on the ground alongside guard Mark Schlereth? Super Bowl XXXIII MVP John Elway left the game with a few seconds left, to a standing ovation and tribute from the crowd as he was replaced by Bubby Brister for the final kneel-down. We sensed at that time that we had seen the last of the John Elway Era. He officially retired a couple months later.
It's still a few weeks away from baseball being on TV. The first spring broadcast is on St. Paddy's day against the Dodgers. I'll have to be content with watching stuff on MLB Network, anticipating Alanna Rizzo's appearance in her new gig with the network. And reading blogs and articles that give hints to the potential fate of my beloved Yankees and Rockies during the yearly spring Training rituals.
Beyond all that, I still have Japanese Iron Chef and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to keep me entertained. Allez cuisine!
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