Football & Film

RIP NFL Hall of Fame RB Franco Harris, 72. Born in Jersey, the son of a G.I. and Italian war bride, he earned a football scholarship to Penn St., where he averaged five yards per carry and led the team in scoring in 1970. He was the 13th pick of the 1972 draft. His career spanned 13 years, the first twelve with Pittsburgh. He was Offensive Rookie of the Year. A four-time Super Bowl champion, he was MVP of number IX, running for 158 yards and a TD. He was first-team All-Pro once, second twice. He was selected to the Pro Bowl nine times. He led the league in rushing TDs in ’76. He was named to the 1970s All-Decade Team. He is currently 15th in all-time rushing yards, 12,120. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry and scored 100 TDs, nine receiving. He had 307 receptions for 2287 yards, 7.4 yards per catch. He died three days shy of the 50th anniversary of “The Immaculate Reception,” the fluke deflection he caught on the run and took to the house, eliminating the Raiders from the playoffs. The Steelers subsequently lost to the Dolphins, who went on to win Super Bowl VII. After his playing career, Franco concentrated on business. He was the father of one. Well done, sir. Facts from Wiki, photos from Google Images:

RIP filmmaker Mike Hodges, 90. Born in England, he honed his craft directing TV shows. His first film was the gritty Get Carter (1971), shocking at the time of its release, now considered as good a Brit crime film ever made. He adapted the screenplay himself from the novel Jack’s Return Home by Ted Lewis. To my surprise, there are only 26 titles under his name at IMDb. None of the others I’ve seen, Damien: Omen II (1978) or Flash Gordon (1980) measure up to the aforementioned. Of the latter, he said: “The only improvised $27-million movie ever made.” Married twice, he was a father of two. Well done, sir. Photos from GI:

Here’s a term I heard today for the first time: “Nepo Babies” — defined as children of famous parents. I’ll guess that “nepo” is short for the nepotism many enjoy.

Since it wasn’t at all windy, I set up shop at my usual nook, although I knew I would have to spend the second half of today’s session of the floating book shop in the car once shade engulfed the area. My thanks to the kind folks who bought, donated and swapped items. Here’s what sold: five books in Russian, I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short; and The Twelve Caesars by Roman historian Suetonius.

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