The Longest Yard (1974)

 This is the original 1974 version of the 2007 movie that featured Adam Sandler

Summary

-A prison warden asks a former pro football quarterback, who's doing hard time, to put together a team of players for a game of inmate-vs-guards football

Cast

-Burt Reynolds: Paul Crewe

-Eddie Albert: Warden Hazen

-Ed Lauter: Captain Knauer

-Michael Conrad: Nate Scarboro

-James Hampton: Caretaker

-Harry Caesar: Granville

-John Steadman: Pop

-Charles Tyner: Unger

-Mike Henry: Rassmeusen

-Jim Nicholson: Ice Man

-Bernadette Peters: Warden's Secretary

-Pervis Atkins: Mawabe

-Tony Cacciotti: Rotka

-Sonny Sixkiller: The Indian

Did You Know?

-Producer Albert S Ruddy says he got inspiration for this film from a friend of his. This friend was a promising football player that experienced a career-ending injury. After his life seemed to go downward, he got a minimum-wage job at a sandwich shop and at the same time had to take abuse from his snobbish girlfriend. Ruddy took the inspiration from there

-Some of the actors in the film played football professionally, whether it be the NFL or college. Burt Reynolds played for Florida State University and was drafted by the Baltimore Colts. Mike Henry played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Rams. Joe Kapp was a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. Ray Nitschke played middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers. Pervis Atkins played for the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Tootball Team (they changed their name from Redskins to Washington Football Team because of the obvious insult to American Indians) and Oakland Raiders 

-The player wearing the black #65 jersey running besides Reynolds in the final game is his own brother

-Sonny Sixkiller, who plays "The Indian" is of Cherokee descent and was an incredible quarterback for the University of Washington in the 1970s. He led UW out of the losing streak finishes in the Pac-8. The season after he left, the Huskies started having bad seasons again. Sixkiller played in the World Football League before leaving pro football in 1976, two years after the film was released

-The story Crewe tells about his two blind parents is a reference to former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett

-The Lynyrd Skynyrd song "Saturday Night Special" appears in both this film and the remake. This song was released not long before this film was released. The song is about peace and contains a line about throwing all guns into the bottom of the sea. At the time, Lynyrd Skynyrd was a band that formed in Jacksonville, Florida and were still struggling to find fame until they signed with MCA

-This is not the only film Burt Reynolds and Mike Henry would appear in. They would meet later on in Smokey & The Bandit. Reynolds played the title character; Mike Henry played Sheriff Justice's son

Rob Halford beats prostate cancer during COVID-19 epidemic

You read that right. As if we all don't have enough to worry about, cancer is always looking for its next victim. Cancer doesn't care if we are in the middle of a crisis. Cancer doesn't care who you are. And during this massive crisis, Rob Halford was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he successfully beat it.

In an interview with Consequence, Halford had this to say. "I had my little cancer battle a year ago, which I got through and that's in remission now, thank God. That happened while we were all locked down, so things happen for a reason as far as time sequence of events. I have nothing but gratitude to be at this point in my life, still doing what I love the most."

In a new chapter of his 2020 memoir Confess, Halford had not discussed his private cancer battle in public. Instead, he detailed them there. He mentions first seeing symptoms in 2017 and after extensive testing, he got his diagnosis. "How did I feel? I felt a combination of shock, horror and, oddly, relief - at least now I know! 'Am I going to die?' It was all I could think of. I know blokes who've died of prostate cancer. 'No, you're not going to die, Rob' said Dr. Ali." He underwent a prostatectomy on 7/5/2020. He also underwent chemo treatments in April and May of this year after more cancer was discovered around the area of his prostate and even underwent an appendectomy after a tumor was found on his appendix.

"It's been a draining year, I can't deny it, but I'm delighted to have come through it. I feel like I've had the most thorough MOT [measurements, observations, tests] that a Metal God can have."

Halford is not alone in his medical scare. Guitarist Richie Faulkner had to spend some time in the hospital after the band's Sept. 26 show at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville. An aorta in his heart ruptured during the band's performance of "Painkiller" and as soon as the song concluded, he was rushed immediately to the hospital. Judas Priest postponed the remainder of their 50th anniversary tour. Faulkner was in surgery for 10 hours and had five parts of his chest replaced with mechanical components. He joked "I'm literally made of metal now. Although I have a recovery road ahead of me, as soon as I'm able to get up and running again, you'll be the first to know and we'll get back out there delivering the goods for you all!"

In a recent interview with Ultimate Classic Rock about Judas Priest's 50th anniversary tour and the follow up to 2018's Firepower, Halford had this to say. "The clock's always ticking with Priest, and you can't do too many things at the same time, otherwise things get wonky and they don't get the care and attention to detail they deserve. But I have a sense that it's going to be sooner than later. We're not going to make you wait three, four or five years as some of us have done."

A Canadian high school principal will not be disciplined for her being a fan of Iron Maiden

A principal in Canada has found herself in hot water. The reason? She's a fan of Iron Maiden.

Parents were outraged by this Canadian principal's use of the number 666 and images corresponding to that. They wanted her disciplined. Pictures were uploaded to the school's Instagram page, which has now been removed. Sharon Burns, the principal of Eden High School in St. Catharine's, Ontario posted pictures of her displaying her being a fan of Iron Maiden. Some overly concerned parents took offense to a home-made sign saying 666

One part of the petition for her removal includes "As concerned parents with impressionable children at Eden High School in St. Catharine's, Ontario, we are deeply disturbed that the principal assigned to the school blatantly showed Satanic symbols and her allegiance to Satanic practices on her public social media platform where all the students can see them."

After hearing both sides, the District School Board of Niagara has not pursued her removal or any change of policy or discipline. Kim Sweeney, the chief communications officer for the school board, has this to say, in an interview with Canada's National Post. "As you can imagine, Principal Burns, like all of us, is quite surprised by how her Instagram post led to two petitions and grew to be a topic of interest around the world. We know Ms. Burns as a passionate and dedicated educator who is happiest when she can focus on and connect with her students. Our belief is that taste in music is subjective and we support that both students and staff enjoy a wide variety of genres."

All I can say after reading this is: YES!! Parents-0, Teacher-1! As far as my opinion goes, it doesn't matter what an educator's taste in music is. It has carries no weight on how she performs her job. As long as she is doing her job to the best of her abilities, who cares if she likes metal music?

Who front man Roger Daltrey disses The Rolling Stones as a "mediocre pub band"

First it was Paul McCartney of The Beatles calling The Rolling Stones a "blues cover band". Now it's the other big band of the 1960s, The Who, specifically front man Roger Daltrey, who's getting in on it, this time calling The Rolling Stones a "mediocre pub band"

In a recent interview, Roger Daltrey had described The Rolling Stones as being a "mediocre pub band". His comments closely mirror those of Paul McCartney, who had dismissed the band as being nothing more than a "blues cover band". In an interview with the Coda Collection, Daltrey gave his opinion. He said "Mick Jagger, you've got to take your hat off to him. He's the number one rock 'n' roll performer. But, as a band, if you were outside a pub and you heard that music coming out of a pub some night, you'd think "Well, that's a mediocre pub band!""

In the interview, Daltrey also commented on how he envied Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant. He described Plant's experience fronting Led Zeppelin as being vastly different than Daltrey's experience fronting The Who. "I managed to get the short straw of all the singers in all the bands. No solos! Who songs are all lyrics. Robert Plant - Percy, as we call him - he's a very good friend of mine, and we do joke about it. He said you could go off and read a book when [Jimmy] Page started up a guitar solo or [John] Bonham started on a drum solo. And I suddenly thought "I wonder what it would have been like being in a band like that!"

Daltrey also describes himself as a "hater of the internet". He goes on to further explain. "I never thought any good would come of it, and I still don't think anything good's come of it. I think if we're not careful it's probably the end of our civilization."

The Joys of Working at Michael's

For those not familiar with this store name, Michael's is an arts and crafts store where you can ALMOST anything artsy craftsy. For the people who work there, they always have major issues with some of those who shop there. Here are 15 examples of the crap they deal with on a daily basis

BTW, the comments on these photos were most likely written by Michaels employees all over the place, wherever there are Michaels stores

When kids find the glitter and glue

"Unicorn spit and acrylic paint poured out." It gets worse. "Just found a bunch of slime and glitter dumped a few aisles down."

Thieves are getting smarter and more creative...

Store manager: "Slap one of those bad boys on there and that'll do it."

Thief: "Well...at least it's a creative way of getting the lock off, I guess. People like this are why the friggin' Cricut stuff is locked in a cabinet at my store!"

Not the right coupon...

Guys...just Google "Michaels coupon" and current date and follow the links to the Michaels site. There's a whole page dedicated to coupons! Pro tip from a Michaels shopper

When toys go wild...

"The battle hath commenced...and I just want to add we had been checking this aisle [maybe] 10 minutes before. It had been a group effort. I'm torn between thinking this is so cute and feeling sorry for whoever has to put it away"

Why customers test spray paint on the floor is anyone's guess

Despite the image having a censor on it, you can imagine what this Michaels employee is saying. I agree; To be honest, the employee is right; That would so SO annoying to clean up

When the holidays invade your local Michaels....

Sure, it's a nice treat for both employees and customers to hear when browsing through the aisles. But imagine working there for eight hours a day and hearing the same set of holiday songs all day, for two months. Hard pass

When customers mistake ANYTHING for a garbage can

"Today is the day I commit arson", said a Michaels employee. This employee can not be blamed; If you drop your ice cream everywhere, don't do a ditch and run. Who raised these morons? Someone has to clean this up at the end of the day

When customers decide this is okay

"I remember literally 30 minutes after I finished setting it, ONE customer managed to [expletive] it all up. I was raging." one Michaels employee noted. Is it really that impossible to return things to where you found them? Willing to bet that person doesn't do this at home...

When the closing crew gets creative...

"What I found in my store at 5 o'clock this morning, closing crew is wild or lazy asf." Lazy seems to fit. There's so many unexpected things to spell with the bubble letters. I'd go for TAXES just to terrify people

When the customers themselves get creative...

"I love the people who shop here." I'm trying to keep this mildly safe for work, so let's talk about our favorite nut. Mine is the classic peanut, which I'm SURE this display is referencing.

-If my sister saw this, she'd bust out laughing. And of course, like most people, her mind would go dirty

When the store stocks slime...

...be prepared for a massive cleanup!

"Truly some of the most cursed clearance items. I thought one of the bags had ripped, but no, when I inspected the empty one, it was perfect. Cap was left off, meaning someone made the choice to pour it all out"

When labelling goes wrong

Ah yes, the famed shades of "red". I love typos like this. They make no sense whatsoever, but they're entertaining. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go search what Ultramarine Pink looks like

When graduation season hits...

"Can't wait til the graduation cap decoration season ends. Recovery and go backs are madness." I certainly wouldn't classify graduation season as a nightmare season for employees, but after seeing this photo, I now understand

Spray paint finally snaps!!

"Throwback to when a can of green spray was dropped and exploded on a female customer". The thing that is hilarious are the feet-shaped spaces where her feet were.

FYI, you need a Michaels store employee to unlock this cabinet for you; I know. I had to ask one about two weeks ago at the Western Hills location to unlock it to get a can of dark purple spray paint for a milk crate in my room I use to store photo albums

Monkey in the store no one knows about?

"Found this on a sweep. No sign of the missing part.

45 Years Ago, Ike & Tina Turner Call It Quits

After spending a chunk of her life being in an abusive relationship with Ike Turner, Miss Tina Turner calls it quits and kicks him to the curb to pursue her own solo career, which has since then grown beautifully

It was Tina herself who made the decision to leave a marriage that was only going to end one way-her death. This decision came to her while on tour with her husband in Dallas in 1976. Their relationship had been, to say one word, abusive. Physically, emotionally, financially. She filed for divorce on July 27, 1976. The reason: "Irreconcilable differences". In a 1981 People interview, Turner recalls "Maybe I was brainwashed. I was afraid of him, and I cared what happened to him. And I knew that if I left, there was no one to sing."

Ike and Tina met in St. Louis in the 1950s, when Tina had showed up at one of his concerts. After hearing her amazing vocals, he had her join the band and be the singer-at age 17. He renamed the band the Ike & Tina Turner Review to highlight her and soon they were married. They married in 1962. In her 2018 memoir My Love Story, she recalls "He threw hot coffee in my face, giving me third degree burns. He used my nose as a punching bag so many times that I could taste blood running down my throat when I sang. He broke my jaw. And I couldn't remember what it was like not to have a black eye." Tina also admits to contemplating suicide, since suicide is the number one risk of intimate partner violence.

She also mentioned that Ike's "stooges" were sent to intimidate her during the divorce proceedings. She was on food stamps, living with their four sons because Ike controlled the finances. All publishing rights were in his name, leaving Tina with no money. The family had no choice but to live in her assistant's house for a short time while the divorce proceedings were occurring. Tina would recall men working for Ike coming to destroy the property to continue the intimidation, going as far as to shoot out the car windows in the driveway and even shoot into the house.

The whole relationship and aftermath left Tina with PTSD. In her memoir, she wrote "My relationship with Ike was doomed the day he figured out I was going to be his moneymaker. He needed to control me, economically and psychologically, so I could never leave him." She then proceeded to reclaim her own identity in the divorce proceedings. She gave Ike half the rights to all music they recorded as a couple, all money they made together, the studio they built and all property they owned in exchange for her name and freedom. Money issues didn't stop there. When their music relationship dissolved, numerous promoters who lost money on the cancelled shows they were supposed to perform sued for their losses. Tina was forced to pay for her share of those losses

After a while, Tina was free. She convinced Capitol Records to sign her as an artist in 1979. By the time 1984 had rolled around, the Queen of Rock had one of the biggest albums, Private Dancer, to her name and one of the biggest successes of the decade

November Birthdays

Since it's November, it's time to say Happy Birthday

Roger Glover

-Birth name: Roger David Glover

-DOB: 11/30/1945

-Where: Brecon, United Kingdom

-He initially had a thing for wearing hats, but was tired of looking like he had just gotten out of the shower from sweating so much. He switched to head scarves and it ended up working out much better for him

Billy Idol

-Birth name: William Michael Albert Broad

-DOB: 11/30/1955

-Where: Stanmore, United Kingdom

-For a while, as a child, he and his family lived in Long Island, New York, where the young Billy Idol talked with an American accent. It was only when he and his family moved back to the UK that he started speaking what he calls "the Queen's English"

Tommy Thayer

-Birth name: Thomas Cunningham Thayer

-DOB: 11/07/1960

-Where: Portland, Oregon

-He was a guitarist in the band Black 'N' Blue before coming to Kiss

Rick Allen

-Birth name: Richard John Cyril Allen

-DOB: 11/01/1958

-Where: Dronfield, United Kingdom

-He signed with Def Leppard at age 15. While on tour, he had to have a tutor come with him to help him finish his education and he even got to celebrate his 16th birthday on tour

Bobby Dall

-Birth name: Robert Harry Kuykendall

-DOB: 11/02/1963

-Where: Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

-His first job was working as a cook at a truck stop

DJ Ashba

-Birth name: Daren Jay Ashba

-DOB: 11/10/1972

-Where: Monticello, IN

-He was previously in the band BulletBoys

Dave Ellefson

-Birth name: David Warren Ellefson

-DOB: 11/12/1964

-Where: Jackson, Minnesota

-He holds a Bachelor's Degree in business and actually does lectures on business and music-related topics

Frankie Banali

-DOB: 11/14/1951

-Where: Queens, New York

-DOD: 08/20/2020

-Where: Los Angeles, California

-He joined Quiet Riot in 1982, prior to the release of their classic album Metal Health

Rudy Sarzo

-Birth name: Rodolfo Sarzo

-DOB: 11/18/1950

-Where: Havana, Cuba

-He is known for playing guitar in Quiet Riot, with Ozzy Osbourne and more