We're going to go on a bit of a a Nichols and May jag for a bit, with more of the focus on Elaine May.  Though not necessarily just from their sketches.

The other day, for instance, I posted a video here of one of the classic Nichols & May recordings as they improv an idea, and Elaine May has Mike Nichols laughing so hard he's gasping for breath. 

I posted this video below a long while back, but because it's somewhat of a companion piece to the one of her having him in hysterics, I thought it deserved a repeat.  It's from when she gave a speech on behalf of Nichols when he received the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.  What I love is that here, almost 50 years later, she still can crack him up and you can see him quite literally weeping with laughter.
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​Happy Maurice Cheeks Day!  Here's my annual column explaining why his gracious actions back in 2003 right before an NBA playoff game were so special, along with video of the heartwarming event.

This is the annual reprint of a column originally written on The Huffington Post in 2009.  And this year is the 19th anniversary of the actual event itself,  Some stories simply demand repeating.  Or better put, demand not being forgotten.  This is one of them.  And so, once again, here 'tis.
 
One additional word.  happily Maurice Cheeks is still in the NBA!.  And even more happily, he's back in his hometown.  He's currently the assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls.  He also had a strong career as a solid player, and is 13th on the all-time list of assists with 7.392.  But though this doesn't count on that list, it may be his best assist of all...
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April 25, 2009

Oh, Say Can You Sing?  A National Anthem to Remember

As I prepared to write about an act of uncommon decency by a professional athlete, I realized that calling it that was unfair, that it diminishes what happened, because this was simply an act of uncommon decency, period.  That it happened on such a high level and under such a bright microscope might likely stir the heart more, but it's the act itself that is ultimately what stirs us to begin with.  Who it was and when it took place simply moves it up the pedestal.

Today is the sixth anniversary of Maurice Cheek's moment on the pedestal.

There is in the American consciousness for notable performances of the National Anthem at sporting events.  Jose Feliciano's evocative singing at the 1968 World Series in Detroit was the first to interpret the "Star Spangled Banner" before a national audience.  Because 1968 was one of the most tumultuous years in U.S. history, many at the time were so outraged that it took his career years to recover.  Today, the rendition not only seems tame, but one of the most tender and beautiful.  (And among the least known.  If you've never heard it, do yourself a favor and click here to listen.) 

Whitney Houston gets mentioned often for her rousing rendition at the 1991 Super Bowl, during the Gulf War.  For many, Marvin Gaye's deeply soulful performance at the 1983 NBA All Star is the most memorable.

But for sheer emotional joy, it's hard to top what happened on April 27, 2003, before Game 4 of the NBA playoffs between the Portland Trailblazers and Dallas Mavericks.

Context only adds to the story.  So, once again: 

This was the playoffs.  This is what all professional athletes live for, what their year is about.  The regular season is a prelude, an effort to get into the post-season and be in place to win the league championship, to become a part of your sport's history.  Everything centers on this.  As the start of each playoff game nears, as the roaring crowd is at its highest pitch, as players put on their proverbial "game faces" and the battle is moments from beginning, all external thoughts get filtered out, and focus is completely, solely on their task ahead.  

The National Anthem, for most athletes, must be one of those external influences.  More than most of us, who hear the "Star Spangled Banner" largely on special occasions, professional athletes have heard the National Anthem played before every single competitive game they've played.  Game after game repeatedly each season, and season after season, for decades.  Relentlessly.  As meaningful as the song is, it is also just part of the ritual for a professional athlete, focused on the game, geared up for the game, anxious to start the game.  Silent, not singing, maybe not even hearing the music.  Waiting for the National Anthem to be played, and finished, so that they can finally start what they're there for.  It's likely as much background noise as it is patriotic uplift.

And so it must have been as the Trailblazers and Mavericks prepared for their playoff game to start.  

Stepping out onto the court was Natalie Gilbert, a 13-year-old girl.   Just another National Anthem, just another youngster who won a contest, just another two minutes the crowd wanted to get past for the game they were there to see, to start.  And she started fine.  A little hesitant, since it's a frightening occasion for a child, with a national audience, flashing lights and a military guard.  But in her wavering voice, she was prepared.

Except that a few lines in, the high pageantry of the moment got her, and something went very wrong.  She totally, thoroughly forgot the words.  A young 13-year-old child, standing in front of over 10,000 people, lost.  Alone.

And that's when Maurice Cheeks showed the kind of person he was.

Maurice Cheeks had had a very good NBA career as a player.  He played for 15 years and was selected to four All Star games.  When he retired, he was the all-time leader in steals and fifth in assists.  He averaged over 11 points a game.  And then he later became a coach, the position he was currently in for the Portland Trailblazers.  It was Cheeks who was responsible for his team, responsible for keeping them focused on the game, responsible for guiding them.  But he saw a 13-year-old girl in trouble.

And that's when Maurice Cheeks showed the kind of person he was.  Immediately.

Cheeks always had a reputation in the NBA as a good guy.  But he was about to prove it on a national stage.  And what happened next - not just with Maurice Cheeks, but eventually with all the jaded players whose minds had been previously-focused on their game, an entire stadium of basketball fans there to see basketball, even the opposing white-haired coach Don Nelson - is just enthralling.

The moment is wonderful, but how it builds and surprises is even better.

And at the end, this tiny girl looking up at the giant of a man - who stayed around, refusing to leave her side and return to his team - with her face awash with relief, a huge hug, and the clear words mouthed, "Thank you," is all you need to see to why it's hard to top what happened on April 25, 2003, before Game 4 of the NBA playoffs for sheer emotional joy.  Six years ago today.

From the archives.  This week's contestant is Stacy Fahrion from Denver, Colorado.  The hidden song was on the tip of my tongue, and I knew I knew it, but I just couldn't place it.  And then I did.  Some will likely get it far earlier than I did, because the tip of their is much clearer.  As for the composer style, it's one of those styles I just don't know well enough and mix-and-match about four or five different people.  So, I didn't get it.

On this week’s episode of 3rd and Fairfax, the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America, the guest is screenwriter David Seidler, who won an Oscar for his screenplay The King’s Speech.  In a recent poll, the script was named one of the “WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (*so far)”.  Seidler talks here about how his personal experience shaped his historical script.

On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is Dan Snow, a historian who was a part of the expedition that only weeks ago at last found Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which had been lost in the Antarctic Sea in 1915.  His enthusiasm for the 100-person expedition is almost overwhelming, as he explains how they were able to finally find the lost ship after 102 years.  And he has equal enthusiasm (as do the British people) for Shackleton who he says was a monumental failure, going on four expeditions, none of which succeeded – Snow’s point being that it’s easy to be a hero when you succeed, such people are amazing, he says, but “Shackleton? He messed up!  It all went wrong, all the time.  And when it went wrong, he showed greatness.  He showed toughness and spirit, he showed compassion, and that’s why we love him in the U.K.”
 
This the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts around the 18:20 mark.