Another great comedic mind has left us. When I was in my pre-pubescent years, my earliest comedic memories were of The Carol Burnett Show, which was a ahead-of-its-time skit & variety show on CBS from 1967-1978 that had me in stitches every week.
The star of the show was of course the hilarious Carol Burnett herself, who I believe is the second greatest female comedian after only Lucille Ball, but the on-screen antics of Korman and his partner, the legendary Tim Conway is what truly stole the show.
With the benefit of live television, the "gag-reel" of sorts, was the best part of the show. Every week, every fan of the show waited with baited breath to see when Conway would make Korman flub his lines, then mischievously watch as Korman tried to regain his composure.
However, that was next to impossible when Korman would at times just bust a gut laughing-mouth wide open and holding his stomach and everything.
That was, without a doubt the best part of the show.
Any cog that was taken out of that machine would have caused a domino effect and ultimately audience loyalty would have taken a nose-dive, I'm sure. That includes every one from Korman and Conway to Steve Lawerence and Vickie Lawerence (no relation, I believe)
By the way, did you know that Vickie Lawrence joined the cast right out of high school?
Korman was known for not only the Carol Burnett Show, but for various other comedies as well.
i.e.
Herbie Goes Bananas-1980
The Pink Panther Strikes Again-1976
Blazing Saddles-1974
History of the World Pt.1-1981
First Family-1980
The Star Wars Holiday Special-1978
Dracula: dead and Loving It-1995
Radioland Murders-1994
Friday, May 30, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Put the NHL Back in Winnipeg
Since I was nine years old I have lived and died with the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (and was quite aware of their former success, i.e three AVCO Cup championships of the 1970s in the old World Hockey Association)
Although, admittedly, they were at mediocre best throughout their tenure in the NHL between 1979-1996 (when the facist politics of the league at the time ripped the team-as well as Jets fans hearts out of the city) making it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs only twice (both times defeating the Calgary Flames only to be humbled-again and again-by the mighty Edmonton Oilers) they were the thing to do in Winnipeg in the winter months-which were usually between September and late May. Can you imagine Winnipeg in the winter without professional hockey?
To answer that, the hockey powers that be saw fit to buy the Minnesota Moose of the International Hockey League, rename them the Manitoba Moose (the farm team of the not-too-well-liked Vancouver Canucks) and try to keep pro hockey in the Peg strong as ever. But, although the people of the city are supporting the Moose (just like they supported the Jets, thst wasn't the problem-as I said, politics were) it isn't the NHL.
So, from here, I'd like to post a few other opinions (i.e. other's columns from various sources) onthe subject.
Before you get to those, however, check out this great website dedicated to the Jets, by a Winnipegger and a huge Jets fans, Darren Ford, entitled, JetsOwner.com with a better background and/or history. Plus WinnipegJetsOnline.com, curtiswalker.com (Jets memorial page) and dilawri.com/sites/jetstribute.com (weird name for a tribute site, but cool none the less) and winnipegjetslegends.blogspot.com plus a cool WHA site and one more Jets site ah, make that two.
That's just to name a few. And if you're interested in the Jets draft history, look no futher than here.
But of course, none of these will bring my precious Jetas back; only vision, a salary cap (which we now have) a new, committed owner and a new commissioner will do that.
In the meantime, check out this column about the best hockey team ever to live and their chances of returning to Winnipeg.
Mar 04, 2007 -Cohara
As the dust continues to settle in the post-lockout NHL, it is becoming more and more clear that the league, while it can survive in its current state, would be much better suited following either contraction or relocation. It is VERY unlikely that we will see contraction any time soon in the NHL, but the possibly of relocation is intriguing. Teams like the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators will seemingly never draw major crowds. It may appear that Gary Bettman deserves credit for saving for the NHL and I believe he does; the only problem is, is that Gary Bettman is the reason the NHL needed saving in the first place. The overexpansion of the 90's is what put the NHL into pre-lockout mess that it was in. Markets that never should've been considered for NHL teams, were not only considered but granted organizations. I understand that cities like Phoenix and Nashville have strong fanbases, but they are not hockey markets and those fanbases are barely, if at all, enough to fully support an NHL team.
The NHL took teams out of hockey markets in Winnipeg, Minnesota, Hartford and Quebec, not because these cities couldn't support teams, but because these cities couldn't support teams that couldn't win. In the new era of the salary cap, all of these cities, with the right amenities, could support NHL teams. The argument that the NHL can never be a top professional league is fundamentally flawed. The belief is that, if the league can't contend with the NFL, NBA, and MLB in America, it simply is a failure. Well, simply put, the league can survive without the U.S. In Canada, the league is as strong as ever, with support to put even an another team in Ontario. In hockey areas, like MInnesota, and the Northeast, the NHL is also as strong as ever. Unfortunately, the success of the NHL is based on the success of teams in markets like Florida, Nashville, Phoenix, Carolina, and other markets that most likely never should have been given teams in the first place. There's still plenty of to correct these mistakes, but it's up to a current regime, in Gary Bettman and friends, that aren't very likely to admit they made an enormous mistake in overexpansion.
If it were up to me, I would most likely combine the Coyotes and Panthers, and move them back to Winnipeg. I would move the Nashville Predators into Quebec, finally I would return the Carolina Hurricanes back to Hartford. I would leave it at that for the time being, then re-evaluate the success of the league. I understand that not all teams are going to be successful on the ice every year (and that does reflect in off the ice success), but the league can at least give every organization a fair shot at off ice success.
Although, admittedly, they were at mediocre best throughout their tenure in the NHL between 1979-1996 (when the facist politics of the league at the time ripped the team-as well as Jets fans hearts out of the city) making it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs only twice (both times defeating the Calgary Flames only to be humbled-again and again-by the mighty Edmonton Oilers) they were the thing to do in Winnipeg in the winter months-which were usually between September and late May. Can you imagine Winnipeg in the winter without professional hockey?
To answer that, the hockey powers that be saw fit to buy the Minnesota Moose of the International Hockey League, rename them the Manitoba Moose (the farm team of the not-too-well-liked Vancouver Canucks) and try to keep pro hockey in the Peg strong as ever. But, although the people of the city are supporting the Moose (just like they supported the Jets, thst wasn't the problem-as I said, politics were) it isn't the NHL.
So, from here, I'd like to post a few other opinions (i.e. other's columns from various sources) onthe subject.
Before you get to those, however, check out this great website dedicated to the Jets, by a Winnipegger and a huge Jets fans, Darren Ford, entitled, JetsOwner.com with a better background and/or history. Plus WinnipegJetsOnline.com, curtiswalker.com (Jets memorial page) and dilawri.com/sites/jetstribute.com (weird name for a tribute site, but cool none the less) and winnipegjetslegends.blogspot.com plus a cool WHA site and one more Jets site ah, make that two.
That's just to name a few. And if you're interested in the Jets draft history, look no futher than here.
But of course, none of these will bring my precious Jetas back; only vision, a salary cap (which we now have) a new, committed owner and a new commissioner will do that.
In the meantime, check out this column about the best hockey team ever to live and their chances of returning to Winnipeg.
Mar 04, 2007 -Cohara
As the dust continues to settle in the post-lockout NHL, it is becoming more and more clear that the league, while it can survive in its current state, would be much better suited following either contraction or relocation. It is VERY unlikely that we will see contraction any time soon in the NHL, but the possibly of relocation is intriguing. Teams like the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators will seemingly never draw major crowds. It may appear that Gary Bettman deserves credit for saving for the NHL and I believe he does; the only problem is, is that Gary Bettman is the reason the NHL needed saving in the first place. The overexpansion of the 90's is what put the NHL into pre-lockout mess that it was in. Markets that never should've been considered for NHL teams, were not only considered but granted organizations. I understand that cities like Phoenix and Nashville have strong fanbases, but they are not hockey markets and those fanbases are barely, if at all, enough to fully support an NHL team.
The NHL took teams out of hockey markets in Winnipeg, Minnesota, Hartford and Quebec, not because these cities couldn't support teams, but because these cities couldn't support teams that couldn't win. In the new era of the salary cap, all of these cities, with the right amenities, could support NHL teams. The argument that the NHL can never be a top professional league is fundamentally flawed. The belief is that, if the league can't contend with the NFL, NBA, and MLB in America, it simply is a failure. Well, simply put, the league can survive without the U.S. In Canada, the league is as strong as ever, with support to put even an another team in Ontario. In hockey areas, like MInnesota, and the Northeast, the NHL is also as strong as ever. Unfortunately, the success of the NHL is based on the success of teams in markets like Florida, Nashville, Phoenix, Carolina, and other markets that most likely never should have been given teams in the first place. There's still plenty of to correct these mistakes, but it's up to a current regime, in Gary Bettman and friends, that aren't very likely to admit they made an enormous mistake in overexpansion.
If it were up to me, I would most likely combine the Coyotes and Panthers, and move them back to Winnipeg. I would move the Nashville Predators into Quebec, finally I would return the Carolina Hurricanes back to Hartford. I would leave it at that for the time being, then re-evaluate the success of the league. I understand that not all teams are going to be successful on the ice every year (and that does reflect in off the ice success), but the league can at least give every organization a fair shot at off ice success.
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