Sample's autobiography, released not very long after he retired from pro football, is a most direct accounting of his time in the game and life up to that point. Like pitcher Jim Bouton (who penned the controversial Ball Four around the same time) he was viewed as a fringe outsider in his profession, but in reality was among its most meticulous and sure-fire practitioners. He took advantage of every tool at his disposal, including a rating system for opposing players - especially the ones he believed he could easily intimidate. It's a little too quick of a read, though.

"The Stroll" is great. Highly underrated single from Roy Wood that was a funkier take on his mid-70's jazz-rock forays, with a smattering of slide guitar and funny robot vocals hovering in the background. It's even a little bit removed from the music on the Super Active Wizzo record; this single was released separately and a few months beforehand.

Joanna Pettet's 4th and final appearance on NG, and some people would say it's her most memorable role - although I would disagree. But it's still a fairly good turn, as a mysterious and irresistible model bent on the willful consumption of any male she desires. A lot of the performances are overcooked, though.

It was a little under twenty years ago when this controversial series was pulled from ESPN, which feels like a far-removed age now. For all of its' faults, there was still something more endearing and defiantly individualistic about 1979's North Dallas Forty (the previous standard bearer movie about a fictional gridiron team) than the fast-life, cutthroat world of ESPN's Playmakers. A big problem is, because of the ensemble cast, there were too many problems to shoehorn into each episode - the fact that it is so deftly managed at times (especially during "real time countdown" episodes like "Halftime") is an achievement unto itself. Also, there is the matter of bad timing - if this was released in 2013 instead of 2003 chances for multiple seasons on streaming services would be a shoo-in.

Alice drops the band in favor of Bob Ezrin and a large team of collaborators (Dick Wagner, Steve Hunter, etc.), unveils a concept which included the alter-ego character Steven (some would say autobiographical), and the ensuing media blitz spun off this album, a network TV special (featuring Vincent Price), tour and concert film. Nightmare is a different trip - in search of mega-pop star status, both the tense layers of psychological exploration, along with the menacing hard rock edge, have been stripped away - and in it is place is an inward, direct, often more opulent approach that had a lot in common with was popular at the time...just restated to fit Alice's distinct vision. It would set the tone for an erratic solo period which piloted through its share of peaks and valleys.