Thanksgiving Toons: B. C.: The First Thanksgiving (1973)

I remember seeing this when it first aired. Johnny Hart's legendary comic strip, B. C., was brought to life just this one time, in 1973. Once you get past the opening segment where B. C. himself is doing a Jack Benny routine, you'll find this is very entertaining. Cargoplex uploaded this clip to YouTube:

Most folks these days associate B. C. more with a golf tournament that bears his name (it also stands for Broome County, where you'll find the city of Endicott, which hosted said golf tournament for years), than this little-seen special, which hasn't seen the light of day in years.

Rating: B+.

The last man you'd expect to be a champion

Some of you might remember Michael Mizanin from MTV's Real World and Real World/Road Rules Challenge. Nowadays, the alternate persona he created on Real World, that of "The Miz", has become a steady, if not also annoying, presence, on WWE television.

Mizanin entered the "$1,000,000 Tough Enough" tournament on Smackdown in 2004, only to finish 2nd to eventual winner Daniel Puder. Puder, however, didn't pan out with WWE, making his only PPV appearance at the 2005 Royal Rumble, and was released less than a year later. Before '05 was out, Mizanin was called up, serving as a "host" on Smackdown, but that gig didn't really do him any favors. He swapped his microphone for his tights & boots a few months later, and he was on his merry way.

Consider what the man has done in the last 3 years alone. 2 US titles. 3 tag team titles. And, as of last night, history. Mizanin cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase on Randy Orton, who'd already been laid out by Wade Barrett and Nexus, and won the WWE title.

There are those who will decry Miz's title reign as the second coming of actor David Arquette, who was given the WCW title 10 years ago in order to help sell the movie, "Ready to Rumble", in which wrestlers such as Diamond Dallas Page & Bill Goldberg co-starred with Arquette. Miz, because of his media connections already in place, is the kind of champion Vince McMahon wants as we near the end of 2010. TMZ and other outlets have already done articles. It's all about raising WWE's media profile, especially in the aftermath of former CEO Linda McMahon's failed bid for the US Senate earlier this month. Just the kind of stunt you'd expect from Vince.

Arquette lasted just a month as champion. Miz figures to last at least one, maybe two, before reality sets in and he loses the title. Mizanin is the first Tough Enough graduate to hold the WWE title. Pretty heady stuff, but unless Miz talks about it himself on Raw next week, and I imagine he will, don't expect the announcers, especially Miz's #1 cheerleader, play-by-play announcer Michael Cole, to acknowledge much of the past. Six years after being second best in a tournament for a million dollars, Michael Mizanin feels like a million dollars now. However, the pressure is on him now to prove he can finally, once and for all, cast aside his MTV past and stake his claim to being among the WWE's elite. 8 years of hard work, starting after his Real World gig had ended, prepared Mizanin for last night. To borrow a line from the late Hall of Famer, Gorgeous George, Mizanin is the new "sensation of the nation", at least in the eyes of TMZ and tabloid media.

Past champions like Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, & John Cena have done the talk shows, Saturday Night Live, etc., and Miz will follow that same path. Being champion, however, will change a man. Miz is the annoying bad guy now, after he failed to win the fans' affections 5 years ago, but the more WWE puts him out there as an ambassador for the company, the more likely it is he will become their hero. It won't happen overnight, of course, but, in McMahon's wacky world, stranger things can, have, and will happen.

Thanksgiving Toons: Mouse on the Mayflower (1968)

In the days before local stations began airing news at the noon hour, NBC would follow their Thanksgiving Day coverage of the Macy's parade in New York with a variety of specials. These days, that 12 noon (ET) slot is reserved for a dog show sponsored by Purina and hosted by John O'Hurley (ex-Family Feud, Seinfeld). In 1968, though, Arthur Rankin, Jr. & Jules Bass, looking to add to their holiday resume, 4 years after Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, decided to give Thanksgiving a try with Mouse on the Mayflower. 

 Edit, 11/10/22: A copyright claim was placed on the video, so we've replaced the video with a screencap of the title card:

It's a shame that Mouse doesn't air anymore, and I'm not sure if it's available on DVD. I remember watching this at least once or twice as a little rugrat back in the day, but I don't recall seeing it from start to finish. Mouse does establish the now-familiar formula of using better known guest voices to complement the omnipresent Paul Frees, a formula that would serve Rankin-Bass well for the next couple of decades with their annual collection of Christmas specials. 

 Rating: A-.

Weasel of the Week: Steve Hagwell

Mr. Hagwell is the commissioner of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC), and he's at the center of a local controversy this week.

One week ago, after his RPI team lost to Union, a loss that would be avenged the next night, Seth Appert, the Engineers' coach, played a video of a controversial play at the end of the game, in which a potential game-tying goal was waved off by referee Bryan Hicks. Hicks claimed the Union goalie was interfered with. The video evidence presented by Appert seems to say otherwise. It was a heat of the moment situation. As Ed Weaver wrote in today's Record, had Appert waited an hour, he wouldn't have played the tape. Instead, the tape was used as evidence to suspend Appert for 1 game, next Friday night as part of a Thanksgiving weekend tournament.

Pressed to explain the rationale behind the suspension and/or Hicks' judgment, or lack thereof, Hagwell opted to clam up. "No comment", he said, over and over again. It's not the first time that Hicks has screwed RPI in a game against Union, according to Weaver. On February 7, 2009, Union won a game in overtime on a goal that should've been disallowed due to interference on the part of a Union player. Hicks blew that call.

Blown calls happen all the time for one reason or another. But the leagues take a dim view of coaches & players questioning the integrity of their game officials, often issuing fines or, in Appert's case, a suspension. Problem is, by issuing such penalties, the leagues are sweeping a glaring problem right under the rug. Referees and umpires are human, prone to mistakes, and thus must be held accountable for those errors, especially if it affects the outcome of a game.

Weaver is questioning why Hagwell decided to suspend Appert. The only official explanation is that it had to do with the coach's "actions" after the game last Friday. All he did was play a video illustrating a glaring mistake made by a game official with a past history of bad calls against RPI. If that was an offense, why didn't Hagwell, when given a chance to clarify his position, acknowledge it as such? What need is there to cover it up?

In this case, the wrong person is being punished. Bryan Hicks has now screwed RPI at least twice in the space of three seasons. His commissioner is covering for him by suspending Seth Appert, who made the bold move of presenting the evidence in a public forum. RPI, if they so chose, could consider taking action to rectify this problem, but do they risk their standing in the ECAC by doing so?

They say justice is blind. In this case, it shouldn't have to be. Hagwell gets a set of weasel ears for playing see no evil and trying to cover for a referee's bad judgment. If there was ever a need to change the culture of officiating and its relationship with players and coaches in sports across the board, the time is now.

Dancing towards travesty

I will freely admit that I am not a regular viewer or a fan of Dancing With the Stars or any of the current crop of reality shows. Dancing finishes its current cycle on Tuesday, but if the results leading up to this point have been any indication, we're in for the worst finish in the series' history.

The problem centers on Alaska teenager Bristol Palin, daughter of the former governor, Sarah Palin. The younger Palin has repeatedly had the lowest scores, but has been saved by audience vote week after week. One poster on Toon Zone's message board noted that there are people using false e-mail addresses in order to enter multiple votes for Bristol, doing everything possible to extend the family's 15 minutes of fame.

It doesn't help that TLC just launched Sarah Palin's Alaska, as if the former Vice Presidential candidate and Tea Party darling needs any more face time. The Tea Party, clearly, is stuffing the phone lines in support of Bristol, at the expense of more talented performers such as singer-actress Brandy Norwood (ex-Moesha) and former NFL QB Kurt Warner, late of the Arizona Cardinals. Actor Kyle Massey (ex-That's So Raven) is also in the finals, and I believe the other spot went to Jennifer Grey ("Dirty Dancing"). The producers are doing nothing to stop the "ballot stuffing", which only increases the chances of Bristol winning on Tuesday. If she wins, it will be the biggest travesty to hit Dancing since singer Drew Lachey upset NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and former WWE diva Stacy Keibler in 2006.

Usually, one of the supermarket tabloids will headline that a show like Dancing is fixed in favor of a certain contestant. I haven't seen that yet this season, when it looks more obvious that there is a fix in the voting. Maybe they're waiting until it's over this time, so they don't look like the collective boy who cried wolf. If they're lucky, common sense and justice will prevail on Tuesday, unless Bristol finds a glass slipper and proves her detractors wrong on Monday.

Weasel of the Week: David Weaving

David Weaving is serving a sentence for manslaughter after he'd struck and killed a Connecticut teenager, riding a bike, with his car several months back. The case is back in the news because after the victim's parents filed suit against Weaving, he's turned around and filed a counter-suit, claiming said parents were guilty of "contributory negiligence" in allowing their son to ride his bike, I'm assuming, in open traffic. Weaving is asking for $15,000 in damages.

Basically, this counter-suit is sour grapes on the part of Weaving, who obviously didn't see the kid until it was too late to slam on the brakes and stop his car in time to avoid contact. But who in their right mind would try something like this? The case is closed, Weaving's doing his time, but apparently, he still feels he was wronged by the system. From a legal standpoint, they're saying "it's just part of the process". Oh, really?

If Weaving paid closer attention to the traffic, he wouldn't be in this fix. He's trying to shift the blame for the accident on the victim. Real swift, pally. NOT! I've got a set of weasel ears for you, direct from mamby-pamby land.

A correction

I had previously stated that the late Seattle Mariners' announcer Dave Niehaus might be up for consideration for the Baseball Hall of Fame. I was reminded via a newspaper article today that Niehaus had been given the Ford Frick Award (for announcers) just 2 years ago for his contributions to the team and the game. My bad.