In “The Freshman,” Harold Lloyd is a Wanna-Be College Football Player

The four-eyed comic took advantage of the college football craze to make this, one of his most beloved films.

by Rich Watson 

In silent film comedy, three names tower above all others in Hollywood: Chaplin, Keaton, and today’s subject, Harold Lloyd. His spry, earnest screen persona carried him through much of the silent era and well into the sound one, for fifty years.

One of his biggest hits, the 1925 film The Freshman, put him on a college campus as an aspiring football player.

BRW: Behind the Blind 9

I came across an article that resonated with me deeply, about the need to reclaim quiet spaces within our culture. Apparently libraries are no longer as much of a haven from excess noise as they used to be.

Ever since I renewed my library card earlier this year, I’ve been frequenting mine more often. The first couple of visits required an acclimation to the modern library experience, including how to check out a book. Now, I come in with a want list of authors and/or books, head for the fiction section, search for and pick a book, and check it out. So I don’t linger.

But I have noticed my library is more of a place for social interaction and less for quiet.

Vince Lombardi Was One of the “Seven Blocks of Granite” at Fordham University

The twenties and thirties linemen at this Bronx school’s football team were dominant, with a player who would become a coaching icon.

by Rich Watson 

Vince Lombardi was such a big deal as a head coach in what became the NFL, they named the championship trophy for him. You know Green Bay, Wisconsin exists because of him. The shadow he cast over professional football was long.

Once upon a time, though, he was a young lineman on a team at a Bronx university called Fordham. The line on that Rams team was special.

They were granite.