Lately I've been catching a slew of Durango Kid flicks on Sunday mornings airing on the Antenna TV channel. Usually what follows is a short story from All Star Theater, and when I searched for this one it came up as 'The Ford Television Theater'. The picture this morning featured William Bendix, so I hung around to catch it; I always enjoyed him in the 'Life of Riley' series when I was a kid.
Bendix's character here was former college football player Mack Pomeroy getting together with former teammates for a twenty year homecoming reunion. Mack's been without a job for a while, but he's roped into pledging four thousand dollars for the start-up funding of a football hall of fame so small town college players have a better shot at competing for the honor against larger university rivals. Pomeroy's discomfort in trying to fit in is only made worse when a present day player seeks his advice on how to handle a compromising situation. The player accepted forty five dollars to play in a pick up game and is now feeling guilty about it, and doesn't know if he should say anything about it.
Pomeroy's initial response to the player is to blow it off because no one is likely to find out about it. It doesn't make the player's fiancé happy because she doesn't think it's being honest. Before the homecoming game begins, the stadium announcer states that the player is being replaced, presumably because he did the honorable thing and fessed up.
Pomeroy is really torn now because he used bad judgment, and senses the loss of a job offer made by a teammate from the old days who wanted to bring him in for a publicity assignment. The story closes like a lot of these shows did back in the Fifties and Sixties, as Mack gets the job for coming clean about his circumstances. It turns out he wouldn't have gotten the position for bragging about himself earlier, but now that he's been honest, it's what his buddy was looking for to begin with.
I don't think this story would really resonate with many modern day viewers. You look at the lengths college and pro football recruiting goes to today and forty five dollars wouldn't get you much more than a haircut. It's tough not to be cynical about it, but reality makes it seem like honesty and traditional values don't pay when you consider a player like Tim Tebow who got knocked around by the media with a fair share of abuse for the way he lives his life. Personally speaking, he and Mack could play on my team anytime.
Bendix's character here was former college football player Mack Pomeroy getting together with former teammates for a twenty year homecoming reunion. Mack's been without a job for a while, but he's roped into pledging four thousand dollars for the start-up funding of a football hall of fame so small town college players have a better shot at competing for the honor against larger university rivals. Pomeroy's discomfort in trying to fit in is only made worse when a present day player seeks his advice on how to handle a compromising situation. The player accepted forty five dollars to play in a pick up game and is now feeling guilty about it, and doesn't know if he should say anything about it.
Pomeroy's initial response to the player is to blow it off because no one is likely to find out about it. It doesn't make the player's fiancé happy because she doesn't think it's being honest. Before the homecoming game begins, the stadium announcer states that the player is being replaced, presumably because he did the honorable thing and fessed up.
Pomeroy is really torn now because he used bad judgment, and senses the loss of a job offer made by a teammate from the old days who wanted to bring him in for a publicity assignment. The story closes like a lot of these shows did back in the Fifties and Sixties, as Mack gets the job for coming clean about his circumstances. It turns out he wouldn't have gotten the position for bragging about himself earlier, but now that he's been honest, it's what his buddy was looking for to begin with.
I don't think this story would really resonate with many modern day viewers. You look at the lengths college and pro football recruiting goes to today and forty five dollars wouldn't get you much more than a haircut. It's tough not to be cynical about it, but reality makes it seem like honesty and traditional values don't pay when you consider a player like Tim Tebow who got knocked around by the media with a fair share of abuse for the way he lives his life. Personally speaking, he and Mack could play on my team anytime.