University of Tampa - Moroccan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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ENTERTAINMENT § SPORTS Rioting left 38 dead and 437 injured after English hooligans attacked panic-stricken Italian fans at the European Cup soccer championship game in Brussels. The events of what came to be called “Black Wednesday’’ led to angry recrimina- tions and deep expressions of shame by Britons. Already strong measures against hooliganism were re-examined by FIFA, the international ruling body of soccer, and several British teams were banned from play in other European countries. Interna- tionally, soccer became the most closely scrutinized sport since several deaths put professional boxing in the spotlight. Well over a year after their collision in the Los Angeles Olympics, Mary Decker Slaney settled her score with South African track star Zola Budd, by winning a 3000 meter race at London’s Crystal Palace. During the first 2000 meters, Budd was close on the heels (ouch!) of Slaney, but the American left Budd far behind during the final kilometer. When a reporter asked Budd what it felt like to he “thwarted” by an “arch- enemy like Slaney,” Budd replied the only time I ever feel thwarted is when reporters give more attention to an unfortu- nate accident than to my, and {Slaney’s}, ability on the track.” As for her feelings toward Slaney, Budd said. “She’s a nice woman, but clumsy.” MTV Cops MTV met Hawaii Five-0 in an explosion of NBC pride as the Miami Vice wave of enthusiasm spread to fashion, advertising, and popular music, not to mention other networks. The second year drama gave NBC great visibility in addition to solidifying its position as the new number one network. The show’s concept was born when an NBC executive scribbled a memo reading “MTV cops” to his writers. The format called for popular tunes to be employed as incidental music through- out the one-hour segments. Don Johnson was cast as the hard-boiled, ex-Gator Sonny Crockett, and Phillip Michael Thomas became Rico Rubbs, Crockett’s partner, a man cool under pressure and well versed in Jamaican dialects. These two hotdogs answer to the silent Castillo, their captain. For Johnson the role came as a boost to a once-promising, but lately faltering, career. After appearing in the cult classic A Boy And His Dog, he was largely invisible until the offer came from Miami Vice. Seventeen - year- old Boris Becker of West Germany be- came the youngest Wimbledon champ ever by defeating Kevin Curren. Ear- lier, Curren had eliminated the top two men’s seeds in the tournament, Jimmy Conners and John McEnroe. Becker was heard to comment, “Mit.” Martina Navrati- lova won the Wom- en’sSingles champi- onship. Of course. Phyllis George: Truly Tasteless Tastelessness reached new heights during a televised interview with Cathleen Cromwell Webb and Gary Dotson. Earlier Webb had come forward saying she had lied to a judge and jury members in 1975, telling them that Dotson had raped her. The lie resulted in Dotson’s ten-year impris- onment. During the interview (which did not answer the central question — Who was really lying about the rape case?) CBS’s Phyllis George chirped brightly, “How about you two shaking hands at the end of a long day?” Webb and Dotson awkwardly but politely complied. George continued, “How about a hug?” Mercifully the two de- clined — suggesting that bad taste does have its limits. For everyone but Phyllis, that is. Just a couple of months later, in an interview with Billy Crystal, famous for his “Mah-ve-lous” imitation of the de- ceased Fernando Lamas, George blun- dered again. She asked Crystal if he had ever discussed the imitation with Lamas. The embarassed Crystal had to tell George, and the 30 million Americans that were watching, that Lamas was dead. CBS asked George to resign later that week. 24 FEATURES

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AIDS Claims Rock Hudson Rock Hudson, 58 Millionairess Martha “Sunny” Von Bulow lay in an irreversible coma while a jury reversed an earlier decision and found her second hus- band, Claus, not guilty of attempting her murder. A $75 million estate and a mud- slinging public trial divided the couple’s three children with each playing Pick-A-Par- ent and fighting over their share of the estate. Flamboyant broadcaster Ted Turner attempted to buy CBS — the first time any individual had ever offered to buy an entire national net- work. He proposed to pay a major portion of the takeover price by, in effect, borrowing the money from CBS share- holders. He would then reduce the enormous debt by selling off some prized CBS property as well as some of his own. The world mourned the loss of United States film and television star Rock Hudson. 58-year-old Hudson was a victim of the deadly AIDS disease. Hudson’s condition became public in July when he flew to Paris to be treated with an experimental AIDS drug not then available in the United States. Unfortunately, his case had progressed beyond the capabilities of the drug. He returned to Los Angeles several days later on a stretcher. The news that Hudson had AIDS came as an explana- tion to his fans of Hudson’s deteriorating appearance during his one-season run on the prime-time soap Dynasty. Rumors had circulated for years about Hudson’s sexual preference, and the news came as little surprise to much of the entertainment industry. He had, for many years, made no secret of his homosexuality among his close friends. In his final months, Hudson was alternately forsaken by his fans for not being the embodiment of his manly Hollywood persona and praised by mem- bers of the gay community for his courageous announcement that he had the disease. His public struggle was seen as a step forward in the fight for awareness of the disease. Hudson was too ill to attend an AIDS benefit coordinated by Doris Day in September, but he sent his commen- dations to the enormous group of celebri- ties from across the country. Hudson died in early October, 1985. The week of his death, congress vastly increased appropriations for AIDS re- search. An explosive devico dropped by police destroyed a two- block section of Philadelphia. Censorship was all the rage in Washing- ton. A group organized by Senator’s wives and billing themselves as the Parents’ Music Resource Center led an assault on Rock music, calling it “pornography”, and demanding that album jackets carry ratings labels and com- plete lyrics. Rock stars and members of PMRC turned a Senate hearing into an emotional shouting match, but no legislation was ever introduced. An urban siege in Philadel- phia left two city blocks and 61 homes charred to the ground. The battle began when police attempted to raid the brown- stone home of MOVE, a cult that preaches a mix of primi- tivism and anarchy. An incen- diary device dropped by the police created a fire that spread to the adjacent homes. Philadelphia Mayor W. Wil- son Goode accepted “full re- sponsibility” for the disaster, and said he was “devastated.” Certainly the residents of what had been Osage Avenue could identify with that. FEATURES 23

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r The Ultimate Killing Machine “The Boss” and other American performers were impressive on their world tours. At the 1985 Grammy Awards. Tina Turner racked up an incredible three gol- den gramophones. Later in the year, she co-starred with Mel Gibson in the box office smash Mad Max Beyond Thunderdomc. The devout Buddhist and mother of four went on to set the stage on fire when she began her Private Dancer tour by sell- ing out Madison Square Garden for three nights straight. With three straight victo- ries, including an 11-0 blowout in the final game, the Kansas City Royals overcame a flighty St. Louis Cardinals team to win the World Series. Royal’s third baseman George Brett was selected as the series’ most valuable player and Royal’s pitcher Bret Saberhagen went on to receive the 1985 Ameri- can League Cy Young Award. The jungle. Central America or Southeast Asia. They all look alike to me. I am suspended in a pool of mud, leeches clinging to my pectorals and deltoids. Above me stands (I was going to say looms, but I am the only one allowed to loom in this movie) the maniacal Rus- sian, Podovsky. His Russian accent is actually German, but that is OK since this movie will be seen by Americans who won’t know the difference. “Rainbo,” says Podovsky with sa- distic civility, “Do not make it hard on yourself. Tell me, vat is it about zis movie zat has made it so big.?” “How many times in our lives,” 1 reply, “have we wanted to go back to a certain situation and strive to rectify all the wrongs, to go back to a war that was lost and perhaps win a little peace of mind by doing it our way this time?” “But surely your fans over twenty know that history isn’t as easy to edit as a movie? Zat Vietnam may have been unvinnable, zat in real vars (mit real bullets and real blood) even people like you come out vounded, paraplegic, or even dead!” “I stand for ordinary Americans, losers, a lot of them. They don’t under- stand international politics. 1 could make a film that is hard-edged, insight- ful, realistic. But I would rather do something that is meaningful to the masses.” “But Rambo, it is precisely the masses you are misleading. Do you know zat teen-agers are valking into your private he-man cartoon and tinking it is the real ting?” “I don’t work these things out intellectually. I’m not political. But I love my family. I love my country. Where’s my nautilus machine?” Podovsky sinks to his knees. He gives a feeble cry and dies of frustration on the spot. Once more they have underestimated me. I am the perfect killing machine. The Koyals celebrate victory. The over-55 set flexed its wrinkles on prime time with new hit television series like “Murder She Wrote,” “The Equalizer,” “Crazy Like A Fox,” and “The Golden Girls.” Elderly viewers began to find themselves portrayed as intelligent, attractive, vital — even sexy — as silver-thatched suavity and geriatric ribaldry spread from network to network. Even movie legends Charl- ton Heston and Barbara Stanwyck jumped on the bandwagon, costarring in the spinoff “Dynasty II: The Col- bys.” FEATURES 25