‘Stick': The First TV Golf Sitcom Hits Most of Its Marks
Having grown up with golf (my dad was a pro golfer), I'm particularly drawn to features about the sport. There haven't been many of them, and, of those, only a few are very good. There's 'Tin Cup' (1996), 'Caddyshack' (1980), and 'The Greatest Game Ever Played' (2005). That's pretty much it. Adam Sandler's 'Happy Gilmore' (1996) has a big cult following, but I didn't care for it as I don't care much for Sandler in general.
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Chicago Tribune
a day ago
- Chicago Tribune
Libertyville and Wilmette athletes run, leap their way to ‘American Ninja Warrior' semi-finals
With calculated leaps, displays of strength, and races up a 14.5-foot curved wall, both a Wilmette doctor and a Libertyville High School student have advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC-TV American Ninja Warrior competition show by making it through the athletically demanding obstacle course. The semifinals for the show, where the ninja course tests participants' strength, agility and balance, will air this month. The segment featuring Steven Bachta, 44, of Wilmette, a pediatric doctor at NorthShore Evanston and Highland Park hospitals who also teaches medical students and residents, is set to air Monday, July 14, and that of his fellow ninja contestant Kenzie Hughes, 16, who will be entering her senior year of high school and hopes to go into physical therapy, will air July 28, according to NBC spokespersons. Bachta and Hughes know each other from training at ninja gyms in the area, he said. 'It's kind of a small world,' he said. 'She's an amazing ninja, and she's been doing it since she was very young.' 'The ninja community has been amazing, and it's kind of a tight-knit and smaller community,' Bachta said, describing how many ninja athletes train together at local facilities. 'It's always fun to talk to the kids about what it's like to be on the TV show, because a lot of them want to eventually do that.' Both Bachta and Hughes learned about the NBC show by watching it on television — or, in Bachta's case, by his young daughters watching American Ninja Warrior Junior and then wanting to compete. Hughes started watching the show about eight years ago and her family supported her interest, taking her to an ANW-inspired gym in Chicago where a younger Hughes 'fell in love' with the sport. And during COVID, her father Chris Hughes even built a mini course in the backyard. Bachta, whose moniker on the show is 'Docta Bachta,' took his first real leap into the sport after the pandemic ended. 'It just so happens, Chicago has like, five or six really good ninja gyms,' he said. 'And so once the lockdown was lifted, we kind of ventured out to these gyms.' He trains at the Ultimate Ninjas North Shore facility in Glenview, along with his two daughters. Sydney, 10, was ranked third at the World Ninja League Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina in June, and Logan, 7, ranked 10th at the same championships, he said. That makes both of them around the same age Hughes was when she got interested in ninja. 'Like a dream come true' Hughes started gymnastics at 2 years old, and had also done flag football, figure skating, softball, soccer and a 'bunch of random sports.' Hughes' mother Mia Hughes said her daughter had previously applied to be on American Ninja Warrior Junior, but was ultimately not selected. When the age to enter the American Ninja Warrior was lowered to 15, the teen jumped at the opportunity. Mia Hughes talked about the moment they got the call, at eight o'clock on a Wednesday evening. 'I ran the phone up to her, I filmed the call … it was like a dream come true,' Mia Hughes said. The outpouring of support the teen saw from friends and family was 'overwhelming,' Kenzie Hughes said, and going to Las Vegas to be in front of tv cameras was 'nerve-wracking.' But while she struggled with all the cameras watching her, when she got to the starting line, it all dropped away, she said. Hughes said she also got to meet numerous other ninja competitors while in Vegas and that they shared advice and tips. 'Everyone's there to support each other, and it doesn't matter how you do or they do, it's just, all together we want to be the best we can.' Despite the physicality of the sport, it's 'way more mental than physical,' Hughes said. She had to change her mentality, she said, after she became too focused on perfection. 'It was really helpful to be on the show, because then that's where I realized — I really do love the sport and I want to keep going and try to be the best I can,' Hughes said. For her parents, their daughter's skill and passion for ninja came as a surprise. 'It's great to see her shine, and when she took that starting line … I was just really proud of her,' Mia Hughes said, wiping her eyes. But the lessons she wants her daughter to take away from the experience aren't about success. Instead, they're about failure. Her daughter used to be 'really, really hard on herself,' Mia Hughes said, so it was heartening to hear her talk about rediscovering the love of the sport. 'Everyone fails, no matter what…Failure, it happens, and that's a thing in life,' Mia Hughes said. After high school, Hughes plans to pursue physical therapy studies in college, drawing from her own experiences handling injuries and pains. She hopes to attend school in Florida to be close to her older sister Kylie. She doesn't plan on giving up on ninja, however, saying she will be applying for next season as well. Encouraging blood donations Bachta, who has competed twice before on American Ninja Warrior, teaches in addition to his role as a pediatric doctor. As director of pediatric education at NorthShore, he's a clinical assistant professor at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine. He works 24-hour shifts at the Evanston and Highland Park hospitals, likening the shifts to those of firefighters, he said, because it involves being on call even when he's sleeping. 'You always have to be ready to go. You can lay down and rest, but at any moment, you could have to rush to a delivery or the emergency room, and you have to be sharp,' Bachta said of the lifestyle. 'It's not really sleep when you're there. It's more just like resting until you're needed.' Because of his schedule, Bachta said he is able to have more flexibility when it comes to ninja training and also competing on NBC. This season's shows taped last September in Las Vegas, requiring the contestants to keep their lips sealed about the results for the past 10 months. 'It makes it a little challenging,' Bachta said of the travel requirements to appear on the show. 'But it works. My colleagues have been great and understanding.' His group of fellow ninjas trains at other ninja facilities besides the Glenview one to get a feel for different obstacles, Bachta said. The group also trains at night, largely because the NBC show films at night, sometimes all through the night, he explained, and he wants to be conditioned to get into athletic mode in the late hours. Bachta is competing to encourage people to donate blood. He's been donating since he was a student at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, and said now that he's a doctor, he sees firsthand how critical blood transfusions are for trauma and ER patients, cancer patients, and mothers who hemorrhage. 'In high school, I donated because I thought, 'I can do this and help people,' but now as a doctor, I can see this full circle,' he said. He still donates on a regular basis.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Julie Bowen Thought She Was Passed Over For ‘Happy Gilmore 2' For 1 All-Too-Common Reason
In May 2024, Netflix announced the sequel to the 1996 sports comedy 'Happy Gilmore,' starring Adam Sandler — but Julie Bowen figured her role as Virginia Venit, Happy's love interest, had long since been retired to the clubhouse. 'I heard it was happening and I thought, 'Well, I won't be in it,'' Bowen confessed to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. She admitted she wasn't bitter about potentially being passed over. After all, it has been 30 years since the original teed off. 'He's got a hottie. He's got some little bitty on the side,' she joked, acknowledging Hollywood's tendency to swap out veterans for younger talent. When the news of the sequel became public, it was Bowen's kids who alerted her to the news before she was 'officially' asked to reprise her role. 'My now-18-year-old said, 'Mom I hear they're doing a sequel and he's with Sydney Sweeney as a cart girl,'' she recalled. Though 'Euphoria' star Sweeney isn't part of the project, Bowen admitted that the thought 'hurt,' but she noted that she would have respected the choice. But Bowen got the news she didn't see coming. 'When I got the call that I was actually in it, I was like, 'Are you sure? Come on!'' she said. In October, Bowen appeared on the daytime talk show 'Sherri,' hosted by Sherri Shepherd, where she expressed her affection for working with Sandler — and shared that producers plan to 'de-age' her for the role, a process she said she was curious to see in action. Julie Bowen Gets Humble About Helping Sarah Hyland Leave An Abusive Partner Julie Bowen Talks Openly About Her Plastic Surgery: 'They Do You Like A Sneaker' Adam Sandler Honors 'Happy Gilmore' Alligator, Who Has Died Of Old Age
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
The underdogs of the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest are the real heroes. They do it for the love of the game.
When you picture the 4th of July, most people think of fireworks. That's "the big show," right? For some, sure. But for others, it's all about Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, held every year on the Coney Island Boardwalk in Brooklyn, New York. It's a truly American spectacle, watching people eat for sport — shoving as many hot dogs down their throats as they can, not due to hunger or for taste, but simply out of pure competition. And while it's impressive to watch men like 17-time winner Joey Chestnut (who ate 70 ½ hot dogs this year), and women like 11-time winner Miki Sudo (who scarfed down 33) eat more in 10 minutes than should be humanly possible, what's more impressive is the competitors near the end of the table. That's right, we're talking about those who are just there for the love of the game. Every year, the competition puts the men and women who are coming into the competition with the best records — the big dogs, so to speak — in the middle of the table, with, well, the underdogs toward the end. Those are the competitors who are there to try their best, but, barring something unthinkable, aren't likely to unseat someone who's won 10 or more times. Let's hear it for the underdogs Take competitor Cherish Brown, for example. The Ohio native earned a wild-card spot to compete in her third consecutive 4th of July contest. Ahead of the event, she told WFFT-TV, "I'm really always looking to improve personally, rather than beat anybody at the table." Brown added, "I can't really control what they're going to do. If they can eat 15-20 hot dogs, that's great for them, but I'm not going to punish myself if I can't eat that many. I'm just there to have a good time, and try to do better than last year." She finished this year's competition in 12th place, having eaten six hot dogs in 10 minutes, but we hope that didn't dampen her day. Later, in the men's competition, Indiana native Cameron Meade made his Nathan's debut, eating 20 ¾ hot dogs to finish in 15th place. Earlier this week, he told NBC Chicago he was inspired to participate in eating competitions after his friends were impressed by how much he ate at his university's dining hall. And though he came in last in his division, he's positioned well for next year — after all, he can only go up from here. No, these underdogs didn't win in the end, but we appreciate what they're doing all the same. Underdogs like Brown and Meade are not there because they expect to win, they're just there because they love doing what they do: Eating an ungodly number of hot dogs on a hot day, just because they can. In any sport — including competitive eating — not every player on the field can be the MVP, especially when competing against legends like Chestnut and Sudo. Watching them is a good reminder that perfectionism, like the leftover buns on the boardwalk, is for the birds, and if you have a dream, you should chase it. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to love what you do.
