Comebacks

I was attending a meeting today wiith a psychiatric professional and had a profound revelation. We were discussing my treatment in the partial hospital program I've been attending for the last two weeks here in Portland and how that was coming to an end tomorrow.

i suffer from schizo-affective disorder with bipolar being the affective component, a very tough row to hoe. And the professional mentioned sports comebacks as being a big theme in my many attempts at recovery, which then got me to thinking about the most famous sports comeback of my lifetime: the Doug Flutie touchdown pass that beat Miami down in the Orange Bowl the day atfter Thanksgiving, 1984.

What I remember most about that game was that it was one of the greatest games i've even seen played. Both teams battling up and down the sidelines for the full four quarters. And in some awful rainy conditions, Bernie Kosar led u of m to the leading and presumably game winning touchdown with about 30 seconds to play. While the announcers, fans and surely most of the players were resigned to a BC loss, the camera focused on Flutie resolutely shaking his head up and down, saying to himself "THe game's not over. There's still some time left on the clock. We've practiced for these types of situations. And we still have a shot." He looked energized, knowing that victory was still possible.

So what does Flutie do? Just as they surely practiced a dozen of so times over the course of the years, he threw two sideline passes to get the ball to the middle of the field, then heaved one into to endzone. That was famously caught by Gerard Phalen

Preparation
Practice
Probailities

all led up to the winning score. and my favorite Boston sports moment,

We who suffer from serious mental illness can take heart from the Magic Flutie. We can all prepare for the coming symptoms. We can all practice safety plans and safe coping skills to keep us safe. And we can all take heart in the probability the if we follow these steps we can have a good and fulfilling life.

Movie Treatment....direct from the 'Pents crack writing staff.

how bout a kind of "Family Man" meets that whoopi goldberg film about her hiding out in a convent?

i had a terrifically entertaining dream the other night that yes, could be an interesting movie as well. doubt me, as most dreams seem so fascinating when we're experiencing them but once the light of day strikes they become nonsensical.

well, here's my idea:

a young 20'/30 hotshot attorney type (Chris Hyde) gets into a brawl in a front of a nightclub in midtown manhattan. he's drunk, as usual, out celebrating another empty business victory with some acquaintances. the judge has become tired of seeing this young man with so much potential wind up in his coutrroom for drunk and disorderly behavior so he offers the man a deal: work off his debt to society by serving as business manager for a struggling church up in Harlem.

once the white salesman finds out his sentence he decides to grit his teeth and get with the program. then he meets the powers that be in the first church of harlem: Chastity Hallace and her stepfather Grit Hallace run the church. Chastity runs the choir and the day to day operational particulars, with Grit Hallace doing the the bulk of the sermons and who has major control of the funds of the church.

Chastity is a beautiful, sincere, petite, and sweet bundle being obviously held down by by stepdad, who took over operations while chastity's mother's health deterioriated. As Chris falls more in love wiith Chastity he begins to harbor a grudge against Grit for holding down his stepdaughter in order to advance his own career.

I see Chris Hyde being played by Heath Ledger type, someone in their 20/30s with enough sex appeal to appeal to a wide audience

I see Chastitsy being blayed by someone at home in a church choir as well as in the arms of a leading man. possibly Jennifer Hudson would be the ideal candidate if she could feel more at home in her already beautiful body.

And Grit Hallace, the evil stepfather, would be played by any one of the original kings of comedy. they're all three the right age group, the right attitude, the right everything. since this film would be a musical comedy romance, it's key to have likeable characters, even the unseemly ones. Steve Harvey would be simply brilliant in the role as would a host of others.