text:
25 Fun Facts About A League Of Their Own
You know there's no crying in baseball, but here are 25 things you might not know about the 1992 classic, A League of Their Own.
1. The movie inspired a very short-lived TV show of the same name.
It ran for one season in 1993 and although none of the marquee names from the movie came back for the small screen edition, Megan Cavanagh and Tracy Reiner reprised their roles as Marla Hooch and "Betty Spaghetti" Horn, respectively; Garry Marshall stayed on as Walter Harvey and even Jon Lovitz came back for one episode.
2. The real life founder of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) made his fortune selling gum, not chocolate bars.
In the movie, the league's owner and founder is a candy bar mogul; the real AAGPBL was started by Philip K. Wrigley, of the chewing gum and the Cubs.
3. The original four-hour cut of the movie gives a lot more backstory for all the girls.
For instance, in one cut scene, Kit (Lori Petty) and Dottie (Geena Davis) discuss how after dating for a preposterously-long five years without commitment, Dottie married Bob the night he got drafted.
4. The mansion that serves as Walter Harvey's house has a secret bar hidden behind a trick wall.
Originally, a scene was made up specifically to incorporate the bar, but it was cut.
5. Also cut? Some very retro feelings about premarital sex.
The slimmed down version of the film lets Madonna's Mae keep her "All the Way" nickname, but a deleted scene shows Dottie advising Kit not to hang around such a bad influence. Dottie isn't sure if going "all the way" is something married women "get to" or "have to" do.
6. The scene at the Suds Bucket bar was originally much longer.
The lengthier version shows Kit striking out a would-be-suitor who bets he can get a hit off her in exchange for little quality time out in his truck. Oh, and Tom Hanks' character, Jimmy Dugan, follows the girls to the bar and gives Kit some timely advice to win the wager.
7. Two Thousand girls converged on University of Southern California's campus for the auditions.
But none of them got to read for director Penny Marshall until they passed the baseball portion of the audition. Well, except for Geena Davis, who showed off her then-lacking baseball skills in Marshall's backyard at their first meeting.
8. Garry Marshall, who plays Walter Harvey, is Penny Marshall's brother.
He joined the cast when someone dropped out and they needed a last minute actor.
9. Rosie O'Donnell originally read for the part of Marla.
When Megan Cavanagh proved to be perfect as Marla, a new part was written for O'Donnell, who was not only hilarious but one of the more talented ballplayers.
10. The only other part written with a specific actor in mind was the curmudgeonly scout, Ernie Capadino.
It had to be Jon Lovitz.
11. Marla's husband, Nelson, makes cheese.
It was among the details lost when the Suds Bucket scene was shortened. But I think it really adds something to the movie.
12. Before filming even began, the actresses all had to hone their baseball ability.
They spent eight hours a day, six days a week for seven and half months participating in baseball training.
13. Madonna worked at least as hard as everyone else, but still struggled with some of the more technical aspects of the game.
Her character, Mae, had to be moved from third base to the outfield because she couldn't master fielding ground balls.
14. Some of the people on production wanted Jimmy and Dottie to end up together, and when that idea was scrapped, so were the key scenes of romantic tension.
Their conversation on the bus that stayed in the film may have seemed to hint at something more than friendship, but it's nothing compared to a cut scene in which Dottie watches Jimmy hit batting practice late at night. Jimmy tells Dottie how much he loves watching her play, claiming that she rivals Ty Cobb and Ted Williams. After Dottie admits how much she loves baseball, he kisses her. She runs into the clubhouse and, originally, this is where she starts packing her things and tells Ira Lowenstein, the AAGPBL general manager, that she has to go home.
15. During their training camp, the actresses learned to slide on a Slip 'N Slide.
But that idea was scrapped after three of them ended up with concussions.
16. Each character had a "clean" and "dirty" uniform that they would wear depending on if the scene they were filming took place at the beginning or end of a game.
To get the "dirty" uniforms, they just went out and rolled around on the base paths.
17. Everything was authentic, for better or for worse.
Between the hot wool uniforms, the un-webbed mitts and the lack of batting gloves, the period costumes made the baseball that much more difficult—and dangerous.
18. The 1700 extras also had to suffer through the extreme Indiana heat in period costume.
To entertain them during down time, Rosie called a comedian friend of hers, who spent 10 weeks with the production. O'Donnell and Hanks also took turns entertaining the "fans."
19. In a cut scene, we see post-marriage Marla playing with Kit on the Racine Belles.
She's pregnant at the time and, although desperate to keep it secret from management, the players on both her team and the other teams agree to accommodate her. During the game, Dottie and Jimmy get into a fight about their relationship and she doesn't notice Marla playing second base. On a double play ball, Dottie slides hard and takes out Marla who is removed on a stretcher. The other players accuse Dottie of stopping at nothing to win. Later, we learn that both Marla and the baby are fine but, in the original version of the movie, it is guilt over her actions that has Dottie in tears when Bob unexpectedly arrives.
20. O'Donnell really does throw two balls to two catchers at once.
It's a trick she learned on set from one of the actual original members of the AAGPBL.
21. Similarly, Geena Davis really does catch a pop up behind her back.
It was supposed to be done by a stunt double, but the double was having trouble. So Davis gave it a go and, well, you've seen the result.
22. A lot of actual baseball was played on set.
Marshall had the actresses play real games with multiple cameras running to get extra footage for in-game montages.
23. During the scene where the scout approaches Dottie and Kit in the barn, a calf was actually born on set.
The calf was named "Penny" after the movie's director.
24. Madonna's character catches a ball in her hat in one scene, but technically, that wouldn't have counted as an out.
Rules specifically state that for a fly ball to be an out, it has to be caught in the glove or hand.
25. The extras in the Hall of Fame scene are the actual players from the AAGPBL.
As for Dottie and the rest of the Peaches, it's older actresses you're seeing, but the dialogue is dubbed with the younger actresses' voices.


text:
This week I have had an email from a woman who had been a very young solo mum living on a benefit. She had a boyfriend who lost his accommodation and she offered him a place to stay. He contributed nothing to the finances, did nothing around the house and seldom ate at the house. She said the only thing they shared was the bed.
Work and Income found out about it, he left, and she admitted the relationship as far as it went. Then the woman found she was pregnant. Her son is now ten-and-a-half years of age. The man pays her $30 per week and she is still paying $40 per week back to Work and Income.
Last week, I announced legislation that would target what we refer to in shorthand as "relationship fraud". This is when a beneficiary takes more money than they are entitled to by not telling Work and Income they have a spouse or partner - for example, a woman in a de facto relationship while on the DPB.
The changes I announced would mean that the partner of a beneficiary caught committing relationship fraud will be responsible for the debt and criminal liability for ripping the taxpayer off. It is time people learned that stealing from the taxpayer is not a victimless crime. It is not clever, and they will get caught.
Some people suggest that we should be prosecuting the wives of white collar criminals for living on the profits of their crimes. Of course, if someone else - partner, spouse, friend or associate - has actively been a part of the crime, they can be prosecuted as such.
However, these arguments ignore an important difference between the partner of someone committing relationship fraud and the partner of someone committing some other crime. While most spouses of offenders have nothing to do with their partner's offending, relationship fraud only becomes a crime when there is an undeclared relationship. It takes two to tango - it is the very presence of that partner which makes the beneficiary ineligible for that money, creating the fraud, so you cannot separate the partner from the crime.
Having put an extra $200 million into tax evasion detection over the past three years, I reckon we are not turning a blind eye to those ripping us off through the tax system, and it is important to remember that just because we have a problem in one area, it shouldn't mean we neglect concerns in another.
That is like suggesting we do nothing about poverty in New Zealand because people are starving in Africa.
Opponents also blame government policy for "forcing beneficiaries to rip off the taxpayer" because times are tight.
With about 340,000 people receiving some kind of welfare at the moment, the claim that people need to steal slanders the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries who get by without breaking the law. People move on and off the benefit all the time and don't have to commit crime to stay afloat financially. Women and men form relationships and move from the DPB into marriage-type relationships and do so within the law.
The final charge some were quick to level at us was that this might be a problem for women in violent relationships. That concern is easy to answer - Work and Income investigators are well trained to pick up if there might be violence in a relationship and the law is clear that if there is abuse in that home, the woman's eligibility for the DPB is not affected, so there is no fraud.
To do otherwise would make it harder for her to leave that violent situation, which is the last thing we want to stand in the way of. If people commit fraud, they can expect to be caught. We are getting better at catching fraud offenders and we have just widened the net.
The public deserve to have confidence their money is being used properly.
Beneficiaries deserve to know that we will be there to support them and will not tolerate a few criminals among them giving them all a bad name. These reforms will help deliver on that.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Phil Baroni Preps For Parisyan - BELLATOR MMA watch video >>
MMA Crypt Quiz Jake Bostwick vs Phil Baroni watch video >>
Bellator MMA analyst Jimmy Smith take a closer look at former Featherweight Champion Pat Curran's last minute finish that helped define his "Foundation." watch video >>
Jimmy Smith takes to Skype for an interview with Daniel "The Weasel" Weichel, about his upcoming scrap against Pat Curran. Tune in to "Bellator: Shlemenko vs. Manhoef" Friday February 13th and live watch video >>
Former Featherweight Champ Pat Curran is ready for the first step in getting his belt back. Jimmy Smith catches up with Pat via Skype. Tune in to "Bellator: Shlemenko vs. Manhoef" Friday February 13 watch video >>
Bellator MMA Lightweight World Champion "Ill" Will Brooks (15-1) returns to action on April 10, when he faces top contender Dave "The Fugitive" Jansen (20-2) at Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif on watch video >>
Phil Baroni returns to the UFC, talks about being a new man for his fight against Amir Sadollah at UFC 106 watch video >>
Bellator MMA analyst Jimmy Smith takes a closer look at hard hitting Middleweight, Melvin Manhoef's last win, as he made a statement which helped define his "Foundation". watch video >>
John S. Nash of http://BloodyElbow.com paid a visit to Bellator MMA's headquarter to see Scott Coker at work and get his views on a whole range of subjects. watch video >>
Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko is focused and "stronger" for his upcoming fight Friday, Feb 13th vs Melvin Manhoef on Spike TV. He wants his belt back and he's ready to go watch video >>