title: Beat It

text: Jermaine Jackson has suggested the inspiration of "Beat It" and its video came from the Jackson family experiencing gang activity in Gary, Indiana. "From our front window, we witnessed, about three bad rumbles between rival gangs." The lyrics of "Beat It" have been described as a "sad commentary on human nature". The line "don't be a macho man" is said to express Jackson's dislike of violence, while also referring to the childhood abuse he faced at the hands of his father Joseph.


title: Beat It

text: Eddie Van Halen, lead guitarist of hard rock band Van Halen, was asked to add a guitar solo. When initially contacted by Jones, VanHalen thought he was receiving a prank call. Having established that the call was genuine, VanHalen used a Hartley–Thompson amplifier borrowed from guitarist Allan Holdsworth and recorded his guitar solo free of charge. "I did it as a favor", the musician later said. "I was a complete fool, according to the rest of the band, our manager and everyone else. I was not used. I knew what I was doing—I don't do something unless I want to do it." Van Halen recorded his contribution following Jones and Jackson arriving at the guitarist's house with a "skeleton version" of the song. Fellow guitarist Steve Lukather recalled, "Initially, we rocked it out as Eddie had played a good solo—but Quincy thought it was too tough. So I had to reduce the distorted guitar sound and that is what was released." Two versions of the solo were recorded. VanHalen reported in 2015 that he also rearranged the song and asked Jones to edit the chords so his solo could be in the key of E.


title: Beat It

text: Right before VanHalen's guitar solo begins, a noise is heard that sounds like somebody knocking at a door. It is reported that the knock was a person walking into Van Halen's recording studio. Another story has claimed that the sound was simply the musician knocking on his own guitar.


title: Beat It

text: The engineers were shocked during the recording of Van Halen's solo to discover that the sound of his guitar had caused the monitor speaker in the control room to catch fire, causing one to exclaim, "This must be really good!"


title: Beat It

text: Following Jackson's death in 2009, Van Halen described working with him as "one of my fondest memories in my career".


title: Beat It

text: "Beat It" was released in early 1983, following the successful chart performances of "The Girl Is Mine" and "Billie Jean". Frank DiLeo, the vice president of Epic Records, convinced Jackson to release "Beat It" while "Billie Jean" was heading towards number one. DiLeo, who later became Jackson's manager, correctly predicted that both singles would remain in the top 10 at the same time. "Billie Jean" remained atop the "Billboard" Hot 100 for seven weeks, before being toppled by "Come On Eileen", which stayed at No. 1 for a single week, before Jackson reclaimed the position with "Beat It".


title: Beat It

text: "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" occupied the top 5 positions at the same time, a feat matched by very few artists. The single remained at the top of the Hot 100 for a total of three weeks. The song also charted at No. 1 on the US R&B singles chart and No. 14 on the "Billboard" Top Tracks chart in the US. "Billboard" ranked it at the No. 5 song for 1983. "Beat It" also claimed the top spot in Spain and the Netherlands, reached No. 3 in the UK and the top 20 in Austria, Norway, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.


title: Beat It

text: In a "Rolling Stone" review, Christopher Connelly describes "Beat It" as the best song on "Thriller", adding that it "ain't no disco AOR track". He notes of the "nifty dance song", "Jackson's voice soars all over the melody, Eddie Van Halen checks in with a blistering guitar solo, you could build a convention center on the backbeat". AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that the song is both "tough" and "scared". Robert Christgau claimed that the song has Eddie Van Halen "wielding his might in the service of antimacho". "Slant Magazine" observed that the song was an "uncharacteristic dalliance with the rock idiom". The track also won praise from Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, who stated that the song was "rambunctious".


title: Beat It

text: "Beat It" has been recognized with several awards. At the 1984 Grammy Awards, the song earned Jackson two of record-eight awards: Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The track won the "Billboard" Music Award for favorite dance/disco 12" LP in 1983. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a few months after its release, for shipments of at least one million units. In 1989, the standard format single was re-certified platinum by the RIAA, based on the revised sales level of one million units for platinum singles. The total number of digital sales in the US, as of August 2022, stands at 8,000,000.


title: Beat It

text: The music video for "Beat It" helped establish Jackson as an international pop icon. The video was Jackson's first treatment of black youth and the streets. Both "Beat It" and "Thriller" are notable for their "mass choreography" of synchronized dancers, a Jackson trademark.


title: Beat It

text: The video, which cost Jackson $150,000 to create after CBS refused to finance it, was filmed on Los Angeles' Skid Row—mainly on locations on East 5th Street—around March 9, 1983. To add authenticity to the production but also to foster peace between them, Jackson had the idea to cast members of rival Los Angeles street gangs Crips and Bloods. In addition to around 80 genuine gang members, the video, which is noted for opening up many job opportunities for dancers in the US, also featured 18 professional dancers and four breakdancers. Besides Jackson, Michael Peters, and Vincent Paterson, the cast included Michael DeLorenzo, Stoney Jackson, Tracii Guns, Tony Fields, Peter Tram, Rick Stone and Cheryl Song. The bar location shown in the latter part of the first minute of the video was also featured 13 years earlier in the gatefold and on the back cover of the Doors 1970 album, "Morrison Hotel". Coincidentally, the name of that skid row bar, the Hard Rock Café, was also the inspiration for the London original of the famous chain of restaurants begun in 1971.


title: Beat It

text: The video was written and directed by Bob Giraldi, produced by Ralph Cohen, Antony Payne and Mary M. Ensign through the production company GASP. The second video released for the "Thriller" album, was choreographed by Michael Peters who also performed, alongside Vincent Paterson, as one of the two lead dancers. Despite some sources claiming otherwise, Jackson was involved in creating some parts of the choreography. Jackson asked Giraldi, at the time already an established commercial director but who had never directed a music video, to come up with a concept for the "Beat It" video because he really liked a commercial Giraldi had directed for WLS-TV in Chicago about a married couple of two elderly blind people who instead of running from a run-down neighborhood all the other white people had fled from, chose to stay and throw a block party for all the young children in the area. Contrary to popular belief, the concept of the video was not based on the Broadway musical "West Side Story"; in reality, Giraldi drew inspiration from his growing up in Paterson, New Jersey.


title: Beat It

text: The video had its world premiere on MTV during prime time on March 31, 1983; neither "Beat It" nor "Billie Jean" were, as is often claimed, the first music video by an African-American artist to be played on MTV. Soon after its premiere the video was also running on other video programs including BET's "Video Soul", SuperStation WTBS's "Night Tracks", and NBC's "Friday Night Videos". In fact, "Beat It" was the first video shown on the latter's first ever telecast on July 29, 1983.


title: Beat It

text: The video opens with the news of a fight circulating at a diner. This scene repeats itself at a pool hall, where gang members arrive and the song begins to play. The camera cuts to Jackson lying on a bed as he contemplates the senseless violence. Jackson notices rival gangs and leaves. Michael Jackson dons a red leather J. Parks brand jacket and dances his way towards the fight through the diner and pool hall. A knife fight is taking place between the two gang leaders in a warehouse. They dance battle for an interlude of music until Jackson arrives; he breaks up the fight and launches into a dance routine. The video ends with the gang members joining him in the dance, agreeing that violence is not the solution to their problems.


title: Beat It

text: The video received recognition through numerous awards. The American Music Awards named the short film their Favorite Pop/Rock Video and their Favorite Soul Video. The Black Gold Awards honored Jackson with the Best Video Performance award. The "Billboard" Video Awards recognized the video with 7 awards; Best Overall Video Clip, Best Performance by a Male Artist, Best Use of Video to Enhance a Song, Best Use of Video to Enhance an Artist's Image, Best Choreography, Best Overall Video and Best Dance/Disco 12". The short film was ranked by "Rolling Stone" as the No. 1 video, in both their critic's and reader's polls. The video was later inducted into the Music Video Producer's Hall of Fame.


title: Beat It

text: The music video of the song appears on the video albums: "Video Greatest Hits – HIStory", "HIStory on Film, Volume II", "Number Ones", on the bonus DVD of "Thriller 25" and "Michael Jackson's Vision".


title: Beat It

text: Jackson performed "Beat It" live with his brothers during The Jacksons' Victory Tour. On July 13, 1984, the brothers were joined on stage by Eddie Van Halen, who played the guitar in his solo spot. The song became one of Jackson's signature songs; he performed it on all of his world tours: Bad, Dangerous and HIStory. The October 1, 1992 Dangerous Tour performance, including "Beat It", was included in the "Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection" box set. The DVD was later repackaged as "". Jackson also performed the song on the "", a concert celebrating the musician's thirtieth year as a solo performer. The performance featured Slash as the song's guest guitarist.


title: Beat It

text: A highlight of Jackson's solo concert tour performances of the song is that he would begin the song on a cherry picker (which he would also later use with "Earth Song" during the HIStory World Tour) after performing Thriller. Another live version of the song is available on the DVD "Live at Wembley July 16, 1988". The song would have also been performed as part of the This Is It concerts, which were canceled due to Jackson's death.


title: Beat It

text: Jackson's "Beat It" has been cited as one of the most successful, recognized, awarded, and celebrated songs in the history of pop music; both the song and video had a large impact on pop culture. The song is said to be a "pioneer" in black rock music and is considered one of the cornerstones of the "Thriller" album. Eddie Van Halen has been praised for adding "the greatest guitar solo", helping "Beat It" become one of the best-selling singles of all time.


title: Beat It

text: Shortly after its release, "Beat It" was included in the National Highway Safety Commission's anti-drunk driving campaign, "Drinking and Driving Can Kill a Friendship". The song was also included on the accompanying album. Jackson collected an award from President Ronald Reagan at the White House, in recognition for his support of the campaign. Reagan stated that Jackson was "proof of what a person can accomplish through a lifestyle free of alcohol or drug abuse. People young and old respect that. And if Americans follow his example, then we can face up to the problem of drinking and driving, and we can, in Michael's words, 'Beat It'."


title: Beat It

text: Frequently listed in greatest song polling lists, "Beat It" was ranked as the world's fourth favorite song in a 2005 poll conducted by Sony Ericsson. Over 700,000 people in 60 countries cast their votes. Voters from the UK placed "Billie Jean" at No. 1, ahead of "Thriller", with a further five of the top ten being solo recordings by Jackson. "Rolling Stone" placed "Beat It" at number 337 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, and at number 185 in its 2021 update of the list. The song was featured in the films "Back to the Future Part II", "Zoolander" and "Undercover Brother". When re-released, as part of the "" campaign in 2006, "Beat It" charted at No. 15 in the UK.


title: Beat It

text: A remix of "2 Bad", is featured on "" containing a sample of "Beat It" as well as a rap by John Forté and guitar solo by Wyclef Jean.


title: Beat It

text: For "Thriller 25", Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am remixed "Beat It". The song, titled "Beat It 2008", featured additional vocals by fellow Black Eyed Peas member Fergie. Upon its release in 2008, the song reached No. 26 in Switzerland, the top 50 in Sweden and No. 65 in Austria. This was the second remixed version of "Beat It" to get an official release, following "Moby's Sub Mix" which was released on the "Jam" and "Who Is It" singles in 1992, as well as the "They Don't Care About Us" single in 1996 (and re-released as part of the Visionary campaign).


title: Beat It

text: "Beat It 2008" received generally unfavorable reviews from music critics. Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" claimed that the song was a "contender for the year's most pointless musical moment". AllMusic criticized Fergie for "parroting the lyrics of "Beat It" back to a recorded Jackson". "Blender"'s Kelefa Sanneh also noted that the Black Eyed Peas singer traded lines with Jackson. "Why?", she queried. Todd Gilchrist was thankful that the remix retained Eddie Van Halen's "incendiary guitar solo", but added that the song "holds the dubious honor of making Jackson seem masculine for once, and only in the context of Fergie's tough-by-way-of-"Kids Incorporated" interpretation of the tune". Tom Ewing of "Pitchfork" observed that Fergie's "nervous reverence is a waste of time".


title: Beat It

text: American rock band Fall Out Boy covered "Beat It". The studio version was digitally released on March 25, 2008, by Island Records as the only single from the band's first live album, "Live in Phoenix" (2008). The guitar solo is played by John Mayer. In the United States, the song peaked at No. 19 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and reached No. 21 on the defunct-"Billboard" Pop 100 chart, also charting internationally. The band has since regularly incorporated it in their set list at their shows.


title: Beat It

text: In early 2008, it was announced that Fall Out Boy were to cover "Beat It" for their "Live in Phoenix" album. The band had previously performed the song at venues such as Coors Amphitheatre and festivals such as the Carling Weekend in Leeds. Bassist Pete Wentz, who has claimed to have an obsession with Jackson, stated that prior to recording the song, he would only watch "Moonwalker". It was also announced that John Mayer was to add the guitar solo previously played by Eddie Van Halen.


title: Beat It

text: The band's lead singer/guitarist Patrick Stump stated that the band had not planned to cover the song. "Basically, I just started playing the riff in sound-check one day, and then we all started playing it, and then we started playing it live, and then we figured we'd record it and put it out with our live DVD." Bassist Pete Wentz added that the band had not originally intended for the song to be released as a single either. "'Beat It' seemed like a song that would be cool and that we could do our own take on," he said. Having spent time deciding on a guitarist for the song, Wentz eventually called John Mayer to add the guitar solo. "We were trying to think about who is a contemporary guitar guy who's going to go down as a legend," Wentz later noted.


title: Beat It

text: Upon its digital release as a single in April 2008, Fall Out Boy's cover of "Beat It" became a mainstay on iTunes' Top 10 chart. The song peaked at No. 8 in Canada, becoming another top 10 hit in the region. It also charted at No. 13 in Australia, No. 14 in New Zealand, No. 75 in Austria and No. 98 in the Netherlands.


title: Beat It

text: The music video for Fall Out Boy's "Beat It" was directed by Shane Drake and was made in homage to Jackson. "I think when you're doing a Michael Jackson cover, there's this expectation that you're going to do one of his videos verbatim," Stump said. "What we decided to do was kind of inspired by Michael Jackson and the mythology of him. There are specific images that are reference points for us, but at any given point, it's not any of his videos. It's kind of all of his videos, all at once, but on a Fall Out Boy budget, so it's not quite as fancy." The costumes for the video were similar to the originals. "My costume is this take on one of the guys from Michael Jackson's original 'Beat It' video, like, the guy who plays the rival dancer," Wentz said during the filming of the video. The music video featured numerous cameos, including a karate class/dance session being taught by Tony Hale, Donald Faison, Joel David Moore and Hal Sparks dressed up like Michael Jackson. The short film later received a MTV Video Music Award nomination for Best Rock Video.


title: Beat It

text: In 1984, American parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic released his parody song "Eat It". Yankovic recorded the song with Jackson's permission. The song's music video mocked the "Beat It" short film scene-for-scene, with Yankovic mimicking Jackson's dance moves in a clumsy fashion. Jackson received royalties as Jackson was listed as co-writer of "Eat It".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Flash Gordon is a 1980 space opera film directed by Mike Hodges, based on the King Features comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film stars Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Ornella Muti, Max von Sydow and Topol, with Timothy Dalton, Mariangela Melato, Brian Blessed and Peter Wyngarde in supporting roles. The film follows star quarterback Flash Gordon (Jones) and his allies Dale Arden (Anderson) and Hans Zarkov (Topol) as they unite the warring factions of the planet Mongo against the oppression of Ming the Merciless (von Sydow), who is intent on destroying Earth.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Producer Dino De Laurentiis, who had previously overseen two other comic book adaptations, "" and "Barbarella" (both 1968), had held an interest in making a "Flash Gordon" film since the 1960s. After a directorial offer from George Lucas was declined (resulting in the creation of "Star Wars") and a version that was to be directed by Federico Fellini did not enter production, De Laurentiis hired director Nicolas Roeg and "Enter the Dragon" writer Michael Allin to lead development on the film in 1977, but replaced them with Hodges and Lorenzo Semple Jr., who had scripted De Laurentiis' remake of "King Kong", due to his dissatisfaction with Roeg's vision for the film.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: "Flash Gordon" was primarily filmed in Britain, including on several soundstages at Elstree and Shepperton Studios, and uses a camp style similar to the 1960s TV series "Batman" (which Semple developed). Due to a dispute with De Laurentiis, Jones left the film prior to the end of principal photography, resulting in much of his dialogue being dubbed by actor Peter Marinker; the circumstances of Jones' departure from the project and his career in the aftermath of its release serve as the key subjects of the documentary "Life After Flash". The film is notable for its musical score by the rock band Queen, featuring orchestral sections by Howard Blake.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Although a box office success in both the United Kingdom and Italy, "Flash Gordon" performed poorly in other markets. Critical reception during and since the film's initial release has been generally favorable, and it has since gained a significant cult following.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: To relieve his boredom, Emperor Ming the Merciless of the planet Mongo declares that he will play with and destroy Earth by remotely causing natural disasters. On Earth, New York Jets football star Gregory "Flash" Gordon boards a small plane, where he meets travel agent Dale Arden. Mid-flight, the cockpit is hit by a meteor and the pilots are lost. Flash takes control and manages to crash land into a greenhouse owned by Dr. Hans Zarkov. Zarkov believes that the disasters are being caused by an extraterrestrial source pushing the moon towards Earth, and has secretly constructed a spacecraft that he plans to use to investigate. Zarkov's assistant refuses to go, so Zarkov lures Flash and Dale aboard. The rocket launches, taking them to Mongo, where they are captured by Ming's troops.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The trio is brought before Ming, who orders Dale be prepared for his pleasure. Flash tries to resist, but is overpowered. Ming orders Zarkov be reprogrammed and Flash executed. Ming's beautiful daughter, Princess Aura, seduces Ming's surgeon into saving Flash, with whom she fell in love at first sight. As they escape, Flash sees Zarkov being brainwashed by Klytus, the metal-faced head of the secret police. Aura and Flash flee to Arboria, kingdom of Prince Barin. En route, Aura teaches Flash to use a telepathic communicator to contact Dale. He lets her know he is alive, while Aura starts kissing him. Dale is locked in Ming's bedchamber but, encouraged by Flash, she escapes. Klytus sends Zarkov to intercept Dale, who tells him and Klytus that Flash is alive. Zarkov then reveals he resisted the brainwashing, and escapes Mingo City with Dale. They are quickly captured by Prince Vultan's hawkmen and taken to Sky City.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Aura and Flash arrive at Arboria. Aura asks the Prince to keep Flash safe. A distrustful Barin, in love with Aura, agrees not to kill Flash, but then forces him to perform a deadly ritual. Barin and Flash take turns sticking their hands into a hollow stump with a giant scorpion-like wood beast inside. When Flash has to take an extra turn, he pretends to be stung as a distraction and escapes. Barin follows, but they are both captured by the hawkmen.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Klytus informs Ming that Gordon is alive and is given authority to find the responsible party. Aura returns and is taken prisoner and tortured by Klytus and General Kala. They force her to confess and Ming orders her banished to the ice moon Frigia once his wedding to Dale has taken place. Meanwhile, Flash and Barin are taken to Sky City, where Flash and Dale are briefly reunited. Flash is forced to fight Barin in a death match, but Flash instead saves Barin's life, causing Barin to join him. Klytus arrives, and Flash and Barin kill him. Knowing this will bring retribution, Vultan orders the hawkmen to evacuate, leaving Barin, Flash, Dale and Zarkov behind. Ming's ship arrives and he orders Barin, Zarkov and Dale to be taken aboard. Ming is impressed with Flash and offers him lordship over Earth in exchange for loyalty. Flash refuses and Ming gives the order to destroy Vultan's kingdom along with Flash. Flash finds a rocket cycle and escapes before Sky City is destroyed.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Flash contacts Vultan, who is hiding on Arboria, and they plot an attack on Mingo City. Flash pretends to attack Mingo City alone on his rocket cycle. General Kala dispatches the war rocket "Ajax" to kill Flash, but the hawkmen ambush and seize the rocket. Meanwhile, Princess Aura overpowers her guard and frees Barin and Zarkov from the execution chamber. Flash and the hawkmen attack Mingo City in "Ajax" and Kala activates the defenses as Ming's and Dale's wedding begins. Mingo City's lightning field can only be penetrated by flying "Ajax" into it at a suicidal speed. Flash volunteers to stay at the helm to ensure success and enable the hawkmen to invade the city.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Barin and Zarkov enter the control room and confront Kala, who refuses to cooperate. She attempts to kill Zarkov, but Barin shoots and kills her. Barin tells Zarkov to hold the fort while he heads to Sector Alpha 9 to deactivate the lightning field. Zarkov tries, but is unable to deactivate the shield from Kala's control room.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Barin fights through Ming's guards and gets to Sector Alpha 9 and deactivates the lightning field before "Ajax" hits it. Flash flies the rocket ship into the city's wedding hall and the ship's bow impales Ming. He drags himself off the rocket nose, seriously wounded, and Flash offers to spare his life if he will stop the attack on Earth. Ming refuses and attempts to use his power ring on Flash, but his power falters and nothing happens. He then aims the ring at himself and is seemingly vaporized by its remaining power, seconds before the counter to the destruction of the Earth reaches zero. A huge victory celebration ensues.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Barin and Aura become the new leaders in Ming's place. Barin names Vultan the general of their armies. Flash, Dale and Zarkov discuss returning to Earth. Zarkov says he does not know how they will get back, but they will try. Barin tells them all they are welcome to stay, but Dale says she is a New York City girl, and it is now too quiet around Mongo.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The final frame shows Ming's ring being picked up by the hand of an unseen person. Ming's evil laugh echoes as the ending credits roll. Following the credits, the text "The End" is shown on the screen before a question mark (?) is appended.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Since the 1960s, producer De Laurentiis, having produced "" and "Barbarella", became interested in making a film based on "Flash Gordon". Initially, De Laurentiis wanted Italian director Federico Fellini to direct the picture; although Fellini optioned the "Flash Gordon" rights from De Laurentiis, he never made the film. George Lucas attempted to make a "Flash Gordon" film in the 1970s; unable to acquire the rights from De Laurentiis, Lucas decided to create "Star Wars" instead. De Laurentiis then hired Nicolas Roeg to make the film. Roeg, an admirer of the original Alex Raymond comic strips, spent a year in pre-production work. However, De Laurentiis was unhappy with Roeg's treatment of "Flash Gordon", and Roeg left the project. De Laurentiis also considered hiring Sergio Leone to direct the "Flash Gordon" film; Leone refused, because he believed the script was not faithful to the original Raymond comic strips. De Laurentiis then hired Mike Hodges to direct. The lavish sets and costumes were designed by Danilo Donati.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Dino wanted to make Flash Gordon humorous. At the time, I thought that was a possible way to go, but, in hindsight, I realize it was a terrible mistake. We kept fiddling around with the script, trying to decide whether to be funny or realistic. That was a catastrophic thing to do, with so much money involved... I never thought the character of Flash in the script was particularly good. But there was no pressure to make it any better. Dino had a vision of a comic-strip character treated in a comic style. That was silly, because Flash Gordon was never intended to be funny. The entire film got way out of control.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: According to a 2012 interview in "Maxim", Sam J. Jones had disagreements with De Laurentiis of some kind and departed prior to post-production, which resulted in a substantial portion of his dialogue being dubbed by professional voice and dramatic actor Peter Marinker; whose identity was long considered unknown, even to Jones. A sequel was proposed, but the departure of Jones effectively ended any such prospects. The airfield scene at the beginning of the film, although set in the U.S., was shot at the Broadford Airfield in Skye, Scotland.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The film's soundtrack was composed and performed by the rock band Queen. "Flash Gordon" was one of the earliest high-budget feature films to use a score primarily composed and performed by a rock band (an earlier example is The Who's "Tommy", 1975). Additional orchestral score pieces were composed by Howard Blake. Blake's pieces from the film have been released on CD, alongside his score from "Amityville 3-D".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The film was originally released in North America via Universal Studios. Universal has retained the domestic theatrical and home video rights, while the international rights passed on through different distributors, eventually residing with StudioCanal. However, the film's UK distributor, Thorn EMI, controlled U.S TV rights. Although StudioCanal currently holds those rights due to ownership of the EMI film library, they licensed them to MGM for U.S syndication.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: "Flash Gordon" opened on 825 screens in the United States and Canada and grossed $3,934,030 in its opening weekend, finishing top of the US box office. The following weekend, the film did less well, with a drop of 50% in grosses. In its third weekend, its average grosses fell a further 20% but grossed $2,394,000 from 1,400 screens. By the fourth weekend it was being pulled from major markets and had grossed $14.3 million in its first 24 days. It went on to gross $27,107,960 in the United States and Canada. It had a very strong showing in the United Kingdom, grossing nearly £14 million. Additionally, the film performed well in Italy, due to the two Italian actors prominent in the credits.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The film received overall positive reviews, holding an 83% approval rating at the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 52 reviews. The film ranked No. 88 on the Rotten Tomatoes Journey Through Sci-Fi List (100 Best-Reviewed Sci-Fi Movies).


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The film found appreciation with some film critics, such as "The New Yorker" Pauline Kael. Kael described "Flash Gordon" as having "some of the knowing, pleasurable giddiness of the fast-moving Bonds... The director, Mike Hodges, gets right into comic-strip sensibility and pacing". Roger Ebert also praised "Flash Gordon", stating ""Flash Gordon" is played for laughs, and wisely so... This is space opera, a genre invented by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Hugo Gernsback and other men of unlimited imagination harnessed to definitely limited skills. It's fun to see it done with energy and love and without the pseudo-meaningful apparatus of the Force and Trekkie Power... Is it fun? Yeah, sort of, it is".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: In contrast, Leslie Halliwell wrote in 1981 that the film was "another addition to the increasing numbers of such things being restaged at enormous expense fifty years after their prime". Richard Combs in the "Monthly Film Bulletin" called it "an expensively irrelevant gloss on its sources". Godfrey Fitzsimmons of "The Irish Times" said ""Flash Gordon" is a hodge-podge...the humour is not very funny and much of the "serious" element is hilarious, which makes for an unsatisfying film". Von Sydow (Ming) received a good deal of praise for his performance, but Jones (Gordon) was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor. Before the film's run in theaters, a sequel was considered and according to Brian Blessed on the Region 2 DVD commentary for "Flash Gordon – Silver Anniversary Edition", the sequel was going to be set on Mars, as a possible update of the very successful Universal Pictures "Flash Gordon" serials starring Buster Crabbe.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Christopher John reviewed "Flash Gordon" in "Ares" magazine #6, commenting that ""Flash Gordon" could have been a good film, but the cheap shots, uneven acting, and too familiar story have destroyed what could have been a new classic".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Reviewing the film for "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy", John Grant stated the film was "rather heavy-handed in its attempts at Parody" and that it used "stark garishness to compensate for appalling spfx"; he concluded that "Flash Gordon" "is a gaudy cliché whose charm should not be underestimated". John Clute gave "Flash Gordon" a mixed review, saying "the special effects are great" and praising the action sequences, but expressed dislike for "Flash Gordon's" humorous, self-aware tone, adding the actors "are all just playing, and we know it". Peter Nicholls in "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" gave a negative verdict on "Flash Gordon": "Apart from the fetishistic costumes...there is little of interest in this tongue-in-cheek, lurid fantasy, which tries to make a comic-strip virtue of wooden acting". "The Aurum Film Encyclopedia" also gave the film an adverse review, claiming it was impossible to suspend disbelief in the film: "Hodges puts a knowingness and literalness that works completely against the sense of pulp poetry so essential if we are to believe in Flash". It also described Semple's script as "similarly bland, its occasional witticisms notwithstanding". Reviewing "Flash Gordon" for "The Dissolve" website, Keith Phipps stated: ""Flash Gordon" is, like "Batman", entertaining for kids and a different sort of entertaining for grown-ups, who pick up on the goofiness... But there’s more than a whiff of condescension to it, too, as if it’s ridiculous to even consider Raymond's vision of clashing heroes and villains as anything but comedy fodder".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: "Flash Gordon" has since become a cult classic with fans of science fiction and fantasy. It is a favourite of director Edgar Wright, who used the film as one of the visual influences for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World". Acclaimed comic book artist Alex Ross names the film as his favorite film of all time. He painted the cover of the film's 2007 "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD release, and starred in a featurette to talk extensively about his affection for the film. In Seth MacFarlane's 2012 comedy "Ted", the characters of Ted (MacFarlane) and John (Mark Wahlberg) are fans of "Flash Gordon", and is referenced several times throughout the film. Jones (playing himself) also appears in the film during a manic party sequence and in the film's conclusion. He also appears in the sequel "Ted 2". Horror punk musician Wednesday 13 based the song "Hail Ming" on his album "The Dixie Dead" (2013) on the film.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Blessed's performance as Prince Vultan lodged the veteran stage and screen actor into the United Kingdom's collective consciousness for the utterance of a single line – "Gordon's alive?!" – which, 40 years later, remains the most repeated, reused, and recycled quotation from both the film and Blessed's career.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The Dynamite Entertainment comic "Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist" drew on several elements of the 1980 film, including the reappearance of the villain Klytus (who does not appear in the original comic strips). In this adaptation, Klytus again serves as Ming's main henchman. The 2014 Dynamite "Flash Gordon" comic also contained several allusions to the film, including having Vultan speak the line "Gordon's alive?!".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: In 2018, "Life After Flash", a feature-length documentary directed by Lisa Downs and produced by Ashley Pugh, had its world premiere at Chattanooga Film Festival, followed by the European Premiere at the 72nd Edinburgh International Film Festival. "Life After Flash" not only celebrates the 1980 classic featuring interviews with cast, crew and fans including Melody Anderson, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Mark Millar, Robert Rodriguez, Stan Lee and Brian May, but also explores the aftermath of when star Sam J. Jones went up against one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood: Dino De Laurentiis. It was released worldwide in 2019.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: A comic book adaptation, written by Bruce Jones and illustrated by classic Flash Gordon artist Al Williamson (himself not a fan of the film due to its overall campy nature, numerous script changes and resulting alterations to his artwork), was released by Western Publishing to coincide with the film's release. It was serialised in three issues of the Flash Gordon comic book (#31–33) and released in a single large format softcover and hardcover editions.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: To coincide and promote the film, Bally Manufacturing produced and released a Flash Gordon pinball machine in early 1981.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: A video game adaptation for the Atari 2600 was developed by Sirius Software and published by 20th Century Fox Games in 1983.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: The film was released in 1981 on VHS, Betamax and MCA DiscoVision, and re-released in 1998 on both Laserdisc and Region 1 DVD via Universal. It was released in Region 2 in 2001 (Japan) and again in 2005 (UK/Europe), with the 2005 release including commentary by Brian Blessed winning the "Commentary of the Year" award from "Hotdog Magazine" for his humor and enthusiasm. Universal Pictures released a "Saviour of the Universe Edition" DVD in North America in November 2007 to coincide with The Sci Fi Channel's new television series. This special edition does not include the cast and crew interviews of the Region 2 release.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: In October 2007, a high definition transfer of the film premiered on the MGM HD cable/satellite channel.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: In November 2007, Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson together created a new commentary track for the StudioCanal DVD edition of the film. "Flash Gordon" was released on Blu-ray on 15 June 2010.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: In 2012, Universal released "Flash Gordon" in a four-feature DVD set along with "Battlestar Galactica: Saga of a Star World", "The Last Starfighter" and "Dune".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: "Ted vs. Flash Gordon: The Ultimate Collection" was released on Blu-ray plus Digital HD in May 2016, featuring this film and the unrated versions of "Ted" and "Ted 2".


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: StudioCanal re-released the film on Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray on 3 August 2020, sourced from a new 4K restoration of the original camera negative, which was approved by director Mike Hodges.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: Since 2014, a new "Flash Gordon" film has been in the works. 20th Century Fox hired JD Payne and Patrick McKay as screenwriters, while Matthew Vaughn was in talks to direct. Mark Protosevich was hired to rewrite the film's script in January 2016. In October 2018, "Overlord" director Julius Avery was reportedly recruited as director.


title: Flash Gordon (film)

text: An animated film was under development at Disney/Fox with "" director Taika Waititi writing and directing. In August 2019, the animated film was canceled, but in July 2021, the film was revived with the plan to make it live-action.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of modern Russia. The Republic prospered as the easternmost trading post of the Hanseatic League and its Slavic, Baltic and Finnic people were much influenced by the culture of the Viking-Varangians and Byzantine people.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Forms of the name of the Novgorod Republic include , ; ; , and . Citizens referred to their city-state as "His Majesty (or Sovereign) Lord Novgorod the Great" "(Gosudar Gospodin Veliky Novgorod)" or, more often, as "Lord Novgorod the Great" "(Gospodin Veliky Novgorod)".


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Novgorod was populated by various Slavic, Finnic and Baltic tribes that were constantly at war with one another for supremacy. However, these tribes came together during the beginning of the 9th century to try to form a negotiated settlement to end military aggression amongst each other. The Novgorod First Chronicle, a collection of writings depicting the history of Novgorod from 1016 to 1471, states that these tribes wanted to "Seek a prince who may rule over us and judge us according to law." Novgorodian Rus' and its inhabitants were much influenced by the Viking culture and people.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: From the late 11th century Novgorodians asserted greater control over the determination of their rules and rejected a politically dependent relationship to Kiev.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Among the Rus, the Novgorodians were the first to reach the regions between the Arctic Ocean and Lake Onega. Even though there is no definitive account of the precise timing of their arrival at the northern rivers that flowed into the Arctic, there are chronicles which mention that one expedition reached the Pechora River in 1032, and trading was established as early as in 1096 with the Yugra tribe.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Chronicles also stated that the Novgorodians paid tribute to the Prince of Kiev by 1113. Some time after this, the administration of the principality seemed to have matured. The Novgorod "tysiatskii" and "posadniki" appointed "boyars" from the cities and collected revenues for administration in the territories it held. A charter from the 1130s mentioned 30 administrative posts in Novgorod territory, where revenues were collected regularly and sent as a tithe to the Novgorod bishop. Throughout the 12th century, Novgorod utilized the Baltic-Volga-Caspian trade route, not only for trading but also for bringing food from the fertile Oka region to their city.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Rostov-Suzdal comprised the territory of the important Oka region and lands along the vital Sheksna River. This river lay in the Northern Volga tributary region. Whomever controlled the river was able to block food supplies causing a famine in Novgorod. Perhaps due to these fears, Novgorod led a failed invasion of Suzdal in 1134. They tried again and succeeded in 1149. Alternatively, Novgorod, in a bid to appease Suzdal, accepted some Suzdalians as rulers of Novgorod. Despite these events, Suzdal still blocked off trade to Novgorod twice and intercepted Novgorod's tributes.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: In 1136, the Novgorodians dismissed Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich and over the next century and a half were able to invite in and dismiss a number of princes. However, these invitations or dismissals were often based on who was the dominant prince in Rus' at the time, and not on any independent thinking on the part of Novgorod.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The city of Pskov, initially part of Novgorod Land, had "de facto" independence from as early as the 13th century after opening a trading post for merchants of the Hanseatic League. Several princes such as Vsevolod Mstislavich (before 1117–1138) and Dovmont (c. 1240–1299) reigned in Pskov without any deference to, or consultation with, the prince or other officials in Novgorod. The independence of the Pskov Republic was acknowledged in the 1348 Treaty of Bolotovo. However, the Archbishop of Novgorod continued to head the church in Pskov and kept the title "Archbishop of Novgorod the Great and Pskov" until 1589. The Republic was the subject of political rivalry between Poland and Lithuania on one side and the Grand Duchy of Moscow on the other side in the 14th and 15th centuries.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: In the 12th–15th centuries, the Novgorodian Republic expanded east and northeast. The Novgorodians explored the areas around Lake Onega, along the Northern Dvina, and coastlines of the White Sea. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Novgorodians explored the Arctic Ocean, the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, and the West-Siberian river Ob. The lands to the north of the city, rich with fur, sea fauna and salt among others were of great economic importance to the Novgorodians, who fought a protracted series of wars with Moscow beginning in the late 14th century in order to keep these lands. Losing them meant economic and cultural decline for the city and its inhabitants. Indeed, the ultimate failure of the Novgorodians to win these wars led to the downfall of the Novgorod Republic.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Tver, Muscovy, and Lithuania fought over control of Novgorod and its enormous wealth from the 14th century. Upon becoming the Grand Prince of Vladimir, Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver sent his governors to Novgorod. A series of disagreements with Mikhail pushed Novgorod towards closer ties with Muscovy during the reign of Grand Prince George. In part, Tver's proximity (the Tver Principality is contiguous with the Novgorodian Land) threatened Novgorod. It was feared that a Tverite prince would annex Novgorodian lands and thus weaken the Republic. At the time, though, Muscovy did not border Novgorod, and since the Muscovite princes were further afield, they were more acceptable as princes of Novgorod. They could come to Novgorod's aid when needed but would be too far away to meddle too much in the Republic's affairs.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: As Muscovy grew in strength, however, the Muscovite princes became a serious threat to Novgorod. Ivan Kalita, Simeon the Proud and other Muscovite monarchs sought to limit Novgorod's independence. In 1397, a critical conflict took place between Muscovy and Novgorod, when Moscow annexed the Dvina Lands along the course of the Northern Dvina. These lands were crucial to Novgorod's well-being since much of the city's furs came from there. This territory was returned to Novgorod the following year.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Resisting the Muscovite oppression, the government of Novgorod sought an alliance with Poland–Lithuania. Most Novgorodian boyars wished to maintain the Republic's independence since if Novgorod were to be conquered, the boyars' wealth would flow to the grand prince and his Muscovite boyars, and the Novgorodians would fall into decline. Most of them didn't earn enough to pay for war. According to tradition, Marfa Boretskaya, the wife of Posadnik Isak Boretskii, was the main proponent of an alliance with Poland-Lithuania to save the Republic.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: According to this legend, Boretskaya invited the Lithuanian princeling Mikhail Olelkovich and asked him to become her husband and the ruler of Novgorod. She also concluded an alliance with Casimir, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. The prospects of changing allegiance in favor of the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania caused a major commotion among the commoners. Janet Martin and Gail Lenhoff have recently argued that Boretskaya was scapegoated, probably by Archbishop Feofil (r. 1470–1480) in order to shift the blame from him for his betrayal of the terms of the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy, which forbade Novgorod from conducting foreign affairs without grand princely approval.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: While the extent of Boretskaya's role in the Lithuanian party is probably exaggerated, Novgorod did indeed try to turn to the King of Poland. A draft treaty, allegedly found among the loot after the Battle of Shelon River, was drawn up between Casimir and the Novgorodians.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Muscovite authorities saw Novgorod's behavior as a repudiation of the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy and went to war against the city. The army of Moscow won a decisive victory in the Battle of Shelon River on July 1471, which severely limited Novgorod's freedom to act thereafter, although the city maintained its formal independence for the next seven years. In 1478, Ivan III sent his army to take the city. He destroyed the veche, tore down the Veche bell, the ancient symbol of participatory governance, civil society, and legal rights, and destroyed the library and archives, thus ending the independence of Novgorod. After the takeover, Ivan took 81.7% of Novgorod's land, half for himself and the rest for his allies. The Novgorod Chronicle which had been critical of Ivan III before the fall of Novgorod thus described the conquest in its aftermath, justifying it on the grounds of purported conversion of Novgorodians to the Catholic faith:


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Thus did Great Prince Ivan advance with all his host against his domain of Novgorod because of the rebellious spirit of its people, their pride and conversion to Latinism. With a great and overwhelming force did he occupy the entire territory of Novgorod from frontier to frontier, inflicting on every part of it the dread powers of his fire and sword.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The city state of Novgorod had developed procedures of governance that held a large measure of democratic participation far in advance of the rest of Europe but that share several similarities with the democratic traditions of Scandinavian peasant republics. The people had the power to elect city officials and they even had the power to elect and fire the prince. The Chronicle writer then goes on to describe a "town meeting" where these decisions would have been made, which included people from all social classes ranging from the Posadniki (Burgomaster), to the Chernye Liudi (literally, the black folks) or the lowest free class. The precise constitution of the medieval Novgorodian Republic is uncertain, although traditional histories have created the image of a highly institutionalized network of veches (public assemblies) and a government of posadniks (burgomaster), tysyatskys ("thousandmen," originally the head of the town militia, but later a judicial and commercial official), other members of aristocratic families, and the archbishops of Novgorod.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Novgorod was called a "republic" by Sigismund von Herberstein in his "Notes on Muscovite Affairs" written at least half a century after the conquest of Novgorod.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Soviet-era Marxist scholarship frequently described the political system of Novgorod as a "feudal republic", placing it within the Marxist historiographic periodization (slavery – feudalism – capitalism – socialism – communism). Many scholars today, however, question whether Russia ever really had a feudal political system parallel to that of the medieval West.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Some scholars argue that the archbishop was the head of the executive branch of the government, although it is difficult to determine the exact competence of the various officials. It is possible that there was a "Council of Lords" (Совет Господ) that was headed by the archbishop and met in the archiepiscopal palace (and in the Chamber of Facets after 1433).


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The (at least nominal) executives of Novgorod were always the Princes of Novgorod, invited by Novgorodians from the neighboring states, even though their power waned in the 13th and early 14th centuries. It is unclear if the archbishop of Novgorod was the real head of state or chief executive of the Novgorod Republic, but in any case he remained an important town official. In addition to overseeing the church in Novgorod, he headed embassies, oversaw certain court cases of a secular nature, and carried out other secular tasks. However, the archbishops appear to have worked with the boyars to reach a consensus and almost never acted alone. The archbishop was not appointed, but elected by Novgorodians, and approved by the Metropolitan bishop of Russia. The archbishops were probably the richest single land-owners in Novgorod, and they also made money off court fees, fees for the use of weights and measures in the marketplace, and through other means.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Another important executive was the Novgorod Posadnik, who chaired the veche, co-chaired courts together with the Prince, oversaw tax collection and managed current affairs of the city. Most of the Prince's major decisions had to be approved by the Posadnik. In the mid-14th century, instead of one Posadnik, the Veche began electing six. These six posadniks kept their status for their lifetimes, and each year elected among themselves a chief Stepennoy Posadnik. Posadniks were almost invariably members of "boyars" – the city's highest aristocracy. The precise makeup of the veche is also uncertain, although it appears to have comprised members of the urban population, as well as of the free rural population. Whether it was a democratic institution or one controlled by the boyars has been hotly debated. The posadniks, tysiatskys, and even the bishops and archbishops of Novgorod were often elected or at least approved by the veche.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Tradespeople and craftsmen also participated in the political affairs of Novgorod the Great. The traditional scholarship argues that they were organized into five "kontsy" ("ends" in Russian) – i.e., the boroughs of the city they lived in; each end was then organized by the streets in which they lived. The ends and streets often bore names indicating that certain trades were concentrated in certain parts of the city (there was a Carpenter's End and a Potters' End, for example). The merchants were organised into associations, of which the most famous were those of wax traders (called Ivan's Hundred) and of the merchants engaged in overseas trade.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Like much of the rest of Novgorod's medieval history, the precise composition of these organizations is uncertain. It is quite possible that the "ends" and "streets" were simply neighborhood administrative groups rather than guilds or "unions". Street organizations were known to build churches in their neighborhoods and to have buried the dead of their neighborhoods during outbreaks of the plague, but beyond that their activities are uncertain.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: "Streets" and "ends" may have taken part in political decision-making in Novgorod in support of certain boyar factions or to protect their interests. Merchant "elders" are also noted in treaties and other charters, but only about a hundred of these charters exist. A half dozen date from the 12th century, while most are from after 1262. Thus it is difficult to determine Novgorod's political structure due to the paucity of sources.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The prince, while his status in Novgorod was not inheritable and his power was much reduced, remained an important figure in Novgorodian life. Of around 100 princes of Novgorod, many, if not most, were invited in or dismissed by the Novgorodians. At least some of them signed a contract called a "r'ad" (ряд), which protected the interests of the Novgorodian boyars and laid out the prince's rights and responsibilities. The r'ads that have been preserved in archives describe the relationship of Novgorod with twelve invited Princes: five of them from Tver', four from Moscow, and three from Lithuania.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: First and foremost among the prince's functions, he was a military leader. He also patronized churches in the city and held court, although it was often presided over by his namestnik or lieutenant when he was personally absent from the city. The posadnik had always to be present in the court and no court decision could be made without his approval. Also, without the posadnik's approval the prince could neither give out Novgorod lands nor issue laws. Besides, the prince could not own land in Novgorod and could not himself collect taxes from the Novgorod lands. He lived from money given to him by the city.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: According to several r'ads, the prince could not extradite or prosecute a Novgorodian outside of the Novgorodian Land. The princes had two residences, one on the Marketplace (called Yaroslav's Court, after Yaroslav the Wise), and another (Городище / "Riurkovo Gorodische") several miles south of the Market Side of the city.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The administrative division of Novgorod Republic is not definitely known; the country was divided into several "tysyachas" (in the core lands of the country) and "volosts" (lands in the east and north that were being colonised or just paid tribute). The city of Novgorod and its vicinity, as well as a few other towns, were not part of any of those. Pskov achieved autonomy from Novgorod in the 13th century; its independence was confirmed by the Treaty of Bolotovo in 1348. Several other towns had special status as they were owned jointly by Novgorod and one of the neighbouring states.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The economy of the Novgorodian Republic included farming and animal husbandry (e.g., the archbishops of Novgorod and others raised horses for the Novgorodian army), while hunting, beekeeping, and fishing were also widespread. In most of the regions of the republic, these different "industries" were combined with farming. Iron was mined on the coast of the Gulf of Finland. Staraya Russa and other localities were known for their saltworks. Flax and hop cultivation were also of significant importance. Countryside products, such as furs, beeswax, honey, fish, lard, flax, and hops, were sold on the market and exported to other Russian cities or abroad.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The real wealth of Novgorod, however, came from the fur trade. The city was the main entrepôt for trade between Rus' and northwestern Europe. It stood on the northwestern end of the Silk Road from China and at the eastern end of the Baltic trade network established by the Hanseatic League. From Novgorod's northeastern lands ("The Lands Beyond the Portages" as they were called in the chronicles), the area stretching north of Lakes Ladoga and Onega up to the White Sea and east to the Ural Mountains had so much fur that medieval travel accounts tell of furry animals raining from the sky. The Novgorodian merchants traded with Swedish, German, and Danish cities. In early years, the Novgorodians sailed the Baltic themselves (several incidents involving Novgorodian merchants in Gotland and Denmark are reported in the Novgorodian First Chronicle). Orthodox churches for Novgorodian merchants have been excavated on Gotland. Likewise, merchants from Gotland had their own St. Olaf church and trading house in Novgorod. However the Hanseatic League disputed the right of the Novgorod merchants to carry out sea trade independently and to deliver cargoes to the West-European ports by their own ships. Silver, cloth, wine and herring were imported from Western Europe.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Foreign coins and silver were used as a currency before Novgorod started minting its own "novgorodka" coins in 1420.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: More than a half of all Novgorodian privately owned lands had been concentrated in the hands of some 30–40 noble boyar families by the 14th–15th century. These vast estates served as material resources, which secured political supremacy of the boyars. The House of Holy Wisdom (Дом святой Софии, "Dom Svyatoy Sofiy") — the main ecclesiastic establishment of Novgorod — was their chief rival in terms of landownership. Its votchinas were located in the most economically developed regions of the Novgorod Land. The Yuriev Monastery, Arkazhsky Monastery, Antoniev Monastery and some other privileged monasteries are known to have been big landowners. There were also the so-called "zhityi lyudi" (житьи люди), who owned less land than the boyars, and unprivileged small votchina owners called "svoyezemtsy" (своеземцы, or private landowners). The most common form of labor exploitation — the system of metayage — was typical for the afore-mentioned categories of landowners. Their household economies were mostly serviced by slaves (kholopy), whose number had been constantly decreasing. Along with the metayage, monetary payments also gained significant importance by the 2nd half of the 15th century.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Some scholars argue that the feudal lords tried to legally tie down the peasants to their land. Certain categories of feudally dependent peasants, such as "davniye lyudi" (давние люди), "polovniki" (половники), "poruchniki" (поручники), "dolzhniki" (должники), were deprived of the right to leave their masters. The boyars and monasteries also tried to restrict other categories of peasants from switching their feudal lords. However, until the late 16th century peasants could leave their land in the weeks preceding and coming after St. George's day in the autumn.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Marxist scholars (e.g., Aleksandr Khoroshev) often spoke of class struggle in Novgorod. There were some 80 major uprisings in the republic, which often turned into armed rebellions. The most notable among these took place in 1136, 1207, 1228–29, 1270, 1418, and 1446–47. The extent to which these were based on "class struggle" is unclear. Many were between various boyar factions or, if a revolt did involve the peasants or tradesmen against the boyars, it did not consist of the peasants wanting to overthrow the existing social order, but was more often than not a demand for better rule on the part of the ruling class. There did not seem to be a sense that the office of prince should be abolished or that the peasants should be allowed to run the city.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Throughout the republican period, the archbishop of Novgorod was the head of the Orthodox church. The Finnic population of the Novgorod land was undergoing Christianisation. The sect of Strigolniki spread to Novgorod from Pskov in the middle of 14th century, its members renouncing ecclesiastic hierarchy, monasticism and sacraments of priesthood, communion, repentance and baptism. Another sect, called the heresy of the Judaizers by its opponents appeared in Novgorod in the second half of 15th century and subsequently enjoyed support at the court in Moscow.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Similar to other medieval Russian states, the military of Novgorod consisted of a levy and the prince's retinue (druzhina). While potentially all free Novgorodians could be mobilised, in reality the number of recruits depended on the level of danger faced by Novgorod. The professional formations included the retinues of the archbishop and prominent boyars, as well as the garrisons of fortresses. Firearms were first mentioned in 1394 and in the 15th century fortress artillery was used and cannons were installed on ships.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: During the era of Kievan Rus', Novgorod was a trade hub at the northern end of both the Volga trade route and the "route from the Varangians to the Greeks" along the Dnieper river system. A vast array of goods were transported along these routes and exchanged with local Novgorod merchants and other traders. The merchants of Gotland retained the Gothic Court trading house well into the 12th century. Later German merchantmen also established tradinghouses in Novgorod. Scandinavian royalty would intermarry with Russian princes and princesses.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: After the great schism, Novgorod struggled from the beginning of the 13th century against Swedish, Danish, and German crusaders. During the Swedish–Novgorodian Wars, the Swedes invaded lands where some of the population had earlier paid tribute to Novgorod. The Germans had been trying to conquer the Baltic region since the late 12th century. Novgorod went to war 26 times with Sweden and 11 times with the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. The German knights, along with Danish and Swedish feudal lords, launched a series of uncoordinated attacks in 1240–1242. Novgorodian sources mention that a Swedish army was defeated in the Battle of the Neva in 1240. The Baltic German campaigns ended in failure after the Battle on the Ice in 1242. After the foundation of the castle of Vyborg in 1293 the Swedes gained a foothold in Karelia. On August 12, 1323, Sweden and Novgorod signed the Treaty of Nöteborg, regulating their border for the first time.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The Novgorod Republic was saved from the direct impact of the Mongol invasion as it was the only Rus principality that was never conquered by the Mongol troops. In 1259, Mongol tax-collectors and census-takers arrived in the city, leading to political disturbances and forcing Alexander Nevsky to punish a number of town officials (by cutting off their noses) for defying him as Grand Prince of Vladimir (soon to be the khan's tax-collector in Russia) and his Mongol overlords. In the 14th century, raids by Novgorod pirates, or ushkuiniki, sowed fear as far as Kazan and Astrakhan, assisting Novgorod in wars with Muscovy.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The Republic of Novgorod was famous for its high level of culture in relation to other Russian duchies like Suzdal. A great majority of the most important Eastern artwork of the period came from this city. Citizens of Novgorod were producing large quantities of art, more specifically, religious icons. This high level of artistic production was due to the flourishing economy. Not only would prominent boyar families commission the creation of icons, but artists also had the backing of wealthy merchants and members of the strong artisan class. Icons became so prominent in Novgorod that by the end of the 13th century a citizen did not have to be particularly rich to buy one; in fact, icons were often produced as exports as well as for churches and homes. However, scholars today have managed to find and preserve only a small, random assortment of icons made from the 12th century to the 14th century in Novgorod.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The icons that do remain show a mixture of traditional Rus style, Palaeologus-Byzantine style (prominent previously in Kiev), and European Romanesque and Gothic style. The artists of Novgorod, and their audience, favored saints who provided protection mostly related to the economy. The Prophet Elijah was the lord of thunder who provided rain for the peasants' fields. Saint George, Saint Blaise, and Saints Florus and Laurus all provided some manner of protection over the fields or the animals and herds of the peasants. Saint Paraskeva Pyatnitsa and Saint Anastasia both protected trade and merchants. Saint Nicholas was the patron of carpenters and protected travelers and the suffering. Both Saint Nicholas and the Prophet Elijah also offer protection from fires. Fires were commonplace in the fields and on the streets of the city. Depictions of these saints retained popularity throughout the entire reign of the Republic. But in the beginning of the 14th century another icon became prominent in the city: the Virgin of Mercy. This icon commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Andrew Yurodivyi and Epifanii. During this appearance, Mary prays for humankind. The art movement of Novgorod was essentially destroyed by Moscow after 1478, when a more uniform method for iconography was established throughout Russia.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The Volkhov River divided the Republic of Novgorod into two-halves. The commercial side of the city, which contained the main market, rested on one side of the Volkhov. The St. Sophia Cathedral and an ancient kremlin rested on the other side of the river. The cathedral and kremlin were surrounded by a solid ring of city walls, which included a bell tower. Novgorod was filled with and surrounded by churches and monasteries. The city was overcrowded because of its large population of 30,000 people. The wealthy (boyar families, artisans, and merchants) lived in large houses inside the city walls, and the poor used whatever space they could find. The streets were paved with wood and were accompanied by a wooden water-pipe system, a Byzantine invention to protect against fire.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: The Byzantine style (famous for large domes) and the European Romanesque style influenced the architecture of Novgorod. A number of rich families commissioned churches and monasteries in the city. About 83 churches, almost all of which were built in stone, operated during this period. Two prominent styles of churches existed in the Republic of Novgorod. The first style consisted of a single apse with a slanted ("lopastnyi") roof. This style was standard throughout Russia during this period. The second style, the Novgorodian style, consisted of three apses and had roofs with arched gables. This second style was prominent in the early years of the Republic of Novgorod and also in the last years of the Republic, when this style was revitalized to make a statement against the rising power of Moscow. The inside of the churches contained icons, woodcarvings, and church plates. The first known one-day votive church was built in Novgorod in 1390 to ward off a pandemic, several others were built in the city until mid-16th century. As they were built in one day, they were made of wood, small in size and simple in design.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Chronicles are the earliest kind of literature known to originate in Novgorod, the oldest one being the Novgorod First Chronicle. Other genres appear in the XIV and XV centuries: travel diaries (such as the account of Stefan the Novgorodian's travel to Constantinople for trade purposes), legends about local posadniks, saints and Novgorod's wars and victories. The events of many bylinas – traditional Russian oral epic poems – take place in Novgorod. Their protagonists include a merchant and adventurer Sadko and daredevil Vasily Buslayev.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Scholars generally believe that the Republic of Novgorod had an unusually high level of literacy for the time period. Archeologists found over one thousand birch-bark texts, all dating from the 11th to the 15th centuries, in towns dating back to the early Rus'. Roughly 950 of these texts were from Novgorod. Archeologists and scholars estimate that as much as 20,000 similar texts still remain in the ground and many more burned down during numerous fires.


title: Novgorod Republic

text: Novgorod citizens from all class levels, from boyars to peasants and artisans to merchants, participated in writing these texts. Even women wrote a significant amount of the manuscripts. This collection of birch-bark texts consists of religious documents, writings from the city's archbishops, business messages from all classes, and travelogues, especially of religious pilgrimages. The citizens of Novgorod wrote in a realistic and businesslike fashion. In addition to the birch-bark texts, archeologists also found the oldest surviving Russian manuscript in Novgorod: three wax tablets with Psalms 67, 75, and 76, dating from the first quarter of the 11th century.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Liga following promotion from the 2020–21 Segunda División. Home games are held at the 14,708-seater Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas stadium.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Rayo has competed in one European competition, the UEFA Cup in the 2000–01 season. The club made it to the quarter-finals before losing to fellow Spanish club Alavés 4–2 on aggregate.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: By historical standard, Rayo is the third best club in Community of Madrid, after Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Rayo Vallecano was founded on 29 May 1924 in the hometown of Prudencia Priego, wife of the club's first president Julián Huerta. Greatly inspired by River Plate (a Football club from Argentina), in 1949, after an agreement with Atlético Madrid, a red diagonal stripe was added to the team's kit, and the club reached Tercera División for the first time in its history.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: One of the perennial yo-yo clubs of Spanish football, and always in the shadow of the two biggest clubs in the city (Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid), Rayo Vallecano spent many years during the 1980s and 1990s moving back and forth between La Liga and Segunda División. The 1983-84 season was the worst during the 1980s. The club finished in the last position in Segunda División and was relegated to Segunda División B.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Due to a tragedy Rayo Vallecano turned out to be Laurie Cunningham's last club; he was killed in a car crash just outside Madrid in 1989, after a sole season. He had recently won an F.A. Cup winners medal with Wimbledon F.C. in England the previous year and had also represented neighbours Real Madrid for four years.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: They appeared to have consolidated their top flight status after gaining promotion in 1999, and the team's most successful season came in 2000–01 when they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, going out only to eventual runners-up Alavés; Rayo finished ninth in the previous campaign, but entered the competition via the fair play draw.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: However, the club shortly thereafter fell on hard times, enduring successive relegations in 2003 and 2004. For 2005–06 manager Míchel, a Real Madrid legend in the 1980s and '90s, was hired.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Rayo finished the 2006–07 season in second place in Segunda División B, winning the promotion play-off semifinal but losing in the final to Eibar (1–2 aggregate). The following campaign, the team returned to division two after a four-year absence after a victorious run in the playoffs, disposing of Benidorm in the semi-final and Zamora in the last game 2–1 on aggregate.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: In its first seasons back in the second tier of Spanish football, Rayo finished comfortably, often either in or just outside the promotion places. In 2010–11, the team ranked in second position and returned to the top flight after an eight-year absence, only trailing champions Real Betis in spite of very serious economic problems.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: In March 2014, Huawei agreed to sponsor Rayo Vallecano for two league matches against Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: In August 2015, Rayo Vallecano purchased the majority of Oklahoma City FC, a NASL expansion franchise which had yet to officially play a game renaming the club to Rayo OKC, despite the stadium increasingly needing work. It was the first ever entry of a Spanish club into the American sports market and mirrored a 2013 sponsorship agreement with Qbao in terms of expanding the club's profile overseas. Rayo OKC folded after a year due to Rayo Vallecano's relegation from La Liga and a dispute between the co-owners led to less finance for the U.S. side.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: In May 2016, Rayo Vallecano were relegated to the Segunda División, finishing 18th in the 2015–16 La Liga season. This ended their five-year streak in La Liga, their longest ever stay in the top-flight. Their first season back in the second division was a poor one, with both problems on the field and off, and they finished in 12th position. Rayo went through three different managers in the 2016–17 Segunda División season before finally settling on club legend Míchel. He revived the club from the relegation places to 12th, almost making the playoffs.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: At the start of the 2017–18 Segunda División season, the club appointed their recently retired goalkeeper David Cobeño as the sporting director of the club. They secured their promotion with a 1-0 over CD Lugo with one game remaining. That season the club won Segunda División with 76 points in 42 games.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: On 20 March 2019, the club appointed Paco Jémez as head coach, and on 4 May, Rayo was relegated back to the Segunda División after losing 4–1 to Levante UD, eventually finishing last


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: In August 2020, the club appointed Andoni Iraola as head coach. They finished sixth and won promotion in the playoffs against Girona FC; despite losing the first leg at home 1–2, the team came back to win the second leg 2-0 away to claim a place in La Liga for 2021–22. In February 2022, Iraola's side defeated RCD Mallorca to make the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey; it was the second time in club history and first since 1982.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Note: this list includes players that have played at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas is a football stadium located on Calle Payaso Fofó 1, Vallecas. Opened on 10 May 1976, at first it was called "New Stadium Vallecas", but in January 2004, 13 years after the arrival of the Ruiz-Mateos family in 1991, it changed denominations, as the wife was also named by her husband, businessman José María, the first woman president of an elite football team.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: It has a capacity of 14,708 spectators in an all-seated format, and dimensions of 102×64 m. Additionally, one of the goal ends does not have a grandstand, just a big wall with information panels.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Although most people recognise the supporting songs by ska-punk band Ska-P ("Rayo Vallecano" and "Como un rayo"), Rayo Vallecano has an official anthem which played at their home stadium before matches.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: The club is also known for chanting the song "La Vida Pirata" (), a song about pirates, which the "Bukaneros" are named after.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Rayo's ultras, the "Bukaneros", are known for their left-wing views and often display political messages and other protests, mainly against the commercialisation of football. Rayo's ultras often display anti-racism and anti-fascist messages, however, and are often ostracised by the government as a result.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: The club is known for being one of the last local neighbourhood clubs in Spain, with the club representing the barrio and its working-class status.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: The Spanish anti-fascist band Ska-P are outspoken supporters of the club and have dedicated two songs to it, named "Como un Rayo" and "Rayo Vallecano".


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: Rayo's players are often involved in charity work, one instance of this is that the then club captain Roberto Trashorras, amongst other players, regularly helps out at a homeless shelter.


title: Rayo Vallecano

text: In late March 2012, in support of the 2011–12 Spanish protests, the squad decided to take one day off from training to join the demonstrations. In 2014, 85-year-old Vallecas resident Carmen Martínez Ayuso was evicted from her house after living there since the 1960s. Rayo Vallecano and particularly coach Paco Jémez were touched by her story, and subsequently offered to fund Martínez for the foreseeable future.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Boston Red Sox. In 2018, while with the Red Sox, he became the first player in MLB history to win the Most Valuable Player, Silver Slugger, Gold Glove, batting title, and World Series in the same season.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts was drafted by the Red Sox in 2011, and made his MLB debut in the 2014 season, splitting time between second base and the outfield. He became the Red Sox center fielder in 2014, before moving to right field in 2016. As a relatively short natural second baseman with a high contact rate and a high level of production when pulling the ball, Betts has been compared to former Red Sox teammate Dustin Pedroia.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts is also a professional tenpin bowler for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). He bowled a perfect game in the World Series of Bowling in 2017.


title: Mookie Betts

text: In 2010, Betts's junior year at John Overton High School in Nashville, Betts batted .548 with 24 steals. In November that year, Betts signed a letter of commitment to attend the University of Tennessee on a baseball scholarship, also getting recruited by Vanderbilt University, Mississippi State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.


title: Mookie Betts

text: At Overton, Betts was also a standout basketball player, named MVP of the District 12-AAA league his senior season while averaging 14.1 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 3 steals per game; and also named Class AAA All-City Player of the Year for the Nashville, Tennessee metropolitan area. His junior year, Betts was named MVP of the District 12-AAA tournament. Betts also excelled in bowling, named the Tennessee boys Bowler of the Year in 2010 with a high score of 290. He grew up bowling at the Donelson Strike and Spare in Donelson, Tennessee.


title: Mookie Betts

text: The Boston Red Sox selected Betts in the 5th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft with the 172nd overall pick as a 2nd baseman. After protracted negotiations, Betts subsequently rescinded his commitment to the University of Tennessee, signing a $750,000 contract with the Red Sox organization. Betts played one game in 2011 for the GCL Red Sox of the rookie Gulf Coast League, getting two hits in four at bats. In 2012, he batted .267 and stole 20 bases in 71 games for the short season Lowell Spinners of the New York–Penn League. He played shortstop regularly, but looked more comfortable at second base.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts started the 2013 season with the Greenville Drive of the Low A South Atlantic League. In 76 games, Betts batted .296 with a 19-game hitting streak and was selected to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game.


title: Mookie Betts

text: On July 9, Betts was promoted to the Salem Red Sox of the High A Carolina League, batting .341 in 51 games to complete the 2013 season with a combined .314 average in 127 games between Greenville and Salem with 15 home runs and 38 steals. Betts was named Offensive Player of the Year and Breakout Player of the Year in the Boston minor league system, leading all Sox minors players with a .506 slugging percentage, while his .314 batting average ranked him third behind Alex Hassan (.338) and Garin Cecchini (.322). Betts was a second-team inclusion on the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team for 2013, with the first-team selection for second base going to Marcus Semien, an infielder for the Chicago White Sox. Betts subsequently played 16 games for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, batting .271.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts opened the 2014 season with the Portland Sea Dogs of the Double-A Eastern League, batting .355 in 54 games to lead the Eastern League through June 2. On June 3, Betts was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox of the Triple-A International League, batting .322 and reaching base in all 23 games with the PawSox.


title: Mookie Betts

text: In 2013 and 2014, Betts reached base in 66 straight regular-season games plus five playoff games for a combined streak of 71 games. Because official baseball streak records do not include playoff games, Betts's streak has been listed at 66 games; Kevin Millar and Kevin Youkilis hold the official minor league record for consecutive games reaching base, at 71 games, with Minor League Baseball lacking data on the statistic prior to 1997.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Since mid-May 2014, Betts has played outfield in addition to second base. In 2013, four-time All-Star second baseman Dustin Pedroia signed an eight-year, $110 million contract extension with the Red Sox, leading to speculation that the Red Sox would groom Betts for a new position.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts was promoted to the Red Sox on June 28, 2014. He had previously been selected for the All-Star Futures Game, but was replaced following his promotion to the Major Leagues.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts made his debut on June 29, recording his first major league career hit against Yankees starter Chase Whitley in the fourth inning. He hit his first home run on July 2 off the Cubs' Carlos Villanueva. He then was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket on July 19 when Shane Victorino was activated from the disabled list, and was recalled to Boston on August 1. Betts was optioned back to Pawtucket in August and recalled again on August 18.


title: Mookie Betts

text: On August 29, Betts hit his first career grand slam against Rays pitcher Chris Archer in a Red Sox victory at Tropicana Field. At age 21, Betts became the youngest Sox player to hit a grand slam in 49 years. Betts spent most of the 2014 season playing in the outfield, but on September 11, manager John Farrell announced that Betts would play second base "fairly regularly" following injuries to regular second basemen Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts split the 2014 season fairly evenly between AA, AAA and MLB, playing 52 major league games. He performed well for the Red Sox, hitting .291 with five home runs; and played over half his innings in center field.


title: Mookie Betts

text: On April 6, 2015, Opening Day for the Boston Red Sox against the Philadelphia Phillies, he hit a home run in his second at bat, becoming the third youngest player to hit a home run on Opening Day for the Red Sox. On April 13, 2015, in the home opener at Fenway Park against the Washington Nationals, Betts arguably had the most exciting performance of his career. He robbed Bryce Harper of a home run, stole two bases on one play and hit a home run into the Monster seats, all in the first three innings.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts was named the AL Player of the Week for the week ending on June 21, 2015. Within that week, Betts batted .581 (18 for 31) with two home runs, two triples, three doubles, seven RBI and eight runs. He led the AL in batting average, hits, on-base percentage (.594), total bases (31), and slugging percentage (1.000) that week. In the latter part of the season, he spent some time in right field, leading to speculation that he would move there permanently to allow teammate Jackie Bradley Jr., to take over in center field. Betts ended the 2015 season with a .291 batting average, with 92 runs scored, 77 RBIs, 18 home runs, and 21 stolen bases.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts was selected to the 2016 MLB All-Star Game, the first of his career. He started in right field and was 1-for-2 with a single, and a RBI. Betts was named the AL Player of the Month for July, when he batted .368 (35-for-95) with five home runs, 15 RBIs, five stolen bases and a 1.068 OPS in 23 games. On September 20, Betts became the first player to reach 200 hits during the 2016 MLB season. In 158 games played, Betts finished the season with a .318 batting average, 214 hits, 122 runs scored, 42 doubles, 31 home runs, 113 RBI, and an MLB-leading 359 total bases. His 67 multi-hit games also led MLB. He also was 2nd in the league in power-speed number (28.3).


title: Mookie Betts

text: With the Red Sox finishing the season 93–69, the team clinched the AL East Division but succumbed to a 3-game sweep by the Cleveland Indians in the 2016 ALDS. Wilson Sporting Goods named Betts its Defensive Player of the Year at right field and best overall among all major league fielders. After the season, Betts was named a finalist for the American League MVP Award, alongside Mike Trout and José Altuve. He finished as the runner-up to Trout.


title: Mookie Betts

text: From September 12, 2016, through to April 19, 2017, Betts maintained a streak of 129 consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout. The streak ended when Francisco Liriano of the Toronto Blue Jays struck him out. In a regular season game at Toronto, he tied an MLB record when he recorded 8 RBIs from the leadoff slot in a 15–1 rout of the Blue Jays on July 2, 2017. He was granted his second American League All-Star Game selection on the same day. Originally chosen as a reserve, it was announced on July 3 that Betts will start in place of Mike Trout, who was out due to surgery on his thumb.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts ended the season with a .264 batting average, 101 runs scored, 26 stolen bases, 24 home runs, and 102 RBIs. Betts led the Red Sox in each of those categories except batting average, as he batted just .236 from the All-Star break through September 4. Despite his solid stats on the season, Betts was criticized for his inability to turn balls in play into hits. His batting average on balls in play fell 54 points from its 2016 level to .268. He also was 3rd in the league in power-speed number (25.0). He won his second consecutive Golden Glove Award this season.


title: Mookie Betts

text: On April 17, 2018, Nick Cafardo of "The Boston Globe" published a column titled, "Mookie Betts or Mike Trout: Who gets the nod?" in which he compared Betts to Mike Trout, a then-two-time MVP widely considered the best player in baseball. Of the 10 professional evaluators Cafardo asked, seven chose Trout and three chose Betts. "To be in the same conversation as a great player like that is an honor," Betts said. That same night, Betts hit three home runs to lead the Red Sox to a 10–1 win over Trout's Los Angeles Angels. It was the third three-homer game of his career, tying him with Ted Williams for the most in Red Sox history. Betts broke the tie with Williams and set the franchise record on May 2, hitting three home runs in a 5–4 win over the Kansas City Royals. He became the first player in MLB history to produce four three-homer games before the age of 26.


title: Mookie Betts

text: By May 21, Betts had amassed a major league-leading 15 home runs. He led MLB in batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, total bases, extra-base hits, doubles, runs scored, runs created, and OPS+. He led Boston with 11 stolen bases, good for third in MLB. His 3.8 WAR (as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com) at that point was second only to Trout in the majors. His offensive success was a major factor in the Red Sox’ 32–15 start. On June 1, Betts was placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to May 29, with a left abdominal strain; he returned to the active roster on June 11. On July 6, Betts hit his 22nd home run of the season, the 100th of his MLB career. He became the fourth Red Sox player to hit 100 home runs before turning 26, the others being Tony Conigliaro, Jim Rice, and Ted Williams. On July 8, while batting .343 with 22 home runs and 44 RBIs, Betts was named to the 2018 MLB All-Star Game as an American League starting outfielder. In a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 9, he hit for the cycle, becoming the 21st player in Red Sox franchise history to accomplish the feat. On September 26, Betts stole his 30th base of the season, becoming just the second player in Red Sox history to join the 30–30 club (the first was Jacoby Ellsbury in 2011).


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts finished the 2018 season leading the major leagues with a .346 batting average, a .640 slugging percentage, and 129 runs scored. For the season, he had the highest batting average on balls in play (.373) of all major league players. He also was second in the league in power-speed number (31.0). He had the highest fielding percentage among major league right fielders, at .996. The Red Sox finished the year at 108–54, and went on to win the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the postseason, Betts hit 13-for-62 (.210) with one home run and four RBIs. After the season, Betts won his third consecutive Gold Glove, the Heart & Hustle Award, and on November 15 was named the American League MVP, receiving 28 of 30 first place votes, making him the only player in American League history to win the World Series, a Gold Glove award, a Silver Slugger award, and the AL MVP in the same season.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Prior to the 2019 season, manager Alex Cora stated he would use Andrew Benintendi as the team's leadoff hitter, with Betts batting second, swapping their positions from the team's usual 2018 batting order. At the beginning of June, Cora announced that Betts would again be the team's leadoff hitter since Benintendi went just 3 for 37 in the leadoff spot. At the end of June, Betts had a .261 average with 13 home runs and 37 RBIs. He was selected as a reserve outfielder to the 2019 All-Star Game. On July 26, Betts had the fifth three-homer game of his career, hitting a home run in each of his first three at bats against James Paxton of the Yankees.


title: Mookie Betts

text: For the season, Betts appeared in 150 games while batting .295 with a .915 OPS, 135 runs (leading the major leagues), 29 home runs, 80 RBIs, 40 doubles and 16 stolen bases in 597 at-bats. On defense in 2019, he had a 15 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the best in the American League among right fielders, and had the best fielding percentage of all major right fielders (.997). After the season, Betts was awarded his fourth consecutive Gold Glove and his 3rd Silver Slugger. He finished eighth in 2019 AL MVP voting.


title: Mookie Betts

text: On February 10, 2020, the Red Sox traded Betts, David Price, and cash considerations to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong, and Jeter Downs. On July 22, the Dodgers signed Betts to a 12-year contract extension, through the 2032 season. The deal was worth $365 million and also included a $65 million signing bonus, making it the richest contract in Dodgers history, and the third-richest contract in the history of North American sports.


title: Mookie Betts

text: The 2020 season was delayed and shortened from 162 games to 60 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 23, Betts was the starting right fielder, making his Dodgers debut on Opening Day against the San Francisco Giants, getting his first hit, a single, as a Dodger against pitcher Tyler Rogers. On July 31, Betts hit his first home run as a Dodger against Arizona Diamondback pitcher Zac Gallen. On August 13, Betts hit three home runs against the San Diego Padres, his sixth three-homer game of his career, tying Sammy Sosa and Johnny Mize as the only players in MLB history to accomplish this feat. Later that month, Betts hit two home runs and stole two bases against the Colorado Rockies, becoming only the 19th player—and first Dodger—to have a multi-homer, multi-steal game. On August 27, 2020, he reached 1,000 MLB career hits.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts finished the 2020 season hitting .292/.366/.562 with 47 runs (4th in the NL), 16 home runs (3rd), 39 RBIs, a .928 OPS, and 10 stolen bases. On his way to his second World Series over a three-season span, Betts made three straight series saving defensive gems in elimination games for the Dodgers in the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves. In the World Series clincher, Betts scored twice and hit a home run. Betts also homered in Game 5 of the ‘18 World Series, when the Red Sox went on to clinch. He became the ninth player to homer in multiple World Series clinchers, and just the second to do it with different teams — joining Reggie Jackson. His eight doubles in the postseason tied a major league record for most doubles in a single postseason. After the season, Betts was awarded his fifth consecutive Gold Glove (first in the National League) and his fourth Silver Slugger. He finished second in NL MVP voting behind Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts was selected to the National League All-Star Team, his first appearance with the Dodgers. He did not play in the game due to injury, having battled back and left shoulder trouble this year. He played in 122 games for the Dodgers, with a .264 batting average, 23 home runs and 58 RBI. In the postseason, he had two hits in four at-bats in the Wild Card Game, nine hits in 20 at-bats (.450) with one homerun in the 2021 NLDS and four hits in 23 (.174) at-bats in the 2021 NLCS.


title: Mookie Betts

text: In mid-June, Betts cracked his rib and went on the 10-day injured list. On July 23, Betts hit his 200th career home run off of Alex Wood of the San Francisco Giants.


title: Mookie Betts

text: He was selected as a starting outfielder for the National League All-Star Team, making his sixth appearance at the MLB All-Star game, which was played at Dodger Stadium in 2022. He played in 142 games for the Dodgers in 2022, batting .269 with a career high 35 home runs and recording 82 RBIs. He was tied for the league lead with 117 runs scored.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Mookie's mother is an avid bowler and taught Mookie to bowl at an early age. Betts was named the Tennessee Boys Bowler of the Year in 2010, having set Tennessee high school records that season with a 290 game and an 827 three-game series.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts competed in the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) World Series of Bowling in Reno, Nevada in 2015 and 2017.


title: Mookie Betts

text: He has officially bowled three perfect games, on January 27, 2013; February 2, 2016; and November 12, 2017. His highest game in PBA competition is a 300 game during the on November 12, 2017.


title: Mookie Betts

text: In February 2019, he won the CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational, competing with professional bowler Tommy Jones.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Although it has been reported that Betts is a nephew of Terry Shumpert, who played parts of 14 seasons with several MLB teams, they are actually first cousins once removed, as Shumpert is a first cousin to Betts' mother, Diana. In 2004, Shumpert spent his final season of professional baseball with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds and worked extensively with Betts. He is a distant cousin of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts's parents chose his name in part to form the initials MLB, matching those of Major League Baseball. He has attributed his nickname Mookie to his parents watching former NBA guard Mookie Blaylock play basketball shortly after Betts was born. Betts has stated that he has never met Blaylock.


title: Mookie Betts

text: Betts and his longtime girlfriend, Brianna Hammonds, began dating in high school. The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter, in November 2018. Betts and Hammonds announced their engagement in January 2021 and married on December 1, 2021 in Palos Verdes, California. They have a home in Franklin, Tennessee. Betts also purchased a mansion for $7.6 million in Encino, Los Angeles, when he became a Dodger.


title: Mookie Betts

text: As a member of the Red Sox, Betts became known for his necklaces. One was a gift from a 13-year-old fan, given to Betts during spring training in 2018 prior to his AL Batting Championship, MVP Award and World Series championship. Betts continued wearing the necklace after being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, a season which culminated in his second World Championship.


title: Battlefield 1

text: Battlefield 1 is a first-person shooter game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It is the tenth installment in the "Battlefield" series and the first main entry in the series since "Battlefield 4" in 2013. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in October 2016.