title: All-America Football Conference

text: The AAFC was the second American professional football league (the first being the third American Football League of 1940–1941) to have its teams play in a double round robin format in the regular season: each team had a home game and an away game with each of the other AAFC teams.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Cleveland Browns were the AAFC's most successful club, winning every annual championship in the league's four years of operation.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The AAFC was founded by "Chicago Tribune" sports editor Arch Ward on June 4, 1944. Ward was also the originator of baseball's All-Star Game and football's College All-Star Game. Ward brought together a number of wealthy pro football enthusiasts, some of whom had previously attempted to purchase NFL franchises. Ward had previously encouraged the NFL to expand, but now he hoped to bring about a permanent second league and a championship game with the NFL, similar to baseball's World Series.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The idea was not originated in vacuum, as two upstart leagues – the (first) United States Football League (USFL) and Trans-America Football League (TAFL) – were trying to challenge the NFL in 1944. The USFL only existed on paper and faded away after failing to sign players or attract major investors, while the TAFL failed to advance beyond the initial stages, as both folded altogether on the same day, June 4, 1945.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: On November 21, 1944, the AAFC chose James "Sleepy Jim" Crowley, one of the "Four Horsemen of Notre Dame", as its commissioner. Not coincidentally, the NFL commissioner at this time was Elmer Layden, another member of Knute Rockne's legendary 1924 "Fighting Irish" backfield at the University of Notre Dame.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: During the next months, the AAFC's plans solidified. The league initially issued franchises for Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Brooklyn and Miami were later added. A group representing Baltimore was considered for admission, but could not secure use of Baltimore's stadium. The league planned to begin to play in 1945, but postponed its opening for a year as World War II continued.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: As the eight franchises built their teams, no move was more far-reaching than Cleveland's choice of Paul Brown as its head coach. Brown had won six Ohio state championships in nine years at Massillon High School and the 1942 national championship at Ohio State, and had also coached successfully at the military's Naval Station Great Lakes. As coach of the new Cleveland franchise, Brown would become one of American football's greatest innovators and eventually have the team later named for him.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: As might be expected, the NFL did not welcome its new rival. In 1945, Layden remarked that the AAFC, still a year from its first game, should "first get a ball, then make a schedule, and then play a game". This insult, often paraphrased as "Tell them to get a ball first", would be long remembered.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall was perhaps the NFL's hardest-liner regarding the AAFC. In 1945, he commented "I did not realize there was another league, although I did receive some literature telling about a WPA project". Later he declared, "The worst team in our league could beat the best team in theirs." After the AAFC put a team in Baltimore, Marshall's opposition to it would be a major obstacle to interleague peace. Not coincidentally, his team was badly hurt by the AAFC. A top team from 1936 to 1945, the Redskins began a decades-long title drought after coach Ray Flaherty and many key players defected in 1946.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Layden's successor, Bert Bell, pursued a policy of official non-recognition, generally answering "no comment" to queries about the other league. In 1947, "Pro Football Illustrated" previewed both leagues in its annual publication and was banned from NFL stadiums.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The AAFC posed a formidable challenge. In most interleague sports wars, the established league had major advantages over the challenger in prestige, finance, size, and public awareness. The NFL-AAFC war differed in several respects.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The NFL was just emerging from its wartime retrenchment. The Cleveland Rams had suspended operations for 1943, and on three occasions teams merged for a season. The Boston Yanks had played only one season as an independent entity.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Yet it remained to be seen if there was a market for this much pro football. Since achieving stability in the early 1930s, the NFL had never fielded more than 10 teams. No competitor had endured for more than two years. In 1946, there would be 18 teams, including three in Chicago, three in New York, and two in Los Angeles.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Baseball and college football were substantially more popular. Longtime NFL president Joe Carr had said, "No owner has made money from pro football, but a lot have gone broke thinking they could." At a time when the World Series had long been a national institution, and the Rose Bowl drew crowds of 90,000, the NFL's title game typically drew about 35,000 fans. Across the U.S., a growing number of college stadiums designed or retrofitted for football were being built and expanded across the U.S. Most pro football teams in contrast shared stadiums (and sometimes names) with the local baseball team, and as such had to make do in facilities designed for another sport with mediocre sight lines for football. Both leagues saw fit to choose college football legends as their commissioners.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: There was even a sense that collegians could defeat pros. 1946 saw the famous Army–Notre Dame scoreless tie in Yankee Stadium. At season's end, Arch Ward (the AAFC founder) opined that both teams were superior to either pro champion.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Dan Topping, owner of the NFL's Brooklyn Tigers, wished to move his team from Ebbets Field to the much larger Yankee Stadium. New York Giants owner Tim Mara used his territorial rights to block the move. He had good reason: the Yankees had displaced the Giants as New York's premier baseball team after moving into The House That Ruth Built, three rival football leagues had planted teams there hoping to duplicate that feat, and Topping (of Anaconda Copper) was significantly wealthier than Mara.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Most of his players followed. His renamed New York Yankees were rewarded with $100,000 from each of the other seven AAFC teams while the AAFC's initial New York investor withdrew. (Note that the AAFC Brooklyn Dodgers were a separate entity never associated with Topping's team.)


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Shortly after Topping defected, the NFL owners fired Commissioner Layden, replacing him with Pittsburgh Steelers co-owner Bert Bell. Bell had already made a major contribution to the league: the NFL draft, begun in 1935, was his idea.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Meanwhile, Dan Reeves' Cleveland Rams had consistently lost money, despite winning the 1945 NFL title. Compounding his problems, the local AAFC competition already looked strong: Arthur McBride was aggressively marketing the Browns, and coach Paul Brown was an Ohio icon. Accordingly, Reeves proposed to move the Rams to Los Angeles.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: With two teams planned for California, the AAFC had national aspirations. The NFL's thinking was more modest: it rejected Reeves' move because of travel expenses. After the NFL refused to consider his second choice (Dallas), Reeves threatened to move his team to the AAFC. Having already lost Topping, the NFL reconsidered and approved the Los Angeles move.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: It was unprecedented for the NFL champion to move at all, let alone partly to avoid an unproven rival. On the other hand, the NFL would now face the AAFC as a national rather than regional league, and the AAFC would not have a West Coast monopoly.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Rather than hold a collegiate draft, Crowley encouraged his owners to sign as many good players as possible to compete with the NFL. However, this open market favored Paul Brown, who had built the most extensive recruitment network in all of football. He thus had a head start in signing top players coming out of the colleges and military. Years later, Crowley acknowledged this was a fatal mistake, as it planted the seeds for the Browns' near-total dominance of the league.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: For 1946, the AAFC began play with 8 teams playing a record 14 games (a double round-robin). The NFL's 10 teams played 11 games, its standard since 1937.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Again acting ambitiously, the AAFC chose stadiums larger than the NFL's in Chicago, New York, and Cleveland.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: In the AAFC's first game, on September 6, 1946, the Cleveland Browns hosted the Miami Seahawks, winning 44–0 before a professional football record crowd of more than 60,000 fans. This historic game would prove a microcosm of much about the league:


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Other than New York, all of the quality teams were in the Western Division. In the West, Cleveland led with a 12–2 record, three games ahead of San Francisco, followed by Los Angeles and Chicago. In the East, New York was the only team to win more than three games, finishing 10–3–1. Brooklyn and Buffalo were seven games behind, followed by Miami. Despite Brooklyn's record, its tailback Glenn Dobbs led the league in passing and was named the MVP.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The title game was a tight affair, with the Browns coming from behind late in the fourth quarter to defeat the Yankees 14–9.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Despite the fiasco in Miami, the AAFC had enjoyed a successful debut, establishing a high level of play and doing well at the gate. The NFL likewise set attendance highs for both its season and title game. However, as salaries shot up with two leagues competing for players: the only teams to make a profit were the two champions, the Browns and the NFL Bears.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Chicago Rockets had experienced some disorganization in 1946. In a remarkable move, Commissioner Crowley (a successful former college coach) gave up a five-year contract to become their part-owner and coach. Admiral Jonas H. Ingram was named to replace him as commissioner.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: To replace the Seahawks, the Baltimore group turned down in 1945 was issued a franchise. The new Baltimore Colts would play in Municipal Stadium. Meanwhile, the Bisons were renamed the Bills and the NFL added a 12th game to its schedule.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The AAFC enjoyed its most successful season in 1947. Some notable guests watched the Browns' opening game: the entire coaching staff of the 1946 NFL champion Chicago Bears. The 49ers obtained the rights to Army's legendary


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Heisman Trophy winners Felix Blanchard ("Mr. Inside") and Glenn Davis ("Mr. Outside"), and amid great publicity unsuccessfully attempted to get the military to permit them to play during their post-graduation furloughs. In other highlights, a Yankees–Dons game in the Los Angeles Coliseum drew a pro record of more than 82,000, and division leaders New York and Cleveland locked horns on November 23 in the most famous game in AAFC history. Before more than 70,000 fans at Yankee Stadium, the Browns rallied from a 28–0 deficit to tie 28–28.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: New York won the East with an 11–2–1 record, 2½ games ahead of Buffalo, with Brooklyn and Baltimore far back. Cleveland, led by MVP quarterback Otto Graham, won the West with a 12–1–1 record, 3½ games ahead of San Francisco. Los Angeles followed, and Chicago was last at 1–13. Former Commissioner Crowley would not return either as coach or owner.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: By this time a pattern had emerged among the franchises. The Browns, Yankees, 49ers, Dons, and Bills all had stable ownership and at least one winning season. The Browns led both leagues in attendance by a wide margin, the Yankees and Dons outpaced their crosstown NFL rivals on the field and at the gate, and the 49ers and Bills (despite a small stadium) also enjoyed good attendance.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: However, the Dodgers, Rockets, and to a lesser extent the Colts were having serious problems. Playing near the Yankees and the NFL Giants, the Dodgers drew fewer than 12,000 fans per game, least in both leagues. The Rockets faced the NFL's flagship Bears and a Cardinals team enjoying rare success. After a decent start in 1946, the Rockets collapsed on the field and found themselves playing before tens of thousands of empty seats in huge Soldier Field. The first-year Colts did reasonably well at the gate but finished last. All of these teams were at the bottom of the standings and all were sold after the 1947 season, the Rockets for the second time.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Although 1947 had been a successful season for the AAFC in many respects, the league still lost money. In 1948, attendance in both leagues declined, and negotiations to end the war became serious.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: One factor affecting AAFC attendance was the gap between the league's best and worst teams. To counter this, Commissioner Ingram attempted to get the strongest teams to distribute some players to the weakest. He was modestly successful: the Browns sent rookie quarterback Y. A. Tittle to the Colts, who enjoyed their first good season, and the Yankees were generous enough to fall into mediocrity. However, 1948 featured extremes despite Ingram's efforts.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The 1948 AAFC Draft was held on December 16, 1947 in New York City, NY. Tony Minisi was the first overall selection. In the West, San Francisco and Cleveland both remained undefeated far into the season. On November 14, nearly 83,000 (a record) in Cleveland Municipal Stadium watched the 9–0 Browns win a 14–7 defensive struggle over the 10–0 49ers. They met again two weeks later in San Francisco, with the Browns now 12–0 and the 49ers 11–1. The Browns again won narrowly, this time 31–28, clinching first place.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The rematch concluded an AAFC Thanksgiving week promotion: the Browns played three games in eight days. New Dodgers' part-owner Branch Rickey (of baseball fame) suggested this experiment, and the Browns were chosen as the guinea pigs. They survived unscathed, and went on to complete an unprecedented 14–0 regular season.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The 49ers finished a heartbreaking second (and out of the postseason) at 12–2. Los Angeles followed at 7–7, and Chicago again finished last at 1–13. The quarterbacks of the two outstanding teams, Cleveland's Otto Graham and San Francisco's Frankie Albert, shared the MVP.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: In the East, Buffalo and Baltimore tied at a mediocre 7–7, just ahead of 6–8 New York. Brooklyn was last at 2–12. Buffalo won a playoff and the dubious privilege of meeting Cleveland for the title.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Cleveland won the title in a predictable rout, 49–7. With pro football's second perfect season (after the 1937 Los Angeles Bulldogs of the second American Football League) and an 18-game winning streak and a 29-game unbeaten streak in progress, the Browns were making history. Since then, only the 1972 Miami Dolphins team managed to win its league championship with an unblemished record. The Pro Football Hall of Fame recognizes the Browns' latter streak as the longest in the history of professional football.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The NFL also had a problem with imbalance. Nearly every title game from 1933 to 1946 featured either the Giants or Redskins from the East against either the Bears or Packers from the West.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: But in the late 1940s new powers rose in the NFL, as the Cardinals, Eagles, and Rams all won titles, and the Steelers reached a playoff. All these teams had long histories of futility and had merged or suspended operations during the war. (In fact, the Cardinals were winless from mid-1942 to mid-1945, including a 0–10 merged season with the Steelers.)


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Adding to the drama, the division races were often tight. Decades before Pete Rozelle, Bert Bell promoted parity by purposely matching strong teams early in the season, keeping them from getting far ahead in the standings. All this contrasted sharply with the AAFC.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The war was getting increasingly costly thanks to rising salaries and dropping attendance. Nearly every team in both leagues lost money – enough that in December, the NFL officially acknowledged the AAFC as peace talks almost succeeded in ending the war. However, the AAFC wanted four of its teams to be admitted into the NFL, while the NFL was willing to admit only the Browns and 49ers. Although the survival of its Brooklyn and Chicago teams was now in doubt, the AAFC decided to continue the fight.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: As the war entered its fourth season, financial problems forced reorganization in both leagues. The Dodgers, the AAFC's least-drawing team, merged with the Yankees as the Rockets (renamed the Hornets) and Colts continued their streaks of annual ownership changes.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: In the NFL, the champion Philadelphia Eagles lost money and were sold. Plagued by league-low attendance, the Boston Yanks moved to New York in a curious move. Yanks owner Ted Collins had long desired a franchise in Yankee Stadium (thus his team's name), and expected the AAFC and its Yankees to be gone in 1949. Instead, with Yankee Stadium and the Yanks name unavailable, Collins' renamed Bulldogs had to share the Polo Grounds with the Giants on unfavorable terms and compete with two superior rivals.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: With the AAFC now down to seven teams, it realigned into one division, reduced its schedule to 12 games (still a double round-robin), and changed its postseason to a Shaughnessy playoff. In 1948, the 12–2 49ers had stayed home while the 7–7 Bills played for the title. This would not reoccur, as now the top four teams would qualify for the playoffs. Also, for the first time in pro football, playoff home-field advantage would be based on win–loss record rather than rotating between divisions.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Since 1934, the College All-Star Game had matched the defending NFL champions against an all-star team of recent college graduates. The game was a major event, as Rose Bowl-sized crowds (more than 105,000 in 1947) watched college football's best often hold their own with the pros. Held in late August at Soldier Field, the game was sponsored by the "Chicago Tribune"—whose sports editor, Ward, had founded the AAFC.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: After the game's contract with the NFL expired with the 1948 game, Ward refused to renew it. He attempted to help the AAFC by putting its champion into the prestigious game. However, the NFL was able to convince the "Tribune's" board to override Ward and force him to re-sign with the NFL, handing the AAFC an embarrassing defeat.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Red ink on both sides continued to flow. The Colts and Hornets were only kept afloat when Dons owner Ben Lindheimer subsidized them. The Green Bay Packers, then as now owned by a local civic group, had to issue new stock to remain solvent. Now facing two cross-town rivals, the Bulldogs predictably had even lower attendance in New York than in Boston. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions were also having serious financial problems. However, the NFL had a critical advantage in that its ownership was deeply committed to ensuring the survival of their teams. In contrast, it was becoming clear that the AAFC's better-financed owners, who were accustomed to operating profitable businesses as opposed underwriting expenses year after year, were not willing to absorb losses indefinitely.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: On the field, Cleveland finally showed some vulnerability. An opening day tie with the Bills ended their winning streak, and on October 9 the 49ers ended their unbeaten streak in a 56–28 upset to move into first place.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Things soon reverted to form, however. The Browns won the rematch with the 49ers 30–28; and Cleveland (9–1–2) and San Francisco (9–3) finished one-two for the fourth consecutive year. Brooklyn-New York and Buffalo were the other playoff qualifiers, followed by Chicago and Los Angeles. Baltimore finished far behind at 1–11.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: In playoff action, Cleveland defeated Buffalo 31–21 and San Francisco defeated Brooklyn–New York 17–7. The two best teams in AAFC history met at last with the title at stake, with the Browns winning the final title 21–7. No MVP was named for this season.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: On December 9, 1949, two days before the AAFC title game, the two leagues made peace. Three AAFC teams were admitted to the NFL: the Browns, 49ers, and Colts. The Dons merged with the Rams, while the Bills, Yankees, and Hornets folded. The enlarged league was renamed the National–American Football League.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Browns and 49ers, as the AAFC's two strongest teams, were obvious choices: San Francisco was also a natural fit as a geographic rival to the Rams, who were alone on the West Coast at the time.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: There was some sentiment to admit the Bills rather than the Colts. The Bills had better attendance despite only making the playoffs twice, and had much wealthier ownership. However, Buffalo's size (only Green Bay was smaller) and climate were seen as problems. While Redskins owner George Preston Marshall had long objected to the Colts' proximity to Washington, he ultimately decided that the Colts would be a natural rival to the Redskins. He agreed to accept a $150,000 fee to waive his territorial rights.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Buffalo fans petitioned the NFL to admit the Bills as well. The league, realizing the pitfalls of having an uneven 13-team league, held a vote on admitting the Bills. While a majority of owners (including the Browns, 49ers, and Colts) were willing to take the Bills, the final vote was only 9–4 in favor. League rules of the time required a unanimous vote to admit a new team. Buffalo owner Jim Breuil was content to accept a minority share of the Browns. Breuil even rebuffed an offer from the next-best pro league in the nation at the time, the minor-league American Football League of the late 1940s, to join their league.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Yankees' players were divided between the Giants (who chose six players) and Bulldogs (who received the rest). Three Bills players were awarded to the Browns. The remaining Bills, Dons, and Hornets entered a dispersal draft.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: With the AAFC Yankees gone, Bulldogs owner Ted Collins was free to rename his team "Yanks" and move into Yankee Stadium. He continued to lose money, however, and sold the team after two seasons to Dallas-based interests, who relocated the team to Dallas and called the team the Dallas Texans.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The word "American" did not remain in the enlarged league's name for long; it was dropped in March 1950. Although "National" and "American" became the names of the league's new conferences, within three years the conferences were renamed Eastern and Western. It was not until the AFL–NFL merger twenty years later that the "American" and "National" conference names were restored.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Admitting Baltimore over Buffalo proved to be a mistake, as the AAFC's Colts folded after one season in the NFL, bringing the league back to an even 12 teams. However, the aforementioned Dallas Texans also folded after only one season, and a replacement team also named the Colts acquired its assets joined the league as an expansion team in 1953. Meanwhile, the popularity of the original Bills franchise prompted former Detroit Lions minority owner Ralph Wilson to adopt the name "Buffalo Bills" for his American Football League franchise ten years after the AAFC dissolved. Both the replacement Colts (now based in Indianapolis) and the replacement Bills are still playing in the NFL, though neither maintains official ties to their namesakes (coincidentally, the Colts and Bills were division rivals in the AFC East from 1970 through 2001, after which the Colts moved to the AFC South).


title: All-America Football Conference

text: After winning each of their titles, the Browns challenged the NFL champion to an interleague championship. Each year the NFL refused. (Of course, by playing such a game the NFL would legitimize the AAFC and risk more prestige.)


title: All-America Football Conference

text: In December 1949, with both leagues financially exhausted but now at peace, a profitable interleague playoff was now both possible and desirable. Although Pittsburgh's Art Rooney, whose Steelers were among the shakiest NFL franchises, publicly advocated such a game, most of the NFL was unwilling to risk defeat at the hands of their vanquished, supposedly inferior rival. Officially, however, commissioner Bert Bell maintained that the NFL constitution barred such a game. The football world would have to wait to see how the Browns matched up against the NFL's best.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: All would not be lost for fans, however. Bell appreciated that the Browns were now an important asset to the NFL, and scheduled a special Saturday night game between them and the NFL's two-time champion Philadelphia Eagles to open the 1950 season. While not quite an unofficial interleague playoff, what took place on September 16, 1950, was no ordinary regular season game.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The defending champions of two leagues that had never met on the field were about to play, foreshadowing tensions present in the early Super Bowls of the 1960s. At last the Browns would have the chance to prove themselves, and by extension the AAFC, against the NFL. There was tremendous anticipation from fans and the press, which called the game "The World Series of Pro Football". Although the game was played in Philadelphia, it was not played on the Eagles usual home field: because of the huge crowd expected, the game was moved from Shibe Park to Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, site of the Army–Navy Game. Attendance was a whopping 71,237, the third-largest pro football crowd to that date (next to two crowds for Rams games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the year before), and the largest-ever on the east coast. (This figure also surpassed every previous NFL or AAFC title game, as well as Super Bowl I.) There was even a most valuable player award, unheard of for a regular-season game.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Eagles were widely considered one of the NFL's strongest-ever champions, while many discounted the Browns’ success in their "inferior" league. The result was therefore shocking: the Eagles underestimated the highly motivated Browns (coach Greasy Neale did not even scout the Browns’ preseason games), while Paul Brown found some previously unknown weaknesses in the widely imitated "Eagle Defense". The Browns led 14–3 at halftime and dominated the rest of the game to win decisively, 35–10. Quarterback Otto Graham was named the game's MVP.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Browns went 10–2 to finish in a first-place tie with the New York Giants, then won a playoff 8–3 to qualify for the 1950 NFL championship game. Their opponent was a formidable Los Angeles Rams team that averaged nearly 39 points per game, a record that still stands. (Ironically, this was the Rams’ first game in Cleveland since winning the 1945 title as the Cleveland Rams.) In a classic seesaw game, the Browns prevailed on a last-minute field goal, 30–28, to win their fifth consecutive league title.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Browns’ 1950 season confirmed the quality of their AAFC achievements as nothing else could. After the title game, Commissioner Bell called the Browns "the greatest team to ever play football."


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Cleveland remained near the top of the NFL for years, although in 1951 they were finally denied a league title (by the Rams). The Browns played in every NFL title game from 1950 to 1955, winning three of them, for a grand total of seven league titles in ten years.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The 49ers, the AAFC's second-best team, struggled in 1950 and finished 3–9. However, starting the next year they emerged as one of the better teams in the NFL's Western Conference, reaching the postseason in 1957 after some near-misses.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The Colts' prospects were not promising: they had finished 1–11 and last in the AAFC in 1949 and also faced the handicap of playing near the Washington Redskins. In 1950, the Colts went 1–11 again and disbanded. Their legacy lived on, however: three years later, a new Baltimore Colts franchise team was established after the Dallas Texans folded and the Colts became one of the NFL's storied teams. Although the Colts would controversially move to Indianapolis, on March 29, 1984, the NFL would return to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season in the form of the Baltimore Ravens, descended from the original Browns franchise that played in the AAFC after their own controversial move. Officially, the NFL considers the "expansion" Browns (1999 on) to be one continuous entity from the original 1946 AAFC team, with it having "suspended operations from 1996 to 1998", while the Ravens unofficially consider the pre-1984 history of the Colts as their own.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: "See Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Colts (1947–50), and Indianapolis Colts for further details of these teams' subsequent histories."


title: All-America Football Conference

text: One notable difference between the All-America Football Conference and the American Football League (AFL), which merged with the NFL two decades later, is that the records and statistics of AAFC players and teams are not included in the NFL record book, while those of their AFL counterparts are. For example, Joe Namath's pre-1970 statistics with the AFL New York Jets are considered official NFL statistics, while Y. A. Tittle's pre-1950 statistics with the AAFC Baltimore Colts are not.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: According to the NFL, this is because official scoresheets of AAFC games were not made available to the NFL after the merger. Without these, the NFL could not verify the authenticity of any AAFC statistics or records and so it chose to ignore them. However, in the case of the NFL-AFL merger, which was completed in 1970, the AFL gave all of its official scoresheets to the NFL making it possible for the NFL to accept the AFL's statistics and records.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Another explanation is that unlike the NFL-AFL agreement, the NFL-AAFC agreement was not a merger between equals. Only three of the seven AAFC teams were admitted to the NFL. There was no interleague playoff in December 1949. "American" swiftly disappeared from the enlarged league's name. The AFL, on the other hand, was able to force the NFL to admit all of its teams, to play an interleague championship game on a neutral field, and to maintain the "American" name in the form of the American Football Conference.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Although the AAFC played only four years, it had a major, lasting impact on pro football. Of all the leagues that challenged the NFL, only the American Football League of the 1960s influenced the NFL more than the AAFC.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The AAFC played a 14-game schedule more than a decade before the NFL, and played a major role in popularizing zone defenses in pro football.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The AAFC put the first pro football teams in Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. Indeed, the AAFC was a coast-to-coast league more than a decade before Major League Baseball. This brought about another innovation: AAFC teams traveled by air while NFL teams still traveled by train.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Black players were excluded from the NFL from 1934 to 1945. The AAFC helped reintegrate professional American football in 1946 when Cleveland signed Marion Motley and Bill Willis. The NFL Rams, having been driven out of Cleveland by the AAFC Browns, signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode only after the venue they sought to play in, the Los Angeles Coliseum, enforced its policy of integration.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The AAFC's Paul Brown produced numerous innovations to the game on and off the field. Among them were year-round coaching staffs, precision pass patterns, the face mask, and the practice of coaches’ calling plays via "messenger guards". He also was the first coach to have his staff film the opposition and have his team break down those game films in a classroom setting. In fact, the classroom setting and chalkboard analysis can also be attributed to him. His success with the Browns forced the rest of both leagues to adopt his methods. Many of his players and assistants eventually coached champions. Brown declined efforts to draft him to succeed Bert Bell as NFL commissioner, later founded the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals, and later served on the NFL's key Competition Committee until his death in 1991.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: These and other AAFC innovations and personalities helped lay the groundwork for Professional Football's great success.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Finally, the Browns' NFL Championship in their first year in the NFL and their domination of that league for the next decade, in retrospect, seem to have been harbingers of another upstart league that like the AAFC was ridiculed and reviled by the NFL and its supporters, but would eventually be recognized as the genesis of modern Professional Football: the American Football League of 1960–1969.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: Franchises are ranked by win percentage. As was the custom for professional football leagues in the 1940s, ties were not considered for the purpose of standings.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: "From 1946 to 1948 the champions of each division met in the AAFC championship game. In 1949, there was only one seven-team division, so the championship game was the final round of a four team tournament."


title: All-America Football Conference

text: "In 1948, there was a tie for first place in the Eastern Division. In 1949, there was only one seven-team division, so the playoffs were a four team tournament."


title: All-America Football Conference

text: "The AAFC played an all-star game only once, following the 1949 season. This game, played in Houston and known as the "Shamrock Bowl", was the league's last game before the merger with the NFL. The champion Browns faced a team of All-Stars from the other six teams."


title: All-America Football Conference

text: There was no official award issued by the league. However, starting in 1947, the Sporting News named a Coach of the Year for all of pro football. In 1947 and 1948, the choice was from the NFL. In 1949, this award went to Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns.


title: All-America Football Conference

text: The following AAFC players and coaches are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio:


title: Humic substance

text: Humic substances (HS) are organic compounds that are important components of humus, the major organic fraction of soil, peat, and coal (and also a constituent of many upland streams, dystrophic lakes, and ocean water). For a long era in the 19th and 20th centuries, humic substances were often viewed through a lens of acid–base theory that described humic acids (HA), as organic acids, and their conjugate bases, humates, as important components of organic matter. Through this viewpoint humic acids were defined as organic substances extracted from soil that coagulate (form small solid pieces) when a strong-base extract is acidified, whereas fulvic acids (FA) are organic acids that remain soluble (stay dissolved) when a strong-base extract is acidified. The remaining alkali-insoluble part of humus would be termed humin.


title: Humic substance

text: Humic matter in isolation is the result of a chemical extraction from the soil organic matter or the dissolved organic matter and represent the humic molecules distributed in the soil or water. A new understanding views humic substances not as high-molecular-weight macropolymers but as heterogeneous and relatively small molecular components of the soil organic matter auto-assembled in supramolecular associations and composed of a variety of compounds of biological origin and synthesized by abiotic and biotic reactions in soil. It is the large molecular complexity of the soil humeome that confers to humic matter its bioactivity in soil and its role as plant growth promoter.


title: Humic substance

text: The academic definition of humic substances is under debate as "humification" becomes unsupported as a special case, leading to some radical definitions expanding HS to encompass all difficult-to-characterize soil organic matter, at the cost of clarity. There is also a call to forgo the traditional alkali extract method and directly analyze the soil, but its complexity prevents widespread adoption in agriculture. In practice, this means some sources may apply a traditional acid-base analysis to compost, then state the results in term of "humic substances".


title: Humic substance

text: The formation of humic substances in nature is one of the least understood aspects of humus chemistry and one of the most intriguing. There are three main theories to explain it: the lignin theory of Waksman (1932), the polyphenol theory, and the sugar-amine condensation theory of Maillard (1911). Those theories are insufficient to account for observations in soil research.


title: Humic substance

text: Humic substances are formed by the microbial degradation of dead plant matter, such as lignin and charcoal. Humic substances in the lab are very resistant to further biodegradation. The precise properties and structure of a given sample depend on the water or soil source and the specific conditions of extraction. Nevertheless, the average properties of lab produced humic substances from different sources are remarkably similar.


title: Humic substance

text: Humic substances in soils and sediments can be divided into three main fractions: humic acids, fulvic acids, and humin. Their presence and relative abundance is inferred by lab extraction, a process which alters their original form beyond recognition.


title: Humic substance

text: Humic acid as traditionally produced in a laboratory is not a single acid; rather, it is a complex mixture of many different acids containing carboxyl and phenolate groups so that the mixture behaves functionally as a dibasic acid or, occasionally, as a tribasic acid. Humic acid used to amend soil is manufactured using these same well established procedures. Humic acids can form complexes with ions that are commonly found in the environment creating humic colloids.


title: Humic substance

text: As a nutrition supplement, fulvic acid can be found in a liquid form as a component of mineral colloids. Fulvic acids are poly-electrolytes and are unique colloids that diffuse easily through membranes whereas all other colloids do not.


title: Humic substance

text: A sequential chemical fractionation called Humeomics can be used to isolate more homogeneous humic fractions and determine their molecular structures by advanced spectroscopic and chromatographic methods. Substances identified in humic extracts and directly in soil include mono-, di-, and tri-hydroxycarboxylic acids, fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, linear alcohols, phenolic acids, terpenoids, carbohydrates and aminoacids.


title: Humic substance

text: Decomposition products of dead plant materials form intimate associations with minerals, making it difficult to isolate and characterize soil organic constituents. 18th century soil chemists successfully used alkaline extraction to isolate a portion of the organic constituents in soil. This led to the theory that a 'humification' process created 'humic substances'; most commonly 'humic acid', 'fulvic acid', and 'humin'. However, these humic substances have not been observed in soil. Although 'humification' theory is unsupported by evidence, "the underlying theory persists in the contemporary literature, including current textbooks." Attempts to redefine 'humic substances' in valid terms have resulted in a proliferation of incompatible definitions, "with far-reaching implications beyond our ability to communicate scientifically accurate soil processes and properties."


title: Humic substance

text: Since the dawn of modern chemistry, humic substances are among the most studied among the natural materials. Despite long study, their molecular structure and chemical remains elusive. The traditional view is that humic substances are heteropolycondensates, in varying associations with clay. A more recent view is that relatively small molecules also play a role. Humic substances account for 50 – 90% of cation exchange capacity. Similar to clay, char and colloidal humus hold cation nutrients.


title: Humic substance

text: A typical humic substance is a mixture of many molecules, some of which are based on a motif of aromatic nuclei with phenolic and carboxylic substituents, linked together; the illustration shows a typical structure.


title: Humic substance

text: The functional groups that contribute most to surface charge and reactivity of humic substances are phenolic and carboxylic groups. Humic acids behave as mixtures of dibasic acids, with a pK value around 4 for protonation of carboxyl groups and around 8 for protonation of phenolate groups. There is considerable overall similarity among individual humic acids. For this reason, measured pK values for a given sample are average values relating to the constituent species. The other important characteristic is charge density. The molecules may form a supramolecular structure held together by non-covalent forces, such as van der Waals force, π-π, and CH-π bonds.


title: Humic substance

text: The presence of carboxylate and phenolate groups gives the humic acids the ability to form complexes with ions such as Mg, Ca, Fe, and Fe. Many humic acids have two or more of these groups arranged so as to enable the formation of chelate complexes. The formation of (chelate) complexes is an important aspect of the biological role of humic acids in regulating bioavailability of metal ions.


title: Humic substance

text: The presence of humic acid in water intended for potable or industrial use can have a significant impact on the treatability of that water and the success of chemical disinfection processes. For instance, humic and fulvic acids can react with the chemicals used in the chlorination process to form disinfection byproducts such as dihaloacetonitriles, which are toxic to humans. Accurate methods of establishing humic acid concentrations are therefore essential in maintaining water supplies, especially from upland peaty catchments in temperate climates.


title: Humic substance

text: As a lot of different bio-organic molecules in very diverse physical associations are mixed together in natural environments, it is cumbersome to measure their exact concentrations in the humic superstructure. For this reason, concentrations of humic acid are traditionally estimated out of concentrations of organic matter, typically from concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC) or dissolved organic carbon (DOC).


title: Humic substance

text: Extraction procedures are bound to alter some of the chemical linkages present in the soil humic substances (mainly ester bonds in biopolyesters such as cutins and suberins). The humic extracts are composed of large numbers of different bio-organic molecules that have not yet been totally separated and identified. However, single classes of residual biomolecules have been identified by selective extractions and chemical fractionation, and are represented by alkanoic and hydroxy alkanoic acids, resins, waxes, lignin residues, sugars, and peptides.


title: Humic substance

text: Organic matter soil amendments have been known by farmers to be beneficial to plant growth for longer than recorded history. However, the chemistry and function of the organic matter have been a subject of controversy since humans began postulating about it in the 18th century. Until the time of Liebig, it was supposed that humus was used directly by plants, but, after Liebig showed that plant growth depends upon inorganic compounds, many soil scientists held the view that organic matter was useful for fertility only as it was broken down with the release of its constituent nutrient elements into inorganic forms.


title: Humic substance

text: At the present time, soil scientists hold a more holistic view and at least recognize that humus influences soil fertility through its effect on the water-holding capacity of the soil. Also, since plants have been shown to absorb and translocate the complex organic molecules of systemic insecticides, they can no longer discredit the idea that plants may be able to absorb the soluble forms of humus; this may in fact be an essential process for the uptake of otherwise insoluble iron oxides.


title: Humic substance

text: A study on the effects of humic acid on plant growth was conducted at Ohio State University which said in part "humic acids increased plant growth" and that there were "relatively large responses at low application rates".


title: Humic substance

text: A 1998 study by scientists at the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences showed that addition of humate to soil significantly increased root mass in creeping bentgrass turf.


title: Humic substance

text: A 2018 study by scientists at the University of Alberta showed that humic acids can reduce prion infectivity in laboratory experiments, but that this effect may be uncertain in the environment due to minerals in the soil that buffer the effect.


title: Humic substance

text: Humans can affect the production of humic substances via a variety of ways: by making use of natural processes by composting lignin or adding biochar (see soil rehabilitation), or by industrial synthesis of artificial humic substances from organic feedstocks directly. These artificial substances may be similarly divided into artificial humic acid (A-HA) and artificial fulvic acid (A-FA).


title: Humic substance

text: Lignosulfonate from sulfite pulping can be made to mimic humus by hydrolysis and oxidation. The product is already commercialized as "lignohumate".


title: Humic substance

text: Agricultural litter can be turned into an artificial humic substance by a hydrothermal reaction. The resulting mixture can increase the content of dissolved organic matter and total organic carbon in soil.


title: Humic substance

text: Lignite (brown coal) may also be oxidized to produce humic substances, reversing the process of coal formation. This form of "mineral-derived fulvic acid" is widely used in China. This process also occurs in nature, producing leonardite.


title: Humic substance

text: In economic geology, the term "humate" refers to geological materials, such as weathered coal beds (leonardite), mudrock, or pore material in sandstones, that are rich in humic acids. Humate has been mined from the Fruitland Formation of New Mexico for use as a soil amendment since the 1970s, with nearly 60,000 metric tons produced by 2016. Humate deposits may also play an important role in the genesis of uranium ore bodies.


title: Humic substance

text: The heavy-metal binding abilities of humic acids have been exploited to develop remediation technologies for removing heavy metals from waste water. To this end, Yurishcheva et al. coated magnetic nanoparticles with humic acids. After capturing lead ions, the nanoparticles can then be captured using a magnet.


title: Green room

text: In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre or similar venue that functions as a waiting room and lounge for performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on stage. Green rooms typically have seating for the performers, such as upholstered chairs and sofas.


title: Green room

text: The origin of the term is often ascribed to such rooms historically being painted green. Modern green rooms need not necessarily adhere to a specifically green color scheme, though the theatrical tradition of the name remains.


title: Green room

text: Some English theatres contained several green rooms, each ranked according to the status, fame, and salary of the actor: one could be fined for using a green room above one's station.


title: Green room

text: The definitive origin of the term 'green room' is lost to history, which has led to many theories and claims.


title: Green room

text: One of the oldest stories is that London's Blackfriars Theatre (1599) included a room behind the scenes, where the actors waited to go on stage, which happened to be painted green, and was called "the green room". A later renovation of London's Cockpit-in-Court theatre in 1662 included a green baize dressing room, which has also been suggested as the origin of the term. It has also been theorised that such waiting rooms were originally painted green to "relieve the eyes from the glare of the stage." On the other hand, early stage lighting was by candlelight and later by gaslight, so the "glare" might well be apocryphal, a modern reference to bright stage lighting.


title: Green room

text: Richard Southern, in his studies of medieval theatre in the round, states that in this period the acting area was referred to as 'the green'. This central space, often grass-covered, was used by the actors, while the surrounding space and circular banks were occupied by the spectators; Southern states that 'the green' has been a traditional actors' term for the stage ever since. Even in proscenium arch theatres there was a tradition that a green stage cloth should be used for a tragedy. The green room could thus be considered the transition room on the way to the green/stage. Technical staff at some West End theatres (such as the London Coliseum) still refer to the stage as 'the green'.


title: Green room

text: It is sometimes said that the term 'green room' was a response to limelight, though the name is merely a coincidence – "limelight" refers to calcium oxide, not to the fruit or colour. Furthermore, limelight was invented in 1820 and the term "green room" was used many years prior to that. The term 'green room' is also attributed to the makeup worn by actors; long before modern makeup was invented, the actors had to apply makeup before a show and allow it to set up or cure before performing. Until the makeup was cured, it was 'green', and people were advised to sit quietly in the 'green room' until such time as the makeup was stable enough for performing.


title: Green room

text: It is possible that 'green room' might be a corruption of 'scene room', the room where scenery was stored which doubled as the actors' waiting and warm-up room. Many actors also experience nervous anxiety before a performance, and one of the symptoms of nervousness is nausea. As a person who feels nauseous is often said to look "green", suggesting that the 'green room' is the place where the nervous actors wait. Comedian and dancer Max Wall attributes the phrase to Cockney rhyming slang, where 'greengage' is 'stage', therefore 'greengage room' is 'stage room'; like most rhyming slang, the term was shortened, hence '"green" room'. Rhyming slang can be traced only as early as the 1840s, whereas the phrase "green room" predates this by several centuries, making such an etymology unlikely.


title: Green room

text: In Shakespeare's day, the actors waited in a "tiring house" probably because actors were attired (put on or changed costumes) in this space. Here it is mentioned by Peter Quince as he plans for his acting troupe to rehearse in the woods:


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: The Idrisid Emirate of Asir () was a state located in the Arabian Peninsula. The Emirate was located in the geographical region of Asir and Jizan in what is now southwestern Saudi Arabia, and extending to Hodeidah, northwest of Yemen.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: In the early 20th century the Asir region was in chaos. De jure, the region was governed as the Sanjak of Asir which was part of the Vilayet of Yemen, although the Ottomans only had de facto control over port cities, while the hinterlands were ruled by various tribal chiefs. Even in the areas of Ottoman control, anti-Turkish sentiment was brewing, beginning ethnic and sectarian conflicts between the Turkish overlords and the local inhabitants. Due to these circumstances, Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi began spreading his grandfather's teachings, as well as calling for the local inhabitants to maintain a stricter adherence to Islam. On December 24, 1908, Muhammad proclaimed himself Imam, after which many tribes in the Asir region recognized him as their spiritual leader.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: Throughout the autumn of 1909, Muhammad began his first efforts towards subverting Ottoman power in the region. Following this, Idrisid troops took over Az Zaydiyah and Al Luḩayyah, together with several tribes of Upper Asir aligning themselves with Al-Idrisi, led to the decision where the Ottomans made peace with the Idrisids. In the treaty of al-Hafa'ir (ratified January 1910), Al-Idrisi gained the position of Kaymakam of Asir which de facto made him a semi-independent ruler of the region under Ottoman Suzerainty.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: In October 1910, a debate in the court over Sharia law reignited Al-Idrisi's rebellion with renewed strength. The renewed conflict saw military engagements at Abha, Al Luḩayyah, Midi and other locations. The Italo-Turkish War led to Italy assisting Asir by means of naval bombardment, arms and ammunition, the two states united against a common enemy. The outbreak of World War I led the Ottomans to seek a truce, which came into effect on 3 August 1914.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: By 1915, with the first world war in full swing, Al Idrisi established contacts with the British through its administration in Aden. With the new connections, the Idrisids occupied over the Farasan Islands, and later parts of Northern Tihamah and Al Luḩayyah. As the Arab Revolt spread across Arabia, Muhammad proclaimed himself the Emir of an independent Emirate of Asir on August 3, 1917. The British soon recognized his move, with the intention of using him to assist in the fight against Yemen.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: Threats to Asir's independence would soon grow, as Hussein bin Ali of Hejaz and Yahya of Yemen would eye territory controlled by the Emirate. Due to these circumstances, Al-Idrisi secured an alliance with Ibn Saud of Nejd in order for the latter to act as a bulwark against Hejaz and Yemen. Yet despite the aforementioned agreement, Al-Idrisi would also use Hejazi support in order to occupy parts of Yemeni Tihamah throughout 1919 to 1921, thus stretching the Emirate's territory from Abha in the North to Al Hudaydah in the South.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: After the death of Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Idrisi in lower Asir, a feud flared up between his son, Sayyid Ali ibn Muhammad al-idrisi al-Hasani and his brother, Sayyid al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Idrisi al-Hasani. The title of Emir was eventually passed on to the former, yet he could barely exercise his power due to his young age and a lack of authority from his father. In early 1926 the Emir Ali was overthrown by his uncle Al-Hassan, who saw himself as a better fit for the throne.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: As the new Emir came to power, the rulers of Hejaz and Yemen claimed Idrisid possessions. In April 1925 Imam Yahya took over Al Hudaydah and occupied other parts of the Idrisid Emirate. Due to the fear of his realm being annexed, especially by Yemen, the Emir signed a deal with Ibn Saud on a protectorate treaty on October 21, 1926 – in which the foreign policy would be handled by the Saudis while the Emir retained his power over domestic affairs. By that time the Emirate was losing its southern territories to Yemen.


title: Idrisid Emirate of Asir

text: Nonetheless, Emir Al-Hasan sought the restoration of his previously independent authority with the limiting of the protectorate treaty. This led him to contact the Imam of Yemen, being dissatisfied with Saudi overlordship. King ibn Saud responded with carrying out the full annexation of the Emirate in 1934 (in accordance with the Treaty of Taif) and following that the King proclaimed the full unification of Saudi Arabia.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: Arijanet Anan Muric (born 7 November 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Burnley. Born in Switzerland, he represents the Kosovo national team.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: Muric is a product of various Swiss youth teams such as Young Fellows Juventus, Zürich and Grasshoppers. In 2015, he joined with youth team of Manchester City. On 27 July 2017, Muric signed a three-year contract extension with Manchester City.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 31 July 2018, Muric joined Eredivisie side NAC Breda, on a season-long loan. On 18 August 2018, he made his debut as a professional footballer in a 3–0 home win against De Graafschap after being named in the starting line-up.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: Four days after debut with NAC Breda, Manchester City recalled him from loan to replace injured goalkeeper Claudio Bravo as their second choice. Three days later, he was named as a Manchester City substitute for the first time in a Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. His debut with Manchester City came on 25 September in the 2018–19 EFL Cup third round against Oxford United after being named in the starting line-up.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 9 July 2019, Muric joined EFL Championship side Nottingham Forest, on a season-long loan. On 3 August 2019, he made his debut in a 1–2 home defeat against West Bromwich Albion after being named in the starting line-up. Muric's loan move was unsuccessful, with him serving as second choice goalkeeper behind Brice Samba, and failing to connect with the rest of the Forest squad.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 18 September 2020, Muric joined Segunda División side Girona, on a season-long loan. Eight days later, he made his debut in a 2–0 away defeat against Sporting de Gijón after being named in the starting line-up.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 1 February 2021, Muric was loaned to Eredivisie side Willem II until the end of the season, to replace the injured Robbin Ruiter as the first choice. Thirteen days later, he made his debut in a 5–0 away defeat against Feyenoord after being named in the starting line-up.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 5 August 2021, Muric joined Süper Lig side Adana Demirspor, on a season-long loan. Ten days later, he made his debut in a 0–1 home defeat against Fenerbahçe after being named in the starting line-up.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 22 July 2022, Muric joined Championship side Burnley after agreeing to a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Seven days later, he made his debut in a 0–1 away win against Huddersfield Town after being named in the starting line-up.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 22 August 2017, Muric received a call-up from Montenegro U21 for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Kazakhstan U21 and for the friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21. Fourteen days later, he made his debut with Montenegro U21 in a friendly match against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 after being named in the starting line-up. In both matches, he played for Montenegro U21 and he was sent off after receiving straight red cards, one for handling the ball outside the box against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 and the other for headbutting an opponent against Slovenia U21. Despite previously declaring his will to play for Montenegro after not being called up for the senior team, he opted to represent Kosovo instead.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: On 26 August 2018, the Football Federation of Kosovo announced that after several months of talks, Muric had decided to play for the Kosovo national team. On 9 November 2018, he received a call-up from Kosovo for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League matches against Malta and Azerbaijan. Eleven days later, he made his debut with Kosovo in a 2018–19 UEFA Nations League match against Azerbaijan after being named in the starting line-up.


title: Arijanet Muric

text: Muric was born in Schlieren, Switzerland to Albanian parents from Rožaje, Montenegro. He holds Kosovan, Montenegrin and Swiss passports.


title: Bodie, California

text: Bodie ( ) is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about southeast of Lake Tahoe, and east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m). Bodie became a boom town in after the discovery of a profitable line of gold; by 1879 it had a population of 7,000–10,000.


title: Bodie, California

text: The town went into decline in the subsequent decades and came to be described as a ghost town by . The U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes the designated Bodie Historic District as a National Historic Landmark.


title: Bodie, California

text: Also registered as a California Historical Landmark, the ghost town officially was established as Bodie State Historic Park in 1962. It receives about 200,000 visitors yearly. Bodie State Historic Park is partly supported by the Bodie Foundation.


title: Bodie, California

text: Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W. S. Bodey. Bodey died in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present-day Mono City), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him. According to area pioneer Judge J. G. McClinton, the district's name was changed from "Bodey," "Body," and a few other phonetic variations, to "Bodie," after a painter in the nearby boomtown of Aurora, lettered a sign "Bodie Stables".


title: Bodie, California

text: Gold discovered at Bodie coincided with the discovery of silver at nearby Aurora (thought to be in California, later found to be Nevada), and the distant Comstock Lode beneath Virginia City, Nevada. But while these two towns boomed, interest in Bodie remained lackluster. By 1868 only two companies had built stamp mills at Bodie, and both had failed.


title: Bodie, California

text: In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown. Rich discoveries in the adjacent Bodie Mine during 1878 attracted even more hopeful people. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 7,000–10,000 people and around 2,000 buildings. One legend says that in 1880, Bodie was California's second or third largest city, but the U.S. Census of that year disproves this. Over the years 1860-1941 Bodie's mines produced gold and silver valued at an estimated (in 1986 dollars, or $85 million in 2021).


title: Bodie, California

text: Bodie boomed from late 1877 through mid to late 1880. The first newspaper, "The Standard Pioneer Journal of Mono County", published its first edition on October 10, 1877. Starting as a weekly, it soon expanded publication to three times a week. It was also during this time that a telegraph line was built which connected Bodie with Bridgeport and Genoa, Nevada. California and Nevada newspapers predicted Bodie would become the next Comstock Lode. Men from both states were lured to Bodie by the prospect of another bonanza.


title: Bodie, California

text: Gold bullion from the town's nine stamp mills was shipped to Carson City, Nevada, by way of Aurora, Wellington and Gardnerville. Most shipments were accompanied by armed guards. After the bullion reached Carson City, it was delivered to the mint there, or sent by rail to the mint in San Francisco.


title: Bodie, California

text: As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including a Wells Fargo Bank, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, railroad, miners' and mechanics' union, several daily newspapers, and a jail. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Murders, shootouts, barroom brawls, and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences.


title: Bodie, California

text: As with other remote mining towns, Bodie had a popular, though clandestine, red light district on the north end of town. There is an unsubstantiated story of Rosa May, a prostitute who, in the style of Florence Nightingale, came to the aid of the town menfolk when a serious epidemic struck the town at the height of its boom. She is credited with giving life-saving care to many, but after she died, was buried outside the cemetery fence.


title: Bodie, California

text: Bodie had a Chinatown, the main street of which ran at a right angle to Bodie's Main Street. At one point it had several hundred Chinese residents and a Taoist temple. Opium dens were plentiful in this area.


title: Bodie, California

text: Bodie also had a cemetery on the outskirts of town and a nearby mortuary. It is the only building in the town built of red brick three courses thick, most likely for insulation to keep the air temperature steady during the cold winters and hot summers. The cemetery includes a Miners Union section, and a cenotaph erected to honor President James A. Garfield. The Bodie Boot Hill was located outside of the official city cemetery.


title: Bodie, California

text: On Main Street stands the Miners Union Hall, which was the meeting place for labor unions. It also served as an entertainment center that hosted dances, concerts, plays, and school recitals. It now serves as a museum.


title: Bodie, California

text: The first signs of decline appeared in 1880 and became obvious toward the end of the year. Promising mining booms in Butte, Montana; Tombstone, Arizona; and Utah lured men away from Bodie. The get-rich-quick, single miners who came to the town in the 1870s moved on to these other booms, and Bodie developed into a family-oriented community. In 1882 residents built the Methodist Church (which still stands) and the Roman Catholic Church (burned 1928). Despite the population decline, the mines were flourishing, and in 1881 Bodie's ore production was recorded at a high of $3.1 million. Also in 1881, a narrow-gauge railroad was built called the Bodie Railway & Lumber Company, bringing lumber, cordwood, and mine timbers to the mining district from Mono Mills south of Mono Lake.


title: Bodie, California

text: During the early 1890s, Bodie enjoyed a short revival from technological advancements in the mines that continued to support the town. In 1890, the recently invented cyanide process promised to recover gold and silver from discarded mill tailings and from low-grade ore bodies that had been passed over. In 1892, the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant approximately away at Dynamo Pond. The plant developed a maximum of and 3,530 volts alternating current (AC) to power the company's 20-stamp mill. This pioneering installation marked the country's first transmissions of electricity over a long distance.


title: Bodie, California

text: In 1910, the population was recorded at 698 people, which were predominantly families who decided to stay in Bodie instead of moving on to other prosperous strikes.


title: Bodie, California

text: The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, "The Bodie Miner". In a 1913 book titled "California Tourist Guide and Handbook: Authentic Description of Routes of Travel and Points of Interest in California", the authors, Wells and Aubrey Drury, described Bodie as a "mining town, which is the center of a large mineral region". They referred to two hotels and a railroad operating there. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed.


title: Bodie, California

text: Mining profits in 1914 were at a low of $6,821. James S. Cain bought everything from the town lots to the mining claims, and reopened the Standard mill to former employees, which resulted in an over $100,000 profit in 1915. However, this financial growth was not in time to stop the town's decline. In 1917, the Bodie Railway was abandoned and its iron tracks were scrapped.


title: Bodie, California

text: The last mine closed in 1942, due to War Production Board order L-208, shutting down all non-essential gold mines in the United States during World War II. Mining never resumed after the war.


title: Bodie, California

text: Bodie was first described as a "ghost town" in 1915. In a time when auto travel was on the rise, many travelers reached Bodie via automobiles. The "San Francisco Chronicle" published an article in 1919 to dispute the "ghost town" label.


title: Bodie, California

text: By 1920, Bodie's population was recorded by the US Federal Census at a total of 120 people. Despite the decline and a severe fire in the business district in 1932, Bodie had permanent residents through nearly half of the 20th century. A post office operated at Bodie from 1877 to 1942.


title: Bodie, California

text: In the 1940s, the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land, hired caretakers to protect and to maintain the town's structures. Martin Gianettoni, one of the last three people living in Bodie in 1943, was a caretaker.


title: Bodie, California

text: The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 the state legislature authorized creation of Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Bodie has been named as California's official state gold rush ghost town.


title: Bodie, California

text: Visitors arrive mainly via SR 270, which runs from US 395 near Bridgeport to the west; the last three miles of it is a dirt road. There is also a road to SR 167 near Mono Lake in the south, but this road is extremely rough, with more than 10 miles of dirt track in a bad state of repair. Due to heavy snowfall, the roads to Bodie are usually closed in winter .


title: Bodie, California

text: Today, Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only a small part of the town survived, with about 110 structures still standing, including one of many once operational gold mills. Visitors can walk the deserted streets of a town that once was a bustling area of activity. Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Littered throughout the park, one can find small shards of china dishes, square nails and an occasional bottle, but removing these items is against the rules of the park.


title: Bodie, California

text: In 2009 and again in 2010, Bodie was scheduled to be closed. The California state legislature worked out a budget compromise that enabled the state's Parks Closure Commission to keep it open. As of 2022, the park is still operating, now administered by the Bodie Foundation.


title: Bodie, California

text: Bodie is a rare example of the dry-summer subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification "Dsc"), with hot to freezing summers and long, snowy winters, and is part of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 5. Winds can sweep across the valley at close to . Nights remain cold even through the summer, often dropping well below freezing throughout the year.


title: Bodie, California

text: With an average of 303 nights below freezing per year, Bodie rivals Utqiagvik, Alaska's 315, and no month has ever been completely frost-free. The fewest nights below freezing in a month was two, the exceptionally warm August 1967, whose mean minimum of was the highest during the twentieth century, although July 1896 had a mean minimum of . Bodie's actual highest minimum on record is on August 1 of 1968; however, on average only two nights per year stay above , and minima that high have never occurred between September 14 and June 4.


title: Bodie, California

text: The longest frost-free period is a mere thirty days from July 20 to August 18, 1901, but to illustrate the vast diurnal temperature range, Bodie had as many as 98 consecutive maxima at or above between June 9 and September 14, 2007 – which included the record hot July 2007 with mean maximum .


title: Bodie, California

text: The harsh weather is due to a particular combination of high altitude () and a very exposed plateau, with little in the way of a natural surrounding wall to protect the long, flat piece of land from the elements. Plenty of firewood was needed to keep residents warm through the long winters. Bodie is not located in a forest, so lumber had to be imported from Bridgeport, Benton, Carson City or Mono Mills. The winter of 1878–79 was particularly harsh and claimed the lives of many residents. On average, there are 22.7 days with + highs, 19.6 days where the high fails to rise above freezing, and 35 nights with sub- lows. The record high temperature of was set on July 21, 1988, while the record low of was set on February 13, 1903, which also saw the lowest maximum temperature of .


title: Bodie, California

text: Average annual precipitation is , with August on average being the driest month and January the wettest. There are an average of 60 days annually with measurable precipitation. The wettest "rain year" was from July 1968 to June 1969 with and the driest was from July 1999 to June 2000 with . The most precipitation in one month was in January 1901, and the most in 24 hours on February 12, 1895. Average annual snowfall is . The snowiest year was 1965 with . The most snow in one month was in January 1969.


title: Nichrome

text: Nichrome (also known as NiCr, nickel-chromium or chromium-nickel) is a family of alloys of nickel, chromium, and often iron (and possibly other elements) commonly used as resistance wire, heating elements in devices like toasters, electrical kettles and space heaters, in some dental restorations (fillings) and in a few other applications.


title: Nichrome

text: Patented in 1906 by Albert Marsh (US patent 811,859), nichrome is the oldest documented form of resistance heating alloy.


title: Nichrome

text: A common nichrome alloy is 80% nickel and 20% chromium by mass, but there are many other combinations of metals for various applications.


title: Nichrome

text: Nichrome is consistently silvery-grey in colour, is corrosion-resistant, has a high melting point of about , and has an electrical resistivity of around 112 microOhm-cm, which is around 66 times higher resistivity than copper of 1.678 microOhm-cm.


title: Nichrome

text: Almost any conductive wire can be used for heating, but most metals conduct electricity with great efficiency, requiring them to be formed into very thin and delicate wires to create enough resistance to generate heat. When heated in air, most metals then oxidize quickly, become brittle and break. Nichrome wire, when heated to red-hot temperatures, develops an outer layer of chromium oxide, which is thermodynamically stable in air, is mostly impervious to oxygen, and protects the heating element from further oxidation.


title: Nichrome

text: Nichrome alloys are known for their high mechanical strength and their high creep strength. The properties of nichrome vary depending on its alloy. Figures given are representative of typical material and are accurate to expressed significant figures. Any variations are due to different percentages of nickel or chromium.


title: Nichrome

text: Because of its low cost of manufacture, strength, ductility, resistance to oxidation, stability at high temperatures, and resistance to the flow of electrons, nichrome is widely used in electric heating elements in applications such as hair dryers and heat guns. Typically, nichrome is wound in coils to a certain electrical resistance, and when current is passed through it the Joule heating produces heat.


title: Nichrome

text: Nichrome is used in the explosives and fireworks industry as a bridgewire in electric ignition systems, such as electric matches and model rocket igniters.


title: Nichrome

text: Nichrome wire is commonly used in ceramic as an internal support structure to help some elements of clay sculptures hold their shape while they are still soft. Nichrome wire is used for its ability to withstand the high temperatures that occur when clay work is fired in a kiln.


title: Nichrome

text: Nichrome wire can be used as an alternative to platinum wire for flame testing by colouring the non-luminous part of a flame to detect cations such as sodium, potassium, copper, calcium, etc.


title: Nichrome

text: Other areas of usage include motorcycle mufflers, in certain areas in the microbiological lab apparatus, as the heating element of plastic extruders by the RepRap 3D printing community, in the solar panel deployment mechanism of spacecraft LightSail-A, and as the heating coils of electronic cigarettes.


title: Nichrome

text: The alloy price is controlled by the more expensive nickel content. Distributor pricing is typically indexed to market prices for nickel.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Lifeboat is a 1944 American survival film directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a story by John Steinbeck. It stars Tallulah Bankhead and William Bendix, alongside Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Heather Angel, Hume Cronyn and Canada Lee. The film is set entirely on a lifeboat launched from a passenger vessel torpedoed and sunk by a Nazi U-boat.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: The first in Hitchcock's "limited-setting" films, the others being "Rope" (1948), "Dial M for Murder" and "Rear Window" (both 1954), it is the only film Hitchcock made for 20th Century Fox. The film received three Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Original Story and Best CinematographyBlack and White. Bankhead won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Though highly controversial in its time for what many interpreted as its sympathetic depiction of a German U-boat captain, "Lifeboat" is now viewed more favorably and has been listed by several modern critics as one of Hitchcock's more underrated films.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Eight British and American civilians, service members and United States Merchant Mariners are stuck in a lifeboat after their ship and a German U-boat sink each other in combat. Willi, a German survivor, is pulled aboard. During an animated debate, engine room crewman Kovac demands the German be thrown out to drown. However, the others object, with radioman Stanley, wealthy industrialist Rittenhouse and columnist Connie Porter succeeding in arguing that he be allowed to stay. Porter is thrilled at having photographed the battle, but her photo camera is the first of her many possessions to be lost overboard in a succession of incidents.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Mrs. Higley, a young British woman whose infant child is dead when they are pulled from the water, must be tied down to stop her from hurting herself. She jumps off the boat in Porter's mink coat, while the other passengers sleep. Willi is revealed to be the U-boat captain, rather than a mere crewman.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: The inhabitants attempt to organize their rations, set a course for Bermuda, and coexist as they try to survive. The passengers also cooperate through this stress, such as when they must amputate the leg of one of their boatmates, the injured Gus Smith.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Kovac takes charge, rationing the little food and water they have, but Willi, who has been consulting a concealed compass and reveals that he speaks English, wrests control away from him in a storm.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Gus Smith, who has been drinking seawater and is hallucinating, catches Willi drinking water from a hidden flask. Gus tries to tell Stanley but Stanley doesn't believe him. While the others sleep, Willi pushes him over the side. Gus' calls for help rouse Stanley and the others, but it is too late.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: When the inhabitants realize that Willi does actually have a flask of water, Joe pulls it from Willi's shirt, but it breaks. Willi explains that like everyone on a U-boat he had food tablets and energy pills. To survive, one must have a plan.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: In anger, they descend upon Willi as a group, all but Joe, to beat Willi and toss him from the boat to his death.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Later, Rittenhouse says that he will never understand Willi's ingratitude. "What do you do with people like that?" No one answers. Stanley proposes to Alice, and she accepts, although they have little hope of surviving.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Connie chastises everyone for giving up then offers her bracelet as bait for fish. A fish strikes, but Joe sights a ship, and in the rush for the oars, the line goes overboard and the bracelet is lost.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: It is the German supply ship to which Willi had been steering them. But before a launch can pick them up, both it and the supply ship are sunk by gunfire from a US warship and a brief battle is waged between the two ships which nearly destroys the little boat. After the battle ends, Kovac estimates that the Allied vessel will be there in 20 minutes. Connie panics over her appearance. Joe hopes his wife isn't worried. Rittenhouse admires a picture of Joe's family and still persists in calling him "Pullman porter George". They talk briefly about their plans for after the rescue.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: A frightened, wounded, young German seaman is pulled aboard the lifeboat. Rittenhouse is now all for killing him, and the others, including Kovac, have to hold him back. The German sailor pulls a gun but is disarmed by Joe. The seaman asks in German, "Aren't you going to kill me?" Kovac muses, "'Aren't you going to kill me?' What are you going to do with people like that?" Stanley says "I don't know, I was thinking of Mrs. Higley and her baby, and Gus." "Well," Connie says, "maybe they can answer that."


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: That ends the film, with the apparent conclusion that they were then rescued and returned to American society.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: At the time that "Lifeboat" went into production, Alfred Hitchcock was under contract to David O. Selznick. 20th Century Fox obtained the director's services in exchange for that of several actors and technicians, as well as the rights to three stories that Fox owned. Hitchcock was to direct two films for the studio, but the second was never made, apparently because Fox was unhappy with the length of time taken to finish production on "Lifeboat".


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: It was Hitchcock who came up with the idea for the film. He approached A.J. Cronin, James Hilton and Ernest Hemingway to help write the script before giving the project to John Steinbeck, who had previously written the screenplay for the 1941 documentary "The Forgotten Village" but had not written a fictional story for the screen. It was Steinbeck's intention to write and publish a novel and sell the rights to the studio, but the story was never published because his literary agents considered it "inferior". Steinbeck received $50,000 ($ today) for the rights to his story. Steinbeck was unhappy with the film because it presented what he considered to be "slurs against organized labor" and a "stock comedy Negro" when his story had a "Negro of dignity, purpose and personality". He requested, unsuccessfully, that his name be removed from the credits. A short story version of Hitchcock's idea appeared in "Collier's" magazine on November 13, 1943. It was written by Harry Sylvester and Hitchcock, with Steinbeck credited with the "original screen story". Jo Swerling wrote the bulk of the screenplay. Other writers who worked on various drafts of the script include Hitchcock's wife Alma Reville, MacKinlay Kantor, Patricia Collinge, Albert Mannheimer and Marian Spitzer. Hitchcock also brought in Ben Hecht to rewrite the ending.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: "Lifeboat" was originally planned to be filmed in Technicolor with an all-male cast, many of whom were going to be unknowns. Canada Lee, who was primarily a stage actor with only one film credit at the time, was the first actor cast in the film.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Hitchcock planned the camera angles for the film using a miniature lifeboat and figurines. Four lifeboats were used during shooting. Rehearsals took place in one, separate boats were used for close-ups and long shots and another was in the studio's large-scale tank, where water shots were made. Except for background footage shot by the second unit around Miami, in the Florida Keys and on San Miguel Island in California, the film was shot in the 20th Century Fox studio on Pico Boulevard in what is now Century City.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: "Lifeboat" was in production from August 3 through November 17, 1943. Illnesses were a constant part of the production from the beginning. Before shooting began, William Bendix replaced actor Murray Alper when Alper became ill and after two weeks of shooting, director of photography Arthur Miller was replaced by Glen MacWilliams because of illness. Tallulah Bankhead came down with pneumonia twice during shooting, and Mary Anderson became seriously ill during production, causing several days of production time to be lost. Hume Cronyn suffered two cracked ribs and nearly drowned when he was caught under a water-activator making waves for a storm scene. He was saved by a lifeguard.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: The film is unique among Hitchcock's American films for having no musical score during the narrative (apart from the singing of the U-boat captain and of Gus, accompanied by flute); the Fox studio orchestra was used only for the opening and closing credits. Hitchcock dismissed the idea of having music in a film about people stranded at sea by asking, "Where would the orchestra come from?" Hugo Friedhofer is said to have asked in reply, "Where would the cameras come from?"


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Director Alfred Hitchcock made cameo appearances in most of his films. He once commented to François Truffaut – in "Hitchcock/Truffaut" (Simon and Schuster, 1967) – that this particular cameo was difficult to achieve, due to the lack of passers-by in the film. Although he originally considered posing as a body floating past the lifeboat – an approach he later considered for his cameo in "Frenzy" – Hitchcock was inspired by his own success with weight loss and decided to pose for "before" and "after" photos in an advertisement for a fictional weight-loss drug, "Reduco", shown in a newspaper that was in the boat. Hitchcock said that he was besieged by letters from people asking about Reduco. Hitchcock used the product again in "Rope", where his profile and “Reduco” appear on a red neon sign. The "Lifeboat" cameo appears 25 minutes into the film.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: While modern critics see the film positively, "Lifeboat" portrayal of a German character in what was perceived as a positive fashion caused considerable controversy at the time of its release, during the height of World War Two. Influential reviewers and columnists, including Dorothy Thompson and Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times", saw the film as denigrating the American and British characters while glorifying the German. Crowther wrote that "the Nazis, with some cutting here and there, could turn "Lifeboat" into a whiplash against the 'decadent democracies.' And it is questionable whether such a picture, with such a theme, is judicious at this time." In Truffaut's 1967 book-length interview "Hitchcock/Truffaut", Hitchcock paraphrased Thompson's criticism as "Dorothy Thompson gave the film ten days to get out of town."


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Such commentary caused Steinbeck, who had previously been criticized because of his handling of German characters in "The Moon Is Down", to publicly dissociate himself from the film, to denounce Hitchcock and Swerling's treatment of his material, and to request that his name not be used by Fox in connection with the presentation of the film. Crowther responded by detailing the differences between Steinbeck's novella and the film as released, accusing the film's creators of "pre-empting" Steinbeck's "creative authority".


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Hitchcock responded to the criticism by explaining that the film's moral was that the Allies needed to stop bickering and work together to win the war, and he defended the portrayal of the German character, saying, "I always respect my villain, build[ing] him into a redoubtable character that will make my hero or thesis more admirable in defeating him or it." Bankhead backed him up in an interview in which she said that the director "wanted to teach an important lesson. He wanted to say that you can't trust the enemy... in "Lifeboat" you see clearly that you can't trust a Nazi, no matter how nice he seems to be."


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Criticism was also leveled at the script for its portrayal of the African-American character Joe as "too stereotypical". Actor Canada Lee testified that he had attempted to round out the character by revising dialogue, primarily eliminating repeated "yessir"s and "nossir"s that sounded subservient, and cutting some actions. The overseas section of the Office of War Information's Bureau of Motion Pictures reviewed the picture and for these and other racial characterizations recommended that "Lifeboat" not be distributed overseas. An NAACP critique of the film condemned Lee's role unequivocally although praising his performance. However the "Baltimore Afro-American"'s review, while commenting on shortcomings regarding the character, praised both the performance and its role depiction. Historian Rebecca Sklaroff, while writing that Joe's role was more "tokenistic" than black roles in the wartime films "Sahara" and "Bataan", noted that Joe was also depicted as compassionate, dependable and heroic, the only cast member stepping forward to disarm the second German sailor rescued.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: Critics praised the film's acting, directing, and cinematography and noted with appreciation the lack of background music once the film proper begins. Still, studio executives, under pressure because of the controversies, decided to give the film a limited release instead of the wide release most of Hitchcock's films received. Advertising for the film was also reduced, which resulted in the film's poor box office showing when it was released in 1944.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: NBC broadcast a one-hour radio adaptation of the film on "Screen Directors Playhouse" on November 16, 1950. Hitchcock directed, and Bankhead reprised her role from the film. The cast also featured Jeff Chandler and Sheldon Leonard.


title: Lifeboat (1944 film)

text: In 1993, "Lifeboat" was remade as a science fiction TV movie under the title "Lifepod". Moving the action from a lifeboat to a spaceship's escape capsule in the year 2169, the remake starred Ron Silver, who also directed, Robert Loggia, and CCH Pounder. The film was aired on the Fox channel in the United States. The film credited Hitchcock and Harry Sylvester for the story.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: Sir Andrew John Strauss (born 2 March 1977) is an English cricket administrator and former player, formerly the Director of Cricket for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). He played county cricket for Middlesex, and captained the England national team in all formats of the game. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favoured scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots. He was also known for his fielding strength at slip or in the covers.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: Strauss made his first-class debut in 1998, and his One Day International (ODI) debut in Sri Lanka in 2003. He quickly rose to fame on his Test match debut replacing the injured Michael Vaughan at Lord's against New Zealand in 2004. With scores of 112 and 83 (run out) in an England victory, and the man of the match award, he became only the fourth batsman to score a century at Lord's on his debut and was close to becoming the first Englishman to score centuries in both innings of his debut. Strauss again nearly scored two centuries (126 and 94 not out) and was named man of the match in his first overseas Test match, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in December 2004. He suffered a drop in form during 2007, and as a result he was left out of the Test squad for England's tour of Sri Lanka, and announced that he was taking a break from cricket. After a poor tour for England, he was recalled into the squad for the 2008 tour of New Zealand and subsequently re-established himself in the side with a career-best 177 in the third and final Test of that series, and a further three centuries in 2008.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: Having deputised for Michael Vaughan as England captain in 2006, Strauss was appointed on a permanent basis for the 2008–09 tour of the West Indies following Kevin Pietersen's resignation. He enjoyed success with three centuries, and retained the captaincy into 2009. Strauss captained the England team to a 2–1 victory in the 2009 Ashes, scoring a series total of 474 runs, more than any other player on either side, including 161 in England's first victory in an Ashes Test at Lord's in 75 years. He held the record for most catches by an outfield player for England – going past Botham and Cowdrey at Lord's against South Africa in 2012 – until he was in turn overtaken by Alastair Cook. He relinquished the Test captaincy and retired from all forms of professional cricket on 29 August 2012, following his 100th test, which concluded a series defeat by South Africa that saw the England Test team lose their number-one ranking. He left the job as the second-most successful captain of England in terms of wins, behind only his former opening partner Michael Vaughan. At the end of his retirement press conference he received an unprecedented round of applause from the assembled media.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: He became the ECB's Director of Cricket in 2015, shortly before the sacking of Peter Moores. As a result of his services to English cricket, Strauss was appointed a Knight Bachelor in Theresa May's resignation honours on 10 September 2019.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Strauss moved to the UK at the age of six. He was educated at Caldicott School, a boys' prep school in Buckinghamshire, followed by Radley College, a public boarding school for boys in Oxfordshire.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: He studied economics at the University of Durham, and wrote his dissertation on supermodular games. In addition to competing for the university he represented the Hatfield College side, where one of his teammates was the cricket statistician Benedict Bermange. Strauss also competed for the university rugby club as a fly-half, starting in the 3rd XV and soon moving up to the 2nd XV. Graeme Fowler, his coach at the university, was eventually able to convince Strauss to focus exclusively on cricket:


title: Andrew Strauss

text: In a rare distinction, he achieved a full Palatinate for his cricketing activities. He graduated in 1998 with an upper-second class BA degree.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: During his early career, Strauss spent several years in the cities of Sydney and Adelaide in Australia, and briefly played first-grade cricket alongside Australian bowler Brett Lee. While in Australia he met his future wife, actress Ruth McDonald, whom he married in October 2003 and lived in Marlow, with their sons, Sam (born 4 December 2005) and Luca (14 July 2008).


title: Andrew Strauss

text: On 29 December 2018, Ruth died after a battle with a rare form of lung cancer. In the wake of Ruth’s death, Andrew reached out to former Ashes adversary Glenn McGrath, who had himself been widowed by cancer after Glenn’s wife Jane – a native of Paignton, Devon – had died of breast cancer. Following Jane’s death, Glenn had started the McGrath Foundation to fight breast cancer and secured the Sydney Test as a partner event, with Jane McGrath Day marked as Day 3 and the stumps, player caps and fan clothes all in pink. Having played in one such Pink Test himself in 2011, Strauss along with the Ruth Strauss Foundation secured Day 2 of the Lord’s Test as a similar partner event ahead of the 2019 Ashes.


title: Andrew Strauss

text: Strauss is President of the Primary Club Juniors, a charity which helps fund blind cricket. In aid of the cause he took part in a blind game, wearing a blindfold and being dismissed on his second ball.