She was hotter than a two-dollar pistol

FIELDSTOWN, AL - Most will agree that anything "hot as a two-dollar pistol" is something really hot. The literary debate with this expression is over the word "hot" and if it means "stolen", or something physically hot. Over the years, there have been several forms of the expression, including "hotter than a two-dollar pistol", but they all meant the same thing. I always thought "hot as a two-dollar pistol" meant it was "hot" alright, but "hot" as in "stolen" because a pistol on the streets for two dollars in my lifetime had to be stolen. Most of the traditional name brands of guns in the United States were founded prior to, or just after the Civil War - Colt (1836), Remington (1848), Smith & Wesson (1857) and Winchester (1866). After the war in the early 1870s, a quality handgun cost the equivalent of a cowboy's monthly wages around $25. In 1873, Colt's Peacemaker known as "the gun that won the West" sold for $17. Years later came a higher demand for handguns and mass production led to cheap knock-offs, so much so, the public had to be warned routinely about counterfeits and patent infringements. In 1897, the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog offered cheap pistols for as low as 68 cents, so there were in fact "two-dollar pistols" on the market back then. The barrels on these poorly made handguns were known to get overly hot and could blow up in your face. Yes, "hot" can mean "stolen", but this usage wasn’t common in the United States until the mid-1920s. No matter how it is used today to describe something hot, the expression has nothing to do with "hot" as being "stolen". The saying originated from the danger created by two-dollar pistols and popularized by the frequent warnings against buying cheap pistols that were part of everyday life in America in the late 1800s. In the longest week in BDFL history, the Top Gun award went to the hot Grenadiers who knocked off the beleaguered Bellcows 44-14 in Week 5 of the BDFL. The One I Loved Back Then by George Jones (1985)

Final Scores

GAM

CHE

22

36

SM

DOG

27

7

BUL

MAY

30

38

GRE

BEL

44

14

PS

ARM

31

32

WIL

DOR

18

38

JUG

BD

10

16

FRE

BLZ

30

31

Complete 2020 BDFL scoring data from the Aladdin Scoring System (@$$)

Vince Papale, South Philly and the Bell

PHILADELPHIA - Invincible (2006) was a late addition to this year's BDFL Throwback Week honoring some of the best football movies of all-time and this one fits the profile. We had to do some shuffling around with the BDFL teams to get the Bellcows to represent the WFL's Philadelphia Bell, but that's what we did. See the new assignments below.

You may ask why the World Football League's Philadelphia Bell instead of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles which the movie features exclusively? Well because Hollywood usually knows how to pick a good story, but doesn’t always tell it exactly like it really was back in the day. You see, Vince Papale was not your typical substitute teacher/part-time bartender as depicted in the movie who just tries out for Dick Vermeil's Eagles and makes the club as a special teams player. You see, Papale was already a pretty good professional football player before making the Eagles and Disney just chose to overlook that fact to make the story more dramatic. Prior to joining the Eagles in 1976, Papale had played semi-pro football for the Aston Green Knights of the Seaboard Football League (SFL) and two seasons (1974-75) with the Philadelphia Bell of the WFL. The WFL was an upstart rival league of the NFL on the level with the AFL before it and the USFL after it.

In a strange twist, Papale did participate in an open tryout before earning his spot on the Bell's roster, which the filmmakers used as a model for the Eagles "open" tryout shown in the movie. As for the Eagles, Papale actually participated in a private workout that was by "invitation only" that led to him making the team. In his first season with the Bell, Papale caught nine passes for 121 yards, averaging 13.4 yards per catch including catching the first pass in the history of the WFL. In 1975 with the Bell, Papale caught only one pass, but it was for a forty-nine yard touchdown. In both seasons, Papale was a special teams standout for the Bell who played at the same JFK Stadium as the Eagles. Papale would go on to play for the Eagles for three seasons (1976-79) as a special teamer. He had one NFL catch for 15 yards and one movie that generated $58.5 million at the box office. Inconceivable.

The BDFL’s Throwback Week 2020 is next week (Week 6) and we are looking for some classic games worthy of an Academy Award.