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American Flyers
''American Flyers'' is a 1985 American sports drama film about bicycle racing. It was directed by John Badham and written by Steve Tesich, The film stars Kevin Costner, David Marshall Grant, Rae Dawn Chong, Alexandra Paul, Jennifer Grey, Luca Bercovici, and Janice Rule. Plot Sports physician Marcus Sommers visits his family in St. Louis, Missouri, after being away a long time. Marcus immediately gets into a fight with his mother over the way she handled the death of his father from a cerebral aneurysm. Marcus asks his brother David to come back to Madison with him to spend time together. With the history of cerebral aneurysm in the Sommers family, their mother is concerned that the condition may now be affecting David as well. Marcus convinces David to undergo testing at his sports medicine center. Before the test starts David says that he just wants to go one second longer than Marcus. David breaks Marcus' record as Marcus begins cheering him on with everyone else in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Badham
John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an American film and television director, best known for directing the films ''Saturday Night Fever'' (1977), ''Dracula (1979 film), Dracula'' (1979), ''Blue Thunder'' (1983), ''WarGames'' (1983), ''Short Circuit (1986 film), Short Circuit'' (1986), ''Stakeout (1987 film), Stakeout'' (1987), ''Bird on a Wire (film), Bird on a Wire'' (1990), ''The Hard Way (1991 film), The Hard Way'' (1991), ''Point of No Return (1993 film), Point of No Return'' (1993), and ''Drop Zone (film), Drop Zone'' (1994). He is a two-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, a two-time Hugo Award nominee, and a Saturn Award winner. He is also a Professor at Chapman University. Early life and education Badham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, the son of U.S. Army General Henry Lee Badham Jr., and English-born actress Mary Iola Badham (née Hewitt). Henry, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, moved his family back to the U.S. when John was two years old. John's p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luca Bercovici
Luca Bercovici (born February 22, 1957) is an American filmmaker, writer, producer and actor. In 1979, as part of Bercovici's earliest involvements in filmmaking, he spent six months in Japan as a dialogue director for the miniseries, ''Shōgun (1980 miniseries), Shogun'' (1980), working primarily with the leading actress, Yoko Shimada, Yôko Shimada, who was subsequently awarded the Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe for her performance. Bercovici's acting career began in television with roles in ''Chicago Story'' and the made-for-TV movie ''Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story'' with Jamie Lee Curtis and went on to starring in several more feature films of various genres during the 1980s and the 1990s. Bercovici has also written for Aaron Spelling Productions, Trimark Pictures, Trimark, Warner Bros., Warner Bros, Tapestry Films and many other production companies throughout his career. In 1985, he made his directorial debut with the comedy horror film ''Ghoulies' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
7-Eleven Cycling Team
The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of 7-Eleven through 1990 and then Motorola from 1990 through 1996. From 1989 to 1996 it rode on Eddy Merckx Cycles, Eddy Merckx bikes. History 7-Eleven was formed as an amateur cycling team in 1981 by Ochowicz, a 29-year-old former Olympic cyclist from the U.S., who was married to Olympic speed skating gold medalist Sheila Young. Ochowicz had managed the U.S. national speed-skating team and was friends with Eric Heiden, Eric and Beth Heiden, who were both excellent cyclists as well as champion speed skaters. He managed to get sponsorship from the Southland Corporation, owners of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain, and bicycle manufacturer Schwinn to form an amateur team. Of the seven men on the inaugural 7-Eleven-Schwinn team racing in 1981, Eric Heiden (who swe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddy Merckx
Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an unequalled eleven Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours (five Tour de France, Tours de France, five Giro d'Italia, Giros d'Italia, and a Vuelta a España), all five Cycling monument, Monuments, setting the hour record, three UCI Road World Championships, World Championships, every major one-day race other than Paris–Tours, and extensive victories on the track. Born in Meensel-Kiezegem, Province of Brabant, Brabant, Belgium, he grew up in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre where his parents ran a grocery store. He played several sports, but found his true passion in cycling. Merckx got his first bicycle at the age of three or four and competed in his first race in 1961. His first victory came at Petit-Enghien in October 1961. After winning eighty races as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Tour (cycling)
In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage (bicycle race), stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in format, being three-week races with daily stages. They have a special status in the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI regulations: more points for the UCI World Tour are distributed in Grand Tours than in other races, and they are the only stage races allowed to last longer than 14 days, and these differ from major stage races more than one week in duration. All three races have a substantial history, with the Tour de France first held in 1903, Giro d'Italia first held in 1909 and the Vuelta a España first held in 1935. The Giro is generally run in May, the Tour in July, and the Vuelta in late August and September. The Vuelta was originally held in the spring, usually late April, with a few editions held in June in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UCI Road World Championships
The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships - Mixed team relay, mixed team relay. Events All the world championship events are ridden by national teams, not trade teams such as in most other major races. The winner of each category is entitled to wear the rainbow jersey in races of that category (either mass start or time trial) until the next championships. It currently includes the following championships: *UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Elite Men's road race *UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial, Elite Men's time trial *UCI Road World Championships – Men's under-23 road race, Under-23 Men's road race *UCI Road World Championships – Men's under-23 time trial, Under-23 Men's time trial *UCI Road World Championships – Junior men's road race, J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Van Zandt
Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin. He has appeared in several television drama series, including as Silvio Dante in ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007) and as Frank Tagliano/Giovanni 'Johnny' Henriksen in '' Lilyhammer'' (2012–2014). Van Zandt has his own solo band called Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, intermittently active since the 1980s. In 2014, Van Zandt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band. Van Zandt has produced music, written songs, and had his own songs covered by Springsteen, Meat Loaf, Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector, Nancy Sinatra, Pearl Jam, Southside Johnny, Artists United Against Apartheid, and the Iron City Houserockers, among others. Early life Van Zandt was born Steven Lento on November 22, 1950, in Winthrop, Massac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Amos
John Allen Amos Jr. (December 27, 1939 – August 21, 2024) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as James Evans Sr. on the CBS television series ''Good Times''. His other well known roles were as the adult Kunta Kinte in the landmark miniseries ''Roots'' and for portraying Captain Meissner in '' Lock Up'' (1989) and Major Grant in '' Die Hard 2'' (1990). His other television work includes ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'', a recurring role as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on ''The West Wing'', and the role of the Mayor of Washington DC Ethan Baker in the series ''The District''. Amos was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and an NAACP Image Award. In film, he played numerous supporting roles in movies such as '' The Beastmaster'' (1982), ''Coming to America'' (1988), and '' Coming 2 America'' (2021). Early life John Allen Amos Jr. was born in Newark, New Jersey on December 27, 1939. He was the son of John A. Amos Sr., an auto mechanic, and Annabelle Amos. Amos grew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Townsend (actor)
Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer. Townsend is best known for directing the films '' Hollywood Shuffle'' (1987), '' Eddie Murphy Raw'' (1987), '' The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. He is especially known for his portrayal of The WB's sitcom '' The Parent 'Hood'' 's main character Robert Peterson, the series he created and directed select episodes of ran from 1995 to 1999. He later wrote, directed and produced ''Making the Five Heartbeats'' (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films '' Playin' for Love'', '' In the Hive'' and more. During the 1980s and early–1990s, Townsend gained national exposure through his stand-up comedy routines and appearances on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Townsend has worked wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 Summer Olympics Boycott
The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was the largest boycott in Olympic history and one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its satellite states later boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Background The Western governments first considered the idea of boycotting the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics in response to the situation in Afghanistan at the 20 December 1979 meeting of NATO representatives. The idea was not completely new to the world: in the mid-1970s, proposals for an Olympic boycott circulated widely among human rights activists and groups as a sanction for Soviet violations of human rights. At that time, very few member governments expressed interest in the proposal. However, this idea gained popularity in early January 1980 when Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov called for a boycott. On 14 Janua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald founded McDonald's in San Bernardino, California, in 1940 as a hamburger stand, and soon Franchising, franchised the company. The logo, the Golden Arches, was introduced in 1953. In 1955, the businessman Ray Kroc joined McDonald's as a franchise agent and bought the company in 1961. In the years since, it has expanded internationally. Today, McDonald's has over 50,000 restaurant locations worldwide, with around a quarter in the US. Other than food sales, McDonald's generates income through its ownership of 70% of restaurant buildings and 45% of the underlying land (which it leases to its franchisees). In 2018, McDonald's was the world's second-largest private employer with 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
