"Pinned" Picked for Film Festival

The documentary movie "Pinned," which I wrote about several weeks ago, has been selected for the Cleveland International Film Festival, where it will be shown three times.

This is quite an honor for Mike and Pat Norman, the brothers who produced the 91-minute film about high school wrestling. They began the project four years ago, going behind the scenes for a season with the St. Edward team and a parallel story of a Lakewood High wrestler.

Movie reviewer David Moss of Fox 8 called it a "perfect snapshot of the pain and glory of high school wrestling." I enthusiastically agree with that endorsement.

The first two showings will be at Tower City Center at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, March 19, and at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday, March 20. The third showing will be at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, at the Capitol Theater at W. 65th and Detroit Ave. There will be a reception before the screening from 5:30 to 6:45 around the corner at the Luxe restaurant.

If you have any interest in high school wrestling, you must see "Pinned."

Many family members are worried that my nephew, Dan Breninghouse, needs psychiatric treatment because he spent a few days recently on a frozen lake near Minneapolis. There was no room in the inn, however, so for one night he and a pal rented an ice fishing shed which included bunks. They slept in the shed, although not well because of the sound of groaning ice. No, he's not a fisherman, ice or otherwise. The only time he eats fish is on Fridays during Lent. The shed did have a basic convenience -- a port-a-potty! You could also drop a line in six fishing holes. No room service, though.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is among five honorees at the Greater Cleveland Football Coaches Association's annual Golden Deeds Banquet. Other award recipients are Al Hodakievic, Joe Perella, Mark Iammarino and Mike Buck.

It's Monday, April 19, at the Skyline Hotel (formerly known as the Sheraton) on Rockside Rd. and I-77 in Independence. Cash bar at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:45 and program at 7:15. Contact Mark Wagner at Rocky River High School (wagner.mark@rrcs.org). Cost is $30. Chicken, naturally.

Mark the date May 1 on your calendar. The Kentucky Derby. You can always see the ground on the first Saturday in May.