Missed the Oscars extravaganza due to work and apathy so I didn’t know until Monday that the Best Picture winner was the one about the woman who loved the fish/aquatic creature even though she hated both water, seafood, and Mrs. Paul’s.

Love conquers all.

I miss movies with things like dialogue and wit and the occasional pony. God I love, and miss, the occasional pony. Do you love a pony? Me too.

Speaking of, here is a Top 10 Westerns List. A few of them won Oscars.

I apologize up front that “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean — “I know the law!” — isn’t in here. But like The West itself back in the day, before marijuana became legal out there, this is very hard…

Ten is BIG JAKE (1971): “Jacob McCandles? I thought you was dead?” “Not hardly.

Nine is THE SHOOTIST (1976): Last movie of John Wayne’s career. Who was the last guy he shot?*

Eight is UNFORGIVEN (1992): Was in the first bunch of movie-smart people who were in line with me that weekday morning in Shreveport. Just watch it.

Seven is TRUE GRIT: Enjoyed Glen Campbell from Delight, Ark., as a picker, but here he is a dope, God love him, but he gets killed, so that helps save it.

Six is THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962): ’nuff said.

Five is THE SEARCHERS (1956): Is film not the director’s medium?, (he said, trying to sound important? But still…)

Four is THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976): “I reckon so.”

Three is RIO BRAVO (1959): Flawed, sure. But if I see it on TV, I’m watching it every time.

Two is THE MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN: Yule Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, and the hits keep comin’…

One is BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969): If this list ran the 100-yard dash, Nos. 1 and 2 would probably hit the tape at the same time. Butch and Sundance would win in a photo. Leaning.

Saturday: Why the newer True Grit might be better than the original True Grit. Send your responses or thoughts to designatedwriters@yahoo.com. Expect a smart (aleck?) response.

(*Hugh O’Brian)

When Roger Bannister lined up to attempt to run the four-minute mile on a windy day in May, 1954, the current mile record had stood for nine years. There was the thought that it was physically impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes, some even suggesting that one’s heart would literally explode.

With the help of two pacing runners, Bannister accomplished what was considered impossible and ran a 3:59.4. His heart did not explode.

It was truly one of man’s greatest accomplishments … and his record lasted all of 54 days.

In the years since, the record had been broken 18 times. (Ironically, it hasn’t been broken in 19 years; the longest stretch ever). High school kids have broken the four-minute mile (it’s been done 10 times).

But with all of that, Roger Bannister, who died last week at age 88, is still a big deal.

It’s because his was an accomplishment of the human spirit. There was a barrier that was thought to be physically impossible. People had been trying to run a four-minute mile for hundreds of years and couldn’t do it.

Think about this: two milestone events in the history of humankind — climbing Mount Everest and the four-minute mile — happened within 12 months of each other. That’s a couple of major bucket list items for the human race.

After Bannister broke the four-minute mile, he ran a few more races that year and shut it down. Off to become a doctor. You think Nike would have allowed that to happen these days?

Was he looking for something else to do? Mount Everest was already taken, so maybe he should have asked for a ride on Apollo 11 to the moon. Or invented the internet. As if that one line on his resume wasn’t good enough?

Roger Bannister matters. In a day when athletes are constantly trying to expand their footprint outside of their field of endeavor, Bannister made his statement in the only field that really matters. The barriers he faced were not artificial or societal.

He won a race for the human race.