title: Don Shula

text: Shula was the first head coach to appear in six Super Bowls, five with the Dolphins and one with the Colts. His six Super Bowl appearances rank second among head coaches and he has the most Super Bowl losses at four. He was also the first head coach to bring two franchises to the Super Bowl and appear in three consecutive Super Bowls, which he accomplished with the Dolphins from 1971 to 1973. Having guided Baltimore to Super Bowl III and Miami to Super Bowl VI, Shula is the only head coach to lead two franchises to their Super Bowl debut. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.


title: Don Shula

text: Don Shula was born on January 4, 1930, in Grand River, Ohio, a small town along the Lake Erie shore in the northeastern part of the state. His parents, Dan and Mary (Dénes Süle and Mária Miller), were of Hungarian origin, having immigrated when they were children. Shula's father Dan worked for $9 a week at a rose nursery and saved up to buy the small house where Shula spent his early childhood. The house was next door to a grocery store in Grand River owned by Mary's parents. Shula played football in his neighborhood as a child, but his parents forbade it after he got a gash on his face when he was 11.


title: Don Shula

text: As Shula's family expanded — he had six siblings, including a set of triplets born in 1936 — his father got a job in the local fishing industry for $15 a week, and later worked at a rayon plant in nearby Painesville, Ohio. Shula attended elementary school at St. Mary's, a private Catholic school in Painesville; his mother was a devout Catholic, and his father converted to that denomination when they married. He later attended Harvey High School in Painesville and played on its football team starting in 1945. He did not try out for the team because of his mother's prohibition and because he was recovering from a bout of pneumonia, but an assistant football coach noticed him in a gym class and convinced him to join. Shula forged his parents' signatures to sign up.


title: Don Shula

text: Within weeks of joining Harvey's football team, Shula was a starting left halfback in the school's single-wing offense. He handled a large portion of the team's rushing and passing duties, and helped lead the team to a 7–3 win–loss record in his senior year. It was the first time in 18 years that Harvey had a seven-win season. The team would have won a league title had it not lost an early game to Willoughby. Shula also ran track at Harvey and was an 11-time letterman in his three years there.


title: Don Shula

text: As Shula prepared to graduate from high school in 1947, many men whose football careers were delayed by service in World War II were returning and competing for athletic scholarships. As a result, Shula was unable to get a scholarship and contemplated working for a year before going to college. That summer, however, he had a chance meeting at a gas station with former Painesville football coach Howard Bauchman, who suggested he ask about a scholarship at John Carroll University. Shula received a one-year scholarship at the private Jesuit school in University Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. It was extended to a full scholarship after Shula performed well in his freshman year, including in a win over Youngstown State in October 1948. He ran for 175 yards and scored two touchdowns substituting for the injured starting halfback. The same year, Shula considered joining the Catholic priesthood after a three-day retreat at John Carroll, but decided against it because of his commitment to football. During his senior year in 1950, he rushed for 125 yards in a win over a heavily favored Syracuse team.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula graduated in 1951 as a sociology major with a minor in mathematics, and was offered a job teaching and coaching at Canton Lincoln High School in Canton, Ohio for $3,750 a year (equivalent to $ in ). The Cleveland Browns of the National Football League, however, had selected him in the ninth round of the 1951 draft that January. Cleveland had won the NFL championship the previous year behind a staunch defense and an offense led by quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and end Dante Lavelli. Shula was joined in the Browns' training camp by John Carroll teammate Carl Taseff, whom Cleveland coach Paul Brown selected in the 22nd round. Brown made the selections in part because John Carroll coach Herb Eisele attended his coaching clinics and used similar schemes and terminology as Brown did. Shula and Taseff both made the team and were its only two rookies in 1951. Shula signed a $5,000-a-year contract and played as a defensive back alongside Warren Lahr and Tommy James.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula played in all 12 of Cleveland's games in 1951, making his first appearance as a starter in October, and recorded four interceptions. The Browns, meanwhile, finished with an 11–1 record and advanced to the championship game for a second straight year. The team lost the game 24–17 to the Los Angeles Rams in Los Angeles.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula was a member of an Ohio Army National Guard unit that was activated the following January amid the Korean War. Military service in Ohio and at Fort Polk in Louisiana kept Shula away from football until the unit was deactivated that November. Returning to the Browns, Shula signed a $5,500-a-year contract and played in five games at the end of the season, having become a full-time starter because of injuries to other players. The Browns again advanced to the championship game and again lost, this time to the Detroit Lions. In early 1953, Brown traded Shula along with Taseff and eight other players to the Baltimore Colts in exchange for five Colts players including tackles Mike McCormack and Don Colo. Before joining Baltimore, Shula finished a master's degree in physical education at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula signed a $6,500-a-year contract with Baltimore, which was preparing for its first season after relocating from Dallas, where the franchise had been called the Dallas Texans. The team replaced an earlier Colts franchise that folded after the 1950 season. The Colts finished with a 3–9 record in 1953 despite leading the NFL in defensive takeaways, including three interceptions by Shula. Baltimore continued to struggle the following year under new head coach Weeb Ewbank, a former Browns assistant. The team again finished 3–9 for last place in the NFL West, although Shula had a career-high five interceptions.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula had five interceptions again in 1955, but the Colts finished 5–6–1, well out of contention for the divisional championship. Shula missed the final three games of the season because of a broken jaw suffered in a 17–17 tie with the Los Angeles Rams. Ewbank brought in future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas as a backup in 1956, but the Colts posted a losing record even after Unitas became the starter partway through the season. Shula had just one interception that year. The Colts waived Shula at the end of training camp in 1957 season, and the Washington Redskins picked him up. Shula spent one season with the Redskins before retiring. In his seven NFL seasons, he played in 73 games, intercepted 21 passes and recovered four fumbles.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula got his first coaching job shortly after ending his playing career, signing as a defensive backs coach at the University of Virginia under Dick Voris in February 1958. Virginia finished with a 1–9 record that year. Shula got married in the summer before the season to Dorothy Bartish, who grew up near Painesville. Shula and Bartish had begun dating after he graduated from John Carroll; she was working as a teacher in Hawaii when he proposed.


title: Don Shula

text: After one season at Virginia, Shula moved to another defensive backs coaching job at the University of Kentucky in 1959 under head coach Blanton Collier. Collier had been an assistant to Paul Brown when Shula played in Cleveland. After one season in Kentucky, Shula got his first NFL coaching job as the defensive backfield coach for the Detroit Lions in 1960. The Lions posted winning records in each of Shula's three seasons there under head coach George Wilson and finished in second place in the NFL West in 1961 and 1962. Detroit's defense was near the top of the league in fewest points allowed when Shula coached there, including a second-place finish in 1962. The defense also led the league that year in fewest yards allowed, with 3,217. Detroit's defense featured a group of linemen dubbed the "Fearsome Foursome" in 1962, consisting of defensive tackles Roger Brown and Alex Karras and defensive ends Darris McCord and Sam Williams.


title: Don Shula

text: Weeb Ewbank, under whom Shula had played in Cleveland and Baltimore, was fired as the Colts' head coach in 1963 following three disappointing seasons and disagreements over team strategy and organization with owner Carroll Rosenbloom. Rosenbloom immediately named Shula as the team's next head coach, having recruited him for the job earlier. Shula was only 33 years old, making him the youngest coach in league history at the time, but Rosenbloom was familiar with his personality and approach from his playing days in Baltimore. While Rosenbloom said he realized he was "out on a limb" in hiring Shula, he felt it would bring a sense of team spirit back to the Colts. While Shula had only been an average player, he was "always... taking pictures, talking football", said Rosenbloom. "He had always wanted to coach".


title: Don Shula

text: Shula lost his first regular-season game, a September 15 matchup against the Giants. The 1963 Colts won their next game, however, and went on to finish the season with an 8–6 record for third place in the NFL West. The team was still led by Johnny Unitas, who was Shula's teammate during his final year as a player in Baltimore and had helped the Colts win championships in 1958 and 1959. The team's primary receivers were end Raymond Berry and tight end John Mackey, while defensive end Gino Marchetti anchored the defense.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula guided the team to a 12–2 record in his second year as coach. That put the Colts on top of the NFL West and earned them a spot in the NFL championship against the Browns, which by then were coached by Collier. The Colts were heavily favored to win even by sportswriters in Cleveland, due in large part to their strong receiving corps and Unitas, who had 2,824 passing yards and won the league's Most Valuable Player award. Halfback Lenny Moore also had 19 touchdowns, setting an NFL record. In addition to having the NFL's top-scoring offense, the Colts defense allowed the fewest points in the NFL. Before the championship, Collier said Shula had always thought about coaching even during his playing career, giving him "the experience of a man in the profession for ten years". The Colts, however, lost to the Browns 27–0 in the title game. Despite the loss, Shula won the NFL's Coach of the Year Award.


title: Don Shula

text: The Colts tied the Green Bay Packers with a 10–3–1 record at the end of the 1965 season, forcing a playoff to determine which of them would play in the championship game. The Colts had lost twice to the Packers during the regular season, and Unitas and backup Gary Cuozzo were sidelined by injuries as the playoffs approached. Baltimore got out to a 10–0 lead at halftime while using halfback Tom Matte at quarterback, but the Packers, coached by Vince Lombardi, made a comeback in the second half and tied the score at the end of regulation. The Colts stopped the Packers on their opening drive in the sudden-death overtime, but the ensuing drive ended with a missed field goal by placekicker Lou Michaels. The Packers then drove for a field goal of their own, winning 13–10. Shula said after the game that while his team could not expect to execute its usual strategy without Unitas and Cuozzo, the Colts "don't belong in this league" if they could not beat Green Bay once in three tries.


title: Don Shula

text: The Colts fell to second place in the NFL West the following season, the first year a Super Bowl was played between the NFL champion and the winner of the rival American Football League. In 1967, the Colts again failed to make the playoffs despite a regular-season record of 11–1–2, losing the newly created Coastal Division on a tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Rams because the Rams scored more points in the games between the two clubs. The Colts' only loss was a 34–10 setback to the Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on the final Sunday of the season. Though the season ended in disappointment, Shula won his second Coach of the Year award, and Unitas was again the league's MVP.


title: Don Shula

text: Before the 1968 season began, Unitas injured his elbow and was replaced by backup Earl Morrall. Expectations for Morrall were low, but the veteran quarterback led the Colts to a string of wins at the beginning of the season. Shula tried to ease Unitas back into the lineup, but the quarterback's injury flared up numerous times, culminating with a game against Cleveland in which he had just one completion and three interceptions. That turned out to be the only loss of the season for Baltimore, which finished with a league-leading 13–1 record. The Colts beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Western Conference championship game, and then beat the Browns 34–0 in the NFL Championship Game the following week. That set up a matchup with the New York Jets in Super Bowl III. The Jets were led by quarterback Joe Namath, who guaranteed a victory before the game despite being the underdog. New York won the game 16–7.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula spent one more season as the head coach of the Colts, who posted an 8–5–1 record in 1969 and missed the playoffs. He compiled a 71–23–4 record in seven seasons in Baltimore, but was just 2–3 in the postseason, including upset losses in the 1964 NFL Championship Game and Super Bowl III, where the Colts were heavy favorites.


title: Don Shula

text: The relationship between Shula and Rosenbloom had soured after Shula's Super Bowl loss in 1969, and when Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie offered the coach a $70,000-a-year contract, the powers of general manager, and a 10% ownership stake in the AFL team after that season, he jumped at the opportunity. Rosenbloom cried foul at an NFL meeting in 1970 in Hawaii, alleging that Robbie's hiring of his coach violated the league's prohibition on tampering, or negotiating to hire other teams' employees without seeking permission. Shula and Robbie hoped that Shula's ownership stake and status as his own general manager would avoid tampering penalties under an exception for an employee leaving a club to "better himself". League commissioner Pete Rozelle found the Dolphins in violation of the tampering policy because they didn't seek permission to negotiate and didn't notify the Colts of the hiring before its announcement. As punishment, Rozelle awarded the Colts Miami's first-round pick in 1971.


title: Don Shula

text: The Dolphins had been one of the AFL's worst teams in the years leading up to Shula's hiring, which came as the AFL and NFL prepared to merge starting in the 1970 season. Between the team's founding in 1966 and the 1969 season, the Dolphins won no more than five games in any season under coach George Wilson.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula led Miami to immediate success, delivering a 10–4 win–loss record in the 1970 season and a 10–3–1 record the following year, when the team won the AFC championship but lost Super Bowl VI to the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 24–3. The team's stars included several future Pro Football Hall of Fame members: quarterback Bob Griese, fullback Larry Csonka, guard Larry Little, center Jim Langer, linebacker Nick Buoniconti and wide receiver Paul Warfield, whom Shula acquired from the Browns in 1970 for a first-round draft pick.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula's Miami teams during his first decade as coach were known for great offensive lines, led by Larry Little, Jim Langer, Bob Kuechenberg and Norm Evans, strong running games featuring Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Mercury Morris, quarterbacking by Griese and Earl Morrall and excellent receivers in Warfield, Howard Twilley and Jim Mandich. The Dolphins' defense was known as "The No-Name Defense", though it had a number of outstanding players, including defensive tackle Manny Fernandez, linebacker Nick Buoniconti, and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott.


title: Don Shula

text: In 1972, Shula led Miami to the NFL's first perfect season, ending with a 17–0 record and a 14–7 victory in Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins. No other team has since equaled that feat; the 2007 Patriots went undefeated until losing to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. Shula strung together the wins despite the loss of his quarterback, Griese, due to injury in the fifth game of the season. He was replaced by 38-year-old Earl Morrall, who had been the backup to Unitas during Shula's years in Baltimore. Griese was able to return for the playoffs, leading the team in the Super Bowl win. That season, Shula would also be the first American professional football coach to reach 100 wins in his first decade as a head coach.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula's 1973 team lost its second game of the season to the Oakland Raiders, ending an overall winning streak that stretched to 18 games. That run is tied for the third-longest in league history. The team finished with a 12–2 regular-season record and went on to win a second Super Bowl in a row, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 24–7.


title: Don Shula

text: The 1974 Dolphins had a chance to win a third title in a row, but they fell to the Oakland Raiders 28–26 in an AFC divisional playoff game. With 35 seconds remaining in the game, Oakland quarterback Ken Stabler was in the process of being sacked by Dolphins defensive end Vern Den Herder when, just before he was tackled, he completed a desperation forward pass to his running back Clarence Davis in the game's final moments — since dubbed The Sea of Hands play. The Dolphins team was decimated the following season by the creation of the now-defunct World Football League and their inability to match contract offers from the rival league to three of its star players: Csonka, Warfield and Jim Kiick. All three left to join the Memphis Southmen for the 1975 season.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula led the team to more winning seasons through the 1970s and into the 1980s, only posting a losing record once, in 1976 when the team finished 6–8. The team advanced to the playoffs in 1978, 1979 and 1981, but lost in the first round each time. The playoff loss in the 1981 season against the San Diego Chargers was a hard-fought back-and-forth battle that many sportswriters, players and coaches consider one of the greatest games ever played. Shula called it "maybe the greatest ever". The Chargers won the so-called Epic in Miami 41–38 with a field goal in double-overtime.


title: Don Shula

text: In 1982, Shula's team advanced through the playoffs to the Super Bowl during the strike-shortened season, but lost the championship to the Washington Redskins. The offense was led by David Woodley and Don Strock, who shared duties at quarterback following Griese's retirement after the 1980 season, and fullback Andra Franklin, who was second in the NFL in rushing. The defense, one of the best in the league, was nicknamed the "Killer Bees" because six starters' last names began with "B", including defensive tackle Bob Baumhower, linebacker Bob Brudzinski and safeties Lyle Blackwood and his brother Glenn Blackwood.


title: Don Shula

text: The 1983 season marked the beginning of a new era in Miami with the selection of quarterback Dan Marino out of the University of Pittsburgh in the first round of the NFL draft. Marino won the starting job halfway through the 1983 regular season, and by 1984, the Dolphins were back in the Super Bowl, due largely to Marino's record 5,084 yards through the air and 48 touchdown passes. The Dolphins, however, lost the game to the San Francisco 49ers, then led by quarterback Joe Montana.


title: Don Shula

text: Over the years, Shula's relationship with Robbie chilled considerably, in part due to Robbie's unwillingness to spend money on higher-profile players, which led to contract holdouts by Marino and linebacker John Offerdahl. Shula's power over the Dolphins as general manager and part-owner of the team also led to conflict that at times burst into public view. When Shula arrived late to a banquet celebrating Miami's 1974 Super Bowl win, Robbie ordered Shula to "get the hell into the room," to which Shula replied that he'd "knock you on your ass" if Robbie shouted at him again.


title: Don Shula

text: One of the few times Shula came close to leaving Miami came in the middle of the 1983 season, when Donald Trump, the owner of the upstart United States Football League's New Jersey Generals, offered him a $1 million-a-year contract–a significant increase from the $450,000 he was earning at the time with the Dolphins. Trump said negotiations hit a snag when Shula insisted on getting a rent-free apartment at Trump Tower. Shula broke off talks and called the courtship "a huge distraction", deciding to stay in Miami. Years later, Csonka, by then an executive with the Jacksonville Bulls, said that he believed Shula would have taken the job, but was angered at being "thrown out to the press" by Trump.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula's teams posted only one losing record as Miami's coach after the 1984 season, but did not advance again to the Super Bowl. The team reached the playoffs in 1985, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1995, Shula's final season. On October 2, 1994, Don Shula's Miami Dolphins defeated son David Shula's Cincinnati Bengals by a 23–7 mark. Dubbed the “Shula Bowl”, it marked the first time in NFL history that a head coaching matchup featured father against son. Shula's retirement in 1996 was tinged by speculation that he was forced out by Wayne Huizenga, a businessman who took full ownership of the team in 1994 from the Robbie family, who inherited it after Robbie's death in 1990. Shula said he was "at peace with myself" in making the decision to step away from the game at 66 years old. He finished his coaching career with a 328–156–6 regular-season record, giving him the all-time lead in wins for an NFL head coach.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula changed his coaching strategy as his personnel changed. His Super Bowl teams in 1971, 1972, 1973, and 1982 were keyed by a run-first offensive strategy and a dominating defense. In the years when Marino was quarterback, the team leaned on its offense, and particularly its passing attack, to win games. "I've been accused of being a conservative, 'grind'em-out' kind of coach, because that was the style of my teams in 1972-73, but I point out that when I was at Baltimore, and Johnny Unitas was my quarterback, we used to have a wide-open, explosive passing attack," Shula said in 1985. "And when I came down to Miami, I didn't try to jam the Unitas style down the throat of Bob Griese, who was a different kind of quarterback, nor did I try to force the Griese style on Marino when he came along."


title: Don Shula

text: Shula entered the branding business in 1989, lending his name to a steakhouse owned by the wealthy Graham family, who became friends with Shula and his family after the Shulas moved to the Graham-developed suburb of Miami Lakes. Dozens of Shula-branded restaurants opened in the ensuing years, primarily in Florida, including steakhouses, burger restaurants and bars. Shula also put his name on other Graham-owned properties in 1991, including the family's hotel in Miami Lakes where his first steakhouse was located. It was renamed Don Shula's Hotel & Golf Club in exchange for an equity stake in the family's hospitality division. He remained active in the branding business during his retirement, and the company bearing his name expanded, although his son Dave took over management in his later years.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula also became a frequent product pitch-man in his later years, working for Miami-based auto dealership Warren Henry, HearUSA hearing aids, NutriSystem diet plans, Humana health insurance and Budweiser beer, among others. In 2007, he joined his wife Mary Ann in pitching NutriSystem diets geared for people age 60 and older. "If it's something I feel fits into my personality, what I feel is important and what I actually do, then I'll do it. It's all things that I enjoy doing and take a lot of pride in representing," he said in 2012. As part of a government public awareness campaign, Shula was the first American to sign up for Medicare Part D prescription drug plan benefits, enrolling just after midnight on November 15, 2005.


title: Don Shula

text: After Shula's retirement, he was named the Dolphins' vice-chairman. He maintained other connections to football in retirement, too, often appearing in ceremonial roles. In 2003, at Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego, he performed the ceremonial coin toss to end the pregame ceremonies. In 2007, at Super Bowl XLI in Miami Gardens, Shula took part in the Vince Lombardi Trophy presentation. On February 3, 2008, he attended Super Bowl XLII in Glendale, Arizona, in which the Patriots could have matched his Dolphins team's perfect season, but lost.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula was also an avid golfer after his coaching career, and had a home near the Indian Creek Country Club in the wealthy enclave of Indian Creek, Florida as well as a condominium overlooking the Links at Pebble Bay in Pebble Beach, California. On March 25, 2007, Shula presented the Winners Cup to Tiger Woods, winner of the 2007 WGC-CA Golf Tournament held at the Doral Resort in Miami.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula was involved in a number of activities outside of sports. In 2011, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in recognition of his humanitarian efforts. And at John Carroll University, he endowed the Don Shula Chair in Philosophy, which supports the Philosophy Department by presenting programs of interest to philosophers and the general public.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula suffered from sleep apnea and heart issues toward the end of his life, and had a pacemaker implanted in 2016. Shula died on May 4, 2020, at the age of 90 at his home in Indian Creek.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula married Painesville, Ohio native Dorothy Bartish, with whom he was in a relationship since high school, on July 19, 1958, after his playing career ended. They had five children: Dave (b. May 28, 1959), Donna (b. April 28, 1961), Sharon (b. June 30, 1962), Anne (b. May 7, 1964), and Mike (b. June 3, 1965). Dorothy died of breast cancer on February 25, 1991. That same year, the Don Shula Foundation for Breast Cancer Research was founded.


title: Don Shula

text: He married his second wife, Mary Anne Stephens, on October 15, 1993. They resided in the Indian Creek home Mary Anne had received in her divorce settlement from her third husband, investment banker Jackson T. Stephens. The couple split their time between Indian Creek and a home in San Francisco where they stayed during Florida's hurricane season.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula was a devout Roman Catholic throughout his life. He said in 1974, at the peak of his coaching career, that he attended Mass every morning. Shula once considered becoming a Catholic priest, but decided he could not commit to being both priest and coach.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula set numerous records in his 33 seasons as a head coach. He is the all-time leader in victories with 347 when including the postseason. He is first in most games coached, with 526, most consecutive seasons coached, with 33, and Super Bowl losses with four, tied with Bud Grant, Dan Reeves, and Marv Levy. His teams won 15 division titles, six conference title wins, two NFL championships and six Super Bowl appearances. Shula's teams were consistently among the least penalized in the NFL.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula was known as a tough and practical coach who worked players hard and put an emphasis on discipline, which helped reduce errors in games. However, while he looked the tough-guy part, Shula paired it with a sharp football mind that helped keep him ahead of the competition.


title: Don Shula

text: During the last 20 years of his coaching career, Shula served on the NFL's Competition Committee, an era when the body pushed through rules that made the league more pass-oriented.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula had a winning record against almost every coach he faced, with several exceptions: Levy, against whom he was 6–14 during the regular season and 0–3 in the playoffs; John Madden, against whom he was 2–2 in the regular season and 1–2 in the playoffs for a total of 3–4; and Bill Cowher, against whom Shula was 1–2 late in his career. Shula also had losing records against Tom Flores (1–6) Raymond Berry (3–8), Walt Michaels (5–7–1), and Vince Lombardi (5–8).


title: Don Shula

text: Shula has the distinction of having coached five different quarterbacks to Super Bowl appearances: Johnny Unitas and Earl Morrall in 1968, Bob Griese in 1971, 1972, and 1973, David Woodley in 1982, and Dan Marino in 1984, three of them future Hall of Famers. He also coached Johnny Unitas to another World Championship appearance in the pre-Super Bowl era in 1964. The only other NFL coach to approach this distinction is Joe Gibbs, who coached four Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks — Joe Theismann, Doug Williams, and Mark Rypien — winning three times.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula was added to the Miami Dolphin Honor Roll on November 25, 1996, not long after he retired. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997. In 1999, Shula was honored with the "Lombardi Award of Excellence" from the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. The award was created to honor coach Vince Lombardi's legacy, and is given annually to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the coach. On January 31, 2010, a statue of him was unveiled at Hard Rock Stadium, where the Dolphins play. The stadium's street address is 347 Don Shula Drive, making reference to his career win total. In 2011, he was added to a Walk of Fame outside the stadium, and in 2013 he attended a White House ceremony honoring the 1972 team's perfect season.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula is honored at the Don Shula Stadium at John Carroll University, which was named after him when it opened in 2003, and the Don Shula Expressway in Miami, which was dedicated in 1983. Since 2002, an annual college football game between South Florida schools Florida Atlantic and FIU is named the Shula Bowl in his honor. The game's winner receives a traveling trophy named the Don Shula Award.


title: Don Shula

text: Shula co-authored three books: "The Winning Edge" (1973) with Lou Sahadi , "Everyone's a Coach" (1995) , and "The Little Black Book of Coaching: Motivating People to be Winners" (2001); , both with Ken Blanchard (author of The One Minute Manager).


title: Nuremberg executions

text: The Nuremberg executions took place on 16 October 1946, shortly after the conclusion of the Nuremberg trials. Ten prominent members of the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany were executed by hanging: Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and Julius Streicher. Hermann Göring was also scheduled to be hanged on that day, but committed suicide using a potassium cyanide capsule the night before. Martin Bormann was also sentenced to death "in absentia"; at the time his whereabouts were unknown, but it is now thought that he committed suicide or was killed by Soviet troops while attempting to escape Berlin on 2 May 1945.


title: Nuremberg executions

text: The sentences were carried out in the gymnasium of Nuremberg Prison by the United States Army using the standard drop method instead of long drop.


title: Nuremberg executions

text: The executioners were Master Sergeant John C. Woods and his assistant, military policeman Joseph Malta. Woods miscalculated the lengths for the ropes used for the executions, some alleging intentionally, such that some of the men did not die quickly of an intended broken neck but instead strangled to death slowly.


title: Nuremberg executions

text: Some reports indicated some executions took from 14 to 28 minutes. The Army denied claims that the drop length was too short or that the condemned died from strangulation instead of a broken neck. Additionally, the trapdoor was too small, such that several of the condemned suffered bleeding head injuries when they hit the sides of the trapdoor while dropping through.


title: Nuremberg executions

text: The bodies were rumored to have been taken to Dachau for cremation, but were in fact incinerated in a crematorium in Munich and the ashes scattered over the river Isar.


title: Nuremberg executions

text: Kingsbury Smith of the International News Service wrote an eyewitness account of the hangings. His account appeared with photos in newspapers.


title: Cramer's rule

text: In linear algebra, Cramer's rule is an explicit formula for the solution of a system of linear equations with as many equations as unknowns, valid whenever the system has a unique solution. It expresses the solution in terms of the determinants of the (square) coefficient matrix and of matrices obtained from it by replacing one column by the column vector of right-sides of the equations. It is named after Gabriel Cramer (1704–1752), who published the rule for an arbitrary number of unknowns in 1750, although Colin Maclaurin also published special cases of the rule in 1748 (and possibly knew of it as early as 1729).


title: Cramer's rule

text: Cramer's rule implemented in a naive way is computationally inefficient for systems of more than two or three equations. In the case of equations in unknowns, it requires computation of determinants, while Gaussian elimination produces the result with the same computational complexity as the computation of a single determinant. Cramer's rule can also be numerically unstable even for 2×2 systems. However, it has recently been shown that Cramer's rule can be implemented with the same complexity as Gaussian elimination, (consistently requires twice as many arithmetic operations and has the same numerical stability when the same permutation matrices are applied).


title: Cramer's rule

text: Consider a system of linear equations for unknowns, represented in matrix multiplication form as follows:


title: Cramer's rule

text: where the matrix has a nonzero determinant, and the vector formula_2 is the column vector of the variables. Then the theorem states that in this case the system has a unique solution, whose individual values for the unknowns are given by:


title: Cramer's rule

text: where the matrix has a nonzero determinant, and , are matrices. Given sequences formula_6 and formula_7, let formula_8 be the submatrix of with rows in formula_9 and columns in formula_10. Let formula_11 be the matrix formed by replacing the formula_12 column of by the formula_13 column of , for all formula_14. Then


title: Cramer's rule

text: The rule holds for systems of equations with coefficients and unknowns in any field, not just in the real numbers.


title: Cramer's rule

text: The proof for Cramer's rule uses the following properties of the determinants: linearity with respect to any given column and the fact that the determinant is zero whenever two columns are equal, which is implied by the property that the sign of the determinant flips if you switch two columns.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Fix the index of a column, and consider that the entries of the columns have fixed values. This makes the determinant a function of the entries of the th column. Linearity with respect of this column means that this function has the form


title: Cramer's rule

text: where the formula_18 are coefficients that depend on the entries of that are not in column . So, one has


title: Cramer's rule

text: (Laplace expansion provides a formula for computing the formula_20 but their expression is not important here.)


title: Cramer's rule

text: If the function formula_21 is applied to any "other" column of , then the result is the determinant of the matrix obtained from by replacing column by a copy of column , so the resulting determinant is 0 (the case of two equal columns).


title: Cramer's rule

text: Now consider a system of linear equations in unknowns formula_22, whose coefficient matrix is , with det("A") assumed to be nonzero:


title: Cramer's rule

text: If one combines these equations by taking times the first equation, plus times the second, and so forth until times the last, then, for every the coefficient of becomes


title: Cramer's rule

text: So, all coefficients become zero, except the coefficient of formula_25 that becomes formula_26 Similarly, the constant coefficient becomes formula_27 and the resulting equation is thus


title: Cramer's rule

text: As, by construction, the numerator is the determinant of the matrix obtained from by replacing column by , we get the expression of Cramer's rule as a necessary condition for a solution. The same procedure can be repeated for other values of to find values for the other unknowns.


title: Cramer's rule

text: The only point that remains to prove is that these values for the unknowns form a solution. Let be the matrix that has the coefficients of formula_21 as th row, for formula_32 (this is the adjugate matrix for ). Expressed in matrix terms, we have thus to prove that


title: Cramer's rule

text: This completes the proof, since a left inverse of a square matrix is also a right-inverse (see Invertible matrix theorem).


title: Cramer's rule

text: where denotes the adjugate matrix, is the determinant, and is the identity matrix. If is nonzero, then the inverse matrix of is


title: Cramer's rule

text: This gives a formula for the inverse of , provided . In fact, this formula works whenever is a commutative ring, provided that is a unit. If is not a unit, then is not invertible over the ring (it may be invertible over a larger ring in which some non-unit elements of may be invertible).


title: Cramer's rule

text: Cramer's rule is used in the Ricci calculus in various calculations involving the Christoffel symbols of the first and second kind.


title: Cramer's rule

text: In particular, Cramer's rule can be used to prove that the divergence operator on a Riemannian manifold is invariant with respect to change of coordinates. We give a direct proof, suppressing the role of the Christoffel symbols.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Let formula_47 be a Riemannian manifold equipped with local coordinates formula_48. Let formula_49 be a vector field. We use the summation convention throughout.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Let formula_52 be a coordinate transformation with non-singular Jacobian. Then the classical transformation laws imply that formula_53 where formula_54. Similarly, if formula_55, then formula_56.


title: Cramer's rule

text: where formula_64 denotes the matrix obtained from formula_65 by deleting the formula_66th row and formula_67th column.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Consider the two equations formula_72 and formula_73. When "u" and "v" are independent variables, we can define formula_74 and formula_75


title: Cramer's rule

text: Since "u", "v" are both independent, the coefficients of "du", "dv" must be zero. So we can write out equations for the coefficients:


title: Cramer's rule

text: Cramer's rule can be used to prove that an integer programming problem whose constraint matrix is totally unimodular and whose right-hand side is integer, has integer basic solutions. This makes the integer program substantially easier to solve.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Cramer's rule is used to derive the general solution to an inhomogeneous linear differential equation by the method of variation of parameters.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Cramer's rule has a geometric interpretation that can be considered also a proof or simply giving insight about its geometric nature. These geometric arguments work in general and not only in the case of two equations with two unknowns presented here.


title: Cramer's rule

text: The area of the parallelogram determined by formula_85 and formula_86 is given by the determinant of the system of equations:


title: Cramer's rule

text: In general, when there are more variables and equations, the determinant of vectors of length will give the "volume" of the "parallelepiped" determined by those vectors in the -th dimensional Euclidean space.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Therefore, the area of the parallelogram determined by formula_88 and formula_86 has to be formula_90 times the area of the first one since one of the sides has been multiplied by this factor. Now, this last parallelogram, by Cavalieri's principle, has the same area as the parallelogram determined by formula_91 and formula_92


title: Cramer's rule

text: Consider the map formula_94 where formula_95 is the matrix formula_50 with formula_97 substituted in the formula_66th column, as in Cramer's rule. Because of linearity of determinant in every column, this map is linear. Observe that it sends the formula_66th column of formula_50 to the formula_66th basis vector formula_102 (with 1 in the formula_66th place), because determinant of a matrix with a repeated column is 0. So we have a linear map which agrees with the inverse of formula_50 on the column space; hence it agrees with formula_105 on the span of the column space. Since formula_50 is invertible, the column vectors span all of formula_107, so our map really is the inverse of formula_50. Cramer's rule follows.


title: Cramer's rule

text: A short proof of Cramer's rule can be given by noticing that formula_90 is the determinant of the matrix


title: Cramer's rule

text: On the other hand, assuming that our original matrix is invertible, this matrix formula_111 has columns formula_112, where formula_113 is the "n"-th column of the matrix . Recall that the matrix formula_114 has columns formula_115, and therefore formula_116. Hence, by using that the determinant of the product of two matrices is the product of the determinants, we have


title: Cramer's rule

text: A system of equations is said to be incompatible or inconsistent when there are no solutions and it is called indeterminate when there is more than one solution. For linear equations, an indeterminate system will have infinitely many solutions (if it is over an infinite field), since the solutions can be expressed in terms of one or more parameters that can take arbitrary values.


title: Cramer's rule

text: Cramer's rule applies to the case where the coefficient determinant is nonzero. In the 2×2 case, if the coefficient determinant is zero, then the system is incompatible if the numerator determinants are nonzero, or indeterminate if the numerator determinants are zero.


title: Cramer's rule

text: For 3×3 or higher systems, the only thing one can say when the coefficient determinant equals zero is that if any of the numerator determinants are nonzero, then the system must be incompatible. However, having all determinants zero does not imply that the system is indeterminate. A simple example where all determinants vanish (equal zero) but the system is still incompatible is the 3×3 system "x"+"y"+"z"=1, "x"+"y"+"z"=2, "x"+"y"+"z"=3.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Mystic Pizza is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Donald Petrie in his feature directorial debut, and starring Annabeth Gish, Julia Roberts and Lili Taylor. It follows the coming-of-age of three young Portuguese-American friends who work at a pizza parlor in a seaside Connecticut town. The film received positive reviews, with Roger Ebert declaring at the time, "I have a feeling that "Mystic Pizza" may someday become known for the movie stars it showcased back before they became stars." It marked Matt Damon's film debut.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Sisters Kat and Daisy Araújo and their friend Jojo Barbosa are Portuguese-American teenage girls working as waitresses at Mystic Pizza, a pizza parlor owned by Leona in the fishing town of Mystic, Connecticut.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Kat and Daisy are total opposites. Kat, the younger sister, is an aspiring astronomer working at the planetarium in the Whaling Museum of the Mystic Seaport, and Yale University accepted her on a partial scholarship. Kat works at the restaurant and as a babysitter to raise money for school. Daisy's goal is to have as much fun as possible. Their mother is pleased with Kat, while often questioning Daisy's life choices.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Daisy meets Charles, a rich young man at a bar. The two are immediately attracted to each other and begin a relationship, much to her mother's dismay. At a family dinner, Charles's relatives unintentionally make insensitive comments about Daisy's ethnicity, and Charles overreacts. Daisy breaks up with him, accusing him of using her to rebel against his parents.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Kat finds herself infatuated with her employer Tim, an architect and Yale graduate, who hired her to babysit his four-year-old daughter Phoebe while his wife works in England. A relationship ultimately develops between them that she believes to be love, and they have sex. However, when his wife returns, Kat's illusions are shattered. Daisy consoles her devastated sister, and they bond.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Jojo fainted at her wedding to Bill because she had cold feet about making a lifetime commitment. Nonetheless, she wants to continue having sex with Bill until she is ready to be married. Bill eventually breaks up with her because she will not make a commitment.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: A famous television food critic called "The Fireside Gourmet" unexpectedly visits Mystic Pizza. As Kat, Daisy, Jojo, and Leona watch from the counter, he takes a few bites of one pizza slice, jots notes in his notebook, and leaves after paying the check. His approval can do wonders for a restaurant, but they are not optimistic. However, a few days later he gives the pizzeria his highest rating, calling the pizza "superb". The restaurant phone immediately starts ringing, with Leona laughing as she informs the caller that no reservations are needed.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: In the end, Tim brings Phoebe to Mystic Pizza because she wants to say goodbye to Kat. Tim gives her a check to help cover her tuition expenses, but she tears it up; she later accepts money from Leona. Jojo finally marries Bill, and Daisy and Charles reconcile at the wedding. The film ends with the three girls overlooking the water from the restaurant's balcony, reminiscing about their time together and wondering about the future.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: The title of the film was inspired by a pizza shop in Mystic, Connecticut. Screenwriter Amy Holden Jones was summering in the area and chose Mystic Pizza as the focus of her story about the lives of three young waitresses.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Jones was set to direct, but was replaced by Petrie, who made his feature film directorial debut. The film was also Alfred Uhry's screenwriting debut.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Filming began October 12, 1987 and was due to last six weeks. The film's plot is set in Mystic, but most of the filming locations were in neighboring towns. The building used for the pizza restaurant was a converted home in Stonington Borough at 70 Water St. After the film's release, the real-life Mystic Pizza building in downtown Mystic was renovated to resemble the film set. The Windsor family home, the wedding reception restaurant, the Peg Leg Pub pool hall, and the fishing docks were also filmed in Stonington Borough. The hitchhiking incident takes place on North Main Street in Stonington Town. The Araújo home is in Pawcatuck, Connecticut; the lobster business and the wedding church are in Noank, Connecticut. Tim Travers' home and the Windsors' country club are in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The most notable scenes that take place in Mystic were filmed at the Mystic Seaport planetarium and at the Mystic River Bascule Bridge.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: Goldwyn spent a company record $6.5 million on prints and advertising and other marketing activities, including tie-ins with Domino's Pizza and others. The film had 100 pre-opening screenings and premiered in Mystic, Connecticut on October 18, 1988. It was released on October 21, 1988.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: The film received mostly favorable reviews, who praised the performances by the three lead actresses. It received "two thumbs up" from popular film critics Siskel and Ebert, giving particular praise to the three female leads, including Gish, whom Ebert likened to a "young Katharine Hepburn". "Variety" called it "a deftly told coming-of-age story about three young femmes as they explore their different destinies, mostly through romance, it’s genuine and moving, with enough edge to impress contemporary audiences."


title: Mystic Pizza

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has score of 78% based on reviews from 27 critics. The website's critics consensus reads: ""Mystic Pizza" is like its namesake food: it's cheesy, topped with romance, and rises to the occasion." On Metacritic, it has a score of 60% based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Mystic Pizza

text: On January 13, 2009, "Mystic Pizza" and "Say Anything..." were released as a double feature on DVD. On April 5, 2011, "Mystic Pizza" was released on Blu-ray.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: On January 22, 2019, it was announced that "Mystic Pizza" will be adapted into a stage musical. Melissa Etheridge will write the score, while Gordon Greenberg will direct and co-write the book with Sas Goldberg. This comes years after a fictional Broadway musical adaptation of the film had served as a plot point in the early part of season 2 of the NBC sitcom "30 Rock" in 2007.


title: Mystic Pizza

text: The world premiere of the musical version of "Mystic Pizza" was produced by Ogunquit Playhouse in Ogunquit, Maine from September 1, 2021, through October 2, 2021. The production, which featured songs by Melissa Etheridge and other pop songs of the 1980s, starred Krystina Alabado as Daisy, Gianna Yanelli as Jojo and Kyra Kennedy as Kat. The production was directed by Casey Hushion, featured a book by Sandy Rustin, choreography by Liz Ramos, musical supervision by Carmel Dean, with Kristin Stowell as music director. Executive producers were Michael Barra and Allison Bressi of Lively McCabe Entertainment.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Edward Moore (born December 12, 1981), better known by his ring name Eddie Kingston, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston started his wrestling career in 2002, and has wrestled for numerous wrestling promotions, including Evolve, National Wrestling Alliance, Chikara, AAW Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, Impact Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and Ring of Honor (ROH). Outside of brief stints in Impact and ROH, Kingston was a mainstay on the independent scene for 18 years before signing with AEW.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: He has been praised for his speaking skills and ability to cut promos, and is regarded by some as one of the best speakers of the modern professional wrestling era.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Edward Moore was born on December 12, 1981, in Yonkers, New York, to an Irish father and a Puerto Rican mother. He had a difficult childhood in a tough part of Yonkers, constantly getting into fights at school; he credits getting into wrestling at an early age from watching old tapes as what kept him out of jail and trouble.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Moore initially trained alongside BlackJack Marciano and Jigsaw under Kevin Knight at the Independent Wrestling Federation in Woodland Park, New Jersey (formerly West Paterson). After Moore was kicked out of the school, he became part of the second class of students to train at the Chikara Wrestle Factory, where he was taught by Mike Quackenbush and Chris Hero.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Moore made his professional wrestling debut, under the ring name Eddie Kingston, on October 12, 2002, at Chikara's seventh event, where he and BlackJack Marciano, the team known collectively as the Wild Cards, defeated Melvin Snodgrass and Lester Crabtree in a tag team match. In 2003 Kingston and Marciano began feuding with Mister ZERO and UltraMantis, the team known collectively as Ultra/ZERO. The feud came to an end on July 5, when Ultra/ZERO defeated the Wild Cards in the semifinals of the 2003 Tag World Grand Prix, after which Kingston and Marciano moved on to feuding with Team F.I.S.T. (Icarus and Gran Akuma). The following year the Wildcards teamed up with Jigsaw to form the Toxic Trio, while Icarus and Akuma recruited the help of Mike Quackenbush. On May 22, 2004, the Toxic Trio faced Icarus, Akuma and Quackenbush in an Ultimate Jeopardy match, where Kingston's, Marciano's and Icarus' hair, Jigsaw's and Akuma's masks and Quackenbush's various championship belts were on the line. In the match Akuma forced Kingston to tap out and, as per stipulation of the match, both the Wild Cards were shaved bald, effectively ending the feud. On September 18, 2004, the Wild Cards won the IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship and enjoyed reasonable success outside of Chikara, until a knee injury forced Marciano into retirement, thus disbanding the team.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: After taking a break from wrestling, Kingston returned to the ring in July 2005, turning face and teaming with Sabian, Equinox and Quackenbush to take on The Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Gran Akuma and Arik Cannon). On August 13, Hero defeated Kingston in a singles match, that would lead the two into feuding with each other over at Combat Zone Wrestling, while in Chikara they were kept apart from each other following the match. For a majority of 2006, Kingston had a rivalry against Larry Sweeney. Kingston and Sweeney traded many verbal and physical exchanges for months, and the feud culminated with a No Disqualification Strap match between the two at Chikara's last show of the year. Kingston won this match and the overall feud.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: In 2007, Kingston turned "heel" (villainous) when he was pinned in an eight-man tag team match. Following the loss, Kingston attacked Hallowicked and attempted to remove his mask. The resulting feud lasted for over six months. During this time Kingston frequently forced his opponents to wear a replica of Hallowicked's mask. The feud ended when Kingston defeated Hallowicked in a Falls Count Anywhere match.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston, along with fellow BLKOUT stable members Joker and Ruckus, went on to the finals of the 2008 King of Trios tournament, coming up short against the team of El Pantera, Incognito and Lince Dorado, when Kingston tapped out to Dorado's Chikara Special. After the tournament Kingston was not seen in Chikara for two months, but when he returned in May, he quickly targeted the man who had forced him to tap out at King of Trios, Lince Dorado. Kingston defeated Dorado in back-to-back singles matches on July 13 and August 10, but both times Dorado refused to stay down and begged for more. On September 7 Kingston and Dorado face each other in their third singles match, which ended when referee Bryce Remsburg disqualified Kingston due to "excessive punishment". However, once again Dorado refused to stay down and demanded the match to be restarted. After the restart, Kingston had himself disqualified by low blowing Dorado and then walked out, before declaring that he was done with Dorado, since he was making him mentally unstable with his actions.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: In late 2008 Kingston would team up with Brodie Lee and Grizzly Redwood to form an alliance that would later be named "The Roughnecks". In early 2009 The Roughnecks defeated the Order of the Neo-Solar Temple (UltraMantis Black, Crossbones and Sami Callihan) to advance to the 2009 King of Trios, where they ended up being eliminated in the first round by Team Uppercut (Claudio Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson and Dave Taylor). Following the loss Kingston started a feud with Castagnoli, claiming that he had been embarrassed and disrespected. On May 24, 2009, at "Aniversario Yang" Kingston, who had claimed to being able to outwrestle Castagnoli, pinned him cleanly with an Oklahoma roll. After Castagnoli defeated Kingston via countout at the 2009 Young Lions Cup, the two of them were booked in a "Respect Match" at the season eight finale "Three-Fisted Tales", where the loser of the match had to show respect to the winner. Castagnoli won the match, but instead of showing respect, Kingston laid him out with a spinning back fist, after claiming that both him and his former tag team partner (Chris Hero) are shady and deserve respect from no one. At the end of the event Kingston's suspicions about Castagnoli were proven right as he turned "rudo" and formed the stable Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (BDK).


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On January 31, 2010, at the season nine premiere Kingston, now a tecnico, replaced Lince Dorado, after he had turned on his "tecnico" teammates and joined BDK, and teamed up with Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw and Equinox in an eight-man tag team match against Castagnoli, Ares, Tursas and Dorado. BDK won the match, when Castagnoli pinned Kingston after a low blow. After the match Kingston once again refused to show respect to Castagnoli and was therefore beaten down. On March 21 Kingston re-ignited his old feud with BDK's newest recruit Lince Dorado by facing him in a singles match. Dorado won by disqualification by taking his mask off behind the referees back and throwing it at Kingston, who was holding it when the ref turned around. This is an automatic disqualification as per lucha libre rules. After the match Kingston attacked Dorado, while also taking care of BDK members Pinkie Sanchez, Sara Del Rey and Tim Donst, who attempted to make the save, before he was stopped by Castagnoli, who once again demanded the respect he was owed from "Three-Fisted Tales". On May 23 Kingston was set to wrestle one of his idols, Tommy Dreamer, at Chikara's eighth anniversary show, but the match was ruined by an interference from Castagnoli and Ares. After Dreamer helped Kingston take care of BDK, the two made a challenge for a tag team match for Chikara's July 25 show in The Arena in Philadelphia. On July 25 at "Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show" Kingston and Dreamer were defeated in a non-title tag team match by Ares and Castagnoli. On October 23 Kingston represented Chikara in the "torneo cibernetico" match, where the company's originals faced BDK. He eliminated Daizee Haze and Sara Del Rey from the match, before being stuck in a two-on-one disadvantage against BDK members Claudio Castagnoli and Tursas. Castagnoli was disqualified from the match, after low blowing Kingston, but Kingston managed to come back and pin Tursas to win the 2010 "torneo cibernetico". On March 13, 2011, in Brooklyn, New York, Castagnoli defeated Kingston, after hitting him with a chain, in a grudge match fifteen months in the making. The following September, Kingston made his first tour of Japan, with the Osaka Pro Wrestling promotion, which had a working relationship with Chikara. During the tour, Kingston teamed with the villainous Joker stable.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: From May to October 2011, Kingston took part in "", a tournament used to determine the first ever Chikara Grand Champion. Kingston ended up winning his block of the tournament with a record of four wins and one loss to set up a final match with the winner of the other block, Mike Quackenbush. On November 13 at Chikara's first internet pay-per-view, High Noon, Kingston defeated Quackenbush to become the first Chikara Grand Champion. On February 26, 2012, Kingston made his first defense of the Grand Championship, defeating Vin Gerard, with whom he had developed a rivalry during the "12 Large: Summit". On March 25, Kingston defeated Brodie Lee in his second title defense. Kingston made his third successful title defense on April 28, defeating Kevin Steen via disqualification in an interpromotional match between Chikara and Ring of Honor. Kingston followed up by making successful title defenses against Jigsaw on May 20 at Chikara's tenth anniversary event, Dasher Hatfield on June 24 and Sara Del Rey on July 28. On September 15, during the second night of the 2012 King of Trios, Kingston made his seventh successful title defense against Osaka Pro Wrestling representative Tadasuke. Afterwards, Kingston was attacked by Tim Donst. On November 18, Kingston led a team to take on Team Steen in the ninth annual "torneo cibernetico" match. After Kingston managed to eliminate Steen, he was himself pinned for the win by Tim Donst. On December 2, Kingston defeated Donst in the main event of Chikara's third internet pay-per-view, Under the Hood, to retain the Grand Championship for the eighth time. Kingston's ninth successful defense took place during Chikara's first weekend of 2013 on February 10, when he defeated Kevin Steen. Kingston was next scheduled to defend his title against Green Ant on March 9, but ended up no-showing the event. Kingston later revealed that he had gotten drunk the previous night, punched a mirror in his hotel room and injured a tendon in his hand. On April 6, Kingston defeated Hallowicked for his tenth successful defense of the Grand Championship. During the weekend of May 3 and 4, Kingston made two more successful title defenses against Green Ant and Mark Angelosetti. Kingston's thirteenth successful title defense took place on May 18 against Archibald Peck. Kingston's fourteenth defense on June 2 at ended in controversy, when, just as his challenger Icarus had locked him in a submission hold, the ring was attacked by a group named "Condor Security", ending the match in a no contest.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: After a one-year hiatus, Chikara returned on May 25, 2014, with You Only Live Twice, where Kingston lost the Grand Championship to Icarus, ending his two and a half year reign. Afterwards, Kingston turned "rudo" and joined the Flood stable in order to regain the Grand Championship. The alliance, however, was short-lived with Kingston turning on the Flood on September 21. This led to a rivalry between Kingston and Flood's second-in-command, Jimmy Jacobs, which culminated on December 6 at Tomorrow Never Dies, where Kingston defeated Jacobs in a grudge match.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston has made on-and-off appearances for Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South since 2003. From his debut through the end of 2004, most of his activity involved tagging with Marciano as the Wild Cards. The duo won the IWA Mid-South Tag Team Championship once, and successfully defended them on numerous occasions. After Marciano's retirement, however, Kingston's Mid-South work mainly involved one-on-one matches, including a lengthy feud against Ian Rotten. He also rekindled his feud with Hero during the 2007 Ted Petty Invitational, and on the final night of the tournament, Kingston defeated Hero in a Last Man Standing match, which is considered the 2007 Match of the Year for the company.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On December 7, 2007, Kingston won a four-way elimination match against Hero, then-champion Quackenbush, and Chuck Taylor to win the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship. On April 11, 2008, Kingston no-showed a scheduled event, resulting in IWA Mid-South owner Ian Rotten stripping him of the championship. Rotten told the crowd that Kingston was "going through some personal problems", but that he was welcome back to the promotion once he got his act together. Kingston participated in the 2008 Ted Petty Invitational tournament, defeating Necro Butcher in the first round on Night One, but losing to Sami Callihan in the quarter-finals.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston made his debut in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in early 2004, competing in a series of tag team matches showcasing Chikara wrestlers, before joining the roster as the enforcer and mouthpiece in the BLKOUT faction. Kingston and fellow BLKOUT member Joker won the CZW World Tag Team Championship from the Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli) on February 11, 2006, at "Seven Years Strong: Settling The Score." Seven months later on September 9, Kingston defeated Chris Hero to win the CZW World Heavyweight Championship after an extended feud. As a result of winning the CZW World Championship, BLKOUT vacated the tag team championship, and the Kings of Wrestling won them in a tournament, but were attacked by BLKOUT afterwards. After a successful world title defence against Justice Pain at "Night of Infamy 5", due to Hero interfering and accidentally hitting Pain, Kingston lost the title to Pain in a three-way elimination match, also involving Hero. Kingston was eliminated first, after suffering a legitimate broken ankle, after botching a backdrop.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: At the following show, Hero challenged Kingston to a Loser Leaves Town match when he returned. In his return match at "Redemption" on March 10, 2007, Kingston defeated Hydra. On April 7, at "Out With the Old, In With the New", Kingston defeated Hero in a Loser Leaves Town match. Following the match, CZW owner John Zandig went to the ring and publicly fired Kingston for "ongoing misconduct". This was suspected by many to be an angle, but was later found out to have been legitimate. Kingston released a public interview on YouTube discussing the matter, but the footage was removed only hours later.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston did not appear in CZW for nearly a year following this, but eventually made his return at "New Years Resolutions" on January 12, 2008, in the main event for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship. Kingston returned to Combat Zone Wrestling on February 14, 2009, at its "10th Anniversary Show", in a losing effort to CZW World Heavyweight Champion Drake Younger in a No Rope Barbed Wire Deathmatch. Kingston and Younger went on to defeat The Best Around (TJ Cannon and Bruce Maxwell) on April 10, 2010, to win the CZW World Tag Team Championship. After a successful title defense on June 12 against Cult Fiction (Brain Damage and Masada), Kingston threw his World Tag Team Championship belt down and once again quit CZW. Kingston's title reign officially ended on July 10, when CZW owner D. J. Hyde stripped him and Younger of the title.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston first appeared in Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) in 2004, as part of a Chikara exhibition match. On August 21, at Broken Rulz, the Wild Cards and Hallowicked were defeated by Gran Akuma, Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush. He then appeared two years later, as part of the Joint@Venture event in February 2005. On day one, he and Hallowicked were defeated by Dark Dream (Darksoul and X-dream). On day two, he, Hallowicked and Skayde were defeated by Akuma, Jigsaw and Quackenbush. On March 13, 2010, at The Vision, Kingston was defeated by Big Van Walter in a singles match.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston was brought back to wXw for the 2013 edition of 16 Carat Gold. On night one, he defeated Chuck Taylor in the first round. On night two, he was defeated by Shinobu in the quarter-final. On night three, he partnered Kim Ray in a defeat to Hot & Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. and Da Mack). Seven years later, Kingston returned to the promotion for the 2020 edition of 16 Carat Gold. On night one, he defeated Daniel Makabe in the first round. On night two, he defeated The Rotation in the quarter-final. On night three, he was defeated by Cara Noir in the semi-final.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston made his first appearance in Ring of Honor at "Death Before Dishonor IV" on July 15, 2006, as the fifth member of Team CZW in the Cage of Death match, which Team CZW lost.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston's next appearance was on March 14, 2008, when he showed up in the audience during a match between The Vulture Squad and Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson. During the match, Kingston harassed Ruckus, a member of The Vulture Squad in ROH and Kingston's stablemate in BLKOUT in other promotions, and claimed he'd be in Philadelphia on March 16, 2008 during ROH's Take No Prisoners pay-per-view. During the non-pay-per-view portion of the show, Kingston, Sabian and Robbie Morino of BLKOUT got into a brawl with Jigsaw and Julius Smokes of The Vulture Squad, while Ruckus tried to restrain both factions.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: In June it was announced that BLKOUT was planning on disrupting ROH's pay-per-view taping, Respect is Earned II, on June 7. The Vulture Squad responded with Jigsaw challenging Kingston to face him in a match. Kingston appeared with BLKOUT, but failed to defeat Jigsaw, while Ruckus again tried to calm down both of his stables.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston wrestled at the "Ring of Honor Wrestling" tapings on March 1, 2009, in Philadelphia, defeating Sami Callihan. Kingston then appeared on the March 18 ROH videowire, and soon after re-developed his feud with Chris Hero. On December 19, 2009, at Final Battle 2009, ROH's first live pay-per-view, Kingston defeated Hero in a "Fight Without Honor" match to win the feud.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston returned to ROH on March 4, 2012, at the 10th Anniversary Show, where he represented Chikara as the Grand Champion and had a confrontation with Kevin Steen. This led to a Grand Championship match in Chikara, where Kingston defeated Steen via disqualification. Kingston returned to ROH at the June 29 tapings of "Ring of Honor Wrestling", saving Mike Mondo from Steen and Jimmy Jacobs. He then went on to unsuccessfully challenge Steen for the ROH World Championship on August 11 at Boiling Point.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On August 17, 2013, Kingston returned to ROH, forming a new tag team with Homicide. In their return match, the two defeated Marshall Law (Q.T. Marshall and R.D. Evans). Following the main event of the evening, Kingston and Homicide attacked new ROH World Tag Team Champions, reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly), before announcing their intention of taking down "corporate ROH" and revealing their team name as "Outlaw Inc.". Kingston and Homicide, however, claimed that they had come to ROH to help Match Maker Nigel McGuinness and take out those they felt were bad for the promotion. As part of the gimmick, Kingston and Homicide wore suits and followed the Code of Honor. After defeating The American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards) on November 16, Outlaw Inc. were named the next challengers for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Outlaw Inc. received their title shot on December 14 at Final Battle 2013, but were defeated by reDRagon. Post-match, Kingston and Homicide announced that they were no longer going to play by ROH's rules. Kingston's last few ROH appearances were in the spring of 2014. After Homicide and Eddie jumped Kevin Steen and Cliff Compton during their No DQ match a tag team match was announced. This tag match saw Outlaw Inc. losing and they were never seen again.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: From 2007 to 2010, Kingston competed regularly in the New Jersey–based Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) organization. After winning a number one contenders match on February 24, Kingston defeated Bandido, Jr. on February 28 at JAPW's "Jersey City Rumble" to win the JAPW New Jersey State Championship. He would hold the title for little over two months before losing it to Archadia. On January 23, 2010, at JAPW's 12th Anniversary Show, Kingston had his biggest match to date in the promotion, unsuccessfully challenging Dan Maff for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship. Kingston returned to JAPW on April 14, 2012, when he and Homicide defeated Philly's Most Wanted (Blk Jeez and Joker) to win the vacant JAPW Tag Team Championship.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On November 11, 2007, Kingston debuted in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) as Human Tornado's mystery tag team partner. It was revealed earlier on that Tornado's opponent, Chris Hero, had also picked Kingston as his partner, but Kingston had chosen to side with Tornado. Kingston and Tornado lost a Handicap match to Hero via a disqualification caused by Claudio Castagnoli. Post-match, the three men collectively attacked Hero and showed signs of the forming of a new stable.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On January 5, 2008, Tornado, Castagnoli and Kingston defeated the three-person unit of Hero, Necro Butcher and Hero's then-valet Candice LeRae in a No Disqualification match. The competing stables would have a variety of matches against each other throughout the year, with various members facing off one-on-one. As a team, Kingston and Castagnoli were also involved in a brief feud against The Dynasty (Joey Ryan and Scott Lost), which began when they interfered in a PWG World Tag Team Championship match between The Dynasty and challengers the Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) on May 7. A title match was booked between Castagnoli and Kingston and The Dynasty on two consecutive shows, both of which Kingston missed. Soon after missing the second event, Kingston's name was removed from the roster page.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On August 30, it was announced that Kingston would return for "All Star Weekend VII". On "Night One", he competed in a four-way match for the PWG World Championship; participants included Necro Butcher, former champion Low Ki, and defending champion Hero, who pinned Kingston to retain. Following the match, Kingston assaulted Hero, forcing PWG officials to pull them apart. On "Night Two", Kingston was defeated by Necro Butcher in a Necro Butcher Rules match.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: During 2011, Kingston worked for the newly founded Urban Wrestling Federation (UWF) promotion. On June 23, 2013, Kingston and Homicide were defeated by The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) at House of Hardcore 2. At the following event on November 9, they were defeated by Devon and Matt Hardy.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On September 29, 2016, Kingston was part of a group of about 40 wrestlers invited to a WWE tryout at their Performance Center. Kingston lost to Bull Dempsey on January 26, 2018, at House of Hardcore 37. On September 9, 2018 Kingston lost to Brody King at PCW Ultra's Vision Quest in Wilmington, California.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston was revealed as a member of the masked gang Death Crew Council (DCC) on the November 10, 2016 episode of Impact. The DCC made their Impact Zone debut on the October 20 episode of "Impact Wrestling", when they attacked The Tribunal, following the latter's loss to TNA World Tag Team Champions, The Broken Hardys. The DCC continued their assault on TNA wrestlers, attacking Robbie E and Grado on the October 27 episode of "Impact Wrestling". On the November 3 episode of "Impact Wrestling", the DCC attacked the Tag Champions. As the faction was leaving, the Hardys challenged them to an immediate match and put their titles on the line; whether this was a handicap match or not and what its official result was have never been specified. The match devolved into a backstage fight during which Matt Hardy suffered amnesia after being knocked off a forklift by one of the DCC members. The DCC unmasked themselves on the following episode of "Impact Wrestling" after laying out TNA World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards following his successful title defense against Eli Drake. On the November 17 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Kingston made his Impact in-ring debut teaming with Storm and Bram to defeat Edwards and Brother Nero in a No Disqualification 3-on-2 handicap match. On the December 1 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Kingston and Bram faced The Broken Hardys for the TNA Tag Team Championship, but were ultimately defeated. Bram and Kingston would face Decay in a losing effort, after James Storm attacked Abyss, resulting in a disqualification. At Genesis, the DCC were defeated by Decay and The Broken Hardys in a three-way tag team, thus not winning their TNA World Tag Team Championship. On the January 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, Bram and Kingston competed in the first ever Race for the Case, capturing the yellow briefcase when Kingston knocked it out of Jessie Godderz's hands and into Bram's, later learning they have the #2 call out spot for the February 2 Open Fight Night episode of Impact Wrestling. On the February 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, the DCC used their Race for the Case briefcase to call out and defeat Decay in a Fall Count Anywhere match. At the end of the show, they would attack Ethan Carter III after his match against Eli Drake, only to attack him and his bodyguard Tyrus after. On the February 9 episode of Impact Wrestling, the DCC defeated Eli Drake and Tyrus in a handicap match.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On the April 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, Kingston and Bram interrupted James Storm kicking him out of the DCC after Kingston spat in Storm’s face and Storm laid both guys out with superkicks. Kingston would return to Global Force Wrestling, which he was involved in a 20-man Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacated Impact World Championship which he was unsuccessful. On October 4, 2017, Kingston announced his departure from Impact Wrestling.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On the May 24, 2018 episode of "Impact", Kingston, now renamed King, returned as a member of The Latin American Xchange (LAX). After the group leader Konnan was attacked, and Homicide and Diamante went missing in action, King assumed leadership of the faction and guided Ortiz and Santana back to being tag team champions. In June, Konnan and Diamante returned, both showing suspicion about King's involvement with the group. On the July 5 episode of "Impact", King confirmed that he had been behind the attack on Konnan, before former LAX members Homicide and Hernandez returned and attacked LAX, joining forces with King. The group later became known as "The OGz". At the Bound for Glory on October 14, The OGz lost to LAX in a Concrete Jungle Death match. After several weeks, King moved to alumni section.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston debuted for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) at their television tapings on September 30 for NWA Power. At the tapings he reunited with Homicide as Outlaw Inc., feuding with The Wilds Cards (Thom Latimer and Royce Isaacs) and The Dawsons (Dave and Zane Dawson) over the NWA World Tag Team Championship.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the July 22, 2020 episode of "Dynamite", where he faced against Cody for the AEW TNT Championship in a No Disqualification match, but lost. On July 31, it was announced that Kingston had signed a contract with AEW. On the August 22 episode of "Dynamite", Kingston created an alliance with The Butcher and The Blade and the Lucha Brothers (Pentagón Jr. and Rey Fénix). At the All Out pay-per-view, Kingston participated in the Casino Battle Royale, where he was lastly eliminated by eventual winner Lance Archer. Despite this, Kingston would claim that he was never eliminated from the match as he went under the bottom rope and began touting for an AEW World Championship match. On the September 23 episode of "Dynamite", Kingston received his AEW World Championship match against his former friend Jon Moxley, where he was defeated after passing out to a chokehold. Kingston would later attack Moxley after the latter's match with Lance Archer on the October 14 episode of "Dynamite", protesting that Moxley had never made him submit. Due to this, an "I Quit" match between the two was set up for the Full Gear event on November 7, which Kingston lost.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: On the November 18 episode of "Dynamite", the Lucha Brothers would turn on Kingston after he and Butcher and Blade attacked Pac. At New Year's Smash on January 13, 2021, Kingston was defeated by Pac. At Revolution on March 7, Kingston rescued Jon Moxley after Moxley's main event match against Kenny Omega, turning face in the process. The two would later resume their friendship and begin an alliance. Furthermore, Kingston would end his association with The Butcher and The Blade, after they were hired by Matt Hardy as part of his entourage. Over the next weeks, Kingston and Moxley feuded with Omega, as well as his allies The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). At the Double or Nothing event on May 30, Kingston and Moxley challenged The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, but were defeated. After Moxley took an absence for the birth of his first child, Kingston allied with Pentagón Jr. to face The Young Bucks for the championship in a Street Fight at the Road Rager event, but they were defeated. Kingston eventually began a feud with Miro, whom he challenged for the TNT Championship at All Out, though he was defeated.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: After his loss to Miro at All Out, he participated in an eight-man, single elimination tournament for an opportunity for the AEW World Championship, where he would be eliminated in the semi-finals by Bryan Danielson in a critically acclaimed match.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Immediately following his loss to Danielson, he would interrupt an interview segment with CM Punk, beginning a feud between the two of them. Kingston would face Punk at the Full Gear event in November, but lost. The following month, Kingston would initiate a rivalry with Chris Jericho, but suffered an orbital bone injury in January 2022, temporarily sidelining him. The rivalry would continue after Kingston returned the following month, with the two agreeing that they would wrestle each other at the Revolution event. At Revolution on March 6, Kingston would defeat Jericho by submission. Soon after, Jericho would attack his former friends Santana and Ortiz and form the villainous Jericho Appreciation Society and continue to feud with Kingston, Santana, and Ortiz as well as the Blackpool Combat Club. The Jericho Appreciation Society went on to win the Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing. Kingston, Santana, Ortiz, and the Blackpool Combat Club would avenge this loss with a win at Blood and Guts. At Fyter Fest on July 20, Kingston was defeated by Jericho in a Barbed Wire Everywhere Deathmatch.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: After this, Kingston began a feud with Jericho's ally Sammy Guevara. The two were scheduled to face in a match at the All Out, but the match was cancelled after Kingston was suspended by AEW for getting into a legitimate backstage dispute with Guevara. Instead, Kingston faced Tomohiro Ishii on the All Out pre-show in a winning effort. He resumed his feud with Guevara shortly after, with the two facing in a match on "Rampage": Grand Slam; Kingston initially won by submission, but the decision was overturned after he refused to release his submission hold.


title: Eddie Kingston

text: Kingston made his debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on the November 27, 2021 episode of "Strong", teaming with Jon Moxley to face Minoru Suzuki and Lance Archer in a Philadelphia Street Fight, in a losing effort. On the January 8, 2022 episode of "Strong", Kingston returned to defeat Gabriel Kidd. At the Capital Collision event in May 2022, Kingston faced Tomohiro Ishii, but was defeated.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: William Shakespeare (1564–1616) wrote sonnets on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. However, there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote and included in the plays "Romeo and Juliet", "Henry V" and "Love's Labour's Lost". There is also a partial sonnet found in the play "Edward III".


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: Shakespeare's sonnets are considered a continuation of the sonnet tradition that swept through the Renaissance from Petrarch in 14th-century Italy and was finally introduced in 16th-century England by Thomas Wyatt and was given its rhyming metre and division into quatrains by Henry Howard. With few exceptions, Shakespeare’s sonnets observe the stylistic form of the English sonnet—the rhyme scheme, the 14 lines, and the metre. But Shakespeare’s sonnets introduce such significant departures of content that they seem to be rebelling against well-worn 200-year-old traditions.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: Instead of expressing worshipful love for an almost goddess-like yet unobtainable female love-object, as Petrarch, Dante, and Philip Sidney had done, Shakespeare introduces a young man. He also introduces the Dark Lady, who is no goddess. Shakespeare explores themes such as lust, homoeroticism, misogyny, infidelity, and acrimony in ways that may challenge, but which also open new terrain for the sonnet form.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The primary source of Shakespeare’s sonnets is a quarto published in 1609 titled "Shake-speare’s Sonnets." It contains 154 sonnets, which are followed by the long poem "A Lover's Complaint". Thirteen copies of the quarto have survived in fairly good shape. There is evidence in a note on the title page of one of the extant copies that the great Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn bought a copy in June 1609 for one shilling.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The sonnets cover such themes as the passage of time, love, infidelity, jealousy, beauty and mortality. The first 126 are addressed to a young man; the last 28 are either addressed to, or refer to, a woman. (Sonnets 138 and 144 had previously been published in the 1599 miscellany "The Passionate Pilgrim").


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The title of the quarto, "Shake-speare’s Sonnets", is consistent with the entry in the "Stationers' Register". The title appears in upper case lettering on the title page, where it is followed by the phrase “Neuer before Imprinted”. The title also appears every time the quarto is opened. That the author’s name in a possessive form is part of the title sets it apart from all other sonnet collections of the time, except for one—Sir Philip Sidney’s posthumous 1591 publication that is titled, "Syr. P.S. his Astrophel and Stella", which is considered one of Shakespeare’s most important models. Sidney’s title may have inspired Shakespeare, particularly if the “W.H.” of Shakespeare’s dedication is Sidney’s nephew and heir, William Herbert. The idea that the persona referred to as the speaker of Shakespeare’s sonnets might be Shakespeare himself, is aggressively repudiated by scholars; however, the title of the quarto does seem to encourage that kind of speculation.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The first 17 poems, traditionally called the procreation sonnets, are addressed to the young man—urging him to marry and have children in order to immortalize his beauty by passing it to the next generation. Other sonnets express the speaker's love for the young man; brood upon loneliness, death, and the transience of life; seem to criticise the young man for preferring a rival poet; express ambiguous feelings for the speaker's mistress; and pun on the poet's name. The final two sonnets are allegorical treatments of Greek epigrams referring to the "little love-god" Cupid.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: Whether Thorpe used an authorised manuscript from Shakespeare or an unauthorised copy is unknown. George Eld printed the quarto, and the run was divided between the booksellers William Aspley and John Wright.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The upper case letters and the stops that follow each word of the dedication were probably intended to resemble an ancient Roman lapidary inscription or monumental brass, perhaps accentuating the declaration in Sonnet 55 that the work would confer immortality to the subjects of the work:


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The initials "T.T." are taken to refer to the publisher, Thomas Thorpe, though Thorpe usually signed prefatory matter only if the author was out of the country or dead. However, Thorpe's entire corpus of such consists of only four dedications and three prefaces. It has been suggested that Thorpe signing the dedication, rather than the author, might indicate that Thorpe published the work without obtaining Shakespeare's permission. Though Thorpe's taking on the dedication may be explained by the great demands of business and travel that Shakespeare was facing at this time, which may have caused him to deal with the printing production in haste before rushing out of town. After all, May 1609 was an extraordinary time: That month saw a serious outbreak of the plague, which shut down the theatres, and also caused many to flee London. Plus Shakespeare’s theatre company was on tour from Ipswich to Oxford. In addition, Shakespeare had been away from Stratford and in the same month, May, was being called on to tend to family and business there, and deal with the litigation of a lawsuit in Warwickshire that involved a substantial amount of money.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The identity of Mr. W.H., "the only begetter of "Shakespeare's Sonnets"", is not known for certain. His identity has been the subject of a great amount of speculation: That he was the author’s patron, that he was both patron and the "faire youth" who is addressed in the sonnets, that the "faire youth" is based on Mr. W.H. in some sonnets but not others, and a number of other ideas.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke, is seen as perhaps the most likely identity of Mr. W.H. and the "young man". He was the dedicatee of the First Folio. Thorpe would have been unlikely to have addressed a lord as "Mr", but there may be an explanation, perhaps that form of address came from the author, who wanted to refer to Herbert at an earlier time—when Herbert was a "younger man". There is a later dedication to Herbert in another quarto of verse, Ben Jonson’s "Epigrammes" (1616), in which the text of Jonson’s dedication begins, "MY LORD, While you cannot change your merit, I dare not change your title … " Jonson's emphasis on Pembroke's title, and his comment, seem to be chiding someone else who had the audacity to use the wrong title, as perhaps is the case in Shakespeare's dedication.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: Henry Wriothesley (the Earl of Southampton), with initials reversed, has received a great deal of consideration as a likely possibility. He was the dedicatee of Shakespeare's poems "Venus and Adonis" and "The Rape of Lucrece". Southampton was also known for his good looks.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The sonnets are almost all constructed of three quatrains (four-line stanzas) followed by a final couplet. The sonnets are composed in iambic pentameter, the metre used in Shakespeare's plays.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Sonnets using this scheme are known as Shakespearean sonnets, or English sonnets, or Elizabethan sonnets. Often, at the end of the third quatrain occurs the "volta" ("turn"), where the mood of the poem shifts, and the poet expresses a turn of thought.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: There are a few exceptions: Sonnets 99, 126, and 145. Number 99 has fifteen lines. Number 126 consists of six couplets, and two blank lines marked with italic brackets; 145 is in iambic tetrameters, not pentameters. In one other variation on the standard structure, found for example in sonnet 29, the rhyme scheme is changed by repeating the second (B) rhyme of quatrain one as the second (F) rhyme of quatrain three.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: Apart from rhyme, and considering only the arrangement of ideas, and the placement of the volta, a number of sonnets maintain the two-part organization of the Italian sonnet. In that case the term "octave" and "sestet" are commonly used to refer to the sonnet’s first eight lines followed by the remaining six lines. There are other line-groupings as well, as Shakespeare finds inventive ways with the content of the fourteen line poems.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: When analysed as characters, the subjects of the sonnets are usually referred to as the Fair Youth, the Rival Poet, and the Dark Lady. The speaker expresses admiration for the Fair Youth's beauty, and—if reading the sonnets in chronological order as published—later has an affair with the Dark Lady, then so does the Fair Youth. Current linguistic analysis and historical evidence suggests, however, that the sonnets to the Dark Lady were composed first (around 1591–95), the procreation sonnets next, and the later sonnets to the Fair Youth last (1597–1603). It is not known whether the poems and their characters are fiction or autobiographical; scholars who find the sonnets to be autobiographical have attempted to identify the characters with historical individuals.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The "Fair Youth" is the unnamed young man addressed by the devoted poet in the greatest sequence of the sonnets (1–126). The young man is handsome, self-centred, universally admired and much sought after. The sequence begins with the poet urging the young man to marry and father children (sonnets 1–17). It continues with the friendship developing with the poet’s loving admiration, which at times is homoerotic in nature. Then comes a set of betrayals by the young man, as he is seduced by the Dark Lady, and they maintain a liaison (sonnets 133, 134 & 144), all of which the poet struggles to abide. It concludes with the poet’s own act of betrayal, resulting in his independence from the fair youth (sonnet 152).


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The identity of the Fair Youth has been the subject of speculation among scholars. One popular theory is that he was Henry Wriothesley, the 3rd Earl of Southampton; this is based in part on the idea that his physical features, age, and personality might fairly match the young man in the sonnets. He was both an admirer and patron of Shakespeare and was considered one of the most prominent nobles of the period. It is also noted that Shakespeare’s 1593 poem "Venus and Adonis" is dedicated to Southampton and, in that poem a young man, Adonis, is encouraged by the goddess of love, Venus, to beget a child, which is a theme in the sonnets. Here are the verses from "Venus and Adonis":


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: A problem with identifying the fair youth with Southampton is that the most certainly datable events referred to in the Sonnets are the fall of Essex and then the gunpowder plotters’ executions in 1606, which puts Southampton at the age of 33, and then 39 when the sonnets were published, when he would be past the age when he would be referred to as a "lovely boy" or "fair youth".


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: Authors such as Thomas Tyrwhitt and Oscar Wilde proposed that the Fair Youth was William Hughes, a seductive young actor who played female roles in Shakespeare's plays. Particularly, Wilde claimed that he was the Mr. W.H. referred to in the dedication attached to the manuscript of the Sonnets.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The Dark Lady sequence (sonnets 127–152) is the most defiant of the sonnet tradition. The sequence distinguishes itself from the Fair Youth sequence with its overt sexuality (Sonnet 151). The Dark Lady is so called because she has black hair and "dun" skin. The Dark Lady suddenly appears (Sonnet 127), and she and the speaker of the sonnets, the poet, are in a sexual relationship. She is not aristocratic, young, beautiful, intelligent or chaste. Her complexion is muddy, her breath “reeks”, and she is ungainly when she walks. The relationship strongly parallels Touchstone’s pursuit of Audrey in "As You Like It". The Dark Lady presents an adequate receptor for male desire. She is celebrated in cocky terms that would be offensive to her, not that she would be able to read or understand what is said. Soon the speaker rebukes her for enslaving his fair friend (sonnet 133). He can't abide the triangular relationship, and it ends with him rejecting her. As with the Fair Youth, there have been many attempts to identify her with a real historical individual. Lucy Negro, Mary Fitton, Emilia Lanier, Elizabeth Wriothesley, and others have been suggested.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The Rival Poet's identity remains a mystery. If Shakespeare’s patron and friend was Pembroke, Shakespeare was not the only poet who praised his beauty; Francis Davison did in a sonnet that is the preface to Davison's quarto "A Poetical Rhapsody" (1608), which was published just before "Shakespeare’s Sonnets". John Davies of Hereford, Samuel Daniel, George Chapman, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Jonson are also candidates that find support among clues in the sonnets.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: It may be that the Rival Poet is a composite of several poets through which Shakespeare explores his sense of being threatened by competing poets. The speaker sees the Rival Poet as competition for fame and patronage. The sonnets most commonly identified as the Rival Poet group exist within the Fair Youth sequence in sonnets 78–86.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: "A Lover’s Complaint" is part two of the quarto published in 1609. It is not written in the sonnet form, but is composed of 47 seven-line stanzas written in rhyme royal. It is an example of a normal feature of the two-part poetic form, in which the first part expresses the male point of view, and the second part contrasts or complements the first part with the female’s point of view. The first part of the quarto, the 154 sonnets, considers frustrated male desire, and the second part, "A Lover’s Complaint", expresses the misery of a woman victimized by male desire. The earliest Elizabethan example of this two-part structure is Samuel Daniel’s "Delia … with the Complaint of Rosamund" (1592)—a sonnet sequence that tells the story of a woman being threatened by a man of higher rank, followed by the woman’s complaint. This was imitated by other poets, including Shakespeare with his "Rape of Lucrece", the last lines of which contain Lucrece’s complaint. Other examples are found in the works of Michael Drayton, Thomas Lodge, Richard Barnfield, and others.


title: Shakespeare's sonnets

text: The young man of the sonnets and the young man of “A Lover’s Complaint” provide a thematic link between the two parts. In each part the young man is handsome, wealthy and promiscuous, unreliable and admired by all.