In Praise Of Soccer

This is just awesome:


(It gets good around the 0:22 mark).

I have no idea what they're saying in the clip, but the passion and the joy is undeniable. You can tell how much a World Cup berth means to them; I'm sure they partied throughout the night in Honduras. Did anyone celebrate when the US clinched a World Cup berth? Yeah, didn't think so.

Enough With The Cardic Cats

Another week, another Bengals game decided in the last 60 seconds. Is it getting old? YES. Please, for the love of God, can we get a game that isn't a nail biter? There's no way I can take this every week for the rest of the season. Okay, that's a lie. Obviously, if they go 15-1, I'll take it every day of the week and twice on Sunday. If they win division, I'll take it. Hell, if they just make the damn playoffs, I'll take it. Because then, it'll be all worth it. But right now, as its happening, it sucks. But they're winning, so it doesn't suck that bad. In fact, the more I think about it, we're really got nothing to complain about. Four straight wins, including going 3-0 the first time through the division, and sitting in first place? That's more than anyone here could have asked for after Week 5.

But seriously, I'm already over the "Cardiac Cats" moniker that's been bestowed on the Bengals. I was over it before it started. I love Gus Johnson (I've watched this video at least 35 times), but we really didn't need that nickname.

Perhaps I spoke to soon about the demise of the Moeller High School football program. They thumped Elder last Friday and are currently ranked as the top team in Cincinnati (though they're nowhere to be found on the current USA Today Super 25 rankings, which have St. X at #10, again showing the utter uselessness of trying to rank high school teams nationally). This now makes the season ending St. X-Moeller match up ginormous (and yeah, I'm stoked that "ginormous" is in the spell-checker). Clearly the rivalry isn't dead. My bad.

The more I watch Modern Family, the more I'm thinking that its the best new show of the season. You should be watching it.

I'm in 3 fantasy football leagues this season. Last week, I scored 153.98 points in one league, which is a shitload of points (especially given that its a 16-team league, which is a shitload of teams). In another league, I scored 36 points. Sometimes I hate fantasy football. This is one of those time.

Another awesome 30 for 30 documentary aired tonight, on Baltimore losing the Colts then gaining the Ravens (nee Browns) as told through the eyes of the Colts Marching Band, which continued to play and perform for the 12 years Baltimore didn't have a team. As I said, it was excellent, but I would have liked to have see more on the getting-a-team-by-stealing-someone-else's angle since that's exactly how they lost their first team. For all the hate I throw on Cleveland (all of which is totally deserved), I really did feel bad for the Browns fans when the team left for Baltimore. There should be football in Cleveland (even if they can "win" a game where their quarterback only completes 2 passes, 3 if you include the interception) and there should be football in Baltimore. But it shouldn't have gone down like it did. Given that the film was about Baltimore and its fans, that fact was mentioned but obviously glossed over and not covered in depth.

I've often thought about what it would be like to lose a sports franchise (a major one, that is; I'm not counting the Rockers, Mighty Ducks, Jungle Kats, Silverbacks, Stuff, etc. of the world in this conversation). Obviously, the Reds weren't ever going anyway. But the Bengals were are different story. I remember when it was thought at Mike Brown might move the team out of Cincinnati, back in 1993 or so. Wasn't he in talks with St. Louis, who ultimately got the Rams out of Los Angeles? I seem to recall that. Anyway, I can't even imagine what that would have been like. What would I have done as a fan? I don't know. I certainly wouldn't follow the team to the new city (I'd be betraying my hometown) and I could never just adopt a random new team to cheer for (because those fans are the ones that bother me the most). Are there any other options? I doubt I would stop watching the NFL altogether, but you never know. At the very least, it would probably make playing fantasy football easier.

O Captain, My Captain

Caught the last half of Dead Poet's Society yesterday evening (on VH1 Classic, of all channels). A great movie, one of my favorites. Then later in the night, it was referenced in How I Met Your Mother. Clearly, its a sign. For what, I don't know, but a sign none the less.

Had a solid weekend for beating rival teams. St. X beat Elder on Friday, Virginia (shockingly) beat North Carolina on Saturday, and the Bengals beat the Browns on Sunday. Is it sad that I thought the biggest win of the three was St. X? Elder is clearly X's biggest football rival right now, but it wasn't always that way. In fact, when I was in school, Elder probably ranked 3rd in terms of GCL rivalries, behind Moeller and LaSalle. Moeller was the powerhouse back in the day, LaSalle was the "King of the Road" game, and Elder was just Elder. But now, Elder's the #1 rival, dwarfing both Moeller and LaSalle. Funny how it is.

Speaking of funny, how the hell did Virginia pull off a victory? Is Carolina just that bad? As much as I would have loved to see Groh go 0-12, its always nice to beat Carolina, especially when its a year where they were supposed to be good and the Hoos are so bad.

Note to the Bengals- have a game won or lost before the final minute of regulation/overtime. Please.

Apparently, the baseball regular season ended on Sunday. I can't remember ever being less enthused about a baseball postseason than this one. I read a stat yesterday that said since August 23 (ie- the last 6 weeks of the season), the Reds were 27-13, the best in baseball. They finished 78-84, 4th place in the NL Central, 13 games out. Does this mean we (Reds fans) should be excited for next year? Does one's finish to the previous season have any real bearing on one's performance next? Some say "yes." Look at the Bengals; they were miserable last season, but they managed to finish strong and win their last 3 games. Now, they're 3-1 and tied for first place in the AFC North. Sure, its a tenuous 3-1 (they could be 4-0 as easily as they could be 1-3), but 3-1 is 3-1 at the quarter pole. So maybe there's some reason to hope next spring.

All signs point to Ken Griffey, Jr. retiring from baseball. He got a huge standing ovation from the Seattle fans on Sunday was even carried off the field by his teammates at the end of the game. Its tough to come back from getting carried off the field. I've made my thoughts known on Ken Griffey, Jr. He was the best player I ever saw (and will ever see). If this was his last year, he'll be headlining the Hall of Fame class in 2014, the first year of his eligibility.

I'm incredibly stoked for ESPN's 30 for 30 series that starts tonight. Hands down, this looks like the coolest thing ESPN's ever done. 30 documentaries by 30 filmmakers covering topics from the past 30 years (since this is ESPN's 30th anniversary). Its a complete 360 from the"me, me, me" 25th anniversary celebration, which is a good thing. The subject list for 30 for 30 just looks incredible. Tonight's doc is about the trade of Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton to Los Angeles, done by Peter Berg (director/producer of Friday Night Lights, both the movie and the TV show). I plan to watch all 30 films, but I'm particularly interested in the ones on Allen Iverson, Reggie Miller and the Knicks, fantasy sports, Terry Fox, and June 17, 1994. Again, this just looks so cool.

In other TV recommendation news, you should be watching Modern Family, Glee, and FlashForward. All good, in completely different ways.

Final thought- I read from a friend that the ideal frequency for chest compressions during CPR is 100 bpm, which happens to be the same tempo for both Stayin' Alive and Another One Bites The Dust. Now THAT'S a sign.

Greatest Prediction Ever

This just has to be heard to be believed.

Second at-bat, 3-1 count, fastball, home run, left-center, 2nd deck. That's just awesome.

This is now my favorite sports play prediction of all time, replacing Snoop Dogg. I wish I could find the video, but it went something like this: USC was down in the red zone and Snoop, a big USC fan, was being interviewed on camera behind the end zone the Trojans were driving toward. The interviewer asked Snoop, who coaches (or at least, coached at the time) his son's peewee football team, what play he would call next. Snoop responded with something to the effect of, "hand it off to my boy LenDale White for the touchdown and then flip the ball to Coach Snoop." On the next play, USC handed it off to LenDale White, who scored, then flipped the ball to Snoop, still standing next to the interviewer and cameraman. They immediately cut back to Snoop, who proceeded to strike the Heisman pose. It was pretty cool. But calling a guy's first career homerun down to the when (second at-bat), how (fastball on 3-1), and where (left-center, 2nd deck) is just crazy (okay, so it just missed the 2nd deck; its still incredible).

It's Been A Long Time Comin'

Bengals 23, Steelers 20.

Not going to lie, that felt good. It wasn't easy (seriously, -10 yards in the 1st quarter?), but a win's a win, especially against a division opponent and especially against Pittsburgh. I jumped out of my seat when Brian Leonard dove for the first down on 4th and 10 (as I noted on Facebook, Leonard should eat for free this week in town for that play). I let out a scream when Carson Palmer found Andre Caldwell in the end zone with 14 seconds left. And I, along with everyone else in Cincinnati, cringed in fear for a moment thinking that 14 seconds was too much time to leave on the clock. But there was no "Immaculate Deflection Part II" this week (fuckin' Brandon Stokley). Who Dey indeed.

After Sunday's game, is there any question that the offense should go no-huddle/modified hurry-up all the time? It was the only time they were able to move the ball down field and score (or at least be in position to score). Isn't the no-huddle offense what we used to win the division in 2005? Curious....

Virginia was on a bye this week. And yet, I think they still found a way to lose. I kinda hope they did; I had Bye Week (-7.5) over the Hoos.

Speaking of college football, it was proven again this weekend that the polls are completely meaningless. Ole Miss, Penn State, Cal.... no one knows anything when it comes to ranking teams this early in the season, they even admit to it, and yet they still do it. As I've said before, I don't think there should be a single poll until about halfway through the season. Crazy idea- give teams time to actually *do* something before trying to rank them. Insanity, I know.

Finished Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol over the weekend. Its not the worst book I've ever read, but all that means is that I've read some really bad books. Its a shameless Da Vinci Code ripoff. That's right, Dan Brown ripped off himself. The story, the pacing, the characters, the character's motivations, the twists, its almost shot-for-shot from The Da Vinci Code. And like all other Dan Brown books, it completely falls apart at the end. He clearly to put a lot time in to researching the locations he uses in his books (be it The Vatican, Paris, or, in this case, Washington, D.C.) and tying it all into a conspiracy-theory filled story, but he seems to be completely lost when it comes to wrapping it up in the end. Probably only worth reading for curiosities sake (and because everyone else in the world will be reading it).

Great Years For Movies

I've seen a lot of movies so far this year. Watchmen, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Trek, The Hangover, Angels & Demons, just to name a few. Not quite halfway through 2009 and I've probably seen more movies in the theater this year than I did in the past two years combined (and there are still several more to go; I'm looking at you, Transformers, G.I. Joe, Harry Potter, Public Enemies). And while not all of these movies (if any) are destined to be classics (though I've got high hopes for Public Enemies), it did get me to think about the great years in movie releases. I was aided in this inquiry by the current issue of Toyfare magazine (yes, a magazine/price guide for toys, action figures, busts, statues, maquettes, etc.- get over it).

The folks over at Toyfare have proclaimed 1984 to be "the best year in pop culture." Now, I tend to think that's more a function of our distance from 1984 (25 years, for those of you who struggle with math) than it does with that actually happened in 1984, but that's an argument for a different time. I mention the article here because it alerted me to the plethora of great movies that were released in 1984. Check out this list:

The Terminator, Gremlins, This Is Spinal Tap, Ghost Busters, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Amadeus, Beverly Hills Cop, The Karate Kid, The Natural, Sixteen Candles, Footloose, Purple Rain, The Neverending Story, Red Dawn, Police Academy, Bachelor Party, The Last Starfighter, Revenge of the Nerds

That's pretty damn good, and I'm sure I missed a few. Now, any cinephile will tell you that the greatest year for movies was 1939, and its really hard to argue that. I mean, when your lineup's got Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Gunga Din, Wurthering Heights, and Mr. Smith Goes To Washington; that's like the '27 Yankees. So everyone's battling for second place. Fine. What years stack up after '39? I think 1984 has a strong case. They may not all be "classics" but they are some good movies. Thinking about 1984 lead me to consider 1994, which has also been named a great year for movies. Consider:

Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, The Lion King, Hoop Dreams, Heavenly Creatures, Clerks, Forrest Gump, Quiz Show, Nobody's Fool, The Professional, Natural Born Killers, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Mask, The Crow, Interview With The Vampire, Ed Wood, Reality Bites, Speed (okay, maybe not so much)

Another solid year. Maybe years ending in -4 have something to do with it (1974-The Godfather Part II, Chinatown, The Conversation*, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Lenny; 1964: Dr. Strangelove, Mary Poppins, Goldfinger, My Fair Lady, A Fistful of Dollars). Maybe its just because years ending in -4 puts the difference between then and now on the -5's.

[Random note: John Cazale, aka Fredo Corleone, appeared in all of 5 movies before dying of cancer, The Godfather Part I, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter, and appeared in archival footage in The Godfather Part III. All 6 movies were nominated for Best Picture. Not bad for 6 movies.]

So what about 2004? Which if these, if any, will be remembered as "classics" or "greats" 15 or 20 years from now: The Incredibles, Million Dollar Baby, Sideways, Spider-Man 2, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ray, Shaun of the Dead, Finding Neverland, The Aviator, Garden State, Crash, Napolean Dynamite, Saw, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy?

For me, I might have to go with 1999 as my favorite year (again with the nice, neat time difference). Fight Club, The Matrix, Office Space, The Sixth Sense, American Beauty, American Pie, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, 10 Things I Hate About You, Toy Story 2, Three Kings, Galaxy Quest, Being John Malkovich, The Blair Witch Project, Election, The Insider, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut; now THAT was a good year. Although, I think the fact that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace also came out in 1999 make the year ineligible for competition. No year that saw the release of a Star Wars prequel is qualified to call itself "the greatest year for movies." Damn you, George Lucas.

It's Called "The Internet"

Oh, how far we've come.

What Did You Get On Your SAT's?

Zack Morris got a 1502 (the one piece of Saved By The Bell trivia I know).



That is just weird. Awesome. But weird.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand We're Back

Hopefully.

Maybe.

We'll see.

So, I've been a little lax recently on posting here. I'm going to try and be less lax about doing so in the near future. I'll start by making another movie recommendation- if you want to laugh for an hour and a half, go see The Hangover.

Nothing actually happens in the movie, and yes, the trailers pretty much give you the movie, but it was still funny as hell. Sure, it probably would have been funnier if you didn't already know that Mike Tyson had a cameo, but his scenes are still hysterical. I mean, Mike Tyson singing In The Air Tonight? Never not funny. Supposedly, there's a sequel already in the works. I'm not entirely sure how that's going to work (perhaps the storyline involving Ed Helm's Stu character), but I'm sure it will. Anyway, the movie's a riot. Mindless, juvenile, offensive, yes. But really funny. Go see it.



(Random factoid I discovered while reading up on The Hangover: Zack Galifianakis was offered a role in Into The Wild because Sean Penn saw an earlier movie he had done about 15 times. The movie? Out Cold. See Puddin', you're not only one with love for Out Cold; Sean Penn's seen it 15 times!)

To Boldy Go...

Go see Star Trek. Seriously, go see it. Its really good, really fun, and you don't need any prior Star Trek knowledge to enjoy it. Sure, some knowledge helps, but its definitely not required. J.J. Abrams and crew did, in my opinion, did a masterful job of a)introducing the characters, b)acknowledging the existing story canon, and c)establishing a new story arc that all viewers could follow and get behind. Earlier, I said that everyone should go see Watchmen, and while I still stand by that, I think that Star Trek is a far better "you'll enjoy this even if you nothing about the source material" movie.

Without spoiling it, I'll just say that the plot of the movie guards itself from criticism about changes to the Star Trek canon. Sure, it makes for a kinda weak plot, but plot clearly wasn't the point of the movie; the point was to set up the characters and the universe in which they operate so they can tell more substantial stories later in the sequels (and judging by the early box office numbers, I think a sequel's inevitable, if one hasn't already been announced; if it holds at #1 against Angels and Demons this week, I bet they announce TWO more movies). And the characters and character interactions were by far the best parts of the movie. I thought the cast did a great job of embodying the essence of the characters they were playing without resorting to imitations of the original actors. You could see how these characters could logically (sorry) progress into the characters of old. The scene of Kirk as a kid going on a joyride (the one you see in the trailer) was unnecessary, but there's also a scene of Spock as a kid that's just awesome. The action scenes were nice and flashy, but the character scenes were what I found the most interesting.

There were also plenty of Easter eggs planted throughout the movie to satisfy the hardcore Trekkies (or Trekkers, as I guess, from the video below, that's the correct term now). Nearly all the iconic lines from the old show were fit into the script, and every time one was uttered, it drew praise from the audience I was in. Kirk hooking up with the green-skinned alien-girl was a nod to a classic Star Trek episode. I've also read that was a tribble sitting on the desk when we first meet Scotty (I didn't catch this; guess I'll have to see it again). And, much like it was done in Casino Royale for James Bond, you don't hear the iconic Star Trek theme until the end of the movie, implying that its only at that point that they've become "the crew of the Starship Enterpise."

So go see it, you won't be disappointed. Also, watch this clip from last Saturday's Weekend Update on SNL; you won't be disappointed but it, either:



Live long and prosper.

I Need To Find This Guy

Seriously. If we have masked vigilantes running around Cincinnati, I need to get downtown more often.

My God, Please Let This Happen

The Bengals might appear on HBO's Hard Knocks.

Now, I've never seen Hard Knocks, but I would totally watch it if the Bengals were featured (I think I've made it clear that I only watch reality shows when they involve Cincinnatians). This HAS to happen. Actually, no. This only has to happen if Mike Brown is prominently featured throughout the show (and since he's the only in charge, I'm guessing that would be inevitable). Brown is crazy reclusive to the point where he almost never gives television interviews, so I have a hard time seeing him getting on board with this. But seeing just how dysfunctional and ass-backward Mike Brown runs the team would be so worth it. Everyone who follows the NFL would want to see the Bengals on this show. EVERYONE. Please, make this happen.

Glow-Hoinking Lives On!

The ongoing saga of whether or not Western Bowl will be closing has finally come to an end- Western Bowl will remain open.

This is huge news. Western Bowl will be under new ownership AND still be called Western Bowl (after all, what's the point in saving the place if you up and change the name?). From the article, it looks like the site could have become a fitness center; how much would that have sucked? Also, the Hoinke Classic is set to make its triumphant return in 2010. Perhaps this is a sign of better days to come.

Fun With Rockets

From this past week's episode of Mythbusters, one of the coolest high speed camera shots I've ever seen (starting around the 3:00 mark):



Good times.

A Ray Of Hope In These Tough Economic Times

The Reds have brought back $5 seats to Great American Ballpark!

This is great. Sure, its limited to the sections in the corners of the upper deck and not the "top 6 rows" like back in the day, but its better than nothing. And its a baseball game, so unless there's a giant pillar right in front of you, there really isn't a bad seat. This makes games (more) affordable for people, and getting families to the ballgame without breaking the bank is always a good thing.

A mere 4 days until Opening Day, and no, I don't count the ESPN Sunday night game; the baseball season doesn't start until the Reds play their first game (its baseball history regardless of what the television schedule says). Upcoming, an in depth look (well, not so much) at the Reds 2009 season with predictions that are most assuredly to be completely wrong.

Baseball's back (almost). Anyone want to catch a game next weekend?

Weekly TV Thoughts: 03/22 - 03/28

Well, my bracket's pretty much shot. Memphis and Pittsburgh are both out, which means half of my Final Four is already wrong. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see Louisville and Oklahoma both go down today to make me a perfect 0-4.

-Kings, Sunday: I’m starting to really like this show. I like all the depth and history they are giving the characters. Like what’s up with the King’s daughter, Michelle? What vow did she make years ago that would keep her from being with David? Has she been betrothed to someone else? Or is it something entirely different? And what about the King’s son, Jack? King Silas implied that Jack’s got some secrets that could be a hindrance to him someday being king;l what cold that be? And the Kng himself, with a mistress and bastard son; will that information ever come to light (I'm sure it will at some point)? I REALLY liked Brian Cox’s turn as the displaced king that Silas overthrew and who everyone thinks is dead. I hope they bring him back for more, and that he wasn’t just a way for Silas to replenish the treasury after his brother-in-law pulled all the gold. And speaking of the King’s brother-in-law, what’s the back story to his son being banished from court? Is that the reason why he hold a grudge against Silas? Or does the hatred run deeper? I really hope the show lasts long enough to explore all these stories because its setting up to be a real good character drama.

-Heroes, Monday: Look at that, a not-sucky episode of Heroes. Welcome back to the show, Bryan Fuller. So Micah's Rebel; not a major revelation, since everyone watching the show called it from the start, but its good to have him back in the fold. One major question- why is Danko keeping his prisoners sedated? He's no longer under Nathan's watch, so why doesn't he just kill them all? He clearly has no conscience about doing so, and has suggested more than once that would be his preference, so it doesn't make any sense from a character perspective why he's keeping them alive (obviously, from a storytelling perspective, you want your character's alive). And as to killing characters, I don't think we've seen the last of Ali Larter on the show. Either they bring back Tracey by having her reform herself T2 style or she comes back as Barbara, the as-yet-to-be-seen third sister. As much as I wanted to hate the Hiro-Ando-baby storyline, it actually redeemed itself in this episode. One, we learned the baby's power (he can turn things on and off with his touch, from electronics to latent superpowers), and it gave Hiro partial use of his power again. Much like they did with Peter, I think the scaled down version is much better because they were just too powerful. Teleportation and time-travel is really just too much; leaving Hiro with just freezing time (when he's holding Baby Parkman) is a good thing. Secondly, we saw Ando shoot the red Force lightning, which doesn't make a whole lot sense except for the fact than we saw him do it in the future. Clearly, it incapacitates people without powers, but what if he hit someone with powers with his Force lightning? Would it knock them out, too, or would it supercharge their powers to the point they lost control of them? And finally, Parkman and Daphne. So they bring Daphne back just to let her die. I admit, it was faked out Parkman's projection at first, but the flying as a bit of a give away. Although, they already inexplicably gave him the ability to draw the future, so what's another for him? Anyway, I wonder what this will do to Matt; I'd like to see this send him on a psychic rampage, but with him inevitably meeting up with Hiro and Ando (and his son), I don't think that's going to happen. Which is too bad, because Parkman could do some serious damage.

-24, Monday: This week, we got to see the growth of Jack Bauer. Old Jack would have left that dock guard to get shot and not thought anymore of it. But New Jack stepped in and saved him, and potential risked securing the bio-weapon. Of course, he gets it anyway, but Tony is taken hostage in the process. And of course, the bad guys take the bio-weapon back, but not before Jack enters the container to shut off the container which is spewing toxic gas into the air. Think Jack makes it? Well, Keifer Sutherland's signed on for Season 8 next year, so, spoiler alert. Back at the White House, Ethan as decided to resign, which brings a smile to Olivia's face. Naturally, she was the leak the whole time, and waited a full 8 seconds after Ethan left his office to call her TV producer friend and throw Ethan under the bus. My prediction for Olivia- she replaces Ethan as her mother's Chief of Staff, does something wildly illegal that she justifies as being for the good mother's presidency, gets fired by the President, and is replaced by Ethan. All in the final nine hours of the day. We also got some more Jonas Hodge backstory this episode, but we still don't know what his motivation is for these attacks. We know that Starkwood is under investigation and that he's at odds with the Starkwood board of directors as to how to handle the situation. Is he planning these attacks to that Starkwood can swoop in and save the day, thus proving their neccessity to America's security and ending the investigations? I think that's possible, but not likely. I think his motivation is far more sinister than that.

-Lost, Wednesday: Another solid episode. I liked the flashbacks filling in the gaps in Sayid's timeline off island. Nothing Earth-shatteringly new was revealed, but the story's more complete. And now its a certainity (in my mind, anyway) that we'll soon get Kate and Hurley flashback episodes, filling in the gaps in their story and completing the O6 story arc. I really thought that the Dharma folks would actually torture Sayid, but then I remembered that they're just a bunch of hippies, and a drug-induced interrogation is much more their style. I also love how they believe everything Sayid says, even the stuff that he couldn't possibly know, like the details of the Swan station, but as soon as he says he's from the future, they thinks he's nuts. You can believe that he has intimate knowledge of your operation on a island filled with mystical and unexplained properties, but you can't believe he came from the future; seriously, how far of a leap is that? Anyway, I liked the scene with Sayid, Young Ben, and Roger. You know who and what Ben grows up to be, and yet you feel sympathy for him as you see his father knock him around. And given what they showed about Sayid's father at the start of the episode, I really thought he might reach through the bars and step in on Young Ben's behalf. Which brings up to the last scene, where Young Ben distracts the camp with a burning Dharma bus so he can spring Sayid from his cell and run off with him to join the Hostiles. Too bad Sayid's plan is to kill Young Ben when gets the chance. Luckly for Sayid, Jin shows up to give him just that chance. Clearly, Young Ben isn't dead. I think Jin wakes up and rushes Young Ben back to camp to be saved. What I think will be interesting will be who step up to save him. I can see Jack saying no and being content to letting him die (afterall, he's already done it once). I think Juliet ends up saving him, which is the origin of Ben's obsession with her, which we saw in the future. I also like the idea that Ben was complicit in his own attempted murder; Ben knows that Sayid is supposed to shot him in 1977, so when he encounters Sayid in the future, he cultivates his killer instinct so when Sayid goes back in time, he shoots Ben for making him a killer, just like he was supposed to. As Faraday said, whatever happened, happened, and I think Ben is keenly aware of this, more so than anyone else on the island.

-Dollhouse, Friday: Okay, now this show is getting really good. I am officially excited to see where they take this series, especially after the promo for next week. But first, this episode. Great scenes with everyone effected by the drug, especially betten Topher and Ms. DeWitt. I really liked the dichotomy of how the drug made regular people giddy and silly, but it made the Actives remember parts from their pasts, which weren't all that pleseant, which is why they became Actives in the place. I also liked the mirror between Echo/Caroline's recruitment and this Sam guy's recruitment. I think it'd be cool we just see him in the background somewhere down the line, just walking around the Dollhouse, but I don't that'll happen. But next week, The Awakening! They're having the Actives remember who they are (or at least just Echo, Victor, and Sierra). It doesn't look like everyone in the Dollhouse will be "awoken", so I wonder if they're going to tie these three "waking up" to the drug they came in contact with in this episode. It sure seems that way, unless they have some other ingenius way explaining why only some of the Actives become self-aware and some don't. Can't wait to see where this show goes next.

-College Lacrosse, Virginia vs. Maryland, Saturday: One word- EPIC. Just a phenomenal game, possibly in the top 10 all-time games I've ever seen. A defensive battle in the first half, Maryland dominates the 3rd quarter, then Virginia rallies back in the 4th to send the game into overtime tied at 9. Then right off the bat, Maryland's potential game winning goal is erased by an "inadvertent whistle." The refs thought Maryland coach Dave Cottle had called timeout, but he denied ever doing so (my thought- someone on Maryland's sideline not Cottle did call timeout, and then didn't own up to it after the goal was taken off the board). Play resumed and Maryland promptly pinged the iron with a shot. At least a dozen shots either hit the post or went just wide, and the ones that didn't were stopped dead by the goalies. Even Virginia's backup goalie, who had to come into the game cold after our starter took a necessary foul to prevent Maryland from scoring the game winner (in lacrosse, goalies serve they penalties), made a great save to preserve the game for the 'Hoos and send it into another overtime. And in the longest game in NCAA lacrosse history, about a minute into the 7th overtime, UVA scored and sent those God-damn Terrapins back to College Park loser. The Terps rank #2 on my list of most hated schools (top 5- VT, Maryland, UNC, Duke, West Virginia, in that order), so its always great to beat them. And its even sweeter when its in a game as great as this one was. Fuck the Terrapins. Go Hoos!

The Bracket, Take Two

Okay, I've had a few days to digest the bracket, and I've come to my final picks, which I've entered in a number of ESPN.com groups (Around The Horn, PTI, and Mike & Mike's Sheets of Integrity) and the one pool I've entered for money. I tend to fill out a number of brackets, but there's always one bracket I consider my "official" bracket, and that's this one. Based on history, this bracket is guaranteed to be no more than 60% correct, and won't be anywhere near the top of any leaderboard. How do I know this? Since I started following college basketball (which was around 1990 or 1991), I've picked exactly ONE decent bracket (1995, I finished second in my pool; if it had been UNC to lose to UCLA instead of Arkansas, I would've won). So I expect these picks to follow the trend I've already set and fail miserably.

Midwest: Round 1 winners- Louisville, Ohio State, Utah, Wake, Dayton, Kansas, USC, Michigan State. I really wanted to pick Cleveland State over Wake and North Dakota State over Kansas, but I couldn't; too much of a wuss. I don't think USC over BC is much of an upset given how hot USC's been lately, and I like Dayton over West Virginia because I don't like West Virginia (and let's face it, they don't like me either). In the Sweet 16 I've got Louisville, Utah, Kansas, and Michigan State. Louisville and Michigan State in the Elite 8, and Louisville in the Final Four.

West: Round 1 winners- UConn, BYU, Purdue, Mississippi State, Utah State, Missouri, Maryland, Memphis. Despite me thinking that Maryland doesn't even belong in the tournament, I think they'll beat Cal. I like Mississippi State to ride their hot streak past Washington (I'm not real big on Pac-10 teams) and all the way to the Sweet 16 (getting past Purdue in the process, which is tough because I really like this Purdue team). Marquette without Dominic James isn't Marquette, so I fully expect Utah State to pull the upset. Joining Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 is UConn, Missouri, and Memphis. I would love to see Mississippi State continue the run, but I think they fall to UConn, and Memphis beats Missouri. Then I've got Memphis advancing to the Final Four over UConn. They'll be able to play the disrespect card all the way through the tournament, and that'll give them the edge of UConn in the regional final.

East: Round 1 winners- Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Florida State, Xavier, VCU, Villanova, Texas, Duke. I really, REALLY wanted to take Portland State over Xavier because XU has struggled down the stretch, but I couldn't; I think they can win one game before getting crushed by Florida State (really like this Seminole team). VCU is a homer pick- I used to live in Richmond, VA- and again, I don't think very much of the Pac-10. They also have two stud players (in Maynor and Sanders) that can more and hold their own against Collison and Shipp. But as much as I love me some VCU, they don't get past Villanova. 'Nova is the under-the-radar Big East team that not enough people are paying attention to. Pitt, FSU, 'Nova, and Duke in the Sweet 16, with Pitt and 'Nova in the Elite 8. I know Pitt is prone to choking in these situations, but I think this is the year they finally make the Final Four.

South: Round 1 winners- UNC, Butler, Western Kentucky, Gonzaga, Arizona State, Syacuse, Clemson, Oklahoma. As I said in my initial thoughts on the bracket, Illinois is vulnerable without Chester Frazier running the point. If he can't go in Round 1 (or even if he's out there at less than 100%), I think the Hilltoppers bounce the Illini. I see the rest of this bracket holding to seed, with Carolina, Gonzaga, Syracuse, and Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, and Carolina and Oklahoma in the Elite 8. I went back and forth on this one, Carolina or Oklahoma, and in the end, decided to stay with the Sooners. And I recognize that could be purely out of my hatred for all things Carolina. And I'm okay with that.

Final Four: Louisville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma- pretty much what I picked on Sunday. I like Louisville over Memphis and Oklahoma over Pittsburgh (man, how great would it be to see Griffin-Hansbrough one weekend, then Griffin-Blair the next?) with Louisville as your 2009 National Champion.

But what do I know. As soon as the ball goes up tomorrow, I'll be rooting for all the upsets, hoping and praying that my, and everyone else's, bracket gets shot to hell by Friday night. Its why Thursday and Friday are the best two days in sports all year.

And a bonus- check out President Obama making his picks:



I think he picked Carolina simply because he played a pick up game with them during the campaign.

The Bracket, Take One

Okay, the NCAA Tournament Bracket is out, time for some knee-jerk reactions (subject to change as the week goes on).

Overall: No complaints about the #1 seeds, and Louisville deserves the overall #1 seed after winning the Big East tournament (and with the other candidates losing). I don't get how Maryland made the field, especially at a #10 seed. I really don't get how Arizona made it at a #12. Where's the love for Creighton or St. Mary's? Thirty-four at-large bids, 30 to major (BCS) conference schools, 4 to mid-majors. I know the tournament committee doesn't take conference affiliation into account, but that ratio is unacceptable in my mind. But those teams were really the only ones I had a beef with. And speaking of conference affiliation, I believe I got another bold 2009 prediction wrong. I said that 10 Big East would make the tournament; they got 7. Well, I didn't count on Notre Dame and Georgetown tanking like they did, and UC had a shot until the folded late in the year. I also said that no Big East team would make the Final Four; that one's most certainly going to be proven wrong (more on this later).

Midwest: I like Louisville in this region. In fact, I think this region will mostly hold to the seeds, with only a few upsets. USC over Boston College could be it. I'd love to see Dayton over West Virginia and Cleveland State over Wake, but those are probably long shots. Normally I would take Siena over Ohio State, but the game's in Dayton, so I think its the Buckeyes. Michigan State v. Kansas in the Sweet 16 would be a great matchup. In the end, again, I'm going with Louisville.

West: Did Memphis deserve the #1 seed here over UConn? Does it really matter? Purdue's playing pretty well right now, now that they're healthy again. I think they could give UConn a good run in the Sweet 16, but they wouldn't have an answer for Thabeet down low. I like Mississippi State, hot off their SEC tournament win, to upset Washington in the first round. I think Marquette's vulnerable because of Dominic James's injur; Utah State could pull the upset there, too. It looks like a pretty clear path for a UConn-Memphis showdown, but I think Missouri could sneak up in there and surprise some people. Not sure who I like out of this region yet.

East: This is a tough region. Florida State's playing well right now, and could knock off Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16 and have a rematch with Duke in the Elite 8. That is, if Duke can get past VCU (who I think will make the Sweet 16). The Rams knocked off Duke 2 years again, then lost to Pittsburgh. If VCU can get to a matchup with Duke and get past them, Pittsburgh could again be on the other side (assuming they get past the Seminoles). Of course, that could all go to hell if Villanova gets hot and makes a run, which is more than possible. Right now, I'm taking Pittsburgh out of the East.

South: How great would a Hansbrough-Griffin matchup be in the Elite 8? I don't see either one getting upset, so I think it happens. And if it does, I like Oklahoma and Blake Griffin to advance to the Final Four. I don't see a lot of upsets in this region, outside of Western Kentucky over Illinois (sorry, bro). You need a 12-5 upset, and with Illinois's starting point guard out with a wrist injury, I think this is the most likely candidate.

Final Four: So I've got Louisville, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, and a team to be named later in my Final Four right now. Does UConn make it and give the Big East 3 teams in? Very, very possible (hello, 1985 Final Four). And what about Syracuse in the West? They are more than capable of coming out of there as the #3 seed, which could give the Big East all four teams in the Final Four. Its never happened, four teams from the same conference, but up until last year, all four #1 seeds had never all made the Final Four, either. And if its ever going to happen, its got to be this year with the Big East, since I predicted that zero Big East teams would make the Final Four. If that happens, it would just be rubbing salt in the wound that is the curse of this blog. So I think there's a good chance it does.

As always, these predictions are subject to change throughout the week. I'll revisit the bracket either Tuesday or Wednesday with updated thoughts and predictions that are sure to be wrong.

In Preparation For March Madness

There's a new commercial for Vitamin Water starring Christian Laettner and Rick Pitino. I think its hysterical, especially Pitino's bit at the end. He's still probably wondering why both they guys he put on Laettner were standing behind him.



And THAT got me remembering this outstanding ESPN college basketball commercial from back in the day:



R.I.P. Chris Farley.

Watch Watchmen

Watchmen was fucking awesome. Plain and simple, go see it (don't worry, no spoilers in this post). Do you have to be a fan of the comic (or know the comic) to enjoy it? I don't think so, but its hard for me to say since I am. Just know going in that there is a lot of graphic violence and sex and that the movie is very dark. Very dark. And very graphic, especially with the violence. The sex is actually pretty tame when compared to the violence. That is, unless you count all the time you see a blue-CGI'ed penis, which is quite a few (seriously). But I can't stress the violence enough; if you can't stand violence, Watchmen might not be for you. Based on the audible gasps and the fact that a few people walked out part of the way through the movie, I'm guessing some people in the theater didn't quite know what they were getting into. Oh well. I thought it was incredible, and my complaints (few as they are) have to do with visual style and casting and nothing to do with the story or how it was told.

Complaint #1- all the damn slow motion. We get it, Zack Snyder, it looks cool when you slow down time and then speed it up real quick to catch up; we all saw 300. Watchmen is a long movie (2:43, I believe), and I swear it could have been a half hour shorter if all the slo-mo had been dropped. Okay, so there's not that much slo-mo, but there's a lot. Its used in pretty much every action sequence. I get that its just a director's visual style, but its been done to death (see: Bay, Michael).

Complaint #2- Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias. A lot of reviews I read pegged Malin Akerman as the weak casting link, but I think it was Goode. And its not that he's a weak actor, I just think he was miscast. You don't believe for a second that he's the "smartest man in the world", and if you do believe that, you certainly don't believe that he physically capabable to do what he does in the movie. And then there's this odd accent that comes and goes with him. The first time we see Adrian Veidt, he's got this strange, indecernable accent, but later in the movie, he's got nothing at all. It was a little distracting. Aside for Ozymandias, I thought the rest of the movie was cast well, especially Jackie Earle Haley and Patrick Wilson.

There's a lot of talk about the movie altering the climactic ending from that in the comic; don't worry about it. I don't think the original ending would have worked on screen. They cut elements from the story that tie into the original ending (and they were right in doing that), so without those story points, the original ending wouldn't have made any sense. What they changed it to works better in the context of the story and achieves the exact same intended outcome. In fact, I dare say that the movie's ending achieves that outcome in a more complete and all-encompassing way than the comic.

So all-in-all, I loved Watchmen. Its totally worth seeing again in the theater, and I might do just that before the weekend's over.