A few things to get off my chest between the two holidays.
I just watched BC achieve a higher level of mediocrity than they had in some time. With their come from behind bowl victory over Navy they had their first ten win season since doug fluite was in Chestnut Hill. I definitely root for BC, but it's hard to get very excited about anything they do these days, they lose just enough to stay out of the top 15 and elite program status. Things will be changing next year, whether that's a good or bad thing remains to be seen, but I'll welcome the change either way, maybe they'll finally come up with a big win, and make a run at a big bowl. I'll definitely miss the pride that come with supporting a program that is atop the list for graduation rate, but if they make a BCS bowl even once in the next five years, I'm willing to make the swap.
Speaking of the Eagles, former BC coach Tom Coughlin may be coaching his final game for the Giants. The big news yesterday was that Jeremy Shockey will miss tonight's game against the 'Skins. It just begs the question, who will make a crucial drop then throw his teammates and coaches under the bus after this loss? Tiki Barber is always a candidate for that, but shockey is more of a sure thing. I think for everyone's sake they should lose tomorrow and then the team can be blown up and take a totally different direction. While I think that it's too early to give up on Eli, if the same questions are being asked about him a year from now as seem to be asked after their recent losses, it might be time to move onto to a new QB as well.
So once Coughlin is fired, there will be much intrigue over who moves into NY as the new head coach. And while talk of both Belichick and Charlie Weis swirls, I doubt either possibility will come to fruition. Maybe I'm wrong and these guys think as higly of the Giants as all the media seems to, but it'll be a real shock to me. I'd be more interested to see a wedding between Coughlin and 'Bama. The job remains open, and they're probably making a big run for Nick Saban, but if Saban turns them down, Coughlin would be a great consolation prize. It may be better for Alabama in the long run. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to you is to be turned down by your first choice. As wonderful as it is for Urban Meyer to be in the national title game, I can't imagine that Notre Dame is longing for him over Charlie Weis. Of course that will all be moot if Weis is coaching the Giants next year.
I saw Rocky Balboa last night, and I enjoyed it. While there shouldn't be any oscar buzz around it, I can't imagine that people will be asking for their money back. in some ways the movie felt like one of those reality tv re-union shows, there were so many clips, flashbacks and references to the old movies (and rightly so,) that I wanted to go back and watch those movies again when I got home. For what it's worth, the original Rocky for me is one of the more timeless movies out there.
While I'm talking about movies, I wanted to mention the fact that on Ebert and Roeper today, A.O. Scott referred to Clint Eastwood as the best director making movies today. At first I was taken aback by it, but upon much deliberation (at least 15 minutes of thought,) I have to agree. Furthermore the only reason he doesn't get credit for it is because he just doesn't carry himself as an Auteur or genius, he just makes great movies, excuse me, films that speak for themselves.
Well, that's what I got today, have a safe and happy new year.
-Bender Out
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Holiday post
Just a few things I had on my mind when I took a break form the holiday madness.
I''m overjoyed that the Celtics didn't end up trading for Allen Iverson. Unless they were able to trade for him without giving up Green and Jefferson while still keeping all their future first round picks the trade would have given them a two year run where they were "interesting" but never truly title contenders, then they would have fallen back into mediocrity, completely undermining all the sacrifice they've made during the Danny Ainge era. If you want to reward the fans who've stood by the Celtics during their rough times, you have stop looking for quick fixes and make moves where the end result is a championship. Trading for AI would've resulted in two years of second round playoff losses, and no matter how fun it is to watch Iverson break a defenders ankles, winning a title is a lot more fun, and after Iverson's short run the team would quickly fall back into mediocrity. With the Iverson to Boston saga completely over I want to note that the argument for the trade which enraged me the most was the whole "Pierce would be fine playing with Iverson, because he had to share the ball with 'Toine" argument. I don;t know who originated this argument, it was either started by an Antoine hater, someone who didn;t ever watch those Celtics teams, or someone who doesn't truly understand the game. Anotine Walker deferred to Paul Pierce almost from day one. Antoine has always been willing to do what's best for the team to win. For all his faults, Walker was a winner, and he understood that Paul was the man on those teams, something that Iverson would never have been willing to accept.
As far as Iverson going to Denver, this is just a disaster waiting to happen. Iverson will do his best to be a team player and distributor once 'Melo comes back, but it's really not in his nature. Once the chips are on the line in the playoffs, Iverson will instinctively try to be "The Man" and the team will crumble, I'm predicting a first round loss again in the playoffs. Maybe in the Eastern Conerfence they could fool us for a while and make it to the confernce fuinals, but this team is not a good blend, Iverson will probably be aksing for a trade behind the scenes by the off-season, and if George Karl is still around, he might want to grant AI that wish.
So that's my final say on this whole Allen Iverson saga. Moving onto a far more interesting sport, I was driven top madness yesterday while watching the Cowboys/Eagles match-up. If I had seen Carrie Underwood one more time, I may have thrown my TV out the window. The only thing that enabled me to tough it out was the complete thrashing the Eagles laid on the 'Boys. I will admit that part of what annoyed me was just the idea of Romo hooking up with the very hot Underwood, who while hot as an American Idol contestant, is now almost twice as hot. Romo doesn;t deserve such a prize. Hopefully the hype around Romo and the rest of his fraud team will be dying down now. On the other side of the coin, I can;t be more happy for Jeff Garcia who has undergone a total redemption and now should get his own starting job in the NFL. Last night must've been extra sweet for him, beating TO, the man who publicly blased Garcia and questioned his sexuality. Garcia has always been a class act and it feels good to see him beat TeRash in a big spot like that.
I watched The DaVinci Code yesterday, and it kicked ass. I don;t what all the hullbaloo was about last summer when it came out, it was a good movie, kept you on the edge of your seat and would've been well wrth the trip to the theater. This strikes me as another situation wehere people wanted the movie to fail after all the hype before-hand. A phenomenon I've been accutely aware of ever since Waterworld in the mid-90s (which remains an underrated movie.)
Not to be the last one to announce it, but the Justin Timberlake video episod of Satruday Night Live was the funniest the show has been in years. It was like they pulled out all the stops, brought back some of the funniest skit and ideas from the last couple years and threw them all together for one episode. It goes beyond the "Dick in a Box" video (which was as good as anything on the show since Will Ferrell left.) They had a new Target sketch, which is probably the best current recurring sketch going right now, the brought back Jimmy Fallon for another phenomenal installment of the Barry Gibb talk show. And Justin Timberlake proved that he's a pretty funny guy, his best display of this was as the singing cup of soup collecting money for "homelessville."
I wanted to say a sad goodbye to James Brown, who gave us great music for so long, and more recently gave us some great moments of unintentional comedy. I'm not black, but I have to think that if I was, Say It Loud (I'm black and I'm Proud) would be my jam, as it is I'll just have to pump it when no ones around, with a little Living in America mixed in.
Thats all I got for today, hopefully I'll be back soon.
-Bender Out
I''m overjoyed that the Celtics didn't end up trading for Allen Iverson. Unless they were able to trade for him without giving up Green and Jefferson while still keeping all their future first round picks the trade would have given them a two year run where they were "interesting" but never truly title contenders, then they would have fallen back into mediocrity, completely undermining all the sacrifice they've made during the Danny Ainge era. If you want to reward the fans who've stood by the Celtics during their rough times, you have stop looking for quick fixes and make moves where the end result is a championship. Trading for AI would've resulted in two years of second round playoff losses, and no matter how fun it is to watch Iverson break a defenders ankles, winning a title is a lot more fun, and after Iverson's short run the team would quickly fall back into mediocrity. With the Iverson to Boston saga completely over I want to note that the argument for the trade which enraged me the most was the whole "Pierce would be fine playing with Iverson, because he had to share the ball with 'Toine" argument. I don;t know who originated this argument, it was either started by an Antoine hater, someone who didn;t ever watch those Celtics teams, or someone who doesn't truly understand the game. Anotine Walker deferred to Paul Pierce almost from day one. Antoine has always been willing to do what's best for the team to win. For all his faults, Walker was a winner, and he understood that Paul was the man on those teams, something that Iverson would never have been willing to accept.
As far as Iverson going to Denver, this is just a disaster waiting to happen. Iverson will do his best to be a team player and distributor once 'Melo comes back, but it's really not in his nature. Once the chips are on the line in the playoffs, Iverson will instinctively try to be "The Man" and the team will crumble, I'm predicting a first round loss again in the playoffs. Maybe in the Eastern Conerfence they could fool us for a while and make it to the confernce fuinals, but this team is not a good blend, Iverson will probably be aksing for a trade behind the scenes by the off-season, and if George Karl is still around, he might want to grant AI that wish.
So that's my final say on this whole Allen Iverson saga. Moving onto a far more interesting sport, I was driven top madness yesterday while watching the Cowboys/Eagles match-up. If I had seen Carrie Underwood one more time, I may have thrown my TV out the window. The only thing that enabled me to tough it out was the complete thrashing the Eagles laid on the 'Boys. I will admit that part of what annoyed me was just the idea of Romo hooking up with the very hot Underwood, who while hot as an American Idol contestant, is now almost twice as hot. Romo doesn;t deserve such a prize. Hopefully the hype around Romo and the rest of his fraud team will be dying down now. On the other side of the coin, I can;t be more happy for Jeff Garcia who has undergone a total redemption and now should get his own starting job in the NFL. Last night must've been extra sweet for him, beating TO, the man who publicly blased Garcia and questioned his sexuality. Garcia has always been a class act and it feels good to see him beat TeRash in a big spot like that.
I watched The DaVinci Code yesterday, and it kicked ass. I don;t what all the hullbaloo was about last summer when it came out, it was a good movie, kept you on the edge of your seat and would've been well wrth the trip to the theater. This strikes me as another situation wehere people wanted the movie to fail after all the hype before-hand. A phenomenon I've been accutely aware of ever since Waterworld in the mid-90s (which remains an underrated movie.)
Not to be the last one to announce it, but the Justin Timberlake video episod of Satruday Night Live was the funniest the show has been in years. It was like they pulled out all the stops, brought back some of the funniest skit and ideas from the last couple years and threw them all together for one episode. It goes beyond the "Dick in a Box" video (which was as good as anything on the show since Will Ferrell left.) They had a new Target sketch, which is probably the best current recurring sketch going right now, the brought back Jimmy Fallon for another phenomenal installment of the Barry Gibb talk show. And Justin Timberlake proved that he's a pretty funny guy, his best display of this was as the singing cup of soup collecting money for "homelessville."
I wanted to say a sad goodbye to James Brown, who gave us great music for so long, and more recently gave us some great moments of unintentional comedy. I'm not black, but I have to think that if I was, Say It Loud (I'm black and I'm Proud) would be my jam, as it is I'll just have to pump it when no ones around, with a little Living in America mixed in.
Thats all I got for today, hopefully I'll be back soon.
-Bender Out
Monday, December 18, 2006
David Stern...OC
So the fallout just came down from the Knicks-Nuggets fight. 'Melo was suspended for 15 games. This is F'n ridiculous. I didn't exactly review the tape 30 times, I only watched it thrice. But to me this is just another example of David Stern being completely outta control. A couple years ago when ron Artest went into the stands, he should've been suspended for about 30 games, max. And Anthony's punch the other night warranted about 5 games, but the truth is that Stern has too much power, and is going completely unchecked. I think the Nuggets should stage some sort of blue flu on the road against a team who they would probably lose to anyway, so maybe the next time the Nuggets play the Spurs they should put their five worst players out there, milk the 24 second clock down to zero on every possesion, and do everything in their power to get a final score of 50-34. This is the type of thing he makes a stand on, while wasting everyone's time with that stupid new ball. How generous of you to switch back to the leather ball, can we kiss the ring or just go straight to kissing your ass sir?
Anyway, a few things to be brought up here. Mardy Collins got what was coming to him, he deserved to get punched in the face by 'Melo. I think that tackling someone by the neck when they're running full speed and they aren't expecting it is a lot more dangerous than punching a guy in the face when he's looking right at you. Nate Robinson is a little psychopath if he wasn't playing in the zoo that is the current New York Knicks organization he would be in the NBDL (unless he got kicked out of there for being such an idiot), he's a 5-8 shooting guard who did more than anyone else to escalate the situation the other night.
Most importantly, this incident should be the end of Isiah Thomas' embaressing tunre with the Knicks, and really should be the last time anyone invests in Isiah at all. to hear him basically say that it was the Nuggets fault for having starters on the floor. Isiah is a complete idiot, he wore out his welcome in Toronto, he bankrupted the CBA, he coached a talented Pacers team into mediocrity and he's turned the Knicks into the punchline of the NBA. Oh, and he still doesn;t realize that he wasn't among the most elite players of his era. When he gets fired at the end of the year, I pray that none of the NBA broadcasting networks hires him to do games, if they do I promise that I'll stop watching games on that network.
Well, I've said my piece. Happy Birthday Molly.
-Bender Out
Anyway, a few things to be brought up here. Mardy Collins got what was coming to him, he deserved to get punched in the face by 'Melo. I think that tackling someone by the neck when they're running full speed and they aren't expecting it is a lot more dangerous than punching a guy in the face when he's looking right at you. Nate Robinson is a little psychopath if he wasn't playing in the zoo that is the current New York Knicks organization he would be in the NBDL (unless he got kicked out of there for being such an idiot), he's a 5-8 shooting guard who did more than anyone else to escalate the situation the other night.
Most importantly, this incident should be the end of Isiah Thomas' embaressing tunre with the Knicks, and really should be the last time anyone invests in Isiah at all. to hear him basically say that it was the Nuggets fault for having starters on the floor. Isiah is a complete idiot, he wore out his welcome in Toronto, he bankrupted the CBA, he coached a talented Pacers team into mediocrity and he's turned the Knicks into the punchline of the NBA. Oh, and he still doesn;t realize that he wasn't among the most elite players of his era. When he gets fired at the end of the year, I pray that none of the NBA broadcasting networks hires him to do games, if they do I promise that I'll stop watching games on that network.
Well, I've said my piece. Happy Birthday Molly.
-Bender Out
Thursday, December 14, 2006
News of the day
A bunch of stuff going on that I wanted to comment on.
I was very sad to hear about Peter Boyle's death, I really loved his role on Everybody Loves Raymond. In my family we used to joke that the family on the show was exactly like our own, of course that comparison only worked if you eliminated my middle brother, but still. Anyway he used to give me a lot of laughs and it made yesterday a little bit sad.
Big news for the Red Sox who stared down Scott Boras and lived to tell the tale. We don;t know exactly how good Matsuzaka will be but it's hard not to get excited over the signing. I predict at least 25 wins for Daisuke this year, and a world series MVP. there were a lot of intriguing stories being leaked from behind the scenes, my favorite being the one from The Boston Herald who said that The Seibu Lions told Matsuzaka that if he didn't sign this deal they would put him in the minors and he wouldn't be a free agent in two years, and they also would put him up for posting next year either. So Theo was aided greatly by the Lions who earned 51 million, a number which is more amazing when you consider that their team is only valued at around 17 million.
Enough gushing about my man Dice, the real burning issue for me is the whole AI saga. I've long been of the opinion that Iverson is the most overrated player in the NBA. Just last night I heard someone refer to Iverson as one of the best two players in the league. That's a laugh. Iverson is definitely not now one of the Best two players in the NBA, I don;t really think he's ever been close to the best. He's a shoot first point guard or undersized two guard depending on your opinion, he dribbles too much, he dominates the ball, and most importantly he makes his teammates WORSE! There's a reasone that the Sixers aren't getting any good offers, it's because AI only has a couple good years left and he's not the type who makes a team into a contender for those two years. The team who gets him will sell more tickets for a couple years and they'll hurt their long term prospects. If the Celtics trade for him they'll probably win the Atlantic Division or whatever it's called now and they'll lose in the first round, they'll lose a couple good young players and they'll undermine their future for a couple years of improved mediocrity.
Which brings me to my next point, after much deliberation I've decided Danny Ainge has to go. Danny has drafted well but aside from that he's been bad. I've been reassesing him since the debacle that was the Sebastian Telfair trade, and I've decided he just lucked into a few good draft picks, and he really doesn't have what it takes to build a winner. His first round draft picks have been as follows Marcus Banks, Kendrick Perkins, Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Gerald Green, plus he's done well with second rounders including Ryan Gomes and Leon Powe. as a whole they look good, although I'd say that Banks and Allen are not very good. The real problem has been with signings and trades. He signed Brian Scalabrine to a pretty big contract, and he's awful. He gave Mark Blount a huge contract then he was a big bust. But the most disappointing thing has been the trades, starting with the original Antoine Walker trade and most recently with the Wally trade followed by the draft night deal he's ruining the C's. I don;t necessarily have a replacement in mind but at the very least it's time to start looking. Maybe another time I'll give my thoughts on the Celtics owners who strike me as having no clue as to how to build a strong organization.
Lastly, I wanted to throw my name out there for the BC head football coaching job, I'm very good at NCAA football for PS2 and regularly build dynasties. That's all for today.
-Bender Out
I was very sad to hear about Peter Boyle's death, I really loved his role on Everybody Loves Raymond. In my family we used to joke that the family on the show was exactly like our own, of course that comparison only worked if you eliminated my middle brother, but still. Anyway he used to give me a lot of laughs and it made yesterday a little bit sad.
Big news for the Red Sox who stared down Scott Boras and lived to tell the tale. We don;t know exactly how good Matsuzaka will be but it's hard not to get excited over the signing. I predict at least 25 wins for Daisuke this year, and a world series MVP. there were a lot of intriguing stories being leaked from behind the scenes, my favorite being the one from The Boston Herald who said that The Seibu Lions told Matsuzaka that if he didn't sign this deal they would put him in the minors and he wouldn't be a free agent in two years, and they also would put him up for posting next year either. So Theo was aided greatly by the Lions who earned 51 million, a number which is more amazing when you consider that their team is only valued at around 17 million.
Enough gushing about my man Dice, the real burning issue for me is the whole AI saga. I've long been of the opinion that Iverson is the most overrated player in the NBA. Just last night I heard someone refer to Iverson as one of the best two players in the league. That's a laugh. Iverson is definitely not now one of the Best two players in the NBA, I don;t really think he's ever been close to the best. He's a shoot first point guard or undersized two guard depending on your opinion, he dribbles too much, he dominates the ball, and most importantly he makes his teammates WORSE! There's a reasone that the Sixers aren't getting any good offers, it's because AI only has a couple good years left and he's not the type who makes a team into a contender for those two years. The team who gets him will sell more tickets for a couple years and they'll hurt their long term prospects. If the Celtics trade for him they'll probably win the Atlantic Division or whatever it's called now and they'll lose in the first round, they'll lose a couple good young players and they'll undermine their future for a couple years of improved mediocrity.
Which brings me to my next point, after much deliberation I've decided Danny Ainge has to go. Danny has drafted well but aside from that he's been bad. I've been reassesing him since the debacle that was the Sebastian Telfair trade, and I've decided he just lucked into a few good draft picks, and he really doesn't have what it takes to build a winner. His first round draft picks have been as follows Marcus Banks, Kendrick Perkins, Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen, and Gerald Green, plus he's done well with second rounders including Ryan Gomes and Leon Powe. as a whole they look good, although I'd say that Banks and Allen are not very good. The real problem has been with signings and trades. He signed Brian Scalabrine to a pretty big contract, and he's awful. He gave Mark Blount a huge contract then he was a big bust. But the most disappointing thing has been the trades, starting with the original Antoine Walker trade and most recently with the Wally trade followed by the draft night deal he's ruining the C's. I don;t necessarily have a replacement in mind but at the very least it's time to start looking. Maybe another time I'll give my thoughts on the Celtics owners who strike me as having no clue as to how to build a strong organization.
Lastly, I wanted to throw my name out there for the BC head football coaching job, I'm very good at NCAA football for PS2 and regularly build dynasties. That's all for today.
-Bender Out
Friday, December 08, 2006
Some things I've been thinking about
So it snowed today, and now it's like 20 dergrees outside. I couldn;t be more pissed, but this reminded me of back when I was in school as a young'n. the first time it would snow you'd see all the kids acting like it was the greatest thing ever, that really used to piss me off. I wanted to hit each and every one of them, but if I had done that, I would have gotten in trouble not these dolts celebrating snow as if they'd never seen it before. So refrained, and i regret it to this day. I know this sounds completely crazy, but if any of my readers are surprised by this, well then my readership is much larger than I thought. Anyway hopefully the cold can go away for a few more weeks.
Continuing on a recent theme, I saw a picture of Katherine McPhee online, she's really skinny these days, but I can't help bu miss the Kat, she was sexy in a different wayand I'll never forget how she filled out that gray dress on the American Idol semi-finals show. I can't help but blame Paris Hilton for this, soon Kat will look completely emaciated and she'sll be clubbing with Paris, then a week later Paris will be caught on tape talking smack about my poor little Kat. Fame, it is such a vicious cycle.
You ever thought you had a really good idea then later realized that when it came to fruition you realized it sucked. A few years back I thought it'd be cool to have a movie about how native americans actaully lived even with the authentic language they used. anyway now that Mel gibson's movie is coming out I think it looks god-awful. I had trouble sitting through the passion, and there's no way I'm going to see this. Why you ask? because I like movie where I don;t have to read, I'm willing to do it for a really good movie but in a case where the movie is made by americans I shouldn't have to spend my time reading.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is on tonight, it's fun to watch this now that I'm older because not only for the sentimental value, but for the unintentional comedy of how of over the top preachy this movie is. It's kinda like a good episode of A Different World, it works on many levels. It's my second favorite of all the classic Christmas specials. Nothing will ever compare to the true genius that is Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. It would be worth watching for the dance scenes alone, but when you throw in the anti-commercialism message which seems to be a little more true every year you have to hail it as the all-time greatest, I'll admit that every year when Linus gives his speech I shed a tear.
BTW if you asked me to rank the most underrated TV stars of the last twety years, my list starts and ends with Dewayne Wayne from Different World. In fact I can't help but think that there should be more stars who got their start on this show. Not only hasd the world forgoten Kadeem Hardison, but whatever happened to Jasmine Guy, she was huge, and I expected more from Cree Summer than to just hear her voice at the end of blockbuster video commercials. to the many movie producers out there who are reading this, I think it's important that you realize I speak for the masses when I say put them in a movie.
All Right, have a good weekend readers.
-Bender Out
Continuing on a recent theme, I saw a picture of Katherine McPhee online, she's really skinny these days, but I can't help bu miss the Kat, she was sexy in a different wayand I'll never forget how she filled out that gray dress on the American Idol semi-finals show. I can't help but blame Paris Hilton for this, soon Kat will look completely emaciated and she'sll be clubbing with Paris, then a week later Paris will be caught on tape talking smack about my poor little Kat. Fame, it is such a vicious cycle.
You ever thought you had a really good idea then later realized that when it came to fruition you realized it sucked. A few years back I thought it'd be cool to have a movie about how native americans actaully lived even with the authentic language they used. anyway now that Mel gibson's movie is coming out I think it looks god-awful. I had trouble sitting through the passion, and there's no way I'm going to see this. Why you ask? because I like movie where I don;t have to read, I'm willing to do it for a really good movie but in a case where the movie is made by americans I shouldn't have to spend my time reading.
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is on tonight, it's fun to watch this now that I'm older because not only for the sentimental value, but for the unintentional comedy of how of over the top preachy this movie is. It's kinda like a good episode of A Different World, it works on many levels. It's my second favorite of all the classic Christmas specials. Nothing will ever compare to the true genius that is Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. It would be worth watching for the dance scenes alone, but when you throw in the anti-commercialism message which seems to be a little more true every year you have to hail it as the all-time greatest, I'll admit that every year when Linus gives his speech I shed a tear.
BTW if you asked me to rank the most underrated TV stars of the last twety years, my list starts and ends with Dewayne Wayne from Different World. In fact I can't help but think that there should be more stars who got their start on this show. Not only hasd the world forgoten Kadeem Hardison, but whatever happened to Jasmine Guy, she was huge, and I expected more from Cree Summer than to just hear her voice at the end of blockbuster video commercials. to the many movie producers out there who are reading this, I think it's important that you realize I speak for the masses when I say put them in a movie.
All Right, have a good weekend readers.
-Bender Out
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Be careful what you wish for...
The warning in the title goes to Tom O'Brien former head coach of the BC football team. Tom moved onto a place with better facilities and a higher contract offer. you can't blame a guy for doing this, he'll make a lot more money at NC State but I predict that in five years Tom O'Brien will be looking for a new job. BC was the perfect job for O'Brien, a school where they would be satisfied with nine or ten wins and enjoy a top 25 finish and a school that would be just as proud of the teams tremendous graduation rate. The fans at NC State may be satisfied with that for a year or two, but once they see O'Brien's poor game coaching and they lose too many games that they should be winning they'll turn on him. I predict that by year three we'll be hearing about firetomobrien.com and a lot of announcers will come to his defense, but it won't matter the NC State administration will become frustrated by too many unexplainable losses and too many low top 25 finishes from a team that could've easily been in the top ten.
Happy 50th birthday to Larry Bird, I know you're an avid reader of the blog, so i just wanted to give a shout out.
The Celtics completed a very important loss last night, they currently sit as the third to last place team overall a half game ahead both the Grizzlies and the Bobcats. A loss like the one last night is really as good as two losses, not only did they add the L but granted the Grizz a W, on their home floor no less. I know that having the worst record is no guarantee that they'll win the Greg Oden sweepstakes, all I'm asking is that they do everything in their power to make it happen, if lose out during the lottery I won't blame them so long as they give their full effort. how good is Greg Oden? Even doc Rivers would have them competing for a title with Oden in the middle.
I saw a great article in ESPN.com about the old USFL, well really it was a mediocre article about a great topic. I loved the idea of the USFL and I find it hard to believe that a second football league in the spring couldn't work, I'd much rather be watching a second league starting the week after the Super Bowl and maybe finishing the last week in April. Have you ever seen some of the crap they put on TV during that time? Just show some games on saturday and sunday afternoons, the country loves real football, so much so in fact that people will watch that crappy indoor football just to get a little taste a small ten to twelve team league is all I'm asking for, just fill the rosters with guys who'd like to make the NFL but just don't quite make the cut, guys who'd love to prove themselves, don;t go out and sign college stars to ridiculous contracts, it isn;t worth an extra twenty million dollars to see Brady Quinn passing to Bam Childress, Rohan Davey would do just fine. Maybe I'm just not realizing how crappy the games would be, but I just want something decent to watch and I'v always been a big fan of the whole "where are they now?" thing that drives a second class league like that. So if you know any millionaires or billionaires looking for somewhere to throw their money, let me know.
I saw that the Royals spent big bucks on bringing in Gil Meche, which is a good thing I guess. I'm glad to see the Royals actually making a decent signing and throwing around some money, it just goes to show how much money is really floating around out there. But I can't help but think they're overpaying for a mediocre pitcher, maybe they would have been better off sitting back and watching all the other teams commit to bad contracts this opff-season and hope that there would be a market correction or teams that are looking to give these bad contracts away next season. Que sera, sera or mi casa es su casa or whatever the spanish would say here, now the cover of the Royals media guide can have Meche, Emil Brown and maybe a picture of Mike Sweeney in a cast or something.
That it for today.
-Bender Out
Happy 50th birthday to Larry Bird, I know you're an avid reader of the blog, so i just wanted to give a shout out.
The Celtics completed a very important loss last night, they currently sit as the third to last place team overall a half game ahead both the Grizzlies and the Bobcats. A loss like the one last night is really as good as two losses, not only did they add the L but granted the Grizz a W, on their home floor no less. I know that having the worst record is no guarantee that they'll win the Greg Oden sweepstakes, all I'm asking is that they do everything in their power to make it happen, if lose out during the lottery I won't blame them so long as they give their full effort. how good is Greg Oden? Even doc Rivers would have them competing for a title with Oden in the middle.
I saw a great article in ESPN.com about the old USFL, well really it was a mediocre article about a great topic. I loved the idea of the USFL and I find it hard to believe that a second football league in the spring couldn't work, I'd much rather be watching a second league starting the week after the Super Bowl and maybe finishing the last week in April. Have you ever seen some of the crap they put on TV during that time? Just show some games on saturday and sunday afternoons, the country loves real football, so much so in fact that people will watch that crappy indoor football just to get a little taste a small ten to twelve team league is all I'm asking for, just fill the rosters with guys who'd like to make the NFL but just don't quite make the cut, guys who'd love to prove themselves, don;t go out and sign college stars to ridiculous contracts, it isn;t worth an extra twenty million dollars to see Brady Quinn passing to Bam Childress, Rohan Davey would do just fine. Maybe I'm just not realizing how crappy the games would be, but I just want something decent to watch and I'v always been a big fan of the whole "where are they now?" thing that drives a second class league like that. So if you know any millionaires or billionaires looking for somewhere to throw their money, let me know.
I saw that the Royals spent big bucks on bringing in Gil Meche, which is a good thing I guess. I'm glad to see the Royals actually making a decent signing and throwing around some money, it just goes to show how much money is really floating around out there. But I can't help but think they're overpaying for a mediocre pitcher, maybe they would have been better off sitting back and watching all the other teams commit to bad contracts this opff-season and hope that there would be a market correction or teams that are looking to give these bad contracts away next season. Que sera, sera or mi casa es su casa or whatever the spanish would say here, now the cover of the Royals media guide can have Meche, Emil Brown and maybe a picture of Mike Sweeney in a cast or something.
That it for today.
-Bender Out
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Continuing on
I hope no one is too shaken by the news I had the unfortunate task to deliver earlier, but it had to be reported. Some other things going on, I was shocked to see Hollis Thomas was caught for steroid use. I've always been under the assumption that many players in the NFL use steroids but Thomas would've been a guy I never accused, and that is for one simple reason, from looking at him I would've called him the fattest most out of shape man in the NFL. I remember watching him celebrate a big play in the playoffs back in 2004 and just thinking that he really had let himself go. He goes about 6'1" and I'd have estimated his weight over 350 pounds. I don;t judge, I just say that it's a complete shock that he was juicing to achieve this look.
Some other disappointing news out there, not nearly as disappointing as the Jenna Jameson situation, but disappointing none the less. The Boston Red Sox have gone ahead and signed Julio Lugo, and I today am vowing to never once cheer him, no matter the situation. I just can;t get over the idea of the Red Sox paying 9 million dollars a year to a wife beater.
Announcing that signing has reminded of a complete misconception among fans that I wanted to clear up. Many fans think that teams raise ticket prices so that they can play their players, but this the exact opposite of the truth. Teams sign all these players so that they can raise the ticket prices. All free agent signings and player salaries in general are made so that the team can create higher demand for their product. Some people may say this is a small point but I feel like most people don't get this. Teams charge as much as they can get away with for everything that they sell, from tickets to concessions to liscensing. The only reason they pay anyone a lot of money is to improve their own brand marketability. So please realize that there is zero correlation between Manny's salary and how much your families day at the ballpark costs.
Onto lighter things, on my way into work I was thinking about how different Annie Potts' career would have been if she had posed for Playboy, I imagine she would've been a far more succesful actress if she had been willing to sexy it up a bit more. And I'm talking really sexy-ing it up not just that stupid seductive popcorn eating she did in the late 80s. On a related topic I think that my life would've also been very different had Belinda Carlisle posed for playboy back in her 80s heyday. I think she could've done for chubby women in the 80s, what Jennifer Lopez did for big asses in the late 90s. And I tend to think of Belinda Carlisle circa 1983 as one of the 10 sexiest women ever. I dare to say that we would've never had to endure the waif model era of the early 90s if Belinda had just shown her goodies.
I'd be remissif I didn;t mention the sad loss of Eden on Heroes, just when I was getting into her she had to try and save the world but at least she went out in a true heroic manner. sacrificing her own life for the good of humanity, anyway she will be missed.
And to finish on an up nnote, great news out of the Red soxcamp yesterday, Jon Lester's cancer treatment is finishing up and seems to have been a success, the cancer is in remission and he's set to try and comeback on the field, so that is great news for a young guy who has been through a ton in the last four months.
That's all for today.
-Bender Out
Some other disappointing news out there, not nearly as disappointing as the Jenna Jameson situation, but disappointing none the less. The Boston Red Sox have gone ahead and signed Julio Lugo, and I today am vowing to never once cheer him, no matter the situation. I just can;t get over the idea of the Red Sox paying 9 million dollars a year to a wife beater.
Announcing that signing has reminded of a complete misconception among fans that I wanted to clear up. Many fans think that teams raise ticket prices so that they can play their players, but this the exact opposite of the truth. Teams sign all these players so that they can raise the ticket prices. All free agent signings and player salaries in general are made so that the team can create higher demand for their product. Some people may say this is a small point but I feel like most people don't get this. Teams charge as much as they can get away with for everything that they sell, from tickets to concessions to liscensing. The only reason they pay anyone a lot of money is to improve their own brand marketability. So please realize that there is zero correlation between Manny's salary and how much your families day at the ballpark costs.
Onto lighter things, on my way into work I was thinking about how different Annie Potts' career would have been if she had posed for Playboy, I imagine she would've been a far more succesful actress if she had been willing to sexy it up a bit more. And I'm talking really sexy-ing it up not just that stupid seductive popcorn eating she did in the late 80s. On a related topic I think that my life would've also been very different had Belinda Carlisle posed for playboy back in her 80s heyday. I think she could've done for chubby women in the 80s, what Jennifer Lopez did for big asses in the late 90s. And I tend to think of Belinda Carlisle circa 1983 as one of the 10 sexiest women ever. I dare to say that we would've never had to endure the waif model era of the early 90s if Belinda had just shown her goodies.
I'd be remissif I didn;t mention the sad loss of Eden on Heroes, just when I was getting into her she had to try and save the world but at least she went out in a true heroic manner. sacrificing her own life for the good of humanity, anyway she will be missed.
And to finish on an up nnote, great news out of the Red soxcamp yesterday, Jon Lester's cancer treatment is finishing up and seems to have been a success, the cancer is in remission and he's set to try and comeback on the field, so that is great news for a young guy who has been through a ton in the last four months.
That's all for today.
-Bender Out
Urgent news
Ok, I may be a little late to the table on this one, but last night I was flipping between channels and stopped at the VH1 big in '06 awards. The original reason I stopped there was because Fergie was on stage performing, they were showing her from the front at a low angle, but you could somehow see her ass-cheek. It's innovations like this one that put VH1 on the map in the first place, but now onto the sad news. The next thing I know they announce Danny Bonaduce and the phenomenal Jenna Jameson are there to give an award, but here's where it turn tragic. Jenna Jameson has had some work done and it didn;t go well, it's not as bad as what Meg Ryan did to herself, but it's headed in that direction. I kinda wanted to cry a little. When will these ladies learn that they need to just grow old gracefully like a lot of those hot moms on sitcoms, you know, Patricia Richardson, Joanna Kerns. This whole episode is really making me re-examine things, if you can't count on a hot porn star to grow old gracefully, what can you count on.
anyway this is to be continued...
-Bender Out
anyway this is to be continued...
-Bender Out
Monday, December 04, 2006
Picking up where I left off
The big winners this weekend, The Ohio State University. They were just handed the title this weekend when the BCS chose Florida over Michigan. The vastly overrated SEC got their league champion into the BCS championship game, and why? Because people decided that their teams were the best before the season started. The SEC was never forced to prove it on the field, they all scheduled cupcakes and the voters decided they were the best, the powerful SEC lobby wins again. Ohio State will breeze to a championship in January and the fans will lose. The best news this weekend is that there will be a great battle to prove who the real number 2 is out in Pasedena. Ohio State almost deserves to not be tested in a bowl game, they won the real national championship game back in Columbus on November 18th. Ohio State would probably lose to Michigan on a neutral field which is why their fans were so adamantly against Michigan's inclusion in a BCS championship. They know they were lucky to win by three at home after the dubious roughing the passer call late, and they didn;t have what it took to beat the Wolverines again. Anyway, congratulations to the Buckeye fans, you've stolen a second national title this decade.
So In the spirit of great athletic competitions, The Real World/Road Rules challenge continues to be my favorite reality show on television. The recent tilt between Wes and Derrick was one for the ages, afterward Derrick had a quote about re-assesing his life, unfortunately I doubt that he meant he wanted to move on from being a reality TV star who in many ways is living the life of a low paid professional athlete. While it's almost impossible for me to sit through an entire episode of the Real World, The Challenge always has just enough of a blend of game show and platform for these people to grab attention and try to increase their own celebrity that I'm sold every season.
The other night I was flipping through the channels and I came across one of the greatest made for TV movies of all-time. The Jacksons: An American Dream, it has the most amazing blend of awful writing, awful acting and yet there are great moments and great actors blended in there. The soundtrack, as you would assume is phenomenal. Great tunes from michael and the Jackson 5, it takes us from ABC to Billie Jean. This film actually has two oscar nominated actors in the cast, when was the last time a made for TV movie had such credentials? Perhaps never? That's what I thought. So after getting over the shock of seeing Terrence Howard and Angela Bassett in a movie where some of the dialogue made me laugh out-loud despite it coming in one of the most dramatic scenes, then you get to enjoy seeing people who thought might have been dead. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs plays Joe Jackson, you may recognize him as Freddy "Boom Boom" Wahsington from Welcome Back Kotter. The best scenes in the movie feature Lando Calrisian himself, Billy Dee Williams playing the great Barry Gordy. Williams interacting with a guy doing his best Michael Jackson impersonation is pure genius, and I can't confirm this but I'm pretty sure Barry offered little Michael an ice cold Colt 45. Anyway, I can only gush so much about this brilliant piece of art, do yourself a favor and go rent it on DVD, you'll thank me later.
Onto a little baseball, The Sox will probably announce the JD Drew signing today, and he'll probably do well so long as he's healthy but he'll miss at least 5 games this year for a hangnail, and then he'll 10 more for a strain, then he'll be out a month with a slightly sprained ankle. But I'm done taling about Drew. I'm here to point out how brilliant the Yankee trade for Bobby Abreu is turning out to be. A lot of people looked at Abreu's bloated contract and thought that Yanks were idiots to trade for him. But now when you see that JD Drew is costin the sox 14 million, you can't help but say that Abreu deserves 17 mil. If both are healthy they're probably comparable talents but Abreu plays a lot more and he already helped the Yankees make the playoffs once. I don;t know exactly how good the top draft pick will be for the Phillies one day, but it doesn't seem like a bad price to pay.
One last thing, I heard Dick Vitale refer to Greg Oden as the best big man to play college basketball in the past 30 years. Dick you're making a mockery of yourself. Not only is there no way that Oden has proven himself to better than some of the recent bigs to come through college, but there is no way, that as a freshman Oden is already better Ewing or Duncan or Olajuwon were as seniors, or as dominating as Shaq was as a junior.
On another college basketball note, I think that as far as shot-blocking goes (and I'm talking strictly shot blocking, not any other aspect of the game) Sean Williams from BC is the best shot-blocker in college basketball.
That's it for now, maybe I'll pull myself together enough to actually talk about NBA basketball soon, and maybe I'll lay out my brilliant plan for a succesful minor league football organization.
-Bender Out
So In the spirit of great athletic competitions, The Real World/Road Rules challenge continues to be my favorite reality show on television. The recent tilt between Wes and Derrick was one for the ages, afterward Derrick had a quote about re-assesing his life, unfortunately I doubt that he meant he wanted to move on from being a reality TV star who in many ways is living the life of a low paid professional athlete. While it's almost impossible for me to sit through an entire episode of the Real World, The Challenge always has just enough of a blend of game show and platform for these people to grab attention and try to increase their own celebrity that I'm sold every season.
The other night I was flipping through the channels and I came across one of the greatest made for TV movies of all-time. The Jacksons: An American Dream, it has the most amazing blend of awful writing, awful acting and yet there are great moments and great actors blended in there. The soundtrack, as you would assume is phenomenal. Great tunes from michael and the Jackson 5, it takes us from ABC to Billie Jean. This film actually has two oscar nominated actors in the cast, when was the last time a made for TV movie had such credentials? Perhaps never? That's what I thought. So after getting over the shock of seeing Terrence Howard and Angela Bassett in a movie where some of the dialogue made me laugh out-loud despite it coming in one of the most dramatic scenes, then you get to enjoy seeing people who thought might have been dead. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs plays Joe Jackson, you may recognize him as Freddy "Boom Boom" Wahsington from Welcome Back Kotter. The best scenes in the movie feature Lando Calrisian himself, Billy Dee Williams playing the great Barry Gordy. Williams interacting with a guy doing his best Michael Jackson impersonation is pure genius, and I can't confirm this but I'm pretty sure Barry offered little Michael an ice cold Colt 45. Anyway, I can only gush so much about this brilliant piece of art, do yourself a favor and go rent it on DVD, you'll thank me later.
Onto a little baseball, The Sox will probably announce the JD Drew signing today, and he'll probably do well so long as he's healthy but he'll miss at least 5 games this year for a hangnail, and then he'll 10 more for a strain, then he'll be out a month with a slightly sprained ankle. But I'm done taling about Drew. I'm here to point out how brilliant the Yankee trade for Bobby Abreu is turning out to be. A lot of people looked at Abreu's bloated contract and thought that Yanks were idiots to trade for him. But now when you see that JD Drew is costin the sox 14 million, you can't help but say that Abreu deserves 17 mil. If both are healthy they're probably comparable talents but Abreu plays a lot more and he already helped the Yankees make the playoffs once. I don;t know exactly how good the top draft pick will be for the Phillies one day, but it doesn't seem like a bad price to pay.
One last thing, I heard Dick Vitale refer to Greg Oden as the best big man to play college basketball in the past 30 years. Dick you're making a mockery of yourself. Not only is there no way that Oden has proven himself to better than some of the recent bigs to come through college, but there is no way, that as a freshman Oden is already better Ewing or Duncan or Olajuwon were as seniors, or as dominating as Shaq was as a junior.
On another college basketball note, I think that as far as shot-blocking goes (and I'm talking strictly shot blocking, not any other aspect of the game) Sean Williams from BC is the best shot-blocker in college basketball.
That's it for now, maybe I'll pull myself together enough to actually talk about NBA basketball soon, and maybe I'll lay out my brilliant plan for a succesful minor league football organization.
-Bender Out
Friday, December 01, 2006
Clearing things up for the weekend
Just a few things I wanted to touch on before the upcoming weekend.
Two big controversies this week in football, both involving race. First, Michael Irvin makes a joke that Tony Romo runs so well he must be part African American. I've actually cleaned it up a lot, the quote involved his great great grandmother seeking out some stud during the 19th century, but anyway you get the point. I don't think anyone was really offended by this statement, but there was still a public outcry, why? Because a lot of white guys know that they would have been fired for the same comment. So a bunch of people on TV and Radio complained about a double standard and a few feigned outrage over the comment itself. My opinion is simple, fire Michael Irvin because he sucks at his job, not because he got caught making a racist joke one time. It's like all these people are still angry over Jimmy The Greek or Rush Limbaugh being fired and feel like this is a chance where the shoe is on the other foot, but then they didn't get their supposed justice, or more properly, payback. This too shall pass, like everything else, and Michael Irvin will make hundreds more stupid statements and you probably won't hear about them because they'll just be about football
The other racially charged story of the week was Larry Johnson's claim that only a black coach could properly yell at black players. There's probably a nugget of truth in there with many black players, but as always it's probably incorrect to say it's true for all black players. The most important thing to realize is that it's just a fact of life that your boss probably will have a different background than you and you just have to deal with it. At one of my first jobs my boss was a former military man, but never once did i complain that he couldn't relate to me because he didn't grow up in a cushy suburb playing Sega Genesis all the time.
So that's enough of that, onto normal sports stuff. The New York Football Giants have been especially childish this week. My least favorite thing in sports is when a player calls out his teammate but then in an effort to make it seem like he's innocent attacks the media. enter Michael Strahan, one of the biggest frauds in sports. Strahan called out Plaxico Burress for a lack of effort on two interceptions last week against the Titans, a game by the way that they had no business losing. This week a reporter asked him if he and Plax had spoken about the plays or Strahan's reaction to the plays, and Strahan tried to intimidate the reporter claiming that the press was trying to stir something up. No dumbass, you stirred things up by calling him out in the first place! Long story short, the Giants need a roster overhaul, as much as people seem to like Strahan, Tiki and Jeremy Shockey, guys like that don't win titles, they lack character and are more interested in their own self-preservation. Every year the media claims that the Giants are a Super Bowl contender but if they're counting on those guys, they'll never make it. Winners don't take every chance to undermine their coach when they lose, they don;t complain that practices are too hard and they certainly don;t spend all their time calling out other people instead of looking in the mirror. The best thing that could happen to the Giants is to trade Shockey and Strahan, hire a good GM and start to build with a team full of real football players instead of show ponies. On a side note, I don;t find Tiki's strange smile when he talks to be nearly as charming as most media members do, perhaps it's because they have to deal with the likes of Corey Dillon who many Patriots beat writers will admit to being legitimitely afraid of.
One last football note, I wanted to give my theory on the SEC. I don't think any of the teams int hat conference are on the elite level. They all play really weak out of conference schedules, so it's almost inevitable that one of them would come to the end of the season with only one loss. It's almost the law of averages. BTW I wanted to congratualte the BCS on rewarding LSU for their tough schedule, must be hard to go 10-2 when you play eight frickin home games, this team is only .500 on the road, but of course they belong in the Rose Bowl. The whole conference is overrated. They have one out of conference road win against a ranked opponent, South Carolina's big upset at Clemson last week. Aside from that they had three decent out of conference wins, UF won at FSU, Tenn beat Cal at home, and Georgia beat Georgia Tech, and one embaressing loss against an elite team. USC's trouncing of Arkansas, in Arkansas.
Football has worn me out, maybe I'll be back soon hopefully with more wide ranging critiques.
-Bender Out
Two big controversies this week in football, both involving race. First, Michael Irvin makes a joke that Tony Romo runs so well he must be part African American. I've actually cleaned it up a lot, the quote involved his great great grandmother seeking out some stud during the 19th century, but anyway you get the point. I don't think anyone was really offended by this statement, but there was still a public outcry, why? Because a lot of white guys know that they would have been fired for the same comment. So a bunch of people on TV and Radio complained about a double standard and a few feigned outrage over the comment itself. My opinion is simple, fire Michael Irvin because he sucks at his job, not because he got caught making a racist joke one time. It's like all these people are still angry over Jimmy The Greek or Rush Limbaugh being fired and feel like this is a chance where the shoe is on the other foot, but then they didn't get their supposed justice, or more properly, payback. This too shall pass, like everything else, and Michael Irvin will make hundreds more stupid statements and you probably won't hear about them because they'll just be about football
The other racially charged story of the week was Larry Johnson's claim that only a black coach could properly yell at black players. There's probably a nugget of truth in there with many black players, but as always it's probably incorrect to say it's true for all black players. The most important thing to realize is that it's just a fact of life that your boss probably will have a different background than you and you just have to deal with it. At one of my first jobs my boss was a former military man, but never once did i complain that he couldn't relate to me because he didn't grow up in a cushy suburb playing Sega Genesis all the time.
So that's enough of that, onto normal sports stuff. The New York Football Giants have been especially childish this week. My least favorite thing in sports is when a player calls out his teammate but then in an effort to make it seem like he's innocent attacks the media. enter Michael Strahan, one of the biggest frauds in sports. Strahan called out Plaxico Burress for a lack of effort on two interceptions last week against the Titans, a game by the way that they had no business losing. This week a reporter asked him if he and Plax had spoken about the plays or Strahan's reaction to the plays, and Strahan tried to intimidate the reporter claiming that the press was trying to stir something up. No dumbass, you stirred things up by calling him out in the first place! Long story short, the Giants need a roster overhaul, as much as people seem to like Strahan, Tiki and Jeremy Shockey, guys like that don't win titles, they lack character and are more interested in their own self-preservation. Every year the media claims that the Giants are a Super Bowl contender but if they're counting on those guys, they'll never make it. Winners don't take every chance to undermine their coach when they lose, they don;t complain that practices are too hard and they certainly don;t spend all their time calling out other people instead of looking in the mirror. The best thing that could happen to the Giants is to trade Shockey and Strahan, hire a good GM and start to build with a team full of real football players instead of show ponies. On a side note, I don;t find Tiki's strange smile when he talks to be nearly as charming as most media members do, perhaps it's because they have to deal with the likes of Corey Dillon who many Patriots beat writers will admit to being legitimitely afraid of.
One last football note, I wanted to give my theory on the SEC. I don't think any of the teams int hat conference are on the elite level. They all play really weak out of conference schedules, so it's almost inevitable that one of them would come to the end of the season with only one loss. It's almost the law of averages. BTW I wanted to congratualte the BCS on rewarding LSU for their tough schedule, must be hard to go 10-2 when you play eight frickin home games, this team is only .500 on the road, but of course they belong in the Rose Bowl. The whole conference is overrated. They have one out of conference road win against a ranked opponent, South Carolina's big upset at Clemson last week. Aside from that they had three decent out of conference wins, UF won at FSU, Tenn beat Cal at home, and Georgia beat Georgia Tech, and one embaressing loss against an elite team. USC's trouncing of Arkansas, in Arkansas.
Football has worn me out, maybe I'll be back soon hopefully with more wide ranging critiques.
-Bender Out
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Big Announcement
For my many readers who haven't heard yet, I have a new niece. Grace Ann Bender was born last friday, she's the first girl in a few generations, so I think my brother has got some splainin' to do. So congratulations to my brother Paul and his wife, Kara. Kara especially has desperately wanted a daughter for a while, so I guess it shows if you want it bad enough it can happen, even in the very masculine Bender clan.
So back to my normal stuff, The show Heroes continues to kick ass and take names. The introduction of this girl who can do the Jedi mind trick over the past few episodes, or more accurately the first displays of said mind trick has been the latest reason the show is so cool, for those who didn;t see last night's episode they showed exactly who Sylar is and what are his powers. The whole thing is just phenomenal.
Other big goings on with TV these days, NBC is putting two hours of comedy back on Thursdays. I'm pleased as punch about this, I'm glad at this point that even have four comedies to put back-to-back. hopefully it'll be a success, I've never understood the whole CSI thing, I've tried watching a couple times and it looks like a bunch of smoke and mirrors put out there to cover up over-acting and bad storytelling. I'm a huge fan of Las Vegas, the city not the TV show, but that's not enough to save this show either, maybe someday a fan of the show can explain to me what I'm missing but I doubt it. Just another reminder how out of touch with America i really am.
So the top three things that remind how little I have in common with the rest of America.
1) The 2004 Presidential Election
2) The 2000 Presidential Election
3) CSI
honorable mention to the band Linkin Park, and actress Angelina Jolie.
Other events this weekend, glad to see the Patriots win a big game that everyone was picking them to win. They're now 1-2 in such games. It's almost to the point where I don;t know how to react, they always used to be so underrated, now they may have swung the other way to being a bit overrated. I'll always give them a chance at winning the Super bowl but without Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison, they aren't quite the same team they were a month ago, and I'm not even sure if that one would've won it all.
Glad to see the Red Sox are ready to throw around money, but aside from Daisuke Matsuzaka, I can't say I'm feeling them. They've sat by while many relievers have been signed and they're planning on throwing big money at JD Drew who will be really good but vastly overpaid for the 140 games he plays. They're so desperate to get rid of Manny but for only 5 million dollars less Drew will hit 15 less homers and drive in 35 less runs. But Manny is a huge problem, whereas JD Drew must be universally loved by all teammates. The other guy they seem to be enamored with, for many years in fact, is Julio Lugo. Not only is Lugo not that good of a player, but he has definite character issues. the Astros put Lugo on waivers a few years back after he was arrested for beating his wife. That's how he ended up in Tampa where he put up meaningless numbers while fielding a mediocre shortstop. If he does come here the fans will welcome him with open arms, these are the very same fans who couldn't stop patting themselves on the back for roundly booing Brett Myers last summer after Myers was arrested for hitting his wife on the streets of Boston. I guess all I'm trying to say is that there should be more of an outcry against Lugo coming here.
That's all I got for now
Bender Out
So back to my normal stuff, The show Heroes continues to kick ass and take names. The introduction of this girl who can do the Jedi mind trick over the past few episodes, or more accurately the first displays of said mind trick has been the latest reason the show is so cool, for those who didn;t see last night's episode they showed exactly who Sylar is and what are his powers. The whole thing is just phenomenal.
Other big goings on with TV these days, NBC is putting two hours of comedy back on Thursdays. I'm pleased as punch about this, I'm glad at this point that even have four comedies to put back-to-back. hopefully it'll be a success, I've never understood the whole CSI thing, I've tried watching a couple times and it looks like a bunch of smoke and mirrors put out there to cover up over-acting and bad storytelling. I'm a huge fan of Las Vegas, the city not the TV show, but that's not enough to save this show either, maybe someday a fan of the show can explain to me what I'm missing but I doubt it. Just another reminder how out of touch with America i really am.
So the top three things that remind how little I have in common with the rest of America.
1) The 2004 Presidential Election
2) The 2000 Presidential Election
3) CSI
honorable mention to the band Linkin Park, and actress Angelina Jolie.
Other events this weekend, glad to see the Patriots win a big game that everyone was picking them to win. They're now 1-2 in such games. It's almost to the point where I don;t know how to react, they always used to be so underrated, now they may have swung the other way to being a bit overrated. I'll always give them a chance at winning the Super bowl but without Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison, they aren't quite the same team they were a month ago, and I'm not even sure if that one would've won it all.
Glad to see the Red Sox are ready to throw around money, but aside from Daisuke Matsuzaka, I can't say I'm feeling them. They've sat by while many relievers have been signed and they're planning on throwing big money at JD Drew who will be really good but vastly overpaid for the 140 games he plays. They're so desperate to get rid of Manny but for only 5 million dollars less Drew will hit 15 less homers and drive in 35 less runs. But Manny is a huge problem, whereas JD Drew must be universally loved by all teammates. The other guy they seem to be enamored with, for many years in fact, is Julio Lugo. Not only is Lugo not that good of a player, but he has definite character issues. the Astros put Lugo on waivers a few years back after he was arrested for beating his wife. That's how he ended up in Tampa where he put up meaningless numbers while fielding a mediocre shortstop. If he does come here the fans will welcome him with open arms, these are the very same fans who couldn't stop patting themselves on the back for roundly booing Brett Myers last summer after Myers was arrested for hitting his wife on the streets of Boston. I guess all I'm trying to say is that there should be more of an outcry against Lugo coming here.
That's all I got for now
Bender Out
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
And I'm Back...
I know my many readers are thrilled to see my triumphant return from a brief hiatus. Many concerned fanshave wondered where I've been, the answer of course...Video Games. You'll be happy to know I've led the Houston Texans to a successful turnaround, we made the playoffs in my first season winning the division, but I digress. Tons has happened, so I'll get to it.
Michael Richards, it's over pal. I've had my questions about whether or not he was a good guy ever since I found out he was involved it that famous Andy Kaufman incident, but this was a complete shock. At this point I wonder if history will be re-written and they'll say this ruined his career after Seinfeld, as if it wasn't really already over. I never liked the way that Richards and Jason Alexander thought of themselves as comedic geniuses as a result of that show. They carried themselves as if they had shown what a true thespian could do with comedic material. Anyway hopefully we won't have to see this guy again and we can just concentrate on Seinfeld re-runs.
Another person who I think is looking like a jerk, on a much lesser level of course, is Kelly Ripa. Kelly have a friggin sense of humor. Clay Aiken is a weirdo, I'll acknowledge that, but I think Kelly looked like a total bitch. Was it homophobic like Rosie O'Donnell said? Maybe but I don;t think you can say for sure, so maybe Rosie shouldn't be confirming Clay's sexuality when he's not publicly out of the closet. The real issue to me is that Kelly Ripa exposed herself as someone with no sense of humor, I won't be surprised if there are a lot of stories of her making ridiculous demands behind the scenes. Kelly, I will never again hope to find a wife just like you, and you'll have to live with that.
I wanted to comment on the Andre Waters tragedy, I don;t know much on the background of why he took his own life, but I do know that I was a huge fan of those old Buddy Ryan defenses, and it's just so sad to see anyone's life end this way, especially when it's a guy who I used to cheer for. Andre was a real badass on the field, and representative of that whole defense. It's also sad to think that they were at the height of athletics less than twenty years ago and he's already the third member of that defense to pass away.
Ok, onto lighter things. this whole Playstation 3 thing is completely out of control, I don;t care how great the technology is you can't pay 600 bucks for a video game system. I don;t even know if I'd pay that much for the old holo-deck from Star Trek, and that was a badass entertainment system. I probably would, for reasons I'd rather not discuss at this time, but the holo-deck was way cooler than the PS3. I also think it's worth mentioning that the Nintendo Wii or whatever it's called looks ridiculous. People don't really wanna have to swing their arms or whatever while playing a game, it's that simple.
I know I sound like a comlete Jeter hater on this blog, so it'll be no surprise to you that I'm pleased as punch that he didn't win the MVP. I just don't see it, in my mind if you take Derek Jeter off that Yankees team they still win the division by 10 games. They have potential all-stars in eight of their nine starting slots. I don;t understand why everyone has decided that Jeter is the real difference maker on that team. The popular sentiment has always been that Jeter led them to all those championships in the late 90s but I would say the real reason those teams won was their great pitching, and even back then I didn't think Jeter was their best offensive player. As far as this year's MVP voting goes, I think the Twins had the top three candidates in the league, and there were a ton of reasonable candidates and no one single spectacular candidate.
A quick note, The Celtics are doing it to me again, settling into to nice state of mediocrity, too good to get Greg Oden, not good enough to make the games worth watching. This the absolute worst position in the NBA, teams can spend years there and not realize they're going nowhere, every season they get excited about their one all-star or their first round draft pick, hopefully they'll go one way or the other and not remain a slightly below .500 team. This past week was the msot painful because just when I thought they were setting themselves up to be awful the go and win three games. I hate you Boston Celtics!
Thats all I got for now, to my many loyal readers have a good thanksgiving, everyone else, go screw.
-The Bender
Michael Richards, it's over pal. I've had my questions about whether or not he was a good guy ever since I found out he was involved it that famous Andy Kaufman incident, but this was a complete shock. At this point I wonder if history will be re-written and they'll say this ruined his career after Seinfeld, as if it wasn't really already over. I never liked the way that Richards and Jason Alexander thought of themselves as comedic geniuses as a result of that show. They carried themselves as if they had shown what a true thespian could do with comedic material. Anyway hopefully we won't have to see this guy again and we can just concentrate on Seinfeld re-runs.
Another person who I think is looking like a jerk, on a much lesser level of course, is Kelly Ripa. Kelly have a friggin sense of humor. Clay Aiken is a weirdo, I'll acknowledge that, but I think Kelly looked like a total bitch. Was it homophobic like Rosie O'Donnell said? Maybe but I don;t think you can say for sure, so maybe Rosie shouldn't be confirming Clay's sexuality when he's not publicly out of the closet. The real issue to me is that Kelly Ripa exposed herself as someone with no sense of humor, I won't be surprised if there are a lot of stories of her making ridiculous demands behind the scenes. Kelly, I will never again hope to find a wife just like you, and you'll have to live with that.
I wanted to comment on the Andre Waters tragedy, I don;t know much on the background of why he took his own life, but I do know that I was a huge fan of those old Buddy Ryan defenses, and it's just so sad to see anyone's life end this way, especially when it's a guy who I used to cheer for. Andre was a real badass on the field, and representative of that whole defense. It's also sad to think that they were at the height of athletics less than twenty years ago and he's already the third member of that defense to pass away.
Ok, onto lighter things. this whole Playstation 3 thing is completely out of control, I don;t care how great the technology is you can't pay 600 bucks for a video game system. I don;t even know if I'd pay that much for the old holo-deck from Star Trek, and that was a badass entertainment system. I probably would, for reasons I'd rather not discuss at this time, but the holo-deck was way cooler than the PS3. I also think it's worth mentioning that the Nintendo Wii or whatever it's called looks ridiculous. People don't really wanna have to swing their arms or whatever while playing a game, it's that simple.
I know I sound like a comlete Jeter hater on this blog, so it'll be no surprise to you that I'm pleased as punch that he didn't win the MVP. I just don't see it, in my mind if you take Derek Jeter off that Yankees team they still win the division by 10 games. They have potential all-stars in eight of their nine starting slots. I don;t understand why everyone has decided that Jeter is the real difference maker on that team. The popular sentiment has always been that Jeter led them to all those championships in the late 90s but I would say the real reason those teams won was their great pitching, and even back then I didn't think Jeter was their best offensive player. As far as this year's MVP voting goes, I think the Twins had the top three candidates in the league, and there were a ton of reasonable candidates and no one single spectacular candidate.
A quick note, The Celtics are doing it to me again, settling into to nice state of mediocrity, too good to get Greg Oden, not good enough to make the games worth watching. This the absolute worst position in the NBA, teams can spend years there and not realize they're going nowhere, every season they get excited about their one all-star or their first round draft pick, hopefully they'll go one way or the other and not remain a slightly below .500 team. This past week was the msot painful because just when I thought they were setting themselves up to be awful the go and win three games. I hate you Boston Celtics!
Thats all I got for now, to my many loyal readers have a good thanksgiving, everyone else, go screw.
-The Bender
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
I Feel Good
I feel like there's great news all around me these days. I'm very happy with the election results, not just around the country but locally too. My guy Deval Patrick won around here and takig back the house and probably the senate as well is more than I could have imagined actually happening. But the real thing that's making me giddy is the re-birth of Britney. With her ditching that tool and possibly having a sex tape, well to borrow a phrase, she's having the best week ever. Oh my beautiful Britney, finally taking her rightful place atop the hot women world. It almost takes me back to college, when she was first doing it again. The whole world lusted for her, and they will again, mark my words, all she needs is a couple advisors or handlers and a competent nanny.
Other good news in the world, I read online that Studio 60 has gotten a ratings bump and there's a very good chance that they'll be picked up for the whole season very soon. Now all we need is for the other SNL homage 30 rock to get the support it needs. This show is quickly becoming my favorite comedy on TV, one of about only 5 watchable live action sitcoms out there right now.
Speaking of the sad state of TV comedy, why on earth would Fox run that new show with Brad Garrett and Finch against My Name is Earl? There are very few sitcoms on right now, why would you put your top sitcom against a proven NBC show in Earl? I need to take over a network! Anyone out there wanna back me with a few billion to get my own network started?
Anyway, enough about my dreams of being on or controlling TV. Saw the Borat movie, and I waited until the second showing last friday which is a lot more will power than I thought I'd have. The movie is in fact hilarious, it reminded of Napoleon dynamite in that every part seems to stand on its own and it's a lot of fun to remember the individual parts and quote them. The only problem is that there isn't too much in the way of plot in either movie, but I do strongly recommend it. The larger point about this movie and all movies is that it has become almost impossible to be completely satisfied by a movie due to all the hype beforehand. The last movie that i can remember where my expectations were really exceeded, was Spice World! Just kidding, it was South Park the movie and that was because it was snuck in during the middle of the summer between a bunch of other over-hyped movies. There have been plenty of movies that reached expectations or slightly exceeded them such as Kill Bill or The Departed, but South Park will always stand out. I just wonder how good a movie like Spider-Man 3 would have to be for me to not leave the movie theater feeling a little bit letdown.
And to other things that left me feeling a bit letdown, Pats loss vs. the colts sunday night, just a heart breaker. Can't help but feel they really blew this one. If the Pats had run it down their throat for the entire game I think they would have won, especially because the defense actually stopped the Colts a couple times in the second half. That doesn;t sound like much but sometimes when you watch Peyton Manning playing, you wonder how any team ever held them to as much as a field goal, let alone a punt. But the game was not totally deflating, I still feel like the Pats could beat the Colts if they meet in the playoffs, but games like sundays remind just how much the Pats miss Charlie Weis. In my mind the Patriots used to have both the greatest offensive and defensive minds in football, and I doubt any team will ever have a combo like that again.
I was also kinda bummed to hear that Francisco Liriano will be out all of next season. There really aren;t enough exciting pitchers out there right now, and MLB can't afford to lose one. The good news is that he's on one of my rivals fantasy baseball team and this just clears the way for Ryan Howard to lead me to another title.
Well, that was my Opus.
-Bender Out
Other good news in the world, I read online that Studio 60 has gotten a ratings bump and there's a very good chance that they'll be picked up for the whole season very soon. Now all we need is for the other SNL homage 30 rock to get the support it needs. This show is quickly becoming my favorite comedy on TV, one of about only 5 watchable live action sitcoms out there right now.
Speaking of the sad state of TV comedy, why on earth would Fox run that new show with Brad Garrett and Finch against My Name is Earl? There are very few sitcoms on right now, why would you put your top sitcom against a proven NBC show in Earl? I need to take over a network! Anyone out there wanna back me with a few billion to get my own network started?
Anyway, enough about my dreams of being on or controlling TV. Saw the Borat movie, and I waited until the second showing last friday which is a lot more will power than I thought I'd have. The movie is in fact hilarious, it reminded of Napoleon dynamite in that every part seems to stand on its own and it's a lot of fun to remember the individual parts and quote them. The only problem is that there isn't too much in the way of plot in either movie, but I do strongly recommend it. The larger point about this movie and all movies is that it has become almost impossible to be completely satisfied by a movie due to all the hype beforehand. The last movie that i can remember where my expectations were really exceeded, was Spice World! Just kidding, it was South Park the movie and that was because it was snuck in during the middle of the summer between a bunch of other over-hyped movies. There have been plenty of movies that reached expectations or slightly exceeded them such as Kill Bill or The Departed, but South Park will always stand out. I just wonder how good a movie like Spider-Man 3 would have to be for me to not leave the movie theater feeling a little bit letdown.
And to other things that left me feeling a bit letdown, Pats loss vs. the colts sunday night, just a heart breaker. Can't help but feel they really blew this one. If the Pats had run it down their throat for the entire game I think they would have won, especially because the defense actually stopped the Colts a couple times in the second half. That doesn;t sound like much but sometimes when you watch Peyton Manning playing, you wonder how any team ever held them to as much as a field goal, let alone a punt. But the game was not totally deflating, I still feel like the Pats could beat the Colts if they meet in the playoffs, but games like sundays remind just how much the Pats miss Charlie Weis. In my mind the Patriots used to have both the greatest offensive and defensive minds in football, and I doubt any team will ever have a combo like that again.
I was also kinda bummed to hear that Francisco Liriano will be out all of next season. There really aren;t enough exciting pitchers out there right now, and MLB can't afford to lose one. The good news is that he's on one of my rivals fantasy baseball team and this just clears the way for Ryan Howard to lead me to another title.
Well, that was my Opus.
-Bender Out
Friday, November 03, 2006
A few things before I go
Just wanted to post a few thoughts given that I haven't posted in a while.
-Very disappointed to see Derek Jeter win the gold glove at shortstop, not just because he's only an average fielder but to me it's a symbol of how meaningless the Gold Glove has become, maybe they should have the writers vote on it so the award can have some credibility back.
-Another tough pill for me to swallow was Eko being killed off this week on Lost. He was one of the most intriguing characters on the show and he had a few more great back-stories in him. I don;t know if he was written off for on-set issues or if he had just never planned on being on the series long-term but it is a loss for fans of the show.
-Speaking of people who should still be on a show, why in the world was Chris Parnell not brought back this season on Saturday Night Live? He was one of the few consistently funny cast members and for a show thats at an all-time low you'd think they would want him around.
-I read online today that 30 rock, Studio 60, and Friday Night Lights are all in trouble in terms of being cancelled due to disappointing ratings. Hopefully NBC will keep them all around, but this just goes back to my point about there being something seriously wrong with the way Networks are running things these days. Maybe it's just another reminder that I'm woefully out of touch with the rest of America.
-I watched last nights Louisville vs. West Virginia match-up, and while the offense were somewhat impressive I can't imagine either of these teams being able to hang with Ohio State or Michigan. neither team had any defensive presence whatsoever. I doubt that Louisville, if they remain undefeated, will have any chance in whatever bowl game they play.
-Can't wait to see Borat, let's hope it delivers, the trailers make it look like the funniest movie of the last couple years, I'm sure I'll have some thoughts up on this one soon.
-Just wanted to go on record as saying that the Celtics are not worth watching this season, don;t believe all the hype that's been going around on Rajon Rondo, he's a great athlete but he's not ready to be a starting point guard let alone an elite player at this point. Her's hoping they trade a few of their young players while the value is high, ryan gomes looks like a perfect candidate for a pump and dump this season. He has a low ceiling and may already be as good as he'll ever be.
That's all I got for now, and Rahida Jones, if you're out there, I'm free this weekend, call me.
-Bender Out
-Very disappointed to see Derek Jeter win the gold glove at shortstop, not just because he's only an average fielder but to me it's a symbol of how meaningless the Gold Glove has become, maybe they should have the writers vote on it so the award can have some credibility back.
-Another tough pill for me to swallow was Eko being killed off this week on Lost. He was one of the most intriguing characters on the show and he had a few more great back-stories in him. I don;t know if he was written off for on-set issues or if he had just never planned on being on the series long-term but it is a loss for fans of the show.
-Speaking of people who should still be on a show, why in the world was Chris Parnell not brought back this season on Saturday Night Live? He was one of the few consistently funny cast members and for a show thats at an all-time low you'd think they would want him around.
-I read online today that 30 rock, Studio 60, and Friday Night Lights are all in trouble in terms of being cancelled due to disappointing ratings. Hopefully NBC will keep them all around, but this just goes back to my point about there being something seriously wrong with the way Networks are running things these days. Maybe it's just another reminder that I'm woefully out of touch with the rest of America.
-I watched last nights Louisville vs. West Virginia match-up, and while the offense were somewhat impressive I can't imagine either of these teams being able to hang with Ohio State or Michigan. neither team had any defensive presence whatsoever. I doubt that Louisville, if they remain undefeated, will have any chance in whatever bowl game they play.
-Can't wait to see Borat, let's hope it delivers, the trailers make it look like the funniest movie of the last couple years, I'm sure I'll have some thoughts up on this one soon.
-Just wanted to go on record as saying that the Celtics are not worth watching this season, don;t believe all the hype that's been going around on Rajon Rondo, he's a great athlete but he's not ready to be a starting point guard let alone an elite player at this point. Her's hoping they trade a few of their young players while the value is high, ryan gomes looks like a perfect candidate for a pump and dump this season. He has a low ceiling and may already be as good as he'll ever be.
That's all I got for now, and Rahida Jones, if you're out there, I'm free this weekend, call me.
-Bender Out
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Good Times
I really love Patriot's games like last night's 31-7 drubbing of the Vikings. They aren't exciting, but I just really love the Pats handing out a good ass-whooping. I love hearing the announcers trying to fill up the three hours when the game has long since been decided, especially because their only option is to lay heeps of praise on the Pats. Even when they say something nice to console the loser it still has to come off as a compliment to the mighty juggernaut who just embarressed them.
Now the Vikings are actually a good team, but I think that they made Bill Belichick mad with all of Brad Childress' little games leading up to monday night. Childress apparently had an axe to grind because of something involving the Super Bowl two years back, but as Janet Reno would have said, (or a comedian imitating Janet Reno) "You call out the bull, you get the horns." Then Janet would have danced with now president of The University of Miami, Donna Shalala, but I digress. Brad, you just shouldn't try to pick a fight with some one until you can back it up. I do like what Childress is doing in Minnesota, anyone who has the foresight to trade Daunte Culpepper and realizes that Steve Hutchinson was the prize free agent of last off-season, well that man will be a success in the long run. Your time will come Minnesota fans, but it's just not here yet.
Anyway, now the NFL gets their huge marquee match-up between the league's best quarterback and Peyton Manning, both teams were impressive this weekend, and if the Colts weren't such a bunch of chokers, I'd say that this was a match-up of the two Super Bowl favorites.
That's all I got for today,
-Bender Out
Now the Vikings are actually a good team, but I think that they made Bill Belichick mad with all of Brad Childress' little games leading up to monday night. Childress apparently had an axe to grind because of something involving the Super Bowl two years back, but as Janet Reno would have said, (or a comedian imitating Janet Reno) "You call out the bull, you get the horns." Then Janet would have danced with now president of The University of Miami, Donna Shalala, but I digress. Brad, you just shouldn't try to pick a fight with some one until you can back it up. I do like what Childress is doing in Minnesota, anyone who has the foresight to trade Daunte Culpepper and realizes that Steve Hutchinson was the prize free agent of last off-season, well that man will be a success in the long run. Your time will come Minnesota fans, but it's just not here yet.
Anyway, now the NFL gets their huge marquee match-up between the league's best quarterback and Peyton Manning, both teams were impressive this weekend, and if the Colts weren't such a bunch of chokers, I'd say that this was a match-up of the two Super Bowl favorites.
That's all I got for today,
-Bender Out
Monday, October 30, 2006
Engagement
Big news in Bender's world, my boy Alex got engaged. You may know him better as Big Al, Wiggy, EGA or El Grandmaster Alejadro, if you're not into the whole brevity thing. Anyway congratulations to EGA and his fiance Edra, best wishes to them, I can't wait for the wedding and more importantly the bachelor party.
So I've been thinking about the whole engagement process a lot lately, and it's a lot of money. You take into account the ring and the overly elaboprate proposal you could be looking at ten grand. I don;t know if I can afford all that, to me it's almost as impossible as trying to find a woman who will actually say yes. So I may just have to settle into a lifetime of bachelorhood, chasing the muff around like a panting dog. But enough about my plight, this is not the time.
Mazel Tov, Alex & Edra
So I've been thinking about the whole engagement process a lot lately, and it's a lot of money. You take into account the ring and the overly elaboprate proposal you could be looking at ten grand. I don;t know if I can afford all that, to me it's almost as impossible as trying to find a woman who will actually say yes. So I may just have to settle into a lifetime of bachelorhood, chasing the muff around like a panting dog. But enough about my plight, this is not the time.
Mazel Tov, Alex & Edra
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Full Plate
Lots of things to comment on today, I've put off posting for a while while I've had lots I wanted to comment on.
Red Auerbach
Basically if you're my age and you grew up in the Boston area, Red Auerbach defined the modern sports genius. He created many innovations that we take for granted now in basketball. To me he introduced the whole idea of a fast-breaking team, he created the sixth man role and more importantly he had the greatest understanding of how to blend talent together and find players who complemented each other. He also signed the first African american player and started the first all black line-up in the NBA, which has to be respected. Maybe on another day I'll truly give this man the tribute he deserves. For now I'll just leave it at this, Red was the greatest basketball mind ever.
I saw the movie Running With Scissors tonight, and I give it a thumbs up, very funny, a little disturbing but all in all worth my nine dollars. It just blows my mind that everything in this movie really happened, but it'll definitely have me thinking twice before considering ever going to see a therapist. Also, kudos to Joseph Fiennes, he has a pretty big role in this movie and I had not idea it was him until I saw the credits at the end, I always enjoy when that happens and I've just ruined that moment for you.
Onto my thoughts on this sundays football games.
I mentioned it last week, but it bears repeating, I'm enjoying the current Steeler woes, and I can't help but think that losing to the Raiders represents rock bottom.
So much for my thoughts on the Cowboys chances with Romo at QB. They ran away with tonight's game at the end and Romo only made a couple awful decisions and those both came early on. by the end of the year they could be in the playoffs, especially when you look at the way a lot of the other NFC teams are playing right now.
Right now my second favorite team is whoever is playing Seattle. I loved Deion Branch while he was with the Pats, but if Seattle keeps struggling the Branch trade could be a huge windfall for the Pats. Seneca Wallace looked pretty good given his lack of experience but they're hurting right now and I can only hope it continues.
The big game of the day was Indy vs. Denver, I had this one all wrong. I thought for sure that Denver would control the ball with the run and win a surprisingly low scoring game, but instead Indy was clicking on all cylinders and won a tight one in a very tough environment. Vinatieri kicked the winning field goal and if he'd been there last year the Colts might be the defending champs. Denver's vaunted D looked all good in the first half but Indy wore them down and looked like they were scoring at will by the end.
Other games of note, Atlanta is looking good and the Giants look like a Super Bowl contender as they both had impressive wins over Cincy and Tampa respectively. Speaking of The Bengals, they definitely are not as good as most thought they would be. The Eagles who seem to have had the worst luck in the NFL so far got dominated by The Jaguars defense and I'd have to say that they'll be lucky to get a wild card spot.
So that's all for now, I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about the pats monday night game, til then.
-Bender out
Red Auerbach
Basically if you're my age and you grew up in the Boston area, Red Auerbach defined the modern sports genius. He created many innovations that we take for granted now in basketball. To me he introduced the whole idea of a fast-breaking team, he created the sixth man role and more importantly he had the greatest understanding of how to blend talent together and find players who complemented each other. He also signed the first African american player and started the first all black line-up in the NBA, which has to be respected. Maybe on another day I'll truly give this man the tribute he deserves. For now I'll just leave it at this, Red was the greatest basketball mind ever.
I saw the movie Running With Scissors tonight, and I give it a thumbs up, very funny, a little disturbing but all in all worth my nine dollars. It just blows my mind that everything in this movie really happened, but it'll definitely have me thinking twice before considering ever going to see a therapist. Also, kudos to Joseph Fiennes, he has a pretty big role in this movie and I had not idea it was him until I saw the credits at the end, I always enjoy when that happens and I've just ruined that moment for you.
Onto my thoughts on this sundays football games.
I mentioned it last week, but it bears repeating, I'm enjoying the current Steeler woes, and I can't help but think that losing to the Raiders represents rock bottom.
So much for my thoughts on the Cowboys chances with Romo at QB. They ran away with tonight's game at the end and Romo only made a couple awful decisions and those both came early on. by the end of the year they could be in the playoffs, especially when you look at the way a lot of the other NFC teams are playing right now.
Right now my second favorite team is whoever is playing Seattle. I loved Deion Branch while he was with the Pats, but if Seattle keeps struggling the Branch trade could be a huge windfall for the Pats. Seneca Wallace looked pretty good given his lack of experience but they're hurting right now and I can only hope it continues.
The big game of the day was Indy vs. Denver, I had this one all wrong. I thought for sure that Denver would control the ball with the run and win a surprisingly low scoring game, but instead Indy was clicking on all cylinders and won a tight one in a very tough environment. Vinatieri kicked the winning field goal and if he'd been there last year the Colts might be the defending champs. Denver's vaunted D looked all good in the first half but Indy wore them down and looked like they were scoring at will by the end.
Other games of note, Atlanta is looking good and the Giants look like a Super Bowl contender as they both had impressive wins over Cincy and Tampa respectively. Speaking of The Bengals, they definitely are not as good as most thought they would be. The Eagles who seem to have had the worst luck in the NFL so far got dominated by The Jaguars defense and I'd have to say that they'll be lucky to get a wild card spot.
So that's all for now, I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about the pats monday night game, til then.
-Bender out
Saturday, October 28, 2006
World Series
St. Louis Cardinals are your World Series Champions! I'm obviously stunned, even after game one, I thought the most likely scenario was a 4-1 series win for the Tigers. But good for them, the strangest part is that Albert Pujols didn't have a very good series. If you'd told me that The Cards would win, I would've predicted at least 3 homers for big Al, but for the most part he was pitched around and he hit only .200 for the series. Does this represent a referendum on the resume of the National League? Probably not, 5 games is a small sample and The Tigers were clearly not themselves. I don't know if it was a result of the long layoff between the ALCS and World Series or if the pressure just caught up with a lot of these players, but they looked like a completely different team this week. They made a lot of errors and they couldn't hit any of the Cardinals pitchers. Being shut down by Chris Carpenter? Well that happens, but when Jeff Weaver goes eight strong, then your team is in a bad slump.
David Eckstein was named MVP. I think he went hitless for the first two games, then had a couple hits in game 3, in game 4 he was aided greatly by Detroit's struggling defense, he should've gone 2 for 5 with one RBI but instead he was 4 for5 and had a couple runs scored and a couple RBIs. So Eckstein became MVP because the field was too wet for Curtis Granderson to change direction and Craig Monroe took an awful angle to a ball, both in game 4. I just want to make sure no one thinks this is any sort of excuse for the Tigers, they deserved to lose. In Game 4 even after the gift double because of the wet grass, the Tigers did plenty to help the Cardinals cause.
The Cardinals used to be my favorite team in the '80s, aside from the Red Sox of course. But now I can't stand them. I don't like Pujols at all, and I defnitely am tired of Tony LaRussa, but more importantly, I miss their old style. I loved Vince Coleman, Terry Pendelton and Willie McGee. McGee, while not exactly Denzel Washington in terms of looks, was a great centerfielder for them. I would argue that Willie McGee deserves to be in the Hall-of-Fame over Ozzie Smith.
The Wizard fo Oz has become one of the more overrated players in the history of the game, he was a very good fielder, but he couldn't hit at all until the late 80s. Omar Vizquel probably won't sniff the Hall of Fame, but he's Ozzie's equal as a fielder and was a superior hitter. Ozzie just got a lot of notoriety for his flash, he was exciting to watch and lets not forget he used to do a flip on his way out to field his position every game.
Anyway, I guess it's a good thing that very few read this blog, otherwise I'd be getting hate mail from St. Louis. That's all I've got for today.
-Bender Out
David Eckstein was named MVP. I think he went hitless for the first two games, then had a couple hits in game 3, in game 4 he was aided greatly by Detroit's struggling defense, he should've gone 2 for 5 with one RBI but instead he was 4 for5 and had a couple runs scored and a couple RBIs. So Eckstein became MVP because the field was too wet for Curtis Granderson to change direction and Craig Monroe took an awful angle to a ball, both in game 4. I just want to make sure no one thinks this is any sort of excuse for the Tigers, they deserved to lose. In Game 4 even after the gift double because of the wet grass, the Tigers did plenty to help the Cardinals cause.
The Cardinals used to be my favorite team in the '80s, aside from the Red Sox of course. But now I can't stand them. I don't like Pujols at all, and I defnitely am tired of Tony LaRussa, but more importantly, I miss their old style. I loved Vince Coleman, Terry Pendelton and Willie McGee. McGee, while not exactly Denzel Washington in terms of looks, was a great centerfielder for them. I would argue that Willie McGee deserves to be in the Hall-of-Fame over Ozzie Smith.
The Wizard fo Oz has become one of the more overrated players in the history of the game, he was a very good fielder, but he couldn't hit at all until the late 80s. Omar Vizquel probably won't sniff the Hall of Fame, but he's Ozzie's equal as a fielder and was a superior hitter. Ozzie just got a lot of notoriety for his flash, he was exciting to watch and lets not forget he used to do a flip on his way out to field his position every game.
Anyway, I guess it's a good thing that very few read this blog, otherwise I'd be getting hate mail from St. Louis. That's all I've got for today.
-Bender Out
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Hank Aaron Awards
So I was listening to the radio last night, sports radio, the Todd Wright on Sporting news radio, and they announced the winners of this year's Hank aaron awards. They give one to the best hitter in each league, to no one's surprise Ryan Howard won it in the NL. In theb AL there were plenty of great candidates, but who do they give it to? No no, neither of the two DH's who are in the MVP race and not the first baseman either. They gave it to Derek Jeter. Really? the best hitter? I must have misunderstood the point of the award or something. Jeter is a fine hitter, probably one of the best three in his own lineup. But I can't imagine any pitcher saying that Jeter is the one guy in the whole league they wouldn't want to face. Admittedly I'm not a huge Jeter fan, I think his popularity and notoriety as perhaps the best shortstop in Yankee history leads to him being quite overrated. I probably wouldn;t say Jeter was one of the top ten hitters in the American Lague this year, definitely not top five.
A follow up to what I wrote about yeaterday, last night's episode of 30 Rock was one of the funniest things I've seen on TV in the last couple years. Just top shelf all around, especially Alec Baldwin who carried the episode, but also the geeky idiot kid, Kenneth. He could be a real up and comer in the comedy world, he was apparently in Talladega Nights and also has appeared on Conan and Arrested Development.
Anyway,
-Bender out
A follow up to what I wrote about yeaterday, last night's episode of 30 Rock was one of the funniest things I've seen on TV in the last couple years. Just top shelf all around, especially Alec Baldwin who carried the episode, but also the geeky idiot kid, Kenneth. He could be a real up and comer in the comedy world, he was apparently in Talladega Nights and also has appeared on Conan and Arrested Development.
Anyway,
-Bender out
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
New Fall TV shows
OK, so every year I get pumped up for the new fall TV shows. As I said before, one of my favorites of the new season was Smith, which is currently dangling in the wind, but I haven't been left completely high and dry. I still have two new shows that are delivering for me and three others that I've decided are worth giving a chance.
-Three potential winners
30 rock. I was a little pissed off when I heard that Jane Krokowski was brought in to replace Rachel Dratch after test audiences decided she wasn't hot enough to be a main character, but I'm giving the show a chance anyway. Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and especially Alec Baldwin make me laugh consistently. I don;t know that I really like the premise of the show so far but the aforementioned three have made it worth watching.
20 Good Years. This is on right after 30 rock and just before Lost comes on ABC, so it's not like I'm planning my night around this show, I just figure it's on and Jeffrey Tambor has never let me down before. I still haven't figured out why The Ropers wasn't a big hit let alone why no one watched Arrested Development, but Tambor has been good for years. John Lithgow will play his normal over-the-top egomaniac and thats a proven winner too so maybe this show will hang around for a while despite "The Tambor Curse."
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. This was a heavily hyped show and for the most part it has delivered. The cast is quite solid and while I could do without Amanda Peet and Steven Weber. Peet becomes less hot every time I see her and she's proven to be a bad actress, it's been all downhill since Weekend at Bernie's. Weber was all right on Wings, a show that grew on me over the years because of the solid ensemble, but every time I see him do an interview I feel like kicking him in the nuts. Bad actors aside, the biggest problem with this show is that they're supposed to be writing very funny things to put in the show and every time something is supposed to be funny on that show, it falls short.
-OK, the big two.
Fridfay Night Lights. The best sports show since The White Shadow, not sure how many sports shows there have been, but if it's even half decent I'll watch it. I'm fully behind a lot of the plotlines so far. The back-up QB who has too much riding on him, the self-destructive fullback, the halfback who's too big for his britches, and the pressure on the coach, they're all solid. The thing that worries me is that they're trying to make certain things too dramatic. Why have the starting quarterback be paralyzed? This is completely ridiculous, and if you don;t think so try to remember the last time the top recruit in the nation got paralyzed. Never happened, why not? Because it's like lightning striking in the same place twice. Also if he was a top recruit, why did he look god awful in his first game of the season? Now they brought in this Katrina refugee as well, I guess this took place last year, because a player of his talent wouldn't sit around for a year then have corrupt people offering him money and such to play at their high school. Whatever happened to subtlety? All that said, the show still has a ton of potential and I'm willing to watch every episode untik it gets too ridiculous.
Heroes. By far the best new show of the season. Ever since lost became a breakout hit there have been tons of copycat shows trying to recreate the excitement and suspense, and this is the first one to come close. Plus it's actually willing to let things slowly develop, similar to Lost. have you ever gone back and watched early episodes of Lost? did it seem like nothing happened? That's because hardly anything did happen, yet people were on the edge of their seats. Anyway, I love the powers, I love that people are just discovering them, I love that no one really believes them about their powers. I don't know what they're gonna do after they all come together and save the world but for now I don;t have to worry about that.
So check out those shows.
-Bender Out
OK, so every year I get pumped up for the new fall TV shows. As I said before, one of my favorites of the new season was Smith, which is currently dangling in the wind, but I haven't been left completely high and dry. I still have two new shows that are delivering for me and three others that I've decided are worth giving a chance.
-Three potential winners
30 rock. I was a little pissed off when I heard that Jane Krokowski was brought in to replace Rachel Dratch after test audiences decided she wasn't hot enough to be a main character, but I'm giving the show a chance anyway. Tina Fey, Tracy Morgan and especially Alec Baldwin make me laugh consistently. I don;t know that I really like the premise of the show so far but the aforementioned three have made it worth watching.
20 Good Years. This is on right after 30 rock and just before Lost comes on ABC, so it's not like I'm planning my night around this show, I just figure it's on and Jeffrey Tambor has never let me down before. I still haven't figured out why The Ropers wasn't a big hit let alone why no one watched Arrested Development, but Tambor has been good for years. John Lithgow will play his normal over-the-top egomaniac and thats a proven winner too so maybe this show will hang around for a while despite "The Tambor Curse."
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. This was a heavily hyped show and for the most part it has delivered. The cast is quite solid and while I could do without Amanda Peet and Steven Weber. Peet becomes less hot every time I see her and she's proven to be a bad actress, it's been all downhill since Weekend at Bernie's. Weber was all right on Wings, a show that grew on me over the years because of the solid ensemble, but every time I see him do an interview I feel like kicking him in the nuts. Bad actors aside, the biggest problem with this show is that they're supposed to be writing very funny things to put in the show and every time something is supposed to be funny on that show, it falls short.
-OK, the big two.
Fridfay Night Lights. The best sports show since The White Shadow, not sure how many sports shows there have been, but if it's even half decent I'll watch it. I'm fully behind a lot of the plotlines so far. The back-up QB who has too much riding on him, the self-destructive fullback, the halfback who's too big for his britches, and the pressure on the coach, they're all solid. The thing that worries me is that they're trying to make certain things too dramatic. Why have the starting quarterback be paralyzed? This is completely ridiculous, and if you don;t think so try to remember the last time the top recruit in the nation got paralyzed. Never happened, why not? Because it's like lightning striking in the same place twice. Also if he was a top recruit, why did he look god awful in his first game of the season? Now they brought in this Katrina refugee as well, I guess this took place last year, because a player of his talent wouldn't sit around for a year then have corrupt people offering him money and such to play at their high school. Whatever happened to subtlety? All that said, the show still has a ton of potential and I'm willing to watch every episode untik it gets too ridiculous.
Heroes. By far the best new show of the season. Ever since lost became a breakout hit there have been tons of copycat shows trying to recreate the excitement and suspense, and this is the first one to come close. Plus it's actually willing to let things slowly develop, similar to Lost. have you ever gone back and watched early episodes of Lost? did it seem like nothing happened? That's because hardly anything did happen, yet people were on the edge of their seats. Anyway, I love the powers, I love that people are just discovering them, I love that no one really believes them about their powers. I don't know what they're gonna do after they all come together and save the world but for now I don;t have to worry about that.
So check out those shows.
-Bender Out
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Monday Night Football
First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I've always been a huge Drew Bledsoe fan. That being said, he makes huge mistakes that for the most part seem to nullify a lot of his gunslinger prowess. Kinda like Brett Favre 4 years ago, but still better than Favre now. Last night the Cowboys basically threw in the towel on their season. Any team that changes their starting QB mid-season has no right to claim they are trying to win the Super bowl, and at this point I think the 'Boys have zero chance at .500 season. Whatever you want to say about Drew Bledsoe, he was their only shot at making the playoffs this year, whether or not he could lead them to the Super Bowl is debatable at best. Last night's panic move by Bill Parcells basically signalled that they're looking to next season.
Other Cowboy's notes: Bill Parcells seemed like a lot better coach when he had Bill Belichick, Al Groh, Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis et al on his staff. I've always thought that Parcells specialty was getting the most out of his players, and he doesn't have the high quality assistants that he used to, so his strategy is lacking.
More importantly about the cowboys, and any other team who thinks they can compete for a Super bowl. Any team who changes their Quarterback in the middle of the season did a poor job acquiring players in the off-season. If they didn't want to tie their wagon to Bledsoe, they should have signed a different QB in the off-season. I can think of a certain 25 million dollars that would have been better spent on either a QB or O-lineman as opposed to a loudmouth receiver.
First off, in the interest of full disclosure, I've always been a huge Drew Bledsoe fan. That being said, he makes huge mistakes that for the most part seem to nullify a lot of his gunslinger prowess. Kinda like Brett Favre 4 years ago, but still better than Favre now. Last night the Cowboys basically threw in the towel on their season. Any team that changes their starting QB mid-season has no right to claim they are trying to win the Super bowl, and at this point I think the 'Boys have zero chance at .500 season. Whatever you want to say about Drew Bledsoe, he was their only shot at making the playoffs this year, whether or not he could lead them to the Super Bowl is debatable at best. Last night's panic move by Bill Parcells basically signalled that they're looking to next season.
Other Cowboy's notes: Bill Parcells seemed like a lot better coach when he had Bill Belichick, Al Groh, Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis et al on his staff. I've always thought that Parcells specialty was getting the most out of his players, and he doesn't have the high quality assistants that he used to, so his strategy is lacking.
More importantly about the cowboys, and any other team who thinks they can compete for a Super bowl. Any team who changes their Quarterback in the middle of the season did a poor job acquiring players in the off-season. If they didn't want to tie their wagon to Bledsoe, they should have signed a different QB in the off-season. I can think of a certain 25 million dollars that would have been better spent on either a QB or O-lineman as opposed to a loudmouth receiver.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Brief Follow-up to yesterdays post.
OK, so first things first, it turns out that Ryan Seacrest is alive and kicking, my apologies to anyone who read me refer to him as "the late, great" I gotta say, I definitely have egg on my face, I hope no one was hurt by this.
Secondly, I missed the ball on this whole Kenny Rogers thing. Apparently he's a damn cheater. Either he's been putting something on the ball or he has a serious wiping problem that should have been rectified years ago. Come on Kenny, you're a grown man, that's just gross. Wash your hands off when you finish. I feel bad about what I just wrote, Rogers has always been a class act, I personally just fear for the well-being of the Cameraman who shot the incriminating evidence on his hand.
Last thing for today is, I'd like there to be an IMDB type site dedicated to the music from movies and TV shows. I need a place to list all the songs on a given show so that I can dowload (legally, of course.) My MP3 player has room for about 5,000 more songs and everytime I hear a great song I want to know how to obtain it. So to all the really smart people out there, get cracking, I want this resource. Now!
OK, so first things first, it turns out that Ryan Seacrest is alive and kicking, my apologies to anyone who read me refer to him as "the late, great" I gotta say, I definitely have egg on my face, I hope no one was hurt by this.
Secondly, I missed the ball on this whole Kenny Rogers thing. Apparently he's a damn cheater. Either he's been putting something on the ball or he has a serious wiping problem that should have been rectified years ago. Come on Kenny, you're a grown man, that's just gross. Wash your hands off when you finish. I feel bad about what I just wrote, Rogers has always been a class act, I personally just fear for the well-being of the Cameraman who shot the incriminating evidence on his hand.
Last thing for today is, I'd like there to be an IMDB type site dedicated to the music from movies and TV shows. I need a place to list all the songs on a given show so that I can dowload (legally, of course.) My MP3 player has room for about 5,000 more songs and everytime I hear a great song I want to know how to obtain it. So to all the really smart people out there, get cracking, I want this resource. Now!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Thoughts on Sports
I watched game 2 of The World Series tonight, I'm not gonna pretend I'm not rooting for the Tigers. While I've never been a fan of either Kenny Rogers or Ivan Rodriguez, I like the fact that they've made such a turn around the last three years and they have so many kids to root for. I can;t help but want Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya and Jeremy Bonderman to win, for now. I've always been a fan of exciting young players and at the same time I have a feeling that in two years I'll root against all these same players. I can already sense that I'm getting a little tired of the hype around Zumaya and I'm sure if he wins he'll be completely overrated by next all-star break. The thing I enjoy most about the Tigers is Dave Dombrowski, when they hired him I started hyping him up and I'm glad to see I was right for once.
The biggest reason I'm rooting for the Tigers is that I can't stand the Cardinals. I'm tired of this current group. I don't like the way the media embraces Albert Pujols as if he's the one player in the majors who is above suspicion for steroid use and they constantly praise him as the greatest player of this generation. I will admit that he's a very impressive hitter, but lets just slow down on the current lovefest. The way things are going, I'm expecting Joe Buck to say something like, "We now know that God is latin because he created Albert in his own image." Meanwhile Peter Gammons is in meetings with Bud Selig to have Albert's face become the new MLB logo. The second most hatable thing about the Cardinals is Tony LaRussa, anyone who's been paying attention realizes he's no the genius that some still claim. I presonally thought the bloom was off that rose when he went to the 3x2, three inning rotation he tried at the end of his A's tenure. The most important factor in me disliking the Cardinals is that they probably would've been the 10th best team in the AL, but we have to pretend they're some sort of unrealized dynasty. They're just the captains of the JV same as they've been for the last 5 years. I won;t claim that I'm unbiased here but I view Chris Carpenter as a mediocre pitcher who couldn't hack it in the American League and now there's a good chance that he'll win his second straight Cy Young.
Long story short, go Tigers.
I wanted to comment on Shawn Merriman being caught for Steroids. In one week two of the best defensive players in football have been suspended for steroids (Merriman and Lions' DT Shawn Rogers.) Perhaps football got a sample of the latest designer steroid and knew what to test for, and now they can finally catch a few of the payers. It amazes me that everyone is performing a witch-hunt trying to find who is on the juice in baseball but everyone wants to pretend that no one in football is using. These guys are all benching 400 punds and running a 4.3 40 but that's just natural ability.
I was tickled to see the Steelers fall to 2-4 after losing to the Falcons. This was a game where whoever lost, I would enjoy that, and I could make peace with one of them having to win. The Steelers have always been the loudest, most bragadocious gathering of egomaniacs the NFL has ever seen, lord only knows how unbearable they'd be if they were a true dynasty. All I can say is that they look well on their way to missing the playoffs, couldn;t happen to a better bunch of guys.
I gotta say that nothing kills a team like drafting a bad QB. The Jaguars currently have all the makings of a championship team, but they have an anchor tied to their leg in the form of Byron Leftwich, he's just good enough to convince them not to acquire another QB but he's just bad enough to keep them from truly competing for a title. The Titans will go through the same thing with Vince Young, the Packers with Aaron Rodgers, and the 49ers with Alex Smith. They won;t realize or they won't admit that these players aren't worth the high draft picks and they'll probably get a combined 9 years worth of starts proving how big of a mistake these teams made. It's bad enough totally whiffing on a high draft pick, every team could use a great star on their roster but whiffing on that pick when it's a QB who will drag down the offense for a few years is a killer.
That's all I got for now, so, to paraphrase the late great Ryan Seacrest.
Bender Out
I watched game 2 of The World Series tonight, I'm not gonna pretend I'm not rooting for the Tigers. While I've never been a fan of either Kenny Rogers or Ivan Rodriguez, I like the fact that they've made such a turn around the last three years and they have so many kids to root for. I can;t help but want Justin Verlander, Joel Zumaya and Jeremy Bonderman to win, for now. I've always been a fan of exciting young players and at the same time I have a feeling that in two years I'll root against all these same players. I can already sense that I'm getting a little tired of the hype around Zumaya and I'm sure if he wins he'll be completely overrated by next all-star break. The thing I enjoy most about the Tigers is Dave Dombrowski, when they hired him I started hyping him up and I'm glad to see I was right for once.
The biggest reason I'm rooting for the Tigers is that I can't stand the Cardinals. I'm tired of this current group. I don't like the way the media embraces Albert Pujols as if he's the one player in the majors who is above suspicion for steroid use and they constantly praise him as the greatest player of this generation. I will admit that he's a very impressive hitter, but lets just slow down on the current lovefest. The way things are going, I'm expecting Joe Buck to say something like, "We now know that God is latin because he created Albert in his own image." Meanwhile Peter Gammons is in meetings with Bud Selig to have Albert's face become the new MLB logo. The second most hatable thing about the Cardinals is Tony LaRussa, anyone who's been paying attention realizes he's no the genius that some still claim. I presonally thought the bloom was off that rose when he went to the 3x2, three inning rotation he tried at the end of his A's tenure. The most important factor in me disliking the Cardinals is that they probably would've been the 10th best team in the AL, but we have to pretend they're some sort of unrealized dynasty. They're just the captains of the JV same as they've been for the last 5 years. I won;t claim that I'm unbiased here but I view Chris Carpenter as a mediocre pitcher who couldn't hack it in the American League and now there's a good chance that he'll win his second straight Cy Young.
Long story short, go Tigers.
I wanted to comment on Shawn Merriman being caught for Steroids. In one week two of the best defensive players in football have been suspended for steroids (Merriman and Lions' DT Shawn Rogers.) Perhaps football got a sample of the latest designer steroid and knew what to test for, and now they can finally catch a few of the payers. It amazes me that everyone is performing a witch-hunt trying to find who is on the juice in baseball but everyone wants to pretend that no one in football is using. These guys are all benching 400 punds and running a 4.3 40 but that's just natural ability.
I was tickled to see the Steelers fall to 2-4 after losing to the Falcons. This was a game where whoever lost, I would enjoy that, and I could make peace with one of them having to win. The Steelers have always been the loudest, most bragadocious gathering of egomaniacs the NFL has ever seen, lord only knows how unbearable they'd be if they were a true dynasty. All I can say is that they look well on their way to missing the playoffs, couldn;t happen to a better bunch of guys.
I gotta say that nothing kills a team like drafting a bad QB. The Jaguars currently have all the makings of a championship team, but they have an anchor tied to their leg in the form of Byron Leftwich, he's just good enough to convince them not to acquire another QB but he's just bad enough to keep them from truly competing for a title. The Titans will go through the same thing with Vince Young, the Packers with Aaron Rodgers, and the 49ers with Alex Smith. They won;t realize or they won't admit that these players aren't worth the high draft picks and they'll probably get a combined 9 years worth of starts proving how big of a mistake these teams made. It's bad enough totally whiffing on a high draft pick, every team could use a great star on their roster but whiffing on that pick when it's a QB who will drag down the offense for a few years is a killer.
That's all I got for now, so, to paraphrase the late great Ryan Seacrest.
Bender Out
The inaugural post of the Chrissy B Experience. A place where I'll write crazy opinions as if I've actually spent a long time thinking them out.
Today I'd like to discuss the crazy reality of network television. I read last week that CBS and NBC have already given up on Smith and Kidnapped respectively. These were supposed to be big new shows for both networks, and after just a few episodes they've already been cancelled. I can't really speak about Kidnapped, I wasn't watching it but maybe it was just in a crappy time slot or something because it had an all-star cast, and it was hyped up as much as any show on their schedule. Perhaps they could have aired it during one of the many slots currently occupied by a game show. There's definitely a better chance of me watching Kidnapped thursday at 9 than on a Wednesday night when I know I'm already committed to Lost. But that's enough on that.
Smith was a good show. They had the main plots involving the huge heists, the planning to me was exciting not to mention the heist in the Pilot was the best action sequence on TV in a long time. But my gripe goes a lot farther, the show had well thought out subplots. Amy Smart's character wanted more power. Virginia Madsen and Ray Liotta had some sort of marital distrust, that lead to her having some sort of substance abuse issue. Johnny Lee Miller and Amy Smart had the whole romance/she left him to get caught issue. Simon Baker killed a couple guys who threatened him and the guy's brother wanted to kill him. Anyway you can see that the show had a lot going for it.
The most puzzling part to me is that they just took it off the air, is it really more beneficial for the network to air re-runs of one of their CSI shows? I'm sure they've pre-paid for a bunch of episodes, I can't imagine it was only 3 episodes. Why not let the show keep running, see if it picked up popularity and momentum.
The bottom line for me is that there is a total lack of quality shows and if they cancel a potential good show early on the viewers are the ones who lose. Bring back my show dammit!
Today I'd like to discuss the crazy reality of network television. I read last week that CBS and NBC have already given up on Smith and Kidnapped respectively. These were supposed to be big new shows for both networks, and after just a few episodes they've already been cancelled. I can't really speak about Kidnapped, I wasn't watching it but maybe it was just in a crappy time slot or something because it had an all-star cast, and it was hyped up as much as any show on their schedule. Perhaps they could have aired it during one of the many slots currently occupied by a game show. There's definitely a better chance of me watching Kidnapped thursday at 9 than on a Wednesday night when I know I'm already committed to Lost. But that's enough on that.
Smith was a good show. They had the main plots involving the huge heists, the planning to me was exciting not to mention the heist in the Pilot was the best action sequence on TV in a long time. But my gripe goes a lot farther, the show had well thought out subplots. Amy Smart's character wanted more power. Virginia Madsen and Ray Liotta had some sort of marital distrust, that lead to her having some sort of substance abuse issue. Johnny Lee Miller and Amy Smart had the whole romance/she left him to get caught issue. Simon Baker killed a couple guys who threatened him and the guy's brother wanted to kill him. Anyway you can see that the show had a lot going for it.
The most puzzling part to me is that they just took it off the air, is it really more beneficial for the network to air re-runs of one of their CSI shows? I'm sure they've pre-paid for a bunch of episodes, I can't imagine it was only 3 episodes. Why not let the show keep running, see if it picked up popularity and momentum.
The bottom line for me is that there is a total lack of quality shows and if they cancel a potential good show early on the viewers are the ones who lose. Bring back my show dammit!
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