posted by admin on Jan 31
Kobe to Andrew Bynum: “I am the Lakers! No more 42 point games for you!“
Archive for January, 2009
posted by admin on Jan 31
I am absolutely disgusted by the final 12 minutes of officiating in the first half of the Wake Forest-Ga Tech game. I literally feel sick from watching this.
27 first half fouls called.
3 Technical’s none of which should have been called.
Egregious missed foul calls on clear contact while phantom no-touches or bumps on screens are immediately whistled. I see the refs are trying to take control of a physical game but they’ve become the game. Tons of contact and nothing is called but play straight up D and you’re whistled. Both of Wake’s PG’s picked up their third foul of the game on BULLSHIT technical calls. Tech had their best three-point shooter pick up two fouls on one play on a BULLSHIT technical.
This game is a joke. I hope someone from the ACC is on the phone with the officials ripping them apart.
posted by admin on Jan 30
Super Bowl Sunday is fast approaching and I am thrilled to be on the West Coast. ESPN’s pre-game coverage begins at 6 AM out here and I will thankfully sleep through most of it and be up in time to run to the grocery store, cook something artery clogging and be ready for kick-off around 3 in the afternoon. Even better you can get a solid buzz going during the the four hours of commercials and have no worries about the dreaded Monday morning hangover.
On the other hand Wake Forest - GA Tech tips-off 9 AM tomorrow morning so probably not drinking during that game. I suppose if I tried hard I could still be drunk but that’s a risky move as missing the game entirely is much more likely of an outcome. Anyway, if Wake loses tomorrow it’s 100% due to my lack of Coors Light.
Back to the big game.
Before the NFC Championship game I promised I’d ride The Buzzsaw until the end. So I’ll take the Cardinals but with some hefty reservations. I’m not worried about Pittsburgh’s run defense because Arizona can’t run the ball anyway, the health of Hines Ward is a huge factor, and I really, really don’t trust Big Ben. So why the reservations? The Cardinals bandwagon is filling up and that probably means it’s time to get off. It’s as simple as that. The Steelers are the best team the Cardinals have faced in the playoffs, the best defense they’ve faced and the best coached team they’ve faced.
But here’s how the Cardinals win: Through the ball up and hope. Hope Warner only throws one INT, hope Fitzgerald remembers he’s the best receiver in football, hope Boldin comes to play even if he doesn’t touch the ball in the first half, hope your line gets to Rothlesberger (sic) because he will turn the ball over and hope Pittsburgh leaves either their game changing defensive or offensive play at home.
Pittsburgh: Control the clock, don’t give Warner time. That’s it. Sending about 300 hookers to Fitzgerald’s room Saturday night wouldn’t hurt.
Now which team seems more likely to win.
But I’m taking Arizona. I believe in Kurt Warner. The Cardinals score three times in the first half for a 21-10 half time lead. (Pittsburgh kicks the FG as the half expires) Pittsburgh mounts a comeback but one crazy play gives Arizona another TD and they win 28-24. I can honestly see all of these things happening. I can see Fitzgerald running a crossing route and torching the Steelers D for a TD. I see Warner zipping an 8-yard pass into the end zone. This is my gut sports tests, close your eyes and envision the game. That’s what happens.
One thing I’d forgotten is how many bandwagon Steelers fans there are, particularly anyone who grew up in the 70’s. This has led to a shocking number of people who hate the Steelers because they have obnoxious bandwagon fans EVERYWHERE. Not sure what all this means but it’s interesting to see this come out whenever the Steelers make the Super Bowl because people seem to not mind the team but despise the fans. This seems unique. People hate the Yankees, they hate the Cowboys, they hate Duke and while they don’t like the fans of those teams their hatred is directed squarely towards the team itself. It’s almost like if the Steelers won the Super Bowl but every Steelers fan had their dog killed as time expired it’d be okay. The team would be happy but the fans could not enjoy the moment. Sports are weird.
posted by admin on Jan 30
Iceland to America: Checkmate.
posted by admin on Jan 29
posted by admin on Jan 29
Wake Forest 70 Duke 68
Ignore the first 3 minutes where Duke comes back, instead fast forward to about 3:15. The only explanation I can think of is Kryzeweski (I refuse to look up the spelling and am very impressed b/c that might be right) told the his team to ignore Johnson or, more likely, spent the whole timeout convincing every player on his team Teague was getting the ball. How do you let a 6′9″ guy cut unimpeded to the basket? It’s also pretty impressive that Dickie V calls out the play right before it happens. Not a huge Vitale fan but that’s pretty damn good announcing.
Is there a player in the college basketball history who peaked earlier then Greg Paulus? Tyler Hansbrough’s developed more in four years. I find him one the most baffling players ever. Did every ounce of his quickness develop entirely in his hands or do the refs just refuse to call reach in fouls on him? Does he spend all of practice shooting three’s directly in front of the basket? Why am I supposed to be impressed he doesn’t start as a senior?
There was one play that typified everything I hate about Duke basketball. Ish Smith drove down the paint, left the ground, released a floater and was suddenly undercut by a Duke big man. On the floor there was a very minor scuffle. The refs called a blocking foul and the announcers lamented the fact that the Duke player was a little too late to get the charge. Why is this not an intentional foul? The player is intentionally making contact on a shooter and makes no attempt on the ball. How badly will someone have to be hurt before the NCAA at least adopts the NBA rule and puts the half-circle under the basket? Duke too often is playing the angle instead of playing the game and I find it infuriating to watch and horrifying when other teams adopt the strategy.
So now the question is where do Duke and Wake move to in the rankings? Assuming they both win out the week (and assuming other teams do the same) Wake probably goes to #2 behind UCONN but maybe only #3 in the AP where they were #6 entering the game (somehow falling behind a 2-loss UNC team they beat) because Oklahoma may stay ahead of them. Duke should probably fall to #4, staying ahead of UNC based on quality of their loses and staying ahead of a Pitt team that just lost to ‘Nova.
The game is being replayed on ESPN Classic today at 5 ET. Instant classic.
posted by admin on Jan 28
The game has practically zero replay ability (aside from the super cool ending) but is addictive and infuriating until you figure out the solution. It’s partially logic, partially trial and error but totally worth the 15-20 minutes it’ll take you to figure out.
If you get stuck add a comment and I’ll try to respond or shoot me an e-mail.
posted by admin on Jan 26
Caught an afternoon screening of Frost/Nixon Saturday and have had a few days to kick the film over in my mind.
First off, it’s very good. Deserving of the Best Picture nomination but I’d be willing to listen to arguments that a few other films were more deserving. I’d rather not get into breaking down the efficacy of the Oscar nomination process but I will say I think it’s more unfortunate for the Oscars not to have Wall-E and The Dark Knight in Best Picture contention then it is for either of those films. It’s hard to be angry when an organization actively brings about it’s own irrelevancy with it’s choices.
Back to the film. Hollywood professionalism oozes out of this film. Ron Howard’s directing is confident, unrushed as he trusts his actors to deliver. The editing builds up the tension, particularly during the interview scenes, so exceptionally well the film will likely be used to teach how you construct emotionally impactful scenes through editing and close-ups, the fact the film acknowledges this worked for me as it’s a film about media construction.
Frank Langella as Nixon is excellent but I couldn’t shake the feeling he was doing a Jimmy Stewart impression half of the time or playing Stewart playing Nixon. Perhaps this is a statement about Nixon’s speech patterns but it distracted me from his performance just enough to take me out of the film occasionally.
Most amazing to me was a film about “giving Nixon the trial he never had” and that casts Nixon as the antagonist elicits a great deal of sympathy for the ex-President. There’s a point in the film where Frost seems to be galavanting around so much you almost start rooting for Nixon to “win” the interview. This empathy makes the film succeed. When Nixon breaks down talking about Watergate the audience identifies with Frost and his team but also with Nixon and his supporters, in particular Kevin Bacon in an underrated performance.
My only complaint about the film was the bizarre documentary breaks using the actors as if they’d been interviewed a couple months after the events of the film. This broke the pacing of film and seemed unnecessary from every stand point. When your film is about Richard Nixon the audience does not need reminders that the events are based on history. I’d be very interested to see a cut without these scenes.
But it’s a small complaint in an otherwise entertaining and thought-provoking film. It certainly investigates the power of television to manipulate public opinion but also the responsibility of the media to do more then quest for ratings gold. On par with Ron Howard’s best work and well worth seeing.
posted by admin on Jan 22
Some people have complained my analysis of last night’s Wake Forest-Virginia Tech game was slightly biased, slightly incoherent and very agenda based.
I just don’t see it.
Anyway, Wake lost b/c Johnson and McFarland picked up stupid fouls, unlucky minor injuries to Aminu and Williams took them off the court when the team needed both of them out there, the stalling of the offense and too many jump shots caused by some solid Tech defense plus Virginia Tech shot unbelievably well in the second half partially due to open looks and partially due to just having one of those nights.
All that and Wake still wins if they execute down the stretch and take advantage of Tech missing free throws in the final two minutes.
The officials still missed a large number of calls and the ACC was very interested in Wake losing because Carolina is almost out of contention for the conference if Wake wins that game and beats Duke. Sorry, but my inferiority-complex fandom forces me to complain profusely.
I was planning a post about the Oscar nominations but I can only have so many posts about agenda based travesties in a 24 hour period.
posted by admin on Jan 21
I hoooooooope Oklahoma plays UNC.
Why?
Because Blake Griffin will eat Tyler Hansbrough. Watch the two of them play, it’s not even close! Griffin has next level talent oozing out of him while Hansbrough is grasping to remain relevant at the college level. What good team do you see Hansbrough helping? Conversely, how many minutes does Griffin play for the Lakers, Cavs or Celtics? I left the Magic out b/c he and Howard are somewhat redundant and Griffin’s not that good, at least right now.
Even if you’re a UNC fan you have to recognize the facts on this. Hansbrough is undersized for his position and clearly has Exercise Induced Asthma. That’s not an excuse, I have it as well and Hansbrough clearly has it. Why would an NBA team draft Hansbrough???? Exactly, what a sacrifice he made coming back for his senior season. /Sarcasm. Meanwhile, Griffin is fucking cut and an unstoppable engine force.
I guess Hansbrough is white so that means he works a lot harder. /Racist announcing.
Maybe, my last post for the night, I’m starting to feel the beer and having a hard time typing coherently. Also, the anger is gripping my soul.
Tell the Dodgers to give Manny two years for $60 million..it….it works for everyone…..AAAUUUGHHHHHHH…………..
