Big Blog

Getting down to brass tacks since there's a lot to get out.

Tron Legacy: I have seen Tron, but really didn't remember all that much from it, so keep that in mind. Premise: Jeff Daniels disappears leaving his son and company behind. 20 years later his son is recluse/hell raiser/ genius, you know the type. The company CEO/ his Dad's best friend tells him he got a page from his dad last night, son checks it out and enters Tron. Tron is now a metropolis in which programs are battling it out similar as before, but there are super programs and a leader called CLU who runs things. He finds out his dad is still alive on the outside of the grid of Tron and the son has to fight in the games until he's discovered to be a USER, not a program. I was not a huge fan of the movie, but I didn't see it in 3D, which to me seems like a sure way to experience an epileptic seizure. It was weird and you have to accept a lot of things without shooting all the holes in them to pieces. If you are a TRON fan, then you have to see it, but if you aren't I really don't recommend it.

Bottom Line: 6.2 out of 10. Impressive eye candy, but really is lacking in everything else. Nothing stands out as impressive at all.



The Fighter: I was an enormous fan of this film. I had an epiphany after the film. Mark Wahlberg does a very good job in roles that are exactly like he is in real life. He can play aging athletes from the New England area for DAYS. Christian Bale, and any other great actor/actress, can become the characters that they must play. Bale plays Mickey Ward's cracked out brother Dickey Ward, pride of Lowell, Massachusetts. He does an amazing job, and Wahlberg does what he does well, playing dude's from the New England area. It's a great biopic of Mickey Ward, a guy who I've never heard of, but certainly deserves an ESPN 30 for 30. He was a promising, tough, fighter who was under the management of his overbearing, clueless, and overworked mom, and his crack addicted brother, former middleweight star Dickey Ward. Dickey can't come to grips with the fact he isn't famous or talented anymore and achieves peace by smoking crack. He's constantly late, but does work hard when he's there to make Mickey a better fighter. Mickey is being pulled away from his family by a new girlfriend and every other person on the outside looking in. Great acting throughout and a very good story make this a fantastic film.

Bottom Line: 9.4 out of 10. It is a must-see if you are a sports/drama/good movie fan. It's a great story and it's well-done. My only real complaint was the boxing was done at 50% speed, which might not be all that noticeable, but I really thought it was. Besides that, it is really awesome throughout.

NFL: Jaguars got smacked around like Ike Turner's wives by the Colts. The fact that they have no passing game was highlighted. Any team that stops MJD, stops the Jags offense. They really need him to be involved in the offense, if not through running the ball, then through screens, or SOMETHING. Mercedes Lewis is the best downfield threat. Mike Thomas and Simms-Walker are not good NFL wide receivers. The defense is nothing special and really lacks playmakers. Sean Considine is quite possibly the worst starting safety in the NFL. Watch the Colts TD's and his failure directly results in most of them. He is fucking terrible. Jags are now going to miss the playoffs, butcher another draft, and stay slightly above average for a few more years. I can hardly wait.

MLB: Brewers just swung a couple of massive trades to bring Shawn Marcum and Zach Greinke to the staff to bolster them from among the worst in MLB, to possibly one of the best. The Brewers have a team capable of pushing the best in the NL for two more years. It also opens up the Prince Fielder looming trade. Now the Brewers can shop the best possible deal, they aren't forced to get a starting pitcher. Hopefully there will be a good CF, plus a few good prospects coming over. I'm very interested to see how this plays out for the Brewers for this season, and the near future. They should be topping the NL central for at least the next two years. Now resigning Rickie Weeks becomes paramount for continued success.

UW-Whitewater won another national title, which made me realize how few people I still know in the area. It's nice to see the program continue to succeed from the team of 2003 that barely missed the playoff, to the perennial national title contender. Hard work on everyone in the program has really paid off. Special shout-out to stats director Tom Fick. The man probably works 80 hour weeks during this stretch to be a one-man wrecking crew of stats and facts for ESPN and all other news outlets. I would close out the Williams Center at 11pm after intramurals and would occasionally see his office lights still on.

More to come as always.