Fisher is flayed

Jeff Fisher is out after 16 years of coaching the Oilers/ Titans. He oversaw the destroyed franchise into unequaled greatness with the Titans late 90's/early 2000's teams. He's taken teams with Vince Young to winning records, which is just simply amazing. He's been the best coach in the league SEVERAL years. I can't figure out where things have gone so bad. Fisher should be able to get whatever job he wants. He's kept the Titans from being an utter embarrassment for the last few years. The Titans will be an UTTER failure without Fisher for the next several years. The Vince Young experiment blew up, HUGE free agents were free to run away and I can't even think of the last free agent they've signed. They failed to surround Fisher with anything besides Chris Johnson, who came out of NOWHERE. Fisher will be better off without Bud Adams and the Titans. Fisher became visibly angry last year, a great rarity from the cool and habitually collected Fisher. He always looks calm and collected behind his shades and slicked black hair. That was before the 5 years with Vince Young drove him to lash out last year and let everyone glimpse his personal hell. A golden child QB who can't throw an accurate pass, or make solid reads against NFL defenses. Bud Adams apparently chose Fisher over Young this winter, but I know we don't know the whole story. All I know is that some team is getting a steal in the 53 year-old stalwart.

I would rather cut off the tip of my pinky than have to sit through the Justin Beiber movie. I can't believe the marketing genius that is his management that absolutely throws this kid at us from all angles. He really isn't very talented at all, yet he's worth millions of dollars. I really am thinking about trying to find a kid, or forcing my own into this kind of stardom. I can deal with incredible fallout of multiple drug habits and stints in rehab. I just see the dollar signs in whoring your child out to the Hollywood machine. I first thought athletics were the route to go, but I'm throwing that shit away for a keyboard and microphone.

Soap Box Time part IV

I'm one of the many who is throwing Jay Cutler under the bus. Football has never been a game for people who lack toughness. A sprained MCL is not a real injury in football. Things that would have kept me out of the NFC Championship game: 1.) Death 2.) Severed limb. That sums it up. Cutler could walk and that means he was a better option for his team of 52 others depending on him than Todd Collins. The only thing keeping this from being a total failure is a 3rd string quarterback out of Colorado State, who before presented the NFL with near Pro Bowl quality QB ALEX VAN PELT, playing like someone who will be starting somewhere next year. Caleb Hanie was the only reason the game was close. My big argument is that Jay Cutler was BY FAR a better option with a sprained MCL than Collins or Hanie. Hanie's play was a fucking miracle allowed to happen by Green Bay playing prevent defense, something that team simply can't do for shit.
Something I hate for saying, but must to be honest, is I absolutely hated that Phillip Rivers played with a torn ACL with a 100% healthy Billy Volek behind him. There is a difference between a torn ACL, and a sprained MCL. There's a difference between Billy Volek and Todd Collins. There clearly is a difference between Phillip Rivers and Jay Cutler. Cutler HAD to try to play. Give his teammates a chance to rally around him, motivate them, or just see how bad it really is. You play hurt all the time. Football is being in a constant state of injury. Stingers, concussions, broken bones, sprains, tears, bruises of all kinds, are all facts of life. I played through half a game with a concussion. It was a high school game meaning very little in the grand scheme of things, but I accepted it as a job I had to play. You owe it to everyone around you. Was I still a better option than anyone else behind me? Probably. Was it dangerous, absolutely. Could I honestly say I'd have done anything different? Nope.
I said while it was happening that if I were a Bears fan I wouldn't only want Culter dead, I would want his family dead. I would be furious. I commend his teammates for sticking by him, but they shouldn't have to defend the man in charge of leading the offense and team. It's heaping on Cutler because by a lot of accounts he's a "little bitch" and other things basically meaning fucking douche bag. His teammates defend him, but his former ones condemn him. He played all year despite being used as a tackling dummy in the beginning of the year. Where did all his grit go when things actually mattered? How many more times does he plan on being in the NFC Championship game? He just showed no heart in a game where he could have risen above all the criticisms and condemnations. To absolve himself and earn respect from everyone watching. It just didn't seem like he gave a fuck, a common theme when the stones start getting thrown at him.
Watching him with those ear buds in infuriated me. I'm not a Bears fan, but I'd tell you that if I were I'd fight Jay Cutler wherever I found him. His utter lack of leadership is astounding. Cheer on your team, do something productive. Don't look like a fucking stoner while everything your team worked for falls apart.
I'm watching Schiavone play the #1 ranked woman in the world hours after playing a match lasting over 5 hours versus Svetlana Kuznetsova. I'm sure everything feels like it's made out of rubber, but heavier than steel. Instead of bowing out she's up 5-3 serving for the first set. Correction, she just won the first set. You suck it up and do your fucking job. It's why some people stay home sick with a cold and others show up with a migraine. I really see this looming over Cutler for quite some time because I know I could never look at him the same way if he were on my team.
Bottom cliche line: Would you want Jay Cutler in your fox hole?

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

I watched Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang last week and am just writing about it now. It was a $10 blu-ray I felt compelled to buy for some reason, but I had heard very good things. It's Robert Downey Jr. first starring role in a big motion picture before Iron Man that I can remember. Downey Jr. is an actor who is going to be trained by gay Perry, played by Val Kilmer. Gay Perry is the private eye instructor to the stars who is a real private eye, just gay and caters to Hollywood, like Pauly Shore. Downey Jr. is getting some on the job training when they stumble upon a car getting thrown into a river. They jump in to try to save whoever is in the car and find someone bound and dead in the trunk. They are thrown into a giant whirlwind of murder and craziness, and comedy. It's a crazy story that flies along at breakneck speed. It's funny, interesting, pretty crazy, but very well done and well acted. I really enjoyed it for the most part, the pace and comedy is really what keeps you enthralled.

Bottom Line: 7.8 out of 10. I really recommend seeing this movie whenever you can. Netflix, or rent as soon as possible. It's really too interesting to not view on your own to form your own opinions. I really want to see it again Memento-style to try to fill in the gaps because it moves so fast.

I'm currently watching Twilight: New Moon and it is fucking awful. I'm trying hard to be objective, which I'm not certain I can be. I do know that Kristen Stewart is fucking terrible at acting. Her career is going to end with the Twilight series, I'm willing to bet money on that. Unless there are a lot of great roles for not-attractive stoners/ heroin addicts, her career is at it's pinnacle.

That shooting tragedy in AZ is really awful and again makes our nation look inward as to what the fuck is wrong with us. I absolutely don't want this used as more finger pointing material from both the Far Left and Far Right. It's a sickening and awful situation that has to be used to show what's similar with everyone, not the things that make us different. I'm hoping for a lessening of the political barbs and bullshit we have to wade through. I'm hoping it's only a matter of time before our two party system is dissolved into smaller factions within the parties, but the sheer money driving the Democrats and Republicans make that impossible.

NBA Jam for the Wii is pretty good, but incredibly frustrating. Playing defense is harder to do than solving Chinese Algebra problems. I had 30 blocks in one game with Andrew Bogut and still only won by a couple of points. Lots of classic fun with new players, but the lack of defense is incredibly frustrating since you can dunk from just inside the three point line and it's practically unstoppable.

True Grit, like 1 grit sandpaper tough

I watched True Grit, one of the best films of the year. It had a PG-13 rating, which made me skeptical, but it didn't effect the realism of the film. It gets a little cute in the beginning, but once they hit the trail, it's for real. The 14 year-old girl, Hailee Steinfield, gives an incredible, career-making performance. Jeff Bridges is a near flawless Rooster Cogburn. Matt Damon is awesome as a Texas Ranger, standard. Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper are severely under-utilized as villains, but their screen time is powerful and well-done. If you don't know the story, you suck, but synopsis: 14 year-old girls Dad is murdered by a drifter who he employed named "Tom Cheney". The little girl handles the affairs of burying her father and selling some of his things to hire someone to hunt down Tom Cheney. Rooster Cogburn is an old, mean, tough, murderous lawman. Matt Damon is a Texas Ranger, Mr. LaBeef, who is on the trail of Cheney for the murder of a Texas Senator. They fight, but work together, sometimes, to hunt Cheney in the Indian territory. It's a bare bones portrayal of cowboy life on the trail and it's AWESOME. Daniels is just amazing and awesome. The only complaints would be the beginning takes too long to get going, and the music is a little off.

Bottom line: 8.8 out of 10. Another must-see film for the end of 2010.

Modern Family, it's famtastic

I bought Modern Family on blu-ray on a whim from Amazon.com for twenty bucks, I am VERY PLEASED with that one. The show is hilarious. I was laughing by myself and out-loud on Thursday while watching it. There isn't a bad character in the entire series. Al Bundy is the dad who re-marries the painfully gorgeous Sofia Vergera. She brings her strange, but funny 11-year old son Manny. Phil has two children, one played by Happy Gilmore's finest Julie Bowen, who is beautiful, and Mitchell, his gay son. Mitchell's lover, Cam, is a huge queen who is hilarious with his over-the-topness in all things. Julie is married to a lovable idiot named Phil Dunfee who tries way too hard to be cool and his kids friends. They have three children, each filling their own hilarious nitch. Boy crazed, genius and brainy, and village idiot would be the roles, each written in elegantly. The shows beauty is in the writing and the strength of the characters. They are put in great situations where their hilarious flaws shine like a Blue Dwarf. I can't recommend the show enough, and you can, for the most part, just jump in at any point and enjoy yourself.

I'm currently watching Capitals vs. Penguins 24/7 and it is severely enjoyable. The language is just staggeringly bad. Sample "This isn't going to turn into another fucking 5-0, or 7-0 fucking laugher here. I've had enough of that shit for a whole fucking year." That's form the Capitals Captain, and the coach is even worse. It's just fucking awesome. Another example, player gets hit in the face with a stick without a call. "Watch the replay, I'm not going to yell, but he hit me in the face with his fucking stick." As he's skating off "My fucking tooth is stuck in my lip." It's a great showing of what makes the NHL special and great. Hard-working, blue collar, TOUGH men.

Fistful of Dollars

Just watched a classic Clint Eastwood western in Fistful of Dollars. The "Spaghetti Western" trilogy outlier without Lee Van Cleef. Eastwood is a drifter who finds himself a real tough town with two families habitually at war. Eastwood kicks things off by asking the bartender which family is stronger, than killing four members of the other gang in classic fashion. He looks at a guy making caskets, calmly says "get three caskets ready", or something to that effect, then goes and picks himself a fight. He goes over to the cowboys, tries to make them apologize for spooking his "goat", when they refuse, he promptly shoots them all, making four dead bodies. He calmly apologizes/exclaims to the casket-maker, "Sorry, I meant four", and goes about his merry way. Eastwood eventually pits both gangs against each other and makes a huge mess of everything in spectacular fashion. I was a big fan, though I didn't really devote my full attention to it sadly. Eastwood is the quintessential western actor. He's tougher than 1-grit sandpaper and has a voice that could make a drill Sargent cry. Needless to say I'm a biased fan, but Eastwood fucking rocks.

Bottom Line: 7.3 out of 10. You're going to get your bad acting and bad sound, but the flaws are overcome by a really good story, and strong performances from Eastwood and Gian Maria Volonté, who also was the bad guy in For a Few Dollars More. Highly recommend seeing this, but NOT before seeing The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and then follow it with For a Few Dollars More. Complete the Man With No Name trilogy and enjoy yourself.

Sidenote: I sincerely hope you view Christmas as a chance to spend time with people you love and celebrate that love.

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.

Broken Flowers & 30 for 30

I bought Broken Flowers for $2 from Pawn America and decided that because it had the great Bill Murray, it was worth a look.
The story follows Murray, who is a lifelong Casanova and Ladies Man, on a quest he begins after finding out one of his past lovers 20 years ago had a son that she has kept secret. The son is out on a personal quest that she believes is to find Bill Murray, who is still single, but rich from the computer industry. Murray's best friend forces him on the trip by planning it and pushing him.
First woman is Sharon Stone, husband recently died and she has a daughter who played E's lover last season who looks 14, named Lolita.
2nd on the list is a real estate agent who is married to Christopher McDonald, better known as SHOOTER MCGAVIN.
3rd is a lady who can talk to animals after the death of her dog.
4th is, I think Tilda Swinton, who lives is an old house with rednecks fixing stuff in a huge garage out front.
Not too special because Bill Murray is contained and not unleashed. Interesting a sometimes funny about reconnecting with old flames and the awkwardness and feelings that arise.

Bottom Line: 5.8 out of 10. Really not worth watching, but it's not terrible or anything.

30 for 30 was on and I watched the Pony Express, the story of how SMU received the first, last, and only death penalty in NCAA history. I learned a lot about SMU, since their best days were before I were born. SO interesting about their short history of greatness and incredible downfall. It was amazing to see that their recruiting was blatant cheating, but the simple fact was everyone else was doing it as well. SMU just wasn't good at covering up after themselves. Now the first 15 episodes of 30 for 30 are for sale on Amazon.com and I'm having a tough time resisting them. It's only 46.99, and I have not seen them all. It's just so well done, but I can't imagine myself watching the episodes over and over again. Odds are I'll be buying it at some point at a discounted price. I just love the depth that is uncovered in the interviews. I don't even care about the subject matter sometimes, but it's just so interesting and well-done, it makes it worth watching for the education.

Saints and Soldiers

Saints and soldiers is a story of four soldiers who escape after being captured during the execution of the other prisoners. The story follows them through their journey through the winter in occupied France. It's really a character study of the four soldiers and the British paratrooper they find along the way. It's pretty slow going as their isn't really fighting, or war of any kind. It's very well done for an independent war movie. It's your typical the Germans are more like us than you think type stuff. There isn't much fighting, just really small skirmishes here and there. It's PG-13, which is always disappointing for a war movie. It does stay pretty realistic despite the childish rating. It's actually very gritty and the wounds are very clearly shown for a PG-13 movie. It won the independent Spirit award and some other independent awards. It's a decent enough story. Not sure if it warranted the $2 purchase from Pawn America, but I'm going to give it to my dad as a Christmas present anyway. Pretty much a rather dreary, dark story for the most part.

Bottom Line: 6.5 out of 10. For sure it's worth watching if it gets picked up on cable or something, but don't search for it. A free Netflix viewing would also be acceptable on this one.

King of Kong

I just watched this documentary that reeks of mockumentary because of the hilarious characters that embody it. It is a story of the two best (by far by the way) original arcade Donkey Kong players in the world. THE Billy Mitchell, owner of most video game records and deity for nerds vs. Steve Weibe, school teacher and burned out musician. Billy had the record for almost twenty years before Steve shocked the world with a Donkey Kong game in his garage by posting a score beating Billy's untouchable 847,000 and some change by over 100,000. The nerd world is stood on end and insanity ensues. Steve plays at big-time arcade venues where Billy refuses to show up at to play, but he does submit a video tape with over 1 million points on it. The back and forth continues, but the real greatness is in the incredible nerdery exhibited. It's indescribable and makes this a must-see. It's free on Netflix to stream if you get down like that. I bought it for $2 at Pawn America, along with 15 other DVD's because I'm an addict. Seriously, it's like intervention-like behavior. I browsed the shelves at that place for like 1.5 hours digging through 100's of DVD's. I will they had TONS of the following: The Manchurian Candidate, all the Matrix's (especially Matrix Revolutions), and Austin Powers: Goldmember.

Bottom Line: 8.6 out of 10. I can't give it a higher rating because it's so strange, but don't get it twisted, it's a must-see

Also: Liston to Wiz Khalifa "Black and yellow" and Rick Ross "Blow Money Fast" or "B.M.F". Both are very addicting and pretty good in my opinion.