Dumb Quote of the Day

From Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, via ESPN:

You're already hosting the premier league, and we believe we're the premier sport in the world. I think London has shown, with the way they've handled the Olympics and every other major sporting event, that it's time for you to have your own NFL franchise, based in London.

I hope Kraft was just playing to the crowd, because having an NFL franchise in London is one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard. Setting aside the discussion of whether the Brits deserve a franchise (they don't) or would support it (they wouldn't), there's one very good reason why a London team wouldn't work: logistics. Information may travel between the US and old Blighty nearly instantaneously, but it still takes a long flight to get people there. You can manage one game a year as a novelty, but doing it eight times would be a real strain. Coaches and players would hate it. The scheduling conflicts would be enormous. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I'm sure the Brits would have no idea how to do a proper tailgate.

Iron Man 3

Music to my Ears

I was talking to a girl in my 6th grade PE class today about the ball that hit the bat three times on one swing.  She said she hadn't, but another female student, without being in the conversation, exclaimed, "I saw that on 'Mike and Mike' this morning!"  I hope someday my daughters will utter those same words.  How cool would that be?

Who was that?

Check out the guy in the front row at the the 00:46-00:47 mark on the timeline.  Matt freakin' Prieskorn.

You only see him for literally a split second.  He is sitting down with a Tiger hat on with a greenish fleece.  You can't see the hat because he's looking up.  When Avila makes the actual catch, Matt is off-screen to the right on the video.  And no, those weren't his seats.  He got booted from some other seats and on escape, found an open seat in the front row.  Less than 2 minutes later, this play happens.  Unbelievable timing.

Where was I?  My dad and I were in the same section, five rows behind.  We were technically in the 6th row behind the Yankee dugout.  All we had were Standing Room Only tickets.  We didn't get inside the stadium until about 30 minutes before first pitch, which is way to late if you want a decent SRO spot.  (Side note, I went to the Verlander v Sox game on Sunday night when they tied the division for 1st place on Sept. 2.  We had SRO "seats."  We got to the stadium about one hour before first pitch and stood in the lower bowl behind the homeplate section.  So, for $17.50, I had a darn good "seat" even though I stood for 4 hours.)

I told my dad since we probably won't find a good section to stand, let's go behind the dugout and pick an open row that gives us room to move left or right when the real ticket owners show up.  I just wanted my dad to experience one pitch of JV. At about 15 minutes before 1st pitch, I suggested we move back one row because "ours" was filling up and that we might as well sit down because it looks like we'll be standing the rest of the night 500 feet away from the plate.

Less than two minutes later, a college-age looking girl in front of my dad said, "We have those seats, they won't be coming tonight, enjoy the game."  She was referring to the exact same seats we were sitting in.  What are the odds?  My dad may never see JV pitch again or another ALCS game, but he'll probably never forget that night.

Unbelievable Hit

Explain that Mr. Green.

Shiny

I should probably write something about the game before kickoff, which has been tough to do all week since my computer died. So here's MSU's shiny gimmick helmet for the game:

Analysis? Both teams suck. The Big Ten sucks. I barely care who wins. The game is on the Big Ten Network, so no one nationally will even see it, and frankly, that's where it ought to be. This might as well be EMU vs. WMU.

Skyfall

Little Ten

So the first BCS rankings have been released and not ONE team from the Big Ten is ranked.  Wow.  That's awesome.  That's incredible.  That's almost a miracle.  How can that be? Do you know how bad you have to stink?

Monster of the Day: Frankenstein's Monster

I'm not feeling very creative tonight, so more Boris Karloff:

Let's Make it Happen

While I don't want to get ahead of myself I will. I am confident the tigers will win 1 of the next 3 game to make it to the ALCS. Having been to a playoff baseball I can tell you that it is an awesome atmosphere. So lets have a reunion and make this happen. Should they lose the game you go to it is the worst feeling ever because you just shelled out some serious coin but that's what makes winning all the sweeter. Those who have a difficult path to make this happen start working on it. Late

Monster of the Day: Vashta Nerada

Another Doctor Who monster, the Vashta Nerada:

The Vashta Nerada are basically microscopic air piranhas that appear as shadows. In the episode the picture is from a swarm of Vashta Nerada inhabit a spacesuit after consuming its occupant.

?

Is anyone else tired of tNFL players wearing pink gear? I get that the NFL wants to appear socially aware, but making it an annual thing seems like too much.

Monster of the Day: The Mummy

Boris Karloff as the Mummy from the original movie:

If you've never seen the 1932 version of The Mummy, you'd be surprised to learn that Karloff barely appears in the film as pictured but rather mostly as a modern Egyptian.

RE: Gremlins

It must be noted that the Gremlins theme song is awesome.  Oh, and apparently Howie Mandel was the voice of Gizmo.

Monster of the Day: Tyrannosaurus Rex

From history and, of course, Jurassic Park, the T-Rex:

When the movie came out seeing the dinosaurs was pretty exciting, none more so than the T-Rex, who was every bit the villain you could have wanted. And, yes, I spelled Tyrannosaurus from memory.

?

This one is for bigger baseball fans than me: Is winning the triple crown the most difficult achievement in sports? Miguel Cabrera is the first to do it in 45 years, which sure makes is sound difficult. Most of the other candidates I saw mentioned were career numbers, which seem to be quite a bit different than a single-season accomplishment.

Monster of the Day: The Alien

The Alien, or Xenomorph, from the Alien movies:

The H.R. Giger-designed Alien is simply the best movie monster ever.

Monster of the Day: The Creature

Specifically, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, or the Gill-man:

The Gill-man is considered one of the Universal monsters (notable monsters from Universal studios) though he isn't as famous as Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and the Wolfman.

?

This one is for the football pundits who are (reasonably) trashing the Big Ten and (unreasonably) talking up Northwestern: Do you honestly believe the Wildcats are going to be in the B10 Championship Game come November? Or is pointing out the B10's inadequacies so easy that you just have to tack on some really stupid comment?

Monster of the Day: Skeleton Warriors

The skeleton warriors from Jason and the Argonauts:

You can see a clip here.When I was a kid we had a video of some documentary or feature about special effects and it showed a few seconds of these guys fighting. I thought they were the scariest/coolest bad guys ever.

Monster of the Day: Gremlins

I assume the Gremlins don't need as much introduction, or explanation, as the Weeping Angels.

The first Gremlins movie is a little creepy in spite of its comedic elements, the second is hilarious with a few creepy moments. I prefer the second.

Monster of the Day: Weeping Angels

As it's October, I thought I'd do a little something for my own entertainment that sort of followed a Halloween theme, so: monsters. My criteria: 1) they have to be from a movie or a television series and, 2) they have to be at least a little scary. To start, from Doctor Who, the Weeping Angels.

You can see a clip of the angels in action here. The angels are monsters with a gimmick. As long as you look at them they're nothing but statues. But as soon as you look away they come to life and either kill you or send you back in time. So, whatever you do... don't blink.