Comic Cover of the Week: Hellboy: The Fury #2

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Poster

Via Big Hollywood.

Game of Thrones Theme

I haven't watched HBO's Game of Thrones yet, but this mashup of two different covers of the theme music is awesome:

Comic Cover of the Week: Red Skull #1

Comic Cover of the Week: Detective Comics #878

?

This is for those of you who never read comics. DC Comics, the publishers of Superman, Batman, etc is undergoing a major revamp in September. One part of this is updating the costumes of many heroes, including Superman. Now if the word "iconic" has any meaning I think Superman would fit it, but DC thinks this will help sales. Here are some pics:

VS.

I don't expect anyone reading this is going to go out a buy a new book because of this, but is it positive at all? Does eliminating the red shorts make you more likely to be interested? Does it just seem silly?

Super 8

More like "Super Ain't"...as in Super Ain't good.

The best part of watching Super 8 was getting to see the trailer for Captain America again.

Auto Review: Chevy Aveo5

This week I had to leave my car at the dealer for a little warranty work for a couple days. Ford provided a rental car. Knowing that there was no way Ford was going to spring for anything besides a basic car, I was really hoping for a Ford Fiesta based on this Top Gear review:



Unfortunately the car was not supplied by Ford, but rather provided by Ford through Hertz, so what I ended up with was the 2011 Chevy Aveo5:


It left such an impression that I thought I would write something.

The Pros
-My rental car looked exactly like the picture above. It's not especially good-looking, but it's pretty inoffensive, obviously a Chevy, and a big improvement over the previous model.

-There's lots of headroom, not that I would be the best judge. (That's a short joke.) It's easy to see out of the car at all angles.

-I really didn't like the 1.6 L 108-hp engine at first, but after driving around for two days I decided it was adequate for driving around town. As long as you stay off the open road you're not going to notice the lack of power.

-It did have AC and a CD player, but no cruise control.

The Cons
-Here's what driving an Aveo on the freeway is like: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA(breath)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH(breath)HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! This car was not designed to go over 55-mph. It has a strained relationship with the road and never feels firmly planted at freeway speeds. Add a crosswind on a bridge over the Mississippi to that and you have a terrifying experience.

-The car vibrated at idle like a two cylinder tractor. I was afraid it was going to explode.

-Those backseats are just for show, there's no way a human could sit in them if anyone was sitting in the front.

-The interior is obviously cheap, though not outstandingly so. The clock is awkwardly positioned on the dash near the windshield rather than on the CD player display.

-The interior door handles are positioned so far forward it can be difficult to open the doors, especially if you don't want to hit the car next to you.

-The car sounds hollow and flimsy when you shut the doors.

I could go on, but I won't. If you have had even a fleeting thought about buying one of these, stop. Please. No one should have to drive this car. You would be better off buying practically anything else. Heck, buy a horse. Even if it kicks you in the face it would be better than driving this car.

Captain America

Withering

Comic Cover of the Week: The Mighty Thor #3

Thoughts on Green Lantern

A few thoughts on Green Lantern, which I saw on Friday:

-I liked it, though not as much as Thor. It's a decent film, but it had the potential to be a lot better. They tried to fit a lot of story into one movie when they probably should have went with less.

-Like Thor, GL starts with exposition that fills you in on the origin of the Corps, their powers, and the source of the threat they face. I don't think it's a problem, but I've seen a lot of whining to the contrary.

-The costume is a little weird, but it worked for me well enough when watching the movie.

-Ryan Reynolds does a good job as Hal Jordan. Not exactly how I picture the character, but close enough.

-Mark Strong is very good as Sinestro, but he doesn't get near enough screen time.

-This movie has the most alien aliens I've ever seen in a movie.

-Yes, there's a lot of CG in this movie. A lot. I've seen complaints about that too and how things don't look real. Most of the CG is pretty good, but so much of the movie is spent in such fantastic locations you're never going to buy it as "real". If that's a problem you should probably go watch something else.

-There is a scene after the main credits, so you don't have to wait as long as you do in the Marvel films. It's a cool scene, but a bit disappointing because it's a major development and it really wasn't set up well enough.

Busy

I know I've been pretty quiet on his for the last 3 months, but I hope this sums it all up.



First time since 1995. We then beat Saginaw Valley Lutheran in the Regional Semi-Finals 6-5. We lost in the Reg. finals to Shepherd 7-3. We had bases loaded in the 7th with 1 out and our #3 hitter up. The #3 and #4 both struck out. Shepherd is the back-to-back defending state champs. They lost today in the State semi-final game.

Sad, Scary,...not surprised

Discrimination in Hollywood? No way.

Unless you're really naive, this shouldn't surprise anyone based on the world we live in today.

After reading the headline, there probably wasn't a GASP! reaction.

In one video, Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman says that when she cast Candace Gingrich-Jones, half-sister of Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as the minister of a lesbian wedding, “There was a bit of ‘f--- you’ in it to the right wing.”

Kauffman also acknowledges she “put together a staff of mostly liberal people,” which is another major point of Shapiro’s book: that conservatives aren’t welcome in Hollywood.

However, the ranks of dumb right-wingers has dwindled, according to Harris, whose video has her saying: “At least, you know, we put Obama in office, and so people, I think, are getting – have gotten – a little bit smarter.”

MacGyver certainly had an anti-gun theme, but (1) what's wrong with that, (2) that was kinda the point of his character, and (3) I didn't really see that changing the culture of the world much.

What's Your Point?

Percentage of black MLB players declines again‏:

I hate stories like this, especially when it comes from ESPN. I don't hear anyone complaining about the lack of white players in the NBA, so why is this "news"? I'm no professional sports team owner, but I'm pretty sure it comes down to who can produce the desired results, regardless of skin color. Is it that hard to figure out that maybe black kids growing up are better at basketball and choose to play that over baseball?

Ring Capacity

"We're all tired of hearing about Dr. Seuss."

Via Big Hollywood, at Dartmouth Conan O'Brien gives one of the best commencement speeches ever:

The most awesome news you'll read all day.

There's 33 episodes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe available on Hulu, but all 65 episodes are now available on Netflix streaming. Andy, you need to start William on these right now.

Comic Cover of the Week: Rocketeer Adventures #2

Nemesis

Although I follow the NBA only a little more closely than I follow NCAA women's volleyball (which is at least aesthetically pleasing), I'm really enjoying the fact that the Miami Heat, and LeBron James in particular, lost the NBA finals. Detroit News writer Vincent Goodwill has an article up about it today. Here's an excerpt:

This is the path the Heat laid for themselves, one of extreme hubris.

Their arrogance was one of a different kind. It differed much than the determined arrogance of the late '80s Pistons or the early '90s Bulls. And it wasn't quite the same as the historical arrogance the late '90s Bulls displayed.

The conceit of their predecessors was built from success, but in most cases it birthed from failure. From silent tears and mental growth. The Heat's arrogance stemmed from pulling off a coup in front of the world, staging a sense of suspense when they all truly knew what they were doing, before James' "Decision."

In doing so, they felt the season would just be a formality, aside from meeting the experienced Celtics and then possibly taking on the defending champion Lakers for an epic Finals showdown.

I think hubris is exactly the right term here, and I can't think of a pro sports team that has invited nemesis the way the Heat did. James, Wade, and Bosh made it pretty clear that they thought they had outsmarted the system and everyone was ready to hand them the title. Now, not only have they blown it, but James has cemented his reputation as the biggest choker in the NBA. It's wonderful, isn't it?

?

Michigan's wearing "throwback" uniforms for the Notre Dame game. But if the uniform is a mishmash of old school design elements, is it really a throwback?

Monster on the Radio

Wii U Wha?

Nintendo announced their next system, the terribly named Wii U.

The controller has a built-in touch screen in addition to the accelerometers. The whole thing looks terrible awkward. I want to be excited, but I just can't figure it being comfortable to play with. Besides, I won't be buying it anytime soon anyway regardless.

It will be backwards compatible with the Wii, but not the Gamecube, will have Hi-Def HDMI output, and the controller will be usable to play games as a notepad with data streamed to it by the console. Cool gadget, not sure about it as a game system.

Captain America: Super Soldier

This could be fun:

James Bond will return...

I was recently discussing with my brother that there was a bit of a question mark over the Bond franchise due to studio financial troubles. Well, that must be more or less resolved, because MGM and Sony have announced that Bond 23 will release in the UK on 10/26/2012 and in the US on 11/9/2012.

Comic Cover of the Week: Hellboy: The Fury #1

OR

?

Just how happy are Michigan fans that Jim Tressel has resigned? The sweater vest was 106-22 overall at OSU and 9-1 against the Wolverines. He beat MSU a few times as well.

So True

Comic Cover of the Week: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? #23

Just a Note

While Chrysler is celebrating paying off its debt to the US government, Henry Payne makes a few observations of how things aren't quite what they seem. Notable points:

-The government still owns 6.6% of Chrysler.

-Chrysler didn't so much pay off the debt as move it to another credit card, just not one owned by the government.

-Taxpayers are still going to lose $1.9 billion on the deal.

-Obama insisted that part of part of Fiat's acquisition deal of Chrysler be that they bring the successful small car from Europe, the Fiat 500, to the US. But what's bringing in the money for Chrysler now? The same as every other US automaker, trucks and SUVs.

Comic Cover of the Week: Rocketeer Adventures #1

Petroglyphs

It's not every day you see an article in a Detroit paper start with a location of Cass City, but the lead story on the Detroit News website today is about the Sanilac Petroglyphs. Short version: The Petroglyphs are eroding away because the government does not want to spend the money to protect them and there's difficulty getting private money because of general economic conditions in the Thumb and legal issues involving Indian tribes.

Green Lantern

Go Green!

MSU has won a share of the Big Ten baseball title by beating Northwestern 10-1 today, the Spartans' first since 1979. The Spartans can win the title outright with a win over Northwestern tomorrow or if Illinois loses to Indiana tonight.

Comic Cover of the Week: Daredevil: Reborn #4

RE: Thor

A few thoughts of my own:

-I liked it quite a bit myself, not sure exactly where it ranks against the other Marvel Studios films. Ahead of Hulk anyway.

-I was surprised that the movie managed to be funny without being cheesy. I was worried it would slip up in this department, but it managed to not get stupid.

-Ump, what did you think of the costumes? I thought they came out well on screen when they could have looked pretty goofy, but I'm more tolerant of that sort of thing than the average viewer.

-I'd heard it was doing fairly well with women, so it's nice to hear some confirmation of that. I actually thought it needed about two more scenes on Earth to flesh the relationship angle and I wouldn't have minded that at all. Maybe I just wanted more Natalie Portman.

-I think Hemsworth is going to be a star. He seemed to carry the film without any trouble. Also, having good actors makes a huge difference. Anthony Hopkins was great as Odin.

-Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, the guy with the bow, got me psyched for Avengers. I really hope they get him some screen time, which is going to be tough with Iron Man, Cap, and Thor.

-The device at the end was almost certainly the cosmic cube. It gives anyone who holds it the power to turn their thoughts into reality. It's sometimes possessed and often pursued by Captain America villain the Red Skull. I'd be surprised if it didn't show up in Captain America. I also think it's practically guaranteed that Loki and the cube will either be or cause the main threat in Avengers. Loki was the villain in The Avengers #1 way back in 1963.

Thor

Saw it. Good flick. My wife even liked it...it had a love story. She also thought it was pretty funny.

We even stuck around for the crazy end credit scene. I'm getting geeked. Maybe someone could explain their thoughts on what is being talked about at the end credit scene...I don't know comic books as well.

Comic Cover of the Week: Fear Itself #2

Rashard Mendenhall...

...has persuasively made the case for NFL players not being allowed to have Twitter accounts. For example, after tweeting about Bin Laden's death, concerning 9/11 he wrote: "We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style." Sure, he's free to put up whatever he wants, but is that really a good idea? I can't imagine the Steelers front office was thrilled, especially since they released a statement today:

"I have not spoken with Rashard, so it is hard to explain or even comprehend what he meant with his recent Twitter comments. The entire Steelers organization is very proud of the job our military personnel have done and we can only hope this leads to our troops coming home soon."

I don't think it was hard to explain or comprehend, but I guess that's an official statement for you.

What's in a name?

For those of you dealing with naming children, this might be useful: Most Hated Baby Names.

?

So, is 2011 NFL Draft #1 pick Cam Newton going to be a huge bust, or only a minor one?

Comic Cover of the Week: X-Men #10

The Future

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had an editorial in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that is definitely worth a look. It explains in plain terms what the league will look like if the players win their lawsuits. Short version: No draft, unlimited free agency, no minimum/maximum payroll, no minimum salaries, and no consistency in training camp or substance abuse policies. Does anyone actually believe these things would benefit the league? A major reason the NFL has increased in popularity is because fans believe that any team, even the Lions, has a legitimate chance to be a contender if they play well and make the right personnel moves. The changes described above would blow that away and likely lead to the total destruction of some teams, e.g., Buffalo and Green Bay. Do people understand this?

IX

The New York Times has an article up today accusing many major colleges of deception in reporting numbers of female athletes. A few thoughts:

1. The article reports the "three-pronged test" of Title IX this way:

Universities must demonstrate compliance with Title IX in at least one of three ways: by showing that the number of female athletes is in proportion to overall female enrollment, by demonstrating a history of expanding opportunities for women, or by proving that they are meeting the athletic interests and abilities of their female students.

Problem is, from what I've seen before, in practice the first way is the only way to actually satisfy the requirements of Title IX as decided by the Office of Civil Rights (Think they're ideological at all?). The third would work great if it was actually allowed.

2. Women make up 57% of the college population. You think that puts a strain on a school trying to stay proportional in sports programs?

3. The article takes a shot at football, noting that programs "rarely face cuts." With very few exceptions, to the extent athletic departments are making money, they're making it on football. (I'm sure there's a few men's basketball programs that make money, and maybe the women's at UConn at Tennessee.) Does anyone really think messing with football is going to end up as a plus for female athletes?

What's wrong with wood?

There's an article on ESPN.com from last week about the new metal bats being used in college baseball that I just ran across today. It mentions how MLB scouts love them because power numbers aren't inflated by them the way they were with the old bats. It also notes that the decrease in power is changing strategies and will likely change recruiting. So, if all of these things are good, as the article implies, why didn't they just switch to wooden bats and get rid of metal altogether? Is the danger of broken bats that great?

Comic Cover of the Week: Spectacular Spider-Man #1000

Don't blame the goat.

According to some documents recently acquired by the Chicago History Museum the Chicago Cubs might have thrown the 1918 World Series. So, maybe the curse has to do with cheaters and not a goat? Does that get Bartman off the hook?

Comic Cover of the Week: Deadpool #35

Mobbed

For some reason I've been on a mob kick lately. It started with Goodfellas on Saturday night. It's always been on my list of movies to rent, so I did. Then I watched 12 Angry Men (not necessarily a mob movie, but he does go against a mob of jurors opposing his view). Then I watched Road to Perdition. I own it, but haven't seen it in three years. Of course, bacheloring it right now probably has something to do with it, so I can watch movies with blood and violence again. And some language.

I have until Sunday afternoon, any recommendations? I'm limited to what Videomation might have in their inventory, so if it's a classic, they probably won't have it...like Back to the Future.

Miller Park

It's been a while since I've seen any discussion of ballparks, so I thought I'd link to this review of Miller Park at Right Field. A few things I remember about the trip to Miller Park:

1. The parking lot was large. I do recall many tailgaters.
2. It was probably the nicest weather of any game I've been to.
3. It's the only time I can remember sitting on the left field side.
4. The sausage races weren't quite as entertaining as I'd hoped.

Also, found a pic:

Comic Cover of the Week: Doctor Who Classics: Seventh Doctor #3

Paying College Athletes?

The new sports blog at National Review, Right Field, has an interesting post up about whether college athletes should be paid. There's a number of arguments noted which are mostly familiar, but one was presented that I hadn't heard or thought of previously:

In other words, a significant chunk of top-level FBS programs are losing money. Should those programs be obliged to pay their football and basketball players, even though they aren’t actually producing a net profit? Or should only moneymaking programs be forced to offer player salaries? Would it be “fair” to have a system in which roughly half of all FBS schools paid their players while the other half didn’t? Do we really want blue-chip recruits picking a college based on financial compensation? Wouldn’t the wealthiest programs just scoop up all the best talent?

Meanwhile, would each salaried player on a given team be paid the same amount? If not, who would decide whether the All-American linebacker deserved more money than the All-American wide receiver, or whether the star point guard was more valuable than the star power forward? Would 18-year-olds be negotiating “contracts” with officials in their athletic department? Would they be hiring agents before high-school graduation? And how would all this affect those sports programs that depend on football and basketball revenue to stay afloat?

Can you imagine how much of a mess it would actually be to pay players? What most sports journalists seem to mean when they talk about this is that schools in the FBS should pay their players, possibly major basketball programs too. But how would you end up not paying the women's field hockey team or other equivalent? Can you imagine the mess this would turn into? Granted, that doesn't mean the idea couldn't be considered, but I can't imagine a more unenjoyable drain on college sports than this would surely be.

Liam Neeson

Checked out the movie "Unknown" this weekend. Not sure what it is, but seeing Liam kick tail in every movie just doesn't get old. Speaking of old, he's pushing 60! I don't know what it is, but he's like the cool Chuck Norris. He's way better than Seagal or Van Damme. Again, something attracts me to his movies, maybe it's because he makes me feel I don't have to be young and living in a weight room to know how to handle myself. Or, maybe he can actually act.

Side note: I just looked at his profile on IMDB. He was an uncredited Delta Force member in "The Delta Force" starring...Chuck Norris.

Green Lantern

Stranglehold

Want to see a great example of a reporter trying to be subtly clever in an article? Here's one from the Detroit News about Ted Nugent (emphasis mine): "Rock 'n' roll icon Ted Nugent made the rounds in Lansing on Thursday, meeting with Gov. Rick Snyder and other leaders to make a pitch for loosening regulations he said place a stranglehold on hunters." Nice.

I think Snyder should forget about meeting with Uncle Ted and just appoint him head of the DNR with sole rule-making authority. I'm not sure that's exactly legal, but it ought to be.

Also, video:

Comic Cover of the Week: Amazing Spider-Man #657

Captain America: First Avenger

Radiation

With everything that has happened recently in Japan have you wondered what some of those numbers about radiation actually mean? Check out this chart. It gives you some perspective on radiation amounts, and bananas. Via Jonah Goldberg at The Corner

Comic Cover of the Week: Daredevil: Reborn #3

Happy Birthday...

...to William Shatner, who turns 80 today. Seems like a good time to share a classic Shatner bit:

Arkham City

Comic Cover of the Week: Loki #4

Batman: Arkham City

Moving Out

Apparently it's not just the whole state of Michigan that Ohio State fans hate, but also former Buckeye quarterback Kirk Herbstreit. A "vocal minority" of OSU fans have driven Herbstreit from Columbus to Nashville. Their complaint, apparently, is that Herbstreit doesn't stick up for OSU enough. Or something. Of course, judging by the comments on the News article there's Michigan fans who think he's too tough on UM, so I guess neither school has the market on arrogance cornered. Herbstreit's one of my favorite college football analysts (Keep in mind he uttered the devastating words: "This is why you're Michigan State." I'd have plenty of reasons not to like him.) and always seems like a professional. It's too bad a few nutjobs have driven him out of town.

Why We Watch

After MSU's win over Purdue yesterday in the Big Ten tournament I got to thinking about the unpredictability of the college game. MSU and Purdue played three times this year, here are the results:

1/22 MSU 76, PUR 86
2/27 MSU 47, PUR 67
3/11 MSU 74, PUR 56

Obviously Purdue had less to play for last night since they are already guaranteed a spot in the tournament, but it's still striking to me just how much intangibles can change the outcome of a game.

My Coach Sucks

Comic Cover of the Week: B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Gods #3

Quote of the Day

No question. There's no reason we can't be 16-0 as long as we put in that work. As long as we stay healthy and put in that work, we should be happy with what we end up with.

-Ndamukong Suh, on what to expect from the Lions in 2011

Cha-CHING!!!

I have never forgotten this commerical. It's still awesome. But, I had no idea it was Seth Green. I've been meaning to see if I could find it on YouTube over the years, just haven't remembered.

Comic Cover of the Week: Captain America: Hail Hydra #3

"You're either in or you're out"

If today was "Selection Sunday," would MSU and/or UM be dancing?

UM - No.
MSU - Yes.

What about Saturday?
MSU wins - IN
MSU loses - Not sure, leaning towards IN

UM wins - Not sure, leaning towards IN
UM loses - OUT


What about opening round game in Big Ten Tourney?
MSU win against UM + opening round win = IN
MSU win against UM + opening round loss = leaning toward IN
MSU loss against UM + opening round win = IN
MSU loss against UM + opening round loss = OUT

UM win against MSU + opening round win = IN
UM win against MSU + opening round loss = leaning toward OUT
UM loss against MSU + opening round win = IN
UM loss against MSU + opening round loss = OUT

Blocked

Well, it was only a matter of time. It started out that I couldn't make posts to the blog, but I could still see/type comments. Now, I can no longer do either. Guess I can't get paid to blog at work anymore. Man, no porn, blogging...what's next?

Thanks Tech Guys!

Coming out of Retirement

Speaking of Detroit, Joey-D called me in the late afternoon. He was looking to see if I'd be interested in suiting up because many of the players had been "sick." He asked if I needed any basketball shoes but I said my pair from college were in good enough shape still. What he didn't tell me was that I might have to play all 48 minutes. Needless to say, I have a few blisters on my feet and my legs, specifically the hamstrings, are killing me.

6 Years

This post marks six years since the first post on this blog. I still have no idea why it exists.

?

Is the NBA in trouble? I barely follow the league at all, the general feeling that no one on the court really cares about playing the game has pushed it down to NASCAR-levels of disinterest for me. But even I didn't make it through the day without seeing that both Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News and Rick Reilly of ESPN.com decrying the state of the game after the Carmelo-for-the-whole-Knicks trade. (I love Reilly's quote here: "We gave up a surefire Hall of Famer, who is only 26, for four New York Knicks starters. This is like acquiring the four best mountain climbers in Nebraska.") Is this a turning point for the NBA? Can fans take it seriously as a competitive league after this and Miami? Wojnowski notes that seven franchises have won championships since 1989 in the NBA. The NFL has had 13 different winners in that span, MLB has had 15, and the NHL has had 13. So if you feel like your team doesn't have a shot, you're probably right. Can the NBA maintain interest and ticket sales in this environment? Their collective bargaining agreement is set to expire, but can changes be made without sacrificing the next season?

Comic Cover of the Week: Detective Comics #874

Here We Go Again

Despite my current total lack of enthusiasm for college basketball, I've renewed the Cass City Monkie Tournament Pick 'em Group at Yahoo. You can sign up here.

Thor

Tecmo Great

According to reports, Tecmo Bowl legend Dave Duerson has been found dead at age 50. He was THE man on the Bears' defense if you were playing Tecmo Bowl and you needed to cover a lot of carpet in a short amount of time...and were looking for a Pick-6. Then again, ANYONE on the game could get an INT. And, if you remember that Bears' defense, they were all studs. Dent, Singletary, Duerson, The Fridge, Ditka, etc.

Impression That I Get (Knock on Wood)

Drunk Again

I was going to write something about Miguel Cabrera's latest alcohol problems and lament that he didn't take breath test and so rob us of the opportunity to compare his batting average to his blood alcohol level, but I think Rome has already covered it pretty well. An excerpt:

Maybe Miguel Cabrera hasn’t cleaned up, dried out and isn’t flying straight after all. Not if he’s getting picked up for DUI, and throwing the ‘do you know who I am card while taking a swig from a bottle of scotch right in front of a deputy on the side of the road, he hasn’t. And not just any scotch but James Buchanan. That’s supermarket scotch. If you’re going down like that, may as well take a big swing and throw back the Macallan 25. And how about that mug shot: my man, that’s not for your baseball card. You’re getting your picture taken by the cops. Not Topps.

Comic Cover of the Week: Thunderbolts #153

RE: Cowboys & Aliens

The Super Bowl featured many upcoming movies for '11, including this one.

Here was a fun fact about this movie:

Laker grad to have movie ad aired during Super Bowl (via Huron Daily Tribune).

Apparently a Sir Russel Hudson is a brother-in-law to this dude.

By the way, Lakers still sucks.

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

Mayor Dave Bing tweeted yesterday that there are no plans to erect a statue to one of Detroit's most famous fictional residents:


Too bad, that would be much cooler than a statue of the Fonz.

Comic Cover of the Week: Wolverine #5.1

Forgotten

Ump commented:

Is it possible their struggles have anything to do with Mr. Izzo being courted all summer by the Cavs and the possibility of coaching in the NBA? He strung the Cavs and MSU along. Maybe he lost some focus and that trickled down to the players losing some focus, maybe thinking about playing in the NBA rather than having a good upcoming season.

I don't actually think Izzo lost focus. But, the players probably got caught up in everything, not completely knowing Izzo's intentions.

There's no way he was going to the Cavs, but the players could have had a little uncertainty.

It sure seems like a possibility, even though they should have had plenty of time to get focused again before the season started. But when you're dealing with expectations of competing for a national title maybe it doesn't take much to throw things out of whack.

One thing I've seen commented on is a lack of leadership from the seniors. MSU is a team that, for whatever reason, doesn't tend to have many super-talented (one and done) underclassmen, so the leadership provided by the seniors is very important. In the fifteen or so years I've paid attention to MSU basketball this is almost always the case. Mateen Cleaves is the obvious example, but there's one or two guys every year. Summers and Lucas, Lucas especially, aren't getting the job done. But it's bad enough that, according to FSN Detroit, former player Tim Bograkos has posted an open letter to the team on his blog. A notable excerpt:

At this point I find myself straddling a very difficult fence. On one side, I am extremely proud alum of Michigan State and our basketball program. On the other side I’m very disappointed in some of the things that seem to be happening this year. It appears that, in some sense, this team has forgotten what kind of program they signed up to play for. I prided myself as a player who protected the core values that our program stands for every time I stepped on the court. At this point, I’m far less concerned with wins and losses and all I can hope is that we finish the season with the same intensity as Scotty Skiles, with the swagger of Steve Smith, and the true grit of Antonio Smith and Mateen Cleaves.

Bograkos was a walk-on who eventually earned a scholarship because of his hard work and intensity. This team could take a lesson from him.

?

From a Chrysler commercial aired during the Super Bowl, referring to Detroit: "What does this city that's been to hell and back know about luxury?" Back?

Also, when did Eminem become a marketable spokesperson?

Captain America

"Whoever holds this hammer..."

?

Why do brands like Bud Light and Doritos feel the need to advertise on every, or every other, Super Bowl commercial break? It can't possibly be worth the money because you're not actually going to increase brand awareness.

"Is there a defense that can stop me?"

In honor of Marshall Faulk being voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

?

Do you think Fox will have Omar Epps involved in any of their pregame broadcast? That would be awesome. And, yes, not the first time I've posted on this topic.

Comic Cover of the Week: Captain America: Hail Hydra #2

Wallpaper of the Day

From InterfaceLIFT

The Plan

Obviously MSU needs to cancel the scholarships of everyone on the team, kick them all out of school, and start the whole thing over because losing to Michigan in a must-win situation is unacceptable.

Monorail!

I didn't watch the State of the Union address last night, but I read it went something like this:

Comic Cover of the Week: Detective Comics #873

?

Is anybody excited at the prospect of either the Steelers or Packers winning the Super Bowl?

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

After watching Inception (two nights in a row) I had to post this:



Also, being a bit of a fan of film scores, I got a big "kick" out of this:

Comic Cover of the Week: Mass Effect: Evolution #1