Doppelgänger

Do you remember Kliff Kingsbury? With a name like that he had to be a quarterback in Texas, so he played for Texas Tech from 1998-2002. You might recall he was the first of the crazy stat Red Raider quarterbacks. Anyway, Kingsbury was in the NFL for a while and eventually went into college coaching and now coaches his alma mater. Also, he apparently looks just like Ryan Gosling, a fact which set Twitter on fire last night when Texas Tech was on ESPN. Red Raider fans even have a hashtag, #OurCoachIsHotterThanYourCoach, which may be the weirdest thing I've ever heard of in sports and will never be applied to Brady Hoke.

$100,000

The NFL has fined Ndamukong Suh $100,000* for an illegal low block on Sunday. Everyone knew the fine was coming and that it was going to be steep so it's not really a surprise. You know what is surprising to me though? The number of Lions fans defending Suh. There's no question the guy is a dirty player. He's moved well beyond the point where you can give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm surprised any company still has endorsements with him. Cheer for your team, but don't be an idiot.

*If you're scoring at home that's 20,000 $5 footlong sandwiches.

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Multiple times this week on ESPN Radio I've heard advertisements for Infinity, Marvel's current comics event. While I applaud Marvel for doing a little advertising to more general audiences, does it work at all? If you're an ESPN listener who never reads comics and you hear this commercial are you going to go buy a copy (or download) of the book? If you liked Avengers is it more likely?

"We're watching one of the greatest right-handed hitters who ever lived."

Jayson Stark of ESPN has a fascinating article from last week comparing Miguel Cabrera to some of the all-time great hitters in baseball. There's a lot of numbers in the article, but the short version is that Cabrera compares well with anyone worth mentioning. It makes me wish I had the chance to see a few more Tigers games.

Hypocrisy

With the court cases going on, the Johnny Manziel autograph story, and the beginning of the college football season you're sure to hear plenty of sports writers and personalities (Jay Bilas and Michael Wilbon come to mind) opine on the "hypocrisy" of the NCAA making millions of dollars but not paying the players. I think there's plenty to be said about that, but it strikes me that all of these guys seem to have no problem working for businesses that derive a significant amount of their income from college sports and spend lots of time discussing them. You think Bilas hesitated for a second when he cashed his last paycheck from ESPN? Why not? Doesn't it make him complicit in the whole system he's railing against? It seems like cheap self-righteousness to me if these guys will criticize every chance they get but won't actually take a principled stand.

Still sad...



This is what replaced the Trans Am.


...but this ain't too bad either. Not exactly your typical grandma car.

Men's Devotionals

Does it annoy anyone else when you are looking for a Men's Devotional that it is authored by a woman? I'm sure they have excellent credentials and great writing talent, but come on. Really? I can somewhat cut them a little slack if it's a Boy's Devotional, but not a men's.

Am I a jerk? Am I expecting too much? What am I missing?

Small World

This weekend I met the Kelley family...former Evan Free pastor and wife...who also Baptized much of the Stack family.

Draft Prep Super Megapost

With 26 days until the 2013 fantasy football season starts it's time to start thinking about the draft (And signing up if you haven't yet. Seriously, what is wrong with you people?). Here's few links to help you be successful on draft day:

ESPN Top 300 (I'm thinking we'll use this as the default list.)
Fox Sports Top 200
NFL.com Projections
Eric Karabell's Top 200 (ESPN)
Matthew Berry's Top 200 (ESPN)
ESPN's Sleepers and Busts
NFL.com Rankings based on schedule

And also some advice from FOX Sports on naming your fantasy team.

Redskins.

I just wanted to get that out there. Here's why, if you haven't heard.

The Dark World

Sad Day

The Trans Am has been traded in.

Johnny Football

If you're going to try to follow the 2013 college football season you had better read this article by Wright Thompson of ESPN The Magazine because it's going to be referred to a lot. Thompson obtained some amazing access to the Manziel family and made great use of it. It's worth checking out even if you're sick of hearing about Johnny Football.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Marvel has revealed the title for the sequel to Avengers:

This is the same title as a recently concluded comic series but word is it will not be based on that story, which is just as well as it involves lots of time travel and lot of characters. But it will involve Ultron. Who's Ultron?

That's Ultron. He's a robot created by Avenger Hank Pym, who hasn't been introduced in the movies yet. Ultron, like all evil robots, wants to wipe out humanity. Ultron often makes copies of himself, so there could be lots of robot-smashing action in the film. It also means we should see a version of one of the best Ultron/Avengers scenes:

That will be awesome.

The Joey

Presenting the 2013 Cass City Monkies Fantasy Football Championship Trophy:

Play ball?

According to the Wall Street Journal, in the average MLB game, which lasts about three hours, there are 17 minutes and 58 seconds of actual action.

Tony Stark will return...

...for Avengers 2 & 3 and he will be played by Robert Downey Jr., who has signed a new agreement with Marvel to appear in both films. No word on compensation, but it's likely in the "more money than you can imagine" range.

Because you demanded it.

Well, no one actually demanded it. Or even responded for that matter. But, being the Commish, I went ahead with a 2013 Cass City Monkie Fantasy Football Trophy anyway. So here it is, before paint:

Yes, that's legendary Lions QB Joey Harrington. If that doesn't make you inspired to compete I really don't know what will.

Thoughts on Man of Steel

Some thoughts on Man of Steel:

-Don't know if it was just my theater or not, but the movie was loud. I like to feel the explosions, but not feel like I've been through one myself.

-"Shaky cam" usually doesn't bother me too much in movies, but it was very annoying in the first quarter or so of this one. It did seem better later though.

-Love the soundtrack.

-Henry Cavill is the most ripped Superman ever.

-The movie goes all-out on the action. Easily the best job I've seen done in communicating just how powerful Superman is supposed to be.

-This movie will definitely draw a lot of comparisons to Batman Begins. That's probably fair, the tone and overall approach are similar.

-I found the movie surprisingly emotional. Not sure exactly what it was, but it definitely hit me at times.

-It hits some themes/ideas that should be familiar to comic fans, but not necessarily the public at large. I'll be curious to see how people react.

-I liked it quite a bit. As far as DC films, I'd probably place it ahead of Batman Begins but definitely behind the sequels.

Man of Steel

Fantasy Football '13

Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football is live. You should all have invites, if you cannot find yours the league ID is 5900 and the password should be the same as always.

Fate of Your Planet

Batman: Arkham Origins

Hail

There was a bit of a thunderstorm here earlier:

Trophy Talk

As the 2013 fantasy football season is drawing closer I found myself thinking about trophies. Which brings to mind some questions: Is the Monkie still around? Has it been passed to our current champion? Has it been lost?

The Monkie aside, I was thinking of making a non-traveling trophy for this year in honor of the tenth season of the CC Monkie fantasy football league. I'd plan on providing this myself, so it wouldn't be anything too involved. I was inspired by this trophy (posted by Poe Ghostal):

 That's an old school Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure (Leonardo to be exact) mounted to a base and painted gold. I think that would be within reach of my artistic abilities. But what sort of figure to use? A few ideas:

-That same TMNT figure. One could probably be acquired on eBay pretty easily.
-A monkey figure. I don't know of a cheap one off the top of my head, but I'm sure something exists.
-A Funko Pop figure. Some of these are bobble heads. They have a large range of figures, but nothing football specific.
-A McFarlane Sportspicks figure. One could probably be picked up cheap as long as you don't care which player it is. This is probably the best bet if you want it to look like a football trophy.
-Just about any figure would work if a certain character appealed to you.
-I suppose it wouldn't be hard to use some sort of plastic/rubber football in place of a figure.

Any thoughts? And would gold be the color to go with, or would silver be better to mimic the Lombardi Trophy?

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Trailer

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

ABC has picked up Joss Whedon's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for next season.

As you can see from the photo, the show stars Clark Gregg as a somehow-not-dead Agent Phil Coulson. I think it's safe to mark this down as my most-anticipated show... well, ever.

Thoughts on Iron Man 3

A few thoughts on Iron Man 3:

-I liked it quite a bit. I doubt anything this summer will be better. I would say it's at least as good as the first Iron Man, possibly better than anything but Avengers. I'll probably need to see it again to cement my opinion on the ranking.

-No Thor trailer at my theater. Actually, I don't think there was a Man of Steel trailer either. How can you not run those before this movie?

-It is, however, probably not the movie you're expecting. This is much more about Stark than Iron Man and is totally the Robert Downey Jr. show.

-There's a major twist that has upset some comic fans. I think normal audience members will love it. Actually, I think this is one superhero movie that non-comic fans might like much better than comic fans.

-A kid does play a role which I thought would be groan-inducing, but they played it differently than you might expect and works very well. It's also pretty funny.

-Guy Pearce should be more well-known than he is. He's a terrific actor.

-Still not impressed by most of the suit designs in the movie.

-No AC/DC songs in the movie.

-Probably the best soundtrack of the major Marvel movies so far. Not near as good as a Hanz Zimmer soundtrack, but decent.

-The Rhodey-Stark buddy moments in the film are pretty great. We did need more Iron Patriot though, despite him not being as cool as War Machine.

-The post-credit sequence is more along the lines of the one in Avengers (shawarma joint), it doesn't tease another film. I thought it was worth staying for though.

-The film wraps up Robert Downey Jr.'s contract with Marvel. They need to do whatever it takes to bring him back for at least Avengers 2 and hopefully another film beyond. It's nearly impossible to imagine another actor successfully pulling off Tony Stark.

Prediction

After reading Travis Haney's opinion of the Buckeyes, I have a prediction of my own: Ohio State will absolutely not win the national championship.

Escape from NY

The NY Jets cut Tim Tebow today, ending the drama surrounding one of the oddest personnel decisions in recent NFL history. Why did the Jets sign him in the first place? Because he was popular? To push Mark Sanchez, who still isn't good? It sure wasn't to give him playing time. Whether Tebow has any future as an NFL quarterback or not the Jets come out of this looking like idiots.

New Divisions

The Big Ten announced new divisions today. As suspected, they ditched the Legends and Leaders designations and went with a geographical alignment:

East: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers

West: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin

Thoughts? 

One way to avoid the Madden curse

So who is on the cover of Madden 2014, marking the series's 25th anniversary?

Barry Sanders.

They will kill football.

While listening to Rush today (The radio commentator, not the Canadian rock band. Have I ever said how much I hate Tom Sawyer? Hate it.) I heard about this article in the Chicago Tribune. The writer claims that football will die soon because of the controversy surrounding concussions. Now people, mostly Progressives (or the Left), have been trying to kill football for over one hundred years. Teddy Roosevelt even had to intervene at one point early in the game's history (see: The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football) to keep football alive. Now football is facing major criticism again and, make no mistake, the game's foes will kill it if they can. Keep an eye on this because you're going to be seeing a lot more of the same kind of talk.

Thor: The Dark World

Manning to Welker

Peyton Manning was throwing passes to Wes Welker today. I suppose that means I have my fantasy picks pretty well figured out then.

Hanson Retires

Jason Hanson announced his retirement from the NFL today after 21 years in the league. Some stats from the Detroit News article:

Hanson, who will be 43 in June, retires as third-leading scorer in NFL history (2,150) and third in field goals made (495). He made more field goals of 40 or more yards than any player in NFL history.

He also owns the distinction of playing more regular season games with one franchise (327) than any other player and owns every kicking record in the franchise's history.

It's hard to imagine the Lions without Hanson. How will they score?

2013 Projections

Thought everyone might be interested in Accuscore's 2013 projections. They should make you feel hopeful (which might be a bad thing) because they project the Tigers to win the division and the World Series.

Bracketology

Let me get this straight...Wisconsin finished the B1G in 4th place and UM finished #5. Wisconsin defeated UM in the regular season AND the B1G tourney, yet Wisconsin received a #5 seed in the Big Dance and UM got a #4...and Wisconsin is the first one packing their bags (and embarrassing the B1G). I think the committee nailed that one.  VC PU

Go Blue!

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Is there any way that the Lions signing sort-of former Heisman winner Reggie Bush doesn't end up disappointing? I certainly don't see it.

No Sponsor For 'Ship

I'm a fan of this.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9044578/college-football-new-playoff-format-title-sponsor

Play of the Day

Iron Man 3

March Madness

The 2013 Monkies Tourney Pick 'Em group is available now at Yahoo. The group ID is 1416 and you all know the password.

UPDATE: You should also be able to sign up by clicking here.

Why play?

Greenly brought up a great question last week about comments and a story on Jadeveon Clowney. There is also a great article here. What motivation does Clowney have to play his Junior year at South Carolina? He's already a #1 pick if he could enter the draft. He can do nothing more to improve his draft status. All he can do is hurt it or himself. So...why not sit out and train? In the words of T.O., he has 20 million reasons not to play. What would his boy Lattimer have to say?

The rule is you have to be 3 years removed from HS. I understand the physical differences between the NFL and NCAA. Florida playing CMU is not the same as playing the Patriots. But, the government thinks at 18 years old you are mature enough to fight ( and possibly die) for our country. In the NBA, you have to be 1 year removed from HS. What does that do for the argument about fighting for your country right out of HS?

The argument against Clowney sitting out is that "football players play" and that would hurt his character.

I also realize...how often are we talking about guys entering their junior year with the potential of being a top 5 pick? Not very often. So I'd not be in favor of opening up an issue for just 5 guys each year.

Realignment

In the Detroit News Bob Wojnowski had an article yesterday about Big Ten realignment following the addition of Maryland and Rutgers. As the conference has said geography will play a major factor in determining the alignment, here are Wojo's proposed divisions:

East: Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland
West: Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Northwestern

If you're feeling a little fuzzy on the geography, yes, both Indiana schools are to the west of MSU. Not that it necessarily matters, but it's probably worth noting. Here are the current divisions if, like me, you can't keep them straight:

Legends: Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State  
Leaders: Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois

A few thoughts:

-Is there a legitimate need to have UM and OSU separated?
-Will teams in the hypothetical East have a recruiting advantage due to increased exposure?
-How much do you worry about competitive balance, if at all?
-Will they keep the names Legends and Leaders?
-Will there be 16 teams by the time the moves are made?

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Hey, remember when Ray Lewis was tried for murder? Most of the media apparently doesn't, but the New York Post has a story on it today (via Right Field). The details are probably much worse than you remember.

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Hey, did you guys hear that Jim and John Harbaugh are brothers?

Car of the Day: 2014 Corvette Stingray

I could watch this all day.

I think I need this on my phone to watch whenever I start to feel down:

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Why did the Jets bother to sign Tim Tebow if they have no plans to start him now that they've given up on Mark Sanchez?

Winning

With the lack of success from other seemingly-talented MSU quarterbacks, it's nice to see Kirk Cousins get a win in his first NFL start.

Man of Steel

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How is there nearly a full week to play bowl games after the 1st and the title game is still being played on a Monday night? Not that I think the game is going to be worth watching, but who does that when you have a Friday night available? What a waste.

Triple Crown

Every Miguel Cabrera homerun and RBI from the past season:

!

I'm no Badger fan, but I love the way Wisconsin finished the first half of the Big Ten Championship Game. Too many teams, the Spartans definitely included, get a lead then sit back and play it safe, hoping they don't make a mistake that loses the game. Wisconsin had a chance to rip Nebraska's collective heart out, and they took it. Bravo.

Car of the Day: Lamborghini Miura

In what was definitely my most unlikely car sighting ever (the previous winner was seeing a Fiat 500 on the road before it was actually released in the US), I saw one of these driving in Moline yesterday.  I actually recognized the model from playing Forza Motorsport 4, but of course I couldn't believe it until I could actually see the Lambo badge. Picture from Wikipedia.

 

Not sure on the price for this one, at least $400,000.

Superman's Dead

On the way home from work I was listening to my MP3s and heard "Superman's Dead." When I got home I happened to run across a mention that the 20th anniversary of "The Death of Superman" took place this month. November 18th to be exact, in Superman #75.

 If you remember, this was a really big deal at the time. Not so much for comics, because everyone who paid attention knew Superman would return, but for the media and people who knew little or nothing about comics because they actually thought Superman was really dead.

Since I mentioned it, here's the song. It doesn't actually have anything to do with the Man of Steel.

The Association’s Official Polygraph

Bloggers Note:  In baseball, we use a lot of "B-D-Ls" in the game.  Catcher Kyle H. was pretty good about it too...even when the umpire asked what it meant!  Ball. Don't. Lie.

Rome Take - November 21

I’m telling you…Rasheed Wallace is the best thing to happen to the NBA…pretty much ever. How the Association continued to flourish without this guy the last two years is a miracle to me. Why do I say that. Well, there’s this!





Yeah Aflac! After a missed free throw by Afflalo. Legendary. Then, last night there was this. Check Sheed after he was whistled for a ticky-tack reach in foul on Austin Rivers!



Ball don’t lie! That ball don’t lie! And Sheed’s right. That ball don’t lie. That thing had barely hit the iron before Sheed was bdl’ing it. Sheed doesn’t talk trash…he screams truth. Sheed is the Association’s official polygraph. And the needle bounced on that one. And I loved how he went first amendment rights on the ref, I can yell! I can yell all I want!

Sheed, you can do whatever you want! Just don’t stop doing it.


"I can yell.  I can yell all I want.  I didn't direct that to nobody."  Awesome!

Hey Diddle Diddle, Ray Rice Up The Middle

Rome Take from Monday, Nov. 26:

The greatest teams always find a way. And so do the worst. And just when it looked like the Chargers were finally going to beat a team not named the Chiefs, they dug deep, found another gear, and once again, went right into the tank. Baltimore needed to convert a 4th and 29 to stay alive. And it was at that very moment, that the Chargers made a statement. And sent a message to the rest of the league: nobody comes into our house. And loses to us!

Roll Ray Rice. 11 guys with bolts on their buckets and about 8 of them just assumed someone else would make the tackle. And no one did. And Charger fan save your nonsense about the refs gifting Rice that spot. So they gave him the last half yard: your defense gave him the first 28 and a half, so save it... You're a punch line now.

Shoot, Rice was even dropping rhymes about you. Nursery rhymes that is: "Check down. Hey diddle didle, Ray Rice up the middle." Right. And the cow jumped over the moon. And the dish ran away with the spoon. And the head coach will get whacked real soon.

Check out the video on NFL.com

Steeler Fan, Its Time To Panic

Rome Take from Monday, Nov. 26

Steeler Fan: it's time. Go ahead and panic. And start praying for Ben Roethlisberger's aorta. Because if his ribs don't get right soon, Pittsburgh is going to get run right into the offseason. And I'll give you 9 reasons why.

Reason #1: you just lost to Cleveland. Reasons 2 through 9: the eight turnovers they (puked) onto that field. Steeler Fan, remember your rap? That you'd be just fine without Big Ben, because you have four backs that can tote the rock? Well… all four of them fumbled yesterday.

And so much for the thought that Charlie Batch's experience would keep that train on the tracks. You're confusing experienced with old as dirt. Didn't dude used to back up Terry Bradshaw? Batch isn't holding down the fort, he's lighting it on fire. Look… you can turn it over 7 times and still beat the Browns. But not 8. And if you do it against Baltimore this week, you'll lose by 8 touchdowns.

When I entered Eastern Michigan University, Batch was just starting his NFL career!  Not to mention, I believe Batch received TWO extra years.  SIX years of college football.  Yes, he's old as dirt!

What's Going On?

So Maryland and Rutgers have joined the Big 10.  I guess I understand the country is going to be looking at five main conferences for football and the Big East is like a minor league team or a feeder program for the Yankees (Royals, Brewers, Pirates, etc.)  But do those teams make the Big Ten any better?  You've heard nothing but how bad the Big Ten is this year and how awful their bowl record is since Ohio State were National Champions (35-52ish?)  All you hear about is how weak the Big 10 is and how strong the SEC is.  So, how do you respond?  You get Maryland and Rutgers.  Neither team helps for football.  We already have Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and Northwestern.  Yes, Rutgers has been better lately...but that coach left for the National Football League and his players will soon be gone.

You can make the argument that Maryland will make the conference stronger in basketball, but that was when coach Williams was roaming the sidelines under the Bush administration.

However, I don't have a solution or better recommendation.  But going more east rather than south is not making the league stronger.  If they want to make a splash, they HAVE to get Notre Dame.  I'm not suggesting they should have taken a run at Louisville or Kentucky or Tennessee, but at least it would have been south.

If the ACC gets Louisville or UCONN, the ACC becomes probably the top basketball conference.  With Duke, UNC, UConn/Louisville, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh.  But, the Big 10 still looks good with MSU, OSU, UM, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Maryland.

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For Veterans Day the NFL brought some veterans to games and I'm sure had some patriotic pregame activities. However, they've spent the whole last month wearing garish pink on their uniforms to support "breast cancer awareness" or some such. Does that seem right to you? Compare that to the MSU Spartans basketball team (and UConn), who opened the season in a hangar at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, Germany and wore special uniforms for the occasion. Seems to me the NFL comes up a little short.

Skyfall

Saw the new Bond film, Skyfall, last night. It was fantastic. A few thoughts:

-I'd say it is the best Bond film yet, even trumping my other favorite, Casino Royale.

 -It's also the most beautifully shot movie I've seen in quite some time. Shanghai in particular stands out.

-The Bond girls are relatively unimportant to the story. That's not a problem, just a notable difference from most of the other movies.

-You'll be surprised by where the plot goes. I didn't expect many of the things that happen and was surprised by some of the choices made, but they all worked well in the end.

-Bond's classic Aston Martin DB5 makes a return.

-The movie ends with a few changes and set up for more sequels. I believe Daniel Craig is signed for two more.

Prometheus

Finally saw Prometheus tonight. Great atmosphere, fantastic visuals, incredibly dumb story. Kind of like the last Star Trek movie, except less coherent. It's more like a series of cool scenes that are only tangentially related to each other. I like Ridley Scott, but he has to find better material to work with.

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Can I get credit for supporting Chuck Pagano even though my head is already shaved?

What's the Call?

Awesome.  Weirdest play ever.  Did you get the call right?  Did the professional umpires get the call right?  Yes.  Need help on what the issue was all about?  The interference probably saved a triple play.

Wait...what?

Hurricane Katrina?

What's your Vision?

Everything is Spinning Out of Control

Doing some musical research this morning I found out that Audio Adrenaline is back with a new lead singer, Kevin Max Smith, formerly of DC Talk. The Newsboys have been fronted by another former DC Talk member, Michael Tait, since 2011. That is too weird.

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Now that the Winter Classic has been cancelled, a question: Is the NHL, and I mean the league and players together, actually suicidal? After the last work stoppage the NHL was booted from ESPN, which now seems to go out of its way to ignore hockey altogether, and returned to being mostly a regional sport (Upper Midwest and Northeast) after making national gains. I'm not sure the league can afford to lose another season. Sure, people in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, and Alaska will come back, but will anyone else care? If they can't figure it out real soon they might as well stop bargaining because there will be nothing left to save.

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.

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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.

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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.

RE: Biased?

Interesting research. Surprised? I don't know. He's right, the audience you are talking to...ARE FANS OF THAT TEAM. They expect a little homer out of you. But, there does seem to be a little more credibility when it's "down the middle." If it's too one-sided, it sounds like you asked a couple of guys from the bar across the stadium to call the game.

I can understand the NY audience base wanting it to be more down the middle. Of course, it would be nice if Bret Musburger would act more like a professional than the local guy at a high school game.

After 155 games, I've probably tuned in to 80 games for at least some portion of the Tiger games on the radio. I rarely see a game on TV. In fact, I've listened so much to the radio guys...I can't stand the Tigers own TV guys. Dan Dickerson really has a great personality. I think his strikeout and home run calls are pretty good and he takes it to the next level when the game dictates it.

For example, his strikeout call in the 2nd inning is nothing compared to a bases loaded strikeout or a strikeout in the 8th inning.

On the other hand, if you are too much of a homer, it could get you fired. I believe that is what happened to Mark Champion. He was the radio play-by-play for the Lions for many years, especially during the Barry era. (I believe he still does the radio and/or TV games for the Pistons.)

I'm not exactly sure if he was fired, but his classic "Holy-macerole" blasts for every time the Lions screwed up may have cost him his job. Mark called it as he saw it...the Lions sucked and he let you know it. The Lions brass probably didn't care for that.

?

Do you think Ed Hochuli has spent the referee strike pumping iron?

Did you know?

According to Wikipedia, Lee Corso was a roommate of Burt Reynolds at FSU.

Biased?

The WSJ has done a little research to judge just how biased hometown MLB announcers are. Mario Impemba and Rod Allen come in right about the middle.

An Unexpected Journey

?

Just how bad is the Big Ten? I'm actually in agreement with the polls, there's not a Big Ten team that deserves to be in the top 15. And the teams that are usually bad (Indiana, Purdue, etc) look to be really awful. I'm as tired of the talk about SEC dominance as anyone, but we might as well just give Alabama the national title and call off the rest of the season.

Storytime

"SMASH!"

So we had a "date night" Saturday night and took advantage of Olive Garden's "never-ending pasta bowl."  I hit that hard.  We then proceeded to the movies to see what was playing.  We checked out the Fashion Square Cinema, but didn't like the options...of times for the movies.  It was already 8:30, but nothing was really starting before 10pm that was interesting.  So we figured we could leave for the Saginaw 12 because if they didn't have anything better, we knew we had plenty of time to get back to the other theater.

Saginaw 12 had many more options, but I didn't "see" anything after TDKR.  I was somewhat surprised it was still there.  But, they also had The Avengers!  Yeah, four months later, still available.  I figured I couldn't get TDKR or Avengers, but kept my fingers crossed.  So we narrowed it down to "The Campaign" and "The Words."  We knew The Campaign would have lots of crude humor, just how much was the issue.  The Words was the dark horse.

We knew a rated R comedy must be pretty bad...but we went for The Campaign anyway to at least get some laughs.  Well, I have my limit of Ef-bombs in the first five minutes of a movie, so we walked out.  Thankfully, it was only 9:30 and TDKR was right next door!  Bam, got what I wanted.  But, they were having technically difficulties and the manager practically walked in the door as we were sitting down (thinking he was coming after us) and said the movie is cancelled, you can get your money back if you want or blah, blah, blah.  We knew that wasn't an option.

So...walk next door to The Avengers, which also was starting in less than 5 minutes!  Awesome.  I really wanted to see that again anyway.  We sat in the back (there were 8 people there actually...I think some came from TDKR), stayed until about 11pm, made out, then walked out and went home.

Perfect date night.


Other movie news:  We rented Memento this week.  I hadn't seen it in about 11 years.  It took two nights, but still puzzled.  Then I decided to watch the first 20 minutes and the last 10 minutes before I took it back and I think I have it all figured out.  The movie was 10x better after watching the first 20 and last 10.  Awesome.