?

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