Back for the First Time

I bring em "Back to the Future" like an '85 Delorean

After a 14 month hiatus, I would like to formally announce my return to the blogosphere. I've most definitely been busy since my last post, although that doesn't explain taking 14 months off, but I'm sure my loyal readers (which are numerous by the way, last check in the tens of thousands) will forgive me. Maybe I just didn't have anything to say...?

The NCAA basketball tournament field was announced earlier today and I don't really know what to expect from the madness that starts on Thursday. I do know that, as always, it's gonna be a fun 3 weeks.

Ohio State drew into a tough region that includes consensus #1 Kansas, Big East runner-up Georgetown, ACC co-champion Maryland, Big Ten rival Michigan State and SEC threat Tenneesee. I will of course be rooting for Ohio State but it's gonna be tough for them or anyone really to get out of that region (although inevitably, one team in fact will).

The alma mater that is Arizona State University missed out on the NCAA tourny (rightly so...they literally beat no one this year that me, you and three grade schoolers couldn't have beaten) and will, for the 2nd time in the last three years, proudly enter the NIT (Not Invited Tournament) as a #1 seed. What a joke...the NIT is an incredible waste (outside of more experience for the players and a few more home games for the fans of the top seeds).

That said, in no way, shape or form does ASU's post season situation demean or devalue in the slightest the INCREDIBLE coaching job that Herb Sendek did this year for the Sun Devils. After losing 2009 Pac 10 Player of the Year and 3rd overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft "Sweet Baby" James Harden, as well as 2009 Pac 10 First Team and 31st overall pick in the draft Jeff "I had Econ classes with him" Pendergraph, AND being picked to finish dead stinking last in Pac 10 this season, ASU went 22-10 overall and 12-6 in the conference, good enough for 2nd place. Herbie was rightly awarded the Pac 10 Coach of the Year award.

They approve of Herbie's coaching job this year, but NOT the NIT appearance

What's shocking is that there is in fact a 3rd post-season tourny at the Division 1 level, the "CBI". One thing I can definitely take solace in is that the University of Arizona Wildcats missed out on all three tournaments this year....maybe next year guys.

I don't have much else to say at the moment. Bear with me as I get back into the swing of things (ya know, things like writing with intelligence, writing things that are interesting and that others may actually enjoy reading, etc, etc). Hopefully soon, as in hopefully sooner than 14 months from now, I'll have something to say again.

Until next time...

Back to Back

For the first time in the history of this blog, I have written two (count 'em, TWO!!) days in a row! I know, I know. This may be overwhelming to you and quite simply a groundbreaking development in your life. Lemme give you a minute to regroup...

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OK! We're back. As Billy Madison would say, on with the chlorophyll!!

I saw Valkyrie this past weekend and I'd have to say, despite reports to the contrary, it was an enjoyable flick. Not the greatest movie I'd ever seen, but worth 5 bucks (I paid $7, it was worth $5) and 2 hours of my life. I think if you forget that he's absolutely crazy, Tom Cruise did a good job in the movie...BUT, I found myself the whole time NOT being able to forget that he's nuts so

that kinda tainted his performance, at least how I viewed his performance, a little bit. If you like history, it's worth seeing. You'll enjoy learning about one of the more successful, unsuccessful attempts on Hitler's life by people from his own regime. The one real complaint I have about the film, and it is entirely understandable due to the time constraints of one movie, is that they didn't really do a good job of truly portraying how terribly bad Adolf Hitler really was (they made it abundantly clear that they wanted to kill him, but they didn't really say why except that he was "the sworn enemy of all the earth", which I guess is enough, but doesn't really explain much). They didn't develop the background and lead up to the assassination plot as well as I would've liked, but doing a thorough job of telling the story of WWII would take like 500 movies, so in reality, they did the best they could in 2 hours time.


The BCS National Championship game is tonight. I'll watch, because there's two great teams playing so it should be an exciting, entertaining game, but it is a joke that this matchup will determine college football's national championship. I hope somebody, ANYBODY can make a Division 1 playoff happen, sooner rather than later. I simply HATE the BCS. And I don't really hate much in life. I hate the BCS, hot tubs where the jets/bubbles don't work and warm beer. There's probably a much, much longer list of things I really, really don't like (University of Michigan, people who are illogical, bold-face liars, University of Arizona and the city of Tucson in general, bad weather, melted sno-cones, etc.); but I don't HATE those things, I just really, really don't like them. Hate is a strong word. Anyways, I suggest reading this article from Rick Reilly about this year's version of college football's annual mess.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3815656

The NFL playoffs are entering their second weekend. I'm thinking we're headed for a Steelers-Ravens AFC title game. The Steelers are good and I love that Ravens defense, Ed Reed is simply incredible. Every game he has like 4 interceptions and runs one of 'em back for like a 60-110 yard touchdown return. That said, one or both of those teams could lose this weekend b/c the NFL is such a crapshoot. Same with the NFC. I would think we're looking at a Giants-Panthers title game and I would be a little surprised if the Eagles or Cardinals win on the road this weekend, but I wouldn't bet a single dollar on any of those games. I could get a 5 piece Wendy's nugget with that dollar so it's not worth risking.

Remember that Danny Granger guy that I've mentioned a few times on here...? Well, he struck again last night. He put up 37 on the Suns including a game winning, buzzer beating three pointer. That's the second tough, last second loss I've witnessed this week...hopefully this trend does not continue.


Oh, I forget to make my prediction (flat out guess) for tonight's game.

Florida 38, Oklahoma 34

Until next time....

CP3, New Years, Heartbreak

Hello everyone.

As the whirlwind that was the last 2-3 weeks gives way to the so-called "normalcy" provided by the dreaded "daily grind", I finally have a chance to sit down and bust out some thoughts. Here we go...

First of all, I want to mention the one night I had in Dayton with my best/closest friends from home, sans Derek aka Big D Baller aka C*** Diesel aka Big D Harp aka D-Rock. With the exception of somewhat upsetting my better half (holed up in dreary Seattle visiting family with a lack of viable things to keep herself busy), it was a great, fun night that I have learned to cherish because they unfortunately are now so few and far between. I've met and made friends with people from all over the country and even some from across the globe, but there will always be a special bond with those friends I grew up with, most of whom I've known since junior high or earlier. A great night and I'm already looking forward to the next one, whenever that may be...

The night before I flew out of Indianapolis back to Phoenix, I went to a Pacers game at beautiful, and I mean absolutely beautiful, Conseco Fieldhouse. If you never go to Indiana for any other reason (and as I think about possible other reasons, I'm finding it difficult to come up with any), GO there and watch the Pacers play at Conseco Fieldhouse. By faaaaar the best basketball arena I've ever been to.

The fact that the Pacers currently aren't great record wise, who cares, although they do provide more backing to the "too many white guys" rule than any other basketball team ever assembled. The Portland "Jail Blazers" of the early to mid 2000s, with their compilation of ex-cons, are obviously the polar opposites. As politically incorrect as that might be to say, it's true and you all know it. No basketball team, regardless of what level (elementary to the NBA) can be expected to win vs. decent competition with more than one or two (MAX) white guys on the floor for any prolonged period of time, they just can't. You might be able to get away with two or more if at least one of them is not really "white" (in this context), ya know, like Jason Kidd when he played in New Jersey and apparently got no exposure to the ball of fire we call the sun for like four years, or Jason Williams formerly of Marshall University, the Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat.

I'm talking white guys like Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Travis Deiner, Jeff Foster, Josh McRoberts and Rasho Nesterovic, all of whom reside on the Indiana Pacers '08-'09 roster...AND shockingly all of them except McRoberts receive considerable playing time. My advice to the Pacers would be to keep Murphy and Dunleavy, play them together sparingly (maybe even sub them in and out for each other) and let the rest of those white boys go. If they ran out a lineup of Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush, Danny Granger (secretly a GREAT player), Murphy/Dunleavy and Roy Hibbert, they'd almost guaranteed win a few more games this year and be much better in the years to come because of the experience they would gain simply playing (Rush and Hibbert specifically) and playing together.

Anyways, the Pacers are competitive night in and night out and only lost the game I was at on a buzzer beater by former Xavier All-American David West. CP3 was quietly excellent until the 4th quarter when he decided (and I mean literally decided, you could practically see a conscious decision he made to completely take over the game in the 4th quarter) to show everyone why he's hands down the best point guard alive. No offense to Deron Williams (his closest contemporary) or Jason Kidd or Steve Nash (still active but past their respective primes), but Chris Paul has a legitimate chance to go down as one of the best (like top 5) if not THE best point guard to ever play the game. I have a feeling in 15-20 years there will be many bar stool best 5 ever conversations that reach a general consensus of Chris Paul, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Bill Russell and Shaquille O'Neal. No disrespect to the old timers but the modern era of basketball simply squeezes them out of the first team, with the exception of Russell. The second team could look something like this: Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, your choice of Elgin Baylor or Larry Bird, Tim Duncan and then your choice of Wilt Chamberlain or Kareem Abber-Jabber, as my dad tends to refer to him. Now I realize you might think I'm getting ahead of myself exalting CP3 to first team, all-time status (and maybe I am), but the kid is THAT good. Go watch the Hornets. Maybe even watch them at Conseco Fieldhouse next time they're there...two birds with one stone, ya know.

On New Years Eve, I went to the Block Party held annually on Mill Ave. in Tempe. It's supposed to be one of the biggest New Years parties in the country with over 100,000 people every year. It was a good time for the most part, pretty typical New Years type stuff going on. I really like New Years, for the obvious reasons, but also because the start of a new year is a refreshing and revitalizing thing. Life is tough and the hope and opportunity to start fresh provided by New Years is a great and seemingly rare occurrence. So here's to a wonderful 2009...

I planned on writing yesterday, but because I couldn't yet bring myself to write about the heartbreaking experience that was this year's Fiesta Bowl, I waited until today. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for Monday night's thriller and with the exception of the last two minutes/final score, it was truly a great, great experience. The Cardinals Stadium (I refuse to address it by the name of a fake university that stains the good name of the city of Phoenix and confuses people everywhere into thinking the Cardinals moved from Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium into the brand new sporting palace that a made up online school with no real sports or degrees supposedly calls home) is absolutely beautiful, a modern marvel.

Texas and Ohio State are programs with long and storied histories (and a very recent strong history against each other) and were pitted against each other in the BCS bowl season's supposed biggest mismatch (along with Utah-Alabama, which turned out to be a mismatch in the complete opposite way than expected). The game turned out to be a classic back and forth college bowl game that came down to the wire, with Texas scoring the winning (and absolutely heartbreaking) touchdown with only 16 seconds left to play. Were there a playoff in Division 1 college football, Texas would be a strong pick to win the whole thing. But since there isn't, they'll have to live with props from me. Texas has a great, GREAT quarterback in Colt McCoy, a great coach in Mack Brown and has been a respected program throughout their long history. That said, watch out for Mr. Run, Throw AND Catch Touchdowns Terrelle Pryor and The Ohio State Buckeyes in 2009. They'll be fantastic and in the hunt for another national title.

And for all you Ohio State haters, we'll see you in the BCS next year, IF your team even makes it. Convenient how everyone hates the Buckeyes for 'supposedly' living off their name and being entirely overrated when the law of statistics demands they (the haters) almost certainly back one of the 116 D-1 teams that aren't USC, Oklahoma or Ohio State, who happen to have played in a BCS bowl SEVEN out of the eleven years the BCS has existed. Also, fair or not, why does Oklahoma get a free pass when their BCS misfortunes equal if not surpass those of Ohio State's recent trouble???? Oklahoma is 2-4 in BCS games, 4 losses in a row, 2 in title games, a national title game BLOWOUT to USC (55-19) worse than either of OSU's title game losses, a blowout loss to West Virginia (48-28) and a loss to Boise State in, admittedly, one of the best bowl games I've ever seen. If they lose tomorrow night to Florida (which I think they will) they'll be 2-5 with FIVE straight BCS losses, THREE in National Championship games. That'll be FAAARRR worse than Ohio State's 4-3 BCS record. OSU beat a Miami team that was a 13 point favorite riding a THIRTY-FOUR game winning streak to win the undisputed 2002 national title. The other three BCS wins came against 2 different Big 12 champions and an annihilation of a 9-2, Brady Quinn led Notre Dame team. I find no shame in losing to 2 national champions in LSU and Florida and a Texas team this year that should be playing for the national title tomorrow night but instead got thoroughly, 2004 Auburn-style screwed out of the chance to win a national championship. All the more reason for a playoff...but that's a WHOLE 'nother story. Anyways, Ohio State isn't going anywhere so get used to it haters.

**I apologize if that last rant seemed over the top or lost your attention, I just had to get some of that off my chest.

We're creeping closer and closer to inauguration day and the official beginning of the Obama administration. I have very mixed feelings so far about him. I like most of his appointments, how he carries himself and that he seems to understand the IMMENSE responsibilities he's about to assume as President of the United States. And although it doesn't matter one bit, I like that he plays basketball, generally likes sports, walks around with his shirt off on the beach (not saying that in any sort of homo-erotic way, simply that he's ok with being laid back and cool AND photographed, not dorky and hidden from the camera like most presidents) and is all in all the first "cool/hip" President we've ever seen. I do not like his vagueness on most every issue, the pictures I've recently seen showing him with his hands in his pockets during the national anthem and that he does not wear an American flag pin, his track record as the most liberal senator in the US or his plans to "redistribute", which basically means TAKE you and I's money and GIVE it to someone "less fortunate". We'll see how all this plays out...

Gotta run, until next time...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.

Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus or whatever else there is to celebrate at this time of year.

Regardless of the one you celebrate, it really is a special time of year and hopefully every one of us at one point or another during the holiday season takes a moment to really step back and gather in all the things that make this time of year so incredibly special. It sounds cheesy and cliche obviously, but it's true...

I'm currently home in Ohio, which does an equal job of reminding me: 1. why I left and 2. just how hard it was to leave and stay away at the same time. I love so many people here and so many things about this place that I'll always call home. But there's lots of places to see and things to do on this planet, and I plan on seeing and doing as much as you can jam into one lifetime...as well as make it home as often as possible of course...

I saw Four Christmases a few weeks ago - $5 out of $7. I also rewatched Traitor last night on DVD, which reconfirmed my opinion that that is a GREAT movie. I heard Valkyrie sucked, specifically that it was like Jerry Maguire trying to kill Hitler for two hours...but nevertheless, I plan on seeing it anyway. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I am genuinely excited about the NBA right now. The Celtics are out of this world and the Lakers and Cavs aren't far behind. Paul Pierce, Rajon Rando and Mr. "Anything Is Possssssible!!!" Kevin Garnett are simply playing out of their minds, which is how you should play when defending your title. After all, it's yours until someone takes it, so don't let them take it. I love watching the Suns and I am definitely excited and encouraged by the addition of Jason Richardson. Watch out for those Suns. I also love the Trail Blazers. Absolutely love them. If they're on TV, do yourself a favor and sit down and watch them. I also love Chris Paul and his excellence at the point guard position. Call him Guinness cause he's brilliant. I'm gonna see CP3 Sunday night in Indianapolis when the Hornets are there to play the Pacers. Don't get me started on LeBron. It simply isn't fair from the moment he steps on the court. Dwayne Wade is secretly (b/c of the Celtics, Lakers, Cavs and LeBron) having a great, great season so far (leading the NBA in scoring and single-handedly making the Heat relevant). I haven't enjoyed the NBA this much ever really, the only thing that's even close is the boyish/teenage love I had of Michael Jordan and those 90s Bulls teams. The Run and Gun Phoenix Suns of the last 3-5 years are a distant 3rd (even though they were extremely fun to watch, I didn't care near as much as I do now or with MJ).

As for college basketball, haven't followed it much to this point. I do know that the Sun Devils of Arizona State are 10-1 and flying high. Catch James Harden on Sportscenter or at the top of next year's NBA draft if you don't see an ASU game this year. The kid is the real deal and hopefully will lead ASU to a deep NCAA tournament run come March.

Looking forward to seeing THE Ohio State Buckeyes take on Texas in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale on January 5th. I was lucky enough to come across some great tickets thanks to a cousin of mine on the inside at O State. She also got me tickets to the SC game in LA in September. If you remember correctly, that was a 35-3, lopsided to say the least, game that we'd all just as soon forget. Hopefully this game vs Texas will be a LOT different...

The NFL is a complete crap shoot, I can say with absolutely no confidence who is gonna win the Superbowl. With a gun to my head I'd say the Steelers...

Hope everyone had a great day today.

Until next time...

Role Models / Quantum of Solace

A couple movie reviews today. First up, Paul Rudd's brilliant, hilarious and surprisingly heart-warming Role Models.

Role Models is a story centered around two guys who haven't really lived up to their potential; Rudd as the man with promise whose life has become stagnant and Seann William Scott playing his usually Stiffler self, only in this movie they call him 'Wheeler' and he wears the mascot outfit for Minotaur Energy Drink. Both are hilarious in their own way and play off of each other unexpectedly well. The movie also features McLovin' (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) as the dorky, seemingly weird, friendless high school kid, Augie Farks, as well as Bobb'e J. Thompson as Ronnie, an 8 year old with a foul mouth and a precocious love for 'boobies'. Here's a good paragraph describing the plot, "Danny (Rudd) and Wheeler (Scott) are two salesmen who trash a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender. Upon their arrest, the court gives them a choice: do hard time or spend 150 hours with a mentorship program. After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn't look half bad. Once the center's ex-con director (Jane Lynch) gives them an ultimatum, Danny and Wheeler are forced to tailor their brand of immature wisdom to their charges, Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Ronnie (Bobb'e J. Thompson)."

Role Models, despite Rudd and Scott playing the exact same role they've played in every movie they've ever been in, despite Augie Farks simply being a 16th Century McLovin', despite Jane Lynch (the electronics store manager from 40 Year Old Virgin) playing the same character we saw semi-molest Steve Carrell, despite all that, the movie was hilarious and everyone with a sense of humor should definitely see it.

Final Verdict: $6.25 out of $7


Next up is the highly-anticipated, long-awaited Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming's James Bond. Most all of you I assume saw Craig as Bond in Casino Royale, he was certainly different from Pierce Brosnan's Bond and Casino Royale was much different from the previous set of films starring Brosnan. Widely considered one of the better Bond films of all time, Casino Royale reshaped our thinking and expectations for Bond films going forward. That said, it was certainly going to be difficult for Quantum of Solace to live up to Casino Royale. In the end it did not, but that is not at all a knock on Quantom of Solace and really serves as more proof of how great Casino Royale really was.

Without the unnecessary comparisons between the two films, one can make rational judgments about Quantum of Solace. Judging it on its own merits, I thought it was really, really good. Craig is once again proving the doubters wrong as he's more than pulling off his altered portrayal of Bond (as opposed to Connery or Brosnan's Bond). Olga Kurylenko pulls off a scorned Bolivian revenge seeker (even though she's Ukrainian) quite well and Gemma Arterton didn't have much of a chance (maybe 5 minutes of screen time) to show what she's got but did well in a limited role. The bad guy was more creepy Frenchman I think than true villian, but he served his purpose. Dame Judi Dench was once again fantastic as 'M'.

All in all, as long as you don't unnecessarily compare it to Casino Royale, I think movie goers will realize Quantum of Solace was a really good flick and one of the better Bond films, at least that I've seen (which is not all but most of them). My only complaint is we'll have to wait 2-3 years for the next one...

Final Verdict: $6.75 out of $7


On another note, this excerpt from an ESPN article about President-elect Obama's plan to use his influence to push for an 8-team college football playoff has me more excited than anything else he's said in all his time in the national spotlight.

Also on Sunday, BCS coordinator John Swofford responded to a playoff push by President-elect Barack Obama that was broadcast on CBS's 60 Minutes.

"First of all I want to congratulate newly elected President Obama and I am glad he has a passion for college football like so many other Americans," Swofford said in a statement. "For now, our constituencies -- and I know he understands constituencies -- have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports."

Swofford added: "We certainly respect the opinions of president-elect Obama and welcome dialogue on what's best for college football."

Obama said he will use his influence to create such a system.

"If you've got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there's no clear decisive winner. We should be creating a playoff system," he told reporter Steve Kroft.

According to Obama's proposed system, eight teams would play over three rounds to settle the national champion.

"It would add three extra weeks to the season," he said at the conclusion of a wide-ranging interview. "You could trim back on the regular season. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."