Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Giants Show signs of Life
It's been a little rough early on, but the Giants are finally showing some backbone. They nearly swept the Diamondbacks this past weekend, and then they downed the Dodgers last night. A couple of more games like this, and maybe they'll start filling those seats again.
Sharks Best Season Ends in Defeat
The poor San Jose Sharks. They finish the season as the best team in the NHL, only to be dumped out of the play-offs in the first round. The last time they were trashed in the play-offs in the early rounds, they fired their coach. What are they going to do now?
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Manny and L.A. Sitting in a Tree
Looks like they're stuck with each other after all. Which is good news for the Giants. Now San Francisco can get on with filling out their lineup with stable hitters who don't quit playing when their feelings get hurt. As for the Manny and the Dodgers, they are destined to end badly.
The negotiations went poorly for both sides. Manny couldn't get a long term contract, and the Dodgers couldn't get Manny cheaply enough. Now both sides have to sing "Kumbaya" together when they absolutely know that one of them is about to get screwed. The noise you hear is me chuckling in delight at the prospects of the chaos about to be unleashed in Dodgertown.
The negotiations went poorly for both sides. Manny couldn't get a long term contract, and the Dodgers couldn't get Manny cheaply enough. Now both sides have to sing "Kumbaya" together when they absolutely know that one of them is about to get screwed. The noise you hear is me chuckling in delight at the prospects of the chaos about to be unleashed in Dodgertown.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Super Bowl Thoughts
Why should Gregg (I must have two "G's") Easterbrook have all the fun? here are my thought from a very good Super Bowl.
The Cardinals won the opening coin toss and then opted to defer the first possession to the Steelers. My reaction was a big "HUH!?!". Why would a team with an offense that is the main strength of the team give up the first possession of the game? That decision cost the Cardinals an extra possession and put their weaker defense on the field longer than it needed to be.
This game had all the makings of a Steelers blowout. The weaker Cardinals defense and the underrated offense were clearly no match for the top ranked defense and solid offense of the Steelers. But the Cardinals hung in there and almost pulled off the upset. Coming close may not mean much, but if the Cardinals can build on their performance next season, they may well end up on the winning the game instead of coming close.
The only thing good thing about the 3-D half-time gimmick was the fact that it ended before Bruce Springsteen's crotch came sliding into the camera. I'll take a wardrobe malfunction over that site any day.
Usually when the game is not so good, it is the ads that redeem the four-plus hours spent in front of the TV. But not this year. I could care less about the longings, fantasies, etc. of the Budweiser horses. GoDaddy did it's best to uphold it's reputation as the sleazebags of the internet. The insect raiders of Coca-Cola were OK if you like bugs. But my favorite was the moon buggy wheel thieves. That was the best punchline of the day.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the game. If I can't watch the Niners win another, at least I was able to enjoy a surprisingly competitive game. If only all of them could be as good.
Weird Decision that May Have Cost the Cardinals the Game
The Cardinals won the opening coin toss and then opted to defer the first possession to the Steelers. My reaction was a big "HUH!?!". Why would a team with an offense that is the main strength of the team give up the first possession of the game? That decision cost the Cardinals an extra possession and put their weaker defense on the field longer than it needed to be.
The Game was Closer than I thought it Would Be
This game had all the makings of a Steelers blowout. The weaker Cardinals defense and the underrated offense were clearly no match for the top ranked defense and solid offense of the Steelers. But the Cardinals hung in there and almost pulled off the upset. Coming close may not mean much, but if the Cardinals can build on their performance next season, they may well end up on the winning the game instead of coming close.
3-D Half-Time
The only thing good thing about the 3-D half-time gimmick was the fact that it ended before Bruce Springsteen's crotch came sliding into the camera. I'll take a wardrobe malfunction over that site any day.
My Favorite Commercial
Usually when the game is not so good, it is the ads that redeem the four-plus hours spent in front of the TV. But not this year. I could care less about the longings, fantasies, etc. of the Budweiser horses. GoDaddy did it's best to uphold it's reputation as the sleazebags of the internet. The insect raiders of Coca-Cola were OK if you like bugs. But my favorite was the moon buggy wheel thieves. That was the best punchline of the day.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, I enjoyed the game. If I can't watch the Niners win another, at least I was able to enjoy a surprisingly competitive game. If only all of them could be as good.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Review of "Doubt"
Of all the Oscar contenders, "Doubt" probably has the best ensemble of actors assembled this year. Watching the performances of Meryl Streep, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis makes up for a somewhat slow pace. The film initially explores the clash of tradition versus progress at a Catholic school circa 1964.
Streep's Sister Aloysius is a stern traditionalist school principle who rules the student body with an iron fist and commands fear rather than respect. She is confronted with the presence of Hoffman's Father Flynn who is compassionate and kind. A little too kind in Aloysius' mind.
When Father Flynn takes a special interest in a chior boy who is also the only African American student at the school, another nun, Amy Adams' Sister James becomes suspicious, especially after she catches Father Flynn returning an undershirt to the boy's locker. When Sister James takes her concerns to Sister Aloyisius, the real conflict begins.
Sister Aloysius goes to extrordinary lengths to try to prove wrongdoing on Father Flynn's part. She refuses to believe any explanations given by Flynn, no matter how plausible they might be. Ultimately, she holds to her certainty that Flynn committed an atrocious act upon the boy, and pushes him to resign despite the lack of and substanciating evidence.
By the end of the film we are shown that the film is not really about the conflict between tradition and progress, it is about doubt. There is never any certainty whether Flynn is innocent or not. Aloyisius takes his resignation as proof of his guilt, but even she is forced to admit her own doubts. Even the naive Sister James finds herself filled with doubt by the end.
Ultimately it is the acting that sets this film apart and makes it worth seeing. Some other nice touches include the desaturated colors that make the film almost feel as though it was filmed in black and white, a gesture that allows the viewer to focus on the characters and not the scenery.
Streep's Sister Aloysius is a stern traditionalist school principle who rules the student body with an iron fist and commands fear rather than respect. She is confronted with the presence of Hoffman's Father Flynn who is compassionate and kind. A little too kind in Aloysius' mind.
When Father Flynn takes a special interest in a chior boy who is also the only African American student at the school, another nun, Amy Adams' Sister James becomes suspicious, especially after she catches Father Flynn returning an undershirt to the boy's locker. When Sister James takes her concerns to Sister Aloyisius, the real conflict begins.
Sister Aloysius goes to extrordinary lengths to try to prove wrongdoing on Father Flynn's part. She refuses to believe any explanations given by Flynn, no matter how plausible they might be. Ultimately, she holds to her certainty that Flynn committed an atrocious act upon the boy, and pushes him to resign despite the lack of and substanciating evidence.
By the end of the film we are shown that the film is not really about the conflict between tradition and progress, it is about doubt. There is never any certainty whether Flynn is innocent or not. Aloyisius takes his resignation as proof of his guilt, but even she is forced to admit her own doubts. Even the naive Sister James finds herself filled with doubt by the end.
Ultimately it is the acting that sets this film apart and makes it worth seeing. Some other nice touches include the desaturated colors that make the film almost feel as though it was filmed in black and white, a gesture that allows the viewer to focus on the characters and not the scenery.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Another Dismal 49er Season
The only good things that can be said about another bad season is that they won more games than last year and they won more games than the Raiders. But this was still a bad year for Niner fans, and things don't look especially promising next year despite the mid-season coaching change.
One of the first things Singletary did was to fire the offensive coordinator despite the dramatic improvement in offense this year. Now they have to start over again offensively for the seventh year in a row. They still don't have a respectable quarterback. The receiving corps is still pathetic. The only bright light of this offense is the running game.
The defense will definitely be better, but you still have to score points to win. Even the best Ryan-led Eagles couldn't win the big games because no matter how good the defense was, their offense couldn't put points on the board, and they ended up losing 3 to nothing. Singletary is defensively oriented, so it is not surprising that the team will be good defensively. One can only hoope that his ego doesn't prevent him from hiring a good offensive coordinator who can turn things around.
The Niners have been slowly improving. If they want to do better than 8-8 next year, some serious change is going to have to happen. They've already changed the coach, the top executive and the offessive direction. The question is what direction the new coordinator will take the team, and whether he'll even be allowed to do it.
One of the first things Singletary did was to fire the offensive coordinator despite the dramatic improvement in offense this year. Now they have to start over again offensively for the seventh year in a row. They still don't have a respectable quarterback. The receiving corps is still pathetic. The only bright light of this offense is the running game.
The defense will definitely be better, but you still have to score points to win. Even the best Ryan-led Eagles couldn't win the big games because no matter how good the defense was, their offense couldn't put points on the board, and they ended up losing 3 to nothing. Singletary is defensively oriented, so it is not surprising that the team will be good defensively. One can only hoope that his ego doesn't prevent him from hiring a good offensive coordinator who can turn things around.
The Niners have been slowly improving. If they want to do better than 8-8 next year, some serious change is going to have to happen. They've already changed the coach, the top executive and the offessive direction. The question is what direction the new coordinator will take the team, and whether he'll even be allowed to do it.
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