Hey... is the All Star Game over yet?
If only I was the Commissioner of baseball.... Besides giving the Mets the World Series each year, I would first get rid of the silly rule that the All Star Game "counts". Its the All "Star" game and people want to see the stars they vote for... not the backups that played the last several innings of that 15 inning marathon. I would make a rule that each manager needs to have 6 pitchers (including 3 starters) on the bench going into the 8th inning... and 4 pitchers (including at least 2 starters) going to the 9th. Then, if the game goes extra innings. allow free substitutions so the players voted in can come back into the game, but once you run out of pitchers, everybody gets together, sings kumbaya, shakes hands and goes home. And if its a tie... who cares? Its about the "all-stars", not the "game". Last week's Costas HBO show with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays showed you those players played competitively in a game that didn't "count", when the legends rattled off their All Star won lost records, and Hank bragged about winning all but one of those games.
Today we review our final James Bond movie picked by new papa Steve - Daniel Craig in Casino Royale.
Personally, I would have preferred that the producers kept Pierce Brosnan as James Bond... that way he would have been too busy when they were casting Mamma Mia and we would not have been subjected to his horrific singing! I saw a Mamma Mia matinee during the recent heat wave and lets say right off the bat - I hate musicals... (except for The Sound of Music). but I love Abba. I liked Mamma Mia on Broadway (see February 2, 2007 in the archives), so there is some bias when I went to this movie, I agree with the Star Ledger critic who says that Meryl Streep is way too old for this role, and that Brosnan as an American is a horrible singer, but I thought the movie deserved more than the one star he gave it. It is also not a good idea to see the movie too soon after seeing the musical... for me, a year a half was enough time so that the movie didn't disappoint. As a matter of fact all of the non Batman fans at the Friday afternoon screening stayed through the closing credits since it included a nice little treat that was similar to the post finale portion of the stage musical.
This movie shows how hard it is to put a stage musical on film, since some of the numbers in the show do not translate as well on screen, especially a dance featuring the guys on the island dancing with scuba flippers that just comes together a lot better when you see it unfold on the stage. The story is about the 19 year old daughter of a single mom who invites 3 suspected dads to her Greek Island home for her wedding - pre DNA it's the Daniellyn Nicole Smith Story. However, even though she looks younger, Meryl Streep at 59 is a fine actress, but for her to play the mother of a 19 year old who was the result of a "young indiscretion", just doesn't make sense - this role should have been played by a 40- 45 year old actress.... And even though Christine Baranski turns in yet another excellent performance as Streep's friend, her role and Brosnans might have worked better if they had been played by the less famous actors I had seen in the Broadway show - Judy McLane and David McDonald.
Besides Pierce Brosnan's unfortunate availability there is another link between Casino Royale and Mamma Mia. I saw on IMDB that Mamma Mia was the first movie to use the famed Bond movie Pinewood Studios after a fire broke out there after Casino Royale wrapped up shooting.
Casino Royale takes Bond into the new millenium.... by making it "the first movie" in the series taking place right after Bond is promoted to 00 status making it a bit of a time bender. It's not a prequel per se... just a mulligan on the prior back story... sort of like the first Christian Bale Batman compared to the Michael Keaton era. Casino Royale is based on the first Bond book of the same name, but legal maneuverings prevented the producers from putting this movie together until 2006. Because of that, the movie has no established history with some of the popular regulars so there are none of Moneypenny's flirty wisecracks, nor Q's gadgets and the cranky gadget training sessions.... Neither character appears in this movie. Bond doesn't even know yet that he prefers his martini shaken not stirred.
Casino Royale starts off in black and white! and doesn't use the traditional pre credit action sequence. I thought my dvd player wasnt working when I saw it was in b and w! This is the scene where Bond earns his stripes to warrant the promotion to 00 status. Bond earns it by showing off his cleverness... a far cry from the somewhat bumbling womanizer he will evolve into when Sean Connery becomes Bond. Bond might be too smart for his own good when he not only figures out "M"s real name (as predicted in the movie's opening credits - "You Know My Name") but breaks into her apartment and figures out how to hack into her computer. Bond doesn't get off on the right foot with "M" and goes off on his own for his adventure evoking memories of 24 when CTU is abuzz when Jack Bauer goes off one of his little unapproved side tangent terrorist hunts.
The plot revolves around a multi million dollar poker tournament where Bond is expected to beat out a terrorist named Le Chiffre who plans to win the contest in order to fund his terrorist operations. Even though this movie doesn't have the exciting pre credit action sequence... things pick up almost immediately after those opening credits. Bond's pursuit of a terrorist, starts with a bomb maker who he pursues in a wild and crazy foot chase through Madagascar that invovles people jumping off buildings and climbing walls and all kinds of other gravity defying hijinks. Bond also gets involved in a crazy airport chase with one of Le Chiffre's henchmen... that ends up in the parking lot with a surprise for the henchman. There are other memorable action scenes here too including Bond having to rely on his own wits and some luck to save his life after he is poisoned.... and a touching affair with a woman whose post poker tournament make out scene doesn't trigger the closing credits which makes you realize that this way too long movie is still not over yet.... and based on the Lanzeby movie, this chickie might not have such a happy ending.
I usually mentally write my reviews and then as I start to type I meander over to see what the Great Roger Ebert has to say. Incredibly he gave it 4 stars and loooooved it... but I was not quite that impressed. Bond loses a ton o' money on one hand when he thinks he sees terrorist Le Chiffre's "tell"... but even Cheers had its classic Harry Anderson poker cheating episode where Coach admitted that his "cheat" of scratching his nose only happened because his nose actually itched. And during the hand he asked several times if people saw him scratch his nose because it itched. Of course they played the hand.... lost... and then discovered that Coach's nose was really itching. But the whole idea of a terrorist fundraiser through a poker game strikes me as a bit nutty, especially in an era where we are over innundated with TV Texas hold 'em tournaments that are aired on virtually every tv channel. Maybe Gabe Kaplan providing commentary might have been more interesting, although there was one exciting hand where 4 people went all-in - I wasn't sure how realisitic that was, but one of my poker playing buddies told me that scenario actually does happen once in a blue moon...... kind of like my Royal Flush in Double Down Stud last Christmas! Personally, I like Omaha HI-Lo better than Texas Hold 'Em.
The Craig Bond is also a lot more serious - the movie is rarely funny compared to the other ones, and Bond only gets off one really good wisecrack when a potential suitor, the oddly named Vesper Lynd (no relation to Danielynn or Paul Lynde) responds to his "You're not my type" with "Because Im smart?" To which Bond retorts..."no, because you're single.:. " . You also know something is up when Bond gets his poker winnings from a banker who asks him for his password so the money can be wired to his account. As soon as we see him share his password with his Bond girl du jour (and it was not Bosco), you could see that something bad was gonna happen.
There is also a character in the movie who risks her life to save the life of a mysterious loved one who is never shown. That woman meets her end in a rather incredible Indiana Jones-esque building malfunction that will make you very nervous next time you enter a waterfront house! The "loved one", is never shown in the movie, but he is slated to appear in the next Bond movie coming out in 2009, and that character's appearance along with another character who may or may not have been a "bad guy" has already generated a lot of buzz - since the next Bond movie takes place just a few hours after Casino Royale ends,....... Its almost like when the first Bale Batman Movie's ending teased the arrival of The Joker.
I think in retrospect, maybe I should have watched these Bond movies backwards - starting with Craig and ending with Roger Moore and Sean Connery, because as the movies progressed, the Bond quality never lived up to the bar set up Connery and Moore. Not that I take particular issue with Craig per se, but he has tough shoes to fill in this movie, and this 21st century movie audience apparently likes its heroes to be more brooding and serious which makes you miss the old tongue in cheek humor of the Bonds of the earlier movies.
Overall, the story is interesting - the action is compelling and the music is okay. We don't hear the Bond theme as often as usual, but that could be the movie producer's attempts to distance this Bond from the other Bonds. Its too bad we didnt have Money Penny... but its a downright shame we didn't have Q and his gadgets... although Bond's computer hacking skills seemed to be quite impressive. On a scale of 1 to 4 Bladders meaning how less likely you would be to leave in the middle to go to the bathroom - Casino Royale gets 2 and a half bladders.... And Mamma Mia - it also gets 2 and a half bladders. Casino Royale might have been better with Pierce Brosnan, and Mamma Mia might have been better without Pierce Brosnan.
Here is the list of the prior Bond reviews:
October 19, 2007 - Sean Connery's Goldfinger
December 7, 2007 - George Lazenby's On Her Majesty's Secret Service
January 18, 2008 - Roger Moore's Octopussy
March 23, 2008 - Timothy Dalton's The Living Daylights
June 16, 2008 - Pre Mamma Mia Pierce Brosnan's Tomorrow Never Dies
Now time to announce our next movie series - Christian Bale had that notorious role in American Psycho playing the incredibly bizarre Patrick Bateman...which is why we will do.... "From Bateman to Batman - the Christian Bale 4 pack!"
CLIP OF THE WEEK:
Lemme tell you a little Clip Story. When I first started posting audio and video files online I used a company called Streamload. They were bought out by Media Max which is when everything went downhill. Due to Media Max's unreliability, I started uploading my files elsewhere, posting videos on You Tube and my Mortgage Podcast on Clickcaster. A few months ago, I got an email breathlessly announcing that Media Max was bought by The Link Up and TLU was going to migrate all files to its new site! Yippee - they emailed me a link to a manual file mover if I chose to do the move myself. I decided that to do the job right, I might as well do it myself, but alas - the link didn't work so I was at their mercy along with thousands of other customers. Well, the old Clickcaster became inaccesible and NONE of my files were moved to TLU - except one. Now, TLU just announced - they are closing in a couple of weeks and all the non migrated Media Max files are - gone permanently! For me, it was just a bunch of podcasts and videos that are saved on any of our 3 computers, but many of these other customers used that service for work, and they were billed every month for this (lack of) service and now they have... nothing. If any lawyers are doing a class action suit against the owners of Streamload/MediaMax/TheLinkUp, count me in!
Now the only file still on TLU - get it while it lasts - Jersey Dreamin' - The Jim McGreevey Song - by McG and DJ Fine Freddy. Please see the archives from June 4th for the liner notes how this song is about how Jim McGreevey used his homosexuality as a smokescreen for the real reason he stepped down.
See you later in the summer.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
An Incredible (and Long) All Star Day in NY - The Baseball Quarterly Report
Greetings from the New York Metropolitan Area…where Tuesday Night we witnessed the final All Star Game at legendary Yankee Stadium as we know it. And after this classic, I don’t think any future All Star Games will be able to measure up! As a Mets/NL fan I don’t think I have been as emotionally tied to a baseball game since Game 7 Mets Cardinals in 2006 on the night Endy Chavez made “the catch”. And how ironic that the possibility of a tie was based on the arm of Scott Kazmir the pitcher who Mets fans still mourn and whose trade for Victor Zambrano led to the reversing fortunes of both teams. Of course, where was Commissioner Bud Selig during the Fox coverage when the tie talk started brewing in the 8th inning? And as I am editing this at 147 AM and I see Ed Peper give a Chevy to MVP JD Drew, Jeannie Zelasko just asked my question... can he drive everyone home,... especially the Jersey Fans whose last train left at 135 AM?
Today’s column was supposed to originate from LA, the site of the Hadassah Convention where Trophy Wife has been off gallivanting this week… I was originally going to tag along and hang out in LA while Trophy Wife hung out with the Hadassah Ladies,.. and I even entertained thoughts of attending the Match Game on TBS taping which had been originally scheduled for this week. Ultimately, I decided to stay home instead, but I will be heading off to the airport soon to pick up my sweetie! It was very strange watching an All Star Game without her around… especially since our courtship started during the 2002 legendary All Star tie. (see July 10, 2006 in the archives for the whole story)
The All Star Coverage that aired on Fox from 7pm to 8:30 was unprecedented in its fantasic-ness! The parade from 7-8 (aired on tape delay) was quite entertaining… and the introduction ceremony prior to the game was truly spectacular although I was not too thrilled to see that George Steinbrenner was involved in the pre-game when its quite obvious that his health has deteriorated so rapidly. It brings back memories of the summer of 1996… the last time the National League won the game… when the tabloids first started showing pictures of Bob Hope whose health suddenly declined in his early 90’s. Incidentally, George wore his sunglasses at night at a game that ended on a throw by... Corey Hart!
The idea of having the Hall of Famers appear on the field standing at their position was truly touching and a great history lesson for young baseball fans. All fathers with sons old enough to appreciate this should be plopped him down on the couch to watch this and given a test afterwards because of the incredible history that was on display there… It also showed how absurd it is that Pete Rose is banned from wonderful moments like this,…. especially with his past All Star Game history when he ran down Ray Fosse with the winning run in the 1970 All Star Game. If you listened to some of the old timers during the weekend you heard them talk about how back in the old days,.. like the 70s when I was an awe struck kid hanging on to every pitch… the players used to play all 9 innings and they were quite competitive. Who needs this silliness of making the game “count” to give the winning team home field advantage in the World Series? As I have said before, change the rule.. if it goes extra innings bring back the players that were taken out earlier. A team is allowed to bring back a catcher which is scary because I think Russel Martin who had just been removed, would have tagged out Justin Morneau in the bottom of the 15th!
Once the Hall of Famers were introduced, the 08 All Star players were then brought out and stood out in the field at their positions with the Hall of Famers. I got a kick out of Willie Mays who didn’t seem to care that he was standing next to Josh Hamilton who became a hero of sorts at the Stadium after his incredible power show during Monday Night’s home run derby. And interestingly enough, it was the Reds-Rangers Hamilton for Edinson Volquez trade that made quite an impact…. Hamilton with his rocket shots Monday Night and Volquez blowing the 2-0 lead before Jonathan Papelbon gave the National League a run back when he pitched the unfamiliar top of the 8th. That was around the time when Joe Buck and Tim McCarver started to speculate about a tie if the teams ran out of pitchers. And as the game went on, I thought we might see Tim Lincecum make a Willis Reed-esque appearance on the mound after being hospitalized earlier in the day with flu like symptoms.
The Home Run Derby was quite crazy as Hamilton put on a show that topped Bobby Abreu’s performance form a few years back. Of course Abreu’s home run pace dropped off after that performance, so I would be curious to see how well Hamilton will do. Nonetheless, Hamilton’s story is just terrific.. He bounced back from a life of drug addiction to turn his life around… a nice story coming so soon after the big steroids debacle that has rocked baseball. Hopefully, he will continue his straight living life unlike the late Steve Howe who continued to get numerous chances after numerous drug test failures. But Howe was a left handed relief pitcher which is always a valuable commodity for any pitching staff.
As we gear up for the 2nd half, it is time to look back at my preseason picks, but first some midway predictions for individual awards.
CY Young - Fransisco Rodriguez and Carlos Zambrano
MVP – Josh Hamilton and Chase Utley
Rookies of the Year – Evan Longoria and Edinson Volquez
Looking back to the preseason picks, I must be watching too many Met games because my American League picks were way off the mark. My American League pitching staff on my fantasy team is just as bad – My four top starters Erik Bedard, Shaun Marcum, Fausto Carmona and Vicente Padilla are all on the DL along with two of my outfielders – Eric Byrnes and Hideki Matsui! Isn’t football draft time coming soon?
In my Preaseason Top 14 List of Relevant Teams for 08, I only picked 6 AL teams and 4 of ‘em were Toronto, Seattle, Cleveland and Detroit! However, I did pick the White Sox as my surprise team and they have done quite well in the first half.. leading the equally surprising Minnesota Twins while The Tigers and the surprisingly bad Indians have been big disappointments. I thought the Mariners would win the division with their lineup and a rotation anchored by Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez, but I was obviously quite wrong. My pick of Boston as division winner looks to be on the money, unlike my other 3 playoff team picks of Detroit, Seattle, and wild card Cleveland. It seems as if the West is going to the Angels, and I will pick the White Sox for the AL Central, although the post Santana Twins have some decent starting pitchers that nobody seems to have ever heard of.
And will the Rays hold off the Yankees to win the Wild Card? Or can the Twins or A’s sneak in for the Wild Card as the Rays pass the BoSox? Im going to stick with my Red Sox prediction, but I think the Tampa Bay Rays have the right combo of hitting and starting pitching led by former Met Scott Kazmir. Therefore I pick the Rays for the Wild Card even though everyone still calls them by their old name of Devil Rays. Can we call them Blu Rays instead? And maybe refer to the Yankees as the HD-DVD of the 2008 season? As I predicted, the offense has had its usual consistent performance, but the Chin Min Wang injury and the failure of the young arms is putting too much pressure on the aging Mike Mussina and Andy Pettite. Add to that the injuries to outfielders Matsui and Johnny Damon, and the Yankee playoff run appears to be in serious jeopardy.
As for the NL…. Of the 8 contenders from my preseason picks, a few have fallen short. Houston didn’t gel as well as I thought with their revamped offense, and their starting pitching let them down, The Padres offense has not come through for them and Greg Maddux continues to pitch there even though he has only won one game since April 13th. Is this guy ready for a trade to a contender? The Braves took a big hit with injuries to Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Mike Hampton, which I predicted could be a season killer in our baseball preview. And speaking of Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux, do you realize that if all 3 retire at the end of this season or next season, it is very likely all 3 would be voted into the Hall of Fame together. That would be one heck of A Hall of Fame induction ceremony! I hope baseball gives the Braves and Bobby Cox the day off so the fans can watch the inductions – maybe on TBS which doesn’t air Braves games anymore but does a Game of the Week on Sunday afternoons.
I’m not going to ask for a mulligan for my NL picks since The Phillies, Cubs, and D-Backs as division winners with a Met wild card looks quite realistic. The Cardinals and Brewers have been fighting it out for the Wild Card, but the Central has a pretty decent division – even the also rans Pirates, Astros and Reds are actually fielding somewhat competitive teams. The Central’s unbalanced schedule could hurt the top teams in that division, while the Mets can feast on Washington and the fading Marlins and Braves. And as good as the Phillies line up is… the pitching leaves a lot to be desired. The Mets strong pitching might not be enough to overcome the Phillies big bats, but there is room in the playoffs for both of ‘em! I don't think the Phillies have enough pitching this year, but if they made the World Series, isn't it incredibly dopey that they lose home field advantage because Brad Lidge had to pitch at 1:30 in the morning in The All Star Game?
And my revamped AL World Series team – get the rally monkeys ready for the Angels in their futile attempt against - I really want to say the Mets. Let’s hope they pick up some help for the corner outfield spots – and I am not talking about Trot Nixon! Otherwise, the Mets could see a big opportunity slip away in what might be Pedro’s last year – and see the Cubbies win the NL Pennant!
And can you just imagine that Hall of Fame Line up – The Braves Big 3 and Pedro Martinez? Wait a minute – isn’t Victor Zambrano retiring too?? Nah – just kidding with my fellow Met fans who still curse the Scott Kazmir trade, the same Scott Kazmir who got the win in the 2008 All Star Game! By the way Victor is 0-6 in the minors this season with a 9.45 ERA and a 2.30 whip… and the Yankees are thinking of acquiring him!!
Let the games resume!
Today’s column was supposed to originate from LA, the site of the Hadassah Convention where Trophy Wife has been off gallivanting this week… I was originally going to tag along and hang out in LA while Trophy Wife hung out with the Hadassah Ladies,.. and I even entertained thoughts of attending the Match Game on TBS taping which had been originally scheduled for this week. Ultimately, I decided to stay home instead, but I will be heading off to the airport soon to pick up my sweetie! It was very strange watching an All Star Game without her around… especially since our courtship started during the 2002 legendary All Star tie. (see July 10, 2006 in the archives for the whole story)
The All Star Coverage that aired on Fox from 7pm to 8:30 was unprecedented in its fantasic-ness! The parade from 7-8 (aired on tape delay) was quite entertaining… and the introduction ceremony prior to the game was truly spectacular although I was not too thrilled to see that George Steinbrenner was involved in the pre-game when its quite obvious that his health has deteriorated so rapidly. It brings back memories of the summer of 1996… the last time the National League won the game… when the tabloids first started showing pictures of Bob Hope whose health suddenly declined in his early 90’s. Incidentally, George wore his sunglasses at night at a game that ended on a throw by... Corey Hart!
The idea of having the Hall of Famers appear on the field standing at their position was truly touching and a great history lesson for young baseball fans. All fathers with sons old enough to appreciate this should be plopped him down on the couch to watch this and given a test afterwards because of the incredible history that was on display there… It also showed how absurd it is that Pete Rose is banned from wonderful moments like this,…. especially with his past All Star Game history when he ran down Ray Fosse with the winning run in the 1970 All Star Game. If you listened to some of the old timers during the weekend you heard them talk about how back in the old days,.. like the 70s when I was an awe struck kid hanging on to every pitch… the players used to play all 9 innings and they were quite competitive. Who needs this silliness of making the game “count” to give the winning team home field advantage in the World Series? As I have said before, change the rule.. if it goes extra innings bring back the players that were taken out earlier. A team is allowed to bring back a catcher which is scary because I think Russel Martin who had just been removed, would have tagged out Justin Morneau in the bottom of the 15th!
Once the Hall of Famers were introduced, the 08 All Star players were then brought out and stood out in the field at their positions with the Hall of Famers. I got a kick out of Willie Mays who didn’t seem to care that he was standing next to Josh Hamilton who became a hero of sorts at the Stadium after his incredible power show during Monday Night’s home run derby. And interestingly enough, it was the Reds-Rangers Hamilton for Edinson Volquez trade that made quite an impact…. Hamilton with his rocket shots Monday Night and Volquez blowing the 2-0 lead before Jonathan Papelbon gave the National League a run back when he pitched the unfamiliar top of the 8th. That was around the time when Joe Buck and Tim McCarver started to speculate about a tie if the teams ran out of pitchers. And as the game went on, I thought we might see Tim Lincecum make a Willis Reed-esque appearance on the mound after being hospitalized earlier in the day with flu like symptoms.
The Home Run Derby was quite crazy as Hamilton put on a show that topped Bobby Abreu’s performance form a few years back. Of course Abreu’s home run pace dropped off after that performance, so I would be curious to see how well Hamilton will do. Nonetheless, Hamilton’s story is just terrific.. He bounced back from a life of drug addiction to turn his life around… a nice story coming so soon after the big steroids debacle that has rocked baseball. Hopefully, he will continue his straight living life unlike the late Steve Howe who continued to get numerous chances after numerous drug test failures. But Howe was a left handed relief pitcher which is always a valuable commodity for any pitching staff.
As we gear up for the 2nd half, it is time to look back at my preseason picks, but first some midway predictions for individual awards.
CY Young - Fransisco Rodriguez and Carlos Zambrano
MVP – Josh Hamilton and Chase Utley
Rookies of the Year – Evan Longoria and Edinson Volquez
Looking back to the preseason picks, I must be watching too many Met games because my American League picks were way off the mark. My American League pitching staff on my fantasy team is just as bad – My four top starters Erik Bedard, Shaun Marcum, Fausto Carmona and Vicente Padilla are all on the DL along with two of my outfielders – Eric Byrnes and Hideki Matsui! Isn’t football draft time coming soon?
In my Preaseason Top 14 List of Relevant Teams for 08, I only picked 6 AL teams and 4 of ‘em were Toronto, Seattle, Cleveland and Detroit! However, I did pick the White Sox as my surprise team and they have done quite well in the first half.. leading the equally surprising Minnesota Twins while The Tigers and the surprisingly bad Indians have been big disappointments. I thought the Mariners would win the division with their lineup and a rotation anchored by Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez, but I was obviously quite wrong. My pick of Boston as division winner looks to be on the money, unlike my other 3 playoff team picks of Detroit, Seattle, and wild card Cleveland. It seems as if the West is going to the Angels, and I will pick the White Sox for the AL Central, although the post Santana Twins have some decent starting pitchers that nobody seems to have ever heard of.
And will the Rays hold off the Yankees to win the Wild Card? Or can the Twins or A’s sneak in for the Wild Card as the Rays pass the BoSox? Im going to stick with my Red Sox prediction, but I think the Tampa Bay Rays have the right combo of hitting and starting pitching led by former Met Scott Kazmir. Therefore I pick the Rays for the Wild Card even though everyone still calls them by their old name of Devil Rays. Can we call them Blu Rays instead? And maybe refer to the Yankees as the HD-DVD of the 2008 season? As I predicted, the offense has had its usual consistent performance, but the Chin Min Wang injury and the failure of the young arms is putting too much pressure on the aging Mike Mussina and Andy Pettite. Add to that the injuries to outfielders Matsui and Johnny Damon, and the Yankee playoff run appears to be in serious jeopardy.
As for the NL…. Of the 8 contenders from my preseason picks, a few have fallen short. Houston didn’t gel as well as I thought with their revamped offense, and their starting pitching let them down, The Padres offense has not come through for them and Greg Maddux continues to pitch there even though he has only won one game since April 13th. Is this guy ready for a trade to a contender? The Braves took a big hit with injuries to Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Mike Hampton, which I predicted could be a season killer in our baseball preview. And speaking of Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux, do you realize that if all 3 retire at the end of this season or next season, it is very likely all 3 would be voted into the Hall of Fame together. That would be one heck of A Hall of Fame induction ceremony! I hope baseball gives the Braves and Bobby Cox the day off so the fans can watch the inductions – maybe on TBS which doesn’t air Braves games anymore but does a Game of the Week on Sunday afternoons.
I’m not going to ask for a mulligan for my NL picks since The Phillies, Cubs, and D-Backs as division winners with a Met wild card looks quite realistic. The Cardinals and Brewers have been fighting it out for the Wild Card, but the Central has a pretty decent division – even the also rans Pirates, Astros and Reds are actually fielding somewhat competitive teams. The Central’s unbalanced schedule could hurt the top teams in that division, while the Mets can feast on Washington and the fading Marlins and Braves. And as good as the Phillies line up is… the pitching leaves a lot to be desired. The Mets strong pitching might not be enough to overcome the Phillies big bats, but there is room in the playoffs for both of ‘em! I don't think the Phillies have enough pitching this year, but if they made the World Series, isn't it incredibly dopey that they lose home field advantage because Brad Lidge had to pitch at 1:30 in the morning in The All Star Game?
And my revamped AL World Series team – get the rally monkeys ready for the Angels in their futile attempt against - I really want to say the Mets. Let’s hope they pick up some help for the corner outfield spots – and I am not talking about Trot Nixon! Otherwise, the Mets could see a big opportunity slip away in what might be Pedro’s last year – and see the Cubbies win the NL Pennant!
And can you just imagine that Hall of Fame Line up – The Braves Big 3 and Pedro Martinez? Wait a minute – isn’t Victor Zambrano retiring too?? Nah – just kidding with my fellow Met fans who still curse the Scott Kazmir trade, the same Scott Kazmir who got the win in the 2008 All Star Game! By the way Victor is 0-6 in the minors this season with a 9.45 ERA and a 2.30 whip… and the Yankees are thinking of acquiring him!!
Let the games resume!
Monday, July 07, 2008
Did We Just Have a Full Moon During the Holiday Weekend?
Hope everybody enjoyed the long 4th of July Weekend. I never thought my idea of a Wimbledon Mens Final/Met game twinbill would turn into a 12 hour rain delayed marathon. The most exciting story was the rescue of those hostages in Columbia - the most daring and miraculouos rescue since Entebbe back during The Bicentennial in 1976. During the long rainy weekend, I have been catching up with the news, Now that I look at all the craziness going on, I am starting to wonder if there has been a full moon for the last few days. Here are a few reasons for this theory:
*Nathan’s – We’ll start with my name sake and the great hot dog eating contest. I ran into this guy I knew from college a few years ago and he told me that he had launched a side career as a competitive eater. I actually did the Carnegie Deli Knish Eating Contest approximately 20 years ago and after meeting Henny Youngman and hearing him say “Take My Knish Please” and having Vic Miles stand over me as I took an early lead… I knew this type of craziness was not for me. I blew my lead, but not my lunch… lost to a skinny guy and finished in the middle of the pack. This other guy from college subsequently won a knish eating contest on Jewish Night at a Brooklyn Cyclones minor league game.
The hot dog contest has turned into a national event, and is broadcast live by ESPN. The 10 minute contest didn’t commence till 40 minutes into the 60 minutes of coverage which included lengthy eater introductions along with some heart warming Olympic-esque features about the competitors. They also made a big deal about the fact that the competition had been shortened from 12 minutes down to 10 and compared it to other sports which instituted major rule changes such as baseball going from 154 games to 162 games. Uh… hot dog eating is not a sport… its entertainment… so I wouldn’t quite go as far as to equate it to baseball or football. It was also quite entertaining to see the little graphics about other contests won by the competitors. It was also interesting to note that a contestant is eliminated if he or she pukes. And maybe if ESPN wouldn’t have had so much pre game filler we would have had a chance to see Joey Chestnut's post game celebrating after his overtime victory.
*Christie Brinkley - We went into the long weekend with headlines blasting about A-Rod splitting with his wife just a few short months after she gave birth…. And blaming the Kaballah wackos for it. I actually stumbled into a crazy Kabbalah service one Friday Night in Manhattan and this was no Friday Night Service… it was a bunch of malarkey. They did have a lot of very good looking babes dressed totally in white for this so called service. Now the big questions are is ARod with Madonna and is Mrs. ARod with Lenny Kravitz. And if they do get divorced, will it be as crazy as Christie Brinkley’s bizarre trial??
Brinkley’s divorce case has become a hot topic on the local newscasts… The stunning revelation came early on when she testified that she found out her husband was having an affair with a teenage girl when the girl’s step dad spilled the beans as the one time supermodel was about to deliver a commencement address at a local high school. Not such a great idea on the husband’s part to make negative comments to the media about Brinkley’s testimony, considering how bad this whole thing is making him look. And he pays for porn? Hey save your shekels.. there is a TON of free porn out there – at least that is what I have heard. I would think that this is only such a hot topic since Brinkley was a former model who has aged quite well now that she is in her 50s…. I woulda thought she would have started to look like David Brinkley by now…
*Belmar Finger Ban: Back in my knish devouring youth.. Belmar, NJ was the big party headquarters at The Jersey Shore. They had this big McDonalds right on the boardwalk, On non-Subway nights, Angelo’s Pizza which burned down many years ago was the spot for a quick dinner break before and/or after trips to Tropicals Pub. The powers that be that run the town however have never been thrilled with all the problems associated with young whippersnappers cavorting around, so laws were passed to minimize the seasonal visitors. According to Saturday’s Star Ledger, there are now approx. 300 summer rentals there… as opposed to 1990 when there were approximately 1200! Not good news for the rental agents there.
The town also passed the usual laws to keep debauchery to a minimum. Public pishing laws were passed among other things… they will actually give you a ticket if your pish ends up in a place other than the appropriate location. They also passed a law that forbids you to give someone the finger in public… but now, the law has been repealed… They apparently felt it was impossible to enforce… Now they figure this out?? What happens if someone scratches their nose? Or picks it? How about people who use the middle finger to press buttons when they do debit transactions at the grocery store? And what happens if they use the middle finger while ticked off about high prices? Is that an illegal use of the finger? Or… what happens if you flash someone fingers 2-4 and implore the recipient to read between the lines? Ultimately, they couldn't enforce the law for freedom of speech reasons, so use of the finger is now legal.
*Governor of FL falls in love! – I saw this story about Governor Charlie Crist on the news and thought – well good for him. The middle aged governor met a stunning young woman in her late 30’s last September and now he is planning to get married. But before you start finding out where the lovely young couple is registered – the rumor mongers are already tossing out some allegations about this love affair.
Crist is being hailed as a possible VP for those evil Republicans. So is Minnesota Governor Pawlenty who I talked about more than a year ago on my mortgage podcast about his idea to get rid no document and no income verification loans for residents of his home state. That decision could come back and bite him when retirees and the temporarily unemployed find themselves in adjustable rate mortgages that they can’t refinance.
Well according to the comments on a few of the news sites such as The New York Daily News and Wall Street Journal – Crist has to get himself “in order” as a potential GOP Veep. And the gossipers are saying – Holy McGreevey – that Governor Crist is gay… not that there’s anything wrong with that…. Could that mean he would actually hide his gayness because Republicans won’t accept that lifestyle?? Kind of like Dennis Prager who claims that gay marriage is a bigger issue than the economy that George Bush wrecked. I really don’t know one way or the other what the deal is with Governor Crist.… but I do know that my friend McG the musical genius who wrote the McGreevey song might have to put together another song if this is actually true! Either way… I’ll have to ask former Floridian DAS about these rumors next time I speak to him… (or next time he comments here)
*Terrorist Mentally Ill? Speaking of Das…. Hey it’s Bicentennial Boy’s birthday today, so I thought I would write about something that would tick off him and his fellow wacky liberals. I gotta credit the Israeli government’s decision to tear down a now dead terrorist’s family’s home, after he used his construction vehicle to kill three and injured dozens of others. Let’s gas up the bulldozers, and send them over to Hussam Dwayat’s house….. now that the Israeli government has temporarily halted their home demolition program.
This latest attack though comes with a bizarre twist right out of TMZ. An Israeli woman who won’t reveal her true name claims she had an affair with Dwayat many years ago and he is the father of her 7 yr old kid. While this so called mystery woman says that Dwayat would not kill Israelis...but would knock one up. The terrorist’s family say he had “mental issues” and drug problems. I’m surprised Jimmy Carter didn’t try to open a Betty Ford clinic while he was over there negotiating with those terrorists…. Unless there is still a grudge that Jimmy beat Gerald Ford in the ’76 Bicentennial election.
This woman said she was willing to convert to Islam for her man… I guess Madonna couldn’t reach out to her with her Arod Kaballah rap…. But she was forced to leave him because he was beating the crap out of her. This woman’s family also apparently intervened and convinced her to leave him…. I guess the welts on her face from the ass kickings he gave her wasn’t enough reason to leave this creep. Maybe he wasn’t too thrilled by the Jewish family that was not so accepting of their daughter’s baby daddy. She also pressed charges against him – he spent time in jail for beating her. The woman also says the child doesn’t know who his daddy is. Personally, this sounds to me like a big lie.
So I guess the next time a terrorist violates the cease fire in the Middle East they will play the ol’ TMZ – mentally ill Hollywood star card. Maybe we can kill 2 birds with one stone and send the home materials from the torn down terrorist buildings down to New Orleans so we can finally finish (or in some cases start) rebuilding the homes down there. And gas up a 2nd bulldozer because they’re also gonna tear down the home of the terrorist who bombed that Jewish seminary back in March.
Next week – the Baseball All Star Game Report – then we’ll have our next James Bond review, and then it’s time for our summer blogging schedule as McG and I will be putting together the video for his McGreevey song.
CLIP OF THE WEEK:
*Nathan’s – We’ll start with my name sake and the great hot dog eating contest. I ran into this guy I knew from college a few years ago and he told me that he had launched a side career as a competitive eater. I actually did the Carnegie Deli Knish Eating Contest approximately 20 years ago and after meeting Henny Youngman and hearing him say “Take My Knish Please” and having Vic Miles stand over me as I took an early lead… I knew this type of craziness was not for me. I blew my lead, but not my lunch… lost to a skinny guy and finished in the middle of the pack. This other guy from college subsequently won a knish eating contest on Jewish Night at a Brooklyn Cyclones minor league game.
The hot dog contest has turned into a national event, and is broadcast live by ESPN. The 10 minute contest didn’t commence till 40 minutes into the 60 minutes of coverage which included lengthy eater introductions along with some heart warming Olympic-esque features about the competitors. They also made a big deal about the fact that the competition had been shortened from 12 minutes down to 10 and compared it to other sports which instituted major rule changes such as baseball going from 154 games to 162 games. Uh… hot dog eating is not a sport… its entertainment… so I wouldn’t quite go as far as to equate it to baseball or football. It was also quite entertaining to see the little graphics about other contests won by the competitors. It was also interesting to note that a contestant is eliminated if he or she pukes. And maybe if ESPN wouldn’t have had so much pre game filler we would have had a chance to see Joey Chestnut's post game celebrating after his overtime victory.
*Christie Brinkley - We went into the long weekend with headlines blasting about A-Rod splitting with his wife just a few short months after she gave birth…. And blaming the Kaballah wackos for it. I actually stumbled into a crazy Kabbalah service one Friday Night in Manhattan and this was no Friday Night Service… it was a bunch of malarkey. They did have a lot of very good looking babes dressed totally in white for this so called service. Now the big questions are is ARod with Madonna and is Mrs. ARod with Lenny Kravitz. And if they do get divorced, will it be as crazy as Christie Brinkley’s bizarre trial??
Brinkley’s divorce case has become a hot topic on the local newscasts… The stunning revelation came early on when she testified that she found out her husband was having an affair with a teenage girl when the girl’s step dad spilled the beans as the one time supermodel was about to deliver a commencement address at a local high school. Not such a great idea on the husband’s part to make negative comments to the media about Brinkley’s testimony, considering how bad this whole thing is making him look. And he pays for porn? Hey save your shekels.. there is a TON of free porn out there – at least that is what I have heard. I would think that this is only such a hot topic since Brinkley was a former model who has aged quite well now that she is in her 50s…. I woulda thought she would have started to look like David Brinkley by now…
*Belmar Finger Ban: Back in my knish devouring youth.. Belmar, NJ was the big party headquarters at The Jersey Shore. They had this big McDonalds right on the boardwalk, On non-Subway nights, Angelo’s Pizza which burned down many years ago was the spot for a quick dinner break before and/or after trips to Tropicals Pub. The powers that be that run the town however have never been thrilled with all the problems associated with young whippersnappers cavorting around, so laws were passed to minimize the seasonal visitors. According to Saturday’s Star Ledger, there are now approx. 300 summer rentals there… as opposed to 1990 when there were approximately 1200! Not good news for the rental agents there.
The town also passed the usual laws to keep debauchery to a minimum. Public pishing laws were passed among other things… they will actually give you a ticket if your pish ends up in a place other than the appropriate location. They also passed a law that forbids you to give someone the finger in public… but now, the law has been repealed… They apparently felt it was impossible to enforce… Now they figure this out?? What happens if someone scratches their nose? Or picks it? How about people who use the middle finger to press buttons when they do debit transactions at the grocery store? And what happens if they use the middle finger while ticked off about high prices? Is that an illegal use of the finger? Or… what happens if you flash someone fingers 2-4 and implore the recipient to read between the lines? Ultimately, they couldn't enforce the law for freedom of speech reasons, so use of the finger is now legal.
*Governor of FL falls in love! – I saw this story about Governor Charlie Crist on the news and thought – well good for him. The middle aged governor met a stunning young woman in her late 30’s last September and now he is planning to get married. But before you start finding out where the lovely young couple is registered – the rumor mongers are already tossing out some allegations about this love affair.
Crist is being hailed as a possible VP for those evil Republicans. So is Minnesota Governor Pawlenty who I talked about more than a year ago on my mortgage podcast about his idea to get rid no document and no income verification loans for residents of his home state. That decision could come back and bite him when retirees and the temporarily unemployed find themselves in adjustable rate mortgages that they can’t refinance.
Well according to the comments on a few of the news sites such as The New York Daily News and Wall Street Journal – Crist has to get himself “in order” as a potential GOP Veep. And the gossipers are saying – Holy McGreevey – that Governor Crist is gay… not that there’s anything wrong with that…. Could that mean he would actually hide his gayness because Republicans won’t accept that lifestyle?? Kind of like Dennis Prager who claims that gay marriage is a bigger issue than the economy that George Bush wrecked. I really don’t know one way or the other what the deal is with Governor Crist.… but I do know that my friend McG the musical genius who wrote the McGreevey song might have to put together another song if this is actually true! Either way… I’ll have to ask former Floridian DAS about these rumors next time I speak to him… (or next time he comments here)
*Terrorist Mentally Ill? Speaking of Das…. Hey it’s Bicentennial Boy’s birthday today, so I thought I would write about something that would tick off him and his fellow wacky liberals. I gotta credit the Israeli government’s decision to tear down a now dead terrorist’s family’s home, after he used his construction vehicle to kill three and injured dozens of others. Let’s gas up the bulldozers, and send them over to Hussam Dwayat’s house….. now that the Israeli government has temporarily halted their home demolition program.
This latest attack though comes with a bizarre twist right out of TMZ. An Israeli woman who won’t reveal her true name claims she had an affair with Dwayat many years ago and he is the father of her 7 yr old kid. While this so called mystery woman says that Dwayat would not kill Israelis...but would knock one up. The terrorist’s family say he had “mental issues” and drug problems. I’m surprised Jimmy Carter didn’t try to open a Betty Ford clinic while he was over there negotiating with those terrorists…. Unless there is still a grudge that Jimmy beat Gerald Ford in the ’76 Bicentennial election.
This woman said she was willing to convert to Islam for her man… I guess Madonna couldn’t reach out to her with her Arod Kaballah rap…. But she was forced to leave him because he was beating the crap out of her. This woman’s family also apparently intervened and convinced her to leave him…. I guess the welts on her face from the ass kickings he gave her wasn’t enough reason to leave this creep. Maybe he wasn’t too thrilled by the Jewish family that was not so accepting of their daughter’s baby daddy. She also pressed charges against him – he spent time in jail for beating her. The woman also says the child doesn’t know who his daddy is. Personally, this sounds to me like a big lie.
So I guess the next time a terrorist violates the cease fire in the Middle East they will play the ol’ TMZ – mentally ill Hollywood star card. Maybe we can kill 2 birds with one stone and send the home materials from the torn down terrorist buildings down to New Orleans so we can finally finish (or in some cases start) rebuilding the homes down there. And gas up a 2nd bulldozer because they’re also gonna tear down the home of the terrorist who bombed that Jewish seminary back in March.
Next week – the Baseball All Star Game Report – then we’ll have our next James Bond review, and then it’s time for our summer blogging schedule as McG and I will be putting together the video for his McGreevey song.
CLIP OF THE WEEK:
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