I think I finally did my last draft of the baseball season with the auction for the long-running NL-only league that actually had its roots with a couple of guys from Pittsburgh I met at a summer program in Massachusetts when I was in high school -- in 1991. I found my way into it since those guys were friends with one of my eventual college roommates. And now the league now has an interesting mix of people who have known each other since high school, two of my college roommates and some work colleagues of someone else in the league. So while the fantasy baseball part was obviously fun, catching up with old friends was as much of the reason for keeping the league going -- heck, a good portion of the league membership is linked on the sidebar. And considering this was the first time I'd been at the draft live in about 4-5 years, it was good to match names with faces again. (Unfortunately, Easter-related stuff prevented me from joining the post-draft Atlantic City action.)
As much as I write stuff about how to win at this stuff, I'll admit that it's sometimes to tough to replicate the "draft experience" via columns, advice, etc. And the online experience, while good and usually more efficient, can lack the spice of staring down a guy fumbling through pages of notes figuring out whether to go the extra buck on Shawn Green.
As for the actual draft, I guess I stuck to some of my traditions: spending practically nothing on pitching yet somehow falling into a so-so Mets starter in the $10 range who eventually gets dealt away next year (Kris Benson in 2005, Steve Trachsel last year, Oliver Perez this year); picking up a bunch of expensive bats; and getting Chipper Jones -- again. For someone who just left Atlanta, I picked up a bunch of Braves, called up a bunch more in auction, and was in the running for a few more. Can't seem to shake the city (and it'll be even tougher now with the Thrashers in the playoffs -- facing the Rangers, no less).
One other fun bit about the auction, I decided to have fun with the proceedings and bringing this out when I called up said singer. However, I did not give away the CD to the highest bidder.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Trivial matters
I opted to skip out on the sports trivia contest I'd cleaned up on the past couple of weeks, and thus I missed this cool visual round. Based on the answers, I probably would've gotten 8 of 10. And that probably would've been fine to help me win another one of these things flying solo. Instead, I've been learning a bunch of different tax codes for the multiple state returns I have to file this year.
Touring the obits
It's somewhat notable that B.C. cartoonist Johnny Hart passed away the day before Easter, given that his strip had been drawing plenty of controversy for religious messages in recent years -- as it apparently moved away from the "fat broad" jokes and the strangeness of his characters appearing ads for shocks and struts.
Even more intriguing is the Bob Clark obit, considering that while he should be most associated with the now-classic A Christmas Story, his other credits seem oddly out of whack -- Porky's, the Baby Geniuses movies, the original Black Christmas and Rhinestone. In some ways, he should thank TBS and TNT for making sure his primary legacy will be the story of Ralphie and Red Ryder.
Even more intriguing is the Bob Clark obit, considering that while he should be most associated with the now-classic A Christmas Story, his other credits seem oddly out of whack -- Porky's, the Baby Geniuses movies, the original Black Christmas and Rhinestone. In some ways, he should thank TBS and TNT for making sure his primary legacy will be the story of Ralphie and Red Ryder.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
It is ironic, don't you think
After all this time, Alanis really does know irony:
Meanwhile, here's a live version of one of the best covers ever:
Meanwhile, here's a live version of one of the best covers ever:
Monday, April 02, 2007
Chomped!
I suppose I could only go so far to sell myself out to the Buckeyes, although it would've been nice to collect on the different pools. However, it actually seems like Ohio State was proving the Ewing Theory as the game was going on -- Greg Oden finally has the breakout game and his team loses. Not being in foul trouble actually cut into his endurance. Oden seems to prove a strange paradox that you need him to win but his teammates decided not to show up when Oden was actually on his game.
And as for our Gator overlords, it is interesting they started the same five for both title games. Very impressive. Having a team full of children of former athletes actually has a secondary effect -- there isn't the same urgency for the top guys to jump to the NBA. Sure, they'd like to have the chance to play in the pros, but they don't have the same financial incentive to get the big contract if your dad has already cashed in reasonably well during his playing days. And if you've all come in at the same time and win a national title pretty early on, you might as well drink it all in and try again for some history if there's no pressing need to provide for your family.
Finally, I think I've figured out the Billy Packer dilemma. As a game analyst, he's actually very solid from a basketball perspective. Unfortunately, he comes off like such a grumpy know-it-all, he rubs people the wrong way, especially if he's criticizing your team. Honestly, if Dr. Z were given a TV commentator role and not coached one way or another, he'd come off the same way. However, most of us want a little fun with our analysis since sports is supposed to be an escape and not a job, which is why a Bill Raftery is more beloved because he can mix entertainment and pure basketball talk.
And as for our Gator overlords, it is interesting they started the same five for both title games. Very impressive. Having a team full of children of former athletes actually has a secondary effect -- there isn't the same urgency for the top guys to jump to the NBA. Sure, they'd like to have the chance to play in the pros, but they don't have the same financial incentive to get the big contract if your dad has already cashed in reasonably well during his playing days. And if you've all come in at the same time and win a national title pretty early on, you might as well drink it all in and try again for some history if there's no pressing need to provide for your family.
Finally, I think I've figured out the Billy Packer dilemma. As a game analyst, he's actually very solid from a basketball perspective. Unfortunately, he comes off like such a grumpy know-it-all, he rubs people the wrong way, especially if he's criticizing your team. Honestly, if Dr. Z were given a TV commentator role and not coached one way or another, he'd come off the same way. However, most of us want a little fun with our analysis since sports is supposed to be an escape and not a job, which is why a Bill Raftery is more beloved because he can mix entertainment and pure basketball talk.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Jersey represent
So it's on to the national championship game for the Rutgers women, continuing the nice run set by the football team. However, while the Scarlet Knights shot lights out from behind the arc and played some stifling defense to smother LSU, I can't help but think that there was some awful basketball played by both sides, especially in the paint. There were lots of botched layups and putbacks, and just some weird missed plays you probably shouldn't be seeing in a national semifinal game. As much as I'll follow the women's tournament, you often can't fault those who wonder why there's so much coverage of it as well.
And now with that game over, it's time to watch the first game of the 2007 baseball season.
And now with that game over, it's time to watch the first game of the 2007 baseball season.
Cool as ice
One way to spend the interim between the men's Final Four games and the 1-2 punch of the women's Final Four/Opening Day is to see a figure skating movie? Why not -- it's another Will Ferrell comedy that was funny at moments and silly and over the top in other parts (pretty much par for the course). It wasn't as good as Talladega Nights, but some of the actors were game for their parts, such as Craig T. Nelson, and Jenna Fischer pretty much played Pam, although there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaking of Pam, it looks like Wired went first in sexing her up. And similarly, Geek magazine tries to glam up Chloe. I haven't seen so much love for the geeky girl since those Willow shots in FHM. (And age has been very good to her.)
Speaking of Pam, it looks like Wired went first in sexing her up. And similarly, Geek magazine tries to glam up Chloe. I haven't seen so much love for the geeky girl since those Willow shots in FHM. (And age has been very good to her.)
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Final countdown
I guess I'll be rooting hard for Ohio State as my hope for a Buckeyes-Gators national championship game, part deux, has come through -- but this time OSU winning it all. Hard to believe I've actually had that much at stake with my numerous pools ever.
Also, I think I discovered some lazy ad wizards over at Pontiac. While the Kansas-"Bobby Knight" bit wasn't too bad, I just figured out that the bit with the hypnotized referees calling for Louisville technical fouls makes more sense with the Kentucky fan as opposed to a UCLA fan.
Also, I think I discovered some lazy ad wizards over at Pontiac. While the Kansas-"Bobby Knight" bit wasn't too bad, I just figured out that the bit with the hypnotized referees calling for Louisville technical fouls makes more sense with the Kentucky fan as opposed to a UCLA fan.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Go, Cats?
It seems weird that Northwestern's basketball futility is fodder for a Final Four column, especially from someone like Joe Posnanski, but that's what we get today. And as he mentioned, there are so many NU alums scurrying around the business -- including two guys from my office who were in school around the time I was -- that it seems almost like there should be some outrage over it from the "typing classes."
But even if us sportswriter types won't get too crazy about it, at least there are some passionate fans out there hoping for change, by any means necessary.
But even if us sportswriter types won't get too crazy about it, at least there are some passionate fans out there hoping for change, by any means necessary.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Hooping and hollering
It's always fun listening to Bill Raftery doing college basketball, but the odd thing about him is that his quirkiness is practically an act. If you ever listen to his radio interviews, he's amazingly subdued, only turning on the catchphrases if he really needs to. It's an interesting phenomenon.
Meanwhile, does it seem like we were paying more attention to Gus Johnson after he got dropped out of the top four CBS crews? You have to wonder how he felt having to call an awful Knicks game while the Sweet 16 games were going on. At least Ian Eagle ended up with that ridiculous Division II finish. But look no further, there's a Gus Johnson remix.
Also, am I the only person out there that doesn't hold "One Shining Moment" in the same esteem as other sports fans? When the title game is over and the hardware, etc. is handed out, I'm already clicking to SportsCenter or some other show or possibly going to sleep. Unless I was really waiting for the local CBS affiliate news, I'm not sticking around to watch the song and the highlights. But maybe that's just me.
Finally, if people are continuing to gripe about voter turnout and comparing it to American Idol, could Sanjaya be similar to W? Think about it: Promising candidate at the start, progresses to the big stage only to look overmatched and always hounded by questions about how he got enough votes to stick around.
On the other hand, it's been nice looking at (if not necessarily listening to) Haley, but only after that they turned her into Mrs. Jay Mohr.
Meanwhile, does it seem like we were paying more attention to Gus Johnson after he got dropped out of the top four CBS crews? You have to wonder how he felt having to call an awful Knicks game while the Sweet 16 games were going on. At least Ian Eagle ended up with that ridiculous Division II finish. But look no further, there's a Gus Johnson remix.
Also, am I the only person out there that doesn't hold "One Shining Moment" in the same esteem as other sports fans? When the title game is over and the hardware, etc. is handed out, I'm already clicking to SportsCenter or some other show or possibly going to sleep. Unless I was really waiting for the local CBS affiliate news, I'm not sticking around to watch the song and the highlights. But maybe that's just me.
Finally, if people are continuing to gripe about voter turnout and comparing it to American Idol, could Sanjaya be similar to W? Think about it: Promising candidate at the start, progresses to the big stage only to look overmatched and always hounded by questions about how he got enough votes to stick around.
On the other hand, it's been nice looking at (if not necessarily listening to) Haley, but only after that they turned her into Mrs. Jay Mohr.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Chalk talk
Somehow I've picked the Final Four correctly for the first time ever probably despite some awful early picks. But sorta going by chalk works as was hoping to see some cool matchups in later rounds (national title rematch, UNC-G'town revival, Dr. Hibbert vs. Oden, UF-OSU national title game rematch).
Meanwhile, the women's bracket is all shaken up with a 3 and a 4 in the Final Four, although it's cool to see the Rutgers women continue the momentum from the football team. However, that second half against Arizona State wasn't pretty nor the teams themselves in HD. But Carrie Underwood in HD -- now that works for me.
Switching back to pseudo-sports, the list of inductors for the WWE Hall of Fame this Sunday is amusing and seemingly ripe for question fodder. William Shatner? Sure, why not. But Wade Boggs? Yeesh. Not getting enough cash from that hair transplant company?
Meanwhile, the women's bracket is all shaken up with a 3 and a 4 in the Final Four, although it's cool to see the Rutgers women continue the momentum from the football team. However, that second half against Arizona State wasn't pretty nor the teams themselves in HD. But Carrie Underwood in HD -- now that works for me.
Switching back to pseudo-sports, the list of inductors for the WWE Hall of Fame this Sunday is amusing and seemingly ripe for question fodder. William Shatner? Sure, why not. But Wade Boggs? Yeesh. Not getting enough cash from that hair transplant company?
Red means stop ... really
So I went to this place for my birthday, which was pretty good, considering I hadn't done the Brazilian steakhouse thing in a while. And given the amount of meat coming through, it's good to do only occasionally.
While it's nice to see places like this pop up in the suburbs, I can't help but wonder how over-hip they wanted to make this place. It's one thing to do the rodizio thing and leave it at that, but there's also a sushi bar plus an ornate drink menu and club-like feel to that place. It's a weird mishmash of all the "cool" restaurant/nightlife ideas at once. Strange.
And while the food was good, I know that when you flip the card from green to red, the servers are supposed to stop coming by. But I guess recognizing colors wasn't their greatest skill. It's not a good sign when someone is trying to foist more meat on you with the napkin thrown on the table like a white flag.
Meanwhile, over in the city, Peyton Manning turned in a pretty solid performance for SNL, all things considered. And yes, the United Way piece was the best part of it. Surprisingly, old #18 cussed a bit more than I might've expected, and do NFL QBs on the show have to go without pants for at least one skit?
While it's nice to see places like this pop up in the suburbs, I can't help but wonder how over-hip they wanted to make this place. It's one thing to do the rodizio thing and leave it at that, but there's also a sushi bar plus an ornate drink menu and club-like feel to that place. It's a weird mishmash of all the "cool" restaurant/nightlife ideas at once. Strange.
And while the food was good, I know that when you flip the card from green to red, the servers are supposed to stop coming by. But I guess recognizing colors wasn't their greatest skill. It's not a good sign when someone is trying to foist more meat on you with the napkin thrown on the table like a white flag.
Meanwhile, over in the city, Peyton Manning turned in a pretty solid performance for SNL, all things considered. And yes, the United Way piece was the best part of it. Surprisingly, old #18 cussed a bit more than I might've expected, and do NFL QBs on the show have to go without pants for at least one skit?
Saturday, March 24, 2007
What's my age again?
Yes, I've been very lax here. But here are some random thoughts while waiting for my fellow birthday buddy to host SNL:
-- Depending on which bracket you're looking at (most likely the ones I entered for money), I'm doing much better with Final Four teams than in the past, but you can thank all those high seeds very much going according to form. Instead, all the goofy bracket-busting upsets are happening on the women's side, including Marist, whose mascot is close to, but not this guy.
-- And in that same vein, a number of the supposed home-court or pseudo-home court advantages in the tournament haven't necessarily come through: Louisville falling to A&M in Lexington, A&M losing to Memphis in San Antonio, Wisconsin losing in Chicago; on the women's side, Rutgers spoiling homecourt edges for Michigan State and now Duke. And if you mention UCLA never having to leave California en route to the Final Four, northern California might as well be a different state from SoCal.
Watching all that tournament action does have me thinking about some of those ads, plus other TV spots around the dial:
-- It took a bit of searching of similar queries to mine, but according to this link, Rachel Specter is that amazingly attractive brunette in those RGX Body Spray ads. Overly obsessive fan sites and MySpace pages to come shortly, I'm sure.
-- So for a few weeks each March, I have to see the smarmiest Asian guy ever and his dopey white buddy to sell cell phones? Oy.
More to come as I can remember them.
-- If there's one thing American Idol has shown us, children of athletes actually have one more route to their own celebrity (thanks Jordin Sparks and Neko Smith) other than being a notable athlete or suffering from some rare debilitating disease.
-- I've been searching for both decent places to do pub trivia in NYC (not necessarily BuzzTime/NTN) as well as some teammates to join me as well, but for now I've stumbled across this all-sports pub trivia contest. The questions are pretty decent, although I've trounced the competition playing solo the past two times it's been run. Anyone New York-area based readers looking for someone to join them for pub trivia, get a hold of me.
-- Depending on which bracket you're looking at (most likely the ones I entered for money), I'm doing much better with Final Four teams than in the past, but you can thank all those high seeds very much going according to form. Instead, all the goofy bracket-busting upsets are happening on the women's side, including Marist, whose mascot is close to, but not this guy.
-- And in that same vein, a number of the supposed home-court or pseudo-home court advantages in the tournament haven't necessarily come through: Louisville falling to A&M in Lexington, A&M losing to Memphis in San Antonio, Wisconsin losing in Chicago; on the women's side, Rutgers spoiling homecourt edges for Michigan State and now Duke. And if you mention UCLA never having to leave California en route to the Final Four, northern California might as well be a different state from SoCal.
Watching all that tournament action does have me thinking about some of those ads, plus other TV spots around the dial:
-- It took a bit of searching of similar queries to mine, but according to this link, Rachel Specter is that amazingly attractive brunette in those RGX Body Spray ads. Overly obsessive fan sites and MySpace pages to come shortly, I'm sure.
-- So for a few weeks each March, I have to see the smarmiest Asian guy ever and his dopey white buddy to sell cell phones? Oy.
More to come as I can remember them.
-- If there's one thing American Idol has shown us, children of athletes actually have one more route to their own celebrity (thanks Jordin Sparks and Neko Smith) other than being a notable athlete or suffering from some rare debilitating disease.
-- I've been searching for both decent places to do pub trivia in NYC (not necessarily BuzzTime/NTN) as well as some teammates to join me as well, but for now I've stumbled across this all-sports pub trivia contest. The questions are pretty decent, although I've trounced the competition playing solo the past two times it's been run. Anyone New York-area based readers looking for someone to join them for pub trivia, get a hold of me.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Let it snow
I didn't notice it as much the few times there was a hint of winter weather in the Atlanta area, but now that I'm back in the New York area, I now see that the local network affiliates are running school closings in the crawl. It's a big change from when I grew up where the only places you could depend on for school closings in my area were this local AM station and its sister FM station. The Web helps out the process as well, as does the Cablevision News 12 stations, but I guess you can also thank the increased use of the crawl, so even the network affiliates can run school closings without taking time from the rest of the news.
Oscar blog 2007
I haven't done this in a while, but since I'm not working on Oscar night for the first time in a while, why not do the self-indulgent award telecast blog. I've only seen two of the five nominated films (The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine) and not that movies in general this year (is it a bad sign when the movie I was most excited for was Clerks II?), so I can't necessarily tell what's good and what's bad. But here we go with the rundown. Sorry for the length.
8:30: Cute testimonials by all the nominees in the intro. And I mean all the nominees. But mixing all the folks in the smaller categories with the bigger names almost screamed for some identifiers. At the same time, I think I was waiting for the guys from the Mac commercial to show up.
8:35: Now that's a nice payoff. Please stand if you've been nominated. Jack Nicholson, please sit down.
8:36: Ellen ready to deal some blackjack, I take it.
8:37: Most international Oscars ever. Neat. So what about that globalization? At least you can't outsource seat fillers, right?
8:39: Nice projection of your own nerves on the nominees, Ellen.
8:42: American Idol joke segues into Al Gore election joke. Of course it goes over well with this crowd.
8:43: Steve Carell: "Why the hell was I part of that joke?"
8:43: "If there were no Blacks, Jews or gays, there would be no Oscars." And James Dobson weeps.
8:44: Interesting to see who gets it by dancing with the choir that randomly appears.
8:45: Nicole Kidman seems to want to stay away from James Bond. And I always thought one of the supporting acting categories was first, so we don't switch the channel away after the monologue. Oh well, eye candy will keep people watching art direction.
8:46: Pan's Labyrinth opens up the ceremony with a win. Never saw it. Probably won't.
8:48: So Maggie Gyllenhaal drew the "hot young actress" card to host the technical awards. Not necessarily my choice, as much as I find her attractive. But I guess they needed to find a way to get her into the mix if she wasn't going to be nominated.
8:50: I guess Don LaFontaine sounds different saying his name instead of prefacing something with "In a world ..."
8:53: Ricky Bobby mentioned at the Oscars? Ah, I see. Comedians aren't allowed to do well at the Oscars. And Will Ferrell (nice 'fro, dude) and Jack Black are sort of proving why. And then there's John C. Reilly proving you can be funny and do serious stuff. However, when he did Talladega Nights, most people were surprised he'd "stoop that low" to do it. On the other hand, there was a bit of a subversive element in saying that the only way a comic actor will get nominated is to do some overly earnest film.
8:57: And so all of that silly leadup to give out makeup awards?
8:58: Pan's Labyrinth wins again. OK, the other options were a Mel Gibson movie and an Adam Sandler movie. What do you think will win? But the one guy is pissed to be cut off.
8:59: And now for the kids portion of the show. Cute. Of course, they're giving out the animation awards.
9:01: And oops. Will Smith's kid is already reading ahead on the teleprompter. I dare say he won't be the first to screw that up. Still not as good as the guy at the Grammys who was reading the prompts as well as the text giving out an award. Or, for that matter, Felicity Huffman screwing up Shareeka Epps name twice when giving her the award at the Independent Spirit Awards, calling her Shakeera. And thus prompting Sarah Silverman to say that next year the awards would be hosted by Fecility Huffman.
9:03: Ah, they're giving out both shorts categories. Because they're kids, and they're short. How clever.
9:04: Little Miss Sunshine has to bail out the Little Fresh Prince. But dude, West Bank Story. That's just too cool of a title, and apparently a concept for a short.
9:11: Sound effects choir? Is there going to be an award people actually care about before 10 p.m.? By the way, can't we just get Mr. Foley to show up? Or Fred Newman (who somehow has a new version of Mouthsounds in bookstores)? Meanwhile, Michael Winslow is weeping at home.
9:17: Jessica Biel and the other guy in the Idi Amin movie present an award. OK, then.
9:21: Hey, finally a "major award" (leg lamp not included). It is kinda weird seeing Kelly Leak after all those years, never mind up for an Oscar. And I guess it's about time for Marky Mark to get a nod, too.
9:23: Wow. Alan Arkin scores the upset over Eddie Murphy and Marky Mark. I didn't see that coming, even though I liked him and the movie. Did Norbit screw him over? I doubt it. But at least Will Ferrell's rant about not winning
9:26: Oy. More interpretive dance.
9:30: Time for I Love the '70s with Randy Newman and James Taylor. And I guess it's a best song block with Melissa Ethridge next. So I guess Dreamgirls has the big number later.
9:36: So Al Gore and Leonard DiCaprio are saying how green the Oscars are. But what about the actual moviemaking process? By the way, I think losing an election could be the best thing to reach some sort of pop culture hipness. First it was Bob Dole. And now it's Gore.
9:42: I'm still not sure how I feel about Cameron Diaz as a brunette, but she is a decent fit to give out the animated feature award. I guess the Oscars still love penguins, and the disappointed animated characters are a nice touch.
9:45: Yes, Ben Affleck has an Oscar. For screenwriting. We sometimes forget about that, as much as I loved Good Will Hunting.
9:48: The writing montage is amusing, but an even more interesting fact that I learned this week is that one of my fantasy sports colleagues earned a Razzie nomination for writing Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles.
9:49: Nice 1-2 punch of star power with Mirren and Hanks. But this early? And giving out adapted screenplay?
9:50: You're mispronouncing Borat, Helen.
9:52: The Departed gets its first win. Not a big surprise there. But that screenwriter seemed to embodying the spirit of Mitch Hedberg.
9:54: How much longer until that Disney contract runs out, Chris Connelly? And was he really meant to run into the people involved in that last award?
9:56: Commerical break: Why am I not surprised that's what Wes Anderson looks like that? Neat commercial, but it's not the Bruce Campbell Old Spice one, either.
9:59: Wardrobe change for Ellen, complete with a Bjorn. Nice segue into the costume category, given out by the women from the Devil Wears Prada. Did they have to stay in character? I guess so. And live action mannequins. That works for me. Seems better than just seeing sketches. But altogether, it looks like The Price Is Right or Family Feud.
10:03: Marie Antoinette wins. Not a big surprise. To win costume design, you've got to pick something very showy and very old. Which I guess knocked out Showgirls, The Queen and The Devil Wears Prada.
10:05: We have a Tom Cruise sighting, but to give a humanitarian award to NU's own Sherry Lansing. What's amusing is that the first time I knew about her and the fact that she was an alum was in one of those Northwestern TV ads they showed during football and basketball games years ago. Yeah, I actually paid attention to at least one of those collegiate propaganda spots.
10:10: More awkward spots between Ellen and the nominees. And forget about Mrs. Eastwood, let's give the camera to Spielberg, he knows how to use one of those.
10:12: Gwyneth's dress almost as pale as she is. And another win for Pan's Labyrinth? Is it this year's Memoirs of a Geisha? Lots of the pretty awards, but nothing for the ones people actually pay attention to.
10:16: Interpretive dance again? At least it doesn't waste that much time.
10:20: Nicole Kidman draws James Bond, while BFF Naomi Watts draws Robert Downey Jr. Gee, I wonder who wins there.
10:21: Wait a minute, this is a category where I've seen the majority of the nominees. OK, so it's two of three, and it's for visual effects, so it's the summer blockbusters, but whatever. Well, the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel does get an Oscar, no matter how bad it might've been.
10:24: Foreigners giving out the best foreign language film. What a concept. But first, a montage, minus subtitles, of course.
10:29: Oh wait. So Deneuve and Watanabe only introduced a montage? I guess they needed more star power with Clive Owen and Cate Blanchette, who are better suited to pronounce the nominees.
10:31: That's an upset with the German film winning over Pan's Labyrinth, which had won a bunch of the pretty awards already. Wait, the producer is thanking Arnold Schwarzenegger in his speech. Yikes.
10:33: OK, they had interpretive dance to Snakes on a Plane. God help us all.
10:33: Cue George Clooney. Cue Al Gore? Whatever.
10:35: No upset here. Jennifer Hudson does win Best Supporting Actress. By the way, don't blame Simon Cowell for her not winning AI. Blame the people voting.
10:42: Uber-hipness reigns for Documentary Short Subject presenters.
10:44: Jerry Seinfeld at the Oscars? To award Best Documentary Feature? OK, so he was part of a documentary feature that I did see, and wasn't all that bad.
10:45: Gee, I'm waiting for that jazzy music to play behind his monologue. Seriously, is he the guy who should be presenting this award?
10:48: Should anyone be surprised that Al Gore's film won? So the Clintons have a Grammy, but Gore's got an Oscar. I guess he's got two words for Bill and Hillary?
10:50: Clint's bobbling his way through Ennio Morricone's honorary Oscar: "I should've worn my glasses." But I guess he's more than just The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
10:55: Celine Dion shows up to sing the equivalent of a song from the new album. Morricone looks absolutely thrilled to be there, but he did get a standing ovation, which is nice. ... Hey, Quincy Jones is in his box.
11:00: So Clint goes from stumbling on his lines to Italian translator. He really is multi-talented.
11:04: Commericial break: Well, that GM robot ad did get retooled after the Super Bowl. It's a better message than the suicide one, I guess. And I do like having "All By Myself" as the song playing behind it, even if I'll have to hear it a few more times on this season of Idol.
11:06: I guess it makes sense to do best score after honoring Morricone, but after a commercial. Babel gets a win, although honestly I have no idea how to pick the winners for Best Score anymore.
11:09: Everyone still has fun with Jack Nicholson even if he's not nominated. And that bald look ain't all that bad.
11:10: The leader of the AMPAS talks about the Academy really fast. Where's John Moschitta when
11:11: Spider-Man and Mary Jane present together. I thought they used to be attractive. By the way, the reading of the actual screenplay is a tad weird but I guess useful.
11:14: Little Miss Sunshine wins Best Original Screenplay. Is this the consolation prize for the hip, pseudo-indy film of the year that doesn't win the big prize (see The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Sideways, Lost In Translation) or is the sign of things to come?
11:20: Somewhat fitting for J-Lo to introduce the Dreamgirls songs. Oddly, though, she seemed a bit matronly in her getup, at least compared to others like her.
11:28: John Travolta and Queen Latifah. OK then. But I guess it works for both of them to give out Best Original Song.
11:29: I guess the Dreamgirls songs canceled each other out, which is a shame but not surprising. This category has produced some odd choices in recent years, and in this case, the Academy opted to honor Al Gore again via Melissa Ethridge. At least Randy Newman already has an Oscar, so he can't feel too bad about losing again. Note for those filling out Oscar pools next year -- choose the most anachronistic Oscar-winning song. (see Three 6 Mafia, Eminem)
11:35: We're already over the time limit and now the Fresh Prince is introducing another film montage. By the way, where's the obit reel where we can gauge the popularity of the dead people? My guess of the telecast running 23 minutes over is going to be off by a good amount.
11:40: Here comes editing, so we're just about home free of the "other" awards. But it's looking better for The Departed with another award. Plus, a random cutaway to bald Jack, who I guess will be presenting an award shortly.
11:44: Ah, here's the obit reel, introduced by Jody Foster.
11:48: Pretty even keel on the applause, especially with a lot of notable names passing. Nice to see them finish with Robert Altman.
11:51: Another monochromatic costume change for Ellen. First reddish, then white, then blue. I guess she eventually need to look more like Dori.
11:54: Count another chalk pick with Helen Mirren winning for The Queen. Solid field this year, although it seemed like this year's nominee list was built off a template.
12:00: It's midnight Eastern, so Ellen's gotta vacuum. Cute effect.
12:01: Now that she's separated, Reese Witherspoon lets her hair grow out. Works for me.
12:04: No sentimental/sympathy vote for Peter O'Toole here. Forest Whitaker gets a deserving award. Two of the past three Best Actor winners are now African-American, after not having one for years.
12:06: Ya think Marty's going to win the Oscar if they're bringing out Coppola, Spielberg and Lucas to present Best Director?
12:08: Yup. About time. Although I really did like The Departed.
12:12: Nice pairing of Keaton and Nicholson to give out Best Picture, although Jack's voice is already gone. Probably for the best.
12:14: Jack can stick around after all to relish in The Departed winning the top prize. That was my choice, granted I only saw two of the nominees.
12:17: And that's a wrap. Ellen was a quirky but decent host, pretty much like she's done elsewhere. I'd probably try someone else next year since I don't think she's a long-term answer. By the way, we never did see the accountants like we usually do.
8:30: Cute testimonials by all the nominees in the intro. And I mean all the nominees. But mixing all the folks in the smaller categories with the bigger names almost screamed for some identifiers. At the same time, I think I was waiting for the guys from the Mac commercial to show up.
8:35: Now that's a nice payoff. Please stand if you've been nominated. Jack Nicholson, please sit down.
8:36: Ellen ready to deal some blackjack, I take it.
8:37: Most international Oscars ever. Neat. So what about that globalization? At least you can't outsource seat fillers, right?
8:39: Nice projection of your own nerves on the nominees, Ellen.
8:42: American Idol joke segues into Al Gore election joke. Of course it goes over well with this crowd.
8:43: Steve Carell: "Why the hell was I part of that joke?"
8:43: "If there were no Blacks, Jews or gays, there would be no Oscars." And James Dobson weeps.
8:44: Interesting to see who gets it by dancing with the choir that randomly appears.
8:45: Nicole Kidman seems to want to stay away from James Bond. And I always thought one of the supporting acting categories was first, so we don't switch the channel away after the monologue. Oh well, eye candy will keep people watching art direction.
8:46: Pan's Labyrinth opens up the ceremony with a win. Never saw it. Probably won't.
8:48: So Maggie Gyllenhaal drew the "hot young actress" card to host the technical awards. Not necessarily my choice, as much as I find her attractive. But I guess they needed to find a way to get her into the mix if she wasn't going to be nominated.
8:50: I guess Don LaFontaine sounds different saying his name instead of prefacing something with "In a world ..."
8:53: Ricky Bobby mentioned at the Oscars? Ah, I see. Comedians aren't allowed to do well at the Oscars. And Will Ferrell (nice 'fro, dude) and Jack Black are sort of proving why. And then there's John C. Reilly proving you can be funny and do serious stuff. However, when he did Talladega Nights, most people were surprised he'd "stoop that low" to do it. On the other hand, there was a bit of a subversive element in saying that the only way a comic actor will get nominated is to do some overly earnest film.
8:57: And so all of that silly leadup to give out makeup awards?
8:58: Pan's Labyrinth wins again. OK, the other options were a Mel Gibson movie and an Adam Sandler movie. What do you think will win? But the one guy is pissed to be cut off.
8:59: And now for the kids portion of the show. Cute. Of course, they're giving out the animation awards.
9:01: And oops. Will Smith's kid is already reading ahead on the teleprompter. I dare say he won't be the first to screw that up. Still not as good as the guy at the Grammys who was reading the prompts as well as the text giving out an award. Or, for that matter, Felicity Huffman screwing up Shareeka Epps name twice when giving her the award at the Independent Spirit Awards, calling her Shakeera. And thus prompting Sarah Silverman to say that next year the awards would be hosted by Fecility Huffman.
9:03: Ah, they're giving out both shorts categories. Because they're kids, and they're short. How clever.
9:04: Little Miss Sunshine has to bail out the Little Fresh Prince. But dude, West Bank Story. That's just too cool of a title, and apparently a concept for a short.
9:11: Sound effects choir? Is there going to be an award people actually care about before 10 p.m.? By the way, can't we just get Mr. Foley to show up? Or Fred Newman (who somehow has a new version of Mouthsounds in bookstores)? Meanwhile, Michael Winslow is weeping at home.
9:17: Jessica Biel and the other guy in the Idi Amin movie present an award. OK, then.
9:21: Hey, finally a "major award" (leg lamp not included). It is kinda weird seeing Kelly Leak after all those years, never mind up for an Oscar. And I guess it's about time for Marky Mark to get a nod, too.
9:23: Wow. Alan Arkin scores the upset over Eddie Murphy and Marky Mark. I didn't see that coming, even though I liked him and the movie. Did Norbit screw him over? I doubt it. But at least Will Ferrell's rant about not winning
9:26: Oy. More interpretive dance.
9:30: Time for I Love the '70s with Randy Newman and James Taylor. And I guess it's a best song block with Melissa Ethridge next. So I guess Dreamgirls has the big number later.
9:36: So Al Gore and Leonard DiCaprio are saying how green the Oscars are. But what about the actual moviemaking process? By the way, I think losing an election could be the best thing to reach some sort of pop culture hipness. First it was Bob Dole. And now it's Gore.
9:42: I'm still not sure how I feel about Cameron Diaz as a brunette, but she is a decent fit to give out the animated feature award. I guess the Oscars still love penguins, and the disappointed animated characters are a nice touch.
9:45: Yes, Ben Affleck has an Oscar. For screenwriting. We sometimes forget about that, as much as I loved Good Will Hunting.
9:48: The writing montage is amusing, but an even more interesting fact that I learned this week is that one of my fantasy sports colleagues earned a Razzie nomination for writing Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles.
9:49: Nice 1-2 punch of star power with Mirren and Hanks. But this early? And giving out adapted screenplay?
9:50: You're mispronouncing Borat, Helen.
9:52: The Departed gets its first win. Not a big surprise there. But that screenwriter seemed to embodying the spirit of Mitch Hedberg.
9:54: How much longer until that Disney contract runs out, Chris Connelly? And was he really meant to run into the people involved in that last award?
9:56: Commerical break: Why am I not surprised that's what Wes Anderson looks like that? Neat commercial, but it's not the Bruce Campbell Old Spice one, either.
9:59: Wardrobe change for Ellen, complete with a Bjorn. Nice segue into the costume category, given out by the women from the Devil Wears Prada. Did they have to stay in character? I guess so. And live action mannequins. That works for me. Seems better than just seeing sketches. But altogether, it looks like The Price Is Right or Family Feud.
10:03: Marie Antoinette wins. Not a big surprise. To win costume design, you've got to pick something very showy and very old. Which I guess knocked out Showgirls, The Queen and The Devil Wears Prada.
10:05: We have a Tom Cruise sighting, but to give a humanitarian award to NU's own Sherry Lansing. What's amusing is that the first time I knew about her and the fact that she was an alum was in one of those Northwestern TV ads they showed during football and basketball games years ago. Yeah, I actually paid attention to at least one of those collegiate propaganda spots.
10:10: More awkward spots between Ellen and the nominees. And forget about Mrs. Eastwood, let's give the camera to Spielberg, he knows how to use one of those.
10:12: Gwyneth's dress almost as pale as she is. And another win for Pan's Labyrinth? Is it this year's Memoirs of a Geisha? Lots of the pretty awards, but nothing for the ones people actually pay attention to.
10:16: Interpretive dance again? At least it doesn't waste that much time.
10:20: Nicole Kidman draws James Bond, while BFF Naomi Watts draws Robert Downey Jr. Gee, I wonder who wins there.
10:21: Wait a minute, this is a category where I've seen the majority of the nominees. OK, so it's two of three, and it's for visual effects, so it's the summer blockbusters, but whatever. Well, the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel does get an Oscar, no matter how bad it might've been.
10:24: Foreigners giving out the best foreign language film. What a concept. But first, a montage, minus subtitles, of course.
10:29: Oh wait. So Deneuve and Watanabe only introduced a montage? I guess they needed more star power with Clive Owen and Cate Blanchette, who are better suited to pronounce the nominees.
10:31: That's an upset with the German film winning over Pan's Labyrinth, which had won a bunch of the pretty awards already. Wait, the producer is thanking Arnold Schwarzenegger in his speech. Yikes.
10:33: OK, they had interpretive dance to Snakes on a Plane. God help us all.
10:33: Cue George Clooney. Cue Al Gore? Whatever.
10:35: No upset here. Jennifer Hudson does win Best Supporting Actress. By the way, don't blame Simon Cowell for her not winning AI. Blame the people voting.
10:42: Uber-hipness reigns for Documentary Short Subject presenters.
10:44: Jerry Seinfeld at the Oscars? To award Best Documentary Feature? OK, so he was part of a documentary feature that I did see, and wasn't all that bad.
10:45: Gee, I'm waiting for that jazzy music to play behind his monologue. Seriously, is he the guy who should be presenting this award?
10:48: Should anyone be surprised that Al Gore's film won? So the Clintons have a Grammy, but Gore's got an Oscar. I guess he's got two words for Bill and Hillary?
10:50: Clint's bobbling his way through Ennio Morricone's honorary Oscar: "I should've worn my glasses." But I guess he's more than just The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
10:55: Celine Dion shows up to sing the equivalent of a song from the new album. Morricone looks absolutely thrilled to be there, but he did get a standing ovation, which is nice. ... Hey, Quincy Jones is in his box.
11:00: So Clint goes from stumbling on his lines to Italian translator. He really is multi-talented.
11:04: Commericial break: Well, that GM robot ad did get retooled after the Super Bowl. It's a better message than the suicide one, I guess. And I do like having "All By Myself" as the song playing behind it, even if I'll have to hear it a few more times on this season of Idol.
11:06: I guess it makes sense to do best score after honoring Morricone, but after a commercial. Babel gets a win, although honestly I have no idea how to pick the winners for Best Score anymore.
11:09: Everyone still has fun with Jack Nicholson even if he's not nominated. And that bald look ain't all that bad.
11:10: The leader of the AMPAS talks about the Academy really fast. Where's John Moschitta when
11:11: Spider-Man and Mary Jane present together. I thought they used to be attractive. By the way, the reading of the actual screenplay is a tad weird but I guess useful.
11:14: Little Miss Sunshine wins Best Original Screenplay. Is this the consolation prize for the hip, pseudo-indy film of the year that doesn't win the big prize (see The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Sideways, Lost In Translation) or is the sign of things to come?
11:20: Somewhat fitting for J-Lo to introduce the Dreamgirls songs. Oddly, though, she seemed a bit matronly in her getup, at least compared to others like her.
11:28: John Travolta and Queen Latifah. OK then. But I guess it works for both of them to give out Best Original Song.
11:29: I guess the Dreamgirls songs canceled each other out, which is a shame but not surprising. This category has produced some odd choices in recent years, and in this case, the Academy opted to honor Al Gore again via Melissa Ethridge. At least Randy Newman already has an Oscar, so he can't feel too bad about losing again. Note for those filling out Oscar pools next year -- choose the most anachronistic Oscar-winning song. (see Three 6 Mafia, Eminem)
11:35: We're already over the time limit and now the Fresh Prince is introducing another film montage. By the way, where's the obit reel where we can gauge the popularity of the dead people? My guess of the telecast running 23 minutes over is going to be off by a good amount.
11:40: Here comes editing, so we're just about home free of the "other" awards. But it's looking better for The Departed with another award. Plus, a random cutaway to bald Jack, who I guess will be presenting an award shortly.
11:44: Ah, here's the obit reel, introduced by Jody Foster.
11:48: Pretty even keel on the applause, especially with a lot of notable names passing. Nice to see them finish with Robert Altman.
11:51: Another monochromatic costume change for Ellen. First reddish, then white, then blue. I guess she eventually need to look more like Dori.
11:54: Count another chalk pick with Helen Mirren winning for The Queen. Solid field this year, although it seemed like this year's nominee list was built off a template.
12:00: It's midnight Eastern, so Ellen's gotta vacuum. Cute effect.
12:01: Now that she's separated, Reese Witherspoon lets her hair grow out. Works for me.
12:04: No sentimental/sympathy vote for Peter O'Toole here. Forest Whitaker gets a deserving award. Two of the past three Best Actor winners are now African-American, after not having one for years.
12:06: Ya think Marty's going to win the Oscar if they're bringing out Coppola, Spielberg and Lucas to present Best Director?
12:08: Yup. About time. Although I really did like The Departed.
12:12: Nice pairing of Keaton and Nicholson to give out Best Picture, although Jack's voice is already gone. Probably for the best.
12:14: Jack can stick around after all to relish in The Departed winning the top prize. That was my choice, granted I only saw two of the nominees.
12:17: And that's a wrap. Ellen was a quirky but decent host, pretty much like she's done elsewhere. I'd probably try someone else next year since I don't think she's a long-term answer. By the way, we never did see the accountants like we usually do.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Assorted musings
-- It's funny what does and doesn't get edited out of The Sopranos on A&E. And some of the complete redubbing of scenes is downright hilarious -- close to being like the old kung fu films.
-- I actually got to see Bill Simmons' appearance on Mike and the Mad Dog and I was actually looking forward to his writeup of it. The one thing interesting about Simmons is that he was just wandering around trying to get radio gigs during Super Bowl week, whereas almost all the football people (save Gil Brandt, apparently) had everything set up by publicists to shill some product, service or event. Usually while watching/listening to Mike and the Mad Dog, those guys get decent guests because they can, so it was weird having to hear some famous player pitching a Web site or odd product at the end of the interview.
-- So apparently I was one of about five people who actually watched the NHL All-Star Game as opposed to Andy Griffith, Ace of Cakes or Mythbusters. (I still flipped back and forth to Idol.) And the only reason I got to see it is because the INHD channel picked it up since I don't get Versus. Great job, guys. Not a bad game, and the ongoing discussion between the booth and Marty Turco (who was playing goal) in the third period was a stroke of genius.
-- Speaking of things happening on channels I don't get on my cable, it took me an extra day or two to realize they'd just crowned a new Miss America. There was little buzz about it to begin with, and now she's doing the talk show rounds. Who knew?
-- If you want to see the generation gap when it comes to the sports world, just check out the Barbaro saga. Horse racing doesn't have the same relevance to today's sports fan, so the reverence by some for a horse, even a Kentucky Derby winner, seemed a bit much. We felt that way at the office, and obviously so did many others since I think we might've pushed the limits of our snarkiness with this whole drawn-out affair.
-- Finally, here's my contribution to the overly exhaustive Super Bowl coverage at work. And it has nothing to do with fantasy football. How about that?
-- I actually got to see Bill Simmons' appearance on Mike and the Mad Dog and I was actually looking forward to his writeup of it. The one thing interesting about Simmons is that he was just wandering around trying to get radio gigs during Super Bowl week, whereas almost all the football people (save Gil Brandt, apparently) had everything set up by publicists to shill some product, service or event. Usually while watching/listening to Mike and the Mad Dog, those guys get decent guests because they can, so it was weird having to hear some famous player pitching a Web site or odd product at the end of the interview.
-- So apparently I was one of about five people who actually watched the NHL All-Star Game as opposed to Andy Griffith, Ace of Cakes or Mythbusters. (I still flipped back and forth to Idol.) And the only reason I got to see it is because the INHD channel picked it up since I don't get Versus. Great job, guys. Not a bad game, and the ongoing discussion between the booth and Marty Turco (who was playing goal) in the third period was a stroke of genius.
-- Speaking of things happening on channels I don't get on my cable, it took me an extra day or two to realize they'd just crowned a new Miss America. There was little buzz about it to begin with, and now she's doing the talk show rounds. Who knew?
-- If you want to see the generation gap when it comes to the sports world, just check out the Barbaro saga. Horse racing doesn't have the same relevance to today's sports fan, so the reverence by some for a horse, even a Kentucky Derby winner, seemed a bit much. We felt that way at the office, and obviously so did many others since I think we might've pushed the limits of our snarkiness with this whole drawn-out affair.
-- Finally, here's my contribution to the overly exhaustive Super Bowl coverage at work. And it has nothing to do with fantasy football. How about that?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Adventures in cardboard
I dug up a poster checklist of the 1990 Bowman set the other day, and while I saw a ton of spring training head shots, the notable part of the set were special portraits of the stars of the day (a sort of takeoff of the Donruss Diamond Kings). And I stress, of the day. Take a look at the 11 special card subjects (highlighted nicely on the Topps Magazine checklist) and what happened to their careers:
-- Bo Jackson: The hip injury would come a couple of years later, or else he might've been a legendary superstar. Of course, you could've believed that about everyone else with the portrait card, but well, you'll see.
-- Mark Davis: He was coming off his 44-save, Cy Young Award campaign with the Padres the season before when he got the portrait treatment. He also got a then-shocking, four-year, $14 million deal with the Royals and then his career went south. He did get one Hall of Fame vote in 2003.
-- Doc Gooden: He was limited to just 19 games in 1989, after winning at least 15 in his first five seasons. But in 1990, he did go 19-7 in what would be his final great season (although he did throw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1996). After such an amazing start to his career, he would end up getting just 17 Hall of Fame votes in 2006 and dropped from the ballot.
-- Bret Saberhagen: The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner got his own portrait after going 23-6 for his second award in his career. He got hurt in 1990 (and finished just 5-9), continuing his run of greatness in odd-numbered years and struggles in even-numbered ones. Then he battled injuries throughout the '90s but had a few good seasons here and there with the Mets and Red Sox. He got seven Hall of Fame votes this year -- a surprisingly high number in current hindsight but a shocker when this card came out.
-- Don Mattingly: You could almost say being on this portrait card in 1990 was the downfall of his career. Still at his peak in 1989 (.303-23-113), he played just 102 games in 1990. And he never had more than 86 RBIs after that. He may be like Steve Garvey and Tommy John in that he'll stay on the ballot for the 15 years but never getting in.
-- Jerome Walton: A pretty lackluster selection as 1989 NL Rookie of the Year, Walton barely hung around as a spare outfielder throughout the '90s.
-- Nolan Ryan: Finally, our first Hall of Famer in the bunch. He sealed his Cooperstown credentials in his final years with the Rangers. In 1989, he earned his 5,000th strikeout. In 1990, he won 300th game and earned his sixth no-hitter. The seventh no-hitter came a year later.
-- Will Clark: He was the NL MVP runner-up in 1989 and won NLCS MVP honors as well. He had a bunch of solid seasons after that, but in the end he finished with 23 Hall of Fame votes in 2006, just barely missing the cut to return for another year.
-- Gregg Olson: The AL Rookie of the Year in 1989 after saving 27 games, he had three straight 30-save seasons for the Orioles after that. He finished his career with 217 saves but was not part of this year's All-Star ballot despite playing parts of 14 seasons.
-- Kevin Mitchell: He ran away with the 1989 NL MVP award after hitting 47 homers and 125 RBIs. He did have 35 homers and 93 RBIs in 1990, but never played more than 113 games in a season after that because of an array of injuries, weight problems, etc. He did get two Hall of Fame votes in 2004.
-- Robin Yount: Our second Hall of Famer in the mix and second member of the Class of 1999, along with Ryan. He was coming off his second AL MVP award when he got the portrait treatment. He eventually got to 3,000 hits, making his election a no-brainer.
So in the end, we got two future Hall of Famers in the set, one perennial HOF also-ran, five one-and-done HOF candidates, both 1989 Rookies of the Year who eventually fizzled out and the curious case of Bo Jackson. Not necessarily the greatest of percentages for the arty inserts.
-- Bo Jackson: The hip injury would come a couple of years later, or else he might've been a legendary superstar. Of course, you could've believed that about everyone else with the portrait card, but well, you'll see.
-- Mark Davis: He was coming off his 44-save, Cy Young Award campaign with the Padres the season before when he got the portrait treatment. He also got a then-shocking, four-year, $14 million deal with the Royals and then his career went south. He did get one Hall of Fame vote in 2003.
-- Doc Gooden: He was limited to just 19 games in 1989, after winning at least 15 in his first five seasons. But in 1990, he did go 19-7 in what would be his final great season (although he did throw a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1996). After such an amazing start to his career, he would end up getting just 17 Hall of Fame votes in 2006 and dropped from the ballot.
-- Bret Saberhagen: The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner got his own portrait after going 23-6 for his second award in his career. He got hurt in 1990 (and finished just 5-9), continuing his run of greatness in odd-numbered years and struggles in even-numbered ones. Then he battled injuries throughout the '90s but had a few good seasons here and there with the Mets and Red Sox. He got seven Hall of Fame votes this year -- a surprisingly high number in current hindsight but a shocker when this card came out.
-- Don Mattingly: You could almost say being on this portrait card in 1990 was the downfall of his career. Still at his peak in 1989 (.303-23-113), he played just 102 games in 1990. And he never had more than 86 RBIs after that. He may be like Steve Garvey and Tommy John in that he'll stay on the ballot for the 15 years but never getting in.
-- Jerome Walton: A pretty lackluster selection as 1989 NL Rookie of the Year, Walton barely hung around as a spare outfielder throughout the '90s.
-- Nolan Ryan: Finally, our first Hall of Famer in the bunch. He sealed his Cooperstown credentials in his final years with the Rangers. In 1989, he earned his 5,000th strikeout. In 1990, he won 300th game and earned his sixth no-hitter. The seventh no-hitter came a year later.
-- Will Clark: He was the NL MVP runner-up in 1989 and won NLCS MVP honors as well. He had a bunch of solid seasons after that, but in the end he finished with 23 Hall of Fame votes in 2006, just barely missing the cut to return for another year.
-- Gregg Olson: The AL Rookie of the Year in 1989 after saving 27 games, he had three straight 30-save seasons for the Orioles after that. He finished his career with 217 saves but was not part of this year's All-Star ballot despite playing parts of 14 seasons.
-- Kevin Mitchell: He ran away with the 1989 NL MVP award after hitting 47 homers and 125 RBIs. He did have 35 homers and 93 RBIs in 1990, but never played more than 113 games in a season after that because of an array of injuries, weight problems, etc. He did get two Hall of Fame votes in 2004.
-- Robin Yount: Our second Hall of Famer in the mix and second member of the Class of 1999, along with Ryan. He was coming off his second AL MVP award when he got the portrait treatment. He eventually got to 3,000 hits, making his election a no-brainer.
So in the end, we got two future Hall of Famers in the set, one perennial HOF also-ran, five one-and-done HOF candidates, both 1989 Rookies of the Year who eventually fizzled out and the curious case of Bo Jackson. Not necessarily the greatest of percentages for the arty inserts.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The championship feeling
It should be a fun Super Bowl, if today's championship games are any indication. As much as I wanted to see the Saints in there, at least we have a different socially conscious storyline that will overdone by Thursday -- the first big game with an African-American head coach, and there's one on each sideline. (That New Orleans one would've been pulverized by Tuesday afternoon.)
Which gets me to a couple of interesting observations I picked up on a couple of the sports talk shows over the weekend. One host wondered if the Falcons violated the Rooney Rule before hiring Bobby Petrino, or at least thought their "minority" candidate interview of the Bears' Ron Rivera seemed fishy. I guess being of Hispanic descent doesn't count as minority in his mind. "Minority" doesn't automatically mean African-American -- no matter how some groups want to paint that term. I mean Norm Chow would definitely fit the "minority" candidate bill, and he did get a few interviews this offseason. (BTW, looks like the Steelers will be fulfilling their end of that rule if the hire of Mike Tomlin actually comes through.)
And on a similar note, another host put the Giants' hiring of Jerry Reese as GM in an interesting light. If you knew nothing about his race, he's a decent hire -- a guy who worked his way through the team's system and became a logical successor. But it's a groundbreaking hire because he's African-American.
Back to some fun stuff. I guess we'll get a whole new slew of Super Bowl ads, which is good in a way since I've already tired of the ones constantly playing this postseason (and that includes missing good chunks of the divisional playoff games last week).
For instance:
-- What's with the guys eating Wendy's and mini-Wendy's in the library, $2.99 deal or not?
-- Nice to see McDonald's rescuing Growing Pains' Jeremy Miller away from another VH-1 or TV Land talking head show. DiCaprio gets in Oscar-nominated films. Miller advertises the Dollar Menu. OK fine.
-- The disclaimer on the Ford Edge ad: "Yes this is a fantasy. Vehicles can't drive on buildings." Rrreallly??
-- How many ads are we going to see of the new sitcom with Puddy, David Spade and Kate Hudson's brother during the Super Bowl?
-- And how many ads will feature Peyton Manning? D-Caf? Senor Manning for the cell phone?
Which gets me to a couple of interesting observations I picked up on a couple of the sports talk shows over the weekend. One host wondered if the Falcons violated the Rooney Rule before hiring Bobby Petrino, or at least thought their "minority" candidate interview of the Bears' Ron Rivera seemed fishy. I guess being of Hispanic descent doesn't count as minority in his mind. "Minority" doesn't automatically mean African-American -- no matter how some groups want to paint that term. I mean Norm Chow would definitely fit the "minority" candidate bill, and he did get a few interviews this offseason. (BTW, looks like the Steelers will be fulfilling their end of that rule if the hire of Mike Tomlin actually comes through.)
And on a similar note, another host put the Giants' hiring of Jerry Reese as GM in an interesting light. If you knew nothing about his race, he's a decent hire -- a guy who worked his way through the team's system and became a logical successor. But it's a groundbreaking hire because he's African-American.
Back to some fun stuff. I guess we'll get a whole new slew of Super Bowl ads, which is good in a way since I've already tired of the ones constantly playing this postseason (and that includes missing good chunks of the divisional playoff games last week).
For instance:
-- What's with the guys eating Wendy's and mini-Wendy's in the library, $2.99 deal or not?
-- Nice to see McDonald's rescuing Growing Pains' Jeremy Miller away from another VH-1 or TV Land talking head show. DiCaprio gets in Oscar-nominated films. Miller advertises the Dollar Menu. OK fine.
-- The disclaimer on the Ford Edge ad: "Yes this is a fantasy. Vehicles can't drive on buildings." Rrreallly??
-- How many ads are we going to see of the new sitcom with Puddy, David Spade and Kate Hudson's brother during the Super Bowl?
-- And how many ads will feature Peyton Manning? D-Caf? Senor Manning for the cell phone?
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
No one's worthy
I used to enjoy picking apart the Baseball Hall of Fame ballots -- how will guys on the cusp like Goose Gossage, Jim Rice and Bert Blyleven fare; and how many votes marginal players on the ballot such as Bobby Witt, Scott Brosius and Tony Fernandez will get.
But the fallout from this year's election had me grateful that I'm on vacation this week and thus more interested in watching the numerous commentaries from my Freaks and Geeks DVD box set than listening to the usual sports radio blather.
The Mark McGwire situation is obviously a touchy one, and while I think he deserves election, I can understand the moral outrage that's behind many people's votes. At least he got enough to remain on the ballot for another year -- as opposed to Surreal Lifer Jose Canseco (remember when there was a fear that he might be elected despite being a vagabond DH the last few years of his career?).
But the bit that gets me is arguing that the stats don't support McGwire's candidacy. If you want to be suspicious of the "before" and "after" stats, go ahead. But at the time of his retirement, weren't we ready to believe he might be a unanimous choice (which will never happen -- see Cooch's column for more on that), given his home run numbers? So he's a one-dimensional home run hitter, are we also going to eliminate Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers and eventually Mariano Rivera for being one-dimensional as well?
At the same time all the hand wringing over McGwire's much debated credentials, it was even odder to hear on Mike and the Mad Dog, "If it weren't for the Streak, Cal Ripken isn't in the Hall of Fame." It is a debatable point, but it's a big part of his resume. In fact that statement starts to sound like Lewis Black's "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college."
Which got me thinking that baseball, more than I think any other sport, tries to make excuses for why someone isn't good. I'm as guilty of it as anyone else, but whether it's fantasy prospects or Hall of Fame choices, we have to come up with as long a list of cons as we do pros. At some point, analysis has given way to being a devil's advocate.
And yet that might be the way we have to approach things to motivate today's athletes, if those postgame comments from Florida after the Corn Chip Championship Contest. "We get no respect." "No one gave us a chance." Blah blah blah. Maybe we should just predict everybody to lose every game. It jives well with the "X sportswriter has a bias against your favorite team" as well the perfectly generic "your team sucks."
But the fallout from this year's election had me grateful that I'm on vacation this week and thus more interested in watching the numerous commentaries from my Freaks and Geeks DVD box set than listening to the usual sports radio blather.
The Mark McGwire situation is obviously a touchy one, and while I think he deserves election, I can understand the moral outrage that's behind many people's votes. At least he got enough to remain on the ballot for another year -- as opposed to Surreal Lifer Jose Canseco (remember when there was a fear that he might be elected despite being a vagabond DH the last few years of his career?).
But the bit that gets me is arguing that the stats don't support McGwire's candidacy. If you want to be suspicious of the "before" and "after" stats, go ahead. But at the time of his retirement, weren't we ready to believe he might be a unanimous choice (which will never happen -- see Cooch's column for more on that), given his home run numbers? So he's a one-dimensional home run hitter, are we also going to eliminate Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers and eventually Mariano Rivera for being one-dimensional as well?
At the same time all the hand wringing over McGwire's much debated credentials, it was even odder to hear on Mike and the Mad Dog, "If it weren't for the Streak, Cal Ripken isn't in the Hall of Fame." It is a debatable point, but it's a big part of his resume. In fact that statement starts to sound like Lewis Black's "If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college."
Which got me thinking that baseball, more than I think any other sport, tries to make excuses for why someone isn't good. I'm as guilty of it as anyone else, but whether it's fantasy prospects or Hall of Fame choices, we have to come up with as long a list of cons as we do pros. At some point, analysis has given way to being a devil's advocate.
And yet that might be the way we have to approach things to motivate today's athletes, if those postgame comments from Florida after the Corn Chip Championship Contest. "We get no respect." "No one gave us a chance." Blah blah blah. Maybe we should just predict everybody to lose every game. It jives well with the "X sportswriter has a bias against your favorite team" as well the perfectly generic "your team sucks."
Happy trails
After nearly five years at this spot, and more than 10 years at this mindspring address, I'm moving this blog over to BlogSpot to take advantage of the new Blogger features. So update your bookmarks shortly to howawkward.blogspot.com.
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