Opinions On Eveything

Can Boxing Be Saved?

2007-07-16T16:58:00.000-04:00

This topic has been in the back of my mind for a while now and I really don't know if boxing can actually be saved from simply disappearing into the ether of time and space. The industry is run by a bunch of corrupt, old geezers who think they can still run the industry as their personal playpen of the damned. The reality of the matter tho is that boxing's popularity has eroded to the point that UFC and other MMA organizations are getting the publicity and ratings that boxing used to garner. Bert Sugar might as well start writing the obituary for the sweet science while he's still got life left in him.

HOWEVER..........

Boxing can be saved if the sport and the mechanics of the industry are changed for the better. It's probably too optimistic to think that can happen but it's not like boxing doesn't have any appeal. It's still a brutal sport and it does still have that poetic imagery when two very good fighters are going at it. It's just that it's so poorly run as an industry and has such a history of devouring it's biggest stars that the mainstream media is hesitant to latch on to it.

So how can the sport be fixed? Well in my mind there isn't one simple solution but rather 5 different steps that should be made and hopefully the public notices.

1. PRESENTATION: Boxing is very resistant to change but this is one area where change HAS to be made. You want to know why UFC and other MMA organizations are kicking boxing's ass all over town then just watch how they present their product. Boxing is stuck in the 1970s. There's little to no music, You have the old standard bikini clad woman carrying around a placard stating what round it is and there's WAY too much dead air between fights. Now if you look at UFC etc etc you have music, pyrotechnics, The participants come into the octagon with flashy outfits etc etc. There's no way one can be bored when they're at an event like that. Whereas in boxing there's just nothing there there. If you get what i'm saying.

Boxing needs to step into the 21st century. The sport doesn't need to go overboard but it would be nice to see the boxers profiled in an exciting manner. I mean, half the time I don't even know a thing about the guys in the ring much less care about them. There needs to be some excitement in the venue. I don't care if it's manufactured by having loud music between rounds but SOMETHING needs to be done. Heck, they don't even have to go too overboard with pyrotechnics. They can just emulate what WCW did with Nitro with the medium sized fireworks display in the building and that'd be good enough for me.

2. STREAMLINE THE BOXING STRUCTURE: This is one of the more obvious changes that need to be made. Boxing as it's currently constituted is more confusing then the LA Freeway System. There's nothing unique about winning a belt at all if there's 20 other organizations out there that are sanctioned and giving belts out. They need to just limit it to the WBF, WBC, and IBF as the recognized boxing sanctions of the world. If the unintended consequence is shutting the door on a lot of boxers currently out there then that would be one of those "happy accidents". If things are simplified to that extent then it would make following the sport 10x easier IMO. However by limiting it to those three bodies the odds of corruption immediately go up which leads to my 3rd point.

3. GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT OF SOME KIND: Yes I know some people don't like that idea but I truly think that if there was some kind of governmental boxing commission that it would stem the tide of corruption at least a little bit. Let's face it, the system that we have today with the various boxing commissions can be paid off or be affected by cronyism. What needs to be done is to have one single body that oversees boxing promoters, trainers and even some fighters as well. Promoters and trainers would need to be certified especially trainers as most of them today have no clue really on how to train their boxers. They just try to find a kid and hope that he has enough guts and strength to make it up the ladder. As for promoters, well we've seen numerous instances where promoters and their fighters will duck legit contenders and go after small fry. If there's a legit boxing commission in place it would have the power to rank boxers and push for legit title defenses and fights. Of course the venue and pay day will be determined by the promoters but the fights that should happen WOULD happen.

4. TAKE THE SPOTLIGHT OFF THE HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION: It's already happening today so that's a good thing but there's still a large segment of the boxing community that are sitting back and praying for the next big thing to hit the heavyweight division. In my estimation it's time to stop wishing upon a star and build up the guys in the lower classes. We've seen that in the '90s but it seems that boxing as a whole doesn't know how to promote its stars. This goes back to the whole point about the sport being too confusing. There's so many different organizations governing the sport that it's hard to focus on a few guys and say "here's the future of our sport". Instead you have a lot of nobodies boxing for titles that mean squat and boxing is clinging on to the faded glories of guys like Oscar De La Hoya who don't have much left. It's time that boxing focus more on the younger guys and actually, you know, MARKET THEM! At least boxing has a very strong and fanatical base with the hispanic population. Maybe more fights should take place in those areas?

5. GO TO SMALLER VENUES/TRY TO GET MAINSTREAM COVERAGE: This is sort of 2 in 1 but it goes hand in hand. Boxing used to be hugely popular in the 70's and '80's for many reasons but one big reason is that it had mainstream coverage on the big 3 networks. Every Saturday afternoon or evening you would find a boxing card on NBC, CBS, or ABC. Ever since boxing got too "big" for those networks things have been going downhill. I truly think that boxing needs to try to get back to those days. Of course, it will never be as popular as it used to be but imagine if one of the boxing institutions inked a deal with oh, say FOX and try to put out a card fairly regularly on Fridays or Saturdays. I think it would do a lot of good for the sport to get some easy access like that. Now doing something like that would also require going to smaller venues. I think it'd be a great thing if boxing were to be held at smaller casinos that could hold 12-15k people, make it affordable for the regular paying customer and give the sport some of that cosy atmosphere that looks quaint but at the same time makes the action in the ring seem like it has some impact with those in attendance. Another idea would be to go to untapped markets or areas where big time boxing hasn't been done in years. I know that goes a bit against my smaller venue idea I truly think boxing needs to internationalize itself again. Have fights in South America, Africa, Eastern Europe etc etc. Let's bring some life and creativity into the sport that for better or for worse Don King did in the '70s with Ali.

These are just some ideas. I don't know if they'd all work or even be feasible but it's a shame to see an exciting sport like boxing go down the crapper like this. Those in power in the boxing industry are being like ostriches and sticking their heads in the sand while UFC is taking away the youth market which boxing so dearly needs if it wants to be a legit sport in 30 years. The way things are going boxing may very well disappear into a tiny niche sport participated in bars and smelly old gyms once again. This is a critical juncture for the sport and those involved NEED to fight to keep it relevant.

Things I find online #1 "Trouble Man" from film to LP

2007-07-10T16:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a video of the opening credits to the blaxploitation film TROUBLE MAN. Now you may think what's so great about this? Well as you may or may not know Marvin Gaye did the soundtrack for said movie. I had heard that the actual film score is vastly different from the studio album because Marvin didn't like how it came out. I always sorta discounted that story but lo and behold the opening credits with the title song "Trouble Man" seems to confirm it.

Trouble Man #1972
Uploaded by TroubleMan00

Here's the studio cut of the song

Trouble Man
Uploaded by TroubleMan00

As you can plainly see the original take had a rougher quality. I particularly like that you hear Marvin scatsinging to himself in the movie version. The studio cut however, is far jazzier and has more gravitas to it. Marvin's singing is also slightly better especially with the proto rapping he does.

All in all there's aspects to both versions of the song that I love. I love the moody jazz of the studio cut but I also really dig the rougher and at times catchier version in the movie. However for commercial success Marvin was right to redo the song.

Still it's pretty interesting stuff.

Death of a President: My thoughts

2007-05-28T22:28:00.000-04:00

Today I just watched the highly controversial Death of a President. This is the mock documentary that caused a lot of people to go crazy because it dealt with what would happen if George W. Bush was assasinated. First let me say that all that controversy was way overblown. In fact, this movie was very understated in its approach and how they dealt with the subject matter.

I won't say too much about the actual film because then it'd ruin the last 15 minutes or so but I will say that the concepts and idea that were brought forth were very credible (if a bit exaggerated) and it really did have the feel of a serious documentary. The idea that the FBI and other agencies would immediately look for islamic names and more or less trying to fit terrorism into the assasination is VERY plausible.

That whole scenario is quite scary and plausible. I mean, the whole idea of targetting one group of people and not doing a real investigation but rather finding someone you can pin down and then trying to make the evidence fit the suspect is something that goes on in police states and not in a democratic nation like America.

Anyways I urge people who are interested in "what ifs" and actually thinking about these kind of things to watch this movie. It isn't some crazy Left Wing propaganda piece and it certainly isn't a case of foreigners damning the United States. (the film was made by British film makers)

Give it a chance and watch it with an open mind. I think you'll come away from it with a lot to think about.

Obama Nation?

2007-05-25T10:39:00.000-04:00

It's been a while and well, i'm just going to accept the fact that i'm never going to be very regular with this but I will try to post something more often then I am these days.

Anyways, I was perusing the net as i'm want to do and I came across a very good blog entry from conservative collumnist Andrew Sullivan who happened to attend a Barack Obama function the other day. In the blog entry Mr. Sullivan more or less expresses his amazement and consternation about what Barack Obama represents not only in the '08 election but for the whole Liberal vs. Conservative battle these days. it's a very good entry and I will quote a couple parts of it.

This guy is a liberal. Make no mistake about that. He may, in fact, be the most effective liberal advocate I've heard in my lifetime. As a conservative, I think he could be absolutely lethal to what's left of the tradition of individualism, self-reliance, and small government that I find myself quixotically attached to. And as a simple observer, I really don't see what's stopping him from becoming the next president. The overwhelming first impression that you get - from the exhausted but vibrant stump speech, the diverse nature of the crowd, the swell of the various applause lines - is that this is the candidate for real change. He has what Reagan had in 1980 and Clinton had in 1992: the wind at his back. Sometimes, elections really do come down to a simple choice: change or more of the same?

I have to agree with Sullivan up to a point here. I mostly agree with his opinion that Obama is an agent for change and yes, he's the most effective left wing American politician i've seen in my life. There's just something special about the way Obama has captured a large segment of America with his seemingly geniune nature and personality. Obama wraps his message around the core values of the Democratic party that has been lost over the years. He harkens back to a more positive and hopeful message that the Democrats have abandoned post Bill Clinton.

From the content and structure of Obama's pitch to the base, it's also clear to me that whatever illusions I had about his small-c conservatism, he's a big government liberal with - for a liberal - the most attractive persona and best-developed arguments since JFK.
I fear he could do to conservatism what Reagan did to liberalism. And just as liberals deserved a shellacking in 1980, so do "conservatives" today. In the Bush era, they have shown their own contempt for their own tradition.

Well first of all I have to say that you can't exactly call JFK a liberal in the sense that it's being used today. JFK's foreign policy was quite muscular compared to the policies advocated by his Democratic successors in the White House or those who've run for president. Nonetheless the comparison to JFK is spot on from my viewpoint.

I, like many people first saw and paid attention to Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic Convention (Actually that's a bit of a fib. I did see an interview with Obama that week before he made the speech) and I was blown away by what I saw. Barrack Obama showed himself to be a man with some substance and one that seemed to represent the true values of the Democratic Party. In many ways he completely outshined John Kerry that week. If you remember the speech it was one brimming with hope and one that was a throwback to an era where patriotism and love of country hadn't been hijacked by any one party or ideology. My favourite excerpt of the speech made me believe that if JFK were alive he'd say pretty much the same thing. Here's that excerpt:

Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of "anything goes." Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America.

The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an "awesome God" in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

In the end -- In the end -- In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?

I heard that and just said "wow". In fact, it was the most entrancing and captivating thing i've heard in YEARS. That portion of the speech captured JFK's message of hope with meaning and had the feel of Martin Luther King at Washington DC making his "I have a Dream" speech.

But back to Andrew Sullivan's remark about how Obama may be the Reagan of the Left and will more or less smash conservative agenda in one election cycle. I have to agree with him there. Obama has the wind at his back. He's leading a way for change and a fresh new approach in DC. The similarities are somewhat eerie in that Reagan was a rising superstar who not only captured the grassroots but awakened a potentially strong main base of the party. This is exactly what Obama is on track to do. If you remember the 1st quarter donation report for the candidates you'd remember that Obama raised $25 million dollars and most of it came from the grassroots. It didn't come from the big money donors but rather most of the contributions came from people who gave 15 or 20 bucks a piece. Obama is now VERY close to gaining the mainstream of the party. It's going to take strong performances in debates and continued success in terms of bringing in a diverse support group but I think he can do it.

One last excerpt from Mr. Sullivan's blog shows the kind of message that Obama is trying to bring out there. The simple statement from Obama in this excerpt precisely shows that Obama is a different animal. It shows that he can point out differences while not being divisive

At a couple of points in his speech, he used the phrase: "This is not who we are." I was struck by the power of those words. He was reasserting that America is much more than George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and Gitmo and Abu Ghraib and Katrina and fear and obstinacy and isolation. And so he makes an argument for change in the language of restoration. The temperamental conservatives in America hear a form of patriotism; and the ideological liberals hear a note of radicalism. It's a powerful, unifying theme. He'd be smart to deepen and broaden it.

I firmly believe that the "this is not who we are" line will become a major theme if Obama gets the nomination. As Sullivan notes it's a powerful repudiation of the current state of affairs in American political life at the moment but it's said in a way that is inclusive to everyone and offers up the chance to wipe the slate clean of the muckety muck that has been part and parcel of the Bush administration in the last 6 or so years.

Here's the link to Mr. Sullivan's blog entry so you can get the full context: The Reagan of the Left?

Zodiac

2007-03-09T06:13:00.000-05:00

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the movie Zodiac. It was one of the more gripping and interesting movies i've seen in a long time and well worth the over 2 1/2 hour length. The film tells the story of the investigation of the Zodiac killer who haunted California for a decade. The focus of the story is on San Fran. Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith who immediately took an interest in the case and was obsessed with finding the identity of the Zodiac Killer. Graysmith was excellently portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal who gave an almost Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man quality to the role. I don't know if the real life Graysmith was that awkward in person but the determination that he showed in wanting to crack the case was portrayed in a very straightforward and compelling manner.

The story also touches on the police investigation led by Inspector David Toschi who's played by Mark Ruffalo. I have never seen any of Ruffalo's work but I thought he was excellent as the inspector and the portrayal of Toschi seemingly finding the killer and looking for the one piece of evidence that would prove it was spellbinding. At times the police side of the film reminded me a lot of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Anthony Edwards was along for the ride as Toschi's partner Inspector Armstrong and seeing him I couldn't help but notice that Edwards looked and acted a LOT like Kevin Costner. I wonder if Costner was younger if he would've been up for that role.

There are lots of other familiar faces in the film including Robert Downey Jr. and Philip Baker Hall to name a few. So while this film had a lot of familiar faces it was truly grounded in reality. Director David Fincher was careful in presenting the full facts without flash but still being entertaining and interesting enough for the viewer. I especially loved the authenticity of the film in terms of the cars, homes, clothes of the period. Heck, Fincher was so into the details that the movie started with the old late 60s Paramount Gulf+Western logo! Despite the running time the film was pretty tight and the acting was superb. I recommend this highly to any fans of true crime and well crafted drama.

I'm baaaaack! (A look at the Brave and the Bold #1)

2007-02-23T19:28:00.000-05:00

Yeah I know I haven't posted in a dog's age. I just am not the type of person to go with a regular schedule :)

Anywho, today I would like to talk about THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD v. 3 #1. Yes DC has once again revived the one of the better team up books in its history. The first story arc is being done by Mark Waid and George Perez. I'm not sure if they're going to have an extended run or if the creative teams will change with each issue but nonetheless that's a pretty nice creative team to have for the first issue.

No BRAVE AND THE BOLD team was as prolific as Batman and Green Lantern IMO and it's only fitting that they're the first team up in the new series. As most comic book readers are aware team up books aren't exactly strong on story points but rather focus more on character interactions. I felt that Batman and Green Lantern had pretty strong chemistry together in this issue and while it was more of a mystery story then anything else (which dragged the issue down a peg or two) I did enjoy them working together and their banter with each other.

An example of that banter is in the casino where Bats as Bruce tells GL as Hal that he wish Barry Allen (Flash) were alive to see Hal with money. That was a pretty funny line and elicited a chuckle from me. In fact, the whole issue had a very classic Silver Age feel to it with references to the past. In fact there's a sequence which involves the huge penny in the batcave from one of Batman's earliest cases.

As for the story and art well, art wise I thought it was well done but it got a little confusing for me as it seemed a little bit crammed up. Nonetheless overall the art was wonderful especially in some of the panels with Hal and Bruce. The story was alright but like I said it was a mystery story and the resolution directly leads to the next issue. The McGuffin in this story arc seems very interesting and while it seemed to be mostly setup rather then plot I did like the way the story went.

Overall I give this issue an 8 out of 10. It's a solid relaunch to a classic title.

Picture of the Day

2006-12-15T15:42:00.000-05:00

The Gashouse Gang (1934 St. Louis Cardinals)

Poker, Christmas Music and Classic Movies

2006-12-12T21:06:00.000-05:00

- I've finally found a reason to watch poker and here it is.......

Yeah I know she's getting up there in age but there's something about big breasts that excite me. Hey at least she's more stimulating then watching a bunch of guys trying to out poker-face each other. I still find it boring as hell to watch but whenever Jennifer Tilly is on the screen i'll watch for a while. Now if only there were more buxom poker playing women out there.

- Last night I was listening to some Christmas music. You know, there's just something about the music that makes me hmm sad is too strong a word but it makes me wistful. I always think about family and how we should love one another. I just wish that the world could live in peace and harmony at least for one day.

- Finally, my cable provider has a roughly 2 month free preview of Turner Classic Movies going on starting today. Ever since I went to NYC a couple summers ago and watched it at my uncle's place i've been hoping for the channel to show up on my cable. The day has finally come! Tonight i'll be watching Winchester '73 and White Heat. i'll probably give a few quick thoughts about those flicks tomorrow or Thursday.

Sorry no What i'm listening to for tonight as this is just a quick hit post.

The Most Stubborn President in the last 100 years?

2006-12-08T00:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry for lack of updates....

George W. Bush just boggles my mind. This isn't going to be about how Iraq was ill conceived in the first place. This is about the current situation on the ground and what the Iraq Study Group has suggested.

As you may or may not know the Iraq Study Group's overall reccomendation was to find a way of disengagement in Iraq with honour. They believe that victory is out of the question. Unlike what some conservatives will have you believe they're not saying "pull the plug". In fact, one of the suggestions struck me as being realistic and pragmatic. The suggestion is to have a Middle East Summit with all of Iraq's neighbours (and yes this includes Iran) and try to find a way to come to an amicable solution to the problems of the region.

Another suggestion is to work on Israel/Palestinian peace talks. This could be done by having Israel offer the Golan Heights in exchange for peace and sensible dealings with the Israelis. Now while this doesn't have anything to do with Iraq it would be a good thing to do to provide some stabilization to the region.

So now let's look at President Bush, clearly the United States is NOT winning in Iraq. The possible new Secretary of Defense Robert Gates concedes that the country is not winning the war. He then had to clarify and say and I paraphrase "While we're not losing in Iraq we're not winning either". So basically he's saying it's a stalemate situation at best. The President obviously is grasping at straws hoping that by being delusional and thinking "Yeah we're successful in Iraq" that things will get better.

They are not....

Yet, we hear this happy talk coming from the President on down. President Bush's Counselor Dan Bartlett was even bold enough to state in an interview that "we are winning"! Now there's a history of presidents having trouble accepting their mistakes and a need for change. Once again the war Iraq is most compared to has a parallel in this situation. Lyndon Johnson AGONIZED over the "boys" in Vietnam. In fact, in one of his biographies there's vivid scenes of LBJ personally writing condolence letters to the families of fallen soldiers. He truly believed in the Falling Domino theory. He felt that Vietnam was a battle that needed to be won. Near the end of his presidency he recognized the folly and tried to change course but it was too little too late. Nixon came into office and actually intensified the war in some aspects with the massive bombings of North Vietnam and Cambodia.

George Bush just can't accept failure. I swear there needs to be a psychological study done about him because he has this very black/white view of the world. He won't even be pragmatic and TRULY take the ISG recommendations into consideration. He would rather take the military's recommendations and more or less stay the course while still parotting the "everything is good" line. Apparently Mr. Bush doesn't care about his legacy because if there's one thing that history has taught us is that America does not like it when its being blatantly lied to in the manner that the Bush Admin has been doing the last couple years.

It will be interesting to see what happens between now and the end of the Bush admin's term.

And now for something completely different......

I often listen to music when I make a posting so at the end of every post I will reveal what song is playing at the moment.

What i'm hearing now:

"You Make me Feel so Young" - Frank Sinatra

The "N" word and the morass of society

2006-11-27T15:28:00.000-05:00

So i've been watching CNN over the last couple days and it seems Michael Richards has made another apology. This time it was on Jesse Jackson's nationally syndicated radio show. What made this second apology newsworthy in my opinion was the fallout. It seems that black activists and even comedians (Paul Mooney to be exact) are now decrying the use of the N word as a colloquilism. Unfortunately I think this falls into the category of "a day late and dollar short".

I don't know when it exactly happened but the use of the word nigger has become a fashionable way of greeting fellow African Americans. The word has spread into general use in mainstream rap/hip hop to the point that it has lost its original meaning. This is a disgrace on so many levels that it's hard for me to comprehend. There's no other word in the english language that cuts to the bone the way that the N word has. It's the most amoral, humiliating word that conveyed the "supremacy" of whites over their black slaves yet today it's used in the same context as "brother".

The only other word that even remotely comes close to nigger in terms of subjecting power over the insulted is "bitch". What's even more maddening is that word has almost gained a quasi-acceptable status among young people today. I can't believe there are actually young women and girls who strive to be their man's bitch.

These are not the only words that have lost meaning and acquired quasi-positive values among young people but they're the two that immediately come to mind. Maybe i'm too sheltered in some ways but there is a serious lack of respect and understanding to our fellow man. Now a lot of this bizarro use of words, expressions and attitudes can be blamed on a lot of things such as TV, movies and music but that's just a hoary old argument. In my opinion a lot of the blame has to go to parents.

In the last 25 years we've seen the nuclear family crumble to pieces. It's hard to find truly stable families in the lower middle class/poor sections of North America. Now I know that's not all that new of a phenomenon but it seemed to me that in the past even in a one parent household the children would still be instilled with a sense of decency and pride. They were given all the tools the parent could give in order to be successful. The children strove to rise above the muck and be upstanding citizens.

Today those kind of values are almost nonexistent. The mothers have become alarmingly younger and younger which only perpetuates the "blind leading the blind" syndrome. A child can't mother a baby and from that moment on there's little to no authority in the household. Thankfully i've heard that teen pregnancies have dropped in recent years so that is a good thing.

We as a society in North America have ghetto-ized ourselves by falling into the morass of mediocrity, negative stereotypes and losing touch with history. This is why I applaud the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Paul Mooney and others to spread the message that the N word has no place in society. The word is just too powerful an epithet to be used in any context. As for the socio-economic problems that face us. There is no easy answer. In many ways the politicians and authority figures have abandoned the very people who need them the most. It's up to us as decent folk to make our situation better.

Sometimes I wish we lived in a better world where Israelis and Palestinians can see that they're more or less the same. I want to see a world where people of different races can help each other out without them thinking "oh they're only helping because they have some kind of agenda". I want to see a world of tolerance. In many ways living on earth is a form of hell but we have the power to change our condition.

You know, I apologize if this was a rambling, incoherant post. It's just that this eats me up inside. I physically get sick thinking about this because I know that we can do better then the current conditions of life today.

In closing I want to quote Dr. King

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

We, the human race have't fully realized the Dream. I hope that one day before I leave this mortal coil that Dr. King's Dream will be Reality.

What a crazy night!

2006-11-21T23:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight was like any other night. I was laying down in the living room watching TV when slowly but surely I was getting pain in my right lower area. At first I ignored it because it wasn't really anything but it progressively got worse. A couple years ago I had a urinary tract infection and the symptons were the same but slightly different. I was able to pee while I felt this pain so that seemed odd. Nonetheless the pain escalated to some serious heights. By the time I turned off the TV I had gotten very weak and sick to my stomache.

I tried lying down in my bed but it got worse and worse. My mother came home and I looked like death as I was hobbling down the stairs to tell her I was in tremendous pain. She called my father up and he was on his way home to take us to the hospital. It must've taken him 15-20 minutes but it felt like an eternity with this stabbing, constant pain in my right lower tummy area. As we drove to the hospital I was getting worse and worse. I was getting delirious with the pain. (I've never been very good about my pain threshold) Once we reached the hospital to wait and register I was in such dire straits that I was sticking out my arm and crying out to the nurses to bring a doctor for me and then it happened......

I told my mother I needed to throw up but as soon as the word "up" was uttered I had started heaving. I was shaking violently, I got up off my seat staggering around and vomitting like in that scene from THE EXORCIST. Before you know it I was peeling off my jacket and staggering like a sickly man as I got on my knees shaking like a leaf and throwing up as my father took me to the washroom where I was able to kneel again and regain my composure.

I was escorted back to my seat and went to register myself. I was still shaking like crazy, in fact I was shaking and shivering for a good ten minutes after I vomitted. Strangely enough the ailment that had brought me to the hospital in the first place had disappeared. I was suddenly well again but I went through the bloodwork and saw the doctor.

I got interesting news. It seems my glucosimine (sp?) levels are high. This wasn't shocking news as I have been pigging out on lollipops and icing covered cupcakes this month. So that didn't bother me so much as I only really need to regulate my sugar intake to get the levels down. The next bit of news freaked me out:

"you might find this crazy but it could be a gall bladder"

Immediately my alarm bells began ringing in my head. I was a bit scared because well, my image of people with gall bladder is of 40+ year old fat guys and not a guy in his late 20s who's the right weight for his body type. I was also troubled because I felt that I may need surgery. Anyways i'm going back to the hospital tomorrow morning for an ultrasound to see if it's indeed a gall bladder. I hope to heck that that's not the case. I don't need another surgery. I feel like i've had too many surgeries in my life. I know there are people that have had more then I have but still it wears on one to know that they may need to go under the knife for something like the 10th time in life.

So that was my crazy night. I just hope that there are no repercussions to it.

A disturbing video from Iraq: My views

2006-11-18T03:59:00.000-05:00

On Friday a poster at OS posted a video from youtube that was a bit disturbing and distressing that shows a small group of soldiers acting very stupidly IMO. Here's the video:

Now I made a comment and I got criticized for it mainly because I didn't flesh it out. So I feel I should flesh out my comment a bit. Normally i'd leave that to the OS community alone but the thread is closed and I feel that I need clear things up. Here's what I said.

Wow....

and you wonder why some ppl get all up in arms about American arm forces occupying their land.

I hope those soldiers get what's coming to them. (of course not death but still)

I think it's the first part of my statement that offended some folks so I will clarify my position here. 99.9% of soldiers out there in Iraq do a great job in a very stressful environment. It's just that the small things like this can get blown up to epic proportions by the media in the US and abroad. It's stupid things like that that give American forces a bad rap in a region where they already are to some degree or another hated by the population.

Granted, this is small potatos compared to terrorists kidnapping and torturing people but in modern day warfare it's not just about winning the war but winning the hearts of those you're trying to protect. There have been a few incidents in Iraq that have caused geniune concern whether it be true or not. The one case that immediately jumps to mind was when the US military was accused of defacing and treating the Quran like trash. So you see it's the big events like that or the small events like this little video that accumulate over time.

I have great respect for anyone who serves in the military and I have no tolerance for the few bad apples like this small group of soldiers who taunted and laughed at those kids. It's embarassing and humiliating to the good name of the US Armed Forces.

As for my statement about the soldiers getting what's coming to them. All I want to see is a disciplinary action. I don't wish any harm on them. The rank and file soldiers are still young men and they're allowed to make mistakes but one can't let little things slide or it could snowball into abuses of power. Now if this was something on the order of My Lai in Vietnam then the soldiers would definitely need to be court martialed. Obviously this isn't that situation but it still requires some form of punishment.

I hope that those in the thread that thought less of me based on a quick and off the cuff remark will at least respect my opinion at the very least and perhaps see things my way after this thorough expression of my views.

The Great Barry vs. Emmitt Debate

2006-11-13T05:22:00.000-05:00

So over the weekend I had a chance to take a peek at a classic Cowboys game from 1993. This was the Week 16 encounter between the 'Boys and the New York Giants to determine the NFC East division champions. It was also the famous game where Emmitt basically carved up the Giants defense but injured his shoulder. Now before I get to my main point I have to say that after watching the game memories flooded back as I vaguely recall watching said game when it first aired. I used to have this big ass old TV in the living room and i'd sit right up in front of it and watch sports or play my video games. It was kind of a melancholy moment to remember back to those days. It was also interesting to see how violent and physical the game was. The crowd at the Meadowlands was also jacked up. It was a very college football like crowd in many ways.

Ok well time to get to the main point of this post.....

One of the great debates on message boards and indeed between football fans is "who was better? Emmitt or Barry?" I was always firmly entrenched in the "If Barry had Emmitt's support he'd have broken Payton's record long ago" camp. Sanders had the terrible luck to be on a team that didn't have all that great of a line while Smith had probably the best O-Line of the 1990s in front of him.

After watching the NYG/Cowboys game this past weekend I have come to the conclusion that Emmitt was better then Barry. One thing that Emmitt had was that he could completely change the complexion of a game. Yes, he was only a cog in that Cowboys machine but if you take Emmitt out of the lineup then defenses can concentrate on blitzing and getting in Aikman's face. Remember Aikman was not the most mobile QB in the world and while that line was very good it was still a line that was more geared run blocking more then anything else. This is why whenever Emmitt was out of the lineup the Cowboys didn't do nearly as well as they would if he was in the lineup.

The Lions on the other hand were a different kind of team. They were mostly a passing team. They loved to spread the ball around and keep defenses off-balanced that way. Sanders was just icing on the cake for them as he was the ultimate RB for the type of O-line they had. He could dance around and make defenders miss and that's what opened the passing game for the Lions. I tend to think that if you plugged in another scat type of back in there that it wouldn't hurt the Lions as much as losing Emmitt would hurt the Cowboys. Yeah, the Lions wouldn't be nearly as explosive but they'd still have a very good offense.

It's still a very tough choice either way. None of those guys get my nod for best RB ever anyways as that goes to Walter Payton who could just plow over you, run around you, and dance around with the best of em when needed. It's just that i've now seen "the light" when it comes to Emmitt Smith. As I said on OS right after watching the game, Emmitt was the straw the stirred the drink for the Cowboys.

2006 Mid-Term Election Aftermath

2006-11-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I last posted anything. Quite frankly, I had very little of interest to talk about that is, until now.

I'm a huge U.S. political junkie. I've always found the American political system to be far more interesting and actaully more powerful in terms of how the vote matters. In Canada the parliamentary system can make voting to be a futile exercise. It's kind of hard to have a meaningful vote when a Majority government can be had with only 40% support.

Last night's mid-term elections was one of the more interesting national elections i've seen in a long time. As we all know the Democrats have been painted as extreme left wing liberals while the GOP tries to make itself out to be the social and religious voice of America. Yet during this election season I believe we've seen somewhat of a shift. The Democrats have slowly and with very little media recognition moved to the center of the political spectrum. It doesn't hurt when the GOP hurt itself with ill-timed scandals that struck at the very heart of the GOP "moral authority". The Foley scandal and the fall from grace of Rev. Ted Haggard exposed the Right as a morally bankrupt and corrupt political body. That's not to say the Democrats are angels but they stuck to their message while not really stubbing their toes.

If you look at the makeup of the new congress you'll see that the Democrats, while disparate and a big tent party are generally more middle of the road centrist. This time the label of left wing wackjob liberals didn't stick. The insistence of the Bush admin to "stay the course" in Iraq while stubbornly refusing to listen to different views increasingly frustrated the American Public. The Democrats didn't overplay their hand this time. They emphasized a need for change while dropping the 2004 mantra of "cut and run". This time they were wise to say that change is needed, that there needs to be new tactics in the war in Iraq. It was this moderate speech that hit home with American voters.

I don't think the democrats should take this vote as a mandate but rather a cautionary handing off of power to a different group in the hope that they'd reign in the excesses of the last 6 years. In fact the democrats HAD to move to the center in order to gain votes. If they just revert back to a extreme liberal program then they'll lose A LOT of votes in '08.

Let's look at Connecticut, Ned Lamont is the poster boy for the Liberal Left. He did a great job of bringing the blogosphere and Liberal internet users to his side but look who won the state. Joe Lieberman was basically ousted because he was viewed as being too buddy-buddy with the Bush Admin but in truth Lieberman is one of the most rational and centrist politicians in DC. this was the reason he won last night. He isn't one to gravitate to extremes but rather to work within the framework of partnership and common sense.

This was a rejection of the Liberal wing of the Democratic party. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would be wise to recognize the Conn. result as a micro expression of the overall macro level feeling throughout the country. The United States has finally (IMO) reverted back to its natural political disposition of being middle of the road while leaning toward the left or right without going to the extremes.

The resignation of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and President Bush's conciliatory tone today could be a sign of change in Washington DC. This could be a time for compromise and partnership. On the other hand it could just blow up in everyone's face and we'll be back to "politics as usual".

I surely hope that the next couple years leads to productive and co-operative bi-partisanship in DC.

Monday Review: The Stratton Story

2006-10-15T17:40:00.000-04:00

Time for another review on Ye Olde Blog.

The Stratton Story (1949)

Here's the IMDB plot summary

The movie is about Chicago White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton (Jimmy Stewart), who in the 1930s, compiled a 37-19 won-loss record in three seasons. After he became the winningest right-hander in the American League, his major league career ended prematurely when a hunting accident in 1938 forced doctors to amputate his right leg. With a wooden leg and his wife Ethel's (June Allyson) help, Stratton made a successful minor league comeback in 1946, continuing to pitch in minor leagues throughout the rest of the 1940s and into the 1950s.

Stratton became a starter in 1937 winning 15 games and making it to the All Star Game. He also won 15 games in 1938. So he was actually a pretty good pitcher heading into his prime years when he suffered his unfortunate accident. This leads to a slight peeve of mine when it comes to old movie biographies. The films are almost always whitewashed and "feel good" flicks with very little substance. Another thing is that the story is constrained to the point that one can easily think that the story takes place over a year or two at most. This is not a huge problem because most films back then were about 90 to 100 minutes at most.

The film is fairly good. I can see why Jimmy Stewart was one of America's most loved actors of all time. The guy just had an every-man quality to him that's infectious. You can't help but pull for him and care for his characters. Monty Stratton as portrayed in the movie was the prototypical gee whiz country boy and Stewart plays it masterfully.

The love interest of Ethel played by June Allyson is wonderful as well. There's just something about the classic female stars of the day. Most of them aren't the most beautiful women in the world but they had a charm that just oozes out of them. Ms. Allyson had a spunkiness and almost tomboyish quality to her that endears the viewer to her role. She and Stewart had great chemistry together and the scene of her getting Monty to pitch her a fastball is very cute and funny.

The character of Barney Wile (not mentioned in the summary) was interesting. He was an old time baseball player who basically was down on his luck. He discovered Stratton and he brought him into the Bigs with the White Sox. I liked how he and Stratton instantly hit it off and developed almost a father/son relationship. The portrayal of Stratton's mother by character actress Agnes Moorehead was enchanting even tho her character didn't want her son to go into baseball. In the end you see the strong bond between mother and son.

Overall I give the film *** out of 5 stars

ADDENDUM:

This is regarding the final baseball scenes when Stratton is making his comeback in Minor League Baseball. Before I complain/muse about this I should say that I guess it was done that way for dramatic purposes more then anything else.

Here is the situation:

9th Inning and Stratton is pitching. His team is leading 2-0 and there's a runner on 3rd with one out. The batter hits the ball to short. Now the way one would normally play the ball is to throw to first for the obvious out but the SS threw the ball to home and the runner is safe.

Again it was probably done for dramatic purposes but it was just odd seeing that considering the etiquete of baseball.

Something I Noticed about G.W. Bush

2006-10-12T13:55:00.000-04:00

Well this was supposed to be up last night but the sudden death of Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and the whole surrealism of what happened was a bit much for me.

Anywho, this won't be some longwinded opinion piece but rather something that I noticed while watching a bit of President Bush's Press Conference yesterday. I remember back in 2000 the networks had shown some clips of Bush's debate performances in the gubernatorial races for Texas Governor and Bush was actually a very well spoken and knowledgable guy. Somehow over the course of the last 6 or so years Bush has become increasingly "dumbed down".

Now I understand why this was done as Bush was re-invented for the national audience as a man of the people but over the years his malpropisms, general befuddlement in certain situations and his Black/White philosophy to life has made him look well, pretty stupid and out of his element.

As I watched the presser yesterday it finally clicked for me. George W. Bush is not truly in charge of everything in the White House. He has relied far too heavily on those he trusts. In many ways he's been betrayed by them. I mean, it's crazy how people within the administration and people associated with the admin. have made all kinds of money in defense contracts and other such things in Iraq while America is in a quagmire.

Anywho, I think it's clear that the Bush of the late 90s was more manufactured but I truly think it's distressing that the leader of the Free World is a bumbling, befuddled kind of guy.

Monday Review on a Tuesday: The Naked Spur

2006-10-10T14:41:00.000-04:00

Sorry for lack of updates. I just don't feel up to writing a blog piece but I decided to today. It looks like the next five Monday Reviews will be James Stewart movies unless I read or watch something that is totally intriguing.

THE NAKED SPUR (1953)

Plot summary via IMDB

A bitter Howard Kemp heads westward to the Rockies from Abilene, Kansas on the trail of murderer Ben Vandergroat and the $5000 reward on Vandergroat's head, money after which Kemp lusts in order to re-purchase the ranch that his absconding fiancée had sold during his stint in the army. Kemp unexpectedly crosses paths with an old, star-crossed gold miner, Jesse Tate, and with a recently-discharged soldier of questionable repute, Roy Anderson. Teaming up, they nab Vandergroat and his girl, Lina Patch, but Vandergroat tries to turn his three distrustful, avaricious captors against each other during the return trip.

This isn't exactly one of James Stewart's better movies but it's a good enough time waster. The acting in the movie is VERY broad and almost laughable by today's standards (except for Stewart) but still it wasn't without its charm. The role of Jesse Tate was played to perfection by character actor Millard Mitchell. In many ways I felt bad for him as he was this old guy looking to strike it rich. At one point he talks to Ben about how he has seen so many of his friends and coleagues strike it rich just by sheer accident alone yet he has never seen gold for himself.

The villian of the piece, Ben Vandergoat played by Robert Ryan was pretty one note right down to being abusive to his girl Lina at the end of the picture. The Roy Anderson character was also pretty flat IMO as well but that didn't matter too much as the story truly revolved around Stewart's Kemp character and Janet Leigh as Lina Patch.

It was interesting to learn the motivation and reasoning for Kemp's bitterness and why he traveled all the way out west to get Ben. Lina, who was a very doting and caring lady slowly felt sorry for Howard because of how he lost his ranch. Slowly throughout the film her pity turned into geniune love for Howard but not in an overt and demonstrative way that you'd expect from films of this vintage.

Stewart was fantastic in a role that I felt was a bit beneath him. I did like how he was able to come across as extremely bitter and heelish throughout the first half of the movie. It just goes to show that great acting talent can sometimes lift B grade material to something watchable.

Overall I give this flick ** out of 5 stars.

Next film scheduled: The Stratton Story

Me and the News

2006-09-29T08:29:00.000-04:00

So in the midst of the Terrell Owens story the other day the topic of the way news covers events etc etc came up. A poster basically thinks all news just tries to get people in a frenzy and as such has a huge mistrust and disdain for the news business in general. I can't disagree that the news media does this for some stories but i've always loved following the news and coverage of interesting events......

I remember as a little tyke i'd stay up and watch the local news. Well, it wasn't totally local. It seemed that I gravitated towards Buffalo's WGRZ. I grew up watching Rich Kellman doing the news, Ed Kilgore on sports and Barry Lillis doing the weather. At that time WGRZ was pretty good at covering the news and had a professional sheen to it despite being in the rust belt that is Western New York. I also watched WKBW and enjoyed the fine anchoring job of Irv Weinstein.

The CBS affiliate had THE best local anchor team and one of the most stable news teams i've ever seen. Carol Jasen and Bob Koop were the lead anchors for WIVB-TV from 1982 to 1992. They made a hell of a great team. Those in local news today should try to find tape of those two working together because they were professional yet warm and engaging personalities. Jacquie Walker and Rich Newberg joined in 1983 according to the info I have here and they were mainstays at WIVB for a LOONG time. In fact, Walker and Newberg amazingly still work for the station. Walker anchors the 5, 6 and 11 newscast while Newberg is the senior correspondent. It seems to me this station is one of the most loyal and tradition minded affiliates in the US. (but this is from very limited exposure)

Among other long timers:

Don Postles, (since '93)

Mylous Hairston, (joined in '90 as an anchor and has worked himself up to anchor of the weekend newscasts)

Don Paul (meteorologist, joined in 1984 and defected to WGRZ from '88-'91, has been with WIVB ever since)

Mike Cejka (meteorologist, joined in '83! and is currently the morning and lunchtime weather man)

So as you can see I grew up with a very experienced and well worked set of broadcasters. The Buffalo news scene has gone to the crapper since the late 1990s IMO tho. This can be attributed to a lot of things such as Buffalo being one of most depressed cities and general areas in the US these days. Still, there are some fine people working today so it's not like it's a total bust.

**********************************************************************************

As I grew up I became more in tune with the political side of news coverage. I watched a lot of CNN and I remember as early as 1988, my handicapping the presidential elections. One thing that doesn't get talked about a lot is that these people that work in news are just like me. They want to know what's going on in the world, they want to impart knowledge and at the same time to make those in power accountable for their actions. In the last 10-15 years hard news has taken a hit in favor of info-tainment which I find to be disgraceful. I don't think one can really cover the issues of the day with a clear bias one way or the other. (FOX news on the right and MSNBC on the left, CNN is center/left depending on the issue) It only serves to devalue the information given to the viewer. I mean, if you watch something that's mostly fitting your point of view then you're always going to hate other news sources because they're "biased" when the news you're watching is just as biased as anything else.

In a modern internet age one needs to read, listen and watch as much different sources of news coverage in order to get a clear picture of events. Unfortunately, many people don't have the time nor the willingness to do so. So to feeq (the poster who showed disdain for all media) and others I will provide a list of worthwhile and in many ways throwback news presentations that you should watch.

The Newshour with Jim Lehrer: This is news for the thinking person. I love it a lot for the simple fact that there is little to no hyperbole, subjects are dealt with in a timely manner and more often then not you'll hear from both sides of an issue. In an era where they give you information overload with a crawl on the bottom of the screen and talking heads talking all the time it's no wonder people feel jaded about the news business. The Newshour does a great job of taking issues in perspective and giving the issues of the day some serious discussion.

Anderson Cooper 360: Yes I know, AC 360 isn't exactly the most balanced news source. Anderson Cooper is the modern day version of Geraldo Rivera. The man just loves to make himself the center of attention. The show is obviously a mix of him wanting to do good in the world and a massive ego trip. So far, so bad right? Wrong, the show has evolved a lot since it first started. What started out as Anderson Cooper anchoring most of the show has become more of a shared role with John Roberts. I find that whenever Roberts is anchoring the show he does so in a very calm and dignified manner, conducts his interviews rather well and generally sticks to the harder news topics. In fact, I believe i've seen numbers that indicate the show has done better with Roberts at the helm. The actual news content of the show runs the gamut from speculation to muckraking in the best sense of the word with the "keeping them honest" segments. Overall, even though the show veers to the left at times it's generally a well done and well researched program.

Lou Dobbs Tonight: Oh boy...what can I say about Lou? At least he's consistently against MOST politicians. You can't call him left wing because he's the classic free market capitalist. His show isn't news per se. It's more of an opinion based newscast. There IS an agenda with the show but Lou doesn't hide it. He fights for America's borders, the middle class and for economic freedom in America. He generally holds great disdain for the Bush administrations handling of the war and the economy and generally he makes salient and common sense points. I've often heard from people that Lou Dobbs should actually run for president! I have to admit that would be very interesting because he just wouldn't fit with the parties in America today. So, while his show isn't news but more opinion it challenges the viewer to think things through and come up with their own conclusions. I rather like his take no prisoners approach to things and as long as he's true to himself then I don't mind it.

So those are three different news shows that takes wildly divergent takes on what is news, how to report it and the pace in which they do it in. Do these shows whip people up into a frenzy? Not really, there are times when Dobbs will stick to one issue and get some traction on it but mostly it's the same bunch of people watching the show. Do they misinform with badly reported stories? Hard to say, some of AC360 falls within the range of speculation so some things aren't totally concrete but most of the time they get their facts straight. Last but not least these shows all share one thing in common. They all want to be able to impart information and knowledge to the people and let them decide for themselves.

That's the truest way of doing the news.

Monday Review: The Ugly American

2006-09-25T15:31:00.000-04:00

Since I have so much material (movies, comics, books etc etc) I have decided to make Monday an official review day. That is, I'll be reviewing something of one kind or another every Monday.

The first edition of Monday Review will focus on the 1963 film The Ugly American starring Marlon Brando. Here's a plot summary from IMDB:

An intelligent, articulate scholar, Harrison MacWhite, survives a hostile Senate confirmation hearing at the hands of conservatives to become ambassador to Sarkan, a southeast Asian country where civil war threatens a tense peace. Despite his knowledge, once he's there, MacWhite sees only a dichotomy between the U.S. and Communism. He can't accept that anti-American sentiment might be a longing for self-determination and nationalism. So, he breaks from his friend Deong, a local opposition leader, ignores a foreman's advice about slowing the building of a road, and tries to muscle ahead. What price must the country and his friends pay for him to get some sense?

Whew! That about sums up the movie right there. Needless to say this was a VERY interesting film. It is loosely based on the book of the same title by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick. The film is particular interesting because it is a precursor to what actually happened in Vietnam. It shows quite clearly the misguided and wrongheaded thinking of the "domino theory" that communism would just sweep across the world if left unchecked.

Marlon Brando gives one of his best acting performances ever in the film. The first half of the film has many great dialogue scenes that pulls the viewer into the situation and truly captures the mood and feelings of the characters. I especially liked Brando's cool, calm and collected acting in the senate confirmation hearing scene. He answered the questions with an ease and sense of humour that is disarming and quite charming.

Another great dialogue scene is MacWhite visiting his old friend Deong the evening after he and his wife are met by rioters who nearly kill them when they arrive in Sarkhan. Deong proves to be a great host and friend to MacWhite. In the end tho, Deong admits that he sent out the rioters. He tells MacWhite that he didn't mean it to go out of hand and that it is to protest the building of Freedom Road. MacWhite is visibly disturbed and leaves, only to come back later that night as the two friends start to drift apart due to political reasons.

MacWhite can't believe that Deong would be against America after all that the US has done for that country by providing food, medical supplies, and helping to build a road that would provide jobs and better economic opportunities. Deong counters this by telling MacWhite that the Sarkhanese don't want the road because they know that it'll be used for military purposes by the US and that it will only lead to problems between them and the communist controled north. MacWhite denies this but Deong demands that if the road is not for military purposes then Sarkhanese Prime Minister Kwen Sai should make it publicly known that the road is for all of Sarkhan and won't be used by the Americans. Deong also adds that Sarkhan is tired of being ruled by the iron fist of this American backed dictator.

Macwhite then flies off the handle accusing Deong of being a communist and insists that the road will be built. This is the crux of the whole film This one misunderstanding leads to many more misjudgements on MacWhite's part that leads to a Vietnam-like escalation of Civil War. All throughout the film you see MacWhite's geniunely well intended motives blow up in his face which in the end causes heartache not only to himself but to everyone in Sarkhan.

You truly see why Brando is one of the best actors of all time when you watch this movie as you watch him go about his business and utters every word with true sincerity. The film is considered uneven by many critics however I think it's a great study in character and how one's steadfast belief in certain views can lead to unintended consequences. The film also serves as a fictionalized account of what then current American Policy was leading to in Vietnam and for that, this film should be required viewing for viewers of this generation. Policies and views should not be so rigid that it leads to war and unintended consequences. People and Politicians should be able to gleam some insight from the other side because what we may view as "evil' may not be viewed that way by our enemies.

Overall I give the film *** out of 5.

The Top 50 CFL Players of All Time

2006-09-22T15:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I found out that the CFL and TSN are going to reveal the top 50 CFL'ers of all time during Grey Cup Week. This is going to be HUGE. In fact, this is something that should've been done years ago. It's better late then never though as some of the long time experts have died in recent years. Luckily for us some of them are still around but it would've been nice if the panel of experts could've included the late Jim "Shakey" Hunt and Pat Marsden. Those guys have over a hundred years of experience combined when it comes to CFL football.

Nonetheless the panel of experts are a good cross-section of former players, columnists, and broadcasters. Below I'll be giving my personal all-time roster. I'll be limiting my picks to 3 QBs, 4 receivers, 2 or 3 RBs, 5 O and D linemen, 2 LB and DBs and 2 or more special teamers.

QBs
Doug Flutie: He only played 8 years in the CFL but man did he put up some eye popping numbers! He could pass, run and use his speed to evade tacklers. He used his size to his advantage in the wide open Canadian field by almost always rolling out of the pocket. He's the only player in CFL history to win the Outstanding Player award 6 times! He was the definition of "franchise QB" as he was successful everywhere he went.

Damon Allen: The all-time leading passer in pro football history is my back up QB. The main reason is that while he was very good for a very long time he was just a model of consistency. He was never viewed as THE quarterback. In many ways his accomplishments can be viewed as a matter of playing for so long and being so good. Still, he was/is the prototypical CFL QB. He had a solid arm, could run when he had to and displayed sound football smarts over the years.

Ron Lancaster: The Little General as he was known is more then just a great head coach. He was a great QB and the face of Saskatchewan football for 16 years. Lancaster is second all-time on the career list with 3,384 pass completions, 6,233 pass attempts and 50,535 yards passing and is 2nd in all-time TDs with 333. A mark that was surpassed by Damon Allen in 2003.

receivers

Darren Flutie: The younger brother of Doug is my number 1 receiver. He was a hell of a receiver as he was the go-to guy in tough situations. He made some great catches in his career. If my memory isn't failing me I believe he caught the TD that more or less clinched the game for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the '99 Grey Cup. Flutie is tied for first all-time in most 1000 yard receiving seasons, (tied with Allen Pitts) regular season receptions with 2972 and most playoff receptions with 185.

Milt Stegall: This guy is just amazing. He's in his 12th season in the CFL and he's got a knack for making highlight reel catches at the most critical times. If he can be compared to someone in NFL lore I would say that he's got the amazing grace of Lynn Swann but with the stature among receivers of a Jerry Rice. (although he doesn't own the record books like he does) Stegall is knocking on the door to a tremendous achievement. Right now he stands at 135 TDs for his career only 2 behind the overall career TD record of ALL TIME. Yes you read that right, He is very close to being the most prolific touchdown scorer in CFL history, meaning he will be greater then any offensive player in league history in that regard.

Other records by Stegall include

Most TD receptions in a career (132)
Most TDs in a season (23) in 2002
Most Yards Per Catch in a season 26.5 in 1998
Most yards by a Bombers receiver 12,333 and growing

Don Narcisse: The prototypical CFL receiver at only 5'9 and 170 pounds Narcisse was one of the many weapons for the Saskatchewan Roughriders offense in the late 80s/early 90s. Most of the passes he caught were short passes which meant he had to use his feet to gain the extra yardage. He was quite capable of getting the 1st down in tough situations. Although most of his records have been shattered over the years he's still remembered as one of the craftier players in the league's history.

Ray Elgaard: I only saw the tail end of his career so I'm not the most educated when it comes to his greatness but he retired as the leader in all-time receptions and receiving yards. (830/13,198) He also had 8 seasons with 1000 or more yards. What I do know is this, he was a steady player with great hands and rarely dropped a pass. He was Mr. Dependable in the clutch.

RBs

Mike Pringle: He is mentioned along with George Reed (oh well just let that one out of the bag) as the greatest RB in CFL history as he holds or is tied for just about every significant record for a RB. He finished his career with 16,425 yards rushing, 20,254 total yards from scrimmage and with 137 TDs. (that mark is tied with George Reed) All these are CFL records with the latter record about to be broken this year.

Pringle in only his 3rd season became the starting RB for the Baltimore Stallions in 1994 after only being a barely used talent for the Edmonton Eskimos and Sacramento Gold Miners. He paid huge dividends in the role tho as he ran for an incredible 1,972 yards, scoring 13 TDs and amazingly enough took kickoffs by returning the ball 38 times for 814 yards!

The true measure of Pringle's greatness didn't come until 1998 at the age of 31 where he did the unthinkable. Mike Pringle became the first and only CFL RB to rush for over 2000 yards. (2065) In a league where passing is dominant, Pringle did the almost unthinkable. IMO and in the opinion of many CFL fans we won't see a feat like that for a VERY long time.

George Reed: A tough and hard hitting RB who was hugely successful in the CFL. From what I've heard about his style he was in the mold of an Earl Campbell. I know this is very little to say about a legend but as I've stated off the top the CFL should've done this kind of thing years ago and quite frankly the CFL has neglected its proud history for many years.

OL (I won't say much just mention their names. If I have a comment I'll make it)

Chris Walby: A tough and tenacious center for the Blue Bombers. He was a guy that had a defensive mentality on the field and was quite popular with his teammates. Today he attempts a poor man's Madden in the booth when calling CFL games.

Dan Ferrone: played on wildly varying Argos teams in terms of success but he was a main constant. I believe he's still the head of the CFLPA these days.

Rod Connop: was a link to the Dynasty Years of the Eskimos and bridged his way to the more or less current Eskimos culture.

Roger Aldag: Gritty, anchor of the Saskatchewan Roughriders O-line during the 1980s.

Al Wilson

DL (same as above)

Junior Ah You: He played for some great Montreal ballclubs in the 1970s. He was the cornerstone of one of the bigger front fours of the era and was known for his speed in getting to the RB.

Jearld Baylis: I remember this guy for being able to put pressure on the QB and having some good speed and agility for his size.

Jim Corrigal: Argo legend; played in the 1970s

Angelo Mosca: The heart and soul of the Hamilton Ti-Cats for so many years. He was Canada's answer to Dick Butkus as he would almost always play hurt but he was rewarded with 5 Grey Cup victories in his career. One of the enduring images in CFL history is of him holding the cup high in the air with a nasty smile on his face.

Joe Montford: His best years were spent in Hamilton and he's regarded as one of the greatest defensive players in CFL history. He's a 4 time CFL sack leader and was one of the speediest guys on the defensive side of the ball. It's a shame that his career has seemingly ended so badly as he was recently cut by the Edmonton Eskimos.

LBs

Willie Pless: Another guy I grew up watching. This guy was one hard hitting SOB! His career was just amazingly great. He was an All-Canadian 11 times, 12 time Division all-star and was outstanding defensive player of the year 5 times.

Dan Kepley: One of the key defensive players during the Eskimos glory years. He was the leader of the defensive unit for that team and deserves a lot of credit for their success on the defensive side of the ball.

DBs

Less Browne: Probably the greatest DB in CFL history. He holds the all-pro record for most INTs with 87 and interception return yards with 1,508.

Garney Henley: One of the true legends of the game. Henley left the game with 59 INTs and 900 yards on interception returns. Amazingly at age 36 he was switched to flanker and won the most outstanding player award!

Special Teams

Henry "Gizmo" Williams: This guy was a human highlight reel. He was a bundle of energy and one couldn't help but feel that through his style of play. He was primarily a punt and kick return specialist in his career but boy did he make the most out of it! Williams got the nickname from Reggie White when he was playing for the USFL's Memphis Showboats for his shiftiness on the field. Gizmo set 20 CFL records in his career and still holds the records for most yardage on KR and PR. He also still holds the record for most TDs on returns with 31. Gizmo is known for his signature flip after scoring a TD. His most famous TD would have to be the 115 yard missed FG return in the 1987 Grey Cup.

Kicker
Dave Cutler: Would you believe that he started his career at age 16? Yap, that's the truth and he became one of the most prolific kickers in CFL history. He was another key member of those great Eskimos teams in the 70s and early 80s.

punter
Bob Cameron: Old reliable bob was a fixture in Winnipeg for 23 years. Cameron is the leader in all time punting yards with an eye popping 134,301 yards. Cameron is also the CFL's iron man having played in 324 consecutive games in his career.

NFL vs. CFL: what does a Canadian yard equal to?

2006-09-16T03:03:00.000-04:00

At OS one of the pet arguments that comes up is the disparity between the CFL and NFL To some posters the CFL is nothing more but a fancy offensive driven league that is a bastardization of football. That is a fallacy on the face of it since the game as we know it in Canada is much older then the American game. If anything the American brand of football is the bastardization. Now i'm one of the few that defend the CFL. We defenders won't say it's better but it's definitely a different game which emphasizes different things then the NFL does.

Anyways the latest round of talks came up after Damon Allen became the all-time leading passer in pro football history. a poster asked what would Allen's yard translate to in the NFL and so I decided to look at the '05 stats of both leagues and the passing in both to see just how different they are and how much a "canadian yard" would equal to an American one. Interestlingly there is a difference but not to the extent that I thought there would be.

Ok then here are the passing yardage of the top 9 QBs last year in the CFL compared to the top 9 in the NFL. Keep in mind the CFL has an 18 game schedule so the numbers will be a little inflated.

CFL

Anthony Calvillo 5556 yards 34/19 (TD/INT)
Ricky Ray 5510 yards 25/24
Damon Allen 5082 yards 33/15
Kerry Joseph 4466 yards 25/23
Henry Burris 4290 yards 23/12
Kevin Glenn 3571 yards 27/17
Dave Dickenson 3338 yards 21/5
Danny McManus 2544 yards 11/18
Marcus Crandell 2295 yards 12/11

NFL

Tom Brady 4110 yards 26/14
Trent Green 4014 yards 17/10
Brett Favre 3881 yards 20/29
Carson Palmer 3836 yards 32/12
Eli Manning 3762 yards 24/17
Kerry Collins 3759 yards 20/12
Peyton Manning 3747 yards 28/10
Drew Bledsoe 3639 yards 23/17
Drew Brees 3576 yards 24/15

OK well the yardage compares pretty well in terms of how they bunch together. I believe the last two guys in the CFL list didn't play full seasons.

Let's dig a little deeper and look at the attempts by each QB and divide them by the number of games (18 vs 16) and see if there's a tangible difference in terms of reliance on the pass.

ATT. by CFL'ers

661= 36.8 atts per game
715= 39.8 atts per game
549= 30.5 atts per game
537= 29.9 atts per game
435= 24.2 atts per game
403= 22.4 atts per game
342= 19 atts per game
364= 20.3 atts per game
351= 19.5 atts per game

ATT. by NFL'ers

530= 33.1 atts per game
507= 31.7 atts per game
607= 37.9 atts per game
509= 31.8 atts per game
557= 34.8 atts per game
565= 35.3 atts per game
453= 28.3 atts per game
499= 31.1 atts per game
500= 31.2 atts per game

Hmm don't know what to make of the numbers. It seems for all the difference in the style of the CFL and NFL the passing numbers aren't that wildly different despite the two leagues having radically different rules appications and such.

It's interesting tho, to see how Ricky Ray and the Eskimos just tore up the stat sheet with the passing. The only one who comes statistically close to him in terms of passing attempts per game is Brett Favre who played on a crummy Green Bay team and basically HAD to pass to keep his team in games. Kerry Collins also comes within earshot but again he played on a pretty crummy Oakland team, then again Oakland has always been a pass oriented offense through the years so that's not TOO surprising.

BTW I know some of these QBs didn't play full schedules so the attempts per game calculation will be a little skewed but it skews both ways so it isn't THAT bad.

A 9/11 rebuttal

2006-09-12T10:52:00.000-04:00

Yesterday on OS (for new readers look on the left in my links section you have to sign up to access the forums tho) someone made a very tasteless post about the politics, people and surrounding patriotism in the face of the 9/11 tragedy. Unfortunately political posts are not allowed at OS and this person's comments were deleted. I had intended to do a direct rebuttal but the comments were erased when I woke up this morning so it's going to have to be a more general conversation.

First of all let me say that i'm not American so my views of American life and social mores may be a bit skewed but I read, watch and listen to enough material that I think I have a pretty damn good idea of the character of the people and the nation. I question the character of the elites but I know in my heart of hearts that the vast majority of Americans are good people of strong character. I would never question them as I know far too many Americans in real life and through the internet. They are just like me, maybe a little more patriotic, a bit more ignorant (maybe that's not the right word but Americans generally say and jump into situations without thinking of future consequences too much so sorry if that kinda offends as it's not meant to be) and more often then not have a far greater sense of adventure and wanting to discover.

I'm going to address the part of the unnamed person's post that I remember the most, basically this person disrespected the singing of "God Bless America" and the whole patriotism bit. While I will agree that it does come across as very egocentric at times there are still ocassions when it's very much valid to do so. These ocassions would be the 9/11 anniversary, Memorial Day and Independence Day. The unnamed poster is allegedly Canadian and when I read his/her complaint on "God Bless America" I had to laugh because for close to 4 centuries the British and their subjects have been singing "God Save the King/Queen"! Unlike the US, that song is actually the national anthem of Great Britain so under this person's naive thinking the British are even more snooty and egotistical then America. :D

Now with the frivolous stuff out of the way we must get deadly serious. The person also claimed that the "terrorists hate freedom and democracy" statement is propaganda on politicians parts. I will agree that it can and has been used from time to time in the last 5 years in that manner but the general tenet of that statement is true, very true. In many ways that statement is not even adequate as it goes far beyond an ideological struggle. Nowadays President Bush has tried to frame the terrorists as religious fascists but it goes beyond that. What we view as militant and extremist islam is actually in the ascendant. If you look at it, most sources will tell you that Islam has over 1.3 BILLION members and according to Howard Bloom there are upwards of 70% of people in the Islamic faith that have views similar in vein of that of the terrorists. That's a staggering number no matter how you slice it.

Now this boils down to my main argument posited by Bloom and others such as Jerome Corsi that this isn't just some ideological battle but one with far reaching implications. If one were to dig into the Koran deeply and read up on Mohammed's teachings you'll see that a main goal of Islam is to convert EVERYONE to that religion. How can this be accomplished? Simply by dehumanizing others to the point that they no longer are deemed to be human. The enemies are infidels and they must be wiped out until they become muslims. In many ways the Islamic faith is one that was birthed through the concept of war to achieve heavenly goals. Now before anyone thinks i'm some bigot or ignorant person I will readily acknowledge that there are strong faith teachings of love and respect in Islam and that my personal religion (Christianity) isn't exactly the nicest religion in the world (just look at the Crusades) but the Islamic faith has a virulent strain of fundamentalist thought these days that needs to be rooted out.

People ask, "why do they hate us" and frankly the answer can be very complicated. I will boil it down to the nuts and bolts of it tho. You see, The Islamic faith for a very long time had the most sophisicated, learned and politically powerful empire in world history. A lot of what we have in the way of antiquity are translations from the Muslim world. It was these people that pushed the young movement of science forward. Of course as the Roman Empire started to grow and the adoption of Christianity came along it was only a matter of time before the encroaching Islamic empire would be attacked by Christianity. This of course led to the famous Crusades and as the centuries came to pass the once bright burning light of Muslim thought and ingenuity started to erode until the end of World War I when the last bastion of the empire was finally destroyed.

This long and tumultous fall from grace created a virulent strain of fundamentalist Islamic faith. The seeds of modern "Jihad" were beginning to form. The faith had become so self loathing and resentful towards the West that it went beyond hating freedom and democracy. They hated the very idea of western thought. Some people where shocked over the Islamic Revolution in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini but for those who studied what was going on within Islam, it was a logical conclusion to the "persecution" of the West and the Shah of Iran. Khomeini gave the Muslim world a strong and almost too rigid interpretation of the Islamic faith. He and the Revolution created the terrorists that haunt us today.

It is true that Iran is one of the youngest countries demographically and thus the vast majority of the population doesn't have the virulent hatred of the west but in other muslim countries the hatred of America has been passed upon from generation to generation. The hatred of western ideals has grown stronger because of American "occupation" in Iraq and for decades America and Israel has been vilified for stopping the aims of Palestinians and other groups of that ilk.

In short, it's a vicious cycle. Osama Bin Laden just raised the bar with the attack on the World Trade Center and for those who think this will be a relatively quick struggle with Terror then you've got another thing coming. One of the doctrines of fundamental Islam is that they wait...and wait...and wait. They'll be so patient and then strike again. This will be a multi-generational struggle. The west has never thought of warfare in those terms but we will have to. This conflict will be very much like the 100 years war where there were hot spots then a cooling down period and then another hot spot erupting and cooling down again. it didn't help that George W. Bush went into Iraq and created the chaos there as a Saddam led Iraq right now would be a buffer between Iran and Israel. It would be a buffer against those in Iran who are streaming into Iraq and trying to create a fundamentalist Islamic Republic.

In the end, 9/11 wasn't some crazy one off situation. It was the trigger for what will be a long and drawn out war between ideology and religion.

Let us not forget

2006-09-11T07:21:00.000-04:00

Never Forget 9/11/01

"Freedom is never more then one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our chldren and our children's children what it once was like in the United States where men were free."

- Ronald Reagan

"These Individuals are tyrants, and so they hate democracy. They are bigots, zealots, and persecutors, and so they hate America's freedom, tolerance and respect for all people. The terrorists of Sept. 11th live and flourish in darkness. They can not survive in the liberating and inspirational sunlight of American freedom and democracy."

- Ted Olson
United States Solicitor General

The Future of Propaganda

2006-09-07T12:45:00.000-04:00

A while ago there was a furor over the Iranian President starting up a blog. I checked out said blog and checked it out just minutes ago. It seems he hasn't updated since his first post which is somewhat disappointing considering all the media attention that it has garnered. This has made me think deeply about propaganda and the future of such tactics in the technologically driven world we live in.

It would be very hard in some ways to use the internet as a tool to sway those who live in said totalitarian state but it would be an amazing tool in getting the message out to the world. Let's use Mr. Ahmadinejad as an example. As we're all aware Iran isn't backing down from their nuclear program. Iran claims that the program is being used for peaceful means by supplying a power source for the Iranian population. In recent days Mr. Ahmadinejad has pointed out (to some) the inherent unfairness of the US and France having nuclear programs while Iran is having to fight just to build a nuclear energy infrastructure.

This is where a blog can come in handy.

A blog can be used as an informal way for Mr. Ahmadinejad to get his point across by presenting his case in easy to understand and sympathetic language. People who are generally moderate in term will always be willing to listen to the other side if they present themselves in a humble way. Let's face it, the strategy of proclaiming the US as unfair bullies and demanding a debate with President Bush isn't going to make friends any time soon.

Mr. Ahmadinejad started his blog on the right foot tho with details of his youth and life as a young man in Iran. It's this kind of saccharine and sunny type of story telling that can open the window to the personal man. It's a lot harder to vilify someone when they're willing to open up and talk about their life experiences and their point of view.

This is what I would like to call "soft peddling propaganda". There may be kernels of truth to what is being said but for the most part the language and attitude is so sunny and rosy that one can't help but be swayed to at least listen to the arguments of the propagandist. In some ways you see a form of this in official government documentation in western countries. Sure, it's not very informal but more often then not you'll get a white washed version of events rather then the cold hard facts unless there's mitigating circumstances. (mostly in regards to tragedies such as 9/11 and Katrina)

Then there's the kind of propaganda using blogs that could be downright scary. When I first heard about Ahmadinejad's blog the first thought that came to mind was "what if the Nazis had today's telecommunications technology?" You have to acknowledge that for better or for worse it was Josef Goebbels, Adolf Hitler and to a lesser extent Alfred Rosenberg that created the basis of modern propaganda. Just about every propaganda technique today has its roots in what the Nazis did in the 20s through the 40s. Now imagine these guys with the power of the internet in their hands. You would see a far more robust recruitment of people outside of Germany to follow the movement through state sponsored websites, news sites, blogs and scientific sites. You would probably see the Nuremburg Rallies on official state run sites every year. Goebbels would almost assuredly have a blog where he could spout off on the issues of the day with a Nazi bent to it. Last but not least, I'm almost positive that Hitler would have himself a personal site. If you think Mein Kampf was the worst example of a political tract then can you imagine him typing out political proclamations online?!

Then again, we've never seen any country try this, not even the Chinese who aren't exactly as democratic as some people like to think. So maybe I'm jumping to conclusions but the technology is there and as long as it's there then there's going to be people who will try to exploit it for their own means. The blogosphere is rich with diverse opinions and the blurring of the lines between entertainment and news can easily lead to internet based propaganda without anyone really catching on unless it's made extremely blatant.

Oh well, that's just food for thought.

Labour Day Weekend Wrap-Up

2006-09-05T09:07:00.000-04:00

So I'm gonna scattershoot some stuff from over the long weekend:

- Can someone give Chan Gailey and his offensive co-ordinator some balls? I mean I don't know too much about the college game except I'm a fan of Notre Dame and I generally like the enthusiasm of the college game over the pro game but my God these two guys must be complete dunderheads. Calvin Johnson is a BEAST! Yet, they hardly have the ball thrown to him in the 2nd half. It's like they're hellbent on winning despite having one of the most gifted WRs to come out in YEARS. I sat there in total awe of this guy making great catches and being a great playmaker. Let's hope for GT fans' sakes that Gailey and Nix actually decide to you know, THROW TO THEIR GO-TO RECEIVER!!! I know I sound frustrated and I shouldn't because ND barely scraped by but as a fan of football I can't help but notice such blatant stupidity.

- I see the rumours were true about ABC sports being basically thrown away in favour of everything being run by ESPN. In some ways I felt pangs of sadness. Sure, Fox is still riding high and CBS is doing good for itself with the NFL but it really strikes me as sad that the idea of prime time sports being run by an over the air network seems to be dead. I'm pretty sure that Roone Arledge is rolling over in his grave now as the once great ABC sports division has vanished into the ether.

- As for the broadcasters, they were pretty good. I can't believe I'm saying this but Brent Musberger wasn't that bad. He called the game down the middle, knew how to involve his analysts and generally kept the flow going. I did have to laugh at his look tho. As is common in live sports broadcasting you'll get a few minutes of the guys in the booth. Herbstreit and Davie looked as one would think they should but Musberger was wearing a short sleeve work shirt. The man looked like a complete anachronism as he looked like a working class guy from the 1950s!

- In news that I'm sure no one in America has heard we now have a new all-time leading passer in professional football history. Last night Damon Allen of the CFL's Toronto Argonauts broke Warren Moon's pro football record. As some might be aware of, Allen is the brother of NFL HOF'er Marcus Allen. Damon has achieved this mark through consistency as he was never really viewed as the best QB in the league in his career. He just kept piling up the yards and playing remarkably well for a man his age. I guess critics of the CFL would laugh that an old guy is still one of the better QBs in the league but I like to think that he's just been gifted with great skill and consistency over the years. Interestingly enough, Allen's mark didn't come on a long bomb or anything like that but rather it came on a shovel pass that resulted in a Touchdown.

- This of course leads us to the big debate (well to Canadians I guess) Should Damon Allen go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? He's certainly a lock to go into the CFL Hall but the people at Canton like to think of their Hall as the Mecca of pro football and so on that basis I think Allen deserves to go in. Of course that'll never happen because he never played a down in the NFL and like it or not NFL beat writers are ignorant to anything that happens north of the border with the possible exception being SI's Peter King who has always made positive remarks about the CFL.

- Last but not least, I have to end this on a sad note as many of us now know the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin is dead. At least he died doing what he loved and quite frankly he was a great ambassador to conservatism and animal protection. He was truly a unique personality. The world has truly lost a great man.

I need an X360.....

2006-08-31T00:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday.

I was reading some impressions of Saints Row on OS and it made me depressed because i'm still stuck in the current gen with a PS2. Oh well I should be making the jump to next-gen by Xmas.

Other then that not much to talk about. I watched the new show Justice. It's a pretty interesting show. I know i'm going to hate the lead defense attorney's guts tho as he comes across as a total cocky SOB. I didn't like all the quick cuts and fancy shmancy pacing that made the show feel like a video game. I then saw that Jerry Bruckheimer is involved in the show. That would explain that crazy style.

I'm trying to think of a good topic to write about after Labour Day. Maybe i'll do the post that's been floating in my brain about the future of propaganda.

We'll see.....

Opinions on 1977 St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Eagles

2006-08-28T21:53:00.000-04:00

I was going to do this with a review of invincible but due to circumstances out of my control that won't be possible. At least I will have something to talk about here tho.

The broadcast team was Gary Bender (who is now the PHX Suns' TV voice) and Tom Matte. (the former Baltimore Colts great) It's interesting to note the minimalism that was employed in this broadcast as it was a very straightforward description of the game, some analysis of some big plays and even some not so big plays. Matte was a bit grating on the ears tho as he didn't really seem to have a very good broadcasting voice. This was offset by his explanations of some of the plays and how they were executed. He wasn't very fancy about it and explained things in a concise manner.

One reason why I picked this up was because I wanted to see Ron Jaworski at QB and Harold Carmichael at WR for the Eagles. I also wanted to see the Cardinals' Jim Hart at the helm. I also heard a lot about Mel Gray who was an excellent WR for the Cards.

Anyways it wasn't the greatest game for Jaworski as he made some poor reads that resulted in killing drives or an INT. There were some flashes of brilliance and you can tell there were some better days coming for him.

Harold Carmichael didn't get the ball very much. I think he was only thrown the ball 5 times or so. This absolutely baffled me as the guy was 6'8, 225 pounds and looked like a man amongst boys. He had some great speed and a long stride. I think he wasn't too happy that he didn't get the ball very much as he caught a TD in the 2nd half and looked a bit pissed off. I wouldn't blame him. I distinctly remember that he only got the ball thrown to him ONCE in the first half of the game.

As for the Cardinals players I wanted to look at well, Jim Hart was banged up but he didn't play that way! He made some great reads, coaxed the Eagles defense to go offsides a couple or so times and threw the ball with great accuracy.

Mel Gray didn't get TOO involved in the game. (both teams decided to play more ball control type of game) but he did make a spectacular catch at one point. He basically jumped up for the ball, caught it and got slammed down onto the turf. It wasn't a very violent hit but it sure had to hurt!

I did see a good young(ish) RB by the name of Terry Metcalf who made one of those kind of plays that makes you stand up and shake your head. He was carrying the ball and more or less LEAPED over the defender to get the first down. Bear in mind that this was in the open field as well.

I also got to see the great NFL Today halftime show (smirk) it had the feel of a news broadcast. I know it's 1977 but there was NO breakdown of the game you were watching. (this could be because it seemed like I got my hands on a master as all commercials were national ones) I didn't expect to get a Sammy Davis Jr. song thrown my way but hey that's an added bonus! Irv Cross intro'ed a video about the Cowboys and they had a Sammy Davis song called "I'm gonna build me a mountain" playing over the NFL Films clips.

As for the game itself? It was 21-17 St. Louis but the score is a bit misleading as the Cards had a commanding lead of 14-3 then 21-3 in the 4th QTR. The Eagles made a mad dash of it but they couldn't come back to win.

I'm going to be getting a helluva broadcast sometime in September tho as I am going to get my hands on the 1979 shootout between Steve Bartkowski and Dan Fouts as the Atlanta Falcons take on the San Diego Chargers.

A smorgasboard of topics!

2006-08-23T14:12:00.000-04:00

I've fallen behind on my intended posts so we're going to do something a little different. I'm going to throw out different topics and do them "quick hit" style. If anyone wants me to elaborate by all means leave a comment. I'll see it sooner or later.

- Finally finished reading the 1st volume of Astro City TPB. Wow what a great read. My favourite story in the TPB was of the one about the criminal who feels like he's going to get caught by one of the superheros. (that's all i'll say about it) You really got the sense of dread and doom in the criminal character's psyche. Another great story was the one where the Editor of the major newspaper recounts his first brush with superherodom back in the '60s. Again it was pretty powerful stuff and I liked the atmospheric mood of the storytelling throughout the TPB. This is definitely among my favourite comic book works.

- Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer to ever play IMO but in some ways I feel he missed a great opportunity. Now don't get me wrong, he's the biggest cash cow in PGA history. Did you know that before Tiger there were only 3 millionaires on the tour. After Tiger there are 15(!) millionaires on the tour right now. Yet, Tiger Woods could've been an even bigger phenomenon. He had the golden opportunity to expand the game's popularity to people of all stripes. In the beginning it looked like that was going to be the case. Early in Woods' career he had a very raucous and loud gallery following him. He had a rock star quality to him and in many ways his fans were very much like "Arnie's Army" from the 1960s. Tiger Woods tapped into every available market and he was the catalyst for the short but so far very profitable boom period where it seemed every kid in North America was taking up the sport. Unfortunately, Tiger became a corporate entity once his status as a great PGA golfer was assured. Since then, Tiger has become aloof and while he's still a pretty good ambassador to the game he comes across as someone who is forced to make nice to the media.

- My birthday is coming up. I can't believe i'm turning 27! Already there are 3 or 4 grey hairs on my head. "sigh". I don't know what i'll be doing for the big day tho.

- As of this writing a 1977 broadcast of the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Philadelphia Eagles is in transit to my house. As with some of my other discs i'll give this broadcast a write up on here. I'm going to have to find some kind of video capture software or whatever and put up pics on here.

Could we be seeing the next Cossell?

2006-08-14T23:57:00.000-04:00

Tony Kornheiser is no stranger to the world of sports. In fact, he's been a sports journalist for 35+ years. He has been hugely successful in print, radio and television. It's therefore somewhat surprising that he's only now getting his biggest break on the national stage as one of the comentators on ESPN's Monday Night Football.

I felt he did a great job in the spotlight and after watching some tape on Howard Cossell I think that Kornheiser has the opportunity to bring that kind of flavour to football broadcasting. Kornheiser won't be as bombastic as Cossell was but he'll bring a fresh perspective to the booth that will be a great change of pace.

Watching Kornheiser tonight I can already see something that will make listening to the games almost as exciting as the on-field product and that is his relationship or lack thereof with Joe Theismann. I love the fact that Kornheiser is not afraid to expose Theismann as the fraud that he is and bust his chops live on national TV. It's evidently clear that these two DON'T like each other and we could see Mike Tirico being the traffic cop between their verbal fisticuffs.

If Kornheiser gets more comfortable in his role then he could be the modern "provocateur" for the MNF broadcasts. If the tension between he and Theismann stays relatively high without leading to violence or becoming a manufactured thing then we could be seeing something special here.

The Critical Error of the "Bush Doctrine"

2006-08-06T13:54:00.000-04:00

Now before some people think that I'm some left wing nutjob let me just say that I think the general idea and purpose of the "Bush Doctrine" is actually pretty good but has been undermined due to Pollyanna, pie in the sky thinking by the Powers That Be. The general gist of the Doctrine is something I think anybody can agree on. The gist of the Doctrine is that the United States would always be against States of terror and/or states that harbour terrorism.

Sounds pretty good so far right?

Well there's another part of the Doctrine which is really the heart of it and something that has been so closely identified to George W. Bush that when things are going bad it directly comes back to bite him on the butt. This is simply the "democracy aspect". The theory behind this is that if the Middle East is given democracy that the people will rebel against what we in the west view as the yoke of theocratic dictatorships and governments that more or less sponsor terror.

This is where the Doctrine falls flat on its face. Bush has this naive notion that democratic elections will lead to a westernized Middle East that rejects Islam and/or religious control by those governments. The Bush administration seems to believe in a domino theory of one middle eastern nation becoming democratic then every other nation will follow. Unfortunately the United States has such a horrible reputation in the middle east that this is very unlikely.

In fact, it has gone the other way. It started with the War on Iraq which was nothing but a poorly executed invasion that had far too many assumptions on the part of the Pentagon. They believed the people in Iraq would be throwing flowers and worshipping the American troops. Instead, insurgent groups backed by Iran and also home grown Iraqi insurgents took the opportunity to attack an army that was too small in numbers to fully quash the rebellion. Now we're in a situation where Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites are waging a civil war with American Troops stuck in the middle.

Next we look at North Korea, one of the nations mentioned in the "Axis of Evil". You know, Kim Il-Jong's provocations and firing off missiles could've been avoided in many ways. Jong is a guy that in the grand scheme of things isn't THAT bad of a threat. All he wants is attention. Some people call him crazy but in fact he's crazy like a fox. He isn't stupid enough to wage nuclear war on the South or Japan but he's done these nuclear tests and such because he wants to be assured that he'll remain in power. Kim Il-Jong was not a threat when Bill Clinton was in office why? Because the Clinton administration recognized that face to face talks with Jong would be far more effective then having praxes in the region trying to isolate him. The Bush administration however, views face to face talks as a sign of weakness which is just silly because the US still has leverage by using the UN or taking unilateral action if Jong doesn't listen to them.

Next we have Iran. This has become the test of the entire Bush Doctrine. First of all, Iran had relatively democratic and free elections and look who they voted for! Instead of the young, progressive Iranians voting out the conservative elites the people voted for a guy who portrayed himself as "one of them". He has proven to be a thorn on the side of the US. There is growing evidence that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran has supplied weaponry to Hezbollah and has done everything it can to cause instability in Iraq. This guy is no fool, he wants to create a Middle East where Iran is the strongman of the region. He wants Iran to have the moral authority to stand up against the US and say "look what has happened in Lebanon. We need nuclear weapons as a deterrent for future attacks in the region." In many ways this very strategy may be working and it's going to cause further problems in the long run.

Finally, the Israel-Lebanon conflict is a direct result of "the Bush Doctrine". The US pushed for a UN resolution to get Israel out of Lebanon while at the same time allowing for free elections. Hezbollah, while not winning the election got enough of the votes to have a substantial say in what goes on. They portray themselves as liberators for the Lebanese and Muslims everywhere. They have taken this war as opportunity to win the hearts of the people of Lebanon by offering to rebuild homes that have been bombed, to help the people who need it most. Of course they have also taken the opportunity to put innocent civilians in harm's way then use those casualties to say that the evil Zionists are slaughtering their people.

So why has this all broken down for George Bush?

There are many reasons but I think these three facts alone should explain it pretty well:

Unfortunate use of language: After the 9/11 attacks Bush likened the future war on terror as a Crusade. This was immediately met with a mixture of fear and indignation by Muslims all over the world. These people have long memories and by calling the war a "crusade" Bush had inadvertently took it from a war against terror into a war against cultures. Yes, the statement was retracted but the cat has already leapt out of the bag. The other unfortunate use of language was the whole "Axis of Evil" speech which pitted western social and political ideals against other regimes which to one degree or another are harmful but by lumping them all together Bush again caused a stir. The "you're either with us or against us" tone of the speech also alienated most countries right off the bat as well.
Seeing the world in absolutes: There is no shades of grey in George W. Bush's world and this has led to quite a number of problems. The belief in democracy through free elections is admirable on the face of it but if one looks deeper they'll see that there has to be a willing participation by the people. As noted above elections in Iran and Lebanon went against the Bush Doctrine. The Iraq experiment was botched from the very beginning because of religious differences from different factions. The people used their voice to elect people and organizations that are anti-US for a reason. There's a long history of animosity against the United States for various reasons. The Bush admin. could've tried to extend an olive branch to the people but due to unfortunate statements and the wanton destruction of Baghdad through "shock and awe" has further entrenched the feeling among middle eastern people that the US is the "Devil".
Last but not least, the "black/white" nature of the Bush admin's policies has led to situations where they've looked mighty foolish. First, it was the Iraqi president getting booed during a state visit because he hasn't condemned the actions of Hezbollah. The Bush admin made the flimsy excuse that the president was facing political pressures at home which handcuffs him from speaking out against Hezbollah. Currently, the Bush admin CLEARLY dragged their feet when it came to the Israel-Lebanon conflict. It became transparent right away that the US would use Israel as a proxy to fight against Hezbollah. The whole world had seen about a week of fighting and had had enough but apparently the Bush admin. would NOT seek a cease-fire. Instead, they have allowed the fires of hatred burn even hotter then before. It has become such a precarious situation now that any misstep could very well cause World War III. This could've been avoided if the US had not made itself to be so blatantly on Israel's side. Now you have moderate Arab states grumbling about inaction. Luckily there is now a UN proposal on the table. We shall see how it goes but again the wheels of diplomacy is spinning TOO slowly as this proposal isn't supposed to be looked at until Wednesday or Thursday!

As you can see, almost every action by the Bush admin has had an equal but opposite reaction. I have no answers except to say that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Astro City TPB thoughts/review coming up in a few weeks

2006-08-02T22:15:00.000-04:00

Just a little update tonight as I am offered the opportunity to talk about 2 very interesting TPBs thanks to kindness and generosity of a fellow OS poster. He kindly sent me the first 2 volumes of Kurt Busiek's Astro City.

I have read and quite enjoyed Busiek's Marvels and i'm told this is in a similar vein but with completely new superheroes. I've already read the first issue in the first TPB and have enjoyed it immensely. (The first TPB contains stand alone stories and the 2nd is a continuing story arc)

Anyways you should look out for my thoughts on them in the coming weeks. As for other new content i'm thinking of doing a write up on the failure of the Bush Doctrine. It should be done no later then Monday.

Further proof the NFL is the most corporate sports entity

2006-07-30T17:29:00.000-04:00

So I was perusing the news stories on TSN.ca and lo and behold I find that the NFL commissioner search has been short listed to 5 names. Two of the five names have some connection to the league but the other three do not. In fact those three have such corporate backgrounds that it actually makes me worry for the league.

First, before I state why I'm worried here are the candidates and their backgrounds

Roger Goodell: NFL COO and one of Paul Tagliabue's closest aides.
Gregg Levy: NFL outside counsel (the same job Tags had before being named commish)
Frederick Nance: A Cleveland Lawyer
Robert L. Reynolds: Concord Mass. Resident who's the VP and CEO of Fidelity Investments
Mayo A. Shattuck III: Lives in Baltimore and is the chairman, President and CEO of Constellation Energy

Now I realize that you need lawyer types to run a huge entity like the NFL but it disturbs me that most of these guys are men with only business and legal backgrounds. They don't seem to have any real sports or PR experience. The hiring of any one of these candidates will the NFL even more cold and sterile then it is now. This is a huge problem in sports and it may be the basis of a future posting but let it be known that it was the NFL that started us down this road.

The corporatization of the NFL has been in steady ascension since the early 1990s and the hiring of the new commissioner may very well be its zenith. It seems to me that the NFL is one of those rare entities that actually respects the office of Commissioner unlike, say MLB for instance. This is a great thing but it can go horribly wrong if you're saddled with a head honcho that's bound and determined milk the cash cow of success right to the very last drop without thinking of future consequences.

As it stands right now the NFL is a multi-BILLION dollar entity with the biggest national TV deals, strong satellite distribution of its SUNDAY TICKET package, a wholly owned network which utilizes NFL Films and soon to add prime time games during the regular season, mega selling merchandising and finally the greatest spectacle in North American pro sports.

Do we really need to make this league MORE corporate and machine-like?

According to this short list the owners seem to think so. I also look at this short list with some alarm as a fan of the Buffalo Bills. The NFL is the only pro league that has a strong and equal revenue sharing plan. The last CBA saw a clash between the old guard who helped craft this magnificent (and some would say socialistic) system and the new money guys who want to outspend everyone in the hopes of winning with an "all star team". As far as I can tell the CBA was pretty much a compromise but it has left Dan Rooney (Steelers) and Ralph Wilson (Bills) a bit non-plused about the whole thing.

Looking at the short list it seems the owners in charge of the search committee may be giving the owners the option of maintaining status quo or hiring someone who may side with the New Money Owners. This in turn could see the NFL becoming more of a free market league which could only have ill tidings for the future.

In my humble opinion the NFL has maxed out all potentialities. If anything, this league needs get back to a smaller scale operation as it has become a bull in a china shop. At some point the corporate greed and the need for green will override the product on the field. In some ways we're already seeing this with the bloated excesses of the pre and halftime extravaganzas for the Season Opener, Thanksgiving, Playoffs and Super Bowl games. The NFL in its need to be "professional" has sapped all creativity by putting huge uniform restrictions to the point that players look more like models for sports equipment rather then athletes, urging coaches not to "dress up" (first it was Mike Tice and the latest example is Mike Nolan) and finally, while I'm not a fan of some of the endzone celebrations I think the league went TOO far in restricting what a player can and can not do.

Heck, just look at the telecasts on Sundays and compare it to 15 years ago. There's more ad time in a regular season NFL game today then there was back then. Everything associated with the NFL HAS to have some kind of corporate sponsor. The league has absolutely whored itself out to the almighty dollar. I don't mind this but when it's so transparent it becomes a rather glaring problem.

So now; we the fans, who have so little say in all this are forced to hope that the NFL owners vote to stay in house and maintain the status quo. In some ways this may also lead to some problems. There are some that view Tagliabue's reign as nothing more then an over-extended caretaker regime. Yes he did rake in huge TV deals, has gotten the league on the verge of returning to LA and has overseen a growth in the league that hasn't been seen since the 1950s. Nonetheless, this has been viewed as just the natural progression of what Pete Rozelle envisioned for the league. In all honesty Tagliabue has contributed very little to the actual game. In many ways he's a failure. He oversaw the Browns leaving Cleveland and the Oilers moving to Tennessee. He brought the Browns back but put such stringent restrictions on what they can and can not do that the "new" Browns were doomed to failure from the start. At the very least you can credit Tags with a smooth expansion process which has brought the Texans to Houston.

So by going with the status quo there will be little to no innovation, continued "polishing" of the NFL image while on ground level we have players misbehaving to an egregious degree. Going outside the league with these more business/legal types will make the league more sterile and greedy.

In essence the NFL may be doomed to topple over it's huge monolithic structure and all the good will that fans have built up for years may very well dissipate. In fact, I can almost certainly say that during the next CBA talks that there WILL be a lockout/strike. It'll be very interesting to see how it plays out both in the media and to the fans especially with a new commissioner in place.

When the NBA was king (Conclusion)

2006-07-27T22:44:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay on this last part. I think I got all NBA'ed out. LOL!

Tonight i'm going to focus on the Bulls dynasty and the ill affects it has had on the league. I will also touch on the tragic over reliance of Michael Jordan. I have a feeling that this installment might see a lot of criticism but oh well.

The problem with dynasties in sports except the NFL (maybe i'll talk about that sometime) is that a dynasty creates a vacuum once said dynasty is over. You see, the pro leagues and the media tend to market the stars on the dynastic team or cover said team to the exclusion of others. It didn't help the NBA's cause that the Bulls dynasty had arguably the greatest player of all time running the show.

So here lies the problem, the league and the media hypes up the dynasty team to such an extent that they become bigger then the league itself. What do you expect to happen when that dynasty is over?

The casual fans who only watched the sport to see that team, whether it be to win or lose will no longer have any real interest and stop watching. Of course some will become geniune fans of the game and stick with it but not enough to make the whole hoopla worth it.

The other thing that happens is that everyone will be looking for that new "super team". This is why everyone sings the praises of parity which in effect really means mediocrity. Since there are no clear dominant teams the league has to sell the individuals even more then necessary.

Which leads us right to Michael Jordan. Ah, Michael Jordan; the man should be pictured next to the term "double edged sword" because that what he was to the NBA.

On the positive side he was and is the most media savvy and business savvy athlete to ever lace up a pair of basketball shoes. The man's wealth was 95% based on endorsement deals and comercials rather then his actual playing contract for the majority of his career. He was arguably the greatest player to ever play game. He took a league that was still somewhat reeling from the coke head perception that it got from fans and the media alike. (remember Michael Ray Richardson was given a lifetime suspension in the '86 season!)

The good has led to many problems which still plague the league to this day.

The prolific nature of Michael Jordan's play: Yes he was fun to look at. He did things no one had done before and yes he had contemporaries but everyone points to "His Airness" as the inspiration to their careers in the NBA. Jordan's high flying antics has led to the ESPN-ization of the game where the players today only really want to make it on the highlight clips and concentrate more on the fabulous rather then the more mundane fundamentals (something I mentioned in my last installment)

Crass Comercialism: Yeah you had Magic Johnson and the Lakers as well as the Celtics to a lesser extent ruling the roost with jersey sales but with Jordan came the explosion of the sports merchandizing market. You had TONS of people walking around with Bulls paraphanelia and MJ related items. This eventually spread to other teams and now the NBA has become the standard for the hip hop culture with the fashion jerseys and the way players dress before and after games etc etc.

"The Jordan Rules": Originally this was the defensive strategy used by Pistons coach Chuck Daly against Michael Jordan and his Bulls. However, it has morphed to mean something completely different. In effect, The Jordan Rules has come to be known as the Superstar Treatment. Ever since the Bulls beat the Pistons in the '89 playoffs Jordan was treated differently then almost every superstar out there. He was given the benefit on defensive calls, he was given favourable calls against the defense. At times he couldn't even be touched without a foul being called against him. This treatment of Michael Jordan has migrated to be the standard for almost every elite superstar in the NBA today. Role players will get the shaft because of "the code" and how stars have to be coddled and taken care of. It has become one of the things that have turned off a lot of long time basketball fans and it's something that doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. (witness the Dwayne Wade foul in the Finals this past season)

The Next Michael Jordan: The over-reliance on Michael Jordan was something unique in North American sports. Yes, Wayne Gretzsky had that kind of prominence in hockey but since the game isn't as huge in the US as it is in Canada it just doesn't have the same impact. Michael Jordan became BIGGER then the game itself. I can think of only one other time in sports where a player had that kind of dominance on every level and it goes so far back when the connection between sports, media and culture wasn't as strong as it is now. That person was Babe Ruth who, if he was playing today would have a connection with the fans like no other player in pro sports today. The thing with Jordan is, the NBA hyped him up as the greatest thing since sliced bread. By the time Jordan's career was in full steam the PR people HAD to look for an "Air Apparent". Do you people remember the hype that Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, (oh he does still get hype just ask some of the nutbars on the OS baskeball forum j/k y'all!) Vince Carter and Harold Minor?!?! got. None of those guys lived up to the pressure that the media placed on their platter. I think the NBA has finally cooled down on the MJ comparisons stuff now. Yes early in Lebron James short career he was given that moniker but now it looks like they're going for a Bird/Magic dynamic between he and Wade which I think is a great way to grow the sport by having REAL rivalries.

So as you can see Michael Jordan directly or indirectly can be linked to what the NBA has become today. I know it's a huge counter-argument against the accepted view of MJ and it doesn't come with any malice. It's just some thoughts that have occured to me in the last 8 years since the end of the Bulls dynasty.

* I know the numbering on my list is screwed. Blame me not blogger.

When the NBA was king (part two)

2006-07-25T21:34:00.000-04:00

When the NBA was king Part Two

Tonight I will be looking at the players, lack of talent today and the ill effects of the Bulls and to a lesser extent the Laker Dynasties.

I think we can all agree that the level of play in the NBA today is pretty enemic. Yeah, I hear the younger folks saying Kobe and Lebron are legends and all that but what these people fail to realize is that these guys are excelling in what is basically a watered down league where marginal players are over-valued because there is a dearth of talent overall.

Let's take the wayback machine to the 1980s and while the players were not as athletic as these guys are today they had fundamentals. Most of the stars of the NBA in that time had full college careers behind them and learning from some of the best coaches in the college ranks. Today you have kids that literally can't wait to bust out of collegiate "prison". They will only marginally buy into their coach's system when they know full well that they'll be making the big bucks of the NBA and shoe endorsements etc etc.

So now we have college coaches recruiting kids that they feel are more "polished" so they can win now rather then building a program from the ground up because they don't have the luxury of teaching their kids the fundamentals of the game. There are certainly exceptions to this but by and large this is what college basketball recruiting has turned into. So when these kids get drafted into the NBA their basketball IQ is stunted to a large degree.

Let's also look at what the NBA is touting as it's future in the Euro players. I saw a guy at Operation Sports complain about Euro players and how they're no good but au contraire my friend they ARE good. These kids are for a lack of a better term indoctrinated into basketball. They're taught the game from the ground up and the European coaches have taken the drills that American coaches USED to teach and have made it into an art form. The problem is that these kids have the basics drilled into their heads so much that they've lost something that players back in the day and yes, even players of today posess and that something is creativity and the playground mentality.

You see, the Euro players succeed through repitition, so much so that they become almost machine-like in the way they play. They don't have the creativity to improvise or the loose playground feel to try something different. I believe this is mostly due to their coaching rather then anything to do with their skill. A good example of this was Jose Calderron with the Raptors last year. He was finding some success early on with his jumper and he was mixing in a slashing, to the hoop style of play to go along with it. When he got cold, he became very tentative, passed up the open shots, didn't drive to the hoop and when he did shoot they were always long range jumpers that require feel and timing to get in. He didn't have the creativity to just try something different or be aggressive with the basketball at all.

On the flip side the major problem with today's players is that they're TOO in tuned with the highlight reel plays. They're TOO flashy and want to make the SportsCenter highlights. Mainly what this does is mask the lack of fundamental skills most players have. They're too insecure to just play the game the way it's supposed to be played. In some ways you have to put a little bit of the blame on the prolific high flying antics of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins as they took what Dr. J popularized and put it into the stratosphere.

Last but not least, I truly believe in my heart of hearts that most of the players back in the day would be highly successful today. Some of them may not be superstars like they were then but they'd be damn good. You have to remember they played in a league that was either lightning fast up and down the court action or rough and tumble with big guys banging all over the place. Hell, you had two teams in that time period that made a living out of abusing their opponents in the "Bad Boy" Pistons and the Pat Riley coached Knicks. Do you honestly think that Lebron or Wade could succeed in an enviroment where they're constantly being pushed around? Hell, a guy like Rasheed Wallace would be kicked out at the end of the 1st quarter every game because he's being "fouled" all the time.

Seeing that this post went a little long i'll save the Dynasties part for Part Three.

When the NBA was king (part one)

2006-07-25T01:55:00.000-04:00

Oye I know I haven't posted in eons and the 1 or 2 people that read this has probably gone away "sniffles". Anyways i'm gonna make a comeback as I have a lot of thoughts stored up in my mind lately.

When the NBA was king (part one)

There are many people of my age bracket that remember those weekends watching some of the greatest basketball in a generation. We had the pleasure of watching Magic, Bird, Jordan, Ewing, Stockton and Malone just to name a few. It was a time when the NBA was the hottest pro sports league in existence. It seemed that David Stern could do no wrong. Stern had the same kind of profile that Paul Tagliabue so rightfully deserved but in the end the end of a dynasty, the retirements of legendary players all within a few years and last but not least the over-reliance on the Greatest Player of All Time has put the NBA in a bad situation.

It's hard to believe that in the late 1970s the league was on the verge of collapse and the NHL had a higher profile in the U.S. The use and proliferation of cocaine and other drugs made the stars of the NBA into unmarketable, volatile nutcases for the most part. Of course there are exceptions like Dr. J but for the most part the NBA was a barren wasteland.

Just when the league was on the edge of oblivion two new stars joined the L and totally changed the league forever. The two men couldn't be more different. One was outgoing, gregarious, photogenic and could play the uptempo game that defined his generation. The other star was a country boy hick from the basketball mad state of Indiana. He was shy, awkward looking but had an amazing ability to shoot the lights out. They were Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird.

They saved the league from oblivion and opened the door to what would be the most interesting and competitive 15 or so years in NBA history. One could argue it was the period from 1979-1998 that made the NBA THE talk of the sports world. The talent was far more spread out and the players were actually "gasp" REALLY talented. You had Ewing and Starks in NYC, Jordan, Pippen and later Rodman in Chi., Stockton, Malone, Hornacek in Utah, Bird, McHale, Parrish in Bos., Hakeem in Houston, Alex English in Denver, Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Scott etc etc in LAL.

Hell, even the lesser teams had some good talent during that time frame like Golden State having Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and a young Latrell Sprewell. The Clippers had Danny Manning for crying out loud!

The other thing that made the NBA so great was NBC and this is where I think a lot of the problems with the NBA come in today. Oh i'm sure we'd still complain about the lack of talent which i'll get into but David Stern has put his hand in the cookie jar one time too many. NBC was a very loyal broadcaster to the league and basically helped to make it as widespread as it is today. Remember when NBC lost the NFL rights? That was a huge blow right? Well yes but it wasn't so bad because NBC had the NBA which NBC had made into the crown jewel of their sports division.

My generation fondly remembers growing up hearing the John Tesh music and getting geeked up for NBA basketball. We'd marvel at the tough and at times chippy basketball you'd get from time to time. We all laughed at the silly arguments between Bill Walton and Snapper Jones and rolled our eyes at Peter Vecsey's attempts to throw out breaking news.....

and who can forget "YESSSSSS" from Marv Albert :)

In short, NBC made fans out of even casual sports fans. I can tell you this from experience. I distinctly remember in 1991 my whole family sitting around the TV watching the series clinching game between the Bulls and Lakers. It was a rite of passage every spring/summer to watch the playoffs on NBC. You didn't have to fret about whether the game was on this network or that. Even if NBC split the broadcast rights during the playoffs at least you knew it would be TNT and that's it. Sone nights these days you have to switch from TNT to ESPN then back to TNT. It's just far too confusing.

Finally, there's the thing we all remember most, the double and triple headers during the weekend, for that one brief moment in time the NBA almost had an NFL-like following because of those double/tripleheader games.

It's all gone now because Stern wanted the upfront money and he thought the exposure of ESPN would trump any kind of revenue loss. What he didn't bargain for was the casualness of the fanbase that the NBA had built up over the last decade and a half. Sure ESPN goes to a lot of homes but for the most part not everyone is a sports nut. You need to market the game to the outsiders because you're ALWAYS going to get the core audience. Stern went back-to-front with the cable only broadcast deal.

My next post will talk about the players, lack of talent today and the ill effects of the Bulls and to a lesser extent Laker dynasties.

Something I found on youtube

2006-05-09T16:08:00.000-04:00

Check this out:

Now this song was a favourite of mine during the late 80s. That's not the main thing i'm commenting about. It's the way the video is done.

Holy Moses!

I know we laugh about the pop culture of our parents but sheesh the 80s was a weird decade!

Anywho enjoy the video and laugh at it as well.

Ok let's see if people actually read this thing

2006-05-05T23:17:00.000-04:00

I will do the crime/detective picks this weekend. I apologize for not doing so but I was sick with a terrible flu. I'm just now getting better. I only have a cough now! YAY!

Anyways....

As a treat to you and as a way of seeing if people actually read this blog I will give away a copy of the 1981 AFC Divisional Championship game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins. I will ship it for $15 dollars U.S. (or CND if you're a Canadian) All you have to do is respond to this post and give me your E-mail address so we can do the transaction.

The game is in pretty good condition considering the age of the broadcast and hey, it's a classic game!

OTR Heaven: More Comedy Picks

2006-05-01T08:24:00.000-04:00

Continuing on from the last post

The Jack Benny Program: This was one of the longest lasting shows in the OTR era and it's also probably the most represented. (Yes there are full runs of some shows floating around but it's the Jack Benny Program that has the most circulation among enthusiasts) This was the show that made Jack Benny what he became. The show created the penny pinching, fragile ego, self deprecating character that most people grew to love. There's yet another outdated look on race relations on paper from this show however Benny always treated Rochester with respect and it's Rochester who got most of the best laughs without resorting to racial stereotypes. Again the humour back then is hoary today but there are many episodes that are just geniunely LOL funny.

The Life of Riley: This was the prototype for the typical family sitcom we know today. The main character of Chester A. Riley was a lovable, clumsy but big hearted oaf who had a knack for making small problems into near disasters. Riley was more then likely the basis for future characters such as Ralph Kramden, Fred Flintstone and Dan Connor. Overall this show was quite funny for its time and I enjoy the interplay between Riley and one of friends Digby "Digger" O'Dell who was a very morbid undertaker who'd advise Riley on some of his problems. Think of him as a more morbid Wilson from Home Improvement.

Lum n' Abner: If you thought that the backwards, hick comedy format was a '60s invention then you'd be wrong. The "hick comedy" format thrived on radio and Lum n' Abner was one of the first. It's not exactly my cup of tea but it does have a popular following amongst enthusiasts so I thought i'd mention it.

Last but not least....

My Favourite Husband: This was the show that made Lucille Ball into the star that she later became. It was basically a radio version of her later success on TV with I Love Lucy. All the elements of "Lucy" are in this show and it works surprisingly well given how we usually associate Lucille Ball with physical comedy.

There are a couple other pretty good comedic shows out there but these are some of the more interesting and influential ones. My next OTR post will focus on the detective and crime genre. It's going to be extremely hard narrowing them down to a select few as it's this genre that was probably the most popular in those days.

OTR Heaven

2006-04-30T00:47:00.000-04:00

Old Time Radio enthusiasts rejoice!

I found a great site with over 11 thousand episodes of 160 different OTR series. This is a treasure trove of nostalgia all on one site! The best part of it, it's free!

Now for those of you at work who may be bored and by a computer I urge you to check out the Old Time Radio Network.

I first got into OTR last summer when I was bored out of my skull and decided to look up nostalgia sites. I found one that had downloads of OTR shows and lots of great information. I was hooked right then and there.

Since i'm sure all my readers (the one or two of you out there) are like me and not old enough to remember or even know of this stuff I will reccomend some shows on the site I linked.

Comedy:

Amos n' Andy: I'm sure you've at least heard of the piss poor Sam Jackson/Nick Cage movie of the same name but this is a completely different show. It's about two down and out black guys who move to New York. The hijinks ensue from there. I know it's not politically correct these days to like this show but the humour is just very good. (tho I do cringe at times) Despite the fact that the show was done by two white guys they treated their characters with respect and the situations in the show are pretty universal.

Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy: Charlie McCarthy is the ventriloquest (sp) doll made famous by Candice Bergen's father. It was a pretty amusing show with surprisingly sharp humour. Unfortunately this site only has 6 eps but I have an MP3 disc here with quite a few shows on it. There's an infamous adam and eve sketch that they did with Mae West that caused oodles of controversy. Thankfully that episode is on the site so I urge you to check that one out at least. W.C. Fields was also a great guest on that show as he and Charlie would insult each other to no end.

Fibber McGee and Molly: Another great show from the golden days. This started off as more of a slice of life program that evolved into a comedy. Fibber McGee would always find himself in a pickle due to his blustery nature and telling "small" fibs at times. The two enduring parts of the show was Fibber McGee's closet which he'd open and tons of stuff would fall all over him without fail. The other enduring thing about the show was The Great Gildersleeve which leads into my next comedy pick....

The Great Gildersleeve: This was a spinoff of Fibber McGee and Molly and it was just as popular, if not more so then the original show. Gildersleeve is the epitome of the guy with bravado, bluster and overconfidence that always gets busted. You have to hear this show to believe it. I've heard some episodes where I actually had a long 1-2 minute laugh.

I think that'll be all for tonight. I will do more comedy picks tomorrow and eventually we'll go through crime/mystery shows and lastly westerns.

women I find attractive #2: Jessica Rabbit

2006-04-27T21:50:00.000-04:00

Hey who said it has to be real life women?

I remember the first time I watched WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT and i'm not ashamed to say I got fuzzy feelings seeing her on screen. Now i'm not one of those weirdos who get all hot and steamed up over cartoon characters but how can you not love a character that's drawn with so much curves and big breasts. :D

In fact she's a "frankenstein" of movie goddesses. She has the Lauren Bacall voice, Betty Grable legs, Marilyn Monroe butt and torso, Jayne Mansfield breasts, Veronica Lake hair, Marlene Dietrich eyes and a singing voice based on Judy Garland.

Also something you may or may not know but Kathleen turner was the voice of Jessica in the movie. She did a great job vocalizing a sultry sex bomb and for that Jessica Rabbit is in the Betty Boop echelon of well drawn, sexy cartoon characters.

Too bad Kim Bassinger's Holli Would in COOL WORLD was just a crass, oversexed character.

My Organization/Business Model for DC Comics

2006-04-22T16:54:00.000-04:00

I've just recently gotten back into comics. I was never really a big reader of the superhero genre but I did read a few Batman, Spiderman, Superman issues as a kid. I've now started buying comics again and I find the industry more confusing then ever. So this post is going to simplify DC IMO and lead to a more consistent DC Universe as well.

I send questions to Mark Fossen over at Focused Totality/Operation Sports about the comics industry and such. Last night I asked if we'd ever see a boom period again and he basically said "not in the current format" tho he did mention that Trade PaperBacks and Graphic Novels are going through their own little boom. This got me thinking about how I would run DC to bring on better sales and such because as Fossen also said to me, the readership is aging rapidly.

So here's my model for DC Comics:

It's a 3 tier model with a "sandwich" tier between Tier 1 and Tier 2. There'll be different pricing for each tier and within the first Tier there's sub-divisions.

TIER ONE: Monthly Issues

First of all, I think the monthlies are far too skimpy for what they charge. 22 pages is NOT enough. I'm one of those people that likes to take their time reading but i've found that i've blown by the monthlies i've bought in 5 minutes or less! This, coming from a guy who likes to study the panels and such before flipping the page. So what needs to be done is simple. I think there should be a 48 page format and nothing less. There's also the issue of how many books should a character have. It seems to me that Batman and Superman have far too many books associated with them so a new rule i'd institute is "2 books associated with a character". That way you don't have to go all over the place to follow one hero's storyline and whatnot.

As i've said Tier One is subdivided:

1A) This is your main DC universe titles of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman JLA, JSA, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and whatever else you want to put in there. These would be priced at $2 a pop. One thing i'd like to see in the main DCverse is a return to making the characters matter and less emphasis on the creative teams. This would mean giving any writer a bible to work off of for the title they're working on. That way they'd be forced to write good stories rather then putting in their little quirks on the table.

1B) This is my revolutionary idea. As we all know the comics readership is aging so I think a GENIUNE Silver Age/Multiverse imprint should be instituted. It'd also allow the writers to be creative and have fun with the characters. The All-Star line was SUPPOSED to do this but well Frank Miller went all dark with Bats and while i've heard the Superman one is actually a good nod to the Silver Age it's still pretty much rooted in Bronze Age stuff. So this imprint would be the answer. I'd like to see someone who worked in the SA handle editorial duties on this imprint.

Also in this tier would be an Elseworlds imprint, again it would allow the creative teams to really let their imagination run wild while not having to be tied down to continuity. I think this imprint wouldn't necessarily be a regular monthly but it'd come out enough that a seperate imprint is needed.

1C) This would be the DC Animated division. It's more or less the animated versions of the main DCverse as well as the Cartoon Network books. These would be in the format we see them today of 22 pages and the same price as well.

"SANDWICH"

Basically this'd be where you release mini-series and crossover events. One word about this tho, DC needs to have more clarity with their Mega Events. I know that Infinite Crisis is a once in 20 years kind of event but do we really need a what seems like 4-5 different mini-series surrounding the main event of Infinite Crisis? I mean this is just overkill. This event is supposed to bring new readership but when you have all this other stuff going on it's kinda hard to hook new readers when they have to buy 50 books just to follow the damn thing! (i'm exaggerating but i'm pretty sure that number is pretty accurate)

Anyways these mini-series and crossover events would then convert over Tier Two a year after the mini has fully been published. That way the TPB doesn't take away the sales of the mini. Even then a mini-series would be up for TPB form but that doesn't mean you have to publish it straight away.

Again these would be 48 pages and the price would go up to $2.50 per issue.

TIER TWO: TPBs and GNs

DC has a wealth of comic book goodness in the vaults that ache for a TPB/GN treatment. In fact, I have an idea for a TPB series. We all know that some writers have slavish fans so i'd like to see a Writer X TPB series where you'd get the full run of your fave writer on a book. To make my point clearer how about something like Marv Wolfman's run on Teen Titans. So if you're a fan of Wolfman you'd see a series of TPBs of his entire run of that title.

I like the pricing for these things so i'd keep it as is. I know TPBs and GNs have become the "in thing" so i'd like to see WB (which owns DC) to strike a deal with a major book chain to sell them exclusively or something. I know they sell TPBs at some major chains but I think it'd be more profitable to make it a permanent thing.

TIER THREE: Archives Editions and Specialty Items

I truly love the Archives Edition program at DC and hope to see even more of these bad boys. Yes the price is exorbitant but just look at the quality you're getting. It's money well spent. I think that DC could also put encyclopedias, artist specific artbooks and CD-Rom versions of the Archives Editions. The CD-Rom idea comes from the Marvel CD-Roms i've seen which offers full runs of the Avengers, Spider-man, Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Now unless those were not liscenced by Marvel then this is a great idea for DC to get at the tech crowd.

So there you have it, my idea to make DC more viable. DC also has a great parent company in WB. I think Warners should really ramp up the DC properties in other media. The cartoons have been wildly successful and the live action TV side seems to be doing well. I've even heard they're doing an Aquaman series! The movies are only now starting to get going again with the new Batman films and Superman coming out this summer.

The only thing WB needs to do more of is to actually, you know advertise DC a bit more. There should be more synergy with the TV and movie incarnation of the characters.

So my ideas would do this:

1. Simplify, while at the same time diversifying the DC Universe

2. Emphasizing character rather then the creative teams behind them

3. Put an emphasis on catering to the divergent fanbase: a streamlined DCverse for the ongoing series and a Silver Age/Elseworlds imprint for the older crowd who wish for simpler and lighter entertainment.

4. Make the TPB/GN side of the business at the forefront for mainstream exposure.

5. Synergy between the different incarnations of the DC properties.

My favourite sports uniforms of all time: NFL edition

2006-04-18T14:18:00.000-04:00

The NFL has always been a league that tries to honour tradition. It's no accident that 3 of my favourite NFL uniforms all echo the past. There's something about old style NFL designs that just get to me. I think it's the originality and the fact that they weren't cookie cutter that brings out the joy in watching them in their glory.

In a related story it looks like the Vikings will be getting their purple pants back WOOHOO! Sadly the design that i've seen looks VERY cookie cutter. It looks like a mix of the Rams, Broncos and Chargers. "sigh".

Oh well, at least the pants are back!

I have to include the greatest uniform in all of sports. It's a shame that Spanos (the owner in San Diego) doesn't like them that much. The uniform has such an iconic yet "cool" look to it. I do have to say I really enjoyed the game last year on National TV where the Chargers organization totally went back to the future by giving Qualcomm a throwback look in terms of the football field logos and such.

I really think this should be something done for every team once a year but then again it'd probably be too much work for a one game event.

The Washington Redskins 70th anniversary uniform was just BRILLIANT! I loved the burgundy colour, the nod to the 'Skins past with the spear/feather helmet logo and the sock striping. Sadly, it seemed this was just a one year anniversary uniform. There was talk that it was a trial run for Daniel Snyder to actually RENAME the team. Luckily that never came to pass but the uniform itself is just GOOOORGEUS. It's a shame we'll probably never see this uniform again.

last but not least is the current New York Jets uniform. It's a great tribute to .the 1969 Jets. It's not a completely accurate reproduction but it's good enough. I like the fact that the oval that the word "Jets" is in looks a little more refined then the '69 version which looked more like a football shape. The only thing that's bad about the current set is the green pants. Personally I think it looks alright but a classic uniform doesn't need a monochrome set!

My favourite sports uniforms of all time: NHL edition

2006-04-13T13:58:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the NHL Edition of this 4 part series. I might as well get the non-traditional uniform out of the way. As you can see the Thrashers' 3rd uniform uses my fave colour blue and it boasts a very unique design. It has an almost unfinished quality to it by having "Atlanta" written down on one sleeve and nothing on the other side. The mesh on the sides/under arms is pretty interesting as well tho it does make the players look like they're sweating. Overall it's a pretty busy design but for some odd reason I like it. Maybe it's the blue :)

I know it may seem like i'm a homer with the Leafs pick but it's a very simple and clean design. I actually like their 3rd uni better then the home/away set as the 3rd acknowledges the 1930s/40s design while also having the blue shoulders that the Leafs had in the 70s right on up to when Cliff Fletcher took over.

Last but not least, The Montreal Canadiens. This uniform just oozes hockey tradition. I love the way the logo has a message similar to other logos in the past where it's more then just the letters and such. You know, logos like the Whalers and Brewers where the logo has letters but it makes up an image. That's not the case with the Canadiens logo but it does emphasize the Canadien name and the Habitants as they're called the Habs.

My favourite sports uniforms of all time: MLB edition

2006-04-12T00:36:00.000-04:00

So tonight I was reading OS and there was a thread about the Mets uniform. This inspired me to post my top 3 fave uniforms in major league sports.

Tonight, we'll start with MLB:

Houston Astros' rainbow uniforms were pretty "spacey agey" for the time. Today it's a bad 70s acid trip. I actually like the uniform, maybe it's the interesting use of colours that you don't usually see used well in MLB uniforms

The Toronto Blue Jays powder blues really impressed me as a kid. My fave colour is blue so I guess it's natural. Baseball in the '70s and '80s was just so damn colourful and FUN. I wish we would see the use of brighter colours or interesting designs like we did back then.

The Pittsburgh Pirates of the late '70s seemed to have a million different uniform combos. They were the Mets before the Mets fell in love with black and using tons of alternates. It seems I like gaudy uniforms but you'll see that i'm a traditionalist with the other sports. I'm not a total fruit loop for the bright colours.

Neglected instruments: The Bongo Drum

2006-04-07T11:14:00.000-04:00

I was going to mention this in my last post but it was getting a bit lengthy and I didn't want to go off on a tangent.

I notice that a lot of Marvin's '70s work featured bongo drums extensively and I have to admit when I think of Marvin I think of the bongo drums. The instrument really has an addictive quality to the ear. I think I could just sit and listen to bongo drums for hours on end and never get tired of it.

It's a shame that a lot of modern R&B doesn't utilize it the way Marvin did. Even when they want to use something of that quality they go with electronic beat box type of machines that just don't capture the rythm of the actual bongos. I know that Marvin was heading in that direction in the 80s but i'm sure he would've found a use for the bongo drums.

So to end this post off:

R&B acts, USE THE BONGO DRUMS FOR GOODNESS SAKES!!!!

DVD Review: Marvin Gaye: The Real Thing in performance 1964-1981

2006-04-07T10:32:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went and picked up this great new DVD collection of Marvin Gaye in performance. This is the first in what should be a series of like minded DVDs for Motown artists. It's only fitting that the first DVD would feature the Prince of Soul Marvin Gaye.

Marvin was never comfortable performing in front of an audience and wasn't much of a dancer either but despite these knocks against his live performing he was still able to exude charm and captivate an audience.

The DVD features fully remastered mixes of his lip-synched performances that really makes the aural experience much better.

Here are the track listings and my thoughts on a couple of them:

Hitch Hike (Filmed In 1964)

Pride And Joy (Filmed In 1965)
Can I Get A Witness (Filmed In 1965)
Pretty Little Baby (Filmed In 1965)
Ain’t That Peculiar (Filmed In 1965)
You’re A Wonderful One (Filmed In 1965)
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (with Tammi Terrell) (Filmed In 1967)
I Heard It Through The Grapevine (1969) (Filmed In 1969)
What’s Going On (Filmed In 1972)
What’s Happening Brother (Filmed In 1972)
Come Get To This (Filmed In 1981)
Let’s Get It On (Filmed In 1981)
Distant Lover (Filmed In 1979)
A Funky Space Reincarnation (Filmed In 1979)
Ego Tripping Out (Filmed In 1979)
Heavy Love Affair (Filmed In 1981)

The "I Heard it through the Grapevine" performance is the first non lip synched song and it's just amazing. I've only seen snippets of this performance so I had no idea how great it was. Marvin sang the song on a sparse arrangement that was heavily piano based. You could feel the pain in his voice as he sang the song and the piano playing was VERY jazz influenced. In fact the sound of this arrangement is very much in the vein of what would become What's Going On. At the end of the song Marvin gets into an ad lib session where Marvin sounds like a jazz man in his element.

"What's Going On" and "What's Happening Brother" are from the long lost Save the Children film that was backed by the Rainbow-PUSH coalition headed up by Jesse Jackson. Again i've only seen snippets of that performance. This performance was seminal Marvin Gaye. The bongo heavy arrangement with Marvin on piano is just out of this world. At about the halfway point of the song Marvin decides to turn it into a jazz jam session. Marvin was more of a two fisted piano player but when he's on top of his game his piano playing is superb.

So at this point in the song Marvin gets more into a scat rythm with his singing that's very intereting. Now on the original album "What's going on" bridges to "what's happening brother" and Marvin does this in the live performance. As they bridge to the latter song everything is cut out except the bongos and the piano. Marvin sings the last part of the song and he sounds incredibly heavenly as if the spirit of God has taken over. When I heard that I immediately got chills up and down my back. It's very hard to explain but for that short instant in time I was taken away and wrapped up in Marvin's piano playing. So if anyone had doubts that What's Going On was a divine album then watch this performance. It's easily the best on the disc.

Did you know Marvin did a music video? It's true!

Apparently it was a "promotional film" of the song "A funky space reincarnation" from the neglected (at the time) Hear My Dear album. Marvin looks like he was hanging out with Isaac Hayes and George Clinton! The set was elaborate and eye candy was used a bit as well. All of that would become a staple of music videos in the 80s. So I guess Marvin was ahead of his time....again

The last two performances on the disc are from his last sessions at Motown. Interestingly tho these lip synched performances are the most animated out of all of marvin's performances on the disc.

On "ego tripping out" Marvin actually looks like he's having fun singing about his ego and the redemption of himself as he's dancing and grooving to the beat. As I said earlier he was never a great dancer and at times he looks like a chuck and jive type of performer but that's not such a bad thing with the song he was performing in that clip.

The DVD includes interview clips interspersed with the performances. Most of which comes from various Dinah Shore shows. The last couple clips really made me feel sorry as Marvin looked really beat up. Marvin was a talent that was never meant to last a full lifetime. He took on so much emotional, mental and physical abuse in his life that's it's amazing that he lasted as long as he did.

The interview clips are interesting tho and I had a good belly laugh at one clip where he, Dinah Shore and a couple other ppl are talking about Hear My Dear and Sally Struthers blurts out "you wrote that!?" and Dinah had to explain that Marvin basically did everything on that album. You could see that Dinah was slightly annoyed at Struthers' stupidity.

Last but not least 7 performances are included in a cappella form where you hear Marvin recording his 60s hits. It's very interesting to hear marvin singing without the music backing him up. You really get a sense of how amazing his voice was and how he could change his vocal range within a song.

Overall this DVD is highly recommended for Marvin Gaye fans and for anyone wanting to see a master on stage.

Gripe of the Day

2006-04-03T14:09:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I hate being Canadian....

Rogers Sportsnet here in Canada are the rights holder of MLB in Canada but it seems they can't come up with a deal to air games. (other then Jays games)

Why?

Because of money

I e-mailed the Toronto Star's sports media reporter and he isn't so sure why but thinks it has to do with money. What a crummy way to start the season. Yeah, I know the Sox game got delayed a lot last night but it would've been better then poker for Heavens sake!

Let's hope RSN can cut a deal sooner or later.

John McCain has gone soft on us all

2006-04-03T08:08:00.000-04:00

MEET THE PRESS transcript

This past Sunday John McCain was a guest on NBC's Meet The Press. The interview disappointed me in many ways. I first really paid attention to McCain back in 2000 when he ran for president and his brand of politics was very refreshing. In a world where politicians often sell their souls to special interests and the almighty dollar; it was refreshing to see someone buck the trend. The Straight Talk Express was something new in a jaded society that has mistrust in their leaders. McCain was someone who connected to all segments of society. Yes, he lost the primaries in 2000 but that was mainly due the Bush spin doctors who created bad publicity for McCain.

Now i've seen some recent news stories and they've made mention of the fact that McCain has been cozying up to conservative base of the GOP and I thought that he was being smart. Unfortunately, it looks like doing that has had affect on his stands on the issues and the way he presents himself.

Examples:

MR. RUSSERT: The president said he looked into his soul and found him to very honest and very straightforward.

SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Is the president wrong?

SEN. McCAIN: I think that the president is realizing more and more that Putin is...

MR. RUSSERT: Not honest and not straightforward.

SEN. McCAIN: If, if not, if not honest, certainly an autocrat who is seeking the consolidation of power with his old buddies from the KGB. I think the president’s very concerned and has expressed those concerns about behavior on the part of the Russian government. Look, we all say things that are stupid. I’m going to probably say several more this morning, so I—the president probably...

MR. RUSSERT: So that was, in your words, stupid of the president to say?

SEN. McCAIN: No, I don’t mean it’s stupid. I mean, we say things...

MR. RUSSERT: Well, he called pre—he called Putin honest and straightforward.

SEN. McCAIN: Look, the president wanted to develop a good working

relationship with Russia and with Putin, and I’m sure that the president has

re-evaluated his position in light of Putin’s recent actions. At the time I

think he was—remember, it was early in his presidency, the president was trying to develop a good relationship with Putin. And, again, I don’t mean stupid. I’ll say it was stupid as far as I’m concerned, but all of us make statements that sometimes are not correct in light—in hindsight.

MR. RUSSERT: How about just, how about a misjudgment?

SEN. McCAIN: At the time it probably was not a good predictor of what Putin would do.

Now if this was 2000 McCain would've been brazen enough to tell it like it is. Of course you can't just go out and call Bush stupid but at least he would've used more forceful language to criticize the president.

MR. RUSSERT: ...March 2004, I asked you if you believed that George Bush ran an honorable campaign and you said, “I cannot say that.”

SEN. McCAIN: Quote, “Ran an honorable campaign.” I put those things behind me. I don’t look back in anger. I don’t think the American people expect me to look back in anger. Things are said and done in political campaigns which are pretty, which are pretty tough. And they are—and campaigns are tough in America, and they should be. But my support for him was announced three months after the primary was over in the year 2000.

I can understand what McCain is saying here but if he was more honest he'd say something like "I believe it was not an honourable campaign but i've learned to forgive and forget in this case.

(Videotape, February 28, 2000):

SEN. McCAIN: Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: “Agents of intolerance.” And you were asked about that speech and you said this: “I must not and will not retract anything that I said in that speech at Virginia Beach. It was carefully crafted. It was carefully thought out.” Based on that, do you believe that Jerry Falwell is still an agent of intolerance?

....As regards to Reverend Falwell, which is the major thrust of your comments, I met with Reverend Falwell, he came to see me in Washington. We, we agreed to disagree on certain issues and we agreed to move forward. I believe that speaking at Liberty University is no different from speaking at the New College or Ohio State University, all of which I’m speaking—I speak at a lot of colleges and universities. I’m pleased to have the opportunity to do so, to talk to young Americans and talk to them about the obligations and the privileges of freedom.

MR. RUSSERT: But Senator, when you were on here in 2000, I asked you about Jerry Falwell, and this is what you said.

(Videotape, March 5, 2000):

SEN. McCAIN: Governor Bush swung far to the right and sought out the base support of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. That’s—those aren’t the ideas that I think are good for the Republican Party.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: Do you think that Jerry Falwell’s ideas are now good for the Republican Party?

SEN. McCAIN: I believe that the Christ—quote, “Christian right,” has a major role to play in the Republican Party. One reason is, is because they’re so active, and their, and their followers are. And I believe they have a right to be a part of our party. I don’t have to agree with everything they stand for, nor do I have to agree with everything that’s on the liberal side of the Republican Party. If we have to agree on every issue, we’re not a Republican Party. I believe in open and honest debate. Was I unhappy in, in, in the year 2000 that I lost the primary and there were some attacks on me that I thought was unfair? Of course. Do I—should I get over it? Should I serve—can I serve the people of Arizona best by looking back in anger or moving forward?

This is only a portion of their discourse on Falwell. This exchange was the one that really nailed it for me. The old McCain would've been up front and tell it like it is. Jerry Falwell and the Christian Right for that matter have really taken a hold of the Republican Party and some of their views help to polarize rather then unite the nation. McCain was never one to mince words about things he thought were wrong but apparently he has now put things behind him and have learned to play in the GOP sandbox.

This is pretty sad stuff as McCain was the maverick voice that had such broad appeal that there were rumours he'd be on the Democrat ticket in '04. That McCain has been replaced by a homogenized, run of the mill republican who will pander to those who will get him into office.

I will still support McCain if he so chooses to run in '08 but I will not view him as the true sane voice in American politics.

And that is a shame.

M.P.G.

2006-04-01T12:11:00.000-05:00

Marvin Pentz Gay(e) Jnr.

April 2nd 1939-April 1st 1984

I just love youtube!

2006-03-29T12:49:00.000-05:00

I swear this has got to be one of the great things to ever come out on the internet. Yesterday I was bored and lo and behold I find 3 episodes of an '80s sitcom that I haven't seen in years. That sitcom is Perfect Strangers. That show was one of my favourites as a kid.

The plot is very simple and is one of the reasons why I think it was so successful as a series. I mean how can people NOT connect to a show that features a culture clash that PS had. You had Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) who was a high strung, cynical boob and Balkhi (Bronson Pinchot) his long lost cousin from the fictional island nation of Mypos who was kind, gentle, and a bit naive.

The great part of the show was the physical comedy. It was almost a Laurel and Hardy for the '80s. You'd see Larry going nuts and Balkhi trying to calm him down to no avail. I loved the adventures those two had. In fact, if the series was created a few years earlier I bet you dollars to donuts that there would've been a cartoon spinoff as well.

Anyways Youtube is so great cuz I got to see the pilot episode and one of the classic episodes of that series. I wonder why this show hasn't been put on DVD. It would be a pretty good seller.

On the negative side tho, Perfect Strangers gave way to their own spin off Family Matters. In fact late in PS' run there was a crossover episode with Urkel!

Every so often I look around youtube hoping to find a gem and i'm glad I found that little gem the other day. Now all we need is sportube. You know a site with full sporting events LOL....Not likely to happen tho.

Women I find attractive #1: Heidi Collins

2006-03-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

I have a thing for the women of CNN. My first entry was going to be Carol Lin but I couldn't find a good pic of her. Anyways Heidi Collins is a very attractive anchor. I really like her sunny personality and those lips WOOOOO!

Actually I think she won some internet award a couple years ago for best hair in the news business or something like that. Anyways she really lights up the screen when she's on the air. Lately it seems she's been doing the "Jack of all Trades" schtick filling in for Paula Zahn and Anderson Cooper.

NFL Europe = snooze

2006-03-26T19:09:00.000-05:00

So last night I was bored so I decided to watch the Rhein Fire vs. Berlin Thunder in NFLE action. I wanted to see how well Drew Henson and especially Timmy Chang were doing. I don't know if it's the weather conditions or what but that was some of the most sloppy and unprofessional football i've seen in a LOOONG time.

I haven't watched an NFLE game in its entirety since it's original incarnation as the World League of American Football and I must say the overall level of play has gone down tremendously. I know this league has produced some good NFL'ers but I have to disagree with a poster from OS saying that this league's skill level is between college and pro level. It seemed there was either a penalty flag or injury every 2-3 plays for goodness sakes!

I know that the NFL has a somewhat working relationship with the CFL and I know the rules are a bit different but I really think that the NFL "minor leagues" as it were should be in North America with the CFL or even the AFL. At least with those leagues there are actual, you know FANS! In fact, the NFLE has been such a disappointment that all the teams (except one) are located in Germany. I guess the league should be renamed the Reich Football League LOL!

Anywho, watching the game I have to say Drew Henson is improving by leaps and bounds. He's shown great poise in the pocket, good arm strength and strong decision making abilities. That is definitely a step up from his limited time in Dallas.

Timmy Chang looked a lot better then week one as he looked more comfortable in the pocket and taking snaps from under center. He also has the ability to step up in the pocket and make strong passes.

I also liked one of the RBs for the Rhein club. His name is Frederick Jackson and he's a Bills alocated player. He has good legs and great vision. The same can be said for the other RB who's a TB Bucs property as he had great legs and strength to go with it.

Oh and one last note on this game. I sure as hell hope Rich Eisen won't call games on NFL Network next NFL season. He was just brutal and quite frankly sounded bored, then again i'd be bored calling an NFLE game. At least Rod Woodson provided good commentary and explained things well.

I also watched some of the Hamburg/Frankfurt game. There's a guy from the Frankfurt team who's allocated by the Cardinals and is a RB. His name is Roger Robinson and damn did he run all over the Hamburg defense. The man had 98 yards after one quarter of play for goodness sakes!

Oh and Brock Berlin sucks monkey balls. :)

What a week

2006-03-23T14:26:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of any posts lately. It's been a tough week or so as my uncle died. I've had relatives around as well so there hasn't been any real time to relax or anything. In fact this is the first day that i've actually have time for myself.

I'm sure i'll come up with some material by the weekend.

MNF.....20 seasons ago

2006-03-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

I recently acquired a copy of the highest rated MNF game of all time. The game pitted the 12-0 Chicago Bears against the 8-4 Miami Dolphins. This was the game where Miami beat the Bears and it was also a historic night as Walter Payton ran for 100 yards for the 8th consecutive game.

So let me give out some thoughts:

- You know you have problems when Frank Gifford is the anchor of the announce crew. OJ Simpson and Joe Namath were HOOOORIBLE! Well let me ammend that a little, Namath actually provided some good analysis but OJ was non-existent in terms of giving good commentary. It's a wonder that he wasn't fired in the middle of the season.

- When was the Delay of Game penalty put in place? I ask this because several times the Bears QB (Steve Fuller subbing for an injured McMahon) had problems getting the snap off. There were a couple times where the refs were practically begging Don Shula to get the crowd to quiet down. It wasn't so bad as the Vikes/Falcons NFC Championship game where the refs verbally told the fans to be quiet but it was very similar.

- I was amazed at Dan Marino. I didn't really pay attention to sports til about 1989 and while Marino was still pretty much in his prime he was starting to slow down. The Young Marino of 1985 however was a revelation to me. In the game he actually used his feet (tho the announcers made mention of the fact that he doesn't usually do so) and was actually quite nimble. Another thing that blew me away was his arm strength. The man chucked a ball 20 yards downfield at one point while back peddling!

- Marino also had an extremely quick release. He'd wait til the last possible second and he'd get the pass off with great efficiency and speed.

- Walter Payton, wow! I always thought he was amazing watching the NFL Films stuff but seeing him at full speed was just something else. He had the greatest footwork of any RB i've ever seen. The other thing I noticed was the fact he held the ball in one hand. It's something that a RB today would never get away with but Walter had great success.

- The game moved by very quickly. It's amazing how few comercials there were. It's a shame that commercialization has dragged sporting events to ungodly amount of time. This problem is most prevelant in college football. I also found the lack of graphical overlays and stats all over the place to be very refreshing. I think one thing that makes sports coverage seem boring at times is that we get distracted by fancy camera angles, overlays, stats, out of town highlights that we lose track of the actual game we're watching.

- This isn't about the game itself but the disc I recieved had an ESPN pregame show. Let's just say that the pregame show 20 years ago is like meat and potatoes compared to the razzle dazzle that we get today. There was actually a lot of analysis of the two teams and how they play. Chris Berman was VERY much muted. He just basically served as a moderator for Allie Sherman and Steve Sabol. Sometimes I wish sports broadcasting could go back to that serious style of presentation.

Overall, while the game wasn't great shakes I still enjoyed watching it. That was an era when football WAS football. At least back then you didn't have to focus a lot of energy on the police blotter or off the field problems with a team.

This could only happen to me

2006-03-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

So I thought my next post would be about me reliving my childhood with Season One/Volume One of the Thundercats alas, that was not meant to be. It turns out that the packaging is wrong and inside the box are the discs for Volume Two!

D'oh!

So I will be going back to Wal-Mart either today or tomorrow to (hopefully) exchange for the right discs. I was so looking forward to watching a few eps today and seeing if my childhood memories held up.

Oh well.....I'll let you all know what happens.

My Take On.....Barry Bonds

2006-03-08T08:24:00.000-05:00

Ah, sometimes I love the concept of blogging. I find it hard sometimes to have a strong and consistent voice on a message board, especially one as busy and large as OS so this gives me a platform to make a point and enlarge upon it.

Unless you live under a rock you know that the Barry Bonds story has taken a Woodward and Bernstein turn to hard hitting investigative journalism. Two writers from the San Fran. Chronicle are set to release a book that will shed enormous light on Barry Bonds. This book has been heavily researched with thousands of documents and over 200 people being interviewed. I think it's safe to say this isn't a hack job. Now I can easily turn this post into a "BWAHAHAHAHAHA I knew he was on roids all along" type of posting but I won't. What I will do is give a thorough opinion on the matter.

The book details the origin of Bonds' use of performing enhancers. In it they state that Bonds was jealous of the HR race of '98 between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. First of all, if this is true it makes no bloody sense on Bonds' part. Barry Bonds up to that time was viewed as a sure fire 1st ballot HOF'er despite his relations with the media. He was called the greatest baseball player of our generation. (ah I love revisionist and retroactive history as I recall this distinction being given to Ken Griffey Jr. at the time) Bonds was the epitome of the all around baseball player. He could hit for average and power, had very good speed on the bases and was a gold glove calibre OFer. (Not the greatest arm tho, but he was very smart in the field) Why would someone with those kind of credentials feel the need to potentially throw it all away by cheating for a record out of jealousy?

Did Bonds feel like he was slowing down? I find this highly unlikely because look at the 3 year averages between 1996-1998:

AVG: more or less .300
HRs: 39.7
RBI: 117.4
OBP: .448.3

Now those are great numbers no matter how you slice and dice it. Barry Bonds was just about to enter the last phase of his prime as he was 34 in 1999. So one can concievably say that Bonds still had some productive seasons left in him. If jealousy was the cause of Bonds becoming Mr. Chemical Man then that's a crying shame.

Now we're left with the fact that one of the greatest all around ballplayers of all time has cheated to break a record and inflate his stats to ungodly sums. This leaves baseball in a major qaundary. I mean, what if Bonds breaks Aaron's record? Bud Selig can't pull of that asterisk crap because there's no gray area in all this. Do you honestly believe Hank Aaron is going to say "Barry Bonds is the greatest HR hitter of all time" and not feel slighted? Selig either has to fully recognize the record or strike it from the books. Either way, he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. I'm sure Selig is secretly hoping Bonds doesn't break the record.

Then there's the issue of the HOF.

Oh boy, this could have huge implications. I've heard during the Raffy Palmeiro situation that there's a strong contingent of writers who won't vote in guys who they feel had chemical assistance. It's now going to be VEEERY interesting as Mark McGwire is in his first year of eligibility in '06. Before this book has made headlines I would say that maybe some of the writers will soften on their stance and there may be just enough votes to barely get him in the hall. Now with the spectre of steroids and the revelations of the Crown Prince of the roids era is upon us it's going to give those writers a leg to stand on.

I'm willing to wager now that McGwire is going to wait a few years to even get into the Hall. (BTW I don't particularly think Big Mac is a HOF'er. He's only boosted to that level due to his power numbers.) If McGwire doesn't make it in his first year then it's a sign that the writers aren't bluffing about punishing players of the Roid Era. Barry Bonds when he's eligible is going to meet tremendous resentment and resistance. In many ways this is a tragedy as Bonds was a 1st ballot guy before this but he's so blatantly cheated and pissed all over tradition that one can't be comfortable with him in the Hall. I mean, if he's in then people will scoff and view him as a cheat. If he's out, then those who truly know and respect baseball will note Bonds' great career before steroids and note the shame of it all.

This whole situation didn't even have to happen. Yes, i'm sure he would've been accused and maybe even "outed" but if Bonds had been a better media person then he would've been given the McGwire treatment of forgiveness. Bonds has always been surly and boorish towards the media and in some ways Bonds revealed himself while taking those performing enhancers. It's noted that those who have chemical assistance will find their personality traits greatly exaggerated and out of control. Well if you look at Bonds' relationship with the media in the late 90s and beyond, you'll see that he became even more aggressive and antagonistic against them.

If Bonds was more media savvy he could've used his considerable charm to put the heat off him. Bonds has done the opposite; he has treated the media with contempt and little respect. If Bonds was only a little more friendlier then he'd have strong media supporters no matter how bad things get but instead he's now the most vilified man in all of pro sports right now.

Finally, I want to express concern. I geniunely worry about Bonds' health. This is a man that took every performing enhancer known to man, made home brewed concoctions and drank 20 pills at a time as part of his regemin. Pumping so many chemicals and God knows what else into one's body for 5 years is bound to cause serious health problems. I may not like Bonds personally but as someone who has a love and respect for his fellow man I can't help but feel some concern for his wellbeing. I seriously think Bonds won't live to see his 60th birthday due to all the chemicals he has pumped into his body.

He has made his own bed tho, and must eventually face the consequences. Hopefully if that does happen it will serve as a warning to those athletes who think performing enhancers is the way to go.

R.I.P. Kirby Puckett

2006-03-06T20:57:00.000-05:00

I don't have very much to say because quite frankly i'm in shock. I just want to give my condolences to his family and friends. May God bless you Kirby Puckett.

He was one of my early sports heros. I mean who couldn't look up to a big roly poly guy who played the game with the enthusiasm and joy that he did. I will always remember his play in the '91 World Series.

Kirby Puckett
1961-2006

These are a few of my favourite things #2

2006-03-06T07:27:00.000-05:00

Yep I know i'm a day late, so sue me! Anyways as you can tell by the photo on the left TAFFT #2 focuses on music and my favourite singer of ALLLL time Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. otherwise known as the Prince of Soul Marvin Gaye.

So how did I get into his music? Well it was 1990 and I was going through my father's LPs and found a greatest hits compilation called Every Great Motown Hit of Marvin Gaye. I was hooked immediately but I only thought "well that sounds pretty cool. I wonder what happened to him?" When I heard of how his father killed him one day before his 45th birthday I was shocked and it led me to seek out any of his material I could find and to learn as much as I can about him.

Even before I knew the details of his life I found his music to be very powerful, not only musically but just hearing that voice one could feel the emotion and soulful yearning for peace and love that he seeked throughout his life. It was after I read what I, and many other Marvin Gaye fans feel is his official biography Divided Soul by David Ritz that I learned the story of this brilliant and troubled soul. It made me identify with him all the more. Marvin was at heart a decent soul but it was the abuse of his father and the dysfunction between father and son that started Marvin towards a confused and tortured life in so many ways.

The main themes of his music and ultimately his life was love (both carnal and spiritual) and love of God as well as spiritualism. He had the goal of bridging the sexual with the religious. Unfortunately he never quite accomplished what I think is pretty much the impossible. His closest to achieving that goal was the posthumously released "Sanctified Lady". The original title was "Sanctified Pussy" but CBS records overdubbed the offending word along with putting WAY too much electro-funk stylings onto the song.

Marvin's music still touches the soul of anyone who listens to it. Every song was personal to him even if he never wrote or produced it. (give a listen to "Where are we Going?" to see what I mean) There was the added quality of just about every song being something you can relate to. I guess that's how I got hooked. I could identify with the emotions that he brought to the fore.

So after explaining why I like Marvin Gaye here's my top 3 albums in order:

1. Here My Dear: This album is Marvin's most personal album ever. It chronicled the breakdown of his marriage to Anna Gordy. This album contained just about every style of modern soul music from the 1950s right on up to the late '70s. I guess it's fitting that only Marvin could do an album that would have a doo wop styled song ("I met a Little Girl") and a funk number ("A Funky Space Reincarnation") in it. My favourite track on the album is a toss up between the soul sermon that is "Anger" and the funky and funny "You can leave but it's going to cost you". If you do buy this album I warn you it could actually leave you kinda depressed afterwards. (The only other MPG album that has left me distraught and depressed is Trouble Man)

2. What's Going On (deluxe edition): If you thought the original was the be all and end all of soul music then you haven't heard the deluxe edition! Nothing needs to be said about the original album but I have to say this, as Marvin told Smokey Robinson "Smoke, this album wasn't done by me. It was done by God." and by God it was! There has never been album before or since that has the kind of impact that WGO had on soul music and social awareness. It was the first secular album to fully embrace religion and God to a full extent. It was the one of the first concept albums in soul music history. (Isaac Hayes beat him to the punch with Hot Buttered Soul ) It was also the first time since Elvis that an album had 3 consecutive #1 Billboard hits.

Whew that was a long intro. I needed to start a new paragraph! Anywho let's talk about the extras that make this a deluxe edition and why it enhances WGO. First of all this edition contains the original Detroit mix of the album. The finished product you hear on the original album was actually vocals that Marvin did off of a remix of the original arrangements. The Detroit Mix is a lot more rough but that doesn't mean it loses the gravitas of the finished album. In fact I actually like the Detroit Mix versions of "What's Going On" and "Inner City Blues (make me wana holler)" more then the finished versions of the tunes. The DE also includes the rare Marvin Gaye Day 1972 concert rendition of the album. This is one of those rare bits of history that you're glad is still around to be heard. Marvin was completely on his game that night. The renditions of "What's Going On" and "Inner City Blues" were just superb. I especially love how Marvin basically sent out a prayer to everyone in the encore of ICB. The DE has other goodies like the single version of "God Is Love" which I just LOOOVE. The slower and more intimate gospel sound fits the lyrics much better. You just gotta love Marvin harmonizing with himself. Finally but not least is the special instrumental version of the title track. It's kinda interesting. It reminds me of a theme for a night time soap LOL!

3 Midnight Love and the Sexual Healing Sessions: This is another one of those releases with the original album with "brand new" material supplementing it. I'll quickly say that this album is probably one of the most underrated piece of work that Marvin ever did. Most people today say "well it was a good album but "Sexual Healing" was the only truly good song" when in reality the critics were all over this album in a good way back in '83. This was Marvin's "comeback" after his self imposed exile in Ostend, Belgium. The man came back with a vengence and a sound that mixed funk, electronica, reggae, Rick James styled funk and Barry Whitesqe brassiness. The mix produced a sound that was totally Marvin. My favourite song on the album other then the title track is "Joy". The track had a funkiness to it that's infectious. The brief guitar solo (there's a longer one along with a sax solo in a promo version of the song) gives it a sound similar to James Brown and believe it or not Michael Jackson. The reason I love this song so much is the concert version where he dedicated it to his father. It was truly a song that celebrated his religious upbringing.

So let's get with the "brand new" material. This is the actual sessions that led up to the album. There are two things that stand out to me

1) the acappella version of "Sexual Healing" which is just mind numbingly good. I kinda wish Marvin did acappella versions of some of his hit songs. It could've made for some interesting listening. If that wasn't enough the original vocal/mix of the song is a lot better then the original IMO. It has a running 4 note beat that repeats and gives the song a bit of a funkier edge. I also find Marvin's vocals a lot more emotional in this mix of the tune.

2) The original conception of "turn on some music" with Marvin meditating on the powers that music has on the soul. It was to me a "sexual healing" for the spirit instead of the body. It's this version of the song that was sampled in Erick Sermon's "music" in 2001. The final version of the song that's on the album is good but I really wish CBS had gone with the original version of the tune as it was more musically complex and stronger as well. I honestly feel if they had gone with the original version of the song that it'd be just as big of a hit as "Sexual Healing" was.

The Sexual Healing Sessions gives the listener an in depth tour of a master at work and it's what propels what is a fairly good album with a unique sound into one of those required listening type of albums.

WHEW! That was a lot. This is definitely my longest post and I barely scratched the surface. I think I will do an in depth look at my favourite MPG songs next week.

Saturday Night at the Movies: Sunset Blvd.

2006-03-04T21:50:00.000-05:00

plot outline via IMDB

Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful screenplay writer, escapes the finance men who are trying to reclaim his car by driving into the garage of an old mansion on Sunset Boulevard. Assumed to be someone else, he is led by Max the butler to the mansion's owner, silent film star Norma Desmond. Wishing to make a comeback, she hires him to rewrite her "Salome" script, then falls in love with him. Joe moves into the mansion as a kept man. Secretly, Joe is collaborating with a pretty young screenplay editor, Betty Schaefer, on another idea. Though she is engaged to his best friend, Artie Green, an assistant director, Betty falls in love with Joe. When Betty finds out about Norma, she asks him to leave Norma for her, but Joe can't unsettle her life, too. He decides, instead, to leave Hollywood. As he is leaving, a crazed Norma tries to stop him.

This is more then likely the best film that Billy Wilder has ever directed. Sunset Blvd. is one of the more disturbing movies i've ever seen in terms of characterization. The character of Joe Gillis played by William Holden may be the leading character but he is definitely not the focus of the film. The true star of this film IMO is Gloria Swanson as the delusioned and quite frankly crazy former silent film star.

One can tell this is a movie of great significance right from the opening credits with the powerful music playing and the sombre naration by the Gillis character. Now, normally I think movies with naration tend to be bad for the most part because the naration is often a crutch to move the story along. this movie however uses naration in a great way as you get a feel for the mood and the characters.

The Norma Desmond character reminds me so much of Mrs. Havisham in the book Great Expectations. Desmond is this great silent movie star who isolates herself living in the past in a run down white elephant of a mansion. Swanson is amazing playing this highly disturbed woman who believes she's as big of a star now as she was back then. The delusionment is laid on so thick that one gets chills just watching this woman go on and on clinging to a past that she sees through rose coloured glasses.

There are many great moments in the film but the one moment that crystalizes the entire movie is in a scene where Gillis and Desmond are watching one of her old silent movies in her home. She goes on about how there are no real actors in Hollywood anymore. They don't have the facial acting and the eyes to convey the emotions. She then goes on to proclaim that she'll be back on screen. As she does this she stands up and the light of the projector catches her face in a striking way that captures the pathos of her character.

this is definitely a top 10 or 20 film of all time. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to you all.

Oh one last thing, I was shocked seeing Jack Webb playing a happy go lucky part with such energy. It's an amazing contrast from the one note, monotone Joe Friday.

24: The Game

2006-03-02T12:51:00.000-05:00

This is not the most revolutionary game. It's basically an MGS and Splinter Cell clone. The controls are definitely a bit touchy but still.....

THIS GAME IS GOOD!!!!

You would think the first two things I said would mean the game isn't so hot but au contraire my friends. This is one of the most immersive games i've played in a long time. I don't usually buy non sports games because quite frankly I suck at them. I do rent them sometimes and i'm very glad i've rented this one. 2K and their partners in developing this game should be commended for a very good job.

This game has everything a 24 fan could want. The presentation is just perfect as it truly feels like you're in the world of Jack Bauer. I believe all the characters you'd want are in this game and you get to do missions with them. Right now i'm in the 1:00 PM hour and i'm playing Jack's daughter Kim who's supposed to stealthily retrieve a disk. Sadly i'm having a little trouble LOL!

This game is helped by having the actual cast voice act for the game and the writing is straight out of the TV series as one of the writers wrote the storyline to the game. The in-game graphics are pretty good but what really knocks my socks off are the graphics in the storyline scenes. There are times when you can barely tell that it's a video game. There is a scene when one CTU agent is being picked up by a hellicopter and damn if I didn't think that was real!

Even tho those graphics are top notch there are times where it breaks down and looks clunky but for the most part it maintains the great quality.

This game is fun and highly addictive and i'd recommend it to anybody, not just 24 fans. I wish more games had the kind of immersion and intelligent writing like this as it would surely draw me into non sports games.

Overall I give this game an 8/10

Sunny Days Ahead!

2006-02-28T14:19:00.000-05:00

As I type this Bryan Colangelo is being introduced to the Toronto media. I'm a big Raptors fan and this is easily in the top 3 best things to happen to this franchise. I think Colangelo will be a great steadying force for a franchise that has lost its way from the top on down.

The Raptors have a lot of upside to them in that they have a young core of Bosh, Villanueva and Calderron. These three guys SHOULD be the core for the team for years to come. I know that Colangelo will want to bring his type of personel to the team. This will mean that there may be some unpopular moves made. I just hope that Morris Peterson sticks around as he's Mr. Raptor to me.

It will be very interesting to see what happens with the coaching situation, Colangelo is saying all the right things by stating that the slate is clean for everyone but I still think Mitchell's days are numbered.

At least the Raptors may be shaped in the same mold as the Suns were and that will mean great fast paced basketball!

Movie Review: The Pink Panther

2006-02-27T23:01:00.000-05:00

Raw is Pre-Empted

Well not really, but I forgot that TSN here in Canada is too wrapped up in the Scots Tournament of Hearts. Yes, sadly womens curling is more important to Canadian sports executives then WWE Raw. I don't really feel like watching a pre-taped show and doing a detailed review of it. HOWEVER, I don't want to leave this space empty so here is a c/p of my thoughts on Steve Martin's Pink Panther that I wrote at OS.

I went to see the Pink Panther. Martin's portrayal of Closeau is obviously a bit different from Sellers'. Martin's Closeau is a bit smarter then Sellers'. Sellers would be bumbling all around and just by sheer accident he solves the case. In this flick Martin seems to know EXACTLY what he's doing, abelt doing it rather poorly.

There are some great jokes in the movie tho. I put it below Sellers' PP films but rank it higher then the three knockoff since Sellers' death. I really liked the accent coach scene in which Martin tries to pronounce "hamburger" properly. That scene seems like an homage to Sellers as that was the kind of thing Sellers did wonders with.

Overall, i'd rank this movie an 8 but if i'm comparing it to the other PP films I give it a 6.

These are a few of my favourite things

2006-02-26T10:01:00.000-05:00

Favourite TV Show of All Time

Well as you can see from the links on the left i'm a huge fan of DALLAS. The great 1980's night time soap. To call it a soap would be an insult to the show tho as it featured some of the best acting in '80s television. For those who may not be aware of what the show was about then a quick synopsis is order:

The series is about the lives of the Ewing family headed by patriach Jock (Jim Davis) and Miss Ellie, (Barbara Bel Geddes) their two sons Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and J.R. (Larry Hagman) The wives of the two brothers had very important roles in the series. J.R. had the long suffering Sue Ellen (Linda Gray) at his side. Even tho J.R. may have treated her badly they were still a very good couple. Bobby's wife was the lynchpin of the series however, as the young and fresh faced Pamela Barnes (Victoria Principal) was caught in the middle of the intense Barnes/Ewing feud. You see her brother Cliff (Ken Kercheval) absolutely HATED the Ewings due to the way Jock treated their father Digger during their wildcatting days.

Other integral members of the cast were Lucy Ewing, (Charlene Tilton) the spoiled daughter of the third Ewing son Gary. You also have Ray Krebbs, the Southfork foreman who later found out he was in actuality a Ewing himself. There's a funny thing about that tho, as DALLAS originated as a mini-series and in that mini-series Ray and Lucy had some, shall we say, carnal relations.

The cast that I just mentioned were the main cast for most of the series' run on the air. The show was huge in that there were literally hundreds of different characters throughout the years. Some of the characters that drifted in and out actually became main cast members for some time.

The series is most remembered today for the "Who Shot J.R." cliffhanger in 1980. Sadly I wasn't aware of the magnitude of this event but to many who were around at that time, it was "the longest summer". You see J.R. was a character that everybody loved to hate and it was that storyline and cliffhanger that pushed DALLAS into the iconic show that it became.

DALLAS was miles better then the other night time soaps of the era. It had, for the most part good and believable storylines, a strong cast that can play their roles straight or with a touch of humour and most of all, a timelessness that many can identify with.

Well that synopsis turned a bit long. I will post another "few of my favourite things" topic sometime this week. (maybe next Sunday)

Beginnings

2006-02-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Well this is the second time i've tried doing a blog. I think this time I'll be more successful. So an introduction is in order.

My name is Chris Fung. I live near Toronto, Canada so I guess my opinions are only .60 cents to the US Dollar. I'm 26 years old and have a wide range of interests. I don't exactly know how often i'll update this thing but you will get updates late mondays or early tuesdays as I give my thoughts on WWE RAW.

I"m a poster at a great message board called Operation Sports. My handle there is SPTO. It's a great place to talk about sports and entertainment. I don't usually last long posting on message boards but this one really lives up to the title of "community".

Anywho i'm sure i'll write more about myself as the days and weeks go by.