WHAA?!

Ya' know, I've seen lots of things. I'm only twenty-one, but I've seen things that would make the Ghostbusters shit themselves, ya' know the real ones. Probably the highest on the rankings would either be seeing a kitten microwaved or a man murdered by rebels with a combat knife. However, this tops them all:
http://buzzplant.com/lbg/ecard1/?gclid=CKzvm-idrYkCFSSEYAod4H05Lw

That's right, the makers of the Left Behind book series finally could not bear it anymore and had to get into the game market. Niiice, like I didn't enjoy having to hear about those crappy books already, now they've invaded another field I love. I swear if any religious group plans to place a religion based football or soccer squad into the pros, I'll friggin go jihad on those fools.

http://www.leftbehind.com/channelnews.asp?pageid=1322&channelID=17
I originally wanted to go step by step in my diagnosis of this pile of horse shit, but opted instead to take on their pro-argument piece by piece (above link):

• "From the beginning, we have been jealous about the subsidiary rights to Left Behind. We have turned down all sorts of offers to capitalize on the name with pins, pens, mugs, candles, jewelry, and even board games. Our sole purpose in the writing was to declare a message in the hope that fewer people would be left behind, so unless a product can expand that message—as have the kids books, graphic novels (comics), and movies—we have stood firm." EEEH! Wrong answer Jerry, would you like to advance to Double Jeopardy where the scores can really change? Hypocrisy is a dangerous concept, you've whored yourself out to the movie industry (not to mention the rest) and if there is an industry that ever seeks to just make money, that is it. By making a "Left Behind" film early on in the conception of your masterpiece, it shows your willingness to make money off of this idea. Those "I *heart* Jesus" pins really pulled in the cash, I'm sorry but those are tinkertoy enterprises. Video games ARE a money-making endeavor. Its not like the Mormons make a ton of cash off of selling Books of Mormon, nor do missionaries make people pay for The Bible. Unfortunately, the assholes behind Left Behind do make a lot of money off your dumb religious asses. When you only read the book cause your religious, you are stupid, you should be reading something you would enjoy reading like Louis L'Amour, J.R.R. Tolkien or Tom Clancy. Don't support these money-hounding assholes. Ask how much they give of their money to Christian causes. "Q: Do any proceeds from the books go to special causes? A: Jenkins—'Of course, but Scripture is clear that if we talk about this and get the praise of men for it in this life, we lose the reward for it in heaven.'" Hahaha, are you fucking kidding me? I even know church's who will explain how their given offerings are distributed. That kind of garbage is bullshit, I'm guessing its probably somewhere between 0 and .5%. Oliver Stone and the makers of "World Trade Center" said they would donate 10% of their earnings, and they have. Even Mel Gibson said that the money from The Passion would be going towards a church. There is no need to cop-out on your greed, it is okay to be greedy, remember Gordon Gekko "Greed is a good thing, greed makes the world go round."
• "When first we heard of a video game, we were as skeptical as anyone and insisted on hearing the idea directly from the planners. We were pleased to find that they were thorough professionals, shared our faith, and were as committed as we were to have the message be clear. We also wanted to avoid gratuitous violence." Yup, I know how important religious views can be, I'm sure that Wisdom Tree had the same views as the people who wanted to create "Bible Adventures" for the NES (given that the former company made unlicensed games and had to cop-out to religious thoughts to continue making games). I don't want to break anyone's heart here, but video games are also created to make money. Games that have a message flop (insert: Bible Adventures, Captain Novelin, and of course Revolution X). I will get to the gratuitous violence bit later.
• "The result is a game that is beautifully rendered, clearly carries our message (indeed, we have already heard of one young man who has become a believer through playing it), is strategic rather than only warfare based, and is no more violent than the Lone Ranger or Roy Rogers episodes I grew up watching. Unlike typical video games that show buckets of blood and flying body parts, victims shot in our game fall in a puff of smoke." Phew, passed the first hurdle, if the game wasn't well rendered (which its not badly rendered), it wouldn't be able to sell at all. And I'm glad that there has been a conversion. I'm sure that your numbers compared to the number of people who have adopted the religious implications that generally surround "Final Fantasy" or "The Secret of Mana" are astoundingly different even though neither have an actual religion and take place in impossible dream worlds. Again, I will reserve my violence argument for later.
• "Yes, there is killing in self-defense, but more points are scored by building the Tribulation Force and its infrastructure. There is zero targeting of specific people groups. The enemy are the forces of the antichrist who have already taken the mark of the beast and committed themselves to his service." Exactly, you have these things called "Spirit Points" and you earn more by getting people to join by prayer rather than warfare. Well, that solves it, conversion to Christ pays for riflemen, ammunition, training and of course, tanks. I mean really, points? Are you kidding me? The only thing that matters is money in video games and if spirit points are the currency, I guess you better start praying. I think that its been said many times, "It is easier to destroy than create." And I bet you ten bucks that you can bring a Muslim down faster with a battalion of troops than one prayer child and its probably more fun too. In Age of Empires II, you had monks who could work conversion powers on rival soldiers and make them join your side...that was the most boring shit I ever had to do...possibly ever and that includes writing a paper on the metric system. I can only imagine how much more terrible it is in this. The Mark of the Beast is probably attributed to many different walks of people like leaders of his army with Arabic names, I'm sure that Satan gets reinforcements from San Fransisco where gay people have adopted his free-swinging lifestyle. His number one reinforcement area is the nation of Israel because their misbelief in Jesus has caused them to remain on Earth during the Rapture. Its quite comforting to know that all major religions that aren't remotely Christian contribute to the Satan Squad. Either way, you can only convert stragglers who can't decide if they want to eat pastrami on rye or bologna on white. You simply cannot help those who are your enemies and must challenge them to war, you and your prayer circle versus, from what I can tell, guys with guns, big guns...watch out they shoot real bullets. While you on the other hand look like your trying to shoot a prayer gun from Billy Graham's Bible Blaster.
• "The game has been approved by Focus on the Family, which is careful about such matters." Yeah, Focus on the Family, these are the same group of people who feel that movies like "Borat", that are edgy for certain are on the verge of destroying our society. They never even stopped to examine the rare thought experiment that Sacha Baron Cohen revealed to us in our convoluted American Nature. Another quote I found on Focus on the Family's website was this: "A study to be published in the Journal of Environmental Management found an interesting correlation between the public's flagging interest in national parks and increased video gaming activity. Between 1987 to 2000, the average American's game-playing time grew from almost nothing to 90 hours annually. Throw in time spent surfing the Internet and watching movies, and "the average person in the U.S. spent 327 more hours per year on these entertainment media in 2003 than he or she did in 1987," says the study. This increased media usage corresponds with a diminishing number of national park visits by the American public each year since 1988. Up to that year, national park visits had grown annually for the previous 50 years." Being that I'm an amatuer statistician, I've come to understand what exactly bullshit statistics are. The above is an example of bullshit statistics. Bullshit statistics are used to bolster a pathetically weak argument with numbers that seem important. A good example of this is that I could point out that because the world is becoming increasingly more religious, this could be tied with a rising abortion rate. Now everyone knows this is stupid and everyone is of course, right because this is an example of bullshit statstics. I don't blame anyone in paticular for bullshit statistics except for the makers of Freakanomics who seem to think that child illiteracy is caused by the amount of super glue you keep in your kitchen. However, when people choose to use bullshit statistics, I will attack them, Focus on the Family, you suck.
• The Founder of the Promise Keepers (and I do love that title) said "The enemy (being Satan, not Rockstar North) is bombarding them (video gamers) with really clever stuff (entertaining video games)." Mhmm, that's right old man, I'm sure that Satan's big goal to really make me go to hell was to release Gran Turismo 4, Ridge Racer 7, or even more importantly, Madden 2007! Seriously, even the Grand Theft Auto games, Resident Evil titles or first person shooters lack the uhh, ties to the Dark Lord. If you want to talk about a game that deals in showing some satanism, go to Apocalypse on the PSX (and that is STILL FAR OFF), its dealing with exactly the type of stuff Left Behind is. If you look to violent games as a generator for Satan's armies...you have to blame crack for the rising cost of potato chips.
• One section in the promotional video included a section where you can delve into the clues from the scripture in order to help your cause. One slide said "Evolution explained", I understand that one must take a stand against these things, but good Lord. The game designers publicly said that this was going to be neutral towards groups, you were fighting Satan or you weren't. Well uhh, it seems like you're fighting Evolutionists, Scientologists, Muslims, Mormons, Jews and the like...unbelievable. Not to mention that the baddies on the box cover are Hispanics, African Americans, and what look to be masked Arabs. As compared with the good guys who are ALL white. I mean c'mon, seriously, how freakin' blatant does it get.
• I didn't see "The Passion of the Christ" and I didn't see "The Nativity Story", what makes you think I want to play a video game that is supposedly selling me what the Rapture is supposed to be. Uhh, there is a book...hmm, that's right Revelations. If I want a dose of that, I WILL read the book (again). Also, "We're trying to show what will happen in a practical way." Hello! Its the FUCKING APOCALYPSE! Do I need to draw you a fucking picture? I don't need your shitty CG conversions and violence to get me all hopped up about the Apocalypse. I'm sure I can do that on my own.
• I have a major issue with logic. Can you save the souls? The righteous are gone...do you remember this, there are only heathans and Satan. I think that Lucifer wouldn't have too much of a problem kicking the shit out of the stragglers left on Earth. During the Rapture there won't be saving of souls, people will be SOL and they will be fighting to stay alive until they eventually die. Remember this too, Lucifer is second to God in ability and we can stop him right!? Well if you're on Earth and Lucifer is at it, I'll quote Samuel L. Jackson "Your asses would be dead as fried fuckin' chicken."
• Now to the area that pisses me off the most. Violence. Violence in real-time strategy games is almost non-existent. In Command and Conquer tanks get blown up a poof of smoke, men fall down after being killed, people's bodies don't splatter across the map. Age of Empires was the same way, you didn't see bloody charred corpses after the battle, no they just were dead and gone. So don't feed me this, we're holier than thou because we have a RTS title that is non-violent crap. Warcraft 3, now there were some brutal finishes there...NOT! They also said it was more strategy based, now I may be wrong here, but Warcraft 3 was like you have infinite guys and you could just battle forever right? Same thing with Age of Empires and Command and Conquer correct? You didn't have to manage supplies, find more raw materials or even wisely upgrade buildings, classes of characters or even your entire society? I always knew those games had no strategy. You want to look at a strategic real-time strategy game, its called "Civilization", you brainless dickheads and it is non-violent, there is NO VIOLENCE. Go ahead LB Games, make a third person action or a first person shooter Bible game that manages to keep everyone amused and still get your message across. These are the same jackasses who managed to say when Bible Adventures came out, "Well, Mario is just too violent, hopping on turtles and riding green dinosaurs. First of all, why's he riding a dinosaur, does the Guinea smoke pot? Secondly, everyone knows that dinosaurs are just a myth that scientists made up to scare our faith away." It is this level of assumed idiocy that will not stand with me for a fucking second. Never have I been an enemy of trying to bring people to ANY faith, but it is when these people opt to do it out of a pompous, arrogant and ignorant manner I will stand against it.

So, this closes my diatribe on Left Behind: Eternal Forces. If you purchase it, don't let me know, cause I'll knock your fucking head off.

I Love Football...Most of the Time

I love football...most of the time. I will sit down and watch most any game on a saturday, college football excites the nerves and makes me feel all gooey inside.

Recently, I watched as the Trojans dashed any dream of my Irish to do well, but I still watched the game...and enjoyed it. Yesterday, I watched both the New Mexico Bowl and the Armed Forces Bowl and found them both entertaining despite the fact that my Cowboys should've been playing in either of those bowls.

Today, I watched Denver and Cincinnati play in Denver. I started watching at the beginning of the second half. Now, I have never ever claimed to be a fan of the Denver Broncos, and so watching their games is always a healthy way for me to reduce stress while watching them get beat. And hell, I probably could've enjoyed today's game without a Denver loss, but two main things really hit me hard and never stopped:

1. Phil Simms is an idiot. That's right, I thought that Phil Simms had a brain between his ears, but I can assure you that in fact, Phil Simms I.Q. sits somewhere between 30-60. How do I know this? His commentaries on the game: "Ya' know John Lynch didn't even get on the ball when he hit Rudy Johnson." (Me: He put his helmet right on the ball *saw this from the on-field angle*). Phil Simms: "Wow, you see that Lynch puts his helmet right on the ball in that hit." (Me: *anurism*). Another one happened later on: Phil Simms: "You see his foot was on the goal line when he caught this punt." (Me: When he reestablished himself on the one, that's where the ball is.) Referee: "Ruling on the field stands, Denver ball on the 1." Phil Simms: "I still don't see it." (Me: *anurism*). Phil Simms: "Jackson was going around on the reverse and just didn't get outside enough and Cincinnati made the play to shove him out of bounds." (Me: Dur...we all saw that.) Phil Simms: "And because he shoved him out of bounds, the clock stopped." (Me: *anurism*). Finally and more horrifically this was one he had to say. Phil Simms: "Boy this Cincinnati Defense was really playing the physical part of the game and now they just aren't...(no diagnosis)." (Me: They just let Denver go on an eight minute scoring drive for 99 yards, they're fucking exhausted!). Phil Simms: "..." (Me: *telepathically communicating to Phil Simms* "restatement of last sentence"). Phil Simms: "Ya' know...I like turkey." (Me: *anurism*).
2. Commercials! WHAT IS IT ABOUT FUCKING COMMERCIALS AND THE NFL!? Stop that shit, they halt the action in a game so that they can show commercials. Its not like time out called, go to a 30 second commercial. It IS like this: "Denver on top of Cincinnati 24-17, with 8:50 left in the 4th." *do-do-do (three minutes of commericals) do-do-do* and magically, not a SINGLE-FUCKING-PLAY has happened in that three minutes. They radio'd into Marvin Lewis and Mike Shanahan and said "Hey, we're running commercials, do nothing." In that break I'm sure that Chad Johnson was just sitting there letting his legs get cold or Ian Gold was hopping around trying to keep warm and ready for the next play while I was watching the same bullshit commercial for Lowe's about Santa and his stupid ass gifcard stipulated circumstances! I quote Al Pacino from "Any Given Sunday", "It's TV, it changed everything, changed the way we think forever. I mean the first time they stopped the game to cut away to some fucking commercial that was the end of it. Because it was our concentration that mattered, not theirs, not some fruitcake selling cereal." That's one thing that's great about college ball, I come back from commercial break and shit has gone down, "While away at commercial break, Ian Johnson ripped off a 34 yard run against the Wolf Pack Defense." I can deal with the fact that that actually happened, I'm okay with that, why? Because the game didn't stop for commercial bullshit. Another thing too, It took me four hours to finish that Denver game, if I caught a college game at the end of the first, the game would be done in two hours, maybe two and a half tops.

Seriously, like I said, I love football...most of the time. It took me until college to realize that I like NCAAFB way more than the NFL, FOREVER! Because you are a kid...and therefore a friggin' moron, you never understand quite what crap the NFL was forcing you through. I was wondering why as I got older, I watched less and less games and more and more Sportscenter when it pertained to the NFL. Well now you know why.

I'm sure that Phil Simms was just having an off-day, and I'm sure that some commentators do, and that's fine, I will not let bad commentary hold me back from liking a sport. However, this business with the commercials is total and complete bullshit. I cannot stand it and the worst part is that the NFL continues to whore itself out and do more business with commercial ad agencies. College football makes enough money to do themselves a favor when it comes to sports and that is keep it as pure as possible. Watch the Super Bowl and watch the BCS National Championship, in FoxSports Net true fashion, here is my feareless prediction. Two more hours dedicated to the Super Bowl than Ohio State/Florida.

Luck

I once heard a quote that went like this. "Luck is when opportunity meets preparation." Ya' know, sometimes, I think that quote is right. Then there are other times that seem like that quote couldn't be further from the truth.
Here's a thought:
Denver, meaning the Broncos, got, lucky...yep the second kind. Tonight in a 23-24 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals (who can still make the playoffs). Cincinnati managed to turn the ball over four times. You might say, they prepared and took the opportunities...err, some of these were gimmies. I think at least two of the turnovers were about as easy as hand-offs. Then in the final moments of the game, a bad snap on a PAT won Denver the game. Cincinnati proceeded to recover the onside kick and then have a flag called on them for offsides. Denver won by sheer luck tonight.
I hope and pray that through a sense of karma, that one of two things happen. A) Denver plays San Fransisco next week and gets throughly ass-raped by Frank Gore. When Rudy Johnson runs for 130 yards in a game, that's like asking Frank Gore to bring his C game and still annhiliate you. B) Watch Denver make it to the playoffs and end up playing San Diego in San Diego and relish in watching LaDanian Tomlinson make everyone on that team bawl.
Seriously, I don't think I've been this angry about any match-up in years, but this is necessary to state...
"Fuck you Denver."

The Mountain West Strikes Back

The Mountain West Conference was given four bowl games this season: Armed Forces Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, New Mexico Bowl and the Las Vegas Bowl. A pummeling victory by TCU was not what the MWC needed given the opponent (NIU). Even a strong victory at both the Armed Forces Bowl (Utah v. Tulsa), and the New Mexico Bowl (NM v. San Jose St.) will not do enough to cement the MWC as a competitive league with strong teams. The victory needed for the conference is the Las Vegas Bowl where a MWC team has to show its grit against a program in the always strong division of the Pac-10. Well...tonight, BYU did exactly that.

Last night, in the Las Vegas night, the Cougars of Brigham Young proceeded to destroy the Oregon Ducks 38-8. Such a divisive blow has not been struck since my freshman year at the University of Wyoming when Wyoming defeated UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl in addition to seeing Utah obliterate Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.

John Beck, one of several players who was arguably left out of the Heisman voting despite a fantastic season that ended up placing him as the second all-time passer in BYU history, had a fantastic game in which he threw for 27 of 46 for 375 yards of total passing. Furthermore, he passed for two touchdowns, but also gave up two interceptions. Beck also ran in for a touchdown in the game.

Fortunately due to some stiff defensive play by the BYU defense which limited both Oregon quarterbacks to only 164 yards passing for one touchdown which came late in the game (2 point conversion after was good). Both Brady Leaf and Dennis Dixon threw an interception in the contest. When the Ducks fell behind BYU rather quickly, they naturally opted to start throwing the ball more on their possessions. The Ducks never got around to aptly developing any sort of run game even though, on 16 carries by Dennis Dixon and Jeremiah Johnson, the Ducks had nearly racked up 100 yards on the ground.

Beck had a solid game in his leadership capabilities and a somewhat better than par game in statistics, but a real workhorse was Curtis Brown who was averaging seven yards each time he put his hands on the ball. He ended the night with 120 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over Oregon.

Another big player who was voted MVP of the Las Vegas Bowl was Johnny Harline who caught nine passes for a whopping 181 yards and a touchdown. Throughout the game it seemed like the Oregon secondary simply could not get complete coverage on Harline and he ended up being a strong hand in the BYU victory as well.

In the end of all this, the Cougars are winners, but the big winner is the MWC which had five bowl eligible teams this season in BYU, TCU, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming (who was tragically cut out of the New Mexico Bowl because of a final week NM victory over the SDSU Aztecs). By proving the competitive nature of this conference, it is obvious that there may be more respect given to this group of programs in addition to more bowl game opportunities.

Pavlov’s Bell Equivalent in College Football: Bowl Season

Can Florida do it, can they knock off an immense Ohio State squad?
Will Notre Dame be able to show the world that they too can win the big game?
Can Boise State make a name for the WAC in college football?
Who cares...?

As important as the BCS games are not only to schools, but to programs, television networks and of course the alcoholic beverage industry, they are only a piece of the puzzle that creates the Bowl Season. I for one am excited to watch these games, but that doesn't mean that there aren't going to be other games worthy of my attention.

The games to watch are those that are little publicized and are little talked about. Here's three games to salivate over in the coming bowl season:

1. Outback Bowl: One word, "potential." This matchup between Tennessee and Penn State has the potential to be one of the real contests of this bowl season. Upon first sight this matchup seems like it will be a snore-fest that reeks of name recognition. There are two solid reasons this game will be worth watching. First of all, Tennessee has the 71st run defense in the nation and Penn State's Tony Hunt who has racked up over 1,200 yards and 11 TDs on the year is licking his chops. Look for Tennessee to give him the "Garrett Wolfe" treatment and watch to see if Paterno & Penn State QB Aaron Morelli can make it rain on a pretty solid Tennessee secondary. Another thing to look at here is one man, Erik Ainge. Two games into the season I wasn't even looking at Brady Quinn or Troy Smith, this was my Heisman vote. He has since then hit a tail spin (which is a nice way of saying it), but still has the ability to lead the Vols to a win against Penn State who is 37th in pass defense in the nation but probably will not be enough to shut down Erik Ainge and the 13th rated pass offense of the Vols, unless... Unless Paul Posluszny along with the rest of the linebacking core of the Nittany Lions can make life uncomfortable for Ainge. These two teams know how to beat each other, and I believe both can execute, so why watch this defensive battle? These teams have a lot to prove (yes, this is my second reason). Tennessee and Penn State both have played in difficult conferences (SEC and Big Ten respectively) and this is a (much)lesser matchup of the national championship. Tennessee came out with high expectations and got handed some losses in just the same fashion that Penn State did. These teams will be entering into this bowl game with a reason to make an example out of each other. An Outback Bowl victory will be a spring-board to recruiting in the off-season as well as some respect come next year. I like Penn State, 28-24.
   
2. Cotton Bowl: This Auburn v. Nebraska matchup is going to be FUN! I mean this is one of the best matchups of this bowl season. Nebraska has been throwing and running the ball like they belong in the BCS somewhere (18th and 25th respectively) and that is thanks to Bill Callahan which means that their defense is not so hot. Auburn, unlike everyone who was saying weeks ago that they were the best one loss team in the nation, I didn't buy it. That is because they're offense never really got going, it never put up stats that were good against quality opponents or even minimal opponents. The defense of Auburn is what I like though, look for their front four to step up and make Nebraska earn their run yards and then watch for their incredible secondary make it difficult for Zac Taylor to find receivers. While he's in the pocket trying play catch, watch the linebacking core of Auburn make him feel it the next day. The deciding factor will be Auburn's offense, and I just don't think they'll be able to get it done, I like Nebraska 14-10.
   
3. Holiday Bowl: Matching Texas A & M and California is gonna' be great. We're talking about two teams that are masters of ground-based or aerial attacks. Neither of the two defenses are great in dealing with their opponents strengths and so have to compensate to try and and stop them. If California can overload the front line of TAMU and force them to start throwing the ball, their secondary which finished fifth in the nation for interceptions with twenty on the year will have a fun time making Stephen McGee try and play around this Golden Bear secondary. Look for him to go to his great running backs in play actions, tosses to the flat and the like. Now, if the Aggie secondary can shut down Nate Longshore, they will have their hands full, Deshawn Jackson was one of my early picks to go to New York this year and although his play has slowed down, he's going to have some time to recooperate and get ready for a pretty strong Aggie defense. I love the Aggie run game and their ability to keep a game tight, but I don't think their secondary, nor their front four will be able to keep enough pressure on Nate Longshore. I know that they won't be able to keep pressure on Longshore because of the way that they handled Zac Taylor in the Nebraska game, he was able to take the Huskers down the field for a score and the fact is, they didn't do enough to keep the pressure on, well I think they're facing a tougher team here in California. Cal 27-14.

One thing that is beautiful about the rest of the Bowl Season outside of the BCS is that there may be a lot of animosity and build-up to the BCS, but these non-BCS teams really have the chip on their shoulder. These teams especially, we're talking about Tennessee, Penn State, California, Texas A & M, Nebraska and Auburn. If cards were played a little differently, we're talking about a number of these teams possibly playing in the BCS. Victory here is important because it breathes new life into the program.

That's it for now, there are certainly other games worth watching but these are three that are either getting trampled by the national title game, the turmoil surrounding the national title, or are just getting dinged for not being BCS games.

Casino Royale Review

That's right, I saw "Casino Royale"...two nights ago...for the fourth time. Now, I have only watched one movie more than that when it was in theaters, I saw "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" five times if that tells you anything. Another thing I should tell you is this as soon as the introduction for the film started, I squeled like a twelve year old girl at a Hansen concert...hmm I guess that's a bit outdated...I guess John Mayer is better.
Casino Royale: A. Who said that a Blond Bond was impossible? Screw you guys! Daniel Craig took the wit and charm that we've always designated James Bond by and made it just as quality as any prior actor who put on the dinner tuxedo. As an actor Daniel Craig has been showing me that he has an ability to take on different character roles and do a very solid job. Movies like "Layer Cake", "The Jacket", "Road to Perdition" & "Munich" have shown off his acting skills in a number of different settings. Although "Layer Cake" was not that great of a film, it allowed me to view Daniel Craig as a leading man and assured me of his skills there. When I heard that Craig was to be the new Bond I did not fret like a lot of people did, I understood that like any other Bond ever picked, he was out of no where and blond hair was no disqualifying factor. He played the role of a blossoming Bond quite well, not entirely perfect with his pick-up lines, suave movements and graceful villain dethronings.
Eva Green was absolutely gorgeous in the film. I did not find her attractive in "Kingdom of Heaven", but in this film she exuded outer beauty, intelligence, voracity and overall sex appeal that was not needed to be attended to by the eyes. In a scene from the film she walks up and kisses Daniel Craig at the card table to catch the attention of other players, if Campbell's camera hadn't of followed her ass out of the playing area, I would have used my mind to be admiring her ass walking away from me. There were many times when she and Craig had fantastic chemistry and I felt that she was being true to her character.
Mads Mikkelsen was downright amazing! If you are looking for the typical diabolical Bond villain, Mads Mikkelsen's Le Chiffe is your man and then some. Great job to make-up for making him look creepy with the scar over his left eye. His accent, his manerisms and his treachery were amazingly acted and represented in this film. Everytime he took the table it was like he knew exactly the cards his opponents were playing (naturally) and when to fold. It was like he studied a video of Johnny Chan and just stuck to it in his manerisms to dictate what it was to understand how everyone was playing. Amazing job by Mikkelsen in this film.
Even Judi Dench and Giancarlo Giannini were great additions to the film. They both added a little bit more flavor to a film that would have been good without them, but made it even better with both of them in it. Dench played the perfect cold-hearted MI6 bitch and Giannini played the part of a semi-comic relief character to a T.
Sadly enough, no real gadgets for you all to admire over, but I will say one thing of that. John Cleese is lots of fun and I respect him as an actor, but Desmond Llewellyn as Q was just the best there is and throwing in a guy named "R" to keep the gadgets rolling just isn't the same. I'd say a better choice would've been Michael Gambon if he can do a British accent as well as an Irish one. Unlike a lot of people I didn't have a problem not seeing Bond have a pen that was actually a thermal detonator that could be linked with any bomb in a 500 yard area. The fact that the gadgets that were involved were realistic and more importantly pragmatic made the movie more believable and therefore better.
One thing I should point out to all of you who plan to or have seen this film, it is the beginning of Bond. You simply cannot expect the kind of polished character that any of the prior Bond's have presented because this was his first real 007 mission ever. The storyline was built quite well, it picked up when it needed to and slowed down when it needed to. Action sections were judiciously sought out by the director to allow for the greatest effect on the audience. The action scenes period were well shot, planned and coreographed.
I understand that some of you may be asking why I spoke mainly of the acting in this film. The answer is simple, unless the storyline is grossly terrible, Bond films have been and always will be about making great characters. There is a reason why they are called "Bond" films and not "secret agent" movies. Frankly, this movie is no different, its about making the characters that we will all empathize with and enjoy.
Now for the things that bothered me. With about thirty minutes left in the film, the story became slow...REALLY slow and the dialogue became hammy. When I say hammy I mean hammy, I've sat through chick flicks without saying that. The ending, either just a little more on the film or a little less, anyone who wants to know my idea for the ending that would've had old Bond fans shitting themselves with glee can e-mail me: ne0_maxmus@hotmail.com
Finally, the little things that I liked in little detail. Watch out for an old friend from Langley to make an appearance, Chris Cornell's original song "You Know My Name", the introduction, every Bond movie has torture and this one is no exception, finally and most inconsequentially on the final page of credits, the words...
"James Bond will Return"

Miss America gets to keep her job...*phew*, really dodged a bullet there

Oh my goodness, I heard the other day that Miss America almost lost her crown and I nearly flipped out while driving. Naturally being that I watch the Miss America competition every year. I do it in a little bar in Laramie way out where I won't be pummled to death for cheering when the girls do their talents. Can you imagine the sort of ass-whipping I'd get if I cheered?
Seeing Miss Washington get down on her hands and knees and then proceed to take out a cucumber slowly and seductively at which point she stands up. She looks at the crowd tantalizingly and then pulls out a kitchen knife and proceeds to make a Cobb Salad. I'd be impressed. I remember cheering like a little girl when I saw Miss Illinois play Hot Cross Buns on a recorder.
Upon the occasion of the Miss America Competition I go out to this little bar in the middle of nowhere and watch the show. This year, unlike most, I agreed with the panel who selected Tara Conner. So you can imagine that I was shocked when the news came out:
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=245447&GT1=7703
I normally do not point people to MSN.com unless it is for FoxSports Net.
"I've always been a believer in second chances," Trump, who owns the Miss Universe Organization with NBC, said with Conner at his side." That's right, this quote is from THE Donald Trump, that's right The Apprentice's Donald Trump. And that is correct, he said he's big on second chances. I've got three words for you Don, "Eat a dick."
Tara Conner had been wrapped up in the crazy life that involved living in New York and being that she was from a small Kentucky town, the ability to drink wherever you want to because your tits are the size of the bouncer's head must have been a brutal reality check.
Now most would ask why this is a problem, this happens everywhere, but Tara Conner is, yes, underage. I know most of you are looking at her photo and saying "No way she's underage. She looks like at least 21." I know that all of you are saying that are male and you're only saying it because you're 47 and you need to know its somewhat okay to choke the chicken to that photo.
Donald Trump also said that Miss Conner will be entering rehab due to her drinking problem. Seriously, I'm sure that she may have gone on some benders, but it is nothing compared to what WyoTechers do in Laramie, their alcoholism would make Jack Nicholson raise an eyebrow and say "Man, I know I'm not that bad." I guess rehab will be a good place of Tara to finally understand herself and how everyone else on the planet is responsible for her alcoholism. I hear she plans to sue Anheuser-Busch next year.
How the hell can you neglect your duties as Miss America, you're doing nothing for twelve damn months! You go to places and take photos or you go and play with little kids. I've had harder jobs playing with myself. Was the pressure just too much on her?! New York City was just too divinely pleasuring to have to go on without benders most nights of the week. The bartender should've recognized her coming in day in day out transforming like a meth billboard of before/after photos and stopped serving her.
I guess I should thank her though...she's every American guy's dream girl...a totally sexy girl, who drinks like Robert Downey Jr.

Greatest Comebacks Ever...!

WARNING: May not be appropriate for young children...or playa hatas.
Today's story is set around a young man who turned 21 this last October. He is a guy who is well versed in politics, sports and technology. When the day started, he knew it would be important, but never guessed it would be his GREATEST COMEBACK EVER! *tune ESPN music* (Voiced by Steve Sabol).
This kid (we'll call him ne0) was up around 11:30 the night before his birthday when he proceeded to call up his friend, Yankee Fan. He and Yankee Fan's girl decide to go to a local bar for drinks at midnight. ne0 figures he's only going to get to drink tonight because of a big exam the day after his birthday. At the bar he proceeds to have two beers, a teabag (that's right a teabag) and an Irish Car Bomb, he goes home slightly dazed at about 12:45 and goes to sleep in a warm cushy bed. He wakes the next day to his 21 year old glory, he showers and goes to class as happy as can be, except for the fact that he has class until six (which includes a test). He heads home after the last bell rings its joyful tune.
Upon arriving at home, ne0 eats dinner and plays a little Playstation 2. His roomates: Soldier and Blackburns remember its his birthday and demand to take him out. ne0 says he has a big exam the next day and will only get a few faggy birthday shots. ne0 studies for the next hour and is still unsure of his test. Blackburns and Soldier say its time to go, so Blackburns' girl agrees to drive.
The first bar is Milligan's and ne0 is uncomfortable with all the creepy middle aged men trying to get poon from the college girls in the bar. ne0 flips out his id and gets a Three Wisemen (Jose Cuervo, Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan), slams it and gets the hell out before someone mistakes his long hair to be that of a lady's and tries to rape him. Second stop yields a shot of Wild Turkey, an Irish Car Bomb, a Sam Adams and a Duck's Fart (don't ask), then across the street to a shot of Yukon Jack. It suddenly dawns on ne0, he is not going to stop drinking tonight, he will drink all the liquor the world has and be victorious, all knowledge of the test fades away into a drunken haze of whiskey shots.
After some bench walking the next stop yields a tall douchebag saying "Maximum Occupancy". ne0 looks downtroden and then remembers that this bar is for yuppie fuckoffs, "To the next bar!" ne0 declares to the shock and awe of his party and one drunk trying to slurp up the rest of his fallen drink in the street. ne0 decides to slow it down and really try to get beat to death tonight "I'll have a panty dropper", as the music shuts down and the lights come on to spotlight him, he realizes that he won't get beatup, he has long hair, but looks like a man because of his facial hair. No one is convinced, so he has a shot of tequila compliments of BanjoMan (a local superhero he happens to know). The party trods across the dangerous valley of Ivinson to the Cowpoke Bar and has an Oatmeal Cookie. ne0 exclaims "Wow, that tastes like an oatmeal cookie!" and has another. The Mountee Bar is next, and a couple more shots, a tie me to the bedpost and another Duck's Fart which happens to taste like a shot of whiskey, which happened to be shot out of a yeast infected vagina. Down to Silver's Lounge gets ne0 a Copper's Topper, good, but no liquor in there, and a sex on the beach, might as well not be liquor in there, and finally a blowjob, liquor in there, but hard to taste.
A storyline unfolds in that Blackburns' girlfriend is trying to be boarded by another mate, let's call him Private Dancer. Private Dancer asks Blackburn's pasty ass for his girls hand in a dance (her name from this point forward is Diana Jones). Diana Jones looks at Blackburns with a if you let him touch me, I hate you for life look. I look at Blackburns who has a he'll beat me to death look. What does he do...? He smiles, c'mon he's shitfaced. Blackburns says no, Private Dancer says no biggie and ends up dancing with and then most likely ends up having sex with white Tina Turner (meaning over 50 and wrinkley). Now...to the dive bar. An Alabama Slammer for ne0, yum! ne0 is pretty messed up but is determined to finish the bar circuit. As the party moves on, they notice that ne0 is still doing well, something is wrong and they realize that his mutant power is holding liquor, they decide to challenge that. They take him to Mingle's, where an evil monster called "The Green Martian" lives, ne0 says "Fuck that bitch, I'll take him down." ne0 does it...he can't believe it, a friend (Bizarro) buys him a shot of Jaeger too. One problem, he can't believe it because he does not remember because ne0 blacked the fuck out after he conquered the Green Martian, which actually conquered him. The party soon realizes that holding liquor is not ne0's super power.
If anyone reading this knows the individuals who joined ne0 above, you'll have to ask them what happened from this point until ne0 woke up in his bed with a piece of bread in this hand. The rest of the night breaks down like this Soldier takes care of ne0: bread, water, water, bread, crying, bread, water, sleep.
He awakes a full two hours before his test ne0 stares at the 8:00 a.m. time on his clock and smacks his lips from the cotton mouth. For some reason he has the shivers, he's not sure if he's a crack junky who has recently become addicted or a recent pnumonia patient. His headache isn't too bad and as if through divine inspiration a voice says "ne0! 1 1/2 glasses of water, 2 pieces of bread and 4 ibuprofen," he abliges. ne0 studies for maybe ten minutes on his exam and goes to class shaking like Jamie Foxx in "Ray". ne0 sits at the computer and takes his exam slowly and judiciously, then goes to the rest of his classes. He goes home and eats and sleeps for an hour, the next day he receives his test score...a 90%. The only words that could form from his voice box were as follows "Boo-fuckin-yah!" He later finds out that the test he took the day before his birthday yielded an 86% and the test he took on his birthday yielded a 92.5%. Again, the only words that could be heard were "Boo-fuckin-yah!"
This concludes another episode of ESPN's Greatest Comebacks EVER! *cue ESPN music* I'm Steve Sabol, until next time...

Game of the Century...blah blah blah

It appears that through all this good will I figured the Mountain West generated in getting five bowl eligible squads, that Wyoming would get a bowl game, even one as insignificant as the newly fielded Texas Bowl. But alas, I am foreboding the bowl season despite the fact that Wyoming somehow turned around a backward season and ended up 5-3 in conference play which will most likely put them into a tie for third place in which they overide Utah to be the actual third place team in the MWC. BYU, and this seems odd for a team in the standing that it is in (#23) has decided to already accept the Las Vegas Bowl, which slightly confuses me, it seems that they should at least wait until the season is over and see if any other bowls would be willing to bill the top MWC team that is also nationally ranked, but whatever, BYU is going for the sure thing (which would be a sure thing anyways). TCU will receive the Fort Worth Bowl, and they WILL take the bid because they ARE from Fort Worth. TCU I think in effect deserves the bowl that they are given because they certainly managed to turn their season around into something that is very respectable as a program from the beginning of the year being that they were nationally ranked and then proceeded to lose hard and bring themselves back to prominence. And even though Wyoming will have a higher ranking in the conference, Utah will receive the Poinsettia Bowl bid in San Diego because they happen to be 7-5 (unless by some miracle of God, they defeat BYU at home this saturday). However, Wyoming does have a chance in hell of getting a bowl, the New Mexico Bowl. New Mexico is currently poised to take that bowl bid, but one obsticle is left standing, SDSU. The San Diego State Aztecs gave Wyoming more than a handful two weeks ago at home and don't think that the Aztecs are going to roll over for the Lobos. I think that they will be challenged by this game, but will probably win and take the New Mexico bid. I know this may seem unfamiliar, but root for the Aztecs if you love the Cowboys because they are our chance at taking the New Mexico Bowl, root for BYU too, just in case of a Utah/Wyoming tie in the MWC influencing the Poinsettia Bowl bid decisions. Its sad, but Wyoming will probably not make a bowl this year and honestly, they deserve it for the work they've done in the past few months really pulling the college into a winning program.
Now onto the bigger picture:
Boise State @ Nevada:
If there is any game that Boise State needs to win right now, it is this one! If there is any game that Boise State needed Ian Johnson (RB) for, it is this game. Nothing like having the NCAA leader in rushing TDs still out with a partially collapsed lung. A win here almost guaruntees a Fiesta Bowl matchup against the winner of the Big 12, probably Texas and most likely an epic ass-whoopin'. However, a victory here is needed to get to that stage, a loss to the Nevada Wolf-Pack will drop them into a position to play in the only Boise bowl game, MPC Computers Bowl. Even though Nevada would love to come away with a victory here, a loss is just as valuable, given that Hawaii has already accepted the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu, Nevada would almost automatically receive...that's right, the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, if they will, Boise goes there and Nevada may very well get nothing. Recent numbers have the Wolf Pack winning by a single point, but watch out, Rutgers may have been Cinderella, but Boise is definitely the Snow White of the NCAAFB, let's just hope they don't eat the apple again at Nevada this weekend.
Florida @ Florida State & SEC Championship:
Urban Meyer is about two steps from hopping on the college football playoff train and it could be these two games plus another that make him take over that train. Florida State has had a deplorable season and have done very well to make me want to vomit. After last year's FSU team doing so well and taking it to Penn State all through the night to come into this year and self-destruct is utterly horrid. Florida will most likely win this game handedly, but don't even count out this game, it could be a good one to at least watch. However, the big problem comes in the SEC championship, which will be Arkansas and Florida, and Arkansas will win that game. However, if Florida wins both of these games and ND manages to rip a win off of USC, Florida could be punching a ticket to Glendale, but a USC loss is needed in addition to a win in both of these games. As far as the implications for Arkansas go, they could be huge, if they can defeat both Florida and LSU as the season starts to expire, it could be the type of thing that (with a USC loss) pushes them into a national title game against Ohio State.
Purdue/Oregon State @ Hawaii:
Six touchdowns from tying the NCAA record for touchdowns in a season, Colt Brennan is two games away from rewriting the history books and right now is the most dominant passer in NCAAFB, he has to get four TDs in one game and three in the other to take the top spot of all time, for a man who throws about five TDs a game, this should be an easy feat. Watch for Hawaii to rewrite the record books and decimate whoever rolls into Honolulu for the bowl game this holiday season.
LSU @ Arkansas:
If Arkansas can defeat LSU here, it will signal their next step up and a victory in the SEC championship could be just enough to leap over the winner of the USC/ND game as number three or more especially, number two in the BCS. However, Arkansas will have a tough match against JaMarcus Russell and the Tigers, the Razorbacks have shown that they can take just about anyone on and give 'em one-four. However, the Tigers might present a challenge to this typical domination by the Razorbacks.
Notre Dame @ USC:
I don't think I even need to state the importance of this game, but I will. What is on the line here? A number two spot for USC who is .007 behind Michigan in the overall rankings and a trip to Glendale. For Notre Dame, with a whole lot of goofy needed outcomes for them, a number two spot as well. I won't go into details on the level of mishaps that will have to happen for Notre Dame to climb above Michigan in the overall polls. These two teams haven't forgotten about last year, it was this game last year that cost ND a New Year's Date with Texas in the National Championship. Don't think that Brady Quinn and Jeff Samardzija have not forgotten what happened last year in what I will call the lousiest call ever (since the forward pass of Tom Brady in the NE/Oakland playoff game) that allowed the USC Trojans to slip out of the regular season unbeaten. Both teams are ready and want to defeat the other team no matter the costs. Also, it is a victory that could boost ND's Brady Quinn Heisman caliber over the top of Troy Smith. This game is worth a lot, to a lot of people. And if I had a game that I'd say you have to watch this weekend for sure, it is this matchup.
Which brings me to my final section, which is a dump on the Heisman. The Heisman is easily the most unfair of all of the honors given by NCAAFB because ir relies on team position before anything else. Last year's winner was clear cut, Reggie Bush was the most outstanding player, with a massive number of all purpose yards a game and a great number of touchdowns, he deserved it. And when I hear people who voted in the Heisman say "I wish I'd of given my vote to Vince Young" it makes me sick, Young just was not the better player, just because he and the Longhorns came out on top is no excuse to say "nay" to Bush. However, it brings up an interesting point: Team standing owns the Heisman. Even if Dwayne Jarrett had the most fantastic season with USC this year, upwards of 25 TDs, he'd still lose to Troy Smith, why? Because he heads one of the only two unbeaten teams in NCAAFB. Then secondarily, it goes to player skill, as can be evidenced by the fact that Ian Johnson isn't even a quarterfinalist for the award, not to mention Colt Brennan who is creaming both of these guys in the numbers game. What worries me the most is that even if Brady Quinn, throws a marvelous game in which he has no turnovers and great yards, and completion rating against USC, Smith will still win, even if OSU loses the national championship to whoever. Look at the comparison:
Troy Smith, OSU (QB):
199/297 (67%), 2,507 yds, 8.4 yds/attempt, 30 TDs, 5 INTs, 167.9 (QB rating)
Brady Quinn, ND (QB):
252/387 (65%), 3,004 yds, 7.8 yds/attempt, 32 TDs, 5 INTs, 155 (QB rating)
Look at that! The numbers are almost identical and with one more good game under his belt, Brady Quinn should be the winner of the Heisman! But he will not win, because everyone is starstruck by Troy Smith, his mass of offensive weapons (which resembles a naval battleship) and a strong defense that has allowed him to get the ball more and more. His individual ability relies solely on his team. Brady Quinn's does not, he works with a squad that is good, but does not execute as well as an OSU team could behind his strong arm. This is why the best team is Ohio State, no bones, but the best player is Brady Quinn and its almost disturbing knowing that what defines the best player is not his ability, but his team...fuck you Heisman.

Ahhh back to the basics...next-gen consoles

That's right, for those of you who are video game illiterate, there are a slab of next-gen consoles out on the market right now for the taking. The Nintendo Wii, the XBox 360 and the Playstation 3.
At first sight I was not convinced by the Wii, but looking at it again, it looks like fun. However, I am not blind to the fact that the Wii Sports title that comes with the system has left me a bit disheartened. I simply know that the sports title will not make me want to play it over and over again, the replay value there is gone. However, what will keep the Wii alive and kicking are its game titles that will not be forwarded to other systems, like Metroid 3, Mario Galaxies, and of course Legend of Zelda. The new Legend of Zelda looked to be like a fun title and something i'd like to get into, but alas, I don't have three or four hundred dollars to spend on a Wii. One thing I will note about the Wii, hello! The graphics are NOT there. Even with games like Zelda I'm saying, ya' know, that's about a step above Gamecube, but nothing mesmerizing. In conclusion, it will be the gameplay that saves the Wii, not its graphical capability.
The XBox 360 is owning the market at current and that is because it has had a full year to play around with people's imaginations. 360 holds a number of great titles that are sure to keep people dazzled for at least a few weeks and an online play system that is tremendous in comparison to either Nintendo's or Sony's. In short, the 360 has the market right now and some of the major strengths to keep it running strong, but before too long it is going to have to start cranking out some great titles (besides Halo 3) to be the top dog.
Playstation 3 has just come out this week like the Wii and has come with a tidy pricetag of $600. One thing that the PS3 has is a capable dvd player that the XBox seems to have missed out on and also has the graphics to boot. However, the PS3 has a lot to overcome including a set of launch games that have been less than stunning. Don't count the PS3 though, it has some hurdles to jump, but guarunteed it will go through the hoops easily. The launch of Metal Gear Solid 4 will do major things for the PS3.
In the end, the PS3 will own the most of the market, why? Because its the name that most people trust and enjoy. No one has enough ground on Sony to take them out of the top spot and just because there is a pricetag on the PS3 that is nuts, true gamers will find a way, when the 360 cost 500 dollars, gamers found a way. Just cause its expensive doesn't mean anything in the lion's share of the market.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=sony_bullshit
In a final note, I'd like to say "Screw you Maddox, your bitching about Sony is the second crappiest article you've ever written!" Get some balls man, that was pathetic. Got problems with the PSP? Then go talk about them at E3 you big dumb shitbag.
1,245,321 people are sick of Maddox's shitty writing

Kazakhstanis and Bond

This is finally a movie section.
Borat: A. Two words: "Happy Hand". That's right Borat made me laugh until I fucking BAWLED! This movie is messed up beyond belief, so if you are easily offended then get the hell out of the theater. The storyline follows a Kazak who comes from the former Soviet Union to learn about the ways of life in America. He then goes through the heartaches that accompany becoming an American. There is anti-seimitism, racism, sexism, I mean something for the whole family to enjoy. Let me be frank, if you like South Park...at all, you will like Borat. If you don't miss an episode of South Park, you will LOVE Borat. I was originally attracted to the movie on the basis that Sacha Baron Cohen was in it, given his masterfully funny role in Talledega Nights. I had seen him from time to time on Da Ali G Show, but never really got into the program. I realized that Cohen was gold and his style of comedy was the exact opposite of Dane Cook's, it was edgey and completely freakin' messed up. I give Borat an "A" because it not only was funny on a level that makes it comprable to "Ask A Ninja", but also "Maddox", "Tucker Max" and also on a general trend of funny that many stand-ups have. And to boot, Cohen makes it a very interesting thought experiment because of the fact that Americans deny their racism in trying to be politically correct when they are not.
Casino Royale: ? Let's just say this, there were ten seats left when I got to the theater and it almost spoke to me right off the bat, "Borat". This does not mean I do not want any part of Casino Royale. I believe that Daniel Craig will be a superb Bond and I think that this new series of Bond films will be quite amazing. That being said, if you haven't seen Casino Royale yet, do it now! If only to be connected once again with a solid franchise of Bond movies. And for those of you who thought that the original Casino Royale was good...let's just say that I hope you never find me, cause if you do, I will beat the hell out of you.
Rocky Balboa: Not even out yet. Is it gonna' suck? Yes, worse that Rocky V? NO WAY! The whole basis for this movie making money is because everyone loves Rocky and if you don't, you suck. Even people who love Dolph Lundgren love Rocky. I can't wait to see this movie, and I will probably love it because I grew up on Rocky. I grew up watching Rocky, Indiana Jones and Die Hard. So Harrison Ford, Sly Stallone and Bruce Willis will always hold a special spot in my heart. So watch for Rocky Balboa, its gonna' stink, but hey, there are even worse Christmas movies coming out (see: DECK THE HALLS).
Turistas: Okay, enough of this crap, I am sick to death of ripoff horror films. It was like the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre got made and then people thought it would be just fine to make a slew of crappy new horror movies. I think that Hostle was total crap, I bought the dvd because a friend told me to, I then watched the movie and instead of taking it back, I was so disgusted I took a fucking ball pin hammer to the sonuvabitch. I was determined to never let another human being see that crap. Now it seems that some guys got this great idea, the same idea, but in Brazil...great. I think that I'd rather go to Africa and drink an Ebola victim's blood. Thanks a lot Hollywood, you've ruined horror.
Smokin' Aces: Lots of potential. This movie looks like a box of Rice-A-Roni would have a more consistent storyline than it, but it looks like fun. I really want to see it despite the fact that there will be some one-liners in it that leave me begging for a frontal labotomy.
Saw III: See Turistas for the ruining of horror. Let's just say this, I saw the first Saw and predicted what would happen, I was not impressed. Everyone left the theater thinking that Tobin Bell was such a freakin' genius! Yeah, clever...really clever. Then when I predicted the second movie to a T and people were still even more amazed by it. The third one sounds like a stupid joke. They should've renamed Saw III, Saw III Death of a Franchise, or Saw III, Tobin Bell is still alive AND has a movie career. Screw this series of films, they have no validity in my book.
The Return: See Saw III for ruining of horror. Lets just say this, screw the Ring, screw the Ring II, screw the Grudge, screw all these horror adaptations of Japanese films. Congrats to the Japanese for making some pretty okay movies (I didn't like them, but they weren't bad). These American versions are about as pitiful as David Blaine trying to sell a cookbook. I think I'd have a better night drinking paint thinner and then dropping a flaming match down my throat.
The Departed: B-. I am not on the board of people who thought that the Departed was the most amazing movie Scorsese ever created. Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, Gangs of New York. His best movie ever my ass, it wasn't even his storyline this time around, movie was ripped off an older Japanese crime drama. There were so many better ways that Damon and DiCaprio could have interacted. Martin Sheen was dead on with his performance. Nicholson confused me, it seemed like he had his role together so well in certain parts, but in others it seemed like he had gotten Alzheimer's for the scene. Damon and DiCaprio were great in acting and their chemistry (for as little as they are seen together) was great. Probably my wildcard from this was Ray Winstone who played Mr. French, I was first introduced to Winstone in The Proposal with Guy Pearce, which I thought Winstone was pretty fantastic, I also enjoyed him here. Mark Wahlberg had his role down cold, dirty asshole cop from Boston...oh shit that's right, Mark Wahlberg is a dirty asshole actor from Boston, man that really added a whole new element to the story. All in all, this was not Scorsese's best work and the horrifying thing is he will probably win the best director Oscar for this movie and it is NOT his best work.
Fast Food Nation: This movie has massive amounts of potential, following on the coat tails of what I think is in my top five comedy movies of all time (Thank You For Smoking). Greg Kinnear can never be underestimated as an actor and can be very serious at important moments, but be a cut-up when he needs to be a solid comic actor. Watch for him to shine in this film.
Let's Go To Prison: Outside chance of being funny and that is what gives this film a chance. I think that it is something I'll take a look at when it comes out on video.
Bobby: Now this is a movie that I have utmost confidence in. Emilio Estevez directs this smart piece about the people who were around on the day that Bobby Kennedy was murdered. An allstar cast of actors heads up what seems to be a very intriguing storyline about the individual lives and how they all lead to the same intersection, the death of Robert Kennedy. I say see this movie, you'll enjoy it no matter what.
That is it for now, I won't even get into Santa Clause 3 or Babel (not impressed at all). Thanks for reading and be sure to see some films its A Good Year, just kidding, sorry Russell, but I'm waiting for Ridley's next project.

Super Saturday...?

That's right ladies and gentlement, tomorrow is Ohio State v. Michigan in the most important game of the season, except for maybe USC v. Notre Dame which could be equally important in deciding the national champtionship opponent. I'll keep this one short and sweet as to let you know. I don't even need to include the sentimental importance of a victory with the death of Bo Schembechler in order to prove that UM will win. Michigan WILL win this game, they're not going to win by a lot, they just will win. It isn't about being a strong force on the offense for either team, it will manifest itself in producing enough to get around the field. Chad Henne and Mike Hart can do that, Troy Smith (the so-called Heisman winner) will not. Chad Henne will spread the defense of OSU out and of course Mike Hart who is having a Heisman go of it himself will punch the OSU D in the mouth. Why will Troy Smith not be able to take the Buckeyes to the win? One simple reason, Michigan WILL not let him throw. Do you remember the way that Michigan dismantled Brady Quinn's throwing ability? Yeah, that's right and-going out on a limb here I'll say-he is the better of the two quarterbacks. The secondary of Michigan will torture Troy Smith all day. In the end, Michigan will win close, by 1-3 points. So, its always been said that offense wins games, defense wins championships...tomorrow is a championship.
Also tomorrow look for Brady Quinn to destroy the defense of Army, USC to choke a loss to Cal (who might I add is full of piss and vinegar from losing to Arizona). Maybe finally the BCS will get Florida the hell out of there and put ND in its rightful position. Also look for Boise State to annihilate Utah State (poor Aggies) and keep on running the road to a top five position in the BCS.

You mean he got the death sentence!?

Out of all of this hate and discontent among all of you fellow Americans out there, the thing that horrifies me the most is that many of you who are commenting are misspelling words that children don't miss. I won't go into any details on anyone specific, but there is actually a spell check button on most word processors. So I guess the one thing I'll say is that if you are smart enough to try and comment on one of the biggest international trials since the Nuremburg War Crimes, spell correctly.
Now onto Saddam, there is no joke that this case decision being delivered to millions of Americans is going to make the Republican Party come out smelling like a white mushroom. It is these large overall acts that go far in helping Republican candidates' constituencies ignore what the polls are saying, what their opponents are saying and even what they are saying.
Beyond this, Hussein was a dictator, but there is one thing that dictators do well, and always will do well, they control. People in Iraq did not have to worry about getting water, food, and electricity. Now, with the work Americans have done there, it is difficult to live day to day and with the insurgence and sectarian violence. The children, the mothers and the fathers of Iraqi families are dying each day. However, I will say this: We must not leave, why? Because we (meaning our president and defense department) made this bed called Iraq and now we must sleep in it. George Bush can stay the course all he wants to, I will not stay the course, I will advance the course with all possible speed. This needs to end soon and so therefore do the corruption of our government in this area, the death of our troops and the death of innocent Iraqi civilians.
Saddam's trial was just an overemphasized Hollywood trial to keep people's eyes of the real problems in Iraq. I know its hard to communicate sarcasm of the internet, but I'll be blunt...who thought that Saddam wouldn't get a death sentence, if there is anyone out there who reasonably thought he'd get away when anything other than death for his crimes, you are a fool and are blind to not only the trial evidence, but moreover, the political winds.

So I've got this wish journal...

So I've got this wish journal and I write down all my impossible dreams inside of it:
-Watching Oakland win a Super Bowl (SCREW YOU JON GRUDEN!)
-Watching Cleveland win the World Series
-Watching the Yankees lose to the Devil Rays (CHECKMARK)
-Watching Notre Dame win a national championship
-Watching Denver losing to Oakland at Invesco (THANK YOU JON GRUDEN!)
-Owning a Jaguar D-Type Race car
-Ability, charm and good looks.
Those are in my wish journal, but I put the probable wishes in my real one, stuff like:
-Becoming president of the United States
-Buying groceries
-Getting paid a six-digit income with a political science degree
However, despite all these dreams I have, I'm starting to acknowledge that two of my dreams are soon dying. 1) It appears that the Cowboys are not going to win the MWC, 2) There are most likely going to be three undefeated teams.
1) With a stunning defeat at the hands of the Horned Frogs this weekend, Cowboy fans everywhere crumbled into defeatism. Good news is the Cowboys have the best chance at being number two in the MWC. In a four way tie for second (technically) the Cowboys are matched up against Air Force, New Mexico and Utah. The Boys are facing off against the Aztecs of San Diego State, then UNLV, and finally to finish the season...a doomsday trip to BYU (that's optomistic).
In contrast, AF will play Army, Notre Dame (OUCH!), Utah and UNLV; I predict one loss, to ND, just good enough to tie for number 2.
New Mexico plays TCU, BYU and SD State. Good enough to take SD State for sure, but BYU and TCU present their own little problems for the Lobos who have actually come on pretty strong in the last few weeks. I predict one win for NM.
Utah plays CSU, Air Force and BYU. I predict two losses for Utah, one to BYU and the other to AF, because that triple option will annihilate that Utah defense that allows for an average of 100 yards rushing a game, Air Force will be licking their chops in preparation for that game.
That leaves us with UW and AF tied for second (unless by some shock of God BYU drops four straight). In which AF will get the technical edge, because of a victory over UW in Laramie...but still, tied for second. Better than we were to begin with.
There are probably going to be three unbeaten squads this year: In all reality (Michigan, West Virginia and Boise State). I am still praying for rain and hoping that Boise State is the only unbeaten. The twisted web that Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia are all in could result in two teams losing, but I think that Michigan is just too good (run defense of 28 yards a game) to lose at all, if to Ohio State. I think that Ohio State could slip up, but Michigan will not.
Boise State showed itself off tonight in a gorgeous whoopin of Fresno State, sure its not a good team, but their losses have been by very few points, the only whoopin they got prior was from Hawaii, so congrats to Boise State, stay the course and keep your eyes on the Wolf Pack of Nevada.
I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge four things that I don't get to often:
1) Congratulations to Hawaii QB Colt Brennan who has thrown 75% for almost three thousand yards, 33 tds, 5 ints and with a resounding qb rating of 185. This man has been going ballistic on teams with his aerial game. I hope he is selected to attend the Heisman ceremony this year, even though he'll probably lose to the likes of Troy Smith, or possibly...
2) A year has past and ND has destroyed Navy again. Next year, Navy will get another chance at evening the most lopsided rivalry in football. With my 2nd man Brady Quinn throwing for huge numbers of 72%, 295 yards, and 3 tds. A total on the season of 64% completion, 2200 yards, 21 tds, 4 ints and a great qb rating of 145.8, the only reason why he'll defeat Colt Brennan is because he's faced far tougher opponents. I present Navy with an open invitation to try and gain a W against ND next year, I think I've seen Vincent Price in person more than Navy has won against ND.
3) My final note here is this, USC LOST! Oh that's right, I was crying because I had exams, papers and homework due the upcoming week but I started bawling in my friend's living room because the nightmare was over. One thing that gives me the giggles is this: ND gets romped by ranked Michigan, and drops ten spots, USC loses to unranked (and pretty much unknown) Oregon State, and only manages to drop five. Screw you AP...at least rank Cal better!
4) The Heisman rundown. I was seriously thinking that Garrett Wolfe was going to be my man this year, but since the rest of NCAA FB found out that throwing everything plus the gatorade cooler at him could stop him, he's been running on empty. Here's my list in alpha-numeric order for the Heisman:

1. Troy Smith (Ohio State) = Why? He's an unbeaten quarterback of a top five school with nice numbers. (68%, 1,900 yards, 22 tds, 2 ints, plus a rushing td) To be put bluntly, he's the best guy out there right now, he can make it rain, doesn't usually make it pour, but he can doesn't get sloppy. His leadership is noticeable on and off the field. I think that his o-line should get part of the Heisman to boot.
2. Brady Quinn (ND) = Why? Not only is he my second favorite qb in NCAA FB, he's a quarterback who has lost one game to a phenominal defense, otherwise he's pretty clean. His capabilities on the field are quite easy to see. (64%, 2,200 yards, 21 tds, 4 ints, 2 rushing tds to boot). This man can make it pour on opposing defenses. Brady Quinn was disavowed from last year's Heisman because of an incredible candidacy that included Leinart, Bush, Young, himself and one other guy who had about as good as a chance as Hitler pulling a comeback while contemplating suicide in his underground bunker. This year may be his year.
3. Colt Brennan (Hawaii) = Why? Hello! Look above and see his stats. He sits below Quinn because he hasn't faced the defenses Brady has, but man those are some numbers. Just because he has lost a couple games to amazing opponents (like Boise State), doesn't mean he should be out, look for him to clean up big time in the few remaining games of the year so it looks like he could give a seriel code a run for its money.
4. Marshawn Lynch (Cal) = Why? A running back who does well is one thing (907 yards on 132 carries for 8 tds), but another thing is a RB who has 19 catches for 216 yards and 3 tds. This is what Lynch carries over Slaton of WV and Hart of Michigan. His ability to not only run, but receive for good yards and for tds. He has the most overall tds of the other two with eleven. Another reason why Lynch? He's part of the reason why Cal is ranked so well, and why they will be at the end of the season.
5. Ray Rice (Rutgers) = Why? Solid performances against all opponents. His numbers are 223 for 1,200 yards and 13 tds. Those are good numbers and even though Rutgers hasn't had the toughest schedule, Ray Rice will have his proving ground with Louisville and WV later this season. If he can run well against those defenses, count him staying in the Heisman run for the count.
6. Heisman Contender *drum roll* = Karsten Sween (Wyoming) = Why? This kid came out of the woodworks of the MWC to an early and quiet start to a roar. Sween has only played in four and a half games for the Cowboys and has racked up a completion rating of 60%, 926 yards, 7 tds and four ints, plus a rushing td. These are truly amazing numbers from a guy who got his start five weeks ago after getting the nod from head coach Joe Glenn, and almost toppling Syracuse. He's had his rough spots, but look for him to shine in these last few games of the year. Also look for him in the future, by his junior or senior year this one will be throwing with the best of 'em.

So, down the road, who will win? Probably Troy Smith, because even though he'll take a beating to Michigan, it won't be enough for Brady Quinn's whoopin by Michigan to even out even though he's going to make some major plays in the final four games of the season against NC, Army, Air Force and USC (which could promise some difficulty). Colt Brennan will have great numbers, but his numbers won't go past his WAC opponents. Ray Rice and Marshawn Lynch should show up too, but unless Rice can run against both WV and Louisville he can't be taken seriously. Sween should at least garner some major honors for his first year of play (if he doesn't go to the Heisman ceremony).

Finally, I love you Temple, you make me believe that dreams can come true...maybe Wyoming will win the MWC *pulls out BYU voodoo doll*.

The Trojan Horse and Cowboy Joe with a short excerpt in St. Louis

Ahh yes, remember the historic novel The Iliad? Homer's beautiful poetic work and consequently a source for at least ten different teams to name themselves after warriors of a dead city (never quite understood that).
Here today, we find ourselves in a situation that baffles me more than anyone. Why are the Trojans of USC ranked so high? Who should be ranked higher? And why should they be?
The USC Trojans are ranked so high for the same reason that Bobbie Bowden and Joe Paterno are still coaching for FSU and Penn State respectively. Respect, as far as USC is concerned, the team that had Dwayne Jarrett, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush played for is a team that was to be feared and honored as a fantastic squad (even though I was rooting for the Longhorns last year). Because the team has been nearly perfect over the past three years, it seems like the coaches, the AP and the BCS feel like they owe something to the Trojans of old by a continued low rank in their polls (currently 2, 3, and 3 respectively). One might levy this satement: "USC is just a power offense that tallies high points against any team." Unfortunately no, their only big win is against Arkansas (50-14) and from that point on they've beaten teams by about 11 points on average, these are not numbers of a team that brutalizes their opponents. But, USC is unbeaten...I will agree there, but so are West Virginia, Louisville, Boise State and Rutgers (not to mention Michigan and Ohio State). Is it true that USC is better than all these teams...let's take a look.
USC has played six games and has won six games against Arkansas, Nebraska, Arizona, Washington State, Washington and Arizona State. OOOOH! At the time, Nebraska and Arizona State I believe were ranked teams, but were high ranked teams (Nebraska was 18, ASU was 23). Yet the teams that gave them the most trouble were Washington State (NR), Arizona State (23), and Washington (NR). Somehow, USC pulled its butt out of the fire and won by 6, 7, 6 respectively. These are not difficult teams to play, these are the teams that should have been brutalized like Arkansas in the first game of the year. That is the first point of why USC is ranked too high. Now, and I'll eat my words here if I'm wrong, but USC has to get it together. They have Oregan (25), Cal (12), ND(11) not to mention Oregan State who ALWAYS brings a good game against USC and also, UCLA who has not forgotten about how they were humiliated by USC last year. These last few games of the year will be the proving ground of USC, and as far as I'm concerned, I predict losses to both Cal and ND. And this leads to my second point of why USC is overrated, their offense is just a bit slower, sure they complete each game with an average of 400 yards and a score of 30, but without the speed, strength and leadership that Leinart, Bush and White had for this squad, it slows them down just enough to be susceptible. On top of that, their defense is a bit cushy, allowing an average of 180 yards of passing a game is like an open invitation to Longshore of Cal or Quinn of ND to come on in pick the D apart. Also, the offense isn't bad, but Booty has come on lately after destroying the Razorbacks and thrown ten touchdowns and four interceptions. That is nearly a pick every two tds, and coming up against a shrewd defense like Cal's, which has tagged 18 interceptions in 8 games, meaning two a game. Can Booty throw against that kind of secondary? I don't think so. The defense and the offense just aren't enough to carry USC to a national championship, but maybe a BCS game if they are good little boys and Santy Clause gives them a gift.
Now, is there any team that should be ranked higher? Of course, here are several:
WV, the Mountaineers have been playing roughly the same difficulty of schedule as USC and are not only undefeated, but are waylaying their opponents. I will put a caveat on WV though, they have one real big test coming up in Louisville. If WV can push through the downright mean run defense of the Cardinals, I think they could be a big contender for the BCS games or even the national championship (cause they have the potential to go undefeated after Michigan and OSU cream each other). WV's general play and ability is what makes it better than USC.
Louisville by virtue of the fact that the Cardinals have a tough defense. Their offense isn't their strong point, but when that big mean defense gets into it, its hard to get the Cardinals off their balance. Louisville has realized this in encountering tougher opponents in its schedule like Miami and Syracuse. The wierd thing for Louisville is that defense will win games...and championships. If they can hold onto that explosive run game of WV, they could go undefeated. Louisville's incredible run defense is what keeps it above the Trojans for me.
Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are even making me believe that Wyoming could become a contender soon enough. They have had a fairly easy schedule but with a dominating win over Navy, and a good one against Pittsburgh, it has reinforced their ability to score with the football, and also stop the run. Rutgers has two roadblocks coming up through, WV and Louisville. And I honestly think they'll have greater difficulty with Louisville by virtue of the fact they know they both can't rush against each other it will make for some very wierd play calls. Rutgers has a quick offense and a strong rush defense and that is what make it better than USC.
Boise State. The Broncos have made me a believer that the WAC still has some balls. Even though C-USA is the crapping grounds of NCAA FB, the WAC is still a disrespected conference. They have not had as hard a schedule as USC, but with a crushing 40 points a game 415 yards a game and 17 points scored on them on average, Boise State means business. Why are they really better than USC though? Because they WILL go undefeated. There is no team that can beat them, the only possible threat to Boise State's cindarella season is Nevada, but I'm not worried about them in the slightest. My hope is that Boise will get a BCS berth.
Without getting into too much detail, two other teams that should be ranked higher than USC are the Longhorns and the Golden Bears. Texas is still the better team that met up last year in the national championship and the Golden Bears I predict will win the PAC-10 championship against USC.
I decided not to talk too much about teams that had a digit in the loss column because people would then harp on the "perfection" of the Trojans.
In more local news, I was reading an article by Pete Fiutak on FoxSports.com and found myself enjoying it, why? Well, I like his sense of humor, but hate his constant bashing on my boy Brady Quinn. This time around, due to the brilliant comeback ND had against UCLA, he had to shut his yap. But also, he talked about the Wyoming Cowboys, which is a recognition I'd like to see more in any sports writers.
The Cowboys have gone 3-0 with Karsten Sween as their QB. Sween has thrown 66/106 for 789 yards, 7 tds and 3 ints, plus one running td. He has a QB rating of 140.9. It is easy to see why Head Coach Joe Glenn was so irritated wtih the Cowboys three weeks ago. Simply put, they are better than 1-4, and noticing this, he instead inserted Sween in for then starting QB Jacob Doss who had started to fall in stats after the Utah State game. He did this in the Syracuse matchup because he saw the game slipping away, Sween came in and got them into an overtime matchup which ended up being a loss after the Boys couldn't convert and catch the Orange in 2OT.
Since then, Sween has thrown 47/79 for 588 yds, 5 tds and two ints (with the rushing td) in three wins against New Mexico, Utah and CSU. These victories grew by increments in how badly the Cowboys defeated their opponents. I personally know Karsten and its amazing how well he is playing under this immense pressure, he is a student who is dedicated to his studies (in fact one night I stayed up til midnight trying to recover a Microsoft Word file of his for a class), is married, and faces pressure on the gridiron. But it seems when he gets out there, he is not bothered at all by the stress of running an offense. His field awareness, recognition and quick thinking help him out immensely. The way he progresses makes it nearly impossible for spies to pick up on him and make a play for the int.
However, this weekend Sween's stellar performance nearly came to a halt. In the first half, Sween could not harness the power of the Cowboys to march the field and score a td, they would settle for a field goal. It seemed that either the Rams had come to play hard nose defense, or that their coordinator was "doing something with those x's and o's." And thus it finally hit me, Sween was getting pressured like hell. He didn't have the time to the comfortable cool passer that I'd always known him to be. When the second half rolled around, either the Cowboy O-line woke up, or Sween had finally acknowledged the fact that he would have to play with the heat. He came alive, and by the final whistle had thrown 10/22 for 152 yards and 2 tds. This is one part of why I think the Cowboys are new and improved, because its obvious that Jacob Doss just doesn't have the skills that Karsten Sween does.
What is that other half? The Wyoming DEFENSE! They ARE marauders out there, they are third overall in the nation as far as defense goes. They are third in receiving yards, third in passing yards, somewhere in the 20s with points per game, and somewhere in the 20s for rushing yards. What does this translate to? The defense dominates! In the losses to other teams (besides Air Force) it seemed to be the Wyoming defense playing well that kept the Cowboys close to victory.
Now, my final statement: I am predicting that the Cowboys will win the MWC on the shoulders of its defense. There are two opposition pieces in this equation though: TCU and BYU. The Cowboys will defuse TCU in two ways: The Boys will decimate their run game (with 4-3 blitz packages) and force them to go to the pass early, when this happens, the Cowboys will just have to play smart on the pass and will shut down the TCU offense completely with that awesome pass defense (look for that 3-4 to really make a difference). Then, watch as Sween puts the ball into the air and makes it rain tds, TCU's pass offense isn't exactly shimmering and is waiting to be picked apart by Sween. Key for this game: STOP THE RUN!
BYU is a bit more challenging by virtue of the fact that they are a tough team. However, BYU's weakness is in the air, they use the run game to open up the pass which they practically abuse (305 yards a game). Now, the key is not stopping the run as before, but limiting it, don't let the run push the defense into playing bad blitz packages and giving good matchups for the BYU offense. If the Cowboys can do that, then that dominate pass defense can stack up well later into the game and cause some possible turnovers and three and outs. But the burden will lie on Sween and the Cowboy offense in the fact that they must operate well between the run and the pass. BYU's defense has eleven picks on the year so far, and so Sween must be very careful in how he throws, which means the line has to hold for him to do so. Look for Wynell Seldon and Devin Moore to be key components in this game as well. Seldon and Moore will do a good job by getting the BYU defense tired and disoriented, which will lead to rushing and passing tds. This one will be close, but I think the Cowboys can do it.
In closing *starts eating words*, looks like the Tigers didn't do it, and the Cardinals have managed to actually piss everyone in the MLB off, they had the worst record in the league and managed to win the World Series. There was a point when I'd say "Yay!" But screw you Cards...except Pujols...I like him.

A Change of Pace

Yup, that's right, I know many of you have been waiting long enough for me to say something political, and so here it is: I am horrified by the prospects of the 2008 presidential election.
As a democrat (yep, just lost half my readers), I hope they field someone who is not only qualified, but actually intelligent (don't want Kerry Round 2 here). Where rumors are concerned, I have heard news of John Edwards running again, but against Hillary Clinton is a death sentence for anyone involved (and there goes the rest of my audience). Probably the reason why I am so bothered by the whole process is that I have this awful feeling deep inside my belly that the two candidates for the Republican/Democratic parties will be Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, at which point I pray to God that Nader has enough huevos to run again because I will campaign for him until I die.
I know many of you out there...well, the politically minded ones are saying I'm nuts for expecting Rice to run (at least I'm prepping for the worst here). Republicans are in a very precarious position this election around simply by virtue of the fact that anyone appearing to have political goals and ambitions not unlike those of George Bush Jr. WILL lose, so they either have to select a centrist (like McCain[please God!]) to at least try for the win, or they'll have to do more to gather the vote that they have never been able to tap before: minorities.
Placing someone like, Rice, an African-American female would boost minority voters for the Republican Party like nothing else on the planet (and that includes a comprehensive action to allow minorities to vote in key swing states from now on out[low? Yes, but funny]). Rice will lose the race to anyone, unless its a stick of deoderant, but the whole idea will be to form a precedent with American citizens that there is a party for the minorities of America, the Republican Party. And looking at the idiocy of the general populace, it is quite easy to see how this will help out in the future.
Looking more towards the near future: Wyoming elections. "Re-elect Gov. Dave", dead on with that statement I believe. I think that Dave has this thing wrapped up quite easily and that I am not worried about his victory over Hunkins. Down the rest of the board, I see Republican victory, because in many ways, they have the advantage. McBride for the Superintendent of Public Instruction is a shoe-in, sorry Hoffman, but I think he's just got it not only because he has an R next to his name, but because he is in so well with the Governor's office. However, these victories by Republicans in the state of Wyoming is nothing new, so why talk of the same old stuff? Sounds like you're giving the same odds in Wyoming for dems that you would give Satan to win in The Bible.
Here's what I want to talk about. Gary Trauner. I think this is the year that someone beats Barbara Cubin, which I will say, "it is about friggin' time." He is fired up, he has been up and down the campaign trail, which is something that Cubin hasn't done for years. Considering how close Akin was to defeating her, then Ladd, think about what a Wyomingite who has been giving pretty good arguments for her being replaced this term will do. A friend told me Cubin's strategy, and honestly, it is a brilliant one: "No one can beat an invisible candidate." That is to say that Cubin doesn't need to debate, she doesn't need to be in the public eye, because in doing so, she gives herself up to speculation and therefore comparison. It doesn't look like she's on a high horse, but I'll be if it doesn't give her some aura of invulnerability and respect with the voters. My response is basically this, you can only do that for so long, eventually, actions will speak louder than nothing. Those sorts of actions are the ways she's voted in Congress, her voting record (or lack thereof), her refusal to resign her position despite obvious family obligations that will not allow her to be an effectual leader.
In a final note, I would like to salute Wyoming, whether or not I end up here, this is the best place to be into politics, because it gives you an open avenue towards pursuing your goals by allowing you to meet key members of the parties, the government and of course a thriving public base. It is quite succinct, you don't have the opportunities everywhere else that you do here.
I'll try to give you guys a sports blog tomorrow, which will include, but not be limited to Miami-FIU, Auburn-Florida, and of course Karsten Sween's amazing performance against the Utes saturday.

Gettin' Down in Mo-Town

That's right ladies and gents, Detroit is on its way to sweeping the ALCS. After an impressive showing against the Yanks, Detroit is managing to dismantle the Athletics like its nothing. I predict that the NY Mets are going to prove to be a little more than a handful as the World Series commences. However, I do have a little sad news, that's right, as soon as the Tigers cap off this amazing season they're having, win or lose, they will not get back to the big show again...at least not for a while. Just in the same way that teams have done in the past few years, one team with a large desire and a lot of hard play will show up and take it all, the next year they'll do okay, but not proceed much further in the postseason if at all. Despite the fact that we love underdog teams that come out of nowhere to knock the block off of top dogs, they'll never be the top dogs. And that is exactly why the top dogs are the top dogs. That is why the Yankees are stellar, that is why you will see many of the same teams making the postseason, that is why the Cardinals still are making it to the postseason (despite how terrible the NL Central was this year). A shining example of a top dog is the Atlanta Braves, who have managed to make the postseason for the past fifteen years (this year they finally lost out), and I tip my cap to their ability to continually do so well.
Another baseball note: Torre not getting fired is Steinbrenner's best decision EVER, Torre is not a bad manager at all and you do NOT fire your manager because he managed to get you the best record in baseball and a spot in the AL playoffs. The people who sparked rumors of his getting canned are imbiciles and I don't think they respect George's intelligence enough.
The Lions...that's right, the misfit team of Detroit. It seemed like as soon as Barry Sanders retired, the Lions lost their roar. The ailing 0-5 Lions are seeking to claim a victory this weekend while facing the Buffalo Bills, will they get it this weekend? No, of course not, The Bills have their number as well as a chance to take a wildcard spot in the playoffs. Despite a lousy offense, a lousy defense, bad coaching staff and the like...the Lions still can say one thing loud and clear: "We are not the worst team in the NFL." We have played the Rams (4-1), Bears (5-0), Packers (yeah, I know), Seahawks(3-1) and Vikings(3-2), these are not easy teams to beat (exception of the Packers), our 0-5 is hard earned.
Oakland on the other hand has managed to screw the pooch against awful teams. Against the worst defense in the league, Andrew Walter was able to go ahead and throw a couple interceptions to the 49er defense which has hands that more or less resemble flippers. I remember Al Davis saying that this kid was gonna' be the future of the Raiders organization, the ideal passer who would be drafted and taught the game...yeah, and the Yankees just won the Series. I was reading a story earlier this year about the Raiders picking up Jeff George, that's right Jeff "hasn't thrown a ball in 3 years" George, and for some reason, they got rid of him. Here is my question, why? Sure, he's old, he doesn't have the speed or field awareness that many qbs have, but he at least won four games with the Raiders, which is something that an overpaid injury case like Aaron Brooks can't do and a hopeless rookie like Walter can't do. Hey Al, go to the same grocery store Kurt Warner was in, I'm sure you can find a female cashier who throws better ball than either of these bozos.

Will Oakland win a game this season...and then some

Speaking as a diehard Oakland Raider's fan, I find myself surprised at the failure by the management to draft a young and able quarterback. Al Davis was staring into space when he had the prospect of selecting Matt Leinart as a quarterback for the Raiders and instead picked a safety. Oakland's defense certainly isn't top notch, but it can be argued that their offense is about as hopeless as a sit in at a Neo-Nazi training ground.
So, that lead me to this question, will the Oakland Raiders of the AFC West put up at least a one under the win column this year? My answer is yes, based entirely under the pretense that eventually someone will get sloppy and allow Oakland to skid to its worst record...ever. At first I thought Art Shell was a godsend, now I'm starting to question my sanity.
In other football news, props to Boise State who may very well become one of the only undefeated teams in NCAA football this year.
Many people are betting the farm on Ohio State, Michigan or Florida to go undefeated, unfortunately for them, Florida will play Arkansas and Auburn who may yet put a digit under Florida's loss column. Ohio State has a tougher schedule sitting in front of them soon enough and finally, whoever hasn't suffered a loss yet will when Ohio State and Michigan face off at the end of the year.
But what about USC...? That's right, I forgot about the unstoppable Trojans, I predict their loss to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and if not them, Cal has shown itself (since losing horribly to Tennessee) to be worthy of knocking them off their high horse.
My final thought of this blog is "Where have all the Cowboys gone...?" The Wyoming Cowboys have had a tough time of it this year, losing to teams by seven points or less in each losing outing. Since last year the Cowboys have had a looming shadow of failure on the road and at home, up until this last week (with a victory over New Mexico by 4) I would've believed all the garbage that was talked about them in the MWC. However, the arrival of a fresh young arm and cunning mind on the field at quarterback in Karsten Sween has eased my mind about the future of the Cowboys for this season. Though a bowl game seems out of the question, Sween appears to have the field awareness to take the Cowboys out of the MWC "Lobo"-house.