The Daily (weekly) Score

The 6th Annual Scorecard Movie Awards

2008-02-17T11:14:00.001-08:00

It's that time again...

The 6th Annual Scorecard Movie Awards
(formerly The j Awards)
From Jeff Bayer, film critic with the Daily Herald

The Academy Awards just don't cut it. Every year I watch, and every year I think they get something wrong.
Not only that, why can't there be more than five nominations, categories that fans care about (no offense "Best Achievement in Sound Editing), and who got second place?

Instead of sitting still -- I created the Scorecard Movie Awards.

Categories range from the typical (Best Overall Cast, Best Actor, Best Film) to the atypical (Best Ending, Best Quote, Funniest).

If you have seen two movies or 200, it doesn't matter. You only vote for the films you have seen.

There are 27 questions including the Hall of Fame.

Most categories, you will vote from 1-10, with 10 being the highest. You are scoring each individual nomination, not ranking them. So you can have multiple 7s, 8s, 10s, it doesn't matter. And your favorite nomination doesn't have to receive a 10.

Enjoy.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

165th Edition - 12/28/07

2007-12-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

Bears

It seems we only have one thing to be happy for with the new year looming. And here he is ...

Bulls

Scott Skiles is gone. No official replacement is set. And the interim coach Jim Boylan is putting Chris Duhon in the starting rotation tonight against the Bucks. And they are 9-17. Rough season. So instead, let's remember the past ...

Stuff

*Absolutely amazing link of 113 classic tv show intros. I recommend "Head of the Class," and "My Two Dads." CLICK HERE

also, this is funny.

and this is funnier.

164th Edition - 12/21/07

2007-12-21T08:47:00.000-08:00

The Holidays are Coming

With the end of the year it's time to reflect ...

The Bears = Their record is 5-9 and there's no reason to believe they will beat the Packers or the Saints. The future doesn't look bright. But if they can just get a new QB, RB, offensive line, and safety we should be right back in it. It looks like 2-3 years until we can dream about getting back to the Super Bowl.

The Cubs = Fukudome is coming. He's a contact-hitting left hander. It's a nice addition, but nothing amazing. He seems to be the only main difference between last year's club and the one coming to us in 2008. Mark Prior is finally gone, and Kerry Wood might compete for the closer position. Even though the Cubs won their division, I never fell in love with the club.

The Blackhawks = I haven't watching a single second this sesason, but at least they are being talked about. If I ever accidentally stumble upon one of their newly televised home games, I'll set the remote down for a while. And if you happen to have an extra ticket to one of their games, if you pick me I promist to cheer loudly and act like I know what's going on.

The Bulls = Currently the Bulls are 9-14. No player has improved compared to last year. And they have the Celtics, Rockets and Spurs coming up. They did start the season 2-10, so they are 7-4 over their last 11 games. That's good enough to eventually get into the playoffs, but not to make a dent against the improving East.

Rich's bachelor party = $. In the entire history of bachelor parties, Rich's is the only one recorded where everyone won. 13 guys equaled $3000 at the casino playing craps. The worst winner walked away with $100. So let's just hope this is the first of many bachelor parties Rich will be having.

Iowa Hawkeyes Football = Well, my prediction of the Hawks winning the national championship next year has become a little more bold. No bowl game this year is exactly the kind of motivation these boys need to play with a chip on their shoulder the entire season.

Stuff

I have 8 films reviews for 12/21 up on Stuff I Wrote. It's a record. I would pop champagne, but I'm only and don't want to be the first person in recorded history to have a champagne shower alone.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are coming back on January 7. If they have to, it will be without their striking writers. I really hope we can tell the difference and this helps get the writers back, but I worry we won't.

163rd Edition - 12/14/07

2007-12-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

I have no idea how long this will last ... but let's get to it.

*I have nothing to talk about with the Iowa Hawkeye football or basketball team.

*The Mitchell Report came out yesterday. Clemens, Pettite, Tejada and Gagne are among those named. It's good for Bonds to finally have company. Of course it should be noted, there is no proof that anyone took anything. People just say they did, or a check shows they paid for it. I assume there are more people out there, some that will never be named. The only thing that should matter is future testing. Unless of course you have always hated Roger Clemens and now you finally feel like you have a good reason to continue the hatred.

*The writers' strike should start killing you. This is what will happen, you'll be busy with the holidays fast approaching. You'll forget about TV for a while. Then, after the Bowl Games are over you'll begin to realize you haven't seen a new episode of "The Office" for 2.5 months. It won't be a good feeling. Start managing your Netflix Queue. I recommend "Freak & Geeks," "Weeds," "The Wire," and "Rescue Me."

**I voted for the CFCA (Chicago Film Critics' Association) Awards for the first time this year.
Here is a list of the winners.
Of the winners, there were seven that also received my vote:
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – Diablo Cody for" Juno"
BEST ACTRESS – Ellen Page for "Juno"
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova for "Once"
BEST DOCUMENTARY – "Sicko"
MOST PROMISING PERFORMER – Michael Cera for "Juno" and "Superbad"
MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER – Ben Affleck for "Gone Baby Gone"

*The Golden Globe nominations are out. Here's the list ...
I will talk about who I think should win later.

And don't forget -- STUFF I WROTE -- lists all of my latest film reviews, articles and interviews. There should be much more coming soon.

162nd Edition - 8/30/07

2007-08-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

162 - number of games the Cubs must play in a regular season before they head to the playoffs.

I'm out

If you've stuck with me through the lazy times, thanks and I apologize. Once my schedule changed in the spring, this suddenly felt like work (that I wasn't getting paid for). With a wedding and honeymoon fast approaching, I'm not going to be making time for this blog. It's over for now.

If you were entertained in the slightest, thanks.

If the Cubs, Hawkeyes, Bears or Bulls with anything of extreme significance I will probably be writing about it here.

Here are some links to help you return to normalcy.

Most importantly, I'm still writing.
Stuff I Wrote: movie reviews and interviews

Sports
Bill Simmons: My favorite.
Jason Whitlock: My favorite controversial writer (was with ESPN, then AOL, and now FOX Sports).
The TMQ (Greg Easterbrook): The man does more research for a football column than anyone else.

Music
Next Music Online: Wanting to listen to the best new singles? Here you go.

Pop Culture
Pop Candy: Hands down, the best pop culture blog I have ever come across, nothing else comes close.

Movie News
Dark Horizons - Seems to know everything about upcoming movies.
I Watch Stuff - It says it has the best movie news ever, but I consider it second.

161st Edition - 8/21/07

2007-08-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

Fantasy: It's all over

My two fantasy football drafts are over. In one league I had the first pick, taking Tomlinson, and therefore winning the entire league. So that's nice.

Vick: I've been thinking

I cannot walk in Vick's shoes. Apparently he grew up with different values than I did. He didn't find his actions towards dogs he owned awful. If it was cock fighting, society wouldn't have this problem with him. I'm not saying he should walk free, but the reason everyone has a problem with this is their love for dogs. I know people who feel torturing a dog is the same or worse than doing this horrible actions to a human. Please keep in mind Pacman Jones supposedly beat up a stripper. No one seems to be shedding a tear for the stripper.

Cubs: It was a good run

We are back to being tied for first. After winning the first two games against the Cardinals, getting one canceled, and losing the last of the series ... I feel empty. The Cubs are tied with the Brewers and 3 games ahead of the Cardinals.

Stuff

Funny, the only reason I felt like blogging today was because I discovered this clip from the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Thanks to Mike D.

160th Edition - 8/15/07

2007-08-15T06:21:00.000-07:00

Cubs: games and inches

The Cubs were inches, or maybe a few feet, away from coming back last night against the Reds. Fontenot hit one to the warning tracks, but that's an out and the Cubs lost 6-5.

The division looks like this ...
Brewers = 62-57
Cubs = 60-58 (1.5)
Cardinals = 56-60 (4.5)

It has become a three-team race. The Cardinals have made it back in by going 6-4 in their last ten games. That is sad. This division is sad.

Golf: Tiger, Tiger Woods

Sorry I didn't write sooner about this ... Tiger Woods is a great golfer. What I am about to say is not supposed to be mean. I am just insanely curious. After he won, Tiger talked about how this win is very special because his daughter is there to celebrate with him. His daughter is not six months old. She has no idea what the world is, let alone the world of golf. Yet, Tiger seemed totally genuine about how this win is more special because she is there with him. When I have children, will a promotion or victory of any kind be something more endearing because I have a child? I just don't see it. They are two separate things. It always kills me when a family runs up to a winner at the end of anything. It's not the family that the moment should be shared with. It's the caddy/teammate/coach.

Stuff

I interviewed the cast of "Superbad." -- Read it, and go see the movie this weekend.

159th - 8/9/07

2007-08-09T07:15:00.001-07:00

Pain

Pain is the Cubs getting swept by the Astros. But if you get a tonsillectomy and your deviated septum fixed, and can barely breath ... suddenly a couple of losses make you see the bright side.

1. The Cubs are not amazing. But they can be really good. The last two months gave Cub fans the belief that every series could be swept, and losing streaks end at two games. The Cubs are a solid team, and now with the injury of Soriano, they have holes in every section of the game (such as relying on a defensive Matt Murton).

2. The Brewers are just as bad. They can't win. So we remain 1 game back in the worst streak we have had since June. Thank god the Central Division sucks. And Cardinals ... don't you dare get any ideas about making a run.

3. Pain is temporary. The Cubs will continue to fight. And after I heal up, it looks like all signs point to me being 100 percent for my fiancee on our wedding day.

Barry - still stroking

I saw Barry Bonds live at Dodger Stadium the year after he broke the single-season home run record. He was amazing then, and he's still getting it done. He's had an amazing career, and I think the majority of his problems stem from being an arsehole, instead of tainting the record with steroids. People cheat, lots of people cheat. Everyone is pretty sure Bonds cheated along with others. But because everyone loves Hank Aaron, and nobody except for Barry Bonds likes him ... we're annoyed. I'm just glad the constant coverage is over. Between Bonds coverage and "Who's Now!" Sportscenter was rough.

Stuff

Wow. The Piss Screen. http://www.piss-screen.de/
Every home needs one.

Harrison Ford marathon on Spike TV this Saturday.

158th Edition - 8/3/07

2007-08-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

So, I've golfed twice recently, and both times I shot a nine on a hole ... yet I continue to play.

Cubs: Losing and still winning

For the first time all season, the Cubs lost a game AND remained in first place. Sure they are timed with the Brewers, but still it's something.

And today marks the BIG GULP for the Cubs this season. A man by the name of Kerry Wood is off the DL and in the bullpen. I like the nickname Big Gulp for him. Though I did hear he's lost close to 40 pounds. Perhaps it's a 'to be continued'

You know what? That's it.

I could talk about Barry Bonds not hitting no. 755, or A-Rod not hitting 500, but who cares? They will eventually.
Bill Simmons sums up the summer quite nicely ...
Welcome to the summer of discontent

Stuff

*I still like movies. And here are two new reviews to prove it ...

Stuff I Wrote

*Andy Samberg is a part of "Awesometown" - a failed 2005 pilot. The power of the Internet commands you to watch - click to watch

*A long time ago I passed on Lollapalooza tickets. I have some friends going, but I didn't like the idea of standing in the heat all weekend. And the forecast IS ... 95 and sunny. And now, if I really want to, I can watch Lolla from here ... click to watch

156th Edition - 8/1/07

2007-08-01T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here I go, here I go, here I go again (now imagine a guitar just kicked in)

Things we missed ...

Vick likes animals (but not in a good way), Sergio almost becomes the best golfer not to win a major who almost wins a major, an NBA ref makes David Stern realize he might not be the only one to control who wins the games, Devin Hester is the best wide receiver ever for the Bears, and Kevin McHale decides to make the Celtics relevant again (by giving them Garnett).

That's it, that's the whole list of July events ... oh wait, there's one more thing ...

cubs, Cubs, CUbs, CUBs, CUBS!

Yes, that's right, I am feeling confident and comfortable with the Cubs these days, and why not? They are sitting 1 game behind the Brewers, who have lost 9 of 13. It's just a matter of time before they are in first. Then Kerry Wood can come back and seal the deal ... I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Bulls

Well, it looks the four final teams in the Eastern Conference Playoffs will be the Heat, Cavs, Bulls and now the Celtics thanks to Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. As an NBA fan, I'm excited, but this does hurt the chances of the Bulls getting another championship ... perhaps someone should make the Kobe call ...

Who is more NOW?

Yes, July is a slow sports month, but ESPN has made Sportscenter a NIGHTMARE because of the whole, who's more NOW. Luckily, it looks like ESPN News is doing a great job of being Sportscenter from 10 years ago. I have made the switch, and I'm feeling fine.

Stuff

If I owned a jail, this is exactly what I would have done. Luckily, now I don't need to go down that road - click here to watch the best remake of a video by an entire jail.

Kayne West gets together with Zach Galifianakis and makes a video. It's not enjoyable, just addictive - click here to watch.

2007-07-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

I have decided to take a break.
Be back in August.

155th Edition - 7/3/07

2007-07-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

And we're back ...

I think that was my longest break since the beginning of "The Daily Score." Sorry. I had a bachelor party and got lazy, plus the Cubs were winning and I thought it might have something to do with me not writing.

The bachelor party quickly summed up ...
I won basketball (with my 8.5-year-old nephew)
I lost dodgeball
I won slosh ball
I lost softball
Thanks to the 19 other guys that were there.

Look for another long break from me at the end of September, that's when I walk down the isle. Clearly, both situations are related to the future wife, so I assume you can see the pattern (the wife is the reason I don't write more).

I never stopped with the film reviews and now
'Transformers"
and
"License to Wed"
are up on Stuff I Wrote

Cubs: First time in a long time

The Cubs are over .500 for the first time since they were 3-2 this season. It feels good. And they get to beat up on the Washington Nationals for three more games, then the Pirates before the All-Star Break.

I am giddy. Watching the Cubs beat the Brewers on Sunday afternoon was my second favorite moment of the season (#1 being D. Lee's pinch-hit grand slam against the Sox).

MLB: All-Star Teams

Right now, everyone is saying who should and shouldn't be on the All-Star team, but the more important thing to discuss is HOW the teams are made and WHAT the teams fight for ...
HOW - The fans vote, and then the players vote and then the managers fill in the rest.
WHAT - They are fighting for home-field advantage in the World Series. It's a huge deal.

The problem is that fans are decided who their favorite players are, but not who the best players are and then the managers try to fill in a roster to win the game.

Why wouldn't every single AL fan (Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, Indians) vote over and over again for the worst NL players? How is their not a web site set up for this already? They should be desperate to vote in Cesar Izturis as the NL's starting shortstop. It would be a guaranteed out and a good chance for an error. Why wouldn't a Red Sox fan show their team loyalty by screwing their opponent?

Bears: Tank not full

That's the headline everyone is writing. Tank Johnson wasn't drunk. His blood-alcohol level was .72 and needed to be .8 in Arizona to be drunk. The Bears got rid of him, but this gives someone else the chance to believe he is a changed man.

Stuff

*Nathan Fillion ("Serenity") is in talks to join "Desperate Housewives," sigh. I really didn't want to watch this show anymore, but he's so freaking awesome.

*Since I'm getting a shout-out, I figured I should return the favor ... For something that constantly is writing a huge variety of articles in the Minneapolis area - check out -- The Deets

154th Edition - 6/20/07

2007-06-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

154 - before 1961, 154 was the number of games in an MLB season.

Bye, Bye, Bye Barrett

Well, it appears I don't know as much as I think I do ... Michael Barrett was the problem, not Carlos Zambrano. After getting into a fight with Zambrano, exchanging words with Hill and playing his worst defense ever (which is saying a lot), Barrett is no longer a Cub.
He's been traded to the Padres for backup catcher Rob Bowen and a minor-league outfielder. In other words, they dumped him. It will be interesting to see if Barrett catches for Maddux. While teammates, Maddux was the only one in the rotation who didn't want Barrett to catch for him.

And Bye, Bye for me as well...

Tonight I leave for the beginning of my bachelor party. Golf, basketball, slosh ball, dodgeball, softball and disc golf are all on the schedule. There will be 21 guys in attendance and we're taking over my parent's house. Hopefully a friend will document the event, I might not be sober enough.
(You, as an avid reader of the Daily Score, won't notice I'm gone at all since I haven't been writing much lately)

Bulls: Come here Kobe

Yes, I want Kobe Bryant on the team. Ben Gordon and others can hopefully be enough.

Stuff

*My interview with Bruce Willis.

153rd Edition - 6/13/07

2007-06-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

NBA: foul

I'm referring to Bowen's contact on Lebron James IN THE ACT OF SHOOTING ... and of course, the smell that the finals are letting off. James is a superstar and with superstars there comes favoritism (Wade in the Finals last year). You give him that call. You let him decide the game at the free-throw line (3 shots). You do this because it will make a bad series better, but most importantly, because it's the right call. I look forward to the day when robots are the refs.

Cubs: equally foul

It was the eighth inning. The bases were loaded. No outs. The Cubs couldn't score. They lost in the 13th inning.

Fantasy MLB: two no-hitters

There have been two no-hitters in baseball this year - Buerhle and now Verlander, sorry Schilling. I was first made aware of this from my friend Bro, who emailed me to brag about how he owns all the no-hitters this year in our fantasy baseball league.

Stuff

Watch the entire first episode --
Flight of the Conchords
If I had talent, creativity, was from New Zealand and had a friend of the same make-up, this is the type of show I would have considered making if I had moved to the States ... I was that close.

Premiere Magazine did an article about movies stuck in development hell.
It sucks that most of this films were ones that I read the book and was INSANELY excited.

Speaking of Dave Eggers and movies ... This is a must read about old summer flicks

152nd Edition - 6/8/07

2007-06-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

152 = The Post-Hardcore band Taking Back Sunday also have a use for the number 152. It appears on the cover of all their albums (most notably Tell All Your Friends), as it was the number of the turn off lead singer Adam Lazzara took on the way to/back from concerts for refreshments and a rest. The number appears in the forms of:
Tell All Your Friends:Picture of the road turning.
Where You Want To Be:The sign states 152 miles.
Louder Now:$1.52 entrance charge.

MLB: Almost ...

Curt Schilling was one out away from a no-hitter. He shook off the sign from Jason Varitek, and chose to throw a fast ball away instead of a splitter. It was a single to right field. ONE OUT AWAY! This is the reason I don't play professional baseball, I just couldn't get over it. I would desperately be looking for the reset-button. In fact, I have taken a no-hitter in the ninth four times in fake life (video games), yet I have never done it ... So I guess I know exactly how Schilling feels.

NBA Finals: Not Close ...

You didn't actually convince yourself the Cavs had a chance did you? LeBron didn't have a FG in the first half, and they were down by only five ... But more importantly the score was 40-35, this is why no one likes the Spurs, they actually use logic and skill to use the best strategy to kill their opponents.
The truth is, the Cavs would have been equal to the Lakers in the West. Maybe we get one great LeBron game from the series.

Cubs: Here we go again

The Cubs have won 4 out of 5 and are putting together a nice little run. Rich Hill struck out 11 last night, winning 2-1. Such a tease. They are 6 games back, but 6 games under .500.

They also picked Jason Vitters third in the draft ... I don't know what that means either.

Stuff

*My Movie Reviews
"Ocean's Thirteen"
"Surf's Up"

*Isiah Washington - Dr. Burke - is not coming back on "Grey's Anatomy." I like his character, but clearly people on the set had problems with him. Remember, he's the guy who wanted to tussle with Jennifer Lopez on "Out of Sight."

*"It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" comes out on DVD (both Season 1 & 2) September 4. This was mainly written for my North Carolina crowd.

*Joy Division sneakers - A pair of sneakers inspired by Joy Division are set for production. The manufacturer, New Balance, is awaiting final clearance on making the shoes, which are based on the artwork to the band's landmark 1979 album Unknown Pleasures. This is mainly written for my Atlanta crowd.

*And finally ... I'm looking forward to suing.
read this story
then read my article

151st Edition - 6/4/07

2007-06-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Cubs: Summer has begun

The Cubs area roller coaster/soap opera ... and I still have hope as they head into a three-game series against the division leading Brewers.

My dream scenario is a Carlos Zambrano for Alex Rodriguez trade (along with other names). After Zambrano lost control because Michael Barrett is a better hitter than catcher (everyone should know this by now), and tried to fight Barrett in the dug out and then succeeded fighting Barrett in the clubhouse (two black eyes and a cut lip) ... wow that sentence was as big a train wreck as the club.

Also, Lou Pinella has a huge rant on Saturday and gets kicked out, suspended indefinitely (until the meeting on Monday). I love the arguing as an amusement, but one of the most idiotic traditions continues at Wrigley ... when annoyed, fans in the bleachers throw trash on the field and delay the game. I don't believe in the death penalty, but the fans that do this have me rethinking. Ohbytheway -- anybody else notice Ozzie Guillen got kicked out of Sunday's White Sox game? Poor guy is just sniffing Pinella's fumes.

Top all this off by the Cubs winning 10-1 and I find myself right back on the bandwagon. So sad.

Stuff

MTV Movie Awards thoughts:
*Those yahoo movie trailer spoofs were awful. Almost as bad as Dane Cook introducing them. It reminded me of the sketching during "Studio 60" -- how can there be such little talent in the world?
*Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen are comic gold and I bet most people thought Cohen was doing an accent.
*Jack Nicholson is an icon and therefore I will let whatever that was slide.
*Is constant swearing (and getting bleeped) really that cool? If I ever form a band and perform in a large venue, I can't wait to drop the F-bomb so people will worship me.
*Wow, did you hear Jerry Bruckheimer tell Johnny Depp to thank the writers when they won for best movie? HI-larious.

Box Office Review
1. Pirates: $43 (down a bunch)
2. Knocked Up: $29
3. Shrek: $26
I understand that everyone needs to see the blockbuster, just make sure you make time for "Knocked Up." It's off to a good start.

Also - think "Pirates" didn't make much sense (I agree). The screenwriters attempt to explain themselves - click to read

150th Edition - 6/01/07

2007-05-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

NBA Playoffs: a reason to watch

May 31 is now the day we believe.

LeBron - 48 points. The last 25 points. The last 11 Cleveland FG. And of course, the game-winner in double OT ... though his 3-pointer to tie it at 107 might have been more impressive.
He is King (hopefully for more than a day).

The Cavs take a 3-2 lead over the Pistons and play Saturday night in Cleveland.

And ohbytheway, he also had 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

Kobe and the Bulls

It's not going to happen, but I loved thinking about it for the last couple of days. I would have happily given Gordon, Deng and others for five amazing years with Kobe. I'll give less and see three good years with Paul Pierce.

Stuff

"Knocked Up" film review - it's my favorite of the summer so far.

149th Edition - 4/29/07

2007-05-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

Wow - can you tell me heart just isn't in it lately?

I need football. Where are the pig-skin gods? If the Cubs aren't going to make any noise my summer is ruined (besides the kick-arse bachelor party that is mere weeks away).

Anyway here's some stuff to keep you entertained, because I know the Cavs-Pistons aren't doing it for you...

*Thanks to Pfil for telling me about the 'red band' "Superbad" trailer (red band means it's an 'R' rated trailer. And you can find it here -
http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/04/30/superbad-red-band-movie-trailer/
- no nudity, just language.

*And here's Michael Cera doing a little mock-up from "Knocked Up" which comes out Friday is totally worth seeing.
http://www.funnyordie.com/v1/view_video.php?viewkey=86ee661c7c98800678fa
Once again, language, no nudity. I assume this is the same type of thing that got Eric Stoltz fired from "Back to the Future."

*And one more for the road - Here's Will Ferrell in "Third Date."
http://www.funnyordie.com/v1/view_video.php?viewkey=ed11717eaec9305b2feb

*Finally, White Stripes with "Icky Thumb"
http://music.aol.com/franchise/firstview/white-stripes-new-video

*And who is joining me for the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago on my birthday (July 14)?
The Final line-up is set -

Friday, July 13:

Sonic Youth perform Daydream Nation
GZA/Genius performs Liquid Swords
Slint perform Spiderland

Saturday, July 14:

Yoko Ono
Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues (w/ members of Dirty Three, the Delta 72, and Blues Explosion)
Clipse
Mastodon
Iron and Wine
Battles
Grizzly Bear
Voxtrot
Califone
The Twilight Sad
Girl Talk
Dan Deacon
Oxford Collapse
Professor Murder
Fujiya & Miyagi
Beach House
William Parker Quartet
Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound

Sunday, July 15:

De La Soul
The New Pornographers
Of Montreal
Stephen Malkmus
Jamie Lidell
The Sea and Cake
Junior Boys
Menomena
The Ponys
Deerhunter
Klaxons
The Field
Cadence Weapon
The Cool Kids
Craig Taborn's Junk Magic
Nomo
Brightblack Morning Light
Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra

148th Edition - 5/24/07

2007-05-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

Cubs: They call him MR. Marshall

I thought I was going to wake up and write a glowing article about the return of Mr. Sean Marshall. But then I noticed the Cubs lost 2-1. Marshall gave up a late two-run homer and now the Cubs are 20-24, and 6.5 games behind the Brewers. Marshall probably pitched well enough to stick in the rotation, which will now have three lefties in it.

It's painful right now. After watching Derek Lee hit a grand slam last Saturday to beat the Sox, I thought it was the beginning of something. It wasn't. And now neither was this.

Bulls

Picking ninth in the draft won't happen. They will trade that pick along with either Chris Duhon, Andre Nocioni or maybe even Tyrus Thomas.

Stuff

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" -- the review is up.

*I'll be sitting down in a group interview with Bruce Willis soon, what do I ask him?

*Saturday Night Live - The 2006/20007 Season

Zach Braff had a good start, but I will let my friend (and best man) describe the episode.

"i was pretty disappointed overall. the
opening skit was one of the funnier openers i'd seen in awhile, but
then the zach skits were just kind of blah. it seems like there are
some indicators of a less than strong show--any time they do the house
party skit (kind of funny, but the special guests always seem
uncomfortable). and then whenever the special guests play themselves
a lot in the skits. just not a lot you can do with that. finally,
there seemed to be a lot about garden state. i loved the movie, but
isn't this a couple years late? was this the season finale from 2
years ago?"

For the season: 11-9

Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson, Shia LaBeuof, Molly Shannon

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Scarlett Johanssen, Zach Braff

*Other Season Finales:

Scrubs: Good, but they're back where they started and I'm kind of getting bored with the show.

Grey's: Depressing. I was wrong with every hunch I had, mainly because I was thinking positive.

Hereo's: Really? That's it? Compared to a great first season, it was flat.

The Office: They can't do anything wrong. It's the best show on TV.

Lost: I hope to watch this weekend.

*Michale Moore's "Sicko" trailer: http://movies.aol.com/movie/sicko/26778/trailer

147th Edition - 5/18/07

2007-05-18T11:57:00.001-07:00

Bulls: Done and done

It was a good run. The team should be proud. They're still a young team. It's a good step forward ... Whatever. I am disappointed. I wanted a Game 7.

The Bulls were ahead by five points at half time, because of P.J. Brown's 20 points. He also finished with 20 points and barely played the second half for no apparent reason. Ben Wallace's contract had back spasms and he saw limited action. When he played, there was no enthusiasm. I have a bad feeling this will be the case for the next four years.

The final score was 85-95 and the Bulls shot terrible. If the Bulls can't shoot, they lose. It's that simple, though their inability to rebound hurt last night as well.

It will be a very interesting off-season. I am putting Hinrich, Gordon, and maybe Thomas and the draft pick on the market. One of them can go. I would love to say good-bye to Wallace, but that won't happen.

Speaking of the draft pick, we find out our order on Tuesday night. I love that we have the option of taking the Knicks pick. Like there is some sort of chance of us turning it down.

Cubs vs Sox: part 1

Inter-league play is starting and that means the players have to act like this series means something. I understand these games are for the fans, I was on the verge of REALLY getting into the Cubs, but then they decided to go 2-5 on their road trip. Now a sweep is all they need to do to get back to .500.

Stuff

I still have "The Office," "Lost," "Scrubs," and "Grey's" to watch this weekend. Plus Zach Braff is hosting Saturday Night Live. It almost sucks that I have a full social wknd of parties, plus the weather is perfect.

The concert is The Arcade Fire at the Chicago Theater. Highly anticipated.

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino will be in "Righteous Kill" together. They play cops tracking down a serial killer.

And don't forget to read my review of
"Shrek the Third"

146th Edition - 5/17/07

2007-05-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

Bulls: Just when I think I'm out ...

The Bulls don't feel like losing anymore ... And I love it. Two games ago I was ready to start my campaign to get Tyrus Thomas and a draft pick traded for Jermaine O'Neal. Now I'm ready to watch the Bulls mature before my eyes, perhaps this season, definitely next.

The Bulls have Game 6 tonight at home. The Pistons still have the home court advantage. So far, the only people who have suffered from this series are the NBA fans. Piston fans assume they will still win, Bulls fans think they have a chance ... but NBA fans have been left with 5 games that have all been pretty painful to watch. Lopsided. Let's hope that continues (in the Bulls favor) for Game 6.

Where are the Cubs?

The Riot (Theriot) has been a treat to watch, but Soriano has been playing hurt (from what I hear) and Lee now has neck spasms. It's still early, but we can't say that forever and with the way the Brewers are playing, the Cubs need to start picking it up a notch.

NBA: David Stern

I love David Stern. He was on every sports talk show on Wednesday. Mainly giving one word answers. He constantly pointed the finger at Amare and Boris for leaving the bench of the Suns during the Robert Horry hip check. I agree. If players can't learn and coaches (six per team typically) can't keep a player near the bench, then their idiocy should cost them a game. The only problem is, I want the Suns to advance. Let's hope that still happens. Though last night they had the game in their hands, leading the whole way. Then they scored 6 points in the last five minutes and lost 85-88.

Stuff

*Star Wars movies, for fans, by fans. The winner is picked by George Lucas. click to watch

*And as always, watch where you break dance ...

145th Edition - 5/15/07

2007-05-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday Night Live: It's all me

So Molly Shannon hosted ... and on my previous post I wrote about interviewing her and discussing four ideas for sketches ... two of them happened.

The first was Jeannie Darcy (Molly Shannon), an awful stand-up comedian who was on during the Weekend Update section. This was a character I knew mainly because of Shannon's DVD (it was on the extras I think). Anyway, I praised that character during my interview with her and asked her to do it. Perhaps that is the reason it happened. It was a very small character of hers (compared with Sally O'Mally and Mary Catherine Gallagher) and I like to think I had something to do with it.
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/#cat=new&sec=1a&mea=103581

The next sketch was hyper-active Katlin (Amy Poehler). This is all me. The character hasn't been done all season (with the absence of RICK RICK RICK - Horatio Sanz). I begged for this character to come back with Molly Shannon adding herself into the mix somehow (ended up being her mom).
That's all. I'm happy.

For the season: 11-8 (guaranteed to finish over .500)

Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson, Shia LaBeuof, Molly Shannon

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Scarlett Johanssen

Bulls win

If only, that's what we can be talking about when the Bulls play the Pistons on Tuesday night. If only the Bulls could have won after having a 19 point lead in Game 3. I am not confident this roller coaster is going to continue.

Stuff

*Officially, "Studio 60" is done. Not coming back next eyar. But "Scrubs" is coming back.

144th Edition - 5/11/07

2007-05-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

Bulls: Wow. Awesome.

I just woke up, but I can't wait to read the paper and watch all the Bulls highlights. I ended up going to sleep at halftime. I bet the Bulls probably ended up winning by 40 points! They dominated the first half, holding the Pistons to 28 points. Looks like this thing has a change to go seven ... Just awesome.

Stuff

*Molly Shannon is hosting SNL this weekend. I interviewed her and we talked about ideas for a couple of minutes. I'm not getting too excited, but I have hope. The Dakota Fanning Show, RICK-RICK-RICK, Bill Hader doing Al Pacino, and Jeannie Darcy.

*Film Reviews by me -
"The Ex"
"28 Weeks Later"

*New Order is done - click to read
I had a friend pratically drag me to see "New Order" in concert. It remains one of my favorites of all time.

*Here's a story back when the Bulls and Pistons fought in 88-91. click to read

*"Friday Night Lights" is officially coming back next year.

*These boys are good...

143rd Edition - 5/8/07

2007-05-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

Bulls: Beat Down

The Bulls lost 87-108. The Bulls are down 0-2. The Pistons were having a good time relaxing on the bench during the 1st quarter. There is no reason to think the Bulls can win four of the next five games, even if three will be at home. It's sad. The Bulls look like a completely different team compared to the domination of the Heat.

Perhaps the Pistons were just playing possum this season. If so, nicely done.

Cubs: Things are looking up

The Cubs are above .500. I took in my first ever roof-top game on Sunday and had a great time. I attempted to hit for the cycle (one of every meat). After a hot dog, then hamburger, then Italian beef, then chicken breast ... I stopped. I couldn't do the Italian sausage. The crowd seemed to take it hard.

Stuff

*Mario: Game Over - click to watch

142nd Edition - 5/3/07

2007-05-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

NBA: Done and Done

Lakers = Done. Kobe is complaining about needed a better team. Poor Kobe. Suns advance.
Nuggets = Done. Carmelo now has an off-season to complain about Iverson. Spurs advance.

The Suns will take on the Spurs. Classic match up. Love the match up, based on how the Mavs are playing (after the season went 1-1, I assumed they would walk) I just wish it was the Western Conference Finals.

The Pistons will take on the Bulls starting Saturday. Classic match up. Love the match up, I just wish it was the Eastern Conference Finals.

Cubs: Take Two

The Cubs finished up Tuesday's delay, won, and then won the next game to win two on Wednesday against the Pirates. They are 12-14, and getting close to .500. Soriano has also hit a home run in each of the last two games. Yes, I am starting to get giddy.

Stuff

*My SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW is up.

*I don't get it. How is Bingo a TV show?

*If you live in Atlanta, perhaps you should get off your arse and go to the Coke Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit ... John, I'm looking in your direction.

*The WORST 100 COVER SONGS EVER

141st Edition - 5/2/07

2007-05-02T04:45:00.000-07:00

The Special Guest: Mark Lubbat

Officially, Mark is the biggest Bears fan I know. Season tickets, jerseys, reworking vacations to watch the games, and an undying hatred of Bret Farve ... he's a big fan. So there was no one else that should speak on the Bears' draft besides him. Mark, the floor is yours ...

Chicago Bears 2007 NFL Draft thoughts

Heading into the 2007 Draft, the Bears were fortunate to not have any glaring holes to fill in their roster. The main concerns were adding youth to an aging offensive line, adding linebacker depth or a possible replacement to Lance Briggs, getting a 3^rd RB and adding depth at DB and WR. Jerry Angelo, Greg Gabriel and the rest of the scouting department have a proven track record of uncovering talent and making prudent personnel decisions as shown by the results of previous drafts. Only time will tell how well the current draftees will fare, here is a brief analysis.

#1 – Greg Olsen, TE, Miami (#31 overall)

In many mock drafts, Olsen was projected to go in the mid- to high-teens. The Bears were fortunate that he was available at #31. Olsen should be able to contribute immediately this year as a receiving TE, though he will have to work on his blocking if he wants to play full-time. Olsen is fast (4.5 in the 40), athletic and has great hands. His ability to stretch the field and create mismatches will benefit the offense, especially slot receiver Rashied Davis, who should see more room on his quick crossing patterns and skinny-post routes. Olsen can also be another viable deep threat for Rex Grossman which should help Bernard Berrian get more single coverage. Overall, an excellent pick that should be able to contribute immediately.

#2 – Dan Bazuin, DE, Central Michigan (#62 overall)

The Bears had the #37 overall pick in the Thomas Jones trade with the Jets (Bears traded Thomas Jones and the #63 pick for the Jets #37 pick). At the time, the trade looked rather lopsided in the Jets favor, but if we analyze the trade after the draft, it ended up being quite advantageous for the Bears. We ended up trading this pick to San Diego for an additional 4 draft picks (3 in 2007 and one in 2008). So, the Thomas Jones trade netted us 3 additional picks, and allowed us to move up one slot in the 2^nd round of this year’s draft. In addition, the trade also netted us two back-to-back picks, which can be quite advantageous. That Jerry Angelo can be pretty crafty.

Bazuin has been labeled as a “reach” for the Bears at this point in the draft. Hopefully he will be as much as a reach as Devin Hester was tabbed as last year. Bazuin is a little undersized and his production his senior year was down a little from his junior year, but he was dealing with an injury and the death of his younger brother. Bazuin should be able to get into our DE rotation and possibly allow us to deal one of our 5 DE’s if necessary. It never hurts to have too many good defensive linemen in the cover-2 defense.

#3 – Garrett Wolfe, RB, Northern Illinois (#93 overall)

Very fast RB (4.4 in the 40), though small (5’7”, 186 lbs), Speed, speed and more speed is a common philosophy for the Bears when seeking out players. Wolfe should be able to contribute as a 3^rd RB, and could possibly push for the 2^nd RB slot which would allow Adrian Peterson to play on all our special teams units. Hopefully he will produce like other RB’s that have been “too small” such as Warrick Dunn and Emmit Smith. In reality, Wolfe should be a nice change-of-pace back and a good receiver out of the backfield. Let’s hope Ron Turner can utilize his speed to create mismatches when splitting him out as a receiver. He can also contribute as a returner if we choose to have two deep backs on the kickoff return team.

#4 – Michael Okwo, LB, Stanford (#94 overall)

Okwo played well on a bad team, and according to Greg Gabriel, stood out when you watched the film. Okwo and last year’s 4^th round choice, Jamar Williams (ASU, #120 overall) will provide depth and a possible replacement for Lance Briggs after this season. Williams was on IR for the majority of last year with a chest injury, so more getting another LB does not hurt in this case. We’ll see what Okwo can do at 5’11” and 232 lbs. He should fit our cover-2 defense well though he is not as fast as Lance Briggs. Briggs tends to miss a few tackles in space, so hopefully Okwo or Williams will be a better open-field defender. Either way, Okwo should contribute on special teams at worst, and be a quality replacement at the Will LB sport at best.

#5 – Josh Beekman, G/C, Boston College (#130 overall)

Beekman should add much needed depth to our guard rotation as Reuben Brown may call it a career soon. Beekman can also play center which adds a lot of value to this pick. Boston College has produced some quality lineman in the past so hopefully Beekman will follow that tradition. He’s a big man (6’2”, 313 lbs) and should only get stronger/bigger with Rusty Jones’ workouts.

#6 – Kevin Payne, S, Louisiana-Monroe (#167 overall)

Big hitter that converted to Safety from RB after Chris Harris graduated. Plays well in the box and will backup Archuleta and Harris at Strong Safety. Will contribute on special teams as well.

#7 – Corey Graham, CB, New Hampshire (#168 overall)

He is coming off an injury, but will be ready by the time training camp starts. Went to the same school as former Bear Jerry Azumah. We needed to get some CB’s as both Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher will be free-agents after this season and it is doubtful that we will be able to keep both of them. You Northwestern fans may recognize him as he had a solid game against NU this past season.

#8 – Trumaine McBride, CB, Ole Miss (#221 overall)

More CB depth. Played in the SEC against solid competition, will have to make the team as a special teams contributor.

#9 – Aaron Brant, T, Iowa State (#241 overall)

As much as it sucks to have players from Iowa State on the Bears, we needed to address our OT depth. Both John Tait and Fred Miller have a lot of mileage on them, though Brant will not be targeted as an immediate replacement. Most likely, Brant will compete with Mark LeVoir (undrafted free-agent from 2006, Notre Dame) for a spot on our practice squad.

Undrafted FA’s:

The Bears made some nice moves (on paper, that is) by adding Florida QB Chris Leak and WR Dave Ball (New Hampshire, Div 1-AA). Ball broke Jerry Rice’s 1-AA record for career touchdown catches. They also added some other stiffs from the undrafted crop, though it should be note that about 20% of the NFL’s rosters are undrafted FA’s. All these guys are a long shot to make the team. Their best chance is to make our practice squad and possibly develop in NFL Europa.

After analyzing the picks, the Bears took the “best player available” with their first and second picks, then were able to address the 3^rd RB, DB depth, LB depth and some offensive line depth. Hopefully we drafted a couple of future Pro-bowl players, but if most of these players can contribute as starters or solid reserves, then we can consider this a quality draft class.

Stuff ( j is back in the driving seat )

*John Cusack just signed on to star in "Stopping Power," where he will star as a test pilot who sets off on a series of high-speed chases to save his kidnapped daughter from an escaped thief. Prepare to be underwhelmed a year or so from now.

*Visit Shel Silverstein today and feel like a kid. http://www.shelsilverstein.com/html/home.html

*Your guide to season finales... funny, I don't see "Studio 60" anywhere. Click here

*The cow wins.

140th Edition - 4/27/07

2007-04-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

140 - http://www.maison140beverlyhills.com/ - rooms start at just $207.

NBA: things change

*The Lakers had a team effort AND Kobe Bryant had 45 points. Nice to see. Suns lead 2-1.
*The Rockets scored 25 pointed in the entire second half. No surprise, the lost. Rockets lead 2-1 over the JAzz.
*The Pistons are still killing the Magic. They lead 3-0.

A-Rod: my future Cub

Batting Average = .378 (1st)
Home Runs = 14 (1st, 2nd has 8)
RBI = 34 (1st, 2nd has 20)
Runs = 26 (1st, 2nd has 23)
OPS = 1.412 (1st, 2nd has 1,253)

Stuff

Stuff I Wrote
Steve Austin Review
"The Condemned" Movie Review

*From the AV Club - 15 Thing Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has Or Will

*http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/

139th Edition - 4/26/07

2007-04-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

Bulls are up 2-0 on the Miami Heat. I am nervous. They have only held home court right now. Remember when they HAD to beat the Nets on the road to get the #2 seed? The Bulls aren't good on the road, maybe that changes in the playoffs, I just don't know why.

The other series ...
Rockets 2-0 and looking good against the Jazz. Can't wait to see them in the next round.
Pistons 2-0 over the Magic. Hopefully they can start looking old.
Suns 2-0 over Kobe ... I mean the Lakers.
Warriors and Mavs 1-1. Mavs are back in control. Shouldn't be a problem now. But the days of over-hype were great weren't they?
Nuggets and Spurs 1-1. Good stuff. Love the differences.
Raptors and Nets 1-1. It's the Vince Carter series, and so far, just like him, it's a let down.
Cavs 2-0 over Wizards. BOOORRRIIINNNGGGG!

Cubs: Prior to nothing

Mark Prior has been injured 80 percent of his entire major league career. He is done this season. Probably won't be ready for spring training of next year. This is the man that I would have built my fantasy team around for the decade (3 years ago). It's sad. He's with the Cubs for this year and next, so there is a chance we will see him in a Cub uniform again.

Stuff

*There was never a press screeing for "Next" - you've been warned.

*I hate when kids say things for attention ... this is CLEARLY not the case with this.

138th Edition - 4/24/07

2007-04-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

Cubs: Killing Me

I went to bed last night with the Cubs heading to extra innings. And somehow, I just knew it wouldn't be working out. The Cubs lost again in extra innings. Their record is now 7-12, and they are five games back of first. Only the Royals and Nationals have worse records.

Alex Rodriguez is just hitting all these home runs (he had two more last night) so the Cubs will pay him a lot of money next year, right? Otherwise, I just don't see the point.

Bulls: Tonight's the night

The Bulls have a chance to go up 2-0 tonight on the Miami Heat, but if history proves correct, Shaq complaining means he will now be able to enforce his will on the refs. Thus, 1-1 looks more likely.

Stuff

*Big day today. I get to see "Spider-Man 3" and "Knocked Up." Yes, I am giddy.

*This is one of the most interesting music sites I have encountered. Andrew Bird, Arcade Fire ... good stuff. http://www.blogotheque.net, but especially this - http://www.blogotheque.net/concertaemporter/ - if you don't read French.

*SNL
Nope, no good Scarlett Johansen. "Saturday Night Live" consisted of repeated every line into the ground until it was dead. "Marble Columns" is the best/worst example of this. Yes, it can be funny, but it's not the highest quality sketch.

For the season: 10-8

Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson, Shia LaBeuof

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Scarlett Johanssen

137th Edition - 4/19/07

2007-04-19T04:53:00.000-07:00

137 - apparently the number 137 gives you a headache, http://www.137.com/137/.

Bulls: NNNNNoooooooooo!

The Bulls lost to the Nets last night in a sloppy game, the Cavs won and now ... let's just say I have no optimism. None. It's not over, but it's close.
The Bulls will have home court advantage on the Miami Heat starting Saturday. After that, they would play the #1 seed Pistons. And after they proved last night that they can't beat the Nets on the road when it REALLY matters, I just don't see them getting past the Pistons ... only to have to play the Cavs, then beat the Mavs/Spurs/Suns in the finals.
It's all up to Dwayne Wade if the Bulls even get past the first round.

White-Sox: NO-NO!

Mark Buehrle pitched a no-hitter for the Sox last night, improving their team record to 6-7. It was the first no-hitter for the Sox since 1991. Buehrle's only walk was to Sammy Sosa, who he then picked off at first base. Good to see Sammy still making a name for himself.

Cubs: Nope

The Cubs continue a slow slide to the dark side. They are 5-9 and in last place in the Central. One bright spot is that Felix Pie is proving himself in center field while Alfonso Soriano is out with a hammy. But this is not a team that was supposed to have to prove themselves, that's why they came with a high price tag.

Stuff

*Ed Norton is THE HULK. It's actually happening.

*If you love Mystery Science Theater - then you love this. It's simple math. http://rifftrax.com/

*"Voyagers!" .... anybody remember this show? It's from 1982, and I was amazed to read it only lasted one season. I was five and remember a handful of episodes about Buck and the kid, traveling through time. I can't wait to be SEVERELY disappointed when it comes out on DVD July 17 ... just three days after my birthday, interesting.

136th Edition - 4/18/07

2007-04-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well ... things have changed a little bit. My hunch, be prepared to read this 2-3 times a week, instead of 5. I'm not ready to change the name to "The Bi-Daily Score" or "The Daily (but not really) Score" but we'll just have to wait and see. JOB is going to get in the way a little bit. Mainly because it is a real one.

The Weekly Bull

OK, let me explain ... no wait, that will take too long. Let me sum up ... If the Bulls win tonight against the Nets, they get the #2 seed in the playoffs. But, if the Bulls lose tonight AND the Cavs win at home against the Bucks, then the Cavs get the #2 seed. If the Bulls don't get the #2 seed, they get the #5 seed, and play the Heat in round one. Oddly enough, the Bulls would have home court against the Heat because of their records. Now, if the Bulls win tonight, that means the Nets lose. If the Wizards beat the Pacers, and the Nets lose ... the Wizards play the Bulls in round one which would be ideal because the Wizards are without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. Otherwise, the Bulls face the Nets. SO easy.

Stuff

*I interviewed the cast and director from "Hot Fuzz." click to read

*SNL - just interviewed Molly Shannon, who will host Saturday Night Live on May 12. Gave her more ideas, we'll have to wait and see.

Shia LaBeuof didn't use any of my ideas but he was good enough.

For the season: 10-7
Funny: Shia LaBeuof, John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson
Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

*I have no idea why Will Ferrell did this, I'm just glad he did. It's got to be his own kid and allow me to be the first to nominate him for "Dad Of The Year"

And thank you Elijah for this gem.

135th Edition - 4/13/07

2007-04-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

135 = (1+3+5)(1x3x5)

Blatant Self-Promotion

Movie Reviews
"Disturbia"
"Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters"

QOTD (Question of the Day)

Who would you be for 24 hours, and then you would go right back to being you?
My answer: Jay Leno - Because I think I could do a better job.

Give you answer down below in the comments section.

Bears: The Schedule

There is absolutely no point in predicting the 2007 record of the Chicago Bears. They are months away, haven't even drafted yet, and it seems pointless... With that said, I am convinced they are going 10-6 and winning their division. After starting the season 1-2, that's not bad.

Here is there full schedule:
http://www.nfl.com/teams/schedule/CHI

In fact, that's another thing you could comment on down below (notice a theme).

Don Imus

I haven't spoken of this situation, mainly because the whole thing is annoying. Thankfully Jason Whitlock wrote about it this week, and once again remains one of the few sports columnists who speaks his mind with RATIONAL thought. click here to read

Stuff

*Kurt Vonnegut died. I highly recommend reading something by this man. Here are two suggestions - "Breakfast of Champions" and a short-story collection "Welcome to the Monkey House." Vonnegut had the rare ability to make the frivolous thought provoking.

*Steve Martin sang a serious song for Diane Keaton at her Gala Tribute. Unfortunately some of the audience thought it was a joke. watch here

*Shia LaBeouf is hosting SNL this weekend. My hunch - top three episodes of the season. With that said, if there is a sketch or monologue about Joe Smith being his real name and Shia being a stage name ... that's me. If he does a sketch with the Noonies (the annoying neighbors who are insanely odd) and turned the tables of them ... that's me. If he does a sketch where he raps and has a jewish posse ... that' me. So we'll just have to see if any of my ideas made it.

*Monkey Kick Off - click to play - My personal best is 3030 (after 5 kicks)

134th Edition - 4/11/07

2007-04-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

134 -
*In 134 A.D. a university opened teaching rhetoric, law and philosophy in Rome, called the Athenaeum.
*The World's tallest thermometer is 134 feet in height and it is located in Baker, California.

The Weekly Bull (47-32)

The Bulls smacked the Knicks around (98-69) and it was over after the 1st quarter (21-10). They helped themselves in many, many ways. First, the Bulls remain the #2 seed for the playoffs. They have three games remaining, and if they win out, they clinch the #2. The Cavs have 4 games remaining (3 home) and the Raptors still have a chance.

Also, with the loss, the Knicks are most-likely out of the playoffs, which means the Kevin Durant era is about to begin in Chicago ... or perhaps another lottery pick, if the Bulls don't get the overall #1 pick. Yes, since the Knicks don't make the playoffs, the Bulls get their 1st round draft pick. Eddy Curry, thanks again.

Remaining games: Friday = Bobcats, Sunday = @ Wizards, Thursday = @ Nets

Quick Hits ... Moneny and Fame

*Most people wouldn't think Kevin Durant turning pro after one year, and Pacman Jones getting suspended for an entire year from the NFL, aren't related. I think it's the same ballpark. It's still the same ballpark if Durant never for one second does anything wrong. It's all about the money. Durant should go pro, the money being talked about is huge and Durant has been looked upon to be the financial provider for his family. Try to think about yourself at the age of 18-20, and think what you would do with millions. I would go insanely overboard, and I wouldn't have any family or friend depending on me for money (but I'm sure they would want some). Our system is broken and Jason Whitlock helped me see that a little better.

*Money is currently not buying wins for the Cubs (3-5). But luckily, no one in the Central is winning (4-4 is the best record). Once the weather changes the Cubs will hit more home runs.

*Speaking of the weather ... it's snowing sideways in Chicago. I assume the Cubs will be getting the day off.

Stuff

Noah Baumbach ("Kicking and Screaming") has a short film on YouTube.

part 2

part 3

133rd Edition - 4/09/07

2007-04-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

133 - I don't know why you would want it, but here's the inside scoop on Tacoma, Washington. http://www.exit133.com/

The Masters: A tradition ... ah, you know the drill

Everyone say hi to Zach Johnson. Zach, say hi to the world. Johnson is a native of Iowa and since I'm from Iowa I have known about this guy for years ... yeah, right. No one knew Johnson could win, not his parents, not his coach, and if he had a choice, the smart money would have been on Tiger Woods coming back to beat him. But the course beat everyone except for Johnson.

Johnson was born in Iowa City and is currently living in Cedar Rapids. This is his second win ever in his nine year career. In 2007, his best finishes were 9th and 14th before his Masters' win. His final round of -3 tied for the lowest of the day and he finished at +1.

Sunday offered some good golf, especially considering Saturday, where a 7-foot putt had no chance of going in.

Cubs: SO good, then back to average

Rich Hill and Carlos Zambrano pitched back-to-back gems, with Hill having a perfect game through five innings. Then Wade Miller came along and messed up the possibility of the sweep against the Brewers.

But more importantly ... I am going to opening day. The pitching match-up is Woody Williams vs Ted Lilly (currently a Cy Young contender, but then again, aren't we all). More importantly, the high today is 40 degrees. I already saw snow this morning. I have two pairs of pants, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks, a hat and hand warmers ready to go. I will not be cold.

Stuff

*Want to find an R2D2 mailbox? Here is a map of the current locations. click here

*Premiere has the 20 coolest cameos in movie history. But they forgot to list Samuel L. Jackson in "Out of Sight." click here - any other cameos they missed?

132nd Edition - 4/06/07

2007-04-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

132 - When counting in binary with fingers, expressing 132 as 0010000100 results in the isolation of the middle fingers of each hand, a gesture generally considered rude. The corresponding one-handed gesture is the representation of 4 ... I have no idea what this means, but I believe I just insulted computer geeks everywhere.

Blatant Self-Promotion

Movie Review
"Grindhouse"

BEST lazy WEEKEND EVER!

If there is a god, clearly he likes laying on the couch, sipping a beer or two, eating some chips, having the remote in one hand and the other tucked just under his belt ... I'm talking about the best lazy sports weekend of the year.

The Reasons:
1. Baseball is in full swing for the first weekend of the year. The games don't matter (still 158 to go) but you still get to check out your team and take in the new faces.

2. A tradition, unlike an other ... It's the Masters on CBS

3. Random NBA game that might matter but you don't have to start watching until the 4th quarter.

4. If your name is Mark, then you are probably spending most of the weekend gearing up for the NFL draft ... The Chicago Bears ... are on the CLOCK.

The Masters: seriously, it's unlike anything

I was talking to a friend last night and both of us decided golf is the one sport that you really don't need/want the underdog coming through. Does anyone really want to see an unknown put on the green jacket Sunday afternoon? I want Tiger (4 shots off the lead at +1) and Phil (+4 after the first day) ... so maybe I want Sergio. So, in other words Brett Wetterich, you need to stop playing well right now.

Cubs: too early

It's still too early to get addicted to the Cubs (1-2). But that will probably end after this weekend. Expect a Monday feature on the Cubs every week.

Quick Hits

*Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie is the man the Kentucky Wildcats will introduce as the head coach. I'm glad I can stop attacking like I cared about this story. I am one of the few that doesn't need Kentucky to be good to enjoy College Basketball.

*Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K from now on) won his first game of the season for the Red Sox. Struck out ten.

*With Gilbert Arenas out for the season with a knee ... now I wish the Bulls would play the Wizards in the first round, whether it meant home court or not.

Stuff

*I just wanted to thank "The Office" for coming back. I missed you so much. And I could listen to Dwight talk about heroes all day.

*Want to go to a summer festival? Rolling Stone is here to help - click here

*There is a new album of Joni Mitchell covers. You can listen to the original and the cover. Artists include Sufjan Stevens and Prince. click here

131st Edition - 4/05/07

2007-04-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

131 - It is the 32nd prime. Note that 1 + 3 + 1 = 3 + 2.

Stuff

*For everyone that gave up on "Lost" during the first half of the season, you were wrong. There have been four solid episodes in a row. I am curious again.

*Cubs win, Bulls win.

*Will Forte made a bet with Amy Poehler that he would pay her $300 every time she mentioned his name on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." He now owes her more than $15,000.

Special Guest: Andrew Edwards

Andrew Edwards is a winner. After dominating the *1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular* he has been granted the keys to the castle (a saying I have used twice this week, and it might just happen again).

The City: Chicago, The Windy City, Second City, Chi-Town, Chicagoland, Da Chi, The Chill, City of Big Shoulders, The 312, The Big Onion, My Kind of Town, and Sweet Home -- List provided by j, not Andrew

So lately, I have considered the thought of moving out of Chicago. I have no reason to move, no prospects elsewhere and I just renewed my lease, so realistically, I will be around for another year – I was just thinking about the idea of moving and did sort of a cost benefit analysis in the form of the top ten lists of the best and worst parts about Chicago.

10 best things about Chicago (in no particular order):

Neighborhoods: Buying a Chicago neighborhood map was one of my first purchases. It's what makes the city so unique.

Music: Any band that is touring the US will more than likely stop in Chicago. So many venues and opportunities to see the next big band. Not to mention Lollapalooza will be in Chicago for the next several years as well as Pitchfork Music Festival.

Ethnic Diversity: I come from a suburb full of rich white people, so I love how I am now a minority in Logan Square. You can go for a 6 mile walk and hear Spanish, Polish, Korea, and many other languages.

Restaurants and Bars: Are everywhere. You can’t walk more than a few blocks anywhere in the city without coming across a local diner or pub. The ones off the main drags are the best.

Grid System: Maybe the most organized, logical, well-planned city in the world – It is impossible to get lost in. Everything is north, south, east, west.

Public Transportation: 2^nd best in the country. You can get almost anywhere in the city using it. You just need a little patience.

Summertime: I read that Chicago packs more into its summers than anywhere in the world. There are street festivals every weekend, girls come out of hibernation, people are out walking about, and the beaches are jam-packed.

Produce Markets: You can go to a Jewel or Dominick’s, but going to a local produce shop is more rewarding. A better variety of produce than the corporations and everything is a lot.

Cheaper Airports: I have now realized how great it is to be able to take a train to two airports and have the ticket to New York and San Francisco be $200 instead of $400, like it would be if you flew out of Indianapolis, Des Moines or St. Louis.

Sporting Events: Every sport is represented here – I was lucky enough to recently attend my first Blackhawks game. Got the Bulls, Bears, Cubs, Sox, Blackhawks, Fire, Rush, Machine (lacrosse), and several colleges.

Other good things that did not make the list: comedy, theatre, clubs, art galleries, museums

10 worst things about Chicago (in no particular order):

Winter: When is the Bears game today? Wait, it’s April 4th– never mind, just confused by the 15-degree wind chill and flurries coming down outside the window.

Traffic: Is brutal. There shouldn’t be gridlock traffic at midnight on a Tuesday, but somehow this manages to happen all the time.

Public Transportation: Is worse than it was ten years ago – they have no money, so nothing is getting fixed and the entire system is a nightmare right now.

Recycling: This city is horrible with its recycling programs. No one I know recycles and no one knows what they would have to do if they wanted to start.

Garbage: Walking down on the beach last weekend down by S. 70^th street, there was garbage all over the place. Not sure if people don’t care about littering or if it is just garbage cans falling over.

Parks: Walking around Lincoln Park is all right, but this city only has a couple big parks and they get real busy and full. When you have trains going by one end of the park and major streets going by the other, that just isn’t that ideal of a situation.

Outdoor Activities: You can do any artsy activity you want in town, but if you want to go mountain climbing, sea kayaking, mountain bike riding or whitewater rafting, you have to fly a few hours away.

Nature Appeal: Goes along with the previous one. The city is as flat as you can get, with one dirty river running through it. No mountains, no ocean, no raging rivers, glaciers, large protected nature reserves, etc…Just buildings and concrete.

Crime: I thought I lived in a decent neighborhood until there was a rape, an attempted murderer was caught, and two banks were robbed, all in the last couple months.

Navy Pier: Is there any reason ever to go to this place? Actually, if they moved the Imax a mile west, then the answer is no. Have to go see 300 in the Imax on Friday.

So I feel like Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world and a good place to be, but we don’t have everything. Things can always get better and for a guy that likes nature and wildlife, Washington Park doesn’t quite cut it.

130th Edition - 3/04/07

2007-04-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

130 - need a plumber in the Chicago area? http://www.plumberslu130ua.org/

Quick Hits

*Bill Simmons says Greg Oden is now clearly the #1 pick. click here to read

*Coming Tomorrow -- AE (the NCAA bracket winner) will be the special guest. No idea what he is going to talk about.

*Eddie Robinson, who coached Grambling State for 55 seasons, is dead at the age of 88. Once a year, Grambling State was on TV and I watched. Robinson had over 200 of his players go on to the NFL.

*Lance Briggs will not be traded to the Washington Redskins. The deal would have swapped first round picks for the Bears (31st) and Redskins (6th). If Briggs plays, this is fine, otherwise the trade would have made sense ... And we won't get to know the answer until September.

*The Bulls play the Pistons tonight. It's a must win. Just like always. The Bulls are still one game behind the Cavs for the #2 playoff stop. The loser gets the #5 spot and no home court.

Stuff

*Alanis Morisette singing "My Humps." This seems to be a train wreck done on purpose ... and it's amazing. Click here

*I saw "Grindhouse" last night, look for the review on Friday.

*Keith Richards took his father's ashes, mixed them with cocaine and snorted his dad, this was back in 2002.

*Zach Braff has an exclusive movie trailer up on Apple for his new movie "The Ex." Click here

*Recognize this guy? It's Andy from "Family Ties." He was arrested Wednesday in Colorado on suspicion of domestic violence after allegedly roughing up his live-in girlfriend. This never would have happened if Steven hadn't died from a heart attack and Alex hadn't turned to crack to deal with the pain, thus influencing Andy. That was a rough episode to get through.

129th Edition - 4/03/07

2007-04-03T06:19:00.000-07:00

129 - The number of wins the Cubs will not have this year.

Cubs: Opening day

Well, it came, it went, Zambrano complained, and now I fear that I will have to come up with 162 creative to tell you that the Cubs lost ... kidding, I'm not scared. Zambrano is bad on opening day, and the bats will get better. Derrek Lee was 2-3. That's right, he's batting .667 for the season (that's good).

NCAA Basketball: We have a winner!

Florida beat Ohio State last night, the main reason was that Florida hit a 3-pointer anytime the Buckeyes got within 6 points. Seems like a smart plan if you want to win the national title. They are the first ever to win back-to-back titles with the same starting five. Final Score 84-75.

More Toughts:
*Ohio State finishes the season at 35-4, Florida at 35-5. I wonder if the Buckeyes consider that a moral victory.
*Billy Packer LOVES Greg Oden. I know this because Packer had the chance to talk about many other players, but last night, during the telecast, talked about Oden 80% of the time (mainly praising him for not fouling other players, and at one point Packer said he doesn't think there should be a foul limit for players, just unlimited fouls). After the first 11.5 minutes, Oden had 4 points, 4 rebounds and 1 block. Packer had already given him the keys to the castle. Oden finished with a GOOD game, but at that time, he was on pace to get 15 points and 3 blocks. Also, someone needs to tell Oden he doesn't need to climb the hoop on every dunk. Don't get me wrong, I still think he's great. Just odd.
*Dick Enberg - I've got a hand for you, actually it's just a finger. I know he is a legend, but his halftime show was lame.
*I have no need for a car, but "I'm gonna buy me a Chevrolet." Bring back OUR COUNTRY!
*Joakim Noah needs another year in school to work on his basketball skills. Right now his main move is backing down over and over again, then throwing up an awkward shot. Also, no more after game speeches please.
*If office pools were legal, I would have finished 1, 2, and 3 in the ones I entered. Thank god I believe in ONE SHEET for all brackets.
*Everytime I hear "One Shining Moment," there is a moment where I realize it's an insanely dated song but does recapture thoughts of childhood. I would wait for that song, just so I could see the 1.5 seconds of the Iowa Hawkeye highlights ... Funny, I didn't see those this year.
*Everytime you hear "One Shining Moment," you should appreciate it, because at least it is not Pink's song for NBC Sunday Night Football.

NCAA Basketball: We have another WINNER (the Hawkeyes)

The Iowa Hawkeys have a coach. True, he is defensive minded, which fits with the Big Ten, but makes it less exciting to watch, but he is also the NABC Coach of Year! Richard Lickliter (nothing funny about that name) was the coach of the Butler Bulldogs and got them to the Sweet 16 this year. Lickliter has a 131-61 record in six years at Butler. The Bulldogs have reached the NCAA Tournament in four of his six years. And in perfect Iowa tradition, the Bulldogs lost to the eventual NCAA champs, the Florida Gators. It seems Lickliter will fit right in.

NCAA Basketball: We have yet another WINNER: Andrew Edwards

*1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular*

AE picked 50 out of 63 games correctly. He finished with 159 points, and in the 98th percentile. He is a winner.

Other Thoughts:
*I finished second, the finacee finished third, which means we are the greatest couple in the history of picking random/semi-logical things! Destiny is OURS!
*Other couples that aren't as good as us ...
Rich & Heather (13th and 12th). Throughout the tournament, Heather was looking forward to seeing her name in print. Well Heather, here it is, you're average. wa, wah! (sad music).
DP & Liz would have been a lot higher, but Liz is clearly holding DP (4th) back. Liz picked 31 out of 63 for 55 points. The only one to pick less than half. If only there was a boobie prize.
AE and Jumbo (brothers) could have done better as a team but Jumob (Elijah) is a doctor. You don't understand how busy he is. You do NOT understand.
*Highest finish with a typo in their team name: Emily's bracekt (18th)

And now the prize:
A 2 DVD pack that includes ...
Clearly, someone should have taken this man "Hostage." Because then I would have won. His penalty for not being taken "Hostage"? Having to watch "Hostage." It will hold you "Hostage" with suspense ... Hostage.

No, Mike D, you didn't miss out on your chance for more porn. "Inside Deep Throat" is a documentary looking at the making of the most successful adult film of all time. It's a good flick. In fact, here's my review.

128th Edition - 4/02/07

2007-04-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

128 - The total points scored in the Ohio State vs. Georgetown game ... plus one.

Chicago Cubs - Opening Day!

Do you know what's better than opening day? Opening day and sitting in first place, with the Cardinals in last place. Yes, the St. Louis Cardinals are off to a disastrous start, losing last night to the Mets. Sure, the Cubs are tied with four other teams in the division for first, but at least the last place team is the Cardinals.

Hunches that will be wrong ... or maybe they'll be right --
Carlos Zambrano - 2nd place in Cy Young
Cubs - Division winner
Derrek Lee - 39 Home Runs
Aramis Ramierez - 47 Home Runs
Alfonso Soriano - 35 Home Runs, 39 Stolen Bases

*1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular*

And then there were three ...

If Florida wins, AE wins.
If Ohio State wins, it's between my fiancee and DP. I finish 2nd or 6th (plus I win money in two other brackets if Florida wins ... not that office pools are legal)

Check back tomorrow to see the winner and the prize.

Quick Hits

*Final Four games = boring. The only reason I was excited was because I have both teams in the finals. Oden vs. Hibbard was about as lame as going to a hockey game.

*I went to a hockey game on Sunday. Blackhawks vs. Oilers. Actually, it was a good game with a Blackhawk scoring on a short-handed goal for a 2-1 win. Free tickets make close to anything good though, thanks to Bro for making it happen.

*Bulls lost in OT to the Cavs, so it looked like the #2 seed was slipping away. But then the Cavs lost to the Celtics, yes the same team that is desperately trying to lose every game they play. So the Bulls are still only .5 games out of 2nd place.

Stuff

*Box Office Recap
1. Blades of Glory - $33 - This seems about right. I gave it a C+, which in my opinion means - there are some laughs, not tons, only one time was I in tears. It would be a good renter.
2. Meet the Robinsons - $25 - I am convinced the reason it didn't do better is because the previews COULD NOT BE WORSE - it's a good animated film.
3. 300 - $11 - $180 total.
4. TMNT - $9
5. Wild Hogs - $8 - $135 total. Yup, I just threw up in my mouth ... which is actually funnier than anything that happened in this film.

127th Edition - 3/30/07

2007-03-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

127 - http://www.127band.com/

Blatant Self-Promotion

Film Reviews
"Meet the Robinsons"
"Blades of Glory"

NCAA Basketball: Final - Four - Predication!

Florida will beat UCLA. Both teams are breaking defensive records. Florida has held opponents under 60 points 10 of the last 14 games. UCLA is letting their tournament opponents score 50 point per game ... So with that in mind, look for Joakim Noah to get fouled in the closing seconds, and make one of two free throws giving the Gators the win 27-26.

Ohio State will lose to Georgetown. Even though I have picked the Buckeyes to beat Georgetown, I am now reversing it. Georgetown is a team of destiny. They were on TNT's NBA Halftime Show last night and gave Kenny Smith a jersey. These things don't happen, unless you make the finals. Otherwise, you just look foolish ... (this is an attempt at a reverse jinx - of course I am not changing my pick. As long as they get enough electricity pumping through Frankenstein (Oden) then the Buckeyes will win 73-66).

Bulls: close AND a cigar

If the Chicago Bulls only played the 1st and 3rd quarter of each game, they would dominate. But rules state they must also show up for the 2nd and 4th ... so that's what they do, show up -- but just barely. The Bulls stunk, especially in the 2nd quarter where they shot 4 of 22 from the field and received technicals on separate instances (one by Hinrich, the other by Skiles -- also known as the team leaders).

After all that complaining, you might be surprised the Bulls won by two last night in Chicago against the Eastern Division leading Detriot Pistons (83-81).

It was a must win, and thanks to Hinrich drawing a foul with 2.8 seconds left, and hitting 2 of 3 free throws, the Bulls escaped with a victory.

Ben Wallace had 19 rebounds and Tyrus Thomas (and his oodles of energy) had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The shoes: Wallace's feet are worth $15

Ben Wallace is helping friend Stephon Marbury promote his new sneaker, the Starbury. It's not another story about a selfish athlete. Starbury's come out April 1, and are being sold for $14.98, and Marbury isn't making millions in this deal. http://www.starbury.com/

"Kids don't really understand what it takes to go out and buy a pair of $300 pair of shoes," Wallace said at a news conference on Tuesday. "We don't understand the pressure we put on our parents when we're growing up. This is one of the things where I think the parents will appreciate it a lot more than the kids right now because it eliminates so much stress from the parents. All parents want to see their kids have nice things."

I am looking forward to putting on a pair and seeing if they are worth it. This is the best story to come out of the NBA this season, it deserves TONS of coverage. Everyone should appreciate this ...

LeBron James doesn't appreciate this ...
James took a little shot at Marbury's $14.98 kicks, saying he couldn't imagine endorsing a sneaker that cheap. "No, I don't think so," James said. "Me being with Nike, we hold our standards high."

Stuff

*Just a very interesting story -- http://www.friendlyatheist.com/
I just received a copy of his book - "I Sold My Soul On Ebay" and interviewed him.

*Chris Farley for an ESPN commercial - recreating the shot that Christian Laetnner had against Kentucky (while he was still alive). click here

*The best kissing cam of all time ... even if there is one scene that HAS to be staged ... make sure to stay until the end and watch Wade and Shaq. click here

*The Spider-Man 3 soundtrack will feature songs by The Flaming Lips, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Snow Patrol and more.

*April Fools is Sunday - this might help you get in the mood- http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/

126th Edition - 3/29/07

2007-03-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

126 - Nerd alert. In the massive multiplayer online role-playing game RuneScape, 126 is the highest combat level achieveable.

NCAA Tournament: The IF's and the BUT's

OK - Let's crank up the old scenario generator and take a closer look at who could win the -
*1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular*

IF -
If Florida wins it all, AE (Andrew Edwards) wins. Period. End of story. And I come in second. Which is good, because I do NOT want to win this prize (yes, the prize is still a secret).

IF -
If UCLA beats Ohio State, Mark Lubbat comes out of nowhere and wins the whole thing.

IF -
If UCLA beats Georgetown, AE still wins. Damn, that boy is good. Good and terrible. Hmmm, it appears that line is only funny in my head or while watching "Coming to America."

IF -
If Georgetown beats Florida, good lord, it's AE again.

IF -
Ohio State beats Flordia, you'll never guess ... The fiancee wins it. Actually, she ties with DP (Dave Pohl), and the tiebracker will actually matter. This is funny on many levels, one of which is DP and I were both in dead last after Thursday/Friday first round action.

IF -
Ohio State beats UCLA, Dave (Denver Dave, Banana Hands) wins it and the fiancee comes in 2nd.

Hmmm, I guess the only BUT is ... I could write down all the senarios, BUT it would have been easier just to say AE will probably win, or maybe not.

The Hawkeyes: Bruce Pearl doesn't like us

After not being considered for the head coaching job when Dr. Tom Davis left, after making Tennessee a winning program and after making over $1 million a year -- Bruce Pearl has decided to stay at Tennessee and not consider the Iowa coaching position. All in all, for him, it was a good choice. Though he was my top choice mainly so I could see a Big Ten team try and score lots and lots of points.

Cubs: Prior will be great ...

For the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. Yup, that is where Mark Prior will start the season. In the minors. I am wishing that Wood and Prior were elsewhere just so I could have something else to think about this close to opening day.

Something else to thing about ... The Cubs starting outfield for opening day - Alfonso Soriano in CF, Matt Murton in LF and Jacques Jones in RF. I am happy with these decisions.

Peyton Manning is not Peyton Manning

The Bears fan who lost a bet and was willing to legally change his name to Peyton Manning, was denied by a judge. The judge decided it would be too confusing for the real Peyton Manning. Sounds to me like it would be too confusing for people to try and understand what kind of idiot of a Bears fan (or any human being for that matter) would be something like this, and then try and follow through on the bet.

Stuff

I finally remembered ...

*Saturday Night Live
It was a good one. Peyton Manning's United Way commercial, the dancing coach, Manning holding a rock and the NCAA Tournament Bracket sketch which reminding EVERY man about the woman in their life ... it was all good stuff.

For the season: 9-7

Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

*More SNL
I interviewed Shia LaBeouf yesterday and he was the first person I interviewed who was about to host SNL (April 14). Needless to say, we talked about sketch ideas for a couple minutes.

*Lost was great last night. It was a good stand-alone episode, and it had enough creativity will the flashbacks. LOVED the ending.

*Harry Potter - new cover

125th Edition - 3/28/07

2007-03-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

125 - Opus 125 is the ninth symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven, the longest symphony to the time of its completion, the first symphony to use a chorus, and Beethoven's last complete symphony. And it's a really bad Japanese magazine - http://www.125magazine.com/

Special Guest: Mr. Bro* (aka Brendan Breault)

I teach/coach at St. Mary of the Angels Elementary School in the Bucktown neighborhood of Chicago. This has been a goal of mine for awhile - to create a presentation using pics/video for the end-of-the-year sports awards banquet. The "dream" became a reality when I started flirting with iMovie on my new MacBook. With the help of friends and family, I was able to use video of the boys and girls varsity (7th and 8th grade) championship games. I did the best I could with mostly layups and free throws. And "One Shining Moment" just seemed to make the most sense, especially during March Madness. 99 cents well spent. I plan on burning a DVD for all the players including some additional pics. Hopefully, it will be something for them to enjoy time and time again.

click here to watch the video

*Just so you know, Bro is normally a "life of the party" type. I assume he is under the impression that "The Daily Score" is vastly more popular than it actually is, and he thinks parents/kids might be reading the post.
Any way, watch the video, and stay for the very end ... it's "magic."

The Weekly Bull: 42-30 (4 games out of first, One game out of second)

Down the strech they come... The Bulls have won three straight and have ten more games to play. Winning the division is out, but taking second place away from the Cavs is still VERY possible. The Cavs have 11 games to go. Currently the Bulls would get the #5 seed and play the Wizards (without home court advantage even though the Bulls would have the better record). If the Bulls capture second in the division, they would play Orlando and get home court. It's a big deal for a team that hasn't escaped the first round since Pippen was around (and Jordan).

The next four games are all that matter. Two games against the Pistons, one against the Cavs and the Hawks. IF (it's a big one) they win all four, we are looking at a clusterf**k at the top of the division and then anything could happen.

Stuff

This is an add to make sure and buckle up in the back seat, otherwise apparently it could lead to the coolest, most awesomest ride of your life.

124th Edition - 3/27/07

2007-03-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

124 - The Antonov An-124 is the largest aircraft ever mass produced. It can carry 330,000 lbs.

Bears: Briggs on the brink

Lance Briggs' agent agent Drew Rosenhaus, has said the Washington Redskins are putting together a trade offer in an attempt to get the disgruntled Briggs away from Chicago ... This might be completely true, but it's coming from the mouth of Rosenhaus. I trust the president more than this man.

Fantasy Baseball: so sad

I am officially disappointed in myself. I have three fantasy baseball teams. I don't know how it happened. One after another. And I don't even like two of my teams. The only one I am truly happy with is where I took Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramierz with my first four picks. Now I have to end this entry so I can hurry and go do some more studying so I can be ready for opening day.

Read this - from Jason Whitlock. click here

Stuff

*Yesterday I finished Season 2 of "Deadwood" and watched the season finale of "Battlestar Galactica," so I am thinking that might have put 3/26 in my top ten for TV days.

*Hugo Weaving (Mr. Smith from "Matrix") will be the voice for Megatron in "Transformers."

*It's a light day today. I am sorry.

123rd Edition - 3/26/07

2007-03-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

123 - a pretty creepy looking Web site - http://123.org/.

NCAA Tournament: I'm not dead yet...

First off, just an amazing comeback by Georgetown. North Carolina was nailing their free-throws, but nothing else. They were 1 for 23 from the field over the last 15 minutes of the game. And I loved every minute of this simply because I had Georgetown over North Carolina in my bracket ... a brack I had left for dead, which was terribly wrong of me ... by the way Mike D - how did that feel? You still going to try and find a North Carolina National Championship hat?

I have 3 of 4 teams left, and though I can't win, when Florida meets Ohio State in the championship, I will finish in the top 5 and respectability will be MINE!!! Plus, I've seen the prize and I'm kind of glad I am not winning.

The driver's seat belongs to Andrew Edwards (AE, bad shoulder, Elijah's little brother, UFC Fan, Sondre Lerche fan). Later this week I will crank up the senario generator and get WAY too involved in over-analysis.

NCAA Tournament: The Final Four

Georgetown vs. Ohio State. Florida vs. UCLA. Big men are the key to three of these teams.

Quick Hits

*Kobe Bryant is off his game, only getting 43 points last night, and ending his streak of 50-point games are 4. Let the embarrassing comparisons to Ricky Davis begin, this guy has clearly lost a step.

*Tiger Woods is good. He won at Doral for the sixth time. Again, logic says to take him against the field for the Masters.

*Joe Thiesmann is gone on Monday Night Football. In all likihood, Ron Jaworski will replace him.

*Anthony Adams is a Bear. The DT from the San Francisco 49ers just signed with the Bears for 4 years. ESPN.com had him ranked 25 on the list of free-agent veterans. Until he plays I really have no feelings about this. Though I do like that Tank Johnson can now rest comfortably in jail, knowing his position is taken care of.

Stuff

*I haven't finished watching Peyton Manning on SNL, but so far, it looks like a thumbs up. The United Way commercial was just amazing. Click here to watch

*Monday Box Office
1. TMNT - $25 million - the top three seem about right. Lots of action at the box-office.
2. 300 - $20
3. Shooter - $14 - I gave it a C-, but I am starting to think I want to watch it again ... so I can laugh at it.
4. Wild Hogs - $14 - if you people make me go see a sequel I will KILL. Stop spending money on this movie!
5. The Last Mimzy -$10

*Premiere Magazine just released their list of the best 25 movie posters of all time. And only "Silence of the Lambs" came out in my lifetime. Click here to read

122nd Edition - 3/23/07

2007-03-23T04:17:00.000-07:00

122 - The oldest age any person is known to have lived to (Jeanne Calment was born in 1875 and died in 1997).

Blatant Self-Promotion

Reviews of "TMNT," "Shooter," "Reign Over Me," and "Pride."
Also, an interview with Chicago's own, Bernie Mac.
All on Stuff I Wrote.

NCAA Basketball: 3 out of 4 is good enough for me

Last night, three games game down to the final seconds. And it is starting to be standard for Ohio State to be apart of one of them.

The Buckeyes were down 20 at one point in the first half. In fact, the most important play was probably the 3-point play they got at the buzzer at the end of the first half, decreasing the lead to 17. Tennessee can look at the free-throw line to figure out where they blew this one, and Oden's big paw. Tennessee went 8-17 from the line, and Oden (only scoring 9 points) had a block on the final Tennessee shot. Ohio State won 85-84.

Southern Illinois couldn't hold on against Kansas, but as soon as I saw Jim Belushi in the crowd I knew they were a goner. Can anything this guy attaches himself to be great? So. Ill. played some amazing man-to-man defense but had to heave a half-courter to try and tie it. Kansas wins 61-58.

Memphis squeaked by Texas A&M and UCLA won pretty easy over Pitt.

Hawkeyes: Alford out

Steve Alford is done coaching the Iowa Hawkeyes. And we didn't have to fire him (which would have cost millions). Alford is headed to New Mexico because he wants to be at a school where basketball comes first. Well, ideally academics comes first - then whatever program is winning comes next. Alford came to Iowa the same time as Kirk Ferentz. Everyone I remember thought Alford was a brilliant hire, and no one knew who Ferentz was (we were still upset about not getting Bob Stoops).

Time has shown Alford can't do anything great. He isn't a fantastic recruiter. His coaching is sub-par, and when the Hawkeyes had off-the-court problems, he never inspired.

Here's what my friends had to say about his departure -
*I'm all broken up about it. (sarcasm)
*Yeah I saw that this morning.... What a shame. (sarcasm)
*He clearly was not a fit for Iowa. If we were supposed to be bad, we were. If we showed some promise, we drastically underperformed when it mattered (e.g., biggest upset of the tourney last year).
*At least with Dr. Tom we would make it to the second round.
*I'm just happy I'm a Tarheel now. I can't wait to get my 2007 NCAA champions hat. (This last one was from Mike D - the NFL picker who moved to Chapel Hill last week)

Chicago Bulls - Tip-Doh!

It looked ugly with seconds left last night against the Nuggets. A loose ball, a bad shot from Gordon, a tip between Deng and Carmelo Anthony, then Tyrus Thomas tips in the game winner. Anthony said he would have rather lost by 100. Twelve games left. Bulls are 40-30.

Cubs: Prior to this...

I was almost done with Prior. Then he went and pitched 4 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 run. It's like I'm George and he's Lizzy. I need to forget yesterday every happened. I mean, I married to a big, rich girl. I need to forget the past, and move forward even though Lizzy/Prior has been amazing before. OK, that's the last time I compare the Cubs with "Grey's Anatomy," I swear.

Quick Hits

*Kobe Bryant - The man had 60 last night in a win over the Grizzlies. That is three 50-point games in a row, and he is one of three to have 4 or more 60-point games. I love watching this offense right now, but I find I am still in the stage of thinking half the shots (that end up going in) are bad ideas. He is the most fun train wreck to watch in sports right now.

*Coach Tubby Smith just made the Big Ten a little tougher ... I think, although he could simply be burnt out at Kentucky and looking to retire. Minnesota seems like the type of program where he could still earn his millions but not worry about pesky things like wins, and NCAA tournaments.

*Jonathan Papelbon is back as a closer for the Red Sox. He said he was losing sleep thinking about wanting to be back in the bullpen as the closer. This would have been good information before my baseball draft.

*Tony La Russa is an idiot. If you are rich, and like to drink far away from where you live ... Get someone else to drive you. It's that simple.

Stuff

"Trapped in the Drive-Thru" - Another Weird Al gem ... 11 minutes long. Do you have what it takes to get through the whole thing? click here to watch

121st Edition - 3/22/07

2007-03-22T06:59:00.000-07:00

121 - The total number of points to win at Cribbage. Cribbage is a bit of a Schwister tradition. Good game. Highly recommend.

Special Guest

Today is John's version of what happened with the 2000 marathon, and a quick reply from Kyle. You might remember John and a teammate from the World Series of Pop Culture, but then again, you may not, considering the entire experience lasted about 45 minutes.

John runs and Kyle retorts

kyle speaks the truth. my version was of course a little different, but
most of the facts are consistent.

in order to prepare for the big race, i opted to become johnny rage,
starting around 6a. pretty good. i was pumped. got there late, as kyle
said. kyle moves up front to start. i drop to the middle of the pack at
the starting line. gun goes off. minutes roll by, i cross the starting
line, unaware of the pain that was going to set in.

i am cruising at a pretty slow pace. stop and walk and get water every two
miles, since i figure that i would rather be safe than sorry. see the folks
and katie (who didn't have my gatorade) at around the 8 mile mark. feeling
good. very confident at this point.

then, the infamous hill. well, me, being the thinking man, decide to slowly
jog, and if i get tired, walk the hill. so jog about half way. turn the
corner. cry. walk. get to the top. hard to describe the feeling in the
legs at that point. i equate it to laying in a nice soft bed and having a
someone repeatedly beat your legs with a 2 by 4. that will give you an
approximate idea of the agony.

so i decide to walk for awhile. well, "awhile" turned into 10 miles, which
resulted in my 5.5 hour finish. sad.

among the people who passed me...

"lorraine" - a 73 year old lady who looked as though she could barely walk
a man wearing tevas
a woman who i passed earlier while she was vomiting

all made me feel really good.

so everyone think long and hard if you are going to run one of these. and
don't slack off in the training near the end, like i did. bill, i know how
much you love running, so just keep that in mind.

john.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I want you all to know that I'm currently crying from the previous email from John.
I had a few ideas as I was waiting in a slightly concerned state for John to finish.
Both would have been cruel and foolish, but amusing in hindsight. One was that i would be eating cheetos on the curb and drinking a coke as john came by. However, as I later discussed with John, this may very well have prevented him from finishing the final 100 meters of the race. The other was that I was going to take pictures of the saddest characters that crossed the line before him. Lorraine, of course, being one of them and a fat lady in spandex being the other. Unfortunately I missed the person in tevas.

Moral of the story, stick to the training program or pay the piper.

Stuff

music videos
* Arctic Monkeys - "Brainstorm" - at arctic-monkeys.com
* Travis - "Closer" - at youtube.com
* The Kaiser Chiefs - "I can do it without you" - myspace.com/kaiserchiefs

120th Edition - 3/21/07

2007-03-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

120 - Age of Moses when he died. Really? REally?

Special Guest

This one is an oldie but goodie. Amazing that this was written seven years ago. At 30, you definitely hit that age where you assume everything took place about 2-4 years ago, then you find out it was closer to a decade. This is Minneapolis Kyle (my Twin's insider), and his first marathon. Tomorrow will be my friend John's version.

+++++++++

Kyle's marathon

Per a many request, I'm updating all on the marathon.

But, the details. Note to self, if course description ever says "relatively flat", be very very afraid.

So, John and I awake at 5:00 am to get food in the belly and to chug gatorade. We then spent the next hour trying to get rid of excess fluids and such so that jaunts behind buildings could be minimized during the race itself. Around 5 till 6 we called a taxi. At 6:15 we called the taxi again. I believe, "oh shit" were her words, as she realized that a cab was not on it's way. 45 minutes till race time at this point. We ordered that one along and called another cab company. The second cab company arrived around 6:20 and we jumped aboard.

"To Speedway Meadows" we instructed. He seemed vaguely familiar with that part of Golden Gate park. Going between what felt like about 100 mph through town, we arrived to the park area at 6:30 ish. no runners in site so we insisted he search a bit harder for Speedway Meadows. Mind you, the park is large. At this point, a healthy trip across San Fran has rung the meter to around $10. Around 20-25 minutes till racetime..

Spoke to police officer. Gave us coordinates of where Speedway meadowns was. We then followed a street some distance north of the park to 45th ave. No runners. Then backtracked to find another cop. Gave us the real directions. Problem being that park was closed because of the "race" that was going on, so getting through the park in a car was not possible. At this point, we were questioning if this "race" actually existed. 20 minutes till racetime.

Cabbie then experiments with a road that cuts through the park. It worked out, fortunately. We're in the area, but still see no runners. Cabbie inquires of race location from security guard. He says that we can run through the park to get there. Perfect, just what every about-to-be-marathoner needs just prior to race. Cab fare now double, and 15 minutes till racetime. We are now on foot.

Cutting through the park, mixing bursts of run with walk with stops to remove gatorade from the body. "Katie, get your ass up hear", I screamed (or, may I embellished that a bit). But, eventually, we spotted a herd of runners. We cut down a dirt path, and coincidentally bumped into John's family. About 6-8 minutes until race time and we were there. The gun went off a few minutes after 7:00.

Race details are short and to the point. About 2 miles in we hit a hill significantly larger than anything I'd run around here. Lots of downhill. Then a few miles later we hit another big hill, as large as the first. Then lots of downhill. The next 10 miles were uneventful, as we ran along the water, by the stadium and through some industrial parks. Portable toilets would have come in handy. Speaking for John and I, I think we both belt pretty good about ourselves at the half-way point.

A few miles later we hit the hill. Up it went, shortening the stride, I questioned how I'd perform after the hill. But, I got over it and continued on. That put a dent in the armor, but I was determined that it would not ruin me. Then, I turned the corner..........

Running down a long and steep hill I was trying to stride out a bit further in order to regain the form that I had sustained through the first 14-15 miles. I looked ahead to a hill larger than any hill I had seen before. "Surely", I pondered, "we are about to run up that hill".

After crawling up the hill, I knew the next ten miles would be the most painful I had ever run in my life. They were. Around mile 19, I saw what I believe to be the winner. He was passing the 25 mile mark. Discouraging to say the least. After the longest 2 mile stretch in my life, I made the u-turn on the coast and begin my descend back to the park. Another long hill to finish up on, and the race was over.

Monday I could barely walk. Tuesday was just not good if I'd sat for more than thirty minutes and today is painful, but bearable. A sports massage (thanks Susie) in the evening is hopefully going to cure my woes.

And while I vowed shortly after crossing the tape to never run another marathon again, I have to admit that the idea is slowly warming up to me,though definitely not anytime soon. But, if anyone knows of a good 5 or 10k, I'm in.

--Kyle

Stuff

*Adam Sandler hosted "The Late Show with David Letterman" since Dave was out with the flu. Sandler was due to be the main guest, but filled that role with Don Cheadle - Both are in the film "Reign Over Me," coming out on Friday.

*Ira Glass interview. If you don't know him from NPR ("This American Life"), he's got a new show based on the radio show, beginning on Showtime this week. click here to read

*Free Iced Coffee today at all Dunkin' Donuts.

119th Edition - 3/20/07

2007-03-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

119 - It is the sum of five consecutive primes (17 + 19 + 23 + 29 + 31). 1-1-9 is the emergency number in many Asian countries. The number of Division I college football teams in America.

NCAA: A little too quick

Perhaps I was quick to award Kevin Sketch (co-worker) first place in our NCAA bracket... Even this email exchange from yesterday ...

Kevin:
I will not win. I have WI & TX in the final 4. So thanks for the love on your web site, but you're actually just rubbing in the pain of the inevitable.

j:
Good. Now I have something to write about tomorrow as well.

Kevin:
I see, this whole tournament pick thing you created is just fodder for your unimaginative musings. Can't you write some mindless drivel like other contemporaries in your business? Come on man, what's Angelina Jolie up to these days? Didn't she just adopt another baby? What's your take on Larry King's surgery? Or talk about the big exclusive story on MSNBC telling everyone how much of a diva Michael Jackson is. You know, all that really important stuff that people care so much about. Aren't you an entertainment writer?
Seriously, I am looking forward to kicking your ass in chess in a few minutes.

(We also play chess just about every day. And since he can't control what I write on this space, I am beating him 143-0-2, it's sad really. Even when I try and let him win, my subconscious takes over and still dominates. Two stale mates is all he has to show for his hard work.)

NCAA: The other contenders

*Dave, aka Denever Dave, aka ihuc13 is sitting pretty with 7 elite 8s remaining and all his final four.
*Emily, aka Emily's bracekt (her typo, not mine) also has 7 elite 8s remaining, but her miss is Maryland, going to the finals.
*The one to watch out for seems to be AE, aka Elijah's little brother, aka Andrew Edwards, aka 'shoulder don't work' - he has all the 8 elite 8s left, and is only 3 points behind the leader.

Greg Oden: the gentle giant

I am sick of a story being made over nothing. Greg Oden, in the closing seconds gave a hard foul in the Xavier game. Talking heads are trying to say that Oden got away with one, and that gave the Ohio State Buckeyes the game. When I was watching the game, I noticed the Xavier player fly after Oden fouled him, but I also noticed Oden touch the ball halfway through the foul. In other words, he was going for the ball. Also, just because Oden is strong, doensn't mean he has to foul light. Hard Fouls are typically the point of fouling. Tap a guy, and maybe it doesn't get called. There was 10 seconds left, potentially in the college career of Greg Oden, so he hit the guy.

Stuff

SXSW (South by Southwest) is over. And once again, I wasn't there. Next year I will be. I 94 percent guarentee it!
Anyway, here are a few videos from the concerts.
http://2007.sxsw.com/coverage/video/
Word on the street (the street being my future sister-in-laws boyfriend) is that Ghostland Observatory is somebody to check out.
http://myspace.com/ghostlandobservatory

118th Edition - 3/19/07

2007-03-19T06:46:00.000-07:00

118 - This is the most interesting thing I could find - 118 ways to save money for college. Wow, hope this isn't an indication of how boring today can be.

Other things (Quick Hits)

*Kobe Bryant is good. He went for 65 points on Friday night and followed it up with 50 points last night. He and Wilt Chamberlin are the only ones to do that.

*50 is also the number of points the 76ers got beat by last night. The Rockets won 124-74.

NCAA Basketball

*Our Leader (in the 1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular) is Kevin Sketch (aka Plausible Deniability). He has picked 38 out of 48 for 50 points. Two girls are tied for 3rd and I am 16th.

*Of the 16 teams in the sweetness, UNLV (7) and Vanderbilt (6) are the lowest seeds remaining.

Stuff

*Monday Box Office
People still like Sandra Bullock, but more people like blood.
1. 300 - $31 million - a solid B.
2. Wild Hogs - $19 - yup, i still hate this film.
3. Premonition - $18 - Roeper called it one of the worst endings ever.
4. Dead Silence - $8 - heard awful, awful things about this film.
5. I Think I Love My Wife - $6 - I thought this film would do better. It's not awful, but the subject isn't fun. I assume there were alot of women out there telling their men, "No, I don't want to see a movie about a man wanting to cheat on his wife."

*Saturday Night Live
Not good enough Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In fact, I can't remember laughing out loud once. The Italian sketch was OK. Never a good sign when both musical performances are the best parts (Snow Patrol). And yes, Chris Rock showed up for the opener, and then talked about black men getting hung back in the day ... not his best stuff.

For the season: 8-7
Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker, Julia Louis-Dreyfus

*New Shows
Raines - Jeff Goldblum. It's fine. I just don't know why I would watch it. I already have enough and it didn't give me anything mindblowing.
Andy Barker, P.I. - wow, this guy is destined to be someone I always give the benefit of the doubt to ... and he NEVER delivers. The show is weak.

117th Edition -- 3/15-3/18

2007-03-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

OK - here is the plan ... I will update this one entry (117th Edition) throughout the next 4 days. I will always put the newest entry at the top, so if you are just joining, you might want to scroll down and read that first.

Also - Movie Review - "I Think I Love My Wife"

6:45 p.m. - Sunday - over

The games aren't over. I am. Done. I can't believe Texas is done and I didn't get to see a dominant Durant game. Just said. Now I have to wait five years before he can dominant for a season in the NBA. Three if I am lucky.

"Cold Case." I never have seen an edisode, and now that I have been shown the same damn two seconds of someone pulling a gun on someone else -- I want the show cancelled. Tonight. Before it airs. Just awful.

Ohio State was the game of the weekend. Mainly because I found myself rooting against an underdog (which I rarely do) because they were beating up on the Buckeyes so bad. Plus, it was one of those cases where Xavier didn't blow it, Ohio State just played amazing down the stretch. Plus, it was the first really good game of the tournament and it started an amazing day of basketball.

Now I need to start preparing for my Fantasy Baseball Draft. Yes people, the REAL excitement is about to begin.

4:03 p.m. - Sunday - close

Virginia was close. Purdue was close. I am watching the games on tivo and it looks like I am about 45 minutes behind. Florida just pulled away and won by seven, but the game was much closer than that. I wish there was a stat to show close games during the regular season. Like, if a game is ever within 4 points with 3 minutes left, that's a close game. So far, I think every Saturday and Sunday game has qualified for that. Though Southern Illinois and Oregon are trying to erase that fact.

I had to go watch "TMNT" this morning. It's what they have decided to call "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

I still can't believe we are close to finishing four days of college ball without one buzzer beater.

Hmmm, I wonder if I get the UNLV pick right I will officially be in the top half of the bracket.

7:45 p.m. - Saturday - Buzzer? Beater?

Wash St vs Vandy. Tie game. 60 to 60. Damn. OOOOOvertime. Both teams are making great shots in OT. James Brown says 5, 8, 5 on the game clock, 8 on the shot clock ... then he gets it right. Vanderbilt ball, seconds remain ... I hate Mencia's Bud Light commercial. I want that little guy at the end to break the bottle over his head, and now back to the game... Our first double OT of the tourney.

Somehow VCU is tied with Pitt (the one game I was calling a blowout). Insane day. A 35-16 run by VCU to get back into it. 1:00 left. Wow, free throws. Two seconds left. Fields misses the first. The crowd is cheering. Misses them both. OT.

Wash St is slipping. Vandy up by four ... YOU GOT TO FOUL ... nope, Vandy wins by 4 and will play Georgetown. Georgetown won thanks to Patrick Ewing Jr's reverse dunk in the final minute.

Back to VCU vs. Pitt ... VCU down three with 19 seconds left because Pitt didn't want to make free throws. Damn, missed the three. Pitt should finish this off now. Argh, hate the huge comeback that doesn't produce. Still no buzzer beaters today.

7:05 p.m. - Saturday - Best. Day. Ever.

I'm not going to say this is the greatest day in the history of college basketball, but ... This Is The Greatest Day In College Basketball. If there is one buzzer beater then everyone else will agree with me.
Butler won. Sosa decided to miss two free throws after making his first 15 and Louisville lost. Vanderbilt and Wash St are tied late. The only game that is not amazing is Pitt killing VCU. So far, six games, all but one close. I've stood on the couch once already during the Ohio State game, and it just might happen again.

Side note - I'm really tired and only had one green beer today ... wow, writing that sentence just made me hungry for more beer ... And YES! The F is not at the grocery store yet after working out, Guinness will be MINE!

2:40 p.m. - Saturday - It's over

I believe I said that about six times during the Xavier/Ohio State game. Most of the times I said that I assumed Xavier was going to win. Clearly the best game of the tourney. Just an amazing comeback by the Buckeyes. I assume most of the country wanted the comeback to happen since NO ONE had them losing this early.

1:05 p.m. - Saturday - good morning

I have had my omelet, biscuit, homefries and french toast. And now it's halftime with Ohio State leading Xavier 29-25.

More P.O.T.T. (player of the tournament):
Reynolds from Virginia - 28 pts, 7 reb
Kemp from Nevada - 27 pts, 12 reb, 4 assists

8:40 p.m. - Friday - classic

Nope, I'm not talking about the games. The F (fiancee) just went to "get ready." This is after the last 20 minutes, when I kept saying, "Do you need to get ready?" And her saying, "I am ready." And yes, her bracket is killing mine.

P.O.T.T. watch - Durant - a quiet 25 points and 8 rebounds.

Illinois decided not to score in the 2nd half and lost by two. 54-52. I will make a post before I sleep. I swear.

6:50 p.m. - Friday - it's racial!

"Oh, yeah ... Fight the Power!"

"He's got that farmboy look."

Can you guess the color of the players that were referred to in the above quotes by the announcers? Neither can I ... neither can I.

Illinois is looking good, up by six close to the half. Listening to Billy Packer call the Kansas/Niagara game is just awful. He's picking on Niagara every chance he can get as they slowly slip away from a superior team. "Kansas makes sure Niagara falls," yup, that's going to be the headline.

OHHHHHHH!!!!!! Carter just hit a 3 for Illinois ... and was fouled. Let's see if he converts the four point play ... an it counts! Illinois up by 10. It's that easy.

4:40 p.m. - Friday - overtime. OVERTIME!?!

Just annoying. Creighton falls in overtime to Nevada. I had it right there, the amazing comeback was within my grasp. But now, all is lost. I will officially now just root for good games, I swear. No more thinking I have a chance.

On a side note - the Shia LaBeauf movie was pretty good. Though I had no idea what I was walking into, so I had no expectations.

At least I had Winthrop. The only thing I can currently hang my imaginary hat on.

Also - it couldn't be more disturbing to finish watching a basketball game and then be taken to a Dr. Phil, already in progress.

11:26 a.m. - Friday - embarrassing

So, I just went to check my bracket ... Yup, I have Albany (read below). Just embarrassing. Albany just chucks it up. I have already seen one 3 hit the side of the backboard. My other upsets sure to go wrong today ... Creighton and Winthrop.

11:18 a.m. - Friday - "working"

I'll do my best to keep notes and update at about 12:30 then late afternoon, then late late night. We'll see how that goes. There is a going away party tonight. Mike D (NFL picker) is moving.

I am in NCCA On Demand no problem this morning. In fact, this thing is great. Plus, next year when I get VIP status I can look down at all you people and laugh.

So - today, once again, I have to miss some afternoon games. At 2:30 I need to see a Shia LaBeauof (I try to spell his last name different every time) movie. He's the kid from "The Battle of Shaker Heights" and "Holes" and "Constantine." If you don't know him yet, you will, he also scored the (human) lead in "Transformers." I will be interviewing him in the coming weeks.

Anyway, it's Virginia 8, Albany 2. Clearly this is a version of the bigger school just being better, taller, quicker. No way Albany keeps up with them.

I'll do my best to keep notes and update at about 12:30 then late afternoon, then late late night. We'll see how that goes. There is a going away party tonight. Mike D (NFL picker) is moving.

9:56 a.m. - Friday - the comeback!!!

I am in last place, tied with a girl -- out of 24 people. Three individuals currently have 14 points each. My West bracket is horrendous and my East is barely holding on ... BUT there is no way I can finish last. I am the letter j! So I am on the comeback trail and my goal is to finish middle of the pack. I want to be the guy that no one pays attention to, that is just glanced over while their eyes make their way up the leaderboard.

10:46 p.m. - Thursday - I rue

I rue the day I picked Gonzaga based on the logic of them playing Indiana (overrated) and them playing a tough regular season and them not having good luck in previous tournaments (so I thought they were due). Rough night all around, "Scrubs" wasn't even that funny.

9:37 p.m. - Thursday - And we're BACK!!!!

Sorry. I "had" to go watch Shooter for "work." Am I using these "" correctly? Any way, Oh course Duke lost. My reverse logic never works. My bracket is busted, so now I can go about my business and just enjoy the games. Glad that nonsense is over with ... though, it Gonzaga could beat Indiana, UCLA and not Duke, then I'm right back in it ... sigh.

P.O.T.T. (player of the tournament) watch: Can't be Curry (scored 30) from Davidson because they lost. Greg Oden started strong with 19 pts and 10 boards. Rice from B.C. scored 26 points.

4:00 p.m. - Thursday - No upsets.

Good, god, Vanderbilt is off to a quick 7-0 lead. Is there no upsets planned today? This is unreal. It's the opposite of real.

As soon as I was done complaining about the Butler game, Old Do hits a 3 and then that is followed by Butler hitting five 3s in a row. Butler takes a big lead and doesn't look back.

Georgetown was down 11-4, then they went on a 76 - 44 run. At what amount do we have to cap a run? Perhaps when one team scores over 40 it is too much.

Some quick STUFF -
*David Duchovny will be in a sitcom on Showtime. About ten years ago I declared Duchovny would be one of the biggest comedy stars of our time ... can I still get credit for this?
*My favorite - Ben Folds - will be opening for John Mayer this summer ... So apparently, Ben doesn't want me to see him anytime soon.

3:20 p.m. - Thursday - slow...

It's 29-29 with 12 minutes left in the Old Dominion vs. Butler game. Apparently they are choosing to only shoot with two seconds left on the shot clock. Slow game. I have Butler, in fact I have all #5 seeds winning, which, in it's self, is an upset. Wash State ended up winning by 16, there should be a rule that teams make keep it close in the first half unless they promise to keep it close in the second. I had dreams of Oral. I wanted Oral. I could feel Oral ... winning the game and me looking super smart. But no, I'm just the moron who thought I'd get Oral all the way to the second round ... and I knew it the entire second half.

Also - I just got an interview with Molly Shannon lined up. I think this is my first SNL actor that I get to interview ... I just hope she's ready to talk about "Don't get me started, Don't EVEN get me started," for 30 minutes.

2:34 p.m. - Thursday - Yeah! I mean Oops... I mean YEAH!!!

OK, so I thought I had Oral Roberts beating Washington State. I was sitting here cheering like an idiot as Oral played tough and took it to half with a 28-26 lead. Well, then I was updating my bracket and noticed I have #3 Wash State winning. So, I quickly change sides, and BAM! They go on a 9-0 lead to start the half and my favorite team in the world, Washington State, is in control of the game ... Wow, nope, I am right, I did have Oral Roberts. So my positive vibes clearly have kicked me square in the arse. Is it possible to be drunk on basketball?

1:21 p.m. - Thursday - Wow. Ohhhh for Two.

Texas Tech lost by nine. Maryland hit a huge 3 with two minutes left, and held on to beat Davidson. Two games are done and I am 0-2. If this keeps up I will have the worst bracket in the history of the NCAA Tournament. Actually, I would be pretty cool to miss every single one.

On a side note, I highly recommend Lean Cuisine Brick Oven-Style Pizza (BBQ). As far as microwaved individual pizzas are concerned, this is my favorite. Lean Cuisine ... It's not just for middle aged women who pretend to eat healthy.

This afternoon I will be watching one game on TV and another on the Web.

Just got an email asking if I want to interview Jamie Kennedy for his new movie "Kickin' It Old Skool." Wow, I've got some thinking to do.

11:54 a.m. - Thursday - God Lord, It's WORKING!

Currently at work, watching Davidson vs Maryland (I have Davidson). This was exhausting. It wouldn't work for the last 20 minutes. I now I get to see Davidson leading by 5. Joy. I won't be updating until I get home and eat some lunch.

11:08 a.m. - Thursday - The Waiting Room & The Brackets

I am currently in the NCAA March Madness On Demand Waiting Room. It's as exciting as you think it is ... I started at 92,000th in line, and now I am at 35,000 ... but I've been at this number for a while and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. On the plus side (sarcasm), if I was a VIP I would be 11,000th in line. I can't be VIP this year, but I could next year, so really they are just rubbing it in. Just like that little curtain that seperates me from first class. Wow, it just changed. Now I could be 6,300 for VIP ... and 34,800 is my current position.

And it looks like we have 24 players in the 1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular!

I am most curious about a few of them...
1. The Sports Guy - I read him all the time and think if cat's wore pajamas, he would be those pajamas. So I read his picks and filled out a bracket for him.
2. Girls - We have 5 women participating. I watched my fiancee fill out her bracket and it was a real treat. I think she had Oregon winning because we want to live there one day. She got lucky with Kansas winning some games because she has a friend that lives there. I believe the standard woman is just as capable of picking as the standard guy, I just love the thought process.
3. Me - I really hate some of the picks I made. But I threw in some reverse logic and suddenly, Duke was winning two games.

116th Edition - 3/15/07

2007-03-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

116 - Shakespeare's sonnet #116. Wow, hopefully that will be the last time I link to Shakespeare, I couldn't get through that whole thing.

NCAA coverage -- I might just run continous updates throughout the next 4 amazing days ... Calling all of it 117th Edition. We'll see. Since I will be in the office until 12:45 today I have hoping to be one of the lucky ones to watch the games online.

Special Guest

Erin Studer is a man. Most that know him call him Stu, and then after a few months on knowing him, realize in fact, his name isn't Stu, it's Erin--spelled the girl way (he's Irish). Stu runs a school out in Los Angeles, and word on the street is, he'll give you a teaching job if he likes the cut of your jib. And if you need a man to quote the speech from "Braveheart" look no further ...

Mad Marchness: 5 True Things about the NCAA Tournament

I didn’t play in high school. My official playing career in basketball ended in 8^th grade – B team. I was a guard. The highlight game of my career was on a cold January night in Spirit Lake, Iowa. The Spirit Lake Indians vs. the Emmetsburg E-Hawks. I was playing the 2 for the E-Hawks and scored four points in the closing seconds of the half (two of them off of a break away steal) to help us take the lead. I finished with a season high 8 points, 2 boards, and a technical for mouthing off to the ref while taking the ball out of bounds. For those of you who know me, the technical is no surprise, but the eight points might be. I went on in my high school career to play a little football, a little baseball, and whole lot of wrestling. My basketball career was relegated to late night games at the local park and later to the occasional pick up game in the Field House at the U of Iowa. There was a brief stint as a middle school basketball coach when I first started my teaching career, but I am sure that was because of the school’s desperation as opposed to any insight into my former middle school basketball prowess.

All that said, I have always been an avid watcher of the NCAA Tournament – a uniquely American event that celebrates democracy, parity, the little guy, and eventually some extremely well funded major basketball power house. Just makes me smile thinking about it. I can almost hear the squeak of Converse on the hardwood right now. Yes, I have been a fan of “The Tournament” for over 20 years and in that time I know these five things to be true:

1. I have never won an NCAA Tournament Bracket Pool and probably never will: It’s not that I don’t follow college basketball or don’t know the odds of a 10 seed making the Elite 8 or the fact that Indiana basketball just isn’t what it used to be. No, my brackets don’t fail because of lack of knowledge; they fail because of an excess of drama. With each passing year, with each new bracket, I create an alternate universe – a universe where David toppling Goliath isn’t just a myth but a round by round reality. I create tournament outcomes that, if they truly happened, would be the stuff of legend for generations. Sadly, the epics have yet to occur or to provide me any money in return.
Example: My final four for this year - Wisconsin, Pittsburg, OSU, and Georgetown. Finals: Wisconsin and OSU with the Badgers winning the fabulous Big Ten-homer love fest of a finale.

2. A 12 seed always beats a 5 seed:

You’ve heard this before. I’ve heard this before. It seems to happen a lot. I have no statistical evidence to support the always, yet I faithfully seek out the 12 vs. 5 upset each time I fill out a bracket. And even if it is not always true, isn’t it fabulous that year after year we get to watch a sporting event where an upset is guaranteed.
My pick: 12 seed Illinois topples 5 seed Virginia Tech. Damn my Big Ten bias!

3. Cinderella always loses.

I know this is true but ignore it habitually. There are always Cinderellas at the Big Dance. They always surprise people. No one knows who they are and there is little point in guessing (George Mason anyone? Or on a smaller more Hawkeye-centric scale Northwestern St.!). But sadly they always lose. No one lower than a five seed has ever won the tournament. Even N.C. State in their miracle march to the championship wasn’t that unheralded. So every Cinderella loses eventually, but not before utterly ruining my bracket year after year because I couldn’t guess who they’d be.
My feeble attempt to divine this year’s Cinderella: Villanova all the way to the Elite 8 before bowing out to Pitt…or wait, was Pitt the Cinderella…never mind.

4. The first weekend is the best.

This is true, though much like my first three statements, it isn’t a secret. Sixty four teams all vying for a victory, all striving to get one step closer to the National Championship. It really doesn’t matter if you are North Carolina or Holy Cross – everybody has to play a game, everybody is trying to win, and everybody knows it’s lose or go home – no exceptions. Sure, a #16 seed has never beaten a number one, but it could happen – maybe this is the year.
Most vulnerable #1 seed with the potential to make history and bow out in round one (not that I picked the upset or anything): Kansas. They got taken to the wire in the Big 12 tourney. The Big 12 isn’t that tough to begin with, and Niagara already has worked out their first game gitters. Go, Purple Eagles, Go!

5. Seeding of teams 3 and higher is irrelevant.

A #1 seed doesn’t guarantee a championship – often the opposite. Again, no one above a five has ever won. The vast majority of champions in the past ten years come from seeds 3, 2, and 1. Therefore all of this pre-tournament controversy over whether you got a 7 or 9 seed, or how a team should have been a 6 instead of a 5, is good oxygen wasted. As long as your team made it to the top 3 (even the top 4 on occasion) don’t worry. Just play your games.
Lowest seed with the biggest ego that may not make week 2: Duke. Probably lucky to be there and yet Dukies persist that a 6 seed is too low and that they are gonna play their way to the Final Four. No chance. They better focus on VCU – 11’s have beaten sixes. Happens every year!

Bonus: College Football does not need a tournament to decide its National Title.

I’m not saying that on occasion it wouldn’t be nice to have an optional “plus-one” game after the BCS to clear up confusion. But this event would be rare. Most of the time the bowl games do a more than adequate job of figuring out who was good, who was not, and who should be crowned champion. By the way, football tournament advocates, have you ever considered that the reason the B-ball tournament is exciting is that so many teams are involved (point 4) as opposed to the idea that so many teams actually have a chance to win (points 3 and 5). A Division-I college football tournament would most likely reduce post season participation from its current 32 bowl game 64 team format. Besides, have you ever noticed how the college football regular season actually matters? Can’t wait ‘till September. Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy the basketball. You should too.

115th Edition - 3/14/07

2007-03-14T06:30:00.000-07:00

115 - Used in the title of "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream", a song from Dylan's album Bringing It All Back Home.

NCAA: Don't forget to Dance!

The Tournament Pick'em '07 is set up with yahoo and all my readers should join. If you've already joined a yahoo group and don't feel like filling out another bracket, they will allow you to use the same one, so this should take you about 10 seconds.

The Group ID = 133325
The Group password = thedailyscore
The Group Name = The Daily Score

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men/group/133325

NCAA: We're #64!

That's what Niagara gets to chant, probably for the rest of the tournament. Niagara beat Florida A&M 77-69 and now is playing Kansas in the first round. So for all of you that had Flordia A&M vs Kentucky in the 2nd round, it's not too late to change it.

The Weekly Bull: 38-28 (13-20 on the road)

The Chicago Bulls now have a three game win streak going into tonight's game against the 76ers. Last night they beat the Celtics 95-87. Ben Wallace had 19 points and 16 rebounds, but more surprising was his 21 shot attempts (a season-high). And rookie Tyrus Thomas led the Bulls with 23 points.

The Bulls are 4 games behind the Pistons and 2 games behind the Cavs right now. Both are within reach, but clearly the most important thing should be getting home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs. Everything else is just butter.

114th Edition - 3/13/07

2007-03-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

114 - Stanley Kubrick frequently referenced the number in his films. That's all I could find. Boring number.

NCAA Tournament: Dance with me!

The 1st Annual The Daily Score NCAA Tournament Pick'em Competition Spectacular has begun! And that title is awful. But anyway, I have
Tournament Pick'em '07 set up with yahoo and all my readers should join. If you've already joined a yahoo group and don't feel like filling out another bracket, they will allow you to use the same one, so this should take you about 10 seconds.

The Group ID = 133325
The Group Name = The Daily Score
The Group password = thedailyscore

OR - perhaps the link below takes you right to it.

http://tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com/men/group/133325

There is no money involved but I am willing to look through the free DVDs I have received from reviewing movies and give a little something something to the winner.

Quick Hits

*The Golden State Warriors ended the Dallas Mavericks' 17-game win streak. Keep in mind this is a Warrior team without Chris Mullins, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond.

*Lance Briggs has said he has 'played his last snap' with the Bears. Again, I am holding out hope that an acceptable contract extension can be reached.

*Look back on the college basketball weekend with Bill Simmons. click here

Stuff

The Pitchfork Music Festival is now on sale (at Union Park). More bands will be added. 3-day pass is $45 right now.
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/event/EventListings?orgId=13100

Friday, July 13
Pitchfork Music Festival & All Tomorrow's Parties Present: Don't Look Back

Saturday, July 14
Cat Power
Clipse
Iron & Wine
Girl talk

Sunday, July 15
Of Montreal
Jamie Lidell
Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound

113th Edition - 3/12/07

2007-03-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

113 - A French hip-hop group -- http://www.113online.com/ AND an inside joke in animation movies - A113 appears in "A Bug's Life," "Cars," and "The Simpsons." It is a reference is a CalArts classroom where many animators got their education.

NCAA - dance

Sung by Mr. David Barrett ...

The ball is tipped and there you are
you're running for your life
you're a shooting star
And all the years no one knows
just how hard you worked
but now it shows...
ONE SHINING MOMENT,
IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
ONE SHINING MOMENT,
THERE FROZEN IN TIME

OK, now I'm in the mood... with the Iowa Hawkeyes not coming close to sniffing the punch at the dance, I have no hopes and dreams at all for the NCAA tournament, except of course for close games and upsets.

The four #1 seeds are no surprise (Florida, North Carolina, Ohio State and Kansas), but Florida claimed the overall #1 even though Ohio State is #1 in both polls. The Big Ten snuck six schools into the tournament, and everyone has decided Drexel got screwed.

The Big Ten: The Hawks stand alone

Step forward if you finished with a winning record overall AND are going to the post season ... not so fast Iowa. Iowa finished 9-7 in the Big Ten and 17-14 overall and they are done. No NCAA tourney and no NIT. Michigan at 8-8 and 21-12 got the only NIT bid. The lesson as always, the Hawkeyes need to find some community colleges to beat up on before the Big Ten season starts.

Tennis: Federer can fall

Roger Federer's win streak of 41 straight matches came to an end against Guillermo Canas in the Pacific Life Open. More importantly listen to what he said ...

"It was just a normal loss, like I've had about 100 times on tour," Federer said. "That's normal to tennis. I have no problems. He played very well. I missed my chances. I think he played very well and I didn't think I was playing poorly at all. So it's OK."

I'm starting to like this guy.

Stuff

*Box Office Recap
1. "300" - $70 million. Biggest March opening ever. It cost $65 million to make the film, but that doesn't take into account all the marketing.
2. "Wild Hogs" - $28 million. I am truly shocked. I figured the bad reviews would affect the box office a little bit, but mainly I assume word-of-mouth from people who saw it would kill this movie. Instead, "Zodiac" fell to $6.7 million.

*Comedian Richard Jeni was shot in the head and killed. Probably by himself, but that's not official yet. I will remember this guy for the rest of my life because of Lobster Claws. In college, before a movie would start in the theater, Richard Jeni would have this little comedy bit sponsored by Coca-cola. I probably saw the thing 40 times. It was NEVER funny, but became a running joke with my friends ... I just spent the past 10 minutes trying to find the bit. Can't.

112th Edition - 3/09/07

2007-03-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

112 - The emergency phone number in Europe. Deal with that! 9-1-1. And also, an R& B group from Atlanta that I have never heard of.

Bulls - They roller, my coaster

One day after the Bulls got pounded by the Miami Heat, they bounced back and crushed the Orlando Magic, 100-76. They outscored the Magic 49-29 in the first half. Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich went 7-9 from 3pt range. I wish someone on the team would say, "yeah, we decided we probably wouldn't win both games on the road, so we didn't really try against the Heat, saving our strength for the Magic." Please someone, anyone.

Cubs - who will go 10-10 for the Cubbies?

Carlos Zambrano is the #1. Ted Lilly is the #2 because the Cubs pay him as much as they do. Jason Marquis needs a spot cause otherwise there was no point in getting him from the Cardinals. After that ... who knows... Mark Prior, Sean Marshall, Rich Hill, Wade Miller, Juan Mateo, Carlos Marmol, Angel Guzman and Neal Cotts all have a shot. Marshall pitched great for the Cubs last year and Hill finally turned it on. Miller is having a good spring and Prior is Prior. Clearly, the Cubs should go to a seven-man rotation, with Zambrano and Lilly getting normal rest. And yes, I am being very generous with the #4 and #5 starters going .500 for the Cubs.

Hockey - yes, Hockey

Good old hockey (I've been to one Blackhawks game in my life). This would be on every front page in America if it was football or basketball, but hockey can't get front page press, even if it is bad press. Damn that's violent.

Quick Hits

*Willis McGahee is now a Baltimore Raven. But to put it in better terms for most of us ... he's the 4th pick in your fantasy league.

*Prediction for the Iowa vs. Purdue game (now at 1:00 central)... Iowa wins, 62 - 57.

*Doug Gottlieb, a college basketball analyst for ESPN thinks Steve Alford (Iowa's coach) is out for next year and Dana Altman from Creighton is in. Alford disagrees.

Stuff

The movie reviews for this weekend...

"300"

and

"Gray Matters"

The dark side... When a friend (let's call him B. Albertson ... no that's too obvious, how about Bryan A.) says, "You should put this on your blog." There are some things you should consider...

1. Your friend, do you trust him?
2. Is it something you should look at during work hours?
3. Did your friend seem to snicker a lot while saying you should put this on your blog?
4. Could unseemly pop-ups flash on your screen as a result of said Web site?

Thus, a link rating the toe of a camel will not be making an appearance today. Though if someone was so inclined they could figure out the name of the Web site by using this puzzle -- www dot rate my camel toe dot com -- happy hunting.

111th Edition - 3/8/07

2007-03-08T06:15:00.000-08:00

The Weekly Bull (35-28, 11-20 on the road, 4 games behind 1st)

Things were looking good. Three wins in a row until last night went the Wadeless Heat smacked the Chicago Bulls 103-70. The Bulls were outscored 33-14 in the 4th quarter and only mananged 27 points in the second half. At one point the score was 56-53 Heat, which means the Bulls were outscored 47-17 to end the game (not good). The worst tiny little stat of the game ... James Posey drew FOUR offensive fouls against the Bulls.

Numbers ...
Luol Deng is averaging 21.4 points and 7.3 rebounds a game in the last month.
Ben Gordon is averaging 22.0, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists over the same stretch.

Next week's opponents - Orlando, Boston (twice) and Philadelphia. 3-1 or 4-0 are the only options.

Quick Hits

*Jamal Lewis is now a Cleveland Brown.

*The Iowa Hawkeyes go against the Purdue Boilermakers Friday at 1:30 on ESPN.

*Nice dunk. Over a car. click here

Stuff

*Coming tomorrow - reviews of "300" and "Gray Matters."

*Captain America is dead. Seriously, they just killed him in the comic book. A sniper got him.

*USA Today has an interview with Michael Stipe about the R.E.M. Hall-of-Fame induction. click here

*If you never saw Crispin Glover on Letterman, you haven't truly lived. This is from 1987 and he chose to wear a wig.

110th Edition - 3/07/07

2007-03-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

110 - The correct percentage to give if you truly want to win.

Special Guest - Mike Denardis

He's the man behind the beating I received in NFL picks this past year. Mike has also decided to move to North Carolina. Things I'll miss about Mike ... drinking with Mike. Hmmm, shorter list than I was thinking it would be. Anyway, he's here to talk sports, so let's get on with it.

BEARS! BULLS!

Wow 11:00 already, boy time flies when you wake-up at 10:30. A couple items on my mind involve the Chicago sports teams.First off, I got into a debate last night about placing the "franchise tag" on a player in the NFL.
I specifically remember Seattle doing it multiple years with tackle Walter Jones, but a cohort thought that you had to have an existing contract.
Well, it turns out you can franchise a free agent for year after year. So, I don't think Lance Briggs is going anywhere.
I think the trade demand was a ploy because his agent, the oh-so slimy Drew Rosenhaus, knows we can franchise him year after year. Of course, he can hold-out, but he would just be affecting his own value in the market and have to pay to get paid eventually.
Another part of the situation I find funny is that maybe the Bear's traded Thomas Jones to free up a little space and re-open negotiations with Briggs.
So, maybe Briggs should have kept his mouth shut for a little longer and everything would have been fine.

....I love watching this Bulls team. I know it can be like watching a tragic play at times, but I don't care. At this point, I don't want a low post scorer (unless via draft.) I don't want Garnett if we have to give up Deng or Gordon.
I want this team to grow together. If you've watched the Bulls this season, you can see the growth in Deng and Gordon.
Give Deng another summer to develop a low post game to go with his slashing and sweet 18 footer and nobody will be talking about Gasol or an aging Garnett.
And Gordon has already found the consistency he lacked the last couple of seasons. He's already one of the league's best jump shooters and what is he 23?
The fault of the Bulls in the rebuilding era is giving up on pieces before they've matured as players.
We know this list: Elton Brand, Ron Artest, Brad Miller, Tyson Chandler, Eddie Curry. I don't fault John Paxson for giving up on Chandler or Curry, but if you trade Deng or Gordon now, we're going to watch one or two pieces light us up for years.

109th Edition - 3/6/07

2007-03-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

109 - The registry number of the famous patrol boat PT-109, commanded by John F. Kennedy.

Bears: Thomas Jones - gone

The Bears gave up the 63rd draft pick and Thomas Jones to the New York Jets and received the 37th overall pick. That's the deal. It almost seems not worth it. Jones would have had one year left on his deal, and hopefully would have felt compelled to show other teams he would be worth the money in 2008. Cendric Benson, the future is now ... or in July when you start two-a-days ... actually more like August when you start the preseason, actually they will rest you more than usual since you are now a premier back ... Benson, I'll see you in September, don't get fat.

Cubs: a tale of two arms

Mark Prior threw 41 pitches and didn't look good. Three earned runs, four outs. That was his day. Kerry Wood threw 12 pitches, eight strikes and looked good in a one-two-three 5th inning. The Cubs are loaded with average pitchers, I will be incredibly sad if Prior isn't one of them. By the way, Carlos Zambrano has guaranteed the Cubs will win the World Series and he'll win the Cy Young. If "A" happens, then "B" is a distinct possibility but holding your breath on this one is not an option. Anybody have any suggestions instead of "Don't hold your breath"? I'm sick of using it.

Quick Hits

*Ron Artest was arrested for domestic violence when he allegedly pushed a woman down and wouldn't let her live. She later threw a pot at his Hummer's windshield and shattered it. There was a three-year-old child in the house during the incident. Artest is vying for the presidency of "I'm not shocked by anything this man does." Look out Mike Tyson, look out.

*Yao Ming is back, and he didn't look good. He still managed 16 points and 11 rebounds so maybe it doesn't matter that he looked slow and uncoordinated, or maybe he always looks that way and since he's been out for 32 games I simply forgot.

*Travis Henry is a Denver Bronco. Ahmad Green is a Houston Texan.

Stuff

*Monday's "Heroes" was a little disappointing. The main reason, these tiny previews they show when coming back from commercial are killing me. Why would I possibly want to see a scene that is about to happen 10 minutes from now? And you listed Malcolm McDowell in the opening credits as well. Why not save it for the surprise? By the way, the show won't be new until April 23.

*I'm probably the only one who cares ... Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz will be in Woody Allen's next movie.

*Shaquielle O'Neal will have his own ABC reality show this summer when he helps junior high school kids lose weight.

108th Edition - 3/5/07

2007-03-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

108 - The number of stitches on a baseball AND what the numbers on "Lost" add up to (it's your fun little facts for the day)

Bulls: Game of the Year

The Bulls swept the Bucks this season, the first time since 97-98, but that is not what makes this game special. Ben Gordon and Michael Redd combined for 100 points in this game, with Redd getting more (52) and the loss (121-126 in OT). Both men shot 18-32 from the field, Gordon poured in 20 points in the 4th quarter to help the Bulls come back from 18 down.

Hawkeyes: of course they did...

The Iowa Hawkeyes lost to Penn State and essentially told everyone, "we're not good." Then on Saturday, they beat the Illini and told everyone, "we have no idea what kind of team we are." Adam Haluska led all scores with 21 points. They will face the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday.

The Hawks finished 9-7 in the Big Ten, 17-13 Overall. And probably need a win over Purdue, then Ohio State (the #1 seed) to be considered for the NCAA Tournament, and even then it might not happen.

Bears: Lance Briggs, please don't go.

Don't go away, Don't go, Don't go away, Please don't go, Don't go, I'm begging you to stay.

Briggs has said he wants to be traded. I hope the Bears (who have salary cap room money) pay the man and get him to stay. Brian Urlacher can be great, but he needs another good/great linebacker playing next to him. Briggs is currently franchised.

Baseball: I don't care

The White Sox beat the Cubs 13-2. It doesn't matter.

Stuff

Confession:
I have not had cable for three years. Yet, through the Internet and radio and bars and friend's houses I have stayed atop of the sports/pop culture knowledge and never let on that I was a man without ESPN/E!/MTV and Comedy Central. Well, no more my friends ... The Dish Network was installed Friday night and now the world is my oyster... or something like that. Watched A LOT of TV this weekend, yet somehow a show called "Flip That House" came out the winner. In fact, I think my fiancee and I watched 5 episodes (10 houses) get flipped (and yes, it now has a season pass) ... She let's me still hold the remote though, which is nice.

Box Office Review:
1. Wild Hogs - $38 million
2. Zodiac - $13 million

Dear people of America -
I'm not going to talk about the dumbing down of this United States of America, but instead I want to talk about the good you people can now do... You "Wild Hogs" idiots need to explain the error in your ways. Talk to everyone you know and explain how awful that movie was ... and "Zodiac" people, your job is the exact opposite. I don't want to say the fate of America is in your hands, that would be too dramatic ... But, the fate of producers making more movies like "Wild Hogs" and less like "Zodiac" is in your wallet, so choose wisely.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

*Coldplay is working on a new album and has a job for us before we die. click here

*There is beginning talk about a sequel to "L.A. Confidential." click here

107th Edition - 3/2/07

2007-03-02T06:45:00.000-08:00

Bears: Love Lovie, even if it's hard to show

Like an old married couple, staying together for the kids, Chicago Bears president Ted Phillips resigned Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo to multi-year deals. The press conference was by-the-book boring. No excitement. No love. It appears Smith is just content. He got what he deserved. Good thing these guys just work together.

Quick hits

**John Daly was distracted, halfway through a golf swing, by a camera clicking. So he stopped his backswing. That injured ribs and he withdrew from the Honda Classic. The woman who took the picture didn't know she wasn't allowed to have a camera, security missed it.

**The Saints released WR Joe Horn. The Bears should consider looking his way, even if he referred to himself in the third person...
"I just don't think [coach] Sean Payton wanted me back. I asked to be released because I felt betrayed by a head coach who wanted to prove he could win without Joe Horn."

**LeBron James had a great game against the Mavs last night... until the end. The Mavs won 95-92 because James missed two free throws and two 3s. Let's just hope this keeps up for the playoffs (right now, the Bulls are their projected first-round opponent).

**I'm starting my push for "LUKE WALTON SHOULD BE A BULL." He'll be a free-agent at the end of the year. Since the Bulls did nothing for the trade deadline, this would at least be something, and they can't afford a Vince Carter (thank god) or Rashard Lewis.

Stuff

It's finally happening!!! Kids, dreams come true.
It's Friday, and that means ... real live movie previews by ME!

Wild Hogs

Zodiac

*I can't decide what hurt more, watching "Wild Hogs" or this clip of Travolta on the "Ellen" show. click here

*Trying to figure out what to have for lunch? Check this out - Wheel of Food. Simply enter your zip code and give the wheel a spin. I discovered this from one of my new favorite blogs - The Deets - give them some love too.

*This could be one of the most uncomfortable things ever. It's the Fonz and friends teaching kids about inappropriate touching. This is a must watch. click here

*The Cat in the Hat is 50-years-old today. It's not my favortie from Dr. Suess (Lorax), but I did find a Rich Auchion's tribute to The Cat in the Hat. He has synched his music with it and you can watch it. click here

106th Edition - 3/1/07

2007-03-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

Special Guest: Brian Schneckloth Hunt

This fits all too well. Brian is the biggest Hawkeye fan I know. He lives in Portland and makes sure to watch as many football and basketball games as possible. Even if it means driving 45 minutes to the one bar that is dead enough where they will let him watch anything. So, before last night the Hawks had two games left. On the road against Penn State (lost 13 in a row) and home against Illinois... That is when Brian wrote this, before the two point loss to the Nittany Lions.

How 'Bout them Hawkeyes

As a Hawkeye basketball fan since birth, I've become accustomed to the one, singular consistency with my beloved team: Preseason expectations never match up with actual performance. Essentially,whatever SHOULD happen...won't. At the beginning of the 05-06 season, Iowa was tauted as being a likely final four caliber team. They had the league's best rebounder in Greg Brunner, the best shot blocker in Erik Hanson, and Jeff Horner--the undisputed all around team leader for the last four years.

They were skilled, they were deep, and they were destined to be a disappointment. While the Hawks ended up getting 25 wins and a Big Ten Tournament title, they exited the NCAA tournament in the first round at the hands of "Who the heck is" Northwestern St, a game regarded as the biggest upset in the tournament. The 2006-2007 season began with much more promise, however. Before the first practice, Pierre Pierce was sentenced to prison; one of Iowa's more promising players and a former Mr. Basketball, Carlton Reed, quit the team; returning senior Mike Henderson and freshman Tyler Smith got busted for shoplifting, and Henderson later broke his finger.

The Hawkeyes only had 1 returning starter in Adam Haluska, who had so far underachieved in his two years at Iowa. They were picked by most publications to finish 8th or 9th in the Big Ten. I was thrilled. They SHOULD be awful. I immediately bought Directv and the season pass to watch every game. I knew this was going to be an exciting season. And it has been. They began with a 7-6 preconference record, including ridiculously embarrassing losses to UNI and Drake (the first lost to Drake since 1992). This hurt. But despite the pain in the early going, some bright spots began to emerge.

Adam Haluska's legit. He'd been in the shadow of Horner and Brunner and was a role player no more. With two games left in the regular season, he's the league's leading scorer, is a finalist for the Naismith award, and was just named Academic All-American of the Year by ESPN. Tyler Smith, though just a freshman, has the most talent on the team. He's the best player Iowa has had since the BJ Armstrong/Roy Marble era, and if Greg Oden had never been born, Smith would be Big Ten freshman of the year.

Other newcomers to the team have made big strides since those first13 games. This is only Kurt Looby's 3rd year ever playing basketball and he's starting to figure out that he's physically longer than everyone else on the court. Cyrus Tate was a Junior College All-American, and he's looking more comfortable playing in the Big Ten. Returning veterans Seth Gorney, Mike Henderson, and Tony Freemanhave been contributing more each game. Freeman will be a stud next year. JR Angle is the only player on the team that makes me nervous when he's on the court. Despite being one of the best high school players in Indiana 3 years ago, he just looks lost when he has the ball. Hopefully he can figure things out for next year but I don't see it happening.

So here we are with a week left in the regular season, and the Hawksare 8-6 in the Big Ten and 16-12 overall. If they win their last 2 games (scarily, 2 games they SHOULD win), they can do no worse than 3rd in the Big Ten. Alford's teams have always done well in the Big Ten tournament, and with another solid performance, they could get into the big dance. If that happens, everyone will expect them to lose in the opening round. That's when the Hawkeyes are most dangerous.

If we lose tonight, the whole conclusion to the article is worthless. Not sure what you want to do about that.

+++++++++++++

Added Thursday morning ...

so disappointed. penn st had lost like 13 in a row and they beat us.
i'll have to rewrite the ending of my thing. now the only hope is to win the big ten tournament again.
i hate that.

Poor kid. Good thing I wrote the Hawks off weeks ago, saved me the pain ... OK that's not entirely true, I thought they had a chance if they finished 3rd in the Big Ten. But I like the idea of them winning some NIT games this year.

105th Edition - 2/28/07

2007-02-28T06:30:00.000-08:00

The Weekly Bull (32-27, 6 games out of first)

This was an insane roller coaster for a Bull's fan. First, a win in Cleveland, then a win at home against the Wizards. Then a two point loss in Detriot and finally a seven point loss at home to the Orlando Magic. All of this plus no trades. I was feeling OK about no trades until I read Bill Simmons and realized he has some pretty good logic.

When the media guide for the No Balls Association is released, I demand that John Paxson appears on the cover. At some point, you have to roll the dice, right? Not landing Gasol was inexcusable; the Bulls could have made the Finals with him (and if it meant sacrificing Luol Deng, Ty Thomas and the Knicks' pick, so be it). Instead, they did nothing ... which means they overpaid Ben Wallace when they already had a younger version of him for two-thirds the money (Tyson Chandler), gave away Chandler AND J.R. Smith for an expiring contract (P.J. Brown) because they wanted a trading piece for the deadline, then never ended up making a freaking trade.
I mean ...
Where does that rank among the most bizarre/inexplicable/head-scratching game plans in recent NBA history? Near the top, right? And if that's not bad enough, Paxson should have sold high on the Knicks' pick in December -- once the Celtics, Bucks, Hawks and Nets started getting crushed by injuries and the Iverson/Philly situation fell apart, everyone and their brother could see a 35-win season for the Knicks coming. What was the purpose of holding on to that pick? Are we even sure Paxson is alive? Has anyone seen him in the past three months? If he's missing or dead, I apologize for the last three paragraphs.

But here's the thing, Simmons entire logic is based on what had happened. Now, keeping Chandler made sense, but he had underperformed, was often injured and was not a leader. Based on the team this second, Deng has the most potential. So ideally, you don't get rid of him. Keeping P.J. Brown is the oddity here, but even more odd is the numbers he put up against the Pistons. He had 19 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks, easily outshining Ben Wallace's return to Detriot.

The real problem right now is Andres Nocioni. In fact, this could be the reason no trade was made. He might miss the rest of the regular season. So if the trade would have happened, the Bulls would have been without a good small forward for the rest of the season, then team chemistry would have had to come together for the playoffs. Rolling the dice with this team seems to be the better option right now.

This week's schdule: WED - Warriors, FRI - Hornets, SUN - at Bucks.

Cubs: Ron Santo is still not loved enough

I just don't understand why he can't get into the Hall of Fame. He has numbers, he is loved (at least in Chicago) and it clearly would make his life. The veteran's committee has been around for three years and still hasn't voted anyone in. It's high school popularity all over again.

Ouch

Clipper's guard Shaun Livingston is done for the season. Just an awful knee injury. You can read and watch it here.

Stuff

A little late, but here are some articles of mine... (yup, blatant self-promotion)

*Scorecard Review of "The Number 23"

*Quickcard Review of "The Astronaunt Farmer"

*Interview with Billy Bob Thornton

*Interview with Virginia Madsen

104th Edition - 2/27/07

2007-02-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

No idea what happened today, but my post got messed up. I had Cubs and Big Ten basketball talk - but that disappeared. Life is trying to knock me down a bit. I'm going to let it. More tomorrow...

Update: the running diary - Oscar Style

*Here's the running diary. It (the idea) is a work in progress, it will be better next time.
click to read

*Listen to the entire Arcade Fire album here.

*Saturday Night Live
Rainn Wilson hosted. Funny. Barely. For a 1.5 hour show, there was about 30 minutes of comedy, and it was almost entirely before the news. Wilson was great to see as himself. "The Office" skit was a little too easy. The digital short was good and then there was Arcade Fire. So good. By the way, I will be seeing them in May when they are at the Chicago Theater.

For the season: 8-6
Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Rainn Wilson

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker

103rd Edition - 2/23/07

2007-02-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

Cubs: a virtual pain in the arse

Sorry for the delay. I have many very important things going on, and haven't had a chance to write until now (almost noon). The most important thing on my list? Attempting to buy Chicago Cubs tickets. I have now been in a virtual waiting room for two hours and 11 minutes. Yet I have not had one opportunity to buy tickets. What's insane is, I just want a couple late season (September) games. Everyone else is after Cubs/Sox, Cubs/Cardinals tickets. And so I wait...

Bulls: Wallace is amazing

I was hoping that I would get to write that headline a lot earlier than February. The Wallace I hoped for finally showed up last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and yes, the Bulls won.
His stat line: 14 points, 19 rebounds, 7 blocks, 5 assists.
I am now at the point where I just want him to stay healthy and then show up and give me these kinds of nights in the playoffs.

Quick Reads

Since I am intelligent enough to realize the extend of my talent ... Instead of talking about these things, I will just link to better writers than myself...

Bill Simmons on the death of Dennis Johnson

Scoop Jackson on Tim Hardaway

Jason Whitlock on the aftermath of the NBA All-Star Game

Stuff

Throughout the day, I will be updating Stuff I Wrote. There will be reviews of "The Astronaut Farmer" and "The Number 23," as well as an interview with Virginia Madsen.

Here is a link to a new debate -
Should the Oscars have a comedy category?
I said yes. click to read

Monday I will have a tons of Oscar talk. Deal with it ... Or be insanely excited, you decide.

There is talk that Jimmy Fallon might be replacing Conan O'Brien when Conan replaces Jay Leno.

Last day to vote on the Scorecard Movie Awards - results will be up on Monday.

102nd Edition - 2/21/07

2007-02-21T06:36:00.000-08:00

The Weekly Bull (30-25)

The Bulls held the Atlanta Hawks to ZERO FG in the 3rd quarter. The Hawks managed just eight points off of free throws. Needless to say, the Bulls went on to win 106-81 in their first game back after the All-Star break.

Speaking of the Las Vegas excursion - click here - to read about Bill Simmon's impressions.

The Bulls next three games are going to prove what the team is made of, with an away game at Cleveland, home vs. the Washington Wizards and then at Detroit. Finishing those three games 2-1 would be a great step toward climbing up the division rankings.

Chris Duhon came off the bench and led the Bulls with 17 points, he was one of six to have double digits, three of which were Malik Allen, P.J. Brown, Adrian Griffin.

Cubs: Zambrano gets paid ... for now.

Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs agreed on a one-year, $12.4 million deal. This avoided arbitration and Zambrano has also declined to refer to himself in the third person, instead opting to call himself "me." J is sure disappointed that J doesn't get to listen to Carlos Zambrano call himself Carlos Zambrano.

Big Ten Basketball: We're #1 ... for one day

The Michigan St. Spartans, coming off a blowout victory versus my Iowa Hawkeyes, took that momentum and went ahead and beat the Wisconsin Badgers as well. Final Score, 64-55. The Badgers shot just 36 percent from the field. Now Ohio State is in the driver seat for the Big Ten title, and will likely be the new #1 in both polls.

Stuff

I love the muppets. Here are five reasons brought to you by "10 Zen Monkeys" that you too, should love the muppets. click here

How to win an Oscar - by Cracked. click here

Want to see the 10 Oscar-nominated shorts in a theater near you? - here's a list of locations

101st Edition - 2/20/07

2007-02-20T06:29:00.000-08:00

Bears: Mr. Rivera, don't let the door hit ya

Ron Rivera left the Bears, but not the way we thought. The Bears chose not to rehire the defensive coordinator. Upon hearing this, Rivera took a position with San Diego, as the linebackers coach. Norv Turner was named the San Diego Chargers' head coach.

Lovie Smith didn't feel the need to retain a coach who would much rather be a head coach somewhere. For the Bears, who are always insanely cheap with coaching, this move fits.

Bob Babich, the Bears linebacker coach, is likely to take the defensive coordinator position.

The only way this whole situation is a problem, is if players on the Bears start speaking out. Otherwise, no worries.

NBA: All-Star game, one last thing

Shaq can dance. Suddenly, I am incredibly happy idiot fans voted him into the All-Star game, otherwise this moment would not have happened. Plus, we get to see LeBron James run away because he's laughing so much. click to watch

Stuff

Next: A New Music Show is the brain child of Chris Bro. If you want to find the next great song, tune in and sign up to the mailing list.

Chris Bro is also the one that introduced me to this video from No More Kings, if you like "Karate Kid" it's a must - one of the key moments comes at 5:58. John Elliott especially needs to watch. click to watch

I still love Legos. So this video of Spider-Man fighting Doc Ock made me pretty damn happy. click to watch

100th Edition - 2/19/07

2007-02-19T06:59:00.000-08:00

Blatant Self-Promotion

Look, I can talk about things besides sports and movies, here is proof. I even interviewed professors ... to talk about Simon Cowell. click here to read

Blatant Self-Promotion: Part 2

Don't forget, I mainly write about sports and movies, which is why I created Beep's Scorecard Movie Awards. Voting ends this Friday. Look for final results on Monday the 26th, one day after the Academy Awards. click here to vote

Blatant Self-Promotion: Part 3

I will be reviewing movies on a more regular basis, so expect to see one to two full-length movie reviews on Fridays, starting with "The Astronaut Farmer" and "The Number 23." Also by the end of the week, my Billy Bob Thornton and Virginia Madsen interviews will be up.

Now on with the show: The NBA show

Kobe Bryant is your All-Star MVP. The West won 153-132.

Jason Kapono hit 24 3's in the final round to win the 3-Pt Contest easily.

Dwayne Wade once again hustled to victory in the Skills Challenge. He is the only elite guard in the league that always want to show up and play hard.

Gerald Green won the dunk competition, jumping literally AND figuratively over Nate Robinson.

Of all my predictions, only one came true, kind of - The Chicago team with Scottie Pippen won the Shooting Stars competition, but Ben Gordon went out of order, disqualifying them and giving Bill Lambier and Detriot the trophy.

Stuff

* I can't believe Willard Scott didn't call to wish me a happy 100. That is just ridiculous.

* If you follow any music blogs at all, PEEL is a must-have program, and it looks very similar to iTunes. click here

* Here is a full Arcade Fire concert - and a reason why NPR should always exist. click here to listen

99th Edition - 2/16/07

2007-02-16T06:45:00.000-08:00

I can't decide if I should party like it is the year 1999, in honor of my 99th post, or instead blow up 99 red balloons. After all, those balloons auf ihrem weg zum horizont, would be beautiful.

Cubs: Getting my Cubbie sigh on ...

Lou Pinella has talked about a "Cubbie swagger" that he hopes to impart on the team. Pinella, meet the drama known as Kerry Wood. Wood is out four to six days because he slipped getting out of the hot tub and bruised his ribs. THIS is the reason letting Wood go in the offseason would have been a good idea. He is a distraction. Now, I like the contract, and I like that we don't expect anything out of him, but it is hard hearing anything about "Wood" and "injury." The man should be in bubble wrap 24/7.

Bulls: Well, he used to be ...

Scottie Pippen will be at the All-Star game with one thing on his mind ... Call it a comeback, he's been gone for three years ... He used to be rocking his peers and putting suckas in fears.

Pippen, at the age of 41, says he is in great health and wants to be a point forward for some playoff team. I hope he makes a squad. You see, I loved Pippen. Him guarding Magic Johnson for the first Bulls championship, and the year he should have been MVP of the league (Michael Jordan's first retired year) were highlights of NBA watching life. Yes, I know he has had his moments, and is supposed to be the worst tipper in the world, but on the court he was something to marvel at.

NBA: Hardaway, Gay

Tim Hardaway actually said, "I hate gay people."

ESPN has the full story on why this is a story. click here to read

I am always amazed by the stupidity of individuals. Hardaway, on a radio show, didn't think his comments would be a problem.

It is good that this happens, because even though the majority of discussion will be pointless media blather, but there is a chance some quality dialogue will be had because of it. I feel sorry for Hardaway and his ignorance, and every person that had to listen to his comments.

NBA: All-Star: Vegas and VD have never been so close before.

While thousands of ladies go to Las Vegas to find a baby's daddy, the NBA All-Star game will also be happening...

*The Rookie Challenge: Look for the Rookies to upset the Sophomores. And as always, take the over.

*Celebrity Game: Carrot Top is on one of the teams, so this is a no-brainer. Not Carrot Top's team, so I have to go with Jamie Foxx and Jonathan Silverman (the West).

*Dunk Competition: Nate Robinson will win. Tyrus Thomas will have the best single dunk.

*3-Point Shoot-out: Dirk Nowitzki will successfully repeat as the champ. If only Steve Kerr would come out of retirement ... and Craig Hodges.

*Skills Challenge: The only one who thinks he has something to prove is Chris Paul. LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Kobe Bryant will barely show up.

*Shooting Stars: Now that Pippen is looking to unretire, he's going to take this game WAY too seriously. Team Chicago wins.

*All-Star Game: Since the West is clearly better, I will use reverse logic and go with the East.

Stuff

*Rotten Tomatoes has a "Best of All-Time List" -- I have a problem with most of the top ten choices. click here to review

*The Arcade Fire will be joining Rainn Wilson on SNL ... Feb 24. Best SNL ever? Perhaps, but more likely is me actually breaking social plans to sit home and watch it "live" instead of on tivo, and then being insanely disappointed.

*Here's a little kid singing Akon's "Lonely" - It really gets good around the 2:10 mark. click here

*"The Dark Knight" - the sequel to "Batman Begins" is going to be top-notch. Aaron Eckhart is now set to play Two Face. Heath Ledger is already playing The Joker.

*Mr. Belding gets on stage and sings. His beer gut is along for the ride. click here

98th Edition - 2/14/07

2007-02-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

The Weekly Bull: All we need is love (29-24, 5 games behind Detroit)

The Bulls wore their red uniforms as a Valentine's Day tribute. It didn't work ... or maybe it did. They gave the Toronto Raptors a one-point victory last night, 112-111. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 30, but Chris Bosh had 25 points, 14 rebounds and hit two free-throws with two seconds left. The Bulls had gone on a 13-0 run to take the lead 111-110, but perhaps being in the loving spirit decided to hand the game back.

Tyson Chandler is having a better season than Ben Wallace. This is not a sentence I would have believed during the off season.
Chandler: 4.1 offensive rebounds per game, 12.1 total, 8.0 ppg
Wallace: 3.9 offensive, 10.3 total, 6.2 ppg

Cubs: Zambrano loves Zambrano

Carlos Zambrano said Carlos Zambrano wants a new deal. My only problem with this is the use of third person. Zambrano will be a free agent at the end of this year, and he has now said if he doesn't have a new contract before the season starts, he's walking. It's a bluff people. If the Cubs offer more money or more years than any other club at any time before/during/after the season, Zambrano will stay a Cub. Headcases are great. I wish there was someone keeping track of who uses third person, it's always amusing to listen to ... amusing in the kind of way that makes you want to shake the person uncontrollably.

Quick Hits

*Ron Rivera will interview for the San Diego Chargers head coach position. I don't care. As long as the Bears replace him with coordinator that is one of those mean, yelling types, to help offset Lovie Smith.

*My intermural basketball team has now hit two game-winning three-pointers at the buzzer the last two games. The best part? Because of the insane snow storm in Chicago, we played with only 4 people versus a full squad ... and they were the other undefeated team in the league.

*Steve Nash, Yao Ming, Carlos Boozer, Jason Kidd and Allen Iverson are out of the All-star game with injuries. Now the world with finally get to know Mehmet Okur. Ray Allen's also been added ... shouldn't he be embarassed and decline?

*I can't explain it exactly, but I like following Bobby Knight's Texas Tech team. I don't like Knight, but I always seem to root for him to win. Loved them beating #6 Texas A&M at the buzzer last night.

*If you have the time, Gregg Easterbrook is probably the most intelligent football writer out there, here's his latest Tuesday Morning Quarterback column.

Stuff

*Make your own candy Valentine - click here

*J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Alias") might be getting ready to direct the Dark Towers adaptation by Stephen King.

*This weeks' "The Office" is directed by Joss Whedon.

*Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller look to be doing a movie about the grown up Hardy Boys.

*Rainn Wilson (Dwight from "The Office") will host SNL on February 24.

97th Edition - 2/12/07

2007-02-12T06:49:00.000-08:00

Blatant Self-Promotion

They are here ...

Beep's Scorecard Movie Awards (formally known as "The j Awards")

The Pro Bowl

It doesn't matter. Really it doesn't. But I really thought the game was going to be played on Sunday. I would have made my bet Sunday morning while watching "SNL." But no, suddenly I am confronted with an image of Devin Hester returning a kickoff in a hideous uniform. It couldn't be a highlight, it had to be the Pro Bowl. And of course that meant the NFC would cover and the under would hit. I could have retired ... bought a new car ... bought my fiancee that ring ... taken her out to dinner on Valentine's Day ... or maybe I would have just had a little more money to gamble next time. Ah, Gamblor (the God of Gambling) you have bested me again. But luckily, I won't give up.

NBA: I actually watched

Nothing like an NBA tripleheader to make you start realizing the NFL is finally over. Kobe vs. LeBron was good, though King James looks like he is just coasting right now. And the Bulls finished their seven game road trip with a record of 3-4 because they beat the Nashless Suns. One other thing that happens when you watch an NBA tripleheader, you start thinking "It's not about the hat," is one of the funniest lines ever. Thanks, Sir Charles.

Saturday Night Live

Too much music. Forrest Whitaker broke into song about three times too many. There was some potential with the Man vs. Beast, but Whitaker is an awkward man, a great actor, but an awkward man.

For the season: 7-6

Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore
Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven, Forest Whitaker

96th Edition - 2/9/07

2007-02-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

NFL: The weekend

Here comes the weekend, and that can only mean one thing ... FOOTBALL! Oh wait, it's only the Pro Bowl ... that really doesn't count. Hmmm, not much else to talk about, so let's look back on the Super Bowl one last time.

Now we can look back foundly, and not get irate that the Bears blew a chance to beat a Colts team that will probably get better, and an NFC that will probably get better ... dear god this better not have been our one chance ... anywho, my friend Mark went to Miami to attend Super Bowl XLI. Here's an insanely quick sum up from him about the entire experience...

In case you did not know, the Bears did not win the Superbowl last Sunday. I was there, it was painful. But, overall the weekend was fantastic.
If you are an avid NFL fan, I highly recommend going to the Super Bowl city, even if you are not going to the game. South Beach was a huge party, and was dominated by Bears fans as well. The game was disappointing, but it was incredible to watch live.
The stadium was great, the seats were solid and we had a perfect view of the action even though they were in the upper-deck.
It rained, but it was not cold, so it wasn't that bad (other than my camera getting ruined and my phone malfunctioning for about 24 hours). I hope we can make it next year so I can repeat the trip, I hear it does not rain as much in the desert, and they have a retractable roof in Glendale anyway.

But that's not all, he included pictures ...

Mark and his friend A.J. blending in - I'm not a fan of jersey's but how can you go wrong with Fencik and Payton (the answer is you can't).

The view from their seats. I am amazed at how far jumbo-trons have come at stadiums.

Prince was my third favortie part of the game.
1. Devin Hester returning the opening kickoff.
2. Grossman squeezing in a pass to Muhammad to make it 14-6.

Stuff

*Anna Nicole Smith is dead. The 8th grader who remembers her as a Guess Jeans model isn't ready to talk about the loss yet.

*I get to watch "The Office," "Scrubs," and "Grey's Anatomy" tonight and am WAY to excited about it.

*If you are going to bet on the Pro Bowl, take the NFC (+4) and the under (64.5)

*I never game Mike D or Billy Z their proper due for beating me with the NFL and NCAA picks this year. Just saying.

*Peter Krause ("Six Feet Under") has signed on as the lead in ABC's drama pilot "Dirty Sexy Money."

95th Edition - 2/8/07

2007-02-08T06:20:00.000-08:00

The Weekly Bull (28-21)

The Bulls continue their seven-game road trip this week with stops at Sacramento, Golden State and Phoenix. The realistic goal is to finish 4-3 (they are currently 2-2). The Bulls and Cavs are two games behind the Pistons for first place in the Central Division.

More important (it seems) is the recent comment by Bulls rookie forward Tyrus Thomas.

Thomas was quoted as saying he was ''just into the free money'' when questioned about the Feb. 17 contest, which guarantees the four participants a minimum $16,125 and up to $35,000 for the winner.

So, John Paxon (the Bulls) fined him $10,000. Thomas didn't throw a punch, take drugs or say anything to harm any particular group. He admitted that he liked money, and would participate in an activity he somewhat enjoys because it pays. Paxon fined him for liking money. Just like you starve a fat kid for liking Twinkies.

Hopefully, there was a meaningful dialogue that happened along with this. Though, based on his comments to the press after, I doubt it.

"I truly feel honored to be invited to participate in this year's slam dunk contest during next week's NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas," Thomas said. "The opportunity to represent the Bulls and the city of Chicago on a global stage is a privilege that I do not take lightly. I regret the extent to which my comments indicate otherwise."

Wow, I think he borrowed most of that speech from "Bull Durham."

Why can't NBA organizations let rookies make a mistake in the media and then help them try to understand a better way to represent themselves and the league? I do love that a millionaire wants $16,125 and that's his motivation.

For another view, read Sam Smith of the Tribune (much more educated on the NBA than I am)

Some numbers...
Team Leaders
Points - Ben Gordon 21.3
Rebounds - Ben Wallace 10.0
Assists - Kirk Hinrich 6.3
Steals - Ben Wallace 1.5
Blocks - Ben Wallace 2.1

Bears: staying

Ron Rivera might be staying a Chicago Bear after all, Wade Phillips, the defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers will become the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. It's his third head coaching position, so you know he's really good at it.

NBA: sweet sixteen

The Mavs have won 16 games in a row at home. The Celtics have lost 16 in a row, and Bill Simmons (a die-hard Boston fan) thinks it's great (click here to read).

Coming Tomorrow

Pictures and a quick story from my friend Mark and his Super Bowl trip

Stuff

Remember how some guy was supposed to propose to his girlfriend during a live commercial on Super Bowl Sunday? Well, this is what happened. click here

94th Edition - 2/06/07

2007-02-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

Blatant Self-Promotion

The new issue of Chicago Clubline is out and you can read my article right here. It's a wrap-up of the films from 2006, the good, the guilty pleasures and the most disappointing. click to read

Super Bowl: Is there anything else?

USA Today has a Super Bowl Ad meter, and somehow, the ignorant thing decided the Budweiser Crabs was the best commercial. Though I don't agree with that, I do agree with most of the worst rated commercials. Flomax, Godaddy.com, Revlon Colorist and Salesgenie.com were all awful.

I did like the Garmin (GPS navigation) commercial, but it's probably me and 20 comic book nerds that appreciated that one, so it's no woner why grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, aunts and uncles collectively thought, "huh?"

As for the ratings of the game itself, they held steady with a 42 rating and a 63 share, if you don't know what that means by now, you really don't care about TV ratings. Last year, the Steelers vs. Seahawks had a 42.3 rating and 62 share ... But, because there are more TVs in the world, this was the third-most watched show in TV history, behind MASH and the '96 Super Bowl with the Cowboys and Steelers.

And if you have a die-hard Bears fan in your life ... you probably don't want to buy them this ... It's never pretty seeing a grown man or woman cry. click here

NFL: Something else ... almost

Defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, Ron Rivera is set to interview with the Dallas Cowboys for the heading coaching job. The system wouldn't change if Rivera left, Lovie Smith enforcing the Cover 2 system for the Bears.

NBA: Kind of ... but really, it's still about the Super Bowl

Charles Barkley said he won about $700,000 in Las Vegas betting on the Super Bowl and playing blackjack. He's also said that at one time, he lost $2.5 million in a "six-hour period" last year. I am actually getting nauseous.

Stuff

*Andy Dick gets dragged off the set of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show for touching Ivanka Trump too much. click here

*If you are a fan of Nintendo's Wii, you can make Mii's that look just like the characters from "The Office." Don't believe me? This guy already did -- click here

93rd Edition - 2/5/07

2007-02-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

Bears: Da Day After

Colts 29, Bears 17

Two years is a row, the Bears defense has let down the team in the playoffs. But at least this year, Rex Grossman joined them.

What started off a dream (Devin Hester's 92-yard opening kickoff return) became ... one of those dreams from a long night of drinking where you are still at the party, but things are slowly spinning out of control and you are trying to shout but have no voice and things just keep getting worse and worse ... one of those dreams.

The Colts played perfectly in the rain, mixing up short passes and runs resulting in long drives with some points. The Bears barely ever drove with confidence and whenever they got something going, Grossman fell, tripped, tossed an interception, fumbled the snap or threw for five yards instead of the required eight for a first down.

I love the team going into next year. But I don't want Grossman as the quarterback. The thing that kills me about the season is the Bears never found out how Griese could deal with a pressure situation. No matter how Grossman performs during the regular season, I will be nervous for the playoffs next year.

Another thing -- I now hate when "my" team returns an opening kickoffs. The Hawkeyes did that to me in 2003 in the Orange Bowl against USC. The rest of the game was not pretty.

Super Bowl: the other stuff

The commercials ... in one word ... awful. Perhaps my judgement in cloudy since I was in a funk for the whole second half, but almost everything was flat.

Watch them here if you need a refresher - click here

The Good
Bud Light - Wedding
Budweiser - Hitchhiker, Rock/Paper/Scissors, Slap Happy
Sierra Mist - Beard Comb-over
Snickers - Guy Kiss

The Bad
Everything else, though most are disqualified (such as all the Coke ads, because they are old ones). I can't believe an advertiser is going to pay top dollar and then show us a refund. If I had control over my love for Diet Coke, I would choose not to drink it for a while.

The Best
Doritos, Strong and Smooth

And a special shout out to the fiancee for watching the game with me. She has now seen two Bears games (her first being the Bears/Saints). She has decided she liked watching that one more.

Prince was fantastic, best of my life, though the choice of covers was a little odd, I liked that he played them. Great visuals with the marching band. And Prince didn't lip-sync, which is reason no. 142 on why he is Prince.

I did, in fact, break even with my bets. The big one I missed was a small bet on the Bears losing the first half, winning the second (paying 12-1).

I found myself wishing "Criminal Minds" would be cancelled within the week. Why on Earth would you show a downer like that after I watched my Bears get beat? Even if you are a Colts fan, why would you want to see that? Just a terrible decision, plus, from what I understand, I think you might have a sit-com starring David Spade starting soon ... if the 35 promos where telling the truth.

WSOPC

Not good. We didn't qualify for an interview or the mock-game show. We don't know what the passing level is on the test or exactly how we did, and aren't allowed to talk about anything test related. The test was 15 minutes. Our total time spent attempting to be on the game show - 43 minutes.

Happy Fun Ball is dead.

Special thanks to John for making the flight from Atlanta, in hindsight just a ridiculous thing to do. And to Kenzie for some good-looking shirts.

Stuff

Funny. I didn't feel like writing today. Oh well.

*Drew Barrymore on SNL ... good. The second half of the show was surprisingly strong. I'm giving this one a thumbs up, especially considering I was having trouble with my TV and had to watch in really bad reception. The good ones: The Dakota Show, Jo-Jo, Body Fusion, Wknd Update and Firestarter Smoked Sausages.

Here's the season to date: 7-5

Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven

*Oldie but goodie: Here's a spoof on Alias Season One - click here

*Daivd Lee Roth is back with Van Halen this summer on tour.

*Camera Obscrua was not good on Saturday night. WAY too many slow songs played in a row.

92nd Edition - 2/1/07

2007-02-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

The Pre-Post: Super Bowl

Perhaps I will find a moment tomorrow, but otherwise this could be my last post before the Bears win the Super Bowl (I'm not positive that they will win, nor is any other human being, I just really hope they do).

I believe the final score will be ...
Bears 31, Colts 21
- Manning makes the Manning face.
- The Bears are actually down early in the game.
- Grossman doesn't suck.
- Phil Simms will talk WAY too much about Peyton Manning, brother Eli and dad Archie.
- Jim Nantz will say, "The Super Bowl, an experience like no other," twenty times, forgetting he is not covering the Master's ... on CBS.
- Prince will not lip-sync his halftime show (more of a hope than belief)
- Billy Joel will not be a fan of high-definition TV, having more women exclaim, "I can't believe how old he looks."
- Brian Urlacher is the MVP.
- Dallas Clark and Bob Sanders (Iowa alums) both have big games -- just not big enough.
- I will make many, many, many Super Bowl bets ... and break even.

WSOPC

Tomorrow is my own personal run at the play-offs.

Chicago's audition for the World Series of Pop Culture. The WSOPC is game show on VH-1, which tests you and your two teammates' knowledge of movies, music and TV.

My teammate John (flying in from Atlanta) assumes we will be done at about 10:15 a.m. and can enjoy the rest of the weekend. I still have hope.

I won't be able to talk about details of the audition for a while, but I plan on doing a story for it for Beep.

Golf: Tiger the safety

Tiger could clearly do any sport if he wanted to ... including the sport of tackling caddies.
click here to watch
Can you imagine if he would have got injured filming this? From what I hear, the caddy had many stitches in the chin.

Stuff

*Camera Obscura - Saturday night - Logan Square Auditorium - $15

*Final Harry Potter book is out July 21.

*Ed Helms is now a series regular on "The Office" - hopefully he won't always be as annoying as last episode.

*iConcertCal is brilliant (if you like your iTunes and concerts). And it's free.

91th Edition - 1/31/07

2007-01-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl: No where

At this stage, I do not know where I am watching the Super Bowl. Perhaps the biggest game for me since Game 7 of the Cubs/Marlins debacle and I am without a destination at this stage. I guess that is what Vegas does to a man, blurs the big picture.
I have few requirements ...
*No bar. I need volume control and Chicago still allows smoking.
*Questionable food choices.
*Friends.

A.M. Jump has a quick list of memorable half-time shows. click here

I was going to look for funny questions that were said from Media Day yesterday. Such as gems, like the moron who ask a Colts' player how it felt to lose one of their own (Barbaro). But, then I figured I'd just let Bill Simmon's chorincle it for us.
Welcome to media day
By Bill Simmons

And also, what Super Bowl countdown would be complete without commercials. MSNBC does a ten best. click here

Stuff

*I got this link from casual ultimate. It's good for a laugh, plus very educational. I have no idea about Kitten Huffing until yesterday. click here

*The Police are back together for the Grammy's on February 11.

*So far, pretty happy Jerry Seinfeld's gum isn't getting much love on ebay. click here

90th Edition - 1/30/07

2007-01-30T06:27:00.000-08:00

Forecast: Hazy

I'm not talking about the weather. It's my brain. After about 112 hours in Las Vegas and 16 hours of sleep, I'm back. My pocket is lighter but only because of expenses, I broke even in the gambling department. And the way I broke even? Making a two-game parlay on the only available NBA and college basketball games late Sunday night. Didn't even know I won until the next morning.

Craps and poker are now going to be my Vegas games 80 percent of the time, with black jack making up the remainder. For those that know craps (it was my first time), I rolled at a table for 30 minutes straight. People were happy. I was happy. Las Vegas is a great place (this time).

And our ultimate frisbee team (ihurt - Iowa Hawkeye Ultimate Reunion Team) finished 8th out of 20, going 3-2 and being content with how we played.

Amazing: Sports

*Roger Federer is the Tiger Woods of tennis. Because of my friend John, a die-hard Federer fan, we watched the final match at a ... gentleman's establishment. Federer is just too good. He dropped something like four points in the final two sets on his serve ... I still want them to go back to wooden rackets.

*Tiger Woods is the Roger Federer of golf. He won the Buick again and also recorded his 7th straight win on the PGA tour. Second best streak of all-time.

*The Suns finally stopped winning every single game. The Timberwolves beat them last night to stop the 17-game win streak. They are 33-2 in their last 34 games.

WSOPC: Friday

Happy Fun Ball (John, Kenzie and me) will be auditioning for the World Series of Pop Culture on Friday morning. If it was today, I would be saying, "It's on the tip on my tongue," every single question. Now, I'll probably just say it every third time.

Stuff

*I get home at 11 p.m. last night, and decide to watch the SAG awards from my Tivo. "Little Miss Sunshine" won for best overall cast. It might be gaining speed for an Oscar run. I still can't believe "The Departed" isn't winning everything.

*Want to buy a t-shirt for charity designed by Rilo Kiley, Stars, or others? click here

*Indiana Jones starts production in June.

89th Edition - 1/25/07

2007-01-25T06:26:00.000-08:00

Vegas

I don't need another vacation, but one is being thrust upon me. Tonight, I leave for Las Vegas. There will be seven of us, growing to 12 for the weekend. I will come back with stories, hopefully I'll be able to share some with you. Those involving my friend Mark, probably won't be appropriate. I'll be open about my gambling (unless I lose), and of course the ultimate frisbee tournament (our reason for going). So far, I have gone through a half box of kleenex (I have a cold), my right knee throbs when I run, I haven't played in a tournament since last year, and I am trying to win enough money to pay for my fiancee's ring. It has the makings of a fantastic weekend.

I'll be back on Tuesday.

The Weekly Bull (24-19)

There is a lot of talk about Paul Gasol, the 7 foot Spaniard who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. The trade would definitely include P.J. Brown and would either be with Ben Gordon or Luol Deng. Deng makes sense because of the depth the Bulls have at small forward, Gordon does not. Gasol is good for about 18 points and 8 rebounds. Most importantly, it would give the Bulls a low-post scoring threat, which is something the Bulls don't have at all ... yes, Ben Wallace, I'm looking at you.

Tonight the Bulls play the Mavs in a chance to see how close they are to the top, and then they have the Heat at home on Saturday night. Both are at home where the Bulls are 18-6.

Tennis anyone? Not so fast Roddick

It took less than 90 minutes for Roger Federer to be done with Andy Roddick, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2, though there are reports that a sweat was broken by both men. This took place in the early a.m. so I am assuming no one saw it.

Cubs, meet Floyd

Cliff Floyd is a Cub. Chicago picked up his contract which can be worth $3 million for one year or as much as $17.5 million for two. With that kind of money on the line, it would appear Floyd will be the Cubs left fielder, moving Matt Murton to the bench. Murton had the highest batting average on the Cubs last year. Logic would dictate this young player would get better. Sitting on the bench, it's going to be tough to improve. Murton didn't hit many home runs, and that must be what will cost him his starting job. If Floyd is healthy (pesky bone spur that he had surgery on) he'll probably bat fifth or sixth in the line-up. I don't like the move. Unless of course he returns to his 2005 form where he hit .273 with 34 home runs.

Stuff

Optimus Prime (from the movie coming this summer)

The Decemberists go on tour in March, there will be a two-night stay in Chicago.

New Music -- Bo Pepper -- http://myspace.com/bopepper (I recommend Buses). This girl doesn't have a record deal yet, so you are getting her REALLY early.

88th Edition - 1/24/07

2007-01-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

Tennis anyone?

The Australian Open is going on, and I find myself paying attention because Andy Roddick is still alive. I don't know why my interest drifts toward American tennis players. After all, Roger Federer is considered the greatest tennis player of all time, yet I barely pay attention. Maybe it is because I grew up with Andre Agassi, Michael Change, Jim Courier and Pete Sampras. I even remember Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe making runs late in there career. Maybe I just read what was reported when I was little, but now I find myself not paying attention to tennis unless an American (right now, Roddick or Andy Blake) makes a run.

Long story short, I finally get mildly excited about the Australian Open and now Roddick has to face Federer, which no one expects to happen. Oh well. My friend John on the other hand loves when one individual destroys all the others, he must have been a big fan of Stalin as well.

Vegas is coming

What started out as an enjoyable vacation, has turned into pain. I am leaving for Las Vegas on Thursday night, returning Monday afternoon. The main reason is for an ultimate frisbee tournament. Once a year, Iowa Hawkeye Alumni get together to play one tournament together. We've been to Kansas City, Washington D.C., Atlanta and now we are adding Vegas to the list. Normally we have 18 guys. For some awful reason, we only have 11 this year. Plus, most of us haven't been keeping up in the "active" department. And I just got a bad cold (as opposed to a good one), which means I would like to be left alone and have nine hours of sleep a night. Not happening. Clearly, the only good that can come of this trip is winning. And no, I'm not talking about the frisbee. I plan on sitting down to my first poker table in Vegas. I'd have to be an idiot to assume the money wouldn't be following shortly after that.

Tank (not a reference to the James Garner movie from the 80s)

Tank Johnson is allowed to go to the Super Bowl. He's currently on house arrest, awaiting trial for gun charges. It's his third arrest in 18 months. Johnson has been allowed to go to work (practice and games), but only in Illinois. This helps the Bears, and it helps the Judge's chances of securing season tickets for next season. If Johnson thinks about it, he's been more "disrespected" than anyone else at the Super Bowl. Neighbors, cops, judges, lawyers and coaches have all "disrespected" Tank. Hopefully that will continue and he will channel this disrespect into an MVP performance in Miami ... unless alcohol and guns get to him first.

Stuff

*I'm not looking forward to the movie, but "Ghost Rider" has set up a Web site, where you can have your head burn just like in the movie. You have to have a web cam. And please, don't try this without the special effects. Click here

*The band James is getting back together. Unfortunately, you probably only know them as they guys that did "Laid," but trust me, they are amazing. What's not amazing is, at this point, no U.S. dates. Click here

*Want to see Estelle Getty ("Golden Girls") working out? The correct answer is yes. Click here

*Ewan McGregor will be playing Kurt Cobain in a bio-pic.

*Here's a list of the top ten most annoying kid performances by Cracked. Click here

87th Edition - 1/23/07

2007-01-23T06:21:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl Hype: Two Coaches

Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy have become the first story that we are going to hear a lot about for the next two weeks. They are good friends (Monday morning phone calls every week) and the first black head coaches to make it to the Super Bowl. It's a great story and one day, probably years from now, it will be a non-story.

Here's the interesting thing, they REALLY like each other. It seems the other will be almost content when one of them wins the Super Bowl. In an atmosphere of killer instinct, locker room quotes, and constantly feeling you are being disrespected by someone, Smith and Dungy have nothing but respect for the other, and you know what? It won't hurt the game, the players won't try less, and after the game, women everything will think it's so nice that one coach is happy for the other.

Another coach: He Gone

Bill Parcells is gone. Everyone will talk about how Terrell Owens was the downfall of a legend, but really I never liked the man. Parcells helped crush the would be Bears dynasty in the late 80s. The more important question for me is, does he get to choose his wardrobe when he is in one of the studios? I hope I get to see shorts that come up to his boobs for a long, long time.

NBA: Slow down

After one game, yes only ONE GAME, ESPN has four stories on the Denver Nuggets new marriage of Carmelo Anthony (back from fighting) and his new teammate Allen Iverson. They beat the Vancover Grizzles. That is all they have done as teammates. Don't we have a Super Bowl that needs more coverage?

Stuff

OK, I tried to talk about sports as long as I could, but really, all I care about this morning is the Academy Award nominations. Well, let's take a look and seee what they got wrong ...

Best Picture
Babel
Little Miss Sunshine
The Departed - I am clearly pulling for this movie to win
Letter from Iwo Jima - most thought it would be a foreign film nominee
The Queen

Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond" - wrong choice, he was better in "The Departed"
Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"
Peter O'Toole, "Venus" - after seeing him on Letterman, I want him to win for the speech
Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness" - wow, suddenly I want Will Smith to win
Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland" - he'll win

Actress:
Penelope Cruz, "Volver"
Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal" - For me, it's either Cruz or Dench
Helen Mirren, "The Queen" - she'll win
Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"
Kate Winslet, "Little Children" - didn't see it yet

Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children"
Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond"
Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls" - Now it's a no-brainer.
Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed" - No Jack Nicholson? Starting to get upset!

Supporting Actress:
Adriana Barraza, "Babel"
Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"
Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine" - glad she finally got noticed
Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls" - winner
Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"

Directing:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"
Martin Scorsese, "The Departed" - it's the only award I care about now
Clint Eastwood, "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Stephen Frears, "The Queen"
Paul Greengrass, "United 93"

Foreign Language Film:
"After the Wedding," Denmark
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)," Algeria
"The Lives of Others," Germany
"Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico - I am starting to like this film more and more
"Water," Canada

Adapted Screenplay:
Sacha Baron Cohen and Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, "Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" -- Adapted because it is based on a TV show? Seemed original to me.
Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, "Children of Men" - I hate that I want Borat to beat this film just because of the potential speech.
William Monahan, "The Departed"
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"
Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"

Original Screenplay:
Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"
Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Peter Morgan, "The Queen"

Animated Feature Film:
Couldn't they nominate "A Scanner Darkly" just for something different?
"Cars"
"Happy Feet"
"Monster House"

If you want to see the rest of the list - Click here

At some point, I will create my own list of nominations just to put my mind at ease.

86th Edition - 1/22/06

2007-01-22T06:52:00.000-08:00

Bears: Fate? Probably not.

Today is my 86th post on The Daily Score. And in 1986 the Bears won Super XX. Fate? Probably not, but I really don't care today. I get to watch the Bears in the Super Bowl, that is all that matters.

The Chicago Bears beat the America Saints 39 - 14. The defense showed up, allowing the Saints to score a long drive before the first half came to a close, and in the second half giving up a long pass to Reggie Bush. Otherwise, the high-powered Saints offense did nothing. And the Bears offense? No turnovers. That is really all that matters, but on top of that Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson combined for 196 rushing yards as well.

It was 16-14 when the Bears forced Drew Brees into a safety to make it 18 - 14. Most people say when the Bears went up 16 - 0, they "knew" the Bears would win. I didn't feel comfortable until the Bears made it 25 -14.

Now we can have two weeks of listening to "Miami" by Will Smith!.. I guess I shouldn't complain about two weeks of over-hype, after all only two teams are "lucky" enough for that.

The Other Game: (The much more exciting one)

On Saturday, talking with my fiancee, I asked her who else was playing on Sunday.
She said, "The Colts and the Patriots."
I said, "Who is the quarterback for the Colts?"
"Not Brady?" she said.
"And who's the quarterback for the Patriots?"
"Brady," she said.

I went on a four- to five-minute explanation of how for a sports fan, that was very deep. After all, Manning is the anti-Brady as far as playoffs were concerned ... That was of course, until the Colts beat the Patriots 38-34. This game was incredibly fun to watch. Back and forth the entire second half (which is why I don't consider it the greatest comeback for a championship game, anybody watching didn't feel like the Colts "came back" in the forth quarter from a major deficit). I found myself wishing the Colts would win, because it would be a more exciting match up for the Bears, but wanting the Patriots to win the game.

After the game was over, my fiancee said, "Oh wait, Manning's the one we saw home videos of playing football when he was a kid ... I like him, I'm glad he won."

The Picks (revisited)

NFL Season Standingsj : 26-25-4
Mike D: 28-25-2

NFL Playoffs
j: (1-1) 4-6 -- but I also took the over in both games, and the Bears winning the first quarter.
Mike D: (1-1) 6-4

NFL Overall
j: 29-30-4
Mike D: 33-28-2

So it all comes down to who win the Super Bowl. I say this because everyone knows the Super Bowl is worth five picks, which is funny because that's EXACTLY how many I need to win the Overall record. That is fate.

Stuff

*I've watched 2/3rds of SNL and can't officially decide if it's a funny one or not. Stay tuned.

*Quick Movie Reviews:
"The Last King of Scotland" - a great film. And an amazing job by SUPPORTING ACTOR Forrest Whitaker. I have no clue why he is considered the lead. He's in a third of the film. Whereas the LEAD ACTOR James McAvoy is in every single scene, and he does a great job. I hate the business of the awards. Bigger name does not mean lead actor.

"The Painted Veil" - a great film. Reminded me a little of "The English Patient," but more importantly it had an amazing score, Ed Norton and Naomi Watts are top notch, and the love story/tension felt real.

Here is a competition to decide the 40 Greatest Internet Superstars. Clips included. Click here

85th Edition - 1/19/07

2007-01-19T06:16:00.000-08:00

NFL: The Final Four

Colts vs. Patriots

Indianapolis Colts - Everyone forgets that this team won 13 regular season games in a row last year, and started the season 9-0 this year. That's a pretty good run. Keep in mind, they were 9-0 inspite of their defense. Now, the defense has performed well two weeks in a row and no one is truly believing in this team. Plus, EVERYONE on the Colts thinks the only reason the defense was bad was because Bob Sanders was out. So why don't I feel good about the Colts? because they are playing the ...

New England Patriots - Tom Brady had an awful overall game last week against the Chargers, and he won. It's the first time he's had a bad playoff game. Odds are, he won't have another. Plus, the Patriots have a better road record this year (7-1), than home (5-3), so playing at Indy shouldn't be a big problem. I think the game will be close because neither team is amazing, they both have flaws, especially on defense. In all likelihood it will come down to a late 4th quarter FG ... Imagine the scenario ...

Adam Vinateri lines up for a 47- yard FG, enough to make any team nervous, but then again it's Vinateri, and he hasn't missed at home all season. The snap ... what's this!?! He's walking away from the hold?! The Patriots gang tackle the holder. Game over, Patriots win 21-20 ... And now Vinateri is ripping off his jersey! Dear god it's a Patriots shirt underneath! This must have been Belichek's plan all along. Brilliant.

Bears vs. Saints

New Orleans Saints - Only four teams have a city name and team name that ends in a "s" (can you name the other three?) and I don't like any of them to win this weekend. Drew Brees is due to throw an interception. Deuce McAllister doesn't have back-to-back monster games any more. Reggie Bush can count the number of games he has played in really cold weather just using his thumbs. "America's Team" will perform just like America, overconfident and when things don't work they will just do it more.

Chicago Bears - The early forecast of below 30 degrees and snow has to point against the domed team. It just has to. I know the Bears don't practice outside in the cold, but sports is a head game. And cold weather teams are convinced they play better when a domed team comes to town. Rex Grossman threw a perfect pass to Bernard Berrian last week. He can muster up one of those again. Turnovers will be key, and the Bears already did that last week against the Seahawks, it's out of their system. Cedric Benson will run like Brittney Spears to a camera (fast, hard, and with little regard to the people around).

The end of the game will come down to a nail-biting drive by the Saints, who are down 17-20. Everything looks good for them. Each 7-yard gain, kills me a little bit more each time. Then, Peanut Tillman -- a man that makes me WAY too nervous -- will intercept the ball and run it back for the back-breaking touchdown. 28-17, Bears.

This, of course, will set up the rematch everyone is dying to see -- Bears vs. Patriots. It's Super Bowl XX all over again.

The Picks

If it wasn't obvious by my comments above ...
Patriots +3 over the Colts
Bears -3 over the Saints

NFL Season Standings
j : 25-24-4
Mike D: 27-24-2

NFL Playoffs
j: 3-5
Mike D: 5-3

NFL Overall
j: 28-29-4
Mike D: 32-27-2

Look for Mike D's comments later in the day.

Michael Vick is probably stupid

I will not officially go on record as saying Michael Vick is stupid for bringing a water bottle that is probably used for smoking up with him on his Air Tran flight. And I won't talk about what a moron he is for NOT wanting to throw it out and that making airline security suspicious. I do like that a man worth more than $100 million is flying Air Tran. That's good stuff.

More NFL

Three good artclies today:
Jason Whitlock - NFL Real Talk
David Fleming - 30-second column
and look for Bill Simmons later today - The Sports Guy

Stuff

*"The Office" was amazing last night, and the "Scrubs" musical was pretty good. The theme for both seemed to be "guy love." Whether is was J.D. and Turk or Dwight and Michael, men loving men, in a hetrosexual way, was the message. A hunch on "The Office" -- both new people, Andy and Karen, will be gone shortly.

*Since there is nothing new worth seeing in the theater, I will be catching my final two important movies of 2006. "The Last King of Scotland" and "The Painted Veil." I've decided "The Good German" isn't necessary to see. After this I will be able to create my top ten of 2006. Did you just get goosebumps?

*News on Fountains of Wayne's new album - click here

*Age-O-Matic. Now you can see what you will look like 50 years from now. If you do this, I hope you will send the link our direction. click here

84th Edition - 1/18/07

2007-01-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

Special Guest: Casual Ultimate

Casual Ultimate is two ladies known as Miss Casual and Ms. Ultimate. They are casual about ultimate frisbee. If you are thinking ultimate frisbee is the sport that uses frisbees to golf with ... I hate you. I truly do. I know the ladies through friends of the sport. I am semi-retired ... but will be coming out of retirement once again to play with other Iowa Hawkeye alum's in a tournament in Las Vegas at the end of the month, but enough about me ... Ladies, the space is yours.

Sports by the letters CU

We at casual ultimate are not sports experts. We do enjoy cycling and ultimate. Miss Casual even watches a bit of basketball but we can’t claim to be up on the current happenings in ball golf (as our disc-golfing friends call it) or pointy soccer (as Ms. Ultimate refers to football) or even regular soccer or baseball.

What we do know, however, is the sport of post Christmas shopping. The sales of the year occur during the weeks following the winter solstice and we make those sales our bitch.

Merino wool v-necks in three colors? Done.
Patterned tights? Of course.
New years dresses and big earrings? Come on now… look who you’re asking.

This time of year is not for the weak-willed however and there are a few moves you’re gonna need to navigate the carnival of spending and saving that is post holiday shopping. Luckily we are here to help you.

Ms. Ultimate always gets a triple double. That is, the triple play of talking on the phone, drinking coffee (which you need to keep your momentum up), and making a purchase, while getting a double digit discount.

Last Saturday, Miss Casual was almost the victim of a hat trick. Yours truly was being coerced into purchasing an absurdly pricey piece of headwear by Flattery from the hat’s ACTUAL designer who was in from New York. Who can resist such temptation? Eugenia Kim in person telling you the hat looks smashing? Thankfully we’re no amateurs so we made it out of there minus the hat in question.

The coup de gras, however, is the flagrant foul of throwing an elbow while securing the last cashmere sweater in teal in your size. This move is difficult to execute properly but upon mastery of a move like this, you move into the big leagues. Here’s Miss Casual getting owned by Tye.

Even with all of these MVP moves you’re gonna need constant hydration (coffee followed by lots of water), parallel parking skills, and loads of stamina to be able to make a lap through all the stores that intrigue you before you settle on your purchases. One can’t be too hasty. Patience is the key to assuring that you have better stuff than the other people you know. Remember that one cardinal rule and you can’t go wrong.

It takes skill, determination, and triumph of will to bring your A-game to these shopping days but we are available for further coaching at very reasonable rates. With that I’ll leave you to your strategizing. GO TEAM!

83rd Edition - 1/17/07

2007-01-17T06:31:00.000-08:00

The Weekly Bull (22-17)

With Chris Duhon suspended one game for oversleeping, and Ben Wallace out for the second straight game due to his back, the Bulls still managed to beat the Spurs 99 - 87 on Monday. This was a win they needed, now winners of two straight after losing five of their last six.

The Bulls are two games behind Cleveland for the Central Division (1.5 behind Detroit). They are destroying their division right now, sitting at 6-1, Indiana is second best at 5-3.

This week: Wed @ Bucks, Sat vs. Jazz, Mon @ Pacers, Tues vs Hawks.

Some team numbers:
+5.4 = point differential (5th best is league)
43.97 = opponents FG percentage (3rd best in the league)
37 = percentage made for 3-pointers (tied for 4th in league)
22.6 = assists per game (7th in league)
5.3 = blocks per game (9th in league)

Cubs: Zambrano ... the beginning

Carlos Zambrano will want to get paid. After all, you give Ted Lilly $10 million a year, you have to give Zambrano about twice as much ... but luckily he won't be a free agent until next year. This year the Cubs have to deal with arbitration. Zambrano got paid $6 million last year. He is asking for $15 million this year. The Cubs are offering $11 million. The arbitrator will take care of it. Mark Prior is asking for $3.8 million, the Cubs are offering $3.4 million.

In former Cub news, Sammy Sosa is close to a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers. I don't know how this is going to play out. By the end of his run with the Orioles, he didn't have any bat-speed. How does a year off help that?

Stuff

*Will Ferrell and Josh Hederer in "Blades of Glory"

*There are rumors that Tom Brady and Gisle Bundchen are in a relationship.

*Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has their new album available for streaming on their myspace page. http://myspace.com/clapyourhandssayyeah

*Gwyneth Paltrow is joining the cast of "Iron Man."

82nd Edition - 1/16/07

2007-01-16T06:50:00.000-08:00

Bears: Sigh of relief

Bears 27, Seahawks 24
The Bears decided to win on Sunday, mainly because the Seahawks didn't want to. The Seahawks had many opportunities to get into FG range late in the 4th quarter and in OT as well, but they could never get the job done. So finally, Rex Grossman hit Rashied Davis for a big gain and then it was up to Robbie Gould's foot. He connected on his record-tying 49-yard FG.

I was thinking the Seahawks would win when the Bears were sitting on a 4-point lead for most of the 2nd half. Perhaps that is because I am a Bears/Cubs fan and I expect the worst. Or maybe it has more to do with me, but it just didn't look like the Bears would win. It was their defense that was letting them down for most of the day, but luckily it came up big when it needed to.

Grossman had his amazing moments (both good and bad) all in the same game, which is rare to see.

I'm excited that the Bears are one game away. Even if they have to beat "America's Team."

NFL: The rest of them

The Saints beat the Eagles 27-24 in the only game I didn't watch this weekend. I had a friend in town and didn't call my fiancee to attempt to set up the tivo to record the game. Turns out, I missed a great game. Looks like the Bears will have their hands full. I have no idea how they stop the Saints offense.

As for this "America's Team" label they have been given ... how? How was this determined? I never remember a poll being taken about which team you like now compared to who you cheered for last year. I under New Orleans has been through a lot, but does that mean football fans have given up on their team to root for New Orleans? I doubt it. I think it's "nice" that the Saints are winning, and I always like it when a team turns around losing ways, but "America's Team" has been given that label by the media because it makes for a good story. We have no idea if America truly loves the Saints, or has just been told that they do.

The Colts beat the Ravens 15-6. Peyton Manning has been awful in the playoffs. It doesn't seem to matter.

The Patriots beat the Chargers 24-21. Tom Brady had an awful game, except when it counted. The end of the first half, and second half he played perfectly. That gave the Patriots all the points they needed to beat LDT and then dance like Shawne Merriman after the game, which unfortunately became more of a story than the game.

The Picks (revisited)

NFL Season Standings
j : 25-24-4
Mike D: 27-24-2

NFL Playoffs
j: 3-5
Mike D: 5-3

NFL Overall
j: 28-29-4
Mike D: 32-27-2

So at this point, I can't win the overall standing. But then again, I can't remember any NFL team bragging about winning the regular season and losing the playoffs. And there is still a slight chance that I could win the playoffs. So, I'm clinging to that for now.

NBA: annoyed

I hate that the NBA player contracts are guaranteed. It just doesn't make sense, because they Chris Webber can make an insane amount of money, not be good, and then quit trying until his team gets sick of him, get bought out of his contract, and then join the Pistons for a feel-good reunion (he played his college ball in Michigan).

Stuff

**Jake Gyllenhaal worked his ass off on Saturday Night Live. Plus they brought back laser cats. So it was a win, win. With Gyllenhaal doing the best opening monologue since Steve Martin tried to kill Alec Baldwin.

Here's the season to date: 6-4
Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening

**Golden Globes
Yawn. That is how I would describe the show. It was great seeing Sacha Baron Cohen give a speech as himself (winning for "Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical" for "Borat"), but overall the speeches weren't that good. And the presenters had to deal with a crowd that was never sitting down. Every time they came back from commercial, people were moving around and talking ... and wouldn't that have been more enjoyable to watch?

Good Speeches:
Alec Baldin
Hugh Laurie
Sacha Baron Cohen
Meryl Streep
Jennifer Hudson

"The Departed" didn't win enough.

There were plenty of awkward moments though ...
Warren Beatty not practicing his speech enough.
America Ferrera of ABC's "Ugly Betty" waiting to be interviewed by the sideline reporter.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's cruches.
Helen Miren's speeches.
Eddie Murphy barely being excited, suddenly I realized I need to stop feeling sorry for Eddie Murphy and his string of sell-outs.

81st Edition - 1/12/07

2007-01-12T07:09:00.000-08:00

Blatant Self-Promotion

I interviewed Golden Globe-nominated Jennifer Hudson from "Dreamgirls" and the hometown of Chicago.
click here to read

Bears!

Finally, all the Rex Grossman talk will stop ... for a couple hours on Sunday when the Bears are actually on Soldier Field versus the Seattle Seahawks. Then, no matter what the result of the game, the Grossman talk will pick right back up again. And who am I kidding, the Grossman talk will be in full swing during the game as well.

Whether he has a good, horrible, amazing, awful, OK game -- it will be talked about to death.

It's the Bears defense that needs to show up and play. That's all that needs to happen. I believe Lovie Smith wants to win a Super Bowl. I believe he will do whatever he has to in order for Rex Grossman not to lose the game this Sunday. Run every single play, pull Grossman after the second pick, only play special teams and defense ... it doesn't matter, just win.

Perhaps the nation doesn't realize that the Bears haven't won a playoff game or HOME playoff game in a long time. That is the only thing that needs to be accomplished on Sunday no matter what Rex Grossman's ego needs.

Last playoff game the Bears won:
Jan. 1, 1995 - Wild Card Round - Chicago 35, Minnesota 18
(Thanks, Mark)

NFL playoffs AND PICKS: One week makes all the difference

Last week, some of the games were close, but mainly from below-average play. There wasn't any great story lines, all that changes this week...

Also, last week I was 1-3. Which meant Mike D was 3-1 because he used the logic of George Costanza (he did the opposite of me). I didn't complain, though he wouldn't have made though picks without seeing mine, so he did cheat. Just wanted to be clear on that.

NFL Season Standings:
j : (25-24-4)
Mike D: (27-24-2)

NFL Playoffs:
j: 1-3
Mike D: 3-1

NFL Overall:
j: 26-27-4
Mike D: 30-25-2

Saturday - 3:30
Colts at Ravens
Peyton Manning has a chance to prove he can out think the best defense in the league. I don't think he can (because of the rest of his team).
j's pick: Ravens -3.5

Saturday - 7:00
Eagles at Saints
I just want lots of scoring ... and the Saints to win. But the Eagles are giving Philadelphia sports fans hope, and that always amuses me.
j's pick: Eagles +5

Sunday - 12:00
Seahawks at Bears
The Bears are going to win, the Bears are going to win, the Bears are going to win.
j's pick: Bears -8.5

Sunday - 3:30
Patriots at Chargers
Coach vs coach and QB vs QB -- You have to take the Patriots.
j's pick: Patriots +5

As always, look for Mike D's picks in the comments section.

Beckham: Am I supposed to care?

An aging soccer star, David Beckham, is coming to Los Angeles. He isn't good enough to play on the elite European teams. There will be talk about how soccer is once again invading the United States, but really my only thought through this whole thing is this ... How is the world does the Galaxy have $250 million to pay him? There is no way the franchise is worth that much, so where is the money coming from? It does not make any sense.

Stuff

*Quick movie review:
"Letters of Iwo Jima"
Clint Eastwood improves on every aspect of "Flags of our Fathers" when he made this version, focusing on the Japanese perspective of the battle of Iwo Jima. But that doesn't make it an instant classic. It's good, not great. There was an odd feeling that Eastwood was just playing to the crowd, attempting to show only Japanese soldiers who didn't want to fight or loved the United States. But the acting was fantastic and the story was interesting.
Grade: B

*Cracked did an article of the five biggest mismatches in movie fight history. Funny stuff. Click here to read

*Steve Martin is going to write a memoir, titled Born Standing Up

*Rotten Tomatoes has released their Golden Tomatoes Awards: The two best -- Casino Royale and The Queen. click here to read

80th Edition - 1/11/07

2007-01-11T08:00:00.000-08:00

Special Guest: Mike Triplett

Mike Triplett is the lead writer of the New Orleans Saints for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. But that's not all, he was a frequent guest on my couch when I lived in Los Angeles, a die-hard Cubs fan, a Hawkeye alum, and the only man to beat me head-to-head in the dvd board game "Scene It."

Confidence, Schmanfidence

Before I start talking NFL playoffs, can someone let me know if the college football season is over. I’d just like to make sure. I had completely forgotten that there was another game left on Monday night until I started flipping channels after How I Met Your Mother.

Maybe I’m just all out of whack because I spent the last week covering the New Orleans Saints during a first-round bye. It’s the first time that’s happened in 40 years, so everyone down here is a little discombobulated right now.

But that’s the new NFL, love it or hate it. Anyone can randomly spring up and have a great season. Just for fun, try to name the last 10 Super Bowl winners and losers, then come back to read the rest of this after you give up and google it. We are seriously about five or six years away from the year when all 32 teams finish 8-8.

That’s great if you’re a fan of, say, the Bears or the Saints, and you like to go into every year thinking anything can happen. It’s not so great, though, for predicting what will happen this week. The problem with trying to pick a Super Bowl winner is that every team is flawed. Everyone is beatable.

Here’s another fun test. Think of a game that you’re absolutely confident about this weekend. … Now I’ll bet you that you feel that way because you’re certain that the losing team will lose. My dad was convinced the Bears were in big trouble because of their own problems until he watched the NFC games over the weekend. Now he’s considerably more confident.

How can I possibly pick a Super Bowl favorite out of this bunch? Is it really Baltimore or San Diego, the Bears, Saints or Eagles? … These teams might be a lot more convincing if they didn’t have a combined playoff record of 0-1 last year.

So do I like a more pedigreed team like New England, Indy or Seattle? Not really.

I can’t wait to watch these games, though. I won’t be surprised by any result in any game from here on out.

I do know a lot more about the Saints than most teams, though. And I do kinda sorta like their chances against Philly, since the Saints’ biggest weakness this year has been giving up the deep ball, something the Eagles don’t really have in their arsenal right now.

But all I can say with absolute confidence is that the Saints have a 33 percent chance of reaching the Super Bowl, a 33 percent chance of losing in the NFC championship and a 33 percent chance of losing Saturday night.

Hopefully the daily score’s next guest blogger will be some sort of an expert who can shed some light on all of this.

79th Edition - 1/10/07

2007-01-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

The Weekly Bull (20-15)

They beat the Pistons last week. That's all that really matters. I'll just keep telling myself that as they went 1-3 in their last four games.

Ben Gordon has been hot, Kirk Hinrich is has not.

Ben Gordon: 20.8 ppg
Kirk Hinrich: 13.8 ppg (3-22 from the floor in the last two games)

The Big Ten: Worth Talking About

Wisconsin beat Ohio State in Madison last night 72-69. These two teams are the best chances for the NCAA title. Wisconsin has three senior starters and Ohio State has four freshmen that start.

The game turned out to be a good one, but Wisconsin had a comfortable double-digit lead until the end when Greg Oden had back-to-back dunks and eventually Jamar Butler missed a game-tying 3 at the buzzer.

I'm actually looking forward to getting into Big Ten basketball this year, mainly because I have zero expectations for the Iowa Hawkeyes ... though they are currently 1-0 in the conference.

Hall of Fame: Ripken and Gywnn

Those two are the only ones to make it into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. I would have voted for them as well as Andre Dawson and Mark McGwire, though I only liked one of those men.

Stuff

I haven't told you this before, but I like music. Discovering a new band is even better than watching a great film, because you have that hope of more to come.

Well, I have discovered a new band.

The Format
album: Dog Problems
quick thoughts: they will remind you of your favortie indie bands, but not in a copying kind of way. Each song has layers of changing tempo.
best track: "Dog Problems"

And I have this blog to thank for discovering The Format.
http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/

I highly recommend checking them out, especially their December posts which include the Top 25 albums of the year.

** Mike Triplett, award winning journalist (don't know if that is true) will be with us tomorrow. Stay Tuned.

78th Edition - 1/9/07

2007-01-09T06:26:00.000-08:00

The Florida Gators: next up, a lacrosse championship?

The Gators already own the basketball national championship, and after dominating THE ohio state buckeyes (they don't deserve capital letters, in fact, no more THE either) the Gators now have the BCS Championship. The final score of 41-14 was the perfect indication that the game wasn't close. Another stat that is just ridiculous is 82 total yards for ohio state's offense. They had more yards on the opening kickoff return.

The Gator players played the disrespect card about 3,752 times in the interviews to follow the game. Turns out, nobody believed in them. Poor kids. Finally, they can hold their heads high. I wish pure joy would win out in all post-game interviews. Plain-old happiness would be a nice change.

By the way, there is one undefeated college football team. Boise State finished #5 in the nation.

NBA: Redd is out

For many, an NBA player being out for 4-6 weeks doesn't really matter, unless he's on your team, and then it only matters if home-court advantage is on the line (translation: in general, the regular season doesn't hold much drama or interest). But when I read this headline, my hopes went high. I am one of the few who plays Fantasy NBA. For a second, I thought the league leader had Redd and this would help my second place ball club, Dentyne. But instead, it turns out Slick Balls has Redd, who also happens to be Mike D. And he's in the middle of the back, so it really doesn't matter... I think I just rambled.

The Tease: tomorrow

Mike Triplett from the New Orleans Times-Picayune will join us tomorrow to talk NFL playoffs. He's the lead writer for the Saints.

Stuff

"Big day. Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as Speaker of the House. Experts say Pelosi is now the most powerful non-Oprah woman." ---Conan O'Brien

77th Edition - 1/8/07

2007-01-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

NFL: New York, ouch babe

Colts 23, Chiefs 8
Kansas City didn't have a first down in the first half. The Colts defense played better than Peyton Manning.
next week: Colts at Ravens

Seahawks 21, Cowboys 20
The last seconds were insanely good for Bledsoe fans. Tony Romo fumbled the snap of a 19-yard FG attempt, then tried to run it in only to be tackled from behind at the one yard line.
next week: Seahawks at Bears

Patriots 37, Jets 16
The announcers were trying to say it was a close game with the Patriots leading 16-30, until Pennington threw an interception, returned for a touchdown ... It wasn't that close before the pick.
next week: Patriots at Chargers

Eagles 23, Giants 20
The Ealges got outscored 10-3 in the 4th quarter, but those 3 came from a game-ending 38-yard FG by David Akers. Tiki Barber is retiring, and ever since he announced that, the Giants are 2-9.
next week: Eagles at Saints

MLB: The Medium Unit going back to Arizona

The Yankees actually got rid of a player to create some financial space. Randy Johnson is 43-years-old and the Diamondbacks are giving him $26 million over two years. Then again, any pitcher going from AL to NL improves, but this guy is a shell of the man who made John Kruk weak in the knees during the '93 All-Star Game.

College Football: What do you mean there's a game on tonight?

Just awful timing. I will watch, but my attention has drifted.

THE Ohio State Buckeyes vs Florida Gators. The winner gets to win. It has been 50 days since Ohio State has played. But I'm sure with all that extra time, the players have honored all their classes. Hats off to the NCAA, making sure education is always the top priority.

Stuff

*Quick Film Reviews
Children of Men: A-, just a great Sci-Fi (bleak glimpse into the future) with some amazing suspense/action scenes.
The Queen: B, it was nice, I just don't see what all the fuss is about.

*Chevy Chase (used to be a comedian) wrote an op-ed about Gerald Ford dying. click here to read

76th Edition - 1/05/07

2007-01-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

Sick as a dog. So the post will be short today. Damn, I feel awful. Could be because of a cat bite, the flu, a shot, another shot, an insanely bad cold or medication I am on. One thing is for sure ... If I didn't have a fiancee that is in med school I would either be much, much sicker OR totally healthy.

If coaches can change, and you can change, we can all change!

In a job where you get fired 88% of the time (made up stat, but has to be close), what is wrong with taking an offer you would rather have?

Bill Cowher (Steelers) - quit
Art Shell (Raiders) - fired
Jim Mora (Falcons) - fired
Dennis Green (Cardinals) - fired
Nick Saban (Dolphins) - quit/then hired at Alabama

The Picks (Mike D. vs. j)

NFL Season Standings:
j NFL: (25-24-4)
Mike D: (27-24-2)

The wild card picks:
j
Chiefs +7 over Colts
Seahawks -2.5 over Cowboys
Jets +8.5 over Patriots
Giants +7 over Eagles
(yup, I'm taking 3 road underdogs)

look for Mike D's picks later in the day.

75th Edition - 1/4/07

2007-01-04T06:29:00.000-08:00

Yawn. Stretch. Yawn. Nap. Repeat.
I've been gone for a while. I admit I got a little bit lazy with my extended vacation. I promise it will never happen again. Except for future vacations, bachelor parties, weddings, honeymoons and again the most important, laziness.

But at least we didn't miss anything besides one of the greatest college football games ever (Bosie St. vs. Oklahoma), more Mike Tyson arrests, the Iowa Hawkeyes making it look easy against Texas and then blowing it, Bob Knight breaking the wins record, Gerald Ford dying, James Brown (the guy who sang in "Rocky 4") dying, Saddam Hussein getting hung, and probably about 125 other stories that were important while I was gone. But thankfully, nothing important.

The Picks: revisited

Final standing for the 2006 College Football Season --
j : 4-6 for the bowls, not 10-0 like I was hoping, which would have won me $2500. Instead, I lost $10.
billy z: 8-2 for the bowls. Just insane, the only games he missed were the ones we had in common.

j NCAA: (27-22-1)
billy z NCAA: (35-14-2)

You have no idea how insane a record of 35-14-2 is. Billy should actually be doing this for a full-time job. I can't express this enough, so I will stop.

The funny (awful) thing ... I made more money than billy did this season. How? Because I bet on the games. He didn't. If he would have bet just $10 a game, he would have won almost $200. And that's not the way to bet, you have to change it up with the money-line, parlays and teasers. 2006 should have been the year billy retired. I hope this streak continues next year, so at least I can make money off him.

Mike d and I aren't done with the NFL, as both of us will be attempting to go undefeated in the playoffs. J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!

Nick Saban: Is he really that important?

This whole honesty thing comes up every time a coach does this. Nick Saban has now left the Miami Dolphins and become the new Alabama coach and also got tons of cash to go along with it. Many sports writers are calling him out, saying he is not honest. Who cares?

Fans - Dolphin fans are upset. They should be, they thought they had a coach for a long time. But he left because another position was more attractive to him.

Media - It gives them an angle to talk about that is more jucy. Otherwise, it's just reporting how much he will make, what he NFL record was, and why he will fit/not fit at Alabama

But here's the thing we always forget--Sports is a passion for the public, it is a job (first and foremost) for Nick Saban. And in the real world, almost anyone you know will take a job that gives more guarenteed money in an environment they are happier with. Case closed.

Stuff

*If you are curious when your TV shows return from the break, click here. A helpful list is provided. And hopefully, you didn't missed "Friday Night Lights" last night.

*Blender has given us 25 reasons to love 2007. #18 Kaiser Cheifs is nice to see, but for some reason I can't find The Arcade Fire. Click here to read

*A new music Web site with great live, in-stuido performances ... The odd thing, the studio is located in Rock Island, Ill. I am from the Quad-Cities and it is insanely surprising to hear that a quality music studio is there. Check it out.
www.daytrotter.com

74th Edition - 12/28/06

2006-12-28T06:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have taken a break. And I will probably take another break until about January 3. But here is a quick post ... pick edition.

It's Billy Z vs. J
If you're just joining us, here is how the regular season has played out...

j NCAA: (23-16-1)
billy z NCAA: (27-12-2)

And now Billy and I will pick ten bowl winners each.
Will it be possible for one of us to go 10-0?
Could I have a chance to come back and win the season?
Time will tell...

Billy Z's picks

kentucky +9.5 over clemson

missouri +3.5 over oregon st

georgia +3 over va tech

nevada +3.5 over miami

auburn -2 over nebraska

tennessee -4 over penn st

wisconsin +2 over arkansas

michigan [even] over usc

louisville -10 over wake

lsu -9.5 over notre dame

J's picks
california -3.5 over oklamhoma st.
oregon st. -3.5 over missouri
maryland +1 over purdue
minnesota +6.5 over texas tech
texas -8.5 over iowa (this is the lock of the week, trust me)
georgia +3 over virginia tech
tennessee -4 over penn state
michigan over usc
oklahoma -7.5 over bosie st
wake forest +10 over louisville

And here is the update from the NFL picks last weekend.
j NFL: 1-1-1 (25-24-4)
mike d NFL: 2-1 (27-24-2)

Stuff

Quick film reviews:
The Good Shepherd: B (slow, long but very good acting by Matt Damon)
Notes of a Scandal: A- (just amazing performance by Judi Dench, it has the tension of the murder mystery)

73rd Edition - 12/22/06

2006-12-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

Real quick...

The Picks

Mike d and I will be picking NFL like usual ... Next week, look for billy z and I to find 10 bowl games each, and pick every single winner. I plan to hit a 10-team progressive parlay and buy everyone I know milk and cookies. Happy Holidays.

j NCAA: (23-16-1)
billy z NCAA: (27-12-2)
j NFL: (24-23-3)
mike d NFL: (25-23-2)

j NFL:
Bills -4.5 over Titans
Rams -2 over Redskins
Bears -5 over Lions

As always, look for Mike's picks in the comments section.

Stuff

Here's some quick movie thoughts for you guys this holiday season, and I would love to tell you about "Rocky Balboa" but I'm saving it for friends ...

Pursuit of Happyness: B+
The Holiday: B
Eragon: C- (loved the book)
Happy Feet: C-
Apocalypto: B
Dreamgirls: B (must like musicals)
Casino Royale: B-
We Are Marshall: B
Blood Diamond: C+

Here's Bob Dylan reading "The Night Before Christmas"