155th Edition - 7/3/07

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

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

• 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

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

• 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