Saturday, March 28, 2009

Rollin'

Cavs with another great performance last night and now another long winning streak--at 11 in a row. They are playing really good and this run of home games is so vital for that much-needed home court during the playoffs. Gotta say we're three weeks away and I am just about ready for some playoff basketball!


But the highlight of the week is still the amazing behind the back practically touch-pass from LeBron to Anderson...

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Stay Classy, Cleveland

A Browns fan gives it to Chris Cooley, starting with "Your a f***ing douchebag.", and Browns fans get some grief on the blogosphere.

http://chriscooley47.blogspot.com/2009/03/dear-dennis.html

Thursday, March 19, 2009

It's Business Time!

Right now it's a good time to be a sports fan in Cleveland. Okay, maybe not a Browns fan still, but with hopes again springing eternal for the Indians (despite Adam Miller maybe having a career ending injury), and a wise man recently Twittering:

Bucks & Vikes at the dance, Cavs 40+ games over .500, Matt Saracen at WR. I don't wanna talk about wars between nations. Not right now.'
I'm about 8 weeks behind on the DVR for Friday Night Lights so I don't get that refererence, but the Cavaliers playing amazingly is going to lead to a great next couple of months. And Ohio repping the tournament with 5 teams: Ohio State, Cleveland State, Akron, Dayton, and Xavier. Let's see if a couple can make some noise (despite the 8, 11, and two 13 seeds among them.)

I've said for years that today, the opening Thursday of March Madness, is the best sports day of the year. But alas, it was a lot better when I didn't have to sit at my desk, working through lunch and working late, trying to catch a score online once in a while. It was better when we could just push the television to the porch of 49 Chittenden, get a couple kegs, sit in the sunshine and watch basketball. Days like this make me miss Columbus. (And wasn't it March Madness when we got a keg of Löwenbräu Dark, consumed large quantities of it for hours, and then decided the only explanation was that it must be non-alcoholic, so we switched to the delicious Busch Light keg?)

In the meantime, there is until Friday night to decide whether to watch Cleveland State or Ohio State, who play at the same time.


Friday, March 13, 2009

Today was a good day...

Although I couldn't stay awake for the end of the game (or the 6-OT UConn-Syracuse thriller) last night, amazing performance by Mo, LeBron, and the Cavs Thursday night. Three straight triple-doubles wrapped up by a beautiful "floor-board" at the end of the game!



Now today--Ohio State v. Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Uh-O-H..I-O...

Ok, I know we had some pretty good wide receiver talent graduate/leave the last couple years, but I'm not really sure Ohio State needs a cheerleader suiting up for them at wideout next year!




When Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel called, nobody in the Springer family knew quite what to think.

This was several years ago, long before Josh Springer, then a Northmont High School senior, seriously entertained the idea of making the Buckeyes as a walk-on.

Turns out Tressel had called as a favor to the cheerleading staff, encouraging Springer to choose OSU over Kentucky, which had offered him a scholarship to cheer.

How bizarre and ironic, then, that this 5-foot-11, 185-pound OSU cheerleading captain might be playing for Tressel after surviving a walk-on tryout last month despite never playing a down of football in high school. He wants to be a receiver.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Movie Review: Watchmen


Beware: This review may contain minor spoilers

For years, Alan Moore has insisted that his comics are unfilmable. Moore’s pretentious posturing aside, the most notorious example he can point to is the wretched “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,” a movie which veered so far from the author’s original intentions as to make them virtually unrecognizable.
Zack Snyder’sWatchmen,” at least, does not suffer from that aforementioned affliction. Indeed, his cinematic take on Moore’s most well-loved work exactingly duplicates the surface traits of the source material: The to-the-life costumes, gadgets and numerous shots of glowing blue genitalia should appease devotees. For a while, Snyder is even able to evoke Moore’s grim, nihilistic vision of a country going slowly mad.
The plot centers on an alternate history 1985 America where we won in Vietnam and Richard Nixon is a multi-term president. Professional heroes, once revered by the public for dressing up in funny costumes to fight crime, are now viewed as outlaws and vigilantes. Naturally, the city is sliding into hell, and the oft-reported nuclear sabre-rattling between the U.S. and Russia is doing little to improve anyone's mood.
At this point we meet slovenly ex-superhero Comedian, who after a Snyder-style bone crunching fight is thrown from his apartment window by an unseen assailant. Another “mask” (as the ex-heroes are derisively called by the public), the sociopath Rorschach, probes Comedian’s murder. The excellent Jackie Earle Haley (aka SamVox’s childhood hero Kelly Leak) narrates his investigation in a scotch-and-cigarettes voice with unintenionally hilarious film-noirish lines such as “The city screams like an abattoir full of retarded children," a direct quote from Moore's novel that screenwriters David Hayter and Alex Tse should have left on the paneled page.
As the plot unfolds we’re introduced to the rest of the retired superfolk: The dorky Dan Dreiberg (Nite Owl), who lives in Bruce Wayne-like wealthy isolation; Laurie Jupiter (Silk Spectre), who followed in her mother’s heroic footsteps before hanging up the latex fetish-wear; Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias), the “world’s smartest man,” now a billionaire corporate magnate; and Dr. Manhattan, the nude blue energy being who’s been shacking up with Laurie. It’s not spoiling anything to say that Rorschach’s investigation contrives to bring the heroes out of mothballs.
Moore populated his terrible world with morally complicated characters. Snyder compensates by peppering his narrative with flashbacks, which do a decent job of fleshing out character motivations.
However, no amount of cinematic backstory can recreate the deep nuances of the book. So I can’t quite pinpoint the moment where “Watchmen” lost me. As much as I liked the book, I’m no fanboy who cares about every niggling detail translating from page to screen. What Snyder struggles with in his translation is not look or atmosphere, but emotion.
“Watchmen” simply falls flat when it should have soared. Moore’s heavy themes of morality vs. ethics and the ever-popular man’s inhumanity to man get lost in the ponderous, confusing final act. A large part of this failure lies in the casting choice of Mailn Akerman as Laurie/Silk Spectre.
Akerman’s performance is at times painfully wooden, particularly in a pivotal scene where her character is supposed to represent the emotional linchpin to an important decision made by another character. I don’t mind Snyder choosing a relative unknown for the part, but I wish he could’ve gotten someone that does more than look good naked.
It’s not all Akerman’s fault: The final half hour of this near three-hour flick is agonizingly slow, and even with Snyder’s hotly debated changed ending and a few excised characters, it seems the director is trying too hard to stay true to the source material.
Instead of putting his own stamp on the proceedings as Peter Jackson did successfully with “Lord of the Rings” and Sam Raimi with “Spider-Man,” the “Watchmen” movie comes off as a faceless recreation of the thematically un-pindownable graphic novel. Ultimately, Snyder should have done more to make “Watchmen” his own movie instead of striving to get every peripheral detail just right.
I suppose “Watchmen” is going to become a polarizng affair for many viewers. While I didn’t hate this movie, there’s nothing here that makes me want to watch it again.

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Movie Review: Watchmen

What a night!

What a Cleveland basketball night last night. And unfortunately I was unable to partake due to travel and the fact that the NBA didn't think Cavs-Clippers was good enough for NBATV.

Cleveland State--overcomes 2 previous losses to Butler to shock them 57-54, winning the Horizon League championship and making it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986. I think Doug's dad is getting excited--the last sports team he remembers was that "Mouse" McFadden team!

Cavs--I saw they were down by something like 15 when I collapsed last night; missed the comeback. Down by 19 they storm back and beat the Clippers--on the back of LeBron's second straight Triple Double!

(And by the way, Mike Moran-coached John Carroll Blue Streaks have made it to the D3 Sweet 16--games this weekend in University Heights, I recommend you check them out!)

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Bounceback

Well after Friday's disasterous loss to the Celtics--made worse by the fact that KG didn't play and still Boston dominated the Cavs inside, but better by the fact that the home team has now won the last 15 games in the series--the Cavs bounce back with a great win over the Heat. LeBron only with 14 points but a trip-double, and Mo huge again.

I hope the Cavs see that 15 game home streak and realize they HAVE to get home court advantage--if just for the mental edge in the playoffs. Bouncing back like they do (12-1 after a loss, and 13-2 in back-to-back games) is great for this team's confidence.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Q: Hey Joe...where you gonna run to now?


A: To Cleveland!

It’s fun to be a Cavaliers’ fan these days. After witnessing the team reel off the best win of the season Monday night at Miami, fans got more good news Tuesday as the team signed Joe Smith to a one-year deal.

This was a move that had to be done: Even if Ben Wallace comes back from his broken leg in three weeks as speculated by the PD’s Brian Windhorst, there’s no telling how long it will take for the somewhat creaky big man to get back into game shape. It sounds like Ben will be ready for the playoffs, but Smith adds much-needed depth.

I would even argue that Smith made the most immediate impact of the four players acquired following last year’s mega-trade that changed half the roster. While Delonte, Wally and Ben were struggling to find their roles, Smith was hitting midrange jumpers and playing decent defense on the opposing team’s bigs. He’s that solid veteran that’s a needed piece on any championship-hopeful team.

The one guy that may not be too thrilled about the pickup is JJ Hickson. That’s OK—Hickson has some raw offensive skills and I like his hustle, but this is not a developmental year for a franchise looking to get young players needed experience. This is winning time, and Double J is not ready to bear that burden during the playoffs.

In the intense playoff-type atmosphere of Miami, for example, Hickson received the ball in the paint and probably could have gone up for a dunk. Instead he pump faked, allowing the defense to collapse, and flung up a Tuesday Night Basketball-quality shot-put off the glass. The Cavs just don’t need a 20-year-old with the rookie yips playing important minutes in May.
---

Have you had a chance to check out Maurice Clarett’s blog? “The Mind of Maurice Clarett” reads as an almost stream-of-consciousness advice column where the ex-Buckeye philosophizes about life and the mistakes that landed him in the Toledo Correctional Institution.

Clarett has no interest in sharing the lurid day-to-day details of the stony lonesome. Instead, he writes about inspiring others and keeping up his relationship with his young daughter. He also says he’s taking courses through Ohio University while incarcerated.

“I created this site for other reasons,” Clarett says. “There are too many young men and women that need hope and inspiration. To a large degree, prison doesn’t exist to me anymore. I’m mentally removed, on certain levels. My mental sentence expired when I decided to educate myself. I spend all of the hours of my days developing my life’s vision. I don’t have the time to think about prison. I’m just waiting for my physical sentence to expire.”


From what I’ve seen, Clarett’s blog is full of this kind of rhapsodizing, which makes “Mind of Maurice” an interesting if not terribly compelling read. However, while it’s easy to dismiss the words of a guy who screwed up a good thing because of greed and ignorance, it seems Clarett is sincerely trying to better himself while stuck in a bad situation. Check out his blog at mauriceclarett.wordpress.com

Joe the Power Forward


I think Joe Smith the sort-of-new Cavs addition is much better than Joe Sam the Plumber we had to hear about for 2 months last fall...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

If you have 27 minutes to kill and like curse words...

Every single curse word ever yelled at the television during a Cleveland game Sopranos episode...


the sopranos, uncensored. from victor solomon on Vimeo.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Distance makes the heart grow fonder...

On a cold Chicago night when I'm trapped in my office way too long, it seems only Twitter (I'm @Pucky22 if you care!) and Sportacular, the iPhone app, keep me linked to the Cavs.

Would have loved to see LeBron vs. Dwayne Wade tonight...but the highlights did it for me instead! Great comeback and that dunk on O'Neal was amazing as well! 42 points for LBJ vs. 41 for Wade reminds me of the afternoon in Cleveland a couple years ago when I was lucky enough to watch a similar shootout from the last row at the top of the Q!

I guess the only way to celebrate is via haiku!

Watching 24 now...
Following Cavs on Twitter
Yay! Hash tag #Cavs win!