Movie Review: Kill the Irishman

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This review may contain spoilers. Readers beware.

“Kill the Irishman” is a movie that seems in danger of collapsing under the weight of genre clichés. The chronicle of Cleveland gangster Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) is stamped with the usual mob-film hallmarks of bloody turf battles, exploding Cadillacs and debtors getting punched out to period music.

These shopworn gangster-flick themes, along with a host of recognizable faces from “Goodfellas” and “The Sopranos,” cannot override what is a solidly performed and refreshingly unglamorous framing of the life of Greene, an upstart longshoreman and union rep who rose to infamous prominence in the world of organized crime during the 1970s.

Bernie Kosar, Superpowered Movie Star

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Well, a beagle named Bernie at least.

In the new Dreamworks movie "I am Number Four," one of the main characters names his pet beagle Bernie Kosar, after the poster on his bedroom wall.  Of course, they mention Bernie's speed being remarkable--but this is science fiction, remember.  Although, maybe not.  Check the video below.

Named for the legendary Cleveland Browns quarterback, Bernie is John’s dog. He suddenly shows up on John and Henri’s doorstep one night…and the mystery surrounding him grows from there. More than man’s best friend, Bernie is extremely protective of John and also seems to have some paranormal superpowers of his own. Never before has John known a dog that could outpace even him in a footrace.

The movie is based on the book by Pittacus Lore, and stars Alex Pettyfer and Timothy Olyphant. 

Thanks to the Chicago-based Red Ivy Browns Backers for pointing this out!  And the full trailer (and beautiful Kosar highlight) is after the jump.

Some thoughts on the Tressel mess, missing names, and .... punctuation !!

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Jonathan Quilter | DISPATCH

Well now everyone knows the gist of the story. Some things happened. Jim Tressel knew about some of these things. He didn't tell some important people about some of the suspicious things that some of his players were doing for some other, really bad people. And because of that, he's being fined $250,000 and suspended for a couple huge games against incredible competition a couple MAC teams.

Naturally, this is a black eye on Tressel, his holier-than-thou reputation, and on the university, and the tone of the press conference did not help at all. President Gee and AD Smith were effusive in their compliments of Tressel, "Are you kidding?" remarked Gee, "I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me. His integrity and the body of his work is quite remarkable." Settle down, sir.  At this moment his integrity is not remarkable at all.  That's what is justifying the suspension and the outrage.

A couple thoughts from the emails that came out. For reference, WTVN Radio has put the emails up on their webite here.  And the entire self report from Ohio State, in the Columbus Dispatch, can be found here.

• First, Coach Tressel notwithstanding, I want to make it very clear that some players giving/selling their championship rings/cleats/jerseys away in exchange for (hundreds to thousands) of dollars or services (like tattoos) is not a "high crime." One could even argue (as Ohio State did in December, however hard-to-believe it might be) that a player may well have been confused on whether it's his right to sell his own rings and old jerseys for whatever he may want. Certainly after they leave school, it's their right. Of course, the players should have known better, but at least it's comprehensible that they didn't think they were breaking any rules.

• But this infraction by the players is not even in the same LEAGUE as a school's booster giving players money to attend a school, or a player shaving points, or other acts that directly influence the game. The reason players can't sell their things lends itself to this point; it could easily lead to abuse, like a booster giving a player $20,000 for his jersey. (As you might guess, I have the same opinion on drug abuse vs. gambling in pro sports. Gambling threatens the very legitimacy of the competition, and that's why Pete Rose is right to be banned.)

Buckeyes Hoops: Good to Great

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Many who've watched Ohio State throughout the season already suspected there was something a bit off with the "there are no great teams in college basketball this season" argument.  Perhaps that is just some confusion with the fact that there may be no obvious standout superstar pro prospect in college basketball this season.

War of words

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I recently received an invitation to a banquet in honor of a young Cleveland native killed in 2005 while serving as a gunner in Iraq. Last week, meanwhile, an Akron native now plying his trade in Miami sent the following tweet:

A certain Akron native's Miami mansion- not exactly a Baghdad shanty.

“20+ games left in phase 2. I’m ReFOCUSED! No prisoners, I have no friends when at WAR besides (sic) my Soldiers.”

Unlike the tragically killed Clevelander, the former Akronite has never been to war, and in fact when not playing professional basketball lives quite comfortably in his $9 million, six-bedroom mansion overlooking Biscayne Bay outside of South Beach. I don’t know the guy personally, although I’d bet green money that he dashed off his “war” missive without a second thought of its ramifications or meaning - this despite numerous examples over the years of his athletic contemporaries getting scolded for using military imagery when it comes to their far safer professions.