A Couple of Random Thoughts

This post is nothing special, just a couple of random things I noticed yesterday that I thought I’d write about.

I was covering a youth baseball tournament at the Boys & Girls Club in Machesney Park yesterday. There were four teams, one from Rockford and three from Michigan. The three Michigan teams were from Hutchison, Sterling and Oakland. I’m not sure where those are geographically, but figured I’d throw that in just in case anyone who reads this is familiar with Michigan.

Anyway, it was  a 12-and-under tournament and while I was talking to some of the officials for the tournament, the coach of the Rockford team, an anchor from one of the local TV stations and the coach of the Sterling team, a conversation occurred that sort of struck me.

The anchor asked the Sterling coach where in Michigan Sterling was located, the coach said it was a little north of Detroit and then commented “Right where everyone’s losing their jobs.” The TV anchor (who’s name I’m not omitting, but I honestly just don’t remember, but I will tell you he was from WTVO) then replied “Yeah, that’s the same pretty much everywhere.” The Sterling coach then said the interesting part of the conversation. He smiled and sort of half-chuckled before chiming in with “It’s interesting though. Here you don’t see “For Sale” and “Foreclosure” signs all over the place like you do up there.”

It was just sort of an offhanded comment, he didn’t mean anything by it other than making conversation, but it just sort of made you think. Sure, everyone’s struggling financially nowadays, but you don’t see or hear about it firsthand very often, at least not about the Michigan/Detroit area.

Anyway, I just had sort of found that interesting. On to a lighter note:

Baseball parents are freaking crazy, especially those on the big travel teams like what I was covering Saturday.

All the moms yell. They just yell. Constantly. Even if it’s not a situation where they need to yell, or it doesn’t make any sense, they yell.

“Come on Nick! Be smart Tyler! Stay in there! You can do it! Come on guys! Let’s go B-Dub! Good pitch! Way to go!”

Notice that all of those statements were in one quotation. That’s because they were all said by the same woman and in that order with hardly a breathe between.

Now I understand there’s not really anything wrong with that. It’s great that these kids are getting so much encouragement from there parents, especially at a time when absentee parents are so common. But it was just funny to watch how into these games the parents were.

At one point, a parent’s other kid came up to her during the game. The kid was probably no older than 6 or 8 years old and could’ve cared less about the game. He was running around the complex with other children and he came up to his mom, who was sitting next to another mom, and tapped her on the shoulder. His mom replied:

“Not now, hunny. This is a very important part.”

The other parent then turned to the kid and said:

“Yeah. Now is the time when you can’t bug any parents, OK?”

The kid looked confused and just said “Can I have one dollar?”

The mom, clearly annoyed, gave him the dollar and turned back to the game.

And that’s not even to mention all the dad who couldn’t sit in the stands during the game. They paced back and forth throughout as nervous as can be. And anytime their kid got close enough to the fence that they could talk to him, they would start coaching immediately. Telling the kid things that were so obvious the kid would just nod his head and turn away.

It was utterly ridiculous.

A Marathon of Epic Proportions

24-hours doesn’t seem like very long unless you think about it. Each day we wake up, do whatever we do for that day, then go to sleep, when we wake up, roughly 24 hours has past.

But when you spend 24 hours doing one thing, 24 hours becomes an eternity. Well that’s what Ben and I are attempting to do: Watching movies for 24 consecutive hours.

 Now before we get started, there are a few things you need to know about us and movies. Watching movies used to be pretty much all Ben and I did. We both started working at a movie theatre at the same time when we were 15-years old and have pretty much been film nuts ever since.

A few summers ago we decided to go through the American Film Institute’s Top 100 American Films of all-time. After crossing out all the ones we had seen already at that point, we went through the list in roughly six months. After that we went through all of the Academy Awards’ Best Picture winners, a list we have still yet to complete because of one or two winners that are nearly impossible to find.

By the time we got through that list, we had already begun embarking on IMDb.com’s Top 250 list, a list that changes frequently because it’s based on user ratings. In all, it’s safe to say we watched more movies over a six month period than most people do in their life.

While we were watching these films, we would often try and stay up as late as we could to get as many as we could in as possible. The best we did was about 7 a.m.

One day we came up with the idea to try and watch films for 24-hours and gave it a shot without any planning ahead of time. We did it, but had to take several breaks because of a different variety of errands we had to run, and finished the day with nowhere near 24 hours of actual film watching.

So this summer, after a few year hiatus of any real, hardcore film watching, we decided to truly embark on a 24-hour movie marathon. We found a 24-hour period where we were both free and would have time after completion for sleep. We got together at Ben’s house (because he has an HDTV and surround sound, I do not), and set our paths toward the goal Monday night with the idea to finish 24-hours after completion.

Because I know you all care so much, I decided to keep a running diary of our marathon.

Monday, July 20

8:25 p.m. – We’re getting set up and have a bunch of Mountain Dew, Laffy Taffy, Cheez-Its, Twizzlers, Sprees, Skittles, and two 5-hour Energy bottles. I feel like I’m 12 again.

8:30 p.m. – The night begins with the Marx Brothers’ “Animal Crackers.” Something upbeat to get us going. 

9:21 p.m. “I woke up one morning and shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.” Probably the most famous Groucho Marx quote. On a side note, I fear one day someone gets the bright idea to re-make a Marx Brothers film with Sacha Baren Cohen in the Groucho role. In fact, forget I said that. Don’t want to give anyone any ideas…

9:35 p.m. – Harpo Marx is nicknamed Harpo because he plays the harp. Why isn’t Chico Marx nicknamed Piano?

10:06 p.m. – “Animal Crackers” has finished and it’s safe to say I laughed harder at it than 90 percent of the comedies that have come out in the past 10 years.

10:10 p.m. – Now starting “Andrei Rublev,” a 3 hour, 25 minute epic by Andrei Tarkovskey made in 1966.

10:34 p.m. – 30 minutes in and we still can’t figure out which character Andrei Rublev is. We have figured out that he’s not the guy who looks like Liam Neeson. He might be the guy who looks like Viggo Mortensen though.

10:43 p.m. – It has been confirmed: Viggo Mortensen is Andrei Rublev. Also confirmed: Living in Russia would blow.

11:12 p.m. – Colleen and Susan arrived so we’re going to pause “Andrei Rublev” because we’re an hour into it and it would be impossible to catch them up. Next up – “The Incredibles,” a movie we have all seen and can enjoy without paying 100 percent attention.

Tuesday, July 21

12:02 a.m. – Brad Bird obviously stole his Edna ‘E’ Mode character from Miss Swan from MadTV.

12:27 a.m. – We came to a consensus that the Incredibles’ daughter is the most worthless superhero ever. First, she couldn’t put a forcefield around the plane to stop the missiles from blowing it up. Then, she just sat there and didn’t help while her mom turned into a boat and her brother paddled them to shore. “They should have aborted her,” Ben said.

12:59 a.m. – OK, so the daughter does save them a couple of times with her forcefield, but all she does is play defense. Still pretty lame compared to all the other Incredibles.

1:08 a.m. – “The Incredibles” is over. Now we’re watching “Sleuth,” a 1972 murder mystery starring Laurence Olivier. Colleen’s gone but Susan is still here. This is the only of the IMDb’s Top 250’s main movies Ben hasn’t seen. I can’t say the same. On a side note, I’ve drank five mountain dews and eaten a ton of Cheez-Its and Twizzlers. I’m full of energy but my stomach feels like poopoo. 

1:22 a.m. – It’s weird to see an old Laurence Olivier. But young Michael Caine is sooo dreamy.

1:40 a.m. – This entire movie has been Olivier and Caine conversing and now they’re prancing around and I’m deathly afraid this is going to turn into some sort of gay romp. I don’t need to watch “Bruno” again.

2:11 a.m. – One hour, 3 minutes into “Sleuth” is the first time lapse in the entire film. Just a lot of incredible dialogue between Olivier and Caine. This film is pretty awesome, and I have no idea how the next hour and 15 minutes are going to end up.

2:49 a.m. – Even with 30 minutes left, “Sleuth” is absolutely the highlight of the night thus far. Check it out it you haven’t seen it yet. It’s unfortunate it was released the same year as “The Godfather,” where Marlon Brando beat out both Caine and Olivier for Best Actor and Francis Ford Coppola beat out Joseph L. Mankiewicz for Best Director. Understandable, but a damn shame.

3:28 a.m. – “Sleuth” is over. Incredible. I haven’t seen last year’s remake starring Jude Law and Caine in Olivier’s role, but I wouldn’t expect it to even touch this. The performances were incredible. Now, time for a mini-break to refuel. We are at exactly 7 hours down, 17 hours to go.

3:35 a.m. – OK, back for more. Susan’s out. She slept through half of “Sleuth” anyway. We’re putting “Andrei Rublev” back in for 2 and a half hours of more Russian excitement! Can you feel the rush?!?!?!

4:43 a.m. – “Andrei Rublev” is confusing. It might just be because I’m tired though. What I can tell you is that I’ve seen numerous horses stabbed, a cow set on fire and a chicken get run over. None of this was fake. If this film were made today, PETA would be all over their asses. Oh, also, I ate a Pop-Tart. First thing of substance I’ve eaten since this has started, if you consider that substance.

6:08 a.m. – “Andrei Rublev” is finally over. It sure was epic, but also long and drawn out and very tiresome. I’m glad we got that one out of the way though. A couple of things to note: The title character was a spitting image of Viggo Mortensen, as stated before. Another one of the prominent characters looked like Liam Neeson, but in the latter stages of the film turned into UFC fighter Keith Jardine. Also, my note about the animal abuse was wrong… sort of. According the the trivia on the film’s IMDb page, the cow that was set on fire was covered in asbestos to protect it from burning, and the horse that fell down the stairs was shot in the head, and was borrowed from a slaughterhouse so they just used it for the film. Does that make it all OK? I’m not so sure. But at least I got an explanation. Time to go drink more Dew and then we’re going to embark on the 4 1/2 hour epic that is Steven Soderbourgh’s “Che.” It’s actually two 2 hour, 15 minute films, but the entire epic was split up into two films, so it’s going to be long nonetheless. We’re closing in on our 10th hour of film-watching.

7:09 a.m. – Just took a 5-hour energy. I’ve never had one before but I’m really struggling through the beginning of “Che.” Nothing against the film, just incredibly tired. I also REALLY want some Taco Bell. Hopefully this energy stuff works.

8 p.m. – Mini tacos in my belly are the first thing of substance I’ve eaten since we started. The 5-hour Energy definitely worked. I’m pretty awake now and we’ve got about one hour left in part one of “Che.” It’s pretty interesting. I’m coming up with less and less interesting things to say as the night, err… morning drags on. Hopefully I’ll come up with more to say later this afternoon.

8:45 a.m. – First part of “Che” is over. It’s safe to say now that the 5-hour energy didn’t last five hours. It worked for a bit… but then I ate some mini tacos and Cheez-Its and I drank some Mountain Dew. Now my chest hurts and this running diary is starting to sound like a “Collin whines about being tired” session. I’m guessing “Hour Energy” wasn’t as marketable of a product, so they decided to put a “5″ in front of it. Part two of “Che” is forthcoming, and we’re officially more than halfway home. 

9:02 a.m. – Here’s an exchange between Ben and I that was so funny, it’s a sign we’re getting tired. Ben saw a guy who he thought was Jeffrey Wright. Ben: Jeffrey Wright!. Collin: Not him. Ben: Jeffrey Wrong. Laughter ensues.

10:03 a.m. – Things are starting to get a little shaky. Both of us are in danger of nodding off while watching the second part of “Che.” These next two or three hours are going to be the toughest to stay awake. After that, friends should join us and make it easier to stay awake. Also, I still really want Taco Bell and Matt Damon just made a cameo in this film speaking Spanish. No joke.

11:01 a.m. – OK I definitely dozed off a little bit toward the end of “Che” Part 2. Now we’re sitting here trying to decide what to watch next. We’re officially under 10 hours left and it’s torture. TORTURE!!!

12:01 p.m. – I somehow keep updating this at the beginning of the hour. After “Che,” we ended up decided to lighten things up by re-watching “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” The best irony of this film is admitted Communist Sterling Hayden playing Jack D. Ripper, the Air Force General who orders the strike on the Soviets.

1:15 p.m. – We may or may not have left the house briefly to get lunch due to a lack of filling food in the house. But I digress. The point is, we’re on the home-stretch. After finishing “Dr. Strangelove,” we’re wrapping things up with both Kill Bill’s (on Blu Ray!) and then “Magnolia,” which is one of my five favorite films of all time. The good news – We’re both wide awake at this point.

1:25 p.m. – SPOILER ALERT: Having both seen “Kill Bill,” the question was brought up during The Bride’s fight with Vivica A. Fox as to whether or not she would have extracted her revenge on all the other members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad had she known her daughter was alive at the time. The consensus is that she wouldn’t have, but still would have gone after Bill.

1:45 p.m. – O-Ran Ishii just won the award for being the sexiest member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Yet another sign that I’ve been up for 25 consecutive hours, 17 of which have been spent watching movies.

I think now is as good of time as ever to point out that the night before our 24-hour marathon I was unable to fall asleep until 6 a.m. Woke up at 11 a.m. to finish writing a speech for my summer class. Went and gave the speech, came home and played a softball game (in which I hit a 2B and made two amazing defensive plays in a rare, 5-4 victory), and then came to Ben’s. He, on the other hand, was able to nap before we started, and took a shower during one of our mini-breaks. I did not have that luxury. So I think in the “Who was more impressive in staying up?” contest, I win. Not that this is a contest or anything.

2:11 p.m. – Another question for debate: Are the Crazy 88’s just the name of the gang, or does it insinuate that there are 88 of them? The number is never specified, but most of the audience assumes it means there are 88 of them. These are things you wonder when you see a movie a dozen times.

2:53 p.m. – “Kill Bill: Volume 1″ is complete. Number two coming up. “Kill Bill” = Awesome. “Kill Bill” on Blu Ray = Unspeakably Awesome.

3:17 p.m. – My Crazy 88’s question was answered by Bill in Part Two. Apparently I didn’t remember that conversation from seeing these movies previously.

3:37 p.m. – We just looked up the Guinness World Record for consecutive movie watching. It was set during some marathon contest held by Netflix back in 2007 and was set at 123 hours, 10 minutes. Seems nearly impossible. 24 hours is hard enough.

4:19 p.m. – How lame would “Kill Bill” be if Bill’s name were Greg instead? Or perhaps Jake? Anthony?

5:24 p.m. – Finishing up the marathon with “Magnolia,” one of my top five all-time favorites. Sure, it’s another three hours, but it moves like an hour and a half. Haven’t watched it in about a year and am pretty excited to watch it again.

7:15 p.m. – Maybe it’s because I’m tired, maybe it’s because it’s one of my favorite films, but I’m incredible annoyed anytime someone in the room talks while watching “Magnolia.” Susan is back, Andrew is here and Erik is here, but I just want them all to shut up. I love this film. I need sleep.

8:05 p.m. – VICTORY!! OK, so we’re 25 minutes short. Sue us. What are we going to watch for 25 minutes? I’m not going to lie, right around 7 a.m. I didn’t think there was any way we’d make it this far, but we did it. Only 100 more hours to the world record. Hah. Time to go into a coma.

MMA and UFC Here to Stay, Despite What Old Guys Say

Jake Rossen of Sherdog.com via ESPN.com wrote a column today about mixed martial arts. In it, he wrote that the UFC is not ready for mainstream basically because a bunch of old guys said so.

There are quote in the story from the LA Times’ T.J. Simers and CBS’s Ray Ratto who wrote off the UFC as another professional wrestling that is too full of gore and figures like Brock Lesnar, who mocked fans after his victory at UFC 100 and has been seen as the ultimate villain through all this hoopla.

The idea that all these “old school” journalists (Simers is 58 and Ratto 54) are so quick to denounce the sport as nothing more than another fad comparable to professional wrestling is hilarious. Of course MMA is not their cup of tea. It’s “human cock-fighting” (as John McCain coined it in an infamous debate with Ken Shamrock in 1997) and unlike anything these old fogies could have dreamed of 30 years ago.

But to write it off so quickly as a fad is downright laughable. Ratto wrote that it is a “niche” sport and that UFC 100’s success was a lot like the numbers the WWF’s Wrestlemania’s drew in the mid-1980’s.

But here’s the thing Ratto and Simers are missing the point on. Everything that left professional wrestling out of the eyes of the mainstream media and the minds of the casual sports fan are the reasons why MMA is here to stay.

The biggest gripe pundits had against professional wresting in its prime was how fake it was. Sure, the athleticism was there and guys were getting legitimately hurt at times, but the planned story lines, the “bad guy-good guy” mantras and the downright silliness of what we saw in the ring sometimes made it unwatchable for those who didn’t enjoy the entertainment.

But you don’t get that with MMA.

Many people say Lesnar’s antics after UFC 100 as very much coming from his wrestling background, and that may be true, but that’s not going to keep MMA out of the mainstream media. If anything, it helps.

Turning on the Worldwide Leader on Monday afternoon, I saw UFC talk all across the board. Sportscenter, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption and Sportsnation Live all had discussions about UFC 100 within the first 10 minutes of their shows. If the biggest sports conglomerate in the world is talking about you, it’s good news, right? When did pro wrestling ever get more than 30 seconds of discussion on ESPN? Usually only if Dennis Rodman or Mongo McMichael were making an appearance, but never anything more than that.

If MMA wants to borrow from pro wrestling with its gimmicky rivalries. With the trash talking, the build-up and hype of fights, that’s fine. That’s not going to keep it out of the limelight. What would keep it out of the limelight is if it was scripted like pro wrestling is, and it’s not.

MMA is a legitimate sport just like boxing is. Boxing was the most dominant fighting sport for the past century, and that’s because people marveled at the fighting ability of the guys who stepped into the ring. When a personality like Muhammed Ali or Mike Tyson came along, it only boosted its popularity, and when a personality in the MMA like Brock Lesnar comes along, it just does the same.

That’s what these old-school guys don’t understand. The MMA will succeed because of the marvelous athleticism and extreme competition the sport provides. Never mind the insane trash talking and crazy commissioner, the MMA is here to stay, and the old-school guys will learn that soon enough.

A Debate of History

I got involved in a debate today through my Facebook status that was unintentional, but it got me thinking.

After I made a comment about how the Cubs needed to maximize the value of Jake Fox by trading him to an American League club to become a DH, a friend of mine made a claim in so many words that the National League is better than the American League because the American League uses the designated hitter. After further prying, I find out he thinks the designated hitter is bad for baseball because it’s not part of the old school tradition of the game.

I could not disagree more.

Since when does something that is not traditional automatically mean it is bad? Why is innovation always wrong? I understand that baseball, more than any other sport, thrives because of its history and legend, if that weren’t the case we wouldn’t have seen months and years of debate before the league decided to implement instant replay.

But when a change is made that makes the game better, you stick with it, and just because it’s not traditional and not part of the history of the game, doesn’t make it bad.

How is it good baseball that a team is almost automatically out of a big inning if their pitcher comes to bat? Where is the fun when a team has runners on second and third with two outs and their eighth place hitter, batting a whopping .230 is up, but the pitcher chooses to intentionally walk him to face a guy who has no more business in the batter’s box than Billy Crystal or Garth Brooks?

I understand that a pitcher in the lineup might bring about a little more strategy with the double switches and whatnot, but I would much rather see nine professional-level hitters in every lineup than eight guys and a pitcher. It becomes a snooze-fest. It’s not fun to watch and it’s flat-out bad baseball.

Sure, there’s always a few pitchers who take their hitting seriously. The Carlos Zambrano’s, Micah Owing’s and Mike Hampton’s. But 95 percent of these guys are just looking to get in and out of that batter’s box as quickly as possible. And during the few games a year where American League pitchers have to take their swings, it becomes downright horrid.

I won’t make the argument that the designated hitter helps keep pitchers healthy, because injuries happen regardless of what you do, and that’s not a reasonable explanation. But one argument I will make is that the designated hitter has helped prolong the careers of some hitters who would have had to retire long ago it it weren’t for the designated hitter. The two greatest DH’s of all time, Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines, both lost their legs a good 10 years before retirement, but were able to keep playing and keep hitting — at an incredibly high level — thanks to the DH. And if you look at the number of DH’s today who would have no business in the field (Jim Thome, David Ortiz, the recently retired Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, pretty soon Vladamir Guerrero), it’s nothing but good.

Pundits often argue that we need to get rid of the DH. Go back to baseball’s roots. All that crap that makes zero sense. But I say do the opposite. Put the DH in the National League, something that would give the Mets something to go with Gary Sheffield, something that would allow the Cubs to keep hot-hitting, no-fielding Jake Fox, something that would make baseball a better sport to watch on a daily basis.

The Dear Hunter – Act III: Life and Death

One of the many albums I’m highly anticipated this year leaked yesterday and I found it to be pretty much what I expected out of the fun, prog rock band I discovered less than a year ago.

The Dear Hunter, for those not familiar, is a progressive rock/experimental rock band from Boston that is the project of former Receiving End of Sirens frontman Casey Crescenzo.

Act III: Life and Death is (obviously) the third part of a trilogy the band put together that tells a strange story that I have yet to look into so I’m still not quite sure what it’s about.

But what I do know is that their music rocks, and while Act III doesn’t necessarily take the kind of leap Coheed and Cambria did with their first Good Apollo, it still offers everything a fan would expect out of the band after listening to Act I: The Lake South, The River North, and Act II: The Meaning Of, And All Things Regarding Ms. Leading.

Anyway, Act III is just the start of a year of albums that includes the new Mars Volta project Octahedron, and new albums from the Avett Brothers and the aforementioned Coheed and Cambria. Should make for a pretty rockin’ summer, and (money pending) I may be seeing the Avett Brothers on June 26 in Chicago and Dear Hunter July 5, also in Chicago.

“The Hangover” – A Riot, If That’s Your Cup of Tea

I knew before going into The Hangover what I was going to get.

Yeah, I’m a film nerd who loves all the “artsy-fartsy” films about love and other sophisticated shit.

Well newsflash, that’s not quite The Hangover.

But I didn’t care. I wanted to laugh ’til I pissed myself. I wanted scene after scene to continue to shock and appall me. I wanted the type of humor I’ve seen in Old School, Superbad, 40-Year-Old Virgin, etc. That’s what I wanted out of The Hangover, and that’s what I got.

The standout of the film is Zach Galifianakis (and yes, I had to look up how to spell that). The stand-up comic who has become quite popular with the college crowd over the past couple of years is best known on the big screen for 2001’s “Out Cold.” But after this, he’s primed for a Will Farrell-esque career leap. (Also, according to IMDb the dude turns 40 this year. I would’ve bet he wasn’t a day over 30).

It’s likely if you’ve seen the trailer, you don’t need my advice to go see the film, but if you do, trust me. Go see it. The comedy is raunchy yet fresh, and while the one setback is that so many hilarious moments are shown in the trailer, there are still plenty more that aren’t (including a montage of pictures in the end credits that made a friend of mine laugh so hard he nearly fell out of his chair in the theatre.

“Drag Me to Hell” Hilariously Scary

I saw the horror film “Drag Me to Hell” last weekend and was thoroughly amused.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I knew it was from Sam Raimi, the master of the over-the-top horror genre (The Evil Dead franchise and Army of Darkness). But it’s been roughly 17 years since Raimi did Army of Darkness, and since then, he’s been morphed into the blockbuster world of the Spiderman franchise. So the question remained: Does Raimi still have it?

The answer is an emphatic “yes.”

The only real difference between Drag Me to Hell and Raimi’s previous cult classics is simply that he’s got millions of dollars to work with. He wasn’t afraid to let the audience know when they were about to be scared, and after the heart-pounding scare accompanied by the loud, shrieking music, you’d find yourself laughing so hard you nearly fall out of your chair.

Yes, it is that funny.

Without giving away too much, here are some of the amusing horrors you’re in store for if you see Drag Me to Hell:

A demonized man with a wispy mustache spitting out a kitten, a nose bleed from the lead actress that becomes so bad it spews blood all over a bank manager, a woman getting covered in mucus spilled from the mouth of a dead gypsy, and a demonized goat calling someone a bitch.

At the risk of sounding like a promotional took for the film, there’s much, much more.

The film appeals to horror freaks and film freaks alike. The horror film buff will like it because, despite it’s ridiculousness, it still scares the crap out of you. The film fan will enjoy it because it has about everything you need. It makes you laugh, it scares you, and it’s flat-out well made.

So I urge you, plead with you, see Drag Me to Hell. As long as you enter the film with the right mind, you won’t be disappointed.

What To Make of These White Sox

I’m sitting here watching the White Sox uninterrupted for the first time in quite a while and find myself wondering what to make of this team.

I denounced them a few weeks back when they were off to a 15-22 start. It’s not often that I give up on a White Sox season so early, and it’s not just the record that led me to give up. It had to do with a lot of things.

I still had faith – and still have faith – that the likes of Gavin Floyd and John Danks will turn in stellar seasons, my angst had mostly to do with the lack of any semblance of talent at three positions: third base, second base and centerfield. Likewise, the lack of a quality fourth and fifth starters gave me flashbacks of the days when our fifth starters went something like 200 consecutive starts without recording a victory.

Those factors, not to mention nobody on the roster proving their worth as a leadoff hitter gave me little hope. I already had little hope entering the season, and for those who know me, I’m one of the most optimistic White Sox fans around.

So now that the White Sox have rode the hot 1-2 duo of Scott Podsednik and Alexei Ramirez (what?) to a 10-3 record over their last 13 games and back to a .500 record, I can’t help but wonder what the chances are that this team can still find the ability to contend.

I’m fairly confident that the combination of Danks, Floyd and Mark Buehrle will be a force to be reckoned with all year. But can the team really contend with Bartolo Colon and Clayton Richard/Jose Contreras at No. 5?

Can Podsednik continue to do his best 2005 impression and provide a spark at the top of the order?

Can Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko collectively avoid any extended stays on the disabled list?

Can the White Sox continue to survive with the cluster of Josh Fields, Chris Getz, Jayson Nix, Brian Anderson and Dwayne Wise clogging down the bottom of the order?

The optimist in me wants to quote Kevin Garnett: “Anything is possible!” But the realist in me knows its unlikely.

It’s unlikely Colon will stay both healthy and effective.

It’s unlikely Richard will keep pitching like he’s Johan Santana.

It’s unlikely Podsednik will keep hitting at a .300 pace.

All the odds seem to be against the White Sox. They aren’t a good team on paper. They have flaw after flaw after flaw, and seem destined to finish with a .500 record at best.

But the optimistic in me can’t help but continue to find hope. This recent hot streak has suckered me back in.

So you never know.

Golf is Hard…mmkay

I went golfing today.

I am by no means a golfer. I’ve been maybe a dozen times in my life. I think I went twice last season and both times were at Newburg Village, a tiny, nine-hole course with two par 5’s, two par 3’s, and the rest par 4’s. Definitely a beginners course.

Today I got invited to golf 18 holes at Sandy Hollow golf course with a buddy of mine and two co-workers of his. Being the ultra-amateur that I am, I was incredibly nervous about making an ass of myself.

To my surprise, I held my own for the most part. Only shanked a few drives, only shanked a few fairway shots, and was able to get a five, six or seven on most holes. Heck, I even made par on one hole and a handful of bogies.

The thing I learned that is incredible about the game of golf is how difficult it is, and how much so many people have, not so much perfected the game, but found a way to play their own brand of golf successfully, and on such a consistent basis.

18 holes of golf is flat-out exhausting. By hole 16 I was beat. I was ready to call it quits and have a cold one. The fact that so many people are able to play day after day, week after week, for years and years is incredible to me. And those who are able to do it SUCCESSFULLY never cease to amaze me.

Nevermind the Tiger Woods, the Phil Michelson, and the guys we see on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour. That’s on a whole other level, but even just the local pros in Rockford who play in the amateur tournaments and shoot in the mid-70’s. That’s damn impressive.

I finished the day with a 118. Had a 59 on both the front and back 9’s. It was a fun day, an exhausting day, and definitely made me want to go golfing again. I’m a competitive guy and like to try and perfect the things I enjoy competing in. But one thing’s for sure, I’ve got a long way to go.

No Letdowns Possible

The city of Chicago was enraged this afternoon when the Detroit Red Wings dismantled the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 in the United Center, putting the Blackhawks in a 3-1 hole with the series heading back to Detroit.

Their rage was understandable, as the Blackhawks lost all the momentum gained from game three by playing flat, making foolish mistakes and not capitalizing on any of their very few opportunities.

But while the short-term feeling is frustration over the performance of Cristobel Huet, the dumb penalties by Kris Versteeg and the disappearing act by Patrick Kane, fans need to put this team into perspective and realize what we really have here.

Sure, it would have been great to beat the Red Wings (yes, I’m officially writing off the series right here and now), but there’s no way — NO WAY — this team declines in the coming years. Even if Nikolai Khabibulin and Martin Havlat bolt for free agency in the offseason, there is no way this experience does not help the likes of Kane, Versteeg, Jonathan Toews, etc.

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com used an analogy before the series started that this matchup was reminiscent of the Bulls-Pistons battle  in 1990, a year before Michael Jordan and the Bulls won their first title. Those Pistons were bigger, better and more experienced, but a year later those same Bulls broke through and a dynasty was born.

This Red Wings squad is old, scrappy and has more experience than any team in the NHL. It’s impossible to not see it on the ice, as the Blackhawks struggled on a possession-by-possession basis to get the puck into Red Wing territory. The Wings’ defense was that good.

But the likes of Nik Lindstrom and Henrik Zetterberg won’t be around forever, and really, what other team in the NHL has as much upside as the ‘Hawks right now? If and when the Wings decline, and it’s bound to happen eventually, the Blackhawks have the potential to be the cream of the crop in the Western Conference for a long, long time.

Kane and Toews seem to love it here, the city is rejuvinated, and the team has a core they can keep around for many, many years.

So while Blackhawks fans pout over the horrible (and it was really beyond horrible) game four performance Sunday, they need to keep things in perspective. We’ve got a good thing here in Chicago and it’s likely to stay for a long time.