49ers

49ers 4-1! Who would have thought? I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out and so far it has not. Big challenge this week vs the Detroit Lions! That defensive line was so dominating vs Chicago last monday night!

Lefties

Is a left handed specialist all that necessary? Not when his name is Trever Miller. His job is to come in, face one batter and get him out. Let's see how well that is working out for him this season. He has allowed 18 of 39 1st batters reach base this season. That is a .462 OBP (2nd worst in MLB). Look, if your job is to come in and face lefties and get them out and they are getting on nearly 50% of the time you have no business being on the team.

On a much happier note, from out of nowhere Skip Schumaker is hitting .350 since June 4th and has raised his average from .207 to .288. I gotta admit I never would have expected that to happen 38 games ago!

Back to bad news the Cards have hit into 111 double plays this season and are on pace to eclipse their old NL record of 166 set in 1958. I guess having a high team batting average has to come with some sort of downside.

I am Lazy

But right now I want to say this:
MLB and Holiday Inn decided to donate $1,000 for every hit during the All Star Game tonight to cancer research. Really, a whole $15,000? I know every penny counts, but come on! MUCH smaller companies have given over $14 million to Cardinals Care for the StL Cards turning double plays the last ten years. That is a bit over a million a year, and you put up $15,000. That is officially weak.

Apocalypse Now

I was watching Apocalypse Now the other night for the first time in a long long time! I forgot how great of a film it truely is. Its such an intense piece of work. How it didnt win the Best Picture of 1979 I will never understand. Robery Duvall as Col Kilgore is just simply fantastic! What a crazy jourbey the whole movie is. I watched the Redux version so there were some added scenes not in the original film. I remember reading about how Marlon Brando showed up for filming really fat and thats why his scenes as Col. Kurtz are shot in the shadows so you cant really see him, funny thing is I think this actually worked to make the film better. I would like to see what the plans were for the Character Col. Kurtz would have been had Brando been in shape? I always enjoy films where the main character is a mystery, here in this film you have Martin Sheen as Capt. Willard. Really kind of a non likeable character yet you find yourself interested in his mission but eventually you start to understand how truely screwed up he is becoming and you start to feel for him and also Col. Kurtz to an extent. The stories about the making of the film are as interesting as the film itself! A true fim classic!

Cards

You guys need to beat The Nationals! These are the games you cant let slip away

Wait, how many outs are there? 2 already? Damn....

The cardinals are the best two out hitters in baseball. That is the only reason they are currently in first place because it seems like they always have two out.

The cardinals offense has been rolling this year at a rate that not too many had anticipated. As I have mentioned in previous articles, the bats are hot and continue to be hot. It isn't even certain players, it is everyone on the team! Even when Laird (who is on the DL) is in the lineup, he contributes with at least a hit or two. This is the first year in several years where I examine the nightly lineup and don't immediately think "Boy I hope Albert does something tonight." It is nice to look up and down the lineup like Tony did during the bash brother days and think "I'm sure someone will come through for us tonight."

There is no explanation for what Daniel Descalso is doing right now. It is like he stole the go ahead in the 9th inning gene from the Reds this year and is keeping it all to himself. I can't imagine a situation where St. Louis will have to send him back down to Memphis, his glove is just as good as Freese's and his bat is made of clutch.

However the purpose of this blog was to discuss the plethora of double play ball the cardinals have hit into this year. As of the 24th of May the Cardinals have hit in 61 double plays!! At this rate, the Cardinals are on pace to not just set new records for double plays, but to shatter the old marks. The all-time National League record for team GIDP is 166 times, a mark set by the 1958 St. Louis Cardinals. (Interesting side note: the Cardinals also hold the record for fewest in a season, with just 75 in 1945.)

Something is going to have to change if the cards are going to be known for going deep in the playoffs this year instead of being drowned in futility from getting on top of too many balls with a guy on first. That is one record that St. Louis wants NO part of.

Speaking of Rivalries...

So the Reds announcers call the Cardinals a bunch of "whiners" and that they are the most hated team in all of baseball. I heard quite a bit of talk about this on the radio today while driving around and here is what I have assessed from it all.

Reds fans really really want Cards Reds to be a rivalry, and Cardinals fans are not ready to think of these pesky Ohioans as anything but a year or two flash in the pan. And because of this indifference by Cards fans the Reds have decided to do anything in their power to make us pay attention to them. They are acting like a bratty two year old who you are ignoring because something much cooler (like a ball game) is on TV. "Daddy look at me! Daddy look at me! Daddy look at me!"

Sorry Reds fans, but you are just wrong on this one. The Cardinals may complain during games about calls, sure everyone does. And heck, they might do it more than most teams do. I would not know because they are doing it in the confines of the game and no one would know about it unless someone in the media has to bring it to everyones attention or there is an ejection. I rarely see objections, so while they may argue about calls they are obviously not doing it in a way that shows up the umpires or they would take action.

The Reds have decided to continue to complain about the Cardinals in the media as a way to try and force a rivalry between two teams who's overall records over the last six years are: Cards 524-447, Reds 468-504. Now look, I would love to have a rivalry between the two clubs. But why not let it actually play out on the field. Sweeping the first place team to overtake them in the standings is a really good place to start. You really do not need to sink to the media name calling level.

PS: Tony, just shut up and get that eye healed. Go kick their asses next time out.

Cubs-Cards

Hopefully we can get to Westbrook early and often tonight! Hopefully there will be a game, Thunderstorms are suppose to move through the Chicago area today/tonight

As soon as the Cubs do something worth blogging about I will blog. Maybe we can take 2 out of 3 from the Cards this week, although I highly doubt it! Its another long season on the north side of Chicago! Big Z has looked better this year than the last few, but Dempster has just gone into the tank! A-Ram has forgotten how to hit homeruns and drive people in! Starlin Castro is our only stolen base threat! For a team that has the money and the loyal fans you would think you could build a half way decent team! Freakin WGN only shows about one damn game a week, which with the way the Cubs play is probably all I can stomach!

Defensive Post

I am waiting on Noel to make some posts that have nothing to do with the Cardinals, but I figure Joe and I can take over the blog for a while until those cubbies decide to make some noise. Well, besides Soriano and Zambrano that is. So get to work Noel! Or at least fill us in on some Husker news.

So the Cardinals offense is clicking on cylinders we have not seen in many many years as was pointed out in the previous post. I would like to think it is the best offense since Ray Lankford was roaming the outfield, but he was my second favorite Cardinal of all time and I know that I glorify him in my head. Anyway, the offense is leading the Birds on Bat to a nice 1.5 game lead on the Mr. Reds early in this young season, a pretty solid feat especially after the polar opposite starts the two teams had ten games into the year.

Now I am going to leave a discussion of the pitching staff to another day (not that we have not touched on it already), today is all about defense. And we just flat out stink. I will not go into super deep statistics tonight since I have a final to give in about 8 hours, but lets look at some very interesting stats that cannot be ignored:

Cardinals record when they commit an error 3-12
Cardinals record when not committing an error 15-2

Talk about an error that cost the team. 

Those stats are amazing to me. The Cards have the most errors in the league at 28. Ryan Theriot has had a league leading 8 errors on the season and has a .938 fielding percentage. Imagine how many he would have if he would have played in the 3 games he sat out!(statistics class tells me he would have 9, but you get my point) I realize that he is hitting the ball well, but I have no clue how he has a WAR of +0.4 at this point. I will grant you that I have no clue how WAR is calculated, but when you have a team that is 3-12 when committing a error and you personally have 8 errors, the eye test says that your WAR is way worse than +0.4.

Off to bed since I have to give a final at 8am. Oh, and I had two students OVERSLEEP the final I gave today... at 1pm! Could someone please explain to me how you oversleep a 1pm final? I have had several beers and a couple cinco de mayo margaritas and I will not oversleep the 8am final tomorrow, let alone a 1pm final. Oh well, I will see those kids in the spring!

offensive post

With the injury to Freese just getting under way there are no real signs of the cards offense slowing down. Freese's numbers on the year are .356/2 HR/14 RBI with four doubles and an .865 ops. Decent numbers for playing on ankles at half strength. Even with him sitting for 8-12 weeks (depending on who's report you heed) the cards still have a dynamic explosive offense that hasn't been seen since the MV3 era. And this offense may be better than that still.

With three former contending MVP's in the middle, all three benefit from one another. During the MV3 era it was assumed that Albert was the kingpin, Rolen and Edmonds were simply following along. This year, especially with the way Albert has hit so far average wise, Holliday and Berkman are surpassing what Scotty and Jimmy did in aiding number 5. Not only are the St. Louis's version of the big 3 stepping up, a variety of role players are filling in nicely. Rasmus (hitting .302 with 3 Homers and 11 Rbi) Theriot (.306 with 4 stolen bases) Allen Craig and Danny Descalso have all contributed.

Overall it seems regardless of the dead spots in the cards rotation and the lumps in the bullpen, the cards offense has a chance to carry both of them through the season, barring more injuries of course. Either way, I am enjoying watching the redbirds finally put together an offense around Pujols that will entice him to stick around a little longer.

“When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened.”

-Joan m Richardson

Cards Bullpen

Extremely rare sight this season

The Cardinals have blown an incredible number of saves this season. The total is 5 or 6, I know Franklin has 4 and the rest of the staff has at least one. So about HALF their losses are due to blown saves! That is just an amazing feat. FYI without any blown saves the Cards would have the best record in all of baseball and by about 3.5 games, these are all amazing numbers in the majors after only one month. But what has shocked me the most is that the Cardinals bullpen ERA is 3.30. That puts them 8th in the NL smack dab in the middle. But it certainly seems like our numbers should be much worse than that. Apparently we have some pitchers that know how to pitch late in games, just not the ninth. By comparison the Cubs bullpen ERA stands at 3.44, so I guess it could be worse...

Also, why for a team that is hitting an amazing .301 on the season is Tony LaRussa so adamant about batting Descalso or Punto at the top of the order? They are hitting a combined .206. If you need a middle infielder to hit at the top of the lineup so badly at least put Green up there. He is at least semi-competent and does not take strike three three damn times in one game.

No Really, I am Serious, Put Me In

I do a lot of joking about the fact that I should be put into professional/college games from time to time. But let's look back at my credentials. I played exactly one high school sport. Golf. Could I have played college golf, yes, but I decided to go to UNL and I could not have made that team... and lets face it, they are not exactly a dominant program. But I could have played DII golf had I wanted to. The rest of the sports are a different story. I played football in junior high, but I was 5'2" then and slow. There is no place for a slow tiny kid on the football field. I played basketball in junior high as well but did not make my high school team. Shocking a 5'2" kid missed out there as well. (I will caveat that by saying that I made the JV team and would have ended up on the team but my heart was not in it so I quit)

What about baseball? I played for years and years and the two things I took from it is that I was a really good pitcher and a terrible hitter. I could throw a mean hook and I could not hit one to save my life. I gave it up because I was a scratch golfer and they were both spring sports. I had a -1 handicap in golf and that is better than an above average curveball and a much much below average fastball especially in high school when you need to hit as well as pitch.

So there are tons of times when I kid around and say that me and 4 of my friends could go out and beat the Maine basketball team. I know for a fact that we would get dominated. Yet I think it is funny to say when the 'Cuse is struggling against a team it should dominate.

But that being said, I would stake a month of TV watching (and if you know me this is a big bet) on the fact that I would fare better than Ryan Franklin on the mound in the same number of innings he has pitched. Now sure, after a while I would regress towards the mean, but I have some serious advantages he does not. One, I believe I can throw a fastball about 59 MPH. Who is going to see that coming? And I can easily vary the speeds of my fastball. I can certainly toss one up there at about 50 MPH. FYI for those keeping track at home, batting practice pitchers throw about 70-78 MPH, and remember when they tried to screw up McGwire by throwing lob balls up there and it worked? I can do that with some actual late movement on the ball. Two, I can toss a wicked circle change at about 46 MPH. Try squaring up a pitch more than 40 MPH below anything you see in live action AND with a solid 15 MPH difference between that and the fastball. UNHITTABLE! Oh and it does not matter what your bat speed is, it will be tough to turn a 46 MPH change up into a homer. Three, I can actually still throw a 12-6 curve ball (kicked my nephew's ass with this last xmas). My curve looks like Darryl Kile with all the movement, just in super-slow motion. So I would have 3 pitches that would easily unnerve the best MLB hitters out there. If you are keeping track at home that is 3 more pitches than Ryan Franklin has right now.

Look, I will take the league minimum to test my theory. No problem there. But as is apparent, we need all of us to bring our 30-something asses out from retirement and start dominating hitters with our wicked, super slow stuff for the Cardinals relief staff to stand a chance this year. I believe we are on pace for 40 blown saves! This has to change. And it starts with removing Franklin, but I am not impressed with the rest of the staff, so:

"Put me in coach, I'm ready to play... today."

NFL Draft

Anybody excited for the Draft? Im usually pretty pumped for the Draft by this time but with the lock out and all I dont feel as excited forn the draft as I usually am. Most Mock Drafts have my 49ers taking LSU CB Patrick Peterson, I would be happy with that pick CB is a huge need. We also need a damn QB but please no Cam Newton, Blaine Gabbert, or Jake Locker! Im just not sold on these guys in the NFL

Let's Play Two!

After the Cards game was washed out last night they rescheduled for a double header today. But it is one of those damn day-night double headers. I wish that baseball wasn't so greedy that they really needed to get gate sales from two games. And the last time I attended a game that was rained out my option was to come back tomorrow for the game... umm I am not from this city, but alas I had no other options. So I was out my $50 without any recourse. So how many people that had tickets last night are now sitting at work eating $50 or more for tickets to a make up game today that they cannot attend? Lets go back to REAL double headers. One ticket, two games! How fantastic an idea. And lets let people attending a rain out to exchange their ticket for another game of their choosing during the season. I bet there are 20,000 at Busch Stadium today for the day game. Quite an atmosphere that will bring in!

The last REAL double header I attended was in 2002. I went with my brother in law and nephew. I was spotted on the jumbo tron without my shirt and my nephew and I had dinner with my parents the next night where he retold the story better than I ever could. "Uncle Keith had 7 beers at the baseball game and didn't eat ANYTHING!" Man that was a fun day. I hope it is not my last double header ever...

Justice?

So Barry Bonds is only found guilty of obstruction of justice? Really? After all of that evidence a jury couldnt convict Bonds of perjury? What a freakin joke! On the radio people are calling in saying "who really cares?" then it was asked "does the real baseball fan care about all of this steroid stuff, after all it were these "juicers" that saved baseball" In my opinion and I am only one man, it will forever matter to me. Part of my love for baseball is the love for all the crazy statistics that baseball has, growing up I knew all the HR numbers of the 500HR club, I knew Cy Young had 511 wins, I knew Ty Cobbs lifetime batting avg, I knew that 56 meant DiMaggio's Hitting streak and that Ted Williams was last hitter to hit .400. Players who have decided to use PEDs have tainted these cherished statistics and have forever tainted the game. I was right there with everyone else back in 1998 glued to the TV and checking sportscenter to see "did McGwire hit another one, how about Sammy" That was a magical year, no doubt about that but looking back on it now, its kinda sad. I will say this, McGwire and Sosa are both great guys and have done so much with there fame and fortune to help children out in thier areas and hometowns but its just sad to think that these guys "cheated the game" and frankly "cheated us" I love the HR just as much as the next person, but not if its not 100% real. As a lifetime baseball fan I have to say "i do care" Shame on MLB for allowing the "steroids era" to happen and not do anything about it and Shame on the "juicers" for tainting a game I love. I personally hope the Hall of Fame voters keep them all out of the Hall of Fame, which is a shame because most of the guys on the list, especially Barry Bonds would be HOFers even with out the juice, but then again we will never know now will we? As the years go by I hope we can distance ourselves from the "steroid era" and find our baseball Heroes that play the game the right way.

2 weeks in....

With nearly two full weeks of baseball down, the cardinals have already shown the fans quite a bit. With the offense starting off in the toilet the pitching was basically dominant. Aside from the game Keith and I attended they were in every game they played. Clearly this team is not the same with no. 7 on the bench. As good of a hitter as Allen Craig is, he is certainly no Matt Holiday. Then again who is? Good god the man came back from an appendectomy is half the time it was expected.

One shining light beaming from these first two weeks is the young talent the cards have. Colby Rasmus, David Freese, Allen Craig, Jaime Garcia and Kyle Mclellan, to name a few. Rasmus and Freese have been carrying this club with the absence of Pujols' bat. Once he starts swinging(I'm no longer as salty about his slow start and am just now eagerly awaiting the show) and Holiday and Berkman(who has 3 HR in 2 games) do what they have always done, you might have a club that will contend with Votto's red hot Reds.

Starting pitching has absolutely not gone the way the pundits predicted. Once 50 was out for the year everyone turned to Carp to handle the load. Aside from Westbrook, Carp has had one of the least impressive showings since the season started. Lohse has completely surprised me in that his stuff looks sharp and he appears to be in control. I'm cautiously hopeful that Kyle can pick up a significant amount of wins. Jaime's complete game shutout of the Padres team that posted 11 the day prior was magnificent. Dave Duncan has spun pure gold out of Jaime's arm. Jaime clearly passes the eye test and has enough break and deception to fool any big league hitter. The sky is the limit.

Moving forward, optimism lingers in redbird nation. With an offense that can do its share of damage and pitching that may surprise a few clubs, the Cardinals have a chance to dig themselves out of the hole they have been in since Jocketty left.

Slacking

Well, we have all either not had much to say, or we are all slacking. Either way I want to put something out there that has been driving me nuts. NO, it is not the pathetic start by Ryan Franklin. I have been VERY unhappy with my LG blu ray player.

What the heck does this have to do with sports? Well my player is supposed to support my MLB.tv package. But that has not been the case. First off, they did not have any preseason games that my blu ray player could get. This was not too big a deal as not many of my Cardinals games were ever broadcast this spring. But since they did not have spring training games they were unable to work out any kinks!

Opening day came and my MLB.tv worked perfectly as it has for years on my computer. I had no problem watching games (even on my google chrome browser, that was a bit of a surprise) at work on my computer. But when I got home and wanted to put up games on my tv via my LG blu ray player... I got to watch 2 seconds before "cannot connect to MLB.tv server". BASTARDS! And this problem did not just persist for opening day. It has been a problem for days until finally a firmware update was released that fixed the issue late on April 9th.

The problem with this was that I had bookmarked a couple of sites (like the LG and MLB forums) that promised an update when the problem was resolved. Nope, nothing. It has been out for two days and no site manager has let the masses know the issue has been fixed. Come on people, let your customers know the issue has been resolved.

Anyway, the LG update BD.8.31.339.C has finally resolved the issue. The first couple days it was tough to download because their servers were being stressed, but you should not have an issue now. I can now watch in frustration as Pujols struggles at the plate in beautiful HD on my TV and not just my computer. This was unacceptable, lets not allow this to happen again.

BASEBALL

It's Monday, baseball begins on Thursday. Thank GOD! Now that everyones bracket has been busted to hell, its time to focus on something with a little more stability. The greatest game on earth. The Cardinals begin the season with the light hitting padres. Ludwick will get one last taste of what an opening day in STL can be like. Essentially its a holiday around town. People are expected to take off work and celebrate the greatest day in spring. I'm really looking forward to meeting you Dr. Oppenheim. I've already been warned to bring my A game as far as downing $8.25 buds. Fortunately my wallet will keep me in check! Now its time for our predictions for the year.

AL East- Boston

AL Central-Detroit, that city needs a winner more than anything

AL West-Texas

Wild Card-Jankees

NL East-Atlanta

NL Central-Milwaukee

NL West- SF

Wild Card-Philly

WS Matchup is looking like Boston vs philly, Pitching will be key this year.

HBO Boxing

Well, I settled in to watch some boxing this evening after a full day of basketball. Congrats UConn, you have punched your ticket to losing before the sweet 16. There is no way to come back from 5 games in 5 days. Anyway, I was all excited to see an early battle between two young light middleweight fighters who wanted to make a name for themselves. And then I watched the fight between Andy Lee and Craig McEwen I was bored. I was glad that I had gone out and played some trivia and drank a few beers because it looked one sided from the second round on, and then a miracle happened. Boxing came to life the way it is supposed to! Craziness occurred  and the end of the fight was actually watchable.

Also while watching HBO boxing, I am aware that Miguel Cotto is fighting Ricardo Mayorga on PPV this evening. I have no idea how that fight will play itself out, but come on. Once upon a time I remember buying EVERY PPV fight. Now you are trying to get me to buy a fight against a guy that has lost every time he has been in a big fight (Mayorga) against a guy that has dominated every big fight he has been in (Cotto). And at the same time as I can get "free" boxing on HBO. Come on idiots.

OK, on to the main even between Martinez and Dzinziruk for, well... nothing. They own some worthless belts that are not on the line tonight. First note is that Martinez thinks he is Roy Jones Jr. in the ring (and Roy agrees, however I do not, he is just cocky and lazy). It was a pretty action packed fight where it was one sided by Martinez. But hey, action packed is what I am looking for or a regular basis, I do not mind it being one sided or not. Let us all hope that being one sided means you are going to be a dominant fighter for years to come. We need that.

Boxing

Saturday Night I was lucky enough to get to go to the Golden Gloves Omaha Area Fights! What a true Joy to watch boxing in the puriest form! The place I was at, The Tip Top Ballroom" in downtown Omaha was jammed packed for the fights! It was good to see there are still people out there that love to see some good boxing matches. There were 17 fights total, each lasting only 3 rounds. It was great to see the kids use the fundementals that they had been well taught, such as using a jab and moving thier heads side to side and most importantly keeping thier heads up. There was one kid who thought he was Muhammad Ali and tried to shuffle his feet thinking he was cute, but it was a desperate attempt since he was soundly beaten by a fighter who stuck to the basics. The 123 and 132 pound kids came out swinging and went back and forth for all three rounds in thier fights. It felt kinda like watching a Rocky film. The most fun fight of the night cam when a kid who looked like Butter Bean was fighting in the heavyweight division. He mostly used his head as a punching bad for the other guy but the kid just kept on coming! All in all if was a fun evening and great to see some of the good amatuer boxers that Omaha has. With all the bad professional fights as of late it was good to see some good ones.

Red State Boston MA

Well, as to be expected for an audience of a Kevin Smith movie it was filled with mainly 25-35 year old males, many of whom had the physique of Mr. Smith himself. The crowd arrived early and stood in line to grab beers before the main event. Sadly I was driving and unable to drink. Anyway, on to the movie.

The movie starts with a group of three teenage boys who have been invited to have a three-way with a much older woman. Pretty much sounds like the beginning of a Kevin Smith film. It is at this point the film takes an extreme right turn into an action-horror movie dealing with some fanatical, right wing, gay hating, god fearing crazies that are loosely based on the God Hates Fags guys in Kansas, and the Branch Davidian's in Waco TX. The crux of the film is that there are so many things you do not ever see coming. When my wife and I watch horror movies one of the first things to do is to figure out which one of the main characters is going to survive till the end. While certainly some of the main characters survive in this exciting horror movie, you will definitely guess incorrectly. Another major twist in the movie comes with about 20 minutes left in the film when the movie not only changes tone, but the way the storytelling is presented is completely different as well. This works flawlessly in order to take the edge off a VERY intense movie.

While I explained to my wife going in that this was not a typical Kevin Smith movie, she just could not wrap her head around what she was in for. I think she was expecting Scream or Scary Movie. This movie is not at all like those comedy horrors. While there is certainly plenty of comedic breaks throughout, the movie is much more along the lines of Saw or Halloween in its intensity. So if you are planning to see something like Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back you are not even in the ball park, this is so much different it is like Rob Zombie directing the next National Lampoon movie!

On to my review. This is by far the crispest, best looking of Kevin Smith's indie movies. He takes his $4 million dollar budget and makes it look like there was about $40 million to spend. So what is the bad side of this movie? There is a long, very long, preachy scene early in the movie. And by long I mean like 15 minutes and it really feels like it drags, but right after this all hell breaks loose and the film instantly draws you in. Ok, that is about it for the negatives what was good about the movie? One, it is a very original idea for a horror movie. While it takes some formulaic approaches, it quickly yanks you in another direction every time you think you know what is going to happen next. Plus each kill is unique and rarely seen coming, or at least in the way you would think it is going to happen. There are also great little touches that will remind you of other Kevin Smith productions strewn throughout the movie such as flashing the time in white letters with a black background ala Clerks and the horns of the apocalypse so similar to Dogma you are almost prepared to see Ben Affleck come to earth with angel wings. Lastly, the final 20 minutes of the movie are not only different from the rest of the movie, but they are a new way to wrap up a story, and it is well executed. John Goodman is just fantastic at this and everything else in the film.

So while I am quite certain to be biased due to watching the movie in a setting full of unabashed Kevin Smith fans who were able to yuck it up and clap and yell when the movie required it, I am giving a great review to the movie overall. I would say as a movie on the whole I will give it 4 out of 5 stars, it was damn good, but that is not the whole story. As Smith has pointed out, he is not trying to make the new Citizen Kane or anything, this is a horror movie and as horror movies go he nailed it. The intensity was palpable in the theater and the plot twists were extremely welcome in a very formulaic genre. So as horror movies go I give it 5 out of 5 stars and anoint it into one of my top ten horror movies of all time. It may be in my top 5, but that will be decided as it holds up over multiple viewings. Highly recommended everyone!

My Evening with Kevin Smith plus Red State

Sunday I am headed to Boston to watch an early screening of Kevin Smith's new movie Red State (release date October 19th). There are a few things to notice from the trailer. One, Smith is known for all sorts of witty dialog in his movies and the trailer has absolutely none, just some ramblings of a preacher. And two, this is certainly NOT a typical Kevin Smith movie. While comic actors John Goodman, Stephen Root and Ralph Garman (who was freaking fantastic as the host of The Joe Schmo Show) are in the movie, it is certainly not a full on fart and penis comedy, this is a horror thriller! I even hear that Garmin does not even have a line in the movie, but still has plenty of screen time... I wonder how that is pulled off. Do I think this will be some groundbreaking movie of our times, no. But I do expect to be entertained and look forward to seeing a new side to Smith.

I am an unabashed big fan of Smith since watching Clerks about 60 times my Senior year of High School. Since then I have enjoyed all of his films and listen weekly to a couple of this podcasts (Jay and Silent Bob Get Old and Smodcast). And now look forward to seeing what he can do outside his cushy element. Plus, I love me some horror movies. After the show there is a live Q&A with Smith and I suspect at least one of his other regular cronies (Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier aka Snowball from Clerks, Malcolm Ingram or Jeff Anderson). From watching An Evening With Kevin Smith I am quite sure this will be an entertaining evening of events. I will be back to give my opinions and impressions from MY evening with Kevin Smith

Baseball

Phillies-Yankees on MLB Network tomorrow afternoon! It will be good to hear the crack of the bat and the ball hitting the glove! PLAY BALL!!

Academy Awards

Im not sure how many people actually watch the Academy Awards. I understand how boring it can get listening to all the acceptance speeches. Being that I am a big movie fan I look upon the Academy Awards as the Super Bowl of the 2010 Movie year. Of the 10 Movies that are nominated for best picture I have only seen 7 of them but I would have to say that I hope 'The King's Speech' wins! I truely enjoyed this film and I think it is very deserving of all its nominations. I also really liked Inception, Black Swan, and True Grit. The Fighter I liked but not as much as the others I mentioned. That leads me to The Social Network. Not sure what it was about this film but I just dont understand all the praises that it has been getting. I thought it was a good, well made film but it just didnt have the same effect on me as the others. I will be rooting for The King's Speech and Colin Firth come Sunday Night.

Spring Training

Finally this weekend MLB starts playing some preseason games!!

Pujols

Im hearing rumors that if Pujols becomes a free agent that the Cubs and maybe the Dodgers are going to go after him. Can you imagine Pujols playing on the north side? While I would personally love to see that, I wonder how the people in St Louis view that? Would that be an unforgivable move?

My Boxing Resolution

As many of my friends know, I have a rich history of watching boxing (I cried when Buster Douglas beat Tyson). But boxing has really disappointed me of late. Due to the lack of exciting personalities, horrible PPV choices and aging stars, I have been lapse in watching many fights. I have made a resolution to watch every fight HBO offers for one entire year. I will also watch at least one Friday Night Fights on ESPN each month. By the end of this year I hope to find my new favorite fighter (my current favorite Ricky Hatton seems content to be retired), be able to pick out my top 5 fights of the year, and fall back in love with boxing again. However, worse case scenario, I swear off boxing for good.

I will be blogging about the best fights I see and let you know what is worth seeing. Tonights matchups are between Mike Jones... WHO? and Soto Karass and a main event Bantamweight bout between Nonito Donaire (25-1, 17KOs) and Fernando Montiel (43-2-2, 33KOs) I expect some fireworks tonight! And if you do not get my Mike Jones joke, then check this out. He also gave out his real phone number in a song 281-330-8004 (Houston TX area code), what a nut.

Blues Trade Mania

What in the world is going on with the Blues! First they ship out their captain Brewer (I was personally pleased about this, yet did not feel we got much in return) and now they trade Erik Johnson and Jay McClement for Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Goddamn Stewart. I love Chris Goddamn Stewart! And in two years Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk will be the top scoring defensemen in the league. I am very pleased with this trade. I always liked EJ, but he has not lived up to his potential and a change in scenery will do him some good.

All this and I do not think they are anywhere near being done. This trade was a good sign that they are not folding, but loading up for next season. I believe there is a high probability that they will cut a deal with Pittsburgh soon as well. Brad Boyes would be a perfect fit for a Penguins team that is in dire need of forwards right now...

Pujols Correction

I meant dont understand

Former Husker Coaching News

Looks like former OC Watson is now the QB coach at Louisville. Calahan DC Cosgrove who was with Minnesota last year is now at Akron. I hope coach Solich and his Ohio Bobcats just crush Akron this year!

Pujols

Looks like Pujols was offered a 9yr-200+million dollar deal and he turned that down and then claimed he wants to be a Cardinal forever. As a sports fan sometimes I just understand why it is always about $$$

Hockey News

Just to give the heads up (I should have remembered to post this yesterday), NHL Center Ice has a free preview this week. So while there is a lull in the sports action, enjoy the fastest game on ice. I know pitchers and catchers are starting to report, but there are no games yet. College basketball has some good games this week, but the NBA sucks. And screw you if you think otherwise.

CUBS SUCK

Joe's comment about the snow reminded me of this picture. It always makes me laugh.

Busch Stadium celebrates the Cubs futility even in the offseason.

I Need This

My college basketball team keeps throwing away games, my NFL team utterly gave away their season in amazing fashion, my college football team imploded the last month of the season and my NHL team is still two years from kicking hockey ass. So I need one thing right now...

I need El Hombre to sign with the Cardinals for the rest of this life. No, I do not mean he needs to sign for 1 more year, or two, or five, I need him to sign for the next 50. I have set my own lifespan at 70 (tops) so that would allow him another 37 years to bring joy to the Cardinal fans before dancing on my grave. Look, he only needs to play for the next 10 and then he can be a Redbird for life. I am not asking for miracles here. But just get this thing done. Holliday wants it done, and will help out! Boras be damned.

There is nothing better than pitchers and catchers reporting, but this is just torture.

Did you guys see the Captain America movie trailer during the Super Bowl? Im pretty pumped, Captain America is a favorite of mine!

Tarheels

Dont look now but the Tarheels are 17-5!! If we can beat Duke this week we can take over 1st in the ACC! The game is in Duke so I wont get my hopes up too much!!!

Thanks for making this Blog KO!! I have never really blogged before, this is pretty cool

Some stupid White Sox fan defaced the Harry Caray statue at Wrigley Field! South Side bums!!!

Super Crappy Watching Parties

A quote from Bruce: "I watched the game at my friend Lauren's apartment. With 4 women and a married couple who brought their 7 month old child. Most of the women talked through the entire game about work and relationship issues and who was looking cute and how shitty the commercials were that they talked all through"

Hmm... That sounds eerily similar to my Super Bowl party. Except mine was full of Nursing school students, and those are my students. It is very tough to get a good buzz on when surrounded by people you teach. Oh, and they had chips and dip, and SOUP as the Super Bowl fare! SOUP... Where was the pizza, hot wings, hot dogs, deep fried Twinkies on a stick?

Did you guys notice that Christina Aguilera screwed up the National Anthem?

Gonna be a great Super Bowl! Steeler D is Great but Packer D has been pretty solid as well. I still think Clay Matthews was cheated out of defensive player of the year. Polamalu is one of my favorites but Matthews was great this year! I havent been this excited for a Super Bowl in some time.

Keith &Joe: You guys think Big Puma has anything left in the tank?

Superbowl Sunday

Sorry guys, this blog is great. I jumped the gun on Cards talk haha, its superbowl sunday and should be treated accordingly! I don't know if you guys will read this prior to the big game but I really think the Steelers pull it out tonight. This is their highest rated run defense EVER! In Pit history! More so than the curtain! That is super impressive. Green Bay's D is no slouch but Aaron rodgers may be facing a wall he hasn't dealt with yet this year. Pardon my sentence fragments!! Go Rams!

Cards talk

Rumor has it that albert and co. are a little frustrated with the way talks are going. Is this a bargaining ploy or could he really be frustrated with the cards? My thought is that its part of the process and that here in the next week or two Albert can go ahead and etch his name and number out on that left field wall where he belongs. Ill be happy to pay $9 a beer to watch #5 anchor down 1st for the next 6-10 years.

Not sure what the thought in signing Jim Edmonds was. Sentimental value is over rated in today's market. If he plays his way on, awesome but his numbers last year were putrid and I doubt highly he improves much. Not saying myself and all cards fans wouldn't LOVE to see Jim climb the wall just one more time at Busch. I just hope that injuries don't force him into the lineup. Colby is and should be the future center fielder/number 2 hitter for years to come but I don't think Tony has the foresight to see it. Projected rough draft off the top of my head lineup. (I know I know, Tony will change it daily.) Skip, Colby, Albert, Holliday, Lance, Yadi, Freese, Theriot, Carp. Thoughts?

First Post

Well, this is our first post on Touchdown Tommy Frazier. Hopefully this will be a good place where we can get together and talk anything that pops into our heads. We all plan for this to be a place we can talk sports, movies, TV and heck, whatever else is important at the time.

I am going to go out on a limb and assume that next weeks' topics of discussion will be the Super Bowl, Cuse vs Georgetown, UNC vs Duke, Husker Football and US China relations... well at least 3 of the 4 will be discussed. Oh yeah, and there is some WAY above average baseball player in St Louis whom we may need to discuss. Yep, that is right, Jim Edmonds is back with the birds on bat!

Anyway, lets get it on guys. I (and by I, I mean we) will be able to add several features over the next few weeks to make this a fun place to check out and debate what is going on.