DLD 021309: I suggest you humans should keep your egos in check

Really don't know why...

…Oaktoon/Madmongoose/Windyfelix keeps changing names when he outs himself by posting in the exact same style the whole way.

If he wants to reinvent himself, creating a new username isn’t enough.

I could save him the trouble of thinking up another one. He should just try…

Blowhard

Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog

by Flashfire on Feb 13, 2009 10:53 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

I figured it out a while ago, but it turned out I also didn't care.

Children, until we have taught them better, will be perfectly happy with a seasonal round of games in which conkers succeeds hopscotch.

by salb918 on Feb 13, 2009 10:57 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

that monkeys can count?

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:05 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

New baseball reference format coming

looks awesome.

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 10:58 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Thank goodness.

The 2009 A's draft pick... getting higher every game.

by rebus on Feb 13, 2009 11:12 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I can't believe no one's claimed Dan Hedaya

(and I also note that the three previous references on AN to Dan Hedaya are all by monkeyball)

Thanks for tomorrow 'cause I've had enough

by andeux on Feb 13, 2009 11:03 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

He's in my pantheon, too

Basically, so is everyone in the cast of Buckaroo Banzai. And Dick.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:05 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I can’t approve of any pantheon that includes Will Ferrell.
And I’ve never been sure how to feel about Buckaroo Banzai pinching the name “Yoyodyne” from Pynchon.

Thanks for tomorrow 'cause I've had enough

by andeux on Feb 13, 2009 11:09 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs

I'm sorry, but Will Ferrell is funny (in small doses, and the first time one sees any particular routine)

Yes, in large doses and on repeat viewings, he becomes tiresome. But he’s used perfectly in Dick. Such a wonderful takedown of Woodward.

And I think BB nails (a certain aspect of) “Pynchonesque.” MacRauch and Richter earned that theft honorably.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:17 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Flag Comment “I’m sorry, but Will Ferrell is funny (in small doses, and the first time one sees any particular routine)”

Reason: inappropriate

Your flag will not be visible to anyone but moderators. Please select the reason you are flagging this content: spam, trolling or just inappropriate. Then write us a short note explaining why you flagged it that way.

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:23 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

actually, that should be flagged as "trolling," to elicit precisely your response

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:27 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

So many different ways to characterize the offense...

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:33 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Is the offense, "Thinking Will Ferrell is funny,"

or are you saying he’s talking about Will Ferrell, the lesser known controversial politician?

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Feb 13, 2009 4:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

the former

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I just watched Dick again a few weeks ago

I’d forgotten how funny it is. Including one of my favorite movie lines “Checkers pooped!” That pops into my head all the time for some reason.

"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King

by batgirl on Feb 13, 2009 12:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Best. Ending. Ever.

The use of that Carly Simon song is … bizarre/inspired/perfect. Especially given who the song was allegedly written about/to.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 12:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

the whole soundtrack is pretty good

I bought it the minute in knew it included “The Popcorn Song” by Hot Butter.

"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King

by batgirl on Feb 14, 2009 11:56 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

BPro top 100 prospects

A’s have 5 players:

20. Inoa
23. Cahill
24. Anderson
48. Carter
93. Cardenas

Children, until we have taught them better, will be perfectly happy with a seasonal round of games in which conkers succeeds hopscotch.

by salb918 on Feb 13, 2009 11:11 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

link

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8506

Children, until we have taught them better, will be perfectly happy with a seasonal round of games in which conkers succeeds hopscotch.

by salb918 on Feb 13, 2009 11:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Two observations:

1. Inoa? WTF?
2. The inconsistencies between this list and prior lists/pronouncements do not enhance KG’s credibility in my eyes.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 13, 2009 11:20 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

This might be the worst thing BPro has ever done

Am I the only one who thinks Rick Porcello at 6 and Cahill/Anderson at 23/24 is even worse than putting Inoa as the #1 A’s prospect?

by thejd44 on Feb 13, 2009 12:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Other curious placements: Ben Revere and his empty BA check in at #36, while Aaron Cunningham is omitted entirely; Ross Detwiler makes the top 100, but Jeremy Hellickson is nowhere to be found; Tim Alderson ranked at #60, behind Jake Arrieta; and Wilin Rosario at 45…who?

I think it’s good to have different perspectives, but there doesn’t appear to be a logical and consistent approach here. For instance, Lars Anderson is ranked 17th, while Freddie Freeman is 80th. On what basis, other than scout’s intuition, can one justify such a disparate treatment of these two. Yet at other times, performance seems to trump scouting, e.g., Bowden at #31. I can’t get a feel for what KG’s methodology is here.

by CapgrasDelusion on Feb 14, 2009 5:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

What are the inconsistencies?

I don’t doubt that there are, but I’m interested in what they are.

I think the exclusion of Cunningham is the biggest A’s-related problem.

I don’t understand how people can complain about Inoa’s placement—whether it’s 10th or 90th.

by Danny on Feb 13, 2009 4:33 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Gio Gonzalez was high last year... this year he's completely off the list...

At the time of the draft, he characterized Jemile Weeks as a great player, yet he’s not on the list…

I imagine there are others, but I don’t feel like spending 10 minutes on Google finding them.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 13, 2009 7:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I guess

Gio was 56th last year, and he’s now another year older without having improved his control.

by Danny on Feb 14, 2009 9:31 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

How don't you understand Inoa complaints?

Putting a 17-year-old who has done nothing over two pitchers (Cahill and Anderson) who are said to have ace potential is pretty ass backwards if you ask me. Inoa probably wouldn’t be in my top 250 prospects until he actually does something. I understand that some people are all about mythical ceilings of players, but to say you don’t understand complaints about his ranking is a bit strange.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:25 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't get this "does something" business

When people analyze a high school pitcher, they don’t look at his stats. They look at scouting reports of him. That’s exactly what they’re doing with Inoa. The scouting reports on him—from every scout who’s seen him—are glowing.

When you dismiss “ceiling” as something “mythical,” you’re pretty much dismissing scouting altogether in favor of performance analysis. That’s a terrible way to evaluate amateur talent, or even young professional talent.

Inoa is ranked so highly because his stuff is really good for his age, and he has the physical tools to get much better. That’s the same type of reasoning people use to decide Justin Upton was a top prospect straight of high school, or that Pedro Alvarez is a top prospect now.

To say you wouldn’t put him in your top 250 prospects is to say scouting is worthless. I can see placing him 100th because he’s so far away from the major, or placing him 10th because he has more upside than any other pitcher. But I see no reason to dismiss him just because he hasn’t played pro ball yet.

You also must think the A’s are idiots for signing him. A foreign prospect who doesn’t crack the top 250 prospects isn’t worth a tenth of what the A’s paid Inoa.

by Danny on Feb 14, 2009 9:43 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

His bonus is roughly (rule of thumb) 3 times what he would have gotten in the draft, because he had negotiating leverage. Given that, he was paid like a late-first-round pick, suggesting that there are 25 or so players from JUST THIS SEASON who were valued more highly (by the market) than Inoa. Given that he’s about 5 years from the bigs, it doesn’t seem outrageous at all to me to suggest that there are 100 or more better prospects in the minors. 250, OK, not that many.

A tenth of what the A’s paid Inoa, discounting by the same degree, is like a 6th round draft pick. I’d be frickin’ overjoyed if every one of my 6th round picks was a top 250 prospect coming out of amateur ball.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 14, 2009 12:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Or, in a nutshell,

if Goldstein is right, the market blew it on Inoa to a ridiculous (i.e. he should have gotten $10 million or more) degree. I find that hard to seriously credit.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 14, 2009 12:50 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I find it seriously hard to credit

the idea that the market valued Inoa as the 25th best amateur player to sign in 2008, since it did no such thing.

by Danny on Feb 15, 2009 8:41 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Would you like to actually back that statement with something?

There are all kinds of other reasons why that ranking is ludicrous. For instance— Mike Moustakas ranks directly below him on Goldstein’s list. How many teams would pay $4.25 million to buy him? Good lord, he got near that much in signing bonus with no leverage— and he hasn’t exactly sucked ass in the minors since then; you’d think his value would be well up at this point. You think the A’s might have spent $4.25 million on Justin Smoak instead of Jason Giambi? They’d have to be lunatics not to do that.

If you could actually go through the list of top prospects and buy any of prospects #21-40 for a mere 4.25 million dollars, a GM would be a criminal moron to ever sign a free agent at market rates.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 15, 2009 10:03 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You seem to think the A's won Inoa in an auction

In reality, they signed him by virtue of an intensive courting process.

As for backing statements up with something, would you care to explain where you got this “rule of thumb?” Did you make it up, or did you take it from someone?

by Danny on Feb 15, 2009 4:57 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I also meant to add...

To reiterate, I’m not arguing that Inoa’s a top 20 prospect. I’m saying that Inoa has a unique combination of upside and distance from that upside that it’s hard to get worked up over how any single analyst weighs those attributes.

Given how glowing the scouting reports on him are, it’s perfectly reasonable to think he’s a top 20 prospect. Given all the hurdles he has to pass before contributing at the major league level, it’s perfectly rational to think he’s outside the top 75.

by Danny on Feb 15, 2009 5:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Believe it or not,

it is possible to ask someone the basis for something without the use of manipulative loaded questions.

It’s a rule I’ve developed, based on quite a lot of (admittedly anecdotal) looking at how prospects are signed and where they slot into rankings and how much value they provide relative to their signing amount, leavened with some amount of inference from economics and negotiating principles. I personally wouldn’t call that “making it up,” but, you know, anything to score the point, right?

The correct argument to make (inasmuch as it actually comports with basic economics), which you started hinting at above, is that Inoa, like other Latin prospects, also had his salary suppressed because of the abuses of the buscon system. To which my reply is, while I have no doubt that many people are abused, misled and essentially conned into signing with teams for well below their market prices, that’s far less likely to happen the higher-profile the prospect. If a guy’s good enough that everyone wants him, he’s going to get paid what he’s worth.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 15, 2009 8:31 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You should be more clear

I didn’t know what you meant by “rule of thumb.” I thought maybe you had learned this rule from someone who had actually published a study on the issue. As it turns out, it was simply based on your unexplained and unsupported personal observations.

Using the term “rule of thumb” to describe your personal opinion is an easy way to intimidate and mislead people into thinking you know more than you do. That seems be be a common tactic for you.

To which my reply is, while I have no doubt that many people are abused, misled and essentially conned into signing with teams for well below their market prices, that’s far less likely to happen the higher-profile the prospect. If a guy’s good enough that everyone wants him, he’s going to get paid what he’s worth.

Such a reply ignores everything that’s been reported about Inoa’s signing—from the Yankees nearly signing him for much less than the A’s did before Inoa changed agents, to the A’s making their push much more based on their system than their money, to the Rangers having offered close to $1 million more than the A’s did.

by Danny on Feb 16, 2009 11:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

It may well be worth more than $1 million to sign with Oakland instead of Texas

and why do you think he changed agents? Could it, perhaps, have been that the new agent told him that he could get more money by backing out of the covert Yankees deal? Maybe it was just a personal conflict… seems unlikely to me.

I don’t understand why you’re so invested in accusing me of intellectual dishonesty, but whatever: if I know a study has been done of something, I’ll link it or list the publication (unless it’s so well known as to have already entered common knowledge, like the 10 runs/1 win rule). If I can’t remember where it was, I’ll say that. I’m not an idiot— having authority for a point is better than not having it. On the subject of Latin signing bonuses, I’m not aware of any studies having been published.

I’m just going to cut it off there, because any further comments are going to start verging into CGV territory.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 16, 2009 1:24 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

link?

Dogfood Gangstas
Canned or Dry,
We Neva Die.

by Zonis on Feb 13, 2009 11:20 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

didn’t sign
22. Justin Smoak, 1B, Rangers
89. Daniel Schlereth, LHP, Diamondbacks

didn’t draft
37. Brett Wallace, 3B, Cardinals
39. Aaron Hicks, OF, Twins

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 13, 2009 3:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well if you're going to list high school kids we drafted and didn't sign,

you may as well put Papelbon in there, too.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 13, 2009 7:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

uhh... papelbon didn't make BP's top 100 prospects list this year

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 13, 2009 10:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

oops, my bad.

I misunderstood the criteria.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 14, 2009 9:20 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I call dibs on this guy for the movie:

I mean the one in front, BTW.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Feb 13, 2009 11:14 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Is that Claude Rains?

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:18 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I am shocked -- SHOCKed -- to see that you don't recognize Cesar Millan in here.

Then again, I’m unclear on the concept that everybody had to be in that film I’ve never seen.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Feb 13, 2009 11:36 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

pic isn't showing up

In Firefox, I get absolutely nothin’; in Safari, a big ?.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

In catholic school, the nuns told me that liking Will Ferrell would make me go blind

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

are you seeing TDF's pic?

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 12:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Then let me fling you a linky --

poo.

How’s that? Pic comes from a “gay gamer” site by way of google image search. It’s barely noon and already today I’ve learned that there are gay gamer sites on the ’tubes.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Feb 13, 2009 12:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

"don't have permission to access"

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 12:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Sheesh. Then again, on that recommendation, maybe I should go back and look at that site again.

The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus

by The Dogfather on Feb 13, 2009 12:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

possibly the most overrated movie ever

other candidates:
-the stultifying lotr series
-princess bride
-fight club
-duck soup
-singin’ in the rain
-the searchers
-bonnie and clyde
-american beauty (maybe no one likes this anymore…)

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:21 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Titanic

or did it meet the same fate as American Beauty? Or did anyone ever really like it?

In the case of Duck Soup and other supposed Komedy Klassics, it’s sort of sad how they just don’t seem funny anymore.

by Mark H on Feb 13, 2009 11:25 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

most of the Marx Bros movies are poor films, with some brilliant bits interspersed

Such is nearly always the case with comedies, though; it’s a blighted genre.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:27 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

My favorite Marx Bros moment is when

Sean Connery says “I should have shent it schto the marxsh brothersh”

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

This is a castle and we have any tapestries,

but if you are SCOTTISH LORD, then I AM MICKEY MOUSE!

Nothing like sucker punching a Nazi Butler!

Play more Conan!

by oaklandSMASH on Feb 14, 2009 12:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Titanic was only really popular among teenage girls, and it delivered the goods on that front

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:35 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not a teenage girl

Maybe I have the emotional maturity of one though, b/c I loved Titanic.

One day, I hope someone investigates the enormous, growing backlash against that movie. It made more green than any other movie in the history of movies, and by a wide margin. It seems like it won every possible critical award that year. But 9 out of 10 people I talk to today claim they hated it. What gives?

by nickolai on Feb 13, 2009 12:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

we need a truth and reconciliation committee on this subject

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 12:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

or Senator Mitchell

"You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy."

-Charles Manson

by kaweahkaweah on Feb 13, 2009 12:47 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I forget where I read it

But someone wrote that for the Oscars, the boat should have won Best Actor, and the iceberg Best Supporting Actor.

Anyway, I thought Titanic was an impressive-looking movie, between the boat and Kate Winslet nekkid.

by EddieVegas_NRAF on Feb 13, 2009 11:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, the backlash is growing.

I hated it right away, seeing it in a huge theater in Vegas around the time it came out (I was biding my time before going to the airport – everyone else had flown out already and my capacity for gambling and alcohol had run out.)

Just weeks later, this brought me massive crap from a sales rep I was working with. She insisted I was being contrarian or “didn’t get it.” “Everyone I know loved it – what’s wrong with you?” She also had a Titanic screensaver, which kept popping up every five minutes during her presentation.

by Mark H on Feb 13, 2009 12:44 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

LOL, you "didn't get it!" oh man, that's hilarious

Is there anything to get? I mean, it’s a very simple love story. It’s a fine movie. Some great details and effects and the boat sinking stuff was well done. As far as sappy love stories go, I guess it was fine. Movies don’t make me cry. There’s not a movie that has been made that has made me cry. This should not be the basis for what makes something good.

There should be backlash against the movie because it won a ton of awards it didn’t deserve to win. It was the worst of the nominated Best Picture movies, and really it’s not even close. As Good as It Gets, The Full Monty, Good Will Hunting, and L.A. Confidential were all superior.

by thejd44 on Feb 13, 2009 1:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I laughed when the guy hit the propeller

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I laughed when they showed the low-class steerage section

It was so stereotypical: The poor people having a better time than the rich, dancing a jig, clapping along to the music, being down-to-earth in general. Screenwriting by committee I suppose.

by Mark H on Feb 13, 2009 1:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You, obviously, never sat in the pre-tarp third deck

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:22 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

LOL

by Rocktopus on Feb 13, 2009 1:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

So,

you’ve never seen Brian’s Song?

by sslinger on Feb 13, 2009 2:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I have.

Movies don’t make me cry. They’re movies. Even stories that depict real life are still just movies.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:26 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

"Titanic" was OK, I guess, but it was just too long for me.

I found myself asking, “Where’s the friggin’ iceberg?!”

by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Feb 14, 2009 6:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

1. fact: celine dion is terrible

2. been-done-a-million-times-before, unimaginative love story, with some tragedy, etc. it’s like the same old same old romantic comedies that come out every couple of months. a formula movie like that shouldn’t be winning awards

3. seriously though, celine dion… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-529448/Hair-raising-Celine-Dion-takes-stage-furry-legs.html lol

by jlanning17 on Feb 13, 2009 1:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Couldn't care less

about the hairy legs, but one of my favorite Lewis Black lines is about her: They designed a new theater in Las Vegas just for Celine Dion, but it didn’t work. YOU CAN STILL HEAR HER.

by sslinger on Feb 13, 2009 2:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

meh

1. celine dion has virtually nothing to do with the movie

2. yeh, you may be right. What many people don’t understand though, is that the love story is a teenage one — it’s meant to be a been-done-a-million-times before story. The dialogue is meant to be wooden, and the sentiments cheesy.

Maybe I’m a James Cameron apologist. I love all of his movies, even though I haven’t seen Piranha 2 yet.

by nickolai on Feb 13, 2009 10:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The thing is, Titanic is fine as a teenage love drama movie.

It’s just that that particular genre should never, ever be winning best picture.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:27 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

precisely

by jlanning17 on Feb 15, 2009 3:34 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

hunh? why not?

I loathed Titanic, but Heavenly Creatures, which is basically a teenage love drama in the tragic mode, was among the very best films released the year it came out.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 16, 2009 6:36 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

WHOA

I can grant you at least partial credence on all of those (though I absolutely love FC, I recognize it’s not to everyone’s taste and it plays fast and loose with genre rules without really backing it up structurally) EXCEPT for Singin’ in the Rain. Claiming it to be overrated is on a par with complaining about STRICKOUTS! in my book.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:26 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I probably should have left that off because a lot of it is that it's not my sort of thing (and I love the song)

but I was not entertained even slightly.

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:32 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow.

I can understand not liking musicals; I can understand not liking backstage musicals especially; I can understand not liking meta-Hollywood in-joke humor (America’s Sweethearts, anyone?); but “not entertained even slightly”? Wow.

Let me guess: you saw Clockwork Orange first.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I don't recall which I saw first, but I prefer the "Singin' in the rain" version

in fact, I have even sung it in the rain in state of delight in the swiss alps. More than anything, I found it incredibly dated.

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:42 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

what about the last 10 minutes of American in Paris?

(Now, that’s an overrated movie; but the final suite is astonishing. And Oscar Levant is in my pantheon somewhere south of Dan Hedaya.)

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:45 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

haven't seen it

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

rent it just for the last suite; the rest is pretty disposable

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:48 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Dan Uggla

is in my pantheon somewhere south of the levant.

"...in baseball you wear a cap." -- george carlin

by Hot Cup Joe on Feb 13, 2009 1:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

would that put him in your levantheon?

And is the guy who played Ron LeFlore in your levartheon?

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:59 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Leviathon?

Like the sea monster?

Play more Conan!

by oaklandSMASH on Feb 14, 2009 12:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The Usual Suspects? Really?

It’s got great acting, a conceit/plot twist that hasn’t been recycled a billion times, and enough subtle detail to make multiple viewings worthwhile.

As for the others, haven’t we had this discussion before?
I also still like American Beauty, though I understand and to some extent agree with the criticism of it. But it has some moments of absolutely perfect farce, and others that are painfully uncomfortable, and any movie that manages to combine those two elements can’t be all bad.
Fight Club is inane.
And since this is the trolling thread, I have to add 2001 to the list.

Thanks for tomorrow 'cause I've had enough

by andeux on Feb 13, 2009 11:39 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU’RE SECRETLY MICK LASALLE, AREN’T YOU?

Hunh. Didn’t mean to allcap that, but in retrospect, I’m OK with it.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 11:41 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

heh

No, in fact that was a somewhat rare point of complete agreement with him.

Thanks for tomorrow 'cause I've had enough

by andeux on Feb 13, 2009 11:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

the problem for me is that the "surface plot" didn't do anything for me, and so I didn't really care that there was a clever plot twist

I like 2001, but I can definitely understand that sentiment.

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:45 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Don't Diss Princess Bride!

with you on the rest.

Stewart 7, Clemens / McNamee 1

by eastcoasta'sfan on Feb 13, 2009 11:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

princess bride = still funny

FACT.

Billy Beane loves soccerball, and so should you

by alea iacta est on Feb 13, 2009 1:15 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

+1

I like important stuff just as much as the next guy, but please, for a little while, deliver us from meaning, baseball. That's your greatest glory, and we thank you for it very, very much. -- Craig Calcaterra

by JLeverenz on Feb 13, 2009 1:16 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I still want a peanut!

Play more Conan!

by oaklandSMASH on Feb 14, 2009 12:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

American History X

I switched Cabreras when your back was turned.

by Elvez on Feb 13, 2009 12:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Ed Norton: most overrated actor

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 12:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Boo...

And this coming from someone who likes Will Ferrell?

Then again, I really, really like FC and Usual Suspects, so maybe my judgment isn’t on par with you guys.

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton

by vignette17 on Feb 13, 2009 12:37 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

it's all a matter of taste

I hope I’m not coming off as saying that there are actual normative absolutes for all this nonsense; I’m absolutist in my tastes, and forceful (to the point of PTesque hyperbole) with how I express ’em.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 12:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That's OK

Monkeyball: The Wire of movie critics.

I respect (and agree) with most of your other opinions but it had to be done, monkey, had to be done.

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton

by vignette17 on Feb 13, 2009 1:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

had to be, and was well done

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The Shield, the Shield!

Vignette, you are clearly trying to say that monkeyball is The Shield of movie critics

P.S. Fight Club rocks; a few good scenes early on in American Beauty were enough to make me overlook all the bad ones the first time around but it’s definitely suffered after repeat viewings, and it was good to see Freaks and Geeks’ Sam Levine getting some screen time in that Inglorious Bastards preview. Didn’t know he was still in the game.

Brainless Automaton #439

by rubin sierra on Feb 13, 2009 2:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I might be missing the point here

But as much as I love the Shield, it’s still basically just a cop show. Or a cop show with a twist, if you will. The Wire is literature on television that happens to involve some cops. They’re really not even the same animal.

Put another way: The Shield’s primary objective is obviously to entertain. The Wire has always been about the art, and if people are entertained in the process, awesome.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:30 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I know nothing of the Shield or the Wire, but

the idea that “art” and “entertainment” are opposites is a 20th century disease that has been the death of art.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 14, 2009 9:28 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Art is dead?

Huh. I missed that. But if it is (it’s not), I’m pretty sure the cleaving you describe is not to blame.

by 74mk on Feb 14, 2009 10:23 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I remember a lot of people wishing that Art was dead

from the way he managed the A’s bullpen a few years ago.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Feb 14, 2009 12:58 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well, the genre I'm most familiar with

is mostly dead. For exactly that reason.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 14, 2009 1:12 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Art shouldn't be created with the idea of "how can we thrill the audience" in mind

I think that defeats the whole purpose of the art

by thejd44 on Feb 16, 2009 1:28 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

What would you say that whole purpose is?

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 16, 2009 7:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Funny how so few people understand this

It’s just subjective and basically unimportant, which makes it ripe and open for being absolutist and opinionated, right up there with Yankees Suck!!!

by Mark H on Feb 13, 2009 1:10 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

One thing I like about the aforementioned Mr. LaSalle

is that, while his tastes are not very closely aligned with mine, he seems to be aware that many of his opinions are idiosyncratic, without being apologetic for holding them. In contrast, some other critics (I’m looking at you, David Denby) seem to think that they have special insight into objective truth about aesthetics.

Thanks for tomorrow 'cause I've had enough

by andeux on Feb 13, 2009 1:51 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't call myself a "fan" of Mick's, but I respect him

Mostly. The 2001 affair was … well, it should have been embarrassing for him.

But when it comes to strict genre pictures, he’s really good. And, yes, his self-acknowledgment of his idiosyncracies is refreshing.

Gawd, Denby’s awful — but he’s nowhere near as bad as Anthony Lane.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:59 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I love Anthony Lane

not as a movie critic necessarily, as his columns are a vehicle for random musings, but he’s a fantastic writer.

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 13, 2009 11:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think there ARE actual objective things that make an actor or movie "good."

That’s different from like/dislike or entertainment value.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:29 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs

I don't understand this comment.

by thejd44 on Feb 13, 2009 1:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not saying he's bad, just that he's overrated

I think he’s a good actor in the same sense that I think Ratto’s a good columnist.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

-497597

Norton is great.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 13, 2009 7:59 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

concur.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 9:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

concur.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 14, 2009 4:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

did you forget to log in to your alternate acccount?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 4:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

No, my computer's evil.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 14, 2009 5:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Hate hate hate!

Ryan Sweeney: I probably irrationally embraced him before you did.

by Joey C. on Feb 13, 2009 1:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Hate hate hate!

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 3:00 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

good list

but i hate musicals more than almost anyone, and singin’ in the rain doesn’t belong on that list

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 13, 2009 2:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Princess Bride and Fight Club were awesome.

The rest I couldn’t care less about.

"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."

by mikev on Feb 13, 2009 2:09 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Slumdog Millionaire

If it wins all the awards.

by sslinger on Feb 13, 2009 2:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

i thought we were discussing movies that are overrated by people with relatively good taste

(and btw eternal sunlight of the spotless mind and lost in translation belong on that list), but if we’re talking about award winners i would add 80% of best picture nominees from the last two decades.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 13, 2009 2:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

why the arbitrary time cutoff?

Rain Man
Last Emperor
Platoon
Out of Africa
Amadeus
Terms of Endearment
Gandhi
Chariots of Fire
Ordinary People
Kramer vs Kramer

… and that’s just the ’80s. The ’70s are marginally better, but the ’60s are howlingly bad (Oliver!?) with a few highlights (LoA), the ’50s are astonishingly dull … the ’40s is a halfway decent list … and the ’30s is a roster of films that no one will ever watch again.

The Best Picture is always an oxymoron.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 3:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

it was an arbitrary time cutoff, i put absolutely no thought into it

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 13, 2009 3:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

actually

i just meant since the 70s, but i always forget we’re so far into the aughts that it was almost 30 years ago.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 13, 2009 3:10 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not really looking for an argument,

(I’ve told you once…no, you haven’t!)

but it seems like the movies on that list all have a certain commonality, namely being either emotionally charged or emotionally manipulative, depending upon your point of view. But I’m unconvinced that makes a movie bad or overrated. Does it?

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 3:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

all mainstream narrative cinema not directed by Kubrick is emotionally charged and/or manipulative

Half the ones on that list don’t really fit the category you’re trying to establish, though: Last Emperor, Platoon, Amadeus, Gandhi, Chariots of Fire

I’ve always thought that the most important commonality for BP winners is that they have to make Hollywood feel good about itself, that “the community” is doing something honorable and worthwhile.

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 3:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well, there is that.

I don’t think I ever saw TLE, but I think the other titles you have there are emotionally charged or emotionally manipulative. In Platoon, think of the whole DaFoe/Berrenger struggle and that whole “I’m guilty because I’m from the 60s” mentality that Stone seems to bring to the table.

But I think you’re right. Feeling good about our role as filmmakers is important. Maybe the overlying cause and effect for Academy Awards.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 3:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I like a lot of Kubrick movies

But I’m not sure I can ever be convinced that A Clockwork Orange isn’t a big flaming pile of cow shit. I can never get past the beating with the big penis statue. I just can’t. I’ve really, really tried. There’s just nothing at all appealing about the first 45 minutes of that film.

I have seen 4 or 5 other Kubrick films, and they’re all just so much better. It actually bothers me that he seems to be more known for a movie that appears to rival David Lynch’s worst (Mulholland Drive) for apparently being weird for the sake of being weird.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:34 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

-1 for not liking a clockwork orange (monkeyball doesn't like it, either)

-1 for thinking mulholland drive is lynch’s worst film

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 2:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

mulholland drive is excellent

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 14, 2009 3:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I watched about 20 minutes of that before deciding that beating my head against my dorm room wall

would be a better use of my time.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 14, 2009 5:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

yep

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 16, 2009 6:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Speaking of Lynch

Listening to the Fast Times at Ridgemont High commentary track last night, I discovered that Crowe, at al initially offered the director job to Lynch.

He declined, they found Amy Heckerling, and the rest is history.

But can you imagine that movie?

Would Brad’s Phoebe Cates fantasy have turned nightmarish? Would this thing have entered stage left just as she was about to remove her bikini top?

I think so.

Then, with ominous piano music growing louder, more insistent, saturating the soundtrack, BigDog and Linda would dance a waltz or something, the blue pool water would turn crimson, Stacy would suddenly be decked out in a formal evening gown, but she’d still be swimming, the backstroke probably, her face a mask of empty placidity. Cut to Brad in the bathroom, but instead of buffing the banana he’s staring blankly ahead, and it’s not Judge Reinhold’s face anymore, it’s a crazy half Ward Cleaver, half growling panther mash up, and Linda doesn’t accidentally barge in, she opens the door quietly, knowingly, smiling faintly, and hands Ward/Panther one of BigDog’s articulated limbs as the soundtrack falls silent.

by 74mk on Feb 16, 2009 8:28 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow

That goes on my list:
- Ken Russell’s A Clockwork Orange (that version I would have liked)
- David Cronenberg’s Basic Instinct II
- DePalma’s film about the Yablonski murders (eventually made as the 1986 HBO movie Act of Vengeance … and, yes, if the Coens ever did a film about it, it would be called The Big Yablonski)

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 16, 2009 11:13 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure the story has any redeeming values

But the colors sure are pretty!

by thejd44 on Feb 16, 2009 1:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think Mulholland Drive is one of the worst films ever, forget anything else Lynch has done.

by thejd44 on Feb 16, 2009 1:29 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well the movie is pretty true to the book, so I guess you just don't like the story

"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King

by Buck Turgidson on Feb 14, 2009 2:57 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure how anyone could fail to enjoy a beating with a big penis statue...

With stout hearts, and with enthusiasm for the contest, let us go forward to victory. ----Hero Defector Montgomery

by mikeA on Feb 14, 2009 3:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Agree on Hollywood declaring its own wonderfulness

in BP voting. Another factor they sometimes seem to take into account is the “wow, wasn’t it a huge accomplishment to put that movie together!” That’s part of the explanation for the Big, Huge Movie type of votes like The Last Emperor and Braveheart ugh).

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Feb 14, 2009 1:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

the coen brothers

are their movies emotionally charged and/or manipulative?

I’ve always thought that the most important commonality for BP winners is that they have to make Hollywood feel good about itself, that "the community" is doing something honorable and worthwhile.

“Did I ever get a nomination? No! You know why? Cause I hadn’t played any of them slave roles, and get my ass whipped. That’s how you get the nomination. A black dude who plays a slave that gets his ass whipped gets the nomination, a white guy who plays an idiot gets the Oscar. That’s what I need, I need to play a retarded slave, then I’ll get the Oscar.”

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 2:10 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

coen brothers films are a subset of kubrick films

“You know how many times the letter K appears in this script?”

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 14, 2009 2:40 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

by the way, did you ever see the wrestler?

This is a wrestling picture; the audience
wants to see action, drama, wrestling, and plenty
of it. They don’t wanna see a guy wrestling with
his soul – well, all right, a little bit, for the
critics – but you make it the carrot that wags the
dog. Too much of it and they head for exits and I
don’t blame ‘em. There’s plenty of poetry right
inside that ring. Look at “Hell Ten Feet Square”.
Look at “Blood, Sweat, and Canvas”. These are big
movies, Aronofsky. About big men, in tights – both
physically and mentally. But especially physically.
We don’t put Mickey Rourke in some fruity movie
about suffering – I thought we were together on that.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 2:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

No, I didn't. What was your verdict?

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 16, 2009 6:41 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The Wrestler was fantastic

The wrestling business was captured so, so well. Last week I was on my way back from shooting a show and one of the guys with us, a wrestler, said he loved how the first scene was him getting stiffed on pay because it had happened to him so many times.

Also, I’ve been punched by the Necro Butcher, so yes, it was cool to see him featured in the movie.

Aside from the wrestling, it was pretty decent. I’m not sure it was the most groundbreaking movie ever, but Aronofsky certainly captured that character pretty well.

by thejd44 on Feb 16, 2009 1:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

i know nothing about wrestling

but i doubt accurately depicting the wrestling business was high up on the list of objectives.
was the wrestling scene with barbed wire, glass, and staples really accurate?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 16, 2009 5:37 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

well i haven't seen many movies this year, but it was probably my favorite

the style is not very aronofsky, though. but that’s probably why it’s successful.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 16, 2009 5:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I included it

because it seems to be one of those movies that is getting not only the award buzz but also much love from those with the correct taste. It was a fun and enjoyable movie, but seems to be overrated at all ends of the spectrum. So I suppose I should have left out “if it wins all the awards”.

by sslinger on Feb 13, 2009 3:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Lost in Translation was unbelievably cliched

It was pretty much “take every stereotype Americans have about Japan, put a little highbrow window dressing on it, serve chilled.” I spent $2 to see it and wish I had them back.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 13, 2009 8:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

What?

The opening scene with Scarlet Johanson in sheer panties wasn’t worth $2?
Have you been to Japan on business? I used to travel there quit a bit and that movie was SPOT ON.

"RIP: UserID: 553"

by Masaryk on Feb 13, 2009 10:20 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I lived in Japan for 4.5 months

I don’t know, maybe it captures the oeuvre of business travel, but you could set a movie like that in Zimbabwe (or Houston) for all the difference it makes. Japan was just there for cheap jokes.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 13, 2009 11:53 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

I agree with you and liked the movie at the same time

It wouldn’t have worked in Houston, but it was a movie about isolation, so placing the characters in a culture with which they were completely uncomfortable was pretty central to the story. I don’t think it’s that important that it was Tokyo as opposed to Algiers though.

by MrIncognito on Feb 14, 2009 6:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Which cliches were you referring to?

I thought it was a pretty fresh story.

by MrIncognito on Feb 14, 2009 6:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Rebel without a Cause

"Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it?"-Steve McCatty

by 5Aces on Feb 13, 2009 2:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Nick Ray: director most overrated by the Cahiers crowd

Billy Wilder: director most overrated by American cineastes

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 3:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The first

half-hour of Fight Club was incredible, and lived up to the hype. Fincher just didn’t carry on with that energy/attitude/visual blender. Kinda like the first half of Full Metal Jacket, which remains to this day one of the greatest mysteries I’ve encountered with movies—are we sure Kubrick directed both halves?

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 3:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Meh.

Say something funny.

by muffinpryde on Feb 13, 2009 3:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

take princess bride off your list now dammit

by jeffro on Feb 13, 2009 11:20 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

Little-known fact:

mikeA has six fingers on each hand.

Ray: "How fun is it to be up here playing in the Big Leagues?"
Gio: "It's *SUPER* fun!!!"

by Poppy on Feb 14, 2009 9:14 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

the bastard killed inigo's father?

by jeffro on Feb 15, 2009 9:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

And struck out Diego's father.

by green star oakland on Feb 16, 2009 12:22 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

ANcient joke OTM

Ray: "How fun is it to be up here playing in the Big Leagues?"
Gio: "It's *SUPER* fun!!!"

by Poppy on Feb 17, 2009 4:47 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget "AN: The Movie"

Let’s just put that out there right now. ;)

by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Feb 14, 2009 6:42 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Re: "Inglourious Basterds" trailer

1. Brad Pitt’s mustache and accent are disturbing.
2. It is very odd seeing BJ Novak as a soldier and not an office temp.
3. There is no way I am seeing this movie.

by whiteshoes40 on Feb 13, 2009 11:57 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Movie threads always leave me in the dust

On the other point, though, I’d nominate “Windy Mongoose.”

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 13, 2009 12:00 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

"plaidmoonboots"

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 12:02 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Movie threads

I have no clue. Of the 10 allegedly overrated movies on MikeA’s list, I’ve seen only two. And one of them I had never even heard of.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 13, 2009 2:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

And on Monkeyball's follow-up list

I’ve seen one and a half.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 13, 2009 7:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not one to re-post links

(except to my own prose), but if anyone missed yesterday’s DLD link to the adorably goofy Trader Joe’s Song video, I highly recommend it. I must’ve watched it ten times already.

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 13, 2009 12:15 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Nice link

It was very cute.

"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King

by batgirl on Feb 13, 2009 12:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

as some of you may know, i love cricket

but sometimes, as a sport, it really doesn’t do itself any favours

Billy Beane loves soccerball, and so should you

by alea iacta est on Feb 13, 2009 1:16 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

That's gotta be an unlicensed reprint from The Onion

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:22 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, it's very serious and motivational

I’m checking my wicket right now, postponing my various incredibly important tasks and activities in order to address this need.

by Mark H on Feb 13, 2009 1:25 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I've got sand in my wicket

< / Ralph Wiggum >

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 1:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

they've known this game was going to happen for about eighteen months

and they still can’t prepare a playing surface? and the governing body doesn’t check this? really??? how am i supposed to get through the day at work without the game on in the background? that, my friends, is the real tragedy here.

Billy Beane loves soccerball, and so should you

by alea iacta est on Feb 13, 2009 1:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

In honor of our returned prodigal

May I suggest that…

Gamblers manipulated the cricket pitch!!!

In all seriousness, though, and I’m obviously no student of the subject, but haven’t there been a few sordid (possibly gambler-infused) tales on the international scene in recent years? I remember that Pakistan’s coach died in Jamaica under suspicious circumstances not so long ago.

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 13, 2009 3:53 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

see, now

that situation was a pretty good example of the press printing non factual stories, and then not printing the truth about what happened at a later date, because it wasn’t as interested.

that said, yeah, there have been some interesting gambling related incidents. one of England’s wins in South Africa in the nineties, for example. not as much as tennis, mind.

but i suspect that this was entirely down to incompetance – no-one wins if the game doesn’t get played…

Billy Beane loves soccerball, and so should you

by alea iacta est on Feb 13, 2009 5:32 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Btw, if you're

ready to start dabbling in cricket fandom – hey, it has the same “common ancestor” relationship to baseball as humans to chimps! – espn is ready for you. They have absorbed the cricinfo web site and if you subscribe to the cricinfo/switchhit podcast you can hear those same mellifluous english voices that make all the soccer podcasts so darn irresistible….

"...in baseball you wear a cap." -- george carlin

by Hot Cup Joe on Feb 13, 2009 7:23 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

i think dabbling is not quite the word for it

more my adolescence was spent watching england lose to all and sundry.

and yes, there is a day in 2005 that i’ll never forget.

Billy Beane loves soccerball, and so should you

by alea iacta est on Feb 14, 2009 10:43 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I assure you

that i recognize your hard core alealactic cricketicity – i was directing those comments at yanks like myself who might have some vague interest but basically don’t know cricket from grasshopper.

"...in baseball you wear a cap." -- george carlin

by Hot Cup Joe on Feb 14, 2009 11:10 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

oh right ha

bit hungover, brain not really engaged yet today

Billy Beane loves soccerball, and so should you

by alea iacta est on Feb 14, 2009 1:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bob Woolmer

It did look suspicious when he died, and the flames were fanned when a pathologist opined that Woolmer had been strangled.

But in the ensuing investigation all the tests showed he died of natural causes with no evidence whatsoever of strangulation or any other foul play.

So either you’ve got a very good cover-up that Scotland Yard is in on, or you’ve got an incompetent pathologist combined with a highly excitable press corps.

Interesting that vague memory of this today reinforces one’s sense of cricket as “sordid”, when the facts show nothing sordid at all.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 13, 2009 7:42 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Since I'm going on 2+ year old memories of a sport I don't follow,

I’m obviously not, um, making book on them. But my recollection isn’t just “suspicious coach death = sordid sport,” it’s that the back stories I read at the time cited many other instances of concern over gambling influence. A quick Google search now of cricket gambling fixing comes up with many other stories citing match fixing allegations and really suspicious wagering patterns. Such sordid goings on, in fact, seem to be a widely shared concern. So your last sentence is off base.

What’s more, “no evidence whatsoever” also overstates the case…natural causes seems to be the majority opinion, but (wiki sez) in the final medical inquest on the subject the jury brought back an open verdict, refusing to rule out asphyxia via strangulation.

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 13, 2009 9:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I know it wasn't just the one incident.

I said it’s interesting that it “reinforces” the impression. From other sources one thinks of international cricket as sordid, and then one’s vague memories of Woolmer’s death seem to fit the pattern so they are added on top as the most memorable incident.

As for evidence, I read the wiki article. It shows that some are still suspicious and won’t rule out strangulation. That does not equal evidence, and indeed it illustrates that there are people who would surely display their evidence if they had any. But they don’t.

"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk

by iglew on Feb 14, 2009 9:39 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Christ, what an asphyxia

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 14, 2009 10:06 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Inglourious Basterds?

Yes, please. That movie is going to be ridiculous and scandalously sweet. I cannot wait for holier-than-thou types to take a shit when they see this trailer.

Ryan Sweeney: I probably irrationally embraced him before you did.

by Joey C. on Feb 13, 2009 1:29 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I'm absolutely stoked for this movie

People seem to be ripping it already, but I’m not quite sure why. I’m sorry if I’m the only one who doesn’t really care to see just another WWII movie. I love Saving Private Ryan, but if we’re gonna have another movie from the genre, I’d like it to be a little different.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Did I miss something?

I was just reading the Jan. 26 edition of People magazine, and on page 26 is a small article linking Barry Zito romantically to Paris Hilton. They “were spotted getting cozy” at at bar in LA on Jan. 7, and then 2 days later “the duo was seen nuzzling” at another club. I did a quick search of the site before mentioning this, but is it possible we missed something this huge what with all the distracting talk about the sport itself?

"If you make up your mind not to be happy, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a fairly good time." -Edith Wharton (The Last Asset)

by Oakville Athletic on Feb 13, 2009 2:35 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

You missed

something.

(Also, since it’s at top of the list when you search comments for “Zito Hilton”, I have to wonder about the terms you actually used).

by green star oakland on Feb 13, 2009 2:52 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

That's more like it

I just searched for recent mentions of Zito. Thanks for the link. I guess it’s my inner gossipmonger that assumed there would be more comment. I thought maybe I was the only person willing to admit to reading “People.”

"If you make up your mind not to be happy, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a fairly good time." -Edith Wharton (The Last Asset)

by Oakville Athletic on Feb 13, 2009 3:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

People: The Wire of celebrity magazines

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 3:07 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

First A's Photos from Phoenix!

ESPN has the goods from today:

You’re welcome.

by HigherPie on Feb 13, 2009 3:33 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

I'm sorry

I think you’ve confused this with an A’s baseball site.

by green star oakland on Feb 13, 2009 3:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

My bad.

I’ll go post these on Perez Hilton where they belong.

by HigherPie on Feb 13, 2009 3:41 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Salome, starring Travis Buck as John the Baptist!

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 3:43 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Larry Davis says he's day-to-day

by green star oakland on Feb 13, 2009 3:50 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

Oh No!

Not human head again! Mom!

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 3:53 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You know,

I’m not gay, but I think I might wanna wear my hot pants for T-Buck.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 3:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You're not gay

But your post sure was!

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:39 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

MUST HAVE THOSE SANDALS.

"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."

by mikev on Feb 13, 2009 4:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

[thud]

by whiteshoes40 on Feb 13, 2009 4:05 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

looking a little "Fab" there, Travis

Dogfood Gangstas
Canned or Dry,
We Neva Die.

by Zonis on Feb 13, 2009 4:37 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not sure,

but I think he’s wearing my hot pants.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 4:39 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Is goose Travis' kryptonite also?

Play more Conan!

by oaklandSMASH on Feb 14, 2009 12:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

The Oakland Athletics team gallary...

has 4 pics of the A’s, 5 pics of Hank Aaron and Bill Clinton at a benefit, and one pic of Matt Murton (who was traded).

Dogfood Gangstas
Canned or Dry,
We Neva Die.

by Zonis on Feb 13, 2009 4:41 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Seems about right then

They only missed the one of PTNL

Wait for the the 2009 Oaklands A's season to start I can not. Herh herh herh.

by A'sfaninNC on Feb 16, 2009 7:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Look, I make $11 million a year and I STILL get free shoes

"RIP: UserID: 553"

by Masaryk on Feb 14, 2009 12:01 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Chavez is taking apart the shoe...

…to see how it works.

by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Feb 14, 2009 6:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

From Shaq’s Twitter feed, musings on A-Rod, PEDs, and Maury Povich:

Is a rod done, whats goin on here, aggggggh, what iz da world comn 2
3:19 AM Feb 10th from txt

Ok i admit it i at performance enhancing frosted flakes 2 yrs ago, lol
3:18 AM Feb 10th from txt

Cant sleep after a loss, watchn maury povich, i am not the father schwwwww
2:51 AM Jan 17th from txt

by 74mk on Feb 13, 2009 3:59 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Can't sleep, Maury Povich will eat me

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 13, 2009 4:00 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd be more concerned with Ricki Lake.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 4:01 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Beginning with the first spring photos

to the last comment above…excellent string. I oohed and ahhed and laughed.

And leave it to me to end it.

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Feb 13, 2009 4:06 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Bloggers who lack self-esteem.

On the next Montel.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 4:10 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

It's not that I lack

It’s self-Epstein.

“Moodiness,” says Epstein,“is an outgrowth of pride in a person. My so-called moodiness stems only from desire.”

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Feb 13, 2009 5:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Now

THAT’S a link. Double, even triple rawr. NICE one.

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 13, 2009 9:24 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Awesome

If nothing else, we’ll always have that

{replaces “love” with “rawr” on every Beatles song}

Not that I’m gay or anything.

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Feb 14, 2009 9:49 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Were the Beatles gay or dinosaurs?

"Hot Goat Kraut Pants Day"--Monkeyball

by Leopold Bloom on Feb 14, 2009 4:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Paul's kind of both, ain't he?

And no, that did not take me two days to come up with. I was busy doing laundry.

I'm here to talk about the past.

by 67MARQUEZ on Feb 16, 2009 11:20 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

If you decide to buy a new house...

and you’re told that the roof is guaranteed for fifty years, don’t believe them. I left work early today because apparently rain leaking through aforementioned roof and into the insulation will result in a four by eight piece of drywall collapsing onto the floor in a heaping soggy mess.

So now I press on to the joy that only insurance examiners can bring.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Feb 13, 2009 4:16 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Find out who the roofer was

Most 40 year roofs are warrantied and transferable to new owners.

by HigherPie on Feb 13, 2009 4:18 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Easy enought to do I suppose.

I bought the house brand new 14 years ago. The insurance agent seemed to take the claim in stride, so hopefully they won’t have any unpleasant surprises for me. Ha.

"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer

by alox on Feb 13, 2009 4:24 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

On a different board I frequent...

the issue of anonymous posting came up again, and someone posted this gem:

since mine’s blank too, i’ll lay it all out here…

The details of my life are quite inconsequential…. Very well, where do I begin? My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a 15-year-old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize; he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes, he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament… My childhood was typical: summers in Rangoon… luge lessons… In the spring, we’d make meat helmets… When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds â�� pretty standard, really. At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Wilma ritualistically shaved my testicles â�� there really is nothing like a shorn scrotum â�� it’s breathtaking… I suggest you try it.

I switched Cabreras when your back was turned.

by Elvez on Feb 13, 2009 6:59 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

AHEM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVaz8ZZxoxo

Dogfood Gangstas
Canned or Dry,
We Neva Die.

by Zonis on Feb 13, 2009 8:30 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Why must I be surrounded by frickin' idiots?

by HigherPie on Feb 13, 2009 8:58 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Well all I wanted were freaking sharks with freaking lazers on their heads!

Dogfood Gangstas
Canned or Dry,
We Neva Die.

by Zonis on Feb 13, 2009 9:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Wow, is my face red.

I gotta get out more.

I switched Cabreras when your back was turned.

by Elvez on Feb 14, 2009 7:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 2:13 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I really like boards that make people post with their actual names

like consimworld. Cuts down on jackassery and windyfelix-esque rejoins of sites by formerly banned posters.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 13, 2009 9:45 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd be fine with it, but I've had some issues with internet-related stalkery in the past.

Of course, it wouldn’t be hard to find out who I am based on some posts I’ve made here. Still, I’d prefer creeps have to work for the information.

by thejd44 on Feb 14, 2009 1:40 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Jeff Francouer's Arbitration Hearing

Joe Posnanski style

I laughed.

"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."

by mikev on Feb 13, 2009 10:49 PM PST reply actions 1 recs

I laughed too.

That was epic.

Say something funny.

by muffinpryde on Feb 14, 2009 12:23 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Will I read absolutely anything by Michael Lewis?

Apparently yes…here’s his long new NYT mag piece on NBA player Shane Battier, late of the execrable Duke University.

(I actually like Battier. And it’s a good article in the classic Lewis oevre: young guy in old sport finds hidden value through statistical analysis.)

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 14, 2009 9:32 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

would that make the bathrooms at Cameron execrative washrooms?

A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@

by monkeyball on Feb 14, 2009 10:59 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, that

and cholera vectors.

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 14, 2009 11:09 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

the blind side

did anyone else read that? great book.
i’m interested to see where michael oher will be picked in the NFL draft this year.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 2:15 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

First interesting thing

about oher’s draft status is that he stayed at ole miss for his senior year. My sense is that he was at least marginally a hotter prospect last year….i see him going ~10-15.

"...in baseball you wear a cap." -- george carlin

by Hot Cup Joe on Feb 14, 2009 5:48 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully at 8 to my Jaguars

"A’s baseball….It’s almost better than a stick in the eye." ~ alox

by Gallagher's Watermelons on Feb 15, 2009 11:24 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

He won't be around at 8.

by thejd44 on Feb 16, 2009 1:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Had it read to me. Book on audio format.

An hour commute each way to work makes this a great way to absorb books. Costly though.

by LowcountryJoe on Feb 15, 2009 4:12 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

just read the article, very interesting

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 4:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Fabulous article (as usual for Lewis)

Stanford’s Anthony Goods is a very similar player in that respect (notwithstanding he does score a fair number of points). Over the last few years, Stanford has disproportionately beaten teams with great shooting guards because Anthony Goods is guarding them. This year he’s actually leading the nation in an obscure statistic— fewest fouls committed per 40 minutes on the floor. Playing great defense without fouling is huge because of the cumulative nature of the penalty system— he actually causes his teammates to give up fewer points with THEIR defense.

I doubt he’ll get much of a look for the NBA, but I hope someone gives him a shot.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 14, 2009 5:16 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

michael lewis

i guess he’s not a sportswriter in the slusser / posnanski sense, but is he the best writer currently writing about sports?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Feb 14, 2009 5:55 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Probably

Jonah Keri is great, but his output is so erratic. I can’t really think of anyone else who comes close.

Many years from now, when his name's recalled
Everyone will say, "He should have passed the ball"
-- Al Stewart, "Football Hero"

by PaulThomas on Feb 14, 2009 10:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

In a very different vein (obviously)

some years ago the hands-down answer was Hunter S. Thompson. In his prime the stuff he wrote about sports was incredible.

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 14, 2009 10:49 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

If by "sports" you mean "everything"

"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."

by mikev on Feb 15, 2009 9:16 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes of course

But non-HST-o-philes often forget how much he wrote about sports, and how awesome it was. Folks remember the Vegas book, and the Campaign book, and perhaps some of his Rolling Stone stuff. His column on ESPN towards the end had its moments, though by then he’d largely slipped into a rote imitation of himself. But in his prime there were massive, sprawling pieces about the Kentucky Derby, heavyweight boxing, and football, so much football writing. Thompson could be a sportswriter on the Mailer/Updike level when so moved.

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 15, 2009 9:43 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

This is a spectacular piece of writing --

Richard Ben Cramer in Esquire, 1986, profiles Ted Williams, all rage and pride, forever at war with everyone, tied in knots by the cruel aspects of his success.

Every sentence is pitch-perfect. If you have some time and don’t feel weird speaking to the walls, it’s worth reading aloud to bring the cadences alive.

Here’s the Kid driving to visit the love of his life in the hospital, with Cramer in the passenger seat. It’s long (sorry), but sublime:

"Yeah, but it’s not just privacy, Ted. I’m not trying to make it seem unnatural. But what you toss off as a little more privacy led you off the continent, so far off in a corner that — "

“Well, lemme tell you about Koufax. He got through playin’ baseball, he went to a fuckin’ little shitty remote town in Maine, and that’s where he was for five years. Everybody thought he was a recluse, he wasn’t very popular just ‘cause he wanted to be alone and he finally moved out. Lemme tell you about Sterling Hayward, Hayden. HELL of an actor. And still he wanted to be ALONE, he wanted to TRAVEL, he wanted to be on his BOAT GOIN’ TO THE SOUTH SEAS. So, see, that’s not way outa line!….I guess I’ll take a right, that oughta do it. Eight seventy-four, do you see 874 anyplace? Go down here till I get to Gilliam Road, or some goddamn thing….Fuck, 874’s where I wanted to go, but looked like it was puttin’ me back on this fuckin’ turnpike, shit. So, you know, seeking privacy and, uh, seeking that kind of thing…what road is this?”

[…]

“Honey of a little shittin’ car!” he sings out as we hit the road. Now there is no fretting with traffic. Ted makes all the turns. Along the way, he sings forth a monologue about cars, this car, this road, this town of Homestead, that house, his house, the new house he’s planning in central Florida, up on a hill, just about the highest point in the whole goddamn sate, what a deal he’s getting there, Citrus Hills, HELL of a deal; about his hopes for his kids, his daughter, Claudia, only fourteen, who lives in Vermont with her mother, Ted’s third wife, who was too much of a pain in the ass to live with, but gee, she’s done a hell of a job with those kids, HELL of a job, the little girl is an actress, she had the lead in the Christmas play and she was so good, the papers up there all said she bears watching, SHE BEARS WATCHING, and her brother, Ted’s boy, John Henry, he’s picking colleges now, he’s a good boy and Ted’s critical, but he can’t see too much wrong with that boy, and even the big daughter, Bobby Jo, she’s thirty-eight already, still can bust Ted’s chops pretty good, boys, but she’s straightening out now; and these islands, there’s bonefish here, used to be wonderful, years ago, there was NOTHING, NOTHING except a few of the best fishermen God ever made, and a narrow road between bay and sea, just a little shittin’ road, and some women who weren’t half bad on the water of off it either, and the world here was empty and the water was clear and you could have a few pops of rum, maybe get a little horny, go see friends, that’s all there was here, a few friends, thirty, thirty-five years ago, when this place was young, when he first fished with Jimmy and he met Lou….

“Gee, I’m so fuckin’ happy about Louise,” Ted says. “Goddamn, she’s a great person. Have more fun with her than…Goddamn.”

by 74mk on Feb 15, 2009 12:08 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks, that was terrific

Ted wasn’t going to Tampa. He was headed to Daytona Beach, where the Minneapolis farm team trained. Ted saw the list and the shame welled up, turned to rage. He yelled to the veteran outfielders: “I’ll be back. And I’ll make more money in this fucking game than all three of you combined.” When he walked to the bus stop with Johnny Orlando, he asked: “How much you think those guys make?” And Johnny said: “I don’t know, maybe fifteen thousand apiece.” Ted nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. He had his salary goal now. Then he borrowed $2.50 from Johnny for the bus trip to the minors.

"There is a sense of tragic destiny associated with people who have large noses." --Bucky Wunderlick

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Feb 15, 2009 7:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs