More on the Contender and March Madness
Well, not long after I write a bigass piece on how good The Contender is, good ol' Bill Simmons writes almost the same thing. I think maybe he took the link to this Blog that I sent him in my Intern Contest application and has it bookmarked now to steal material….
Okay, well, probably not. And I still like him enough to link to the article so you can compare. But yes, I'm still a little bitter that he chose a bunch of Boston fans and girls claiming to be "model material" as his Intern Contest finalists.
Check this out for example:
Steve St. Ides wrote:
"But the best part, by far, is the fight itself. Obviously, this isn't live. So they can do all kinds of crazy dramatic edits, slow motion, cuts to the crowd, sound effects, and whatnot. And it really works. It's kind of like watching Rocky but it's real. And, well, not quite as bloody. But it's pretty cool when you see one boxer land a vicious uppercut, and then the camera cuts away and shows the reaction of Stallone and Ray sitting there, or the guy's wife, or his mom, or his teammates. Complete with in between round sound bites from Sly saying things like "Yo, he won that round. Easy." or one of the boxer's teammates saying "Man, he needs to throw the jab more!" or one of their father's shouting at them in spanish and demonstrating how he should be holding his hands up on defense."
Bill Simmons wrote:
"In case you haven't seen the show, they edit the matches into a few action-packed minutes – giving them leeway to add a pounding soundtrack, cuts to the crowd, reactions of family members and slow-motion punches – so it plays like a scene from a boxing movie. Sure, it's impossible to get a feel for the ebb and flow of the fight. But I'm not sure you need it. With the way they edit these matches, they could turn the Ruiz-Holyfield trilogy into a replica of the three Gatti-Ward fights."
Hrmmm… suspicious? Probably not, but whatever, this should just further convince you to watch the damn show. :P
In other sports news, the NCAA Tournament resumes tonight. Let's hope the games this weekend are better than the bunch last weekend. Here's my "second chance" picks for the Final Four: Illinois over Louisville, UNC over Utah, with UNC beating Illiniois to win it all. Word.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
March Madness
The blog has been a bit slow while my partner in crime is halfway around the globe. And the fact that football was the most exciting thing for us to write about has slowed things down too. So just a quick piece on March Madness for now…
Let me start by saying I love the NCAA Tournament. There are always a few underdogs who make improbable runs to cheer for. There are always the perennial superpowers to cheer against. There are always games with improbable last second circus shots to win the games, all kinds of unexpected endings, results, upsets, etc. It's the "Madness" in "March Madness" that makes it so much fun!
This year…. Eh, not so much.. There have been upsets, but not many of them happened in real extraordinary fashion on a last second shot. We've had 48 games so far, and maybe like 5 or 6 of them have had good endings. Not even great endings, just good ones. Somewhat disappointing so far. I can't remember a Tournament this unexciting. Not to mention that my bracket was demolished when both my Final Two (Uconn and Gonzaga) were eliminated. Ouch. But I think most people are in the same boat, which gives me a bit of comfort. Not much, but a bit. All the number 1 seeds are alive though, so someone who just picked the highest seeds is probably going to win this thing. So at least I can look forward to a few more good games cheering against the likes of Duke and Illinois and North Carolina. I don't mind Washington as much because when the hell have they ever done anything in the tournament before?
One last note… Getting old sucks… The first day of the tournament was on St. Patrick's Day this year. A perfect excuse to take the day off, stop by the parade, then spend all day and night in the bars sucking down Guinness and watching the games. So where was I? At work. Last year was the first time ever that I actually worked on St. Patrick's Day. This year makes two in a row. As we get older, it simply gets harder and harder to find friends who are willing to take a day off work to wander from crowded bar to crowded bar, paying way too much for badly poured Guinness in plastic cups. On one hand, I kind of agree.. I'm too old for that shit. On the other hand… I miss it, and think that you can never be too old for a day like that. Maybe next year I'll rally the troops and stage a coup and restore the tradition. Or maybe not.
Let me start by saying I love the NCAA Tournament. There are always a few underdogs who make improbable runs to cheer for. There are always the perennial superpowers to cheer against. There are always games with improbable last second circus shots to win the games, all kinds of unexpected endings, results, upsets, etc. It's the "Madness" in "March Madness" that makes it so much fun!
This year…. Eh, not so much.. There have been upsets, but not many of them happened in real extraordinary fashion on a last second shot. We've had 48 games so far, and maybe like 5 or 6 of them have had good endings. Not even great endings, just good ones. Somewhat disappointing so far. I can't remember a Tournament this unexciting. Not to mention that my bracket was demolished when both my Final Two (Uconn and Gonzaga) were eliminated. Ouch. But I think most people are in the same boat, which gives me a bit of comfort. Not much, but a bit. All the number 1 seeds are alive though, so someone who just picked the highest seeds is probably going to win this thing. So at least I can look forward to a few more good games cheering against the likes of Duke and Illinois and North Carolina. I don't mind Washington as much because when the hell have they ever done anything in the tournament before?
One last note… Getting old sucks… The first day of the tournament was on St. Patrick's Day this year. A perfect excuse to take the day off, stop by the parade, then spend all day and night in the bars sucking down Guinness and watching the games. So where was I? At work. Last year was the first time ever that I actually worked on St. Patrick's Day. This year makes two in a row. As we get older, it simply gets harder and harder to find friends who are willing to take a day off work to wander from crowded bar to crowded bar, paying way too much for badly poured Guinness in plastic cups. On one hand, I kind of agree.. I'm too old for that shit. On the other hand… I miss it, and think that you can never be too old for a day like that. Maybe next year I'll rally the troops and stage a coup and restore the tradition. Or maybe not.
Friday, March 11, 2005
The Contender
When I first heard about the new reality show "The Contender", I thought to myself, for about the 179th time in the past two years, "Jesus, they're STILL cranking out new reality shows? This trend hasn't died yet? This show will suck." Somehow I found my TV tuned to NBC for the premiere last week, and I was intrigued. I watched the second episode last night, and I'm hooked. Maybe the reason this reality show phenomenon hasn't died out yet is because it still has some life left in it yet…
Okay, so here's how the show works… First, they bring in two huge names to run the show… Sly Stallone (aka Rocky) and Sugar Ray Leonard. Now, those are two pretty impressive names to start with. Next, bring in 16 boxers from all over the world. Give them a chance to "make it". They've got a pretty good mix, ranging in age from 18 to 34, a good mix of ethnicity. All the boxers have some professional experience, with a few of them having even gotten title shots. They're all in the 150-160 pound range. (Not sure what weight class that makes them… Middleweights? No clue…Anyways, they'd all be in the same weight class is my point. You won't see a Butterbean type going up against a Oscar De La Hoya type.) Then, take the 16 boxers, and divide them into two teams of 8: East and West.
Following so far? Okay, here's where it starts to get good. Each week, the two teams compete in a team challenge against one another. The first week it involved lugging some logs around. Last night, it involved running up stadium bleachers to grab flags, then unrolling pieces of a puzzle off the flags, and completing the puzzle. The challenges aren't really anything new or creative yet (they do similar stuff like this on Survivor all the time), but it's still compelling because of the prize… The winning team chooses who from their team will box in the next match. Not only that, but they also choose the opponent. Yes, that's right, they choose which of their boxers will fight and who they will fight against. That's a pretty nice advantage.
So far, the West has won both challenges. It's an interesting dynamic to see the combination of talking smack and hesitancy once they get to choose who fights. Like last night, before the West won, one of the guys was talking smack "Yeah, if we win, I want to fight. I want to fight so-and-so. I'm going to kick his ass!" Then, after they won, everybody was like "Okay, dude, you want him, he's yours." But the guy changed his tune, "Well, man, I'll fight him, but really, I'm not comfortable you guys pressuring me like this. I feel like you're forcing me into it." They chose another guy to fight.
Both times so far, the opponent they chose seemed like a strange choice. And both times they were really close fights. The fights last 5 rounds, and then go to the scorecard. I guess the idea is that, really, all these guys are pretty good fighters. And all the fights should be pretty close fights. Both times the West fighter won by unanimous decision, but the matches were close. So the team who won the challenge and got to choose their fighter and opponent has won so far.
The winning fighter gets a golden boxing glove necklace, and moves into the final 8. The loser… goes home.. You get to see the loser in the locker room after the fight with his family as he cries and showers and tries to wash away the welts from his face. It's pretty compelling stuff.
But the best part, by far, is the fight itself. Obviously, this isn't live. So they can do all kinds of crazy dramatic edits, slow motion, cuts to the crowd, sound effects, and whatnot. And it really works. It's kind of like watching Rocky but it's real. And, well, not quite as bloody. But it's pretty cool when you see one boxer land a vicious uppercut, and then the camera cuts away and shows the reaction of Stallone and Ray sitting there, or the guy's wife, or his mom, or his teammates. Complete with in between round sound bites from Sly saying things like "Yo, he won that round. Easy." or one of the boxer's teammates saying "Man, he needs to throw the jab more!" or one of their father's shouting at them in spanish and demonstrating how he should be holding his hands up on defense.
Big thumbs up here for this show. It starts on its regular night this Sunday at 8pm. Only on NBC.
Okay, so here's how the show works… First, they bring in two huge names to run the show… Sly Stallone (aka Rocky) and Sugar Ray Leonard. Now, those are two pretty impressive names to start with. Next, bring in 16 boxers from all over the world. Give them a chance to "make it". They've got a pretty good mix, ranging in age from 18 to 34, a good mix of ethnicity. All the boxers have some professional experience, with a few of them having even gotten title shots. They're all in the 150-160 pound range. (Not sure what weight class that makes them… Middleweights? No clue…Anyways, they'd all be in the same weight class is my point. You won't see a Butterbean type going up against a Oscar De La Hoya type.) Then, take the 16 boxers, and divide them into two teams of 8: East and West.
Following so far? Okay, here's where it starts to get good. Each week, the two teams compete in a team challenge against one another. The first week it involved lugging some logs around. Last night, it involved running up stadium bleachers to grab flags, then unrolling pieces of a puzzle off the flags, and completing the puzzle. The challenges aren't really anything new or creative yet (they do similar stuff like this on Survivor all the time), but it's still compelling because of the prize… The winning team chooses who from their team will box in the next match. Not only that, but they also choose the opponent. Yes, that's right, they choose which of their boxers will fight and who they will fight against. That's a pretty nice advantage.
So far, the West has won both challenges. It's an interesting dynamic to see the combination of talking smack and hesitancy once they get to choose who fights. Like last night, before the West won, one of the guys was talking smack "Yeah, if we win, I want to fight. I want to fight so-and-so. I'm going to kick his ass!" Then, after they won, everybody was like "Okay, dude, you want him, he's yours." But the guy changed his tune, "Well, man, I'll fight him, but really, I'm not comfortable you guys pressuring me like this. I feel like you're forcing me into it." They chose another guy to fight.
Both times so far, the opponent they chose seemed like a strange choice. And both times they were really close fights. The fights last 5 rounds, and then go to the scorecard. I guess the idea is that, really, all these guys are pretty good fighters. And all the fights should be pretty close fights. Both times the West fighter won by unanimous decision, but the matches were close. So the team who won the challenge and got to choose their fighter and opponent has won so far.
The winning fighter gets a golden boxing glove necklace, and moves into the final 8. The loser… goes home.. You get to see the loser in the locker room after the fight with his family as he cries and showers and tries to wash away the welts from his face. It's pretty compelling stuff.
But the best part, by far, is the fight itself. Obviously, this isn't live. So they can do all kinds of crazy dramatic edits, slow motion, cuts to the crowd, sound effects, and whatnot. And it really works. It's kind of like watching Rocky but it's real. And, well, not quite as bloody. But it's pretty cool when you see one boxer land a vicious uppercut, and then the camera cuts away and shows the reaction of Stallone and Ray sitting there, or the guy's wife, or his mom, or his teammates. Complete with in between round sound bites from Sly saying things like "Yo, he won that round. Easy." or one of the boxer's teammates saying "Man, he needs to throw the jab more!" or one of their father's shouting at them in spanish and demonstrating how he should be holding his hands up on defense.
Big thumbs up here for this show. It starts on its regular night this Sunday at 8pm. Only on NBC.
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
NFL Free Agency
Well, NFL free agency is in full swing, so let's take a quick look at how Seattle is doing….
Priority #1: Keep the offensive starters together! They re-signed Walter Jones and Hasselbeck to long-term deals. They franchised Shaun Alexander. I'd say mission accomplished here!
Priority #2: Improve the D! Not so good here so far. CB Ken Lucas, who had a solid year last year, bolted for Carolina for more money. DE Chike Okeafor, undersized for a DE but with a non-stop motor, fled for Arizona. Even though Seattle offered him identical money. Guess Denny Green said the right things, or Chike just wanted a change of scenery. Anthony Simmons, a solid LB who has played well when healthy, was cut. (Problem is, he was NEVER healthy.)
Let's see how they've done there, shall we?...
So now we need:
1) A DE to replace Chike.
2) An OLB to replace Simmons.
3) An ILB who doesn't suck (there's been a revolving door there for years).
4) A CB to replace Lucas.
Now, there are some interesting options. Maybe even some cheap ones at DE and LB. The big name people are tossing around right now is former Ravens LB Ed Hartwell. Who, depending on who you believe, may or may not be just as good as Ray Lewis, except he keeps his mouth shut, so he hasn't gotten as much recognition. I, for one, would love to see them sign this guy. I can't say I've seen him play much, but there's enough hype around him that some of it must be true. And it's not like we're talking a college kid here, this guy has several years in the league under his belt.
Then there is the CB situation… Rumors are flying every which way here.. Personally, I think Bobby Taylor (who Seattle signed as a free agent last off-season as an expected starter, but got demoted to nickel back after Lucas stepped up) still has the ability to start. But all indications are that Seattle is shopping around. There's been talk of taking a look at former Titan Andre Dyson and former Redskin Fred Smoot (who was drafted a few picks behind Lucas in the same year). The hot rumor, however, has Seattle trading for All Pro Dolphin CD Patrick Surtain. One rumor has the price for Surtain being a 2nd round pick this draft. Another rumor ups the ante on the deal substantially, with Seattle throwing Shaun Alexander into the deal, and Miami then agreeing to swap first round picks with Seattle. Which would give the Seahawks the #2 pick overall. Where they'd likely take Texas OLB Derrick Johnson. The thought is this deal immediately upgrades two defensive areas of need: LB and CB. Of course, with Alexander gone, who runs the ball? Well, former Wolverine the A-Train Anthony Thomas is visiting this week. He might be a slight downgrade from Alexander, but I think he can get the job done given a full-time chance.
Priority #1: Keep the offensive starters together! They re-signed Walter Jones and Hasselbeck to long-term deals. They franchised Shaun Alexander. I'd say mission accomplished here!
Priority #2: Improve the D! Not so good here so far. CB Ken Lucas, who had a solid year last year, bolted for Carolina for more money. DE Chike Okeafor, undersized for a DE but with a non-stop motor, fled for Arizona. Even though Seattle offered him identical money. Guess Denny Green said the right things, or Chike just wanted a change of scenery. Anthony Simmons, a solid LB who has played well when healthy, was cut. (Problem is, he was NEVER healthy.)
Let's see how they've done there, shall we?...
So now we need:
1) A DE to replace Chike.
2) An OLB to replace Simmons.
3) An ILB who doesn't suck (there's been a revolving door there for years).
4) A CB to replace Lucas.
Now, there are some interesting options. Maybe even some cheap ones at DE and LB. The big name people are tossing around right now is former Ravens LB Ed Hartwell. Who, depending on who you believe, may or may not be just as good as Ray Lewis, except he keeps his mouth shut, so he hasn't gotten as much recognition. I, for one, would love to see them sign this guy. I can't say I've seen him play much, but there's enough hype around him that some of it must be true. And it's not like we're talking a college kid here, this guy has several years in the league under his belt.
Then there is the CB situation… Rumors are flying every which way here.. Personally, I think Bobby Taylor (who Seattle signed as a free agent last off-season as an expected starter, but got demoted to nickel back after Lucas stepped up) still has the ability to start. But all indications are that Seattle is shopping around. There's been talk of taking a look at former Titan Andre Dyson and former Redskin Fred Smoot (who was drafted a few picks behind Lucas in the same year). The hot rumor, however, has Seattle trading for All Pro Dolphin CD Patrick Surtain. One rumor has the price for Surtain being a 2nd round pick this draft. Another rumor ups the ante on the deal substantially, with Seattle throwing Shaun Alexander into the deal, and Miami then agreeing to swap first round picks with Seattle. Which would give the Seahawks the #2 pick overall. Where they'd likely take Texas OLB Derrick Johnson. The thought is this deal immediately upgrades two defensive areas of need: LB and CB. Of course, with Alexander gone, who runs the ball? Well, former Wolverine the A-Train Anthony Thomas is visiting this week. He might be a slight downgrade from Alexander, but I think he can get the job done given a full-time chance.
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