Since 2007, I've been doing my own best movies of the year list. It only consists of 3 categories; the "Akira Kurosawa/Sergio Leone Award for Cinematic Excellence (a fancy way of saying best film), a listing of the top 5 films of the year which is a new addition for 2012, and my own special award that I've named the "Finding Nemo Award for Cinematic Excrement." This award describes a movie that is generally beloved by critics and the populace at large but I just simply can't stand. Each year seems to produce one of these movies.
Before I reveal my picks for 2012, I'm going to list previous winners of the Kurosawa/Leone award and the winners of the Finding Nemo award for my own archival purposes.
2007:
Kurosawa/Leone: No Country For Old Men
Finding Nemo: Juno
2008:
Kurosawa/Leone: The Dark Knight
Finding Nemo: Slumdog Millionaire
2009:
Kurosawa/Leone: (tie) Avatar/Star Trek
Finding Nemo: District 9 *side note, this film is actually responsible for coining the term "cinematic excrement." Thank you to Aaron Goins for that.*
2010:
Kurosawa/Leone: Inception
Finding Nemo: The Social Network
2011:
Kurosawa/Leone: Moneyball
Finding Nemo: Hugo
Now, for 2012's awards. We'll start with the winners of the two main awards and then finish out with the top 5 list.
For our Kurosawa/Leone award, in 2012 this award goes to The Dark Knight Rises. This one was actually a little closer than I expected because of how unexpectedly wonderful Django Unchained was. However, the final chapter of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy eventually won out in the end and Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy joined my own upper echelon with Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy as the greatest film trilogies in history.
For our Finding Nemo award, 2012 features the first ever co-winners for this award. We have a tie between Pixar's film Brave and the Wachowski siblings' latest effort, Cloud Atlas. Quite honestly, part of the criteria for this award is that it needs to be loved by critics and while Cloud Atlas fits my description for this award more closely than Brave does, Brave was just so unimaginably awful and disappointing that it had to be at least a co-winner for this award. Cloud Atlas is basically a 3 hour congealed mess of a film. Way yonder too many stories trying to connect and other than the actors playing multiple roles across different timelines, there is no real explanation for how these timelines connect with each other. Someone very accurately described the movie as "a story that can't be understood because it doesn't want to be understood."
To finish out this post, here is the newest addition to my awards which is a simple top 5 listing of the best movies of the year in order. In essence, this is a listing of the movies that were in the running for the Kurosawa/Leone award. We know which one is number one, but the other 4 were all given high consideration for best film this year. So I close this blog with the top 5 films of 2012 in order:
1. The Dark Knight Rises
2. Django Unchained
3. Skyfall
4. Wreck-It Ralph
5. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
A Few Thoughts On...Why do I still even bother with Nascar?
News has come out today that likely starting next season, Charlotte will lose one of its races to Las Vegas. In the words of Bruton Smith, "When the game is over, it'll be money, money, money," Smith told WBTV. "Money will move it."
At least he's being honest about it I suppose. Basically as was said on Facebook, it's nice to see that Bruton Smith, and Nascar as a whole, 10 years since their initial efforts began, are still working overtime to piss off and run off their traditional fans with stupid decisions that will do nothing to benefit Nascar as a whole. Anyone who believes that Las Vegas will draw more money than Charlotte for Nascar is quite simply irrational in their thinking.
I just can't understand why this group is working so hard to run off their traditional fans. There is no other sport on the planet that has done more to purposely run off their core group of fans as Nascar has done since around 2002. Such things as creating and giving races to the "cookie cutter" tracks, taking races away from VERY well established traditional venues such as Rockingham, Darlington, Atlanta, and now Charlotte (which I would've believed to be like Daytona in that it would be untouchable), moving the Southern 500 from Labor Day weekend to Mother's Day weekend for no reason whatsoever other than to spit in the face of 55 years of tradition and once again, spit in the face of the traditional Nascar fan.
I've written for several years that I wouldn't be surprised to see Nascar fold by 2020-2025. Or at the very least, there would be races that weren't televised live any more, if at all. Regrettably, there are enough sheep out there to keep the sport alive but I see no reason to change my prediction about Nascar on television because any sport depends on its traditional fanbase to support it in hard times. Nascar's attendance and ratings have been down for years and it can be traced right back to the unholy trinity's concentrated efforts to run off the traditional fans. MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer, Tennis, Golf, other auto racing bodies such as Indy and F1, and nearly every other sport I can think of tries at least to innovate but still remaining loyal to their core fanbase. In the case of MLB, I think they try too hard sometimes to do this since it hinders progress that could actually make the game better, but they are at least trying to keep their core fans.
Nascar on the other hand doesn't subscribe to this theory. They think that the fairweather fans are the group they need to go after. I'm not saying they shouldn't try to lure in new fans but I am saying that perhaps if they didn't mess with things that worked to draw in fans for over 50 years previously, perhaps they might actually draw in some new fans without running off millions of fans that Bill France Sr and Jr worked for a combined 55 years to draw in.
I've compared Nascar to the WWE for a variety of reasons. Among many other reasons, there is a major reason this comparison is more valid than many people realize. The question has been asked as to whether Vince McMahon was ashamed of the wrestling business given how much he's worked to make the wrestling business a joke in the eyes of mainstream America. This question needs to be asked of Brian France, Mike Helton, and Bruton Smith. Are they ashamed of stock car racing as a whole and ashamed of the fact that the southeastern US has always been the core group that has made Nascar what it was before they came to ruin it? This, like the case of McMahon, being despite the fact that millions and millions of dollars have gone into their pockets from the very thing they seem to be ashamed of?
Finally, this comparison becomes even more valid because, like the WWE and Vince McMahon, the unholy trinity of Nascar will continue to make money despite themselves because there are enough fairweather fans and sheep who will keep giving them their money for a product that hardly resembles the legitimate product of pre-2004 Nascar which is what I refer to as "Nascar done the right way." As more time passes, they will still continue to make more money because once the current group of fairweather fans move on to the next shiny object on the wall, a new group will come in. Most of whom will not have seen Nascar done properly and will thus not know the difference. Over time, this is how Nascar will survive. Ignorance from their fans who will have never seen the sport run and operated correctly.
So yes, these people will make their money despite themselves just like Vince McMahon.
At least he's being honest about it I suppose. Basically as was said on Facebook, it's nice to see that Bruton Smith, and Nascar as a whole, 10 years since their initial efforts began, are still working overtime to piss off and run off their traditional fans with stupid decisions that will do nothing to benefit Nascar as a whole. Anyone who believes that Las Vegas will draw more money than Charlotte for Nascar is quite simply irrational in their thinking.
I just can't understand why this group is working so hard to run off their traditional fans. There is no other sport on the planet that has done more to purposely run off their core group of fans as Nascar has done since around 2002. Such things as creating and giving races to the "cookie cutter" tracks, taking races away from VERY well established traditional venues such as Rockingham, Darlington, Atlanta, and now Charlotte (which I would've believed to be like Daytona in that it would be untouchable), moving the Southern 500 from Labor Day weekend to Mother's Day weekend for no reason whatsoever other than to spit in the face of 55 years of tradition and once again, spit in the face of the traditional Nascar fan.
I've written for several years that I wouldn't be surprised to see Nascar fold by 2020-2025. Or at the very least, there would be races that weren't televised live any more, if at all. Regrettably, there are enough sheep out there to keep the sport alive but I see no reason to change my prediction about Nascar on television because any sport depends on its traditional fanbase to support it in hard times. Nascar's attendance and ratings have been down for years and it can be traced right back to the unholy trinity's concentrated efforts to run off the traditional fans. MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer, Tennis, Golf, other auto racing bodies such as Indy and F1, and nearly every other sport I can think of tries at least to innovate but still remaining loyal to their core fanbase. In the case of MLB, I think they try too hard sometimes to do this since it hinders progress that could actually make the game better, but they are at least trying to keep their core fans.
Nascar on the other hand doesn't subscribe to this theory. They think that the fairweather fans are the group they need to go after. I'm not saying they shouldn't try to lure in new fans but I am saying that perhaps if they didn't mess with things that worked to draw in fans for over 50 years previously, perhaps they might actually draw in some new fans without running off millions of fans that Bill France Sr and Jr worked for a combined 55 years to draw in.
I've compared Nascar to the WWE for a variety of reasons. Among many other reasons, there is a major reason this comparison is more valid than many people realize. The question has been asked as to whether Vince McMahon was ashamed of the wrestling business given how much he's worked to make the wrestling business a joke in the eyes of mainstream America. This question needs to be asked of Brian France, Mike Helton, and Bruton Smith. Are they ashamed of stock car racing as a whole and ashamed of the fact that the southeastern US has always been the core group that has made Nascar what it was before they came to ruin it? This, like the case of McMahon, being despite the fact that millions and millions of dollars have gone into their pockets from the very thing they seem to be ashamed of?
Finally, this comparison becomes even more valid because, like the WWE and Vince McMahon, the unholy trinity of Nascar will continue to make money despite themselves because there are enough fairweather fans and sheep who will keep giving them their money for a product that hardly resembles the legitimate product of pre-2004 Nascar which is what I refer to as "Nascar done the right way." As more time passes, they will still continue to make more money because once the current group of fairweather fans move on to the next shiny object on the wall, a new group will come in. Most of whom will not have seen Nascar done properly and will thus not know the difference. Over time, this is how Nascar will survive. Ignorance from their fans who will have never seen the sport run and operated correctly.
So yes, these people will make their money despite themselves just like Vince McMahon.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Predictions for the 2013 Major League Baseball season
Will 2013 bring about more of the same in baseball or have we seen a changing of the guard at the top of the league? To be decided. In the mean time, here are my division and postseason predictions for this season. Yes, I alternate sometimes between city and team name.
AL East
1. Tampa Bay
2. Toronto (Wild Card)
3. Yankees
4. Orioles
5. Red Sox
AL Central
1. Detroit
2. White Sox
3. Indians
4. Royals
5. Twins
AL West
1. Angels
2. A's (Wild Card)
3. Rangers
4. Mariners
5. Astros
NL East
1. Nationals
2. Phillies
3. Braves
4. Mets
5. Marlins
NL Central
1. Reds
2. Cardinals (Wild Card)
3. Brewers
4. Pirates
5. Cubs
NL West
1. Giants
2. Dodgers (Wild Card)
3. Diamondbacks
4. Rockies
5. Padres
Wild Card Games:
AL: Oakland over Toronto
NL: Dodgers over Cardinals
Division Series:
AL: Winners: Detroit, Angels
NL: Winners: Reds, Giants
Championship Series:
AL: Tigers over Angels
NL: Reds over Giants
World Series:
Reds over Tigers in 5 games
Everyone seems to be predicting either Washington or Detroit for the World Series this year. As you can see, I'm going slightly different because I just don't see Washington living up to their hype in the postseason and Detroit has a recent history of getting deep in the playoffs only to not show up when it matters. Especially Justin Verlander. Best regular season pitcher in the game today, but once we get to October, the magic seems to stop and I don't see it changing this year.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
A Few Thoughts On...the effects, or lack thereof, of violent video games on society
I've long been a person who has screamed against people who complain that violent video games are the reason for the increase in school violence in the last 20 years. I've also screamed against people who say the same thing about TV and movies but, in the words of Alton Brown, that's another show. I've found an article that does a lot to damn the people who have this point of view. It will be posted at the end of this entry. It's an unusual stance coming from someone who identifies as liberal in their political leanings seeing as how liberals/democrats seem to be the main ones who believe this nonsense. Thankfully this seems to be changing as a recent statement by Nancy Pelosi, a democrat, indicates but there are still way too many people in power in Washington who believe such foolishness.
Why do people like to say that Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Socom, Resident Evil, Call Of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and other such games increase violence? Simple. It's the easy answer to a complex problem. Most people don't want to put some legitimate thought into this discussion and thus, actually have to work their minds so they come up with the easiest answer possible even if it's grossly incorrect. This is the work of people who don't want to work to actually solve the problem themselves but simply want to bitch and moan about it and hope society does it for them.
I have been playing the Mortal Kombat series of games since I was 8 years old. In 20 years of playing those games, I've never once attempted to, or even had the urge to, set someone on fire, pull their head off their torso with the spine attached, or pull someone's beating heart out of their chest. I've never once even had the urge to kiss a stranger just to see if they'll inflate and explode as happens in Mortal Kombat 2. Yet according to these fringe lunatics, I should've already knocked off a few dozen people. I have a close friend who has watched strong R-rated horror films loaded with gore and violence since he was 4 or 5 years old and, to my knowledge, he's never once had the urge or attempted to slice someone in half, crush their skulls, ram a machete through their chest cavity, or anything else that Freddy and Jason ever did on the screen. I myself was the only member of my 2nd grade class to have seen Terminator 2 when it was first released on VHS in 1992. I wondered then why no one else had seen this wonderful movie and it didn't occur until years later that I was the only one in the class who had parents who allowed me to watch a hard R-rated action film. On the flipside of this, I have another friend who, by his own admission, didn't see his first R-rated film of any kind until he was about 16 years old and he certainly wasn't playing any video games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tekken, Primal Rage, Killer Instinct or any other massively popular violent game of the time period and honestly, I don't know if he would've been allowed to anyway.
Yeah, I know I said movies and TV were another show but this instance figures into my larger point.
What is that point? The point is that we had parents who raised us with a sense of right and wrong as well as a sense of fantasy and reality. Many parents these days teach their kids that the universe revolves around them and do nothing to teach them how to deal with adversity which of course means when things don't go their way, they act out. This factor, combined with how easy it is for any J6P in America to get military grade weaponry, is the biggest reason for escalated school violence.
"Violent Video Games Are Good For Society?"
http://beta.fool.com/reubengbrewer/2013/02/21/violent-video-games-are-good-for-society/25235/?source=eogyholnk0000001
Why do people like to say that Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Socom, Resident Evil, Call Of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and other such games increase violence? Simple. It's the easy answer to a complex problem. Most people don't want to put some legitimate thought into this discussion and thus, actually have to work their minds so they come up with the easiest answer possible even if it's grossly incorrect. This is the work of people who don't want to work to actually solve the problem themselves but simply want to bitch and moan about it and hope society does it for them.
I have been playing the Mortal Kombat series of games since I was 8 years old. In 20 years of playing those games, I've never once attempted to, or even had the urge to, set someone on fire, pull their head off their torso with the spine attached, or pull someone's beating heart out of their chest. I've never once even had the urge to kiss a stranger just to see if they'll inflate and explode as happens in Mortal Kombat 2. Yet according to these fringe lunatics, I should've already knocked off a few dozen people. I have a close friend who has watched strong R-rated horror films loaded with gore and violence since he was 4 or 5 years old and, to my knowledge, he's never once had the urge or attempted to slice someone in half, crush their skulls, ram a machete through their chest cavity, or anything else that Freddy and Jason ever did on the screen. I myself was the only member of my 2nd grade class to have seen Terminator 2 when it was first released on VHS in 1992. I wondered then why no one else had seen this wonderful movie and it didn't occur until years later that I was the only one in the class who had parents who allowed me to watch a hard R-rated action film. On the flipside of this, I have another friend who, by his own admission, didn't see his first R-rated film of any kind until he was about 16 years old and he certainly wasn't playing any video games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Tekken, Primal Rage, Killer Instinct or any other massively popular violent game of the time period and honestly, I don't know if he would've been allowed to anyway.
Yeah, I know I said movies and TV were another show but this instance figures into my larger point.
What is that point? The point is that we had parents who raised us with a sense of right and wrong as well as a sense of fantasy and reality. Many parents these days teach their kids that the universe revolves around them and do nothing to teach them how to deal with adversity which of course means when things don't go their way, they act out. This factor, combined with how easy it is for any J6P in America to get military grade weaponry, is the biggest reason for escalated school violence.
"Violent Video Games Are Good For Society?"
http://beta.fool.com/reubengbrewer/2013/02/21/violent-video-games-are-good-for-society/25235/?source=eogyholnk0000001
Monday, February 18, 2013
The 12th Anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's passing
The following was posted on my Facebook page on February 18, 2011; the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's passing. It still pretty much sums up my thoughts, emotions and feelings about losing a childhood hero even 12 years later. There will be new thoughts at the end of the original post. In fact, I'm considering the idea of updating this post every year on this date and then re-writing it from scratch to include anything that came later for the 20th anniversary in 2021. Here is the original post as it appeared on Facebook 2 years ago warts and all.
The day of the 500 itself, February 18th, 2001, started off on a bit of a sour note as I woke up to see that longtime Braves great Eddie Matthews had died that morning. He would regrettably be forgotten in the aftermath of the events to come later that day. The broadcast began on Fox at 12 Noon that day. It was the first race Fox had ever broadcast. During the pre-race segment, they interviewed many drivers and Dale Earnhardt was among them. He finished up his interview with a quote that, like Chris' question to me earlier, meant little at the time but would later be seared into my memory. His quote was "you're gonna see something you've never seen before today on Fox."
2/18/2013 Update: I've recently been alerted to a website called The Internet Wayback Machine which is an archive of web pages going back to 1996. In looking through a few of the major sports sites, I've come across a few Earnhardt related links from that time. I have included one in particular with this blog as part of my 2013 update.
From Nascar.com, this was an article from a subsection of the website. It was published on the site, to my knowledge, the afternoon Dale died and was later moved to the tribute section. It is simply titled 2-18-01.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010331055037/http://www.nascar.com/DRIVERS/winston/DEarnhar00/tribute/02_18.html
It's very haunting to read this article again (I've not seen it since 2001 obviously) and it's even more haunting to read it as it's written which is in the present tense. It's all so fresh and vivid as though it just happened.
I'm closing the 2013 update with the lyrics from "Still The Same" by Bob Seger. This was one of 4 songs that were played during Dale's memorial service which aired a few days after Dale's death. I wish I could find the music video that was actually played on the broadcast somewhere online but I can't so I can only put the lyrics here. I have the service on tape but I haven't watched it since it aired live and I refuse to pull it out and watch it now even 12 years later.
You always won everytime you placed a bet
You're still damn good
No one's gotten to you yet
Everytime they were sure they had you caught
You were quicker than they thought
You'd just turn your back and walk
You always said
The cards would never do you wrong
The trick you said
Was never play the game too long
A gambler's share
The only risk that you would take
The only loss you could forsake
The only bluff you couldn't fake
And you're still the same
I caught up with you yesterday
Moving game to game
No one standing in your way
Turning on the charm
Long enough to get you by
You're still the same
You still aim high
There you stood
Everybody watched you play
I just turned and walked away
I had nothing left to say
'Cause you're still the same
You're still the same
Moving game to game
Some things never change
You're still the same
So who you gonna pull for when he's not racing anymore?
This is gonna be very much a free for all and may not follow a lot of structure but I've been planning this for a while and been beating myself up all day about what I wanted to write and how I wanted to write it so basically this is as raw and unpolished as it can be.
This is gonna be very much a free for all and may not follow a lot of structure but I've been planning this for a while and been beating myself up all day about what I wanted to write and how I wanted to write it so basically this is as raw and unpolished as it can be.
The question that's in the title of this note was a question posed to me on or about February 9, 2001 by a guy named Chris Stanfield in the RCHS library. We had been working on a project for class and we needed all the computers in the library for the class. Needless to say, I had other things on my mind besides school and today, I wanted to see the practice speeds that had been coming out of Daytona in preps for that year's Daytona 500. Chris was talking with me as I looked up the speeds as well as the full Daytona schedule for that week. He saw me looking specifically for Dale Sr and Dale Jr.'s practice speeds. Just making conversation he asked me was I a Sr. or Jr. fan. I explained I was a Sr. fan but I also pulled for Jr. for obvious reasons. He then out of the blue asked me what was I gonna do when Dale Sr. was no longer racing. I thought little of this, I just simply answered "I don't know. I guess I'll pull for Dale Jr." Little did I know how much of an impact that simple question would have less than 10 days later.
On February 17th, after watching the then Busch series race and the IROC race, my dad asked me who I thought would win the 500. I told him I believed Michael Waltrip would win it, Dale Jr would finish 2nd and Dale Sr. would finish 3rd. I had no evidence for this, it was just simply what came to mind at that moment.
The day of the 500 itself, February 18th, 2001, started off on a bit of a sour note as I woke up to see that longtime Braves great Eddie Matthews had died that morning. He would regrettably be forgotten in the aftermath of the events to come later that day. The broadcast began on Fox at 12 Noon that day. It was the first race Fox had ever broadcast. During the pre-race segment, they interviewed many drivers and Dale Earnhardt was among them. He finished up his interview with a quote that, like Chris' question to me earlier, meant little at the time but would later be seared into my memory. His quote was "you're gonna see something you've never seen before today on Fox."
I didn't watch much of the race itself due to Directv not carrying local channels at that time. The interviews I saw were at my grandparents house where they had basic cable which meant they got local channels. I figured I would read the results and watch highlights later and since my dad was recording it on vhs tape at my grandparents and if Dale won or anything big happened I'd watch the tape. This was up until my dad came in from playing golf around 3:30 pm. He came in the house and asked me had I seen the big wreck that happened. I asked him what he was talking about. He said there'd been a huge wreck with about 25 laps to go and that there was at least one car that flipped. I asked did Dale get through and he said he didn't know. So I went to my room, disconnected the Directv box so I could hopefully get a decent reception on Fox 8 which I managed to actually get through the antenna on the roof of the house. Much better than I usually got. Anyway, I saw the crash itself and watched as Tony Stewart flew like a leaf and 19 other cars hit each other like bumper cars in the crash that Nascar fans usually refer to as "the big one", a common occurence at the plate tracks(Daytona and Talladega). My question was soon answered as they did a rundown of the field and I saw that Dale had gotten through the crash so I was relieved.
After the race resumed, I watched the last 20 or so laps of the race and then came the white flag. Waltrip was in 1st, Dale Jr. in 2nd and Dale Sr. in 3rd, as I had predicted the day before. They come around turn 3, we see a wide shot that pans left as it follows Mikey and Jr. out of turn 4. The camera changes angles and we see in the upper right part of the screen 2 cars crashing. All I could see as to who was in it was a big white 3 and I then silently muttered some obscenity after seeing he'd crashed. But Mikey had won the race and Dale Jr. had gotten 2nd so it was a nice finish. It was Waltrip's first career win in almost 15 years of racing in the then Winston Cup series.
The camera then switches to 2 crashed cars in the grass area just out of turn 4. One of them is Dale's car and one of them is Ken Schrader's car. Schrader was then shown to walk over to Dale's drivers side to see if he was okay. He then immediately jumped back slightly and waved the paramedics over to Dale's car in an almost panic. I knew then something was really wrong. Minutes passed, no new information, simply replays of the crash. It was easy to tell by the commentator's that it wasn't good but they didn't say anything because they themselves knew nothing official at the time. More minutes passed, I told my dad that he'd crashed and I thought something was really wrong because of what I'd seen Schrader doing. I went to eat supper while watching for information about the crash and Dale's condition. After nearly 90 minutes of no new information, I knew something tragic had probably happened and I began to prepare for the worst. Finally, around 6:30 pm, after I'd gone back home, my mom called the house and told my dad that Dale was gone. It was then I flipped on the tv and saw the press conference that had taken place about 10 minutes before and Mike Helton utter those words I will never forget.
"This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I've ever personally had to make, but after the accident in turn 4 at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt."
I was empty. I really didn't know what to think or do. I had lost a childhood hero before in 1993 but it was unthinkable to think that it had happened a second time and to Dale Earnhardt of all people who many Nascar fans truly thought was invincible. The driver in 1993 I'm referring to is Davey Allison who died in July 1993 in a helicopter crash at age 32. But it had happened, Dale was gone and the emotion and sadness from that day has not left me, even 10 years to the day of this tragedy.
Dale Earnhardt's death was to me the biggest tragedy in Nascar history and is one that, as time has shown, the sport as a whole may never truly recover from. No sport to my knowledge has ever lost its biggest star in its biggest event of the season. I spoke to many people afterwards who said they didn't care about Nascar any more now that he was gone and that sentiment still runs today. Most fans at some point returned to being fans again but it's more or less universally agreed that it hasn't been the same and will never be the same as it was before this day, 10 years ago.
To answer Chris' question if he happens to read this, I did become a Dale Jr. fan for a while as well as a Kevin Harvick fan who was handpicked by Dale Sr. himself to be his successor. It's pretty much believed that had he not died, he would've likely retired at the end of the 2002 season when his last contract with RCR expired. I later fell out of favor with Dale Jr. and focused solely on Harvick which is where I stood until the end of the 2010 season when I left the sport altogether due to many stupid decisions made by the sport since 2004. It is also my considered opinion that if Dale were alive today, he would be truly disgusted to see what this former sport has degenerated into. Dale was also known to be a voice of reason among the drivers and the brass at Nascar as a whole and I truly believe that so many awful decisions that have been made in the last decade of Nascar would've never been made if Dale Earnhardt were still alive.
As we move forward in time and Dale Earnhardt becomes even more of a name and a legend in time, his death will be felt by Nascar as long as it manages to exist and the results will not be pretty. I truly believe that Nascar will continue to tumble in the eyes of American sports fans as well as racing fans altogether. Ratings and attendance at the tracks(save for the major races) have tumbled, and because of this, it's entirely possible that by 2020 maybe 2025, Nascar may not be around any more. If by then Nascar still exists, it may no longer be on television and will be seen in the same vein as pro wrestling is seen in the US which is how many traditional Nascar fans see the sport today. When I say it will be seen like pro wrestling, I mean that it will be seen as a show and simply entertainment rather than a legitimate sport and legitimate competition which as I said is how many traditional fans view what the sport has become already. In the 10 years since his death, Nascar has gone from being second only to the NFL in terms of popularity and the fastest rising spectator sport on the planet, to being the butt of a joke and being one of the few cases in history where a sports own leadership purposely angered and ran off its core fan base over a period of a few years.
Nascar could've survived and even thrived in the post-Dale Earnhardt era but in 2004, it all changed forever and the decline that began with Dale Earnhardt's death went into overdrive and the sport continues on a downward spiral to this day that can only end with either major changes in leadership or with the sport folding and since there is no one around that seems to have the pull or the voice of reason Dale Earnhardt had with the Nascar brass, the sport simply cannot and will not be saved.
It will probably never be proven decisively if my beliefs are true, but I will go to my grave believing that Dale Earnhardt's death was the beginning of the end for Nascar as a sport.
From Nascar.com, this was an article from a subsection of the website. It was published on the site, to my knowledge, the afternoon Dale died and was later moved to the tribute section. It is simply titled 2-18-01.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010331055037/http://www.nascar.com/DRIVERS/winston/DEarnhar00/tribute/02_18.html
It's very haunting to read this article again (I've not seen it since 2001 obviously) and it's even more haunting to read it as it's written which is in the present tense. It's all so fresh and vivid as though it just happened.
I'm closing the 2013 update with the lyrics from "Still The Same" by Bob Seger. This was one of 4 songs that were played during Dale's memorial service which aired a few days after Dale's death. I wish I could find the music video that was actually played on the broadcast somewhere online but I can't so I can only put the lyrics here. I have the service on tape but I haven't watched it since it aired live and I refuse to pull it out and watch it now even 12 years later.
You always won everytime you placed a bet
You're still damn good
No one's gotten to you yet
Everytime they were sure they had you caught
You were quicker than they thought
You'd just turn your back and walk
You always said
The cards would never do you wrong
The trick you said
Was never play the game too long
A gambler's share
The only risk that you would take
The only loss you could forsake
The only bluff you couldn't fake
And you're still the same
I caught up with you yesterday
Moving game to game
No one standing in your way
Turning on the charm
Long enough to get you by
You're still the same
You still aim high
There you stood
Everybody watched you play
I just turned and walked away
I had nothing left to say
'Cause you're still the same
You're still the same
Moving game to game
Some things never change
You're still the same
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
A Few Thoughts On the upcoming 2013 MLB Season
A Few Thoughts On is a new series that I will be starting which will be shorter blog posts than my usual fare. The name is borrowed from Robert A. Harris who posts an excellent column in the Blu-Ray section of the Home Theater Forum called "A Few Words About." I hope to make this at least a bi-weekly segment on the blog. Our first topic deals with the upcoming 2013 baseball season.
I just saw the early World Series predictions and I have to ask why everyone seems to think Toronto is a lock for the AL Pennant. Granted they're likely to win the AL East because it will be filled with a lot of relative mediocrity this year but honestly, I see the Yankees, Baltimore and Tampa Bay as being capable of winning that division. Let's not forget other teams outside the AL East like Detroit and Anaheim. You can also bet there will be a surprise team from the AL as there usually is such as Oakland and Baltimore were last year. I believe Detroit and Anaheim(sorry, I feel stupid calling them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) are far more likely to get to the World Series than Toronto is this year. Detroit in particular because they will be playing with a sense of revenge on their minds after their embarrassing effort in the 2012 World Series.
I'm not saying Toronto won't make the World Series but I am saying there have been many "super-teams" in the past who have fallen flat on their faces. My honest prediction for Toronto is that they will win between 89 and 95 games this year and will at least make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. Of course this doesn't take into account the possible powerhouse NL teams that they could meet in the World Series such as Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco and if all comes together, I'll even throw Atlanta into that group as well. Other than Atlanta, all of whom I think are superior to Toronto and as I said, Atlanta may be added to that list later.
I will release my full MLB predictions for 2013 as we get closer to the season. Probably towards the end of March.
I just saw the early World Series predictions and I have to ask why everyone seems to think Toronto is a lock for the AL Pennant. Granted they're likely to win the AL East because it will be filled with a lot of relative mediocrity this year but honestly, I see the Yankees, Baltimore and Tampa Bay as being capable of winning that division. Let's not forget other teams outside the AL East like Detroit and Anaheim. You can also bet there will be a surprise team from the AL as there usually is such as Oakland and Baltimore were last year. I believe Detroit and Anaheim(sorry, I feel stupid calling them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) are far more likely to get to the World Series than Toronto is this year. Detroit in particular because they will be playing with a sense of revenge on their minds after their embarrassing effort in the 2012 World Series.
I'm not saying Toronto won't make the World Series but I am saying there have been many "super-teams" in the past who have fallen flat on their faces. My honest prediction for Toronto is that they will win between 89 and 95 games this year and will at least make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. Of course this doesn't take into account the possible powerhouse NL teams that they could meet in the World Series such as Washington, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco and if all comes together, I'll even throw Atlanta into that group as well. Other than Atlanta, all of whom I think are superior to Toronto and as I said, Atlanta may be added to that list later.
I will release my full MLB predictions for 2013 as we get closer to the season. Probably towards the end of March.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
My ranking of NBA Coaches
In seeing the firing of Avery Johnson from the Brooklyn Derons(Nets) today, I can't help but think this to be a mistake. I believe this to have happened because the Nets are currently 14-14 which is considered a huge disappointment given the ludicrous expectations this team had coming into the season. I predicted this team to make the playoffs but I've never expected them to be a top 4 seed as so many people did. I believed they would get in and be a 7th or 8th seed and would be handled pretty easily by Miami or whomever winds up with the 2 seed in the East. Quite frankly, if the Nets were in the Western Conference, they wouldn't sniff the playoffs this year but with the East being rather mundane at best and dreadful at worst, save for Miami, a .500 record pretty much guarantees a team a spot in the playoffs which is pretty much where I see the Nets. I see them winning 45-48 games maximum and 37-40 games minimum with 41-44 being the most likely win total.
Avery is a decent coach in my estimation. He's not a great coach, but he's a pretty decent one. This is the impetus for my ranking today. I've tried to decide who I thought were great coaches, good coaches, average coaches, below average coaches and coaches that would be better off finding a new line of work. So here are my rankings for all 30 Association teams. For the record, Avery Johnson will be included since as of this writing, a replacement hasn't been named.
GREAT Coaches:
There are only 4 can I really think of at this moment and they are head and shoulders above the rest in my opinion. These are the guys that I feel can win regularly, can take good talent and make them great and can take mediocre talents and make them actually look better than they really are. The truly great coaches in this league are in order:
Gregg Popovich - San Antonio Spurs
Tom Thibodeau - Chicago Bulls
Scott Brooks - Oklahoma City Thunder
Doc Rivers - Boston Celtics
GOOD Coaches:
There are quite a few coaches that I consider to be good coaches. These are guys that may not quite be able to take a mediocre talent and make him good, but they're coaches who can take an average team and overachieve with them on a consistent basis. These are also coaches than can take a really good team and can be that final piece of the puzzle towards building a championship contender. They are as follows in no particular order this time:
Doug Collins - Philadelphia 76ers
Frank Vogel - Indiana Pacers
Lionel Hollins - Memphis Grizzlies
George Karl - Denver Nuggets
Mike Woodson - New York Knicks
Rick Adelman- Minnesota Timberwolves
AVERAGE Coaches:
This group is the largest category of current NBA coaches. They are the coaches that I think can consistently be the 4th-6th seeds in their respective conferences. They can put up a .500 or even a winning season pretty consistently but the teams they coach will likely never be considered legitimate championship contenders for one reason or another. The caveat here is that if given a really good team, these coaches are capable of getting a team deep into the playoffs but there have to be a lot of pieces falling correctly into place for this to happen. They are in no particular order:
Larry Drew - Atlanta Hawks
Erik Spoelstra - Miami Heat*
Scott Skiles - Milwaukee Bucks
Kevin McHale - Houston Rockets
Avery Johnson - Brooklyn Nets
Byron Scott - Cleveland Cavaliers
Rick Carlisle - Dallas Mavericks
Mark Jackson - Golden State Warriors
Jacque Vaughn - Orlando Magic (need to see a lot more before he can accurately be judged)
Tyrone Corbin - Utah Jazz
Terry Stotts: Portland Trail Blazers
*Erik has been to the Finals 2 times in just 4 years of coaching, but his team is so loaded with talent that just about anyone who knows anything about basketball could win with the team. It's not meant to be a knock at Erik or an indictment, it's just my opinion on how good the Miami Heat actually are.
BELOW AVERAGE coaches:
These are the guys who can win just enough to keep their jobs on a yearly basis. Even with a really good team, the teams they coach will never be contenders and if any of these teams get into the playoffs, they'll sneak in with an 8 seed and then be bounced out within 5 games in the 1st round. There are more coaches here than I would honestly prefer to see based on my observation but they are in no order:
Lawrence Frank: Detroit Pistons
Mike Dunlap: Charlotte Bobcats (in all fairness, Phil Jackson couldn't win with this team)
Alvin Gentry: Phoenix Suns
Keith Smart: Sacramento Kings
Monty Williams: New Orleans Hornets
Vinny Del Negro: Los Angeles Clippers**
BAD Coaches:
These are the guys mentioned previously that would be better off finding another line of work. Thankfully this list is quite short:
Mike D'Antoni: Los Angeles Lakers***
Dwane Casey: Toronto Raptors
Randy Wittman: Washington Wizards
**Vinny Del Negro is currently coaching the team with the best record in the NBA, the LA Clippers. However, I rate him among the worst coaches in the NBA. I think Vinny Del Negro is the weakest link on the Clippers team. If the Clippers had any PG in the league not named Chris Paul, the Clippers would be a .500 team at best and yes that comment does include such names as Derrick Rose and Deron Williams. Chris Paul is such a great floor general that Vinny doesn't have to do a heck of a lot of actual coaching and it does appear that Vinny has decided to step back and let Paul run the team while he's on the floor so he should be given some credit for that. However, one good decision does not a great coach make. The Clippers will be a top 4 seed this year but mainly due to Vinny Del Negro's relative lack of coaching ability, I feel the Clippers can't be considered legitimate championship contenders.
***Mike D'Antoni led the Phoenix Suns to the Western Finals when he had Steve Nash as his PG. This ties also in with what I said about Del Negro in that D'Antoni had one of the smartest floor generals in the game and thus didn't have to do a lot of coaching. Mike D'Antoni proved in New York how far in over his head he actually is without someone to lead the team for him and if he didn't have the star power in Los Angeles that he does, he would've already been fired. I still think he'll be fired at latest by June 2013. The man does no defensive coaching whatsoever and his up-tempo style offense simply isn't going to work with a team as old and as large as the Lakers are. It also doesn't help that you have a confirmed ball-hog in Kobe Bryant who likes to try to do everything and D'Antoni's system can't begin to work when the PG isn't controlling the offense. This is an indictment on Lakers ownership as well as D'Antoni because of his adamant refusal to adapt his coaching style to his team instead choosing to force his team to try to adapt to his style. At the start of the season, I said the Lakers were likely the 2nd best team in the Western Conference but now, if the Lakers make the playoffs this year, it will be a miracle.
So ends my take on all 30 NBA coaches.
Avery is a decent coach in my estimation. He's not a great coach, but he's a pretty decent one. This is the impetus for my ranking today. I've tried to decide who I thought were great coaches, good coaches, average coaches, below average coaches and coaches that would be better off finding a new line of work. So here are my rankings for all 30 Association teams. For the record, Avery Johnson will be included since as of this writing, a replacement hasn't been named.
GREAT Coaches:
There are only 4 can I really think of at this moment and they are head and shoulders above the rest in my opinion. These are the guys that I feel can win regularly, can take good talent and make them great and can take mediocre talents and make them actually look better than they really are. The truly great coaches in this league are in order:
Gregg Popovich - San Antonio Spurs
Tom Thibodeau - Chicago Bulls
Scott Brooks - Oklahoma City Thunder
Doc Rivers - Boston Celtics
GOOD Coaches:
There are quite a few coaches that I consider to be good coaches. These are guys that may not quite be able to take a mediocre talent and make him good, but they're coaches who can take an average team and overachieve with them on a consistent basis. These are also coaches than can take a really good team and can be that final piece of the puzzle towards building a championship contender. They are as follows in no particular order this time:
Doug Collins - Philadelphia 76ers
Frank Vogel - Indiana Pacers
Lionel Hollins - Memphis Grizzlies
George Karl - Denver Nuggets
Mike Woodson - New York Knicks
Rick Adelman- Minnesota Timberwolves
AVERAGE Coaches:
This group is the largest category of current NBA coaches. They are the coaches that I think can consistently be the 4th-6th seeds in their respective conferences. They can put up a .500 or even a winning season pretty consistently but the teams they coach will likely never be considered legitimate championship contenders for one reason or another. The caveat here is that if given a really good team, these coaches are capable of getting a team deep into the playoffs but there have to be a lot of pieces falling correctly into place for this to happen. They are in no particular order:
Larry Drew - Atlanta Hawks
Erik Spoelstra - Miami Heat*
Scott Skiles - Milwaukee Bucks
Kevin McHale - Houston Rockets
Avery Johnson - Brooklyn Nets
Byron Scott - Cleveland Cavaliers
Rick Carlisle - Dallas Mavericks
Mark Jackson - Golden State Warriors
Jacque Vaughn - Orlando Magic (need to see a lot more before he can accurately be judged)
Tyrone Corbin - Utah Jazz
Terry Stotts: Portland Trail Blazers
*Erik has been to the Finals 2 times in just 4 years of coaching, but his team is so loaded with talent that just about anyone who knows anything about basketball could win with the team. It's not meant to be a knock at Erik or an indictment, it's just my opinion on how good the Miami Heat actually are.
BELOW AVERAGE coaches:
These are the guys who can win just enough to keep their jobs on a yearly basis. Even with a really good team, the teams they coach will never be contenders and if any of these teams get into the playoffs, they'll sneak in with an 8 seed and then be bounced out within 5 games in the 1st round. There are more coaches here than I would honestly prefer to see based on my observation but they are in no order:
Lawrence Frank: Detroit Pistons
Mike Dunlap: Charlotte Bobcats (in all fairness, Phil Jackson couldn't win with this team)
Alvin Gentry: Phoenix Suns
Keith Smart: Sacramento Kings
Monty Williams: New Orleans Hornets
Vinny Del Negro: Los Angeles Clippers**
BAD Coaches:
These are the guys mentioned previously that would be better off finding another line of work. Thankfully this list is quite short:
Mike D'Antoni: Los Angeles Lakers***
Dwane Casey: Toronto Raptors
Randy Wittman: Washington Wizards
**Vinny Del Negro is currently coaching the team with the best record in the NBA, the LA Clippers. However, I rate him among the worst coaches in the NBA. I think Vinny Del Negro is the weakest link on the Clippers team. If the Clippers had any PG in the league not named Chris Paul, the Clippers would be a .500 team at best and yes that comment does include such names as Derrick Rose and Deron Williams. Chris Paul is such a great floor general that Vinny doesn't have to do a heck of a lot of actual coaching and it does appear that Vinny has decided to step back and let Paul run the team while he's on the floor so he should be given some credit for that. However, one good decision does not a great coach make. The Clippers will be a top 4 seed this year but mainly due to Vinny Del Negro's relative lack of coaching ability, I feel the Clippers can't be considered legitimate championship contenders.
***Mike D'Antoni led the Phoenix Suns to the Western Finals when he had Steve Nash as his PG. This ties also in with what I said about Del Negro in that D'Antoni had one of the smartest floor generals in the game and thus didn't have to do a lot of coaching. Mike D'Antoni proved in New York how far in over his head he actually is without someone to lead the team for him and if he didn't have the star power in Los Angeles that he does, he would've already been fired. I still think he'll be fired at latest by June 2013. The man does no defensive coaching whatsoever and his up-tempo style offense simply isn't going to work with a team as old and as large as the Lakers are. It also doesn't help that you have a confirmed ball-hog in Kobe Bryant who likes to try to do everything and D'Antoni's system can't begin to work when the PG isn't controlling the offense. This is an indictment on Lakers ownership as well as D'Antoni because of his adamant refusal to adapt his coaching style to his team instead choosing to force his team to try to adapt to his style. At the start of the season, I said the Lakers were likely the 2nd best team in the Western Conference but now, if the Lakers make the playoffs this year, it will be a miracle.
So ends my take on all 30 NBA coaches.
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