Filed under: MLB | Tags: 2008, All-Star Game, Baseball, Major League Baseball, MLB, MLB All-Star Game, Rosters, Sports
American League
Starters
C Joe Mauer, MIN
1B Kevin Youkilis, BOS
2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS
SS Derek Jeter, NYY
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY
OF Josh Hamilton, TEX
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
DH David Ortiz, BOS
Pitchers
P Justin Duchscherer, OAK
P Roy Halladay, TOR
P Scott Kazmir, TB
P Cliff Lee, CLE
P Joe Nathan, MIN
P Jonathan Papelbon, BOS
P Mariano Rivera, NYY
P Francisco Rodriguez, LAA
P Ervin Santana, LAA
P Joe Saunders, LAA
P George Sherrill, BAL
P Joakim Soria, KC
Reserves
C Dioner Navarro, TB
C Jason Varitek, BOS
1B Justin Morneau, MIN
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX
SS Michael Young, TEX
3B Joe Crede, CWS
3B Carlos Guillen, DET
OF J.D. Drew, BOS
OF Carlos Quentin, CWS
OF Grady Sizemore, CLE
DH Milton Bradley, TEX
National League
Starters
C Geovany Soto, CHC
1B Lance Berkman, HOU
2B Chase Utley, PHI
SS Hanley Ramirez, FLA
3B Chipper Jones, ATL
OF Ryan Braun, MIL
OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC
OF Alfonso Soriano, CHC
Pitchers
P Aaron Cook, COL
P Ryan Dempster, CHC
P Dan Haren, ARI
P Brad Lidge, PHI
P Tim Lincecum, SF
P Ben Sheets, MIL
P Edinson Volquez, CIN
P Billy Wagner, NYM
P Brandon Webb, ARI
P Brian Wilson, SF
P Kerry Wood, CHC
P Carlos Zambrano, CHC
Reserves
C Russell Martin, LA
C Brian McCann, ATL
1B Adrian Gonzalez, SD
1B Albert Pujols, STL
2B Dan Uggla, FLA
3B Aramis Ramirez, CHC
SS Cristian Guzman, WAS
SS Miguel Tejada, HOU
OF Matt Holliday, COL
OF Ryan Ludwick, STL
OF Nate McLouth, PIT
Filed under: Movies | Tags: Back to the Future, Batman, Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Movie, Movies, The Dark Knight, Trailer, Trailers
I can’t get enough of this crap. The movie looks like it will live up to the hype and then some, with my only grievance being that Maggie Gyllenhal is now playing the role previously played by Katie Holmes.
I’m never a fan of changing cast members in the middle of a film series. One such instance that sticks out in my mind is that of the Back to the Future trilogy. Marty’s girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, was originally played by Claudia Wells, but Elizabeth Shue played the character in Back to the Future, Part II and Part III. I wasn’t previously aware, but this sparked my interest, and apparently Wells’ mother had cancer at the time, thus preventing her from reprising the role in the subsequent films. Thank you IMDB. Oh well, in the words of Tony Soprano, ‘What are you gonna do?’ After all Katie Holmes is a mother now and is married to Tom Cruise. No, I’m not comparing cancer to marrying Tom Cruise. One of them would be far, far worse.
The actress change didn’t make the Back to the Future sequels any less entertaining, and I’m sure the same will be true for The Dark Knight. Besides, how could it be anything less than uber-bad-ass with a cast like Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman? I just don’t think it could. Not to mention Anthony Michael Hall, whose role in the film I’m not sure is particularly large. Midnight showing at the Minnesota Zoo IMAX sounds like a must. Minnesota River valley ‘Here…we…go.’
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Pixar has done it once again, making a feature-length animated film with a wholesome message suitable for persons of all ages. Wall-E has received rave reviews across the board and opened number one at the Box Office, grossing roughly $62.5 million in its opening weekend.
The film’s main character, Wall-E, is a lovable little trash compactor that has been living a lonely life alone for 700 years on an abandoned Earth, save his friend/pet cockroach. The first 20 minutes introduce the audience to Wall-E and all his quirkly mannerisms, making it impossible not to love the little animated robot for the duration of the film, which doesn’t feel all that long. |
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Soon thereafter a spaceship lands and drops off a probe named Eva, who’s primary purpose is to find some form of organic life. Wall-E quickly becomes enamored with this white egg-shaped robot and a story of love, friendship, and everything in between develops from there.
I don’t know that the film itself is quite as ‘perfect’ as many reviews have called it. However, that an entirely animated film with robots for main characters can touch on such a wide range of human emotions and evoke such a geniuine response from its audience is certainly incredible. Nearly perfect I will say, and definitely worth seeing. Somehow I forgot to mention that the visuals are stunning as well. Go see it if you haven’t already.
Filed under: MLB | Tags: A.L. Central, Baseball, Ben Sheets, Interleague Play, Kevin Slowey, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, MLB, Sports
| The team didn’t spend much time on the losing track though, as they bounced back yesterday for a 5-0 victory behind the masterful performance of pitcher Kevin Slowey (W, 5-6). Slowey pitched a complete game, gave up just 3 hits, and struck-out 8 for his first major league shut-out. The Twins dealt Ben Sheets (L, 9-2) his first road loss of the season. Sheets worked 7 innings, gave up 9 hits and 5 runs, all of them earned. Coming in to Sunday’s game with the Twins, Sheets was 6-0 on the road in 10 starts.The Twins 10-game winning streak began back on June 17th with a 3-game home sweep of the Washington Nationals followed by a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They had a quick 3 game road trip and swept the San Diego Padres before returning home to face the Brewers again. The Twins are 13-2 in their last 15 games, dating back to their series in Milwaukee. During that time the Twins beat pitchers Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy (Trevor Hoffman blown save), Greg Maddux, and Ben Sheets. |  |
The Twins were the benefactors of a Cubs sweep over the White Sox last weekend, but they didn’t get any help from them this time around as the Sox swept the Cubs. This puts the Twins 1½ games out of first in the A.L. Central with 13 games to go before the All-Star Break.
The Twins closed out Interleague Play with a major league best 14-4 record against teams from the opposing league. The Twins will look to ride this success all the way to the All-Star break through what appears will be a tough stretch of games. The team opens a 3-game series at home tonight against the Detroit Tigers and they get 3 more against the Cleveland Indians before they hit the road to close out the first-half of the season. The schedule concludes with the Twins taking on the Red Sox for 3 games in Boston and another 4 against the Tigers in Detroit.
It’s tough to call any games in the first-half of the season must-win when you’re sitting just 1½ out in your division, but with the way the White Sox and Tigers are playing and the All-Star Break fast approaching, these next to weeks could be make-or-break for this young Twins squad.
Filed under: NBA | Tags: Basketball, Kevin Love, Kevin McHale, Memphis Grizzlies, Mike Miller, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA, NBA Draft, O.J. Mayo, Sports, UCLA, USC
“He’s the whole package,” said Hoiberg. “We went out and saw him two Saturdays ago and he just blew us away. The guy can flat out stroke the basketball. He can spread the court so that Al (Jefferson) can operate on the block…The most impressive part was his interview after the workout. You guys are going to love him.”
Hold the Mayo though (some people are sick of this joke, I’m not). Hours later Wolves faithful, the few of them that still exist, learned that all this talk and excitement was for naught, as the Wolves aforementioned perennially giddy GM pulled off another draft day trade. It was reported around midnight that the Wolves would send their number three selection, O.J. Mayo, to the Memphis Grizzlies for the 5th pick in the draft, Kevin Love, with a number of other players changing jerseys as well. The Wolves can go ahead and remove the 24-photo montage collage of Mayo post draft selection any time now.
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Here’s how the trade breaks down. The Wolves get Love, a 6′ 10″, 271 pound power forward out of UCLA. He averaged 17.5 PPG and 10.3 RPG in his only season with the Bruins. They also get veteran swingman, and quite possibly one of the top five ugliest players in the NBA, Mike Miller. He averaged 16.4 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 3.8 APG with the Grizzlies last season. Additionally, the Wolves acquire mediocre big men Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins, whose stat lines aren’t even worth mentioning.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies get former short-time Timberwolf O.J. Mayo, a 6′ 4″, 200 pound shooting guard out of USC. He averaged 20.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.3 APG in his freshman season with the Trojans. Also headed to Memphis is Marko Jaric and the remainder of his bloated contract, 3 years, $21 million. To wrap the deal up the Wolves rid themselves of washed up veterans Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner, a man I can honestly say I never knew wore a Timberwolves uniform. |
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Until Kevin Love puts on a Wolves uniform, laces up his tenni’s, takes to the court and proves his worth Wolves fans can only shudder and be reminded of Kevin McHale’s past draft day blunders. The most recent memory being on draft day 2006, when the T-Pups shipped off Brandon Roy for Randy Foye and cash. Roy went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year honors, while Foye has struggled to stay healthy. I can only hope for all the Wolves fans out there that this one pans out a little better for us. We will see.
Filed under: NBA | Tags: Crap, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Rap, Shaq, Shaquille O'Neal
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In one of the least news-worthy stories in recent memory, Shaquille O’Neal fueled the melodramatic fire between himself and Kobe Bryant Sunday evening at a night club in New York. Honestly, does anybody care anymore.
Shaq’s lyrical display, which lasted about two minutes, is being referred to as a ‘free-style rap’. However, area rappers are claiming it was not a rap at all, but merely just crap. Shaq began by saying ‘Check it. You now how I be. Last week Kobe couldn’t do without me.’ He later goes on to suggest Bryant made comments that factored in to his separating from his wife: “I’m a horse. Kobe ratted me out. That’s why I’m getting divorced. He said Shaq gave a [woman] a mil’. I don’t do that ’cause my name’s Shaquille.” |
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Shaq has publicly apologized for possibly offending anyone, telling ESPN Monday ‘I was freestyling. That’s all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. I’m totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all. Please tell everybody don’t make something out of nothing.’ Wow, what a linguist. He truly is ‘The Big Aristotle’.
Apologies were not enough to save Shaq from being stripped of his Maricopa County Special Deputy’s badge though. When asked to comment Tuesday, Sheriff Joe Arpaio told The Associated Press, ‘I want his two badges back. Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.’
For those that wish to watch Shaq’s ridiculously terrible free-style crap, here it is:
Shaq entered the realm of rap professionally in 1993. His first album, eloquently titled ‘Shaq Diesel’, was Platinum certified. His subsequent two albums, ‘Shaq Fu: Da Return’ and ‘You Can’t Stop the Reign’, released in 1994 and 1996, respectively, were Gold certified. These albums are known for such hits as ‘(I Know I Got) Skillz’, ‘Shoot, Pass, Slam’, ‘Biological Didn’t Bother’, and ‘Strait Playin’.
Filed under: MLB | Tags: Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Jason Varitek, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Kevin Youkilis, Minnesota Twins, MLB All-Star Game, Sports
It has taken Mauer three consecutive weeks of strong voting to catch Varitek, despite posting a .331 batting average on the year, second only in the AL to the Texas Rangers DH Milton Bradley and New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who are batting .332 entering the day. In addition to batting a solid .100 better than Boston’s Varitek, Mauer has a .110 edge over him with a .417 OBP. Mauer currenlty leads the race for the American League’s starting catcher spot by a slim margin of 44,775 votes.
In a slightly more balanced All-Star balloting race Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is gaining ground on the Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis, who I feel resembles a lumberjack. The latest poll has Youkilis leading Morneau, who I affectionately refer to as ‘Hoser Papi,’ by just under 270,000 votes with just over a week left in the balloting. Morneau is batting .305 on the year, with 11 HRs and 59 RBI, while Youkilis is batting .304, with 13 HRs and 47 RBI.
Here’s hoping Morneau can continue to gain ground and Mauer can hold his, and fend off the feverish voting of Boston fans. The last thing we need to see is another All-Star game in which half of the AL team is composed of Yankees and Red Sox. Lets get some young, talented faces out there, as opposed to say a grizzled veteran that’s batting a paltry .231 on the year.
Vote Here for the 2008 MLB All-Star teams. Vote 25 times a day for the next 8 days if you so desire. Balloting ends at 11:59 PM ET Wednesday, July 2, 2008.
Filed under: NBA | Tags: Basketball, Boston Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Finals, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Sports
Kobe Bryant scored a team high 22 points for the Lakers, but only managed to go 7-22 from the floor. This certainly wasn’t his best effort, but he didn’t get much help either. Lamar Odom added 14 points, and Pau Gasol mustered a measley 11 points and 8 boards. Their subpar performances in the finals have given rise to such nicknames as Lamar Fold’em and Oww Gasol. Jordan Farmar came off the bench for the Lakers with 12 points, but that wasn’t enough to get it done, as they were the only four Lakers in double figures. European sensations Vladimir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic combined for a modest 13 points and 5 rebounds as the Lakers fell in the finals to the Celtics 4-2 to wrap up the marathon that was the NBA Playoffs.
This caps an impressive run by the Celtics who finished the regular season with a 66-16 record, and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Celtics played in a record 26 playoff games, beating the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, and finally (no pun intended) the Lakers en route to their 17th NBA Championship, the most by any franchise in the history of the sport.
Congratulations to Doc Rivers and the Celtics. It was an impressive march to the NBA title. I am happy to see Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett get rings, as they say. They have both had great careers and carry themselves with class, KG’s on-court potty mouth aside. As a Minnesota Timberwolves fan I find myself feeling utterly dissappointed more than anything though. I can’t help but lament the blunders of Kevin McHale and the franchise over the last decade, and wonder what might have been…
