K-Rod to the Mets

Francisco Rodriguez is heading from LA to New York. The man who just set a record with 62 saves last season will try to fix the biggest Met problem: the bullpen. The Mets would have made the playoffs in front of the eventual World Series champs Phillies if not for their bullpen. K-Rod will translate into an extra 7-10 wins for the Mets in 2009. Along with K-Rod the Mets made a deal to get the Mariners' closer J.J. Putz. Putz will be a great set-up man for K-Rod. Look for the Mets to win the NL East in 2009 and maybe represent the NL in the World Series. 

Final Practical

For my final practical I decided to talk about something that I absolutely hate: The BCS. The BCS is unfair to all the teams with one loss or not in one of the big conferences. I talked about how Oklahoma and Florida are in the BCS national championship, but a possible seven other teams deserves a shot: Texas, Alabama, USC, Utah, Texas Tech, Penn State, and Boise State. I used a variety of angles and different shots to make contrast in the video. I wanted a goofy type of look to my video, so I provided a bunch of pretty crappy pictures of the schools and slapped them on top of my ugly face. The BCS is something I could talk about all day, but simply would only make me angry. 

The Day the Earth Stood Still

I went to 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' last night and still don't know what to think. An alien life form comes to Earth through a giant sphere. Keanu Reeves is the alien and his acting is just awful. I think I could have done his job. He honestly has no personality or anything in the movie. Jennifer Connelly plays an astro-biologist who befriends the alien, trying to figure out why he is there and what's going to happen. The movie plays out with Keanu seeing that the humans are a viable race and doesn't deserve to be eliminated. Basically, a swarm of bugs is the ingredient that will wipe out Earth. The movie concludes with Keanu stopping the swarm and going back into the giant sphere. This movie is one of those movies where you have a bunch of questions, but they never get answered. This movie was not good.

C.C. to the Yankees

C.C. Sabathia, once the pitcher of the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers signed with the Yankees on Thursday for reportedly a 6-year deal worth over $160 million. Holy crap! Not bad for someone who works May-September, and once out of every five days. Sabathia is good, but I don't think he's worth the richest pitching contract in MLB history. He's going to help the Yankees a lot; the Yankees needed pitching desperately. Sabathia will now be the #1 for the Yanks followed by Wang and Chamberlain. This is a viable one, two, three, but they may need at least one more good pitcher to compete with the Rays and Red Sox. My prediction: Sabathia in '09; 14-8, 3.39 ERA, 187 K, 58 BB. Yankees miss the playoffs. 

Final Video (Hotdog Champ)

Stephen Brua, Brett Kasten, and I filmed our final project in the light of Stephen's 2009 Nathan's Hotdog Eating Championship. We used humorous B-roll of Stephen and I hurriedly chowing down dogs. Stephen and Brett did a nice job of capturing the interview process on "ESPN 8, THE OCHO". We took what was similar to the Sportscenter backdrop and used it for THE OCHO's set. Our commercial was Brett Kasten at his finest. Kasten wanted to get the word out on safe sex, he promoted it with the likes of Durex and Johnsonville Brats. This was a fun video to film and make and I hope you enjoy. 

Matt Cassell's father dies

New England Patriots' quartback Matt Cassell is going through something that almost all sons and daughters eventually go through, the loss of a parent. Cassell's father died, and Matt has joined his family in California for the funeral. This is where the true colors of professional athletes shine through. It's good to see Cassell is forgetting about football for the week, and helping his family through this tragic time. Coach Bill Bellichick went through the same event during the season in 2005. He said that football shouldn't even be in the head of Cassell right now, and that's a mature thing to say from a football coach. I remember Brett Favre having a spectacular showing on Monday Night Football after his dad died earlier in the week. I'm hoping Cassell will be able to help the Patriots on Sunday, but I'm hoping even more that the Cassell family gets through this tragedy.

Tribute To Jimmy V

It's Jimmy V week, and that means donations to cancer research, but more importantly a tribute to a man who changed the way many think about life. Jimmy Valvano will be remembered as the winning coach for the North Carolina State Wolfpack against the favored Houston team. He will be remembered for running around the court after the game looking for someone to hug. He will be remembered for his speech at the ESPY's. And as we remember Jimmy V this week, we must remember the words he said, "Don't give up, don't ever give up."

BCS puts Florida and Oklahoma in title game

Now we all saw this coming... That is Florida beating Alabama and Oklahoma cruising past Missouri in their respective conference title games. So Florida jumped past Texas to reach the title game. It was expected, but is it fair. No way. We have Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, USC, Texas Tech, and Penn State all with one loss. Don't forget about Utah and Boise State being undefeated! If my math is right, that would mean 9 teams have zero or one loss. Wouldn't that produced a great playoff? 9 teams deserving of a chance! Penn State and Boise State would have a play-in game to play Oklahoma. Florida vs. Texas Tech. Texas vs. Utah. Alabama vs. USC. Wow, what a weekend of football that would be. Give the kids a chance to play for a title. It's getting ridiculous that most schools can't lose a game if they want a chance at the title. And even if you do win all your games you still don't a chance in the cases of Utah and Boise State. I'm sick of the BCS, and frankly sick of college football because of it. 

The Dark Knight Comes Out On DVD

The Dark Knight comes out on DVD at midnight. While, I won't be one to go get it, I was a huge fan of the movie. Heath Ledger did an outstanding job as 'The Joker' and deserves an Oscar for his role. The Dark Knight was more than a box office hit, it's now #2 in gross revenue in cinema history behind Titantic. I hope the Batman saga ends with this movie, as it won't get much better than this. Batman Begins was also outstanding and Christian Bale, although not the best Batman, got to play Batman in the two best movies.

Vikings squeak by winless Lions

As I woke up today soon after noon by a text message from a friend, I turned it to FOX to watch my beloved Minnesota Vikings take on the crappy Detroit Lions. When I got to the television screen, the Lions had a 6-0 lead. The Vikings came back to lead at halftime, but by a slim margin. Gus Frerotte got hurt just before halftime, and my thoughts were if Tavaris Jackson had to win the game for the Vikings, the Vikings simply wouldn't win. Jackson played one of the best games of his young career, completing 80% of his passes and not turning the ball over. The Vikings scored a late touchdown to take the 20-16 lead and that was the final. The Vikings improved to 8-5 and have a one-game lead on the Chicago Bears. The Vikings play the Cardinals next week. Atlanta and the Giants are the remaining two home games for the Vikes after a trip to Arizona. 

The Punisher

I went to the movie "The Punisher" last night, which received 1/2 a star from critics. Well the critics were about right showing their disappointment in the movie. The story is pretty simple. Frank Castle a.k.a. The Punisher was a simple family man in the army when one day at a family picnic, his family gets murdered by mob members. From that day he brings it on himself to take down every mob member in the city. The movie shows the quest to kill Billy Roussitini and his mob. They battle back and forth and of course the Punisher ends up killing everyone. The movie had a good story, but was just underdeveloped. The shooting scenes were pretty cool, but the killing was so fake, and I usually can't tell real blood from fake blood; I could see the difference in this movie. This movie is quite brutal in a couple different definitions. The movie itself was brutal and the killings were brutal. 

Wal-Mart employee dies on Black Friday

A worker died after being trampled by unruly bargain shoppers early Friday morning. Three other people were injured as well. Police said that the shoppers physically broke down the doors and the man basically got ran over by the crowd. Authorities said the man was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead one hour later. The cause of death is unknown. This is just crazy. Where are we in terms of humanity that such a thing could happen. Things like this makes me hate people. It's harsh, but true. A 34-year-old man is now dead because he was doing his job. I don't know if he was married or had kids, but I can't imagine the heartache his family must feel. Hopefully this will open up people's eyes, but at the same time nothing like this should happen to let people know the consequences of unruly behavior.