Year in Review: Sports

Year in Review: Sports

The year in sports is a tough subject to break down in a blog so I will be making it a little easier on myself by choosing, what I think, are the biggest stories from most of the major sports. I will also recap the champions of the major North American sports leagues and highlight some of the better plays from each.

Champions

NBA - Miami Heat

The Heat dismantled the OKC Thunder in 5 games and takes home the first championship since Lebron, Wade and Bosh teamed up. Lebron also secured the MVP with play that had every media member saying he had made the leap that he needed to be the best player in the league.

NFL - New York Giants

The New York Giants upset the New England Patriots in the 46^th annual Superbowl. That’s not all the Giants also broke the record for having the lowest regular season record (9-7) for a team that won the Superbowl.

NHL - LA Kings

After being predicted to be the best team in the NHL during the 2011-12 season, they started off the year and only managed to get into the playoffs in the eighth seed. They ended up losing only 4(out of 20) games on their way to becoming Stanley Cup Champions.

CFL - Toronto Argonauts

Like any season in the CFL the Grey Cup is always up for grabs, even if you didn’t play so well all season. This year’s champion is just more proof of that with the 9-9 Toronto Argo’s out playing the 12-6 Calgary Stampeders to win their 16^th Grey Cup.

MLB - San Franscisco Giants

I don’t watch a lot of baseball. Barry Bonds use to play for them right? Does that mean they all do steroids? Are steroids still a big deal in the MLB?

The Giants winning the MLB championship seems like a good thing because it’s not the Yankees or Red Socks. Am I right, baseball fans?

Big Stories (and highlights) of 2012

NBA

The Stern and Lake Show

The two biggest stories of the NBA in 2012 are the announced retirement of one of the longest running NBA commissioners of all time and all the trades he allowed and didn’t allow.

David Stern will have been commissioner for 30 years when he retires in February of 2013. So, why is an announced retirement such big news? Well, it’s because the man has not made a great name for himself and created most of the problems the NBA has to deal with today. All we can hope for is that Adam Silver is a little more subtle when he’s screwing all the fans over.

Secondly all the “names” that were traded this offseason is a pretty big deal. There was Harden, Bynum, Joe Johnson, Lin, Igoudala and those weren’t even the biggest moves of the year. The honors for that go to the Los Angeles Lakers who brought in a 2 time MVP (Steve Nash) and a 3 time NBA Defensive player of the year (Dwight Howard), not only that they had a chance to hire arguably the greatest coach of all time(Phil Jackson). Add that to Kobe Bryant, statistically one of the best players of all time, and Pau Gasol an Olympic Silver medalist and one of the top five centers in the league, you would think you had a great team right? Well Nash is injured, Dwight is recovering from surgery, Pau is not playing at an all star level and they lose when ever Kobe score more than 30 points (they are 1 -11 in those situations). Will they put it together and make the playoffs? Hopefully, all us Canadians want to see in Steve Nash get a ring.

NFL

Tragedy

This year in the NFL has been all about tragedies. There was a scandal where coaches were taped telling players to injure certain layers on the teams. There was a suicide by a man that was so physically and mentally destroyed from football that he shot himself in the chest so his brain could be used in the research of concussions. There was a car crash were the passenger (an NFL player) was killed and the driver (another NFL player) was convicted of intoxicated man slaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison. There was even a NFL player that went to the extreme and killed his wife and then himself. Football is one of the most dangerous sports and after a year like this something definitely needs to change.

(I did not name or really talk about any incident specifically because I do not feel comfortable speaking about something I know very little of. Also this is not the forum or way to talk about matters as serious as many of those were. Most or all of the stories can be read about on the internet. Thank you and now some NFL highlights of the year!)

NHL

Long Live the Kin…(LOCKEDOUT!)

After another great season Gary Bettman and the owners cannot figured out a way to make up for their own mistakes and for the second time in six years the NHL is locked out again. This section of the blog post has now been lockout as well. (Oh Sid the Kid’s been playing goalie though.)

CFL

CFLame

What can I say about the Canadian Football League in 2012… Here are some highlights.

MLB

Money, Money, Money

I don’t follow baseball (if you didn’t know) so here is a list of some of the contracts signed in 2012.

Albert Pujols 10 year 240 million

Joey Votto 10 years 225 million

Prince Fielder 9 years 214 million

Matt Kemp 8 years 160 million

Josh Hamilton 5 year 125 million

That’s just crazy.   

Olympics

The Olympics are always one of the biggest stories of the year when they are put on. This year was no different the opening ceremony was directed by a movie director and had a certain Hollywood feel to it with all the set pieces. The ceremony as a whole was quite amazing especially when the Olympic rings come together above the smoke stacks during the industrial revolution part of it.

The actual Olympics weren’t that news worthy with the US and China coming away one and two in the medal count. A couple athletes made names for themselves (Rosannagh Maclennan of Canada and Gabrielle Douglas of the US) There were also those that solidified there place in the history books (Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt).

Boxing

Paquiao Goes Down

This is another sport I don’t follow to closely but easily the biggest story of the year has to be Mr. Paqiauo’s downfall. He had a close loss earlier in the year and then he gets smashed in his third fight with Marquez who cleans his clock. This wasn’t his year that’s for sure.

MMA

Dana Red Hot

A lot of stuff happened in the UFC and MMA world this year. The thing is so much stuff happened that in kind of fell off the radar. It was like an oversaturation of the market. Dana White has a plethora of fighters and he seems to be having a little trouble managing who fights and when. Being that MMA is such a physical sport it doesn’t help that there are so many injuries. Surprisingly though the story of the year in the MMA world is not that there were too many events but that one of them was cancelled completely. UFC 151 had to be cancelled due to an injury to Jon Jones’ initial opponent (Dan Henderson) and the refusal of Jon Jones to fight the remplacement fighter (Chael Sonnen) on short notice. Let’s just say Dana wasn’t too happy about the whole situation.

Cycling

Lance Strong Armed

Lance Armstrong, the one testiculed former beau of Sheryl Crow, has had all of his seven Tour de France wins removed from the records when he decided to drop his fight against the charges of using performance enhancing drugs during those races. It’s a shame that a man with one ball can’t get a break these days.

Equestrian

Another Horse Didn’t Win The Triple Crown

Year in Review: Movies

Year in Review: Movies

Favorite Movies of the Year

In no way am I qualified to talk about the year’s best movies. So here is a list of some of my favorite movies of the year. Please enjoy.

1. Looper

Time travel movies are really hard to make well. The whole concept of time travel is so confusing that if the movies spends too much time trying to explain it or how it affects the past, present or future then it will get bogged down and can end up being really boring (Butterfly Effect). But when a movie stays away from the explanations and just lets go it can be quite entertaining (Terminator). What Looper does that is great is it doesn’t try and explain itself out of every corner; instead you get old Joe telling young Joe “I don’t want to talk about time travel because if we start talking about time travel then we’re going to be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws.

Not only is the whole premise of the movie great Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis do a great job of playing the same character separated by 30 years. The ending is a little predictable if you watch how JGL and Bruce Willis’ character arcs start to change but the movie as a whole is well put together and Emily Blunt makes up for all the shortcomings the ending might have.

2. Chronicle

I am a huge Super Hero/Villain fan and this movie fulfills the entire desire super hero fans want in their movies: flying, powers, fighting, fighting with powers while flying. This movie has it all. Not only that the Alien object that game them their powers wasn’t explained or seen of again. What happened to it? Is there possibility of a sequel perhaps? The three guys that made the cast seemed like they were actually friends in real life Dane DeHaan goes all Magneto on everyone you can almost understand exactly why he would do that.

3. Skyfall

Bond, James Bond. Well it’s another installment of the super spy saga and as someone who has literally seen five James Bonds movies, this is easily number two on my favorite JB movie (number one is obviously GoldenEye). Daniel Craig has a resurgence as the spy/killing machine after what wasn’t the best outing in Quantum of Solace (I heard, I didn’t see that one) after starting his franchise off with a boom in Casino Royale (I actually saw that one and I really liked it too). I think if Mr. Craig can make another Bond movie likes this he could be one of the best Bonds ever.

4. Pitch Perfect

This movie isn’t all about the songs. Ok, it’s mostly about the songs. The music in this movie is great and specifically the final numbers by both of the main acapella groups are great. Besides Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson I could not stand a lot of the other actors in this movie. The story was good and the writing made the movie a lot better. I found myself LOL’ing a few times (most of them involved Rebel Wilson). The movie probably wouldn’t be that great if Brittany Snow and Anna Camp weren’t in it but the whole puke fight and node removal storylines were just weird and felt unnecessary.

5. 21 Jump Street

A remake of a TV show from the 70’s with the guy from that dancing movie and the fat one from SuperBad who isn’t fat anymore. That’s all this movie was supposed to be, but instead Channing Tatum came out of his box and showed he had great comedic chops and John Hill came to set looking like he hadn’t eaten for a year and they blew away all expectations. This movie is so funny and the whole thing is capped off by the cameo by Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise the original 21 Jump Streeters from when the program started.

6. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Steve Carell plays the straight man while all sorts of crazy stuff happen around him that are mostly caused by or somehow involve Kiera Knightley’s character. The movie is charming in the idea that when you know the world is coming to an end you should go out and find whatever it is that will make you happy for the rest of the time you have. (December 21 is approaching everyone go find the “one that got away”) When the movie ended I couldn’t help but want to what happened but I was only left with the love story we got and I was ok with that.

7. Avengers

I was supposed to see this movie on the IMAX #D screen but the projectionist screwed up and the 3D didn’t work so we had to watch it in pedestrian IMAX format. Do I think the 3D experience would have made me like it more? Probably not (those glasses hurt my head) but I would have enjoyed to see the alien beings getting smashed toward my face by the Hulk.

I loved Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the rebooted Mark Ruffalo Hulk but the characters of Black Widow and Hawkeye were weak and could have been substituted by any other marvel comic book character and the movie would have been better off.

8. Project X

I guess this is what a 2012 teen movie looks like. I have to say, I am glad that I am not a teenage in these times because I would never have made it through a party like that. The movie itself though is really well put together and pretty hilarious.

9. Moonrise Kingdom

This is an odd movie and for some reason I really enjoyed watching it. Edward Norton was awesome as the camp leader at Camp Ivanhoe. Besides Norton you have Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwarztman all eating scenery. The real amzing thing is that the movie is about a love between two teenagers: a loner who is excluded by his brother and then fellow campers and a troubled teenage girl who loves reading fantasy novels and is prone to violent outburst. Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward are the real stars of this movie stealing every scene they are in together and making the audience feel that they are actually meant to be together.

10. Safety Not Guaranteed

Another movie about time travel but this isn’t really about time travel. It’s about a journalist and two interns who travel to a small town to find a man who put an ad in a newspaper asking for a partner to travel back in time with. The cast is great headlined by Mark Duplass, Jack Johnson, and Aubrey Plaza. I mean you can’t get hotter and more current comedy stars then that.

Honorable Mention

The Dark Knight

I liked the Chris Nolan Batman franchise as a whole but this movie seems kind of rushed. It seems like he just wanted to finish it. I didn’t like that Batman wasn’t in it that much and the whole Bane Voice things was absurd. If you have an actor like Tom Hardy you should use him better than that. With that said it brings a nice conclusion to the trilogy and leaves a strange Joseph Gordon-Levitt size opening in the Batman world.

Movies I haven’t seen. Yet…

Whether it’s because I haven’t been to a theater in a while or because I couldn’t find a good version on the internet, these are the movies that have come out this year that I haven’t seen but plan on at some point in the near future.

1. Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino is a genius. I feel like if you’ve seen Inglorious Basterds and liked it then you will probably enjoy Djamie Foxx Unchained.

2. Flight

Denzel is my favorite actor of all time and I can’t wait to find a copy of this movie and watch it 4 times in a row.

3. The Hobbit

I loved LOTRs and I can’t imagine not loving Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman plays Dr. Watson on BBCs Sherlock) and a bunch of dwarves on an incredible journey through Middle Earth.

4. Man with the Iron Fists

RZA’s first major motion picture looks interesting. I don’t know how good it will be but I am excited to see it when I get the chance. I only hope he punches some bodies eye out. (HE DOES!)

5. Les Miserables

Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway all singer their own songs live on the set, the first musical to do that. I mean this movie looks like an epic that if you miss then you are just plain missing out.

6. Lincoln

The cast includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, John Hawkes, Bruce McGill, Jared Harris, Walton Goggins, and Adam Driver. If some of those names are familiar google them and you’ll recognize them from something. I mean this movie even has Kevin Kline as a wounded soldier.

7. Life of Pi

Based off a book where a boy and a tiger share a boat after the ship that was carrying them capsized. I never read it but the concept of the boy/tiger relationship has always kept me intrigued.

8. Seven Psychopaths

Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken and Colin Farrell playing characters that suit them very well. This movie looks like it will be funny more or less the whole way through.

9. The Master

Not a movie about the birth of scientology, also not starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams.

10. Argo

A movie toted as coming extremely close to portraying what actually happened in the real life version. The only thing that some people are having difficulty with is the only character that was not casted to look like the actual human counterpart was the main character and the role Ben Affleck (the director) decided to give himself.

Movies I haven’t seen. And won’t…

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

No Thank You!

Hunger Games

I heard it was good and Jennifer Lawrence did a great job but this is a Disney action movie? Where the kids have to murder each other to survive? How are you supposed to make that into a Disney movie?

Here Comes the Boom

I have nothing against Kevin James or Kevin James movies but I am just not interested in seeing Kevin James get beat up or try to make me believe that he is in the same weight class as Jason Miller.

Total Recall

You can’t remake and change it as much as they did without showing the proper respect to the original, especially a cult classic.

Battleship

Call me when they make a jenga movie…

Actor of the Year

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

The man has really worked his butt off this year. Not only was he in my favorite movie of the year he also was a bike messenger on the run from everyone, Abraham Lincoln’s son, and the heir apparent to the Dark Knight costume. JGL didn’t just have a four movie run he also hosted Saturday Night Live and did so very well. He always seems to be working but with Looper, Lincoln and The Dark Knight Rises he swung for the fences and hit three straight homeruns. Next year he has one movie coming out about a man who is addicted to porn and somewhat of a womanizer and his struggles to become less selfish. He also has been rumored to be in the running for the role of Batman in the Justice League movie that will be coming out in 2015. All I know is after a year like this he is bound to have a nice next couple of years.

Year in Review: Music

Year in Review: Music

Favorite Albums of the Year

Here is a list of my favorite albums of 2012 accompanied by two(maybe three) videos of songs featured on them.

1. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid M.A.A.D. City

Lamar has easily the best rapped album of the year and has made a few appearances on other artist’s album only to bring those tracks up a level or two. Dude has flow like a jet engine, powerful, constant and if you get to close it will suck you in and tear you to pieces.

Swimming Pools (Drank)

Black Boy Fly

2. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

This album is different. Not in a bad way at all but if this album was put out in the fifty’s everything would have gone from black and white to color. Just like the movie Pleasentville.

Bad Religion

Pink Matter ft. Andre 3000

3. Japandroids - Celebration Rock

Have you ever heard the saying “get to the point”? Well that’s exactly what this album does. With just eight songs on this album I hoped it wouldn’t be like a bad restaurant dinner. Comes quicker than you expected but everything is cold and you are left with a very bad taste in your mouth. I’m glad to say that this album is absolutely not a bad dinner. The pace is quick but each song leaves you wanting just enough that you will go back and before you know it you have the album on repeat. 

The House that Heaven Built

Continuous Thunder

4. Big Boi - Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors’

This album reminded me of Jay Z’s The Black Album. Not in any particular way but when I was listening to it, The Black Album popped into my head on more than one occasion. Big Boi, one half of one the greatest raps groups ever, brings Atlanta to you. He has help from well known artists like B.o.B., Kid Cudi, T.I.P., Luda, Kelly Rowland and A$AP Rocky on some of the tracks and even enlists some help from the indie world with the likes of Wavves and Phantogram.

In The A ft. T.I. & Luda

Tremendous Damage ft. Bosko

5. John Mayer - Born and Raised

I have always been a fan of John Mayer, especially when he referred to Jessica Simpson’s sexual prowess as “Sexual Napalm.” Not only does he out do himself on this album he does so after having thought surgery that kept him from singing for a long time. This guy has still got it.

The Age of Worry

Love is a Verb

Honorable Mention

Jack White – Blunderbuss

I really enjoyed this album, there's just something to listening to Jack Black sing about a love that would “murder my own mother/and take her off to somewhere/ like hell or up above” that is weirdly relaxing.

Love Interruption

SchoolBoy Q – Habits and Contradictions

Who is SchoolBoy Q? Besides being an amazing rapper that I have never heard before I still have no idea who he is. But that doesn’t matter because he puts out great music.

Hands On the Wheel

Favorite Songs of the Year

This list is put together of songs that came out in 2012. Another thing all these tracks have in common is that they have all been overplayed by yours truly. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if these where the least favorite songs of the year by my neighbors.

Mercy – G.O.O.D. Music

I am not a huge Two Chains fan. I know that he was all over 2012 like booties on bitches but I just never got into him. There is one thing that can make me like any rapper in any scenario, that is to get on a Kanye track and demolish it. That’s exactly what Two Chains does in this situation. Then add a Pusha T verse that rivals any Pusha T verse and Kanye doing Kanye things, this is easily my favorite song of the year.

Kendrick Lamar – Sing About Me, I’m Dying Of Thirst

This song is easily my favorite off my favorite album of the year. The chorus is haunting and it always gets me singing along.

Frank Ocean – Thinkin Bout You

Everytime Frank Ocean sings in falsetto an angel gets its wings.

Bruno Mars – Locked Out of Heaven

This song is one that always gets me dancing. Actually I’m dancing like Bruno’s backup band in this video right now.

Macklemore feat. Ryan Lewis – Thrift Shop

“They had a broken Keyboard/so I bought a broken keyboard” should sum this song up pretty well.

Big Boi feat. B.o.B. & Wavves – Shoes for Running

B.o.B. has been one of my favorite rappers in the last couple of years. He has a flow that is so his own that he doesn’t even rhyme sometimes and you just have to go “yeah that works.”

Y.N.RichKids – Hot Cheetos and Takis

These kids are more talented then you and they are in elementary school. Go cry in the corner with your hot cheetos.

Carly Rae Jespen – Call Me Maybe

I am not afraid to say that this is one of the songs that I liked the most this year. I have been on too many youtube journeys looking at spoofs and lipsyncs of this song. And most of those journeys ended with me watching the Bieber/Gomez lipsync video while my inner child beat the crap out of me for it to come to this.

SchoolBoy Q feat. Kendrick Lamar – Blessed

This is one of the examples I was referring to when I said Kendrick Lamar elevates the songs that he is featured on, and even before Kendrick makes his presence felt I loved this song.

Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

When you find yourself singing this song hours after you saw the video you have to admit that it has it place in the list of best songs of the year. It’s like an audible STI, you will never get rid of it.

One Hit Wonder of the Year

Psy - Gangnam Style

I don't think anything needs to be said about this entry. EH SEXY LADY!