Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Cue the Olympic theme, despite the wrongly-displayed flag by someone who should know better.
















Now that the Olympics are upon us, it's 2 weeks of "My Dinner With Teddy". Yep, CNBC is once again doing boxing fans a big favor by running boxing from 5:00 to 8:00. Bob Papa with the call and Teddy Atlas doing the analyzing. This time, it's also being simulcast on Universal HD. Where else can you hear Teddy say, "When you are in the ring, you want to be the ocean. You do not want to be the log."

Of course, Olympic-style boxing is so frustrating to watch because of the scoring. Several clean blows by one participant do not get counted, while some shady blows by the other do count and then it switches the other way. And once someone attains a clear lead, that guy gets on the bike virtually eliminating any chance of a comeback. I've seen some interviews with members of the US team and it's a good group to rally around. Raynell Williams from Cleveland won his first bout easily and in his interview looked like he collected every Olympic pin he could find. Seems like a really nice kid.

Time Warner also getting into the action by adding USA Network in HD and offering two additional HD channels for the Olympics. One shows all the soccer, the other, basketball. In addition to Universal HD and NBC HD. Saw some archery the other day. They are pointing those arrows directly at you.

And it has nothing to do with boxing, but the cheerleaders are back at the beach Volleyball venue.































Meal of Links

I saw "Pineapple Express". I must say, it's the funniest film of the summer. OK, not much competition out there, but, you'll laugh at this one. And Seth Rogen is only the third funniest guy in the movie. Danny McBride steals the movie as "Red", a drug distributor. And James Franco, as Rogen's dope dealer, is the best stoner in the movies since Brad Pitt in "True Romance".

Good supporting work from Gary Cole and Rosie Perez, and Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson ("Darryl" from "The Office") as Cole's henchmen are choice. They also found a girl who reminded me of a young Scarlett Johansson, Amber Heard. Ed Begley, Jr. with a memorable scene, as well.

I really enjoyed this one. Some hilarious scenes involving getting high and it eventually turns into a buddy flick. The final scene where the three guys talk about what just happened in the movie is so unforced, because that's what guys do. Talk about stupid shit they never forget. I think this one's got legs on the DVD and cable circuit.

Here are the Top 75 Sports Movies. Surprisingly, "Murderball" is No. 1. This documentary is so good, I just caught it again on cable within the last two weeks. It is followed by:

"Touching The Void"
"Bigger, Stronger, Faster"
"Offside"
"Raging Bull"
"Million Dollar Baby"
"Bull Durham"
"Hoop Dreams"
"Lagaan"
"Surfwise"

With all of the celebrity deaths lately, one that got lost in the shuffle was the passing of Bernie Brillstein. His book, "Where Did I Go Right?" is a classic. And, fittingly, his memorial service was a hoot.

Exercise Yard

Olympic track and field is next week. That's when the real fun begins.

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