Monday Morning Falcons Hangover: Special Post Draft / Post Osama Bin Laden Edition

There's an Odd Couple joke somewhere in here.

It has been awhile since I have written. To be honest, there has not been a lot to write about. The NFL Labor Mess cast a pall over all football proceedings and made thinking about football not even remotely fun for me.

Plus, I have spent much of the last two months doing everything I could to get back into school. Long story short: I had to take some time off because of personal reasons, but because I was out longer than a full academic year, I had to reapply and there were grade change issues involved, and it was pretty much a big mess.

All of that work paid off though, as I’m back in school, have only a few classes until I attain my degrees, and will be able to enjoy one last football season at UGA (looking to be a HUGE bounce-back season for the Dawgs, hoping SEC East winners!) before the real, real world beckons.

Draft Hangover

First thing’s first: anyone ripping the Falcons for trading away five draft picks for Julio Jones is WRONG.

The Falcons traded away four draft picks for Julio Jones: this year’s 2 and 4, and next year’s 1 and 4. They swapped 1’s with Cleveland, moving up 21 spots from 27 to 6 to take what many experts believe is the best receiver in the draft.

So, getting that out of the way, was the four draft picks the Falcons traded to Cleveland “too much” for a player who will change the way every single team can defend the Falcons offense, opening up the field not only for Roddy White, but for Tony Gonzalez, Harry Douglas, Michael Turner, and the new kid, Jacquizz Rodgers?

Um, no.

The Falcons were 16th in the league in total yards last year. They were 31st… THIRTY-FIRST in offensive plays of 20 yards or more. Roddy White had his worst YPC averages of his career (even when he was trying to catch errant throws from the DogKilla). Matt Ryan had the worst YPC average of his career, and the second worst of any QB in the playoffs.

The Falcons need defensive help, it is true, but the Falcons offense scared NO ONE last year. Part of that is because of Mike Smith’s play not to lose philosophy of football, and part of that is the fact that they possessed no receiver to really stretch the field (White isn’t a burner) or take double teams away from White. I mean, it is absolutely amazing that Roddy White led the NFL in receptions last year with all of the double teams he faced.

Now, the Falcons possess a burner receiver in Julio Jones who will stretch the field. He will take double teams off of White, yes, but even more than that, Jones will do so much more.

Jones will keep opposing defenses from dropping one or both safeties into the box to stop the run, meaning Michael Turner will only be seeing the normal seven or six men in the box. Imagine Turner running into the second level of a defense unfettered. Can you say rampaging bull?

By keeping the safeties honest, Jones will open up the middle of the field for Harry Douglas, the Falcons’ slot receiver and Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta’s HOF TE. Think about it: once again, TG will be single covered by a smaller, slower LB like in the earlier days of his career, no bracketed coverage with safety help. First downs to the TE all… day… LONG.

Jones will also open up a more creative ability to approaching the Falcons offense, allowing for more screen passes to succeed with Jacquizz Rodgers creating mismatches on LBs without having to worry about safeties who cheated-up.

To put it simply, Jones makes Atlanta offense much like Green Bay’s offense, or Indy’s offense, or Arizona’s offense from a few years ago.

He makes other teams fear the Falcons. When is the last time anyone said that?

As for the defensive help that the Falcons need, if you don’t think the team will fill their pass-rushing defensive end need (Ray Edwards, Charles Johnson) in free agency, y’all haven’t paid attention to how this team has done business in the last three years.

The fact is, the Falcons could afford to give up four draft picks for Julio Jones, who is faster than AJ Green, who is a better blocker than AJ, and who, by all accounts, is a better team leader than AJ (and it pains me to say that as a loyal Bulldog), because the Falcons only had two glaring holes to fill, not four or five.

And in the end, Julio Jones, like Larry Fitzgerald or Megatron, is a slam-dunk, sure-fire pick. None of the DE’s in the draft were sure-fire picks. NONE. Most of them were Big-10 players, and we all know you are far more likely to get a bust d-lineman from the Big-10 than any other conference.

If you had the chance three years ago to draft Megatron, would YOU trade four picks for him?

You of course answer “HELL YEAH!”

So stop killing the Falcons for doing the same damn thing.

As for the rest of the Falcons' draft, it was excellent if you choose to forget they took a kicker in Round 6 when TE Virgil Green was still on the board. And I choose to forget they took a kicker in Round 6 when TE Virgil Green was still on the board.

Akeem Dent is going to be a playmaker for years on this team, and I'm not just saying that as a loyal member of Bulldog Nation. The guy is Bobby Boucher... he's a Tackling FOOL!

The best steal of the draft belongs to the Falcons, taking mighty midget Jacquizz Rodgers on the 3rd Day. Rodgers is going to be the Falcons' Dave Megget, without the felony conviction. We're talking a kid who, although small in stature, can run it up the gut AND block LBs coming after his QB. Rodgers told reporters he models his game on Warrick Dunn, and it shows on tape. Plus, he has mad hands. Get him a screen pass in space on a LB, and you'll next find him 20 yards down field.

Picking up some o-line and d-line depth at the end of the draft worked out well, and the Falcons will be going hot and heavy after Ray Edwards or Charles Johnson in free agency to fill their need for the consistent LE Kroy Bierman, who works better as "instant energy off the bench guy," isn't.

As Charlie Sheen would say, the Falcons filled-up this past weekend on tiger's blood and are most certainly... WINNING! (is that still topical... I don't know).

The Seven Things I Know

1) It was completely idiotic to have the first round of the draft on Thursday night.

2) We have all heard by now that ratings for the draft were down 20%, but do not let people like the esteemed Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports try and convince you it was because of labor issues. It was because the first round of the draft was on Thurday night, not Friday.

3) Thursday night is by far the most crowded night of television in this country, and every single show was a brand new episode. We are talking 30 rock, Bones, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation, Community, and the two biggies, American Idol, and Steve Carell’s final episode of The Office. Against that Murderer’s Row, the NFL Draft didn’t stand a chance.

4) So, WHY did the NFL decide to hold the 1st Round of the Draft on the most crowded night in television? Well, here, guys like Mike Silver have the right answer: GREED. Only this time, the NFL, like the clueless old guy they sometimes appear to be, really had no clue that they could not beat even a Simon-less AI and certainly was not going to beat Steve Carell’s final The Office.

5) The NFL would be wise to have the 1st Round of the draft on Friday, a day that is usually devoid of quality shows (except for Fringe... seriously people, WATCH FRINGE… it is easily the second-best show on television after Justified, both shows have their season finales this week… WATCH!) and much easier to maneuver a DVR around.

6) I am still amazed at how many usually smart people in the media continue to act as if all of the psychological red flags put up by Cam Newton are not the exact same red flags put up by Ryan Leaf. Conceited. Arrogant. Dishonest. Immature.

7) Yeah, Leaf did not win a BCS Title, but he led a whole team of kids who rallied around him to take Washington State to their first Rose Bowl in over FIFTY YEARS, and he did so while remaining a fake, unrepentant douche bag, just like Cam Newton. So, telling me Newton is not the same guy because he “led” a bunch of 20 years olds to a title is a line of b.s. a mile long. Newton is going to set back the Carolina Panthers for years.

As a Falcons fan, I am fine with that, and I cannot wait to watch this train wreck.

Today in History (Yesterday, 01 May 2011 Edition)

We got that mother------!!! Osama Bin Laden is now Satan’s new favorite plaything!

What an AWESOME day to be an American, a former active duty Marine, and a lover of freedom!

Oh, and one more thing: to all of those complete and utter fools on Twitter who are trying to make this into a political “win” for the Democratic Party, I hope you people seriously reprioritize your lives and understand just how pitiful you are.

Yesterday was a win for America, you tools. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians… it does not matter!

I am happy for our President (even though I didn’t, and won’t vote for him). I am happy for our service men and women who made this victory possible.

But unlike many unfortunate, misguided ideologues, (like Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and too many douchey actors, actresses, & writers to count) I am an American FIRST.

Keep politics out of this. This is a win for America and the world, not a political party. This behavior is no better than the Republicans who tried to do the same thing when we got Saddam. They were wrong then, and you are wrong now. You people should be ashamed of yourselves!

Film Real

I do not have anything prepared for Film Real this week. I have been getting all my ducks in a row for school. Been crazy.

Smart Quote

Death comes equally to us all, and makes us all equal when it comes.

John Donne

And do y’all know what the quickest way to equality is? Two 5.56mm NATO FMJ rounds to the head, courtesy of US Navy Seal Team 6.

Rot in hell, Osama Bin Laden!

Hey, Check This Out!

Do I have to say anything else?

Please follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller. Thanks!

Wednesday Football Two-A-Days

Um, Coach Tressel, it's the NCAA on line one, for YOU.

The Longest Tenured Falcon Will Not Be Back

Last week, the Falcons announced some fairly regular for this time of year roster moves. They re-signed a back-up offensive lineman, Will Svitec, and believe it or not, a back-up punter, Ken Parrish. The team also announced that CB Brian Williams, whose Falcons career started off so well before he was hurt in the middle of the 2009 season (likely costing the team a few wins and a playoff shot), will not be back. The big news however, is about the other player the team announced would not be back: WR Brian Finneran.

Finneran has been on the team since 2000, and is, or was, by far, the longest-tenured Falcon. Finn has seen it all in Atlanta: the end of the Dan Reeves Era, the beginning brilliance of Mike Vick’s first two seasons as a starter (with that one, Vick-injured season in the middle), the Little Jimmy Mora Era of Disarray and the mediocrity of Mike Vick’s last two seasons, the fallout from the Vick’s despicable and sociopathic off-field pursuits, and the rebirth of the team under Thomas Dimitroff, Mike Smith, and Matt Ryan.

Finneran, a Philly kid from the tiny school of Villanova, was drafted by his hometown Eagles in 1999, but became a stalwart for the Falcons at WR over his career. His first few years were marred by untimely drops, like dropping a sure-fire touchdown that would have beaten Green Bay in Lambeau during the first game of the 2002 season, but he quickly turned his situation around, becoming Johnny on the Spot for any QB the Falcons employed during his career, especially on third downs and in the red zone.

What is most impressive about Brian Finneran is how he came back from not one, but two unfortunate knee injuries in 2006 and 2007, and was still able to perform for his team and his teammates. Yes, he was never quite the same, but Finn showed the kind of dedication to team and professionalism towards fans not often seen in today’s culture of the jaded athlete. In the offseason, Finneran has also become a beloved voice on local sports talk radio, offering keen insights into football, yes, but also into different sports, showing him to be an intelligent, all-around sportsman.

Finneran probably caught a bit of a reprieve this past season, as the WR drafted to be his replacement, Kerry Meier, suffered a season-ending knee injury of the type Finn knows only too-well, and he made the most of his limited time on the field, catching 3 touchdown passes from amongst his 19 receptions. Finneran never had a 1000 yard receiving season, playing as he did with Mike Vick during his formative years, but he was reliable and hard-working, and a great teammate and locker room presence for the Falcons.

Finn will be missed by his coaches, teammates, and fans alike. I wish him well in his next endeavor, which I know will be a success. Thank you for your dedication and efforts as an Atlanta Falcon, Brian. Wherever you go, you will always be appreciated and find a home waiting for you in Atlanta.

Ohio State's Arrogance Will Finally Be Its Undoing

Jim Tressel lied to the NCAA about when he knew about five of his players committing NCAA infractions revolving around the selling of personal team effects for profit. He told the NCAA, and the rest of the country via a press conference in December that he did not know anything about anything until December.

This past weekend we found out, thanks to a brilliant report by Yahoo Sports, that Tressel knew 8 months prior to that date in April, and he did not immediately report the wrong-doing as he is compelled to do by his contract and simple ethics. He sat on the information, and if any further digging is done, we might find out that he tried to cover up the wrongdoing. Tressel lied to a country of college football fans, he lied to the administration of his university, and he lied to the NCAA. And yet, for the magnitude of his lie, Jim Tressel was given a slap on the wrist by Ohio State in an attempt to show the NCAA they can police their own problems, no further punishment needed.

Bruce Pearl also lied to the NCAA once upon a time. The head coach of Tennessee’s men’s basketball team, Pearl lied to the NCAA regarding his recruiting practices while at Marquette, and for his lies, Tennessee saw fit to suspend Pearl from the first half of the SEC basketball schedule (8 games) and docked his pay about 1.5 MILLION per year, not some measly drop in the bucket. Bruce Pearl paid a heavy price in games missed and in the wallet for his lie.

What did Ohio State, of the “upstanding” Big-10 Conference do to punish Jim Tressel? A slap on the wrist consisting of a fine of $250,000, amounting to chump-change for one of the best-paid coaches in college football, and a two-game suspension at the beginning of the year against Akron and Toledo. This punishment for Tressel is an absolute joke compared to what the Tennessee did to Bruce Pearl for the same offense: lying to the NCAA. Big surprise that once again, the SEC does something better than the Big-10. Usually it is on the football field, but now the SEC is beating the Big-10 in justice, too.

In fact, the most galling part of this minor spanking is that Tressel misses two games, while his players miss five. How in the hell is that justice? Tressel and Ohio State's arrogance in last night's press conference was palpable, both parties refusing to actually admit to any wrongdoing. Lame excuses were proffered, and cringe-worthy jokes were made (by Gordon Gee) instead.

Jim Tressel, once again, escapes any kind of real punishment, for the time being. I say once again, because somehow, like John Calipari, wrongdoing seems to follow Jim Tressel like hippies follow Phish. At Youngstown State there was malfeasance being done in his program that somehow never stuck to Tressel in the national media. Of course, everyone remembers the scandals involving Maurice Clarret, Troy Smith, and now the five players Tressel blackmailed to coming back for their senior years, including his starting quarterback.

We were to believe that all of these instances of wrongdoing occurred right underneath Tressel’s nose, without his knowledge. That sounds like a man who does not have institutional control of any football program he has coached, does it not? If we were to take a common sense approach, and apply logic to Jim Tressel’s legacy of wrongdoing, we could postulate that maybe the Sweater Vest has had far more knowledge of the violations in his football programs than we were led to believe. Now that he has been caught lying, it is time we stop believing his claims of ignorance.

Here is the good thing: we will not have to postulate for much longer, because the NCAA is coming. They are coming for Jim Tressel and Ohio State just as assuredly as they came after USC and Alabama. The NCAA is probably as stunned about the limp punishment issued by OSU President Gordon Gee to Tressel as the rest of us are, and that will make their investigation that more focused.

No more striking compromises with the NCAA, Ohio State, as you did shortly before this year’s Sugar Bowl. Your arrogance has finally caught up with you. It doesn’t matter who you have your in corner (Jim Delany), you won’t be protected this time. You called down the thunder, well now you got it!

Today in History

On 09 March 1454, Amerigo Vespucci is born in Florence, Italy. Vespucci is of course important because two continents and one world super power bear the feminized version of his Latinized first name.

Amerigo was a cartographer who was a member of two post-Columbus ocean-crossing voyages for Portugal that made the serendipitous discovery of Brazil (though he would later claim 2 additional voyages that remain unverified). Amerigo helped to map out, or begin to map out the eastern coast of what would become South America. Vespucci wrote letters to speak to the new discoveries, and he wrote them in Latin, using the name Americus Vespucius, so educated people throughout Europe could understand them. These letters were reprinted and became widespread throughout Europe, and when mapmaker Martin Waldseemüller printed the first map for general use, he named the continent using the feminized name, America (a common practice at the time; think of Georgia, feminized version of George, my fair state named after the King of England).

So let us raise a glass to Amerigo Vespucci today, and give thanks. I mean, if it weren’t for Amerigo, we could all be living in the United States of Columbia! Bullet: dodged.

TV Dinner

It is March, and for our favorite shows, this month is the start of the beginning of the end. Whether you prefer shows with complex mythologies and drawn-out plot and character arcs, or like the mindless fun of shows without, March is the time when everything begins to wrap up.

Unfortunately for the people who work on Two and Half Men, they are finished now; no more episodes to shoot, no more income to earn. The last thing I want to do is talk about what is going on with Charlie Sheen, who seems to have taken the Tom Cruise train to Crazy Town, without the benefit of worshipping a pedestrian science fiction writer. Yeah, his antics are funny, and if you go for hedonism, his life sounds fun (except the hangovers must be massive), but there are people who are not celebrities, who do not act in front of the cameras, but rather operate those cameras, who are suffering the highest toll for what has transpired in the last two weeks.

Charlie Sheen has more money than he obviously knows what to do with, and the other actors like Jon Cryer will be absolutely fine. The people behind the camera, however, will be losing four episodes worth of pay (the production company for the show, WB Television, will be paying the crew for 4 of the 8 episodes that were cancelled). For crewmembers making a middle class living in the state of California, missing four paychecks was probably not in their budget. Now, with the added stress of not knowing when, or if, the show is coming back, many of these people will of course try to find new jobs, which would adversely affect any comeback attempt CBS tries to make with Two and a Half Men, as the people behind the camera are every bit as important to making a show run as those in front.

I am not picking sides between Chuck Lorre, Charlie Sheen, CBS, or whoever else has a beef with each other. Those people will all be fine, by their own definitions of fine, of course. I do, however, feel for the people working on the crew, who have been pawns in this battle of humongous Hollywood egos. They are the real victims in all of this mess.

Smart Quote

O, what a tangled web we weave, / When first we practice to deceive

Sir Walter Scott, Marmion, 1808

Hey, Check This Out!

This is for all the Ohio State fans out there in denial about what is coming their way.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller. Thanks!

Monday Morning Falcons Hangover

"It's not the losses, Honey... it's the yardage." Wait... what?

Who Makes Football Fun?

That is more of a loaded question than “what” makes football fun, is it not? I mean, asking “who” makes us be very specific, and sometimes, specificity can lead to arguments, and arguments can lead to hurt feelings, and hurt feelings can lead to the kind of lunacy we find in, say, modern political discourse. While I try to avoid that scenario today, it’s actually kind of interesting to think about who makes football fun.

Of course, the players, coaches, and other fans make football fun; there would be no football without them. But ask yourself, after watching the game on Sunday afternoon, what do you wait for next? Whether your team had a day of thrilling victory or sobering defeat on the field, as a football fan, our enjoyment does not end there. We all want to get online as soon as the game as over to read the AP recap, or head to our local city’s major newspaper website to read the instant analysis of our favorite columnists or beat writers. Or, if we’re patient, we wait with bated breath for Monday morning to roll around, and go to SI.com, or Yahoo Sports to read the best two national football writers working today: Peter King and Michael Silver.

Dare I say it? The sports writers covering football, our local beat guys, our favorite hometown columnists, and the best of the best national football writers; they are who makes football fun. Without a D. Orlando Ledbetter, Jeff Schultz, Mark Bradley, Peter King, or Mike Silver, football would not be nearly as fun, nearly as obsessive, and nearly as great as it is. There is a reason why there are wings in all of the various sports Halls of Fame for the writers covering the sport being honored: sports writers are our most tangible link to the players, coaches, GMs, and owners of the sport we love. They provide us with an insider’s knowledge of our team; they break stories on injured players, they take us into the locker room after victory and defeat, and the very best of them use their job to speak for us.

For me, football does not just exist on the gridiron; the fun does not end when the game is over. Football exists in the ink stains I used to get on my fingers every day reading about the Falcons or the Bulldogs. I would routinely skip lunch in middle school and high school to go to the library to read the Atlanta-Journal Constitution; read what was happening with my teams (in the mid-90’s, nothing good for the Falcons or Dawgs, let me tell ya!). There was an Internet, but I was not yet plugged in. Papers and magazines were the tools the young boy I used to be used to keep up with the sports he loved, and though I love the instant information brought to me whenever I want it by the information super highway (haven’t heard that expression in awhile), I miss the ink stains. I miss turning the high gloss pages of Sports Illustrated to see what came next.

We have traded the tangible for the instant, and a part of me misses the smell of a newspaper, or the feel of those glossy pages of Sports Illustrated. Now we have Twitter and an even more instant form of instant: little 140-character bon mots of the most breaking of breaking news, or what micro-beer Peter King liked that he drank in San Francisco. Either way, this is an interesting time for those of us that devour every piece of information we can about the sport we love.

For me, my favorite part about Twitter is the ability to talk to the guys who help make football fun. Even if I disagree with them, or they me (I can be excitable at times), it has brought me a whole new level of respect for what Mike Silver, DOL, and Jeff Schultz do; the effort and the energy they expend covering the sport we all love, while being as accessible as they can, in a way they probably never expected to have to be, to all the nutjobs and passionate fans out here in cyberspace.

So if you can, take a moment to get on Twitter or send a response to you local beat writer and columnists, to Peter King or Mike Silver or a favorite national writer you enjoy reading, and thank them for making football fun. I am sure they will appreciate it.

Seven Things I Know

1. Adding another 7 days to the bargaining table between the NFL and NFLPA guarantees nothing. However, it does succeed in giving fans hope.

2. I would sincerely advise the NFL and NFLPA to not abuse that hope, and to get this deal done.

3. Try as some players and writers might to make the connection, this labor issue with the NFL and NFLPA is nothing like what is going on Wisconsin.

4. While the NFLPA allows the employees (players) of a private business entity (NFL) to collectively bargain, the people up in arms in Wisconsin are government employees. Their pay and benefits come not from revenue; it comes from TAXES.

5. Revenue comes from a business venture in which a product is sold. Those are private funds. The government takes your taxes, public funds, and is supposed to use that money to yes, pay teachers, but to also pay civil servants, build and maintain public infrastructure, and ensure the peace & tranquility of the region it governs. If the government spends taxes poorly and creates a deficit, teacher’s salaries & benefits should take a hit just like the salary of an employee in the private sector would if profits are down for the year prior. That is economic common sense. Yes, the teachers didn’t create the budget shortfall in Wisconsin, but maybe if they were better teachers, their students wouldn’t have grown up to be such poor public servants.

6. The idea of unionized government workers scares the bejesus out of me. Government workers with protected jobs who basically answer to no one? Does anyone else see a problem with that? It is one thing when a union offers the same protection to a lazy factory worker as they do the best worker on the line, but a union that protects dirty cops, or a union that protects bad teachers from ever being held accountable? Should that not scare everyone? This is not about ideology, please do not try and make it about that; it is about economics and common sense.

7. I am not anti-Union; neither am I anti-corporation. I am pro-common sense. Unions for autoworkers, electricians, and plumbers make sense. I have no problem with unions like that, providing their power is kept in balance with the power of the corporations with which they collectively bargain. Unions for government workers, who exist off of tax money? That does not make a lick of sense, nor does it exactly fit the ideals set forth in the US Constitution of a small, unobtrusive government. As we are seeing, their power is way out of balance, causing severe problems in a state needing economic relief. So, just to be clear, not the same as the NFL labor situation.

Today in History

On 06 March 1836, after an epic thirteen day siege by 3000 Mexican troops under the command of President General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the 187 men defending the Alamo Mission finally fall in battle. Amongst their number were Texan hero William Travis; Jim Bowie, who popularized the Bowie Knife; and of course, the great frontiersman and former Congressman, Davy Crockett.

On this final day of battle, Santa Anna had his men advance on the mission with orders to take no prisoners. The fighting was fierce, and even after the last man had fallen, the Mexican soldiers, frustrated by the long siege and caught up in bloodlust, continued to fire rounds into and bayoneted the dead bodies.

In part because of the brutal way in which the dead at the Alamo were treated, “Remember the Alamo” became the rallying cry at the short, yet ferocious Battle of San Jacinto on 21 April, in which the small force led by Sam Houston overwhelmed the Mexican Army, capturing Santa Anna, and ensuring Texas’ freedom from Mexico.

Film Real

On Sunday, I came to the realization that if I were about to die and could choose one film to see before I shuffled off my mortal coil, that movie would be Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Raiders is by no means my favorite film, though it is in my personal top-10 list. It is, however, a perfect film. What do I mean by perfect? Well, the film is perfect in that everything in it works. The writing, the acting, the outrageous stunts, the pacing (editing), the direction, the story, the musical score, the dialogue, the locations, and the set designs… everything works. It is a perfect film.

There are other perfect films in the world, other films with no flaws. Another Spielberg film, E.T. is one such film. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is another. The Godfather, Part II, Ben-Hur, Ghostbusters, and The Blues Brothers are yet more examples. Another one of my top-10 films, The Adventures of Robin Hood, is another example of a perfect film.

To understand how rare a perfect film is, my favorite film of all time, The Lord of the Rings (I consider all three extended versions of the films to be one film, to rule them all, if you will), while outstanding, is not a perfect film. I have issues with some of the licenses Jackson, Boyens, & Walsh took with characterizations of certain characters; how they translated them from page to screen. One particular, crucial moment from the first part failed to live up to my personal expectations, and that was how Jackson portrayed the elven kingdom of Lothlorien. I also believe the Council of Elrond could have been fleshed out a bit more.

But with Raiders, I have no squabbles, no notes, no, “I would have done this, or that.” It is a perfect film. I cannot think of one change I would make that they have not made already (removing the distracting mirrored glare from the glass separating the real Harrison Ford from the very real, very agitated king cobra in the Well of the Souls scene). Take a moment to think on Raiders of the Lost Ark a bit. Remember how you felt as a kid watching that film? Now think about how you feel now, thirty years (YES, thirty years!) later. For me, the experience is largely the same (as it also is with E.T. or Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood). I do not perceive the film in a different way, I do not think of it as nostalgic fluff, as I do many of the films I loved in my youth (Return of the Jedi, anyone?).

The film just works, on every level, at every age. If I am lucky enough to have a child, a son or daughter, I will make damn sure they are introduced to Indiana Jones and experience Raiders of the Lost Ark just as I did. Maybe they will also grab a jump rope, go outside, and pretend to swing over bottomless pits with their “whip,” or search the forests for buried artifacts (found a few arrowheads in my time), as I spent so much time doing as a five-year old kid. I can only hope.

Film is at its best when it inspires, amazes, thrills, scares, enlightens, or brings joy to us, in any combination. A perfect film, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, does all of that, and more. The flick is thirty years old this summer.

Damn, I am old. Speaking of which…

Smart Quote

It’s not the years, Honey… it’s the mileage.

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) to Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), written by Lawrence Kasdan for Raiders of the Lost Ark

As someone who is 30 years old, who has lived a tramp’s life, including five years in the Marine Corps that gifted me with two knee injuries & accompanying surgeries and complications therein, I so empathize with the good Dr. Jones.

Hey, Check This Out!

Here is one of the best and most memorable scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I am sorry the quality isn’t quite so good, but it’s still funny as hell.

Do not forget to follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller. Thanks!

Thank Goodell It's Friday!

This guy, and Falcons fans, have had little to celebrate during his career in Atlanta.

Who Will Break Out at the Combine?

Every year there is some new and wondrous talent that emerges from the NFL’s Scouting Combine who was previously ignored based on game tape alone, but the measurables (speed, strength, agility, jumping ability) that are measured in Indianapolis can cause some coaches, scouts, and GMs to lose their minds. And then that player is drafted by the Oakland Raiders, never to be heard from again.

Seriously though, it always amazes me how teams will sometimes see how a player performs running basic athletic tests in shorts and a t-shirt, and discount the voluminous amount of film on that same athlete that says he is a dud. Is it supreme arrogance by a coaching staff that say, “We can teach him, make him better… we have the scheme!” Or is it a loony owner who likes collecting really fast athletes who are poor football players?

It is incredulous that some teams lose all common sense at the Combine. What is it about Indianapolis that leads normally smart football men to chase athletic mirages running around in underwear? Is the city a black hole for rational thought? Seriously, is there some kind of crazy-inducing virus in the water?

There was more than enough film on a guy like, say, Vernon Gholston, where anyone with a modicum of common sense could observe by his play on the field that he was an athlete who played football, not a football player. Gholston took plays off, he did not always try hard, he was not a defensive leader, and he was not strong against the run. Gholston was not any of the things, did not possess the will to win, the motor that never stops, or any of the intangibles that you want to see from a guy you are going to pick at number 6, yet the Jets took him anyway, because he was/is an “athletic freak.”

The Atlanta Falcons have made mistakes like this throughout their history, most recently in the 2007 Draft with Jamaal Anderson. Anderson was a one-year wonder at Arkansas without much tape to back up his performance over a length of time. He, like Gholston, was/is an athletic freak, but he was a basketball guy who happened to play football, not a football player. The Falcons took him at number 8, passing on both Patrick Willis and Derrell Revis, all for a guy who from all accounts before the draft didn’t live football the way you need a player to do when you’re going to draft him that high and pay him the kind of money a number 8 pick makes.

Who is going to be the guy who was a dog at times on game film, who was not much of a leader in the locker room, and who doesn’t have great fundamentals, but who possesses elite speed, strong hands/legs, quick feet, and/or a great vertical that will be taken with a top-10 draft pick by an organization who desperately needs a guy like Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez, freakishly athletic basketball players who became outstanding NFL football stars, but winds up with a guy like Vernon Gholston, Derrius Heyward-Bey, or Jamaal Anderson? Who is going to be that guy?

Feel free to give you guesses below.

Gameday Predictions (Academy Awards Edition, Part II)

Okay, so here is Part 2 of my Academy Awards Predictions. You can find Part I here.

Best Original Screenplay Nominees:

Mike Leigh, Another Year; Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, The Fighter; Christopher Nolan, Inception; Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids are Alright; David Seidler, The King’s Speech.

Who Should Win:

Christopher Nolan, for Inception. This is quite honestly one of the most original screenplays written for film ever. It is imaginative, inventive, and it is able to squeeze in an incredible love note to the classic James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, to boot. Unfortunately, The Academy seems to have it in for Nolan, who did not even garner a nominee for Best Director, which is a scandal to be sure. Maybe the voters in the Academy hate him for taking what should be simple popcorn fare (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, etc) and elevating it into true filmic art, the best of the best films made in the last ten years. Whatever the reason, that inane backlash might cost him this award, too.

Who Will Win:

David Seidler, for The King’s Speech. This is an excellent film and a top-notch screenplay. In any year in which Inception did not come out, it would be worthy of every award, including this one. I loved every part of this film, but it is not as good as Inception. It just is not. It is a shame that this perfectly wonderful film has gotten caught in the crossfire of whatever grudges the Academy has against Chris Nolan, because in 10 years it will have the same kind of stain on it that Shakespeare in Love does now.

Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees:

Danny Boyle and Simion Beaufoy, 127 Hours; Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network; Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich, Toy Story 3; Ethan and Joel Cohen, True Grit; Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini, Winter’s Bone.

Who Should Win:

The Pixar guys from Toy Story 3. As much as I admire the work Aaron Sorkin did on The Social Network, Pixar topped themselves, yet again, with Toy Story 3. The concept on paper shouldn’t work as well as it does, and people have been saying that since 1995, but somehow, guys like John Lasseter inject so much humanity and pathos into these pixilated characters. I’m always left amazed by the writing in the Pixar films (okay, not so much with A Bug’s Life or Cars). Unfortunately, voting members of the Academy never really credit the writing of brilliant animated film, instead embracing the odd idea that it’s the voice acting, not the writing, that brings humanity to drawn creations (I blame it on Robin Williams’ brilliant voice work as Genie in Aladdin), and they’re correct, to a point, but as good as Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are, they’d be nothing without the words to say.

Who Will Win:

Aaron Sorkin. Look, his work on The Social Network is exemplary, and all of the Sorkin staples are in the film: the walk and talk, overlapping dialogue, and that rapid-fire patter he does so well. Then there is also the Academy’s need to reward bad boys, addicts, et al, who have cleaned up their acts and come back better than ever. He is a worthy winner, just not the best of the year.

Best Director Nominees:

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan; Ethan and Joel Cohen, True Grit; David Fincher, The Social Network; Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech; David O. Russell, The Fighter.

Who Should Win

Christopher Nolan for Inception. It is a crime and a damn shame that the Academy has whatever grudge they have against Chris Nolan because all the man ever does is direct the best, most original, most challenging, and most unique damn films to come out of that cesspool of original thought that is Hollywood. He was not even nominated as Best Director for Inception. That is RIDICULOUS. That film is his film; more than any of the other directors nominated, Nolan was everything for Inception. Just a disgrace. Screw the Academy.

Who Will Win:

This is a close race, usually tied to the Best Picture winner. I say usually, because sometimes, there are breaks where the Academy will recognize an outstanding director who maybe does not have the best film overall in the Best Picture race. So for this award, I am going to go with Darren Aronovsky, the director of Black Swan. Aronovsky did a masterful job directing this film, especially in pulling the kind of “alive” performance out of Natalie Portman that she rarely gives on screen. For that alone he deserves the Oscar. Of course, he is not the best director of the year, just the best director out of the nominees.

Best Picture Nominees:

127 Hours; Black Swan; The Fighter; Inception; The Kids are Alright; The King’s Speech; The Social Network; Toy Story 3; True Grit; Winter’s Bone.

Who Should Win:

This is an outstanding bunch of nominees for Best Picture, unlike last year, which was weak outside of TheHurtLocker (and no, I did not like Avatar; most overrated film since Titanic, hmm, what do they have in common?). However, there is but one “Best Film” and for 2010, that film was Inception. As much as I like many of the other films (The King’s Speech, True Grit, Black Swan, and Toy Story 3, in particular), I did not have the kind of visceral experience with those films that I had when I saw Inception for the first time. This film is seminal experience that I saw three times in the theater. If I’m going to go back to a theater, dragging friends with me who have to see this film, that many times, it’s going to get my vote.

Who Will Win:

Unfortunately, because the Academy hates Chris Nolan, I believe the second-best film of the year will win this award, and that will be The King’s Speech. This is an excellent film to be sure. It is funny in places you do not expect it to be, it is touching, and it is supremely human, delving into the fallibility of the “best” of us, men who cannot afford to be fallible, because the times they live in demand nothing but the best. This is a film elevated by its acting, more than any other on this list save maybe True Grit, and Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter bring their “A” games to be sure.

If and when The King’s Speech wins Best Picture, I will not loathe the film as I do Shakespeare in Love, which stole the rightful award from Saving Private Ryan due to the Weinstein’s outright buying of the Academy’s vote. I love The King’s Speech; it is a great film deserving of recognition. It is just not the best film of the past year.

Today in History

On 25 February 2011, Cassius Clay (soon to be Muhammad Ali) shocks the world when he beats Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston. As Clay would tell television cameras, “I shook up the world!”

The match itself has some interesting happenings. It seems as if Liston’s trainer doctored his gloves, causing Ali to partially lose his sight between the 3rd and 4th rounds. Some speculate that it may have been capsicum oil, from the seeds of hot peppers, but regardless, by the middle of the 4th, Clay’s sweat and tears had washed the substance out of his eyes, and he continued to punish Liston.

Liston refused to come out for the 7th round, and the man soon to be known as The Greatest won his first Heavyweight Title.

The Jukebox

Music is, more than clothes or hair… more than anything really, music is what helps define us as who we are. Is it true that the music of our childhood is the music we most identify with, the music we hold on to, to the point where we stop listening to anything new as we get older? Do our parents also have an equal “say” in what music we love? Or, will our own individuality assert itself in the music we hold dear?

I think there is something to all of those ideas. I was born in 1980, and I identify with and still listen to the music of the 80’s and 90’s more than any other music on my iPodTouch. I love Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, The Cars, Metallica, Billy Idol, U2, Whitney Houston, Van Halen, REM, Guns N Roses, Michael Jackson, The Beastie Boys, Nirvana, George Strait, Green Day, Garth Brooks, and Dave Matthews. The music of my early 20’s while I was still in the Marine Corps, is also something I identify with, such as Coldplay, Eminem, The White Stripes, Staind, and 3 Doors Down, because that was a rough time in my life, trying to come back from two different knee injuries 5 months apart. All of that music and those people/groups was the music of my formative years.

However, my favorite band is The Beatles, in part because The Beatles are my dad’s favorite band. I can remember listening to my dad’s Beatles' cassette tapes on drives from Georgia to New York to visit family over, and over again. To this day, I can sing almost the whole Beatles’ catalogue from memory. I love other rock bands from the 60's and 70's, and that is all because of my dad, and because of that and him, I have a greater appreciation and love for all kinds of music.

Then also, the idea that our own individual identity will assert itself, leading us to branch out into embracing music not of our time, or music our friends and family don’t listen to, is apart of what I’ve experienced. I was never exposed to what most people would call orchestral or instrumental music in any form (classical, romantic, baroque, jazz, big band swing, film scores) by family or friends, but sought that kind of music out because it was something that was in my soul, unique to me.

And it is true, that for the most part, I have stopped listening to the radio and most new music of the last five years or so. Clear Channel has basically ruined FM Radio with their focus studies and lowest common denominator play lists. I loathe the kind of inconsequential, forgettable crap like Katy Perry or Justin Beeber that is considered cool right now. I’ll pick up the new Coldplay album, or a new Metallica cd, or search iTunes for anything from The Beatles catalogue I may not have, but I largely want nothing to do with the new acts in music today. Compared to the music I grew up with, bands that really did change the landscape, like Metallica or Nirvana, it is all garbage.

And I guess that makes me old. Shoot me now.

Smart Quote

Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the using of strength.

Henry Ward Beecher

Hey, Check This Out!

Here is the trailer for Inception. I just love this film so much. And do not forget to follow me on Twitter at @UGABugKiller. Thanks!