Indiana Jones 4 Looks Pretty Bad

I'm a pretty big fan of the first three Indiana Jones movies, I own them all and have seen them countless numbers of times, but this new movie looks like a big piece of you know what. I watched the new trailer several times hoping that it might get better or I might get more excited but that never happened. I'm pretty sure this movie is going to be bad for multiple reasons.

Watch it if you haven't seen it.

First of all, it was written by David Koepp who's given us so many "amazing" pieces of work in the past, such as Secret Window and the Lost World. Next, it's pretty obvious from the trailer that they are going to make about 100 jokes throughout the movie about Indiana getting old and him not being able to do the things he used to. I think that's an okay part of the story line, but does it really have to be used with such cheap comic relief? I've seen this before in Lethal Weapon 3 & 4. It's funny for about five minutes, but the novelty wears off real quick. Why does Spielberg deem it necessary to add these little bits of comic relief into his movies? If you remember Minority Report, there is a scene where a guy using a jet pack flies through an apartment building and in the midst of destroying everything the flames from his pack conveniently cooks the hamburgers that the tenants were making for dinner; oh man is that hilarious or what? How stupid is this country that that is the type of stuff that makes people laugh? Whatever happened to the witty, intelligent humor we used to see in years past? I guess it went out the window once the Bachelor and American Idol took over our TV screens and Jackass became one of the highest grossing comedies of all time. Finally, I have this horrible feeling that this is going to be one of those "pass the torch" type films and in a few years we are going to see a Shia LaBeouf spinoff/sequel. If that does happen I don't know if I can ever go to the movies again. It's gotten to the point where they will exploit anything and everything that affords them a chance to make a quick buck, whether or not it's destroying the integrity of a great film franchise.

Why is it that Steven Spielberg can't seem to stay on a steady pace with his movies? He really has made some great films. But in pretty much all of the great ones he has managed to stay away from the cheap and petty comic relief. I loved Catch Me If You Can, and he had plenty of opportunities for some cheap comic relief in that film, but he avoided it and I applaud him for that because it made it seem a lot more genuine. I just don't get how he can go from that to making crap like AI or War of the Worlds. And why do all of his movies have to have a story book ending? The only movie he's made in recent years that didn't have a story book ending (excluding movies based on real-life characters) was Saving Private Ryan, which was a great movie and one he deserved his Oscar for. You're a great director, just stay away from the comic relief, please, I'm begging you. Seriously, I'm begging. Just stop it. Stop it now. I'm sure this movie will make a billion dollars anyway, but so did Titanic.

Chris Webber -- Take Your Ball & Go Home

Now, here at the Sports Fanatic I try not to judge people based on their personal decisions and focus mostly on their on-field/court performances. But with Chris Webber the two are intertwined. I understand that it's hard for some of the great one's to call it quits. We've seen it happen over and over again with the likes of Hakeem, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Penny Hardaway and even Michael Jordan. But at what point do you go from being "less effective" to an embarrassment? Over the years I've been one of the few to stand up for Webber and give him the credit I feel he so deserves. That being said, he really shouldn't be playing anymore; plain and simple. He's not old, but he's way past his prime and falling apart piece by piece, minute by minute.

I've watched most of his first three games with the Warriors and I understand that they are trying to ease him back in while he's learning the "offense" and playing himself into shape. But a great player like that shouldn't have much trouble acclimating to an offense that is based solely on cutting, passing and shooting with only a handful of actual called plays. He’s made it known that he is no longer a post player and only wants to take jump shots so he should fit in perfectly, right? Look at this numbers through 3 games:

Chris Webber, #4-FC - PPG 2.7 REB 3.3 ASST 1.7 FG% 33.3 MIN 13.7

His very first play in his second stint as a Warrior was a fast break lay-up, which he missed horribly. Last night the Warriors only played 8 players and Webber still only managed 14 minutes despite the fact that he was the starting Power Forward. I know they are trying to “ease him in” but his MPG resemble that of a 10th man. It seems like they keep him in the starting lineup just for his ego's sake and/or the fact that once he sits down it takes 4 players to lift his tired behind and creaky knees of the bench. So, once he's up and running you have to keep him that way as long as you can. Obviously, it’s his choice and the Warriors are only paying him the league minimum but it just seems like a poor fit to me. Did they watch him in the playoffs last year? Watching him play defense was just painful. He refused to body up anyone, was constantly late on his defensive rotations and was too often slapping at opposing players trying to get a steal, which resulted in him being in foul trouble and largely ineffective for most of the playoffs. The only use I see Chris Webber having on this team is being a Point Forward from the high post. He still has some of the softest hands in the league and can still thread the needle when need be, otherwise he’s pretty much lost all ability to be effective.

We’ve seen this happen in the past with the players I previously mentioned. Only one of the those players, Michael Jordan, was able to come close to the player he was before and even his “Airness” couldn’t guide a struggling Washington team to an 8th seed in what was a very weak Eastern Conference. I hate to break it to you Chris, but you aren’t MJ and you aren’t even a shadow of your former self, so just take your ball and go home.

Anger Management

For those of you, who haven't seen this clip, watch it first. Tim Morris of Washington gets frustrated by some great defense being played by Alfred Aboya of UCLA and instead of getting a 5 second violation or calling a timeout decided it would be a great idea to throw the ball off of Aboya's face. I have to say that I'm extremely impressed by the composure that Aboya showed in this situation. Just imagine if that was Ron Artest standing there or someone else with a shorter fuse. That really could've turned into something ugly. But this young kid didn't react or retaliate he just continued to play hard because he knew his team needed him. I wish we saw that type of behavior more often; kudos to Aboya for shrugging it off. I sure hope his nose is alright. The most amazing part is that Morris wasn't thrown out of the game, or even called for a technical. He should at least be suspended by the NCAA. Watch the tape, it's a pretty blatant shot to the face and he showed no remorse whatsoever for his actions. You be the judge...

Horrible Injury

Wow, for those of you who don't like graphic images, don't watch here. Part of the dangers of Ice Hockey, I guess. This is why I don't play hockey. That and I can't skate to save my life. I sure hope this guy is okay. Dr. Juno of Buffalo, New York was able to stop the bleeding and save his life. Richard Zednik is now recovering in stable condition. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Dr. Juno was also the attending physician to Kevin Everett of the Buffalo Bills who was paralyzed earlier this year after an in game injury. Dr. Juno used an agressive alternative treatment on Kevin, one viewed as "risky" in the medical field. But, it worked and Kevin is now walking again and getting better each day. Thank god for Dr. Juno.

Bob Ryan

Below is a copy of my email transcript with Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, one of the better writer's out there today. I actually really like this guy but this was in response to an article where he complained about the fact that everyone was already anointing the Celtic champions. It goes on about how they hadn't even played a game yet and had so many holes to fill within the roster. Only about the 900th article saying the same damn thing. But I expect more from him. Enjoy...

We all get it Bob, stop being so melodramatic. Let us just bask, just for a moment, that a major Star, scratch that, two major stars have come to the Celtics and are excited to be here. We know they have a lot of holes to fill, but so what? I'd rather have a few holes to fill than an entire team of underwhelming youngsters. While I agree, and I'm equally upset, that they shouldn't have included Gomes in the deal for he is the ultimate bench player, we still have three of the best players in the league wearing Celtic Green.

I loved some of the youngsters, I watched all 82 games last year. I saw the promise that guys like Al, Ryan and Gerald showed, but really, who cares. The Bulls did the same thing, remember, dropped everyone and started from scratch and it took them 9 years! to get where they are now. Where is that? Still not good enough to beat the Pistons in the second round. So now, what do we have? We have three proven guys who can get the job done any and every night. We don't have to worry if Al is going to be able to cover Tim Duncan in the last play of a game, we got it covered. We know that if someone blows by Ray Allen's tiring legs KG is standing right there behind him, it's covered. So before you get too carried away with the fact that we "have some holes to fill" just STOP and enjoy the show. The Celtics sold 2 million dollars worth of tickets in one day, can remember a time when that happened in the last 20 years? We're just happy that we finally have something to root for and can escape the heartache that has plagued this Celtic Nation since the day Larry Bird's poor back gave out.

Sometimes I really think you sportswriters just don't know what to write about. You try to stir something up and point out all the obvious points that everyone already knows but isn't worried about. Who cares if they don't win this year, in sports, the future is now. I'd rather have a team in the Conference Finals and watch them lose than get really excited that "kids" stepped it up a notch and snagged the 7th seed and got bounced in the first round. If we had stuck with the kids, you know what we'd be? The Brooklyn Dodgers in the 50's, or the Red Sox in the 1920's-2004, there's always next year, right? Wrong, Celtic Pride is about winning, not waiting until next year.

Relax, Bob, Relax.
Greg Eisenman

Bob:

You're missing the point. I didn't oppose the deal. Never said that. Isaid talk of championships is premarture because they still have a lot ofwork to do. Period.
Bob Ryan

Greg:

You missed my point. I didn't say you were "oppposed" to the deal. Just said that we all know that talk of a championship is premature, so write an article about something a little more interesting instead of making a big deal out of something everyone already knows. You're a good writer, I know you can think of something.

Bob:

But you're wrong. "We" don''t all know that they aren't champs. All Iheard and read for 24 hours was how great they were. I wouldn't havewritten at all about the Celtics that day if it hadn't been necessary tobring some sanity into the discussion.
Bob Ryan

Greg:

Well, I'm on West Coast and that's not all I was hearing out here. If you'd like I can also direct you to about 8-10 articles on ESPN, FoxSports and Sports Illustrated that just complain about how the Celtics can't do it without a bench. You and I both know that they definitely aren't "great" yet but they certainly have no excuses.

Bob:
That's not the way it was here. Believe me. There are hundreds ofthousands lining up to drink the Kool-Aid.
Bob Ryan

Greg:

Well, point taken then. But I'm with you. All we can do is hope.

I have a question for you, as a writer, you don't have to answer though. What do you think of Peter Vescey? Personally, I think he's a pompous ass who's never written a positive word in his entire life. That and he makes up his own rumours that always come from his magical "unnamed sources". In my opinion he's exactly what is wrong with sports writing today. He and I have had it out several times and I just can't seem to understand how such a cold, ungrateful human being has been able to make it as far as he has. In the writing community, is he actually respected?

Bob:
No. He is hurtful. I always got along with him personally, but we sparred in print 15 years ago. I couldn't/wouldn't operate like that.
Bob Ryan

Take that Vescey! You Horses Ass!!!

EVIL NEMESIS!!!! ----->

Sam Smith

This is a copy of my recent Email to Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune. He is always writing ridiculous articles and I try to let him know when I have the time. This was in response to a dimwitted article he wrote about Isiah Thomas not doing that bad of a job in New York and that he wasn't the only one to blame...

Sam Sam Sam,

Look, I don't like to bad mouth people who work hard and have achieved so much in their lives, but Isiah Thomas is completely to blame for the Knicks woes. You are 100% wrong. The only thing he can't be blamed for is that James Dolan hasn't been smart enought to fire him because he's even more dimwitted than Thomas. The reason he's joined the ranks of the sports villains is because he is not only a jerk but an egomaniac. Those traits have caused him to fold the CBA and get pushed out of Toronto and Indiana. I would agree that Isiah didn't acquire the greatest of rosters when he took over, but he's just made it worse with every single move he has made. No one really believes that just putting a bunch of so-called "talented" players on a team will lead to success, except for Isiah Thomas. Just look at the guys he has traded for and the contracts he has given out:

Stephon Marbury (a notorious ball-hog and team killer)

Eddy Curry (Overweight, heart problems, worst rebounding center in the league & 2005 NBA Hot Dog Eating Champion)

Jared Jeffries ($30 million because he has long arms and was good in college. I have long arms, can I get a contract?)

Jerome James ($30 million because he got off his fat ass and played well for 6 games in the playoffs, no one else fell for that trick except Thomas, it's like his agent told him "Actually try for like 6 games and I bet Isiah or Billy King will give you some money")

Jamal Crawford (a good scorer, but very streaky & doesn't really play defense)

Zach Randolph (Overweight, ball-hog, attitude problems, history of gun possession, built like the pillsbury doughboy, 2005 NBA Hot Dog Eating Runner Up)

Steve Francis (Bad Knees, Bad Attitude, Ball-Hog, weak psyche)

Malik Rose (Undersized, Overpaid {one of the worst Spurs contracts ever, but they dumped it on Isiah, which might have been their plan all along.})

Quentin Richardson (Bad Back, overpaid, had one great season next to Steve Nash).

He did make a couple decent draft picks in Channing Frye (who he traded away) and David Lee (who he is probably going to trade away) but he also chose Mardy Collins and Renaldo Balkman 10 picks too early. No one, not even Larry Brown or Phil Jackson could win with that roster; no one. You've got 10 guys who all like to do the same things, score and not play a lick of defense. And Isiah certainly isn't going to do any better. So, who is to blame for this mess? Is it the players? No, it's ALL on Isiah. I don't understand how you could even think it would be on anyone else other than James Dolan for not firing him a year ago. I love how all these teams just assume that because a guy played in the NBA he will automatically transform into a team building wizard, it doesn't work that way. We've seen to many of these former players destroy franchises, it needs to stop and it should begin with Thomas getting the boot. I truly, truly believe that you or I could do a better job managing this team, including find the right coach, then Isiah will ever do. Please tell me this is just another one of your articles written to stir up controversy and drive readers like me mad, because you can't actually be serious.

Greg

His lame response:

not that he's great but with so many other bad teams and executives why the daily hysteria only there

Sam

(Why don't people who write for a living ever use capital letters or correct punctuation? Every Email I get back from a writer looks just like this.)

Little Friends

Hire my friend Seth to take pictures of your animals...he's good at it!

Conan, Colbert and Stewart

Some of the funniest stuff I've seen on late night TV since the writer's strike.

Funny Link

Check out some Laker fans actualy making a pretty funny joke at Shaq's expense.

Why Rajon Rondo is The Man

Despite all of the doubters and nay-sayers, Rajon Rondo has arrived. Soon enough everyone else will jump on board and realize that this kid really is as good as advertised and understand why the Celtics had so much confidence in him from the get-go. While he may endanger himself on a quarterly basis trying to outjump 7-footers for rebounds, diving for looseballs and flying across the lane at full speed into traffic, he's finally starting to look comfortable not only with his teammates but within his own game. He's shown as the season has progressed, especially over the course of the last 5 games that he knows how to get the job done. The one thing I've been most impressed with, which many young guards have a problem with, is that he has unbelievable control of his speed and is quickly becoming one of the best at constantly changing speeds to throw off defenders. Watch a game or two and see him catch a big man on a switch and watch the fear in the big mans eyes as Rondo steps foward, steps back, crosses over and then burns right by him. He also has unbelievably long arms and bigger hands than KG, which allow him to reach and wrap around oncoming defenders. He's a fantastic passer and hits people right in the chest almost every time. He also does a great job of cutting off a defender and then getting the ball to a wide open shooter, basically setting a screen and passing at the same time giving his teammates extra room to operate. He's knocking down that 10-15 foot shot consistently, now shooting 50% for year. Despite being much smaller than Jason Kidd, he has that innate ability to know where the ball is going to bounce when it hits the rim and puts himself in great position to grab rebounds. He also tends to suprise people with his leaping ability and quick hands. Just the other day he made Dirk Nowitzki look like a chump, utilizing this quickness. Nowitzki, like the softy that he is forgot to box out, left enough room for Rondo to slip in, outjump him for a rebound and then Rondo quickly got himself to other side of the basket out of Dirk's reach and layed in what turned out to be the game winning layup. Obviously, he still has his flaws, but he's 22 years old and he's always getting better and most importantly is always listening to his coaches and mentors. You might not agree with me yet, but watch a few games and I promise you too will become a believer. Watchout for him in the Rookie/Sophomore game, and watch for him to be an All-Star in the next year or two...mark my words.

My Favorite Commercial

It's Official - Shaq is a Sun!

Shaq has officially been sent to the Phoenix Suns for the Shawn Marion (Whiner) and Marcus Banks (Overpaid benchwarmer). Should make things interesting out west. Also makes me wonder if he's really is injured or if they were just shelving him to prevent him from getting injured. More on this later...

Shaq always talks a big game and doesn't neccesarily back it up, but this time I think I believe him. Everyone is complaining about the Suns giving up on their running game and saying the players won't mesh well, but I disagree. While Shaq obviously isn't going to make it up the floor for every fast break opportunity he can still dust of his knees on occasion and make it down there. In fact, I predict we may see some "retro-Shaq" running down the court trying to play point guard on the occasional fast break...you watch and see. Most importantly, every fast break needs an "ignitor" like Bill Russell or Kareem once were. He's actually a great passer and if he can hang back, grab a board and toss it up court to Nash, Hill or Barbosa, that's all they really need. Also, he's still Shaq and while he's not the force he once was you have to account for him on the floor, especially in the half court, which will give Nash even more room to operate than he's had in the past. Space the floor with shooters, put Shaq down low, set up Amare on the high block and let Nash do his thing. I don't know if it will bring them the Championship but it should make them tougher to defend and slow down the bigger teams (Dallas, SA, etc..) that have normally dominated them on the other end of the floor. If Shaq can lose 10-15 lbs and take some of the stress off his already enormous frame he might just be able to keep up and stay healthy. The time has come to start taking care of your body, so get healthy, start eating your green vegetables and show us you still have it, Diesel. Check it out for yourself...

Election 2008

After much deliberation, I voted for Barack Obama...just thought I'd let you know. Hillary kicked his butt in California, but he's still doing pretty well.

Pau Gasol, The Lakers and Chris Wallace

As a die hard Celtic fan and the southlands biggest Laker-hater it really pisses me off to see them steal Pau Gasol away from the Grizzlies for nothing. It seems like this organization could fall into a pile of shit and come out squeaky clean. Unfortunately, this is actually a great trade for the Lakers. I think Pau will mesh perfectly within the triangle offense. He's got a great midrange game, a quick post game and is an underrated passer. The fact that he doesn't have to dominate the ball like Shaq once did will make him a nice compliment to Kobe and Lamar. However, I'm skeptical of how he'll fit in next to Bynum when he returns. I feel like there could end up being a little bit of a struggle with those two on the floor together. On the defensive end Pau is a little bit of an underrated shot blocker but he's a pitiful one on one defender who consistently gets torched by everyone from Stromile Swift to KG and Dwight Howard. With that said, this should at least get them to the Conference Finals, how well Pau and Bynum can mesh down low will determine if they can hang w/ Dallas, San Antonio and the rest of the west...Along w/ the recent dress code they should really require NBA players to at least look presentable and not like a ratty homeless drunk. What's w/ the hair?

On another note...How the hell does Chris Wallace still have a job? Michael Heisley (Grizzlies Owner) must have brought him in just to disband the team and lower salary to make it easier to sell. Otherwise this makes no sense. In Boston he helped Pitino give away Chauncey Billups for nothing 51 games into his rookie season, he gave away Joe Johnson 48 games into his rookie season for Rodney Rodgers (retired) and Tony Delk (retired) and also traded FOR Vin Baker when everyone knew he was an alcoholic with 55 million left on his contract and wanted nothing to do with him. Somehow this guy still thought it would be a great idea. It was a horrible, horrible mistake that set them back five years. Then his first bit of business in Memphis is to sign Darko (I suck, I suck, I suck) Milicic and now he gives away Gasol for KWAME BROWN (I know his contract is expiring, but still --by the way, does anyone else find it amazing that we are going to see a Kwame Brown, Darko Milicic starting frontline?? The two biggest busts of the draft in the last 10 years playing side by side! This is too great!) I know he got Crittenton who could turn out to be a decent player, but they already have TWO young point guards. And their first round picks are going to be so low and he's so bad at evaluating talent that they won't even matter. Unless Pau's brother, Marc turns out to be the second coming, this might be the worst trade I've ever seen; next to Vin, of course. I have to believe they could have gotten more than what they did. Maybe Kupchack altered some of Kwame's high school footage and made it look like he was wearing a Laker's uni and sent it out to Wallace, which would be the only thing that makes sense to me.

Sports Writers

Part of this blog stems from my hatred and utter disgust of sports writers who continually make up their own news from “unnamed” or “anonymous” sources that never amounts to anything substantial. My hatred also stems from those who can only get people to read their columns by being negative and exploiting others shortcomings. The first two that come to mind are Peter Vescey and Ric Bucher. I have sparred with Vescey through Email on several occasions; what a piece of work. I’m continually amazed every time I see a new article or every time I see him on NBATV or Fox Sports that someone hasn’t just decked this guy by now. Or maybe someone has and he just has a really good plastic surgeon.

So, here at this blog we pledge to not only write about sports in an honest and open fashion but also to continually rebut and pick at everything that the utterly ridiculous, Ric Bucher and the “King of Negativity and Cynicism”, Peter Vescey and all those other ridiculous writers can conjure up…enjoy.

Hey Everyone

This is my new blog. I'll address pretty much anything I feel like involving me or anything I'm interested in. Feel free to read, respond, tell me how much you love me or hate me or anything else of that matter.