Last night the Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk contest provided one of the most interesting dunk competitions in a long time. The evening had drama, theatrics and even gimmicks which have been sorely missing from the event for several years.
The evening hit its high point when Nate Robinson performed a show stopping dunk.
Dressed in all green, Nate Robinson or as he referred to himself "Krypto-Nate", dunked over last year's slam dunk champion Dwight Howard. Howard a gracious prop, was wearing his signature "Superman" cape, which he wore last year when he performed his winning dunk.
Costumes aside, the feat was impressive visually, especially since Howard is close to seven feet tall, while Robinson is listed as a mere 5'9".
Further proof that the dunk contest is back, was the announcement that LeBron James would compete in the 2010 event.
Now if Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter decided to compete too we'd have something really special.
I know a lot of people out there weren't fans of the new trilogy. But is there really enough venom out there to complete a two hour documentary?
In any case, this film is sure to feature some serious whack jobs and unbalanced fan boys. Not to mention, it'll be fun seeing the makers of this film alienate themselves from one of the most powerful and influential men in Hollywood.
Never say never but this time Brett Favre looks like he's retiring for good. He seems content and sincere in his decision. When he first announced his retirement while playing for the Green Bay Packers in 2008, he was emotional and he seemed like he still had something left to give, that the decision wasn't his to make.
Not this time.
Of course this is February, who knows what will happen when the 2009-2010 season gets going. He may change his mind yet again. But honestly it feels doubtful.
This is just another excellent idea, in a long line of great marketing moves for the highly anticipated film. I know that Alan Moore really hates the idea of his graphic novels being adapted to film. But it's really hard to find fault with The Watchmen adaptation to film. The filmmakers seem intent to take great care that the movie is incredibly faithful to the original story. The fact that they even made "The Tales of the Black Freighter" as an animated feature, to work as a companion piece for the feature film speaks volumes for the entire project.
Of course one can argue it's just another way for the studio to make money.
The trailer for Quentin Tarantino's war epic Inglourious Basterds was released today and wow is it impressive.
The clip features trademark Tarantino touches, but with a menace and anger that is more palpable than anything he's done previously.
Hopefully the film can deliver the goods. Based on what people have told me, the script sounds outstanding and different than anything Quentin Tarantino has ever done.
Alex Rodriguez admitted today to taking steroids and I think he went a long way towards rehabilitating his image. I think it's good that he admitted to the mistake.
But it's going to be a long season for him. He's going to be unmercifully booed and criticized.
But that's what he gets paid the big bucks for right?
I'm sure he's going to struggle in some spots, flourish in others.
Hopefully he'll struggle just a little bit more when he plays against the Angels. Because he usually kills them, which as a die hard Angels fan really pisses me off.
I'm not a fan of Alex Rodriguez, especially when he plays against the Angels.
But even though I think steroids has had a negative impact on the history of baseball, I'm not one of those fans who will go out of their way to condemn a player for trying to find a competitive edge.
Do I think it sucks? Yeah, it does.
Does it send the wrong message? Of course.
But the truth of the matter is, that steroids weren't illegal in baseball until recently and players shouldn't be punished now for taking performance enhancers back then.
I have heard the argument that nobody cared that Mark McGwire used steroids when he broke the single season home run record.
I agree. Because I was one of those fans. I was guilty of turning a blind eye.
Everybody knew he was using back then. It was the worst kept secret in sports. Let's be honest, a player doesn't get arms like Popeye by doing an all natural workout.
Nobody wanted to know. They just wanted to see him break a record that was decades old.
So now that it has been revealed that A-Rod used steroids, I'm not going to condemn the man for taking performance enhancers.
That would be hypocritical of me.
But I am going to condemn him for lying to everybody about it.
He went on to claim that he never felt the need to take steroids because he never felt the competitive pressure to take them. Rodriguez stated, "I've never felt overmatched on the baseball field. I've always been in a very strong, dominant position. And I felt that if I did my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing at any level."
Oh really?
The truth of the matter is, Rodriguez did feel the pressure to perform at an elite level. The fact that he tried to pass off his talents as completely God given, while dismissing other players skills as average in comparison is reprehensible.
Another great quote from that 2007 interview includes Rodriguez stating his disappointment in players that would be named in the Mitchell Report. Rodriguez states, "I mean, these are guys that I play with. They're my teammates. If anything comes of this, I will be extremely disappointed. And it will be a huge black eye on the game of baseball."
Keep in mind, this was 4 years after he, himself, tested positive for steroids.
The moral here is that people make mistakes, especially under extreme amounts of pressure. Don't lie and make things more complicated by putting yourself in a position of judgment or worse, claim to be cut from a higher moral cloth, especially when you are just as guilty.
I'm not one of those people who is sick of Seth Rogen...at least not yet
Although, I agree the guy seems to be one of the most overexposed actors in the Hollywood publicity machine right now. I also acknowledge the fact that he does, seemingly, appear to be in every comedic film being made in the United States.
But his latest film, due out on April 10, 2009, titled Observe and Report seems to be a change of pace for him.
First off, the character he portrays in this film seems to be mentally unstable in the film. But most importantly to Seth Rogen critics, he doesn't appear to be playing his usual affable good guy with a wicked sense of humor role in this film.
His character actually might just be a creepy dick or an actual asshole.
I think an explanation for this comedic stretch for Rogen is that it's directed by upcoming director Jody Hill, who directed the hilarious Foot Fist Way.
Jody Hill seems to have an uncanny flair for inappropriate humor. My favorite type.
Judging from this trailer, Observe and Report has no illusions of trying to be an audience friendly PG-13. In fact this film seems to be drifting more towards the NC-17 rating range.
I think the movie could be an enjoyable mix of nostalgia, trademark Will Ferrell humor with great action and impressive special effects.
For whatever reason, this image of Chaka makes me giddy with anticipation. The idea of actually remaking this silly show from my youth busts me up to no end.
Also in case you haven't seen it yet, here's the teaser poster for the film.
In an interview with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Shaquille O'Neal revealed that he loves Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson and holds no hard feelings against them.
He says he only thinks of good times when remembering their time together.
Shaq even went so far as to say Kobe Bryant is the MVP of the league and Phil Jackson is the greatest coach ever.
As for the well publicized past problems with Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson, Shaq states, "It was all marketing."
He also boldly claims that the Kobe and Shaq duo is "still the greatest little-man, big-man 1-2 punch ever created in the history of the game."
Shaq then reminds everyone that the Lakers won 3 out of 4 NBA championships and probably would've won 6 or 7 by now if they had stayed together.
Shaq was my favorite player when he was with the Lakers. Still one of my all-time favorites to ever play. Such a shame that things turned out the way they did.
He should have retired a Laker.
Let's hope that all the ill will and drama in the past can be put to rest for good now and Laker Nation can be reunited in peace.
Before getting his butt whipped by Shane Mosley at the Staples Center on Saturday January 24th, news was revealed that the hand wrap for Antonio Margarito was found to have a plaster type substance on it.
Plaster.
You know...like concrete.
Margarito was, of course, forced to rewrap his hands before his fight against Mosley.
As a result of the discovery Antonio Margarito and his trainer have been temporarily suspended from boxing until further investigation.
I can honestly think of nothing more despicable than using a foreign substance on a hand wrap during a bout.
In boxing, an unspoken and obvious understanding exists that if a fighter is going to punch their opponent in the face and the body using all their force and might, a price will have to be paid to their own body as well.
After his bout with Oscar De La Hoya for example, Manny Pacquiao's hands were so sore and swollen that he was unable to sign autographs for fans. Instead, he took pictures with all of them. To demonstrate that he wasn't just lazy or ungrateful for the support of his fans after his fight.
The fact that Margarito possibly cheated before his bout with Mosley, draws into suspicion all the victories he's had in his past, notably his vicious knockouts of Kermit Cintron and Miguel Cotto.
In his fight against Cotto, a plaster doctored hand wrap would explain much.
Cotto was criticized for running from Margarito throughout that entire 11 round bout. Cotto a brawler by nature was in the unusual position of leaning on the ropes and running from Margarito who stalked him relentlessly.
After getting hit repeatedly, Cotto's only recourse was to look for sanctuary from Margarito's vicious heavy punches against the ropes.
Could it be that Cotto was running from a guy with concrete in his gloves?
When Mosley stood up to Margarito in their bout together and insisted on fighting in the center of the ring, Margarito honestly looked mediocre and outclassed.
He failed to hurt Mosley at all.
This was the same Sugar Shane Mosley who lost a brutal, close, action-filled bout to Miguel Cotto.
I'm not condemning or judging Margarito, that is, until the truth is revealed.
But given the circumstances, it would explain alot if Margarito indeed used illegal hand wraps in his fight against Cotto.
Who in their right mind would want to stand in the middle of the ring with a guy with concrete hands?
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