Tabe

In case you weren't looking: Mike Trout has kinda regressed back to "normal human" status this year. Just 4 steals, average is down to .270, OBP is down to .354, and he's on pace to strike out 200+ times.

Just added to Netflix, one I've been wanting to watch for awhile but was unwilling to pay more than about 5 bucks to see: Pain & Gain - Marky Mark is Daniel Lugo, a bodybuilder personal trainer dude who hatches a plot to kidnap one of his rich clients and force him to give him all of his possessions. The Rock and Anthony Mackie are his bodybuilder compatriots. This is a black humor movie that's funny and beautifully shot and that's the problem. See, this is a true story and it adheres to the facts fairly tightly but changes them just enough to turn real life psycopathic killers into goofballs who didn't intend to hurt, let alone kill, anybody. And that's what makes it messed up. The movie is enjoyable and entertaining and then you're reminded it's a true story and that these guys really did torture some poor guy for a month and that they really did use a chainsaw to dismember two others and that's just messed up. So you end up entertained and feeling conflicted about it. 7/10.

To me, it feels like the show dropped off this season. There was a real down period early in the season compared the consistent high quality of season one. Now things are much better and the last few weeks have been great.

Yeah, I know it's slightly crazy.

Let's put it this way: you know the Wii U, that's totally flopped and be a massive disaster, or so we've been told? The Xbox One has sold 25% fewer consoles than THAT. PS4: 7.5 million Wii U: 6.1 million Xbone: 4.5 million http://www.vgchartz.com/

Seeing the name Joe Haden with the Browns made me think of Joe Thomas from the Browns and how I was mad when the Lions didn't draft him in 2007. That draft worked out OK for the Lions - they took Megatron - but I think I might still want Thomas. 7 straight Pro Bowls at left tackle? Yeah, that doesn't come around every day. Anyway, his 2010 season was ridiculous - only 2 penalties all year (1 holding, 1 false start) and he only gave up 4 sacks. That's awesome.

So I'm about 3/4 of the way through Resistance 2. Time for a review: In general, this game is good. The graphics a nice, it plays fast, there are interesting enemies (some of which are huge), and there's some semblance of a storyline. There's tons of checkpoints, which I love. But...there are flaws too. First, and foremost, the game is cheap and unfair as hell at many points. Like there's one checkpoint where, if you do, you get restarted at the very beginning of a battle with 3 giant titans. And the first thing that happens, immediately after you spawn, is you get nailed with a rocket you can't avoid. This was actually occasionally fatal for me in my 20+ retries on that one particular spot, which is just BS. The game is unfair and cheap in other ways too - invisible enemies and so on. Second big flaw is one that so many other games have - you're a badass marine/killer guy but, damn, if 2-foot high walls don't just completely befuddle you. Or the easiest of jumps. There's one section where you have cross all these boards and leap from rock to rock or whatever. The game between rocks is actually small enough that you should be able to WALK across it let alone jump. Multiple times, my guess failed to make the jump. Other times, I got found myself unable to climb over the shortest of obstacles. Incredibly frustrating. And the third flaw is another common one: teammates that do nothing. You're in squads a lot of the time and your mates shoot at stuff but a lot of the times, their shots do NOTHING. And the enemies in the game attack ONLY you. This isn't the case on every level (there's actually a boss fight you can win without firing a single shot by letting your teammates do all the work) but it happens a LOT. It's frustrating to see a pack of zombie creatures getting shots rained on them by your teammates, only to run through them and attack only you. Grrr. So, yeah, enjoying the game, but I've also had a few gaming sessions on it that I ended with "screw it, I've had enough of this BS for the night". So far...I'm gonna say 6.5/10, maybe 7/10.

According to the NBA's interpretation of their own constitution - which Mrs Sterling disagrees with - when the NBA terminates the rights of the controlling owner in a group (Donald Sterling in this case), the ownership rights for all other owners in that group are terminated at the same time.

Ya know, I knew that and had forgotten. Argh. Cool moment in the documentary - Pineda meeting Jason Scheff, the guy who replaced Peter Cetera in Chicago. Obviously they have the "guy who replaced* a legend" thing in common and they share a nice moment together. * - Yes, I'm aware that Journey had two lead singers in between Steve Perry and Arnel Pineda, one of whom was in the band for eight years.

This week's update for those in the US: Free - Skullgirls Encore (PS3) - Followup to the hit 2D fighting game. I have no interest in this but I know the first game was well-received. Discounts - it's "Free to Play" week so sales on Blacklight Retribution, Dust 514, Warframe and others

As clueless as she is - and that's quite clueless - I do think she's right on this point: She wonders if the NBA would ban a team's owner if that owner's WIFE had said something awful. I think it's a safe bet that she's right when she says no.

Fixed that for you I'm pretty sure Jadaveon Clowney isn't complaining too much

It was a Netflix kind of weekend: Playing For Keeps - I remember for some reason wanting to see this when I first saw ads. Maybe because I generally like Gerard Butler? Maybe. I dunno. Anyway, this movie is AWFUL. Butler plays a former soccer pro trying to rebuild his relationship with his son and ex by being his son's soccer coach. You can write the entire plot beforehand - conflict with the ex, conflict with the son, losing team becomes good, jerk of a parent, and so on. There's literally nothing even approaching mediocre in this, let alone good. And it's not funny. Meanwhile, what the heck happened to Jessica Biel? Remember when she used to be hot? Now she's the 4th hottest woman in this movie (out of 4) - behind Uma Thurman, who I've never thought was good looking. Time to make some changes, Jess. Anyway, this movie is just terrible on all levels. 2/10. The Yards - Marky Mark just got out of prison and is looking for work. Joaquin Phoenix is his cousin's husband and works for a railroad supply company that's a bit ethically challenged. They visit the yards one night to impose their will on a competitor and things go south. This is a movie that thinks it's a lot better than it is and seems to be very impressed with itself. It tries to be some kind of gangster epic or something and never really gets there. Loaded cast - Wahlberg, Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Woods, Jessica Lange, etc - but ends up as nothing special. 5/10. Blue Chips - I recognize that this is not a "great" movie per se but, man, I love this flick. Nick Nolte plays a virtual clone of Bobby Knight - ironic, since Knight has an extended cameo as himself - as a once-super-successful college basketball coach whose program has fallen down a bit. He's always been a paragon of integrity but gives into temptation and buys off players in order to get back to the top. The result is a terrific, fast-paced movie that, while exaggerated a bit for Hollywood, rings very true as an indictment of big-time NCAA basketball. Lots of real basketball players and coaches in this one - Shaq & Penny Hardaway star, along with former Indiana starter Matt Stover, and there's cameos from Rick Pitino, Bobby Hurley, Calbert Cheaney, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, and more - and they all do a great job. It's fun to see Shaq all young and athletic again, destroying guys on a 9-1/2 foot rim. Nolte is fantastic as well. I dunno, I just love this movie. Side note: Man, were the early/mid-90s a great time for basketball movies or what? All-time classic White Men Can't Jump, Above the Rim, The Basketball Diaries, this one... and probably a few others I'm forgetting (or intentionally ignoring - like Space Jam). Anyway... 7.5/10. Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey - Documentary from 2012 charting the selection of Arnel PIneda to join Journey as their new lead singer. Pineda is a real-life version of the movie Rock Star, literally plucked from a cover band thanks to a video of him singing on Youtube. The movie covers that process a bit, Pineda's life in the Phillipines before joining Journey, and the band's first tour together. This is a fun look behind the scenes with everybody in the movie coming across pretty likeable, particularly Pineda who's having the time of his life. I got a chance to see these guys on the tour covered in the movie and they were awesome. Anyway, if you're a fan of the band, or rock documentaries in general, this is a good one. 8/10.

That's some great news, brother.

I think the JFK craziness gets to the point that some people actually forget that it was, you know, a real incident with real people. Hence why they can throw out inane stuff like "The limo driver did it!" or "It was Jackie all along!" and not realize how utterly slanderous and disrespectful it is. It's like you or me coming up with a Lost theory or trying to figure out True Detective's actually about. That's a brilliant explanation. You're right, a lot of people just forget that it was REAL PEOPLE.

And now reports that Michael Sam is complaining that he was drafted four rounds later than he should have been.

That's been the M.O. for ESPN for at least a decade. There was a thing about a year ago where they got one of their NFL guys to say something stupid then spent all day analyzing their own guy. They absolutely try to create news rather than just report it.

Yeah, you gotta wonder about that decision...

The Lions winning a playoff game.

Some Netflix nonsense: JFK Smoking Gun - documentary that I started, not knowing the theory behind it. Turns out to be a rehash of Bonar Menninger's laughable "Secret Service agent firing from behind did it accidentally" theory. It's so laughable on its face and unsupported with facts, no matter how hard this dreck tries. And, oh yeah, let's not have the movie mention that the agent in question sued over these allegations and got a settlement. 1/10. Home Run - Alcoholic major league superstar goes p off the rails and coaches his brother's little league team to find his way back. This is a Christian movie not up to the standards set by Kirk Cameron's movies. Bad acting, weak plot, and so on. Still, I made it all the way through somehow. 2/10.

I took that long pause more as Sal Pal is making this whole fucking story up and is trying to think of what else to say. That whole stole rang so false and made up... I wonder if the long pause was Sal Pal thinking "I can't believe this is what my career has fallen to doing..."

Clinton used to be a farm club for the San Diego Padres. When they were, a kid I coached in high school (who went on to pitch a dozen games in the majors) played there:

The ball bouncing off a guy, then slowly recovered, only to be flung out of bounds? I've seen or done that at least 50 times, I think.

The bit with the guy 4 feet from the basket doing nothing while his opponent hopped all over the place slayed me. That video is great.

They're not rebates - they're discounts on future purchases. Big deal.