Cinicnnati Bengals Fire Bob Bratkowski

Today, the Cincinnati Bengals fired "The Genius", offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski. Look, I called for this in a previous post on how to fix the mess that is the Cincinnati Bengals. But two issues remain, Mike Brown as GM and the lack of scouts. And yes, you can forget about owner Mike Brown firing himself. But he could hire more scouts. Without more changes, it's hard to see how effective this is going to be.

To show you inept the Bengals are, they waited until Bratkowski went down to Mobile, Alabama to coach with the staff at the Senior Bowl. Wouldn't it be smarter, say to fire Bratkowski immediately after the season and then hire a replacement to go to the Senior Bowl, to check out the prospects? It's just more of the Bengals circus. So, here's Julius Fucik's "Entrance of the Gladiators" or the most famous circus march as soundtrack to a kitten chasing its tail. Yes, it's just like what the Bengals are doing. Chasing their own tail.

Best Film of the Year for 2010

I was a little worried. I thought there would not be any films that would deserve the award for the Basement Blog Best Film of the Year for 2010. Then a bunch of movies came out in the last six months of the year. And unlike the Academy's blatant appeal to make Oscar show more popular by expanding the category to ten movies, the Basement Blog still sticks to five films or less. Partly, because I don't see as many films as the Academy. :-) So here are the nominees for the Basement Blog Best Film of the Year for 2010: "Inception", "How to Train Your Dragon", "The Kids Are All Right", "The King's Speech", "The Social Network."

The winner is...

"The King's Speech."



The King's Speech is touching, funny and inspiring. It has an intelligent script. Sharp job of directing by Tom Hooper. And it has a great ensemble cast. It's a great film for the twenty first century.

Best Science Fiction Film of 2010

While 2009 was a better year for science fiction film, 2010 turned out some good ones. This year we had four movies for the award. So, let's get to the Basement Blog Best Science Fiction Film of 2010. The nominees are: "Despicable Me", "Inception", "Splice", and "Tron: Legacy."

The winner is......

"Inception."


Christopher Nolan's mind blowing film challenges your concept of reality. I plan to watch it this weekend and try to figure it out. : ) The great thing about this film is that it shows that intelligent science fiction can still bring in the big bucks. I hope Bad Robot is listening because they are going to make the Star Trek (2012) sequel. Let's hope they make the next Star Trek a smarter film.

Stephen Colbert Interviews Brian Greene

Stephen Colbert interviews physicist-author Brian Greene on parallel universes. Stephen also makes a Star Trek reference from the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror." It's about a goatee, i.e. Spock in a goatee from that episode. Anyway, it's fascinating.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Brian Greene
www.colbertnation.com
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Stephen Colbert On Time Traveling Porn

Stephen Colbert takes on a study where college students where able to predict the future, especially when it relates to erotic photos, i.e. porn. It's time traveling porn!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Time-Traveling Porn - Daryl Bem
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A meeting between Mike Brown and Art Rooney

Gary Burbank used to do a series called "All My Bengals" a radio skit making fun of the woeful Cincinnati Bengals. Unfortunately, he retired. But fear not. Bengals fans are filling the void. Some Bengals fan made this video of a fictional meeting between Bengals owner Mike Brown and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney. This is episode One. Hilarious.

Carson Palmer wants a trade

It's being reported that Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer wants a trade. He's under contract through 2014. He says if he's not traded he will retire. Quit in your prime rather than play for the worst professional sports franchise on the planet. So, what does that say about the Cincinnati Bengals when the leader of your team wants out? Couple that with an Cincinnati Enquirer story that many season ticket holders are jumping ship, you would think owner Mike Brown would finally hear the calls for change.

But this is Mike Brown. This is guy who beat the IRS. When Chad Occocinco tried this in 2008, he got nowhere. Yes, it's different with Palmer who is the de facto leader of your team. That's the job of the quarterback. But if Brown can beat the IRS, do you really think Palmer's threat will force him to trade him? And you can't set a precedent when a player does something this or everyone on the team will do the same thing. Believe it or not, Mike Brown wants to win. You can't win if your players are thinking about leaving once they get here. So you can forget the trade idea.

I find it funny though that player in his prime with about 50 million dollars left on his contract would rather quit than play for the Cincinnati Bengals. Palmer may be upset that fans booed him this year. Carson ought to realize that this town idolizes him. With the year he just had, if he were in Philadelphia or Chicago, he would be hanged in effigy. And by the way, Bengals analyst David Lapham and former Bengal Bob Trumpy have defended Palmer by saying receivers have cut off their routes. And watching games, I heard the same thing from the color men on broadcasts. Now it's not all receivers fault. And Carson did want prima donna Terrel Owens. But the Bengals are so bad that Palmer would rather quit than put up with this mess anymore.

Maybe by demanding a trade, he's sending a message to ownership to change. Perhaps that makes Carson Palmer the greatest Bengal of all time. Are the Bengals listening? Maybe. Was that why head coach Marvin Lewis had dinner with Brad Childress? New offensive coordinator? And if things do change then Palmer has done his job. He has lead the team, hopefully out of the abyss.