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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Colbert Takes On Critics Of Obama's Libya Speech
Last night Stephen Colbert commented on the converative hypocrites who criticized President Obama's Libyan war speech. John Bolton called the speech a "dog's breakfest." What?! And check out his jokes about Newt Gingrich. Funny stuff.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Cincinnati Reds 2011 Preview
Last year the upstart Cincinnati Reds won the National League's Central Division Championship. ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd will tell you the Reds were frauds because they beat up on bad teams and couldn't beat the good ones. Yeah, that maybe true but so what? If you're going to lose games, you should lose to the good teams and beat up the bad ones. That means you're better than average. And what does that make the runner-up and former champs St. Louis Cardinals? (Here's their nickname.) They couldn't beat the bad teams. But I digress.
The 2011 Cincinnati Reds will repeat as Central Division Champs. They will win the National League Pennant. And go on to win the World Series. Too confident? If the Reds stay healthy and play to their potential, they have as good a chance as anybody. Afterall, who would have guessed the San Francisco Giants would win the World Series. So, get ready for the Big Red Machine, part 2.
1. Pitching Former Cincinnati sports talk host Alan Cutler said baseball is about "pitching, pitching... piii.tch...iiing!" Yep, it sure is. The Reds don't have an ace like Felix Hernandez. What they do have is great depth. There are eight arms that can fill the five starter stops. Rookie phenom Mike Leake who had a great first half last year, can't make the team. And with Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey down with minor arm troubles, the Reds will use that depth. Matt Maloney and Sam LeCure who pitched for the Reds last year will help out. The beauty of having good arms for all five starter slots is that your pitchers will keep you in the game. The Reds will win a lot of games.
a. Starting Pitching- Let's go over the starters for the Reds. Edinson Volquez has electric stuff. But he needs to throw strikes and bear down when runners get on base. This is a maturity issue and let's hope he's grown up. Bronson Arroyo doesn't have overpowering stuff. What he does do is change speeds. He'll keep you in games and give you two hundred innings a year. His veteran presence will help the kids. Johhny Cueto had a very good season last year. He can win twenty games. Travis Wood is the lone left hander. He has the moxy of a veteran. Homer Bailey has finally grown up. He knows he cannot blow his fastball by major league hitters. Changing speeds and location will take him far.
b. Bullpen- Closer Francisco Cordero returns. He'll scare you by letting guys get on base. But he did have forty saves. Nick Masset hsa nasty stuff. He looks to be a future closer. Aroldis Chapman has the fastball with the best velocity in baseball. Fans of all teams routinely look at the radar gun to see how hard he can throw. He's hit a record 105 m.p.h. Bill Bray will get left handers out. Logan Ondrusek, Matt Maloney and Jared Burton all have good stuff. And by that, the last three guys are not journeymen dregs. They will be able to get in the game in the middle innings if needed and keep the Reds in the game.
2. Infield- Let's go with the right side of the outfield first. What can I say about first baseman Joey Votto. Consumate hitter. Power to all fields. Hits with runners in scoring position. (RISP) Oh, Votto is also MVP. Second baseman Brandon Phillips is fantastic fielder. He can also hit for power and steal bases.
The left side of the infield has questions. Shortstop Paul Janish can field with any shortstop in the league. The question is can he hit. I'll take a .250 average with the ability to hit with runners in scoring position. If he does that and the rest of the team hits, the Reds will be okay. At third is Scott Rolen. Not really a problem but at thirty five, he's showing his age. Bad back could keep off the field. That's why it's time to groom Juan Francisco who has prodigious power from the left side of the plate. Francisco can also play outfield and first base.
Miguel Cairo will be back as a reserve. He did a bang up job. The Reds signed World Series MVP Edgar Renteria. He'll be an insurance policy if Janish fails.
3. Catching- Solid. Ramon Henandez brings veteran leadership to the pitching staff. Excellent bat control. Ryan Hanigan is a great back-up and has an excellent arm.
3. Outfield- Here's something you may not know. Right fielder Jay Bruce hit .281 last year. He's a great outfielder with a cannon for an arm. Left fielder Jonny Gomes goes out everyday and plays like it's his last game. That maybe his problem. He needs to calm down when he needs to hit in the clutch. Reserve Chris Heisey could probably start with any team.
That leaves center fielder Drew Stubbs. (Pictured.) And I hope I don't put pressure on the guy. But he's one of the keys to the success for the Reds. I'm assuming that the pitching will be there. And I'm not counting on offense from Paul Janish. So if Stubbs can put the ball in play and use his speed; there will be more hits and runs scored. He must cut down on his strikeouts and hit with runners in scoring position. If he can do that, I'm excited. Last year he had twenty two home runs and thirty stolen bases. As far as his defense, he's an excellent centerfielder.
4. The Front Office- Players love playing for manager Dusty Baker. His wisdoem will guide the young players. GM Walt Jocketty keeps wielding his magic. For example, many thought it was a big mistake to trade for an older Scott Rolen. But it is what he Reds needed. Veteran leadership. He made good acquisitions of Mike Leake and Aroldis Chapman.
5. Conclusion- The temperature highs for this opening day game will be fifty degrees. It gets that cold in October. The Cincinnati Reds better get used to it.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Those Crazy Birthers, Part Seven
Donald Trump has been recently demanding that President Barack Obama show his birth certificate. That makes him the latest to join those crazy Birthers. You know the group of people who doubt whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. And should we add the Republican Party as part of that group? A recent poll shows that a majority of Republicans now believe Obama was not born in the United States. Sigh. This is why I left the party. It started with Reagan, now the yahoos have finally replaced the moderates. Oh, before I forget, that's probably the reason why Trump is demanding the birth certificate. He is probably running for President. At least comedian Lewis Black thinks so. But I digress.
Okay, let me break this down for you crazy conservatives. First, FactCheck.org and Politifact.com have already debunked the birther theory. But here it is in short form. Pun intended. In Hawaii, you cannot get your original birth certificate when you request it. What you get is the short form. So, Obama really can't get the "long" form. However, the form he has shown does prove he was born in Hawaii.
Do you Republicans realize how crazy you are? Here's why. Two Honolulu newspapers in 1961 announced Obama's birth. Now for this conspiracy to work, reporters in 1961 would have to conspire with public officials both Republican and Democrats in 2008 to produce a falsehood that Obama was born in Hawaii. Look I like science fiction too but no one is saying there's time travel. But what is this really about? It's race. Seriously. If Obama was named John Smith and he was white, would those crazy Republicans care? No. He's black and has an exotic name. If I can paraphrase Bill Maher, which party is more likely to have the racists? It's the Republicans.
But enough with all the insanity. Here's Jon Stewart of the Daily Show from 2009 to tell you why the Birthers are nuts.
Okay, let me break this down for you crazy conservatives. First, FactCheck.org and Politifact.com have already debunked the birther theory. But here it is in short form. Pun intended. In Hawaii, you cannot get your original birth certificate when you request it. What you get is the short form. So, Obama really can't get the "long" form. However, the form he has shown does prove he was born in Hawaii.
Do you Republicans realize how crazy you are? Here's why. Two Honolulu newspapers in 1961 announced Obama's birth. Now for this conspiracy to work, reporters in 1961 would have to conspire with public officials both Republican and Democrats in 2008 to produce a falsehood that Obama was born in Hawaii. Look I like science fiction too but no one is saying there's time travel. But what is this really about? It's race. Seriously. If Obama was named John Smith and he was white, would those crazy Republicans care? No. He's black and has an exotic name. If I can paraphrase Bill Maher, which party is more likely to have the racists? It's the Republicans.
But enough with all the insanity. Here's Jon Stewart of the Daily Show from 2009 to tell you why the Birthers are nuts.
Bengals should not pick a wide receiver with its first pick
The Cincinnati Bengals have the fourth overall pick in April's NFL draft. They should not pick a wide receiver. Wide Receivers A.J. Green of Georgia and Alabama's Julio Jones (pictured) look to be drafted in the first round. And while I agree it's a need, it's not as major as other areas for the Bengals. For that matter, it's not essential for winning Super Bowl championships. Remember that the New England Patriots won Super Bowls with no name receivers. Okay, you can say they cheated by filming the opposition. Still, the receivers they had were not big stars.
The last time the Bengals used a fourth pick overall to pick a receiver was in 2000. They picked the very average Peter Warrick. I just hope that owner and de facto Mike Brown learned his lesson. But it gets scary when Head Coach Marvin Lewis says things like this, "My boss loves offense." Cincinnati Enquirer, 3-27-11, pg. C3, col. 1.
I'll say this again and again. Games are won in the trenches. That means the offensive and defensive lines. Right now the Bengals have needs there. Unlike baseball where you pick the absolute best player available, in football you pick the best player available in an are of need. The Bengals should pick a lineman.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Roger Ebert Thinks I Am An Idiot
A couple of weeks ago, I reviewed Battle: Los Angeles. I gave it an A grade. It was a thrilling science fiction war film about a platoon that gets caught behind enemy lines or should I say alien lines. Well, the great film critic Roger Ebert also reviewed the movie. He gave it one half star out of four. He hated it so much that he decided to go after the people who liked the movie. He wrote,
"Young men: If you attend this crap with friends who admire it, tactfully inform them they are idiots. "
Okay, Roger you think I'm an idiot. So now I'm going to defend Battle: Los Angeles against your criticism. I hope you didn't fall asleep during this movie, because you seemed to have missed all the excitement. You missed the desperate mission behind enemy lines as a platoon of Marines seeks to rescue civilians. I'm guessing you fell asleep because you should have been frightened when you realize the aliens have better weapons.
But let's go over some of your criticism of the movie. You say the aliens don't have any motivation. One, I doubt they speak English, so sorry they're not going to look into the camera and tell you why they're here. But if you were listening, news experts told you that they were after our resources, primarily water. Dr. Stephen Hawking has already proposed this scenario.
You complain about what the aliens look like. To you they look like stick figures. Better have the glasses cleaned. They looked like humanoid, biomechanical soldiers with weapons welded to their arms. Yes, they could have had more detail but this is a war film. The focus is on the Marines. You also complain about the alien ships. You call them ugly and cluttered. Oh come on. This is just subjective. They're supposed to look "alien." Sheesh. Where's your complaints about the clutter of the ships in "Star Wars?"
You then moan about the dialogue. Primarily, that it's short. Man, this is a platoon under fire! What do you want? Long monologues while the aliens are making sushi out of the soldiers. Spoiler Alert. And wow, you weren't touched when the little boy's father died? Or actor Aaron Eckhart's comforting of the boy?
Finally, you complain about the confusing action. What the? Now, I know you fell asleep during the movie. Let me go over the plot for you. A platoon of Marines is sent to a police station in enemy territory to rescue civilians. They get trapped by the aliens. The Marines have to fight their way out. They get a bus and ride part of the way out where they get trapped by alien armor. You missed that. I feel sorry for you. You missed a great movie.
Roger, you're still a great critic. You missed the boat on this one. Oh, and by the way, if any of you people liked Battle: Los Angeles, you are not an idiot.
Comedian Lews Black Endorses Donald Trump for President
Last night on The Daily Show, comedian Lewis Black endorsed Donald Trump for President. Okay, he was sarcastic but in the video below, he was also brilliantly hilarious. By the way, who would have known that Trump is a birther.
Jon Stewart's Take On Obama's Critics Over Libya
As I said President Obama can't win with anybody over the no-fly zone in Libya. Jon Stewart looks at Republican hypocrisy in the below video. He also takes on Obama's liberal critics also.
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