Short version: they took source material that I thought would be completely unwatchable as a movie, and turned it into a movie.

Seriously. A movie about how the Oakland A’s general manager used unconventional thinking and statistics to build a winning baseball team for the 2002 season. ‘Statistics’ and ‘Baseball’ are not words that you build a dramatic movie around. I enjoyed the movie, but I wasn’t captivated by it. I feel like I enjoyed it because I am nerd enough to have enjoyed the book, and I feel like it probably has some appeal to more casual baseball/sports fans.

I do also generally enjoy Brad Pitt.

The performances were fine. Pitt was good, Philip Seymour Hoffman actually looked quite a bit like Art Howe (although he just sounded like himself), and Jonah Hill was also good. And that’s pretty much it. It was well written, and it told the story of a baseball season.

wadE and I agreed on the word ‘underwhelmed’. It’s a nice, watchable movie. Great for Netflix/Redbox prices, and a good movie for baseball/sports fans and/or people who just want to watch Brad Pitt look good for 2 hours. I’m not sure how it got an Oscar nomination for anything, let alone Best Supporting Actor In a Role about a Nerd with barely 20 lines in the whole movie. (What? It was just Best Supporting Actor? Huh.)

So, yeah. Moneyball. I suspect you already have an idea about whether or not you’re interested in seeing it, and I’m here to tell you that whatever you’ve already decided, you’re right. Stick to your guns.

Catching up on some sports-related web browsing, and I see the following link headline from yesterday’s “football” game:

Marshall catches 4 TDs; AFC wins Pro Bowl

Upon reading this, my brain had the following discussion with itself:

Wilber Marshall? . . . No, that makes no sense. Hm . . .

Leonard Marshall! . . . No, same problem there.

Defeated, I had to click on the link to find out that it was Brandon Marshall who did the thing with the ball in the game I didn’t watch or care about. But at least I was slightly amused by that point.

The short version: numerous good points don’t overcome a bad ending.

(But backing up, a quick intro. We’re gonna try this thing. I posted this on The Facebook this morning, that I want to make Thursday night “Movie Night”. Hopefully I’m either gonna see something in theater, or start working through my backlog of Netflixes. Even more hopefully, I’m gonna write up reviews. We’ll see how this goes…)

Layer Cake (2004), starring Daniel Craig, and featuring quite a good ensemble cast, including two members of The Order of the Phoenix (Dumbledore and Shacklebolt, if you must know). Jokes aside, Michael Gambon was good in his role, and Tom Hardy is the other ‘known’ name, although his role was smaller. And Sienna Miller was, of course, gorgeous (but that was pretty much all she had to do in this one, was look gorgeous).

Pretty straight forward Brit Crime/Gangster/Suspense movie. Well written for the most part, well paced, plenty of twists and turns in the plot, but not confusingly so. Fairly easy to keep everyone straight, which is good in an ensemble cast while characters are dying and you’re trying to keep factions and loyalties straight, etc, so on and so forth.

I enjoyed it, right up until the last 30 seconds, which were absolutely pointless. I didn’t see any of the original marketing for this film, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they teased it with the SHOCKING twist at the end. I thought it was uninspired, and honestly unnecessary.

I guess overall I do recommend seeing this if you’re in the mood for something in the Snatch/Lock Stock vein. Just keep your expectations low.

My favorite local newspaper has always been the Minneapolis Star & Tribune. While I have never subscribed to the “Strib”, I have read its website nearly every single day over the past 10+ years.

Apparently the days of “free loading” are over.

The Strib is now offering “digital subscriptions”. I’m not completely opposed to paying to view my local news online. In fact the Strib has one of the best newspaper websites in the country. Additionally it’s been one of the most profitable, or perhaps that should be “least-unprofitable”, thanks to the loads of advertising it’s managed to add over the years as well as sneaky hit count increasers like auto refresh of pages after a few minutes. I had figured that the continual increases in visual bombardment on the website is what allowed them to remain subscription free.

That changed a couple years ago when they introduced a pay feature for Vikings stories, this grew into a “premium” set of articles, and now this: http://www.startribune.com/help/132937963.html

When I read 99 cents per week, I considered signing up. 52 bucks a year to get local news online seemed somewhat reasonable. But then I notice that after 10 weeks it goes up to $1.99. That’s 103.48 per year.

That’s too much. That is too much when other outlets (St. Paul Pioneer Press, local TV stations, Yahoo! News) are still providing local news free of cost. There just isn’t a differentiator at the Strib to make their content worth more than free. Perhaps Sid in his glory days might have been worth paying for… and maybe if former ink-stained wretch Dan Barreiro was still on the Strib payroll it would be worth paying for.

I see this as a short term money grab that will see the hits on their site plummet. Perhaps they can wait out their competition… but I doubt it. I will miss you Startribune.com… but not as much as I’d miss a hundred bucks out of my wallet.

In case you weren’t aware, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts starting giving out the “Mark Twain Prize for American Humor” in 1998. The intent of the prize is honor an individual who has made a significant contribution to American humor.

I think we all would agree that criteria is vague, but over the first 12 years you got a good idea of who should be considered for the prize based on the recipients.

The first winner was Richard Pryor. Hard to argue this one. He was the inspiration for so many comics. He might be the only comic that Bill Cosby respects who swore in every other sentence on stage.

Next was Jonathan Winters. Most people younger than 35 don’t have any idea who Jonathan Winters is. Most people under 40 (like me) really only know him as Mork & Mindy’s child, or the weird guy who was occasionally on Johnny Carson. Regardless, a long storied career, very deserving of an award.

Other recipients: Carl Reiner, Whoopi, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Neil Simon, Billy Crystal, George Carlin (who sadly died 4 days after the announcement), Bill Cosby…

Then in 2010 the winner was Tina Fey. Really, you go from Bill Cosby to Tina Fey? Now don’t get me wrong, I like Tina Fey. I think she is funny and very talented. And I suppose she is an Emmy award winning writer and actor. She’s also a very successful woman in what has always been a male dominated business. Ok, I’ve talked myself into this.

However, this year’s winner is Will Ferrell. Funny guy… nearly single handedly carried (saved?) SNL in the late 90s… some very funny and successful movies. But I could say the same thing about Adam Sandler. About the only difference between the two is that Ferrell started FunnyOrDie.com… and he did a one-man show on Broadway about GW Bush… but otherwise damn near the same career. He hasn’t won any emmys or oscars or tonys… not even a Golden Globe.

Perhaps that point of the award is to honor current comedy stars. The Kennedy Center chairman was quoted as saying, “Will Ferrell is clearly one of his generation’s finest comedic performers.” This is true. And I suppose if you start a comedy award in 1998 you need to honor the past a bit before catching up to the present (like Lily Tomlin in 2003? She hadn’t done anything impactful for at least a decade).

Either way though… I can’t help but feel that an award named after Mark Twain, which Pryor, Cosby, and Carlin have won shouldn’t go to Will Ferrell. How does Will Ferrell win this award and Seinfeld is nowhere to be found?

Perhaps it’s a sign of the times. Awards, and society in general, has a shorter and shorter attention span and things need to be “more current” and “more relevant”. Maybe next year’s winner will be Jonah Hill.

“I expected so much more… yet I didn’t…”

That’s how I feel about the 2010 Minnesota Vikings. So before we preview the 2011 campaign let’s recap 2010.

I had predicted a 12 or 13 win season, but with a *lot* of caveats:

1) Offensive line is a mess – Check!
I was right that the O-line was a mess with injuries and subpar play (toodaloo Mt. McKinney… it’s been fun!). Quite possibly the biggest contributor to a 6-10 season. I nailed this one with my proposed question: “Will the Offensive Line step up in pass protection and run blocking with a new Center, suspect Right Guard, and rookie Right Tackle? – More or less the same question but with a twist: will McKinney actually play to his potential, will Sullivan recover in time for the start of the season? The O-line looks to be the weak link this year making the Vikings essentially the 2009 Packers. But they’re QB is a helluva lot younger.” This year’s version has less talent overall, but is currently healthy.

2) Sidney Rice will be out for half the season – Meh
When he returned Rice was less than spectacular, but still good. He’s now gone to Seattle where I expect him to slightly outperform the last WR the Seahawks stole from the Vikings (Nate Burleson). Good luck with T-Jack and Charlie Whitehurst Sid!

3) Chester Taylor is gone – Check!
3rd and long was disastrous for the Vikings last year, no more so than the first 3rd down they faced against the Bills on December 5th. Farve was knocked from the game and essentially from his career. It remains to be seen if Peterson or Gerhart can be effective on 3rd and long.

4) Favre is a year old and has an ankle operating around 10% – Check!
Even before getting creamed Favre was ineffective. The offensive line had him hobbling for his life and he didn’t have Rice to bail him out of throwing jump balls. It was a recipe for disaster.

5) Our defense is improved and should be top notch in the rushing *and* passing games – Wrong!
Well, not totally wrong, but a ranking of 9th and 10th (respectively) isn’t all that bad (the Packers were 18th and 5th).

6) Regarding a tough early stretch of games: If they can win 3 of those 4 [Jets, Dallas, Green Bay, New England] I see them returning to the NFC Championship. If they only win 1, it’s feasible they miss the playoffs. – Check!
Nailed that one. The Vikings were only able to beat what turned out to be a terrible Cowboy team. They missed the playoffs and finished last in the division for the first time since 1990 (when the Packers, Bucs, Lions, and Vikings all finished 6-10).

After a brilliant 2009 effort there was bound to be letdown in 2010, but even with the huge question marks, I didn’t foresee it being this bad. We knew that Green Bay would be better, but I don’t think anyone who doesn’t drink paint thinner regularly thought they’d win a super bowl. But such is life… better them than the Patriots.

“It’s over Johnny… IT’S OVER!” – Col. Trautman

But enough of the past… A lot has changed with the Vikings from this time last year. If you need a rundown, check espn.com. Long story short: New QBs (I would have preferred we had McNabb 3 years ago, not now) (Ponder… ? Hmmm…), new coach (fair thee well Chili… fair thee well), and a lot of departures (bye bye Sidney).

But what does that mean for the Vikings? It means they are a team that has to try the most difficult trick in all of sports. Rebuild on the fly while staying competitive and relevant. Not an easy task. And one I don’t believe they’ll be able to pull off this year. It’s going to take a lot of surprises and career years (I’m looking at you Jared Allen) for them to be above .500.

For purposes of this preview we’ll assume McNabb performs around average, Percy Harvin takes a step forward, Adrian Peterson plays as well as last year, the offensive line takes a step back, and the defense stays steady at slightly above average. (Wow, if that doesn’t get you excited for a year of Vikings football, I don’t know what will!)

Let’s look at the games:

Week 1: Sep 11 – at San Diego
San Diego is a notorious slow starter, and they have something called Ryan Matthews at RB, but they still have Rivers and Jackson. It’s possible the Vikings steal this one, but on the road, first game with the new players. Don’t bet on it. But bet on a close game. 0-1

Week 2: Sep 18 – vs. Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay <Denny Green> is a good young team. They are susceptible to the run, but even at home I don’t see the Vikings getting it done. Vikes lose a close one. 0-2

Week 3: Sep 26 – vs. Detroit
I don’t care that people say Detroit is better this year (although they are already riddled with injuries). They haven’t won at Metrodome in over a decade, that ain’t changing. 1-2

Week 4: Oct 2 – at Kansas City
Another young team on the way up. KC had the best rushing attack in 2010. The Williams Wall will still be suspended. Expect the Henderson brothers to have 40 tackles combined. KC wins another tight game. 1-3

Week 5: Oct 9 – vs. Arizona
Kevin Kolb is an upgrade at QB. Fitzgerald may be the best WR in the game right now. But a terrible team on defense got even worse during the offseason. Vikings win this game at home, on the road, in Detroit, or at TCF Stadium. 2-3

Week 6: Oct 16 – at Chicago
I dislike Chicago. Post Ditka there has been nothing to like there (except Dave Wannestedt’s mustache). Their O-line is a mess (“settle down” <Mike Tice>), but their running defense will still be strong. The only good news for the Vikings is that they play in Chicago before the snow flies (fingers crossed). However, on the road, I see the Vikings losing yet another close game. 2-4

Week 7: Oct 23 – vs. Green Bay
If the Vikings end up going 1-15 this season, as long as this is the one win, it’ll be a successful season. Sadly the Packers should only be better than they were last year (which honestly wasn’t very good until late in the season. Classic case of a team peaking at the right time.). I expect a better home showing than last year’s 31-3 debacle, but a loss nonetheless. 2-5

Week 8: Oct 30 – at Carolina
Cam Newton? Really? Maybe someday, but not this year. A road win for the Vikes! 3-5

Week 9: BYE
A good time for a Bye week. Last year having it in week 4 did not do the Vikings any favors.

Week 10: Nov 14 – at Green Bay
Historically the Vikings and Packers have split games, but the overall series now sits at 48-51-1 (courtesy of last year’s sweep by the Packers). I really want to say the Vikings steal a game, but I just don’t see that happening. Dark days for Vikings fans. With any luck the Packers will enter another dormant 25 year period like they did between the late 60s and early 90s. 3-6

Week 11: Nov 2 – vs. Oakland
Oakland’s strong ground game will get overshadowed by Adrian Peterson rushing for 175 yards and 3 TDs in this game. Vikings get their first laughter of the year (yeah, I think the Carolina game will be less than a 10 point win). 4-6

Week 12: Nov 27 – at Atlanta
The best team not from Philly in the NFC this year. Vikings don’t stand much of a chance in the Georgia Dome, or Metrodome. 4-7

Week 13: Dec 5 – vs. Denver
Is this Tim Tebow’s year? No. He can’t even beat Brady Quinn for the backup spot behind Orton. And you thought the Vikings QB situation was scary. The only good thing I can say about the Broncos is that they dumped Josh McDaniels. On the great tree of NFL coaches, the Belichick branch is shriveled and brown. Oh… Vikings win this game. 5-7

Week 14: Dec 11 – at Detroit
No way the Vikings split with Detroit again. Last year it was the last game of a disappointing season, the game didn’t matter (outside of the fact that it meant the Vikings technically finished last in the division for the first time since 1990). This game won’t matter much this year either, but it isn’t that final letdown game either; and with the NFC, the Vikings will probably be in the wild card race even at 5-7. Vikes win. 6-7

Week 15: Dec 18 – vs. New Orleans
If the Vikings went 2-14 this year, with one of those wins being against the Packers, I would want this to be the other win. One personal foul, and one bad Favre INT way from a trip to the super bowl, where the Colts proved to be beatable. I don’t think I can forgive N’awlins. Even with their bourbon street and drive up daiquiri bars. Sadly, the Vikings lose to the Saints for the third year in a row. 6-8

Week 16: Dec 24 – at Washington
Projected starter John Beck hasn’t played a down since 2007 with Miami. He may speak fluent Portuguese, but he has no business starting for an NFL team. Looks like Shanahan is all in on the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. 7-8

Week 17: Jan 1 – vs. Chicago
It’s doubtful, but the Vikings could be in the wild card hunt going into the final week of the season, especially if they pick up another game and are 8-7 going into this game. It’ll really depend on the NFC South (very possible both wild card teams come from that division). *IF* the Vikings are in the hunt, it’s also likely the Bears are right there with them. Big game, at home, a possible playoff berth (or pride), on the line. I predict Mike Singeltary chloroforms EJ Henderson before the game and puts on his uniform to get a shot at his old team. Show Urlacher what a real monster of the midway looks like. After all the negativity I’m going positive and picking the Vikes to win on a last second Longwell field goal. 8-8

Final thoughts: Last year I was wildly optimistic and went with 13-3… a long way from the 6-10 they ended at (for all the reason chronicled above). I think 8-8 is a very reasonable expectation. The Vikings have a decent 4th place schedule, and a QB with a one year contract with everything to prove. They still have the best RB in football and an electric WR in Percy Harvin. It’ll be a rebuilding year for the Vikings, but they’ll be competitive and with some good luck they could actually make the playoffs. One word advice to Vikings faithful. Don’t write the Vikings off early in the season. If they can enter December with 4 or 5 wins, there is still a shot at a successful season. And if not, let’s just hope the Packers don’t repeat.

Skol Vikings!

An e-mail discussion about the wave (spurred on by this post) with the other SP yahoos reminded me of a list I compiled for sparklegirl several years back before a Twins game. She was wondering about behavior expectations at a baseball game, and, being a dork, I came up with a list. From what I can remember, here is Wade’s Rules for Proper Baseball Game Attendance Etiquette. (Or, y’know, WRPBGAE.)

+ No wave. It’s not as cool as you think it is. If you must, do it without getting out of your seat and disrupting my view of the game. Exception: Kids. (Mostly because they’re short.)

+ No cell phones.

+ If you happen to catch a foul ball, give it to the littlest person around you.

+ If you happen to catch a home run from the opposing team, do *not* yield to the “throw it back” chants. That’s both silly and reductive (the Cubs started it). If you feel the need to get rid of it, see the above rule.

+ Wait until the half-inning break to leave and come back to your seat. This might actually be the cardinal rule for me. My reaction ranges from the stinkeye to under-the-breath “RUDE,” depending upon how much beer I’d consumed by that point.

+ Have the correct change for the vendors who sell food and beverages in the aisles. Also: Tip generously.

+ Don’t wear apparel from opposing teams or other sports leagues. Twins apparel is encouraged but not mandatory.

+ Don’t leave until the game is over. Exception: When you’re with your kids. (Mostly because it’s too expensive to keep plying them with popcorn and ice cream for three hours.)

I hope this doesn’t come off as curmudgeonly. I simply feel that one’s behavior at a game should be respectful of the people who want to actually watch the game. I’m all about the between-inning tomfoolery. Your Kiss Cam. Your Twins Triva. (Really Trevor Plouffe? You admit that “Jersey Shore” is your favorite reality show?) Your Bon Jovi sing-along. Just keep it down during the actual game-play itself; I’d like to see Nishioka strike out in peace.

If Sid Hartman says the Twins have no hope… well, I expect locusts to descend on Target Field shortly…

My favorite part of the Sid Cast is his rattling off the players who he doesn’t really know. “Ka-silla” for Casilla (Sid probably also says jah-lap-in-o for jalapeño). “That Japanese Guy” (Nishioka) . “Rookie in Center Field” (Revere). “Nothing player in left field” (Repko… and *ouch*). “Cap” (Capps – and I could maybe give Sid a break on that one, maybe that’s the nickname used the clubhouse…although knowing the Twins shouldn’t it be Cappy?)

Sid’s also down on the Wild, but has good things to say about the T-wolves. Maybe Sid is actually taking off the rose colored glasses now that he’s in his 90s… or perhaps it just cataracts.

wadE: not for the next gambit… but for Mauer to take grounders at first base.

Reports have been leaking out that the baby Jesus (or as I tried to name him, “the baseball Jesus”) has finally started taking some grounders at first base during pre-game warm ups. Although Joe Mauer has been as forceful as he can be about being the “catcher” for this team, it’s not feasible to pay a guy 23.5 million per year and have him sit out 2 out of every 7 games. The Twins need his bat (such as it is these days) in the lineup every day. If that means playing a little third base, outfield, or first base… so be it. The hometown boy’s shine has started to wear off (the team being 32-45 will do that). Even Shecky Souhan has started to rip into Mauer. Even Sid seems to be down on the golden boy . The Twins latest run started to make a previous gambit look bad, but never fear… this season is truly over.

Alex:

I think most of the recent hang-wringing over Mauer is short-sighted and reactionary, which is not uncommon to our times, but it is a little bit out of character for Minnesota sports fans. Mauer’s in his 8th season, and if we write off this season as one affected by injury, that means he’s been able to be productive about 75% of the time for 8 years. In 3 of those other 6 seasons, he was outstanding – one of the best players in the game, and certainly the best catcher. In the other three, he was merely the best catcher. If (and I’ll grant you, it’s a BIG if) he produces at the same rate over the life of his current contact, all of this season’s lather is gonna look pretty silly.

Note: I DO think it’s fair to wonder if any player in this market is worth as much money as Mauer is going to make, but it’s kinda too late to have that discussion, unless you want to wait a few years for him to return to being a superstar, build up his trade value, and THEN trade him… and yeah, see how well that goes over.

Wade A:

A lot of vitriol surrounding our boy Joe in the local media these days. While I understand, I can’t help but think that it might be misplaced. Is it Joe’s fault that:

- the team is underperforming as much this year as it overperformed last year? It can be argued that his presence in the lineup would certainly have helped the team win more games this season (we’ll assume his batting average would be higher than .200 if he’d played the entire season.) However, he can’t be blamed for the seemingly unending series of injuries to the rest of the lineup.

- we traded away both of our backup catchers who were able to able to hit a lick? It’s nice having Matt Capps at the back end of the bullpen, to be sure, especially with Joe Nathan still recovering. But did we really need to trade away someone of Wilson Ramos’s caliber for a closer, when this team has proven numerous times that we can “create” closers (Nathan, Guardado, Aguilera)? Did Bill Smith take a look at Mauer’s injury history and think “eh, he’ll be fine, we don’t need to have a quality backup catcher” when the Nationals said they wanted Ramos for Capps?

- he seemingly got some bad advice from the team’s trainers about coming back at the beginning of this season, instead of staying in Florida longer to get his body back in game shape?

- people in this state have unrealistic expectations when it comes to a player’s performance after he inks a big contract? Joe is still the same guy– a catcher who has an amazing knack for making contact the baseball but (let’s face it) is a little fragile– in 2004 (making $300k) as he is in 2011 (making $23,000,000). If nothing else, we should expect more injuries like this as he gets older while playing the most taxing position on the field.

I believe we’d be hearing none of this if the Twins were 45-33 instead of their current 33-45. The front office made bad decisions, injuries have struck every player in the lineup save for Cuddy and Valencia, and team has played badly. Fans want to lash out, even if it’s not aimed at the right target.

The NBA crowned a champion on Sunday night, and the NHL will do the same on Wednesday (or possibly Thursday, if it goes to OT(s)). With the championships happening roughly at the same time every year, it got us to wondering – which sport does the championship ceremony better. The crew weighs in after the jump.

Alex:

I cherry-picked this subject a bit, because for me it’s no contest, but I wanted to write it out anyway. There’s no better celebration in sports than when Lord Stanley’s Cup hits the ice. As soon as the game ends, the winning team floods the ice in celebration. Then after a bit, both teams line up and shake hands, which is probably the best tradition in sports. After that, the commissioner presents the Conn Smythe for the MVP of the Playoffs. (Side note: if my hunch is correct, we’ll see how gracious the Canucks fans are in victory when the award goes to the goalie from the losing team, Tim Thomas.) (Side note #2: The Conn Smythe has gone to a member of the losing team 4 times in history – 3 of those were goalies.) Then, finally, the commissioner presents the Stanley Cup to the Captain of the winning team, at which point it gets passed around to each teammate in turn, usually, of age, or experience, or how long they’ve played without winning a championship. It’s an iconic moment. Mark Messier, who’d already won FOUR times, laughing hysterically when presented with the cup in 1994… Joe Sakic, holding the cup for all of two seconds before immediately giving it to Ray Borque (who’d played 1600+ games in his career without winning) in 2001. It’s an unbeatable moment. I look forward to watching it tomorrow night.

Contrast this with Sunday’s NBA Final. The clock hit zero, and Dirk (who was incredible in the series) ran off to the locker room to cry alone. Some of the players stood around and congratulated each other, but it was hard to tell much of anything else because the floor was rushed with hundreds of people so that they could set up a freaking stage for the champions. I’m not sure why they need a stage, but whatever, I guess. Then the commissioner presented the finals trophy to the owner of the winning team (which was actually a nice moment on Sunday, with Cuban having it presented to the founder of the Mavs, but still). Finally, the award for Finals MVP gets handed out, which seemed anti-climactic at that point. Ho-freakin-hum.

wadE:

I am not sure I can actually answer this question since the last time I bothered to watch the NBA finals through the end, including the ceremony, has to be the mid-90s. So I went out to ESPN to watch some of the clips. Outside of the Stanley Cup being the best trophy in sports the actual ceremonies are all the same. Someone from the network comes out and talks, turns it over to the commissioner, who then hands the trophy over to someone (either the MVP, Captain, Owner, Coach, etc.). I give hockey the edge here only because of the rituals involved with the trophy during the ceremony: captain getting the trophy first, each player skating around with the cup, drinking champagne from the cup. Basketball is probably the most boring, with football being next, then baseball, then hockey.

Wade A: