Tag Archive: cole hamels

Welcome Back!

July 30, 2012 Adam Thomas

Man, you leave for a week and oh how the sports world has changed!  Just kidding, everything is pretty much the same. So let’s get into it, shall we?

1.) The Phillies re-signed Cole Hamels while I was away, which I would be ok with if they didn’t already have 100,000,000,000 dollars tied up in their other two pitchers (one of whom has exactly one win all season).  So all I will say is if they don’t trade Cliff Lee today, than signing Hamels was a stupid move. Amaro should’ve learned that it doesn’t pay to overspend on pitching and have to rely on the likes of Juan Pierre, Ty Wiggington and John “Stanford Educated” Mayberry for your offense.

2.) Dwight Howard is still on the Magic and is still an idiot.

3.) Olympic parents are still verrrry scary folks. Last night I was watching gymnastics with Stefanie and holy cow, they cut to two parents of one of the participants and they looked like rabid werewolves convulsing over a bloodied rabbit carcuss. Seriously, I was scared what would happen to the Olympian if she didn‘t do her routine to perfection.

4.) Speaking of creepers in gymnastics, how creepy is that Bela Karolyi character? He’s been coaching women’s gymnastics for like 40 years. How in the world did an out of shape 60 year old man become the expert on women’s gymnastics? It boggles the mind.

5.) The most annoying part about the Olympics has got to be the announcers. We watched swimming and gymnastics yesterday and the announcers in both were terrible.

One announcer during swimming said that one of the winners “came out of nowhere, I had no idea who she was.”  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? There are only 8 swimmers in each race so…how can you not have information on 8 people? I mean, I was shocked that he said that: “I know it’s my job to know who these people are…but I have no idea who just won. What’s her name again?”

Then, during the gymnastics, the announcer said about 1,000 times “There is virtually no way that the United States doesn’t go through to the next round.”  Jeez, spoiler alert! If the U.S. is definitely going through, than why on earth should we keep watching? I’m sure his bosses loved that.

6.) Moving on to the other Olympians of the world, WWE celebrated it’s 1000th episode while I was away and all you need to know about it is that it featured a cameo by the Hand (literally a man in a hand suit) that Mae Young gave birth to on an episode about 11 years ago. I remember watching the “hand birth” when I was 14 or 15 and thinking it was the funniest thing ever. Now, at the age of 27…I have the same opinion. COMIC GOLD!

7.) I finally watched “Glengarry Glen Ross” last night and let me tell you, it was definitely worth the wait. If you haven’t seen it yet, go check it out.  I will warn you though, they drop an “F” bomb every two seconds and say the word “leads” about every other word. Still, it’s incredible, and Alec Baldwin’s speech (which has been talked about on here before) is the greatest thing ever. If you haven’t seen it yet, go check it out on youtube.

Alright, that’s it for me. I’ll be back on Friday. Until then…

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The Dark Knight Rises

July 19, 2012 Adam Thomas

1.) I can’t remember being this conflicted about whether or not to see a movie. The Dark Knight Rises is going to be awesome. We all know this. Christopher Nolan is not capable of making a bad movie, I don’t think. The problem, however, is that this sucker is 2 hours and 45 minutes long. Holy goodness that is a long time to sit in a theatre. Factoring in the previews will likely add another 15-20 minutes, so your looking at a 3 hour sitting. Too long I say.

Also, Bane has been getting great reviews, but in all the trailers, I can’t understand a word he says!  He talks like he’s gots marbles in his mouth. How epic can confrontations be when you have Batman in his Batman voice grumbling, “People are good, Bane!  They will overcome your evil!” and Bane replying, “Gablaba. Manamanamablah. Gabadoo, globababaloo.” That last bit sounded more like dialogue from an Adam Sandler character.

I read a review of the Dark Knight Rises and here is what said reviewer said about Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman: “A petite wisp, her agility is plausible, but her force is not. The way she’s able to toss around bad guys isn’t even her most cartoonish characteristic.” Yes, lets all hate on cartoonish characteristics in a movie BASED ON A CARTOON (Comic, I know I know, but they are basically the same thing.)

I mean, if you go to the Dark Knight, you’re already suspending disbelief a good amount, so to get appalled at how a “petite wisp” is able to beat up bad guys is a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, how say you, Headrush readers? Going to see the Dark Knight or waiting until it comes out on DVD where you can watch it in the comfort of your own home?

2.) Man, if the Phils won 5 in a row, that would’ve been awesome. Still, they won 2 series and that’s something to hang your hat on. It’s fun to watch them when they win, but I fear it is too little too late. They still need to get what they can for Cole WHILE they can get it, and ship Victorino out of town for some gosh darn relief pitching help.

3.) On a side note, I didn’t watch the game yesterday because I was up at Rockwood Park watching a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” which was really, really good. I had only seen theatre in a park once before and it was turrible so I wasn’t expecting much, but man was I wrong. If you’re in the Delaware area and you are looking for something to do next week around 7:30, go on up to Rockwood Park and check out the Delaware Shakespeare Festival’s production. It’s good stuff and the actors are really, really great.

4.) Twin Shadow’s song “Five Seconds” is my favorite song of the summer, maybe even 2012. Holy crap it is awesome. Crazy, eerie electronica/pop that sounds like it was taken right out of the soundtrack for “The Warriors.” Even the music video is a little “Warriors”-esque with two dudes fighting these weird guys in masks and baseball bats (Check it out to the right. Baseball Furies anyone?), beating them up and then riding on a motorcycle together and chuckling. If it sounds weird, it’s because it is. And it’s AWESOME!

The song is also a great song to run to, as you feel like your running to save the day or disarm a bomb or something.

Or at least, to get home and feed the cats. Either or.

That’s all for me. I’ll be on vacation next week (Nantucket/Maine here we come!) so I won’t have anything new for about a week. I’ll see you all on the 30th!

 

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The Moon Rises, the Phillies Season Sets

July 9, 2012 Adam Thomas

1.) I finally got to see Wes Anderson’s new film “Moonrise Kingdom” yesterday and let me just say that it was well worth the wait. That movie was incredible, 4 stars 4 sure. But then again, I love practically all (I’m looking at you Darjeeling Limited) of Wes Anderson’s movies so maybe I’m not the best person to go to for an unbiased opinion.

It’s too early to say that it’s definitely his best movie, but I think that it’s in the conversation. Royal Tenenbaums still probably holds the crown though in my opinion (it’s hard to beat lines like:  “Hell of a damn grave. Wish it were mine.”  “Look at that old Grizzly Bear.” “Anybody interested in grabbing a couple of burgers and hittin’ the cemetery?”  “I’m very sorry for your loss. Your mother was a terribly attractive woman” and of course “Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is… maybe he didn’t.”)

Yeah, now that I go through the quotes, I think the Tenenbaums still takes it.

2.) Speaking of good movies, you should check out “Jeff, Who Lives at Home.” It is a really feel good movie that stars Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon. It is also directed and written by the Duplass brothers, and I am sure that most of the Headrush readers will recognize Mark Duplass as Pete Eckhart from FX’s hilarious fantasy football show “The League.”  I was surprised to find out that he writes and directs movies with his brother, but it turns out that this is the 6th movie they’ve directed together so I guess I’m a little late to the party.

3.) Alright here is my solution for fixing the Phillies:

a.) Trade Cole Hamels. Look, he’s their best player, I get that.  But he’s gone after this season. The Phillies have too much money tied up in over the hill/mediocre pitchers to make him an offer that the likes of the Yankees, or really, any team in baseball can offer him once he becomes a free agent.  So they need to trade him to get some top prospects to replenish the farm system that their idiot GM has pissed away on the likes of Hunter Pence. Then again, this is the same guy who traded Cliff Lee FOR A BAG OF MAGIC BEANS so maybe we don’t really want him dealing for prospects, eh?

b.) Trade Shane Victorino.  It’s time for that Hawaiian to fly somewhere else. Again, get some prospects or some bullpen help.

c.) Fire Juan Samuel.  Seriously, this guy is turrrrible. How in the world do you get run over by your own player?  And then look PISSED at that player for running you over?  Note to Samuel: GET THE F OUT OF THE WAY!

4.) I love how Lou Williams OPTS OUT of his contract and then tweets about how the Sixers chose to go in another direction. I’m gonna miss the boss and his boss way of thinking. I’m also going to miss Elton Brand, but come on, that guy is not worth 18 million.

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Where Are The Bats??

May 18, 2011 Randy Neil

I know, I know. Stop hitting the panic button. It’s mid-May and the Phillies’ offensive slump has hit. We all knew it was coming since Spring Training. The entire off-season people were concerned with Jayson Werth’s absence hurting the line up and now they have fuel for the fire.

Last night might have been the most frustrating. After a dismal 8 innings of poor offensive production, the Phils got a break when defensive replacement Tyler Greene dropped a routine pop-fly allowing a runner on base.

Naturally, when an error occurs in baseball, it often spells doom. Martinez gets a single to drive Rollins over to 3rd, and Polanco drives deep to bring in the run. It worked out, and got us back in the game.

Then, Danny Baez gives up 3 straight singles in the 9th to load up the bases with no outs. He gets into an epic pitch battle with Matt Holiday and induces a ground ball allowing a force-out at home. 1 out, bases still loaded. Then Charlie Manuel calls in J.C. Romero to go lefty v. lefty against Lance Berkman, and if you sneezed you would have missed the walk-off single, because it happened on the first pitch. Game over. Frowny face.

There’s not much you can do there. You’d like to think that we shouldn’t have been in such a vulnerable position if we scored more runs. Danny Baez was flirting with fire in the 9th, and he now has a disgusting E.R.A. for the year. He’s allowed 6 runs in his last 4 innings pitched. Yuck.

Speaking of bad pitching… Cliff Lee’s numbers aren’t looking so hot either. No one is pressing the panic button for him because we all know he’s a stud that will figure it out, but he’s got a 4.38 ERA his last 2 starts and also gave up more walks than he ever has in his career. He’s winless in his last 6 starts. Just saying.

Oswalt looked good coming off of his DL placement, which is incredibly beneficial for my fantasy team. It was an encouraging sign that things will return to normal with him and I will reign supreme in fantasy. One inning more and I would have gotten a quality start out of him. Manuel needs to be aware of these things….

But that bats man!! We need some more bats!! Chooch is going through a 1-32 slump right now, which is horrid because we need his defense when Manuel opts to place Sardinha in and errors occur. I don’t know what it is, I just don’t like Sardinha.

So this could be one of two things. Either we’re in a panic for no reason and this 4 game losing streak is a minor stint, OR we finally are starting to see the signs of a diminished offensive lineup. I’m gonna go with minor losing stint. We were the last team in the MLB to lose 3 games in a row this year. Even the “best team in baseball” Cleveland Indians couldn’t say that.

Tonight we start a 3 game home-stand against the Colorado Rockies and this guy, Troy Tulowitzki. The king of the mullets.

Hate to say it, but I think Hamels is going to have some trouble tonight. Cole going against a young, swing-first, line-up never fairs well. Hopefully the Phillies talk some shit on Tulo’s hair and it gets him all worked up and in a mess.

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Bring the King. Off With His Head!!

March 25, 2011 Randy Neil

Well, it’s Friday. 6 days to go until opening day, and things have gotten worse. Chase Utley has officially been moved to the DL, Brad Lidge has been moved to the DL, Cole Hamels got lit up yesterday, Roy Oswalt got beaned in the head with a ball and is recovering…. It wouldn’t be a typical Phillies season without some drama. The Braves look amazing, and although people have been doing nothing but talking shit on the Mets (like me), they look pretty good so far too.

Every analyst keeps showing concern for the offensive voids in the lineup, and now, I am too. Maybe we are really gonna feel the burn from Jayson Werth signing elsewhere. Rauuuuuuuul ain’t getting any younger and Rollins has looked like shit all spring. I expect a slow start from him, followed by a slow finish. Dominic Brown hasn’t done a thing to make me feel he’s truly ready for a starting role, and if the Mets don’t want Castillo, I can’t fathom why we would. Somebody better get Howard a whoooooole mess of Subway Feasts.

It’s really heating up in theheadrush.com March Madness competition. I have the lead right now, but it’s thin. Adam’s bracket has basically busted because of Syracuse, although with some pretty extreme circumstances, I believe he can still win. Duke lost last night, in very poor fashion, not only making Brendan elated, but also giving him a pretty good opportunity to win this little competition of ours.

He has Ohio State winning the whole thing, and 32 points would be a huge boost in the standings for him. I can’t have that. Here’s to praying that they choke. That’s basically the only way he’s gonna win, and I simply can’t have that. YOU can’t have that. The universe will collapse.

I know I don’t talk about the Sixers much, but I think I should note the importance of tonight’s game. The 76ers travel down to Miami to face the Heat, a team we are most likely to face in the play offs. The Sixers actually have a good chance to win this game. Jrue Holiday will probably be guarding Dwayne Wade, a daunting task for anyone. That’s my main concern. Iggy will be on James most likely, and I’m never disappointed in Andre’s defense. We have the big men so Bosh will have some trouble. Our bench is 10x deeper than theirs. It gives us hope and a great way to gauge ourselves going into the playoffs.

Bring the king.

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