Tag Archive: phillies

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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Tim Kurkjian has Never Heard a Dr. Evil Impression

July 16, 2012 Adam Thomas

So last night, after a nice weekend at the beach, I get home and turn on some ESPN to get caught up on what happened in the world of sports when I was away. Much to my delight/chagrin, ESPN was running a clip of Tim Kurkjian where he interviewed Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster and asked him to do some impressions and man oh man was it high comedy.  Just kidding. It was actually incredibly confusing/perplexing. The reason?

Dempster busted out impressions of Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and Harry Caray. Now, I get the Harry Caray one, since he plays for the Cubs, but Dr. Evil and Fat Bastard… are you kidding me? That movie came out in 1997 (with Fat Bastard coming on the scene in 1999). But there was Kurkjian, giggling like a school girl. No joke. He was literally “cracking up” and thought that it was the most hilarious thing in the world. Has Kurkjian never heard a Dr. Evil impression before?  You know who else does a good Dr. Evil impression? EVERYONE ON PLANET EARTH!

Perhaps he was a little drunk. Or something. It was weird.

Moving on….

I got a text from Randy while I was on the beach and it said that the Sixers had signed Kwame Brown. I thought it was a joke. But it wasn’t. Man, Doug Collins is such an idiot. As the Liberty Ballers pointed out, the Sixers may be starting a front court of Spencer Hawes at the 4 and Kwame Brown at the 5. GOOOOOOOOOOO! That looks so terrible on paper that it’s not even funny.

Seriously though, why did they draft Vucevic last year and Arnett Moultrie this year, if they were just going to go out and sign terrible veterans to take their minutes away? Is that really their draft strategy? Taking guys that they are never going to use? I am really down on the Sixers at this point. They don’t look better than last year’s team, they don’t look markedly worse, they look about the same. Which means more of the same: squeaking into the playoffs followed by a 1st round playoff exit and then the drafting of someone in the 16-20 spot who does nothing for the team. Awesome.

Phillies have won two in a row!  Happy Happy, Joy Joy!  It’s always fun to watch them win, even if they are 14 games out of first place.

And man, how good are those Nats? I hate to admit it, but I don’t think anybody from the NL is going to beat them in a 5 or 7 game series. They have the bats, they have the arms, and if they get hot at the right time, they may take this year’s World Series.

It’s never too early for Super Bowl predictions so here is my first prediction of the year.

This year’s Super Bowl will be…..49ers vs. Bengals. BOOOOOOOM!

Of course, I may change that after training camps and all that stuff shakes out, but that’s just my gut feeling right now.

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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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Congratulations on the Championship Lebron!

June 21, 2012 Adam Thomas

1.) In less than 24 hours, Lebron James will have his first NBA title. This much we know. The Oklahoma City Thunder (who one Headrush writer proclaimed were ‘Built to Last’ before covering himself and picking the Heat to win the championship), have folded like a chair. They look like scared kittens about to be put in a box Milo style and sent down the river by Lebron.

This thing is over. The only thing that I know for sure–besides that the Heat will win tonight–is that this is the worst case scenario for the NBA.

I watched PTI for the first time in forever last night, and they had on Charles Barkley as a guest. He said as much. People LOVE rooting against Lebron James, and now that he is about to win his first championship, it will be much harder to doubt that he is as good as advertised. The man is a machine, and he is about to be a machine with a ring on his finger.

Which is why this is trouble for the NBA. You need the villain to root against. It’ll be hard to root AGAINST Lebron after he wins tonight. Sure, it’ll be easy to dislike him, to hate him even, but it’ll also be that much harder to ignore his championship.

Which is why it will be a LOT easier to not watch the NBA next year (except for Sixers games). Make no mistake about it, I am watching these finals to see Lebron fail. Everything else is secondary to the opportunity to see a massive ego deflated, and a much hyped “brand” go down in flames.

If he succeeds, there will be no more interest. Will I tune in next year if Lebron is in the finals? No. Cause he already has his ring. Even if he fails, he already succeeded, so what’s the point?

So congratulations, Lebron. Tonight is the night that you prove the haters wrong. That you take the next step. It’s been 9 years in the making, but it’s your time now. I will sure miss rooting against you.

2.) By the way, I finally watched a Phillies game last night and boy oh boy did I pick a great game to watch!  The outcome was never really in doubt. I have no idea why (actually, it was because I was eating a sandwich with a ‘Phillies’ sponsored roll that gave me the confidence), but I just knew they were going to win. Even when they went down by a run in the 9th, I knew they would pull it off.

And seeing Wiggington lumber around the base path like an out of control Grizzly bear on roller skates when he scored from 1st on Hunter Pence’s double was the highlight of the night.

You done UNCA proud Ty! And Phillies, let’s have more of that please.

That’s it for me.  And once again, congrats ahead of time on the championship Lebron!

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The Jinx

June 18, 2012 Adam Thomas

Article By the Wolfman

All too often in following sports we attribute outcomes (at least in my family and circle of friends) to things that we do during the course of a game. When things are going wrong we switch jerseys, change seats, flip channels, or turn our hats backwards. Of course, we are usually hundreds of miles away from where these events take place, often thousands, so it is very unlikely that we have any real impact on the outcome whatsoever. Yet, for some reason every time Randy writes something positive about the Sixers we all cringe. And more often than not, they lose. And we, more often than not, blame Randy.

During a Raiders game long ago, my family became extremely annoyed with Cris Collinsworth’s badmouthing of the Raiders. Suddenly in a fit of royal genius, I remembered I had an old Collinsworth card somewhere in my old collection of football cards, stuffed in old Utz pretzel barrels, in my folk’s basement. Without hesitation I retrieved his card, and my father, brother (Adam of this blog), and I ceremoniously sent the card into our fireplace.

The Raiders record since that occurrence: 6-125. The Collinsworth jinx is severely strong.

Just kidding. My last entry was stat heavy; in this one the stats will be largely fictionalized.

This year, just before the Bulls vs. Sixers playoff series, a friend of mine who is a Bulls fan, sent a text to me saying, “Even if Rose (Derrick) tears his ACL, we’ll still crush you.” I replied of course, “You better hope that doesn’t happen now.” Forty-seven basketball minutes later, with a decent sized lead, we know what happened to poor Mr. Rose.

So did my friend’s historically horrific karmic text set into motion events that wounded one of the best NBA players in the league? Or was that just the way it was meant to be?

Probably the latter. After all, Rose had been hurt off and on all season. He jumped and landed awkwardly, and that was that. Still, I’m sure my friend regrets that text, much more so than I regret eating half a Red Baron pizza last night – and that is quite a bit of regret.

Of course, every sports fan knows that the only way to combat a jinx is with a reverse jinx. One way, is to overtly get overly complimentary and admit defeat before a game even begins – while in the back of your mind knowing and counting on the opposite outcome.  Here is the best example I have seen to date (and it was against me in a fantasy football championship):

No jinxing involved. His team put up 276 more points than mine (the second best team) during the regular season. He is clearly going to win this weekend and Vercengetorix is going to go down as one of the most dominant teams in the history of our league. This match seems to merely be a formality.

(Three full paragraphs omitted. No joke.)

Despite the fact that we aren’t going to win a championship, my team has had a good run this year. We persevered through some injuries and disappointments (I’m looking at you McFadden and Freeman), and I think we proved we can compete for championships when we pay attention week in, week out (a problem for me in recent seasons). We look forward to building on this momentum next year.

Obviously, I couldn’t compete against a reverse jinx that strong – this reverse jinx even referenced itself in the opening statement. It had statistical analysis, shaky knees, and even a concession of defeat. I tried to counter this strong reverse jinx with an all out freeze out. No messages. And I lost. The reverse jinx was too strong. My other mistake was naming my team after a Gaul chieftain, Vercengetorix, who eventually was defeated by Caesar.

So, where does that leave us?

For review, here is how the two forms of jinxing work again. In both cases you first have to assume that universe is going to do everything in its power to prove you wrong. With a jinx you merely state something, usually positive, about a team or outcome. For example, the Patriots are so good this year, there is no way they can possible lose the Superbowl. Outcome, the Patriots lose the Superbowl.

With a reverse jinx, you invite the universe to prove you wrong, to better a team or outcome. For example, the Phillies have had a tough year, despite there being no chance at a Championship this year, we had a good run over the past few years and look forward to getting everyone back healthy. Outcome, TBD.

So do I believe in this hocus pocus? Not really. I mean, how many people out there have experienced something similar? Probably everyone. But that is the point. If we are all jinxing and reverse-jinxing each other, which one ultimately wins out?

Still…

Just in case.

To everyone I will ever compete against in fake sports. Your teams are just too strong. We had a good run, but it is just not our time, from now until infinity. We strongly thank you for inviting us to compete in this league, and we will give it our best shot next season, from now until infinity.

And if anyone out there has a Cris Collisnworth card, we are active buyers.

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The Thunder Are Built to Last

June 8, 2012 Adam Thomas

Built to last till time itself falls tumbling from the wall
Built to last till sunshine fails and darkness moves on all
Built to last while years roll past like cloudscapes in the sky
Show me something built to last or someone built to try—Grateful Dead

Bill Walton would be proud. Starting out an article using a Grateful Dead song to describe an NBA team. That song–I think–is about how nothing lasts forever, not even TIME (far out). My counter argument to the Grateful Dead would be to look at the Oklahoma City Thunder. They my friends, are built to last.

Their nucleus is young and locked up for a while, their bench is deep and their coach is great. This is their first trip to the finals. I doubt it will be their last. I fully expect them to handle the Celtics and the Heat easily. That is, of course unless…

2.) Lebron James has 4 games in a row like he had last night.  Good golly what a show.  Look, I hate Lebron James, you hate Lebron James. Everyone hates Lebron James. The dude is a douche. And how cringe worthy is it every time someone refers to him as a “BRAND.” Gah!  Shut up. Enough with the brands!  He is a human, a player. And he is phenomenal at what he does, when he chooses to do it.

Which is why he is easy to hate. He made it look so easy last night, and it makes you wonder ‘why can’t he do that every night?’ I dunno. I don’t even think Lebron knows. He is a man-child of the highest order. If he ever becomes “the man” like we saw last night on a full time basis, then watch out. Championships are in his future and haters like me will just have to give credit where credit is due. Or pretend like the NBA doesn’t exist.

3.) Speaking of the NBA…the Sixers are heading for a pretty interesting off-season.  And me and Randy could not disagree more about what they should do with Iguodala. My position is the same as it has been for the last 4 years. TRADE HIM. Yes he throws down thunderous dunks, but he also has bad knees, can’t score and never “takes a game over.” Evan Turner–even if this was a TERRIBLE thing to do at times–at least tried to put the team on his shoulders in the playoffs, and that’s what I like to see. I like my team leader to not be afraid to fail, Iggy is TERRIFIED of it. He always has been (not unlike a certain person mentioned above). To be fair, Iggy did have some big moments in these most recent playoffs, but it’s too little too late. I’m tired of the Sixers settling for mediocrity.

If they can move Iggy for a top ten pick, I do it in a heartbeat. Goodbye Iggy, Lou and Spencer.  Don’t let the door hit ya.

4.) Phillies. Bleh. Terrible. Time for a sad confession. I have not watched one game from start to finish ALL SEASON LONG. Isn’t that a sad statement to make? Yes. But it’s true. I don’t think I could name you the Phillies line-up. Call me a front runner if you want, but I think I’d be like this even if they were winning. I’d just be bragging more (isn’t that the definition of a ‘front runner?’) Baseball is just incredibly boring to me. It’s like hockey in that regard. Playoff baseball and hockey are awesome to watch. The regular season…not so much.

 

 

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