Caption This...July 31, 2008

I wonder if they used independent contractors to install those toilets:

Quickly Falling From Favor

Another day, another deal, and again, silence from the Boston front office.

The Red Sox are watching as the American League contenders are continually making themselves better around them. In a second move in the last week, the Yankees have acquired Ivan Rodriguez as a short term rental to replace Jorge Posada. To acquire Pudge, the Yankees sent Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers.

This particular trade addresses major issues for both clubs, especially the Yankees, who have addressed all of their questions outside of adding a 5th starter. But have no fear loyal listeners, there is still time and the front office in the Bronx has been hot on the heels of Jarrod Washburn for the better part of the last few weeks and it is likely that a deal will be worked out before Thursday's deadline.

Not to be outdone, the Rays are rumored to be in hot pursuit of Pirate left fielder Jason Bay, adding the much needed punch to their own line-up. Bay would make all sorts of sense for Tampa, as it would give them some thump in the middle of the order, something they are lacking outside of Evan Longoria. The Rays have the farm system to aid them in picking up whatever pieces they see fit at the deadline, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them land a big name before the closing bell is rung.

On the heels of all these moves, where does this leave the Red Sox? Already struggling to keep their heads above water, Boston has seen everyone around them get better, quickly. Meanwhile, they themselves have had to spend way to much time shopping Manny Ramirez, who is all of a sudden getting more face time than the President.

The latest rumor involving Ramirez would have him going to Florida for either Jeremy Hermida or Josh Willingham. Hermida could be a solid player, but he represents a downgrade from Ramirez in every facet and his left-handed bat would handicap the Sox against Southpaw pitchers for the remainder of the season. Willingham is probably a better power prospect, but he himself has struggled with a back issue that would make him more of a question mark than an asset at this stage of the season. So needless to say, on the Manny front, there is only one soldier out there, and he's bleeding out. The Marlins make sense in terms of a team willing to meet Ramirez's demand to not pick up his option at the end of the season, as $20 million would fly in the face of anything the Marlins have ever shown under the current ownership group. Still, it is highly unlikely unless Boston can suddenly get themselves into the Jason Bay or Matt Holliday sweepstakes.

Boston's only serious consideration should be adding a bullpen arm at this point. Rumors surrounding either the Braves Will Ohman, Oakland's Huston Street, or Kansas City's Ron Mahay. All would be solid additions to the Sox bullpen, which should be starting to realize that Craig Hanson isn't a viable option.

Sheesh, speculation and the competition in the American League is killing me. I need to put this to bed before an aneurysm pops in my head.

Caption This...July 30, 2008

Sometimes, you just have to be prepared for when the circus comes to town, or at the very least, know that some people are a little slower than you.

All Trades Go Through Boston

For the second time this week, a major trade went down involving a team in Boston, but neither was the Red Sox.

Earlier this week, the Yankees acquired Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from Pittsburgh for a boat full of prospects, but that doesn't even hold a candle to the move that came today. Less than 24 hours after the Braves basically conceded their season and made Mark Texeira available, the Angels landed the slugger in a deal that includes Casey Kotchman and Double-A pitching prospect Stephen Marek.

There is no doubt that the added power of Texeira, even for a two month rental, will immediately improve the Angels and make them the favorite to win the World Series. Of course, I may actually just be saying that to put the stigma on them so that they have karma telling them they can't.

Two things stand out about this deal.

First off, the Angels were able to pull it off without giving up either of their two top prospects; shortstop Brandon Wood or starting pitcher Nick Adenhart. Both were highly sought after and it was thought that Los Angeles, or Anaheim, or whatever they go by these days would have to give up at least one in order to land a slugger of Texiera's quality. As it stands, Atlanta wanted a player it could plug in immediately and have under their control for numerous seasons. In this case, Kotchman will be their first baseman for the next three seasons at the very least.

Secondly, this deal is eerily similar to the one that the Diamondbacks were said to have been mulling over, but ultimately passed on. That deal involved first baseman Connor Jackson and starting pitcher Micah Owings. Arizona ultimately decided that having Jackson for the foreseeable future was more valuable that adding Texiera for a limited stretch run. Whether that choice was right or not, we'll have to see as the next two months play out.

What does this mean for the Red Sox? Their competition has done quite a bit to make itself better in a short period of time. Boston is hoping that it can rely on the return of David Ortiz to boost them in the post season. It is unlikely that they will go searching for anything other than some bullpen help as the deadline closes out on Thursday. Let's just hope in their case, that status quo is still good enough.

Caption This...July 28, 2008

Something tells me that this may help them find D.B.Cooper.

Caption This...July 26, 2008

Alright, well the first one was fun, but the second one will be a doozie!



Mmmm....nothing says loving like...

New Dancing Shoes, Great Space Coasters, etc.

So here we are again, a moment where I'm finally able to construct a regular post, catching up on different thoughts and happenings throughout the week. During the SportingNews days, I used to take writing for granted, but now that I've had a tough time getting either time to write something down or a grasp on my thoughts in order to put something coherent together, I have come to appreciate that time a little more.

So anyway, we get to go back around with this whole Red Sox - Yankee rivalry as the two clubs square off in Beantown this weekend. Adding fuel to the feud is the fact that once again, the Yankees have climbed back from the dead, somehow having wrung blood from a stone and put themselves into position to have a share of first place in either the AL East or the Wild Card standings if they manage to sweep this weekend. As much as I love the rivalry and it gets my blood boiling at times, I just wish they'd fall off the face of the Earth again like they did in the 80's and let the Red Sox fans enjoy their time. But hey, if we didn't have competition, it wouldn't be any fun to watch either.

Speaking of fun, do you want to hear something completely random. My wife and I were having some sort of conversation this afternoon where she made a comment about news. Out of the blue, I came out with, "no news is good news, with Gary Gnu." She chuckled , as like me, she remembered that from her childhood. The only problem was that neither of us could fathom where it came from. Well, after performing a quick Google search, we were rewarded with an answer. Our new found friend was a character from The Great Space Coaster, which ran from 1981-1986. After having pulled a pop culture reference like that out, I really have to question if Seth McFarlane and I were truly separated at birth.

So what else went down in the world this week?

- We had an incredible brawl at the minor league level last night. This one is worth watching:



- Brett Favre continues to make any true sports fan question just how many hits a man can self inflict to his own character. Truly Brett, just answer me this, what the hell are you really up to?

- The price of oil continues to drop and the market is scared that following usage by the U.S. will lead to issues with the extra supply they have built up. Still, I haven't seen more than $.05 relief at the pump so I don't want to hear any whining from the idiots whose pockets I've been lining over the last year and a half. Show me where this will help my home heating costs this winter and then maybe I'll lift my ear, but until then, go back to your multi-million dollar boys club masquerading as a board room and leave the real concerns to the people that are feeling it.

- And we finally have the return of the greatest show to ever grace the television when the second X-Files movies hits theaters today. Keep an eye out for the review sometime this weekend.

- One last note, thanks to my buddies at Google Adsense located at the top of this page, I stumbled upon this cool site. Check out their review of The Dark Knight.



Alright, that will about sum up today's wrap-up. Thanks for stopping in. Make sure to jump in on the first Caption This, and have yourselves a great weekend.

Caption This...July 25, 2008

Alright folks, I need something to make sure I get my readers involved and need to do find a way to post more often when I don't necessarily have enough time to write an elaborate entry.

Therefore, starting today, I am going to start Caption This, a, hopefully, daily post where I throw a photo up, and you the reader will reply with a caption or just the first thing that comes to mind. I've seen this on numerous message boards and people seem to have a great deal of fun with it, so I figured we could too.

So to get things rolling, here is today's innaugural photo:



So now that you've seen how this works, have some fun with it.

Reel Reviews: The Dark Knight

I've had the luxury of seeing a number of the top new releases in current weeks, so much so that I should have a plethora of reviews to write within the coming days. However, I felt it was prudent to wait until having seen the summer's largest blockbuster to start.

It is easy to get lost in the hype engine that surrounds certain movies prior to their release. In most cases, it creates unreal expectations that are often too lofty for the film to ever live up to. And let's face it, The Dark Knight has had some pretty huge expectations to live up to, being haled as a masterpiece adaptation along the lines of the book's most highly regarded writer (Frank Miller) and the Oscar talk surrounding the performance of the late Heath Ledger demanding a possible Supporting Actor nomination. You don't get much higher than discussing Oscar nominations in the same breath as a comic book adaptation!

First, let's tackle the film, because let's face it, that's what I went to see. My own fascination with Batman was nurtured by the pages of multiple comics throughout my childhood, although my exposure to Miller's work on the book was well into my late teen years. Had I not known that grittier Batman, my memories of the Caped Crusader may have been tarnished by the nipples given to us by Joel Schumacker. Instead, I spent a glorious two and a half hours marveling at how well Christopher and Jonathan Nolan brought the noir from Frank Miller to the big screen, reminding us that Batman isn't meant to be warm and fuzzy, no matter what the toy companies want us to believe.

What we got in Nolan's follow-up to Batman Begins was a reminder that Batman is a creature of the night, what you'd expect Charles Bronson to bring to the table if you handed him a cape and cowl. The frantic pace of the story line shows reminds us that there is so much entwined into the world that Bob Kane originally crafted and Frank Miller perfected, that nothing is cut and dry, and no one is safe when the stakes are always so high. From the opening scene straight through the final showdown, we are convinced by good, old-fashioned storytelling that this film was created with the fanboys at heart, trying to please even the most die-hard Batman aficionados. You could almost imagine the storyline as three unit storm fronts, all picking up steam until they eventually have to slam into on another and the survivors are left to pick up the pieces left behind.

In terms of acting, credit again has to be handed to the casting crew who filled the roles with a great ensemble. From the brief return cameo of Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow, to the return supporting roles of Morgan Freeman (Lucious Fox), Michael Caine (Alfred), and Garry Oldman (Commissioner Gordon), nobody gives you the feeling that they were miscast in any way.

But the real the credit needs to be given to the impeccable performances of the three most pronounced roles. Once again, Christian Bale reminds the audience that Bruce Wayne has a battle waging within himself between the part of him that wants a normal life and the part that drives him to continue to wear the mask, reminding each of us that the actor behind the mask also needs to be a little crazy. Adding in the complex character that was Harvey Dent, masterfully played by Aaron Eckhart and not wasting him as a toss-in as they did in Batman Forever just furthers the struggle that inhabits all of Gotham's many residents, the battle to determine just how far good can be pushed.

And that leaves us with the aforementioned Ledger, the man whose spirit has been hoisted upon the shoulders of the masses. And while I can't fully back the view that his performance is Oscar worthy, it may have been had he received more screen time, Ledger's determination to turn the Joker from the campy clown portrayed in all previous incarnations is what makes the role a complete masterpiece. Ledger broke the role down to exactly what he should have been, a deviant with no tint of moral character, a personal incarnation of evils of society as a whole, someone looking for the next rush at the expense of everyone who stands in his way. From the maniacal laughter, to the scheming, to the monologuing, and right down to the nervous tick of licking his own scars, Ledger completely captures that Batman's biggest foe should also be the city's biggest nightmare. You don't get the attention of the people by putting a smile on people's faces, you get it by putting fear into their hearts.

In wrap-up, it can go down without saying that The Dark Knight may possibly be remembered as the greatest comic book adaptation of all-time, a film as complex as the characters that drive it. It leaves you feeling uneasy and wondering if anything will ever be the same again. And that's exactly where a movie should leave the viewer, without a happy ending because they can never be sure if it ever ended at all.

Sources:
The Dark Knight, IMDB.com
Heath Ledger, IMDB.com
Batman and Robin, IMDB.com
Cillian Murphy, IMDB.com
Morgan Freeman, IMDB.com
Michael Caine, IMDB.com
Garry Oldman, IMDB.com
Christian Bale, IMDB.com
Batman Forever, IMDB.com

Rocky Balboa Documentary

Since this is a site about movies and baseball, I thought I would re-post an entry I did in 2006 about my favorite sports movie of all-time although it's not a baseball one. Enjoy.

The movie Rocky was released in theaters on November 21, 1976. This movie not only grabbed the attention of so many fans, but it changed many lives as well. This movie was a classic one in a million shot for a little known boxer to fight the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The original idea for this movie came on March 24, 1975 in Cleveland, Ohio. It was on that night that World Heavyweight Champion, Muhammad Ali, took on a virtual unknown in boxing, Chuck Wepner. In attendance at this fight was a guy trying to make a name for himself in Hollywood: actor Sylvester Stallone. In the fight, Wepner was able to last into the 15th and final round against all odds, and even knocked Ali down at one point in the match. Ali was able to win by TKO in that final round to successfully defend the title for the first time since regaining it from George Foreman in Zaire. Although Stallone appeared in a few films, he had struggled financially in trying to establish a name for himself. The idea he had was to write a story of an underdog fighter getting a shot to fight for the World Heavyweight Title after what he had witnessed in the Ali/Wepner fight.

Stallone then began writing the script about this underdog fighter. It took him three full days to write the original script after he painted all the windows black so he could focus completely on writing it. Stallone then was offered thousands for the script with someone else to play the lead role for his film. Stallone wanted to play the lead role for this film though. Finally, Stallone was in attendance at a casting call for Irwan Winkler and Robert Chartoff. Stallone told them about the script for Rocky, and Winkler was impressed. Winkler then was going to have well-established actors like James Caan, Burt Reynolds, and Ryan McNeal being the leading candidates to take on the lead role. Stallone auditioned for the part of Rocky, and Winkler then gave in and let the then-little known actor play the lead role as long as the cost of the film was $1 million or less. The original script that Stallone wrote was a darker tone.....

In the original script, Mickey Goldmill(Rocky's trainer), was portrayed as a racist. Also, Rocky was to throw the fight against Apollo Creed because he had decided that he didn't want any part of being in that business as the fight went on. The script was changed during production as they feared this would not make it as compelling of a story to viewers. However, another problem came up.....

The production team had a tough time finding cast members to fill key characters in the story. The first character that they were able to get was for the part of Paulie, played by actor Burt Young. Then the part of Rocky's trainer, Mickey Goldmill, was filled by established actor, Burgess Meredith. They then were trying to fill the role of the wife of Rocky, Adrian. Originally, actress Carrie Snodgress was to play the role, but a contract dispute between her and the producers forced them to look elsewhere. They offered the part to Bette Midler, but she turned it down. Then they had another audition for the part. Actress Susan Sarandon was one of those who auditioned for the role. Talia Shire, who garnered fame from The Godfather and its sequels, also auditioned for the part. Stallone and the producers were very impressed with Shire, and Stallone had often said that her voice fit the character perfectly. So Shire was given the role of Adrian.

Then the production team had offered the part of Apollo Creed, the World Boxing Champion, to real-life fighter, Ken Norton. Ken Norton then pulled out of the part, so it left producers looking to fill that void, too. They held an audition for the part as well. Carl Weathers, who had retired from the NFL in 1974 to pursue an acting career, auditioned for the part. Stallone liked Weathers' attitude, voice, and that he had the boxing body to play the role of a Heavyweight Champion. Stallone insisted that the production team have Weathers play the part, and they agreed with him. Both the parts of Adrian and Apollo Creed were finally filled on the same day, but was very late in normal production standards. So the film was set to be released in theaters on November 21, 1976, and producers were hoping it was going to be a sleeper hit. I will have more facts and numbers later in the show.

The Plot

Rocky Balboa was a dim-witted, but good hearted loan shark for a guy named Gazzo. He boxed in his spare time to keep his boxing skills sharp as he was out to beat up the deadbeats in town. However, Gazzo thought that Rocky was too soft for the business. Rocky had boxed under the training of Mickey Goldmill, but that evaporated as Mickey told him he could have been great had he worked harder for it.

Then one day while going to a local pet store, Rocky runs into a very shy woman named Adrian Panina. Adrian could not talk to men, but Rocky befriended her anyway. Adrian later surprised Rocky by giving him a dog named Butkus, that he had befriended earlier. Adrian's brother, Paulie, a cold storage worker, is excited for Adrian. Adrian then goes to Rocky's place for Thanksgiving, where they became lovers, and later married afterwards in the next sequel.

In the meantime, Apollo Creed, who's character was heavily influenced by Muhammad Ali, was set to defend his World Heavyweight Title against the top challenger, Mac Lee Green, in the Bicentennial Fight on January 1, 1976. However, Green broke his hand during a sparring session, and had to withdraw from the fight. This left Creed to find a replacement for Green in the Bicentennial Fight. He wanted to give a virtual unknown a one in a million shot at the title. After looking at a book of available fighters, one name stood out for him: "The Italian Stallion" Rocky Balboa. So after all that, the promoter gets the fight going.

Rocky then asks Mickey Goldmill to train him for the biggest fight of his life. Mickey refuses at first, but then gives in after he liked how Balboa attacks the body of a boxer to wear them down. Paulie then lets Rocky train at the cold storage by punching carcasses. After the intense training of Goldmill, Rocky says that he wants to go the distance with the champion. Apollo finally meets Rocky at a press conference, and takes him for a joke. Although he respects his capabilities. The trainer for Creed named Duke noticed the intensity of Balboa's training when he was interviewed on TV by a reporter. Also, Duke noticed that Balboa was left-handed, which according to the storyline, Creed had never fought a southpaw boxer. Creed is at the peak of his career, and has not had one fight go longer than 12 rounds as the champion. So the odds were literally one in a million for Balboa to go the distance with the champion when no one else has.

The fight approaches, and Creed is not taking it so seriously. Before the fight, former boxing champion Joe Frazier shakes the hand of Creed. Creed responds to Frazier by saying he is next. Creed in the opening round, taunts Balboa by dancing around the ring. He lands jabs to the face of Balboa, but his taunting backfires when Rocky sends him down to the canvas with a left hook. Creed had never been knocked down in any fight before this either. Creed gets up very quickly, and is furious by what just happened! Apollo takes the fight seriously from this point on as he begins to control things. Creed won the next several rounds by hitting numerous punches to the head of Balboa. However, Balboa keeps coming at Creed, as he could not put him away. Creed knocks down Balboa in the 14th Round, and most thought the fight was over. Balboa managed to make it to his feet, and urged the champion to come at him. Balboa then nails Creed with a vicious body shot that breaks his rib! Creed begins to cough up blood as the 14th Round comes to an end. Balboa was able to fight off Creed in the final round, and the underdog survived 15 Rounds with the Heavyweight Champion as no one had ever done that before. Creed said at the conclusion of the final round that he wasn't going to give him a rematch, and that Balboa did not want one anyway. The underdog survived against all odds.

Creed later changed his mind about fighting Balboa after receving numerous death threats about him being a disgrace to African-Americans, and that he fixed the fight. So the rematch for the two was on in the sequel.

Facts and numbers:

-The total cost for the making of the original Rocky was $1.1 million. The film grossed $117 million in the U.S.!
-The original film only took 28 days to shoot.
-The fight scene is shot in reverse order than it was shown in the theaters. The 15th Round was shot first with both Stallone and Weathers in heavy makeup. The makeup began to wear off as the fight progressed all the way to the 1st Round. This technique earned the movie an Oscar for Best Film Editting.
-The original ending of the film was to have fans of Creed, and fans of Balboa to carry them out of the ring at the end of the fight. The production team only had a few extras, and both Stallone and Weathers were getting punched by fans so the scene was scrapped.
-The scene in which Rocky kissed Adrian in the kitchen was not scripted that way. Talia Shire had contracted the flu, and was worried about getting Stallone sick, which made her hesitant to kiss him. That scene was an improvement from the scripted one, so they kept it.
-The original movie saw the Steadcam that was invented by Garrett Brown, being used for the first time during a major motion picture. It was used during the scene with Rocky running up the steps of the museum.
-The photos of Balboa that are seen on the mirror before his fight were actual photos of Stallone as a young boy.
-Stallone actually did punch the frozen meat during his training scenes. This caused him to get flat knuckles, which he still has to this day.
-The musician on the street in the original movie that said, "Get a job, you bum!", was played by Frank Stallone, the brother of Sylvester Stallone. Stallone's father, Frank Sr, was the one who rang the bell before the fight.
-The scene in which Gazzo uses an asthma inhaler was not planned when talking to Rocky. Joe Spinell, who played Gazzo, suffered from a real-life asthma attack during this scene. Since the scene looked so natural, they kept it.
-The original film earned 10 total Oscar nominations. Among them included Best Actor(Stallone), Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editting.
-The soundtrack with the hit theme song, Gonna Fly Now, was rated as the best soundtrack of all-time by VH1 in 1999 beating out the Grease soundtrack.
-A bronze statue of Rocky was commissioned by Stallone for Rocky III. Three statues were created with the third one being placed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After furious debating, the statue was placed at the Wachovia Center in South Philadelphia. It was later moved back for the filming of Rocky V. It was returned back in front of the Wachovia Center until September of this year. The statues weigh two tons and are ten feet tall. One of the statues was listed on EBay to raise funds last year.
-Rocky IV, where he fights the powerful Russian Ivan Drago, is still the highest grossing sports movie in movie history as it grossed $300 million worldwide.

Here is what happened to some of the careers of those associated with the Rocky original, and its sequels. This is sort of like a where are they now since this movie:

-Sylvester Stallone: Unless you were imprisoned the last thirty years, it is impossible to not know who he is. But believe it or not, producers had no clue who he was when the film came out. Stallone then sent the producers a copy of his previous movie, Lords of the Flatbush. Producers mistakened him for Perry King, who co-starred in that same movie. When the producers saw who Stallone really was, they almost passed on producing the movie. This movie put Stallone on the map. Not only was the character of Rocky Balboa an underdog, so was Stallone, who was struggling badly as an actor before this film came about. He made successful sequels that drew big at the box office. Yes, he has had bad films(some really bad), but he was a highly sought after actor when this movie became a hit. This movie forever changed America, and Stallone.

-Carl Weathers: For those who did not know, Weathers played for the Oakland Raiders as a linebacker in 1970-71 under head coach John Madden. He later played for the B.C. Lions in the Canadian Football League before retiring in 1974 from the game. He wore #55 and John Madden was quoted as saying that he was notorious for hitting the punter during special teams play on the field. He wanted to become an actor, and he was struggling to make it as well. After Ken Norton left the set when being given the role of Apollo Creed, Weathers seized the opportunity to win the role. He played the role of the arrogant and trash-talking champion, Creed, to near perfection. He was brought back to the next three sequels, eventually getting killed off in the fourth movie. His acting career has seen its ups and downs, but he has had alot better life since this movie came out. He was able to land better roles as a result of this movie, and is now a member of the Big Brothers Association and U.S. Olympic Committee as he handles the careers of gymnasts, wrestlers, and swimmers. He also currently assists the U.S. military with Iraqi villages in California. This movie changed his life as you can see.

-Hulk Hogan: Hogan played the role of Thunderlips in Rocky III. Hogan was a wrestler in the WWWF at the time, and he was personally approached by Stallone for the role. Vince J. McMahon, father of Vince K and owner of WWWF, fired Hogan after he took the role fearing it would hurt his business. Hogan then signed with the rival AWA. Hogan took the role, and it made him a household name. How so? He was the leader in the Rock 'N Wrestling era that put wrestling back on the map in the mid-80's. He is easily the most popular wrestler in history, and this movie made that possible for him as he forever changed the wrestling business after the film was released. Yes, this movie changed his life, too. It was Stallone who later inducted Hulk Hogan in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 as a result of the mainstream success he received for this film.

-Laurence Tauread(aka Mr. T): Believe it or not, the famous mohawking Mr. T was not supposed to play the role of Clubber Lang in Rocky III. The part went to former boxer Earnie Shavers, but he broke two ribs on Stallone during a sparring session in production for the film so they searched for someone else. He was spotted at a club by Stallone in 1982(the year the movie was released), and was asked to audition for the tough guy role. He was only supposed to have a few lines, but Stallone felt that he needed more to help the character and movie. His famous catch phrase, "I pity the fool!" was first used in this film. He said, "I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool!" before their rematch. Mr. T was actually a successful body guard for some famous celebrities before getting the role that changed his life. This helped him land a role for the successful A-Team sitcom as he played the character of B.A. Baracus. This also propelled him to make several appearances for the WWF as he was part of the first WrestleMania event teaming with co-star Hulk Hogan in 1985. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1995, and has donated his famous jewelry to help in the relief of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. His celebrity status has inspired cancer patients and victims of Hurricane Katrina as well. He has also made inspirational speeches in recent years since being a born-again Christian. This film is a big reason why his celebrity status helps bring hope to so many as this is where he became known.

-Dolph Lundgren: Okay, he has not had the most stellar acting career. In fact, far from it. However, I think most would agree that anyone who knows who Lundgren is will always associate him with the character he played in Rocky IV - the powerful Russian, Ivan Drago. He beat out 5,000 other hopefuls to win the role of the Russian. This Swedish actor can speak four different languages, and this helped him land the role as well. He was an established full contact Karate champion in various areas before he landed a small part in the James Bond movie, A View To Kill. At first, they declined to offer him the role of Drago because he towered over Stallone(Lundgren is 6' 5" while Stallone is 5' 8") as they were looking for someone shorter than 6' 3". However, his background as a karate fighter helped him along with speaking many languages. Yes, Lundgren experimented with anabolic steroids to improve his physique for the film, and that was heavily rumored when some scenes were shot with him injecting himself with a needle. He was able to land roles later on after winning the part of Drago, even though his career never got going afterwards. Still, he has a name for himself with his appearance as the Russian fighter in this movie. I am sure he still gets hardcore fans of the movie that still say, "Hey, there's Ivan Drago!"

Other real-life boxers who have appeared in the Rocky movies:
-Tommy Morrison appears in Rocky V as Tommy "The Machine" Gunn. He uses Rocky's fame, and then later lands a deal with the hated promoter, George Washington Duke. He and Rocky have a street fight at the end of the movie which sees Rocky beat him in the end. Morrison was 46-3-1 as a pro boxer. He tested HIV-Positive in 1996, which forced his early retirement. His troubled out-of-ring lifestyle is more documented. He spent time in prison for weapons and drug possessions as well as admitting to taking steroids throughout his life. He gained mainstream popularity with this role despite the movie performing terribly at the box office, and being panned by critics.
-Boxer Antonio Tarver stars in Rocky Balboa film. He plays the role of Mason "The Line" Dixon, who is the Heavyweight Champion at the time.

My take: Rocky Balboa is the classic, persistent, and determined underdog fighter who makes the most of the one in a million opportunity to take on the World Champion, and become a household name. Balboa is the symbol of an American figher who inspires us all to go after our dreams. Rocky Balboa is exactly what Sylvester Stallone was - an underdog looking for one big break. Stallone got it, and he ran with it in the same manner that Balboa did. I was just turning two years old when the original came out, but I did go to the theaters to see the third, fourth, and unfortunately the fifth movie. The Rocky movies changed the lives of many, and those guys will always be associated with these films. This is my favorite sports movie of all-time because of how great it is to witness the underdog achieving what many thought could or never would happen. A dream can be achieved if you have enough of Rocky Balboa in you to fight for it.

The Ills Of Parenting Have Befallen Me

What I would give for a healthy family!

Now don't get me wrong, I love my family very much, but having to nurse two of the three other members to health, while making sure that the other stays healthy is starting to take its toll on me.

Let's start this story from the beginning shall we? For the Fourth of July weekend, we made an impromptu trip to my wife's home state of New Jersey. Her grandfather has been diagnosed with a small aneurysm in his head, so she felt that she should make sure she sees him as soon as possible. So, against our usual judgment, we braved the holiday traffic and drove down the Turnpike. As luck would have it, we ran into very little traffic, which was odd when you consider we crossed the George Washington Bridge to get there from Vermont.

Well, luck would turn later that night. We made a short stop over at her Aunt and Uncle's home in North Jersey, about four hours into our six and a half hour ride. This was something that we thought would be good, considering it would allow us a short layover, letting the kids stretch their legs before completing the rest of the trip. This also allowed my wife and I to see the newest addition to her side of the family, a baby boy which her cousin and husband aptly named Gehrig. Despite not being a Yankee fan, I still respect the Iron Horse, so I have no qualms with the name. After taking in some lunch, we continued on our happy little way.

With approximately one half hour left in our trip my littlest guy, Logan, started to act strange. By the time we reached my In-laws house, my son barely made it out of the car before he started vomiting. Needless to say, a night that was supposed to be about taking advantage of the Mom and Dad for babysitting was spent intermittently sleeping and holding a bucket for my little guy to throw up in. After a night this continuing until the sun rose, we decided we would give up and head home. We arrived home around 10:00pm on Saturday night and immediately crashed.

My son started turning the corner Sunday night, and by Monday morning he was all geared up to go back to daycare to see his friends. Mom and Dad were supposed to spend the day off together, taking an extra vacation day for us. But as luck would have it, I ended up taking my wife to the doctor after dropping my kids off, where she promptly tested positive for Strep Throat.

So why am I telling you my tales of woe? Simple, I've not had time to even look at the computer long enough to carve out something of use over the last few days. I did manage to write down some stray thoughts at work yesterday, but that has been the extent of my creativity. Hopefully, things will get better soon and I can get back shortly. But alas, my family comes first, and if I need to be Doctor Fragnoli for a few more days, I'm sure the Internet will still be here when I return.

Thanks for listening. I'll catch up with you all shortly.

Wake Me Up, The Rays Are Killing Me

Alright, Allen Funt and Ashton Kutcher, you can both come out now and tell the entire baseball world that we’re on Candid Camera or that we’ve been Punk’D. The joke has officially been played out, and we’d like things to return to normal now.

It’s time to remind the Tampa Bay Rays that they are a perennial basement team and have no business leading the American League East over teams like Boston, New York, and Toronto. The bandwagon can’t take any more weight without the wheels falling off.

Yes folks, we’re seriously talking about the team formerly known as the Devil Rays leading the A.L. East by 2 ½ games and having the best record in baseball in July. The Tampa Bay Rays, the same team that has finished out of fifth place once in their existence, making the excursion to fourth in 2004 before settling back into fifth every year since. A team whose season best win total of 70 looks like it will be completely shattered by this year’s squad, which have already mustered 51 as of July 2, 2008.

So should we be surprised at this stage? After years of stockpiling top draft picks and hearing how every one of them was helping create the best farm system in baseball, should it come as a shock that at one point something was finally going to click and this team was going to take off? Somewhere along the line though, people forgot to tell them that they have to work their way into contention, not catapult into it. But fueled by pitching, timely hitting, and a desire to win that the team has never known before, that’s exactly what they’ve done.

Are they legit? The numbers certainly seem to suggest they are:

Team ERA – 3.65 (4^th)

Hits Allowed – 673 (2^nd)

HR Allowed – 70 (3^rd)

Runs Scored – 390 (11^th)

Batting Average - .263 (11^th)

OBP - .340 (8^th)

HR Hit – 90 (9^th)

Stolen Bases – 90 (1^st)

Run Differential - +58 (6^th)

What makes the team scarier is the plethora of young talent it still has in the system, something that could make them serious players at the trade deadline. If any team has the ability to acquire a guy like C.C. Sabathia or Brian Fuentes to better an already impressive pitching staff, even if it is just a stretch drive rental, it’s Tampa. And if they choose not to resign the acquisition, as a team with a strict budget, they’ll be more than happy to pocket the draft picks and continue to build their farm.

So the question comes back around. At midnight, will the tower tell this Cinderella that it was all just a dream, or will the fairy tale season keep plugging away? Maybe we should just click our heels and find out.

Sources

MLB Sortable Team Stats, MLB.Com

Candid Camera, Wikipedia.com

Punk’D, Wikipedia.com