Quote of the day

Bryan Mills: I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you. 

 

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All in: The Amazing Spider-Man has it

I was very late to this, mostly because I enjoyed the "original" Spiderman in 2002 with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten "I have unintentionally retired" Dunst. It seemed very true to the comic book.

But this new version of Spiderman looks equally cool, yet a lot darker. This has the makings of a Batman Begins, which was a very dark take on The Dark Knight.

(Speaking of remakes, aren't we due for another Hulk movie here pretty soon?)

Andrew Garfield is Peter Parker, and Emma Stone is a major upgrade as Gwen Stacy.

The addition of The Lizard as the primary villain is a major score.

This opens July 3. I'm in ...

 

 

 

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Video: Big Mac & Galloway weigh on the Mavs' offseason & BCS

 

 

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Early projections rank West Virginia ahead of TCU in the Big 12

TCU head football coach Gary Patterson raved about his incoming recruiting class saying, "I think the sky is the horizon."
The man does not lie - the sky is indeed the horizon. Wise ass remarks aside, GP does sound like a man who is itching to get going in yet another new league.

But as much film work as he does, he really is not sure how this transition is going to play out. Last week, GP openly wondered if his team has the necessary depth to play in the Big 12, but he added, "I don't know that we don't (already) have it."

Already the magazine racks are beginning to fill with the preseason college football publications; not that these magazines are ever correct, but the early predictions for TCU in the Big 12 are from third to fifth.

The consensus appears that Oklahoma is the class of the league, West Virginia is slightly better than TCU, Baylor will drop, and Kansas is terrible.

LINDY'S
1. Oklahoma
2. West Virginia
3. TCU
4. Okie State
5. Texas
6. Kansas State
7. Texas Tech
8. Baylor
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas 

ATHLON
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. West Virginia
4. Okie State
5. TCU
6. Kansas State
7. Baylor
8. Texas Tech
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas

* The Athlon publication projects TCU will play Northwestern in the Insight Bowl; Texas will play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and OU will play Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.

USA TODAY 
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. West Virginia
4. TCU
5. Oklahoma State
6. Kansas State
7. Texas Tech
8. Baylor
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas 

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The Mavericks interest in this player sniffs of desperation

The July 1, 12:01 a.m. pursuit of Deron Williams remains Priority No. 1 for the Dallas Mavericks, but there are so many other holes on this roster that other players remain high on the offseason to-do list.

The fact that this list could include former Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy is yet another piece of evidence the Mavs are willing to look under every rock and kick every single tire. That's not always a bad thing. It led them to Tyson Chandler, who at the time of his acquisition was an injury-plagued center with a high ceiling. That kinda worked out.

But Brandon Roy's body is a hell of a lot more beat up than Chandler. 

According to this report on Yahoo Sports, the Mavs and a small number of other teams are pursuing Roy, who wants to make a comeback to the NBA after a year long retirement.

If we were talking about the Brandon Roy who began his career with the Blazers with two good knees and was a version of Chris Paul, sign me up. But we are talking about a Brandon Roy with shredded knees, who had become a decent jump shooter and little else. The explosive first step and quickness that made him such a difficult cover were gone. 

The last time the Mavs, or anyone else, saw Roy was the first round of the 2011 NBA playoffs. In Game 4, Roy scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Blazers to an 84-82 win against the Mavs. It was a nice story for Roy, but the Mavs won the next two games of the series.

Because of chronic knee problems, Roy retired in the offseason. The Blazers used their amnesty clause to buyout the remainder of his contract.

According to the above report, Roy has been undergoing a relatively new knee treatment therapy that gives him hope he can play again.

He may be able to play, but how well and for how long? How long can these knees hold up?

By all accounts Roy, 27, is a wonderful guy and a total pro. A good guy in the locker room and a coachable player. For his sake, you hope he can pull this off.

Even the possibility of Roy coming to the Mavs doesn't change a thing for this team this offseason: If they don't sign Deron Williams they're screwed.

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Quote of the day

Tony D'Amato: The margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. Because we know when add up all those inches, that's gonna make the difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying!

 

 

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What is it with the Baylor basketball program? A Bear tried to extort RGIII

Baylor is a few days away from having two of its men's basketball players selected in the first round of the NBA draft, but it would not be a week without a negative headline or two for Baylor men's basketball.

The FBI busted former Baylor Bear men's basketball player Richard Khamir Hurd on charges of extortion. Turns out he was trying to extort Robert Griffin III.

You imagine what Baylor president Ken Starr will do to this guy?

RGIII may be a good target because he has what we call "resources", but what self-respecting Baylor Bear extorts RGIII? I would understand if Hurd was a Tech guy, or an Aggie or a Horn, but a Bear? 

Hurd began at Baylor as a walk-on in 2004-'05 and played for four years in Waco. He earned letters in 2005, '06, '07 and '08. He was a stater as a freshman and averaged 4 points per game.

Hurd was a part of coach Scott Drew's second season.

My gut tells me these charges are not going to be good for Hurd's chances to be invited to any team reunions, but certainly won't prevent Baylor from calling him in the future for potential donations.

Click here for the full story.

 

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LaDainian Tomlinson, broadcaster

FORT WORTH - LaDainian Tomlinson has been retired for what is only a few days, and he is kicking around potential scenearios of what he will do in his post-football life, one of which includes broadcasting.

"Even though I'm not playing the game any more I still love the game," LT said Friday at TCU. "I want to be one of those games that watches the games and talks about the game. I'm sure I'm going to be here (at TCU) a lot watching the games."

Considering where LT began as a very quiet, very shy freshman to where he is today is a remarkable evolution. As a speaker, he is in a place not many people who knew him many years ago thought he would be.

He is a confident speaker, but he remains very much a work in progress in front of the camera. He speaks very slowly, deliberately and thoughtfully. Is his English perfect? No. Does he try? Yes.

He is not a natural the way Keyshawn Johnson, Tom Jackson or a Steve Young all are in front of a camera. To be a decent broadcaster LT would have to work at it, to eliminate what feels like a rigidness in his speaking. 

He obviously knows the game, but his greatest asset may be his lack of poltical awareness. LT can be brutally honest, and as long as he was OK with hurting a few feelings with candid analysis he would make a solid broadcaster in an NFL booth.

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Another Dark Knight Rises trailer: This movie should win every Oscar in the history of ever

We are less than one month away from the release of The Dark Knight Rises - why can't it be July 20th right now? I don't care what I miss in my life - just get this movie out!

Here is another trailer, which I am guessing will be the last until the release.

 

As you can see, Bane is a bad, bad, bad man.

Click here to see even more details about this new movie that are from a children's book (not kidding).

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Less than 5 months away from F1's return to the U.S. & why it's not a sure thing in Austin

According to its website, six grandstands for the 2012 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix are already soldout. This means there is more than curiosity for the return of F1 to the U.S. Or there better be more than curiosity.

As we have seen before, curiosity among U.S. race fans for this European product has been the death of this series in the U.S. Curiosity can sell tickets for about a year or two. Maybe three. Only a genuine interest and a following is going to make this a sustainable venture.

The United States Grand Prix is scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 16 to 18 in Austin; it will be the 19th race on the 20-race F1 schedule. 

According to a recent story in the Austin-American Statesman, no one is quite sure what this race is, or how to promote it. One driver thought the race is in Houston.

Personally, I am jazzed that F1 is coming back to the U.S., even if it does mean that the one of the worst people in the international sports scene - F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone - is back in this country. My feeling remains the U.S. should never even have considered F1 until Ecclestone is out.

Just because Austin/Travis County built a world-class F1 course means this thing will work.

Long Beach, Phoenix, Watkins Glen, Detroit all tried with F1 and gave up. The last time F1 tried the U.S. was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, from 2000 to 2007. 

Now Austin is going to try, and it has a 10-year deal with F1 to make this fly. The thought is Austin is more of an international destination, which could potentially bring in fans from overseas. Perhaps race planners have completely bowed to whatever Ecclestone wants, which former IMS president Tony George (finally) would not.

As race fans in Indianapolis experienced, other than the four wheels the F1 series breathes much differently than NASCAR or IndyCar. American-based auto racing series are much better catering to fans than F1, which distances itself from spectators.

Whereas NASCAR and IndyCar at least create the illusion of fans mingling with the drivers and the race teams, F1 very much has a moat feeling around its central figures.

The variables make this equation feel very uncertain, which it should given F1's poor history in the U.S.

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