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ACDC
Back in the back
Of a Cadillac
Number one with a bullet, I'm a power pack
Yes, I'm in a bang
With a gang
They've got to catch me if they want me to hang
Cause I'm back on the track
And I'm leadin' the pack
Nobody's gonna get me on another rap
So look at me now
I'm just makin' my play
Don't try to push your luck, just get out of my way
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Bob Gainey did not return to the Dallas Stars as some senior advisor who would scout a little, help sell some tickets, and talk to GM Joe Nieuwendyk every few weeks. Bob hasn't been with the Stars very long, but he was here long enough to want Mike Ribeiro off of his roster.
The Stars dealt center Mike Ribeiro to the Washington Capitals for a second round draft pick and center Cody Eakin on Friday. The Stars have been trying for years to unload Ribeiro, and Gainey obviously forced the issue by suggesting, "Just get anything you can."
Don't be surprised if Cody Eakin is the second coming of Janne Niinimaa, and Gainey will be fine with that.
Bob has never liked Ribeiro. When Gainey was the GM of the Canadiens he dealt Ribeiro to the Stars just before the start of the 2006-'07 season for Niinimaa, who never did anything for the Stars, or Canadiens.
People around the Stars laughed at Gainey for this deal, but as one coach told me, "Do you really think Bob Gainey would just give this guy away if he didn't know what he was doing?"
In Bob's thinking in Montreal, moving Ribeiro was addition by substraction. It had to be done.
It is the case with the Stars: Mike Ribeiro had to be moved. He had become a giant box of empty stats.
He drove coaches nuts because he wasn't regularly committed to a two-way game, wasn't a big fan of going to the hard places on the ice, relied more on his God-given skill than work and every now and then you would hear stories about off-ice stuff that wasn't ideal. It should be noted that when you miss the playoffs the way the Stars have recently, a lot of stories are going to be floated about certain players.
Yet in each of Ribeiro's first two seasons with the Stars the team made the playoffs, including the Conference Finals in 2008. That season he scored 83 points in 76 games. In his time with the Stars, Ribeiro was nearly a point-a-game player.
The statistics said this was a quality producer. And numbers wise, he was.
All of his numbers helped produce a team that for four consecutive years has missed the playoffs.
Ribeiro may not have been the type of problem he was for Gainey in Montreal, but Bob knew Ribeiro was not going to be part of the solution in Dallas.
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There is no way I could not pass this along, because I am sure I'm the first person to make this connection ...
The Juice is apparently still loose.
OJ Simpson currently plays for the Kansas City Command of the Arena Football League.
Today Simpson was named its National Guard Community MVP of the Week for his recent philanthropic efforts in the local KC community.
A first-year player from Missouri Western State, Simpson is a 5-foot-9, 195 pound WR/DB. This award is a highlight for what has been an otherwise bad year for the Command, which are 3-10 on the season.
The time may be now for the Command to finally have its white Bronco night. This OJ was about 11 years old when the really famous OJ went for his famous drive.
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FORT WORTH - Like so many college coaches, Gary Patterson is not about to dump on a bowl system that may be in the very, very beginning stages of its of existence.
Gary likes the bowls, and the "bowl experience" because it gives so many kids the chance to experience a post season game, etc. Bowls feel like an event. It's the chance to travel, perhaps to the coast. There is swag. And - cough-cough - those "bowl appearance" and "bowl wins" bonuses in his contract, and very like the athletic directors, are kinda nice, too.
At a press conference for former TCU running back LaDainian Tomlinson this afternoon, Gary was asked about his feelings of the new college football playoff format, which will act as a Final Four that includes the traditional bowl sites plus a national title game.
Gary is a fan primarily because it keeps the bowl games in play.
"It sounds like 1 will play 4 and 2 will play 3 within the bowl group," GP said. "If they keep that, I am in favor of them having a one-plus. I believe if they take it outside the bowl series then I believe the bowls will go away because I believe we've made them not important."
I like GP, a lot, but we will agree to disagree on this. The bowls aren't important because they are an exhibitions. If they were really important the BCS powers would not have yielded with this four-team playoff model. Declining ratings and attendance are driving this bus. Sports champions in this country are decided through tournament-style brackets, yet college football held on to the financially exclusive practice-game model.
"I think everybody wins - we keep the bowl system, we get what we want and we get to find a true champion," Gary said. "There will be something. I promise you there will be a reason you won't like this one, either. That's just part of it. It will be, 'Why can't we have eight?' I truly believe this - there are about eight to 10 teams that if they get hot that can win a national championship. The key will be coming down to picking those four teams and we'll see how they do it.
"I am excited because I think this gives an answer that everybody can win. Everybody should be happy that you're going to get a form of the playoff that ... is just like a Super Bowl."
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To enjoy the new movie "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" the viewer must accept that the former U.S. President chased and killed vampires when the history books all say he was actually a zombie killing machine.
It was Franklin Pierce who killed vampires, Millard Fillmore went after werewolves and Grover Cleveland who bagged mummies.
There are other historical inaccuracies in this movie, but this is the biggest.
The Story: Abe Lincoln is a kid in Indiana when he sees his mother assaulted, and she quickly dies, at the hands of a slave trader. He swears revenge on her killer. Abe doesn't realize her killer is a vampire. Fortunately, he befriends a master vampire killer, who has a super secret. Abe learns the vampire killing trade, while also learning the law.
En route to becoming the next President, Abe kills a lot of vampires, who also have a good relationship with the slave trading folks in the South.
The people: Benjamin Walker plays Abe, and Dominic Cooper is solid as Lincoln's vampire killing tutor. The star of this movie is not one particular actor but the special effects and the imagery. And the sheer presposterous nature of the movie.
Fight scenes: There are a lot. Expect a cross between the Blade vampire movies with a lot of Matrix style slow motion. And a ton of blood.
Eye candy: Both Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel were in the trailer for "Total Recall", so that's always good. As far as this movie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Mary Todd.
Historical liberties: So many. The movie manages to include the President of the Conferedate States, Jefferson Davis; the underground railroad; Harriet Tubman; the Battle on Fort Sumter; the battle at Gettsyburg (which serves as the climatic fight against the dead); no Lincoln movie can ever be complete without the "we're going to the theater" finale.
Did you know that: One of the reasons the Southern Army was so successful for so long was that it enlisted vampires? That would explain a lot. Give Lincoln this - he never used it as an excuse.
Holes: Really? You have to ask.
Should you see it: Sure. It's mindless, silly fun with slick special effects. Just don't expect a history lesson. Remember - Lincoln killed zombies.
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UPDATE: Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com is reporting that the University of Texas and ESPN and The Longhorn Network will now not try to carry the Texas Tech/Texas State football game on Sept. 8 on The LHN.
Unlike when Texas Tech pulled out of its football game against TCU last year because even the coach thought the Red Raiders couldn't win it, the school is more than justified in contemplating backing out of a game against Texas State.
FOR THOSE WHO INSIST THE BIG MAC BLOG HAS SOME BLIND LOVE FOR TCU OR IS ANTI-TECH AND DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE RED RAIDERS BACKED OUT OF THAT GAME LAST YEAR - GO WITH WHAT YOUR OWN HEAD COACH SAID ON THIS SUBJECT ABOUT ONE YEAR AGO.
While Bevo is at it, he also wants to stay at the Red Raiders' house, eat their free food, spit on their dog, and refuses to flush the toilet.
This would be like the Kansas City Royals playing a game against the Seattle Mariners on the Yankees' YES Network.
The Big 12 may be on solid footing, but The LHN remains an issue for ESPN and the University of Texas.
This is the problem when you create a network no one can get, and don't have enough quality programming for people to be motivated to bother their cable subscriber to actually carry. As big as mighty UT is, this is a clear sign it is not big enough to sustain a 24-hour network that is dedicated to just one university.
According to this report, ESPN said it would carry this game on one its 45 million platforms. That could mean ESPN. Or ESPN2. Maybe ESPN Classic. Or ESPN360. And ESPN.com. Hell, even ABC. It does not have to mean The Longhorn Network.
Carrying the game on the LHN could potentially force people who would never otherwise watch this network to watch this network. Which is what ESPN clearly needs to begin to justify the expense of operating a 24-hour station.
If Tech drops this game it would have to pay a hefty buyout clause, and would only play 11 games. Of course, the way last season ended that may not be such a bad thing.
Good for Texas Tech forcing ESPN and UT to do the sane thing.
We all know Texas and Big 12 "commissioner" DeLoss Dodds run the conference, but even this is too much for ESPN. Not even Dan Beebe would have signed off on such an arrogant, monopolistic move. To even propose such a move was insulting.
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Leonard Shelby: We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I'm no different.
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Exactly who Ben Affleck's little brother casts to play the part of Josh Hamilton is a mystery, but Casey Affleck is reportedly going to make a movie about the life of the Texas Rangers outfielder.
According to this report on Deadline.com, this is happening.
Hamilton signed off and entrusted his "screen" rights to producer Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road Pictures. Both he and his wife Katie will serve as co-producers.
The movie is slated to be written by Casey Affleck, who was in the movie "Gone Baby Gone", "American Pie 2", and directed the wretched documentary "I'm Still Here" about Joaquin Phoenix's deliberate freak out.
The question is not whether Hamilton's life story is worthy of a movie but whether it can be executed as solid, feature-length film. Sports movies are notoriously difficult to make well, one of the primary reasons being because the actors themselves aren't athletic enough to pull off the "action" scenes.
Finding the right actor to play Hamilton may be the hardest part. Not many men on this earth are put together like Josh Hamilton.
* Adam Sandler would be funny, primarily because this would mean the movie is going to be a spoof of Josh's life. That would make for better theater.
* Someone suggested Mark Wahlberg, but he stands, like, 5-6.
* Channing Tatum. Dude is in seriously good shape.
* Mac Engel. Physically, the similarities are many. The problem is going to be the hair; I have a better 'do.
* Matt Damon. Again with the height thing.
Then there will be the matter of the Hollywood happy ending; the way things are going these days that will be Hamilton at a press conference with his agent and a player union rep as he signs to a 10-year, $300 million contract with Magic Johnson's L.A. Dodgers.
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The gift that keeps on giving, Mr. Craig James, once again delivered. Thank you, Mr. James. Thank you, Houston Chronicle.
Politics? He wishes.
Sports TV? Probably.
Either way, we are the real winners.
James told the Chronicle that a couple of networks have reached out to him, but not ESPN. My guess is a regional network, like a Fox Sports Southwest. Considering his political bend towards the right, Fox certainly makes sense in that regard.
James says he "loves sports" but that he wants to stay involved in "fighting for public policy". The public needs more guys like James, who haven't done a thing in public policy.
James is under the impression that his political bid now puts him on the political platform, too. He does have the hair for it.
He said: "I can talk about sports and turn my hat around and talk about what is happening with Iran, Israel, immigration, Medicare, Medicaid."
Because talking about the BCS is virtually no different than talking about Iran. Apparently all you have to do is turn your hat backwards.
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Declining TV ratings and slow ticket sales finally pushed the power brokers of the BCS to create the playoff it never wanted.
The BCS people did it the right way. They waited as long as they could, made as much money as they could, and finally threw out this lollipop to an audience that is so desperate for change and the appearance of fairness that we will celebrate it as progress.
The four-team playoff model that was approved by the BCS people and is still up for approval by university presidents and a D.C. oversight committee is likely going to receive the green light so we can have a playoff by 2014.
This does not mean Boise State, or any non-AQ, is going to the title game. This four-team playoff model is a re-distribution of the wealth disguised as equal opportunity. Someone is going to get screwed. And that someone is not going to be Texas, Alabama or Ohio State.
The semifinal games will be at traditional bowl sites, and the national title will be up for bids. Expect the Dallas Cowboys and Cowboys Stadium figure to be a player for that game.
SEC boss Mike Slive (he is the white dude pictured; not Snoop) has wanted this four-team model, he got it, now expect their to be two SEC teams in the Final Four for a while. The people who run the Pac 12, Big 10, Big 12 and SEC are going to get theirs.
Would TCU's Rose Bowl team been in this Final Four? Yes. Would Boise State have made it once or twice? Probably.
If the non-BCS schools thought it was difficult to get an invite to the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar or Orange the Final Four figures to be an even tougher ticket.
Even though the playoff participants will be selected by a selection committee that will almost assuredly protect their own, this is the first step in what will eventually be a larger, more inclusive playoff format. It's going to start with four teams, people will complain, and it will grow.
It starts with four, it will eventually go to eight and then 16.
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