Man’s build

BOTTOM LINE: For a comedy there are hardly any laughs, and despite some great production design, visuals and a strong performance by Woody Harrelson, this film is a waste of time, especially with Will Ferrel’s unfunny and stupid lead character.

THE GOOD: I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when going in to this film. The previews seemed to suggest a stupid Will Ferrel comedy and surprisingly, there’s an actual story in here about an ex-70’s pop-star turned manager of the Flint Michigan Tropics Basketball team and his attempt to keep his team alive during the merger between the NBA and ABA. The production design and visuals are very good, having a glossy, authentic feel to them. Woody Harrelson is excellent as the new addition to the team who becomes the coach of the Tropics. He’s the only sane man in the team and he does a very good job of carrying the film when Ferrel doesn’t (see below!). This is a decent period piece film, and the story is sustainable enough for you to sit through it and not got bored.

THE BAD: The film is billed as a comedy but there are no laughs. That might be a problem… Okay, I’m being harsh. I think I suppressed a chuckle once or twice during the running time. Considering the way the film is built around Will Ferrel as a star vehicle, he doesn’t really deliver anything comedic and in fact, it looks as if putting on this performance for him was akin to pulling teeth. He is endearing, but he’s also stupid, and gets up to stupid antics. Wrestling a bear? The Disco-Stu hair cut and outfit? Being the heart and soul of the Tropics team but single-handedly also ruins their chances at every turn? Flapping your arms around and making silly noises will only make a baby laugh and unfortunately you have to sit through 90 minutes of it. To be fair it’s the script; Ferrel just doesn’t have anything to work with except for silly scenarios which given the structure of the story seem completely out of place. Even the two Tropics radio announcers, who are akin to the two old men in the Muppets, are a wasted opportunity for laughs given their unfunny banter. I really hated the final sequence where Ferrel is in heaven talking to his momma… Not good. It’s moments like that that kill the rest of the film, whatever there is that’s good. I don’t know if this film could have been funny, but perhaps if it had been moved towards the more light-hearted drama genre it would have worked better.

For the original review, follow this link: http://www.allaboutmovies.net/filmreviewsemipro.htm

Todd Murphy is a staff reviewer at the film/DVD review web site, All About Movies.net - for all the latest reviews on the newest releases. He also contributes reviews and articles for the Digicosm Film Blog: http://www.filmannex.com/Digicosm

One thing is certain that cricket is the national passion in India and I got the same feeling while roaming around in Trinidad and Tobago. Lots of Indians have come down to the Caribbean islands just to see their national team. I also came with one of my Indian friend who is taking pains to make me understand the game.

Honestly it seems a lot like baseball from outside but it is altogether different and require less of brawn compare to patience. The world cup is of limited overs match rather than a test match which last for five days. Just imagine two set of players playing for five days and still the result not sure. It is true, there is no over time to get the result as they already played it for five days. So what should one do after five days, go home and rest in peace with the feeling that there is absolutely no result of the match? No wonder the Britishers started it, who else on the planet have all the time to watch a trivial sporting pursuit for five days that too seven hours a day.

Why should one have this game played in United States?

This could be the answer George Bush is looking for job creation. Hire thousands of people to play the game and as the game last 5 days and seven playing hours a day, it can be officially termed as job with 35 working hours. If the teams are balanced they can call it a draw and start again on Monday to get the result this time around.

How it will affect the American Economy

This will be one game in United States which can provide full time employment and that too at paltry price. Forget about the costly basketball and hockey players who play couple of hours in the week and bag million. In cricket they will play for five days and will just be paid few thousand dollars. At least the game will contribute to George Bush dismal record of job creation in the economy.

Alan Scott writes managing technology and organizational behavior articles, journal and columns for Knowledge Weekly

NBA 08 is a PSP, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3 exclusive video game. The game makes another return and continues a similar trend from last season’s NBA 07. That is not necessarily a positive considering the fact that NBA 07 was abysmal. The game is by all means a basketball simulation and not a amazing one.

In terms of gameplay, there is not much to enjoy in this game. In this year’s iteration of the game, you can earn points that can bolster your attributes by playing a progression system. There is online support in NBA 08, but you will not be seeing anyone online because they will be busy playing NBA 2K8. The game does have a full season mode with the playoffs and mini games (like shooting drills). Unfortunately, a franchise mode is missing in action. If a gamer does manage to finish the full season mode, then he or she will receive nothing in return.

I would have at least expected to see a trophy presentation, but I was mistaken. To make matters worse, there is no free agency and no drafting in this game. At one point, I even saw Steve Nash dunking the basketball. When has he ever dunked the basketball in the NBA? The controls in the game are not bad. You can use the six axis controller to keep the basketball away from defenders on offense; conversely, gamers can utilize the six axis controller to block shots on defense. It was intriguing to see a sports video game implement the six axis controller, and I felt like using the six axis controller was responsive.

The artificial intelligence will behave like a bunch of spoiled athletes. They will do countless dubious things such as double teaming the mediocre players and take ill-advised shots. Why the hell the artificial intelligence would leave a player like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James wide open is beyond me. There are maneuvers that you can perform (ala cross over dribbles) that will make the game easier, but the game is never arduous at all. It was fairly obvious that little to no time was spent on the animations and collision detection because anyone can easily score points in this game.

I learned that there is no need to use any exotic plays because you can just teleport through the defense without any resistance. It was almost like the defense was holding up a sign that read “I concede, so let me help you win this game by escorting you to the basket.”

The graphics in the game is just as horrible as the gameplay. None of the players look like their real life counterparts. Identifying a player can only be done by reading the name on the back of his uniform. Every intricate detail was phenomenal in NBA 2K8. You could even see the stitching and designs on the uniforms in that game. Regrettably, NBA 08 does not even come close to the attention to detail presented in NBA 2K8. I cannot think of any players that are accurately represented in this game. Maybe this was a glitch, but I saw Kevin Garnett wearing pink socks.
Kevin Garnett is known for wearing white socks. Things like that have made this game deplorable.

Do not even get me started on the audio in this game. The commentators are saying lines as if they are reading from a script; moreover, this is exacerbated by the fact that the commentating is redundant.

Overall, this game is lackluster. There is a updated roster for the 2007 to 2008 NBA season, but that is not enough to overcome the myriad of flaws associated with this game. I have had more fun watching a San Antonio Spurs game that playing this terrible excuse for a video game. The game has an immensely rudimentary NBA basketball gaming experience and lacks the immersion that made NBA 2K8 incredible. Do not be fooled into thinking that this game is worth playing because Amare Stoudemire is the cover athlete. As spectacular as Amare Stoudemire might be in the NBA, there is nothing he nor the game developers could have done to make this game enjoyable.

final verdict 5 out of 10

http://wwwfunnyman.blogspot.com

John McEnroe called the Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer 2008 Men’s Wimbledon Final the greatest tennis match ever. It is the type of sporting that can give a sport a boost in popularity. However, given that both players are not from the US, this is very unlikely to happen in the US. It is no coincidence that the the 70’s tennis boom in the US was at a time of many US stars: Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Conners, John McEnroe, Billy Jean King, and Chris Evert.

Golf is more popular than ever in the US right now. But, would it be if Tiger Woods was not from the US? At the very least, it is safe to say that Golf would not be as popular right now in the US if Tiger was not born and raised in the US. The Summer Olympics are just around the corner and 90 % of the TV coverage (excluding the “Up Close and Personal” type bits) will be concentrated on the US athletes. America likes excellence and winners, however, they care a lot more about the great US athletes than the great non-US athletes. Not that there is anything wrong with that or that it is difficult to understand why, just that this fact appears to be quite prevalent in US sports.

Great rivalries always increase interest in any sport, however, to have any big factor on a sport’s popularity in the US at least one of the athletes has to be an American (e.g. Borg-McEnroe). While Nadal-Federer may continue to be a great rivalry, it will have little impact on the popularity of tennis is the US. While the Williams sisters just dominated Wimbledon, they are not the top players in the world in the rankings (ever if they are the most talented) and do not have a rivalry with each other. Although, admittedly chess is not really a sport, the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky chess match and rivalry caused a chess boom in the US in the early 70’s. However, after Fischer won and never defended his title, chess popularity in the US plummented and has never fully recovered because Fischer was the last US World Chess Champion.

Hockey’s popularity would have got more of a boost if Sydney Crosby was born and raised in the US. If Freddy Adu ever becomes the best soccer player in the world, is there any doubt that despite its lack of scoring (see last weeks weekly article on soccer’s popularity in the US), that soccer would get at least a small boost in popularity in the US? Or, if the US Men’s Soccer team finally wins a World Cup?

American Football, baseball, and basketball are the three most popular sports in the US and they are all still dominated by mostly US stars. Baseball and basketball, of course, have a decent percentage of foreign stars, but there is still plenty of US stars to keep its fans happy. Hockey’s lack of popularity has always been affected by the fact that it has few US stars and no US superstars. Boxing’s lack of popularity right now (see this weeks weekly article) is partly attributable to the lack of a current great US heavyweight — traditionally boxing’s biggest star. Yes, America loves a winner — especially if he or she is an American.

Mark D. Hauser
Owner: http://UltimateSportsRankings.com

Baseball the game, its players, its fans, its team owners, its history, its statistics, its rules, all is a constant source for generating controversy. Shakespeare in his great writings might have had a notion that baseball would one day be a great game.

Shakespeare even had “Hamlet” involved when this young man said, “To Be Or Not To Be That Is The Question” The answer is now abundantly clear. Yes there will always be controversy in our game of baseball as with all sports.

Society with human nature by its side dictates a constant controversy, It’s inescapable.

Pay attention as to how a contest is started. Football games are started by gambling. Do I tell the truth snaggle-tooth? The first thing the head referee does is call the team captains to the middle of the field. He has a coin usually a souvenir type keepsake. At any case the by chance or gamble is right there before our eyes. One captain calls the heads or tails while the coin is tossed in the air.

There is no way skill can be involved in the landing outcome of that coin toss. Well! you say, “That was not gambling because the wind was blowing just right to make the flipped coin lay tails down.” Gambling on a game is verboten but a coin toss has no value and thus there is no gamble.

Now the start of a basketball game is a sporting mans delight. Here we have two jumping jacks all poised to spring into action. Normally the tallest of the two called upon to challenge the tip of the ball will control. Hey, not so fast stud that shorter man just might jump like a gazelle.

Perchance the referee dosn’t toss that basketball cleanly and perfectly between the two young saplings then immediately the crowd roars. Fans of any and all sports keenly watch every move and every boo boo. So the game of basketball can have controversy even before the game begins.

What we are witnessing is human nature and our societies love of sports up close and personal. Without a little difference of opinion as to a call or the performance of the players then the games would not go on.

Football has been known to have controversy over gambling. Basketball is constant controversy over every referees whistle.
Baseball is immune to all and every controversy.

Immune is something every medical professional and research scientist has pondered in an effort to rid mankind of all life stopping threats. Baseball leaders and Commissioners for over 150 years have diligently fought to rid baseball of any life stoppage.

Not to worry, sports fans, baseball is alive and well. If we simply keep on keeping on. But here is my controversial topic for baseball.

How do we start a baseball game? For all these many years and a couple or three generations we start by having the visiting team always bat first. This then allows the home team to have the last bat in the bottom of the seventh or the ninth inning.

This gives the home team an unfair advantage.

Here is the solution if we are to make every game straight up fair and square. Could we use bigger crowds at our games? Now we simply vote a rule to allow no game to start until the crowd count reaches a certain level. No crowd, no game, no pain, no gain and it never rains.

Let’s say for a high school game 100 fans.

Let’s say for a college game 700 fans.

Let’s say for a professional A class 700 fans.

Let’s say for a professional AA class 1500 fans.

Let’s say for a professional AAA class 2000 fans.

Major Leagues “The Big Show” 7000 fans.

The fan coming thru the turnstile reaching the starting game attendance number gets to make the decision as to which team bats first. But the home team crowd will naturally have the odds most favorable fan coming at that count. Yes ! But not absolute. Now we have controversy for baseball.

Batter Up—Let’s Play Ball…

Major Wiley B, Channell USMC (retired) at home or at play bringing baseballfarming to you at http://www.baseballfarming.com for everyone.

Baseball is a game filled with passion and controversy and we love it.

Are you thinking of volunteering to be a coach at your local high school? High school basketball is the real deal. The kids who are playing this game are scouted by colleges. Scholarship money rides on the outcome of games and the performance of each individual player. It is up to you, as a high school coach, to bring out the personal best in each of your players.

Build A Team

The first thing that you will want to do is to build a team. Some coaches always make sure that they give the kids pizza after the game. They also host pool parties, pizza parties and other events to get the young people to bond with one another. The team should have the all for one, one for all spirit in order to be successful.

Competition Is Good - Screaming Isn’t

By High school, the time to stop coddling kids is over. They have to learn that they will not be hearing “good job” each time they do something wrong on the court. They have, at this point, chosen to be part of a competitive sport. You want to teach them that that is part of the thrill of competing. They get the glory when they win, they feel bad when they lose. Yelling at them doesn’t do any good - they know that they did wrong. Constructive criticism and praise for the good moves will work. Despite what you may see in high school sports, berating a bunch of 15 year olds and calling them losers doesn’t really get anyone anywhere.

Be a stickler for the rules

It is important that you know the rules and so do your team members. You may have some students who, upon growing tall in high school, decide to go out for the team. They should be encouraged, but they will have to brush up on the rules. Hand holding at this age is not a good idea. You need to be a stickler for the rules because the refs will not let the kids off that easy.

Have mandatory practice

They have to show up for practice and drills or else they are off the team. While a student may have a good excuse once in a while, if the same student is habitually skipping practice (especially if he feels that he is the star and doesn’t need it - bench him for a game. Practice is mandatory and we can all use improvement.

Always teach sportsmanship

You do not want to be responsible for a bunch of surly jerks if they win or lose. Teach them gracious behavior that will serve them later in life. Teenagers are naturally surly, but they can be taught to be good sports and never to rub their victory in the fact of the losing team. They should also know how to take a loss. Because you win some, lose some when you play competitive sports.

Basketball - everything you need to know!

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