It’s been over a month since my last update. I’ve been stuck in my apartment, struggling to get my fix, but the NFL playoffs just haven’t had the good stuff this year. I’ve been trying to write an article about how boring they are, but for some reason I just couldn’t make that interesting… There’s been two good games and a lot of lousy blowouts. But two good games don’t cut it for an event that has spoiled us with so much great excitement in recent years, and a second string Pro-Bowl the week before the Super Bowl didn't make up for it. Entertain me!
Luckily I always have a secret stash of amusement to pick me up when my addiction gets bad. This time it consisted of two guys who are the best ever at what they do, another who hopes to one day have the same title, a rocket powered 3D acid-trip to a planet called “Pandora” and a reality show that’s so well-done that it makes auto racing seem entertaining.
Ha ha ha ha ha, Wipeout!
Leading up to this year’s Winter X Games, Shaun White asked his fans and the media honor a change in nickname from “The Flying Tomato” to “The Animal” after several people told him he looked like the drummer from The Muppets. The initial reaction was to reject the request, since lobbying your own nickname is frowned upon in the sports world for anyone other than Shaq (aka The Diesel, Big Aristotle, Shaqtus, Shaqovic, Osama Bin Shaq, etc.). But when White bashed his face on the edge of the half pipe during the warm up for the men’s finals, only to wipe off the blood and lay down one of the best runs in the history of snowboarding just moments later, it started to sound like a suitable nickname. Ok, it wasn’t quite Curt Schilling with a bloody sock, but it was tough.
White became the first ever to win three straight gold medals in Winter X’s marquee event. Aside from maybe Tony Hawk and Dave Mirra, he is the already the most accomplished athlete in X Games history at the ripe age of 23. If I were a betting man, I’d put all my money on The Animal wiping out the competition in Vancouver for his second straight Olympic Gold Medal.
Still the Best
During the Australian Open there was a lot of talk about whether Andy Murray was British, Scottish, Australian or Vietnamese and who could claim him as their own. But Roger Federer was much more concerned with thoroughly kicking his ass all over the tennis court and upsetting whomever the hell was cheering for him. The experts keep saying he’s fading, but maybe that just means he’ll only be winning two grand slams a year.
It’s unfortunate the last few slams haven’t offered us a Federer vs. Nadal matchup, but the reason is no matter how well Nadal plays against the big man, he still lacks the consistency to get to the finals every grand slam. Federer is the best to ever play the game and, along with Nadal, has brought excitement back to tennis. If there’s one international superstar athlete that has maintained his image on and off the court and actually seems like a good role model, it’s Tiger Woods… I mean Roger Federer, it’s Roger Federer! Stop waiting for his day to end and start appreciating what he’s done for the sport.
King Me
There’s been a lot of NBA bashing over the last few years, but I have always been a strong supporter (sometimes even stubbornly). But any sports fan has to admit that January gave us more exciting NBA regular season action than NFL playoff action (even including the Semi-Pro Bowl). I’ve never been a Lebron James fan per say. In fact, until now, I’ve always refused to refer to him by his royal nickname. But seeing him lead the Cavaliers to a nine game winning streak that started with him out-dueling Kobe, Wade and Durant makes it harder and harder not to consider Lebron the best player in the NBA.
The King and his men are sitting pretty with the best record in the association and he is the clear MVP frontrunner. I’d still rather have Kobe (and maybe a couple other guys) in the last few minutes of a big game and I think the Lakers will repeat as champs. But after Lebron and Kobe, you could argue that the Lakers have at least four players that are better than anyone on the Cavs (with all due respect to Osama Bin Shaq). And Lebron James is 25 years old! Michael Jordan was 27 when he led the Bulls to their first of six NBA titles. I’m not crazy about how he carries himself on the court or some of the things he says to the media, but maybe I should get use to it, because if he’s not the best in the world now, the King will have his reign soon enough and it should be a long one.
Avatar – I now see the world in 3D…
After hearing endless reports of audiences being mesmerized by James Cameron’s future fantasy land and the major advancement in 3D technology that was Avatar, as well as being bored to death by the NFL playoffs, I had to go see what all the fuss was about. After about five minutes of adjusting my eyes to the 3D glasses, I was lost in Pandora. With a fairly trite, cliché story line and very little character development, it isn’t necessarily “my kind of movie”, but it’s a rare case of the positives leveling out the negatives. Avatar is so awesomely mind-blowing it is impossible not to call it a great film. But as captivated as I was for two and a half hours while watching it, and as satisfied as I felt as I walked out of the theater, it still left me with mixed feelings. In ten years, when we have seen many great 3D films with impressive sci-fi and effects, will Avatar still seem so great?
Avatar sparked the discussion of soon-to-be launched 3D TV channels, starting with ESPN 3D. While this is very exciting, we will soon be spoiled with the technology and anxious for the day we can view the game as a hologram while sitting in a lazy boy right in the middle of the field. Or maybe we’ll have chips planted in our brains that allow us to view the game as if we were courtside while catching the bus home from work or taking your lady out to dinner. While new technology is great for sports and films, it is not all that makes them great and it will always be abused. Super Bowl XXXII, despite being broadcast in only standard definition television, is still the best NFL game ever played, and The Hurt Locker, despite being screened in only two dimensions, should still win the Oscar for Best Picture.
Best Show on Wheels
As I offer my analysis on the Australian Open and the Winter X Games, I’m sure you get the idea that I like to follow all sorts of sporting events. Still, I would rather wear cheese grater underwear while listening to Kenny G Christmas albums than watch more than ten minutes of any auto race. But my distaste for racing was trumped by my love for great documentary TV (I reserve the term “reality show” for game shows like Survivor despite not being based on any actual existing reality) as well as great character drama when I first came across History Channel’s new series, Madhouse.
Set at legendary Bowman Gray Stadium, Madhouse follows four teams of modified racecar drivers through their crash-filled soap opera of a season with excellent gritty videography and fast paced editing. All of our favorite characters are in it: The evil, bitter old king who wont step down; the prime hot shot who wants to steal the thrown; the prime hot shot who wants to take steal the thrown’s brother; the schizophrenic Jesus freak who got here all on his own; and the asshole who wins a lot but has no personality. Spoiler alert: They all hate each other!
I respect passionate sports fans, so there’s nothing I like to see more than a couple three hundred pound Carolina girls swearing at each other about which local semi-pro race car driver is king of the track. These lovable rednecks really are superstars in Winston-Salem, and if you watch the show, you might just start to understand why.
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