Tuesday’s 6-pack
Six interesting NFL Week 1 spreads:
— Dallas @ Tampa Bay (-6.5, 52)
— Pittsburgh @ Buffalo (-6, 50.5)
— NJ Jets @ Carolina (-4, 43.5)
— Jacksonville (-2.5, 45.5) @ Houston
— Arizona @ Tennessee (-3, 52)
— LA Chargers (-1.5, 44.5) @ Washington
Quote of the Day
“We were so naïve, and we don’t know the building well enough to know that more than half the building collapsed. The lights were out, and we were just trying to get out of there as fast as possible.”
UConn pitcher Justin Willis, who escaped the building that collapsed in Miami last week
Tuesday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came to be in 1970, after spending their first season in existence in another city. Where did the Brewers call home for one year, in 1969?
Monday’s quiz
Mike Shula was the football coach at Alabama before Nick Saban.
Sunday’s quiz
UCLA hasn’t won a bowl game since 2014; Jim Mora Jr was coaching the Bruins back then.
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Tuesday’s Den: Some thoughts about movies…….
It is 3am, I don’t feel like going to bed, so I’m going to rattle on about movies for a while.
These are my opinions, so they’re neither right/wrong, just what I think. Make your own lists, it was fun to clear out the cobwebs in my mind and think of some old stuff.
13) Movies I think I’ve seen the most (wish I had an official count)
— Moneyball- Hey, I’m an A’s fam
— Rounders- Great movie.
— A Star is Born- First hour is great, second hour very sad.
— Last Vegas- An epic cast.
— Blue Chips- My all-time favorite basketball movie.
Guys who played basketball in Blue Chips who later became coaches:
— Anfernee Hardaway
— Bobby Hurley
— Rex Walters
— Matt Painter
I am unusual (you call it odd, I say unusual) in that I see movies I like dozens of times, maybe more, but I’ve never seen Star Wars and I only saw the Godfather for first time couple years ago.
12) Other movies I’ve seen an awful lot
— Major League- Bob Uecker should’ve won an Oscar for his role.
— Molly’s Game- True story about a woman who ran underground poker games.
— Begin Again- If you like music, this is a good one to see.
— Dave- Kevin Kline becomes a stand-in for the US President.
— For Love of the Game- A 40-year pitcher makes his last game his best one.
As soon as these lists get posted, I’m going to think of 3-4 movies I forgot, and I’m going to be so annoyed at myself.
11) This all started when someone on Twitter posted a thing: “Name the five movies you’ve seen the most” which started my mind running and also a lot of other people. The thread is fun to go through; people like so many different things, it is what makes our country so interesting, we live in the same place but like totally different things.
10) When I was a teenager, I was a big fan of stand-up comics and my favorite was Steve Martin. I have one of his comedy albums (Let’s Get Small) but he also became a really good actor. My three favorite Steve Martin movies:
— Leap of Faith
— Shopgirl
— Roxanne
The scene in Roxanne where he makes up 20 jokes about his nose (actually 26, count them!!!) makes my list of favorite movie scenes ever.
9) The first time I saw Caddyshack was with friends from college; it was the first time I realized that some people watch the same movies over and over, and drink when certain key words are spoken. My friends were avid golfers; they freakin’ loved Caddyshack.
8) Good movies that wound up being pretty sad:
— Less than Zero- Three high school friends have very different experiences after they graduate from high school.
— A Star is Born- Movie has been made four different times, dating back to the 1930’s.
— Beaches- When I saw this movie in the theater with my future ex-wife, when it ended, you could hear dozens and dozens of people openly sobbing. The right sleeve of my short sleeve shirt was soaked from her crying and wiping her eyes with my shirt. Oy.
7) My favorite basketball movies:
— Blue Chips— The scene with Bob Cousy/Nick Nolte shooting foul shots in an empty gym is my all-time favorite movie scene.
— The Way Back— Relatively new movie has Ben Affleck playing a high school coach with a drinking problem. The basketball scenes are really well done.
— Fast Break— Gabe Kaplan quits his job running a deli in New York City to become a college basketball coach in Nevada.
— Hoosiers— Gene Hackman was a terrible coach, but Jimmy Chitwood played, so they always won. I mean, even the drunk assistant coach knew Jimmy should shoot just about all the time.
— He Got Game— Underrated movie about a hot-shot high school recruit and what people will do to get the kid to play for their college. Jim Brown, Denzel Washington, Ned Beatty, a really good cast, plus Ray Allen/Rick Fox have big rules.
— One on One— Robby Benson is a hotshot basketball recruit who falls out of favor with his new coach.
Guy who was only in one scene was John Turturro, who played Joey Knish in Rounders; he plays the coach at Big State, a college recruiting Ray Allen’s character (Jesus Shuttlesworth)
6) On my bucket list of life is to watch the movie Let It Ride with my cousin KL Wheat, who likes to wager on the ponies. Richard Dreyfuss plays a degenerate gambler who has one really great day at the racetrack. Very funny movie.
Jennifer Tilly is in this movie; she wound up being a big-time poker player; her boyfriend is/was Phil Laak, a pro poker player known as the Unabomber.
5) My favorite football movies:
— Any Given Sunday— Al Pacino delivers two great speeches
—The Replacements— Daniel Snyder should rename his NFL team the Sentinels.
— Brian’s Song— True story about two friends who played for the Bears.
— Necessary Roughness— Movie about the Texas State Armadillos; tremendous!!!
— Heaven Can Wait— Not really a football film, but the Rams win the Super Bowl in the movie, and it is possible I still have a movie poster from the theater here in my house.
4) I’ve spent way too much time trying to decide which movie I like better; Major League or Bull Durham? Both really good, but for different reasons. Ask me on Monday, I’ll give you an answer, but ask me three days later, and I’ve probably changed my mind.
3) If you like music……..
— Begin Again— A down on his luck music exec finds a young talent in a Manhattan bar.
— A Star Is Born— The new version with Lady Gaga is lot different than the 1976 one with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.
— The Bodyguard— Whitney Houston was a great talent; didn’t realize she was only 48 when she passed away.
2) Gambling related movies:
— Rounders— Matt Damon has to decide between law school and playing poker.
— Lucky You— Lot of real-life poker stars in this one, which is set in Las Vegas. Robert Duvall plays the Doyle Brunson-type character.
— Let It Ride— We’ve already talked about this one.
— Molly’s Game— This movie is actually a continuation of the book Molly Bloom wrote.
1) Favorite baseball movies:
— Moneyball— I’m an A’s fan, what did you expect?
— The Rookie— Dennis Quaid was in this and Any Given Sunday
— Major League/Bull Durham
— For Love of the Game
— Bad News Bears— Walter Matthau as a Little League coach was classic.
— Little Big League— The mom in this movie? In real life, her son was the Mets’ first round draft pick last summer.
— The Natural— When a guy on the Texas Rangers hits a home run, they play the song from the end of this movie, when Roy Hobbs sends everyone home happy.
Make your own list of movies, see what you come up with.
Six interesting NFL Week 1 spreads:
— Dallas @ Tampa Bay (-6.5, 52)
— Pittsburgh @ Buffalo (-6, 50.5)
— NJ Jets @ Carolina (-4, 43.5)
— Jacksonville (-2.5, 45.5) @ Houston
— Arizona @ Tennessee (-3, 52)
— LA Chargers (-1.5, 44.5) @ Washington
Quote of the Day
“We were so naïve, and we don’t know the building well enough to know that more than half the building collapsed. The lights were out, and we were just trying to get out of there as fast as possible.”
UConn pitcher Justin Willis, who escaped the building that collapsed in Miami last week
Tuesday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came to be in 1970, after spending their first season in existence in another city. Where did the Brewers call home for one year, in 1969?
Monday’s quiz
Mike Shula was the football coach at Alabama before Nick Saban.
Sunday’s quiz
UCLA hasn’t won a bowl game since 2014; Jim Mora Jr was coaching the Bruins back then.
*******************************************
Tuesday’s Den: Some thoughts about movies…….
It is 3am, I don’t feel like going to bed, so I’m going to rattle on about movies for a while.
These are my opinions, so they’re neither right/wrong, just what I think. Make your own lists, it was fun to clear out the cobwebs in my mind and think of some old stuff.
13) Movies I think I’ve seen the most (wish I had an official count)
— Moneyball- Hey, I’m an A’s fam
— Rounders- Great movie.
— A Star is Born- First hour is great, second hour very sad.
— Last Vegas- An epic cast.
— Blue Chips- My all-time favorite basketball movie.
Guys who played basketball in Blue Chips who later became coaches:
— Anfernee Hardaway
— Bobby Hurley
— Rex Walters
— Matt Painter
I am unusual (you call it odd, I say unusual) in that I see movies I like dozens of times, maybe more, but I’ve never seen Star Wars and I only saw the Godfather for first time couple years ago.
12) Other movies I’ve seen an awful lot
— Major League- Bob Uecker should’ve won an Oscar for his role.
— Molly’s Game- True story about a woman who ran underground poker games.
— Begin Again- If you like music, this is a good one to see.
— Dave- Kevin Kline becomes a stand-in for the US President.
— For Love of the Game- A 40-year pitcher makes his last game his best one.
As soon as these lists get posted, I’m going to think of 3-4 movies I forgot, and I’m going to be so annoyed at myself.
11) This all started when someone on Twitter posted a thing: “Name the five movies you’ve seen the most” which started my mind running and also a lot of other people. The thread is fun to go through; people like so many different things, it is what makes our country so interesting, we live in the same place but like totally different things.
10) When I was a teenager, I was a big fan of stand-up comics and my favorite was Steve Martin. I have one of his comedy albums (Let’s Get Small) but he also became a really good actor. My three favorite Steve Martin movies:
— Leap of Faith
— Shopgirl
— Roxanne
The scene in Roxanne where he makes up 20 jokes about his nose (actually 26, count them!!!) makes my list of favorite movie scenes ever.
9) The first time I saw Caddyshack was with friends from college; it was the first time I realized that some people watch the same movies over and over, and drink when certain key words are spoken. My friends were avid golfers; they freakin’ loved Caddyshack.
8) Good movies that wound up being pretty sad:
— Less than Zero- Three high school friends have very different experiences after they graduate from high school.
— A Star is Born- Movie has been made four different times, dating back to the 1930’s.
— Beaches- When I saw this movie in the theater with my future ex-wife, when it ended, you could hear dozens and dozens of people openly sobbing. The right sleeve of my short sleeve shirt was soaked from her crying and wiping her eyes with my shirt. Oy.
7) My favorite basketball movies:
— Blue Chips— The scene with Bob Cousy/Nick Nolte shooting foul shots in an empty gym is my all-time favorite movie scene.
— The Way Back— Relatively new movie has Ben Affleck playing a high school coach with a drinking problem. The basketball scenes are really well done.
— Fast Break— Gabe Kaplan quits his job running a deli in New York City to become a college basketball coach in Nevada.
— Hoosiers— Gene Hackman was a terrible coach, but Jimmy Chitwood played, so they always won. I mean, even the drunk assistant coach knew Jimmy should shoot just about all the time.
— He Got Game— Underrated movie about a hot-shot high school recruit and what people will do to get the kid to play for their college. Jim Brown, Denzel Washington, Ned Beatty, a really good cast, plus Ray Allen/Rick Fox have big rules.
— One on One— Robby Benson is a hotshot basketball recruit who falls out of favor with his new coach.
Guy who was only in one scene was John Turturro, who played Joey Knish in Rounders; he plays the coach at Big State, a college recruiting Ray Allen’s character (Jesus Shuttlesworth)
6) On my bucket list of life is to watch the movie Let It Ride with my cousin KL Wheat, who likes to wager on the ponies. Richard Dreyfuss plays a degenerate gambler who has one really great day at the racetrack. Very funny movie.
Jennifer Tilly is in this movie; she wound up being a big-time poker player; her boyfriend is/was Phil Laak, a pro poker player known as the Unabomber.
5) My favorite football movies:
— Any Given Sunday— Al Pacino delivers two great speeches
—The Replacements— Daniel Snyder should rename his NFL team the Sentinels.
— Brian’s Song— True story about two friends who played for the Bears.
— Necessary Roughness— Movie about the Texas State Armadillos; tremendous!!!
— Heaven Can Wait— Not really a football film, but the Rams win the Super Bowl in the movie, and it is possible I still have a movie poster from the theater here in my house.
4) I’ve spent way too much time trying to decide which movie I like better; Major League or Bull Durham? Both really good, but for different reasons. Ask me on Monday, I’ll give you an answer, but ask me three days later, and I’ve probably changed my mind.
3) If you like music……..
— Begin Again— A down on his luck music exec finds a young talent in a Manhattan bar.
— A Star Is Born— The new version with Lady Gaga is lot different than the 1976 one with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.
— The Bodyguard— Whitney Houston was a great talent; didn’t realize she was only 48 when she passed away.
2) Gambling related movies:
— Rounders— Matt Damon has to decide between law school and playing poker.
— Lucky You— Lot of real-life poker stars in this one, which is set in Las Vegas. Robert Duvall plays the Doyle Brunson-type character.
— Let It Ride— We’ve already talked about this one.
— Molly’s Game— This movie is actually a continuation of the book Molly Bloom wrote.
1) Favorite baseball movies:
— Moneyball— I’m an A’s fan, what did you expect?
— The Rookie— Dennis Quaid was in this and Any Given Sunday
— Major League/Bull Durham
— For Love of the Game
— Bad News Bears— Walter Matthau as a Little League coach was classic.
— Little Big League— The mom in this movie? In real life, her son was the Mets’ first round draft pick last summer.
— The Natural— When a guy on the Texas Rangers hits a home run, they play the song from the end of this movie, when Roy Hobbs sends everyone home happy.
Make your own list of movies, see what you come up with.
