Oscars Postmortem

Postmortem is such a great word for this kind of a situation.  Anyway, here are my picks.  Ones I got correct are in bold, ones that I did not have the actual winner next to them.

Best Picture: The Departed
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Actor: Forest Whittaker
Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin
Best Supporting Acress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Animated Feature: Cars (Happy Feet)
Best Animated Short: Maestro (The Danish Poet)
Best Live Action Short: Eramos Pocos (West Bank Story)
Best Foreign Film: Pan’s Labyrinth (The Lives of Others)
Best Documentary Short: The Blood of Yingzhou District
Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
Best Cinematography: Children of Men (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Best Art Direction:  Dreamgirls (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Best Costume Design: Marie Antoinette
Best Makeup: Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls
Best Sound Editing: Pirates of the Carribbean (Letters from Iwo Jima)
Best Film Editing: United 93 (The Departed)
Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Carribbean
Best Original Score: The Queen (Babel)
Best Original Song: “Listen,” Dreamgirls (“I Need to Wake Up”, An Inconvenient Truth)

All in all, I got 14 correct out of the 24 categories total, tying me for first place in my pool with my housemate D.  My partner K got 13, making this the first year since I’ve known her that she hasn’t won at least a share of the prize.  She was royally pissed, especially because after she turned in her picks to me she predicted that Alan Arkin would beat Eddie Murphy, and that The Departed would win the editing prize over Babel (or United 93, for that matter).  “The Lives of Others” must be amazing to have beat out Pan’s Labyrinth for best foreign film… that’s gotta go on my to-see list.  Also on said list?  The best live-action short winner, “West Bank Story.”  It’s West Side Story with Jews and Palestinians, and they fight between falafel stands on either side of the street.  Amazing.

I normally don’t care about the fashion, but here’s my two cents.  Well dressed: Jodie Foster (I have such a crush on her… always have), Kate Winslet, Helen Mirren, and surprisingly, Celine Dion.  Poorly dressed: Anne Hathaway (and apparently, she’s dumb as a brick too… she went to my college), Cameron Diaz (looked like she was wearing a vinyl shower curtain).

…

Man, now I can’t wait for Project Runway to come back…

“Most Valuable Player”

I just wanted to say that the only league that consistently gets the “MVP” concept correct is the NBA.  Steve Nash has been the MVP for the past two years, and probably should be again this year.  You know why?  The Suns are mortal without him, and damn near unbeatable with him.  As much as I love Gilbert Arenas (which is quite a bit, considering how little I really care about professional basketball), Nash should be the consensus.

The MVP doesn’t NECESSARILY mean “the best player on the best team.”  It can, but it should mean, “the person whose team’s performance would drop the most if they were to be removed.”

As much as I love MLB, they are consistently the worst.  Last year wasn’t so bad, with Justin Morneau and Ryan Howard taking home the prizes.  The Twins and Phillies respectively wouldn’t have been nearly as good last year without those two young men.  But A-Rod in 2004?  The Derek Jeter campaign last year?  This may sound like Yankee-bashing for its own sake, but the New York lineup is so loaded that it’s hard for me to understand how one player can be singled out like that.  Everyone makes everyone else so much better in that lineup.  Put Jeter in Kansas City and we’ll see how valuable he is.  I did agree with the A-Rod MVPs while he was in Texas.  He was clearly the best player in the world at that point, and that team would have been complete trash without him (not that they were really any good with him, but I assure you they were probably a lot better),  Ewing Theory implications aside.

First Fantasy Draft of the Year? Pwned.

I’m breaking a cardinal rule here: assuming that anyone else cares about your fantasy team. But I’m way too geeked about my first draft of the season this morning to let it pass without writing about it.

This is for an MLB.com 12-team mixed head-to-head staff-pitching league. I had the 4th pick overall.

1. Chase Utley (PHI – 2B)
Nabbing really one of the few 2B’s with any kind of power in the league is worth a first round pick. Ortiz and Pujols were gone, and I think that’s still to early to go after someone like Reyes. Besides, I have SB’s covered (see below).

2. Adam Dunn (CIN – OF)
Dunn isn’t going to hit for average and strikes out a ton, but he’s a lock for 35 HR’s and 100 RBIs. Write it in pen.

3. Justin Morneau (MIN – 1B)
A third round pick for the reigning AL MVP and the best young power hitter in the game not named Howard? Yes please. Definitely a .300/30/100 season coming.

4. Ichiro Suzuki (SEA – OF)
Remember when I said I had SB’s covered? Oh yeah, and in a contract year, no less. This is when I started to realize I was heading towards something pretty special with this team.

5. Chone Figgins (LAA – 3B, OF)
Remember when I said I had SB’s covered? The flexibility is nice — double eligibility is something I covet. Figgins had a bit of a down year last year, but he was without a doubt the best 3B available at that point. Since I got Utley, I could afford to sacrifice some power from my other corner spot.

6. Bill Hall (MIL – SS)
Is listed on MLB.com as a CF, oddly enough, but is eligible at SS only. Hmm… maybe I’ll get even more flexibility eventually. Fantastic. He hit .270/.345/.553 last season with 35 (!) home runs. Not bad production from your shortstop.

7. Boston Red Sox (P)
I was really happy about this. As you may remember, I think that the Boston staff has a chance to be the best in the majors last year. They were ranked fairly low by MLB.com, probably because of their sub-par year last year. With the addition of Matsuzaka and Papelbon to the rotation, and Beckett’s continuing adjustment to the AL, watch out for Beantown.

8: Michael Cuddyer (MIN – OF)
Cuddyer is really streaky. When he’s on, he’s ON, but he can be downright suck when he’s off. I covered him with some other strong OF’s later on, but I probably have enough flexibility to handle it. I’ve run with him over the past few years, and have been happy.

9: Lyle Overbay (TOR – 1B)
An absolute doubles machine. I bet the Diamondbacks front office is kicking themselves every day for trading him away (he was included in that historically bad Richie Sexson trade with the Brewers a few years back).

10: Hank Blalock (TEX – 3B)
Blalock tailed off a bit last year, but he’s really here to back up Figgins. Any production out of him is a big plus.

11: Scott Podsednik (CWS – OF)
Remember when I said I had SB’s covered? Pods is the kind of player who wins games and fantasy leagues. The 11th round? Yes please.

12: Rocco Baldelli (TB – OF)
Probably didn’t deserve the hype that we has getting as a rookie (he was compared to Joe DiMaggio), but is finally healthy and should put together a good year. He could very well be traded before the deadline, at which point his value will just rise.

13: Florida Marlins (P)
Here’s the biggest steal in the draft. I nabbed the best young pitching staff in the majors in the 13th f&$%ing round. And they’re my backup. Bwahahahahaha.

14: Brandon Phillips (CIN – 2B)
Realized at this point that I only had one 2B on the roster, and missed out on new Cub Mark deRosa by two or three picks. Phillips plays in that bandbox of a stadium in Cincinatti, and he’s a speedster too.  EDIT: I actually just placed a waiver claim on Rich Aurilia, and would drop Phillips for him.  I’m losing speed, but gaining a little power and a whole lot of flexibility (Phillips only plays second, while Aurilia is eligible at every infield position).

15. Josh Bard (SD – C)
The crowning jewel of my draft. I got my starting catcher in the final round, and it’s one who hit .333/.404/.522 last year. He’s the full-time catcher now in San Diego thanks to Piazza’s departure. He’s going to really break through this season.

A great start to the season. Can’t wait for the next draft. Not sure which one it is… I have three more live ones, including my Brew Balls IV draft (the league with all my friends from school — the one I take the most seriously). Yay! Fantasy season makes me realllllllllllllllly happy.

2007 Oscar Picks

No filters, no explanations.  Just picks.

Best Picture: The Departed
Best Director: Martin Scorsese
Best Actor: Forest Whittaker
Best Actress: Helen Mirren
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin
Best Supporting Acress: Jennifer Hudson
Best Animated Feature: Cars
Best Animated Short: Maestro
Best Live Action Short: Eramos Pocos
Best Foreign Film: Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Documentary Short: The Blood of Yangzhou District
Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed
Best Cinematography: Children of Men
Best Art Direction:  Dreamgirls
Best Costume Design: Marie Antoinette
Best Makeup: Pan’s Labyrinth
Best Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls
Best Sound Editing: Pirates of the Carribbean
Best Film Editing: United 93
Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Carribbean
Best Original Score: The Queen
Best Original Song: “Listen,” Dreamgirls

The Gyroball Revealed!

Link nabbed from Dan Shanoff… thanks Dan!

The Japanese Gyroball Mystery – New York Times

From ESPN.com’s Jim Caple…

“A great day for America, not such a great day for NASCAR. A bunch of drivers have been fined for putting jet fuel in their cars. That’s the equivalent of steroids in NASCAR. It’s very easy to tell which cars are on these steroids. They’re the ones with the shrunken ball bearings.”

– Colin Ferguson

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

If you can believe it, I just saw Frank Capra’s classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington for the first time last night.  Here’s what I thought…

2007 NL Preview

Part two of yesterday’s preview… today, the Senior Circuit.

NL East

1. Philadelphia Phillies
I’m drinking the Jimmy Rollins Kool-Aid on this one. The Phils have the best infield in the NL (maybe even in the majors) with Howard, Utley, and Rollins. Freddy Garcia, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Adam Eaton, and Jamie Moyer comprise a hell of a rotation — and they have Jon Lieber as trade bait too. The Mets and Braves didn’t get better enough. Fantasy Sleeper: Cole Hamels (SP) Hamels got a lot of mid-season hype last year, but struggled with injuries. He’s got all the tools to really make a splash this season.

2. New York Mets
Last year’s East champs still have a fantastic offense, headlined by two of the best young players in the league: Jose Reyes and David Wright. That isn’t to mention, of course, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and new import Moises Alou. However, the pitching is a shambles; the only free agent they brought in to replace the injured Pedro Martinez (who will be missing most of the season) was Chan Ho Park. Not good. Fantasy Sleeper: Lastings Milledge (CF) Super-prospect Milledge will start the season in the minors, but if one of the outfielders (Alou, Beltran, or Shawn Green) goes down with injury, or if the Mets decide they need more speed, Milledge will most likely be the first one called up.

3. Florida Marlins
The Marlins have bar none the best young pitching staff in the National League. Dontrelle Willis is the veteran ace, leading the way with Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco, and Anibal Sanchez (who pitched a no-hitter last season). Last year, those four rookies all won 10 games, making them the first group of more than two rookie teammates to do that in MLB history. The pitching staff alone probably helped them into contention last year, not to mention the offensive production of rookies like NL ROY Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Josh Willingham. Oh, and they still have Miguel Cabrera. Next year, expect them back in the postseason, if not back in South Florida. Fantasy Sleeper: Jeremy Hermida (RF) Those who drafted Hermida last year with high hopes were probably disappointed, but he’ll continue to blossom this season. He might be worth a bench spot.

4. Atlanta Braves
Although the Braves bullpen promises to be a huge strength (along with acquiring Mike Gonzalez from the Pirates ,they absolutely FLEECED the Mariners in the offseason with that Horacio Ramirez-Rafael Soriano trade), I’m not convinced about their starting pitching behind John Smoltz and their offense past Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, and Brian McCann. Fantasy Sleeper: Mike Hampton (SP) Hey, why not? If you have a late draft pick and are looking for a throwaway pitcher, you could probably do worse. Fact is, the big names mentioned above plus Jeff Francoeur are really the only hitters worth drafting, and then Smoltz and Tim Hudson in the rotation, and Bob Wickman, Soriano, and Gonzalez in the bullpen.

5. Washington Nationals
This team is a mess. They don’t have a rotation to speak of, with 2006 one-game winner John Patterson as the de facto “ace.” They’re going to need another couple of years in order to be ready to compete. Fantasy Sleeper: Patterson (SP) Patterson has a lot of talent, if he can keep healthy. Keep an eye on him. Otherwise, Ryan Zimmerman and Chad Cordero are the only Nationals you need to worry about fromink the a fantasy standpoint.

2007 AL Preview

First substantive post! Here are my predictions and a brief blurb for each team in the Junior Circuit. The National League will come tomorrow.

AL EAST
1. Boston Red Sox
I swear I’m not being a homer on this one. I really think that the Red Sox pitching is going to take them over the top, regardless of whether that team in the Bronx manages to lure Roger Clemens for one last “one last” season. The team finally has a real leadoff hitter in Julio Lugo, and if they can keep Manny Ramirez happy and J.D. Drew healthy, this team is going to be a real handful come October. Matsuzaka will be a finalist for AL Cy Young and ROY. Fantasy Sleeper: Joel Piniero (RP) Don’t be surprised if Piniero wins and thrives in the closer’s spot at Fenway.

2. New York Yankees (Wild Card)
This race is going to come right down to the end. The Yankee offense will mash AL pitching, and the pitching will be just good enough to keep them in it (Pettite and Mussina will regress, but Chien-Ming Wang will continue his evolution and win 18 games, making him another contender for AL Cy). If they want to get it done with this current version of the team, they’d better do it now, as there’s a (albeit slim) possibility that they could lose both A-Rod and Rivera this offseason. Fantasy Sleeper: Melky Cabrera (LF) Obviously most of the Yanks’ offense is extremely valuble, but Melky puts up pretty good numbers for a fourth outfielder if you’re in a pinch. Later in the season, watch out for uber-pitching prospect Philip Hughes.

3. Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays are going to be right in this until September. In the end, I don’t think Halladay and Burnett are going to be enough pitching to survive this division. With the addition of Frank Thomas, though, I’m beginning to think that my thoughts last season that this was the scariest offense we faced didn’t even scratch the surface. If they can land one more starter in a trade or next offseason, watch the $#%@ out. Fantasy Sleeper: Alex Rios (RF) A big breakout season last year was derailed late by injury. If he slips into the middle rounds, grab him. Don’t forget about doubles machine Lyle Overbay, either.

4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The past few years, I’ve been predicting the Rays to move up in the standings. This is a real solid young team, and they could really make the leap if they trade some of their outstanding outfield depth (probably Rocco Baldelli, not Carl Crawford or Delmon Young) for a starting pitcher to complement the phenomenal Scott Kazmir. Fantasy Sleeper: Akinori Iwamura (3B) Although infielders have had a tendency to struggle in the transition from Japan to MLB (see Matsui, Kazuo), Iwamura seems to be a reasonable chance to take. Don’t overpay for him, but keep him in mind if you don’t nab one of the few hot corner blue-chippers and it’s getting late in your draft.

5. Baltimore Orioles
It’s gonna be a tough year for my old hometown team. Injuries have already begun to hit the pitching staff, as well chronicled here. Although Miguel Tejada, Aubrey Huff, and Brian Roberts will continue to produce runs in the lineup, Erik Bedard and (to a lesser extent) Hayden Penn will not be able to keep up. Fantasy Sleeper: Nick Markakis (RF) Definitely worth either a late-round flier if your outfield is weak, or at least a spot on your watch list as a capable injury replacement. A rookie last year, Markakis performed admirably and will continue to blossom as a hitter.

The beginning.

Now, I’ve tried blogging before, but I couldn’t keep up with it. This is my newest attempt. The topics I’m going to try to cover here are, well, multivarious. I’d like to just write about whatever I see fit, hoping to find an audience and see if anyone is interested in what I have to say.

As noted in the subtitle, several things I’ll be sure to cover are:

• Sports: I’m a huge baseball fan (go Red Sox!), and love to watch sports in general. A good chunk of my sports coverage will be centered on Boston, but I’ll try to give my take on other big sporting events and news as well.
• Politics/Current Events: I’m a fairly liberal Democrat, and love to engage in political discourse of any kind. I’m opinionated (natch, I have a blog) and generally have something to say about current events.  I especially enjoy purely political pursuits, like election strategy and such.
• Movies: When we can afford it, my partner and I thoroughly enjoy going to the movies and taking advantage of our Netflix account.  When we do, or when I see something thought provoking, I’ll post it here.
• Television: The DVR in our house is the devil.  Because of it, I watch far too much TV for my own good, and it often gets in the way of my completing my final year of college.  But, the good news is that I definitely enjoy wasting even more of my time talking about what I’ve seen.  I generally despise spoilers, so if I include anything like that, I’ll be sure to make it clear.
• Miscellaneous: Basically, if there’s anything else that piques my interest, and I think that it might do the same for you, my as-yet-undetermined readers, I’ll post it here.

That’s about it.  I hope that this project works out well, and that someone out there is intrigued and interested in what I have to say about things.  Please feel free to comment with your own thoughts (not only on what I’ve written, but also if you see something out there that you think I might be interested in), but keep it respectful and don’t comment anonymously.

Here goes!
==T.C.