20 threes and a 2-0 lead: Cavs-Pistons, Behind the Box Score
April 21, 2016Browns land DeForest Buckner in first post-trade mock from Todd McShay
April 21, 2016Good morning y’all. So, the big news is the Cleveland Browns trading down in the NFL Draft from the No. 2 pick to the No. 8 pick, along with all kinds of goodies from the Philadelphia Eagles though we cannot touch some of them until 2018. The trade shows that the more things change—owners, front office, coaches, players—the more they stay the same, as the Browns trade down from high picks more than any other team in the NFL.
Of course, for circle to win the square, the Browns now need to trade up a spot or two to select this year’s Phil Taylor, Justin Gilbert, Johnny Manziel, or Kellen Winslow Jr. But, we’ll have plenty of Browns talk on the WFNY pages this next week, so let’s use this space for something a bit more fun and cheerful.
Suicide Squad – Spoiler Free
For being a guy who grew up reading Marvel comics, it is strange and fun to be more excited for DC’s Suicide Squad movie than any comic book movie of my adult life. The premise of natural antagonists forced into the protaganist role is fascinating given the generic black-and-white nature movies tend to gravitate towards. There is just an intrinsic value in having lead characters cross the proverbial line drawn in the sand. In the comics, most of the characters are slowly built with many strengths and flaws visible making the transition from “good” to “bad” and back happen seamlessly. The perspectives of which side is truly “good” sometimes only being a matter of point of view. Marvel’s Civil War movie appears to blur the line, but DC’s Suicide Squad looks to dispatch with the line entirely.
That the feature’s trailers look to be a mix of the Dark Knight Trilogy style filming, while adding a female lead1 and Guardians of the Galaxy level humor amps the excitement meter well past 11. DC’s problem in their movie universe has been that they take themselves far too seriously. Grown adults have super powers and wear ridiculous outfits, so it is possible and welcome to have some tangent films that explore how to truly have fun with that baseline.
I had mentioned in my last WWW that the decreased expectations might help people accept an average Batman v Superman movie, and that seems to have been the case. It is quite possible that the heightened expectations for Suicide Squad will squash what would otherwise be an entertaining film. But, as with Lindor, I’m not allowing anything to dampen my excitement about the movie other than the movie itself.
Indians biggest rivals
Craig Lyndall tackled this subject in the past, but with the AL Central looking to be the best division in MLB (on Wednesday, Indians sat in fourth place despite 6-5 record), discovering the Indians biggest rival bears a refresh.
One of the issues with the MLB postseason before they gave the Wild Card entrants a one-game playoff penalty, was that divisions did not mean as much. But, MLB has spent the past decade attempting to intensify those rivalries. Unbalanced scheduling remains, but more of those divisional games have been moved to the beginning and end of seasons. And, that one-game playoff for Wild Card teams means that winning the division means something again.
Still, if you ask groups of Indians fans who the team’s biggest rival is, you are likely to get many different answers ranging from the New York Yankees to Boston Red Sox to Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox. You might even get a few votes for the Kansas City Royals with their recent success, or the Minnesota Twins from those who are still upset at Paul Molitor blowing a gasket when Jose Ramirez flipped his bat.
Given that the Yankees are everyone’s rivals and the Red Sox fans don’t need any more ego-boost, the field narrows pretty quickly to the Tigers, White Sox, and Royals.
My vote is for the Chicago White Sox. Though the teams have both been in MLB for over 100 years, the real rivalry between us started in 1994 when Chicago managed to finish one game ahead of the Indians when the MLB season was cancelled with a strike in August. White Sox manager Gene Lamont would have Belle’s bat confiscated during a season only to see Jason Grimsley utilize his ninja training to steal it back from the White Sox clubhouse. The Frank Thomas versus Albert Belle debates continued through the decade until the White Sox just went and signed Belle. The White Sox would make it commonplace to sign former Indian stars as Omar Vizquel, Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, and Sandy Alomar Jr. all wore their colorless uniforms before retirement.
The infamous “white flag” trades in 1997 signalled Chicago giving up the division only to see the Indians finish one out from a World Series win. The infamous Indians collapse down the stretch in 2005 ending up giving Chicago a path to the playoffs, which they culminated with a World Series championship. There was Paul Konerko, Ozzie Guillen, and A.J. Pierzynski. More recently, dominating Chicago in 2013 allowed the Indians to sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card participant.
For the 2016 season, there are plenty of reasons to sports-hate the White Sox too.
- Robin Ventura is their manager. Who doesn’t want to punch Robin Ventura in the face? In fact, punching Robin Ventura in the face is one of the most popular pictures ever sold about MLB.
- White Sox TV crew “Hawking” their squad.
- It has yet to be proven that Colombian Jose Guillermo Quintana’s grandfather is not the chief villain in the true story of Scarface.
- Melky Cabrera assaulted Carlos Carrasco with a deadly weapon last year but somehow managed to escape suspension.2
- Jose “Oso” Abreu has the nickname of a cuddly teddy bear, yet he will rip your heart out with his bat.
- Chris Sale
- Between acquiring Todd Frazier, Austin Jackson, and Brett Lawrie over the offseason, it was surprising the White Sox front office left anyone around for the Indians to sign to attempt to cover up our holes in center field and third base.
- Can you really trust any team who kicks a father out onto the streets for caring for his child? And, don’t tell me the White Sox didn’t realize that convincing Adam LaRoche to retire was going to save them from having to pay a poor hitter $13 million this season.
- Zach Putnam, Matt Albers, and Jerry Sands demonstrate the South Siders haven’t gotten over their former Indians fascination. Sure, no one cared when those guys left Cleveland, but Chicago is lurking waiting for your favorite player!
- Oh, and there is the little thing of the White Sox being in first place in the AL Central at 10-5 despite their two biggest offseason additions batting .186/.238/.373 (Todd Frazier) and .186/.222/.209 (Austin Jackson) respectively.
Everybody fired up now?
Great Houston flood
For those not aware, Texas received a little bit of rain over the weekend. The entire state was drenched, but Houston was hit especially hard. The downtown area was encapsulated with water shutting down the city and seven people lost their lives, while 1200 were rescued from the waters, 123,000 homes were without electricity, and many were evacuated to shelters. More rain is coming this weekend, so please say some prayers for the good folks in that area including WFNY commenter nj0 and friends-of-WFNY DST Performance. Stay safe guys.
Folks we cannot stress enough..stay home #houstonflood #houstonweather pic.twitter.com/uqJwZHjPRZ
— Houston Police Officers' Union (@HPOUTX) April 18, 2016
35 Comments
Hawk Harrelson is the **family-friendly-edit** worst. That guy is about as useful to his broadcast as the 9-button is to a microwave. I almost made it through April without having “He Gone” pop in my head a single time. So much for that streak.
WFNY…. today, I hate you.
I have to go with KC.
It seems that no matter how good the Tribe is, the Royals always give them fits. Ugh.
Anything that fires up people against the White Sox is worth it. So, I apologize for the agony, but it’ll be worth it in the end.
Finally saw Supe v. Bat last night, after avoiding all spoilers, but aware of the very bad reviews. I must say: I not only liked the movie; I loved it. Really loved it. The reasons are many, but I won’t go into it. I’ll just say I didn’t see any of the problems the reviews saw, and Affleck might be my favorite Batman ever. But I’m bat crazy.
Certainly doesn’t help with them continuing to tell Verducci how smart they are.
My expecations were down enough that I am waiting for video on that one, but glad to hear you enjoyed it as it gives me hope for that series.
Personal taste is always a tough thing, but I told my wife afterward that I thought it might be my favorite superhero movie ever. That opinion hasn’t changed in the light of a new day. (The first spiderman and dark knight are close.)
Find it in a dollar theater. (Do those still exist?)
7 days until the draft.
Sorry. Had to be done.
https://media.giphy.com/media/T8YXOAXph4EAo/giphy.gif
We have a $3 theater but it’s a far drive. I actually like my home system setup and the food is top notch.
I was among those stranded in Texas this weekend. Flights weren’t going anywhere. Pretty crazy stuff.
Assuming you were at IAH? Yeah, given the layout of the city, you’d think the Northern part of the city would be relatively safe from stuff like that, but the canal infrastructure apparently is out-dated up there and leads to instabilities when hit with that much water.
Agreed on the White Sox. They’re one of the few teams in sports that I can say I actively hate. Most of that goes to the underrated provocateur, Ozzie Guillen. He did quite a bit to foment a rivalry between the Sox and the entire city of Cleveland. Not my personal favorite, but probably his most effective moment:
https://nbchardballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/ozzie_guillen_autograph-thumb-400×300-12345.jpg
I was actually at AUS…but because all of the Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston airports were shut down, no one was going anywhere. That’s so crazy though. You’d think after Katrina, other gulf cities might have taken a harder look at their situations.
I’m one of the few people who seemed to enjoy Man of Steel. I attribute it to not having expectations of what a Superman movie has to be. Based on what I’ve read, SvB sounds like the same sort of thing.
I think I’d go with Spider-Man 2. It’s sort of a shame how the constant rebooting of these franchises sort of diminishes the reputation of the movies that have done it right.
He gone pops into my head like every two weeks and my feelings of shame/anger make me want to pull my brain out through my nostrils with a coat hanger.
As I have said in the past, I’d gladly punch Robin Ventura in the face, but I’d want to kick Mr. Guillen a bit lower.
Houston was hit badly by Ike. They keep pumping money into the corporations to keep the job market steady, but won’t put it into the infrastructure.
Have to let me know the next time you are stuck in my city though man.
Garry and myself join you in noting appreciation for Man of Steel (both of us also enjoyed the first half much more than the ending). Speaking for G_O here an all 🙂
Definitely will!!
I loved the second half. Fanboy quibbles aside, it felt like something different in what’s quickly becoming a stale genre.
When I think of that stupid “He gone” line, I imagine that the first time he said it in say 1978, a couple guys in a video truck squinted and shrugged, but no one cared or paid attention to the White Sox and so they let it go. And then there was a point where the network wanted to tell him he sounded like a huge douche, but it was too late. When I hear it, I cringe, and mostly I’m embarrassed for him and his family, especially his son Woody.
“there was a point where the network wanted to tell him he sounded like a huge douche but it was too late”
The Hawk summed up in one sentence.
Go for it.
It certainly was massive. And while I have the ability to suspend my disbelief and enjoy almost any movie, the massiveness of the destruction in the second half was just too much for me. But this is one of the reasons that I loved S v. B so much. They addressed it, and (without giving any spoilers) it more than satisfied me (though they may have downplayed the extent of the destruction a bit). The first 15 minutes of the new movie hooked me, and I stayed on the hook for the duration.
Different strokes. In my opinion, the destruction should be much more pronounced because Superman (and whomever he’s fighting) is (or at least should be) on a whole different level than just about every other hero. They should be throwing each other through every building in the city. But I like my Superman overpowered, godly, and capricious.
This whole trend started by Dark Knight Returns (o.g. comic) of putting Superman down to Batman’s level of power… Meh. I mean, it makes for a good story here and there, but I guess it’s just not for me.
I think you’ll like S v. B, for these reasons.
I was once “stranded” in Texas for 18 months. Some of the best 18 months of my adult life.
Not gonna lie, I enjoy the state.
TMZ reporting that the artist Prince has died at 57.
No canals here. Channels, yes. Canals, no.
While improving old infrastructure would make a difference in some parts of the city (especially as you move closer to downtown), I think the problem this time around was ol’ fashioned sprawl (and the lack of sense about planning and investing in new infrastructure goes along with that). Basically, you can’t keep laying down miles and miles of concrete year after year in a swamp without expecting this sort of thing. Sadly, we’re most likely not going to change our ways so this will keep happening. I shudder to think what the next hurricane to hit this city will do.
Egads, yes, that’s the term. Though canals and channels all look the same to me.
I’d say that right now the Tigers are our biggest rivals.
In the 90’s definitely the Chisox.
All time I would go with the Yankees.
Favorite superhero movie is a tough pick. I still think I favor the first Captain America for both the artistry of capturing the time and keeping a strong storyline. There’s a reason that Marvel has spun 90% of their universe off of that movie.
i would say the Tigers are the indians biggest rivals … and it starts again this weekend … good luck indians fans.
GO TIGERS !!!!