Trading Deadline Nears

What should the Sox do as July 31 approaches? Would I break the bank for the owner of a 500 record, AJ Burnett? No. But I do think they definitely need a starting pitcher and a closer. Watching Curt Schilling, it becomes more apparent each time out there he just doesn’t have it any more due to his ongoing ankle problems. He’s not Roger Clemens, people. I’m also not confident of Keith Foulk, even when he returns. I do like what I’ve seen of Manny Del Carmen; he was hitting 96 on the radar gun last night. I wouldn’t break the bank for Billy Wagner, but I would look around. I’d like to see Kevin Millar and Mark Bellhorn designated for assignment. Either way, neither guy will be back next year. Maybe I would package a deal for San Fran’s Jason Schmidt, minus their top prospects like Jon Papelbon. Anyway, either way, Theo pulled the plug on Nomar last year so the bet here is he'll do something before Sunday.

Million Dollar Baby

This movie is one in a million! How refreshing it was in this day and age of lousy movies and bad acting to finally watch an Academy Award movie (4 awards). How Clint didn’t win best actor is beyond me.

This is NOT a boxing movie; this is a movie about a man cultivating a relationship with a young woman in a manner that he had wished for with his own daughter, whom he has no relationship with at all. Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank, and Morgan Freemen, another terrific actor, are wonderful in their roles.

Also, no controversy here either in relation to the end, which I won’t spoil, but it takes up all of the final 15 minutes. Enjoy this movie!

PS: Is Clint Eastwood getting even more brilliant in his old age or what!? Talk about ONLY doing class projects!

Batman Begins

Well, as a follow-up to my previous entry, the ONLY redeeming part of the day was watching “Batman Begins” starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Liam Neeson as Ducard, and Michael Caine as Alfred the Butler; oh yes and Tom Cruise’s Scientology protégée, Katie Holmes.

I thought Christian Bale, who is a very good actor (see “American Psycho”) played an excellent Batman. And this story, unlike the Michael Keaton edition that to me was a gothic version of the TV show complete with stupid plotlines and tons of villains, was actually one solid plot/story-line that completely explains the origins of Batman and ties it in with a very cleverly written story that is complete in nature.

All-in-all, it was good entertainment and definitely a must-see movie.

Who Can Afford A Trip To The Movies?

Now I know why I stay home and rent DVDs and re-watch my favorite movies: I can’t afford to go out!

I tried going with my fiancée to a movie on Sunday, but let me itemize my expenditures. First we drove an hour into Massachusetts from Rhode Island to have a brunch at SKY, a restaurant that advertises it’s brunches in the “Boston Magazine.” Lo and behold, no brunches ‘till Labor Day! What happened here?! This is a blog for another day! So far it’s $10 in gas. Because we were obviously still hungry, we then went to “La Roberts” in North Attleboro, MA for their version of a Sunday brunch. Terrorists should be forced to eat their food! $9.50 for two bites of a rubber omelet and a sip of ice tea. It would have been twice as much should my fiancée not have gone to the restroom. It gave me the opportunity to visit the buffet table and taste before she had the chance to do so. I stopped her on her way back! By now we were cutting it close to catch the 1:30 matinee so, off to the movies we go. General Cinemas in Attleboro, MA had a matinee cost for two people totaling $13.50! Does anybody remember when it used to be $3 a matinee ticket? Since we STILL wanted something to eat, we paid $3.50 for a small cup of Pepsi! This was outrageous! And $5.50 for 4 nacho chips and some processed cheese for a total of $9.00, and then came the popcorn, 1 large popcorn was $5.00, and I swear they didn’t layer the butter in the popcorn like I asked them to do! Remember when they popped their own?! And lastly, a small Icee for another $3.00 for a total cost of $8.00. Thank God the movie “Batman Begins” (also another blog) was a good movie.

By the time we came home from that dreadful day out for a free (we had gift certificates) buffet brunch and a day at the movies, we had spent a total of $50.

Moral of the story: STAY HOME! It’s cheaper, more comfortable, and simply better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Live 8 – Concert for Africa

Twenty years ago, Bob Geldoff threw a bi-continental concert called Live Aid. All my memories of that day aren’t so clear anymore. What I do recall was that the day had some eventful performances ranging from The Who and Led Zeppelin to George Michael bringing down the house singing “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” and Freddie Mercury and Queen rocking Wembley Stadium. Did I mention Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, David Bowie, Tom Petty, and U2?! And how about the closing song in England of “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time at All.”

Now 20 years later we have Live 8, designed to continue the education and support of trying to end poverty in Africa by asking the major leaders of the world to work towards finding a solution.

As for the concert: the music and performances, in one word, for the most part, awful! First, and most importantly, MTV/VH1 did not allow you to see the complete performances! We were allowed to see a portion of a song before we were subjected to another shot of the young, punk VJ’s yapping away or another ad for poverty. The most awaited act was the reunion of Pink Floyd after 25 years. And what happened? During one of their most memorable songs, “Comfortably Numb,” MTV/VH1 cuts away and we are left with another shot of the VJ’s talking! Same thing happened with The Who and Stevie Wonder’s performances. At least 20 years ago we saw most of the whole sets performed to completion outside of the still obnoxious VJ’s. The only highlights were the couple of Pink Floyd songs we were able to view/hear and they sounded great, and that of George Michael joining Paul McCartney on The Beatles’ classic “Drive My Car.” Otherwise, it was a train wreck!

As for the political message, as sad and devastating as the poverty situation is in Africa, what about all the poor and homeless in our own country and the starving vets that line our streets in the good old USA?! You feed and take care of your own FIRST before you can help anybody else. The G8 have many concerns to worry about to focus only on just Africa ($40 billion in debt is already expected to be pardoned.) And how about an account of all the relief funds that have already been provided over decades, including the Live Aid $100 million dollars? How about all these celebs like Brad Pitt, Madonna, Cameron Diaz, Green Day and the Bono’s of the world put their own money where their mouths are and contribute heftily to the cause instead of boring us with mediocre performances and their giant egos and finger snapping every 3 seconds?

Enough, Mr. Geldoff!

Celts Draft Night Review

Tuesday night I was present first hand at the Sports Authority in Waltham, MA, as the Celts restocked themselves for the future in the 2005 NBA draft.

To recap, they’re future prayers were answered when they drafted 18 year old high school, Gerald Green, a 6'8" high flyer who was projected to be as drafted as high as 6th, but slid to their liking. Comparisons range from Tracy McGrady to Dominique Wilkins. If that’s the case, then the Celts have themselves a steal.

Their second pick was forward Ryan Gomes from Providence College. This kid seems mature for his age and is projected to make the team. Their final pick was Oriene Greene, a guard from Louisiana-Lafayette.

For some reason I’m having a good vibe on this Green kid. All indications are that he is the real deal. Time will tell. Gomes may develop into a solid starter opposite Al Jefferson down the line. For their summer team they added Vermont forward Taylor Coppenrath, who put up huge numbers in college. And I have to tell you I’m having a good vibe on him as well.

Now the big question is whether to deal Paul Pierce or not. Personally, I’m torn. The truth is they probably won’t get his value back, especially amidst reports that the Celts are concerned about his late night partying. I’d still see if I could get some veterans and picks back for him and then make a push to sign Ray Allen, or maybe a sign and trade. I think Antoine Walker won’t be back again and, quite honestly, that’s ok.

The future looks promising for this team and based upon how they move forward with Pierce, they could be quite exciting to watch next year.

And oh by the way, the food at the draft was terrific!