Arcade Fire Rocks in "The Suburbs"

Arcade Fire has been one of my favorite bands the last few years, and their latest release did not disappoint. "The Suburbs", the Montreal based band's first album since 2007, has a different feel than their earlier work, but maintains the high quality standard that I have come to expect from them.

Like their previous albums, "The Suburbs" uses a good mix of conventional rock instruments like drums, piano, and guitar as well as violins and horns. This album has a more upbeat feel to it than "Funeral" or "Neon Bible" did. Wikipedia tells me that the lyrical content was inspired by front man Win Butler's growing up in a suburb of Houston. It is not meant to glorify or condemn suburban life, but rather be a "letter from the suburbs." They have been working on this album since 2008, but the wait was well worth it.

Arcade Fire never ceases to amaze me. I am still waiting for them to get the nod to perform at the Super Bowl, which would be a huge improvement to last year's halftime show (But then again, anything would have been better than last year's halftime show. For more information, read my review of the Super Bowl from February). This album for them, is just business as usual. Every album is different, and every time I listen to a specific Arcade Fire album, I think that one is the best, then I will listen to another and think that one was better than the last. This album only adds to that legacy.

The Quest Begins Now

As soon as time expired in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals last spring, with the Boston Bruins squandering a 3-0 series lead and a 3-0 game lead in the deciding contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, hockey season could not come soon enough. With all the moves the Bruins made during this long summer, I got more and more excited by the week. Dennis Wideman is gone. The puck fumbling defenseman who the Boston sports media blamed for most of the teams problems was traded to Florida in exchange for scoring winger Nathan Horton and grinding center Gregory Campbell. Then Tyler Seguin was drafted with the second overall pick. In a year where they could have blown the team up and rebuilt, the Bruins retained most of their free agents. Ageless veteran wing Mark Recchi signed on for one more year. Enforcer Shawn Thornton signed for another two. Dennis Seidenberg, Mark Stuart, and Johnny Boychuk all re-signed so the Bruins will be expected to stay solid in the defensive zone. All three captains (Zdeno Chara and alternate captains Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi) are in the final year of their contract, and the Bruins appear to be putting everything in for this season. As the team gets ready to open their season in Prague, I am looking forward to this season more than ever.

The Bruins are not the only team that made big moves to challenge for the Stanley Cup this summer. The Detroit Red Wings signed veteran center Mike Modano to add to an already talented veteran squad. The San Jose Sharks added Antii Niemi, the hero of last year's playoff tournament, in net to replace Evgeni Nabokov, who went back home to make more money in the KHL. The Habs traded away their playoff hero, goaltender Jaroslav Halak, to the St. Louis Blues to make Carey Price their #1 goalie. With all the transactions that were made this summer, it will certainly make for an interesting season across the NHL.

For the Bruins, this season will be about redemption. They were the top seeded team in the East two years ago. They were sixth in the East last year, lost four games in a row after being up three in the series, and had the second lowest number of goals in the league during the regular season. This year, all the players should have a chip on their shoulder as the young guys have another playoff year under their belt. Every guy on that team has something to prove, as individuals and as a group. Critics are claiming that Tim Thomas' Vezina Trophy and Zdeno Chara's Norris Trophy from 2009 were flukes, and that everyone's performance that year was just lucky. Last year they were carried into the playoffs on the backs of Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask. This year, everyone should be trying to prove their worth in the NHL. Rookies Tyler Seguin and Jordan Caron have s good supporting cast to fall back on, but a lot will also be expected of them in the 2010-11 season. Could this be the year? I can only hope. The Bruins quest for the Cup has taken them to Belfast and Prague, and likely through Washington, Pittsburgh, or New Jersey, but as a fan, I am looking forward to the journey.

2010 MLB Season Follow Up

You may remember that back in March, I wrote about my predictions for the upcoming baseball season and, as promised, I am following up on that entry as baseball season comes to a close. The regular season is wrapping up and there is only one playoff race still in effect so now is a pretty good time to talk about the season and who should win the individual awards before playoff performances start to influence my opinions.

Where I went wrong...

As always, there are times when i pick a team that nobody believes in and I am rewarded by getting to say "I told you so" all winter. Last season, I did that so much that everyone else decided to pick Minnesota to win the AL Central too.

I thought the Mariners were going to win the AL West. I thought if they kept Junior around for one more year, and they added Chone Figgins and Cliff Lee to a team that made a huge turnaround from 2008 to 2009, they would be able to compete with the best of the American League. It turns out that the "Jr." in Ken Griffey's name is a misconception and he actually is quite old so he was retired by May and Cliff Lee was traded away in July, and Figgins forgot how to play baseball or something. Also there was the Milton Bradley factor which could have gone either way and it went the wrong way. They tried to build their team on pitching and defense, but they could not score enough for it to matter. At least they have King Felix and Ichiro or this entire team would have been demoted to the minors.

My apologies to the San Diego Padres. I wrote them off, like most people did and counted down the days before Adrian Hernandez would get traded to Boston starting in March. I guess I was wrong. Bud Black deserves some serious consideration for Manager of the Year but the ten game losing streak that let the Giants climb back into the race hurts his chances. As of today, they are still in it when they were expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball along with Washington, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh.

Opps. I thought the NL Central would be won by either the Cardinals or Cubs. My bad. The Cincinnati Reds are going to the playoffs for the first time since 1995. I honestly know very little about this team, but I am excited for the playoffs because of all the teams that are going to be in it that usually are not. No wonder Dusty Baker is smiling in this picture.

And the award goes to...

Now for the awards. First MVP.

Josh Hamilton is one of those feel good success stories that make sports fun for more than just the sport itself. His story of going from superstar high school prospect to drug addict and alcoholic out of baseball to recovery and starting over in baseball to superstar center fielder will make a great movie someday if they cast the right actor. He has had a tremendous season and he helped Texas make the playoffs for only the fourth time in their history. The next most deserving player is Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers, but playing on a team that fell out of the pennant race early hurt his chances. Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays will also get a lot of votes for his impressive breakout season.

Troy Tulowitzki played really well down the stretch, but it was not enough to get the Rockies into the playoffs this time. Brian McCann had a great season for the Braves. Placido Polanco had a great season for Philadelphia. Albert Pujols is in the discussion. This year was Joey Votto's year though. Votto helped lead the Reds to their first division championship in fifteen years and flew under the radar for a while doing it.

Now for Cy Young...

The American League is a tough one because there are so many good pitchers. C.C. Sabathia had the most wins, but he also had the best lineup in baseball providing run support for him. The Cy Young Award in recent years has been rewarding good pitchers on bad teams (The last time the Cy Young winner in either league was on a playoff team was in 2007. Sabathia and the Indians got to the ALCS that year and Jake Peavy and the Padres were eliminated in a one game playoff against Colorado for the Wild Card spot). Clay Bucholz and Jon Lester of the Red Sox are up there as well as Felix Hernandez of the Mariners and David Price of the Rays. Hernandez has a losing record on the season but had the worst run support pitching for Seattle. My prediction during spring training was Lester, who made his first All Star appearance this year. This one is a real toss up, so I am sticking with Lester.

In the National League, Tim Lincecum pitched admirably but not well enough to three-peat the Cy Young Award. His teammate Matt Cain pitched well, too. Tim Hudson has resurrected his career after Tommy John surgery and has restored his reputation as a big time pitcher as he and his teammates prepare for Bobby Cox's final playoff run. Ubaldo Jiminez had a phenomenal season for Colorado which included the first no hitter in franchise history. The National League Cy Young Award will instead go to Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies. Halladay, who was the victim of playing on a bad team his entire career before the 2010 season, threw his first perfect game and is going to pitch in October for the first time in his career.

Now for Manager of the Year...

There are several deserving candidates. This award is basically anyone's in the American League.

Ron Gardenhire led the Twins to yet another division title. He has not won this award yet. This is probably his year. That umpire might not vote for him, but Gardenhire deserves it for keeping his team consistently competitive year to year. Maybe this year will be his chance to improve his post-season record.

Ron Washington became only the second Rangers manager to make the playoffs. He had that issue with the drug test in the off-season and many were surprised that he was able to keep his job. He could also be eligible for "Comeback Manager of the Year" for that.

Bob Geren got a lot more out of the Oakland A's than anybody expected. Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game and they were competitive in the West for most of the season. The A's are heading in the right direction and Geren deserves credit for turning them around.

Terry Francona did what I believe was his best job this season. He had to deal with several injuries to critical personnel including Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron, Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek. He kept the Sox competitive and they were the last team to get eliminated with very little help from the front office.

Ozzie Guillen had to manage Manny Ramirez. I felt bad for him after that. He is also great for sound bytes and he gets as much as he can out of that poorly constructed White Sox team. With what seems like half the managers in Major League Baseball retiring after this season, Ozzie will be the undisputed biggest dugout personality in the big leagues in 2011.

Cito Gaston has not been to the playoffs since the his Blue Jays won the 1993 World Series, but this season he pointed them in the right direction. In the toughest division is baseball, Gaston's Jays finished fourth but were the toughest non-contender all season long. They were never pushovers against the Yankees, Rays or Red Sox this season. Gaston is retiring at the end of the season and his three year return to the Toronto dugout only enhanced his legendary reputation in that city.

In the National League there are also several deserving managers.

Bobby Cox is going out in style. He is likely getting the Braves back into the playoffs. The Manager of the Year Award would be a nice lifetime achievement thing for him.

Dusty Baker led the Reds to the playoffs for the first time in a while. Perhaps this is the year he gets back to the World Series.

Bud Black turned the Padres around this season. He may lose this award because of their struggles down the stretch and the inexcusable mistake of putting a different team out of the field than it said on the lineup card back in the spring.

Bruce Bochy deserves the award for all of the close games that the Giants won with pitching and defense (a team that actually got that strategy to work? I cannot believe it!). The offense in San Fran has been limited, but the pitching has been spectacular.

The season is not over yet. There are still the playoffs to look forward to. There are a lot of story lines to be excited about. As long as the Yankees do not win again, I will be happy.

Top Ten Best Sports Movies

Here is my list of the best sports movies ever made. I blog a lot about sports and I blog a lot about movies, so I figured I would do something that combine the two. Sports movies are great because they are usually uplifting, even if the characters you cheer for are defeated by their anonymously evil opponents, and they are usually pretty funny even f they are not comedies. Sometimes sports are only a small part of the movie, but it makes he list because that aspect of it makes it a better movie. I tried to include as many different sports as possible, but there have been so many good sports movies made over the years that it was impossible to make everyone happy. Please comment on what you think and enjoy!

10. Whip It

I just saw this movie and I thought it was a lot of fun. Very few movies have been made about roller derby but this one made it seem like a sport that people can have a passion for, and like the other sports that have movies in this countdown, it is an escape for both the fans and the players. This star studded cast featuring Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Jimmy Fallon, Andrew Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and first time director Drew Barrymore, shows us how small town misfits can become superstars in the heart of Texas even if their mothers want them to be in beauty pageants instead.

9. Space Jam

This one makes the list because it was one of my favorites as a kid. When I watched it recently though, I realized that there were a lot of great cameo appearances by NBA stars and it combined the greatest basketball player ever (Michael Jordan), the greatest cartoon character ever (Bugs Bunny), and one of the funniest comedic actors ever (Bill Murray) all on the same team. How's that for a fantasy basketball squad?

8. Forrest Gump

I know that the movie is not all about sports, but sports are an important part of the life of Forrest's life. He played college football at the University of Alabama, one of the most storied and prestigious football programs in the country. He also represented the United States as a ping pong champion and one day decided to run across the country for a while, until he had enough. His experience at Alabama, playing for the legendary Bear Bryant and receiving All American honors, was a really big deal, but it didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary to him.

7. The Mighty Ducks

Its a classic tale of taking a group of loveable misfits and turning them into winners. In the same place, you could also have The Bad News Bears or even Glee for that matter, but I particularly like the Ducks. Gordon Bombay, a successful but cynical lawyer is the reluctant coach who has to work with the kids from the loser district because their coach quit as community service after driving drunk (a pretty serious plot twist for a Disney movie). He says in the beginning that he hates hockey and the flashbacks of his past and playing for the coach who he needs to beat all these years later reveals why. Gordon must overcome his fear of failure and get closure on a darker time in his life. I think that more NHL teams should use the “Flying V” formation because it was so effective in this movie. The Mighty Ducks is a really fun one for audiences of all ages.

6. Fever Pitch

On the surface, it is just another romantic comedy with likeable stars like Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore. The setting for this movie is what separates it from other rom-coms though. They could not have been more lucky choosing to film this movie in the 2004 baseball season. It was supposed to end with them falling in love while watching the Red Sox get eliminated once again and waiting until next year. Instead, they fall in love in the midst of the most exciting thing that has ever happened in the history of professional sports (in my humble Sox fan opinion). Its a good movie to watch in April to get pumped for Red Sox season once again. For the record, it does not bother me that Jimmy Fallon is a lifelong New Yorker and not really a Red Sox fan. He isn't the only one who pretends to do that (Alec Baldwin pretended to be a Bostonian in The Departed and on 30 Rock and don't even get me started on Jack Nicholson) and for every New Yorker who plays a Sox fan, there is Denis Leary who plays a New York firefighter on Rescue Me. The cameo appearances by the Red Sox stars and the footage from the games in 2004 make this movie just that much better.

5. Miracle

I was not alive yet when the U.S. Hockey team beat the Soviets in 1980, but I hear about it from my father every Winter Olympics that there will never be a more exciting hockey tournament and the Olympics are a lot less interesting now that they have NHL players in it. While I may not agree with that, Miracle is still a really good movie about that 1980 team. This movie had one of the best locker room pep talks in movie history which was even more entertaining when that little kid recited it on Opening Day for the Red Sox this year.

4. Million Dollar Baby

Not all stories have happy endings. Maggie Fitzgerald worked hard to rise from poverty to become a late blooming boxing star, but her chances were tragically dashed. Winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2004, Million Dollar Baby was a masterpiece that brought out the best in Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, and director/producer/co-star Clint Eastwood. Eastwood and Swank became each other's family when their biological families ignored their dreams.

3. Rocky

Before Invincible, this was the original story of a Philly underdog getting the opportunity of a lifetime. This movie made Sylvester Stallone into a superstar, and gave Philly fans more to cheer about that their actual teams since it came out in 1976. With five sequels afterward, it is perhaps the most successful sports movie franchise ever. This movie also wins the award for having the best training montage ever. Another thin I like about this movie is that it does not really portray Apollo Creed as evil or malicious. He is just a champion boxer who wants somebody to challenge him. He gives Rocky a chance and Rocky takes full advantage. Creed is cocky and has to give more of an effort than he thought he would in fifteen rounds, but he is not really a villain. Rocky won the Academy Award for Best Picture, which is an achievement that speaks for itself. It is a classic that you do not need to be a boxing fan to appreciate.

2. Remember the Titans

This is one of Denzel Washington's greatest performances. This movie could very easily be number one on the list. Everything about it is great. It is a classic underdog story about the first racially integrated high school football team in Virginia and their quest for the state championship. It has its fair share of comic relief and moments that get you choked up. From the speech Coach Boone gave about Gettysburg to the star linebacker getting in a car crash, Remember the Titans goes through the ups and downs of the season and the triumphs and tragedies.

1. Field of Dreams

“If you build it, he will come.” This line has inspired many a backyard ballpark (or skating rink) over the years. The idea of having a baseball field in your yard is cool enough, but having one where ghosts can fulfill their unfinished dreams is even cooler. Whether it is getting to play in the majors after getting banned, or getting in the one at bat that you never got, getting to play catch with your son and meet your granddaughter, this is a place where dreams can come true. They ask if it is heaven, but it is only Iowa. James Earl Jones' “people will come” monologue is one of the most inspiring in movie history. This movie defined Kevin Costner's career. It is everything anyone could want in s sports movie with the surreal concepts of redemption and living up to your dreams sprinkled in as well. Another great thing about this movie is that his wife and daughter re just as enthusiastic about baseball as he is, which is every guy's dream.

This concludes my list. Feel free to comment and tell me which movies I missed or to argue the order in which I put them.

My New Favorite Website

"Dear Twilight Fans,

Thank you for making us look sane and well-adjusted.

Sincerely, Trekkies"

I don't know if I'm way behind on this trend since I've been in the woods all summer, but yesterday on Stumbleupon.com I stumbled upon a site similar to FML, MLIA, Failbook, and Texts from Last Night, but way funnier. The name of the site is dearblankpleaseblank.com and the idea is writing a letter to someone or something often complaining about something. The can be popular culture related like "Dear America, Can someone explain why Jersey Shore is popular but Arrested Development got cancelled? Sincerely, Confused" or "Dear Edward Cullen, You're doing it wrong! Sincerely, Dracula." They can be abstract like "Dear Amnesia, Have we forgotten this before? Sincerely, Deja Vu." They can be work related like "Dear Person claiming they already reset their computer, Yeah I don't believe you. Sincerely, IT support guy." They can be anything. The people on this site seem to be on my side in most of today's polarizing issues (it's sad that liking Twilight, The Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, or Sarah Palin are the things that really get people riled up these days. The ocean is full of oil, the found water on the moon, Theo Epstein did nothing to help the Sox make the playoffs, and this is what people are angry about?) as evidenced by "Dear Guitar Heroes,Please stop comparing your hobby to my hobby. You're missing strings. Sincerely, A Guitarist." It's my new favorite website to check every so often and I am working on writing my own submissions soon.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Somebody should design a car that is shaped like a lemon, that is painted like a lemon, that has a lemon scented air freshener, that runs perfectly fine. Wouldn't that be ironic.

Four out of Five Dentists

How is that every toothpaste company seems to get the approval of 80 % of the dentists they ask? Is that approval really just for toothpaste in general or something? What dentist didn't approve of toothpaste? These are the things I wonder about when I am bored. I need a better hobby.