Colts "Make it Rain" for Freeney

The Super Bowl Champs locked up DE Dwight Freeney today to the richest contract ever for a defensive player...6 years/72 million dollars. The deal includes a 30 million dollar signing bonus.

Is Freeney the best defensive player in the game...No (and arguable he is not even the best defensive player on the team (that is Bob Sanders) but Freeney is definitely one of the best defensive ends in the game and he perfectly fits the Colts defensive scheme.

The important thing here is not so much the contract but the fact that they did reach a long term agreement with him and won't have to keep him by designating the franchise tag on him. Thus the Colts are actually able to save money (almost 3.7 million dollars) because his salary cap number will be lower than if the Colts had franchised him. (That is how NFL math works). In essence the Colts now have some flexibility to lock up some other players...including the aforementioned Bob Sanders.

It's Fair Time!

The Decatur County Fair (my hometown fair) starts this weekend and to mark the occasion I've posted to the side a picture of Jenny and I from last year's fair. (Actually it could be a photo from one, two, or three years ago as not much changes from year to year at the fair.)

Regardless we are ready to chow down on some fish, tenderloin, elephant ears, Smyrna Burgers, and some doughnuts. (but not all in one night...we'll spread it out). We might even attend the Demolition Derby next Friday. (I don't think Jenny is aware of that yet.)

Maybe I'll snap some photos of this festivities...stay tuned...

peace.

The Order of the Phoenix

Last night Jenny and I braved the crowds and watched the latest installment of the Harry Potter series...The Order of the Phoenix. My wife is a big Harry Potter fan and I must admit that some of her passion has slightly rubbed off on me. I never thought that I would wait in line for a Harry Potter film. Oh well...anyway...as one would guess the Wolf Theatre was packed. The show didn't start until 7:40 yet we arrived at the theater at 7:00, which was a good idea because a large line had already started forming. I would guess that the show was sold out.

I must admit that the atmosphere of the crowd was quite energetic. A few die-hard fans were even dressed up. There was an applause both when the movie started and when the show was over. The crowd was especially teen heavy, which was slightly annoying as the person next to Jenny kept saying overly stupid things and the LJ next to me kept whispering to her friends (which seemed like everyone in the theater other than Jenny and I). Whatever...it wasn't too bad. I didn't threaten to slam my fist down anyone's face.

As for the movie...I won't say much yet (as I haven't written the review)...but will say that I thought it was the best film so far of the series.

Michael Moore Rips Wolf Blitzer/CNN

Here's a snippet of Michael Moore on CNN the other day. He lays into them...and I can't really blame him. Granted Moore is polarizing and I haven't seen his film, Sicko, yet... but when he does have something to say I do think it is worth listening too.

I empathize with his distaste of CNN...maybe not for the same reasons...but CNN has been in steep decline over the past several months. In the evenings CNN is more Access Hollywood/EXTRA than hard news. It is ridiculous. Even Anderson Cooper, who I still do respect, is falling prey to covering crap like Paris Hilton's jail time or Alec Baldwin's cell phone rant. It seems every week that CNN finds a new human-interest drama story and covers it so incessantly that it becomes completely exhausting. And most of the time the story ends up contributing nothing positive to the public discourse of the given topic.

I do give props to Moore for letting CNN have it. I hate to see what he thinks of Fox news.

All-Star Game lives up to billing

The NL blew another All-star game last night. They haven't won since 1996. Although I must admit the game was pretty exciting especially in the bottom of the ninth when Soriano hit a two run homer and the NL managed to load the bases off of K-Rod (all with two outs). Alas it was not to be as Aaron Rowand flew out to right field. (It perplexes me why Mr. Genius Tony Larussa never brought in Pujols to pinch hit).

Of note Ichiro was named MVP as he hit the first inside-the-park homerun in All-Star game history.

Now the AL has home field advantage which probably isn't that big of a deal but still when you root for NL teams (the Padres and Cubs) that might have a shot at the postseason than it does slightly frustrate you that the NL can't do anything in the All-Star game. Oh well it was a really good game.

1-18-08/Cloverfield/?????? film teaser

If you caught Transformers over the weekend you more than likely saw an interesting teaser from Producer JJ Abrams (Alias, Lost, MI3). I say interesting because the film has no title and one really isn't sure what it is about. But it did look fascinating. The teaser can now be seen online at the offical site. Needless to say, the web site sheds no light on what the movie actually is.

I definitely like the "viral" marketing campaign...and it looks to me that they might be trying to capture the magic of The Blair Witch marketing campaing. Further proof of that lies with the fact that the movie...at least according to the teaser...looks like it is shot in the same manner as Blair Witch.

The teaser can be viewed by following this link

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808/

The Dark Knight

I know this picture has been around for a few weeks but I figured it was time for a Batman related post.

This is the official Warner Bros. released picture of the Caped Crusader from the new film The Dark Knight. The suit looks similar to the one used in Batman Begins but it looks a little more streamlined, which is cool because it more resembles the comic book look. From a technical aspect it also looks like Bale will actually be able to turn his head back in forth.

Needless to say I'm beyond excited for this movie. I can say quite confidently that Batman Begins is my favorite movie of all time and I have the utmost faith in Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale that they will again deliver a solid movie.