Every team has one, no matter what sport. No matter what team you root for, there always seems to be another one somewhere out there that seems to always get the best of your team. This is the basis for sports rivalries, if you disagree, I urge you to look at these examples, I'll give you one or two from all three major sports. (Baseball, Football and Basketball).
Baseball #1: The Boston Red Sox and The New York Yankees. One of, if the not the greatest rivalry in sports, there are not enough curse words in the world for these two sets of fans to describe how they feel about each other. Here's the proof: From 1923 to 2000, the Yankees won the World Series 26 times frequently defeating the Sox in the postseason. How many did the Red Sox win? A whopping...zero. Cue Sox nation saying "Damn Yankees."
But the tides would change in October 2004. The Yanks led the Sox 3-0 in the NLCS. By some miracle of god (or Babe Ruth, whatever you wanna believe.) the Sox won four straight games behind the bats of David Ortiz, Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez, and pitching of Curt Schilling. And so all of the Bronx let out a cry of "Damn Red Sox."
Speaking of Johnny Damon, how do you think Sox fans felt when he showed up in Fenway wearing a Yankee uniform? I shouldn't have to type it again.
Baseball #2: The Atlanta Braves/The Philadelphia Phillies vs the rest of the NL East.
First, let me say that I am not in any way making the Braves and Phillies out to be some sort of buddy-buddy connected team. I am a Braves fan, and I hate the Phillies with every fiber of my being.
With that being said, from 1993 to the present day, only one team not named the Phillies or the Braves has won the division. The New York Mets won it in 2006. The Braves lead the division with 11 all time wins, followed closely by the Phillies, who have 10. The third most? the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are now members of the NL Central. The other three teams now in the division, (NY Mets, Washington Nationals, Florida Marlins) have a combined 6 division titles. The Mets lead that category with 5, the Nationals have 1, (Montreal Expos), and the Marlins have none. As for the current season, the Phillies (88-48) have a 7.5 lead over the second place (you guessed it) Braves (82-57),while the Braves hold a steady 8.5 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets (68-70) sit 21 games back of first, the Nationals (64-74) are 25 games out, and the Marlins are a whopping 27.5 games out of first place. It doesn't look like anything will be changing anytime soon.
Football #1: The Indianapolis Colts vs The New England Patriots.
The Colts, for all intents and purposes, are considered to be a powerhouse in the NFL. Year after year, they cruise through the AFC south with seemingly no trouble. Since the division began in 2002, the Colts have won 7 of the 9 championships. Their combined record over those seven years is an astounding 87-25. One would think that a team that was able to cruise through the NFL like this would capture Super Bowl titles at whim, but no, they were only able to win one Super Bowl (2006), they made it back in 2009, but were defeated by Drew Brees and the Saints. Why is this, you ask? The Colts have "That damn team" too, and it comes in the form of the New England Patriots.
In 2003, the Patriots defeated the Colts 24-14 in the AFC championship game on their way to a Super Bowl victory over the Carolina Panthers. In 2004, despite being the highest scoring team in the league, the Colts only managed one field goal in a 20-3 defeat at the hands of the Patriots once again, this time in the divisional round. Since those games, the Colts have seemed to have finally gotten a hang of it, but the fact remains that Peyton Manning has one Super Bowl Ring, while Tom Brady has 3. At least Peyton makes all those commercials.
Basketball #1. Now, I don't much care for basketball, and am going to try to avoid discussing it at all, (much like politics) but I'm trying to make a point. When people think of basketball rivalries, most would instantly think of Duke vs North Carolina. But I want to present a rivalry that many people may not be aware of.
Did you ever have an older sibling? Did that sibling ever seem to soak up all the glory? Whether they were the valedictorian, homecoming king, star athlete, or all three (god bless you if that was the case)? We have all heard people, or in this instance, sports teams, referred to as somebody's insignificant little brother.
When it comes to basketball, the team that fits this description, almost to a tee, is none other than the Los Angeles Clippers. If you just said "Wait, you mean the Lakers?" you're probably not the only one. I am willing to bet that a lot of people who aren't avid sports fans even knew the Clippers exist.
So why do the Clippers take the little brother role to the Lakers? For lack of a better word, the Clippers, well, Suck. They are a miserable franchise, that may never make it out of the ENORMOUS shadow of the Lakers. Here are the facts:
1. The Clippers were founded in 1970, since then they have won zero championships; NBA, conference or division. The Lakers? Since 1970 they have won the NBA finals eleven times,earned 19 conference titles and have won the division 22 times.
2. The Clippers haven't made the playoffs since 2006, whereas the the Lakers have only been left out of the postseason 5 times in their entire franchise history.
3. This may be the biggest reason why the Clippers have always been buried under the shadow of the Lakers: The Lakers have 23 hall of famers (16 players, 4 head coaches, 1 assistant coach, and 2 contributors). The Clippers....have 3. Enough said.
So there it is, no matter how good you think your team may be, there will always be that "Damn Team" in the way. And they aren't going away any time soon.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
iTakeOvertheWorld/ Matthew McConaughey's Only Good Movie
I enjoy a wide a variety of music; Rap, Rock, Folk, Country, I really can learn to enjoy anything. Often when listening to music, I take advantage of the "Shuffle" feature on my iPod, which can take me straight from a slow, live version of "Gravedigger" (Dave Matthews) to fast paced "A Milli" (Lil' Wayne) in a matter of seconds. A few days ago, I was sitting down to work on a paper and clicked shuffle on, needless to say, I did not get to far into the paper.
The first song that came on was "Slow Ride" from Foghat's 1975 album "Fool for the City." The song has been featured in over 14 TV shows and movies, one instance of which immediately jumped to my mind. In the final scene of "Dazed and Confused" we see one of the main characters, Mitch Kramer, walk back in his house at sunrise after a night of smoking weed, drinking, vandalism, and finally a late night "Picnic" with a sophomore girl, whom Mitch met at a pool hall earlier that evening. All of this takes place only after Mitch and his friends spend the afternoon being chased down and hazed by the seniors at their high school, based solely on the fact that they are upcoming freshmen.
As soon as Mitch enters his house, his mother instantly begins to haggle him, which he casually shrugs off (which we've all done before), walks into his room, puts on head phones, and begins to block out his mothers voice with "Slow Ride." Right as she says "Mitch, have you been drinking?"
Dazed and Confused just happens to be one of my all time favorites, but sadly I have never actually possessed the movie. After the thought of this scene ran through my mind, I suddenly had an unbeatable craving to watch the entire movie. Thus began my long and difficult my journey.
I started out just asking around in my dorm, nobody had a copy. Then I started asking other people on campus, but no dice. I would have to buy it. I spent 30 minutes looking through the movies at Target, to no avail. I had the same results at Wal-Mart, and I even tried Kroger (no one appreciates the classics). I came home defeated, for a while I considered an illegal download, but thought better of it. I resolved to just listen to the soundtrack. I opened up iTunes, and searched the movie's name. This is where technology came into play.
iTunes, along with anything else with the "i" prefix, has pretty much taken over the music business. Having not felt accomplished enough, iTunes set its aim for the "In-home movie" business. I was finally able to see "Dazed" thanks to "i." I rented it on iTunes for four dollars. This was both exciting and disappointing to me. My sister has always has been an "i" lover. Anything with 'i', she has it. I always told her how silly it was to spend the extra money just so you can make your face look weird in pictures. I have eaten my words. If it wasnt for 'i' I would still be Dazed and Confused.
As for the movie itself, I feel like it gets better every time I watch. It focuses on the marijuana/alcohol induced adventures of high school students in Austin, Texas on the last day of school/first night of summer in 1976. The movie shows us a 360 degree view of the high school experience. You've got your Nerds, Jocks (and the girls who have sex with them), the stoners, the freshmen, and even the old guy who cant let go of the glory (post on this topic coming soon). In "Dazed" there is one character who ties all these cliques together.
Randall "Pink" Floyd is the movies main character. He is a star quarterback (jock), which clearly comes with the benefits of clique #3, who also enjoys smoking weed frequently (stoners). Pink is also friends with three of the so called nerds, and often tells them of parties and other things going on, which they frequently decline. Pink is a senior, which means it is his duty to haze any upcoming freshman. Pink's friends take this a lot more seriously than he does, he is never seen actually doing any hazing.
After one freshman gets a particularly bad beating, Pink drives him home and tells him to come out with him and his friends later to have a couple beers. This freshman is the stories other main character, the aforementioned Mitch Kramer. Mitch does go out with Pink and his friends, but it is more than just "having a few beers." The events of the night go from smoking pot, to drinking, to vandalism in a matter of seconds. The night eventually leads to a party in a field near a large radio tower. All of the cliques show up, and we see Pink interact with all of them, including the girls.
Along with all the hilarity and superb acting that comes with "Dazed" I think there is an underlying theme. "Anti- judgement" seems to play a big part in the film. Mostly through Pink. He never utters a sour word about any person or group of people, though everyone around him attempts to tell him how much another group sucks.
His football coaches and teammates hate his stoner friends (Pickford, Slater, Wooderson, AKA the old guy) who are, well, too stoned to care. The seniors hate Kramer, but Pink sticks up for him. And when Kramer complains about the Seniors, he then sticks up for them. He even breaks up a fight between a thug and a nerd, something most high school kids would stand and enjoy.
Pink never falters in his commitment to equality. He treats everyone with respect, whether they spend their free time measuring chemicals or smoking them, which is a quality not seen in many people. Kudos, Richar Linklater, kudos indeed.
The first song that came on was "Slow Ride" from Foghat's 1975 album "Fool for the City." The song has been featured in over 14 TV shows and movies, one instance of which immediately jumped to my mind. In the final scene of "Dazed and Confused" we see one of the main characters, Mitch Kramer, walk back in his house at sunrise after a night of smoking weed, drinking, vandalism, and finally a late night "Picnic" with a sophomore girl, whom Mitch met at a pool hall earlier that evening. All of this takes place only after Mitch and his friends spend the afternoon being chased down and hazed by the seniors at their high school, based solely on the fact that they are upcoming freshmen.
As soon as Mitch enters his house, his mother instantly begins to haggle him, which he casually shrugs off (which we've all done before), walks into his room, puts on head phones, and begins to block out his mothers voice with "Slow Ride." Right as she says "Mitch, have you been drinking?"
Dazed and Confused just happens to be one of my all time favorites, but sadly I have never actually possessed the movie. After the thought of this scene ran through my mind, I suddenly had an unbeatable craving to watch the entire movie. Thus began my long and difficult my journey.
I started out just asking around in my dorm, nobody had a copy. Then I started asking other people on campus, but no dice. I would have to buy it. I spent 30 minutes looking through the movies at Target, to no avail. I had the same results at Wal-Mart, and I even tried Kroger (no one appreciates the classics). I came home defeated, for a while I considered an illegal download, but thought better of it. I resolved to just listen to the soundtrack. I opened up iTunes, and searched the movie's name. This is where technology came into play.
iTunes, along with anything else with the "i" prefix, has pretty much taken over the music business. Having not felt accomplished enough, iTunes set its aim for the "In-home movie" business. I was finally able to see "Dazed" thanks to "i." I rented it on iTunes for four dollars. This was both exciting and disappointing to me. My sister has always has been an "i" lover. Anything with 'i', she has it. I always told her how silly it was to spend the extra money just so you can make your face look weird in pictures. I have eaten my words. If it wasnt for 'i' I would still be Dazed and Confused.
As for the movie itself, I feel like it gets better every time I watch. It focuses on the marijuana/alcohol induced adventures of high school students in Austin, Texas on the last day of school/first night of summer in 1976. The movie shows us a 360 degree view of the high school experience. You've got your Nerds, Jocks (and the girls who have sex with them), the stoners, the freshmen, and even the old guy who cant let go of the glory (post on this topic coming soon). In "Dazed" there is one character who ties all these cliques together.
Randall "Pink" Floyd is the movies main character. He is a star quarterback (jock), which clearly comes with the benefits of clique #3, who also enjoys smoking weed frequently (stoners). Pink is also friends with three of the so called nerds, and often tells them of parties and other things going on, which they frequently decline. Pink is a senior, which means it is his duty to haze any upcoming freshman. Pink's friends take this a lot more seriously than he does, he is never seen actually doing any hazing.
After one freshman gets a particularly bad beating, Pink drives him home and tells him to come out with him and his friends later to have a couple beers. This freshman is the stories other main character, the aforementioned Mitch Kramer. Mitch does go out with Pink and his friends, but it is more than just "having a few beers." The events of the night go from smoking pot, to drinking, to vandalism in a matter of seconds. The night eventually leads to a party in a field near a large radio tower. All of the cliques show up, and we see Pink interact with all of them, including the girls.
Along with all the hilarity and superb acting that comes with "Dazed" I think there is an underlying theme. "Anti- judgement" seems to play a big part in the film. Mostly through Pink. He never utters a sour word about any person or group of people, though everyone around him attempts to tell him how much another group sucks.
His football coaches and teammates hate his stoner friends (Pickford, Slater, Wooderson, AKA the old guy) who are, well, too stoned to care. The seniors hate Kramer, but Pink sticks up for him. And when Kramer complains about the Seniors, he then sticks up for them. He even breaks up a fight between a thug and a nerd, something most high school kids would stand and enjoy.
Pink never falters in his commitment to equality. He treats everyone with respect, whether they spend their free time measuring chemicals or smoking them, which is a quality not seen in many people. Kudos, Richar Linklater, kudos indeed.
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