Wrestling

Scott Hall 1958-2022

by Brandon Andreasen1 Comment on Scott Hall 1958-2022
Scott Hall 1958-2022

Very few people can say they were the face of a seismic shift in an industry. No matter the medium, more often than not the status quo reigns supreme. Often, when someone helps author massive change, it isn’t appreciated until after the fact. Luckily, Scott Hall’s career apexed at a point when he did bring change to the wrestling industry, it was felt in the moment. Scott Hall is one of the most important people in the history of wrestling, and has a great responsibility to what wrestling evolved into.

Hall passed away on Monday due to complications relating to hip replacement surgery. His body was eroded by three decades in the wrestling industry coupled with a hard lived life that caused many to believe he wouldn’t make it this far. Nobody gets out of wrestling in one piece when you are a part of it for as long as Hall was and the history of wrestling is littered with stories of people Hall, but very few reached such heights and helped redefine the business.

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baseball, Sports

Baseball, Art Out of Time: Touch ‘Em All, Joe

by Michael GraceLeave a Comment on Baseball, Art Out of Time: Touch ‘Em All, Joe
Baseball, Art Out of Time: Touch ‘Em All, Joe

There are two ways to end a baseball game- either the final out is recorded, or the winning run is driven in. In the 1992 World Series, the last out was a failed bunt by the Braves’ Otis Nixon, easily scooped up by Blue Jays pitcher Mike Timlin and tossed to first. It was a simple play, one that Joe Carter had fielded hundreds of times before. As he clenched the ball, he started jumping around like a kid, elation overtaking his body. Carter had caught the last out of the season.

The following year, the Blue Jays were back in the World Series. Back then, home field advantage merely alternated between the leagues. So that meant game six in 1993 would be played in the American League park. The Phillies held a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, hoping to force game seven. Rickey Henderson was at second, Paul Molitor was on first representing the winning run. Mitch Williams ran a 2-2 count on Carter, regaining the advantage on a slider inside. The next pitch was a near carbon copy of the one Carter had missed, but he swung again anyway.

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Uncategorized

FBC 2022 Oscar Coverage, Part V: Predicting The Winners (Part 2)

by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment on FBC 2022 Oscar Coverage, Part V: Predicting The Winners (Part 2)
FBC 2022 Oscar Coverage, Part V: Predicting The Winners (Part 2)

Ok, in my last Oscars column, I predicted the screenplay categories. On to supporting performances!

One of my favorite things about the supporting categories this year is that both Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst are nominated for The Power Of The Dog, in which they are a married couple both in the movie AND in real life. Something about that just warms my heart, y’all.

Ok. Let’s get predicting!

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Music/Movies

WHY “THE BATMAN” IS THE BEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER MADE

by David Vox MullenLeave a Comment on WHY “THE BATMAN” IS THE BEST BATMAN MOVIE EVER MADE

It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I’m a BIG Batman fan. In fact, I’ve been one for as much of my life as I can remember. From being a little kid in the ’70s & ’80s watching Superfriends while eating a bowl of cereal. Watching the old Adam West Classic 1966 TV series, to running home from high school just so I can make it home in time to catch Batman the animated series. Up until yesterday, if anyone had asked me what I think the best Batman movie ever made was, I would’ve said the 1989 film BATMAN directed by Tim Burton. He was the first filmmaker to capture the dark knight that my friends and I had been reading about in the comics. But last night, after the DC special “FAN-FIRST” private screening of the Matt Reeves film “THE BATMAN“, my world was completely rocked.

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politics, Pop Culture

The Company We Keep: CPAC, Marjorie Taylor Greene and White Nationalism…

by Matt Drufke1 Comment on The Company We Keep: CPAC, Marjorie Taylor Greene and White Nationalism…
The Company We Keep: CPAC, Marjorie Taylor Greene and White Nationalism…

Last weekend was CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Committee, so a ton of Republicans went down to Orlando to watch some speeches and maybe visit the new Star Wars exhibits that Disney has. CPAC’s chairman is Matt Schlapp, who famously left Michelle Wolf’s speech at the White House Correspondence Dinner with his wife, Mercedes, when he claimed that Wolf was an out of touch elite liberal who didn’t speak for the American people. Look, no one should be punished for their name, but if Schlapp was going to speak for the American people, he should have changed his wife’s name, just for one night, to “Gently Pre-Used Honda Civic”.

Anyways, CPAC has this wonderful thing happen every year where some loud racist conservative says something racist and says it quite loudly. This is then followed by the RNC trying to disavow the comments as quick as they can so they can spend the entire weekend complaining that the media is only covering one loud racist and not the other racists who are much more cool about keeping their feelings hush hush. My bet is a lot of CPAC members don’t visit Epcot.

So, did this happen this year? Yes. Well, kind of. And it leads to some thoughts about why we say the things we say in front of the people we say them to.

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Music/Movies

The Official Batman Movie Rankings

by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment on The Official Batman Movie Rankings
The Official Batman Movie Rankings

With Matt Reeves’ The Batman headed to theaters this weekend, we welcome Robert Pattinson into the role of Bruce Wayne. I think Bobby Patts is going to do a good job and am excited to see it. But instead of looking forward to this new film, I decided to look back.

Let’s reflect on the dozen theatrical releases of Batman and see how they shape up. Will this new Pattinson Bats (Pats Bats?) be remembered like Keaton or Bale? Or will we be yearning for the days of bat-nipples?

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baseball, Sports

This Isn’t The Player’s Fault

by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment on This Isn’t The Player’s Fault
This Isn’t The Player’s Fault

Last week, MLB players were supposed to start Spring Training. Currently, they are sitting at home, waiting. Due to an ongoing lock out, Major League Baseball has been put on pause, with the threat of part of the baseball season being cancelled. As with all things such as this, there is a lot of acrimony involved, and unfortunately, a lot of the negativity is being directed towards the players. This is wrong.

The players are not to blame for this fora number of reasons, but the biggest reason is this: The players are not on strike. The players are ready to go back to work immediately under the parameters of the most recent Collective Bargaining agreement. The owners have locked out the players in an effort to further restrict player’s abilities to make money while maximizing profits for teams that are not currently putting in an effort to win games.

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