Field of Deets

Ok, this is my third post today. I couldn't sleep, then suddenly I realized that I didn't read Simmons today so I checked it out and became motivated to write another post.

Things I've thought about so far this post-season:

Between Lackey and Byrd, the Angels have the ugliest pitching staff in the bigs, hands down. With Lackey's small mouth and Byrd's fucked up eyes (I think there is a huge space between them), they'll make hitters shake without even throwing an effective pitch

Which baseball player would you rather get in a fight with in an alley somewhere? Carl Everett or Gary Sheffield. I would have to say Sheffield because I just think Everett is a little more psycho.

I seriously want some fucking feedback on this one. Pick one. Write in votes are acceptable, but you better make a strong case if you think someone would be more leathel than either of these two. Former players are even acceptable.

Don't say Milton Bradley; he's just not as physically imposing as Everett or Sheff.

Don't say Albert Belle; all you have to do is kick him in the hip and its over.

I could buy Lenny Dykstra because he's just a hardass and the rumors of roids around him give some weight to a roid rage argument. But he's still behind Everett and Sheff.

Don't say Kyle Farnsworth. He's deadly in a brawl, but lacks the psychotic tendencies to kick ass for no reason, unless he was up against Berkman, then he might want some revenge.

Don't say Nolan Ryan. He beat up Robin Ventura, but c'mon, it's Robin Ventura.

Enough of this crap. It's boring.

More thoughts from the post-season.

I smile every time they show Scott Podsednik's stolen bases stats from the first half of the year compared to the second half. I liked him a lot as a Brewer. I've liked him a little less every day ever since he became a White Sock.

Has anyone been better in the announcing booth than Mike Piazza this post-season? No.

Bring back Al Leiter for the World Series. Or Piazza. Or Harold Reynolds. Or Orel Herschieser. And Bob Brenly's not too bad.

If I got to choose a threesome in the booth for a big game, it would be Al Michaels, Harold Reynolds, and Orel Herschieser. My back-ups in case they all lose their voices would be John Miller, Tony Gwynn, and Al Leiter. I like the idea of having both a veteran or recently retired hitter and pitcher in the booth; it gives the broadcast the most potential for really good insight.

On my "I Would Rather Listen To Three Random Drunk Fans From The Opposing Team" list would be: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Joe Morgan, Thom Brenneman, Dave O'Brien, and Steve Stone.

You know what my favorite part of Pujols's jack the other night was? Thom Brenneman spent the last half of the 7th, all of the 8th, and the first two outs of the ninth sucking the Houston organization's cock. He was setting up the big call at the end of the game where he could be the first guy to verbally send them to a World Series. He was prepping FOX's Houston montage, getting ready to make the moment overly-sentimental like only Thom can. He was mentioning past Astro players and pointing out all the shit they're organization has gone through, blah, blah, blah The Colt 45's, blah, blah, blah, Nolan Ryan x53, blah, blah, blah. And then BANG! Albert goes yard and it's time to start talking about how Busch Stadium will get at least one more game. Oh boy, Thom, lay off the feelings shit and just call the god damn game.

I will give him credit. He did shut up after Berkman hit his blast and he just let us hear the crowd, which was a very nice touch. He was like the AC/DC drummer there, he knew when not to play and that made him good. He should do it more often.

But then he fucked up. He said that Minute Maid was "without a doubt the loudest stadium in baseball no question about it." What about the Metrodome when it's going ape shit in there?

Thom's hyperbolic statements drive me crazy. He called 2001 the best World Series ever and didn't even mention any others that can also be called the best ever. How about 1991? Seven games, the 7th going 9 scoreless innings before the Twins score in the 10th. All of this after Kirby Puckett's heroics in Game 6 allow Minnesota to play another game. At the end of that game Jack Buck made my all time favorite call in any baseball game: "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" Chills. Not to mention that both ESPN and MLB.com have named the 1991 World Series the greatest one ever. That series alone should be enough to push Jack Morris into the Hall of Fame. Not too many pitchers have been as clutch as he was in his career.

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You are now flying forward, feeling the strap of your seatbelt cutting into your neck. Your head is sucked forward and then suddenly forced back against the head rest. I have just slammed on the brakes and changed directions.

Movies:

I watched Fear X tonight, starring John Turturro. It's a very small film released in 2003. Turturro is excellent in it, because what isn't he excellent in? He is surely in my top 5 list of favorite actors and the main reason I picked this one up.

The film is a Lynchian one, full of symbolic imagery, unexplained, undescribable images that you know mean something but you can't figure out what, and editing meant to confuse.

John Turturro plays a man searching for the reason why his wife was murdered. He plays Harry Caine, a mall security guard in Wisconsin. Mrs. Caine was shot in the parking lot of the mall where Harry works and now Harry is obsessed with searching through all the mall servalence videos from the time of the shooting to try to find out who killed his wife and why. Then, for some reason I think I have figured out, Harry makes his way to Montana in search of a woman who he thinks can help him. The woman's husband finds him before Harry finds her and an ending ensues that was quite baffling. It was an intense movie, really brought me in and had me waiting for the ending. Did he find the killer and the reason? I'm not sure I know now. It'll take some thinking today to figure it out. But I do recommend it.

Turturro really is one of my favorites and here are the rest. This list started at 5, grew to 10, with some honorable mentions and then I just kept going all the way to 50.

Here they are, in order. The order of this list will of course fluctuate from time to time but will probably stay close to the way it is. I am not saying this is in the order or who is the best or most accomplished actor, but simply in order of my preference. So if you give a shit, keep reading, if not, I will not be offended if you click the X in the upper right hand corner of the screen. I've also included my favorite roles they played.

I recommend sending your mouse racing for the X in the corner right now.

50. Spencer Tracy (Judgment at Nuremberg)
49. Christopher Walken (Pulp Fiction)
48. George Clooney (O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
47. Robert DeNiro (Heat)
46. Ryan Phillipe (The Way of the Gun)
45. Brad Pitt (12 Monkeys, Snatch)
44. Matt Damon (Rounders, Good Will Hunting)
43. Tom Hanks (Road to Perdition)
42. Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird)
41. Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko)

40. Clive Owen (Croupier, Closer)
39. Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Jungle Fever)
38. Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, Miller's Crossing)
37. Richard Schiff (The West Wing)
36. Steve Buscemi (Fargo, Resevoir Dogs)
35. Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Pledge)
34. John Goodman (The Big Lebowski, Barton Fink)
33. Martin Sheen (Apocalypse Now!, The West Wing)
32. Al Pacino (Heat, The Godfather Trilogy)
31. Brian Cox (25th Hour, Braveheart)

30. Burt Lancaster (Field of Dreams, Run Silent Run Deep, Judgment at Nuremberg)
29. Sean Penn (21 Grams, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mystic River)
28. Jason Patric (Sleepers, Narc)
27. Jack Lemmon (Glengarry GlenRoss, JFK, 12 Angry Men (1997))
26. Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, Seven)
25. Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate, Rainman, All the President's Men)
24. Richard Harris (The Count of Monte Cristo, Gladiator, The Field)
23. Don Cheadle (Crash, Traffic, The United States of Leland)
22. Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting, Dead Poet's Society, Insomnia)
21. Sean Connery (Finding Forester, The Rock, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade)

20. Benecio Del Toro (21 Grams, Traffic, The Usual Suspects, Snatch)
19. Chris Cooper (American Beauty, Seabiscuit, Adaptation)
18. Martin Landau (Rounders, Crimes and Misdemeanors)
17. Ed Harris (The Truman Show, The Rock, Glengarry GlenRoss, Enemy at the Gates)
16. Kevin Kline (The Ice Storm, Life as a House, Dave)
15. Edward Norton (Rounders, 25th Hour, Primal Fear, American History X)
14. Robert Redford (All the President's Men, The Sting, The Natural, Butch Cassidy...)
13. John Spencer (The West Wing, The Rock, The Negotiator, Ravenous)
12. James Earl Jones (Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, The Great White Hope, The Lion King)
11. Anthony Hopkins (The Human Stain, The Silence of the Lambs, Hearts in Atlantis, Instinct)

10. Willem DaFoe (Boondock Saints, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Clearing, MS Burning)
9. Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke, The Hustler, Road to Perdition, The Sting, Hud)
8. Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog, Sexy Beast, Ghandi, Searching for Bobby Fischer)
7. Vince Vaughn (Swingers, Made, Wedding Crashers, Old School, Return to Paradise)
6. Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski, Thunderbolt and Leadfoot, The Contender, The Fisher King)
5. John Turturro (Rounders, Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Barton Fink, Quiz Show)
4. Steve McQueen (The Great Escape, Papillon, Bullitt, The Cincinatti Kid)
3. Kevin Spacey (Usual Suspects, American Beauty, Life of David Gale, The Shipping News)
2. Ray Liotta (Field of Dreams, Goodfellas, a guest spot he did on ER, Narc, Identity)

1. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Owning Mahoney, 25th Hour, Lebowski, Along Came Polley, Boogie Nights, Cold Mountain, Almost Famous, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley)

There it is. That really didn't take as long as you think it did. I promise.