'Moneyball' one of the year's best films

There are a couple of times in Bennett Miller’s “Moneyball” where Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, ponders “how can you not be romantic about baseball?" Baseball is the most romantic of all sports, if you’re a true baseball fan you understand, this is probably why many of the greatest sports movies ever are baseball flicks. However, you don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this film.

“Moneyball” is a film just as much about business as it is hitting a spiraling white ball with a stick, in much the same way that last year’s “The Social Network” was more than just about Facebook. In fact, “Moneyball” was co-written by ‘Network’ scribe Aaron Sorkin, along with Steven Zaillian, based off of Michael Lewis’ book of the same name published in 2003.

“Moneyball,” while similar, is better than “The Social Network,” which was somewhat boring, despite many critics calling it the best film of the year.

The story in “Moneyball” is true, well, mostly true. It tells the story about how Beane, the GM of the A’s, sees his team’s three biggest and best players (Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon & Jason Isringhausen) leave following a playoff appearance via free agency to teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox with deeper pockets. The A’s could never compete with the high payrolls of those teams, but thanks to a new system involving Bill James’ Sabermetrics and mathematical equations that Beane is shown by recent Yale graduate Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill, they realize that they can compete with those teams by paying less. The only bit of the film that is obviously not completely accurate is the fact that there never was a Peter Brand. Hill’s nerdy character is roughly based on former A’s assistant to the GM and current New York Mets Vice President of player development and scouting Paul DePodesta.

In laymen’s terms this is a smart film that’s one of the best movies of the year, but if you’re the kind of filmgoer that likes ‘Transformers’ type films don’t bother. It’s not a fast paced film by any means. It doesn’t have any action and the laughs aren’t laugh out loud funny.

What “Moneyball” does have is good actors (Pitt, Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman as A’s manager Art Howe) giving great performances by reading a great script filled with smart and witty dialogue.

The thing that is the most intriguing about “Moneyball” is there really has never been a film quite like it in the sub-genre of sports films. There are a lot of great sports films out there, but this is the first one to go into the front office life and it’s about time. Sorkin is very good at going into places that film (and television) audiences really haven’t gotten a glimpse into.

Though the film is about what’s going on in the front office more so than on the diamond it still has that great essence of baseball surrounding it, despite the fact that these guys, Beane and Brand, are messing around with the sport’s traditions. It’s got that romanticism of baseball down pat, after all, how can you not be romantic about baseball?

“Moneyball” is rated PG-13 for language and runs two hours and 13 minutes.

Mayweather's Punch Wasn't Dirty, But It Sure Was Cheap

As most sports fans know by now the welterweight fight on Saturday night between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz ended in great controversy. In the fourth round of the fight Ortiz illegally headbutted Mayweather and the fight was temporarily halted by referee Joe Cortez who docked Ortiz points for the headbutt. The two fighters were separated and warned by Cortez. Ortiz then went to Mayweather to apologize for the headbutt with a hug. After the hug, Ortiz had his hands down (an admitted no-no in boxing at any time) and was knocked out by Mayweather with a 1-2 punch of the left hand and then the right.

Technically, because of Ortiz’s multiple mistakes (one with the headbutt that led to the temporary halting and apology and two having his hands down) the knockout punch by Mayweather was legal, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was right. Those who disagree with me should note that I didn’t say it was a dirty punch, because it wasn’t … but, it’s not the way that I would have done it, would have liked to have seen it done or, frankly, the way that it should have been done. Though legal, it was a cheap sucker punch on the part of Mayweather. If Floyd Mayweather is as good as Floyd Mayweather says he is than he doesn’t need to result to winning fights this way. Mayweather should have given up on the sucker punch and won that fight the way that true champions win fights … fairly.

NBC Degrades PGA Tour By Forcing it to Move Times for Notre Dame Football

This probably doesn’t seem like a big deal to most sports fans and many will probably think that I’m making much ado about nothing, but I find it highly ridiculous and inappropriate of NBC to make the PGA Tour move up the tee times for the third round of their FedEx Cup Playoffs event the BMW Championship because the network wants the round completed by 2:30 p.m., when the Notre Dame/Michigan State game is set to kick off on the network.

I know that NBC has shown Notre Dame home games dating back to 1991, and they are somewhat considered America’s team because of this (though I doubt many non-Notre Dame fans care at this point, because of how poorly Notre Dame has played of late or rather of long), but shouldn’t PGA Tour playoffs trump week three of the college football season? Especially when the matchup is likely going to see the network’s beloved Fighting Irish start the season 0-3 to the number 15 ranked Spartans.

Some would say that this move by NBC is good in that it will give fans the chance to see both events. Others will say that the football game will draw more viewers and ratings are all that is important to networks. I can’t disagree with both of these aspects, because, well, they’re true.

However, I do think that NBC’s decision to almost force the PGA Tour to schedule their tee times earlier, so that the tournament could end by 2:30 is degrading to the PGA Tour and the sport of golf. By the way, NBC has known about this scheduling issue for months now, so why did they just bring it up late in the week? Also, why couldn’t they just start the Notre Dame/Michigan State game on their sister sports network Versus?

If I were PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem I would’ve put my sport and athletes first over what the network carrying the coverage of it wanted. The PGA Tour doesn’t have to kowtow to NBC and Finchem should have told NBC Sports head Mark Lazarus tough. Yes, this may not sound like much of a deal to many fans, but NBC Sports effectively just told the PGA Tour and golf fans all around the country and world just how much the sport means to them, and that’s nothing in comparison to a relatively unimportant college football game.

My 2011 NFL Season Predictions

AFC

East

1. New England Patriots 13-3

2. New York Jets 12-4

3. Buffalo Bills 4-12

4. Miami Dolphins 3-12

North

1. Pittsburgh Steelers 12-4

2. Baltimore Ravens 11-5

3. Cleveland Browns 7-9

4. Cincinnati Bengals 2-14

South

1. Houston Texans 9-7

2. Indianapolis Colts 8-8

3. Tennessee Titans 7-8

4. Jacksonville Jaguars 5-11

West

1. San Diego Chargers 11-5

2. Kansas City Chiefs 7-9

3. Denver Broncos 6-10

4. Oakland Raiders 5-11

Wild Cards: Jets, Ravens

NFC

East

1. Philadelphia Eagles 11-5

2. Dallas Cowboys 10-6

3. New York Giants 8-8

4. Washington Redskins 5-11

North

1. Green Bay Packers 12-4

2. Detroit Lions 8-8

3. Minnesota Vikings 8-8

4. Chicago Bears 7-9

South

1. Atlanta Falcons 11-5

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10-6

3. New Orleans Saints 9-7

4. Carolina Panthers 2-14

West

1. St. Louis Rams 8-8

2. Arizona Cardinals 7-9

3. San Francisco 49ers 6-10

4. Seattle Seahawks 5-11

Wild Cards: Buccaneers, Cowboys

Super Bowl: Patriots vs. Packers

How Chris Johnson Screwed Over My Fantasy Team Before the Season Even Started

There are a lot of players in the NFL that I don’t care much for … most of the players that I don’t like have always been of the Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Randy Moss nature because I feel like they talk too much and think of themselves first and their team second.

Then you have guys like Mike Vick who I don’t like for things they’ve done off the field.

Well, last week a new player joined my list of NFL stars that I can’t stand and for a different reason, one that probably shows a little selfishness on my part.

That player is Tennessee Titans star running back Chris Johnson, who last week finally ended his preseason long hold out when he and the Titans agreed to a new deal.

You see a few weeks ago my Yahoo Sports fantasy football league held its draft. I had a middle pick in the first round of the draft and figured that I’d select Johnson in hopes that he could maybe have another MVP type season. I took him knowing that he was holding out, but players hold out all of the time and I figured it wasn’t serious.

Well, then I started hearing that it was getting pretty serious and that it seemed more and more likely that Johnson would at least miss a few games. It finally looked so bleak that I offered Johnson up to another competitor in the league for Dallas Cowboys running back Felix Jones, despite Johnson being ranked much higher. I figured a decent back like Jones would be better than nothing and that the other guy would be the one taking on the risk.

A week after I completed that fantasy trade, Johnson finally ended the hold out. Sure, it turns out that I probably worried far too much and ended up making a bad trade that essentially waste my first round draft pick and could severely hurt my chances to win the league. However, it’s a deal I feel Johnson forced me into … so I sure won’t be rooting for his success this season.