The Amazing Spider-Man Trailer #3

Along with The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers had the latest trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man attached as well. The theater I saw the movie in did not play the trailer, although I assume it did play during 3D showings, being that ASM was filmed in 3D and is the first superhero movie to be filmed entirely in 3D (Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers were all converted to 3D in post-production). The facts already known about this movie (besides casting), compared to the Sam Raimi trilogy:

• Peter Parker's love interest will be Gwen Stacy. Mary Jane Watson will not make an appearance.
• The backstory of Parker's parents will finally be revealed to the movie-going audience.
• Parker has been described as a social outcast, rather than as a nerd.
• Spider-Man's humor is described as being akin to internet trolling, taking advantage of the fact he is an anonymous person.
• Spider-Man will use mechanical web-shooters and will no longer have organic webbing.
• J. Jonah Jameson will not make an appearance.

My observations about the trailer, which reveals the most information about the movie thus far: after the break.

• The Oscorp building makes an appearance, hinting that Norman and Harry Osborn will make appearances or will be hinted at. In the Raimi movies, Harry was a high school friend of Peter. In the comics, Peter and Harry met in college.
• Gwen Stacy knows that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are one in the same, clearly before the climax.
• Parker apparently skateboards? It certainly fits the movie stereotype that people who skateboard are not mainstream.
• It's being heavily implied that the spider that bites Peter does not give him superpowers, but rather activates latent abilities in him. Could Peter be a genetic experiment?
• The Lizard is wearing the shredded white lab coat!
• Spidey appears to be facing the police every bit as much as the Lizard.

The Amazing Spider-Man sees worldwide release July 3, just 2 1/2 weeks before The Dark Knight Rises. If Spidey does not make the bulk of its profit within those 2 1/2 weeks, it will be trounced at the box office by Batman.

Time for Me to Eat Crow!

My blog has been around for quite some time now. And now it's time for me to finally admit to being wrong about things here and there.... Here's the full list of things I was WRONG about.

• I claimed the Lakers were the team to beat going into the 2010-11 NBA season.
• Michael Douglas was not given a sympathy Oscar nomination for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
• I regretfully predicted the Giants would not reach the 2010 World Series.
• I arrogantly predicted the Lakers would make their 4th straight NBA FInals.
• I continued to predict the Lakers would three-peat.
• I called the Houston Rockets serious contenders.
• I called the Dallas Mavericks over-hyped. They won the 2011 NBA Championship.
• Ha ha, I was so wrong about the "epic battle" of Thor versus Green Lantern. GL was a colossal failure.
• Tomb Raider coming out in November 2011? Try Q4 2012.
• The 49ers fixed their quarterback problem by hiring Jim Harbaugh and they did not replace Alex Smith.
• Nate Davis was released by the 49ers and currently plays in the Arena Football League, without ever being given a chance to take the starting QB job.
• Troy Smith was not re-signed by the 49ers and was signed as a free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers in January 2012.
• I incorrectly predicted the Celtics or Magic would defeat the Heat in the playoffs.
• I claimed the Mavericks could not defeat the Spurs in the playoffs. The Spurs were trounced by the #8 seed Memphis Grizzlies.
• I claimed Kemba Walker would be the #1 overall draft pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
• lol, I called Caius Ballad a woman. I should have known Square would design an extremely feminine looking man.
• lol, I called Immortals a tv show, rather than a movie.
• I wrongly predicted the Giants could contend for a 2nd consecutive World Series. They didn't even make the playoffs.
• I wrongly predicted the winners of Best Director and Best Picture at the 83rd Academy Awards, the only awards of the Big Six I got wrong.
• I predicted the Heat to be a 1st round exit team. Boy, was I wrong.
• I had too much faith in Pat Riley to fire Erik Spoelstra, although I did accurately predict he would clean house and get rid of all non-contributors from the bench.
• I again predicted the Mavericks would choke in the playoffs as they always do (which they are currently doing).
• Arrogantly said no team could beat the Lakers in a 7 game series.... They were swept by the Mavericks.
• The Celtics haven't fired Danny Ainge yet! I really can't explain this one, but most analysts are on my side and think Ainge is an overrated GM.
• I was dead wrong about the Dodgers not being able to undergo a miraculous turnaround just by being sold to a new owner. Matt Kemp is the early favorite for NL MVP right now.
• I wrongly predicted Tim Duncan would retire.
• I wrongly predicted a Grizzlies vs Lakers Western Conference Finals and predicted the Celtics would defeat the Heat.
• I claimed the Bulls would go to the Finals.
• I was wrong about Mike Brown's tenure as the new coach of the Lakers. He's actually done a pretty good job.
• In a move that nobody predicted, Dwight Howard signed an extension with the Magic through 2013.
• I was backwards in my analysis of free agents Nene and Tyson Chandler. I claimed Chandler would remain a Maverick and Nene would be gone. The reverse eneded up being true, although the Nuggets eventually traded away Nene.
• I really want David Stern fired as NBA commissioner. Unfortunately, just wishing it to happen doesn't cause it to happen.
• I said the Giants would annihilate the Marlins this season. The Giants just got done losing close contests to the Marlins, who are not having a great start to their season.

I would like to comment that I accurately predicted the 49ers would finish with a 14-2 record last season, back when they were 4-1 and hadn't defeated the Detroit Lions yet.

The Dark Knight Rises Trailer Attached to The Avengers Released

The 3rd trailer for The Dark Knight Rises has arrived! It will be attached to The Avengers, a giant reminder by Christopher Nolan and WB that The Avengers is NOT the movie event of the year. Here's what I noticed in the trailer, in order:

• The 8-year time skip is noticeable right away in Bruce Wayne. He has graying temples, noticeable wrinkles, and has let his beard grown out.
• With the beard, has Wayne retired from being Batman?
• At the party scene, Wayne has shaved his beard, implying there will be a case of important haircut.
• Bane's men are going to hijack a plane while rappelling from another plane. That makes 2 movies in a row, someone gets into a plane without the plane landing.
• I didn't previously complain about Bane's voice, but it does sound much clearer now. I could have lived with or without the change.
• This will be the final time we ever witness Hines Ward play football. Ward retired after being released by the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of last season.
• Another plot involving the bridges, similar to the Joker's plan in the last movie to force the people of Gotham to evacuate via boat, except this time Bane is more proactive.
• Did "they" kill who? Trailers always lie, so John Blake and Selina Kyle may not be speaking to each other.
• How is Bane torturing Wayne?
• The child talking to Blake speaks as if Batman has retired...
• How did Catwoman get the Batpod anyway?
• The Mystery Man from the 1st trailer can be seen again briefly, but now it is clear they are holding a gun and there is a 2nd person next to him. Could these actually be Bane's henchman and not, as rumored, Ra's al Ghul come back from the dead?
• Bruce Wayne's love interest will apparently be Miranda Tate, not Selina Kyle.
• I have a terrible feeling that Catwoman's dialogue with Batman is going to be a little hammy.
• Does the Batmobile transform into the Bat? Catwoman seems to believe at first that it is a car...
• The movie's outdoor scenes have a serious gray-scale look. The first movie was mostly filtered reddish-brown, the 2nd was mostly filtered blue.
• Batman Begins had red-brown as a primary color because of the recurring theme of fire (Ra's al Ghul's and Bruce Wayne's houses burned down, Batman set on fire by the Scarecrow, Scarecrow's horse "breathing" fire)
• The Dark Knight used a blue filter throughout because blue is generally identified as a "night" color. Harvey Dent's scenes never use the blue filter.
• The gray-scale may imply neutrality, either by Catwoman, or by Gotham City itself. The child talking to Blake even draws the Batman logo with white chalk.

The Dark Knight Rises sees worldwide release on July 20.

NFL Draft Craziness, NBA Playoffs Begin, NHL Playoffs 2nd Round Begin

NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell (L) with #1 Overall Pick, Andrew Luck (R)

The 2012 NFL Draft has come and gone, bringing along a whole slew of rookies to the NFL. Because of the new CBA, rookies will be paid less than ever before, a condition successfully argued in what many called the "Jamarcus Russell Clause." Although it is rare for a 1st round draft pick to be a total bust, it does happen enough where teams can be lost on hundreds of millions of dollars simply for being a bad team and drafting a bust. Busts can take a long time to truly evaluate, because it can take years for some players to truly come out of their shell, as well as having just the right conditions. John Elway is still considered the most sure-thing draft pick ever, but he didn't win his 2 Super Bowls until he was almost 40. Will Andrew Luck win a Super Bowl within 5 years? Or will it be 15 years? Only time will tell.


The entire list of 1st round draft picks after the break, along with coverage of the first games of the NBA Playoffs, and evaluation of the 1st round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

More Problems For the Saints, Stanley Cup Playoffs Full of Upsets

As if the Saints didn't have enough problems with the Bounty scandal, still awaiting Roger Goodell's player punishments, there are now new allegations from anonymous employees of the Superdome that claim a very complicated, but incredibly illegal scheme was going on. Before current GM Mickey Loomis arrived in New Orleans, his predecessor installed an audio monitoring system in his office in 2000 where he watched games so that he could directly listen in on what the Saints offensive and defensive coaches were saying during games. When Loomis was hired in 2002, allegations say he personally requested the monitoring system re-wired so that he could only listen in on opposing coaches visiting the Superdome. The monitoring system was no longer used after 2004, when Hurricane Katrina struck and the Superdome was used as temporary shelter.


If allegations prove true, Loomis violates not only the NFL bylaws, but U.S. federal law as well. Under federal law, people can not be monitored with video/audio without their consent without suspicion of a crime (wire-tapping). Loomis is already serving an 8-game suspension for his involvement in the Bounty scandal. Most analysts agree that if allegations prove to be true, Loomis should receive a lifetime ban. The NFL claims it discovered these allegations at the same time as ESPN, but the feds say they have been aware of this whole ordeal for quite some time and have been investigating.


Stanley Cup upsets after the break.

Analyzing the 2012 NFL Schedule

Yay! the 2012 NFL Schedule was released! Again! See, what the NFL does is they have a rotating schedule that is based on a simple premise. Each team in the same division (i.e. NFC East) will play the 3 teams in their own division 6 times, another division in the same conference (NFC South) 1 time each, and a division from the other conference (AFC North) also 1 time each on a rotating 4 year schedule. Next year for example, the NFC East will face the NFC North and AFC West (that means a face-off of the Manning Brothers next year!). The big deal however, is that the exact time and dates of the games are not revealed until April, because the NFL wants to create a schedule that appeases numerous factors such as:

• 49ers and Raiders games not to be scheduled against each other
• Giants and Jets games not to be scheduled against each other
• Seahawks, Raiders, 49ers, and Chargers games to start later than 10 AM PT for home games
• Hot weather games (Chargers, Cardinals, Dolphins, etc.) to start later than 1 PM ET for home games before November
• Cold weather games (Giants, Jets, Patriots, etc.) to not air night games in December
• Primetime (Sunday/Monday/Thursday Night Football) airing of as many playoff rematches and marquee game rematches from the previous season as possible
• Primetime featuring the 49ers vs Raiders and/or Giants vs Jets, regardless of how the teams performed the previous season
• Primetime featuring a rematch of the Super Bowl, or previous Super Bowls if both teams are still relevant
• Primetime featuring the last 2 Super Bowl winners
• Primetime featuring intriguing storylines involving notable free agent moves and trades made in the offseason
• *NEW* Each of the 32 teams receiving at least 1 appearance on primetime

Well, the final schedule has now been released, so we can finally take a look at what every primetime game will be. The Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night games (with notes!), after the break.

Dwight Howard Says He Doesn't Want to Play For Stan Van Gundy Anymore. Dwight Howard's Back Says It Doesn't Wan't to Help Dwight Howard Walk For a While

Earlier this week, a non-story came out about Dwight Howard allegedly saying that were he to come back from his herniated disc in time for the playoffs, he would refuse to play for Stan Van Gundy. Well, it turns out his herniated disc injury is so severe that he will require back surgery, causing him to miss the remainder of the season/playoffs and the summer Olympics.


Karma's a bitch, isn't it? A herniated disc is a severe injury that Howard may never fully recover from, so I guess it's finally time to crown Andrew Bynum the best center in the NBA. All Bynum's done is mess up his knees, but his play this season has proved that his knees haven't stopped him from becoming better and better each and every year.