I was using two blogs...one to write about the Reds, the other about me. I rarely actually blog, so I am just combining them here. So sometimes this will be about the Reds, sometimes just my life.
Showing posts with label Thoughts from Third Base. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoughts from Third Base. Show all posts
I am so ready for baseball...and as such...I did a little experiment...I decided to use the Yahoo Fantasy Rankings to determine the NL Central Standings this year. It falls closely in line to what many are picking, so my methodology may be sounds. :-)
Bad news for Reds Fans like myself and Anthony, Pirates Fans like Scott and Brian. I just used an EXTREMELLY scientific and mathmatic approach to figure out the NL Central Standings for this year. The lower the points the better.
1) Brewers 97
2) Cardinals 100
3) Reds 107
4) Cubs 109
5) Astros 130
6) Pirates 164
Pirates pitching KILLS them. If their starters were even equal to Houston's (next worst) they would be at 119; improve their closer and even better.
If you're at all wondering...I took the Yahoo Player rankings, and found where NL Central teams ranked position by position. I used the official website (MLB website) for depth charts to decide where everyone landed except Reds catcher, because let's be real....Hanigan over Hernandez.
For example:
2B:
1-Reds/Phillips
2-Brewers/Weeks
3-Pirates/Walker
4-Cubs/DeWitt
5-Cardinals/Schumaker
6-Astros/Barmes
I totaled those to give the rankings...position by position.
By position players it fell this way:
Brewers/Cardinals-25
Cubs-26
Pirates-28
Reds-29
Astros-35
Starters (higher numbers because 5 pitchers per staff)
Brewers-55
Cardinals-60
Reds-69
Cubs-74
Astros-76
Pirates-121 (REALLY bad)
Closers:
Cubs/Marmol
Reds/Cordero
Brewers/Axford
Cardinals/Franklin
Astros/Lyon
Pirates/Hanrahan (I think Meek should be the closer...but Hanrahan's listed first on the site)
Bullpen (top 2 relievers only)
Reds (Massett/Chapman)
Cubs (Wood & Marshall)
Pirates (Meek & Resop)
Cardinals (McClellan & Motte)
Brewers (Hawkins & Saito) and Astros (Fulchino & Arias)
I think Hawkins and Saito are better than they have them....
So there you have my methodology. With all of this work I think I'll blog this also...
So this time my thoughts aren't on current news stories. Instead my thoughts are predictions for the Reds this season. We'll see if I get any right in a few months through October.
The Reds are going to be hit with 3 major injuries that take players out for a large portion of the season.
The first injury will be Scott Rolen. He'll go down in May with a season ending injury. The Reds will try Juan Francisco at third, but it won't work. They'll give Todd Frazier the chance, and he'll have a good rookie campaign.
The second injury around the same time will be to Ramon Hernandez. The Reds will bring Corky Miller up initially, but with Devin Mesoraco raking for the Bats they'll give him the chance...and he'll take the starting job. He'll finish top 5 in Rookie of the Year balloting and be the Reds starting backstop for quite a while.
The third will be to Bronson Arroyo. He'll deny it at first (never having missed a start in his career) but will eventually have to go to the DL for the first time.
Francisco Cordero will have a VERY rough April, and be de-seated by Aroldis Chapman as closer by Mid-May.
The Reds will limp into the All-Star break where they'll have three representatives-Aroldis Chapman, Brandon Phillips, and Joey Votto.
Speaking of Brandon Phillips, he'll have a career year. He'll be consistent and by mid-summer will have agreed to an extension to stay in the Queen City for 5 more years for a hometown discount...5 years, 40-42 million.
Homer Bailey gets converted to a reliever. He's not happy at first and it shows, but by mid-season has accepted and adapted to the new role. Homer ends up leading the team in appearances out of the pen and allows barely any runners to score-inherited or of his own.
Mike Leake starts the season in the minors, but comes back up when Arroyo goes down/Homer moves to the pen. He ends up nearly un-hittable the rest of the year, going 14-3.
Travis Wood again shows his brilliance and locks himself in as a fixture of the rotation. Despite a rough stretch in July, he ends the season 14-8.
Johnny Cueto emerges as the ace of the staff. By mid-season he has 14 wins, and ends the season with 22.
At the end of the season it's ALMOST enough for the Reds, but they have to go to a 1-game playoff for the Central division.
Anything can happen in one game, which Travis Wood gets to start....
So...predictions for 2011. I'll actually be surprised if ANY of them come true, but...you never know...
So....I had trouble deciding what this fit under, but I decided it was Thoughts From Third. Or "JS is taking a day to say which females on TV he thinks is hot" but that's a really long title...so let's stay with Thoughts from Third, shall we?
So...Buddytv.com (which I don't believe I've ever visited before today) came out with their list of "TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2010". It's a pretty good list, but I picked the 15 I think should be higher on the list. Not that I have the ranking they SHOULD be...just I think they are my top 15. So, I will share here with art (not the pics they use, which aren't all flattering. Basically, I'll put the number they had the person and name, etc how they have it, then a picture. I may comment on some...but not sure how many. Anyway...here is my list for no other reason then, well...why not?
#99 Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Really...is anyone surprised I like the Geek look?
#98 Lea Michele, Glee
She's just really cute.
#82 Alyson Hannigan, How I Met Your Mother
Cute redhead...are you surprised?
#81 Emily Deschanel, Bones
Sometimes it's all about the eyes. I found a picture with her also amazingly cute sister Zooey.
#63 Sarah Lancaster, Chuck
Here is why I don't say sexiest...I say hot or cute. She is just adorable.
#49 Allison Mack, Smallville
Chloe (her character) is just amazingly cute. I always like her more than Lana or Lois on the show.
#35 Julia Stiles, Dexter
This one goes way back and I think has more to do with her intelligence, or at the least perceived intelligence.
#30 Laura Vandervoort, V
She's Supergirl...what do you expect??
#29 Cassidy Freeman, Smallville
Another cute redhead. You know...there needs to be more.
#21 Olivia Wilde, House
Like I said...sometimes it's all about the eyes.
#17 Erica Durance, Smallville
She's no Chloe...but she IS Lois Lane.
#11 Jennifer Morrison, How I Met Your Mother and House
Once again...adorably cute.
#10 Heather Morris, Glee
As you can tell, sometimes the character they play adds something. Most definitely true here.
#5 Kaley Cuoco, The Big Bang Theory
Funny story...I thought she was just the SECOND cutest on her first big TV show...Amy Davidson was much cuter.
Amy Davidson, for reference:
Yeah...cute redhead trumps cute blonde.
And the final person I think is rated too low???
#1 Yvonne Strahovski, Chuck
How can you be #1 and still be ranked too low??? When you are as cute, beautiful, stunning, etc. as Yvonne Strahovski.
Funny thing...none of the Divas from WWE were on the list. I would possibly add one or two.
Anyway....there is my Thoughts from Third Base on Buddy TV's list.
I enjoyed the other two Transformers movies. People judge them (and the GI Joe movie) too harshly. There are changes, but they keep the feel of the old cartoon. A bit more cohesive of stories. But remember-these are movies based off of a toyline. Deal with it.
Sadly, the first (WAY too short) season of The Walking Dead has ended. It's going to be a LONG wait until next October for a longer season 2. Two interesting pieces of news, however. Not only was The Walking Dead the most pirated series, the ratings of the show INCREASED with every episode. Interesting.
American Pie 4 is being made, and they are hoping to bring back the entire original cast. The biggest issue seems to be how busy Alyson Hanigan is. That's what talent gets you!
Glee characters will get replaced as they graduate. They've done a good job of NOT saying what year anyone is in really, but this is only good news. We can't keep them around forever. Maybe Brittney. She could easily fail year after year.
Randy, the best character in the Scream movies, may be back in Scream 4. Sure he died in Scream 2...but...
The Hobbit movie is set to continue deviating from the books, as Orlando Bloom/Legolas is set to return. I'm ok with it...he was the best character in LOTR...which I now want to rewatch. Maybe on my 3-week break from work...
Rumor has there being a FULL trailer for the most anticipated game of next year (followed closely by Portal 2 and LBP2) this weekend, but here's a teaser:
The next TV series based on a DC Comics character may be based on the Teen Titan Raven. This would definitely be a teen-focused show, but could be good. It's an interesting character to choose.
The iPad 2 is rumored to ship in February. I'm waiting to get my iPad until the 2 is out, so I'm ready.
Tons of other news and rumors flying...but that's good for today.
I added voting buttons to the bottom of my blogs! Epic (which is a joke...nothing I blog is epic, but it is better than "Like"), Fail (yeah...sometimes I fail...it's rare.), Wha-huh? (somethings are just bizarre), and Derailed (sometimes I lose topic). Enjoy, and I know you'll ALL go back and rate ALL of my previous blogs...or at least go mark fail to the Christian Reds Rap....which was an EPIC fail. :-)
Let's kick this off the right way....Redsfest is rapidly approaching! This is the first year I'm not boiling over with excitement...I think it's because I'm more excited to get to the season to see if the team can carry their success over. It's an interesting switch. This is the first Redsfest ever with a Reds playoff team, so it'll be interesting. Normally the Reds focus Redsfest on the past (remember 1990 and how awesome it was) or the promise of the next year...this is the first time they could really look at the current year.
However...the most important part of the news for this week...the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is out to the BBWAA. The important part of that...Barry Larkin is back of the ballot. Writers need to do the smart thing and vote 11 for '11!
As a baseball fan...not just a Reds fan...it's impossible to not like Joey Votto.
I absolutely love this idea. Carl Crawford's (who I wish the Reds could afford) agent is sending iPads with info on Crawford including videos, highlights, testimonials, etc. to all GMs interested in him to drive cost up. Agents @ NACA are going to start having iPads with highlights of their clients...I've already talked to some who are...Apple may not be Google...but they are revolutionary.
Hmmm....has anyone thought that WW3 may not involve the Middle East and Korea but be a war between Apple, Google, and Microsoft??? If so...I hope I choose the winner!!! (Google....)
So...if you haven't played Minecraft yet do it! It's amazing, and consuming my non-work life.
One of my goals over Thanksgiving was to try to zip through the main story of Assassin's Creed so I could move on to AC II. I enjoy most of one...though there are some VERY tedious parts...and I've heard II is a lot better. AC: Brotherhood (a story continuation for ACII) just came out. No clue whether it is ACIII or another continuation, but now there will be another new Assassin's Creed game next year. At least with me playing late I get the games cheap! (BTW-I know you're wondering. NO...I didn't finish AC...Minecraft consumed that time.)
I've many times said the only three good slapstick/satire/silly humor actors I have enjoy the work of are Leslie Nielson, John Ritter, and Adam Sandler. Unfortunately, we've lost another one. (And yes...it's sad that every 9-11 I remember that John Ritter died two years after the tragedy...but yes I think of him annually.
Also...one other comic cover that at least has something I love, but misses on the 80's (was in 1991) and the cover isn't great, it just has one thing I love:
It's actually a good cover...but what I love is the heading at the top. "#80 in a four-issue limited series." The series (as you see on #1 above) was planned as a 4-issue series...but sold VERY well so they rushed to continue it (whereas now they would just have a new #1.) That lead to the really cool heading. The image of Prime lurking in the back makes this cover as far as the non-headline goes.
One more early 90s cover I love (the 80s really went until about 1992 anyway...) that made me buy the comic and scavenge for YEARS to get the whole series...
So...back to the news.
The next step in the entertainment wars is being taken. If I had about a 1 or 2TB Hard Drive on my PS3 (I know...this is Microsoft...but don't think Sony isn't chomping at the bit for this) with DVR and cable, that would be AWESOME. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a cable service where you CHOOSE what channels you want. Like you pay 1-2$ a month per channel you want, and more for the premium movie channels. I'd jump all over that.
This is utterly ridiculous. My respect for Fox is in the gutter right now. If she was the leak...I would understand. But for this...no.
Speaking of ridiculous...They are going ahead with the remake of Buffy without Joss Whedon. They really don't get it. "This was popular...let's remake it!" You know...there was a reason it was popular...and when you get rid of those reasons, there is nothing worthwhile! Buffy was popular because of Angel and Spike. Because of Willow. Xander. Faith. Oz. Giles. You know who was probably the LEAST liked character in the series? Buffy. Who will be in the new movie? Which characters? Only Buffy. Dreadful. AND with no Whedon...no. You have to LOVE his response though! I don't see any Whedon fans seeing this movie in theaters...whic is going to hurt it.
And also on that mode...this is a bad idea. Superman as CGI? No. BAD IDEA. Why? Well, other not having Routh or Welling as Superman, there is another reason. That reason comes to us from 1978 (the year after I was born!) Superman: The Movie. Christopher Reeve. What was the tagline of the film? Anyone??
.....
That's correct! "You'll Believe a Man Can Fly!" I, of course, didn't see it until a few years later...but in 1978 they made us believe a man can fly. Now having all Superman CG? Dreadful.
The Harry Potter series is being converted to 3D and have a limited release in theaters at some point. I think 3D is overrated. I am typically underwhelmed by 3D, and only occasionally whelmed. (YEAH! Young Justice! Thank you Robin...) What I would LOVE is for July 17th or whatever (too lazy to look) to be Harry Potter day like when LOTR was released. I'd pay $30 to spend a day in the theater with half hour breaks between movies to watch all 7 released movies leading up to the midnight showing of HP7-2. I'd do it in a HEARTBEAT! You know a ton of people would! (Sadly...it would be about the length of the LOTR marathon, methinks...)
Mayim Bialik and Darren Criss are now regulars on their respective shows. Good. They should be. They make the already awesome shows better.
I know this has been a long one...so here is a thank you if you made it this far and made it to the end. Do yourself a favor, and spend 10 minutes watching this...although just a warning...you'll want to watch all of it. Just trust me!
"I am a beautiful animal! I am a destroyer of worlds!"
So...a TON of trailers/extended previews for movies and TV shows have hit recently! I'll put them here and give my thoughts!
Only one place to start:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Friday, November 19, 2010
I already have my tickets. I'll be there Saturday. I expect good things from this movie, and thing the 7th movies will be the best of the series.
Winnie The Pooh
July 15, 2011
I have been a Winnie the Pooh fan my whole life. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Pooh's Grand Adventure. The Tigger Movie. Piglet's Big Move. Pooh's Heffalump Movie. I love them all. I wish I OWNED them all...Pooh's Grand Adventure is right there with the 3 Mighty Ducks Movies as most desired DVDs I haven't purchased yet. I fully expect to enjoy this one as well.
Green Lantern
June 17th, 2011
I am so VERY excited for this movie. I love me some Superman, Batman, etc. But I cannot wait to see Green Lantern and Flash movies. A Wonder Woman and Firestorm movie would also rock! (For those wondering, I have no hope for a Nightwing movie. Regarding the GL movie, however...this trailer gives me a Geekgasm. It is AWESOME!
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
December 10, 2010
Trailer 1:
Trailer 2:
Disney did a great job with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.Prince Caspian wasn't memorable but wasn't bad...it's just not as strong of a book. Fox picked up the rights after Disney let them go. Dawn Treader is one of the best books in the series and I think will make a good movie. The only question I have is...where do they go from here? I would guess The Silver Chair. I don't think the will do The Magician's Nephew or A Horse and His Boy. That only leaves The Last Battle. It'll be interesting to see what Fox decides on.
Red Riding Hood
March 2011
Yesterday I said I thought this could be decent. Then I actually watched the trailer. I'm not as sure now. I think this may get a DVD viewing at best. Amanda Seyfried is a talented actress...I hate to see her wasting her time in things like this and Jennifer's Body.
Ok...so...I questioned this one. However, I loved The Smurfs and NPH is in it...so I may give it a shot. Of course, I havent' seen either Chipmunks movies yet, so who knows...
As for TV Trailers:
Teen Wolf
I'm not really sure; MTV
This is clearly a re-imagining and not a remake. After watching this...I'm not sold on it. I don't think it is going to be horrible, necessarily...just don't know that it will be good either.
Young Justice
November 26, 2010 on Cartoon Network
This I'm excited for. I enjoyed the Teen Titans cartoon, but am more excited for this. I just wish they had included some of the female Titans in the preview. I'm guessing they get added after a couple of episodes. I'm excited for this.
There are more, but really that is enough for today! I hope you enjoyed your time trailer watching with me!
