The Big NFL Referee Debacle

Okay, so if you haven't found out about it already on the news, then it is time that you should know about it. Even if you aren't a big sports fan, the ramifications of this event are going to go down in history.

Right before the 2012 NFL season started, the NFL owners decided that they did not want agree to give the refs pensions for when they retire. So, the referees decided that they were going to hold out this season. Roger Goodell had to do something, so he scrounged up as many college referees as he could possibly find. The NCAA probably did not want their good referees to go to the NFL. All that Goodell was left with was small town college football referees. I mean, we're talking like division III junior college refs. It went a little something like that.

When I first heard about this, my initial reaction was, "I really don't think it is going to make a huge difference." I figured as long as the teams were playing, then having replacement referees wasn't going to be a big deal. I mean, how much will a few bad calls affect the outcome of the game?

Well, this past weekend showed me just how much ONE bad call can affect the game.

I'm sure you have seen the catch all over the news already, but just in case you haven't, here is the clip of the play from the Monday Night Football game, the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Green Bay Packers:

Okay, so for all of you who are unfamiliar with the rules of football, when 2 players go up for the ball, 1 offense and 1 defense, like the play that you have just watched, if both players get possession of the ball at the same time, then the call goes to the offensive player. Kind of like in baseball, the tie goes to the runner. 

In this play, the Green Bay Packers player (M.D. Jennings, #43) went up for the ball. At the same time, the Seattle Seahawks player (Golden Tate, #81) went up for the ball. But, as you could clearly see from the video, the Packers player clearly has full possession of the ball when both players hit the ground. This call should have been an interception.

Of course, if they called the correct call, I would not be writing this blog post.

Up until that point, I would have said that the Baltimore Ravens vs. the New England Patriots game was the worst officiated game that I had ever seen. I still believe that overall, the Patriots game was the worst. But this call on Monday Night Football was the worst call I have ever seen!

How much is it going to take for these owners to pull their head out of their ass? What they need to do is stop being little whiny bitches, and take some of their billions of dollars and come up with some sort of solution! This call is just the epitome of bad calls. 

Of course, the NFL issued a statement today that told people that they support the decision of the referees. the decision is final!

Well, NO SHIT IT'S FINAL! we obviously can't go back and change the outcome. The Green Bay Packers still have the loss that they didn't deserve, and the Seahawks still have a win. It seems as if nothing is going to change. 

I don't know what the fuck is going to happen. I just know that everyone just needs to believe in their respective teams, and just hope that everything resolves itself. I would like to hear your opinion on all of this. Let me know what you all think!

Movies To Keep An Eye Out For

As an avid movie-goer, I am always keeping an eye out for the next big movie. Some movie previews I see do not look very promising. They might end up being entertaining, but nothing is going to come from the movie. Then, there are movie previews that I see where I think, "WOW! This movie might get nominated for an Academy Award!"

Sometimes, the best movies I have seen go unnoticed. Then, the next thing you know, the movie wins the Academy Award for Best Picture! And I'm like, "DAMN IT! I NEED TO SEE THIS MOVIE!"

So, here's just a few movies that I have already seen the previews for that I think are going to be taken seriously at the Oscars. Of course, there are going to be the obvious ones that come and are going to be incredibly advertised. These are just the ones that I think are going to be under advertised:

• THE MASTER

I am not really sure what this movie is about. That is usually a good sign. It just looks like it is extremely well acted and one of those really strong movies. I think that it might already be in theaters, or select theaters. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams. This will probably be nominated for a shit load of Academy Awards. 

• LINCOLN

Pretty obvious what this movie is about. It's Daniel Day-Lewis playing Abraham Lincoln and being directed by Steven Spielberg. It is also star-studded with Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, and even Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I am extremely excited for this movie to come out.

• WON'T BACK DOWN

I'm not entirely excited for this movie, mostly because I am not a huge Maggie Gyllenhaal fan. I do like Viola Davis, though. I think that this movie might be like one of those Precious type of movies that ends up being an extremely emotional roller coaster.

• THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Again, this is not one of those movies that I am extremely excited for, but it looks like it has one of those Juno vibes. I think that the directors of Juno also directed this movie too. I saw a preview for it. It probably won't get nominated for Best Picture, but it might have some acting nominations.

• ARGO

Now, I don't like to give Ben Affleck any credit, because he is one of my least favorite actors of all time (possible blog post?), but this movie is looks pretty impressive. It's based off of a classified true story (whatever it is), and I think it may be one of those movies that the Academy will nominate the shit out of!

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Anyways, these movies are coming out pretty soon. keep an eye out for them when they come down the pipe. HAPPY HUNTING!

My Summer of 2012

Hi everybody! I'm Back!

I know you've all probably been crying all over your laptops because of my lack of posts recently. I realized that it had been a while since my last post. I have been extremely busy this summer. First and foremost, I GOT ENGAGED!

You have no idea what we had to do to get that ring on her finger! Apparently, my grandmother's fingers were super thin and bony

I'm sure you have all seen it on Facebook. In other news, I got a job working for a wonderful company called Cambridge Historical Tours. We are a group of professional storytellers and actors who take you on a guided historical tour of Old Cambridge and Harvard University. We dress in period clothing and portray historical characters from Cambridge and Harvard History. I am Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

"Ollie" with some very happy customers ;)

Along with that, I was also in a very lovely production of Twelfth Night, which was put on by a group called ARTS AFTER HOURS. They are located in Lynn, MA. I played the character Fabian. We performed it to the natural setting of Lynn Woods. Really fun time.

(From left to right) Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew, and Fabian watching Malvolio read the letter!

So anyways, that was pretty much MY whole summer. This brings me to my next topic of discussion: What am I going to write about? 

Along with doing all of these wonderful things this summer, I also was able to go and see a lot of movies when I could. Now, I'm not sure if you remember from last year, but I posted a blog that gave awards to all of the movies that I saw.

Well, I'm doing it again this year! 

MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF THE SUMMER: The Dark Knight Rises (of course)

MY LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE: Snow White and the Huntsman

MOST ENTERTAINING MOVIE: TIE!: The Avengers and Rock of Ages

LEAST ENTERTAINING MOVIE: The Odd Life of Timothy Green

FUNNIEST MOVIE: Ted

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Chernobyl Diaries

TERRIBLY GOOD: The Expendables 2

EVERYTHING I EXPECTED: The Campaign

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Brave

I have to say, I am a little disappointed in myself. This does not often happen with me. I don't think I saw as many movies this summer as I did last year. So, there are a few movies that I did not see. But I haven't posted for a while. It was a good start after such a dry spell.