November 5, 2008 by Jim Reitnour.
It’s been quiet for me right now, but I’ve been working on a new site design & hope to have it up in the coming days - along with a sightly revised lineup (my virtual tourney blog has been stopped as I could not dedicate the time I needed to it)
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September 4, 2008 by Jim Reitnour.
Well, I didn’t do too bad last time around (Predicted 9-7, actual 8-8), so I’m going to do it again. Here are my game-by-game predictions for the upcoming Eagles season.
Judging from what I’ve watched in the pre-season, and seeing what a lot of the local & national sports writers are saying, there is a ton of optomism. Too bad you won’t find that here, and here’s why:
So here we go:
Week 1 vs. St. Louis: Outside of Steven Jackson, the Rams aren’t that worrysome. Their defense can shut down the WR, but they will not have an answer for Westbrook. Eagles win 24 - 13
Week 2 @ Dallas (Monday Night Game): Dallas is the class of the division by far. Even though Andy has a solid record in prime time games, Dallas wins this one 31 - 20
Week 3 vs. Pittsburgh: Very tough matchup against a solid AFC team. Pittsburgh stomped them last time around out there, but this one will be closer. Pittsburgh wins close : 20 - 16
Week 4 @ Chicago (Sunday Night): Bad news is the defense is still fearsome & there’s that guy named Hester. Good news is their offense is offensive. Birds win a battle: 17-13
Week 5 vs. Washington: New coach, different pleayers, same lousy team. Eagles win 38 - 17
Week 6 @ San Francisco: Can you say “Trap game”. I can, and Andy’s record right before the bye week is not that great. Anyway, Eagles somehow win this one as SF has no QB 16 - 6
Week 7: BYE WEEK
Week 8 vs Atlanta: Another game against the dregs of the league. This should be an easy one. The defense turns Matt Ryan into hamburger as the birds win a laugher 38 - 3
Week 9 @ Seattle: Tough place to play against a perennial playoff team. Seattle wins 24-13
Week 10 vs New York Giants: Their defence was decimated by retirements & injuries, but it still won’t matter much as they keep Westbrook in check & win a close one 20-17
Week 11 @ Cincinatti - Another possible trap game, and this one bites the birds in the backside in a shootout 38 - 34
Week 12 @ Baltimore - It’s teacher vs student again (Reid vs Harbaugh). The only real question mark is what is the Ravens offense like? Either way - Eagles win a defensive battle 10 - 6
Week 13 vs Arizona (Thanksgiving night): The short week is a problem, but Arizona has never been much to talk about lately, even with the strong WR corps. Eagles win 24 - 17
Week 14 @ New York Giants - They always seem to have problems up there. The trend continues as NY wins again 24 - 16
Week 15 vs Cleveland (Monday night) - This is a very dangerous game. The Browns will be right in the thick of the playoff hunt, and they have a solid team. Browns win a close one. 28 - 27
Week 16 @ Washington - By now the skins are out of it, and there is the hint of a revolt. Brids take this one easily 31 - 14
Week 17 Vs Dallas - Sort of a meaningless game if I read things properly. Dallas will probably rest most of its starters. The eagles on the otherhand will have to go all out if they have any chance of the playoffs. They win 20 - 10 & have to scoreboard watch to see.
Final Predicted record 9-7 - 3rd in division behind Dallas & New York
Playoffs - yes as 6 seed, but a first round loss.
Personally I’d like to figure out what some people are saying 11-5, or 12-4 with a Super Bowl run.
Aftermath - McNabb is traded away right after the end of the season. Reid is stripped of his GM duties, and resigns in protest.
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July 18, 2008 by Jim Reitnour.
I know I’ve been very quiet for a while. I apologize for that as work & other activities have taken me away from this project.
Anyway - for the event behind this post. Those of you who know me personally also know that my taste in music runs the gambit: Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, AC-DC, Thompson Twins, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Zappa, etc. However. there are two groups that make the majority of my collections: Duran Duran (and their splinters Arcadia & Power Statio), and primarily ABBA. Well, when Mamma Mia the musical first came out, I went to see it on the first weekend it was in Philadelphia (Forrest Theatre) and enjoyed myself (even started singing along). Naturally, when I heard that they were working on the movie adaptation of the musical, I was planning to see the movie on the first day it was released. Fast forward to today, and I head for the movie theather right after work to take in the 7:00 showing at the local plex.
First I must say I was a little surprised to see that the theater was about 60% full. I guess I have to thank the critics (most of whom have a fairly large anti-ABBA bias, or I’m looking at this film through a pair of Agnetha’s large sunglasses).
Quick synopsis: 20 year old Sophie Sheridan (played by Amanda Seyfried, who has a local connection being born in Allentown) lives on a small Greek Island where her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep) runs a small hotel “Villa Donna”. Sophie is engaged to be married to Sky (Dominic Cooper), and it is the day before the wedding. Donna has invited 2 of her closest friends Tanya, a thrice divorced socialite (Christine Baranski), and Rosie (Julie Walters), an unmarried, fun loving woman, to be there. Unbeknown to Donna, Sophie sent invites to thee men that were part of her mother’s life as described in her mother’s diary in the hopes that she might discover who her father is. The three are Harry Bright (Colin Firth), a British banker, Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgård), a Swedish sailor, and Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), an American architect. Sophie’s hope was that one would accept the invite in order to give her away at the wedding. Unfortunately, all three men arrive on the island.
While Donna makes the final preparations for the wedding, Sophie sneaks all 3 guys into the property, and secludes them in a loft. Donna suspects something is going on when shegoes into the building to retrieve some supplies & hears them. She slyly looks into the loft from different spots & realizes who is there - adding to her already high stress level.
Sophie now finds herself in a worst case scenario. She doesn’t know who her father is, and to make things worse her fiancee is upset with her when she reveals what she did to him. He wanted to have something simple with few people around, but agreed to Sohpie’s desire for a big wedding.
I know I’m leaving quite a bit out, so as to not spoil it. There is a big plot twist (those who saw the musical know this), and things do not end as you think.
There are a few songs that are in the musical that are not in the movie: The Name of the Game, One of Us, Under Attack, Knowing Me Knowing You. Although the latter two do show up as intrumentals during the film. Thank You for the Music was moved to the ending credits.
Movie Strengths: Streep pulls off the role of Donna extremely well, including singing the songs. Donna & the Dynamos work well together. Seyfried is perfect as Sophie, and has a solid singing voice. The scene where Does Your Mother Know is perhaps the best part of the film.
Weaknesses: Three words - Pierce Brosnan Singing. Give him something for trying, but when he does SOS, I almost had to cover my ears. There is also a scene in the movie where I question the choice of song. At the reception, Sam stands up and starts to sing When All is Said and Done (Brosnan had a much better go with this song). Now correct me if I am wrong, but that song was ABBA’s anthem of resignation in the face of Frida & Benny’s split. I feel that a different song should have been used for the start of a marriage (perhaps One Man, One Woman - which by the way was the song my wife & I danced to first, or I’ve Been Waitingfor You).
Personally, I loved it, even with the two flaws. Heck, I even started to sing along with a few of the songs, though I wish more people would have joined in.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it an 8. The flaws are a little hard to ignore, but the rest of the movie & cast make up for it.
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