superdad

In about a month the Oscars return and today was the day for nominations.  Really no surprises, Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire were the top nominated movies.  While Milk and the Dark Knight were runner ups in nominations.

No best picture nomination for Dark Night however Heath Ledger returns as another nomination for best supporting actor although the competition may seem unfair for Robert Downey Jr. as he gets nodded for his role in Tropic Thunder.

One one my favorite the best animated nominations included Kung Fu Panda, WALL-E and Bolt.  All three were very good in my mind and all a must see if it has yet to be seen by your eyes. If WALL-E gets snubbed for sound then the Oscars are a total joke if you ask me.

Mickey Rourke may be the underdog to Brad Pitt in best male leading performance but Sean Penn is known for stealing a few awards as a possible threat and really all of the nominees are all unique and you can make a case for any of them.  Sorry Leonardo DiCaprio not this time.  I got to still see a few of those films to really give you a honest opinion.  Check back in a couple posts for that as I will give predictions for the Oscars.

Lastly Dark Knight might feel snubbed for not getting in as a nomiee for best picture but honestly was it really worth the nomination.  I liked the movie as well and Heath Ledger stole the show but movies like this normally get snubbed because it happens every year where certain films are left out. Mostly because summer movies almost always get snubbed because they were made to early in the year.

After a surprising weekend we are left with some interesting teams and are now down to the final four teams in the NFL.  At this point we should throw everything we have on all of these teams and start new.  Out of four of the teams left, all four are mostly surprises that have shown us again that, it’s not how you start a season it’s how you finish.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading to the AFC Championship after a convincing win over San Diego yesterday.  A home team finally won as all three prior road teams in these playoffs had beaten the home team prior to Sunday afternoon.  Ben Rothlisberger showed little signs that he was carried off in a stretcher two weeks ago as the Steelers played football the way they do as they ran and played strong defense against a LT less San Diego Chargers team.

As for the team meeting the Steelers it will be the Baltimore Ravens whom on Saturday beat the Tennessee Titans, who probably should have won, but had way to many mistakes in Saturdays 13 t0 10 defeat.  The Titans turned the ball over and the Ravens just kept winning again as Joe Flacco became the only Rookie quarterback to win in a divisional round game and advance to the Conference Championship since the current playoff system was put into place.  The Ravens and Steelers match up will be a fist fight at mid field winner take all,  should be a good AFC Championship!

In the NFC Conference the two of the most unlikely teams will meet in the NFC Championship.  The Arizona Cardinals once again pulled off the upset and ended a good Carolina Panthers season which definably will end in disappointment.  For the second week in a row the Arizona defense showed up and totally destroyed the Carolina Panthers.  Jake Delhomme threw 5 interceptions in a wet soaked field and Arizona took full advantage of the poor play and won for the first time in a eastern time zone game.

As for hottest match-up of the weekend the defending Super Bowl Champions were beaten at their own game as the Philadelphia Eagles took the Giants, again on the road.  The Eagles led by a re possessed Donovan McNabb went into the New York Meadowlands and stole the show.  Another gutty performance by the Eagle defense and the Giants just could not get it going with Brandon Jacobs and Eli Manning while the Eagles are back in the NFC Championship game since the last time their team went to the Super Bowl.

What to do make of all of this then, a whole lot of defense has been shown from these last four teams and being the road team in these playoffs seems to have changed the term home field advantage to now a disadvantage. Both of these Conference Championships will be a good game as games are good when they are not what you expected in the beginning of the year.  As of right now who knows what will happen and the final two will be a mystery for the upcoming week. As always the NFL Playoffs give us all the drama and suspense we need to get us coming back for more to watch.

Today Florida was named the National Champion by the AP after a 24 to 14 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners, however there still were some that thought Florida was not the best team in the end.

Incuding myself which, I thought Florida did capitalize on a lot of failed conversions by Oklamhoma but the game still left me guessing if these were the two best teams in the nation.  Tim Tebo may be the best Florida Gator football player ever but was his team better than everyone else.  Would have USC defense been able to shut down Tebo? Maybe if you watched any of that Rose Bowl performance.  Plus would Utah even be a threat, although the WAC did have a strong record against the PAC TEN and did beat Alabama. Which I know they claimed to be not happy about there spot playing Utah, but you still have to go out to win your bowl to be in the discussion.

In the end we ll get to talk about whose better than the other and another undefeated team gets wahsed out as the National Champion.  The BCS still needs to tweek this system because too much is left unanswered.  Even a plus one game would give us more to swallow until next fall.

Texas, Utah, and USC are all claiming they were the best but because of the BCS we were left with Florida.  I still would have like to see this college season end in a playoff because all of the top 5 teams reallly deserve a shot however, that is the nature of the beast with College Football.

So what should we do as fans of this game that always ends in debate?  Obviously it is time for a playoff system, but as long as millions of fans continue to accept the BCS as their so called championship game we will always just keep talking.  Imagine this for a second, if the pros used a ranking system and New England a perfect 16 and 0 before the Super Bowl last year was just given the championship trophy because they were undefeated.  Even thou they were perfect for so many weeks they still were beatable in the Super Bowl by the New York Giants and in the end we know who won and we saw an accurate champion.  Even 16 and 0 or even 13 and 0 which, is usually the standard in College Football as a perfect season, is still not good enough at least for me until they decide it by a process of elimination.  Any team no matter how good can win or lose any night and for some reason in division I College Football the so called experts of the BCS completely ignore this big assumption.  Tha nature of sports right now is about finding out who is the real champion, and every major sport does it but Division I College Football.  I love tradition just like any other but times of the new age athlete has brought us to the times of change.  There is too much parody and too many fat wallets in Colege Football and something need’s to change.     

Well 2009 is here and now most of you are tackling your new resolutions and returning back to your regular schedule. What are you hoping for in the New Year? Here are some of my hopes and wishes for the New Year.

I first hope to make this blog bigger and badder than ever before. Yes, in 2009 there will be more posts and visits than ever, including actual pictures and possibly some video. Superdad just had a upgrade in the current computer I write on, so the days of working of Windows 98 is now left in the nineties, where it belongs.

As for world and topics of interest for me and possibly others out there.

Maybe the Chicago Bears will win the Superbowl, wait! We got to wait till 2010 on that one. Instead we will still here Brian Urlacher whining about people picking on him in the media. I’ll try to be nicer in 2009, yea right.

The Chicago Blackhawks will make the playoffs for the first time this century. That might be the most realist thing to happen on this list. Just no more games at Wrigley Field, we don’t want to jinx the Hawks the same the Cubs have endured for a 100 years.

As for my Northside nemisis, I say this as a part of the Southside Sox fan nation we will rise again in 2009 and torment you again, until you win. The Chicago White Sox will be younger and leaner than ever befor in 2009. New York might of spent all that money on free agents like Mark Teixera, C.C Sabathia, and A.J Burnett but my money is on the Sox in 2009 and not the red ones.

The Chicago Bulls have hit a new low in early 2009 as the team looks like a junior college team playing against NBA Hall of Famers’ every night. My hope is that Derrick Rose gets a whole new team around him that actually intimidate opponents. Can we please get that eight foot center who can score and block? And “no” not Ben Wallace Jim Paxson. I know you played as a guard and think guards are priority one but we have 6 starting guards, a coach who is a ex guard, and no one else who can play inside, oops.  You did win six championships as a guard but, you also had good forwards and centers that allowed you to play at a championship level.

In a whole new spectrum politics, we all pray and hope with action as well that Barack Obama can save our struggling country as a whole. Just keep Rod Blagoejivich away from you as far as possible. You have done well Mr Obama dodging that bullet so far and actually coming down hard publicly on the soon ex governor of Illinois for his actions. Thank you for not looking the other way and reminded that your leadership and presence in Illinois is still needed to help a struggling legislative branch in the state’s government.

I hope peace is an objective in the Gaza Strip in the Middle East. Every day since, the Holidays started and plus countless other times of violence in this region, people are dying because of violence and constant fighting among Israel and Palastine. All that is seen right now is more death and no negotiations. I understand this region has been a melting pot for violence for many years but, enough is enough.

Lastly I must say this we all need to do a better job of being a little more positive. We all are guilty because of the current economic times but that is because we let the media and the press keep us down. Remember they get paid more the more you watch their depressing news and stories. There are very few good news stories that are more about heart, giving and rebirth and that is what we need to be more excited about in 2009. In my world 2008 was one of my best years and I am far from rich or even have a secure career for that matter. It’s all about perspective and make sure you keep yours a positive one, it will make you feel better every day and make the harder days a little less painful. Thanks for reading and 2009 will rock your socks off, if you believe it happens.