Have you seen this man?

It's 42 and raining outside right now. On Friday it was 36 and raining during my lunch break. It's basically April. I thought all this global warming hogwash was at least going to bring spring earlier. NOT HAPPENING. This is just stupid. I was going to play golf today.

Me: Al?!

Al: grumble grumble grumble

Me: What the crap Al!! Chicago got like 8 inches of snow last week. What say you! I haven't heard from you or your cronies since the summer!

Al: You people simply aren't focusing on the bigger issue at hand. I'm serial.

Me: Is that right? What's the bigger issue Al?

See below.

The Face of the 2008-2009 Indiana Hoosiers

I'm going to miss DJ White. It's not every day that a player like him comes through any school, and finding a replacement for his ability, work ethic, and leadership will probably be more difficult than can be explained. Unfortunately, it's something that needs to be done. Someone has to step up.

Enter Armon Bassett. The little 6'0" shooting guard from Terre Haute, that was only a three star recruit two years ago. The first time I saw him was the 3 pt contest at the 2006 Hoosier Hysteria. He knocked down 15 (11 in a row at one point) without even shooting all 25 balls. I looked at my dad wondering who the kid was, and where the heck we found him. After his sophomore season, he led the Big 10 in 3 pt shooting percentage, greatly improved his ability of making his own shot, and will become the guy that players look to for guidance, especially with Dakich running the team for at least the next few weeks.

Last night he was only guy (other than DJ of course) who appeared to want to win, or even be there, at all. He was 7-9 from the field, 21 points, and 7 assists. He'll be the guy that can raise Jordan Crawford into the player he could be, the guy that will talk some sense into and motivate Jamarcus Ellis, and find DeAndre Thomas a 24 oz. steak, a double cheeseburger, $20 worth of tacos, and another 24 oz steak.

He needs to be the guy that the new coach takes under his wing the way Chief took DJ.  He needs to be the guy that helps everyone (myself included) forget about this nightmare of a season and look towards the greener grass ahead of us, which despite how it looks right now, is out there.

So sleep well IU fans! Things can only get better at this point.

Season starts Thursday

For our own emotional and physical health, let's all forget last night's Big Ten tournament. Instead, watch this video, remember better times, and get excited for what lies ahead:

And let's not forget, we still have this guy:

Who as we saw last night, will do anything he can to make sure we win the game. 

So sleep well IU fans, the season starts Thursday.

Film Review: Semi-Pro

So one of my biggest regrets of 2007 was my lack time spent in the movie theatre. I'm embarrassed to reveal that I failed to see a single movie up for best picture. Fortunately, this is an issue that I have the opportunity to remedy.

Thus, let's start strong in 2008. I give you my review of the first "film" I've this year.

SEMI-PRO

Starring: Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Andre 3000

Director: It doesn't matter

First of all, there's actors who are type-cast, and then there's Will Ferrell. Will is lucky enough to not care about that, and just gets to play himself in every role. His character Jackie Moon is more or less Chaz Michael Michaels with basketball shoes instead of skates. Chaz was basically Ricky Bobby with skates. And Ricky Bobby was undeniably Ron Burgundy without the suit. But to be honest, that's all I want. And I think the entire reason people go to Will Ferrell movies is to see what he'll say next, as it's pretty clear the script is thrown out the window when the camera starts rolling, which is a good thing.

In fact, the creators of Semi-Pro, similar to the creators Blades of Glory, have no intention of forming any sort of plot, character development, resolution, or climax. We remember in Blades of Glory that they just said screw it, let's have them fly out of the skating rink for no apparent reason. In Semi-Pro, they say screw it, let's have several people get mauled by a bear named Duey, dress Will up in a sun costume, and use multiple close-ups of Will's crotch during what should be the most dramatic moment in the picture, because frankly, who cares! And amazingly, I can't ask for more. I'd much rather spend $10 to watch Will Ferrell do whatever the heck he wants to, rather than watch Will Ferrell try and develop a character.

Anyway, the movie doesn't quite measure up to Anchorman (which is my undisputed favorite Will Ferrell movie), as you don't quite fall in love with Jackie Moon the same way you do with Papa Burgundy, nor did I leave the theatre with as many one liners to use in my every day life. To be honest, I'd probably put it slightly behind Blades of Glory and Talledega Nights, but my guess is that just like all of these ridiculous movies, it gets funnier the more you see it. And I would certainly enjoy seeing it again, so I suppose it was a success.

Grade: B-