The 10 Most Unrealistic Sports Scenes In Movie History

July 19, 2011 By 395 Comments
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After Jerod posted about Blue Chips, my favorite sports movie of all time, I began mentally running through my favorite sports scenes in movies.

Unfortunately, I ended up thinking more about the bad sports scenes in movie history.  The more I thought about it, the more I was surprised, and then outraged, that such bad representations of athletic prowess had been splattered all over our television and movie screens for years.  I decided to make a top-10 list of the least realistic sports scenes ever shot.

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Filed Under: Movies Tagged With: any given sunday, karate kid, movies, the natural, Top 10

Women’s World Cup final match a visceral, vulnerable experience

July 19, 2011 By 1 Comment
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From running around my friend’s apartment like an airplane…to lying face down in a couch not wanting to move or even watch what happens next.

An entire afternoon spent working on Ian Darke impressions and figuring out ways to meet and impress Alex Morgan vanished without anyone realizing it.

The World Cup Final on Sunday afternoon brought back something that we as sports fans had been missing.

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Filed Under: Soccer Tagged With: Alex Morgan, US Women's National Team, World Cup

Video QuickCast: Jon Washburn’s passionate response to dissenters on his “Soccer is UnAmerican” article

July 18, 2011 By 13 Comments
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[This is post is published under Jon's name, but the intro was written by the editor.]

After the U.S. was defeated by Japan in the Women’s World Cup final yesterday, Jon Washburn published this post: “Soccer – The UnAmerican Sport“. His basic premise was that one of the reasons why casual American sports fans will never fully embrace soccer is because the sport is not set up to consistently reward the team that plays better with victory.

Needless to say, Jon’s article stirred up a healthy and at times vitriolic debate in the comment section. So Jon decided to do a video quickcast in response.

Watch now, or read the transcript below the vid.

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Filed Under: Soccer Tagged With: jon washburn, Soccer

Sepak takraw: a visually fascinating sport that we’d all suck at

July 18, 2011 By 2 Comments
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The visually fascinating game in the video below is called Sepak takraw, and I just pulled two muscles in my leg watching it.

If ever there was a sport that the overwhelming majority of Midwest Sports Fans readers would be terrible at, I’m guessing it’s this one. But it sure is mesmerizing to watch.

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Filed Under: Other Sports Tagged With: sepak takraw, videos

Soccer – The UnAmerican Sport

July 18, 2011 By 42 Comments
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Update: Jon Washburn has posted a video quickcast in response to this article’s comment discussion. View it here.

My column was 90% done…and it was good. A running diary of the World Cup Final – complete with fun analogies that would make it enjoyable and readable to other sports fans. I had illustrated, beautifully, how soccer was a lot like basketball and football, and actually consisted of the best parts of both.

Then, well, you know what happened.

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Jon Washburn @The_Dr_Twitch

Filed Under: Soccer Tagged With: hope solo, us women's national soccer team, women's world cup

MSF QuickCast #2: The Ugly Problem with The Beautiful Game

July 18, 2011 By 3 Comments
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In our second MSF QuickCast, I offer some thoughts on the biggest issue I have with soccer: the use of penalty kicks to determine the outcome of matches.

This has always been an issue I’ve had with “the beautiful game”, but it really hit home, so to speak, watching our women lose in yesterday’s World Cup final — a spectacular match that should have been determined playing soccer, not a glorified skills competition.

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Filed Under: QuickCast, Soccer Tagged With: quickcast, Soccer, women's world cup

Great Perspective on the Women’s National Team from SI’s Ann Killion

July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Ann Killion at Sports Illustrated has a great piece this morning on the legacy of the 2011 Women’s National Team.

In defeat, U.S. women progress, create new legacy at World Cup—SI.com

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Filed Under: Today's Best by MSF

Excerpts from Mike Leach’s book reveal the lies by Adam James that got him fired at Texas Tech

July 18, 2011 By 4 Comments
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Mike Leach’s new book tells in detail what happened in 2009 with Adam and Craig James that led to his wrongful termination at Texas Tech.

Leach was fired at Texas Tech based on false statements made by Adam James, who is the son of former football star and college football analyst Craig James.  Craig James claimed that his son was forced to practice with a concussion and had been locked in an electrical closet for three hours.

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Filed Under: Big 12 Football, CFB Tagged With: adam james, Big 12 Football, CFB, craig james, mike leach

Taunts Towards Takashi Saito Not Related to U.S. World Cup Loss

July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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I guess the United States has officially started caring about soccer, so much so that some thought that anger over Sunday’s Women’s World Cup Final result somehow managed to spill into the middle of a Milwaukee Brewers v. Colorado Rockies game after an incident occurred during the bottom of the seventh inning involving usually mild-mannered Brewers reliever Takashi Saito.

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Filed Under: MLB Tagged With: milwaukee brewers, takashi saito, uswnt, women's world cup

Fantasy Baseball Weekly Pitching Primer for Week of July 18th, 2011

July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Two-Start Pitchers

Must Starts:

Michael Pineda, Seattle Mariners: Pineda is coming off of his worst start of the season and has a tough matchup in his second start at Boston.  However, he has proven to be reliable enough to keep in your lineup at all times.

Alexi Ogando, Texas Rangers: Ogando has two pretty good matchups in Toronto and the Angels, and his successes so far make him unbenchable.

Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies: Jimenez has looked significantly better recently.  He has not returned to his old ways just yet, but look for him to continue his success this week.

Other Must Starts: Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies; Anibal Sanchez, Florida Marlins; Ryan Vogelsong, San Francisco Giants

Take a chance:

Tim Stauffer, San Diego Padres:  Stauffer has had an outstanding season pitching for the Padres, compiling a 2.97 ERA.  This week he gets two weak offenses in Philadelphia and Florida on the road.  Stauffer has been hot recently, following up a sizzling June, in which he posted a 1.98 ERA with a good start to July.  Give Stauffer a chance this week against these two miserable offenses.

Spot Start Options:

Derek Holland, Texas Rangers:  There is no pitcher in the major leagues that is as hot as Holland, who has posted back-to-back shutouts.  This week he gets the Angels in Anaheim, which is a decent matchup.  Holland has already faced the Halos going six innings and giving up just two runs.  You have to ride a hot hand so if he is available in your league, give him a shot this week.

Guillermo Moscoso, Oakland Athletics:  Moscoso has been great in his rookie season for the A’s, posting a 2.16 ERA for the year.  The sinker-baller does not get many strikeouts, although his last two starts have shown an improvement in that category.  However, he has been dealing over his last four starts, giving up just 1 run over his last 24.2 innings.  This week, he pitches against a solid Tigers lineup in the cavernous Comerica Park.  Being a groundball pitcher, he should have no problems with the Tigers order.  Give him the spot start.


Filed Under: Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Sports Tagged With: alexi ogando, DEREK HOLLAND, guillermo moscoso, MICHAEL PINEDA, tim stauffer, ubaldo jimenez

Remembering IU coaching legend Bill Mallory and one of the classiest moments in college football history

July 17, 2011 By 3 Comments
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I just watched a sports video on YouTube and literally got tears in my eyes. When that happens, I have no choice but to come here and share the experience.

And it all started because some Boilermaking jackwagon had to disrespect my beloved alma mater. Well, I don’t take that sitting down, and if you expect any less of me then you don’t know me very well.

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Filed Under: CFB Tagged With: bill mallory, indiana football

Fantasy Baseball Hitting Planner for Week of July 18th, 2011

July 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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The All-Star break is over and the second half of baseball is underway.  Hopefully you are refreshed and ready to go because the season is drawing closer to its end every single day and the winner of your league is soon to be determined.

Will that winner be you?

Who knows. Take a look at the week’s hitting planner and prepare your squads for victory.

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Filed Under: Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Sports Tagged With: fantasy baseball, hitting planner, joe mauer

Introducing Lisa Lottie, the Most Mesmerizing Hula-Hooper in the World

July 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Hula hooping is a sport right? Good. Then I can post this video of Lisa Lottie, the world’s most mesmerizing hula-hooper.

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Filed Under: Today's Best by MSF Tagged With: lisa lottie

OMG! WTF! STFU! The Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place.

July 16, 2011 By 3 Comments
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Stop whatever you are doing right now and look at the image below. Take a mental picture. Store it in your brain forever, because there is no telling when you’ll see such a sight again.

That, folks, is a screenshot of the current NL Central standings, taken from MLB.com, on this the 16th day of July.

And the Pittsburgh f’ing Pirates are in first f’ing place.

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Filed Under: MLB Tagged With: nl central, Pittsburgh Pirates

In appreciation of the continued relevance of Blue Chips

July 16, 2011 By 1 Comment
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Here is a little insight into how my mind works, for those who care.

When I woke up this morning, my first thought was about today’s objective of settling on a money management and budgeting software and getting it set up. Yes, I was thinking about money. Goddamn money. Because, you see, it is very hard for me to think about money without hearing Pete Bell (aka Nick Nolte) shouting inside of my head.

This, naturally, got me thinking about the movie Blue Chips and how it becomes more and more relevant with each passing year. That’s one hell of a trick for a movie to pull off. The vast majority of movies become less relevant as time goes by; not the brilliant Blue Chips.

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Filed Under: CBB, CFB, Movies Tagged With: blue chips, CBB, CFB
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