Lots of traveling, Abe Lincoln and Ferguson, and Pulp Fiction edges politics

I’m writing this on Sunday as I fly to Phoenix so I have plenty of time to rant.  There’s not as much going on with WSU T&F so I’ll be bouncing around this week.  I just got a new laptop so the format is a little goofy - sorry.

Track & Field

I’m on my way to Phoenix, Arizona, for the annual USTFCCCA National Convention.  It’s the one time every year when track and field coaches get together to discuss the current state of our sport.  We also listen to great speakers from all the world of athletics as well as socialize with our coaching buddies.

            I always enjoy the convention.  Usually it’s at some fancy hotel and resort (this year it’s the JW Marriott) and yes I’ll be playing some golf with Coach Rainbolt.  But what I like the most is that our sport feels really important for a week.  They have the Bowerman Awards here, which is often referred to as the Heisman Trophy of track and field.  It’s done first class all the way and you feel like it’s a big deal (and it is).  The speaking topics are usually interesting and often educational – I always take away a few things to use as well as feeling like we’re doing things at WSU just like the most successful programs around the country.  They have a Hall of Fame ceremony.  Every night there’s a different dinner and social event to attend.

And the NCAA has declared this week a dead period so there’s no recruiting.

Next week I’ll report on what I heard and let you know what I took away from these four days in Phoenix.

WSU Track & Field

We finished up finals this week and most of the team went home for the holidays.  Now it’s up to them to stay focused and come back in January ready to battle to reach our goals.  As coaches we do our best to keep in touch by phone, text, email, Facebook, Twitter – any way possible.  Mostly I’m making sure to touch base each week, at least one time, with every athlete I coach.  It ranges from having kids text me every day to having kids never contact me at all.

We’re also anxiously awaiting our academic results for the semester.  Hopefully by next week we’ll have that complete picture.  Our academic coordinators Andrew Moses and Sarah Wiley do a great job keeping us up to date on anyone who is struggling.  I think we will come through the semester looking good, but like any race you have to run through the finish line so you don’t get clipped by an unsuspected runner (or test).

Early MVC returns

While we had an Intersquad meet last week, most of the MVC competed in actual meets that counted.  Looking over the early results show some great results from several teams.

I           Indiana State ran at Indiana this week and, as we thought, looked very good.  Also looking very good last week was Southern Illinois (especially the women’s team).  I would say the rest of the MVC didn’t have as strong team competitions but most of them weren’t fully competing either.

            In comparison I thought our Intersquad results were favorable.  It might sound funny but the atmosphere at our Intersquad Meet is better than most early season track and field competitions around the country.  If you don’t believe me just re-watch the live stream.

Speaking of live streams

Thank you to the almost 1000 people who have watched our meet online.  If you are a fan of WSU T&F you will be able to watch all of our home meet online this year at Livestream.com.  We have moved over from Ustream because of how much easier Livestream is to use.

The MVC has struck a deal to broadcast the MVC Indoor Championships on ESPN3.com this year.  I think that’s an awesome event to have online because it such an exciting meet!  If you don’t make it to Cedar Falls, Iowa, at the end of February be sure to check us out on ESPN3 or the Watch ESPN app on your phone.

Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan

I did a little traveling this week and while I was out I stopped by the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.  Earlier this summer I went to the Ronald Reagan Museum in California and I can tell everyone that going to these places is well worth your time.

The Reagan museum (located in Simi Valley, California) was massive (one room had the entire Air Force One in it) as well as being educational and inspirational.  Lincoln’s was much smaller because it was in downtown Springfield, but it was no less inspiring.  While I was there I couldn’t help but think about my next topic …..

Ferguson

While I was at the Lincoln Museum I realized I was only a little over an hour from Ferguson, Missouri.  I haven’t really taken any position on what has happened in Ferguson or other recent places like Cleveland or New York City.  I sympathize with both sides of this heated debate but that’s not my point here.

            I was watching a video about the Civil War at the museum.  It was four minutes long and showed an animated map of the USA that was red (South) and blue (North).  Every second represented 10 days and it showed how the lines of battle moved as the war progressed.  In the bottom right hand of the map it had a counter of casualties from both the North and South that eventually caught my attention the most.  At first it registered a few thousand then tens of thousands and then hundreds of thousands.  I knew there were massive amounts of lives lost during the war but as I saw the map becoming bluer with every second it hit me hard that, combined, there were 1.4 million people who died (over 700,000 from the North and over 600,000 from the South) fighting for what they thought was right.

My thoughts turned to our country (and to nearby Ferguson) and I felt embarrassed that we are seemingly so divided.  It’s not even black or white or police or republicans or democrats, sometimes I don’t think we know who or what we’re upset about because we’re forming opinions based off what others are saying on television or social media.  Both the black and white people from the North came together and didn’t just TALK about what they felt was right or wrong – they were willing to put their lives on the line for it.  I hear things from both sides of this issue and they are both correct.  Being in track and field I’ve always been around a diverse group of teammates, coaches and athletes of all colors who have felt discriminated against.  Being a fast white guy as a youngster often put me in social situations in college that were different than my childhood.  I also dated outside my race and the following is very true – groups of people are stupid but when you talk to people individually they are smart.

Just this week I had the opportunity to hang out with a police officer that expressed thoughts about how they are trying to do a job as good as they can.  I can’t imagine what it would be like if masses of people all of a sudden started hating track coaches when all we are trying to do is help people run fast and do our job.  Unfortunately it’s hard for us to have productive conversations about how to move forward because much of the focus of the media is on the protestors not what they’re protesting about.  It’s one of the reasons I’ve all but stopped watching the news – I can’t trust what I’m seeing – so I’ll just continue talking to people and forming my own opinions.  I hope that’s where the rest of the country eventually heads.

Whatever side of the issue you’re on please speak from personal experience and not what others (especially on TV) tell you.  Myself, I’m on the side of what’s best for the United States, which is the side everyone should be on.

Sorry about that rant, on to another media altered story ….

Johnny Manziel

… or otherwise known as Johnny Foosball (at least I hope he can play foosball better than he played football Sunday against the Bengals).  I grew up not too far from Cincinnati so naturally I dislike the Steelers and the Browns.  When I saw the Browns draft Manziel this year I just chuckled.  I went to college not too far from Cleveland so I’m friends with a lot of Browns (and Steelers) fans.  Do I feel sorry for them?  No.  Why not?  Well let me just tell you about the Cincinnati Bengals from 1991-2002, or as Cincinnatians refer to it as “The Lost Decade”.  It was awful being a Bengals fan and I spent most of it in Northeastern Ohio where I even lived with fans of both the Browns and Steelers.  Since the Bengals became relevant again (even though most don’t give them credit, they’ve been good for over a decade) I don’t feel bad for anything that doesn’t go the way of the Browns and Steelers – including drafting a guy like Manziel.

            Why am I against Manziel?  Personally I’m not.  But for a guy who has never won a professional football game – show some maturity.  I DO think the guy is talented and can probably play in the NFL but what happened to being humble.  As Crash Davis said to Calvin LaLouche in Bull Durham about having fungus on his shower shoes, “Once you win 20 in the show you can have fungus in your shower shoes and the press will say your colorful.  Until then, you’re a slob.”

Manziel should be a perfect example for young athletes that talent can take to you to a certain level but at some point you need to be an adult.  Guys who have come up through the years and acted this way always have short term success then fall on harsh realities.  When no one cares about Johnny Football anymore what will he become?  Just ask Brian Bosworth.

Johnny please take some advice from Crash Davis.  Or don’t, the populations of Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Baltimore don’t mind.

Speaking of movies …

“P” Movies

This is the 16th of a 24 part series (are you bored yet?) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 178 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own nine “P” movies.  Here’s the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Pulp Fiction (1994, 154 min, R, 9.0, $213m) – Even though it wasn’t his first movie, this is the one that brought Quentin Tarantino to the world.  To me, Tarantino is a fascinating guy who basically has never done anything the typical Hollywood way – and I respect him for that.  This movie stars Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Samuel Jackson doing all sorts of bad things but we kind of like them because beneath being the bad guys they are also funny and normal in a lot of ways.  The unique thing about watching this for the first time is how it doesn’t go in the normal sequence – it jumps back and forth several times and is quite confusing but in the end it all makes sense.  I had friends in college tell me they left the movie after they realized this halfway through – what a bad mistake they made!  There is definitely some hard language and graphic violence in this movie but it’s a movie that is well worth the 154 minute investment of your time.

Primary Colors (1998, 143 min, R, 6.7, $52m) – John Travolta plays a democratic candidate running for his party’s presidential nomination that is loosely based on Bill Clinton.  I absolutely love this movie for a few reasons.  Travolta does a great version of Clinton – funny, shady, charming, underhanded, loveable – and you kind of understand why these politicians have to act like they do.  Another reason I love this movie is to how it indirectly talks about leadership throughout and it doesn’t come full circle until the end.  Sometimes a leader has to do things that are for the better good and in the process people get hurt or not treated as well as they should.  And this movie shows that in blunt detail.  Billy Bob Thornton is also great as the Democratic strategist.  If you liked the TV series The West Wing then you would probably really like this movie.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987, 93 min, R, 7.6, $49m) – It’s ironic I’ve been traveling a lot this week and this movies is on the list.  Terrific comedy about the travel problems of Steve Martin and John Candy who are both trying to get home from work for the holidays.  I am so glad they went with the rated-R script because there are some of the funniest scenes of the 1980’s in this movie.  Seeing Martin curse out the lady at the airlines is awesome (and can’t be repeated here).  And the running joke of their car getting more and more smashed up as they go is really good.  The only bad thing is they make Wichita look like a tiny little town – but the guy they meet there with the speech problem makes up for it – and yeah I can see him being from Wichita.  Classic!

Porky’s (1982, 94 min, R, 6.1, $111m) – I was too young to go see this movie when it came out in the theaters but after watching it years later it shows how having an original idea and a few crazy scenes can create a buzz and make a ton of money.  Watching it now it seems pretty tame by today’s standards but some of the adult themes back in the day got people talking and out to see it.  The acting isn’t that great and the plot is fairly ridiculous but that doesn’t matter when it comes to Porky’s.  See it with a bunch of buddies and throw popcorn at the screen every time something dumb happens.  You’ll probably enjoy it!

Piranha (1978, 94 min, R, 5.9, $??) – Ahh nothing like a good ole Roger Cormen low budget horror/comedy.  Cormen is the guy who also brought us the original Death Race 2000 movie in the 70’s.  Piranha got made because Jaw was so successful and Cormen figured what else could be deadly in the water?  It’s bad acting and has a cheesy plot but it’s great fun to watch in my book.  It even spawned a recent remake and sequel (I saw the remake, it was hilarious).  Be warned it is graphic but totally worth it.

The Player’s Club (1998, 104 min, R, 5.4, $23m) – This was Ice Cube’s follow up to his surprise hit Friday.  I remember going to see this movie in college and liking it enough that I went ahead and bought it years later.  It follows the life of a couple of strippers who are trying to make their way through life (and college) by dancing for a living.  While it wasn’t a perfect movie it definitely had some memorable scenes by showing how brutal that life can be.  I think Hustle & Flow is a much better movie in this genre but The Player’s Club was definitely an original when it came out.

Parker (2013, 118 min, R, 6.2, $46m) – I totally picked up this movie on a whim because I generally like Jason Statham’s movies and I heard the books this movie was based on were pretty good.  I enjoyed Parker even though I’m not a huge action movie fan.  It wasn’t way over the top like a lot of these movies could go (I imagine they didn’t have the budget to do so) but I think it worked better that way.  Statham’s character Parker is basically a Robin Hood type guy who tries to win over the girl by beating the bad guys (very original haha).  It’s not good enough to warrant a sequel but it’s good fun if you like these types of movies.

Panic Room (2002, 112 min, R, 6.8, $196m) – Being a horror movie fan, I bought this hoping it would live up to the hype (it made a lot of money).  Unfortunately it was just average and not nearly as good as movies like The Ring or something originally from Japan.  Jodie Foster is the lead and is effective enough but don’t watch this movie hoping for it to scare the daylights out of you.

Poetic Justice (1993, 109 min, R, 5.8, $27m) – I only own this movie because it was part of DVD pack with Boyz in the Hood.  This was another John Singleton movie that tried to play on the popularity of Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur but it never really worked for me.  The only scene I can remember being funny was when they stop and randomly join a family barbeque by saying they are cousins from out of town.  I liked Tupac way more in movie like Juice and Above the Rim.  He was a very talented guy, unfortunately we never got to see him mature into a veteran actor.  If you never see this movie you won’t be missing out on anything important.

Final movie thoughts this week …

Interesting how Travolta played in both my top two movies this week.  I was talking to someone who reads this blog and I got to telling them how I would decide how I rank the movies.  I have all my movies listed alphabetically on my laptop and I just start from the top.  So this week the first movie was Panic Room.  I do the little write-up for that then I ask myself do I like Panic Room or Parker better?  It goes on like this until I’m done.  This week was a tough choice for me because I think Primary Colors is overlooked by most and everyone has seen Pulp Fiction but I can’t deny Tarantino’s genius.

Next week

I will report back what I can get from our convention as well as talking about a bunch of “Q” movies.  Uhh wait a minute, I don’t have any of those.  I guess I will go with the 11 “R” movies I own – and there are some true classics!

Feel free to comment below or on my Facebook page and tell me if you agree (or disagree) with anything from Ferguson to Poetic Justice (see what I did there).  I am always amazed at how many people end up reading this every week and I thank you very much!

Until next week, try to stay warm and Go Shockers!

Recap of an epic Intersquad Meet and it's time to go Old School

Our last full week together as a team this semester was a busy one!  It looks like our team has had a good fall as we head into the winter break.

Track

The main thing that happened this week was our annual Intersquad Meet on Friday.  Overall I’d say it went very well for our team.  There are always athletes who don’t compete to the level they want and an early season competition like this one is no different, but this year the Intersquad Meet felt a little more serious and focused – and the results showed.

Like I’ve explained in previous posts, our team is divided into three sqauds (Gold, White, Black) and compete against each other (as well as our alumni Gray team) in a scored quad meet.  The captains of each team serve as the coaches and they did a good job of getting everyone entered in their events and organized in all the relays.  To show how healthy our team is this year, of the 130 athletes we only had about eight that didn’t compete Friday.  That’s a pretty remarkable statistic.

Watch the replay of the Intersquad Meet here.

Gold Squad - 2014 Intersquad Champions!

The team race came down to the final event of the meet with the Gold team beating the White team by only four points (176.5-172.5).  The final event of the meet is what we call the “Special Relay” that has all kinds of crazy things going on with the conclusion being a tug-of-war.  Make sure to watch the replay of the meet above with the ending tug-of-war and you’ll see how competitive our team is about this meet.

The results of the meet don’t count on the official school top-10 or MVC lists but we do run the meet off just like a regular one so all the performances are legitimate.  This is the eighth year for the meet and there were 15 new records set.  That’s a large number!

Now the job will be for our teams to maintain their current fitness for the next four weeks while we’re on break.  Our next meet will be around January 10 and between now and then and a lot can and will happen.  Stay focused Shocks!

Team banquet and alumni

Besides having the Intersquad Meet on Friday we also have our annual team banquet and alumni social as well.  Around 300 parents, alumni, athletes and fans attended this year’s banquet where we honored last year’s team and seniors as well as kicked off the 2015 track and field season. Dozens of alumni were in attendance throughout the day and around 25 of them competed in the meet!  All in all it was a great day for Shocker Track and Field!

Around the MVC

Several teams from around the conference competed on the opening weekend of the college track and field season.  From looking at the results it appears many of our MVC opponents had good semesters as well.  Our conference continues to get better and better every year – another reason our athletes will need to be ready to compete when they come back in January.  Check out the results and updated TFRRS list here.

Recruiting

Now that the semester is over, recruiting will also slow down a bit.  After signing five athletes in the November signing period, we’ve had a couple more give verbal commitments.  Those athletes can sign their letter of intent in April and until then we will continue to work on the 2015 recruiting class.  I think we will also be adding between two and five new athletes in January but we’re not able to publicly comment on those athletes until next semester.

What do track coaches do for the next four weeks?

Not all track coaches are the same but the next month will be the last time for many of us to have a break until July.  The next week will be mostly around the office, checking on how athletes are doing academically as well as having some sporadic practices.  Our staff will be getting together to discuss the state of our team as well as thinking about who we might want to redshirt in the upcoming indoor season.  The following week several of us will attend the annual USTFCCCA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.  Following that we will be back in the office for a few days getting ready for the early part of the January schedule and celebrating the holidays (I’ll be in Florida with my family).

These four weeks will surely fly by and we’ll be gathered back up for track practice in no time!

“O” Movies

This is the 15th of a 24 part series (are you bored yet?) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 178 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I only own five “O” movies but it’s a good list!  Here’s the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Old School (2003, 91 min, R, 7.2, $87m) – The bringing together of Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughan was genius for this movie that follows three older guys (including Luke Wilson) who create a fraternity near a college campus where they can relive their younger days.  Ferrell is probably at his all-time funniest as he owns the screen for most of the movie (who can forget him streaking through campus alone when his wife picks him up in her car with her friends).  This is a great comedy that doesn’t take itself too seriously – funny, funny stuff.

Office Space (1999, 89 min, R, 7.9, $10.8m) – I can’t believe this movie is 15 years old already but what a great little small budget comedy!  Made with mostly unknown actors (at the time), this movie became a cult classic with its funny jokes and being easy to relate to because of the mundane office work so many people deal with everyday.  Director Mike Judge is probably best known for being the creator of Beavis and Butthead and some of the jokes don’t stray too far from that type of show but overall it’s a very smart movie. Ummmmm yeah I'm gonna need for you to come in on Saturday, ok ... thank you.

Oldboy (2003, 120 min, R, 8.4, $14.9m) – This isn’t the recent Spike Lee movie, it’s the original drama from South Korea that Spike remade.  Some people regard this as one of the best dramas to ever come out of Asia and I would probably agree.  I’ve only seen it recently but upon my first viewing I was very impressed.  The basic premise of the movie is the main character is kidnapped and imprisoned (without knowing why) for 15 years before being released and stumbling upon his captor right away.  There are lots of twists and turns and I am sure multiple viewings will help in understanding everything because the first time it’s a little confusing.  But all in all it’s a very entertaining movie.  I have a fondness for horror/drama movies that come out of Asia and this one doesn’t disappoint.

The Outsiders (1983, 91 min, PG-13, $25.6m) – Really good 80’s teenager movie about two different types of gangs that get into a bad feud after one member gets killed.  One reason this Francis Ford Coppola movie continues to have appeal is because of the actors who eventually hit the big time.  Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Matt Dillon and Ralph Maccio are part of the cast.  It’s worth viewing to see all these guys in their early years and the movie is pretty good too.

Orgazmo (1997, 94 min, NC-17, 6.2, $602k) – From one of the creators of South Park, Trey Parker plays a naïve Morman who makes his way to California where he eventually becomes a porn star (without actually having sex).  I was in college when this movie was rumored to come out.  South Park was just coming out so anything to do with those guys had interest by college-aged kids.  The actual movie was just ok but it had some definite parts of genius that you could tell these were not the average bathroom humor comedians.  A funny thing about the movie is that it’s rated NC-17 and doesn’t have any actual nudity in the film.  It’s worth seeing for anyone who is a fan of the South Park series.

Next week

Next Sunday I will be on my way to Phoenix, Arizona, for the USTFCCCA Convention so hopefully I can post a blog during the trip.  Nine “P” movies are next on the list that are mostly from the 20^th century.

Until then thanks again for reading and go Shocks!

Thanksgiving Break, we sign 5 new Shockers and Nebraska barely beats Old Men (not a Pellini joke)

The busier I am the shorter the blog – so this one will be pretty short.

Track

It’s Thanksgiving break so obviously it was a short week of practice.  Basically we worked out Monday and Tuesday then gave the team the rest of the week on their own to go home and enjoy the holiday with their family and/or friends.

Coach Rainbolt made a good point how this marked the first of six straight weeks that are different.  We’ve been in a routine for most of the fall and now we have 1) Thanksgiving week 2) Intersquad week 3) Finals week and then 4-5-6) Winter break.  It will take our athletes being disciplined and focused over that time period to come back ready for a successful indoor season.  So far we’ve had a good fall so we can’t afford to lose ground in the coming weeks.

This is a big week in our program.  We have our annual Intersquad Meet on Friday where our team is divided into Gold, White and Black and compete for the traveling trophy along with a bunch of our alumni (Gray).  It’s a very fun and exciting way to finish our fall semester and at the same time see how our team looks heading into the break.  The field events begin at 10:30am and the running events begin at 1:00pm at the Heskett Center.  If you can’t make it be sure to tune in online for the livestream.

We also have our annual team banquet after the meet on Friday night.  It’s a great way to celebrate last year’s seniors and to kick off the 2015 year.  After the banquet we get together with our alumni (old and new) to socialize and mostly talk about Shocker Track & Field!

We hope to see you at one of the above events on Friday!

Recruiting

We have released our list of signees for the early signing period.  HERE THEY ARE

Even though the list is only five athletes we have definitely addressed some of our needs.  We were looking to improve in the 400/800 area for the women as well as finding a triple jumper on the men’s side.  We still have some key areas of need that we are working on as the next signing period approaches in April.  And who knows, we may even add an athlete or two in January that will be on our team immediately!

Recruiting never stops.

“N” Movies

This is the 14th of a 24 part series (are you bored yet?) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 178 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own 6 (or 7 see below) “N” movies that are VERY different so here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Nebraska (2013, 115 min, R, 7.8, $17.6m) – There are a few reasons I love this little independent movie.  First of all it was made by Alexander Payne (who also made Sideways which I love) and I generally like his movies a lot.  Also it’s set in the Midwest so I feel like I’ve driven through a lot of places that are portrayed in the movie.  Finally, it was the last movie I ever saw with my dad who passed away this year and the father/son road trip storyline is one that we could definitely relate.  On top of that it’s just a really good movie.  It’s funny and interesting throughout, I say check it out if you haven’t seen it!

No Country for Old Men (2007, 122 min, R, 8.2, $171m) – This barely lost out to Nebraska and is really a great movie.  Another great effort by the Coen Brothers (Big Lebowski, True Grit) that is memorable for me because of how simple it is.  There is so much of the movie that has no dialogue or music.  It’s very dramatic and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.  Javier Bardem plays the role of bad guy as good as could be, I would never want to see that guy at a hotel I was staying in!

North Dallas Forty (1979, 119 min, R, 7.0, $26m) – Nick Nolte stars in this movie based on a true story (sort of) about a professional football team.  It was based on a book by a former Dallas Cowboys player who told the previously untold stories of the darker side of pro football like drugs, steroids, parties, etc.  Nolte does a great job playing a guy just trying to hang onto the team and the scenes of him getting out of bed after a game or sitting in an ice tub makes your bones and joints ache just watching.

Nail Gun Massacre (1985, 85 min, NR, 4.0, $??) – One of the best BAD movies of all time!  I stumbled across this terrible low budget movie at when I was a kid and it left an impression on me.  It was so, so, so bad that after a while I started laughing and before I knew it I was laughing through most of the film.  It wasn’t supposed to be funny – it’s just that bad.  The plot doesn’t matter (a crazy killer terrorizing with a nail gun) and the acting is atrocious (you can actually see people reading lines off paper) but it does have a quality that makes it hard to not watch.  Some people like to think Plan 9 from Outer Space by Ed Wood is the worst movie ever and this is definitely in the same category!

Necessary Roughness (1991, 108 min, PG-13, 6.0, $26m) – It’s not a bad sports movie, it’s just a little on the light side (compared to North Dallas Forty) for most people to remember.  Scott Bakula (remember him from Quantum Leap) plays an aging college quarterback who is brought in to help revive a struggling football program (I guess they didn’t have the same rules we do today about age limits).  There’s a lot of funny stuff in this movie and it’s all pretty innocent family fun.  But you really can’t take a movie too serious that has Sinbad and Kathy Ireland on the same team as the guy from Quantum Leap.

Nymphomaniac (Volume I and II) (2013, 118/123 min, NR, 7.1/6.9, $12.4m) – Ok, so obviously by the title you can probably gather what these movies are about but they’re probably not what you might think they are.  If you think you’re sitting down to watch some kind of pornographic movie then you would be wrong – although there is a lot of adult subject matter – I think the film maker was trying to make this movie in a way that would drive away people looking for that.  If you have an open mind and can watch these two movies as more of a clinical case study then you will probably find them interesting.  If you can’t then I would avoid them all together.

This is a pretty good and diverse list this week!

Next week

I will give a full report on how the Intersquad Meet goes as well as delving into my collection of ”O” movies.  There’s only five of them and a couple start with the word Office and Old.  You know them too – classics!

Until then thank you for reading and Go Shocks!

The track season begins (sort of) and Moneyball slices up Machete

Track

It has been a very busy week in the track and field world.

Most notably the early singing period ended Wednesday.  We are currently preparing a press release so since it’s not out yet I’m not allowed to make public comment about our signees.  We're very excited about the recruiting class so far and look forward to adding more quality young men and women when the next signing period begins in April.

My sprint/hurdle group has continued to progress nicely.  So far we have avoided significant injuries this fall and look to be in good condition heading into our winter break.

Intersquad begins

While the top distance runners in the nation were out in Terre Haute, IN, for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, we were back in Wichita getting our competitive track and field season underway (sort of).

Breanne Borman

In two weeks we have our annual Intersquad Meet but this weekend we had our Intersquad Multi-events competition.  There were some really good scores for being this early in the season and I know Coach Rainbolt is very excited about how it has gone.  We had three girls score over 3600 points led by Breanne Borman who scored a meet record 3817 points.  Our ladies have a very strong group right now and we could see multiple Shockers at the NCAA Championships indoor or outdoor.  Our guys, who are still very young, will finish on Monday and they are performing well also.

The rest of the Intersquad Meet will be on Friday, December 5 at the Heskett Center.

Time flies when you’re having fun

It’s hard to believe the semester is almost over.  Our kids will be heading home for Thanksgiving this week and they will be taking finals in a couple weeks.  And as quick at the first semester goes by, the spring will fly by even quicker.

Even though the competitive part of our season is full of travel and stress, it’s also full of excitement and accomplishments.  I am very excited for this season to begin!

Inspirational video

Sometimes I try to find videos to show our athletes in an effort to inspire and this week I came across this terrific story about a distance runner from North Carolina.  It is well worth 12 minutes of your time. VIDEO - CATCHING KAYLA

“M” Movies

This is the 13th of a 24 part series (if I don’t bore you all to death) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 170 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own 10 “M” movies and there are some of my favorites here so here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Moneyball (2011, 133 min, PG-13, 7.6, $110m) – One of my all-time favorite movies!  One reason I like this movie so much is because it’s very entertaining and well done but mostly because I can relate to it because of the job I do in athletics.  Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, the Oakland A’s general manager who comes up with a new way to find baseball players with less money than everyone else.  It’s based on the great book of the same name by Michael Lewis.  Often I find myself in the same situation as Beane, trying to figure out a way to beat the big boys with fewer resources.  Loved it!

Machete (2010, 105 min, R, 6.7, $44m) – The original reason I was interested in this movie is because I happened to be staying in a hotel in Austin, TX, across the street from where it was filmed.  So when I saw it come out in theaters I made sure to see it and immediately loved it.  Danny Trejo plays Machete, an ex-Federal agent from Mexico who singlehandedly attempts to mess up all the bad guys’ plans.  I love that Trejo is the main character in a movie filled with stars like Robert Deniro, Jessica Alba and Steven Segal.  It’s full of cartoonish violence but also very tongue and cheek funny.  It also stars Michelle Rodriguez – I have a celebrity crush on her.  Great little movie, check it out!

Million Dollar Baby (2004, 132 min, PG-13, $216m) – Another one of Clint Eastwood’s great films also stars Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman in the world of women’s boxing.  This movie is cut into two distinctive parts and if you’ve seen it then you know what the two parts are.  It’s a beautifully done film that is inspiring, touching and in the end very thought provoking.  I love a movie that make you sit and talk about it with your friends after it’s over just to get their opinion on the subject matter involved.  What would you do if you were in Eastwood’s same situation?

Major League (1989, 107 min, R, 7.2, $49m) – I remember watching this movie in high school and laughing at all the crazy characters it had.  They really got lucky with some of the casting for this movie in getting actors like Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes and Rene Russo, who were young but very popular.  This movie follows a fictional year for the downtrodden Cleveland Indians who are owned by a former stripper when her husband-owner passes away before the year.  Great movie, hilarious baseball comedy, lots of swearing – all in all one of my favorite sports movies of all time.

More Than a Game (2008, 105 min, PG, 7.6, $960k) – A very good documentary about Lebron James and his high school days.  I really enjoyed this movie and felt a little more connected since I worked at Kent State (just a few miles from where Lebron went to HS) during the time chronicled.  I saw Lebron play several times in high school and was always impressed with his unselfishness.  This movie does a good job of showing he was just a pretty normal, yet really talented kid who blossomed into a great player and role model.

Martyrs (2008, 99 min, R, 7.1, $??) – You’ve probably never heard of this movie and I hadn’t either until I got in a phase of wanting to see movies that freaked me out.  This movie starts out as a normal horror movie then goes to a very, very dark place.  One of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen, yet it was so well done I can’t help but like and respect it for what it is.  I would not recommend this movie for the faint of heart but I would recommend it for moviegoers who want a unique viewing experience.

Metropolis (1927, 153 min, NR, 8.3, $1.2m) – I started reading about this movie years ago online and I finally bought it after hearing they found several missing parts of the film almost 75 years after it was originally released.  The story behind this movie is fascinating but there’s no way I can do it justice here so I advise to go online and read about it yourself.  As for the movie, it’s a silent picture about a futuristic city.  Watching it now and thinking about the vision the makers had 87 years ago is incredible.  Sometimes they’ll play this movie on AMC and if you have a chance make sure to watch it!

Mystic River (2003, 138 min, R, 8.0, $156m) – Another very good Clint Eastwood movie that has probably been overshadowed by films like Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino.  This one stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon about three friends that come together when one of them loses a daughter.  It’s been a while since I’ve watched this movie but I do remember it being very good and liking the story.  I might have to try and watch it again sometime.

Machete Kills (2013, 107 min, R, 5.7, $15m) – When Machete had moderate success on a low budget, the powers that be decided to make a sequel and unfortunately like many sequels it doesn’t quite match up.  The same over the top violence and humor are in this movie and it’s filled with cameos by stars like Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen and Lady Gaga, but it doesn’t have the originality of Machete.  I still enjoyed it though, but I don’t think the third movie Machete Kills Again …. In Space will ever get made.

The Monuments Men (2014, 118 min, PG-13, 6.1, $154m) – I really wanted to like this movie because it had some great actors (George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman) and an interesting story (a World War II platoon tries to rescue art masterpieces from the Nazi’s) but it just never really took off.  It wasn’t a bad movie and I’ll probably watch it again someday but it was definitely underwhelming for all the talent that was on the screen.

I would say all 10 of these movies are watchable but the top-8 are all VERY good - hard to go wrong with anything on this list.

Next week

I plan to eat a lot of turkey!

Oh and I have 6 “N” movies including one of my favorite movies of all time and one of my favorite bad movies ever!

Until then, thanks for reading and Go Shocks!

Recruiting heats up, Shocker XC is over and Abraham Lincoln edges Jim Carrey

The fall is flying by as we only have a few weeks left of practice before our athletes go home for the holidays.

Track

Our sprint/hurdle group continues to grind away and I can say I’ve been very happy with our progress this fall.  As you may remember I made some observations about our group after our October testing sessions that I was cautiously optimistic about this group.  Even though we haven’t had any competitions yet I can say I have been impressed thus far.

Our guy’s group works very well together and it shows in their workout results.  This group has chemistry as good as any group I’ve ever coached – and they are pretty talented too.  Our young women’s group continues to improve each week and our speed endurance workouts are evidence of that fact.  I still believe both groups will have some struggles that everyone has when we start the competitive season but I am excited even more for the season to start with each week that passes.

We are a little over two weeks from our Intersquad Meet on December 5^th at the Heskett Center.  Next Sunday/Monday, however, we will be having our Intersquad Heptathlon/Pentathlon so we will get to see some actual competition soon!

Recruiting

We’re currently in the middle of the early signing period (which runs through Wednesday).  So far we have four commitments and we expect a few more before the deadline later this week.  Next week I should be able to link to a press release about our early signees.

Recruiting has been our major focus over the past few weeks as around 30 high schoolers have made official visits to our university.  Not all of those athletes will make a decision this week but the new date of the early signing period (last year the signing period began in February) has definitely sped up the recruiting process for many athletes.

The next signing period won’t begin until April but we’ll continue recruiting every week all the way through the summer.  We know we will find athletes in April and May that we don’t know about now.  Every year we find out about athletes at the state track meet in June and try to convince them to be Shockers.  Recruiting never stops!

Cross Country

The cross country team ended their season with 12^th (women) and 15^th (men) place finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships Friday.  Our women ran much better than at the MVC meet (they were the second team from the MVC at Regionals) and Coach Hunter seemed pleased with the results.  Now that the cross country season is over the distance squad can take a little breather until the indoor season – although I saw many of them running just a few hours after returning from Regionals Saturday morning.  Distance runners never take a break!

It’s a tough season for the distance runners because of how long the competitive season is.  The only month that some of them don’t compete is usually July.  I have a lot of respect for all the distance runners in the NCAA, they are truly warriors!

Speaking of Cross Country

 

Kevin Costner has done a bunch of different sports movies throughout his career and now he can check Cross Country off his list.  He is starring in the new movie “McFarland, USA”, which tells the true story of a “high school coach from California that transforms his team into a championship contender.”  It is set to open in February.

Here’s a link to the trailer, looks interesting ….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74eJaVQFybI

Shocker Basketball

Another exciting year of Wichita State Basketball is underway.  What an awesome time to be working in the WSU Athletic Department with all the excitement our basketball team brings.  I went to the season opening win against New Mexico State and it appears we are very good again this year.  I can’t imagine we will go 35-0 again but look for these guys to be one of the best teams in the nation!

“L” Movies

This is the 12th of a 24 part series (if I don’t bore you all to death) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 170 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own seven “L” movies so here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Lincoln (2012, 150 min, PG-13, 7.4, $275m) – This story of Abraham Lincoln is very fascinating and incredibly well played by Daniel Day-Lewis.  It’s very dialogue driven but if you are into history and great acting then you will like this movie.  Steven Spielberg directed and Sally Field played Lincoln’s crazy wife.  Seeing him deal with his family issues while battling slavery and all the other politics of the time really puts some perspective on how great of a leader Lincoln was.

Liar Liar (1997, 86 min, PG-13, 6.8, $302m) – I think this may be Jim Carrey’s best movie.  Movies like Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber are certainly funny but this movie is vey well made as well as being hilarious throughout.  The plot, which has Carrey being a lawyer and not being able to lie, is secondary to how he totally gets into the character.  This movie is almost 20 years old but it holds up extremely well.

The Longest Yard (1974, 121 min, R, 7.1, $43m) – Burt Reynolds stars as a former pro quarterback who is sent to prison and is recruited to put together a team of inmates to take on the prison guards.  This isn’t the Adam Sandler remake (which was ok), the original is much better and Reynolds was at the top of his game, literally.  In fact Reynolds was a former football player and looked the part.  It’s hard to believe that some of the great football movies were made before the NFL became our most popular sport.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006, 101 min, R, 7.9, $100m) – This quirky movie about a family trying to get their little girl to a beauty pageant is both very funny and touching.  It was one of those little independent movies that caught a lot of momentum at the right time and made quite a bit of money on a very small budget.  Steve Carell is the most famous actor in the movie although he isn’t the main character.  Good stuff, check it out if you have a chance!

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998, 107 min, R, 8.2, $3.7m) – Director Guy Ritchie became best known for directing the movie Snatch with Brad Pitt but Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels was his first actual full length movie.  If you’ve seen Snatch then this movie will feel familiar.  It’s funny, dramatic and had a great plot full of regular guys who become criminals out of necessity.  It’s also one of Jason Statham’s early movies (who was also in Snatch).  Hopefully Ritchie comes back to directing this type of movie again someday.

The Last House on the Left (1972, 84 min, X, 6.0, $10m) – This was Wes Craven’s first major movie and the low budget horror movie (made for $90,000) quickly became a cult classic because of its gritty filming and X-rated violence.  After this movie Craven went on to direct horror classics like The Hills Have Eyes and Nightmare on Elm Street.  Last House is worth viewing if you are into low budget horror movies but it’s not for the squeamish!

The Lonely Guy (1984, 90 min, R, 6.2, $5.7m) – I bought this as part of a 4-pack of Steve Martin movies and have yet to watch it.  IMDB describes it as “A writer for a greeting card company learns the true meaning of loneliness when he comes home to find his girlfriend in bed with another man.”  Hmmm not sure if I will watch it anytime soon, haha!

All of these movies (except possibly the last one) are definitely worth viewing.

Next Week

I should be able to list some of our new recruits for next year as well as listing the 10 “M” movies I own.  Who will be at the top with titles like Major League, Moneyball and Machete?

Until then, thanks for reading and Go Shocks!

Wichita St indoor preview and why my alma mater should cut their football team

Track

As the weather begins to cool off and the indoor season grows closer, we’ve continue to grind away at track practice.  This is always a difficult time of the training year for the sprinters and hurdlers because 1) the newness of the fall has worn off and 2) it still seems like a long time until we get our season started.

Two months from today we officially open our season (Jan 9 at Kansas) so we do have a long time until we start but we are only 4 weeks away from our annual Intersquad Meet on Dec 5 at the Heskett Center.  Our Intersquad Meet serves as something to shoot for at the end of the fall and while it isn’t just around the corner it does feel like we’re almost there.  We’ll have our Intersquad Multi in about two weeks so for those athletes it’s almost go time.

This week at practice we talked about how important it is to be ready to go at the beginning of the season.  Research has shown the NCAA champions (and conference champions) run very fast in the first meets of the year.  If that’s true then we must get ready to go in the coming weeks so that when we start our season in two months our performances will be where we need them.

Let’s take a look at our indoor schedule:

 Dec 5 @Wichita St – This is our annual Intersquad Meet where we divide into three teams (Gold, White, Black) and well as having a bunch of alumni (Gray) come back.  I have to imagine it’s the most fun and intense Intersquad Meet in the country.  Someone try to prove me wrong!

Jan 9 @Kansas – Low key season opener, most athletes will run one event (if any) to shake the rust off from the winter break.

Jan 16 @Wichita St – This meet will be for the athletes who don’t travel to K-St the next day.  Only 26 athletes make the K-St meet so this will be an opportunity for a lot of Shockers to showcase their talents at home.  Our opponents will be Emporia St, Friends University and Butler County.

Jan 17 @Kansas St – This is the first ever Wichita St-Kansas St-Kansas Triangular.  Next year will be at KU with 2017 at WSU.  We are very excited for this meet and picking the top 26 athletes to compete will be very tough with our deep and talented team.  Fans of T&F in Kansas should put this meet on their calendar every year!

Jan 23-24 @Nebraska – The first night at Nebraska is more of a small college meet where we have a lot of our younger athletes compete with the following day being a scored quad meet against Nebraska and two other D1 teams on UNL’s banked 200m track.

Jan 30-31 @Northern Iowa – Another great scored meet against UNI, Indiana St and Kent St.  This is will be very significant because 1) we are competing on the facility that the MVC Indoor Champs are hosted, 2) we are competing against our main MVC rival Indiana St and 3) we are competing against my alma mater Kent St!

Feb 7 @Notre Dame – Most of my group will be off this weekend but the distance crew will travel to South Bend to run some fast time trial races on ND’s oversized track.

Feb 14 @Wichita St – The annual Herm Wilson Invitational will include UT-Arlington, Oral Roberts and Emporia St in a scored meet.  This is what we consider our final “team meet” in preparation for the MVC Indoor.

Feb 20-21 @Nebraska and Kansas St – These are just tune-up meets, with most of the athletes either running one race to get ready for MVC or one final attempt to make the MVC team.

Feb 28/Mar 1 @Northern Iowa – MVC Indoor Championships – This is what our team will be focused on getting ready for the whole indoor season.  32 men and 32 women make this squad and it is two days of intense competition for the MVC title!

Mar 13-14 @Arkansas – NCAA Indoor Championships – Only 16 athletes per event make it to this meet. It’s the elite of the elite of NCAA track and if you make it you are a major stud!

So as you can see we have a very exciting indoor schedule this year with lots of scored meets and great competition!  I can’t wait for it to begin!

My alma mater is really bad at football

I happened to notice Kent State was hosting Toledo on Tuesday night on one of the ESPN channels so when I got home I turned on the second half.  Now it’s no secret that my alma mater has been historically terrible in football (the exception being 2012 and some of the 1970’s) but something I saw made me decide to write about it here.

Now understand that Kent State entered this game 1-6 and it was a cold and rainy night but when I turned on the game all I could notice was how no one was at the game.  And I don’t mean they had a small crowd of 10,000 people – I mean NO ONE was at the game.  It wouldn’t surprise me if someone said there were 100 people in the stands.  It reminded me of my college days where I would go to a game and sit among the hundreds of spectators and watch our 0-11 team get manhandled.

But why am I talking about this?

It’s not to point out how bad my old school is in football – in fact I love Kent State and I root for them every week – I’ve even started donating back to my school in the past couple years to the track team now that I have a little change in my pocket.  But the reason I’m talking about this is because I currently work at a school that does not have football and most everyone around here couldn’t be happier about it.

You may or may not know but all but about 20 NCAA D1 schools lose money in football – and many lose LOTS of money, so much in fact that the entire rest of the athletic department suffers and in some cases programs get cut.  Football budgets are so bloated by how much the sport costs to maintain and outrageous salaries that schools like Kent (and the rest of the MAC) feel like they have to keep up with the BCS schools and maybe become the next Boise State (by the way Boise State loses money every year too).  One of the main arguments for having a football team, even though they lose money, is for free advertising on ESPN, Fox, etc. which in turn drives enrollment figures up.  I don’t agree.

All that money that my alma mater loses in football every year, Wichita St uses to invest into our basketball program.  We pay our head coach $2 million/year, our team flies to games in private charter jets, the assistant coaches get PAID (and thus are retained) and the athletic department marketing resources are dedicated to promoting this team that doesn’t cost near as much as a football team.

Most schools in conferences our size (MVC, MAC, Sun Belt) get around 60-70% of their athletic department budget from the university through student fees.  At Wichita State we get less than 30% from student fees.

Guess what else?  All the other athletic department teams are budgeted at the top of our conference and sometimes as high as our local BCS rival schools that we aim to beat.  In terms of track and field we never feel that we take a back seat to anyone.  Our athletes have access to the best facilities, travel budgets and coaches they can get.

So what would my advice be to Kent State?  Drop the football program.  I know those 4-5 weekends where the Golden Flashes play a home game are fun but the benefits of not having the team would greatly outweigh the negative.  And do you know when Kent State had its largest increase in enrollment in the past 20 years?  The year after the BASKETBALL team went to the Elite 8 in 2003.

Cutting the football program won’t be happening and sorry if I have offended any of my fellow Kent Staters.  I’ll still follow and support my alma mater through every 2-9 season they have while rolling my eyes as year after year go by without Kent having an outdoor track facility.  Go Flashes!

“K” Movies

This is the 11th of a 24 part series (if I don’t bore you all to death) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 169 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own five “K” movies so here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

The King’s Speech (2010, 118 min, R, 8.1, $414m) – The very entertaining and interesting story of how King George VI rose to the throne and had to overcome his public speaking difficulties for a major speech at the end of the film.  This was the surprise hit in 2010 that won four Oscars and all kinds of awards.  Colin Firth did a great job as King George VI of being very vulnerable yet trying to maintain the dignity of the King of England.

Kingpin (1996, 113 min, PG-13, 6.9, $25m) – The hilarious bowling movie starring Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray who end up competing for a major bowling championship after a long string of unfortunate occurrences for Harrelson.  Made by the Farrelly Brothers (Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber), this is a great comedy that is some of Murray’s funniest work.

King of Kong (2007, 79 min, PG-13, 8.2, $790k) – No joke, this movie is about two guys who are trying to break the world record on the arcade game Donkey Kong – and it’s great!  I got sent a copy of this movie from a friend of mine who works in Hollywood and worked on the film so I had some special insights to the production.  If you can find it you will definitely enjoy this little documentary about 80’s video games!

Kids (1995, 91 min, NR, 7.0, $7.4m) – This highly controversial movie is described by IMDB like this, “A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking, and deflowering virgins.”  This movie will hit you will all kinds of thoughts afterwards and I always tell people they should see it.  It will probably drive most parents crazy as most boys between the ages of 17-20 temporarily lose their minds – this movie shows that fact in disturbing detail.

Kiss Shot (1989, 90 min, PG, 5.0, $??) – I have never seen this movie.  It came in a two-pack with the Jesse Owens Story (who came up with that idea?).  I think it has Whoopie Goldberg in it who probably never saw it either.

All of these movies (except Kiss Shot) are really, really good and I recommend them all.

Next week

Our cross country team travels to Peoria, IL, for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships and I’ll review my “L” movies.  There are seven great movies that start with words like Liar, Lincoln, and Last!

Until then thanks for reading and Go Shocks!

MVC Cross Country and Jaws vs The Jerk

It’s been a busy weekend and I’m a little under the weather so this is gonna be a short blog, I’ll do better next week I promise!

MVC Cross Country

I traveled with our coaching staff out to the MVC Cross Country Championships in Carbondale, IL, this weekend and we came back with mixed emotions.

The MVC has become a very strong conference in distance running recently and our team has improved as well.  Our women ended up in fourth place with our men placing fifth.  As you look at the team scores it’s easy to see how things could’ve been different.  Our women had a good total score of only 94 points and was just 23 points from second.  Our men also had a nice score of 116 and was only six points from fourth (and also two points from seventh).

I know Coach Hunter and the cross country team was disappointed in the final result but we all knew they ran their hearts out and sometimes the cards don’t fall how you want them.  Still, WSU placed higher than last year on both sides so congrats to the Shocks!  Kudos to the Bradley women and the Indiana State men who won well deserved titles.  With just the regional and national CC meets left the track season is just around the corner!

“J” Movies

This is the 10th of a 24 part series (if I don’t bore you all to death) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 168 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own five “J” movies so here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Box office)

Jaws (1975, 124 min, R, 8.1, $470m) – One of my all-time favorite movies is still a very effective horror movie today.  This was one of Steven Spielberg’s early movies and the story of how difficult it was to make is about as interesting as the movie itself!  What I wonder about is how effective would it have been without the simple musical notes that foreshadowed Jaws’ arrival throughout the movie?  Either way I love this movie!

The Jerk (1979, 94 min, R, 7.2, $73.6m) – Another classic movie from the 1970’s starring Steve Martin who “was born a poor black child in Mississippi.”  I’ve had a few friends that told me they didn’t think this movie was that great and I have no idea what they are talking about.  There are tons of great scenes and funny lines and an ending that is appropriate for the “Jerk”.  My favorite scene is near the end when Martin is walking out and keeps taking a few things, saying he doesn’t need anything, well except this, and this, and that.

Juno (2007, 96 min, PG-13, 7.6, $231m) – Directed by Jason Reitman (who also did Up in the Air), this was the breakout movie for Ellen Page that took a sensitive subject (abortion and teenage pregnancy) and made it funny as well as touching.  Michael Cera did a nice job as the cross country runner and father of Page’s baby.  I guess you could categorize this as a romantic comedy and if so, I would say it’s one of the best of that genre.  “Uhhh, I hate it when adults use the term "sexually active." What does it even mean? Am I gonna like deactivate some day or is it a permanent state of being?”

Jerry Maguire (1996, 139 min, R, 7.3, $273m) – This popular movie stars Tom Cruise as a sports agent and Cuba Gooding Jr as his only (eventually) athlete he represents.  I thought this movie was very well done and gave us the great line, “Show me the money!”  I’m not a fan of all the sappy stuff so I could’ve done with more of the behind the scenes sports action but I still give this movie a favorable review.

The Jesse Owens Story (1984, 174 min, NR, 6.8, $?) – I think this was a made for TV movie that I saw as a kid and a couple years ago I found it at a store for $2 and grabbed it up!  It’s not a bad biopic for one of the most famous Olympic track and field athletes of all time but being a made for TV movie it had its limitations.  I’ve heard there is a new Jesse Owens movie in production that is scheduled to come out in 2015.  Hopefully it will be done as well as the recent movie about Jackie Robinson (42).

All five of these movies are very good and this list includes both a track AND cross country athlete.  Win-Win!

Next week

Hopefully I’m not sick!  And I also have five "K" movies that are VERY diverse.  Check back for those!

Until then thanks again for reading, Go Shocks!!!