NFL 2017-18 Week 16 Review - Sunday Games

New England 37, Buffalo 16  - Another controversial touchdown call helped New England here, as it stopped any and all of Buffalo's momentum. Still, the Pats won by a wide margin, and truth be told, likely would have found a way to win anyway. But a lot of people are smoking made after yet another controversial decision went in favor of the Patriots, who generally need little help from the refs to win big games. New England stays on track to clinch home field advantage. If they win up in New England again next weekend against the Jets, they will obtain that first seed, which would be potentially crucial for another Super Bowl run. My pick: Accurate

New Orleans 23, Atlanta 13 - The Saints were able to win, which was really not surprising. New Orleans was the best team in this division all season long, and you figured that they would win key games like this one. A disappointing loss for Atlanta, but they still control their own destiny in terms of qualifying for the postseason. If they win next weekend, they are in. But a very solid win for a sild New Orleans Saints team, which should make the division title official next weekend.  My pick: Accurate

Chicago 20, Cleveland 3 - The Bears played extremely well in dominating the hapless Browns. This was Cleveland's last best chance to produce a win. I mean seriously, does anyone really expect them to win next week? The Browns just seem incapable of getting anything done, and to stop their profuse bleeding. But frankly, a winless season might be the jolt that this franchise needs. Being honest about how bad they are might be the fuel for a fire that burns later for them, because let's face it: it's no fluke that they have won a single game in the last two seasons combined, and lost 30 during that same span. It's time for a dramatic change, which could be good for them. It could hardly got worse for them at this point, right? As for Chicago, they have reason to be excited right now. A good, solid win for them. My pick: Accurate

Washington 27, Washington 11 - The Broncos had been hot going into this, with two straight wins. Perhaps they remembered that they could have a higher pick in the draft by losing, and decided not to recover after all. One way or another, Denver got beaten down in Washington, and so their abysmal season continues, mercifully to be put to an end next week. A solid win for Washington, who stop their own bleeding, and look likely to beat the Giants next weekend. My pick: Inaccurate

Cincinnati 26, Detroit 17- Sorry, but if you cannot beat the Bengals this season, even in Cincinnati, then you definitely do not deserve to be in the discussion as a serious playoff caliber team. The Lions may have been on the road here, but they should have found a way to get this win and stay alive for the playoffs. But the Bengals beat them, and convincingly. All of that promise earlier this season, and all of those big bucks going into the pocket of the highest paid player in the NFL, who just happens to be the quarterback of the Lions, and all they can produce is another (yawn) tremendously boring outcome on the season? Well, I like the Lions, and would love to see them enjoy some serious success. But they do not deserve to be considered a particularly good team this season, given their glaring inconsistencies, and particularly with a loss like this to a mediocre NFL team,  which knocks them out.   My pick: Inaccurate

L.A. Chargers 14, N.Y. Jets 7 - The Jets had home field advantage on a cold Christmas Eve, but that was the only advantage that they held. The Chargers are fighting for something, fighting for a chance to qualify for the postseason after a horrific 0-4 start. If they do it, they will join the 1992 San Diego Chargers as the only teams in NFL history to have overcome an 0-4 start to reach the playoffs. It was not pretty, but they got the better of Gang Green in a low-scoring, defensive slugfest yesterday. If they beat the Raiders next weekend, and the Titans lose to the Jaguars, then the Chargers will realize their goal. A solid road win for them, and just another loss for the Jets. My pick: Accurate

L.A. Rams 27, Tennessee 23 - The Titans might be in serious trouble here. They still technically control their own destiny, but after dropping their third straight game, it is clear that something is wrong. Yes, they have played some tough teams, but the Titans themselves are supposed to be tough, at least if they want to be a playoff team. I thought that they were the best team in the AFC South just a few weeks ago, but now, I am really starting to doubt that they have it in them to qualify for the playoffs, even if they hold all the cards. They look truly abysmal right now. My pick: Inaccurate

Kansas City 29, Miami 13 - The Chiefs are getting hot at the right time! Just when they basically looked dead in the water, they suddenly pull off three straight wins, precisely when they most needed them. Granted, all of those games were at home, but with the division title, KC can now enjoy a playoff game from the comfortable confines of their home. The Dolphins are pretty bad this season, and obviously have no business being anywhere near the playoffs. The closest that Miami will get to that this season is the fluke win over the Pats, and otherwise getting their asses beat down by better teams heading to the playoffs, like the Chiefs here.  My pick: Accurate

Carolina 22, Tampa Bay 19 - The Bucs lost their cool in this one. And Carolina, despite not playing particularly well, nevertheless found a way to win. Not sure why the Panthers looked this bland, but again, it's just about getting the job done, and credit Carolina for doing that much. Tampa Bay is a poor team, and they seem to have given up on the season. So how was it that the Panthers suddenly were struggling in this one? Not sure how good the Panthers actually are, but a win is a win, and it keeps the pressure on the Saints, and allows the Panthers to at least clinch a playoff berth  My pick: Accurate

San Francisco 44, Jacksonville 33 - The Jaguars lost a bad game yesterday afternoon at San Fran. Granted, they had managed to clinch their division title before the game ever started, as the Titans lost their game to the Rams, which eliminated them from a chance at the division (but not yet the playoffs). That was the good news. The rest of the game was the bad news, because the Jaguars played terribly, and looked as far removed from being a serious playoff team as they have looked all season. The 49ers might have begun the season 0-9, but they have rebounded in a big way, and this was a huge win for them, seeming to suggest that they are going to be a serious team next season. As for the Jaguars, they captured the division, but you have to wonder if this loss exposed some serious, and perhaps glaring, weaknesses for this team.  My pick: Inaccurate

Arizona 23, N.Y. Giants 0 - The last time that the Cardinals shut someone out, I was only a few months removed from having graduated high school! And that one also came against the New York Giants! Of course, as bad as the 1992 Giants were - and they were bad - they were nonetheless way better than this year's Giants. Plus, they were only two years removed from their Super Bowl XXV championship. These Giants sank to 2-13, which is now clearly the worst record that I have ever seen the Giants have to this point. The Cardinals completely dominated on defense in this one, holding the G-Men scoreless, especially in the running game. They might not be heading to the playoffs, but they enjoyed a very dominant performance yesterday. As for New York, just when you think they have hit new lows, they turn around and surprise you with some new lows showing even greater incompetence than before! My pick: Accurate

Seattle 21, Dallas 12 - I knew that I should have picked the Seahawks! They have been driving me nuts with picks all season long, as they sometimes show glimpses of their former greatness, and then show other glimpses of mediocrity. You never know which Seattle team that you are going to get. The 'Hawks absolutely had to win (as did Dallas) to keep their playoff hopes alive. But on the road in Big D, Seattle got the job done, relying on a tough defense, and doing just enough on offense to secure the win.A huge disappointment for the Cowboys, who are eliminated by virtue of this result. But the Seahawks proved that they were tougher, and closer to being serious playoff material, which really is not that shocking, when you think about it. These days, Dallas rarely enjoys back-to-back playoff seasons.  My pick: Inaccurate

Star Wars Holiday Special Review

Christmas Eve wound up being the first time that either my son or I watched the relatively rare (for now, anyway) Star Wars Holiday Special, which was aired on television only once, during the approach of the holiday season back on November 17, 1978 on CBS.

I had heard about this special some years ago, and thought about obtaining a copy. But sellers seemed to want far more for it then it seemed to be worth, and so I waited. A local music shop was selling a copy for nearly $30, which seemed a bit too much for me. Many on Ebay seemed to be selling for over $20 or so, and that was still a little steep for me.

Why?

Because this special was supposed to be really, really bad. Supposedly, Carrie Fisher said that she wished she could hunt down every copy of it so she could destroy all evidence that it ever existed! 

Yet still, being a fan, I wanted to obtain a copy, but waited until what I felt would be a good opportunity.

Then earlier this year, I found a copy that seemed to be what I wanted. It had a nice jewel case that matched the Star Wars DVD's that I already had, and it had some extra added stuff. plus, the seller had a good rating, and had sold copies of this Holiday Special before, which buyers seemed to have appreciated.

So, I parted with roughly $16, as I can recall, and awaited the arrival of the DVD. When it came, the first thing that I did, admittedly, was make multiple copies. 

However, I remained patient to watch it until the holidays rolled around. Not sure what difference it made, but it seemed more appropriate. Also, it was a priority for me to be able to watch this with my son.

Well, we did, and it was not perhaps quite as bad as I had imagined. Not that it was great, mind you. But by Star Wars standards, especially during the era of the original trilogy? Then it is far, far below those standards.

To be fair, it was a TV special, and not meant to be high drama. In fact, the main characters are only in it briefly. It focuses on Chewbacca's family, so Chewie is shown more than any of the other main characters, followed by Han Solo, then Princess Leia, and finally, Luke Skywalker. Of course, there are also appearances by both C-3PO and R2-D2.

Again, it is not especially good, or anything. In fact, it is a bit corny and a sign of those times. Clearly, it is not movie quality, but rather just a made for television special for kids.

But there were some cool things, such as the first real glimpse that we have of Kashyyyk, Chewie's home planet. It is also the first time that the general public learned about the character Boba Fett, who makes  an appearance in the animated part. Also, it is just cool to see the original cast, and to marvel at how young they all looked!

Pretty cool, but this really is for Star Wars fans. Anyone expecting even a bit of the magic of the original Star Wars trilogy will be disappointed. 

P.S. - I found this article about Boba Fett's actual first appearance, although it was in a small town in California, two months before the Star Wars Holiday Special was aired. Still, it was pretty fascinating to look at and read about. Here is the link:

http://www.starwars.com/news/the-real-first-appearance-of-boba-fett

NFL 2017-18 Week 16 Preview

Saturday Games

Baltimore 23, Indianapolis 16 - Well, the Ravens managed to win this all-important game. At least, it was obviously very important for them, as they inch ever closer to the playoffs, and remain in control of their own destiny. Maybe they could have won this one more convincingly. But hey, a win's a win, and the Ravens have been doing a lot of winning lately. They have one more game left in the regular season next weekend against Cincinnati, and have an extra day to prepare for it. Sure, it's a bit too early to make my predictions for next weekend, but the Ravens show no signs of being fully able to seal the deal and clinch that number 5 seed, which they presently have. My pick: Accurate

Minnesota 16, Green Bay 0 - The Purple People Eaters just might be back! Somehow, the Vikings had not blanked an opponent since 1993, but they came close last weekend against Cincy. Now this weekend, needing to win to stay on Philly's heels for home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, or at least a playoff bye, the Vikes easily handled their usually tough division rivals in Green Bay. The Packers were actually blanked in their home stadium, and that is quite an awesome feat for them! The Vikings indeed look like they can win in any style, with a shootout if necessary, or in a defensive slugfest, if it comes to it. Frankly, I am not sure that I would want to bet against this team in the NFC playoffs. They look like they are a real contender. My pick: Accurate

Sunday Games

Buffalo at New England - Late December in New England is not the most accommodating place to play. But, if there is a team right now that could possibly pull off an upset, it would be the Bills. Coming from Buffalo, they certainly will not be intimidated or adversely affected by the cold or bad weather, and they are familiar with the Pats. Also, they have a sense of urgency, because they need to keep winning in order to continue to control their own destiny for the playoffs. A loss might take that out of their hands, and obviously, that is not what they want. However, let us remember that the Patriots are the most successful team in the league in recent years for a reason. They do not always win, but they usually seem to win when they absolutely need to win. For example, they lost to Miami a couple of weekends ago, but won at Pittsburgh in the big showdown for what might determine home field advantage in the playoffs. It appears that they are focused and driven to get the home field advantage throughout, and that is why it would not be smart to expect them to lose this weekend in their comfortable home confines. My pick: New England

Atlanta at New Orleans - Huge game, and it very well might decide who wins the NFC South! The Falcons are red hot right now, playing probably their best football overall this season. But New Orleans is playing pretty damn well, too, and they are especially tough at home. The Saints have found ways to win all season long, and they need to win to keep the division lead that they have fought for all season long. Atlanta is tough, and so this will be a great game. It could go either way, but a slight edge to me seems to go for the home team. My pick: New Orleans

Cleveland at Chicago - The Bears definitely do not want to lose this game! How embarrassing would that be, handing the Browns their first, and likely only, win of the season? So, Chicago will be playing with all cylinders firing, presumably. Home field advantage should help them quite a bit, although we shall see about that. Obviously, the Browns are getting pretty desperate to win a game, because they do not want the indignity of failing to win even a single game. Still, Chicago has been an up and down team, but there is an energy with them when they play at their best. And I think the Bears will do that again today, because again, they do not want to be that team that loses to the Browns this season. My pick: Chicago

Denver at Washington - The Broncos have been playing some incredible football the last two weekends, after that massive two-month losing streak. Can they continue on that course, and take a third straight game in a row? Maybe, but Washington can be tough, particularly at home. But the Broncos seem to be playing with more pride, while Washington has been playing abysmally as of late. it could go either way, but I'll go with the hot team, for what it's worth. My pick: Denver

Detroit at Cincinnati - The Bengals have been done for quite a while now. The most that they can do is play the role of spoiler. The Lions still have a realistic chance at qualifying for the postseason, but it certainly will not be easy. A lot has to happen, as they do not control their own destiny. That said, however, it begins with them, and they need to take care of business in Cincy first. They are a decent team, and my guess is that they should get it done, and keep the pressure on those NFC South teams in so doing. My pick: Detroit

L.A. Chargers at N.Y. Jets - The Jets are finished, while the Chargers still have some life in them. That said, the loss last week in KC was devastating, and it is hard to imagine that the Chargers can just bounce back easily after that. Still, the Chargers are the better team, and road team or not, they should be able to produce a win and keep their flickering playoff hopes alive, because this is too important an opportunity for them, and it took too long to get to this point, just to see it end today. Not yet, come what may, because the Chargers should win this one. My pick: L.A. Chargers

L.A. Rams at Tennessee - Big game for both teams, although not as big as their epic Super Bowl clash. Remember when many people were suggesting that that was the best Super Bowl ever, at the time? Well, most still rank it highly, but not probably the best. But this has the makings of a good game, because a lot is riding on it for both teams. The Titans need to win, having lost two in a row, and they cannot afford to lose a third in a row, because they will definitely be out of the division race, and likely will be out of the playoff race, too. But the Rams want that chance to possibly earn a playoff bye, and at the very least, want to clinch the third seed. So, serious playoff ramifications either way with this one. My pick: Tennessee

Miami at Kansas City - The Chiefs suddenly are hot, having won two in a row, both times at home. Well, they are in KC again, and that is good, because today will likely be the day when this team finally, finally clinches the AFC West division title, which they seemed to own all season long until quite late, only to recover with two straight wins that, for all intents and purposes, get them back to the verge of winning it again. Not sure if they will do much in the playoffs, but I very much doubt that they will fail to qualify, or will fail to clinch the division title. They should blow by the Dolphins and clinch the AFC West in this one. My pick: Kansas City

Tampa Bay at Carolina - The Bucs have nothing to play for save pride, while the Panthers have a tremendous amount at stake. After all, Carolina may find themselves alone in first place if they win this, and New Orleans loses to Atlanta, which is not beyond the realm of possibility. So, for the Panthers to be in sole possession of first place heading into the final weekend of this regular season would be huge, but they need to take care of their own business first, and that is to win this very winnable game. No reason that I can see why they shouldn't. My pick: Carolina

Jacksonville at San Francisco - The Jaguars are alone in first place, and can outright clinch the division title with a win in either of their next two games. So, they want to win this one, and end any suspense and any chance of the Titans coming back to take the division away from Jax. However, San Fran has been playing extremely well themselves, and so any notion that this would be an easy win for the Jaguars is unrealistic. Still, the Jaguars have managed to surprise many by playing so well, and my guess is that they should be able to win this one, albeit not easily. My pick: Jacksonville

N.Y. Giants at Arizona - I'm a Giants fan, but really, what's the point of this game. Both of these teams had very disappointing seasons, and they will meet with both playing for pride, but no higher stakes. And yes, I am quite sure that the Giants will play poorly, because that is pretty much the story of this season for them. Arizona is not great, but they seem to be particularly tough at home. That alone should be enough to lift them enough in this one, But again, who cares? My pick: Arizona

Seattle at Dallas - This is as big a game as you could probably ask for this weekend. The winner stays alive in the playoff hunt, while the loser surely goes home and prepares for a long offseason. Neither team looks are good as they have in recent seasons. It looks increasingly obvious that the Seahawks not only never recovered from the Super Bowl loss to New England a few years ago, but that they seem to be getting worse and worse with each passing season ever since. And the Cowboys are not as good as they looked either in 2014, or last season, when they finished 13-3, and were the top seeded team in the NFC playoffs. Obviously, they will not be anywhere near that level this season. Yet, both teams are alive for the time being, although both need help. But before we really should dissect any scenarios, these teams need to win this game, which is almost a de facto playoff game. The winner stays alive, and the loser is done for this season. I could see this going either way, but home field advantage might be enough. My pick: Dallas

Monday Night Football 

Pittsburgh at Houston - The Steelers travel to Houston to take on one of the worst teams in the league. What exactly happened to the Texans during the offseason, anyway? Not that I expected them to be great or anything. After all, even though they had won the AFC South title for two years running, they had done so with mediocre 9-7 marks, and were not especially impressive in the playoffs. But it was surprising that they turned this bad, this quickly. They are really only barely ahead of the Colts, and do not look much better than the Giants. Hard to see how they pull off a shocker against the Steelers here, since only one team in this game has a lot at stake. And it ain't Houston. My pick: Pittsburgh

Monday Night Football - Oakland at Philadelphia - The Eagles might just luck out in this one, as the Raiders really have nothing to play for, and have not been playing very well at all the last couple of weeks. Philly already clinched a first round playoff bye, and they would need to win this game to stay ahead of Minnesota in the race for home field advantage. How will they do without Wentz at the helm? Can they stay hot without him? These questions begin to be addressed on this Christmas evening game, as the Raiders obviously provide a much tougher challenge than the Giants did last weekend. It could go either way, but it would be difficult to pick against the team with a lot riding in this game, so I'm going with the road team here. My pick: Philadelphia

Mark Hamill Discusses Star Wars Behind the Scenes & Luke Skywalker at Length

I do not want to offer any spoilers or anything, and will not do so until I release my review of the latest Star Wars movie that will be filled with spoilers.

That said, it seems that everywhere I turn, there is some new story or video revealing something about how Mark Hamill is really not thrilled with the new version of Luke Skywalker that we see in "The Last Jedi."

Frankly, after having seen the movie last weekend after such a long wait, I can understand and sympathize. Like he said, this is not his Luke Skywalker, and it most certainly is not the Luke Skywalker that older fans like me grew up with. Truth be told, I was not partial to this version of Luke, and wished that Rian Johnson had kept more of that older version of Luke Skywalker that we saw in the original trilogy. I watched "Return of the Jedi" this past weekend, and tried not to think about the newer version of this Luke character that was revealed in this last movie. They were like two entirely different people altogether.

So, I thought it would be best to add a couple of articles (although be warned - both do have spoilers of the new movie) where Mark Hamill, who of course plays Luke Skywalker in both the old movies and the new ones, discusses things at length. 

The first article is the most extensive one, from Rolling Stone magazine. The second one is more specific, as Hamill addresses the differences that he had with director Rian Johnson regarding the Luke Skywalker character, and how Hamill had a difficult time believing what Johnson apparently thought of this particular character, and the direction that he took him in, which is one of the major complaints that I keep hearing from people who have seen the movie. 

Mark Hamill Goes Deep on Life as Luke Skywalker from 'Star Wars' to 'Last Jedi'

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/mark-hamill-talks-luke-skywalker-from-star-wars-to-last-jedi-w514208


Mark Hamill Explains His Creative Differences With Rian Johnson In ‘The Last Jedi’: ‘He’s Not My Luke Skywalker’ #STAR WARS JASON NAWARA 12.20.17

http://uproxx.com/hitfix/mark-hamill-the-last-jedi-rian-johnson-hes-not-my-luke-skywalker-creative-differences/

NFL 2017-18 Week 16 Saturday Games Preview

Saturday Games:

Indianapolis Colts 

vs.

Baltimore Ravens 

Indianapolis at Baltimore - The Colts have been one of the worst teams all season long. Of course, there are reasons for this, most notably the absence of regular star quarterback Andrew Luck. But Indy has played some teams surprisingly tough, and they might hope that they can walk into the Ravens home and pull off what would be a major upset and play spoiler to Baltimore's playoff hopes. However, the Ravens are fighting for their playoff lives, and they should win both of their remaining two games. This game is as close to a gimme as you can get, as the Ravens are hosting the second worst team in the AFC. They've got to win this one, or they truly do not belong in the playoff conversation. My pick: Baltimore

Minnesota Vikings 

vs.

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota at Green Bay - This usually is a big game between these two teams, but not so much this time around. There are some things on the table in this one, as Minnesota continues to fight for home field advantage, and at least a playoff bye. The Packers have for all intents and purposes been eliminated from playoff contention. They got Rodgers back last weekend, but they had lost far too many games without him to seriously entertain any serious hopes of recovering enough to make a playoff run, which means that Green Bay will miss the playoffs for the first time since all the way back in the 2008 season - tying them with the New England Patriots for the longest active streak of qualifying for the postseason. With not much to play for but pride, and with the Vikings fighting for a chance to at least earn a playoff bye, and still have a serious chance at home field advantage, I like the purple and gold to take this road game against their longtime division rivals, as well as a statement about who is tops now in this division. My pick: Minnesota

Star Wars Complaints Can Go Every Which Way

Shortly, hopefully over the weekend, I will be publishing my full review, with spoilers, of the new Star Wars movie, "The Last Jedi."

Now, I understand that fans tend to be fickle, to the point of absurdity. Also, there is no pleasing everyone, all of the time. Obviously, that is just not possible.

Some people really loved the movie, and some obviously did not. Once more, I was rather amazed at how different the responses were. The reviews that I read in the days before seeing the film last weekend were almost all exclusively great, raving about how wonderful "The Last Jedi" was, insisting that it ranked up there with the first three of the original trilogy.

Then, you go see the movie and...well, it's not everything that they were saying that it was. Some of the ideas were fresh, and certainly, there was some element of surprise, because there are some things that happen that you just did not see coming beforehand.

For fans like me, who remember the old Luke Skywalker, this new version was not entirely to our liking. More on that in the spoiler review over the weekend, although I still do not want to provide any spoilers until then, at least.

However, one of the most important things to me was that my son enjoy the movie, and he said that he did. Very much so, in fact. I do not think that he cared about supposed breaches of the Star Wars canon, like some people my age or so seem to be doing, feeling that the movie even ruined the original trilogy for them. That is important to me, and so I cannot view this latest Star Wars installment as a total failure. In fact, it was an entertaining movie, filled with emotional twists and turns and humor. And if my son loved it, then that is a major plus on the side of the movie.

I ran into this spoof article of a review blasting "The Empire Strikes Back," which is often viewed as the greatest of the Star Wars movies. Some solid points are made, and indeed, we need to remember that, at the end of the day, Star Wars is supposed to be entertaining above all else. There will always be fans who feel annoyed or even betrayed by the direction that the new films take, and again, I also had my issues with the latest movie (don't even get me started with Leia!). 

After all, I just saw someone rate all of the Star Wars movies from favorite to least favorite, and he rated Return of the Jedi - one of my personal favorites - at the very bottom! So, everyone has different tastes.

Read the article below, which is worthy of The Onion, and see if perhaps the author does not make some solid points about how ESB, which is usually held up as the standard by which all other Star Wars movies are measured, could itself be blasted.

Darren J. GendronFollow Dec 19 The Empire Strikes Back RUINED Star Wars

https://movietime.guru/the-empire-strikes-back-ruined-star-wars-df4e6c5f647c

RIP, Dick Enberg

Dick Enberg died last evening. He was 82 years old.

Enberg was a longtime sports commentator, famous for his phrase, "Oh, my!"

I remember him doing that during Super Bowl XXIII, which was one of the eight Super Bowls that he was a commentator for. He said, simply, "The San Francisco 49ers. The Cincinnati Bengals. Oh, my!"

He was a major sports commentator, doing some very famous football games, but also doing baseball and tennis. I remember him well especially as an NFL fan, as well as a tennis fan. He even contributed to the NBC Olympic coverage in the 1980's and 1990's.

I actually saw him walking around during the one year that I attended the U.S. Open. We were walking around the main stadium, and he came out of a trailer. Our eyes locked, as I recognized who he was, and he recognized my recognition. He nodded his head and said hi, and I probably mumbled something incoherent, which tends to be my trademark response.

Enberg was a good commentator through the years, and showed rather amazing range in his ability to commentate. He will be missed.