Tag: FOX

Its Official: Disney Has Bought FOX for $52 BILLION. So What Does That Mean for the Avengers and X-Men?

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Yahoo – After weeks of rumors, the deal is done — Disney will buy up large chunks of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox media empire for $52 billion. The list of what it won’t take is shorter: the Fox News cable channel, broadcast networks and Fox Sports, which are expected to spin off as their own business. The Disney conglomerate adds the Fox movie and TV studios (including big-name franchises like X-Men, Avatar,Alien and The Simpsons), it now has majority control of Hulu, cable channels like FX/FXX and more.

Thats Billion with a B. I’m always a little surprised when giant acquisitions like this actually go through with all the concerns around monopolies. Remember when DraftKings and FanDuel announced a merger last year? Well the United States government disagreed and basically nixed that entire deal. Whoops!

Now onto what everyone cares about from this gigantic deal; the X-Men are finally back under the Marvel umbrella via Disney. It remains to be seen what exactly Disney and Marvel will do with Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, but I am stoked for potential crossovers down the line (and maybe a Fantastic Four movie that doesn’t blow goats).

Its probably a little too late in the game to expect any current X-Men to show up in Avengers 3 or 4 as they bring Phase 1 to an end. Sure, maybe there’s some easter eggs or brief cameos thrown in, but X-Men has a ton of shit already going on they probably need to handle first. There’s the upcoming “Dark Phoenix” movie with my girl Sansa Stark seemingly taking the reigns of the franchise as X-Men does a second take on Jean Grey’s Phoenix character, which they royally fucked up in X-Men 3. *shutters*

Phoenix is slated for a November 2018 release. I haven’t seen much about that one yet, but I’m a huge fan of the X franchise so I’m always juiced for a new one. They’re not always critically acclaimed, but they always do their own thing and take some chances rather than rolling out the same old storylines. They did an entire movie around time travel for christ’s sake in “Days of Future Past.”

There’s also the incredibly intriguing spinoff/horror movie “The New Mutants” coming out in 2018, which the director has already hinted at being a trilogy.

The one thing that does worry me about this acquisition though is Marvel hitting the wrap it up box on the current X-Men universe before rebooting them AGAIN.

Disney/Marvel was not shy about rebooting Spiderman and introducing a third Peter Parker in less than 10 years.

Granted, the GOAT X-Men Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman is allegedly retired from the game so people probably wouldn’t cry too hard if Marvel went in another direction with a new flock of mutants.

Also, good luck fixing some of the inconsistencies that already exist now that both studios are under one roof; most notably the fact that there are two Quicksilvers. One, played by Aaron Taylor Johnson who (spoiler) got gatted in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Then there’s the FOX version of Quicksilver, Evan Peters, who is still alive and well.

So that character will either require some rickety duct tape explanation for being alive (and deciding which actor will actually play him) or he’ll most likely just get kicked to the curb, which is a shame.

I’m sure there are more of these inconsistencies as FOX owned the rights to X-Men, but not all of the individual X-Men characters, which is why garbage spin off shows with fringe mutants like The Gifted and Inhumans even existed in the first place.

All I ask is that the executives over at the Mouse don’t neuter Deadpool. It took years of Ryan Reynolds campaigning to get that movie made the way it was made and it was a goddamn mega-hit. Don’t fix what ain’t broke.

Now give me a Magneto vs Iron Man battle ASAP.

Greg Olsen to Broadcast Week 11 Game for FOX

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At first glance, the Vikings look like giant whiners here. Don’t want an injured Panther broadcasting your game? Deal with it. What is he going to see in person that millions of other people at home won’t see on television? You’re acting like George Costanza with his ATM code.

Taking a moment to think about it, though, I’m with the Vikings on this one. They might be a little paranoid, but this is not an unreasonable request. And even if Greg Olsen won’t see anything that the people at home won’t see, it’s still a bad look for the league. If the NFL were half as concerned with the integrity of the game as they claim they are, they would step in and quash this.

Can you imagine the outcry if an injured Patriots player were scheduled to broadcast the Dolphins game this week? Adam Gase would have Hard Rock Stadium swept for bugs. The Patriots would get crushed on ESPN for once again going outside of what is acceptable and decent to gain even a slight edge over an opponent. Draft picks would be seized, congressional probes would be launched.

Of course, Bill Belichick would never allow an injured player to broadcast another NFL game. I bet the Vikings get more intel out of Olsen rambling on the air for three hours than he gets out of them seeing them from the broadcast booth.

Donald Trump Makes it Clear He’s a “Merry Christmas” Guy

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This guy is a big dumb animal, but even when its unintentional, he really is fucking hilarious.

“Well guess what, we’re saying Merry Christmas again.”

I mean he’s the ultimate example of “stick and move,” and “deny, deny accuse.” Just smokescreens everywhere. Oh Puerto Rico’s fucked? We’re saying Merry Christmas again. Boom. Huh? Russia? Well did you see these sons of bitches in the NFL? Misdirection strategy like you read about.

Not exactly a master politician, but as the director of the biggest reality TV show the world has ever seen? The guy is goddamn aces. Dude just puts on a show like he’s a talk radio host. Trump is basically Howard Stern at this point.

Assuming we don’t all get nuked to hell before he’s out of office, there’s one thing I know for a fact. And it doesn’t matter whether your a democrat or a republican. TrumpTV will be the highest rated thing in the history of entertainment.

Smokin Jay Cutler is Back!

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You thought this guy was going to go quietly into the night? I don’t think so. Not if there’s a $10 million offer on the table from the Miami Dolphins. I think Jay Cutler is a better QB than he’s ever gotten credit for, but I also think his biggest problem has always been perception. He looks like a guy that does not give a shit and doesn’t really want to play. Whether thats actually true or not nobody except maybe Kristin Cavallari knows, but hey perception is reality.

Which is why Cutler signing with the Dolphins is very interesting. Its the best team he’s been on, at least offensively, in years plus its in the warm and comfortable city of Miami. Maybe he puts the Menthols down for a few months and has a mini career resurgence a la Kurt Warner in Arizona. Or maybe he collects $10 Million to half-ass a season before going into the FOX booth.

Cutler started his career off as a promising young QB, then became salty as fuck when new Denver coach Josh McDaniels tried to trade him for Matt Cassel, forced a trade, landed with the Bears, played pretty well there for a couple of years with Brandon Marshall, then the team started to get worse before bottoming out last year and becoming a complete dumpster fire. Add all that to the fact that Chicago is a miserably cold city during the football season and I can see how Smokin Jay Cutler was born.

BUT, Cutler’s also only thrown for 4,000+ yards once in a season, and thrown 25+ TDs 3 times in 10 years. For a quick AFC East comparison, Tom Brady has thrown for 4,000+ yards 8 different times and has thrown 25+ TDs 12 times in his career. So Tom Brady he is not.

But the Dolphins don’t really need him to be. They just need him to be similar, if not better, than the level of production they were getting out of Ryan Tannehill. I think its a pretty safe bet to assume most Dolphins fans are pretty lukewarm on Tannehill. He’s been good, not great. He hasn’t made the jump to a top tier QB like most hoped he would. Again for comparisons sake, Tannehill has thrown for 4,000+ yards twice in five years and thrown 25+ TDs just once in his career. His career completion percentage of 62.7 is just a tick higher than Cutler’s 61.9. Tannehill is more mobile, but the difference is not as much as you would think. The last four years Tannehill has rushed for 164, 141, 311, 238 and 211 yards (4.9 Yards per Attempt for his career) with 6 TDs. In that same timespan Cutler has rushed for 24 (limited to 5 games by injury), 201, 191, 118, and 233 (4.5 Yards per Attempt for his career) with 3 TDs. So not a huge difference.

My point is the Dolphins aren’t completely and totally fucked. Cutler is not Tom Brady, but he’s better than most people think.

Okay, okay, you want to see how he stacks up against the most famous free agent QB ever in Colin Kaepernick too? Despite his gazelle like speed, Kaepernick “only” averages 6.1 Yards per Rushing Attempt. People remember those who huge runs in the playoffs a few years back and it skews perception. In the 2012 playoffs he rushed for 264 yards and in the 2013 playoffs he rushed for 243 yards and 4 total TDs, which is 9.9 Yards per Attempt). Overall though? Not that much better. Not so much better you want to deal with bitchy questions from everyone holding a microphone for the next 6 months. His passing stats? Career completion percentage of 59.8 (lower than both Cutler and Tannehill). He’s never thrown for 4,000+ yards. He’s never thrown for 3,500+ yards. Never threw 25+ TDs, he’s only topped 20 once. Kaepernick obviously has a much smaller sample size of games started than Cutler, but those are the numbers guys.

So if anything the Dolphins will be interesting to watch, assuming Jay Cutler wants to do more than just collect a paycheck. But if he truly just wanted to snake another check, Cutler could have signed with the Jets months ago. Maybe he sees a legit opportunity here with Miami. The Patriots have had the AFC East on lock for a while now so its not like they will suddenly contend for the division. But similar to the Vikings getting Sam Bradford last year, except much better because Miami didn’t have to give up a FIRST round draft pick to get Cutler, brining in a solid, veteran QB probably keeps them in contention for a Wild Card spot. Smokin Jay Cutler is back indeed.

The 300s UFC on Fox: Weidman vs. Gastelum (UFC Fight Night 25, UFC: Long Island) Preview

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Image result for weidman gastelum square off

There will be even more testosterone than usual on the last train back to the city Saturday night as the UFC descends on Long Island. It needs to be mentioned that this is a really cool moment for both the UFC and the local scene, as Long Island has long been a sneaky hotbed of MMA – particularly the fighters – beginning with TUF 4 winner and the UFC’s Rocky, former welterweight champ Matt Serra. As expected, a number of native sons line the card, headlining middleweight and Serra protege Chris Weidman and light-heavyweight contender Gian Villante included. All in all, this is an excellent card top to bottom, so let’s dig in.

The Main Event

Our main even pits two fighters with similar skill sets but at different points of their careers against each other.

In one corner you have Gastelum, a “finally arrived” contender who after just seeming to sort of not get it for awhile (missed weight, testing positive for the devil’s lettuce), now appears serious about making a run. I can really can only describe the Yuma, AZ native as a gorilla. Although short and somewhat undersized for the division (he flubbed multiple cuts to 170 and was forced to move up), The stocky 25 year old is incredibly strong and agile and uses both the threat of and actual takedowns to set up his heavy power punches, moving fleetly across the cage, somewhat rushed, to engage his opponents. I could go on and on about the raw, primal aspects of Gastelum’s game, but don’t let his lack of accolades fool you. He may not have the pedigree of his adversary, but he is one of the better functional wrestlers in the division and has extremely quick, crisp hands. There are a few knocks on Gastelum, one of which I’ll get to at the end. The main thing he has trouble with is his defense. The way he rushes in and the frenetic nature of his attacks leave him exposed. The fact that he is a smaller, shorter fighter, especially at this weight class, only compounds his susceptibility. All in all however, what seems to be a finally focused, properly motivated Kelvin Gastelum is making quite the charge at the 185lb belt.

In the other corner we have hometown hero and former middleweight champion Chris Weidman. What is there to say about Weidman? Where do we begin? This is the guy who cut 35 lbs in 2 weeks to take a short notice fight to to get into the UFC, only to beat the invincible Anderson Silva for the belt a short two years later. Weidman then polished off Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort before entering a sudden and bizarre downward spiral. He has lost 3 in a row, all by KO/TKO, and has simply looked like a  fish out of water in all three, unsure of the divine natural skill and immaculate technique that shot him to the top. There is no greater example of this than his last fight against Gegard Mousasi, where Weidman seemed cautious and timid on the feet, getting boxed up by “The Dreamcatcher” while looking and waiting for a take-down.

I’m going to jump into what I think may be a cause of Chris Weidman’s decline. It’s a bit of read so feel free to skip the next paragraph

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Now let me say loud and clear. Chris Weidman is a clean athlete. He is a not a juicer, however his last win and first loss straddle when the stringent USADA testing protocol went into effect. So what does this mean? Well, USADA doesn’t only prohibit the use of and test for performing enhancing and illicit drugs, it does the same for IV use, due to the use of IVs in blood doping. IVs were ubiquitous in MMA training camps, particularly with guys/girls who made use of large water cuts (literally sweating to lose weight) to make weight and then would need to rehydrate quickly in order to walk into the cage not completely drained. Weidman was one of those guys. He is a good sized middleweight who I’m guessing likes to regularly train well nourished, slim down as camp progresses, and then make a big cut – the wrestler’s life. Now, because IVs are gone and thus such huge water cuts would leave him vulnerable in the cage, he has to train smaller/lighter and probably weaker and in general not like he is used to. In my mind he’s even looked smaller than he used to in terms of pure body size. At such an advanced age for such a physical sport it can’t be easy.

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When he gets in the cage, Weidman will bring a very similar skill-set as Gastelum’s, although he deploys it differently. Weidman likes to use his footwork and movement, as well as his opponent’s own offense, to set up his Ray Longo-trained hands and D1 All-American take-downs. Considering Gastelum likes to lunge in with strikes and Weidman is capable of defending the takedown, which creates scrambles and breaks, The Hofstra alum should have some openings for his patented counter punches and nasty elbows.

One last thing since I haven’t dropped any hanging paragraphs yet, both combatants have ok but not great gas tanks – this is the lingering chink in Gastelum’s armor I mentioned – so if there is an active first round, expect them both to be look eager for a finish by the mid-2nd

Summary: My feelings for each fighter have been completely inverted. As Weidman’s losing streak began I kept saying not to count him out, he’ll be back. At this point however, it’s hard not to wonder if the lack of IVs, the shots he has taken, and father time have finally come to collect from Strong Island’s own. With Gastelum on the other hand, I’ve been skeptical of how he would do with each rung of the ladder he’s climbed. I guess the last selected contestant of TUF 17 just isn’t meant to be the favorite. That isn’t the case for me Saturday night though, as I believe his youth and power ends Weidman’s night early. Gastelum by KO/TKO in the 2nd/3rd round.

Fan/MMA Nerd Fight of the Night

In a battle of two bantamweights that are both max-two fights away from a title shot, Jersey boy Jimmie Rivera takes on Brazil’s Thomas Almeida. Two fights ago, the interloper “Thominhas” fought Cody Garbrandt in what I can remember as only the 2nd ever “whoever wins this is the next big thing in this division” fight after Jones-Bader at ligh-heavyweight in 2011. Although Almeida was knocked out, Garbrandt now holds the 135lb belt so there’s really no shame in such a loss. The Brazilian buzzsaw has since rebounded with a TKO over fellow prospect Albert Morales and looks to inch closer to either a rematch with “No Love” or a bout with whoever holds the belt when he is given a shot. In terms of how he fights, Almeida is pure violence, to put it mildly. He boasts a remarkable 77% TKO/KO rate over his 22 wins and has finished all but his debut win in the UFC. While a well rounded Muay Thai kickboxer with some great kicks and excellent knees, he primarily uses both to set up his leaden hands, particularly the straight or overhand right.

Across the cage stands Rivera, who has looked beyond impressive and yet with only 1 loss on his resume is still a bit underappreciated in my opinion. While not the soul-crushing finisher that Almeida is, Rivera is about as well-rounded as it gets. Across 3 rounds, Rivera is equivalently dominant, as shown in his unanimous decision win his last time out in September, where he spent 15 minutes convincing Urijah Faber to maybe take one last fight and then retire (long live the California Kid). A Team Tiger Schulman product, Rivera likes to put the pressure on his opponent while also looking for counter punches, although he seems to lack the same power, or possibly hunger, as his opponent to get the finish. It’s also notable that Rivera likes to work the body as a means to soften up and slow down whoever is standing across from him, and in this case it could make Almeida begin thinking twice about his next onslaught.

Summary:  This one is honestly a goddam toss up so I’m just going to go for broke. Although the Garbrandt fight showed Almeida does not like to be backed up the way Rivera backs his opponents up, I don’t see that ever happening as the bigger man from Sao Paulo will use his length and aggression to bring the fight to the regional favorite. It could go the distance but that’s a boring prediction. Almeida by TKO/KO in the 1st round.

 

Intriguing Fighter to Watch

This one has to go to Chris Weidman as so many questions abound. What does he have left? Can he get the win? Will he even look comfortable? With a guy with a similar bag of tricks across from him, where will he look to bring the fight? I guess we’ll see.

Another Fighter to Watch

This could be a big, and long delayed, coming out party for Jimmie Rivera. Make no mistake about it, this fight is not just about whether he wins or loses, but how he looks against a fellow agile, young, hungry striker such as Thomas Almeida. Depending on whether he can get the win, and if so how dominantly, we may have a very good idea of who Jimmie Rivera is coming out of this fight.


Notes

– The full list of local fighters on the card, non-Long Island noted: Chris Weidman, Gian Villante, Jimmie Rivera (Ramsay, NJ), Lyman Good (Manhattan, NY, NY), Ryan LaFlare, Shane Burgos (Bronx, NY, NY), and Chris Wade.

-Additionally, Rafael Natal trains with Renzo Gracie in NYC.

-Gian Villante will be cornered in part by UFC Heavyweight Champ Stipe Miocic. I know they train together a bit although I don’t know the connection. They’re both big, hilarious guys so if you catch a preview with them interacting it’s worth watching.

-Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira is criminally underrated with only 3 career losses, one of them to fellow “Cowboy” Cerrone on short notice. Since then he’s won 3 of 4 with 1 no contest.

-It’s hard not to like Darren Elkins but after his last fight he got a chest tattoo of his nickname “The Damage” and it’s awful. No more chest tattoos please.

-The main event was originally supposed to Ricard Lamas vs. “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung but the Zombie destroyed his knee and will be out awhile. Lamas now fights Jason “Hick Diaz” Knight at UFC 214.