Friday, May 12, 2006

Superman Returns - June 6th - Trailer

Given the less-than-stellar record of summer "blockbusters" at the box office, the producers of "Superman Returns" should aim for the DVD market ASAP. But if this movie provides the kind of special effects and story balance to rival the X-Men series, maybe the makers of this flick can eat without taking Pepto Bismal.

Here's the trailer for "Superman Returns":

Clarke Wolfe Wants To Play "Wonder Woman"...So Bad She Made Her Own Video -- And It's Not Bad

I ran upon this video in the moment of looking for off-beat material for my blogs. While it may be that, Clarke Wolfe's home-made trailer of her as "Wonder Woman" in the planned movie is nothing short of terrific.

No, Clarke's obviously not a female bodybuilder; she needs to add about 30 pounds of muscle. But she's got the Wonder Woman look down. Plus, I give her points for editing; the dialog could use some work, too. But heck, it's a great try and deserves to be seen.

Here's Clarke!

Britney Spears Announces (Second) Pregnancy On David Letterman's Show - Video

I know this made CBS President Les Moonves totally happy. Plus, David Letterman almost certainly trumped Jay Leno in the late night ratings war. And all because pop star Britney Spears decided to have another kid.

Here's the video:

Holmgren Wants To Coach Beyond 2006 - Seattle PI

Holmgren wants to return after 2006
Talks ongoing regarding contract extension

By CLARE FARNSWORTH
SEATTLE P-I REPORTER

KIRKLAND -- Mike Holmgren does want to coach the Seahawks beyond the 2006, season, the final year of his existing contract.

Holmgren acknowledged that publicly for the first time Thursday after the final practice of the team's minicamp.

"I would like to (coach beyond this season), and I think they want me to," he said.

As for the ongoing negotiations and when an agreement might be reached, he offered, "It takes a little time. ... There's a lot that goes into a contract. That's what we're banging around a little bit."

Holmgren had been vague when asked previously about this future, saying he needing time to decide what he was going to do. He did not want to commit to coaching past this season until he was sure that was the right decision.

Now, it seems to be a matter of when he might sign the extension the club has been talking about since February.

Holmgren's agent, Bob LaMonte, met this week with club president Tim Ruskell and CEO Tod Leiweke.

"They've had some talks, some real good talks," Holmgren said. "So it's ongoing and I'm feeling good about stuff. But nothing has been finalized yet."

Holmgren took some time after the team's run to the Super Bowl to ponder his future and discuss the situation with his wife, Kathy.

"We like it here a lot. We really do," he said. "I'd like to hang around."

Holmgren is due $7 million this season as part of the eight-year, $32 million contract he signed in 1999.

Vince Young To Get BET Reality Show On NFL Draft Journey -- Fox Sports

I just hope someone puts a camera in front of one rather tipsy woman in the Young group -- which was huge -- at the NFL Draft. I was going back to my table when she got in my way and said something so unintelligeble I figured she'd had a few before the Draft. Believe me, you'd have come to the same conclusion, too.

Titans rookie QB Young to get reality show - Fox Sports

According to a published report in the Nashville City Paper, former Texas QB and current Titans rookie Vince Young will be starring in his own reality TV show.

Young, 22, is having a crew from BET document his life from the months leading up to the NFL Draft and into the early part of his first season with Tennessee in a show called Vince Young: The Next Level.

Fans will be able to see Vince Young more than just on the football field. (Mark Humphrey / Associated Press)

Emmy-Award winning producer Brendon J. Carter will be heading up the six-episode show, which is slated to start airing in October. Young's show is the first in the sports-themed Next Level series that will focus on other athletes in coming episodes.

"They'll follow him around through the whole process. People see the end product, but they don't know all the things he's had to do to get himself prepared for that," Young's agent Major Adams said. "They've been following him around since March, and they should be finished following him around sometime in June."

Carter wants to depict life for the QB as he makes the move from college star to multi-millionaire pro. Carter believes Young's background mixed with his future could make for must-see TV.

"This is a sports-based reality TV show," Carter said. "It focuses on athletes who are in transition. They may be making the transition from college to the pros, or maybe from high school to college, or someone who is making a comeback from a career-threatening injury."

"We went to church with Vince and his family on Easter Sunday," the producer went on to say, "then went home and had Easter dinner with them. The pastor at the church blessed me and the crew while we were at church."

Young, fresh off leading the 'Horns to a NCAA title, is the perfect candidate for TV viewing, according to a BET executive.

"We have delved into the reality genre before, and it's been pretty successful for us," said Michael Lewellen, BET's senior VP of corporate communications. "For us, from a ratings standpoint, the sweet spot is ages 18 to 34, and we feel like Vince Young is the type of person who has the appeal that fits those demographics."

Four Black NFL Commissioner Candidates Names Sumitted To League

AP and Fox News get the award for bad reporting. They deliberately failed to report that the candidates were black in their story headlines. I know what that's about: "if we don't tell them about race, they won't think about race" - knock it off!

Four candidates for NFL commissioner search

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - The Fritz Pollard Alliance, a leading force in the push for diversity in the NFL, has submitted four minority candidates for consideration as commissioner Paul Tagliabue's replacement.

While FPA founder Cyrus Mehri would not identify the candidates, he confirmed the number.

"That is true," said Mehri, a Washington attorney. "Just like the Fritz Pollard Alliance has done for all positions in the NFL over the last few years - for coaches and front office positions - we prepared a list of candidates, but we will not make the list of names public. At some point we would expect an announcement of the list of finalists."

The group's involvement was first reported in Thursday editions of The Washington Post.

Tagliabue announced his resignation in March and hopes to be out of the job by July. NFL owners will meet in Denver later this month to discuss the search for his successor.

Eight team owners are on the search committee, which is headed by Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney. Rooney sent the FPA's list of candidates to Korn-Ferry International, which was hired by the NFL to oversee the search.

"As far as we know, there's never been this kind of inclusive search for a commissioner of any of the major league sports," Mehri said. "What they have done is set out that they will embrace the diverse candidate slate for this search, and one or more minority candidates are seriously considered for this job.

"We applaud the league for that."

There has been speculation that Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, and Harold Henderson, who heads the league's management council, are among the four candidates submitted by the PFA.

The Reggie Bush "Number 5" Issue

In my view there's not much to say about this. In my opinion, Reggie Bush should wear the number "25" and not "5." Yes, "5" was his college number and yes, it's the focus of his Subway campaign. But you know what, his marketing rep Mike Orenstein should have calculated this problem and planned for Reggie to have a campaign called "From 5 to 25: My Trip To The NFL"

...Say it's not too late to do that.

Jacksonville WR Jimmy Smith Retired Wednesday

I saw it on NFL Network and wish him well. It was a nice ceremony, and it's apparent that Smith was well liked. He got out the right way: not injured, healthy, and no coach forcing him to retire.

Nice.

Antowain Smith Is Now A Houston Texan - CBS Sportswire

Texans sign Smith to back up Davis at running back
May 8, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports

HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans agreed to terms with running back Antowain Smith on Monday, giving the team a backup for starter Domanick Davis.

Last season with the New Orleans Saints, Smith filled in for Deuce McAllister after he suffered a season-ending knee injury and ran for 659 yards and three touchdowns.

The 34-year-old unrestricted free agent, who attended the University of Houston, has 6,881 yards rushing and 54 touchdowns in nine NFL seasons. He has also played for Tennessee, New England and Buffalo.

After passing on Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush in favor of defensive end Mario Williams in the draft, the Texans were in need of another running back. Davis missed five games last season with knee inflammation.

Also on Monday, Houston re-signed offensive lineman Zach Wiegert.

Wiegert started five games at right guard and seven games at right tackle last season. The 6-foot-5, 296-pounder missed four games with an ankle injury. He has started 128 games in 11 NFL seasons and has been with the Texans since 2003.

Terms of the deals were not released.

AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service

Not Again, Howard Dean! - Man, What's Up

I like Howard Dean. I really do. Of course, I don't know the man. I just read where he made a comment to a Christian Rights organization that the Democratic Party Platform says "marriage is between a man and a woman."

Well, I'm straight, it doesn't say that, and I don't care.

I think Howard is trying to be this liberal hipster guy, but in reality is a conservative WASP. I first came to that conclusion at a fund-raiser I went to in San Francisco two years ago.

Howard Dean was the focus and he started giving his speach. But when he mentioned African American's he looked at me directly, as if to "reach" me. He then made sure to mention Gays in the next sentence and so on. Afterward, as I shook his hand, he said "We need your support" but his expression communicated that he did't need me as a person, but me as a black person.

I came away with a kind of "yucky" feeling about Dean.

Then he became the head of the party; I wondered why.

I'm still wondering.

I hope Howard doens't blow our advantage. We'll see.

New York City - Upcoming Wireless Hearings Note!

This is an email I got on the upcoming wireless meetings in New York:

I just wanted to remind everyone of our upcoming hearing on wireless Internet access in New York City parks on Monday, May 15 at 1 PM in the Committee Room, City Hall. Apologies for the lateness of this reminder. If you have any questions, please contact Jeff Baker (jeffrey.baker@council.nyc.ny.us / 212-788-9193), Counsel to the Committee on Technology in Government, or Colleen Pagter (colleen.pagter@council.nyc.ny.us), Policy Analyst to the Committee on Technology in Government.

On Monday, May 15, 1:00 to 4:00 PM in the Committee Room, City Hall, the Committee on Technology in Government, chaired by Council Member Gale Brewer, will be holding a joint oversight hearing with the Committee on Parks, chaired by Council Member Helen Foster of the Bronx, on the topic of wireless Internet access in New York City parks. The Parks Department, the Central Park Conservancy and several private technology providers are expected to testify.

On Thursday, May 18, 1:00 to 2:00 PM, the Council Chambers, City Hall, the Committee on Land Use and the Committee on Technology in Government will hold the Executive Budget Hearing with the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.

As always, the public is welcome. No RSVP is necessary.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Matt Leinart Rags On The Media - ESPN.Com

Matt's a little upset with the media and bloggers like me. But what he doesn't understand is that he's public figure and that anything he does -- especially in an Internet world -- gets reported immediately and often.

What he also fails to mention are the perks he gets for being "Matt Leinart:" the free dinners, the killer table at Spago, the loaner cars, and so on.

When I headed the effort to bring the Super Bowl to Oakland, I worked a 14-day stretch with about four hours of sleep per night. Then, after a "Master Of The Universe" type day, I went out and had cocktails -- lots of them. The end result was that I fell asleep at the wheel of my car and almost ended up in an accident because I went the wrong way up a freeway ramp.

The story was in the Oakland Tribune. I offered to resign, but the City Manager, Robert Bobb, didn't take it, saying "I guess you understand that you're a public figure now."

Yep.

Here's Matt



Leinart feels image is blown out of proportion

By Matt Leinart
Special to ESPN.com

Editor's note: Former USC QB Matt Leinart gave ESPN.com an exclusive look into his life leading up to and following the NFL draft.

My draft party in Las Vegas last week was great. I had been looking forward to it since I was in New York City for the NFL draft. It wasn't meant to be a spectacle. It was meant to be a place where I could get away and enjoy myself one last time with my close family and friends. That's all it was. I had a great time. My family had a nice dinner. It was an intimate setting. It was a celebration.

People can make whatever they want about it. It amazes me what went on in the media in regard to Paris Hilton following my party.

There are people in the media who just want to see what they want to see and write what they want to write. "Oh he's linked with so and so." No, I'm hanging out with someone who's a friend.

It's all this media attention. I guess you could say it's my fault, but at the same time, I'm just being a normal dude. It's hard because people who are close to me know who I am and how I act. I'm hanging out and having a good time with friends. I have my circle of friends who I've known since I was younger and trust. Then there are people who I've built relationships with in the L.A. world. There are guys in my situation that would've been a hundred million times worse than me. I didn't take advantage of anything. I haven't done anything other than be a normal person.

Celebrities have no privacy. When I was growing up, I used to look at them differently because of their fame. They're always in the tabloids. When something is said about them and you don't know if it's true, you just choose to believe it's true because it's written. It's entertainment. They're stories. My life has almost become a part of that for whatever reason.

Celebrities are really just normal people. They're just as normal as any other human being. The media portrays them in a certain way. It constantly involves their private life and it sucks. It really does. I've gotten a taste of that. It's always: Who am I dating? I'm not dating anyone. I'm really not. There's no time for me to date anybody. I hang out with people. I have a good time. I turned 23 years old today. What people don't even realize is that I was in a relationship for a year that just ended a few months back. It's a joke.

Everywhere I go and everybody I talk to gets out in the media. It makes me look a certain way when in reality I'm just a normal guy. I'm having a good time. I realize I have to make good choices and I've done all the right things. It just sucks. I'm not going to sit in my house every night, play with my thumbs and not go out.

Some of these people in the media are just a joke. I realize people are doing their jobs, but there are some people who aren't doing a good job of it. They like getting involved in people's business. They like making people miserable and bending the truth just to make their stories look good. That's all the gossip magazines are. That's what the draft became. I was really disappointed in the process because it takes away from the football. It gets to all the other little technical stuff. I realize that's part of it, but what does me being too "Hollywood" or being from L.A. have to do with me playing football? It doesn't make sense. These people have nothing else to say. I had a great three years. There's really nothing bad to say, so of course they want to say something bad. They just want to find the negatives.

My No. 1 priority is football. It always has been football. Look at my résumé. Look at the last three years. I still had to deal with all the media and "Hollywood" stuff that's going on. It didn't affect my play. I can guarantee you there were thousands of football players out there doing worse things than me. No one even gave a crap about what they were doing. It's dumb, if you ask me.

I put all my time and effort into being a football player. I want to be the best quarterback I can possibly be. I want to win the Super Bowl. I want to be in the Pro Bowl. I have goals and expectations.

When my teammates in Arizona get to know me, they're going to see I'm just a normal dude that came from L.A., loves football, and is going to be a leader.

I'm not going to let the media and all these other people control my life. I'm better than that.