fl Page 28 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Auto-Chaotic. <em>Transformers: Age of Extinction</em>, Reviewed.
Age of Extinction is the best of the Transformers movies. That's not saying much: The other films in the series were all pretty bad, and this one is no good, either. But for an hour or so, director Michael Bay does what he does as well as he's done it for quite some time. Perpetually juvenile he...
<em>We Are The Best!</em> Proves That Punk Rock Never Dies
In 1990, two freshwomen at the University of Oregon got fed up with all the boy bands on campus, so they proclaimed themselves to be their own band. After a few months of talking themselves up, they were invited by a friend in Olympia, Washington, to play a Valentine's Day show. There was just one p...
M&M's Flavors, Ranked
There's plenty to mock about the leaders of the dude-food movement—Fieri, Zimmern, the Epic Meal Timers—and their bag-tag army of regular doofs united by pork-themed t-shirts and their exaggerated disdain for small plates and Whole Foods. But we're not here to make fun of their indoor sunglasses or ...
How Michael McDonald, The Affable Captain Of Yacht Rock, Lost His Voice
Even 28 years after his last hit, Michael McDonald can still trigger laughter and tears. Though he's still a fixture on the R&B/soft rock nostalgia circuit (catch him with Toto and Kenny Loggins this summer), that sui generis voice has been touring without him, so to speak, for decades. Recently, th...
<em>Jeopardy!</em> Vs. <em>Wheel of Fortune</em>: Which One Makes You Feel Dumber?
I am a Thought Leader of Television, and so I've been asked to ruminate on the Big News that Jeopardy!—yeah! the exclamation point! is officially part of the title!—beat Wheel of Fortune in the ratings a coupla weeks ago, the first time in over a decade, and is this perhaps an indicator that maybe A...
Citrus-Beer Smackdown: Bud Lite Lime Vs. Coors Light Summer Brew
These are boom times for the better-than-Bud beer-drinker. Last year, sales of craft beer—which I will never try to define, but which all warring factions of whiners and definers seem to agree means, at a bare minimum, "beer made in a less industrial fashion by smaller, independent, more quality-con...
Unfairly Slimed: It's Time To Forgive <em>Ghostbusters II</em>
In the weeks leading up to June 16, 1989, I can only imagine how incessantly my seven-year-old self pestered my parents to go see Ghostbusters II. I spent years obsessed with the 1984 original, once watching it on repeat from the moment I woke up to the moment I got sent to bed, wearing my plastic p...
Taco Bell's Quesarito: A Fast-Food Love Affair Gone Awry
Hybrid foods are hit or miss. When they're honest attempts to expand the human dining experience by combining the virtues of two or more complementary yet previously segregated items, the results can be extraordinary. Pizza bagels, peanut butter cups, and Jell-O shots are classic examples of dispara...
The Real Ultraviolence: In Praise Of <em>Riki-Oh: The Story Of Ricky</em>
If you're old, you might remember a time before Jon Stewart hosted The Daily Show, and instead Sportscenter's own Craig Kilborn sat in his chair. If you're old with bad taste like me, you might remember being deeply annoyed when Stewart took over, mostly because he immediately did away with his pred...
I Was Tony Gwynn's Bat Boy
The baseball-card collection I had as a teen—145,000 cards in all when I last bothered to count, 800-count box after 800-count box, all of them occupying a dusty bookcase in my bedroom—was sold years ago. Some random stranger now owns that collection of 400 Tom Glavine rookie cards I bought on specu...
In Defense Of Pitbull
Spectacle begets spectacle, and the 2014 World Cup kicked off with a doozy, via a live performance of the song we'll hear thousands of times before it's all through: "We Are One (Ole Ola)," Pitbull's official FIFA anthem, costarring Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian pop star Claudia Leitté....
How To Make A Caipirinha, Brazil's Weird-Ass National Cocktail
I'm fired up for the World Cup, and you should be, too, even if you, like me, don't know shit about soccer. Or make that especially if you don't know shit about soccer. The beauty of The Most Popular Game on Earth™, at least for the open-minded neophyte, is that it's so breathtakingly easy to follow...
Mo' Meta Blues: <em>22 Jump Street</em>, Reviewed
1. How much credit are we supposed to give a movie for being self-aware? 22 Jump Street is so self-conscious and nervy about its status as an unnecessary cash-grab sequel that it never stops bringing it up. There are multiple inside-baseball asides about how much more expensive missions are the seco...
Game Of OMG's: How The Internet Became One Giant Spoiler Alert
I can't stop thinking about Ginsberg's nipple. While shearing off that irksome "valve" may have relieved some pressure and brought a measure of peace to Mad Men's resident alien, even a month later, it still stares at me from its dainty gift box as a symbol of sadness and frustration, and a reminder...
The Rangers' Unsung Heroes Are UFAs. Will NHL GMs Take Notice?
The Rangers are still alive. But they sure as hell wouldn't have gotten to Game 5, let alone the finals, if not for two quiet contributors who, if there's any justice or sense in this world, will cash in this summer....
A Grown-Ass Man's Guide To Super-Hard Old Nintendo Games
This is a thing about playing old NES games that I couldn't beat as a kid to see if I could beat them now as an adult, but let me tell you this first: I had sex while wearing a Power Glove not that long ago. It's maybe the most impressive thing that I've ever accomplished in my whole entire life. Th...
Odd Future's Second Act: On <em>Loiter Squad</em> And The Art Of Trolling
The hostile-prankster side of Odd Future came roaring back to the fore last month after an unprecedented streak of good behavior (or at least standard promoting-our-new-albums behavior). The Cali skate-rap crew raised eyebrows and/or hackles throughout their press rounds for season three of their Ad...
Double Dragon: <em>How To Train Your Dragon 2</em>, Reviewed
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, DreamWorks Animation has enjoyed plenty of commercial and critical success, winning two animation Oscars and earning almost $11.6 billion worldwide. And yet, the company remains in the shadow of Pixar, which in about the same amount of time has won sev...
Burrito Smackdown: Chipotle Vs. Qdoba
Serious Mexican-food folk talk mostly about tacos these days, which is cool, except that tacos are sorta bullshit. I mean, there's nothing wrong with a taco, other than the fact that it's just a miniature open-faced burrito, i.e., a lesser burrito. Disdaining the burrito—it's not even authentic Mexi...
Robert Duvall: An American Hero, Or At Least An American Man
Careening down the road behind the wheel of a sturdy old Cadillac, Robert Duvall makes his intent clear: "I want some singin' and dancin'. And a woman. I want me a woman." With little more than a sharp tongue, pink and frequently squirming loose in anticipation, the weather-beaten octogenarian bulli...