Only a 4 point difference between the third and seventh placed teams in the Premier League. This tells us how tight the race for the Champions League spot is this season. United and Southampton slipped, while Arsenal climbed up to the take the third spot. Manchester City were rampant against Newcastle at the weekend, when the league leaders Chelsea got caught up in a 1 – 1 draw.
Yes, lots of movement in the top half of the table at the weekend. Jose Mourinho’s team were held at the Stamford Bridge by Burnley and the Portuguese manager was furious with a lot of decisions by the match referee including the 69th minute red card to Nemanja Matic. The lead at the top of the table is reduced to five points as Manchester City registered a 5 – 0 victory over Newcastle in the late kick off on Saturday. David Silva ran the whole show at the Etihad and he is easily one of the best players in the league at the moment.
Manchester United are among the most unpredictable teams at the moment. The Red Devils traveled to South Wales on Saturday to face Garry Monk’s Swansea City. Although LVG’s men scored first and were undoubtedly the better side, they returned back home without any point. Jonjo Shelvey was at his best and helped his side to record their second victory over United in this campaign. The game ended 2 – 1 in favor Swansea City.
Arsenal continued their fantastic form in the second half of the season with a win at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace. Wenger’s men have reached the Champions League place and they will do everything in their power to stay there. The Saints are one of the closest competitors of the North Londoners and the next few matches will be the most crucial ones for all these teams. On Sunday, Southampton invited Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool to the St. Mary’s and the visitors returned back with all three points. Sterling and Coutinho scored a goal each as the score after the final whistle was 2 – 0.
Another interesting fixture of this game week was the tie at White Hart Lane. Sam Allardyce’s men did very well to get ahead of Mauricio Pochettino’s team, but the Spurs came back from behind to draw the game 2 – 2. Harry Kane couldn’t convert a penalty in the dying minutes of the game, but he scored on the rebound.
Sunderland held Tony Pulis’ West Brom in a goalless draw and Steve Bruce’s Hull City defeated QPR at home. Tim Sherwood’s first outing with his new club, Aston Villa ended in a loss. The Villans hosted Stoke City at the Villa Park and they even went ahead in the 20th minute as Scott Sinclair scored the opener. Stoke came back from behind and won 2 – 1 and Villa’s woes were enhanced when the Dutch defender, Ron Vlaar got sent off.
Everton have now drawn ten and lost ten matches in this campaign. They are currently twelfth in the league table after a 2 -2 draw with Leicester City.
Microsoft is now all over the place but in a good way. The company has dropped the exclusivity of its Office suite from the desktop (Windows/Mac) and has extended its reach to mobile phones (iPhone/Android) and tablets (iPad/Windows). The company has also dabbled into the Android space by releasing the Nokia X line of phones. The original Xbox OS itself is a Linux derivative. Now Microsoft is poised to make a substantial investment in the development of Cyanogen, most likely in a bid to take on Android. With CyanogenMod, Windows 10 and Windows Phone, will Microsoft take back its former spot above Google in the mobile world?
If we go back a few decades, Microsoft is not afraid to work on various platforms until it made its own through MS-DOS and Windows. Microsoft made Office and other programs for the Macintosh and Apple II. The company started out creating the BASIC interpreter for the legendary Altair and as lore would have it, Microsoft bought a CP/M clone which would become IBM’s PC-DOS and later MS-DOS. During the Windows era, the company became deeply vested in Windows and hardly put priority on other platforms. Everything would be branded Windows. It’s mobile OS for PDA’s would start out as Windows CE, then to Pocket PC, then to Windows Mobile and finally Windows Phone. Now, Microsoft is pushing MS Office to both iOS and Android, expanding its market. Microsoft now works on Android through Nokia’s X phones and now perhaps, seeks to create another ecosystem by investing in CyanogenMod.
With the tech community seeing Google as the new Microsoft, with its tightening grip on a supposedly open Android, there are some who seek to alienate themselves from Google beginning with Mozilla which recently shifted to Yahoo as its default search engine; Samsung is promoting its new Tizen OS and now CyanogenMod whose goal is to “take back Android from Google”. If you promise something as free and open, it should stay free and open.
CyanogenMod is an impressive Android-based OS in itself. However, familiarity remains within tech circles and not the average consumer. Its installed base according to CyanogenMod is fifty million devices. CyanogenMod has several features not in stock Android which include CPU overclocking, an OpenVPN client, root access, unlockable bootloader, low-energy Bluetooth, FLAC audio codec support, native theming, integrated SMS encryption and the sweetest feature for consumers, the absence of bloatware and spyware. This impressiveness has attracted the attention of Microsoft.
With Microsoft in the mix, should Google worry? At this point it’s still difficult to determine. A Microsoft funded CyanogenMod could result in a better mobile operating system than what’s described above. With or without the additional technical clout, the investment itself is substantial enough to fast track the development of new features. Microsoft could still contribute much technical knowledge to make a better OS such as adding its own Android marketplace aside from Cyanogen and Google Play. That is a lot of apps. ARM-based Windows RT apps could also add to the mix for apps exclusive to the Windows Store, and there are some fine ones in there not including Office. CyanogenMod based tablets could also benefit from full Office support unlike the crippled Android versions. It could also be the other way around, Windows RT is currently dead in the water and in much need of a technology CPR. Microsoft could grab some knowhow from CyanogenMod for Windows RT and somehow rebrand it (with a name as cool as Project Spartan), allow it to natively run Android apps greatly increasing the much maligned numbers of apps in Windows Store. Right now, these are mere speculations but also very likely possibilities.
The combination of Windows Phone, Windows 10 and CyanogenMod would greatly increase Microsoft’s mobile playground. Fifty million users is not something to be ignored. That’s several million more than what the Firefox phone received and Microsoft surely needs more than a 3 percent mobile market share.
Deep inside, like many Linux distros which are based on Ubuntu, CyanogenMod is still Android and Google Play is still in the mix. In terms of apps, Google almost has no worries and Google hardly suffers in terms of hardware which is why it’s difficult to determine whether Google should bat an eyelash. CyanogenMod however has recently issued a battle cry to both Apple and Google, apparently from confidence gained from deals not only with Microsoft but with other companies like Amazon, Yahoo and Samsung. Cyanogen is also confident that despite Microsoft’s potential contributions, the OS will remain open. And a completely open Android-based operating system as they promise, would certainly attract a plethora of third party developers and hardware vendors.
In any case, a good mobile OS like CyanogenMod, when backed by a software giant like Microsoft, which is looking good right now would be very beneficial to both companies. Should Google worry? In terms of apps, barely. In terms of industry direction, should this Android form work well with the Windows platform, perhaps because it could affect Google’s Chrome and its Chromebooks. This new partnership certainly shows some punch. Let’s give it a year to see whether the Google giant gets cut down to size.
Third consecutive league victory for Borussia Dortmund at the weekend. Now it seems that Jurgen Klopp’s men can make it to the top half of the table. After 22 matches, they are ranked twelfth with only 25 points, but they are just three points behind the ninth placed team in the German Bundesliga league. Dortmund kicked off this game week on Friday, with a narrow win over Stuttgart at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Stuttgart. Gundogan, Aubameyang and Marco Reus scored a goal each in a 2 – 3 victory over the hosts.
Bayern Munich, who have been Dortmund’s closest competitors in the last few years, are now 30 points ahead of them. It wasn’t long ago when these two sides were going head to head in all the major competitions including the Champions League. But now it seems both these clubs will have different ambitions this year. Despite of this big disparity, Dortmund would want to go all the way in the European competition as it seems to be the only plausible path for them to feature in next season’s version of Champions League.
On Saturday, Guardiola’s team traveled to Paderborn and came back with all three points. The German champions punished the home team with a 6 – 0 thrashing. The Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski and the Dutch winger Arjen Robben netted two goals each, while Ribery and Weiser added one each. The 62nd minute sending off of Hartherz didn’t help the cause of the hosts, who are only a few points far from the relegation zone.
The challengers for Bayern’s throne, Wolfsburg also got a win at the weekend. Dost continued his incredible form off late, on Sunday and gifted his side with 3 more points, which keeps them in eight points’ distance of the leaders. Dost scored a brace in Wolfsburg’s 2 – 1 over Hertha BSC. Borussia Monchengladbach were held to a 1 – 1 draw on Sunday by Hamburg. In the dying minutes of the game, more accurately the third minute of extra time, Hrgota saved a point for Monchengladbach by equalizing Stieber’s 73rd minute strike. Monchengladbach maintain their position on the table as the fourth placed Schalke also had to settle with a point. Werder Bremen were the visitors for Schalke and the score after the final whistle was 1 – 1. It was quite similar to the game on Sunday as Bremen alike Monchengladbach nullified Schalke’s 61st minute goal in the 92nd minute.
Augsburg, who are currently fifth in the league, also registered a draw at the weekend. Bayer Leverkusen were their opponents and the match ended 2 – 2. Drmic and Reinartz scored for Leverkusen, while Silva and Hitz found the back of the net for Augsburg. Bayer Leverkusen were denied of the opportunity to leapfrog Augsburg to the fifth spot on the German Bundesliga table. The race for the European spots in this league is still very wide open. Five matches out of nine in this game week ended in a stalemate.
The Spanish giants, Barcelona were stunned by Malaga at the Camp Nou on Saturday. Real Madrid now seem to be in a prime position to win the La Liga. Although, it is all very tentative as all the teams have 14 more matches to play until the end of the season.
Jimenez Lopez’s 7th minute strike at the Camp Nou was enough to trouble the Blaugrana giants. Luis Enrique’s men had a great run until they suffered a shock loss at the hands of Malaga. With the midweek Champions League clash coming up, they need to bounce back to their best form. Manchester City are no pushovers and they certainly have one of the best squads in Europe. Pellegrini’s men have what it takes to go all the way and play in the Champions League final in Berlin. After their fourth loss of the campaign, the Catalonian giants are second in the league with 56 points.
The table toppers are none other than the European champions, Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti’s men have accumulated 60 points and have gained a four points lead over Barca, with a win over Elche. Los Blancos traveled to Elche and came back with all three points after a 2 – 0 win. The match also marked the end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s “goal drought” in the league. Yes, the Portuguese skipper had failed to score in previous three matches in Spain and such is the standards he has set for himself that people start worrying if he doesn’t score in two consecutive matches. On Sunday, the Real Madrid ace became the joint third highest goal scorer in the history of the club. The 30-year-old netted one, while the other was scored by the French striker Karim Benzema.
Real Madrid’s city rivals, Atletico Madrid also made sure that their fans return home with a smile on their face. Diego Simeone’s side played host to Almeria at the weekend and won 3 – 0. Mandzukic scored from the penalty spot to hand Atleti their first goal of the match. Antoine Greizmann, who has been one of the best players in the league, finished the game by scoring a brace. Although, Siqueira’s red card in the injury time must have spoiled the fun of this comfortable victory for the Vicente Calderon faithful. Last year’s Champions League runners-up are currently third on the league table with 53 points, seven short of Real Madrid’s total.
The most interesting match at the weekend was between David Moyes’ Real Sociedad and Sevilla. Both the teams recorded 17 shots throughout the ninety minutes, but Sociedad had eight on target compared to Sevilla’s five. The final score at the Anoeta Stadium was 4 – 3 in favor of the Scotsman’s team. Sevilla’s loss was Valencia’s gain. Nuno’s side have gotten a strong hold on the fourth spot in the league after a 2 – 1 win over Cordoba on Saturday. The fourth and fifth placed teams are now separated by only a five point margin.
The past week on the 2015 ATP Tour saw three champions crowned as the draws played out in Rio, Marseille, and Delray Beach.
In Rio, the most important tournament to be played in the last week, David Ferrer claimed a title over Fabio Fognini in the final. In Marseille, an all-French affair saw Gilles Simon defeat Gael Monfils in a squeaker of a championship match. In Delray Beach, veteran Ivo Karlovic claimed a rare title with a victory over American Donald Young.
Looking ahead at the upcoming weeks, there is plenty of action scheduled on the ATP Tour.
ATP Dubai, for example, has no shortage of star power this week. The draw will feature both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the top two players in the world. They will be joined by both Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, a quartet of players that make the ATP Dubai event a blockbuster of a tournament, even though it is only part of the 500 series.
ATP Acapulco is no less of a tournament in terms of ranking points. However the entrants are a bit thinner in terms of talent compared to the Dubai event. That said, Acapulco, a hard court event, will feature Kei Nishikori and David Ferrer as the top seeds. They are joined in Mexico by third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov.
ATP Buenos Aires, the last event to be played this upcoming week, is only a 250-series tournament however it has still attracted Rafael Nadal. The No. 1 seed in the tournament prefers to play on clay and Buenos Aires in the only event on that surface this week. Nadal, the heavy tournament favorite in Buenos Aires (Source: WilliamHill), will be joined in Argentina by Tommy Robredo, Pablo Cuevas, and Fabio Fognini.
Looking further ahead in the ATP calendar there will be a bit of a lull next week on tour. However Davis Cup action will pick up in early March. Interesting match-ups include Canada vs. Japan, Serbia vs. Croatia, and Germany vs. France.
Later in March the ATP Tour will feature the American hard court Masters Series swing with both Indian Wells and Miami hosting the best men’s players in the world. The events should be filled with all of the top players that are fit to play. Shortly thereafter the clay court season will get into full swing as players will start their serious preparations for the 2015 French Open from Paris, France.
After a disappointing 4-12 finish in 2013, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cleaned house, firing head coach Greg Schiano and losing general manager Mark Dominik as well. As if that weren’t enough, long-time owner Malcolm Glazer died over the offseason.
Well, the Bucs were determined to do better in 2014. After hiring former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith and new general manager Jason Licht, the Bucs made some big offseason moves. With the 7th pick in the draft, the Buccaneers selected wide receiver Mike Evans from Texas A&M; and to help out with their quarterback issues they brought in Josh McCown, who had a fantastic 2013 season in Chicago filling in for the injured Jay Cutler.
Believe it or not, the Buccaneers were actually talked about as possible winners of the NFC South division heading into 2014. Obviously, that didn’t work out. The Bucs finished dead last in the weak NFC South with a 2-14 record, tied with the Tennessee Titans but statistically the worst team of the season.
Sure, having the 1st overall pick in the draft is nice. The Bucs will get to choose anyone they want, but they have a lot of holes in the team that need to be addressed. McCown wasn’t able to perform nearly as well as he did with the Bears, and as a result he has been cut, the defense fell apart without cornerback Darrelle Revis on the roster, and the Bucs proved unable to either protect the quarterback or get to opposing quarterbacks.
The Buccaneers have a lot of work to do before they take the field in 2015, but having the 1st pick in the draft is a great way to get started. Here are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers biggest needs heading into the 2015 NFL Draft:
Defensive Line: The Bucs have two set players on the line, Pro Bowler Gerald McCoy and Michael Johnson. The other positions on Tampa’s defensive line are up for grabs. The Buccaneers could easily fill this void in free agency; but if head coach Lovie Smith is given some say in the Bucs draft, he may push for Leonard Williams out of USC. Williams is by far the best defensive lineman in college, and he is ready to start day one in the NFL. The only problem with Williams is that the Bucs would have to spend their 1st overall pick in order to get the big man. Williams certainly won’t drop out of the top five, so the Buccaneers would need to pull the trigger early on the big man. This sets up a big of a problem for the Bucs, because they have other needs that only the 1st overall selection can fill.
Quarterback: This is the most obvious and pressing issue for the Buccaneers. Mike Glennon simply hasn’t shown the ability to lead a team, and that’s why the Bucs brought in McCown in the first place. Well, luckily for the Bucs, they have the 1st pick in the draft so they can choose from literally anyone. The Bucs seem pretty set on drafting a rookie quarterback to lead them moving forward, so now the big question is Oregon quarterback and 2014 Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota or Florida State quarterback and 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston. The Buccaneers need a quarterback now, and these two seem to be the only two quarterbacks in college that are ready to jump right into an NFL starting role. Mariota seems to be preferred by everyone, but Lovie Smith has made it clear that he would like the team to draft Winston. Come draft day it will be interesting to see what the Bucs do with their first overall selection.
Paranoia and dissension was the theme this week as “The Walking Dead” picked up right off where we left last week. ‘The Distance’ episode had Sasha and Maggie taking the stranger Aaron to their leader. Rick is immediately suspicious as always and errs on the side of caution as any Dark Ages king would do. Aaron makes a good case for himself, telling how he left the water on the road for the group and could have ambushed them if he meant them harm. His spiel makes sense to me, but he sounds an awful lot like a Walmart district manager. He looks and sounds like a corporate shill, using words like “our community.” Rick ends the monologue with a right cross. The grizzled zombie veteran knows how to escalate a situation.
When Aaron wakes from his KO, he compliments Rick on his punching power and keeps talking about how he can be trusted, but understands their unwillingness to do so. He should probably talk less. Rick is a serious man and doesn’t need too much info too quickly. Aaron says he knows Rick’s group is a good one and they are “real people.” Apparently Aaron and his people believe that to be the most important resource in the world. Aaron says his job is to bring back folks that are a fit for his community, but Rick’s isn’t going to just go along with this Johnny-come-lately. There is some dissension in the ranks though as Michonne wants to check out the story. The group needs a real home she says and Rick goes along.
Michonne leads a handful of others to check out Aaron’s story about where his vehicles are stashed. They find an RV and big car just like the man stated, and only have to fend off a couple of walkers. Abraham needs to get to an AA meeting or else he is not long for this world. He was nearly “roamer” meat as he slipped when attacking a walker.
As Rick waits at the barn with his hostage Aaron, Judith is crying and Rick must think she is a squirrel that will actually eat the acorns he attempts to mash up for her. Aaron offers up some applesauce from his backpack and of course Rick isn’t going for that. Aaron makes a good point about it making no sense for him to try and poison a baby at this juncture. Nothing makes sense in this zombie infused world though so that rational doesn’t work with Rick Grimes. He does give in after making Aaron taste the sauce first.
When the scout group makes it back to the barn, they validate what the stranger has been saying. Rick still is so fearful that he doesn’t want to take any risk. I’ve talked about this fact before. Almost every group they encounter ends up being evil. The Hershels of this world are few and far between. Michonne and the others want to seek the new community out though and Rick budges once again. This is against his better judgment, but the group is starting to do some collective thinking instead of doing exactly what the leader wants. It’s a bit early for full blown democracy in this universe. They were dealing with cannibals just a short time ago.
I have no idea if Aaron is part of a sinister group or not, but it’s very suspicious that he won’t tell Rick where this community, Alexandria, is located. I don’t blame Rick for not trusting the route set up for him by this newcomer either. They make a plan to go out at night since Aaron won’t tell them the location. Seeing is believing and words nor pictures can’t convince Rick that the place they are headed to is a safe haven.
Once they all get on the road in the giant car and the RV, Michonne takes a closer look at the photos Aaron had with him. He is bragging about his home there and making it all sound like paradise. The old looking photos could be from an album the guy found for all we know. Michonne, begins to notice that there are no photos of the actual people in the community. That’s nice detective work, but maybe a few hours earlier would have been nice. Aaron explains it away nervously and very weakly. Michonne then goes into their handbook of questions about how many walkers has he killed and how many human lives has he taken. Aaron is on the defensive now, but they are already on the road so it’s a bit late for seeing if he is a liar.
Since Rick took an alternate road from Aaron’s suggestion, it becomes a hot mess with zombies all over the highway, both lanes. The huge car does a good job of running over the creatures, but the windshield is overwhelmed with blood and guts. Some good RainX washer fluid would have helped in this disgusting scenario. The RV is now separated from the lead car, but that’s a good thing as Rick, Michonne, and Glenn have to fight off the zombies left standing. As a side note, if you’re ever in a situation where you have just ran over 42 zombies and there are more coming as you try to clean the windshield, you might want to leave the car running! That’s just a thought, Glenn! That bonehead move should get him expelled from the group. Aaron goes into a major panic when he sees a flare in the sky and inexplicably takes off for the woods. Michonne makes the risky choice to follow the man so the rest go along with her in a dangerous move.
Glenn ended up saving Aaron who was fending off a roamer with kicks since he had his hands tied. These two ended up helping Rick and Michonne as they had a pile of walkers to deal with. And even though Rick caught one zombie with a flare gun shot to the head, that cool looking kill wasn’t helping their cause a whole lot. With all the walkers now doubly dead, Rick and company headed off to where they saw the flare come from that sent Aaron into freak out mode.
Once the entire group is reassembled, Aaron’s buddy is with Daryl and the rest of the gang from the RV. This guy named Eric is more than a buddy. He is Aaron’s significant other so I’m not sure if Twitter exploded over this plot point first or if Fox News melted down initially. Eric has a jacked up foot, but is being taken care of by his new found people. Fans of the comics already knew about Aaron, and what’s great is that the group isn’t making a big deal about them being gay guys. At this point in their world, love is love, and you’re absolutely freaking lucky to have it with someone you would truly die for. Another sidenote: Robert Kirkman had initially suggested that Daryl Dixon might be gay as he wasn’t in the comics and a new character for the show, but once they realized that they would be bringing a major gay character in, he let Carol be the lucky one to have at him…if they ever will.
Rick got a lot of opposition to his lead this week and Glenn did it again when it came to separating Eric and Aaron for the night. Rick is being a bit soft as he turns into “poor decision making Rick” trying to appease his followers. Aaron raised more suspicion from me when he told Noah that they had a wonderful surgeon in Alexandria that may be able to fix his limp. The dude may have some apple trees and all, but next week it’ll become apparent whether or not the community does have a real surgeon with them.
As the RV gets close enough to Washington D.C. to see the landmarks in the distance, and as audiences of the show know, this is the time to sense another improbable wreck. But I was off just a bit as the battery started to give out. They had a spare so it only cost them a little of time. Rick headed off for some quiet time in the woods before they moved forward. By quiet time, he’s still rightly paranoid enough to hide his gat just in case shit popped off inside those impenetrable walls. The people running the community, if there are any others at all, might not be as nice as Aaron who is in charge of marketing the timeshare.
Michonne told Rick that “the fight’s over”, but that is truly jumping the gun. She has no idea what’s in store for them once they leave the road. They’ve been involved with some messed up guys that eat other humans, keep zombie heads in jars, and rape folks inside hospitals. I would reserve some judgment if I were the sword slinging diva.
Rick clearly doesn’t trust what’s happening and neither do I. Just because we hear some children playing from inside the gates of Alexandria does not mean that is reality. The previews for next week were clearly lacking in community members, just like Aaron’s picture show. This place seems too good to be true, but maybe that’s the struggle going forward. Instead of fighting big bads, the group now must learn to trust people again and believe in the most powerful resource left in the world.
Check out the sneak peek for next week’s episode “Remembrance” below:
This week’s celebrity gossip includes dirt from last night’s Oscars Awards Ceremony and other intriguing pieces of information. Not one to let an opportunity to poke fun at celebrities pass him by, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel did a Post-Oscar broadcast of his show. He aired a segment in which he preached his Kimmel School of Perfect Acting with the purpose of taking jabs at celebrities who did not thank him in their Oscar acceptance speeches. Stars such as Jennifer Aniston, John Krasinski and Emily Blunt participated in the segment. Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to make the Post Oscar show more amusing than the actual Oscar’s themselves.
While many non-celebrities throw Oscar viewing parties, Elton John threw his yearly one that doubles as a fundraiser for the AIDS Foundation. He and husband David Guest invited fellow celebrities such as Aaron Paul, Heidi Klum, Miley Cyrus, Nina Dobrev, Julianne Hough, Alessandro Ambrosio and Sarah Hyland. The only two guests who made a spectacle of themselves were reportedly Ozzie and Sharon Osborne. An onstage outburst from Sharon Osborne declaring that everyone was at the party to contribute to the AIDS Foundation and the Oscars could go *expletive* themselves apparently embarrassed Elton John. He was said to have been uncomfortable with her use of expletives.
Though she was snubbed by the Academy despite her role in “Cake” Jennifer Aniston still made an appearance at the Oscars. Before the show started she was seen strolling around the theatre and waving to fans as well as the media. She got plenty of love and attention from Emma Stone who just couldn’t seem to get a big enough hug on her. The photo above almost looks like it could have been from “WWE Total Divas”, but at least it’s real love in Hollywood.
In other celebrity gossip the much anticipated series finale of “Two and a Half Men” did not include Charlie Sheen, despite rumors that he would be brought back to help close out the series. The same day the episode aired Sheen took to Twitter to admit to his fans that he was not a part of the series finale. He then told his fans to watch an upcoming episode of “The Goldbergs” that he guest starred on. So apparently someone in Hollywood is still willing to work with him. Let’s take bets on how long that’s going to last, shall we?
“American Horror Story” fans were horrified to learn this week that star Ben Woolf was hit by a car in Hollywood last week and was reportedly in critical condition. It seems that he was crossing a Hollywood street when his head smacked into a passing SUV’s side-view mirror. The driver of the SUV is not facing charges because Woolf was apparently jaywalking when he got hit. UPDATE: Sadly Ben Woolf died this evening from the head injury.
Fans, cast and crew of the hit TV show “Parks & Recreations” are grieving over the death of Harris Wittles, who was one of the show’s producers. Several hours after “Parks & Recreations” cast member Amy Poehler found out about his death she was appearing at Unite4Humanity, an event leading up to the Oscars. The actress works with an organization called “Worldwide Orphans” which she was being honored for at the event. Despite having this honor bestowed upon her Poehler was reportedly struggled to smile for the cameras. She made a speech talking about how she had lost a friend that day and that she didn’t feel like telling jokes but she was happy to listen to the other event participants.
Proving some celebrities have no scruples or class, actor Ansel Elgort, best known for his starring role in 2014’s blockbuster hit “The Fault In Our Stars,” told Elle magazine during an interview that losing his virginity at the age of 14 had been awkward for him. Since Elle is a fashion magazine it’s hard to understand why he thought its readers would care. A magazine like Cosmopolitan would have been a better fit for that kind of confession. If your recall last December, the young actor also made a point in interviews to make sure everyone knew that he was not gay. He really made sure that everyone knew he was straight….yes we understand.
Jay Z has recently been battling claims that he as a 21 year old son he has never acknowledged. The young rapper alleges that Jay Z slept with his mother during the early part of the 1990s and he was born as a result. Though the 21 year old man is trying to get Jay Z to be legally forced to take a paternity test, Jay Z has refused to do so. The 21 year old also alleges that Jay Z told the courts false information so they couldn’t force him to agree to a paternity test. The young man and his legally appointed guardian are trying to sue Jay Z on the grounds of emotional and monetary strife.
Jaime King, an actress on “Hart of Dixie,” recently took to Twitter to let her fans know she is pregnant with her and husband Kyle Newman’s second child. In a recent issue of People magazine Jaime King spoke of having trouble becoming fertile enough to even have children.
Rihanna recently traveled to NYC to spend Valentine’s Day weekend with alleged boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio. Witnesses reported that the two were seen around town throughout the weekend. One witness even reported that the two were always physically close whenever they were in public and that they couldn’t take their eyes off of each other. The two reportedly even attended a secret Paul McCartney concert that was held at Irving Plaza.
“Taken” actress Maggie Grace recently became engaged to boyfriend Matthew Cooke. She took to Instagram to announce their engagement and posted a picture of herself and Matthew that was reportedly taken shortly after she accepted his proposal of marriage.
As Bobbi Kristina Brown continues to fight for her life in an Atlanta hospital father Bobby Brown has reportedly banned Bobbi’s boyfriend, Nick Gordon, from visiting her in the hospital. In response he began a public campaign that has the potential to get him in legal trouble.
Vanilla Ice has certainly fallen from grace since his popularity soared during the 1990s. He was recently arrested in Florida amid allegations that he broke into an abandoned home and stole items of value. Florida police have reportedly charged him with one count each of grand theft and burglary. A note to Mr Ice: could you please stop dying your hair so black as it really makes you look like a demented Amish person.
The New Orleans Saints were one of the most hyped up teams heading into the 2014 NFL Season. Coming off of amazing 2013 season in which the Saints finished 11-5, barely lost the NFC South division crown to the Carolina Panthers, upset the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the Wild Card round, and lost by only 8 points to the Seattle Seahawks, expectations were sky high in the Big Easy.
As if their fantastic 2013 season weren’t enough, the Saints also had an amazing offseason in which they brought in Brandin Cooks with their 1st round draft selection and signed Pro Bowl safety Jarius Byrd away from the Buffalo Bills to help their defense. All in all, the Saints looked ready for another Super Bowl run in 2014.
Well, needless to say, it didn’t work out that way for the Saints or the rest of the NFC South for that matter. After years of being one of the toughest divisions in the NFL, the NFC South fell flat on its face this season with the Carolina Panthers winning it with a 7-8-1 record.
The Saints finished with a disappointing 7-9 record, struggling in basically every way possible. Quarterback Drew Brees often had problems getting the offense running smoothly, the defense fell apart when it was needed, and even the home crowd couldn’t help—despite usually finishing 8-0 or 7-1 at home, the Saints were only 3-5 at home last season. The Saints actually won more road games than home games in 2014.
For the first time in years, the Saints offense seems to be a bit of a concern. The defense on the other hand is always a concern. The Saints already have the foundation to be a great team and a great head coach in Sean Payton, so a little bit of help from the draft could be just what the Saints need to find themselves back in the playoffs in 2015. Here are the New Orleans Saints biggest needs heading into the 2015 NFL Draft:
Secondary: The Saints secondary was horrible once again in 2014. At safety, Byrd was supposed to be the Saints saving grace, but he ended up on Injured Reserve before he was able to have any real impact. Kenny Vaccaro has shown promise, but he still has some areas that could use serious improvement. At cornerback, Keenan Lewis is probably the best player on the roster but that isn’t saying much. The Saints really need all the help they can get, and due to their salary cap issues all of their reinforcements will have to come from the draft. The Saints normally use the majority of their early picks on defensive players, so look for their first few selections to go toward improving their secondary.
Offensive Line: A few years ago the Saints had easily one of the top five offensive lines in football. Unfortunately, injuries, free agency, and retirement have left New Orleans with a rapidly aging offensive line that desperately needs to get younger. Jonathan Goodwin is 36 now and he’s starting to really struggle out on the field, and he’s not the only one. The Saints most expensive and valuable player is still Drew Brees, so it would be smart to spend a pick or two on protecting him. This is the Saints most pressing need heading into 2015, so they could spend a lot of time at the combine looking for the best available options. Don’t be surprised if the Saints use two or three of their picks to improve their offensive line.
Once again, the Academy Awards proved that it’s not always about box office numbers as Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” received only one Oscar for best sound editing. It’s pulled in over $300 million at the domestic box office, but having so much controversy surrounding it, didn’t help. Jesse Ventura was very vocal about being libeled in Chris Kyle’s book, and several discrepancies made themselves known which we reported on last month.
Fox Searchlight Studios was the big winner at the 87th Academy Awards, Variety reported today. There two biggest films “Birdman” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” wound up tying each other with four wins each. Both films also tied each other in nominations.
“Birdman,” which starred Michael Keaton, won the top prize for Best Picture along with Best Director for Alejandro Inarritu. It went on to win for Cinematography and Original Screenplay, but interestingly enough, Michael Keaton did not win anything for his role. Many were sure that the film would win at the Oscars this year, Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” had a sudden rush of awards leaving some to wonder if that might turn it into a dark horse. The darker comedy wound up being the winner.
Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” won for Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design along with Costume Design. Composer Alexandre Desplat won for Best Original Score. Desplat was also nominated for his music in “The Imitation Game.”
Sony Pictures Classics was the only other studio that came close with four awards for it’s film “Whiplash,” starring J.K. Simmons, who won for Best Supporting Actor. The film also won for Editing and Sound Mixing.
Neil Patrick Harris did a fine job of hosting this year’s Oscars, but what was a really good ceremony was just bloated with way too many bad jokes and musical numbers. It wasn’t the longest running Oscar ceremony in history, but it ran so long that Harris’ running gag about his predictions being locked up in a box, had to be explained all over again. That’s when you know you’ve lost your audiences attention.
Below is the full list of winners highlight along with a film scorecard:
Best Picture
“Birdman”
“American Sniper”
“The Imitation Game”
“Selma”
“Boyhood”
“The Theory of Everything”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Whiplash”
Best Director
Alejandro Inarritu
Richard Linklater
Bennett Miller
Wes Anderson
Mortem Tyldum
Best Actor
Eddie Redmayne
Steve Carell
Bradley Cooper
Benedict Cumberbatch
Michael Keaton
Best Actress
Julianne Moore
Marion Cotillard
Felicity Jones
Rosamund Pike
Reese Witherspoon
Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons
Robert Duvall
Ethan Hawke
Edward Norton
Mark Ruffalo
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette
Laura Dern
Emma Stone
Meryl Streep
Keira Knightley
Best Visual Effects
“Intersteller”
“Captain America: Winter Solider”
“Planet of the Apes”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
“X-Men: Days of Future Past”
Best Animated Feature
“Big Hero 6”
“Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“Song of the Sea”
“Princess Kaguya”
Best Original Song
“Glory (Selma)”
“Everything is Awesome”
“Grateful”
“I’m Not Going to Miss You”
“Lost Stars”
Best Live Action Short Film
“The Phone Call”
“Aya”
“Boogaloo and Graham”
“Butter Lamp”
“Parvaneh”
Original Score
“Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Interstellar”
“Mr Turner”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Imitation Game”
Best Animated Short Film
“Feast”
“The Bigger Picture”
“The Dam Keeper”
“Me and My Moulton”
“A Single Life”
Documentary Short
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1”
“Joanna”
“Our Curse”
“The Reaper”
“White Earth”
Best Production Design
“Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Imitation Game”
“Interstellar”
“Into the Woods”
“Mr. Turner”
Best Cinematography
“Birdman”
“Ida”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Mr. Turner”
“Unbroken”
Best Film Editing
“Whiplash”
“American Sniper”
“Boyhood”
“Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Imitation Game”
Best Documentary Feature
“Citizenfour”
“Finding Vivian Maier”
“Last Days in Vietnam”
“The Salt of the Earth”
“Virunga”
Foreign Language Film
“Ida” (Poland)
“Leviathan” (Russia)
“Timbuktu” (Mauritania)
“Wild Tales” (Argentina)
“Tangerines” (Estonia)
Best Costume Design
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Inherent Vice”
“Into the Woods”
“Maleficent”
“Mr. Turner”
Makeup and Hairstyling
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Foxcatcher”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
Sound Mixing
“Whiplash”
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“Interstellar”
“Unbroken”
Sound Editing
“American Sniper”
“Birdman”
“The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies”
“Interstellar”
“Unbroken”
Best Original Screenplay
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“FoxCatcher”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Nightcrawler”
Best Adapted Screenplay
“The Imitation Game”
“American Sniper”
“Inherent Vice”
“The Theory of Everything”
“Whiplash”
Film Scorecard:
“Birdman”: 4
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”: 4
“Whiplash”: 3
“The Theory of Everything”: 1
“Still Alice”: 1
“Boyhood”: 1
“The Imitation Game”: 1
“Selma”: 1
“American Sniper”:
“Interstellar”: 1
“Big Hero 6″: 1
“CitizenFour”: 1
“Ida”: 1
“Feast”: 1
“The Phone Call”: 1
“Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1″: 1
David Ferrer, already a winner of 22 titles on tour heading into this past week, has added another impressive title to his collection. The Spaniard, having enjoyed ample previous success in Latin America, claimed the ATP Rio 2015 event in Brazil. Ferrer won the tournament final quite easily over Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-3.
The Rio Open, part of the 500-series on tour, featured a reasonably strong cast of players this past week. Besides Ferrer and Fognini, Rafael Nadal, considered the greatest clay courter ever, was the pre-tournament headliner and favorite. However the draw also featured Tommy Robredo, Nicolas Almagro, and Pablo Cuevas – players who have enjoyed ATP success in the past.
Speaking about the final against Fognini, Ferrer, who also won ATP Doha 2015, stated the following:
“I’m really happy,” said Ferrer. “It’s my 23rd tournament win and I never won here before in Rio. I’m very happy for that. I had the chance to be in the Carnaval this week and all the facilities are good. This week is very special. I have a lot of confidence with my game. I won two tournaments this year. It’s very important for me being with the best players in the world.”
With the victory the Spaniard, who has played well against Fognini historically, improved his record to 8-0 against the Italian. Furthermore, in claiming his second title of 2015, Ferrer has already eclipsed his title count from 2014, a season where he only claimed one title.
The Spaniard is sometimes overshadowed by countryman Rafael Nadal. But Ferrer, in claiming his 23rd title, appears to be playing better than Rafa at this point. It will be interesting to see which of the two players will be higher ranked after the clay court season, especially since Ferrer defeated the player that knocked Nadal out of the Rio draw.
But for his efforts the lesser-touted Spaniard looks as though he will remain the World No. 9 while Fognini will jump up a bit to the World No. 22 position.
Looking ahead at next week’s draws, one finds Fognini with a bye into the second round of the ATP Buenos Aires event. The Italian, having defeated Nadal in Rio, could be on a collision course with the World No. 3 again, however both players have a couple matches to win before that semifinal can take place.
“When you lose in a final, you’re always disappointed,” said Fognini. “It’s a big week for me. Yesterday I beat Rafa. It’s a big tournament and I’m happy because I put in a lot of work mentally and physically. To be 100 per cent against David it is difficult.”
Ferrer is not in the Buenos Aires draw however he is in the ATP Acapulco draw as the two-seed. He could face fatigue issues having competed so hard this past week however he also has some pretty thin competition through the first two, maybe even three, rounds of the Acapulco tournament.
Though he has the 2016 Olympics in his sights, Ferrer knows his time on tour is winding down. “I am not thinking about the end but I know the end is closer than the beginning. I am only focused in the moment, to be enjoying my moment.”
“The Olympics are a good goal,” Ferrer said. “But it’s going to be very difficult because in Spain we have very good tennis players. But it’s a good goal. I will try to do my best to be there. I have more possibilities that it’s going to be my last Olympic games.”
“The last year I think I did a good year,” Ferrer continued. “I finished the year No. 10. But there are younger players like Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic won a Grand Slam, Stan Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov. In the end, it’s more difficult to be there with the best players of the world. Last year I finished No. 10. I did my best, I tried to be there. Finally, I was able to play a match at the World Tour Finals in London. Now it’s another year and the past is finished. It’s not important. I only focus on the moment.”
Gilles Simon, many times a champion on the ATP Tour, has claimed another title. The French national, adding to an already impressive title count, defeated Gael Monfils in the final of ATP Marseille 2015 (Open 13) on Sunday 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4). In doing so, Simon claimed the 12th title of his career.
Simon, seeded fifth in the event, had won the ATP Marseille tournament once before having defeated Marcos Baghdatis in the 2007 final. With the victory the 12-time ATP champion is still second for French players in terms of title counts. Yannick Noah, the former French Open champion, remains the winningest player for France, having captured 23 titles in his impressive career.
Following the title in Marseille Simon made the following comments:
“It was a great week, but a tough one physically. I left a lot of energy against Coric (earlier in the tournament) and then it was hard to recover from this one. I’m happy I won here since I won my first tournament in Marseille. I hope it won’t be the last one.”
For Monfils, frustration in both tournament finals and against Simon in particular continues. The US Open 2014 quarterfinalist entered Sunday’s final with a record in championship matches of just 5-16: he’s 5-17 now, a record that has to be considered dismal. Furthermore Monfils had just a 1-4 record against Simon, having lost most recently in the 2013 Australian Open in what was a nailbiter. Sunday produced another competitive match but Monfils once again came up on the wrong side.
The former French Open semifinalist ommented after the match: “I’m disappointed. It was a great match and we both played really well.”
There are a trio of tournaments scheduled for the upcoming week however neither Monfils nor Simon are in any of the draws at this point. However there is Davis Cup action coming up in early March and both Indian Wells are Miami are to follow. Both players have a history of receiving nominations for France and both players are ranked such that they will be expected to play in the Masters series event if healthy.
Look for Monfils to be ranked about 19th or 20th with the Monday update while Simon should be ranked about 16th on tour.
In other action, David Ferrer claimed the ATP Rio title while Ivo Karlovic, at 35 years old, won ATP Delray Beach.
