Matt's Musings

The NBA All-Star Game is right around the corner. Though that's considered the mid-way point in the season, in reality more than half the season is gone. The Los Angeles Lakers are 23-27, they've played 50 games and have just 32 games left in the regular season. At this point in the season, most team's have a good idea of where they are. While plenty can still happen, the contenders are established and the rest are jockeying for playoff or draft position. Heading into the year, the Lakers were projected to be a top team in the Western Conference. Currently they are in 10th place — just outside the playoff picture. And what's worse, it doesn't seem like this team can get a lot better. Pau Gasol is out for six to eight weeks, and the Lakers haven't played well as a unit. And all that was before they started taking shots at each other through the media. The Lakers might be one of the best franchises in basketball history, and they might have a stacked roster, but t...

"And these three things remain: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love." — 1 Corinthians 13:13 Warm Bodies Starring: Nicholas Hoult, John Malkovich, Teresa Palmer, and Rob Corddry Synopsis: There are those who see the world as glass half full, and those who see the world as glass half empty. In terms of dystopian visions of the future, usually things don't get much better. That is especially true in the zombie genre, where things seem pretty grim, has been pretty set. You basically have works that are like "The Walking Dead," which is as much a negative commentary on humanity as it is about the zombie virus that could destroy our future. That's what makes "Warm Bodies" so refreshing. By now the zombie genre is well-worn territory. There is little variation to the stories — whether they by of the George Romero film variety of the previously mentioned "Walking Dead." Never has a zombie film been a romantic comedy that dared...

In the fall of 2006, Aaron Sorkin debuted the next big show for NBC. It was a dramedy called "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." It was a high brow production — starring Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford — about the behind the scenes working of a late night sketch comedy show, suspiciously like "Saturday Night Live." Everyone was sure it would be a big hit. Also that year, NBC bowed a 30-minute sitcom with a similar premise. This one from "Saturday Night Live" executive producer Lorne Michaels and one of its writers and stars, Tina Fey. "30 Rock" was about a show on NBC, often taking shots at the network it called home. It featured Alec Baldwin, Jane Krakowski and Tracey Morgan. No one thought much about it, because "Studio 60" seemed like the better bet. Flash forward seven seasons, and "30 Rock" wrapped up its run as one of the most critically acclaimed shows on NBC. As for "Studio 60," well it barely lasted one seas...

The best, most inventive dramas are on cable. That's been true for a while, and it's not just because of the more lax regulations for creating shows. Sure, sex, violence, and language make a show more "real." But on cable, the real reason dramas have found a creative home is because of the format. On cable shows don't have to fit neatly into the doctor, lawyer, or cop show niche to survive. A few million eyeballs is enough to be a hit. And, oh year, the episode runs are shorter. Creatively running 10-13 episodes cuts out all the fat found in a 22 or 24 episode order. Into this fray comes "The Americans," a show that would be a tough sell on a network. It's set in 1981, and centers on a pair of KGB agents implanted in America to spy for Mother Russia during the Cold War. Oh year, that's the other thing cable can do — it can and almost always does center on anti heroes in central roles. The obvious comparison here is "Homeland," and for g...

For the first time all Post Season I picked the Ravens to win on Sunday. I didn't do it because I like the team — because I don't — and I didn't do it because I thought they were a better team — because they're not. I did it because the Ravens were this year's team of destiny. They are, and they did win the Super Bowl title. What we saw yesterday was one of the strangest title games in recent memory. A game everyone thought would be close appeared to be headed toward a blow out. The Ravens got all the breaks — including the officials inexplicably not ejecting a Ravens player who hit an official — and made the most of it. Even after a whiffed fake field goal, the Ravens led 21-6 at half time. Then, beginning the second half, Jacoby Jones returned the kick off 108 yards to give the Ravens a 28-6 lead. It appeared to be over. Then the inexplicable continued as the lights went out in the Super Dome. After that, all bets were off. The 34 minute delay seemed to give the 4...

Well, the big day is finally here. Super Bowl Sunday. Of course it's a matchup I didn't want to see, but, alas, that's the way it goes some time. This whole season I have picked games, so this Sunday will be no different. After a regular season where I finished just around .500, it makes sense I've gone 5-5 in the playoffs. So here it comes, the final pick of the season. My last chance to creep into the black. So who do I pick. Well, one thing's for sure, I know Coach Harbaugh will hoist the Lombardi trophy. OK, stop your snickering, I will make a pick. Will it be Jim Harbaugh and the San Francisco 49ers, or will it be John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens? That is a tough one to decide. The 49ers are favored by 3.5 or 4 points depending on where you look. That seems about right when you consider that the 49ers, by almost every metric, are the better team. And if this year had gone by the numbers, or the playoffs had gone by the numbers, that would be key. But this...

In all fairness, I have never been a fan of the X-Games. I just don't really see the appeal of extreme sports, but I appreciate that many do. In fact, some of the X-Games events have migrated to the Olympics — like snowboard events. But after this week, it's fair to be asking the question what defines sport? In an era where player safety in the mainstream sports has been a huge focus — the the NFL and NHL asking hard questions about the long-term effects of playing on health — it seems curious that we're celebrating events that are more suited for an episode of "Jackass" than ESPN. I'm talking, mainly, of snowboard jumping. First, a jump went wrong and the snowmobile lunged into the crowd. Thankfully, no one was really hurt, but it was still a problem. Then, Thursday, Caleb Moore, 25, died as a result of injuries sustained in a snowmobile jump gone wrong. So now, we're all asking whether it should be promoted as a sport. My answer is no. While I respect th...