My Favorite 2012 Olympians

August 20, 2012

jmunney Olympics, Sports Leave a comment

Hopefully interest in the Olympics hasn’t died completely a week after, because I would like to share my thoughts on some of my favorite 2012 Olympians:

Missy Franklin – One of the most effervescent smiles I have ever seen.  She kind of reminds me of my best friend’s fiancée.

Mo Farah – As a distance runner, I am perhaps more predisposed to enjoy the distance track events more than most people, but even considering that, this was a banner year for great distance races, with hometown favorite, double gold medalist Mo Farah leading the way in two of the most thrilling events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usain Bolt – It is because of unfathomably brilliant athletes like Usain Bolt that I like sports so much.  The fact that he is such a showman also plays a big role in why I like sports so much.

Shelley-Ann Fraser Pryce – The Jamaican women’s 100m gold medalist came off as a little arrogant to much of my family, due to her lip-tightening pre-race face-making.  I, on the other hand, thought she was endearingly goofy.

Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings – I usually don’t like repeat Olympian winners this much on their third go-round, especially after they have been so dominant in the past.  But Misty and Kerri had to work to get the gold this time.  They may have beaten the Chinese in straight sets in the semis, but that match could not have been closer.  Misty’s exuberance while screaming in the camera was palpable.
Epke Zonderland – The Flying Dutchman’s gold medal performance on the horizontal bar – with three uninterrupted death-defying flips – was by far the best gymanstic routine at London 2012.  It doesn’t hurt that he also looks like a Norse god.
Oksana Chusovitina/Yordan Yovchev – The 37-year-old German (formerly Soviet, then Uzbeki) gymnast Chusovitina (competing in her 6th games) looked so out of place among all the teenage girls, while the 39-year-old Bulgarian Yovchev (also in his 6th games) – who reminds me of Jack LaLanne – didn’t look as out of place among the other male gymnasts.  Good on them for keeping it up in a sport in which 20 is considered old and still managing to be medal contenders.

Other Bests of 2011

February 21, 2012

jmunney Best of 2011, Fashion, Music, Music Videos, Sports, Television Leave a comment

As a finale to my Best of 2011 coverage, here are the best parts of 2011 that didn’t fit neatly into any of my categories.

Best Look – Katy Perry’s Smurfette Dress

Best Viral Videos
1. Today Now! Interviews the 5-Year-Old Screenwriter of Fast Five

2. Funny or Die’s Audio Tour

Best National Anthem Performance – Zooey Deschanel at Game 4 of the World Series

Late Night Talk Show Musical Guest MVP’s
St. Vincent

St. Vincent – “She is Beyond Good and Evil” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino – “Bonfire” on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

 

Best Single Dance Move in a Music Video – The Tofo Tofo dancers and Beyoncé  drop to their knees and kick back up in the “Run the World (Girls)” music video.

Best Hip-Shaking – Ellie Goulding in the “Lights” Music Video

Best 2012 Super Bowl Commercials

February 6, 2012

jmunney Commercials, Sports, Super Bowl Commercials, Television Leave a comment

As I said in my review of The Artist, it was “the year of the dog!”  The producers of some of this year’s best Super Bowl commercials certainly seemed to feel that way as well.  But my top choice reminds us that it was also the year of LMFAO.  Everybody was party rocking, even the talking M&M’s.

2012 was not the best year ever for Super Bowl commercials, but it was almost certainily the best year for the music featured in the commercials, as several otherwise mediocre, just plain bad, or inscrutable (Bud Light Platinum, anyone?) clips featured inspired musical choices.  Check it out: Kanye West’s “Runaway” (Bud Light Platinum), Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” (Audi), Avicii’s “LE7ELS” (Bud Light Platinum), The Animals’ “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” (H&M), fun.’s “We Are Young” (Chevrolet), Richard Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra” (Toyota), The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” mashed up with Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling” (Budweiser), Ray Charles’s “What’d I Say” (NFL), Yello’s “Oh Yeah,” of course (Honda), and The Darkness’s “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” (Samsung).  Some of the good commercials also featured great songs, and I point out the great songs that appeared in my Top 5 picks.

1. M&M’s – “That Kind of Party” (w/ LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It”)
Gawd, this song is everywhere.  But, hey, folks, let’s all let it be that kind of party, because we are all sexy and we know it.

2. Volkswagen – “The Dog Strikes Back” (w/ James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing”)
Not only do I love the fact that the chubby dog worked off his weight, but that he did it to a James Brown song that wasn’t “I Got You (I Feel Good).”  Then the Star Wars coda … happened.

3. Sketchers – “GoRun Mr. Quiggly” (w/ Tone-Loc’s “Wild Thing”)
That dog has a lot of personality in his face.  I mean that in a good way.

4. Bud Light – “Rescue Dog”
I appreciate going the extra mile, but that dog looks like he’s been worked down to the bone.

5. Fiat – “Seduction”
That Penelope Cruz-lookalike would get anybody’s heart running.

Blake Griffin: Keeping SportsCenter in Touch with Its Roots

February 4, 2011

jmunney ESPN, Sports, Television Leave a comment

The program description for SportsCenter on the digital cable states that it “provides a thorough presenatation of sports news, highlights, and analysis.”  The description used to be something along the lines of  “a daily collection of dunks, homers, and touchdowns.”  This change in description is apt, as SportsCenter has made the shift from being primarily a highlights show to being primarily a news program.  It was only ten years ago – perhaps even five years ago – that it was basically guaranteed that you could catch at least some highlights from all of last night’s NBA action.  Now, you’ll be lucky if they show clips from three games.  It is true thatwith the Internet, the highlights that SportsCenter does not include are still out there.  But most Internet highlights are not accompanied with commentary as worthy as a “Boo-yah!”  (And Stuart Scott is hardly ever on SportsCenter these days anyway.)  What SportsCenter is instead dominated by these days is game day coverage that begins at least a week in advance and covers such topics as the chance that Ben Roethlisberger may, or may not, have stayed out past curfew.

But all is not lost, thanks to the emergence of Blake Griffin.  The Clippers’ own personal dunking highlight reel seems to end up on the Top 10 Plays every day that the Clips have a game.  He has ensured that SportsCenter will continue to include at least some highlights.  His dunks defy analysis; all we ought to do is watch and marvel, and maybe sprinkle in a “Did you see that?!” and a “Boo-yah!” here and there.  There has not been a one-man highlight reel on this level since the NBA’s glory days of the eighties and nineties, and there probably won’t be any others any time soon.  We’ve got to enjoy it while it lasts, and even ESPN knows that.

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