Let's talk Superhero Movies

Ranking the Top 10 Superhero Flicks-

1. Spiderman 1- Took the genre to the next level. Still the best. Although I'm still on the fence with Maguire, Willem Dafoe was the perfect casting as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin.



2. Dark Knight- Bale and Freeman deliver, but Scary clown puts it over the top. I believe in Harvey Dent!



3. Iron Man- This was really, really good. The Armour was wicked and Downey Jr. was very believeable as Stark. Ironmongers unite!



4. Superman: The Movie (1978)- Some have this at #1. Can't blame them, watch this film again and realize how good it still is today.



5. X-Men- A good intro. Well done all around...except Halle Berry as Storm. Sorry



6. Spiderman 2- Strong follow-up to Spiderman 1. Very well done...but to reveal his identity to a train full of people? Nah...



7. Batman Begins- Thank you for saving the franchise. Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were total embarrassments.



8. Batman (1989)- Competent. But Keaton is not Bruce Wayne. Kim Basinger is simply not believeable. But Nicholson was ok as was the film overall. Big upgrade over Adam West and Burt Ward. Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?



9. Superman II (1980)- Epic battle with General Zod. Very cool to see.



10. The Incredible Hulk- Norton, Roth, and Hurt will the real stars of this one. I believed them as Banner, Blonsky, and Thunderbolt Ross. Although I understand the reason for the Stark/Avengers connection at the end of the film, it wasn't done well. The General is going to go drinking at a local bar and Tony Stark walks in? C'mon!
    

Da Rhino watches movies too. OUT

BULL TO BUFFALO

So I'm in my kitchen talking with my close friend ABT about life and how you never know what it's going to throw at you. It is then when I see the Breaking News on NFL Network, "Terrell Owens signs a 1 year deal with the Buffalo Bills". Did you say the Bills? Did I read that right? WOW. I have to admit that like Stevie Wonder, I did not see this one coming.

But let's break it down shall we?

Here are the reasons why I like it:

1. In one swift move, Ralph Wilson has brought back the fans. After a season to forget and the trepidation surrounding a possible future move to Toronto, Wilson has given the fans a reason to believe again.


2. The Bills immediately put the rest of the AFC East on notice. The Fins, the Patriots, and the Jets know that these guys are not content with being the dregs of the division. Remember at least for half a season last year, the Bills were in contention with the rest of them.


3. This says a lot about T.O., maybe he is the most misunderstood guy in the league. No one would have picked him to go to such a small market team. 'Owens' on the back of a Bills jersey? Still can't see it. Undoubtedly he could have gotten bigger money going elsewhere. And yes I heard about all the teams that came out and said "we have no interest in signing Terrell Owens". Don't believe that for a minute! Trust me, the Bills were the only team negotiating with Terrell's agent Drew Rosenhaus.


4. 'Owens' on the back of a Bills jersey: Oh, make no mistake the printing presses are already running my friend. The Bills marketing staff will have T.O.'s jersey in the stores faster then it takes a guy to get to first base in a porno! NFL licensed jersey revenues are shared, so the real bonus is that these jerseys represent free advertising for the team. The more you have out there, the more you're attracting attention to the team itself. That in turn sells more seats which gives the Bills the opportunity to earn more unshared revenue like Box seat sales and $12 Hot Dogs.


5. Lee Evans and Marshawn Inch (Lynch! I meant Lynch...damn, I keep doing that) have just become a lot more valuable in Fantasy Ball. Grab them if you can.


6. Bills in Toronto: All of a sudden, Toronto fans will have 2 games to watch T.O. in 2009. Love him or hate him, now you've got a real stud playing for the home team.

Here are the reasons why I don't like the move:

1. Trent Edwards 2008 stats: 245 /374 for 2699 yards, 11 TDs, 10 Ints. Dude this is going to be no where good enough. Sure the very presence of T.O. will dramatically improve those numbers but I feel sorry for Edwards if he can't get T.O. the ball. Quotes from several games last year- "Edwards is not getting much help from his offensive line. The Buffalo running game has been anemic lately and when he tries to pass he doesn't have much time to find receivers downfield...Edwards is intelligent, young, and still learning, but based on recent games he seems to be regressing" (Week 10 vs. New England); "Edwards got off to a horrible start as he threw three interceptions in the first quarter as he went three for seven for 25 yards, and only led the offense to one first down. The Browns played a lot zone early in this game and Edwards tried to force the ball into some receivers he should not have" (Week 11 vs. Cleveland); "Edwards had a mediocre first half, hitting ten for 21 for 112 yards. Worse, he started bouncing passes to receivers again" (Week 13 vs. San Franciso).


2. The back-up is newly signed Ryan Fitzpatrick. He went 221/372 for 1905 yards, 8 TDs, and 9 Ints. Oh boy...this is not looking good. Here are some quotes from some of his games last year- "Fitzpatrick looked out of synch all day, looking uneasy in the pocket and being late on his reads. He threw three interceptions and lost a fumble, and seemed to try to force some throws in where coverage was tight" (Week 4 vs. Cleveland); "Fitzpatrick's yards per pass play were quite low (less than three yards) and much of his results were short passes over the middle or towards the sidelines. When he did drop back, he went down, to the tune of seven sacks" (Week 7 vs. Pittsburgh). Getting the message? THESE QUARTERBACKS ARE SHAKING IN THEIR BOOTS RIGHT NOW.


3. 1 year, $6.5M? Only? Surely you could have done better than that sir. Although Terrell won't admit it, it sounds like Drew told him to take what he could get. Repair your image in a quiet town like Buffalo, and then move on to better things. But taking this now may preclude him from receiving another big contract down the road.


4. Marshawn Inch (Lynch! Lynch!): He is a borderline bust right now. Owens' arrival gives him a chance to be good again, but if he can't overcome his off the field problems, adding Terrell will do nothing to improve the declining morale of this team. I liken it to when Deion Sanders joined the 49ers secondary in the early 90's. He immediately made everybody around him better, but in the end he left the team worse than before he arrived. Why? Because the circus atmosphere that was Primetime's mantra (back then...he's a completely different man now) became the priority over football.

Bottom Line:

It's a surprising move that has some risk. But overall I think the reasons for doing it outweigh those for not doing it. Name one cornerback in the AFC East that can confidently cover Terrell Owens man-to-man? There isn't one. That immediately means defenses will have to play the Bills differently. If Trent can get better, and his o-line can give him the time he needs, we could see the Bills making a playoff appearance next year.

Da Rhino has spoken. I'M OUT.

(See the press conference here http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80f234bb)

T.O. Be or Not T.O. Be- No longer a question

The Free Agency period began in earnest last week and has been humming along with it's usual share of big signings (Redskins guarantee Haynesworth $41M over the next 4 years), surprises (Browns trade Winslow to Tampa Bay, Eagles let Dawkins migrate to Denver, Dallas lets Canty go to the Division Rival Giants, and the Broncos entertain a 3-way trade that would have sent Cutler to Tampa, Cassel to Denver, with picks to New England), and sensible moves (Kitna to Dallas to back-up Romo).

Before Free Agency began there was much bally-hoo about whether Dallas would keep Owens or purge him from their roster. Articles were written about how there were differing opinions in the ranks of the Cowboys senior management, coaching staff, and player elite (Stephen Jones and Jason Garrett wanted him gone. Wade Philips was okay with him staying as were several players. And apparently Tony Romo and Jason Witten were on the fence). But then Mr. Jones came out and publicly inferred that Owens was staying put. Now that T.O. has been released, folks will accuse Mr. Jones of lying, but I don't think so. It is clear that he implied Owens would be staying; however, he did not explicably state that. And that would have been the time. So clearly there were ongoing discussions about Terrell's future in Dallas.

Many folks view Terrell as a cancer in the locker room who needed to go. His attitude (or at least the attention he attracted for every little peep) was a major contributor to the downfall of the Cowboys towards the end of last season. I for one disagree. For sure a model citizen he is not, but look at his time in Dallas vs. his tenure in San Francisco and Philadelphia, and he has been comparatively well behaved. I would offer that his on-field production can certainly be weighed favourably against his off-the-field antics. Check his stats over the last 3 years (2006, 2007, and 2008) in Big D:

- Played 47 of a possible 48 games

-235 receptions

-3587 yards

-38 Touchdowns

Let's compare that to arguably the best wide receiver in the game (Larry Fitzgerald) over the same period:

-Played 44 of a possible 48 games

-265 receptions

3786 yards

-28 Touchdowns

Oh, you say that Fitz isn't the best? Andre Johnson is the best? Try this on for size:

-41 of a possible 48 games

-278 receptions

-3573 yards

-21 Touchdowns

We could certainly compare others but I'd bet my Fantasy Ball Championships (D&G 2009-2010 and Tony NFL 2009-2010) that Terrell's stats over that period can be compared against any other top receiver in the league today.

SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO Jason Garrett?

-Roy Williams replaces T.O. as the #1 WR

-For now, Patrick Cratyon moves up to #2 and either Sam Hurd or Miles Austin moves into the 3 spot.

-As none of those are legitimate #2s in my eyes, almost certainly Dallas will have to go after another wide-out over the next few weeks or hope to get a sleeper in the draft.

-Jason Witten becomes/remains Romo's #1 option

-Defenses can now put 8 men in the box to stop Barber. He's a Bull but will get bogged down in the increased traffic.

-This means that Dallas will have to shuttle in Felix Jones and Tashard Choice more often to spell Barber.

-But the running game can only take you so far, and Roy Williams isn't scaring anyone.

-Still loads of talent here, but the points won't come as easy.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO T.O.?

It means he'll get a 2-3 year contract somewhere else in 2009 for a dump truck full of $$. Possible suitors:

- Oakland Raiders: They love a deposed WR. See Randy Moss, Jerry Rice.

-Minnesota Vikings: They lost out on Housh. They'd love to team Owens with Bernard Berrian.

-Chicago: When your #1 WR is Devin Hester, you need all the help you can get.

-49ers: Could use the help in a bad way, but I don't see him as a Singletary guy.

-Bills: Owens won't go there.

-Jaguars: Maybe. I don't think Del Rio would shy away from getting Owens.

-San Diego: Not a bad fit. Vincent Jackson is not on his level and adding Owens could take them near the top of the AFC.

-Tennessee: Jeff Fisher could keep his ass in line...and could use a huge boost at WR. Don't rule this one out.

-Baltimore: Ozzie Newsome wanted him before, could T.O. change his mind about going there?

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO JERRY JONES?

Simply put: No more excuses.

WHO IS LEFT IN FREE AGENCY?

The following could be viable candidates for the Boys'

-Marvin Harrison

-Lance Moore

-Bobby Engram

-Mike Furrey

-DJ Hackett

Only time will tell. Da Rhino is OUT.