Sunday, August 14, 2011

Dan Uggla, "Good": The Subtle Seduction of Power

Hello,

As I write this blog Dan Uggla is going for his 34th consecutive game with a hit. The last couple of games he got the hit in his first at bat taking all the drama for that out of the rest of the game. In his first at bat today, he took one for the team. He hit a sacrifice fly that resulted in the Braves first run of the game. Then in the third inning he fouled out to first.

Later Brian McCann is back in Atlanta's lineup and he's hitting now. Up next was Dan Uggla. However he popped out to second base on that at bat. In the bottom of the 7th, Uggla hit again, this may be his last chance to extend his consecutive hitting streak. The Braves led 5-4. In the next inning the Cubs took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the 7th. With the Braves down by one run, they really need Uggla to come through now. Dan Uggla's streak may be over. In his 4th at bat, Uggla popped out to shortstop. If he doesn't get another chance to bat, it has been a great run. It's also the longest hitting streak in MLB this season. Uggla didn't get a fifth attempt to hit and thus ends his streak. It was a good run. To make things worse the Cubs came back and won the game 6-5.

Tiger Woods didn't make the recent PGA Tour event cut. I knew all about that, but I couldn't tell you who was winning the tournament. I know Woods has been an incredible golfer over the years. I understand he remains very popular. But that doesn't explain why he's followed so closely. Obviously he's a shell of what he use to be. When he isn't even making the cut or when he does he finishes in 37th place, why is still the main golf story. Sometimes he's the main sports story. That's like making the Dodgers-Astros game the #1 baseball story with all the exciting pennant races going on now. ESPN and other sports news sources can we please have some perspective?

Quick reviews: I recently saw the latest "Harry Potter and the Ghostly Hallows" and I don't have anything against the series. On the other hand I've never been a big fan either. I went and watched that because the two kids of mine that were with me wanted to watch it. While I didn't understand what was going on most of the time, I still thought it was an okay movie. Since my knowledge is so limited about "Harry Potter" I can't give it a fair grade. I will say that I did feel every one of the 130 minutes of the movie. Actually the movie felt longer than that.

We watched "Soul Surfer" last night. It's the surfing movie about Bethany Hamilton's having her arm savagely ripped off by a shark. The movie stars Dennis Quaid, AnnaSophia Robb and Helen Hunt. Robb plays the inspired and inspiring Hamilton, who resumes competitive surfing. We follow her as she's able to resume her surfing career with only a slight tweak to her surfboard. A tweak that doesn't give her a competitive advantage. It's amazing what one can do when you set your mind to it. She still is currently competing. An inspiring story, but the movie was just a bit cheesy. Also I love Carrie Underwood, she's gorgeous and a great singer. However the woman can't act worth a lick. She's a better actor than Vin Diesel at least.

I also watched the movie titled "Good", it stars Viggo Mortensen. He does a fantastic job portraying a teacher caught up in Nazism. The movie is about the subtle pull of power and even a good man can get swept up in it. Mortensen's character is friends with a Jew and we see the strains on their friendship as Hitler comes to power. There's a great scene where the two old friends are talking about how they might have been ordering Hitler around during the first World War.

Tomorrow the final questions and thoughts about Colin Harrison's "The Havana Room" should be coming. I've finished the book and am searching for the September book club. With football starting in September, it might be football related. I'll have to think about that. "Friday Night Lights" and "The Blind Side" are great books, I definitely reccomend you read both of them. However they won't be September's book club selection. I have a couple of books that look interesting. Currently I'm reading Daniel Wilson's "Robopocolypse".

themusicaddict

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