MOVIE QUIZ IS BACK!

In honor to the Pancake's triumphant return to relevancy, and considering my current lame duck status at my job, I present to you a brand new movie still quiz! There will be 3 rounds of images counting down my favorite 31 movies I have seen in the last 10 years, approximately the time we held the previous polls. I tried to make these as hard as possible, with some being more difficult than others to find something not blatantly obvious (ahem, #10). Anyway, here are the honorable mention movies that did not quite make it into my all-time Top 100. Good luck!

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Kearney's Baseball Predictions

I was going to type this up on Josh's blog, but I took a look at the pancake and realized...holy shit! Nobody has written in this for exactly 10 months-Today! Since I am a fan of even, round numbers, I figured I would type up my baseball predictions on this 10th month of blogger vacation, especially since we've had our draft...with a ridiculous amount of people...and our favorite sports clubs management team is starting to snip rosters down faster than coupon super-mom's on shopping day...Plus I have a lot of down time at work right now.

Yes, that is correct, I am stuck inside-working on this gorgeous St. Patty's day. The parade is happening right outside my building (though I'm not a fan of parades), it is 70+ degrees, sunny, perfect. Blah!

Here are my predictions with an added (team mvp) in parentheses:

AL East:
1.Yankees (Alex Rodriguez)
2.Red Sox (Mike Aviles)
3.Blue Jays (Jose Bautista)
4.Rays (David Price)
5.Orioles (Matt Wieters)

They're the Yankees. Texeira had a DOWN year last year and still clobbered the hell out of the ball. A-rod was hurt and their pitching wasn't as good as it is now. Red Sox have a ton of question marks, including my chosen team MVP at a position that is still up for grabs, Carl Crawford and the Youk. I almost switched the Blue Jays and the Red Sox, but the Blue Jays are going to make some noise this year and especially next year with all their young talent. All the Rays have right now is Longoria and phenomenal pitching. I believe adding Luke Scott and Bringing back Pena actually hurt them offensively and I'm not sure Jennings will be the future Crawford 2.0 the Rays want him to be-THIS year. Look out for him next year. The Orioles are just hurting.

AL Central:
1.Tigers (Miguel Cabrera)
2.Royals (Alex Gordon)
3.Indians (Ubaldo Jimenez)
4.Twins (Justin Morneau)
5.White Sox (Adam Dunn)

This year you can almost say for the Tigers what I said about the Yankees. Their line up is ridiculous and their pitching is just as comparable. The Royals have so much young talent I almost wish I've been a die hard Royals fan instead of the Pirates fan these last 20 years. I still am wary of their pitching. The Indians will be depending completely on their pitching. If they get no offensive production, switch the Indians into last and bump the other 2 up a notch. The Twins have more question marks than Jim Carey's Riddler costume. Mauer, Morneau, Liriano, Capps, any outfield production, will Doumit help, will he even register? The White Sox have too green of an outfield outside of Rios and he, along with half of their starting line up-for lack of a better term: shit the bed last year. I bet Dunn and Konerko switch production numbers from a year ago and Konerko starts thinking about retirement.

AL West
1.Angels (Albert Pujols)
2.Rangers (Josh Hamilton)
3.Mariners (Chone Figgins)
4.Athletics (Jemile Weeks)

So. The angels now have Albert Pujols, 3 center fielders and so much other pop on the corners they do not know what to do with a former-perennial all-star like Bobby Abreu? They may be productive offensively. Their pitching is suspect though...sike! They probably have the best rotation in baseball. No question on the top dog in the west. The Rangers pop is going to be ridiculous as usual and every offensive player could make an argument for the all-star game. Worried about their pitching, what will Yu do and will Perez transition from the bullpen. I would not be surprised if the Mariners bump past the rangers, moving ichiro into the middle of the line up and snapping Chone out of his 2011 slump at the top of the line up. Manny Ramirez and an entire Cuban nation's worth of PED's cannot help the A's this year.

NL East
1.Braves (Jason Heyward)
2.Marlins (Hanley Ramirez)
3.Phillies (Hunter Pence)
4.Nationals (Ryan Zimmerman)
5.Mets (Lucas Duda)

I like the Braves this year, in what will be I believe, Chippers last stand. Heyward lights it up and their pitching will be pretty stellar. Hanley I believe will benefit with the move to third, due to needing less mobility at the position, he will have more energy for the plate. I am predicting a 30-30 season and back to his old ways. With all of the Phillies' all-stars and I pick Pence as their MVP? That should sum up what could end up being a long season for the Phillies. I suspect Halladay is going to get shelled, and by shelled I mean Roy Halladay shelled, like a 3.50 ERA and ONLY 14-16 wins. Nationals just aren't there yet. They have fantastic if not questionable health-wise pitching, an over-paid right fielder and an outlier 2011 performance from Morse. They won't be that great this year. As for the Mets. Their entire season revolves around 2 people: Wright and Santana. Wright is already hurt...again. And even if Johan is healthy he won't pitch more that 25 games this year, which isn't enough for a team I believe is only a knuckleballer away from being completely pitching starved. If Bay produces how he has in the past and Duda is going have the stud-like performace I think he is. This team could surprise people. But, I say unlikely.

NL Central:
1.Cubs (Starlin Castro)
2.Cardinals (Carlos Beltran)
3.Pirates (Jose Tabata)
4.Reds (Joey Votto)
5.Brewers (Ryan Braun)
6.Astros (J.D. Martinez)

Let me preface this by saying: "This is the year the Pirates are over .500". It may have become a running Pittsburgh Mantra that never comes to fruition, but I had to say it. I am excited to start watching some Central baseball. I really think the Cubs can do some damage this year with the roster changes and batting order adjustments. Soriano will be in the heart of the line up, which is where he should have been his entire career in Chicago and I think DeJesus is going to score a lot of runs. Those runs are going to be covered by a very above average pitching staff and some great relief. The Cardinals cannot replace Pujols. I don't care about Beltran, Furcal and Berkman. They do not equal Pujols. They will be good, but I honestly would not be surprised if they flip flop with the Pirates. Their line up is getting too old, and their staff aces are injury prone. I can see Carpenter going down for the season and Wainwright still needing another year before he is back to 100%. I really believe the Pirates are this good this year. I am excited to see the season get started. I am especially intested to see the pitching have at it and what Alvarez does. If he provides the power we drafted him for, the Bucs will do some damage. The Reds could honestly win this division, but they are going to have to prove to me that they have anything beyond Votto besides flashes and spurts of talent. I just do not like the Brewers this year. Maybe its their future trade bait in Greinke or Testosterone test from Braun, but I just do not see good things in this team this year or them replacing Fielder's production. The astros...see me again in 2016.

NL West
1.Dodgers (Andre Ethier)
2.Rockies (Carlos Gonzalez)
3.Giants (Matt Cain)
4.Diamondbacks (Justin Upton)
5.Padres (Carlos Quentin)

The Dodgers will be healthy this year and I think they are going to do some big things in the middle of that line up between Ethier and Kemp. I would not be surprised if they end up with better overall fantasy numbers than the Fielder/Cabrera duo. Also, their pitching will be lights out this year. Look out for Capuano. The Rockies will make a great run this year but come up short. Their offense will be top notch and I think they will run more, but I am curious about their pitching. Will Guthrie make the transition to the NL and Coors field at the same time without total statistical implosion? Cain will have a Cy-Young season and then be too expensive for the Giants to keep both he and Lincecum. This could be the end of a great run in San Francisco. Especially without any offense around them. The Diamondbacks are too flukey and I don't think their pitching will be nearly as good as it was last year. Carlos Quentin will be he Padres MVP and he will only hit 25 home runs. 20 of them away from San Diego.

Playoff Picture:
AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Tigers
Al West: Angels
Wild Cards: Red Sox and Blue Jays

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
Wild Cards: Cardinals/Pirates and Rockies

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
AL Cy Young: David Price
NL MVP: Jason Heyward
NL Cy Young: Matt Cain
AL ROY: Yu Darvish
NL ROY: Tyler Pastornicky

Same old Pirates

Who could have predicted that Overbay would play so terribly? Tough one for the front office because all signs pointed to him resurrecting his career, hitting career highs across the board, and mentoring the young Buccos to propel them into the future.

Hard to be optomistic at this point isn't it?

Pirates Leaders

Alright Pirate fans. I was just curious as to whom you guys believe will be our statistical best. Which of our everyday players will lead the way to dominating that 19th season of losing. I want to know which players you think will reach their aspirations as statistical team leaders and receive huge pay raises in the coming years. I will post who I think will lead each category and a number in parentheses (x) next to their name. These are just a few major statistical categories, so if you feel like there should be one added, by all means place it in your comment:

Hits: Tabata (197)
Average: McCutchen (.312)
HR: Alvarez (37)
RBI: McCutchen (112)
Runs: Tabata (101)
SB: McCutchen (36)
OBP: Overbay (.401)
SLG: Alvarez (.522)
OPS: Alvarez (.858)

GS: Correia/Maholm (32)
Innings: Correia (208)
Wins: MacDonald (16)
ERA: Ohlendorf (3.68)
K's: Macdonald (185)
BB's: Morton (98)
Whip: Maholm (1.21)
Saves: Hanarahan (28)
Holds: Meek (22)

Though some of those stats look overly optimistic, I am only posting the leaders. I did not mention that I believe Alvarez will hit below .250 and lead our team in strike outs or that Walker will have a significant drop off and barely hit above .270. You guys know how I feel about Overbay so I think he will have decent numbers across the board, but the only one he will lead in is his best category as a hired "professional" hitter.

As for the pitchers, I would not be surpised if we have a pitcher who has an era in the low 3's with 3 pitchers under 4; or another pitcher who strikeouts closer to 200 batters, but it doesn't seem likely with Mortons past and how little we know about MacDonald. As for the saves, I think Meek is going to get more opportunities to close some games than we think, which is why I do not have Hanarahan in the 30s.

Alright guys, let me see what you think.

Fantasy Draft

Alright. Josh and Offord. We may have a date and time for the draft in Brads league. It looks like the draft will be next Sunday, March 20...the time is still up in the air. We are looking at a 4 or 5 pm draft and it would take 2 or 3 hours. Let me know if you guys could be there in the flesh or not, otherwise it looks like we would have to do a conference call draft for you guys again.

Kearney's Baseball Predictions

Josh and Offord had already posted their predictions on Ngewo's World. Instead of taking up an enormous amount of space on one of his comment pages, I figured I'd share them with you guys on the pancake, and then you can go on and demean and berate my chosen opinions. I have a question first. How do you guys know who all the rookie's are to predict who will win the ROY, is there a list of who to watch somewhere because I cannot find one. So, I am going to leave that prediction off the list and just go with MVP and Cy Young winners.

AL East
1.Boston Red Sox
2.Tampa Bay Rays
3.New York Yankees
4.Toronto Blue Jays
5.Baltimore Orioles

I really believe that if healthy, the Red Sox are the best team in baseball. They are looking for bounce back years from 2 perennial all-stars and MVP candidates, and I can guarantee Pedroia and Youk will deliver. The Yankees have a tone of money invested into too much age. The Yankees collective birth certificates will catch up to them in the second half of the season and to be honest with you, their pitching is nothing to be desired. Their biggest addition was an aging late inning relief pitcher of whom their GM didn't even want! Plus all that contract disputing with Jeter I bet hurts them more than anyone realizes. The Rays will beat out the yankees by at least 5 games because they have what the Yankees do not have. A very talented young pitching staff that can still get it done despite trading away Garza and losing half of their champion-caliber team last year. They still have plenty of fire power to score some runs and I think Manny has 1 good season left so he can cash in on one last one-year contract next year before he calls it quits. The Blue Jays and Orioles are insignificant unless there is some division shuffling in the near future.

Insane Prediction: The Yankees will have a losing record within their own division and will have to battle with Tornto for the 3rd spot. Baltimore will be vastly improved this year, but it still is not enough as they break .500
Reasonable Prediction: A-Rod will have an MVP-type season, only to be beaten out by a team that actually makes the playoffs. I'm predecting A-rod goes 40+ HRs 110+RBI .310+AVE

AL Central
1.Chicago White Sox
2.Detroit Tigers
3.Minnesota Twins
4.Kansas City Royals
5.Cleveland Indians

The White Sox were my pick last year and they really let me down. This year things are looking up for that other Chicago team. And as exciting it may have been for the city to sign a big slugger to flick into the middle of their line up, the true excitement will come from a healthy Peavy. I really like the pitching of the White Sox and I think that is what will make the difference for them. The Tigers have a lot of options and can give all of their veterans plenty of rest when needed so I think they will stay fresher throughout the course of the season, but I still don't think it will be enough for them or anyone else in the division to make the playoffs this year. The Twins have too many question marks. Too many players returning from injuries or battling current injuries and they lost too much in their bullpen while trying to depend on the patch work, bionic-man Joe Nathan to throw in the late innings of ball games even if he doesn't have to close as often with Capps there. I also believe that their pitching over performed last year and their only saving grace will be Liriano who will be traded by the deadline. The Royals and Indians are the Pirates of the american league; it's just disappointing that they are both in one division.

Insane Prediction: The white sox will have the ROY and Cy Young; Adam Dunn becomes the bargain of the year when he hits a career high in 45+HRS and career low in strike outs 90-; The twins realizing they are out of the race for the playoffs trade Liriano to the Yankees for a certain catching prospect to make sure Mauer can actually play with those knees throughout the life of his contract.(maybe this should be in reasonable predictions?)

Reasonable Prediction: The Twins never get a good footing on the season because Morneau cannot get a handle on his concussion and Mauer has bad knees making him DH more and taking at bats away from Thome and Kubel; Neither the Indians or Royals lose 100 games

AL West
1.Anaheim Angels
2.Texas Rangers
3.Oakland Athletics
4.Seattle Mariners

I think I would put the Angels as the 2nd best team in the AL. They have terrific defense up the middle, especially with 3 center fielders in the outfield. They can get a nice rest when needed because Abreu could play a few games out there still to keep everyone fresh. Morales will come back and hit and their pitching on paper looks outstanding. Every single one of their pitchers have had some form of success in the big leagues, if they can tap into any of that this season they are going to be a team to reckon with. The only reason I have the Rangers ahead of the Athletics is because the Rangers are just going to out hit people...Again...this year. If you put the Rangers offense and the Athletics pitching together, you have the best team in baseball. Unfortunately for the Athletics their best acquisition (no not matsui) has been david Dejesus. I just feel bad for this guy. He goes from a small market no winning team to a...small market no winning team. I see him as the Charlie Brown of baseball right now. I think the Rangers are depending too much on Webb coming back to even a shadow of himself and I think it is going to bite them in the ass. The Rangers outfield gets nicked up too much throughout the season, borbon hasn't proven he can handle the mental strain of a full season and there will still be too much turmoil between Michael Young and the front office. The mariners...well, they have a Cy Young Pitcher!

Insane Prediction: Brandon Webb wins come back player of the year as he wins another Cy Young and signs on to a Cliff Lee deal with the Yankees at the end of the season; despite Webb's heroic efforts through the season the Rangers still give up a record amount of runs throughout the season and just miss the playoffs.

Reasonable Prediction: The Angels skate into the playoffs winning the division by more than 5 games, have 4 players rack up 100+RBI and 20+SBs and 3 pitchers with 200+ K's.(maybe this should be in Insane predictions)

AL MVP: Kevin Youkilis
AL Cy Young: Jared Weaver
AL Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays
ALDS: Red Sox defeat White Sox, Angels defeat Rays
ALCS: Angels defeat Red Sox

NL East
1.Philadelphia Phillies
2.New York Mets
3.Atlanta Braves
4.Florida Marlins
5.Washington Nationals

Everyone knows about the Phillies big pitching staff. They will have more strike outs this year than Cliff Lee has travelled miles between teams over the last 3 years; by the time this group dispands they will have more cy youngs than charlie sheen has porn stars living with him. The staff is good! I get it! They will win their respected division and then do nothing in the playoffs because everybody in their line up hits left handed and every team in the playoffs has a pitcher or 2 who can throw a shut out and strike out lefties. I do not understand why everyone is counting out the mets. Last year everybody on that team was either injured for some part of the season or had career lows in production. If anything changes for the better at any position for the Mets they will plow through the playoff when they make it this year. I think their pitching will be fine for 2 reason. 1. Capuano is going to make this club and he is going to pitch like the Capuano who struck out close to 200 guys and won 18 games for the Brewers a couple years ago in the pitchers friendly park and 2. They are only going to get better come mid-season because they will be getting Santana back. DO NOT COUNT OUT THE METS! The last 3 teams I think could be interchangeable. The only thing that seperates the braves from the other 3 is their proven veteran pitching and offensive potential with Heyward, Uggla, Jones and McLouth. But, the Braves NEED Nate and Chipper to produce to do anything this year. The Marlins have a MVP candidate in Ramirez and Cy Young caliber pitcher in Johnson. But the rest of their team I think is lacking. I am also curious to see how well Infante plays as a full time 2nd basemen. The nationals signed Jason Werth! The nationals will contend in 2013, not this year.

Insane Prediction: Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran are 20-20 and 30-30 guys respectively and Pagan and Reyes each steal 40+ bases leading the Mets to the Wild Card and the World Series.

Reasonable Prediction: The Phillies prove that last years drop in production was an aberration and when healthy they will put you into federal pound you in the ass prison as soon as they get some runs and their 4 aces are on the mound. Chase Utley wins a gold glove and the MVP.

NL Central
1.Chicago Cubs
2.Milwaukee Brewers
3.St. Louis Cardinals
4.Pittsburgh Pirates
5.Cincinnati Reds
6.Houston Astros

I Like the Cubs this year for the NL Central. Their defense is something that they will be found wanting, but I think they overcome that and play just well enough to win this division. I like how they sured up their bullpen with Wood and their rotation with Garza who I believe is going to really help Big Z. In fact I think this may be the only club who knows what their starting rotation actually looks like, with some slight possibilities out there if need be. The do not really have any glaring holes in their line up and they evened it out with the signing of Carlos Pena. With Wainwright going down and Now Carpenter aging and having a nagging hamstring already, I think the Brewers pass them for the second best rotation in the Division. The biggest question for their rotation is can the guys they brought in pitch in the National League. I say yes, if they had any kind of success in the AL. This is Prince's last year with the team so he is going to playing with a chip on his shoulder this year and is going to be banging out some HRs. I think the only thing saving the Cardinals this year will be Pujols and some other offensive help from Holliday and it will end with him getting a 25+ million dollar a year contract with the team by the end of the year, otherwise I think the Cardinals are nothing special. The Reds are going to be this years Mets. A few of the guys are going to have a year worse than last year (Votto and Arroyo) and Their pitching will under perform as much as they over performed last year. I Also think the fact that they really are not sure what they want to do with Chapman is going to hurt them. Alright, the Pirates in 4th is really my wishful thinking. I like what we bring to the table offensively, but I am really nervous about the pitching. However, Hurdle likes what he see so far, so that should be a good sign, right? As far as the Astros go...I just feel bad for Hunter Pence.

Retarded Prediction: The Pirates lead the NL in runs scored and team batting average. They also have 2 gold glove winners in McCutchen and Overbay and lead the NL is Stolen Bases, helping the team to not only a winning record but a game out of the Wild Card.

Insane Prediction: Pujols wins another MVP by FINALLY belting 50+ HRs and gets his 30 MIL a year with some team next year even if it isn't the Cardinals.

Reasonable Prediction: The NL Central becomes the most competitive division in baseball and the Pirates have more than just 1 player representing them in the All-Star Game.

NL West
1.San Francisco Giants
2.Colorado Rockies
3.Los Angeles Dodgers
4.San Diego Padres
5.Arizona Diamondbacks

Besides the store bought staff of the Phillies, this is the best in baseball, and its home grown. Call me an environmentalist, but I prefer home grown. I also believe their offense is going to be better this year too. Everyone is coming around healthy (DeRosa and possibly Sanchez) and in better shape (panda). I also have to say its not bad when your #5 pitcher is making 15 million a year. The rockies are going to light up score boards this year, but beyond Jimenez they don't have a ton of pitching help. I think it could end up being a toss up between the Padres and Dodgers. The only reason I have the dodgers 3rd is because they have the better offense with decent pitching. The padres have no offense and their strongest part of their team, their bullpen, is always suspect. Relief pitching is the toughest to predict year in and year out. Though I do believe that Latos is a future Cy Young award winner, maybe even this year. The Diamondbacks get the curse of Zach Duke, enough said.

Insane Prediction: Carlos Gonzalez goes for the 40-40 and wins MVP with his buddy Troy coming in at a close 2nd with his 35 HRs, 120 RBI and .320 AVE.

Reasonable Prediction: The NL West will have the best pitching in the NL and will be known as the Losing Their Virginity Division: Fast and boring(with the exception of Rockie home games).

NL MVP: Chase Utley
NL Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano
NL Wild Card: New York Mets
NLDS: Cubs defeat Phillies, Mets defeat Giants
NLCS: Cubs defeat Mets
World Series: Angels defeat Cubs
Pirates Record: 84-78

Yes, Plenty of my predictions are reather outlandish...just go with it. You're all going to be pissing your pants when you see I'm right!

Pirates Preseason

Since no one responded to the movie post I put up, and spent a lot of time on, I assume interest is almost completely dead on this blog. But, if anyone still wants to discuss the Pirates please do.

I don't know if any of you read the PG Pirates Blog on a daily basis like I have for the last 2+ years, but the love fest Colin Dunlap has been giving to everyone makes it seem like the Buccos are going to win 120 games this year. Here is a summary of some of the players being talked about;

- Neil Walker is working hard at 2B and is looking fantastic, as well as his chemistry with Cedeno.
- Alvarez gained weight, but it is muscle so he should be fine. Translation - he will probably start camp out of shape and have a terrible first few months of the season.
- Tabata put on a lot of muscle and is crushing the ball to both Left and Right-Center. That I believe.
- Garrett Jones is slimed down. Not sure how that will help him because he seemed pretty slim before.
- Corey Wimberly is the next David Eckstein.
- Andrew Lambo is a future all-star
- Rudy Owens is looking excellent
- Jeff Locke is looking excellent
- Ross Ohlendorf works very hard.
- McCutchen is very fast and in run-down practice he could easily have beaten the fielders. Doesn't that say more about the defense?
- Morton is throwing a lot of fastball strikes. Translation - his ERA will drop from 7.57 to 6.57.
- Alex Presley has a nice compact swing. So did Mclouth, so we'll see how that turns out.
- Ryan Doumit is working hard on his defense, and so far is excelling. Translation - he will be an all-star catcher for another team.
- Matt Diaz is roping the ball and is good buddies with Cutch
- Paul Maholm increased his arm strength and is throwing 90 MPH now (just kidding...)
- Kevin Correia will shock everyone and finish as our ace. Translation - the rest of our pitchers are terrible.

That is all I can think of for now. I'm not saying he is lying or exaggerting in any way, but not once has he mentioned anyone looking bad. Do you think a beat writer covering the Pirates should be fair and balanced, or should he say the things that will make all the fans happy and delusional? In my opinion I would like to know which players have not progressed and what they need to work on so I at least have some idea of how they might perform this season. I know there are other sites that probably go over the weaknesses more in depth, but Dunlap has the most access to the team and should be in the best position to realistically evaluate players. Let me know what you think.

(Fantasy baseball time yet?)

The Year in Movies: 2010

I went on a movie bender the last month or so and have now seen most of the movies from 2010 that I wanted to see, with the notable exception of Scott Pilgrim v. the World and 127 Hours. In my opinion, this was an excellent year for movies and I enjoyed almost everyone I saw. Here are my rankings for the year as well as my Oscar picks;

The King's Speech
True Grit
Black Swan
Kick-Ass
Inception
The Social Network
The Fighter
The Kids Are All Right
How to Train Your Dragon
Toy Story 3
The Crazies
Shutter Island
Easy A
Winter's Bone
Despicable Me
Robin Hood
The Town
The Book of Eli
Salt
The A-Team
The Expendables
Clash of the Titans
The Other Guys
Date Night
Daybreakers
Legion
Saw: The Final Chapter
Alice in Wonderland
Valentine's Day
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
From Paris With Love

Best Animated Feature: How to Train your Dragon - Toy Story 3 is overrated, and seemed like it wanted to make you cry just for the sake of it. If I go by entertainment alone, Dragon would be my top pick. I did not see the Illusionist.

Best Director: My nominees would be very different from the actual nominees. I would nominate; Christopher Nolan (Inception), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (True Grit), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech). It is hard to argue against Hooper winning since King's Speech will win best picture, but in terms of scope and degree of difficulty, it would have to be Nolan. On a side note, did anyone else notice the Tarantino influence in Kick-Ass, especially in the last scene? It had a definitely Kill Bill feel to it.

Best Supporting Actress: Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit). She was outstanding. Melissa Leo (The Fighter) will win though.

Best Supporting Actor: Matt Damon (True Grit) - He is not even nominated but I am giving him a write-in vote. His character was the best in an otherwise amazing movie and I feel he got robbed in favor of Jeremy Renner. The Town was not very good, or original, and he was not even in the movie very much. If I have to pick one of the nominees, it would be Christian Bale (The Fighter).

Best Actress: Natalie Portman (Black Swan) will and should win. The final scene in Black Swan is one of the most moving I've ever seen.

Best Actor: Colin Firth (The King's Speech) will and should win. Best performance of the year by a long shot.

Best Picture: The King's Speech. I am very surprised that The Social Network was the early favorite. In my opinion, it is not even close. This was the most emotional I was in the theater since Gladiator, which is basically how I judge movies...

It would be pointless to do an Oscar's poll this year since most of the awards are set, but I'd be up for it anyway.

Reason no. 1,436 I am not the Pirates' GM

In continuation to what was said in the comments section;

In my opinion they have no chance this year no matter who they would have signed.

Here is what I would do; Draft Rendon, hope Sanchez and Lambo are ready for 2012, Allie and Taillon are ready for 2013, ditto for Rendon. Move Alvarez to 1B this season to get his defense ready, try out some young guys at 3B, maybe Josh Harrison or Farrell, give Pearce, Doumit, Diaz, Bowker, Presley, Jones, and Clement at bats, to see who, if any, should be starting at RF next season or should stay on our bench. Cut (explitive) Scott Olsen because he is one of the 5 worst starting pitchers over the last 5 years and give Lincoln, Morton, or Crotta a shot out of Spring Training. If they don't pan out, give Owens, Locke, or Watson - whoever has been pitching the best - a shot. They need to weed out some players and figure out the '12 and '13 rotations.

As much as I rag on him, Overbay is not the worst option in the world. I just cannot see any reason whatsoever to sign him in the first place. Why waste the money, even though it is not much, when you aren't going to compete. Does anyone think we can beat the Reds or Cardinals?? There are arguments that 1) he will improve the defense, which we sorely need at 1B, 2) if he plays well we could trade him, and 3) we didn't spend very much to replace Garrett Jones with a better all around player. Those are all fine and good. However, none of those answers the questions of how could Overbay push us over the edge in the short term, or how will he not hurt player development in the long term? He could tutor Alvarez at 1B, but I seem to be the only one considering moving him in the first place.

Again, this is why I am not the GM. If I was, they would probably win 30 games this year while losing another year with McCutchen. I am just hoping to see near .500 in 2012, and playoffs 2013. After that, we lose Cutch and are completely screwed.

Too early for preseason rankings?

To hell with it. Here goes;

1. Boston Red Sox: Another year under the belts of Buchholz and Lester should give the Red Sox the top rotation in the AL. They still have vets Beckett, Lackey, and Matsuzaka to provide supporting roles, and no way Beckett can be as bad as last season, right? I think their offense is upgraded with the additions of Gonzalez and Crawford, even though they lost Beltre and V. Mart. These guys are a shoe-in for the playoffs, it is just a matter of how far they go.
2. Philadelphia Phillies: The best rotation in history? Maybe. Definitely the best that I can remember. How good is it? Their 5th starter, Joe Blanton, would be the Pirates' ace. Their offense is getting old though and will need to score some runs, but with these pitchers 4 RPG might win 100 games...
3. St. Louis Cardinals: Solid offense, solid pitching. Same old story for the Cards. Berkman and Theriot are upgrades so they may have the legs to overtake the Reds this year.
4. Chicago White Sox: I think Adam Dunn will make a big difference as he finally gets a chance to play for a winning team. Peavy will improve, and as long as their young guys progress (Beckham, Morel, Sale), the Sox should run away with the Central division.
5. Texas Rangers: They lost Lee, but they still have a pretty good pitching corps. If Webb can get them 30 starts AND be healthy for the playoffs, and Hamilton doesn't break down, they could make another run. Having Michael Young as your 4th best infielder is a nice luxury to have.
6. San Francisco Giants: They beat the Rangers in the World Series, but are below them in the power rankings? Well, they obviously overachieved last season and making a similar run will be damn near impossible.
7. Cincinnati Reds: Same team as last season, so not much should change. They have a lot of young starting pitching so they could be inconsistent, but should again challenge the Cards for NL Central supremacy.
8. Atlanta Braves: No way Nate McLouth hits as poorly as he did last season, and, if given a chance, I think he will be a decent starter this year. They need a proven first baseman and a closer, but I think they are close. Who knows what will happen in the first year in franchise history without Bobby Cox.
9. New York Yankees: They are running out of time to win with this group. Pettitte will probably come back later in the year, but with Jeter, Posada, and ARod all in the twilight of their careers, they are going to need big efforts from the supporting cast to sneak into the postseason. Shouldn't be too difficult considering who their supporting cast is.
10. Tampa Bay Rays: They just lost way too much. A tough offseason for the Rays as it looks like last season was their best chance to win in the next couple years. Jennings, Hellickson, Wade Davis, Birgnac, and Sean Rodriguez are all budding stars, but it will be too much for the young guys to shoulder this season to make the playoffs.
11. Minnesota Twins: No way Carl Pavano puts up the numbers he did last season, especially after signing a contart. Mauer, Morneau, and Liriano are good, but nothing better than mediocre after them. But, they always seem to overachieve so they could make another late season run.
12. Los Angeles Angels: Not sure why they didn't push harder for Beltre, Crawford, and Soriano since those are the team's biggest 3 needs and they have a lot of money to play with, but they didn't and now have to ride their injury prone pitching staff this season. It is a big IF, but if the pitching stays healthy, and Kazmir gets back to pitching like he used to, they might give Texas something to think about.
13. Detroit Tigers: It seems like Magglio Ordonez has been around forever. I remember when I used to confuse him with Rey Ordonez. That was a long time ago... He is going to give it another go though, and with a good combination of veterans and youth, the Tigers could compete with the White Sox and Twins.
14. Chicago Cubs: They traded away Gorzelanny so they woudl have a spot for Carlos Silva? I don't get it. Carlos Pena helps a little, as does Matt Garza, but this team has the potential to fall quickly in the rankings.
15. Milwaukee Brewers: Greinke makes them better, and re-signing Fielder was big (ha), but I still think they are a pitcher short to make a run. If they are still hanging around in the NL central in July they could make a move for a big name pitcher and make a run like they did a few years ago.
16. Los Angeles Dodgers: They needed to get a star LF to help Kemp and Ethier, so they got Marcus Thames. Good choice. Kershaw, Billingsley, and co. will keep them in contention but they will need to get a big bat if they want to get over the hump.
17. Florida Marlins: A good, young rotation surrounded by a young, talented offense. They will be inconsistent but could potentially move much higher in the rankings as the season progresses.
18. Oakland Athletics: Have the best young rotation in the league, but no offense to back it up. Even Godzilla cannot save them.
19. Colorado Rockies: They have 3 stars, but other than that it is mediocrity. Todd Helton is the only starting 1B I'd want to have less than Overbay. He needs to get his hands on some Deer Antler PEDs. Ray Lewis knows where to get them.
20. Toronto Blue Jays: My adopted team still has a long way to go to catch the Rays and Yankees, but they are on the right track. Their minor league teams are loaded, they have 5 quality, young starting pitchers, and Lyle Overbay is off of their roster. Not that the Adam Lind/Travis Snider/Edwin Encarnacion combo is much better, but their pitching alone will give them hope of leaping Tampa and New York in the next few years.
21. New York Mets: Not sure why I have them this high considering Santana is out until May or so, but their offense is potentially good barring injuries. That is the best I can say about them...
22. Baltimore Orioles: Maybe I was too generous with this team's ranking last year, but they still have a decent offense especially after adding Reynolds and Hardy. The pitching though, is one of the worst in the league.
23. San Diego Padres: They lost Gonzalez and Garland and think they could be better than the overachieving team of last season? Not likely. Mat Latos, all missing T's of him, is a legitimate ace.
24. Cleveland Indians: Take a look at Grady Sizemore's career numbers and try to tell me he is not the most overrated player of all time. These guys don't have enough pitching to contend, but Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, and Choo are reasons to get excited.
25. Washington Nationals: They have like 12 #4 starters and zero 1-3 pitchers. Not a recipe for success. At least Adam LaRoche adds another team to his list for his bid to play on all 30 teams.
26. Arizona D'Backs: Did anyone else notice the ungodly numbers Daniel Hudson put up last season after he was trade to Arizona? Is it fitting that the last pitcher to put up those kind of numbers in the second half of the season during their rookie campaign just got traded to them? Let's hope he doesn't follow the example set.
27. Houston Astros: This team just needs to scrap the roster and start over. Is there a less exciting roster than the Astros'? I say no. "Oooo Hunter Pence just hit a wicked double." Do they say wicked in Houston? Whatever, they suck.
28. Kansas City Royals: Losing Greinke means they have no shot to contend this year. However, the pieces are definitely there for this franchise to move on up the Central Division in the coming years, especially with the Tigers and Twins getting older, and the Indians... well.. they are the Indians.
29. Seattle Mariners: Poor Jack Wilson. One terrible franchise to the next... Felix Hernandez, God-Like as he is, cannot do it alone. Hell, even having Cliff Lee didn't help. Neither does having Franklin Gutierrez as your second best hitter.
30. Pittsburgh Pirates: OVERBAY! OVERBAY! OVERBAY! Sorry guys, the Pirates are terrible. In 2 more years though...

That was a lot of rambling... Let me know what ya'll think.