A couple of days ago, I was listening to a podcast between Bill Simmons and Chris Connelly, and an interesting topic was brought up: "What is the defining movie of the '00's?" I stopped and initially thought, "I don't know if there is one".
So, I checked out all of the Oscar lists and Best Seller lists- nothing really jumped out at me. Almost Famous? Nah. Spiderman? Please. The Pianist? I'd rather not. The whole time they were discussing it, I couldn't think of what is THE movie of the '00s. It finally came to be about the same time it did for them-- it has to be The Dark Knight, right?
Isn't that sort of a bad thing? I mean, sure it was my favorite movie I've seen in years, but think about the 90's: GoodFellas, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump. That's three right off the top of my head, and the lastest of those came out 15 years ago!
And so, on the depressing notion that there hasn't been many great movies made in over a decade, I bequeath to you, the Links of the Week:
They call this the “Most Spectacular Indoor Soccer Goal Ever”. I’ll have to see it to believe it. Okay, I believe it.
ESPN's college basketball expert Andy Katz speculates that since the Purdue Boilermakers will be good this season, and the NCAA Finals will be held in Indianapolis, they could be this year’s 
“Michigan State”. As much as I like to disagree with Andy Katz, I’d have to agree with him here. The Baby Boiler have grown up, with their famous ‘08’ class of Valpo’s Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson, and E’Tuwan Moore, the Boilers have NCAA Tournament experience and a Big 10 Championship under their belt. With the downturn of Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois, Purdue is the Big 10 team to beat—along with the NCAA.
ESPN has announced their new ombudsman (link via The Big Lead), Don Ohlemeyer. If you don’t already know, an ombudsman is essentially is sort of the honest voice of an organization to the public. I love reading the ombudsman columns; I think any business should have one, especially media businesses. The previous ESPN ombudsman, Le Ann Schreiber was excellent at her role. You can read her archive here.
Reason number #2,348,879 why I haven’t been following the NHL: The league’s commissioner, Gary Bettman, who was responsible for the league's lost season, earned a $9M last season. Ugh.
Monday night was Home Run Derby Night for the All Star Break. This normally exciting event was actually pretty boring, as the St. Louis fans only got pumped up for Albert Pujols, who barely advanced to the 2nd round. Deadspin creator Will “Emeritus” Leitch returned to write an article defending of all people, Chris Berman for his ability to broadcast “such a boring event.” I normally take any side against Chris “It’s Chilly Out So I Must Be Cold, Ber”-man, but this article is actually a good read.
When the headline says “Phillip Rivers Gets beat By A High Schooler”, it’s case closed that you don’t draft that person in Fantasy Football, right?
If you need another reason why Chicago needs to get the next summer Olympics, its called money. Beijing made $383 million.
This website, right here, may be a sign that A) some people have way too much time on their hands, or B) the Apocalypse may be near. Similar to many sports-based websites, Mediaite.com offers “Power Rankings” to members of the media based on… well, no one knows. Unfortunately, Brett Fuller ranks nowhere near the top 10,000… yet.
Since this past Day After the All-Star Game, known as the barren day of sports with no NFL, NBA, NHL, or MLB, ESPN ran the Jimmy V Day, a day where all of the network and its affiliates dedicate their time to raising money for the Jimmy V Fund. The special part of the Jimmy V Fund: all of the administration fees are paid in full for the future, so every dime given goes directly to research. For those of you who have never seen the Jimmy V Speech, watch it. The 10 minutes is well worth it.
Lastly, if you like reading, here's Malcolm Gladwell’s epic study of whether or not coaches should full-court press more in basketball in the New Yorker is actually a really great read. Gladwell, #5 on the aforementioned Mediaite list (I promise I will never reference that again), demonstrates why teams with less athletic ability should using every means possible to give the hard-worker the bigger advantage. If you work for a small business or coach a little league team, I’m serious, spend the 20 minutes and read it.