circular connections
there has been quite a bit of attention paid recently to the New England Patriots and their 20-game winning streak (longest of all-time; their 17 straight regular season wins is also a record), and whether this makes them the greatest team ever, especially given the age of parity in which they play. but across the pond, another team is about to mark an undefeated milestone as Arsenal look to make it 50 straight unbeaten games (by far the longest unbeaten streak in British football history) against Manchester United at Old Trafford this weekend. the managers are already talking smack at each other ahead of that match so it should be a pretty fun one, even if you don't like either team.
this all came together in my mind last night while watching "Fever Pitch" between innings of the baseball game. based on Nick Hornby's book, Colin Firth plays a long-suffering Arsenal fan who finds love during the same season that Arsenal win a stirring victory of the league title with a last second goal against Liverpool (this happened in 1989). he's as outwardly pissy and pessimistic about his team as i am about the Sox, but in the end he's out there dancing with everyone else and he learns that his whole life doesn't have to revolve around his team. i'd like to think that that's a lesson i don't need to learn, but it was a heartening thing to see amidst the chaos of the LCS. it may have even given me a little hope (since 1989, Arsenal have become an almost Yankees-like juggernaut in the Premiership, finishing 1st or 2nd every year since 1998). and then i see today that they're adapting the movie for American audiences, with the main character now being a Red Sox fan (and being played by Jimmy Fallon...ick). that can't be a good sign. but there's no real life triumph for them to use in this movie, at least not yet. maybe they'll have a reason to do some re-writes in a few weeks time.
Comments
They should just hurry up and push Jimmy Fallon's career trajectory along the same path as Chevy Chase's, but accelerated: give him a talk show ASAP, cancel it a day later, and then let him drop out of sight for the rest of his life.
Posted by: Jim | October 19, 2004 04:28 PM
Acutally, the Patriots are tied for the record for regular season wins with the 1933-34 Chicago Bears. Fun facts: George Halas was a player-owner on that team, and it featured Beattie Feathers, who in addition to having a funny name became in 1934 the first NFL player to run for 1,000 yards in a season.
Jimmy Fallon eats ass. His appeal is limited to teenage girls who think he's funny only because they think he's cute.
Posted by: David | October 19, 2004 07:35 PM
and he's really hanging by a thread with the cute thing. icky.
Posted by: bibimop | October 20, 2004 10:53 AM
just be happy the remake didn't go the way it was originally supposed to - 5 years ago billy crystal was set to star as the frustrated 30-something red sox fan.
Posted by: alex j | October 20, 2004 10:58 AM
oh god, that would have been a total trainwreck.
Posted by: jamie | October 20, 2004 11:12 AM
Further proof that Jimmy Fallon is Sandler lite- his costar is Drew Barrymore. Colin Firth would have been a better choice to play this role.
Posted by: jake | October 20, 2004 11:29 AM
some years ago, 5 maybe?, i saw bill murray on oprah saying he thought mr fallon was the most promising comedian around. at the time, i had just started noticing his strange appeal on saturday night live but it seems that that moment was the peak of his talent but only the beginning of his popularity. since then, he grew more and more (over)exposed on saturday night live and turned out to be his own biggest fan, laughing long and hard at his own jokes when no one else, save horatio sanz, found much to giggle at. now his embarrasing run on SNL is over and that taxi movie is painful enough in 1 minute previews that i can't even imagine the horror of the full length film. reviews keep wondering where the terrific actor from "almost famous" went. what? he sucked in that role along with the rest of that overrated film. his smarminess factor has exponentially increased in the last 5 years, leaving him with nothing else.
Posted by: crispin | October 20, 2004 12:27 PM
Cara, Jess and I fell in love w/ Jimmy Fallon his first night on SNL. But he totally went downhill from there. I HATED that they kept him on the news even though he fucked up EVERY time. Tina Fey RULES, she should've been the sole news anchor.
Speaking of firing people who speak on television, these fucking ALCS announcers should be shot. "Well, if the Red Sox win, this could very well be the most important win of this franchise's history." Ya think?! Beating the Yankees for the penant, after being down three? Really? Dumbasses.
Holy shit we rule. I never gave up hope on you guys! Never! Now just don't fuck it up in these last innings. And don't choke in the next series!
Go Sox!
Posted by: Claire | October 20, 2004 10:52 PM
Is it called a penant for the league title, or only the World Series?
Posted by: Claire | October 20, 2004 10:54 PM
winning the pennant is winning the League Championship. winning the World Series is, well, winning the World Series.
Posted by: jamie | October 21, 2004 09:36 AM
yeah i have been a life long arseanl fan and am i a yankee fan.Its true they have finished almost first or 2nd but so have man utd and have seen the original fever pitch which was a pure n simple story.I wished they had filmed it on the yankees.But the Arsenal one is original.tALKING ABOUT CYCLES the same week Arsenals streak was ended at 49 so was New Englands.Hope both teams can bounce back. Up the Arse!!!
Posted by: Hardik | November 2, 2004 04:21 AM