Game of the Century - 1/20/68

Front page from Sunday, Jan. 21, 1968.

I really wanted to post something about this last Sunday on the official anniversary, but alas, my laziness got the better of me. This past Sunday, the 20th of January, was the 40th anniversary of the Game of the Century when the #2 University of Houston Cougars lead by Elvin "Big E" Hayes defeated the then #1 UCLA Bruins and big man Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) 71-69 at the Houston Astrodome in front of over 52,000+ screaming fans. The Coogs victory snapped UCLA's 47-game winning streak and essentially put college basketball on the proverbial map as this was the first ever college basketball game that was nationally televised in primetime. Granted, UCLA defeated Houston in both the 1967 and 1968 national championship games, but it was this magical game that proved the viability of college basketball as part of the pantheon of major sports. Despite attempts by Houston AD Dave Maggard and head coach Tom Penders, it is rumored that UCLA coach Ben Howland refused to play the Cougars this season in Houston. Let's hope in 10 years that UCLA will be ready to celebrate the anniversary of the Game of the Century as it was meant to be celebrated with a rematch.

For more introspection on the game, check out The Game of the Century.

Beaten With A Shoe

For your Wednesday Afternoon viewing:

Oscar Nominations

Well, Oscar nominations came out this morning [click here] and I call can say is that there really aren't any major surprises, especially coming off the other hundreds of other awards being handed out by different groups (Golden Globes, BAFTAs, etc.). Some of the most notable performances that were not recognized by the Academy include Tom Hanks in Charlie Wilson's War, Denzel Washington and/or Russell Crowe in American Gangster, Josh Brolin and/or Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men, and lest we forget Cuba Gooding Jr. in Daddy Day Camp (the sequel to Daddy Day Care and a movie who's concept is so bad, even Eddie Murphy wouldn't appear in it).

A quick breakdown of the major categories:

Best Picture - Out of the five, I have only seen No Country For Old Men (surprising, I know). I missed Michael Clayton in theaters, but my mom assured me it was an outstanding movie. I plan on seeing There Will Be Blood this week and maybe will try to sneak into a screening of Juno. [Ed. note: Did I say sneak in? I totally meant exit the theater and purchase a new ticket for that showing.] And if my fellow blogger over at filmdrunk.com is to be believed, I have no interest in seeing Atonement, but will do so when it gets to video and only if it wins.

Best Actor - Again, I haven't seen any of these except for Eastern Promises and my review was already posted here, but Viggo's performance was the only saving grace of the film. I don't know what In the Valley of Elah is, but if they nominated that performance for TLJ instead of No Country, I am sure it was an amazing performance. I plan to see Sweeney Todd very soon as well, but my brother has told me great things about Depp's performance and Burton's direction.

Best Actress - I have seen none of these and therefore, I cannot comment.

Best Supporting Actor - The competition in this category is sick and I have only seen 2 of the movies. Javier Bardem's portrayal of the bad dude in No Country was one of the scariest villains I can remember in a long time and everytime he used the air gun thingamajig, I jumped in my seat a little. Bardem's performance gave me chills the same way that Anthony Hopkins did in Silence of the Lambs. Also, Philip Seymour Hoffman was his usual amazing self in Charlie Wilson's War. If the competition was just between these two, I would have trouble choosing a winner and then, there are three other performances I have heard good things about, especially Casey Affleck (though I am a little surprised he got the nom for Assassination of Jesse James rather than in big brother's Gone Baby Gone).

Best Supporting Actress - The only one of these I have seen is American Gangster and for the life of me, I cannot recall which character Ruby Dee played [ed. note - she played Denzel's mother]. I am assuming Cate Blanchett will win for Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress, so my guess is that she wins for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in this category.

Best Animated Film - Ratatouille hands down.

A review of the Razzie nominations will be forthcoming in the next few days.

History of the Civil War ...

in a mere four and a half minutes. Pretty cool stuff.



[h/t HCT]