Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 2/3/23
Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out.
Movies
–80 for Brady (Theaters)
–Knock at the Cabin (Theaters)
TV
–South Park Season 26 Premiere (February 8 on Comedy Central)
Music on TV
-65th Annual Grammy Awards (February 5 on CBS)
Music
-John Frusciante, . I : and : I I .
Podcasts
–Drifting Off with Joe…
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Nick Shook at NFL.com:
The NFL's annual showcase of its top stars is undergoing a transformation in 2023.
The Pro Bowl, an all-star game pitting the best from the AFC and NFC, will become "The Pro Bowl Games," the NFL announced Monday.
Gone is the traditional game played at the end of Pro Bowl week. A flag football game featuring the season's Pro Bowlers will take its place at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023.
The week will be about more than Sunday's game, with the addition of new challenges intended to showcase Pro Bowlers' football and non-football skills in unique competitions.
All of this is intended to create a fresh take on what had become quite stale. At its core, the purpose of the Pro Bowl is to show off the abilities of the best football players on the planet. But with the game comes a risk of injury, and the top athletes in today's game are understandably unwilling to give it their all in a game that matters for nothing but, well, bragging rights.
What the NFL received in recent years was a game played closer to half-speed than full-go, especially in the trenches. It instead became an arena for wacky plays and lots of laughs, but not in the most competitive style.
With this change, the league will attempt to again ignite the flame of competition with a lower-risk, but still highly entertaining new format.
[...]
The NFL found that fans very much enjoyed the skills competition that preceded the Pro Bowl, with stars partaking in events such as dodgeball, precision passing and best catch competitions, and races to determine the fastest man. It created content that was both entertaining in a live viewing setting, and in clips spread throughout social media platforms.
The inclusion of a flag football game follows this same line of thinking, hopefully returning a level of competition that is both enjoyable and legitimate -- without the risks associated with a full-speed, full-contact football game.
The traditional tackle football Pro Bowl game has been jettisoned in favor of a flag football game and additional skill competitions beforehand. The games were basically a glorified 2-hand touch/flag football hybrid competition anyway in the last 10 years or so.
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https://x.com/whodeyaces/status/1752867789059088851?s=46&t=4nsvGMTnbYsCN_2D0a2rJg
Wait did is he trolling us or ?!?
WAIT.
That is his hand tattoo he got last year.
This is what he put on his story "today"
This is what he looked like in high school....
I think we've been tricked!!!!!!!
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Every Star and No All-Stars
What do you need: a trophy? Actually, that would be nice. But an object indicating supremacy is just something else to dust. True all-stars possess mental awards. Winning a popularity contest is unnecessary. Freaking out about the lack of accolades is for those who either crave sanction or don’t have the stats to impress.
In an ideal world, nobody cares about who a shady panel endorses. But apathy never wins when it should. Getting agitated about snubs is a sign of self-doubt. Save anger for weighty issues that affect the world like officials who don’t know how to define a pass. Oh, and it’d be nice to have universal peace and prosperity or whatever.
The quantity is as questionable as the quality. Fans could probably think of Bills who deserved to prance in this year’s mock competitions, not to mention Bills who were more deserving than those selected. But the purported honor is even more meaningless than the rest of existence. The only thing any competitor who’s truly one of the two or three best deserves is to enjoy vacation.
Competitors added for reasons unrelated to play serve the important purpose of not relying on credentials. Unworthy winners exploit name recognition regardless of faded skills or injury. For an all-time example, Ruben Brown looks like a Hall of Famer for throwing a party that convinced invitees to keep bringing him back. It’s easier than playing at that level.
Truth is absolute regardless of how many believe it. There’s no need for validation. You’ll know. Don’t fret about some snarky Bengals fan on Twitter citing Pro Bowl appearances in making the case of supremacy. An amateur argument based in not watching play is perfect for our times. Results are the only thing to value, and not during simulacrums.
Pin a ribbon to your coat next to your mittens so everyone knows just how special you are. Distinctions are nice to have and also nice to know is unneeded. Anyone who says you’re awesome should be allowed to speak. But you’re already super even if nobody points it out. Those excelling are not searching for lauding. The insecurity of needing acknowledgment is also a reflection of inferiority.
Glaring omissions routinely happen in every sport just like the outrage shouldn’t. Take my BFF point guard Jalen Brunson, who’s accomplished the seemingly impossible task of making the Knicks relevant. Some Knickerbocker backers fume that he only made the All-Star Game as a reserve. But he’s already featured on the back page of Gotham tabloids. Votes don’t count for anything meaningful, which makes it a bit too much like the rest of life. Sports indeed offer life lessons.
Heed lessons in silliness from a process somehow more infuriatingly capricious than naming a league’s top players. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is the least rock & roll thing ever, which is just another reason to listen instead of visiting. There’s nothing more subjective than music. There are no statistics other than sales, and by that metric Taylor Swift is the greatest. Science knows that to be the wrongest thought ever conceived.
As for an egregious exclusion, Motörhead still not being inducted is merely the most egregious insult to rock from a venue that purports to celebrate it. Our lord and savior Lemmy will remain just as awesome the day after the historical injustice of his outfit’s exclusion is rectified. The lamest of institutions is inadvertently helpful in demonstrating the eternal shame of not knowing a thing about who rocks.
Play well enough to receive a chance for slacking. Gatherings of the world’s best inside one venue should logically lead to the best games ever. And any Eddie Murphy movie should be hilarious, yet unfortunate viewers have sulked through more of his work than laughed deliriously. Giving a bad name to exhibitions isn’t really a benefit. People who’ve enjoyed an all-star game in any sport are the target audience for timeshare salesmen.
There are rightfully no stakes or way to invent any. Those taking the field for the equivalent of AI football either play to their utmost in the sports we cherish and risk injury or goof around in the skills competition that resembles the sports in the same sense vegans enjoy Portobello mushrooms just as much as porterhouses. Skill competitions aren’t fooling anyone unless pretending to care counts. Baseball’s attempt to make it relevant by granting home-field advantage has thankfully been discarded, unlike the absurdity of getting to hit without fielding.
What did Hawaii do to the NFL? The free trip to paradise would be especially welcome now for a rebuilding island chain. Instead, a heartless league doesn’t even grant obligated attendees a voyage out of the continental United States to the balmy freak state.
The only concern should be games played in the uniform of their employer. Noticing how they fare when standings are affected is infinitely more valuable than the original fantasy roster. Standing around and pretending to compete flaunts what an afterthought the actual event is.
Draftees envy non-all-stars get to catch up on their streaming queues. Diehard followers would much rather their heroes have the time off than a white elephant gift of an appointment. Coerced participation in perspiration-free affairs that make scrimmages seem relatively enthusiastic feature the best at their worst.
Do you know Josh Allen is the best? If so, then that’s the only needed prestige. Wholly uninformed voting blocs pick shady candidates who only impress deluded types like Michael Scott. You don’t need a medal. That’s what she said. It’s as nice to have laurels as it is fine to live without receiving them.
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I thought as a general rule the players that are invited to the pro bowl decide to decline it if their team ends up making it to the Super Bowl bc they don’t want to risk injury in something that’s basically a Just For Fun Game right before the Most Important Game Of The Year
Yeah, you don’t want one of your players injuring themselves doing a silly little game right before the big game.
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