Merry Christmas from Lady Gaga!

This photo of Lady Gaga was taken in London after a show called Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball -- I assume Capital FM is a radio station, and the Jingle Bell Ball featured multiple artists, because that's what shows like this in the USA feature. The antlers are a nice touch, no?

Amazon.com has a "25 Days Of Free" promotion -- each day until Christmas there's a free download of a holiday tune. Yesterday's song was "Christmas Tree" by Lady Gaga featuring Space Cowboy. Download it here. If you love Gaga you'll love the song, but if you're more of the traditional Christmas music type, you might not enjoy it. You can listen to the entire track in the YouTube clip below -- there's no actual video, only lyrics.

Post-Thanksgiving coach curse hits Flyers' Stevens

An interesting trend has developed in recent years involving the Flyers' annual day-after-Thanksgiving matinee home games: one of the teams playing the game has fired their head coach for 4 years in a row.

In 2006 the Columbus Blue Jackets fired coach Gerard Gallant and eventually replaced him with former Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock, who made his Columbus debut at the Wachovia Center the day after Thanksgiving. The next year the Washington Capitals fired their head coach, Glen Hanlon, and Bruce Boudreau took over -- against the Flyers, the day after Thanksgiving.

Slightly going against the tide, last year the Carolina Hurricanes faced the Flyers in the Black Friday afternoon game, but they actually waited until December to fire coach Peter Laviolette.

This year's post-Thanksgiving game featured the Flyers and Buffalo Sabres, but in a twist, it wasn't the Sabres firing their coach. Instead, it was the Flyers, who fired John Stevens today -- and in another twist, Laviolette has taken his place.

Stevens seemed to be a promising choice at first. He coached the AHL Phantoms to a championship in 2004-05, and a number of players from that team have been Flyers since then. However, despite one strong run to the Eastern Conference finals, the team has been maddeningly inconsistent, as I mentioned last night. This year, with the additions of Chris Pronger and Ray Emery to a team that already had players like Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, expectations for a Stanley Cup run were very high. But the hot and cold streaks have kept this team from living up to their hype.

Last night, after their dismal 3-0 loss to Vancouver, I wrote the following about the Flyers' recent stretch: "This is the type of thing that should get a coach fired. The sooner it happens, the better off the Flyers will be." It should be noted that another highly-touted team, Pittsburgh, struggled mightily for a good part of last year. The Penguins then made a coaching change and promptly won the Stanley Cup. And Laviolette won a Cup with Carolina in 2005-06. So, less than 24 hours after I wrote that, the Flyers are instantly better off. I wish I had such power over other matters.

No answers for Flyers either

While the 76ers have taken center stage in the last few days, the other tenant of the Wachovia Center needs some attention. The Flyers' season has gone like this: 3 wins in a row, then 0-2-1, then 2 wins, then 2 losses, then a stretch of 7 wins in 8 games, and now their current stretch of 6 losses in 7 games, including being shut out in two consecutive games.

What's worse is that they've been this inconsistent pretty much since John Stevens took over as coach, and it hasn't improved. They have injuries, but not to their most important players. This week there's been talk about the team's leadership. Tonight's game against Vancouver was looked at as almost a must-win game, but a 3-0 loss to a Canucks team that played a tough game last night while the Flyers had 4 days' rest leaves the Flyers in 10th place in the Eastern Conference. If the season ended right now, besides the lost revenue from so many unplayed games, the Flyers would miss the playoffs.

Even worse are these comments by the Vancouver TV announcers during tonight's game (as posted to a Flyers' message board): "Un-Flyer-like...No puck support...The players look like they are playing in isolation, not as a team...There's no passion, no emotion, on that [Flyers'] bench...I'm surprised it took the fans this long [third period] to start booing...Under Stevens, this [Flyers] team is only consistent in being inconsistent...This [Flyers] team is too talented to play like this."

This is the type of thing that should get a coach fired. The sooner it happens, the better off the Flyers will be.

Is The Answer really the answer for 76ers?

You may have heard that the 76ers have signed Allen Iverson to a contract. The same 76ers who told him to stay home before trading him to Denver in 2006, having tired of a decade of drama -- the "We're talkin' about practice!" rant, the ball-hogging, the clashing with coaches, the occasional off-court incident -- now have decided to bring him back.

Iverson provided a lot of excitement over the years to go along with that drama, but he's now 34 years old. From all reports he isn't quite at the elite level he once was. He still thinks he is, however. That's why he ended up unemployed and temporarily retired after dismal stints in Detroit and Memphis (the latter lasting three games), as those teams wouldn't give him the amount of playing time he felt he deserved.

In his press conference today Iverson said all the right things, such as "All I told (GM Ed Stefanski) was give me an assignment and I will help you win basketball games." But when he hits the court, will those words be forgotten? What happens when guard Lou Williams, out eight weeks with a broken jaw and whose absence is ostensibly the reason the Sixers signed Iverson, returns? The Sixers have been emphasizing giving their young players experience in order to become a better team in the long run. Will Iverson accept playing fewer minutes? He hasn't the last two years.

And with a team who, under new head coach Eddie Jordan, is still trying to learn to play the Princeton offense, an offense that requires lots of passing, how is Iverson going to fit in? He's never been known for spreading the ball around. What happens if Jordan sits Iverson for longer stretches because he doesn't fit the system? Or, worse, what if Jordan revises the system to fit Iverson's needs?

I don't really see this working. To me, there is only one valid reason to bring back "The Answer," and if the Sixers were honest they'd admit it: they want to sell tickets. The team is 5-14, they've lost 8 in a row, and they're next-to-last in the entire NBA in attendance. They've been an afterthought in the minds of the sports public. But since word first broke that they were interested in Iverson, suddenly they're garnering a lot more pages of coverage in the papers and many more calls on sports talk radio (not to mention getting me to write all of this -- I hardly ever watch the NBA).

And the excitement provided by "The Answer" on the court in his first stint here has seemingly made a lot of fans nostalgic. Reports are that tickets are selling fast for their home games next week, when Iverson is expected to make his debut.

The problem is, historically the 76ers have not had as loyal a fan base as the Eagles and Flyers. If they're not winning they have trouble drawing big crowds. Even with Iverson, when the Sixers struggled after their peak of reaching the 2001 NBA Finals, attendance started to drop. Barring a miracle, bringing back Allen Iverson is a temporary solution -- both on the court and at the box office.

Joe Millionaire: Most-Watched TV? Really?

One of these things is not like the other...this is a list of the top 10 TV episodes of the decade.

1. Friends, “The Last One,” May 6, 2004 — 52.5 million
2. Survivor: Borneo, “Season Finale,” Aug. 23, 2000 — 51.7 million
3. Joe Millionaire, “Season Finale,” Feb. 17, 2003 — 40 million
4. ER, “All in the Family,” Feb. 17, 2000 — 39.4 million
5. American Idol, “Minneapolis Auditions,” Jan. 16, 2007 — 38.1 million
6. Grey’s Anatomy, “It’s the End of the World,” Feb. 5, 2006 — 38 million
7. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, May 3, 2000 — 36 million
8. Frasier, “Something Borrowed, Someone Blue,” May 18, 2000 — 33.7 million
9. Everybody Loves Raymond, “The Finale,” May 16, 2005 — 32.9 million
10. Spin City, “Goodbye,” May 24, 2000 — 32.8 million

The "Joe Millionaire" entry just sticks out like a sore thumb, doesn't it? You didn't think "reality" TV could get worse in 7 years, did you? And whatever happened to that Evan Marriott guy, anyway? Gay-for-pay porn? Country music singer? Ballpark hot dog vendor? Judging from the picture, I'm guessing porn...

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 12-2-09

It scares me a bit that iTunes added a Christmas song to the mix just because I re-selected my holiday music to add it to my iPod. It's as if iTunes knows it's December or something! There's also a bit of a Motown trend, which doesn't scare me at all.

Right In The Middle (Of Falling In Love) - Bettye Lavette
Can't Get Enough Of You Baby - Smash Mouth
Come What May - Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor
Fame - Eurythmics
Take Me Home (Rap) - Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam
Surrender - Diana Ross
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) (Frisco Disco Mix) - Sandra Bernhard
Remember Why (It's Christmas) - Alexander O'Neal
Got To Give It Up (Pt. 1) - Marvin Gaye
Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours - Stevie Wonder
Sweetmeat - The Soup Dragons
Dedicated To The One I Love - The Mamas & The Papas
Who Will Save Your Soul - Jewel

My Week In Comics 11-25-09

I've got eight books to write about. This is a bit much. I'm going to try something: writing just one pertinent sentence about each one.

Superman 694: Mon-El returns to Metropolis with a new uniform, new way of talking...and a new attitude!

World's Finest 2 (of 4): The Guardian and Robin take on Parasite and Mr. Freeze, and the new Robin is just as much a snot-nosed punk in this book as he is in the Batman books.

(Hmmmm...I kinda like this one-sentence deal...)

Detective Comics 859: Continuing Batwoman's origin story, this issue features lots of girl-on-girl action and the disgrace of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell military policy -- with gay activist Lt. Dan Choi getting a credit for "his generous assistance in research for this issue." Presumably not on the parts featuring girl-on-girl action.

(Dammit, that's two sentences! Curse my snarky attitude!)

Green Lantern 48: There's a note at the start that says "This takes place before Blackest Night #6," which is odd, because it also takes place before Blackest Night #5, which came out the same day...

Blackest Night 5 (of 8):...and sees the battle get worse as Batman's skull temporarily gets a body and a Black Lantern ring, leading to Superman and a bunch of other previously-dead heroes transformed, and not in a good way.

(There, one sentence for two books! I'm back on track!)

Superman: Secret Origin 3 (0f 6): This new version of the arrival of Clark Kent in Metropolis (which is grittier and a tad meaner than it's usually depicted, with a Daily Planet that is in pretty sad shape) manages to not quite feel right and at the same time borrow from the first Christopher Reeve "Superman" movie.

Gotham City Sirens 6: The girls finally dispose of ex-Joker henchman Gagsworth A. Gagsworthy, a.k.a. Gaggy(!?!), with the help of their carpenter and, in Harley Quinn's case, knowledge gleaned from Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Futurama Comics 46: Planet Express delivers a package and wacky adventures occur...and occur...and occur...it's like it's a book-length Möbius (comic) strip.

Quick Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox

The title character in "Fantastic Mr. Fox," the stop-motion animated film based on the book by Roald Dahl, is voiced by George Clooney. It's a brilliant bit of casting. As much as possible with an animated movie, George Clooney was born to play Mr. Fox, who retires from raiding chicken farms at the behest of his pregnant wife -- only to be tempted to go for a big score when, later, the family moves into a tree close to the huge Boggis, Bunce and Bean farms. Meryl Streep plays Mrs. Fox, and she's good in everything, of course. Also in the film are Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman -- not exactly a cast of unknowns. Funny, charming and smart, this is another animated film that kids and adults alike can enjoy. It pretty much lives up to its title. My grade: A.

Another friendly reminder: at this link you'll find the list of grades for all the movies I've seen in 2009 (Good grief, I'll have to start one for the new year soon!)

Quick Review: The Blind Side

One thing that I tend to wonder about when I watch a movie that's based on a true story is how much artistic license was taken when transforming the story into a film. "The Blind Side" is based on a book of the same name by Michael Lewis ("Moneyball") and tells the story of Michael Oher's journey from poverty to rich NFL player. Some of what is depicted in the movie (such as Oher's "younger brother" taking charge of Oher's football drills and dealing with the college coaches out to recruit Oher to their school) had me wondering a lot. It didn't really ring true. However, the essence of the story -- about Oher's being accepted into a private Christian school in Memphis despite a very poor track record in his previous schools, being taken in by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and eventually becoming a star high school and college football player en route to the NFL -- holds together. Sandra Bullock dominates the movie as Leigh Anne. It's a change of pace from her many romantic-comedy roles, and she does an excellent job. Bullock and Tim McGraw, as Sean, make a good on-screen couple. If you're not a sports nut like I am, there's not a terrible amount of football action so don't let that keep you away. My grade: B.

Technical TV Question

I'm watching a hockey game between Chicago and Columbus. (Columbus is coached by Ken Hitchcock, who used to coach the Flyers and is sorely missed at the Wachovia Center right now, but that's another story.) The game is being shown on Versus. During a commercial, I flipped over to the NHL Network to check out "NHL On The Fly," their nightly highlights and analysis show. During the show, they do live cut-ins to hockey telecasts around the league. After a moment, they happened to do a cut-in to the Versus telecast.

So I flipped back and forth a bit to compare, and that leads to my question: why is the Versus picture quality so much better on the NHL Network than it is on Versus itself??? The picture on the NHL Network is brighter, sharper and clearer. Versus is owned by Comcast, which is about to close out a deal to buy NBC Universal, making them even more of a major player in the TV industry than they are now. They paid the NHL to show games on Versus as part of a strategy to challenge ESPN for TV sports supremacy. That hasn't happened. Maybe one reason is picture quality?

Well, not really. I just think the picture should look better.