The day started with me finding out that the Academy Awards has decided to increase the number of pictures that will be nominated for Best Picture to 10, up from the previous number of 5. If you have followed this blog for years, you know this really affects Jess and me. For well over a decade, Jess and I have made it a point to see all five films nominated for Best Picture before the actual Academy Awards ceremony. We love that it exposes us to some movies that we might not have otherwise seen. We have seen some stinkers, but we have also seen some brilliant movies we probably would have never seen. Now with the number of movies increased to 10, it makes it that much harder to see all of them on time. Imagine if when the nominations are announced, we have yet to see any of the ten films? That means we will have to see ten films in just over a month's period. That is hard on time and hard on the wallet. I HATE to stop this tradition we have, but this is going to be really hard...
On the other hand, today was a great day for US Soccer fans and for soccer fans in general. The boys were in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup against Spain, the #1 team in the world and a team that hadn't lost since November of 2006. The US just squeaked into the semis after a miraculous final day of results in group play. Before the previous game, they had been playing rather poorly and that is really an understatement. Was the last game a fluke and now they would be brought down to Earth? That is why I, and the rest of the soccer world thought in one way or another. But, this is soccer. One of the things that I love about the sport is that on any given day, anybody can beat anybody. That is what my dad has been saying since I started watching games with him. To indirectly quote Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 US Hockey team, "If we play them 10 times they might beat us 9 of those. But it is that one time..." And that is exactly what happened with a beautiful, hard fought, well earned 2-0 victory over a stunned Spanish team. This felt good. If anything, it gave us fans some hope that the World Cup next year won't be a total disaster for us. But for now, I'll just revel in the boys shocking the world.
7 comments:
Talk about your monumental upsets! As someone who pretty much only experiences soccer through your Facebook updates and the occasional game watched with my extended family or in-laws, this was not at all something I expected.
As for the Oscars, this screams "ratings" from beginning to end. By giving additional nominations to five Hollywood blockbuster type films, they ensure that more people will tune in and be invested in the race, whether or not the glossier blockbuster films ever actually win. There's no way we are going to be able to see all ten, so there goes that tradition for us.
I couldn't believe the Academy story when you called me. That's just crazy. What I didn't realize or remember, I guess, was that they have had 10 nominees before. Just way to many to see in one month. Just need to predict better and see some of the stinker movies even if you don't want to. It's also going to make for a longer awards show. We definitely don't need that!
As far as soccer - even knowing what the outcome was before I got a chance to see it was so exciting. We just finished watching it and it was a great game to watch. For all us soccer fans it was a very rewarding victory. Are we going to make a plan to watch the finals together?
I can't believe the 10 movie thing. We have a hard enough time seeing the 5 (assuming we haven't seen anything in advance) in a month, let alone 10. I REALLY don't want to give up the tradition - I've been doing it for, like, 15 years! But really, will we be able to see THAT many movies?
Oh, and yeah, yay US soccer!
Ten nominees is pretty crazy. Now I guess we'll see if you guys are up to the challenge. We do sort of count on your reviews :-D
And congrats to the US Team!
Ten nominees? You mean they have to dredge up even more of those big, epic movies that always show up? What's next? The entire release schedule from the year will be eligible?
Here's to the US, may their winning ways continue.
Wow, I didn't know that about the Academy Awards! More of a selection, but sometimes the only time I get to see some of those movies is when they go to Netflix.
What an upset! very happy to hear about it yesterday. As for the nominations, maybe we will get exposed to more cool films? I understand though, will be hard to watch all the movies before the awards.
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