We love us some fireworks!

Tomorrow's the 4th of July, so we'll be intoxicated. In fact, we're going to get intoxicated right now, kids. We love you all, and we'll see you Thursday. And remember, don't drink and drive. Hitch a ride, like us.

Gallardo, Gallardo, we'll see ya, tomorrow...

Just for the record, we know we have a little bit of a man crush on Brewers rookie ace Yovani Gallardo. But, in our defense, we've been preaching his worthiness to our fantasy baseball leaguemates for months and when he finally arrived in the bigs we felt validated. Gallardo was 1-0, with a 2.79 ERA and 19 strikeouts over the 19 innings his three starts encompassed. He's gone now - sort of. Brewers manager Ned Yost is moving Gallardo to the bullpen, to make way for the returning Chris Capuano.

Now, Capuano is a far inferior pitcher, and Dave Bush is one of the NL's most inconsistent starters, but we think Yost is doing the right thing. The Brewers have an excellent shot at winning the NL Central this season, and if they do, they'll need Gallardo at 100 percent for the playoffs. Burning out his young arm in the month of July would make that unlikely. Perhaps the Journal-Times sums up the situation best:

So far, between Class AAA Nashville and Milwaukee, Gallardo has pitched 97 innings. He’s 58 innings away from heading into uncharted waters — not a place you want to go with a rookie pitcher. If Gallardo makes about 15 more starts this season and averages six innings a start, Gallardo will have around 187 innings. That’s a lot of innings for a youngster and doesn’t include the postseason. The list of pitchers who got burned by a team pushing them is long and large (just ask Chicago Cubs right-hander Kerry Wood) and the Brewers don’t want Gallardo on that list.
By moving Gallardo into the bullpen, Yost is keeping his youngster’s arm fresh for the playoff chase in August and September. That formula seemed to work for the Detroit Tigers last year when they rested rookie Justin Verlander during his rookie season. A healthy and rested Verlander helped lead the Tigers to the World Series.

Seems reasonable enough, doesn't it? Does it mean we'll have to calm our Gallardo juices over the next month while Bush pitches his way out of the Brewers' rotation? Yeah, it does. But we can handle that. Just don't take away our Grady Sizemore.

I don't like snarfuffles, I hate swimbattas

Sports
TV is slowly destroying sports columns. [Slate]
Lex Luger, the only wrestler left alive (kinda). [ATL J-Constitution]
Want a seat? Just take it, fool. [Deadspin]
Are you the one following the America's Cup? [USA Today]

Movies
Principal Skinner talks Joel Siegel. [Huffington Post]
What does the new Harry Potter have to do with American Graffiti? [The Guardian]
Sticking it to Netflix, couple-style. [WA Post]
What is this, horror movie month? [Box Office Prophets]

TV
Some film actors just belong on the smaller screen. [Zap 2 It]
The top 50 cult TV shows - of all times! [TV Guide]
Um...the Teen Choice nominees are out? [TV Squad]
We're bored, so this is just for fun. [YouTube]

"Shaq is rich, the white man who signs his checks is wealthy"

While we disagree with Chris Rock slightly about Oprah not being wealthy, his premise is generally correct. And, well, he's funny as hell.



"One minute you're singing 'Superfreak' the next minute you're doing Old Navy commericals."

What does GLAAD think about Chuck and Larry?

If you've visited a movie theater within the past month, you've no doubt seen the trailer for I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, the Adam Sandler/Kevin James "firefighters posing as a gay couple for the benefits" comedy. If you're struggling to recall, it's the one with all the homophobic jokes and Jessica Biel in her underwear. We're not sure if Justin Timberlake will be showing up at any screenings to spit on the audience, but we were curious as to what GLAAD would think of a film that appears to be one long-running gay joke.

Thankfully, After Elton did the dirty work for us. What do they think? They like it, and it's not nearly as homophobic as you think. In fact, its message is one of acceptance and exposure - of the archaic values of homophobia. With Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor on the Chuck and Larry writing team, we should've known better than to assume anything less. Oh wait, they're not really on the writing team anymore. Eh. Here are a couple highlights from the interview:

AE: Are the gay elements being used as plot devices for a straight love story, or does some overarching message compensate for this?

Through the disarming use of comedy, there is an exploration of homophobia, which often involves stereotypes and slurs, and it holds a mirror up to that and asks people to consider where it comes from.

AE: Are the ads accurately representative of the film as a whole?
DR: A trailer is designed to get you into the theater. It doesn't tell the complete story, nor is it supposed to. There is a difference between the marketing of the film and the actual film itself. Having seen the final product, Adam Sandler's audience will be left with a message that stresses the importance of family and equality for everyone.

This is why ladies love Grady

We interrupt one of the laziest workdays of the year - we won't be here tomorrow - to present to you our pre-season pick for AL MVP: Grady Sizemore. Those bastards A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez have thrown serious wrenches into our plan, but Mr. Sizemore still stands a decent chance at garnering a few votes. He slammed a grand one last night, and he is currently third in the league in runs, fourth in walks, eighth in homers, and second in stolen bases. Not bad. We think if he picks up the pace in the second half and ends up with 30 homers, 100 RBI's and 50 stolen bases - and the Indians win the AL Central - it should be a no-brainer.

Really, is Ordonez going to keep this up? We think not. Besides, Ladies Love Grady.

The trophy...has been handed

We were drinking our early morning cup of The Big Lead - it's movie Tuesday! - this morning when we saw a link to this story from USA Today. Apparently, those venerable football preview magazines - Athlon, Lindy's and the rest - have all been huddling around the same Kool-Aid cooler. The Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl.

Of the five big pro football preview mags, Athlon, Pro Football Weekly, The Sporting News, and Street & Smith's all pick New England to win Super Bowl XLII. And they'll either be doing it against the Cowboys or the Saints. The lone deviator? Lindy, who picks the Ravens over the Saints. You might think this kind of Patriot guzzling would upset us. Exactly the opposite; Peter King already jinxed the Colts with his Super Bowl prediction, so we figure this just levels the playing field.

Besides, we think we've already made our feelings on this topic quite well known.