The big turtle is Obama, I think the other two are Carney and Holder. Picture by Akira Kato.

Conservatives often liken Obama to a turtle on a fencepost who didn’t get up there by himself, doesn’t belong there and doesn’t know what to do while he is up there. I used to laugh at that joke, but I still had a healthy amount of respect for Obama, who earned his position through talent and hard work.

Not any more.

It’s difficult to know where to start with the controversies surrounding the Obama administration these days. It’s not remarkable to me things like Benghazi, the IRS scandal or the AP controversy happen in this era of inefficient big government, especially with an administration that has never made it a practice to adhere to the law or apply it equally. What is remarkable to me is this president’s reaction to it all, which just makes things far worse.

Never was this as evident when President Obama was questioned on the IRS scandal for the first time on Monday, before he jetted off to New York for another Harvey Weinstein/Beyonce/Jay-Z fundraiser. ”If in fact IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that’s outrageous and there’s no place for it,” he said.

This is why Obama is so infuriating. “If” it is true? Uh, the IRS, supposedly one of the things you control as the supposed leader of government just admitted it was true and apologized. Hello? The Inspector General already delivered a preliminary report on it. Boy, that’s telling us a lot about things, Mr. President. How about acknowledging it is true, and telling us what you plan to do about it? Specifically?

But of course comment will be limited, because as you know, this is now an “ongoing investigation.” You know how that goes. Just as Attorney General Eric Holder, perhaps the most inept or clueless AG in history, couldn’t comment on anything regarding anything on the Hill Wednesday for that very reason. An ongoing investigation. Please. Carney and Obama comment on ongoing investigations all the time for God’s sake–think Boston, Trayvon Martin, any mass shooting and so on.

More infuriating was the President’s and Carney’s claim that they were just learning of the IRS thing from news reports as we, the American public was. “I learned about it from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this,” said the president. “I think it was on Friday.”

Obama likes to campaign, but makes turtle faces when he has to govern.

Yeah, right. Who can keep track of the mundane particulars of days where it is revealed your administration partook in action that was used as part of the reason to justify impeaching Richard Nixon? Not a particularly noteworthy day, at all. Now Monday, the Jay-Z and Beyonce day on the other hand, that was a noteworthy day!

Come on. Nobody in your administration kicked it up the ladder that the IG was investigating this obvious potential scandal? When the IG report itself said that senior IRS officials in Washington were aware of what was going on as early as August 4, 2011? Okay, let’s give the supposed leader of our government the benefit of the doubt that he was completely in the dark. You know, like his inner circle allegedly was when Susan Rice went on every Sunday talk show five days after Benghazi to give the internet video narrative for the attack.

At the very least you need to start doing some hands-on governing. Even liberal commentators are mystified at Obama’s official reaction. Ex-Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that the president’s tone on Monday reminded him of “what I do with my 9-year-old,” and called his reaction “exceedingly passive.” Liberal Washington Post writer Dana Milbank penned a piece entitled “Obama, the uninterested President.”

I’m no fan of Dana Milbank, but he did a great job pointing out a number of things, some that I’ve already pointed out. He calls Obama “President Passerby,” and says his reaction to the AP news was essentially the same to that of the IRS “news.” “And yet President Obama reacted much as he did to the equally astonishing revelation on Friday that the IRS had targeted conservative groups based on their ideology,” Milbank wrote. ”He responded as though he were just some bloke on a bar stool, getting his information from the evening news.”

Indeed. This President has been about the worst leader this country has seen in modern history, if you’re going by the definition of the word. Even his signature “accomplishments” he really didn’t accomplish. Obamacare and the stimulus? He basically gave broad parameters and let Congress work out the details, a major reason why both remain unpopular to this day. Killing OBL? I’ll give Jessica Chastain more credit for that, thank you.

The IRS scandal is particularly galling, because it is another example of Obama and his cronies applying the law unevenly depending on your opinion of his politics. Jay-Z and Beyonce want to go to Cuba, even though it’s illegal just for vacation? Funny how that somehow gets done without his knowledge. Rare birds get chopped up by solar wind farm blades? They get a pass for killing endangered species, but not the oil industry. There are countless other examples.

On their own, many of these examples don’t mean much. But together they add up, and the Obama’s administration’s brazen Chicago-style do-what-it-wants politics are starting to culminate in truly distressing scandals. Benghazi somehow manages to get worse for him, and new evidence comes to light every day that calls into question virtually everything Carney, Obama and Hillary Clinton have said on the matter.

Late Wednesday afternoon the Obama administration accepted the resignation of the head of the IRS, a positive and overdue first step. Maybe the absolute thrashing he has finally endured from a normally adoring press has finally inspired him to actually pretend he heads up the federal government for a while. Maybe now he will finally take responsibility and step up and be a leader, instead of blaming everything bad on the minority party in Washington and pretending he’s just along for the ride.

Don’t bet on it though. After all, there’s a mighty nice view from that fencepost.

Jay Carney answered 46 questions on Benghazi and the IRS scandal Friday.

It was hardly Custer’s last stand, but the Dems were kind of circling wagons on Sunday.

On the defensive over mounting questions over Benghazi and the administration’s questionable response, Democrats began pushing back over the GOP’s investigation of the matter. They came forward with several lines of attack on the Sunday talk shows.

Number one, they argued, the whole episode is purely being prolonged to bring down any chance of Hillary in 2016. Number two, there has already been a State Department investigation of the matter that already produced 29 recommendations. Number three, Republicans cut funding for Embassy security in 2012.

I have already covered why I feel number three is ridiculous in previous columns. I’ve made my opinions on the subject perfectly clear in general. Things are coming out every day from State Department “whistle-blowers” and other sources that are outright contradicting a good bit of what the administration told us about Benghazi. They deserve to be heard. In my view, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton made this whole episode political by refusing to level with the American people on an issue that to be honest, they had little political vulnerability on.

As usual, the cover-up was worse than the initial crime. In fact it can be argued there was no initial crime, at least certainly from Obama’s point of view. The president simply does not micro-manage the ins and outs of our Diplomatic Security (heck, the Secretary of State barely does).

Last week was an extremely rough week for Obama. Press Secretary Jay Carney had to answer 46 questions on Friday about Benghazi and the revelation that the IRS has been targeting Tea Party and other Republican groups for excessive audits. The Sunday talk shows reflected these two topics.

The best back and forth on Benghazi probably occurred on Meet the Press, with Congressman Darrell Issa explaining the House Republicans’ rationale for pushing Benghazi. Ambassador Thomas Pickering, who co-chaired State’s investigation on the matter, is the other guest, who argues that we’ve already explored the matter as much as we need to. The two debate head to head in the later part of the below video.

Curry has been awesome so far this year and in the playoffs.

It was another wild weekend in the world of sports. I begin in the NBA, where many thought that the San Antonio Spurs would be able to handle the Golden State Warriors quite handily. That outcome has proven not to be the case, and in the process Steph Curry is reaching for superstar status. The Warriors have evened the series at two games apiece with a 97-87 overtime win on Sunday. Curry, despite a sore ankle, scored 22 and pulled down six rebounds and dealt out four assists. 17 of Curry’s 22 points came in the second half of the game, further cementing his MVP status for the Warriors.

In every other series in the NBA, the games stand at 2-1. The Miami Heat lead the Chicago Bulls, and after a shocking Game One victory by the Bulls, the Heat have now taken control as was to be expected from the consensus best team in the NBA. Chris Bosh led the Heat with 20 points and 19 rebounds in Friday’s 104-94 victory. On Saturday, the Indiana Pacers took the lead in their series with the New York Knicks with an 82-71 victory. Roy Hibbert has become a dominant presence in the post for the Pacers, scoring 24 points and hauling in 12 rebounds. Finally, the Memphis Grizzlies lead the Oklahoma City Thunder in their series, after an 87-81 victory on Saturday. Memphis is using their depth inside to grind down the once running and gunning Thunder, who are slowed losing their leader on the fast break, Russell Westbrook.

The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are completing their first round matchups, and two series will be going to Game Seven. At Madison Square Garden on Sunday, the New York Rangers made a second period goal by Derick Brassard stick for a 1-0 victory against the Washington Capitals. First star for the Rangers was their goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped all 27 Capitals shots. The Toronto Maple Leafs will go to Game Seven with the Boston Bruins after a 2-1 victory by the Maple Leafs. Leafs’ star Phil Kessel scored what proved to be the game winner midway through the third period. Milan Lucic scored a late goal, but the Bruins could not get the equalizer.

The teams that have advanced to the next round in the Stanley Cup playoffs are the Pittsburgh Penguins (4-2 over the NY Islanders), the Ottawa Senators (4-1 over the Montreal Canadiens), the Chicago Blackhawks (4-1 over the Minnesota Wild), the San Jose Sharks (4-0 over the Vancouver Canucks), the Detroit Red Wings (4-3 over the Anaheim Ducks after a 3-2 win by Detroit on Sunday) and the defending champion Los Angeles Kings (4-2 over the St. Louis Blues).

The Player’s Championship has always received the title of golf’s “fifth major.” The event usually has one of the strongest fields of players outside of a major, and the TPC Sawgrass is always one of the best theaters of the game. With the diabolical and famous island hole, the Par 3 17^th providing great drama, the Player’s never lacks for highlights and storylines. This Player’s was no exception to that standard for drama, in fact it may have even exceeded it.

On Saturday, controversy erupted with then co-leaders Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia. Woods and Garcia have never really liked each other, and their testy relationship escalated when they were paired together. Garcia took his second shot on the second hole of the third round while Woods was surveying and assessing his second shot, and while Woods pulled a club from his bag a commotion started in the crowd near the same time Garcia was in his swing. Garcia complained later that commotion disrupted his swing and it caused him to hit an errant shot. Woods did not apologize and also commented that he feel he didn’t need to apologize.

The two golfers finished the third round in a three-way tie for first and so Garcia and Woods were not paired for the final round Sunday. In the end Tiger Woods got the last laugh by winning the Player’s Championship by two shots, and Sergio Garcia imploded down the stretch, hitting two shots into the water on the infamous 17^th hole, and then one in the water on the 18^th. I have always found Garcia irritating and overrated, so it was a beautiful turn of Schadenfreude (translation: to enjoy the pain of others) to see him implode so epically at the end of the tournament.

Slapshot hanging with the family.

In closing, I would like to wish my mother a very happy Mother’s Day. I have relied upon her for so much, from my youth to even now I wanted to do something to thank her for all she does for me. Since my parents are season ticket holders to the Capitals, my sister and I decided to give her a Capitals-themed gift. We got the Capitals Mascot, Slapshot, to come to my parents’ condo and surprise her with gifts.

Slapshot had gifts for my young niece and nephew, and everyone received an autograph from Slaphshot.  My mother received a Capitals tote bag, Capitals reusable grocery bag, Capitals hat, a plush Slapshot and a gift certificate for a manicure. She was quite surprised, and the extra bonus was that Slapshot stuck around and watched the end of Game 6 with my family, and while the game didn’t have the result that we all wanted, a fun time was had by all.

YouTube Link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c2-jM9nqGY

Again, Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there, and enjoy the week in sports!

Photo by Yahoo!

The Great Gatsby had some potential to be a big bust. Coming out right after a movie that will be one of the biggest grossers of all-time in Iron Man 3, it was very possible audiences weren’t going to line up to re-experience high school English set to a Jay-Z soundtrack. Plus there was the open question whether the movie would be any good or not.

We thought it was fairly good here at PMandS.com, and audiences seemed to agree. It finished second this weekend at the North American box office with a nice take of over $51 million dollars, not far behind Iron Man 3′s over $72 million. A strong female audience seemed to drive the movie’s take, and apparently audiences were fairly eager to see another adaptation of Gatsby on screen, even without 3D. Only about a third of the movie’s audience came from 3D showings, which is extremely light for a visually pleasing summer movie such as Gatsby.

Despite a limited take from the more expensive 3D tickets, the executives at Warner Brothers are thrilled they have avoided making the first big summer bomb of 2013. Gatsby went through a lot of drama to get made, but financially it will do well. In fact it’s the second-biggest opening for a Leo DiCaprio movie ever, which is kind of surprising.

Tyler Perry opened a movie this weekend, Peeples. Perry produces so much of the same generic stuff that I don’t even bother seeing most of it these days, but I have to tell you I was a little psyched to see Peeples. A little bit, at least. The movie stars Craig Robinson from The Office as a guy seeking the hand of Kerry Washington (Django Unchained) in marriage, despite the efforts of her father (David Alan Grier). I love Robinson and Grier, and thought this one might be good.

It wasn’t very good, but I didn’t think it was horrible. But a funny thing happened (finally) on the way to the bank for Tyler Perry with this one. The movie bombed, opening in fourth place with only $4.85 million dollars. It was the worst opening for a Perry movie by far (the previous worst still got $11 million opening weekend), and it was the third-worst movie opening on a minimum 2,000 screens of 2013. Not the first big-budget bomb of the summer as Gatsby could have been, but definitely the first bomb.

New on DVD and Blu-Ray this week are Cloud Atlas, a movie beloved to some but not so with others (me), and the new Texas Chainsaw endeavor. In theaters this week is of course Star Trek: Into Darkness.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE RESULTS, estimate May 10-12 (totals rounded–click on the movie for PMandS.com review)

1. Iron Man 3 (Buena Vista) $72.5 million weekend gross, 284.9 total
2. The Great Gatsby (Warner Brothers) $51.1 million weekend gross, $51.1 total
3. Pain and Gain (Paramount) $5 million weekend gross, $41.6 total
4. Tyler Perry Presents Peeples (Lionsgate) $4.9 million weekend gross, $4.9 total
5. 42 (Warner Brothers) $4.7 million weekend gross, $84.7 total
6. Oblivion (Universal) $3.9 million weekend gross, $81.7 total
7. The Croods (Fox) $3.6 million weekend gross, $173.2 total
8. The Big Wedding (Lionsgate) $2.5 million weekend gross, $18.3 total
9. Mud (Roadside) $2.3 million weekend gross, $8.4 total
10. Oz The Great and Powerful (Buena Vista) $0.8 million weekend gross, $230 total

Much of Gatsby is spectacle.

This Baz Luhrmann production is the fifth film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, often considered one of the best examples of classic American literature. Even the cover of the celebrated novel is iconic. Commissioned by Francis Cugat, it depicts disembodied eyes and a mouth over a blue skyline, with images of naked women reflected in the irises. The cover was completed before the novel, and Fitzgerald was so pleased with the illustration that he actually wrote it into the novel. The image figures prominently in the movie as well–a sort of ominous reminder that no matter who you are or where you are or what you do, someone is watching.

And really, this movie is all about images. Visually, it is stunning. Brought to the big screen in 3D and 3D ETX (and regular old school movie format for those who–like me–get motion sick when stuff is flying at you for 2.5 hours), the film is amazing. Colors, motion, action, adventure….unfortunately, it is painfully obvious that the movie was specifically made to be enjoyed in 3D. There are too many disconnects when watching it in non-3D format, and too many images thrown in just for the special effects. Oh, look, snow! A champagne cork is coming right at me! Glitter! Confetti! Fireworks! Fringed and frantic crotch shots of dancing girls! A random non-sequiter shot of a bi-plane!

It is understood that much of the visual content was created for the demographic who enjoys the special experience of 3D, no matter the content of the movie. And, as is pretty typical in 3D movies, Gatsby is front-loaded with these stunning images. Halfway through the movie, when you have forgotten about special effects and are just watching a good movie, Luhrmann remembers to throw in some cheesy 3D effects just to remind you. Sadly, some of the emotional impact that would normally be achieved through a great script and excellent acting is substituted by these antics.

The music also plays a big role in the movie. Like other Luhrmann films (Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet), he has taken period pieces and scored them with rearrangements of contemporary music. Executive produced by Jay-Z (with the mandatory homage to his wife Beyonce) and the Bullitts, the soundtrack is very good. The mixing of 1920’s imagery with 21^st century music is compelling and quite seductive. Featured is new music by Fergie, Lana Del Rey, Florence and the Machine, Jay-Z, Nero, The xx, and will.i.am, as well as covers of Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black”, Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug”, Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love”, and U2′s “Love Is Blindness.”

The story itself hasn’t changed (there should be no spoilers if you read the book in school). World War I veteran Nick Carraway (Toby Maguire) moves to West Egg, New York to start a career on Wall Street. He moves in next door to the mysterious Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a reclusive millionaire who throws elaborate parties (see champagne, confetti and fireworks above), and across the bay from his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), a classmate of Nick’s from Yale.

DiCaprio as Gatsby.

Nick gets an invitation to one of these massive parties, and recognizes Gatsby from his division in the Army. He also runs into Jordan (Elizabeth Debicki), Daisy’s friend. Turns out Gatsby and Daisy had fallen in love five years earlier, before Gatsby had gone to war. In a move reminiscent of high school the great, wondrous, sophisticated Gatsby enlists Jordan and Nick to arrange a meeting with Daisy. In the meantime, Tom has made a concerted effort to make Nick an accomplice in his dalliance with his mistress, Myrtle (Isla Fisher), the wife of failing service station owner George Wilson (Jason Clarke). So, basically, Tom is cheating on Daisy, Daisy is cheating on Tom, and Nick is keeping everyone’s secrets.

Needless to say, it all ends badly. It turns out that it is no coincidence that Gatsby has bought a mansion exactly opposite of the Buchanan’s. He has come there for Daisy. In fact, everything he has done in his life since his return from the war has been in an effort to win Daisy back and build a life together. It is such a departure from the qualities he has employed to amass a fortune (legal or not), create relationships with the rich and powerful, and cultivate all appearances of a cultured, educated, well-travelled sophisticate, that the discrepancy is unnerving.

Almost endearing at the outset when it appears that he is school-boy nervous at reuniting with his long-lost love (Leonardo DiCaprio has not been this charming since Titanic), it becomes more and more depressing when it turns out that he is beyond whipped–teetering on obsessed. He wants Daisy to love him and him alone; when she can’t/won’t give up what she has with Tom, Gatsby perseveres. Cracks in his façade start to appear with increasing frequency and urgency. Clearly, he is not the person he wants everyone to believe he is–really, it is never clear who he truly is, as the legend of Gatsby has many layers.

After a rather uncomfortable and unbelievable confrontation between Tom, Gatsby and Daisy (with Nick and Jordan in tow, because you know you can’t tell your husband you are leaving him for your lover if your besties aren’t there!!), there is an awful incident (in case you didn’t read it in school, will leave this out for you to see for yourself, it’s rather spectacular in 3D!). Gatsby, the incurable romantic, takes the fall for Daisy in a final effort to get her to run away with him. Big mistake. The end to the extravaganzas, the adoring crowds and the illustrious colleagues is immediate and painfully blatant.

Overall, this is a good summer flick. Simple love story at the core, made visually stimulating with great imagery, costumes, and special effects (remember to take a Dramamine if you are prone to motion sickness) and set to an outstanding soundtrack. No thinking required, as both Nick and Jordan serve as narrators providing explanations of what has happened in the past, what is happening now and the consequences of what happened. It is no deeper than Gatsby’s party pool or the people swimming in it; the images of his staff fishing champagne bottles off the bottom are some of the most compelling and depressing–an allegory to the results of excess.

The Great Gatsby is PG-13, with no sex, no nudity, no profanity, and a little smidge of violence, at two hours and 23 minutes.

PM&S’ VERDICT–Luhrmann’s productions can be really good or really bad (‘Australia’); this one mostly comes down on the good side.

WHAT THE OTHERS ARE SAYING

Los Angeles Times–”…substance overwhelmed by Luhrmann’s style.”

The Hollywood Reporter–”…most of the time, feels vibrantly alive while remaining quite faithful to the spirit…of its source.”

Chicago Tribune–”…a movie already stuffed with stuff where the dramatic stuffing should be.”

The story of Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement didn’t get the play it should have here in the States.

Wednesday Sir Alex Ferguson announced that he was retiring from his role as manager of Manchester United in what is probably the biggest story in the world of sports this week. Under Ferguson’s leadership United has become one of the largest, most successful and well-recognized football clubs in the world. United rank as the second most valuable sports franchise in the world sitting only behind Spanish giant Real Madrid. They clinched this year’s league title a few weeks ago and Ferguson’s last home game this weekend will be complete with a trophy presentation to mark his latest title. He also accomplished his goal of passing Liverpool; Manchester United has now amassed 20 league titles to Liverpool’s 18.
As a United Fan I am gutted; the team in Manchester is young and has potential to really add to the legacy of the team in the coming years. I was hoping to have the steady hand of Ferguson’s leadership around for a few more years to make sure these players reach their potential. Ferguson had said earlier in the week that despite plans for hip surgery this summer that he had no plans to step away from his role as manager, which has led some to wonder if there are health problems behind the 71 year-old’s decision to walk away right now. I hope for his sake that he lives a long and prosperous life after football, engaging in his other loves which include horses and fine wine.
Thursday Manchester United named Ferguson’s successor. David Moyes, currently at Everton, will take over for Ferguson. Moyes is a fellow Scot and has been a successful manager at Everton for a year now, keeping them in contention for the Champions League most years against teams with much higher payrolls. He is now handed the keys to one of the best jobs in the soccer world, but the pressure to win trophies every year will be something that Moyes will have to get used to. Moyes will struggle to live up to the legacy of his predecessor even with all of the advantages that being the skipper of Manchester United comes with.
In losing Ferguson we are closing out another of the great old time managers. He rarely coddled players, he always insisted that no player was bigger than the team and he backed it up with the way he handled players and transfers. He was never afraid to let older players go when their time had come to freshen the squad and build for the future. Even great players that could not work within his system would find themselves headed elsewhere. He terrified referees and other opposing mangers. His half time “hair dryer” speeches are legendary for the ferocity with which he would take apart his team when they were not performing at a level that he felt was appropriate.
As a fan there is a great uncertainty that comes with the departure of perhaps the greatest manager in the history of the game of soccer. I would compare it to when Tom Landry was fired, but Landry wasn’t winning titles in those final years and had not built a team that could win for years to come. I have been a little distraught by the lack of attention this story received in the American sports media. Here you have a guy that is at the pinnacle of the world’s biggest sport as perhaps its peak. He is basically a household name in most countries in the world, but by yesterday afternoon his retirement did not even warrant a mention on the ESPN.com landing page. This seems particularly short-sighted when both ESPN and Fox have made big investments in the success of the game here.
So an era of management success on par with any comes to an end. Here is hoping that Sir Alex has a long and productive life away from the game of football. After all that he has accomplished he certainly deserves it.

Ender’s Game has to do with a futuristic earth that has invaded twice already by aliens called “Buggers.” In preparation for a third invasion, earth has a program to identify and train future space fleet commanders to combat the aliens. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) is one such kid. The movie stars Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley and Abigail Breslin and comes out November 1st.

Odd Thomas was shown in April at the Riverbend Film Festival, and it will get a wide release sometime this year. It tells the story of a a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities (Anton Yelchin, Star Trek) who battles dark forces in a small town. Stephen Summers of The Mummy fame directs this supernatural thriller which also stars Willem Dafoe and Patton Oswalt. This movie seems on shakier ground than Ender’s Game, and it ran into a few production problems (lack of money, lawsuits), but there’s some potential and a legion of Koontz fans that might see it.

The Isles are giving Pitt all it can handle, but a questionable OT call in Game 3 gave the Penguins the series lead.

Another packed weekend in the world of sports begins with the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With most matchups now at minimum two games into the series, the early stages of the playoffs have taken shape.

In the #1 vs. #8 matchup in the East, what most thought to be an easy Pittsburgh Penguins romp over the New York Islanders has not turned out to be the case.  Pittsburgh leads the series 2-1 and got to that score with a 5-4 overtime win on Sunday in Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. Sidney Crosby has returned to the Penguins and once again is showing the talent that garners him high praise in the hockey world.  However, the Islanders spoiled Crosby’s return to action by winning Game 2 on Friday, and are giving Pittsburgh all it can handle.

In the #2 vs. #7 matchup, a chippy Canadian battle has developed between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators. Currently the Ottawa Senators have the advantage with a 2-1 series lead after 6-1 victory in Ottawa on Sunday which featured as much fighting as goal scoring. The bad blood in the series stems from Game 1, where Montreal’s Lars Eller was carted off the ice on a stretcher after receiving a hit from Eric Gryba.  The hit knocked Eller unconscious before he hit the ice, which he hit face first. Eller was diagnosed with a concussion and multiple facial and dental fractures. Ottawa’s Eric Gryba has been suspended for two games as a result.

The Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs are tied at 1-1 in a matchup of Original Six foes in the #4 vs. #5 matchup, and the only one-sided matchup in the East thus far is the #3 vs. #6 matchup of the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers, with Washington leading 2-0 after a 1-0 overtime win on Saturday.

Out West, almost every series is at 2-1. The Chicago Blackhawks lead the Minnesota Wild in the #1 vs. #8 matchup with Minnesota winning Sunday 3-2 in overtime on a Jason Zucker game-winning goal. Anaheim leads Detroit in the #2 vs. #7 matchup, with the Ducks shutting out the Red Wings 4-0 on Sunday. This series also has a big hit that has caused a suspension. Justin Abdelkader had a leaping hit on Toni Lydman that knocked Lydman out of Game 2, and Abdelkader earned a two-game suspension as a result. In the #4 vs. #5 matchup, the St. Louis Blues lead the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and the #6 San Jose Sharks are upsetting the #3 Vancouver Canucks 3-0 after a 5-2 victory at HP Pavilion Sunday.

One of the key things to watch in the Stanley Cup Playoffs is how punishments will be metered out by the NHL league office, and league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan, a former NHL player, has come under fire on several occasions for uneven judgments for the myriad of offenses that develop during the rough and tumble Stanley Cup Playoffs. His predecessor, Colin Campbell, also received his fair share of criticism. So far the punishments have been consistent but since that inconsistent history exists, a joke website was developed called the NHL Wheel of Justice. You can find the Wheel at http://www.nhlwheelofjustice.com/. This site is sure to give the NHL fan in your life a good laugh and some entertainment developing the numerous combinations.

In the NBA they have moved on to the Conference Semifinals. These series have just begun Sunday with two games. The Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks in Game 1 102-95. This is a throwback series in terms of the teams, who played memorable scrappy series in the ‘90s, and for physical play. Indiana’s starters were all in double figures for points, and the Pacers had zero fast break points and 46 points in the paint. Roy Hibbert was a dominant inside presence with 14 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, and four assists. In the Western Conference, the first game matched up the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies and the game went down to the wire. The Thunder came out on top 93-91 on a game-winning shot from Thunder superstar Kevin Durant. Durant had 35 points and 15 rebounds leading the Thunder.

LeBron won another MVP.

The other piece of news from the NBA is the MVP being named, and as everyone could probably assume LeBron James was the winner. James was nearly the unanimous choice for MVP, with only one vote for Carmelo Anthony keeping James from that honor. Rumor on the internet has it that ESPN personality and Miami Herald writer Dan Le Batard was the one who didn’t vote for his hometown hero as a publicity stunt, but that has not been confirmed.

The other stories in sports this weekend were in boxing and horse racing. In boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Robert Guerrero in a unanimous decision 117-111 Saturday night.  Mayweather remains undefeated for his career in Pro Boxing at 44-0. However, this was another example of the generally boring defensive style that Mayweather uses to win fights, which doesn’t provide much excitement for the fans watching. Floyd Mayweather Sr. returned to his son’s corner as a trainer despite their tumultuous relationship, and that improved Junior’s defensive tactics for this fight.

When horse racing is mentioned in the month of May, the focus of that sport turns to Louisville, Kentucky for the annual “run for the roses,” The Kentucky Derby. In the 139^th edition of this late spring classic, a sloppy, muddy, track didn’t prevent a fast pace for the “most exciting two minutes in sport.” Co-favorite at 6-1 odds Orb won the Derby by 2 ½ lengths in 2:02, with a dazzling final stretch run in the rain. Long shot horse Golden Soul placed (which paid $38.60 for a $2 bet to place), and the other co-favorite Revolutionary finished to show. All of the horses in the top three came from off the pace to finish the race after early speed faded at the end of the race.

Next week there will be more NHL and NBA playoff news to discuss. Enjoy the week in sports!

Photo MLive.com, Josh Slagter.

Floyd Mayweather is one of the most polarizing figures in all of sports. In order to be fair to Floyd I typically have to separate the Floyd that we see when he is in the ring from the guy that we know he is outside of it. This Saturday night Floyd Mayweather the boxer steps into the ring to take on a determined underdog challenger as he tries to defend his welterweight titles, as well as the perception that he is the best pound for pound boxer in the world.

The toughest issue you run across when talking about Floyd Mayweather is where to start. Mayweather has been considered one of the top fighters in the world for a number of years. The other name most frequently mentioned in that category with him was Manny Pacquaio. The idea of a Floyd versus Manny fight has been the talk of the boxing world, but at this point Pacquaio’s back-to-back losses against Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez have taken some of the luster off the possible contest, and the current promotional war between Golden Boy and Top Rank have made it even more unlikely that the fight will ever happen. In recent years the two names have become inexorably linked in what may go down in history as the biggest boxing gate that never happened.

If I am being critical of Floyd Mayweather the boxer I would say that he chooses his opponents a little too carefully for my liking and I tend to blame him for the Pacquaio negotiations falling apart. Floyd’s team has a pattern in selecting opponents. They have typically tried to avoid lefties because some of Floyd’s most difficult moments have come against guys like Zab Judah and DeMarcus Corley, who are lefties. Many believe this is the main reason Floyd has avoided the Pacquaio fight for so long, because he has no desire to face a guy fighting southpaw with the kind of speed and explosive power of Pacquaio.

In fact, if we are being frank it is pretty clear that Mayweather has done whatever he can to duck Pacquaio. He has continually put conditions on the match up and every time Manny agreed to his terms then Floyd changed what he wanted. He prefers to fight guys like Guerrero, who are coming up from smaller weight classes and don’t necessarily have big punching power. The big punchers that he has fought are usually guys that are past their prime like Shane Moseley late in his career or the diminished Miguel Cotto that he fought last year. The one young, aggressive fighter with power he has fought recently is Victor Ortiz who he beat with a sucker punch after poor officiating allowed him to do so.

At 36, Mayweather just signed a 30-month deal with Showtime that will likely take him through the effective end of his career, and one would expect his picking and choosing of opponents will continue as he tries to protect the undefeated record that means so much to him.

That criticism aside, once Floyd the boxer puts the gloves on he is a skilled ring technician. Floyd uses an old school boxing technique called the shoulder roll which allows him to be extremely elusive and hard to hit even when he is in close. As a defensive fighter he really does not have an equal, and you have to go back to a guy like Pernell Whitaker to find someone that was able to dominate matches with his defensive skills and quickness the way that Mayweather has. He is not a huge puncher and he doesn’t typically get drawn into exchanging with his opponent. He prefers to pick his spots and use his superior speed to confuse and wear down his opponents. He is an effective puncher and counter puncher in close or at distance and he is tough guy to time. Mayweather is a difficult puzzle for anyone to try to take apart.

Robert Guerrero is Floyd’s opponent this weekend and he comes into this fight as a 7-1 underdog. Guerrero started his career at lightweight and his story is actually pretty inspiring. He beat heavy-handed Australian Michael Katsidis in April of 2011 but was forced to take a 15-month sabbatical from the ring after that fight to care for his wife that was suffering from leukemia and to have shoulder surgery to repair a damaged rotator cuff, vacating the IBF Super Featherweight title in the process. It wasn’t until returning from that layoff that Guerrero stepped up to welterweight where he is currently 2-0. It was his most recent victory over Andre Berto that opened the door for this fight.

Guererro is a very capable fighter, having won six titles in four different weight classes. As a lefty he has a natural advantage against Mayweather, who has struggled a little with lefties in the past. He is really a volume puncher and is not known for his power. He did knock down Andre Berto twice early in his last fight, but he could not finish him and the fight went to the cards. He has successfully employed a number of different styles over the years to attack opponents based on their areas of weakness. Despite all of his success, does Guerrero really have a shot to win this fight?

There are a few factors working against Mayweather coming into this one that have to be considered before you can accurately answer that question. First of all, Mayweather is 36 years old and coming off of a one-year layoff, some of which was spent in jail where Mayweather’s diet and fitness routine went to hell based on his own admission. For a fighter that relies on pure speed the way Floyd does time is not always kind. Mayweather has been hit far more frequently in his last few fights and actually looked like he may have been in trouble a couple of times against Moseley.

The other question that presents a challenge for Floyd is the absence of his longtime trainer and Uncle Roger from his corner for this fight. Roger is dealing with health problems and Floyd has brought his father Floyd Sr. back to train him for this one. I think the story of their volatile relationship is pretty well known, but anytime a successful fighter changes trainers that can be cause for concern.

This fight will ultimately come down to what is left of Floyd Mayweather at this stage in his career. If he is still the guy that fought Cotto last year he should be able to get by the game Guerrero. But if his skills have continued to diminish then Guerrero is just the type of fighter that could turn his triumphant return into a nightmare. For his part Guerrero has to be aggressive, use the jab and hit Floyd to the body to set up bigger shots up top. Floyd simply has to continue being the guy he has been in recent years because Guerrero is not extremely powerful or elusive.

However, this is exactly the type of fight that gets great champions into trouble. Guerrero is younger and tough. He has a solid chin and no fear of trading with Floyd. If Guerrero can set the pace early and cut off the ring against Mayweather the way Cotto did he has a good shot to make the pound-for-pound king have a very long night.

When all is said and done my gut tells me that Mayweather has enough left in the tank to get by against a guy that is very good at many things but not especially great at any one aspect of the game.

Looking for a warmup?

Wladimir Klitschko defends his title Saturday afternoon.

If you want to catch some boxing but don’t feel like dropping 50 bucks on a PPV you can catch the heavyweight title being defended tomorrow afternoon, as Wladimir Klitschko takes on Francesco Pianeta. Pianeta is a former Klitschko sparring partner that earned his opportunity by beating journeymen 48-year old Oliver McCall (who you may recall had something like a nervous breakdown in a fight against Lennox Lewis some years ago) and 44-year old Franz Botha, both of whom he outpointed. Klitschko needs to win this fight in order to set up a megafight in August with Russian Alexander Povetkin.

I don’t rate Pianeta as having much of a chance against Klitschko in this one; it seems like more of a tune up fight as he gets ready for the long awaited Povetkin fight. Even if Klitschko looks past his opponent, his skill level is so much higher that he should still be able to win pretty easily. Klitschko is too big, powerful and skilled for most European-style heavyweights to handle. The one great thing we know about Wladimir, though, is that he can be knocked out, so anybody has a puncher’s chance against him. Even if the fight is not a great one it can be enjoyable to watch the technical game of Klitschko, especially when he starts throwing the straight right behind the jab. When he gets that punch going it’s usually only a matter of time before the guy across from him falls down. Watching Klitschko fight without hearing the voice of Emanuel Steward in his corner will be sad, as Wladimir enters his second fight since the death of his longtime trainer and the man that constructed the style that has made him a dominant world champion.

Klitschko vs. Pianeta can be seen on EPIX tomorrow afternoon at 4pm.

Mayweather vs. Guerrero is available tomorrow night at 9pm on Showtime PPV.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a mess at the start of this movie. He hasn’t slept for 72 hours and rarely sleeps at all, spending most of his time down in his lab modifying different versions of the Iron Man suit. He now lives with his girlfriend and CEO of his company, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), but that isn’t going all that well because of his lack of sleep and his focus on his work. On top of all this, Tony is prone to anxiety attacks after the events of The Avengers; to even mention New York sometimes leaves Tony short of breath. 

Add to Tony’s troubles a new villain, The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), a terrorist who seems to be capable of blowing up things without leaving any traces of a bomb. He also seems to have access to a new technology that allows his soldiers to regenerate when wounded, perhaps provided to him by old “acquaintances” of Tony’s: Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall). Or perhaps not.

In any case, from the previews you may be able to gather that The Mandarin has some success smashing up Tony Stark’s Malibu residence. Left without many of his resources and a fully functional Iron Man suit, he is put in an unfamiliar place (Tennessee) and left to his own devices to try and take down The Mandarin, as well as protect Pepper. Instead of the Iron Man suit as his main crutch, Tony is placed in a predicament very similar to the one he is placed in when captured in the first movie.

Most of the movie simply works. Black is able to take Iron Man 3 from dark territory into light-heartedness and back in the blink of an eye. When Tony is stranded in Tennessee he meets a boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins) whose father went out to get lottery tickets six years ago and didn’t come back. Tony, who essentially grew up in the same straits with his real father consumed by his work, sympathises with the boy yet tells him “Dads leave. No need to be such a pussy about it.”

Iron Man 3 is driven by its characters and the relationships between them. The movie manages to focus adequately on Tony’s relationship with multiple characters at the same time, to include his bodyguard Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and Colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle). Favreau’s character is given more to do here than in the first two movies, which Favreau directed. Paltrow’s character shows more range than in the previous two movies, and Kingsley, Pearce and Hall are intriguing as new characters in the franchise. The audience is engrossed by Tony’s relationships (or lack of due to his own shortcomings) with these people and others.

But let’s not forget that Iron Man 3 is first and foremost a summer blockbuster, and the end product reflects that. The movie has one of the better action sequences I’ve ever seen in a movie involving Air Force One, and as you would expect the special effects are top notch. Louder and more fast-paced than the first two movies, there’s a lot of action in this one. I didn’t see the movie in IMAX but I’m fairly sure seeing Iron Man 3 in that format would be worth the investment, especially for the Air Force One sequence. I did see the movie in 3D, although I don’t think I got much more out of that than I would have in regular 2D.

The movie seems to be making money hand over fist, and to be honest it deserves to. It’s one of those rare big summer special effects blockbusters that has heart and intelligence. There’s nothing particularly deep or extremely clever about it, but it holds your interest start to finish and makes the audience tense up, laugh and then tense up again. The only real criticisms I’ve seen come from Iron Man comic book aficionados who don’t like a particular plot twist with The Mandarin that doesn’t hold true to “source” material.

Sorry about that, fellas. The twist works with us regular people, there’s a lot more of us than you and our pockets our generally deeper. See Iron Man 3 only six times instead of 12, if you’re that offended.

Iron Man 3 is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense sci-fi action and violence throughout, and brief suggestive content. It is 130 minutes long and will make a ####-load of money.

PM&S’ VERDICT–On the lower end…of the best five to ten superhero movies ever made.

WHAT THE OTHERS ARE SAYING

The Boston Globe–”…suffers from confused plotting, flat-footed exposition, and more pure, noisy nonsense…Yet whenever Downey is being Downey…”

The Hollywood Gossip–”one of the best superhero movies ever.” 

Newsday–”…an effective machine designed solely to entertain.”