Make Up Your Melons

New news from the movie studios is old news: they still don't get it.

After fighting for years and years to prevent piracy, two major movie studios, Dreamworks and Paramount, are both announcing that they will only release their new movies in the HD DVD format.

What does this do? Well, for one thing, it keeps sales of new players from going out the roof. I know for a fact that, while it's nice to watch sports in HD, I also like my movies. And since I don't know which format is going to win out, and they're incompatible with each other, why would I buy one so early?

That leads to depressing sales in the actual disks. Why bother to buy a new movie release when the old format is still around, and you don't know which format will win out? Do you buy two copies of each movie? I don't think so. So what happens down the road when one format wins out and the other loses, and you backed the wrong horse?

Lastly, the other big reason why it's great to upgrade your disks to the HD format is that it's harder to pirate. Except that it's pretty easy now since everyone is fighting back and forth ... If they're so worried about losing money, you'd think they'd get their own house in order already.

Becks Beats Us

Well, he did it. David Beckham got it done last night, and was by far the Man of the Match as DC United crashes out of the Superliga 2-0.

If you want to see one of his patented, Bend it like Beckham freekicks, watch the highlights here.

The freekick that Beckham took was just fantastic. An amazing take, and one that completely fooled poor Troy Perkins.

It all started when he picked up a Caution for being late to the ball in the 18th minute. Up to that point, United was by far the better team, and only good goalkeeping had kept them off the board. But when Beckham went in hard, studs up, and took out two DC United players, I was watching the reaction. And man, but while he rubbed the ankle, then got up and kept going, you could see his confidence level rise real fast. Real fast. From then on, it was just a matter of time until he got one or set up a goal.

All of Beckham's balls were played right to where they needed to be, he was all over the pitch, sideline to sideline, going after the ball and winning it. And when Wolverine (Benny Olsen) went in and got Beckham hard in retaliation for his yellow, the Golden Boy popped back up and was smiling. And I knew we were in trouble.

He is by far the best player in MLS right now. It was clear, very clear last night. His technical ability and his tactical awareness are head and shoulders above the rest of the league. Case in point, the perfectly weight through ball he put Donovan in alone on (although without the McTavish deflection that ball is saved by Perkins). If he keeps going out, jumping up to try when he was excited that Kyle Martino should have had a goal in the 66th minute.

That said, United looked awful. My player ratings (since I watched this game sober and alone on my bed) with 10 being the highest:

Troy Perkins - 4; Bobby Boswell - 4; Devon McTavish - 3; Bryan Namoff - 5; Greg Vanney - 3; Fred - 4; Brian Carrol - 4; Ben Olsen - 4; Josh Gros - 4; Jaime Moreno - 6; Luciano Emilio - 6. SUBS Christian Gomez - 5; Guy-Roland Kpene - 3.

As you see, pretty much everyone was below average last night. Only Emilio and Moreno did anything really good, and Gros would be a 3 except he almost snuck in that great drive about 10 minutes in.

Let me just quickly say that I think that Kpene has a lot of work to do. Feet like bricks, checks back too much and doesn't know how to lay off the ball quickly or turn himself. Does he have a goal yet?

Now we just have to focus on Copa Sudamericana and getting either the Supporter's Shield or the MLS Cup. Vamos United!!!

Why hide behind a shield?

So I'm sure you're trying to figure something out. Why the DC Centurion? Well, here's a piece of fun info:

The exterior and interior of Union Station are guarded by a series of statues of Roman centurions. When he received the commission for designing the statues, Saint-Gaudens [the artist who sculpted them] asked the Fine Arts Commission if they wanted the statues to be historically accurate and was assured that they did.

When the models were delivered, the Fine Arts Commission were dismayed to find that some of the statues were obviously naked below their tunics -- historically accurate, yes, but not acceptable to turn-of-the-century Washington.

Saint-Gaudens redesigned the statues so the centurions now hold "modesty shields".

That's where the guy to the right comes in. I've always thought that whole idea was hilarious. Here we are, two blocks from the Capitol Rotunda, and we could have sculptures of the ideal of manly beauty with everything hanging out? I can hear the Bible Belt fainting in a heap already.

But, you'll also notice the shield of the under-appreciated DC United soccer team front and center, instead of the Roman Eagle adorning the real sculptures as they stand sentinel over Union station huh? [The profile picture will be coming soon. Bear with me]. Take a look at all these pictures and tell me if it's not an improvement.

But why Union Station? Well, I live in Washington, D.C. I won't call it what it used to be called in terms of the "Free World" but since I live two blocks from Union Station, walk by these semi-nudes every day and sometimes get freaked out by the idea of them coming alive and down to beat on me ... it seemed to fit.

I'm a young, mid 20's professional, and as it says in the subtitle, this is a scattershot blog. I'll be harping on all kinds of fun things. Currently on my list of topics to discuss are the books I'm working on, the movies I see, the food I eat, all of my soccer and other sports fun, my soccer reffing career and anything else that piques my interest.

Check back in, and if you want me to track anything down for you, I'm happy to.