NIX ANNOUNCES RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL
The first “big name” has thrown his hat in the ring for one of the three Kinston City Council seats that will open up in November — unaffiliated candidate John Nix, the owner of Matrix East and a plaintiff in the lawsuit against the U.S. Attorney General to bring nonpartisan voting to Kinston. He joins Republican Lennie Peterson as the only announced candidates for the city council.
My take: Nix has a pretty solid chance of winning one of the seats.
But where are the rest of the candidates — as I asked in my Sunday column yesterday? I know there are still three months remaining before filing officially begins, but I’m shocked there hasn’t been any movement at all on the Democratic side of the ledger. With Nix — and even Peterson — announcing, they hold a distinct advantage over those who might choose to announce later.
And no, I wasn’t joking about Van Braxton coming back to the council — he had a pretty solid three terms on the council and it would do nothing but help him rebuild his political cause, if he even wants to be in politics any longer.
ACC 3, BIG EAST 2
After the first full weekend of the NCAA Tournament, only two of a record 11 Big East teams remain in the tourney, while three of the four ACC teams invited are alive for the Sweet 16.
My take: This tickles me to no end — the over-hyped (mostly by the four-letter network) league was beat up all weekend. It’s highly likely that Marquette (vs. UNC) and UConn (vs. San Diego State) won’t even make it to the Elite Eight, making this an epic fail for the Big Least.
At least the Big East has nine women’s teams in the round of 32. They have that going for them! Go ahead, Big East advocates — defend your overrated league.
Anyhoo — congrats to our good friend (and Friday Free Press coverboy) Michael Moon for leading our blog standings after the first weekend. He has 46 points, one better than Darren Becton and two better than Brent Pelletier. Kelly Rouse and Rich Jarman are three points back in fourth place.
And yes, my bracket is shot after FSU’s upset of Notre Dame — since I had the Irish in the national championship game against Duke. Oh well, still worth it for the Big East to go down in flames like this!
‘LIMITLESS’ TOPS WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
The Bradley Cooper-Rober De Niro drama “Limitless” was No. 1 at the U.S. weekend box office, hauling in $19 million. It topped “Rango” ($15.3 million) and “Battle: L.A.” ($14.6 million), while new movies “The Lincoln Lawyer” ($13.6 million) and “Paul” ($13.2 million) were fourth and fifth, respectively.
My take: The HB and I took in “Limitless” on Saturday — and it was pretty good. Cooper can certainly be goofy at times (see: “The Hangover”), but he was very good in “Limitless.” I’d give it a 7 out of 10.
By the way, we saw “Hall Pass” a couple of weeks ago — and it was arguably the funniest movie I’ve seen at the theater since “There’s Something About Mary.” It’s that good.
The iPod shuffle
Three Point One Four — The Bloodhound Gang
Hero — Mariah Carey
All I Do Is Win — D.J. Khaled featuring T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg & Rick Ross
Anything Goes — Guns N’ Roses
The Fly — U2
P.S.: Wednesday is the deadline for a blog fantasy baseball league. I only have six commitments to this point and frankly, if there is no more interest than this, we probably don’t need to have a league. Hit the link above for details and let me know if you’re interested in playing with your fellow bloggees.
HOWEVER, our good friend Randy Capps needs two more dedicated players in his fantasy baseball league. The cost is $25 to join; he gives $150 to the overall winner and $10 each to the 10 (5X5 format) category winners. I’ve played in this league every year but one over the past seven or eight years and it is COMPETITIVE. I’ve never finished above second, although I’ve won my share of categories. It’s a fun, extremely active league; if interested, e-mail Senor Capps at cappsr@fayobserver.com and he’ll hook you up with more info.
