December « 2013 « Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

Monday, December 9, 2013

With Win Against SMU, #15 UCF Knights Sole American Champ, Earn Spot in Fiesta Bowl

Filed under: UCF Sports — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:48

The UCF Knights (11-1; 8-0 AAC) took care of their final piece of business of the regular season on Saturday, defeating the Mustangs of SMU (5-7; 4-4 AAC) 17-13 on an 18-degree frigidly cold day in Dallas, TX. Due to the freezing temperatures, only about 1,000 fans attended the game, many of whom were Knights. UCF struggled offensively during the first half; and an early turnover by receiver Jeff Godfrey one the first drive of the second half made the Knights look sloppy and unprepared. But, as they’ve shown all season, UCF would not back down. In all, the Knights held the Mustangs on three 4th down attempts; and they scored a late interception that would seal their win. Knights’ quarterback Blake Bortles, who moved up to a first round draft pick on ESPN’s Brian Griese’s NFL quarterback prospect list, threw for a total of 242 yards and ran for two touchdowns. With the win, UCF sealed their fate as the sole Champions of the inaugural season of the American Athletic Conference. UCF landed the #15 spot in the final BCS, Associated Press, and Coaches’ Poll rankings of the regular season. The Knights also learned Sunday that they would be celebrating New Year’s day fighting the Bears of Baylor in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ, marking their first ever BCS bowl appearance. #6 Baylor (11-1; 8-1 Big 12) was named the Big 12 Champion on Saturday after their 30-10 victory over the Texas Longhorns. UCF vs. Baylor in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl is set for 8:30pm on Wednesday January 1st. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Below, watch video highlights of UCF’s victory over SMU:

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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Theater Review: Flashdance The Musical

Filed under: Performing Arts — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:44

The soon-to-be headlining Broadway musical Flashdance comes to Orlando this week. Opening on Tuesday, the show runs through Sunday at the Bob Carr Center for the Performing Arts. The show is a fun and energetic production that features mostly original songs punctuated by the classic songs from the 1980’s that made the movie the show is based on so iconic. But it isn’t the songs, acting, or even dancing that’s the real star of Flashdance, it’s the incredible set design and lighting that is on par with what would be seen on a Broadway stage. Similar to recent shows like GHOST and Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the sets revolve around a series of digitally projected images that provide major structure to the show. The setting is steel-industrilaized Pittsburgh, PA and the sets largely reflect the industrial nature of the story. Set pieces are metal and provide a very manufactured-type feel. In addition to the sets, the lighting is superbly orchestrated, with the ambiance set up perfectly in nearly every scene. The orchestra is also quite strong for this touring production and left the audience impressed. The show itself has its high moments and low. The lead performer Jillian Mueller, who plays steel-worker by day and exotic dancer by night Alex Owens, hits the notes in all the right spots and is a superb dancer. She is truly the performing highlight of the show. Her costar, Corey Mach, gets the job done; but he isn’t the strongest male lead. And David R. Gordon, who plays one of the side characters, turns in a slightly weak performance that distracts from the overall quality of the show. Flashdance is under the incredible direction of Sergio Trujillo, who won the Tony Award for his direction of the absolutely legendary musical MEMPHIS. Many elements of that show are apparent here. The main pitfall of the show lies in its writing. The book is authored by Tom Hedley (who wrote the screenplay for the film) and Robert Cary. Cary also wrote the music for the show with Robbie Roth. None have any serious Broadway contributions under their belt. The story is a bit plodding; and a serious story element fails to effectively resolve by the show’s end. But, even with those issues, the show mostly reaches its main objective: to entertain through dance and fun music. In concert with the amazing set design, Flashdance is a lot of fun. The show is heading to Broadway. I am not sure how well it will be received by the harsh critics on the Great White Way. But time will tell. With a little sharpening up of the story, it is quite possible Flashdance could find a niche where recent shows based on films like GHOST and Big Fish failed. But without some changes, it has quite an uphill battle. Check out video highlights of Flashdance courtesy of Playbill below:

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Monday, December 2, 2013

After Miraculous Win Against Rival USF, UCF Knights Move up to #15 in AP and #16 in BCS

Filed under: UCF Sports — Dr. Christopher Blackwell @ 02:54

The UCF Knights (10-1; 7-0 AAC) needed a miracle to conquer their rival USF (2-9; 2-5 AAC) on Friday night in-front of a nationwide audience on ESPN and a sold-out 46,000 black-out crowd at Bright House Networks Stadium. And a miracle is what they got. After turning the ball over 5 times, the Knights executed a near-perfect drive in the last 4:50 of the game as Knights’ quarterback Blake Bortles hit wide receive Breshad Perriman on a 52-yard bomb. And just when the gassed out UCF defense seemed to be letting the Bulls inch closer to a victory, Jordan Ozerities clinched an interception that sealed the Knights’ 23-20 victory and gave them their first ever win over USF. The series is now 4-1. The win also gave UCF a boost in the rankings. The Associated Press poll placed UCF at #15 while UCF rose to #16 in the BCS. Both mark the highest ranking UCF football has ever achieved in its history. The Knights can secure the American Athletic Conference Championship and their first-ever BCS bowl appearance with a win against SMU (5-6; 4-3 AAC) on Saturday or if Louisville defeats Cincinnati on Thursday night. Kickoff for the UCF at SMU game is set for Noon in Dallas. That game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Below, check-out Jordan Ozerities’ interception that gave UCF its victory over USF courtesy of ESPN:

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