Terrence Howard Reacts To Idea Of Playing Ted Williams On Big Screen

The story of “golden voice” Ted Williams’ rapid rise from homeless to household name was, as some said, the stuff Hollywood movies are often made of.

Should Ted’s story find its way to the big screen, Ted previously told Access Hollywood he’d love to see Terrence Howard portray the once-down-on-his-luck radio announcer.

So, what does Terrence think about that idea?

“Well, I don’t have a sexy and sophisticated voice as he does, but his story is really compelling,” Terrence told Access Hollywood’s Maria Menounos during an interview in Park City, Utah, where Terrence was promoting his new film, “The Ledge,” at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. “It’s the Cinderella story.”

“Would you do it?” Maria asked.

“Yeah, I would. Am I that old yet?” the actor joked. “Tell Ted, ‘Thank you brother.’ Thank you for the endorsement, man. Wow.”

Ted’s path took him from the streets of Columbus, Ohio to Hollywood, and then to a rehab center in Texas in mid-January, after an interview with Dr. Phil. A little more than a week later, and after another appearance on “Dr. Phil” via phone from the rehab center, Ted reportedly checked himself out of the facility.

Despite Ted’s struggles, Terrence said he has hope for Ted.

“[There’s] some doom and gloom, but the look in his eye is still powerful and I think he’s going to come alive,” Terrence said of Ted.

Terrence added that he could see why someone would go to rehab, following encouragement from the TV doctor.

“I think Dr. Phil would’ve scared the hell out of me too! I would have to go to rehab after talking to Dr. Phil,” he told Maria.

Of course, if Terrence doesn’t pan out, Ted did have a backup star who he thinks could play him on the big screen.

“After his second re-election, President Obama,” Ted previously joked with Access. “A lot of people have been telling me that I look like President Obama from a side view.”

Rafael Soriano Contract Not Brian Cashman's Idea; Situation Awkward

About a week ago, the Yankees signed Rafael Soriano to a three-year, $35 million contract, the magnitude of which caught a lot of people off guard. There were rumblings at the time that the front office was split on the decision, and on Wednesday, general manager Brian Cashman confirmed to the press that this wasn't really something he wanted to do.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman admitted he was overruled by ownership, which signed reliever Rafael Soriano over his objection.

Cashman felt that he could better allocate the club’s resources elsewhere, and that he could improve the bullpen by other means, if necessary.

Cashman did say that he feels the Yankees are better with Soriano than without him, which keeps him from sounding too negative, and front offices throughout baseball seldom share a unanimous opinion on anything anyway. At the same time, though, perhaps the day of Rafael Soriano's formal introduction at Yankee Stadium is the wrong day for Cashman to publicly declare that Soriano's acquisition didn't have his support.

Soriano: I'm happy to be a Yankee and to be pitching in front of the greatest closer of all time
Cashman: And we're happy that you're a Yankee too, although I'd personally be happier with other players instead

And just for good measure, Cashman dropped another, unrelated nugget a little later on:

Cashman admitted that he engaged Carl Pavano’s agent, but nothing came of their discussions.

For Brian Cashman, Make Everyone Around You Uncomfortable Day has been a resounding success.

The Guardian Project: A Bad Idea of Superhero Proportions!

When I first heard of the NHL’s Guardian Project, my first reaction was, “Uh... what?” Then I was informed that the Guardian Project was a collaborative effort between the NHL and comic book legend Stan Lee, which would see the creation of 30 new superheroes that represented each NHL team. My reaction to this new information was an understandable, “Oh... really? Seriously? I mean... really?”

I was hoping that this was some sort of elaborate practical joke, or that the idea was just an example of the sort of ideas the NHL tossed around in the offseason out of boredom. I mean, NHL teams already have mascots, so surely giving each one a superhero would be silly, right?

Apparently not, and now we are starting to see the fruits of Stan Lee’s labour. The NHL has been slowly rolling out the superheroes one by one, giving us a glimpse of some of the 30 characters Lee created in a short six months or so.

The verdict: thumbs down.

The superheroes seem like the ones you would make up off the top of your head during recess when you were eight; you know, if you were too "husky" or "diabetesy" to play sports with the rest of the kids. It seems like each superhero was created in five minutes by looking at the team’s logo and name.

Take, for example, one of the recently revealed superheroes, The Wild, representing, you guessed it, The Minnesota Wild. The Wild’s superpowers include “General Mayhem” and, wait for it...“Tunnelling."

No jokes.

So basically, this superhero acts ridiculous, breaks things, and dives into the first hole it sees. Sounds like a lot of frat boys I’ve met, but certainly not a superhero created to... wait, what were these created for again?

Some people have said that this is a new and creative idea that will at the very least give the NHL some positive attention. I disagree. I think this will go down as one of the NHL’s (many) failed marketing efforts. The Guardian Project could be this generation’s glowing puck.

I can see people talking about it years from now:

“Hey, remember that time the NHL made up superheroes? Man that was lame! Definitely one of Gary Bettman’s worst ideas, may he rest in peace.”

I added that last part because I’m almost positive that some crazed Toronto fans will attack him when “The Leaf” is unveiled to be a part of a damn tree and has the unique power of “Blowing”.

That gets me wondering, what will be the powers of some of the other Guardians? Here are my predictions, based on the quality of what we’ve seen so far:

The Senator: The amazing ability to attract attention while, in reality, achieving nothing.

The Blue Jacket: Heightened fashion sense.

The Capital: AN INCREDIBLE BROKEN SHIFT BUTTON.

The Flame: The ability to blast enemies with an incredibly loud rendition of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.”

All in all, I’m pretty disappointed with the NHL on this one. The whole campaign seems like a lazy attention grab.

Anyone have any opinions on the campaign, or predictions of what the powers of future superheroes will be?