Welcome to V’s Tees! If you don’t know, it’s a showcase of cool and awesome t-shirts that I’ve collected over the years. I must remind everyone that I am not the designer…I’m just a lover of great t-shirts. To see all of the previous V’s Tees posts, please click here.

As the inventor of the High Five (Don’t believe me? Read How I Invented the High Five!), it only makes sense for me to have this shirt. It’s another great t-shirt from threadless.com which caught my eye a while ago. The shirt is a simple one, with the number 5 waving and saying hello. Well, actually, saying “hi.”

I love this shirt because it brings together two of my favourite things: T-shirts, and high fives. Like i said before, it’s available on www.threadless.com in mens, womens, and even as a hoodie. I may or may not have both the t-shirt and the hoodie…but that’s a story for another day.

What do you think of the shirt? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

OK, so we didn’t do so hot in the first round, but let’s see what we can get right for the second round!

Once again, we’ll start in the East:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Pittsburgh vs Ottawa: 

Vishal – Well, another easy one I think. Pens are just too strong offensively for Anderson to contain enough to get 4 wins out of 7. I’d love to see the Sens win this one, but I feel like

Prediction: Penguins in 5

Cory - Crosby can score, Malkin can score, Iginla can score, Neal, Dupuis……..the list is long for the Penguins and their scoring abilities. The Sens on the other hand have Anderson, and that’s what helped them move past the Canadiens. I just don’t see that happening here.

Prediction: Penguins in 6

Boston vs NY Rangers: 

Vishal - I think Lundqvist will once again prove that he is one of the best goalies in the league. But Boston isn’t a team to count out so I think this one will go deep (TWSS!)

Prediction: NY Rangers in 6

Cory - I was surprised that the Leafs pushed the Bruins to seven games. Given that the Bruins had a hard time knocking off Toronto and the talent in NYC, I’m going with the Rangers

Prediction: NY Rangers in 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Chicago vs Detroit: 

Vishal - The Blackhawks will prove why they were the best team in the regular season and get through Detroit pretty quickly. While I said you can’t count out Detroit in the first round, I don’t see them giving Chicago too much of a battle after their long series.

Prediction: Chicago in 5

Cory - .Best in the West and hands down the Best of the rest. Hawks all the way

Prediction: Chicago in 5

LA Kings vs SJ Sharks: 

Vishal - I read somewhere that this is LA’s first series where they’ll hold home ice advantage, so I can’t use the whole underdog thing anymore to count them out. I think they might actually have a good shot against San Jose this series.

Prediction: LA in 6

Cory - I did not expect to see the Kings in Round 2. Perhaps there will not be a cup hangover and with the San Jose Sharks history of choking in the playoffs I’ll give the champs credit

Prediction: LA in 6

Hopefully Cory and Vishal do a little better predicting this round, but one thing is for sure, it will be an exciting round of playoffs to enjoy!

If you haven’t checked out our predictions for the first round, go do that first and then come back to see how we did.

Basically, what it comes down to is…Cory and Vishal don’t know squat about hockey apparently. At least, not about when it comes to predictions about the playoffs. Let’s start with the Eastern Conference. We got most of the teams right, we were just a bit off on how many games it would take.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs NY Islanders

Both Cory and Vishal predicted an easy win for Pittsburgh. They both believe that Pittsburgh is the team to beat in the East, and that’s still the case. The Islanders did however make a bit of a series out of it and won a couple of games which was pretty unexpected.

Predictions:
Cory – Pens in 4
Vishal – Pens in 5
RESULT – Pens in 6

Montreal Canadiens vs Ottawa Senators

Both Cory and Vishal predicted Montreal in 6 for this series and they couldn’t have been more wrong. Well, I guess they could have been, but not by much. It was a series filled with injuries on both teams, suspensions, and brawls. But the main thing about the series was goaltending. There was outstanding goaltending by both Craig Anderson and Carey Price. It wasn’t until Price got injured and Budaj came in that the goaltending wasn’t stellar.

Predictions:
Cory – Canadiens in 6
Vishal – Canadiens in 6
RESULT – Senators in 5

Washington Capitals vs NY Rangers

Here we go, finally one we got right! Not much to say about this one, it went the distance and Lundqvist was the reason the Rangers won. It’s as simple as that.

Predictions:
Cory – Rangers in 6
Vishal – Rangers in 7
RESULT – Rangers in 7

Boston Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Here’s another one where we got the winner right, but the way it happened was not at all how we expected. Boston came out to a 3-1 lead in the series and Toronto came back to force a game 7, and even had a 3 goal lead in that game. Then Boston came back to tie it up with less than a minute left in regulation and then won the game in OT. It was an exciting series to watch, and a heartbreaking loss for the Leafs.

Predictions:
Cory – Bruins in 5
Vishal – Bruins in 5
Result – Bruins in 7

Western Conference:
Ok, so in the East, we did well in predicting the winners, but’s likely due to the fact that we see those teams play more often. The west is where we really don’t know shit. Let’s see how badly we did.

Chicago Blackhawks vs Minnesota Wild

Well, we got this one right. No surprises here. The best team in the regular season won. it wasn’t an exciting series, it was what it was.

Predictions:
Cory – Blackhawks in 5
Vishal – Blackhawks in 4
RESULT – Blackhawks in 5

Anaheim Ducks vs Detroit Red Wings

Both Cory and Vishal agreed on this one: Anaheim in 6. Detroit is hard to count out, but we both felt that they wouldn’t be able to get past the Ducks. How wrong we were.

Predictions: 
Cory – Ducks in 6
Vishal – Ducks in 6
RESULT – Red Wings in 7

Vancouver Canucks vs San Jose Sharks

This one was a bit of a shocker all around. Cory got the winning team right, and Vishal was incredibly way off. But it still ended in a way few people thought. The only good news out of Vancouver after this series is that it’s all but settled that Roberto Louongo will not be returning as a Canuck for the 2013-2014 season.

Predictions:
Cory – Sharks in 6
Vishal – Canucks in 6
RESULT – Sharks in 4

St. Louis Blues vs LA Kings

This was the series that neither Cory nor Vishal cared for that much. Both said they didn’t see LA continuing their run of winning as the underdog. And were once again proven wrong.

Prediction: 
Cory – Blues in 6
Vishal – Blues in 5
RESULT – Kings in 6

So there you have it…first round is done, and the second round has begun. Keep an eye out for our predictions for round two coming soon!

Ok, a few years ago, I was one of the first to say that BBM going cross-platform would be detrimental to BlackBerry’s (then RIM) comeback. That was then. Now I’m singing a different tune. At BlackBerry Live, CEO Thorsten Heins announced that BBM would be going cross-platform and be available to Android and iOS users.

THIS. IS. HUGE.

Why the sudden change of heart for me? Well, it’s not that sudden. After seeing what BlackBerry 10 had to offer, I’m confident in it’s success. With older BlackBerry devices, BBM was likely the only selling point other than security and best in class email/communion. With BB10, there’s much more to the phone than just communication. It has great apps, great games, a solid music and video selection, and lots more to offer.

So why go cross-platform anyway? Personally, I prefer BBM to anything else. Texting is fine, but with friends and family all over the world, it would cost too much, and for some reason people don’t want to use emails for small chats. Whatsapp is fine for that sort of stuff, as long as they’ve downloaded it. Then there are iOS users that tell me that iMessage is the best thing ever. Well, sorry to break it to you, but it’s not. It tries to do what BBM does and frankly, it doesn’t do it that well. It’s just another thing that Apple copied from another platform, added an unimaginative name to it, and brainwashed you into thinking it was something it’s not. iMessage is a watered down version of BBM with few of the features.

At this point, BlackBerry is confident in it’s other strengths that it doesn’t need to rely on BBM’s popularity anymore. Other proprietary and cross-platform messaging clients exist, but they all pale in comparison to what BBM has to offer. BBM will be the go-to messaging client on every smartphone. That’s huge.

iMessage and WhatsApp might be able to compete with older BlackBerry’s BBM, but not with BBM on BB10. The inclusion of BBM Voice and video chat is what makes the big difference. No more having to decide if you need to do a skype chat, or a google hangout, or facetime depending on what device and what app the other person uses. Just use BBM video across all platforms. And you can do audio only calls as well.

And the best part about it is that it’s FREE! It will be out this summer for iOS 6 and higher as well as Android 4.0 and higher. I think this will be a huge deal. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

I just found this plate the other day and as it’s Mother’s Day this weekend, I just had to stop to take a picture of it. Mother’s do so much for us, and we should do everything we can to let them know we appreciate it. Don’t worry, this post isn’t my gift to my Mom!

But everyone out there should tell your Mom (Mum, Mother, Mama, Momma, etc), or mother figure, that you love them. And don’t just say it, mean it.

The first true love in my life was the ninja turtles when I was a kid. I had almost all variations of action figures, namely many many Donatello’s as he was my favourite. I even had the VHS of the following video below.

Yeah, I loved the turtles. Truth be told – second date with my wife I took her to see the 2007 animated TMNT movie, why she continued to see me I’ll never know. After Nickelodeon purchased the rights to the turtles and a new movie was announced I was excited, then Michael Bay was announced to be producing at which point my heart sank. THEN we heard the turtles were being changed to an alien race vs mutants due to coming in contact with ooze which I grew up knowing and reading in the comics and then the final nail in the coffin came when the movie’s title was simply going to be “Ninja Turtles”. Not a big deal to some but c’mon they are Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that’s just a fact, that’s what you call them. Despite the casting of Megan Fox as April O’Neil some good has been spotted on the set. A cast chair is sporting the full title. Finally a plus!

Sidebar: If you get the chance, I cannot recommend enough the new TMNT cartoon, check it out as well as my review of the pilot here

As we enter Marvel’s Phase 2 of movies one question on everyone’s mind was: how will the fall out from the Avengers go? Having Iron Man 3 be the first movie out of the gate for Phase 2 we were at least assured to have an entertaining movie. I mean Iron Man is easily the strongest of the Marvel hero franchises and to think that prior to 2008 the character was considered to be a C lister. Enter Robert Downy Jr and the rest is Box Office gold.

A lot of people did not like Iron Man 2, which I don’t think is fair. Of course it has it’s share of plotting problems and it did have the misfortune to be the catalyst to help bridge the cinematic universe for Marvel and setup the Avengers but it’s still a very entertaining movie full of great performances and one missed opportunity (much like Iron Man 3). The biggest issue for Iron Man 2 was the first movie , a problem that Iron Man 3 does not have to contend with. What Iron Man 3 has to contend with is of course the superhero team up movie. The Avengers was the ultimate goofy popcorn flick but what was Iron Man 3? It’s not a mess, but it’s close.

First off, I did not hate Iron Man 3 but I sure as hell did not love it, for me this movie registers like the Amazing Spider-man a missed opportunity. Entering Phase 2 and having the Avengers setup opened the door for this film to go back to the routes of the franchise and the producers and stars said that is what they were going to do as the story was setup as “putting Tony back in the cave” like in the original. That had me excited, that had me believing that the fun from the first movie was going to return BUT it was going to include some serious stuff from the fall out from the Avengers. The story has Tony suffering from PTSD after the attack on New York and that causes him to have panic attacks and not be able to sleep, some interesting stuff………..that’s never fully explored. Much like the demon in the bottle storyline and Tony coming to grips with his mortality in the 2nd movie. This movie also for the first time pits Tony against a non tech villain, the Mandarin.

Oh the Mandarin, the seeds were planted in the first movie with the subtle touch of the mention of “the ten rings” but the Ten Rings are turned from the mystical to terrorists. Sure it’s a change from the comics but these movies were grounded a bit into reality so having the Mandarin being a Bin Laden type figure worked amazing in the trailers and worked really great in the movie. Ben Kingsley sold the shit out of the character, he made some great character choices in his portrayal of the character. Much like the Joker in The Dark Knight or Leo in Django, the Mandarin steals the scenes he’s in.

HOWEVER there is a twist that comes towards the third act that is refreshing to casual movie goers and a knife to the chest to comic fans. I’m still on the fence with this twist. I’m less mad now then I was when it happened but it still doesn’t sit well with me. Then there is the main focus of this movie that I did not like how it was dealt with on screen and that’s Extemis. I’m not familiar with how it was handled in the comics but watching it I have this feeling that even in the comics that’s not how it went down. Extremis, despite never being fully explained, comes off way too cartoony and scifi which even for a movie about a guy flying around in a suit made of Iron it was a let down. And that’s what I find to be the general theme with this movie, there are these plot elements and beats that are there but are never given their due or truly explained.

The saving grace as always is Robert Downy Jr and the cast. Downy cannot do wrong and watching him on screen, with Shane Black’s writing and direction is great. Do me a favor and sit down and watch Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, that shit if brilliant, one of my all time favourite movies and showcases another solid performance by Robert Downy Jr. Back to Iron Man, what I noticed from this movie is that you get the sense by the closing credits is that this movie was built as RDJ’s swan song as Tony Stark, at least in the solo movie form. With Iron Man 3 under his belt has is officially done with his contractual obligations to Marvel, so this might be it and unfortunately for me it was not up to snuff.

It’s that time of year again for sure, and it also Vishal vs Cory, V vs C in the battle for who can pick the Playoff of Match Up winners!!!

Let’s start in the East:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Pittsburgh vs NY Islanders: 

Vishal – This is an easy and a hard one to predict for me. As much as I don’t like it, it does seem that Pittsburgh is the team to beat in the East, and maybe in the whole league. They’ve been playing well without Sidney Crosby for the last month, and will likely continue to do so. And when he comes back, well watch out. On the other hand, John Tavares is playing pretty great lately too. Will it be enough to take down the Pens? Maybe…but only if Crosby doesn’t play.

Prediction: Penguins in 5

Cory - Even the Islanders players would be lying if they told you they thought they would make the Playoffs this year. Hell I would say I wouldn’t expect to see them in the Playoffs any given year. They stand no chance against the Penguns with or without Crosby

Prediction: Penguins in 4

Montreal vs. Ottawa: 

Vishal - Ottawa is my hometown team, and so of course I want them to win. And while I still think they’re a great team, and definitely deserve to be in the playoffs, I have a hard time seeing them get past Montreal in the first round. Anderson is a great goalie and will likely do a great job of allowing less than 2 or 3 goals a game. However, that means little when the team in front of him can’t score more than 1 or 2. As much as I want Ottawa to win this one, It just seems unlikely this year.

Prediction: Montreal in 6

Cory - As a employee of the Senators and a fan I only want good things to happen for the team, but their road record wasn’t great this year and they are in the playoffs with a lot of young guys.

Prediction: Montreal in 6

Washington vs. NY Rangers: 

Vishal - This is another tough one. One one hand, Ovechkin has been on a tear lately, scoring enough goals to take the Rocket Richard trophy. On the other hand, Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the league. In this series, I think I’m gonna choose Lundqvist, but only barely. This series is going the distance.

Prediction: NY Rangers in 7

Cory - Vishal thinks this one is a lot closer than I do. The Rangers were hot down the stretch as the Capitals cooled off plus they have Hank in net vs the young guys the Capitals to.

Prediction: Rangers in 6

Boston vs. Toronto: 

Vishal - This might be the more electrifying series in the East and definitely one that I’ll be keeping an eye on. An original 6 match up, Toronto’s first playoff appearance in almost a decade, the whole Phil Kessel of it all. In any event, I don’t think Toronto’s goaltending will bail them out this time. Boston is just the better team here.

Prediction: Boston in 5

Cory - Toronto in the Playoffs for the first time in 9 years + 1 win in 14 visits to Boston = Thanks for coming out

Prediction: Boston in 5

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

Chicago vs Minnesota:

Vishal – This one is easy. The best team in the league this year, on their second hot streak of the season. Not much to say about this series.

Prediction: Chicago in 4

Cory - I love the Minnesota Wild, ever since they joined the league. There is not a US based team that I give a shit about other than Minnesota. The Wild are the closest team in the US to being a Canadian team they just love hockey that much in the State. BUT I would be a fool to give them a chance vs the Blackhawks

Prediction: Chicago in 5

Anahiem vs Detroit:

Vishal - This one is a bit tougher. It seemed for a while over the season that Anahiem had a chance to maybe catch up to Chicago, but that died out after a few bad games. Detroit on the other hand has been fighting and clawing their way into the playoffs. It’s hard for me to count out Detroit with people like Datysuk and Zetterberg, but I think Anaheim has the upper hand in this round. That doesn’t mean Detroit will go down without a fight though.

Prediction: Anaheim in 6

Cory - “Quack, quack, quack, Mr Ducksworth”. Nuff said

Prediction: Anaheim in 6

Vancouver vs. San Jose:

Vishal - While Ottawa is my hometown team, Vancouver is my western conference team. My dream finals would be Ottawa vs. Vancouver for sure. The difference between this series and the Ottawa series is that the team I want to win is actually the better team. Louongo will be the starter due to Schneider’s injury, but I have confidence in him to get Vancouver through to the next round at the very least, hopefully further.

Prediction: Vancouver in 6

Cory - Like Vishal the Canucks are my Canadian team of the West. Any other year I would say they are the best chance at Canada getting a shot at the Cup. Unfortunately after the Louongo nonsense I don’t see them making past the 1st round. Shame

Prediction: Sharks in 6

St. Louis vs. Los Angeles:

Vishal - This is one of the series that I don’t care much about. Sure I’m interested in seeing if LA can win one more time as the lower seed. But other than that, meh. I don’t see either team going past the first round. This one is just a toss up for me.

Prediction: Blues in 5

Cory - Could not care less about this series. My only interest would be is seeing if LA could repeat but I don’t think they’ll get past the Blues. Maybe if the off-sides were off

Prediction: Blues in 6

Another busy month of work, school, finals, and new house stuff, but that didn’t stop the boys at GoVandC from having a post here and there over the month. If you missed any of them, here they are all in one place for you! Enjoy!

• Changing Beast in the New X-Men
• The Walking Dead Season 3 Rewind
• Winter Classic Redux
• The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Review
• See how it all began: Arkham Origins announced
• Platers Gonna Plate: Play Golf
• Masters 2013 Preview
• Go Watch: Man of Steel official trailer
• Who wants to see Electro in Amazing Spider-Man 2
• V’s Tees: Stud in Study
• Go Watch: Thor The Dark World trailer
• Vishal & Cory Episode 002: Way Back Playback
• Shut up and take my money! Iron Man Mark 42 Life size figure

May will be a big month with some pretty exciting things including reviews for Iron Man 3, The Hangover 3, and Star Trek: Into Darkness, along with tech updates with Google I/O and BlackBerry Live coming up. And of course, there’s the NHL and NBA Playoffs to cover. Keep and eye out on the @GoVandC Twitter page and like the Facebook page to stay on top of everything!

It’s arguably the best time of the year. For a lot of people, school’s out for the summer. The nice weather is finally starting to be consistent. The days are longer, and girls in dresses and bikinis are on the way! But another thing that makes this time of year so great is the beginning of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! This means nothing to you if you’re not a hockey fan, but if you are, it’s the best time of the year for sure.

As avid hockey fans, Cory and I will be watching the NHL playoffs as much as possible, and doing round-by-round updates at the very least, maybe more if we have the time. But first, let’s start with the first round. Please take some time to watch this incredible video made by my good friend Alex Martel. With Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa all in the playoffs, this video really hits the spot perfectly. No matter who you are, what team you cheer for, it doesn’t matter. As long as you love me…and hockey!

The seeding for the East only got decided on the last day of the regular season with the final game against Boston and Ottawa. There are some great stories to follow in the East, including Toronto’s first trip to the Playoffs in 9 years, the Ottawa/Montreal rivalry, and if Lundqvist can stop Ovechkin’s recent hot hand. Here is what the East match-ups looks like:

Pittsburgh Penguins (1) vs New York Islanders (8)
Montreal Canadiens (2) vs Ottawa Senators (7)
Washington Capitals (3) vs New York Rangers (6)
Boston Bruins (4) vs Toronto Maple Leafs (5)

The West has it’s share of exciting storylines as well. Will Chicago keep their incredible season going? Will Vancouver’s goalie situation help or hinder their progress? And my pick for the most exciting series to watch will be the Anaheim/Detroit series. But here is how the West side of the bracket will look like:

Chicago Blackhawks (1) vs. Minnesota Wild (8)
Anaheim Ducks (2) vs. Detroit Red Wings (7)
Vancouver Canucks (3) vs. San Jose Sharks (6)
St. Louis Blues (4) vs. Los Angeles Kings (5)

If it were up to me, the Sens and Canucks would be in the finals, but they each have a tough road ahead of them to make that happen. Keep an eye out over the next few days for a post with our predictions on each series.

With the theatrical release of Iron Man 3 only a few days away (Go Watch the trailer), you know that the merchandise is going to be all over the place. And I want it all. I just saw this today though, and I couldn’t help but think “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!”

This feature is all about things we want and can’t have, and the Iron Man Mark 42 Life Size figure fits into that category spectacularly. Priced at $8,499.99 USD, you can either make a one time payment or pay in monthly installments of $1,700/month. What a steal, amiright?

My birthday is just over 2 months away, and if you’re wondering what to get me, here’s the link: http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=902026. Don’t worry, You don’t have to wrap it.

In the meantime, keep an eye out this weekend for the GoVandC review of Iron Man 3!

So what do you do when Vishal and Cory aren’t available to record a new episode of their show? Well what you do is find an episode of a past show that you can use as filler until their schedule clears up and they can record an new installment. That is exactly what we have here. As the 2013 summer movie season is fast approaching you are treated with a look back at our heroes anticipation for the 2012 Summer Blockbusters.

Enjoy.

Superhero movies are something everyone here at GoVandC enjoys. Whether it’s the incredibleness of Batman: The Dark Knight, or the flops like Green Lantern, you can bet that Cory and I will go see it just to check it out. 2013 is going to be a great year for superhero movies including Iron Man 3, Superman: Man of Steel, and Wolverine.

We can add the sequel to Thor to that list now. It will be coming out on November 8th, and it looks to be as action filled as the first. Watch the trailer above and let us know what you think.

Welcome to V’s Tees! If you don’t know, it’s a showcase of cool and awesome t-shirts that I’ve collected over the years. I must remind everyone that I am not the designer…I’m just a lover of great t-shirts. To see all of the previous V’s Tees posts, please click here.

Well it’s the end of April, and if you’re in college or university, you’re probably feeling the stress of exams coming up. Late night study sessions, frantic searching for material from the beginning of the term, and end of the year projects. None of those are fun things, but in one week, it’ll all be over and you’re done for the year (Unless you’re taking courses over the summer). Either way, at least the term will be over.

On one of my earlier study breaks, I decided I would clean up my room a little bit, and found this little shirt from many years ago. I felt it was pretty appropriate for this time of year when so many people are busy studying. Hopefully you’re reading this on a study break as well and not procrastinating. If you are…GET BACK TO WORK! If not, go have a look around the site at all our other awesome posts.

What do you think of the shirt? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

The title truly says it all. Behold your first unofficial look at Jaime Foxx in his Dr Manhattan blue skinned villain role of Electro in the Amazing Spider-man sequel aptly titled The Amazing Spider-man 2. For those unaware the look is inspired by the Ultimate comics version of Electro NOT the classic Minnesota North Stars colored green and yellow version. You all know that I was not a fan of the 2012 reboot of Spider-man and to this day Vishal and I are both strongly on different sides of fence about it BUT I have to admit that the look is really the only way to you bring this character to the big screen without it looking ridiculous. So for that I’m intrigued. What you you think of the look?

Ok, we’ve already done a post on the Man of Steel trailer way back in December when it first came out. Since then, we’ve seen a few more different ones, but the newest one just hit youtube Tuesday evening. It’s, in a word, incredible. I challenge anyone to watch this 3 minute long masterpiece and not be more interested in the movie than they were before. I dare you.

Man of Steel opens on June 14th, and you can bet that Cory and I will have a review for it up within a few days of its release.

While the 2013 PGA season has been going strong for over a month and a half now, we’re closing in on the first Major tournament of the season: The Masters. Held at the prestigious Augusta National golf course in Augusta, Georgia, it’s definitely one of the most watched golf tournaments of the year. This year there are a few storylines going in that will make sure it’s an exciting weekend of golf. Read on to see what I think they are, and let’s get ready to Play Golf!

The first one has to do with the greatest golfer of all time. Like him or not, you can’t argue the fact that Tiger Woods is the best right now (being ranked #1 in the world), the best this season (has won the most events this season), and while he doesn’t have as many majors as Jack Nicklaus, he’s cemented himself as the best of all time. You’d have to have been living under a rock for the last few years to not know that Tiger’s life has taking a turn for a worse ever since the infamous sex scandal involving him. He’s had a tarnished reputation since then, and being hit with the injury bug several times since then, he hasn’t had the best seasons of his life. He hasn’t won a Major since the 2008 US Open, but he’s been close a few times. Tiger is going into the Masters this year as the favourite, and it’s well deserved. He’s been playing consistently amazing this year, his driving and short game has been awesome, and his putting has been nothing short of incredible. Anything can happen at the Masters, but if someone gave me a Tiger vs. the field bet, I’d choose Tiger this time around, and feel pretty good about.

Next, we have Rory McIlroy. Rory is the person who held the world #1 ranking until a couple of weeks ago when Tiger took over. He had a shot to regain the #1 ranking last week, but finished second and couldn’t pass Tiger. Needless to say, winning the Masters will vault him past Tiger, but we’ll deal with that when it happens. McIlroy hasn’t had the best season so far, having issues with consistency. That might be due to him switching clubs, but you gotta go where the money is right? He says he’s ready and confident going into the Masters this year, but I’m skeptical. In 2011, Rory had a massive collapse int he final round and lost and that has to be hanging over his head still. But he’s one of the best and obviously, Rory will be bringing his best game to the Masters, and I would love the final pairing to be Tiger and Rory because you know that’s just going to be an awesome rivalry. There’s nothing like watching the two best golfers at the time go head to head for a Major.

Another story revolves around Bubba Waston, the defending Masters champion. Since it’s first tournament in 1934, only 3 players have repeated as Masters champions: Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods. This just goes to show you how hard the tournament is to win back-to-back years. But I think that Bubba has a shot to be the 4th person to do it. He’s a great personality on the course as he’s very light-hearted and easy-going. Everyone knows how serious of a tournament the Masters is, and it’s nice to see some people having a bit of fun out there too. He’s a player I’ll be watching closely, along with his pink driver.

Other stories include:

• Does Phil Mickleson have what it takes to win the Masters again?
• Can Luke Donald or Justin Rose catch up to Rory and Tiger in the world rankings?
• Will Guan Tianlang, the 14 year-old from China, make the cut?

What do you think is the most prominent story going into this years Masters tournament? Let me know in the comments. And if you want to follow along on your phone, hit up the Masters app on your iOS or Android device, or just bookmark m.pga.com on your smartphone for live scores and news. And of course you can keep up to date on the pga website on your computer as well.

Welcome to Platers Gonna Plate! We’ll be showing off some of the coolest, personalized, customized, and awesomized license plates that we’ve had the good luck to see and snap a picture of! Hope you enjoy!

We’re just a few days away from my favourite golf tournament of the year. It’s the first Major of the season and it’s played at one of the most prestigious courses in the world: Augusta National. The tournament is of course, the Masters. There are a lot of stories to follow this year, some of which I will outline in another post.

It just so happened that I was able to catch this plate in a parking lot the other day. Perfect timing it would seem. So who do you think will win the Masters? Sound off in the comments.

DISCLAIMER: If this is your license plate and you don’t want to have it displayed, please email us at plates@govandc.com or leave a comment and we’ll take the post down immediately

It’s a great day to be both a video game AND Batman fan as Warner Bros. has announced the next title in the Batman: Arkham franchise. Look out for Batman: Arkham Origins! While the game is still currently in development for the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U (sorry Next Gen consoles) it is expected to be released on October 25th, 2013

The most interest thing of note is that unlike the previous two games Origins will not be developed by Rocksteady Studios instead being worked on in-house at Warner Bros. Games Montreal (go Canada!). The game’s plot will set the story prior to both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City and feature a young and inexperienced Batman who will encounter many of his rogue gallery villains for the first time.

Not to leave the handheld people out in the cold, Warner Bros announced a title for both the PS3 and Nintendo 3DS, Batman Arkham Origins Blackgate. Blackgate is a sort of sequel to Origins as it will take place after the events of the console game.

Anyone else like me and pumped for the next Batman Game? Let us know in the comments

Steve Carell is a great comedic actor (see: Bruce Almighty, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman, The Office), Steve Carell can give strong serious, personal performances (see: Dan in Real Life, Little Miss Sunshine, Seeking A Friend for the End of the World, Crazy Stupid Love) but there is a side of Steve Carell that I really don’t like, that side is this: Steve Carell can make some bad decisions when selecting projects (see: Evan Almighty, Get Smart, Bewitched). This picture belongs in the latter category for Steve.

I have certainly seen my fair share of bad movies and terrible movies but The Incredible Burt Wonderstone for me doesn’t fall in either of those categories. For me Burt Wonderstone is a missed opportunity much like Fred Claus. The premise for Burt is simple but a good one: When a street magician’s stunts begins to make their show look stale, superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton look to salvage on their act – and their friendship – by staging their own daring stunt. For me that sounds like it has such great potential in the right hands. Both Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, classic version Jim, have proven time and again that they can make oddball flicks that work because of their over the top styles but they swung and missed here with this picture. I don’t know if maybe they were kept under control by their director or if maybe they had to dial it back a lot given the rating the studio was going for I don’t know but they definitely did not shine here.

Steve’s performance rang in as though he was trying to be Will Ferrell in Anchorman, I found a lot of his line delivery to mimicked Ron Burgundy’s mannerisms a lot. Jim Carrey’s performance rang hollow to me as well, his subdued performance was pitch perfect in Eternal Sunshine but here it was stale and when he did go over the top it just didn’t seem like his heart was in it. The saving grace for this picture I found to be the supporting cast and the magic itself. Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde, and Steve Buscemi were great and gave the right performances and didn’t try to out do the leads, which they ended up doing anyway.

The right audience will love this movie and that audience is kids and that’s what Burt found out in the picture that his magic worked best on the kids and kids love magic. Again this movie isn’t horrible by any stretch of the imagination (pun?) it’s just not the laugh riot you would expect. Chuckles it will give you, your side will remain unsplit.