Movies: Ball Blunders
Sony's upcoming teens-in-juvy saga "Gridiron Gang," based on a 1993 documentary, is a quality flick. But how's the football ? "Gridiron Gang" is tripped up late by a series of gaffes that no serious sports fan would miss. (Sony declined to comment.) What does "Gridiron Gang" get wrong? PERI plays referee and throws the flags:
Poor timing: The first play of the film's climactic drive--a long pass completion--takes more than 30 seconds off the clock. Huh? Even a deep pass play takes only about 10 seconds, tops.
Dumb strategy: With one shot left for the winning score and the ball beyond the 20-yard line, the coach calls ... a running play? Is he crazy? You pass--the clock stops on an incompletion--or you get fired.
Clock mismanagement: With 11 seconds left, an actor says there's time for only "one more play." But since the clock stops on an incompletion, 11 seconds is enough time for at least two more plays.
Rules violation: During the game's last play, the clock starts prior to the snap and ticks down almost to zero. Wouldn't happen. In this situation, the clock starts at the snap, not before it.
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Devin Gordon is the editor of Newsweek Digital, the umbrella company encompassing Newsweek's various web properties, including Newsweek.com and Newsweek Mobile. Previously, from June 2007 to June 2009, he was senior editor of the magazine's Periscope section, which was nominated for a National Magazine Award for "best section" in 2008. Previously, he was a senior writer, writing about film, television, sports and popular culture for the Arts and Entertainment and Society sections. He was part of the Newsweek reporting team for the past three Olympic games, including the Salt Lake City winter games in 2002, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where he covered swimmer Michael Phelps, and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, for which he wrote Newsweek's cover story about skier Bode Miller.
During his tenure at the magazine, Gordon has written about everything from HBO's "The Wire" to rock band Coldplay to Oscar-winner film directors Ang Lee and Peter Jackson. He profiled "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator Larry David on the eve of the series' fourth season debut, and "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan just prior to the film's record breaking release. For Newsweek's year-end double-issue of 2002, he wrote "The Matrix Makers," (Jan. 6, 2003), a cover story about the two upcoming "Matrix" sequels—the first behind-the-scenes look at the new films by any publication.
Gordon joined Newsweek in 1998, after graduating from Duke University. His first cover story was "The Dominator" (June 18, 2001), an examination of what makes Tiger Woods tick. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
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