The Monday Roundup for December 30, 2013

Hobbit Leads A Strong Box Office

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug topped the weekend box office for the third week in a row. The sequel earned another $29.85 million to push its domestic total to over $190 million. It has now earned $614 million worldwide. The kid-friendly Frozen increased its take by 47%, despite showing in 205 fewer theaters, to finish about $1 million behind Hobbit. It’s closing in on the $500 million mark worldwide on a $250 million budget. Overall, the box office took in just shy of $200 million. We’ll have a more detailed look at the numbers on Thursday in our Weekend Movie Guide.

Silva Breaks His Leg. Rousey Wins By Armbar

UFC 168 happened Saturday night and featured co-main events Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman and Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate. Silva lost last year to Weidman like this. This time around, he broke his leg on Weidman’s shin. It was horribly painful to watch, but if you want to see it, here it is.  Silva is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time and now there’s a big question mark about the rest of his career.

Ronda Rousey is quickly gaining an unflattering reputation in the UFC. It’s pretty safe to say she couldn’t care less. She won $150,000 in bonus money on Saturday night; $75,000 each for Rousey/Tate being named ‘Fight of the Night’ and for her 3rd round armbar submission of Tate being the ‘Submission of the Night’.  Before this fight, Rousey had won all of her fights by submission with armbars in the first round, including the first time around with Tate. After Tate submitted this time around, Rousey refused to shake her hand. That’s just Ronda Rousey being Ronda Rousey. She’ll fight next at UFC 170 on February 22 against Sara McMann.

Beyonce Called “Insensitive”

Beyonce released a video for her love song, XO, recently. Right at the beginning of the video you can hear six seconds of a man talking. What you hear are former NASA public affairs officer Steve Nesbitt’s words as the space shuttle Challenger exploded upon takeoff  on January 28, 1986. The disaster killed all seven aboard. Those linked to the tragedy, such as former NASA employees and family members of those lost, have publicly expressed their displeasure. While the singer issued a statement that sounds like it was crafted by a PR team, it’s totally understandable why people are upset. Watch the video and decide for yourself.

 

Blues Move To 26-7-5

Despite missing some key parts in the machine, the Blues posted two wins over the weekend. They beat the division-leading Chicago Blackhawks at home on Saturday night in a shootout and topped Dallas in Dallas yesterday in overtime. Kevin Shattenkirk scored the shootout winner on Saturday night and the overtime winner on Sunday night. Personally, my favorite goal of the weekend was this shootout goal from Vladimir Tarasenko on Saturday night. It just crossed the line before the goalie kicked it back out.

 

Michael Schumacher In Critical Condition

A seven-time Formula One world champion, the retired driver was on vacation in France when he fell while skiing and hit his head on a rock. He’s currently in a medically induced coma.

Two Terrorist Attacks In Russia

Two terrorist attacks in Russian city of Volgograd  killed more than 30 people over the weekend. The attacks are believed to have been carried out by the same group. They come less that six weeks before the Winter Olympics open in the Russian city of Sochi. Organizers of the games have spent $2 billion on security measures and believe they have all of their bases covered.

Starbucks Goes After Exit 6

The coffee gods sent a cease & desist letter to local brewer Exit 6 recently. The exchange is pretty hilarious for several reasons. 1) Starbucks apparently saw the beer in question on Untappd and sent a copy of their letter to info@untappd.com. 2) Lots of usage of “the f-word”. 3) 3 people had “checked into the beer” on Untappd. Read the exchange.

St. Louis Cracks Down On Drunk Drivers

Cracking down on drunk drivers is a noble cause. Drunk driving kills tens of thousands of people a year. St. Louis Circuity Attorney Jennifer M. Joyce will be among those at a press conference today announcing a new initiative to fight drunk driving. Starting today, when suspected offenders refuse a “breath test” police will obtain a search warrant from a judge to get a blood test done. Officials say this is being done to crack down on offenders. In other St. Louis crime news; seven people were shot, with two dying, in three separate shootings on Sunday afternoon. Another man was shot Sunday night on Skinker just north of Delmar around 7pm. Drugs were found in the car and the passenger in the car that was shot at fled the scene.

Rams Finish With Loss. Hekker Sets Record

The St. Louis Rams finished the 2013 season yesterday with a 7-9 record after losing to the Seattle Seahwaks 27-9. Good news is the Rams will pick #2 overall in this year’s NFL Draft. The Washington Redskins earned that spot with a loss yesterday. The Rams acquired the pick from them last year in the RGIII trade. The Rams’ own pick will be #13 overall. The Rams will likely select offensive tackle Jake Matthews out of Texas A&M with the #2 pick if they don’t trade it. With their own pick, the team could select HaHa Clinton-Dix, a safety out of Alabama.

Johnny Hekker finished the season with a net average for 44.2 yards per punt. That’s the best in NFL history. Hekker and Robert Quinn will represent St. Louis at the Pro Bowl. In a campaign to get Hekker selected, someone made these awesome shirts.

If you didn’t already know, Johnny is pretty awesome.

 

Miley Changed Her Hair

Huffington Post has a look at Miley’s 2013 hair choices. 

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