ANN ARBOR–Winger John Vella’s career as a movie critic came to crashing halt following a thumb injury early in the third period of Ruination’s 8-4 victory over Thompson’s Pizza Monday night. “In this biz, being all thumbs is an advantage,” said a Hollywood insider. “In fact, it’s kinda a necessity.”
Vella had been one of ten finalists in Fox’s new reality-series So You Think You’re a Film Critic? and was set to go up against Peter Bradshaw of the UK’s The Guardian, Britain’s national daily newspaper, for one of the so-called “final four” slots. Said the show’s producer, Nigel Lythgoe, “John’s injury is certainly serious enough that he cannot perform on the show. We wish him two healthy thumbs’ up, and hope that he will try to ‘hitch a ride’ to Hollywood again next season.”
Vella was clearly crestfallen, even trying in vain to rate Grown Ups 2, featuring comedians Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, and David Spade. “I can move it a little,” he said– presumably in a downward motion (re: thumb’s down) but it was evident that he was in tremendous pain.
Ruination managed to rally around Vella’s plight to play inspired hockey, as Brett Vogel and Jon Roklen each had two goals, while Matt Schaefer added two assists for the evening.