kkk mentioned in his blog about how former players he watched becoming general managers and presidents of teams makes him feel old. For example Chris Mullin was the identity of the Golden State Warriors when I was growing up and now he's their general manager. But there's another general manager (and now part owner) in Oakland that everyone knows, Billy Beane, but unlike Mullin he's far better known for his work in the front office than as a player. In fact you'd probably have barely even noticed the guy when he played. Although I didn't happen to learn this until many years later but I actually had been witness to his last at bat in the Majors.
As I mentioned in my first entry I had very few memories at all about my first baseball game. In fact as great as the A's were in the late 80's I have very few in game memories about them even though I went to probably 6-7 games a year. One game that I do sorta remember was on October 1, 1989. October 1st happens to be my birthday and from '87 to '89 I had my birthday party at the A's game. Really the only thing I remember about the game itself was Mark McGwire homering (his birthday too) and the A's beating the Royals on the final day of the regular season. A couple of years ago on another nostalgia trip I was looking at the boxscore and play account for game. Being that it was the last day of the regular season and the A's had wrapped up the A.L. West they pulled all their starters during the middle of the game. It went into extra innings and in the 11th inning with it tied 3-3, Billy Beane came up with a runner on 2nd and no one out. If you know anything about the Beane-era A's is that they rarely bunt, as they shouldn't as it's fairly useless strategy in the American League. But what did they ask the young Beane to do on this date?
Yup, Beane's last at bat in the Majors was a bunt and I was there to witness "history"....not that I remembered it.
Fun fact: The Royals DH in this game was Bill Buckner, just like my first game.
• Oh how the mighty have fallen. At one time the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders were the envy of the league. Now Al Davis can't even find a head coach to take the helm of his built-for-offense team. It looks like former coach Art Shell is now the front-runner, after Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino both pulled out of consideration.
• After giving their starting quarterback a contract extension, it looks like the Houston Texans will stick with David Carr rather than go with Vince Young or Matt Leinhart in the upcoming NFL Draft. Now the stage is set for the Texans to take running back Reggie Bush with the first overall pick, but I’m not sold on Houston making Bush their top choice. Of course Bush has all the tools to be a NFL star, but Houston already has a solid halfback in Dominack Davis. There might not be any offensive linemen in this year’s draft with superstar potential (I don’t pay much attention to college football or draft prospects), but if there were I’d trade this top pick and draft down a few spots to get a top offensive lineman or three, which would help Carr out much more than another running back. Look at what having a good offensive line did for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has progressed from wide-eyed rookie to Super Bowl champion in just two years. Hines Ward may catch Ben’s passes, but Alan Faneca and his fellow line mates are the ones who allow Ben to toss the ball to his receivers.
• Even if the Texans pull off a draft-day trade, the most interesting swap this year in the NFL has just taken place. Oddly enough, it didn’t involve any active players. NBC sent “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit” to ABC for broadcaster Al Michaels, so he can announce next season's Sunday Night Football games. For those that weren’t around at the time, Oswald was created in the 1920s by Walt Disney in the days before Mickey Mouse. So an award-winning 30-year broadcasting career is worth a few dozen silent cartoons? Think about that the next time you feel undervalued at your job. Actually, there were some other transactions in this deal. From the article: “As part of the deal, NBC sold ESPN cable rights to Friday coverage of the next four Ryder Cups through 2014. NBC also granted ESPN increased usage of Olympic highlights through 2012 and other NBC properties through 2011. NBC, in turn, gets expanded highlight rights to ABC and ESPN events.”
So who got the better of this deal? I'd say ABC, unless Michaels stays in the booth through 2014. And even then Oswald will still outlast Al if properly preserved.
• Speaking of being undervalued, how would it feel to lose your request for a pay increase but still get a raise worth more than $2 million? Alfonso Soriano knows. I still don’t get baseball arbitration. You signed a contract for $7.5 million/year – that’s the amount of money you get. Case closed. It’s not like you’re going to get cut by a baseball team and lose all that money. Just wait until your contract expires and seek your value on the open market.
• I don’t know much of this case, but I’m not going to cast judgment on Busta Rhymes for missing the wake of his slain bodyguard. While some might think he’s being inconsiderate, it’s possible Mr. Rhymes just doesn’t want to attract media attention to the bodyguard's family in this time of mourning. If he would have been in attendance during this somber occasion, the place would have been overrun by photographers and reporters. However, if Mr. Rhymes isn’t cooperating with police regarding this shooting, then he truly is a busta.
Blog Plugs
Since we’re all a happy community here, I figure why not plug my fellow bloggers?
• Bored fells like an old-timer when it comes to observing sports, and he opens up the vault to reminisce about his first baseball game. But like I said there, what depresses me is when I see players I remember watching retire and become managers, or, worse yet, advance up the corporate ladder from coach to general manager to president of a sports franchise.
• Alfdogg was pretty much spot-on in his guessing of the 2006 NBA All-Stars. While I can’t comment much on the NBA during the regular season, I don’t like having an All-Star game take place during the regular season. Say what you want about the Pro Bowl, but at least when that game is played, the athletes there put in a full season to deserve being called an All-Star, not half of a season.
2006 will mark 20 years of sports memories for me and I'm finally starting to feel like an old fart who reminisces about the good 'ol days. Fact is I was an old man when it came to sports when I was a kid as I loved sports history and researching useless sports facts which is still one of my favorite things to do. Regulars to sports folder have seen this most recently with my several useless fact posts in the Comments that don't warrant a thread, um thread, but that died off fairly quickly and figured it'd probably be more appropriate to post useless stuff like that in a blog.
So to make this all about me, I'll take a look back at my first ever live sporting event: 5/11/1986, Boston Red Sox at Oakland Athletics. As to memories about the actual game I have little to none. I only remember my family and I sat in the Plaza Level (2nd deck) of the Coliseum on the first base saide. My dad bought me an A's bobblehead, the old school ceramic ones not the plastic ones that you get today, which I promptly broke about a week later. Anything I remember from the game now comes from looking at the boxscore from Retrosheet. It featured a great "name" pitching of Oil Can Boyd vs. Moose Haas. The A's trailed 6-4 going into the 9th but a Carney Lansford homerun started a rally. They had 1st and 2nd with two out but pinch hitter Dusty Baker grounded out to the pitcher (wasn't hot enough for him?) to end the game with a Red Sox victory. That makes me feel old right there that Baker who will be in his 13th year of managing this season was playing in my very first live MLB game.
Now to look back at the starting line-ups from that game and just throw in a few comments about each player with their stats from 1986.
Red Sox
1. Dwight Evans RF (.259/.376/.476, 41.4 VORP, 24 Win Shares) - Doesn't get nearly the publicity for the Hall of Fame of his outfield mate Jim Rice, mainly because Evans fell off the ballot without notice while Rice remains a serious candidate. It's odd as Evans was equal the hitter of Rice and was unquestionably the superior defensive outfielder. Evans bests Rice in career Win Shares 347 to 282. Very underrated during his playing days and post career. Hopefully he'll get more notice when he comes up on the Veteran's Committee ballot.
2. Wade Boggs 3B (.357/.453/.486, 82.0 VORP, 37 Win Shares) - Roger Clemens would win the MVP in '86 but it should have been Boggs. I'm not sure where this myth that Boggs wasn't a feared hitter comes from beyond that he wasn't a power hitter but circa 1986 pitchers should have been pretty fucking scared to face Boggs.
3. Bill Buckner DH (.267/.311/.421, 21.5 VORP, 13 Win Shares) - Yes I'm sure you can see the irony in Bucker at DH in 1986.
4. Jim Rice LF (.324/.384/.490, 61.4 VORP, 28 Win Shares) - I was on the Rice for HOF bandwagon a couple of years ago but I've jumped off since. If he ever gets in I won't have a problem though but it wouldn't be much of an oversight either if he never gets in.
5. Don Baylor 1B (.238/.344/.439, 29.1 VORP, 16 Win Shares) - Mr. HBP who lucked into playing on three straight A.L. Champions on three different teams form '86 to '88 (Red Sox, Twins, A's).
6. Rich Gedman C (.258/.315/.424, 26.0 VOP, 18 Win Shares) - This was the last of a decent three year run for Gedman but he hit the wall the following season.
7. Marty Barrett 2B (.286/.353/.381, 38.0 VORP, 22 Win Shares) - Good season in a largely unspectacular career. I only remember him going beserk in the Red Sox dugout in the infamous Game 4 of the '90 ALCS when Roger Clemens was ejected.
8. Steve Lyons CF (.250/.312/.363, 0.4 VORP, 2 Win Shares) - Bad player and possibly even worse announcer. Claim to fame was playing literally every position and dropping his pants during a game when he was with the White Sox.
9. Ed Romero SS (.210/.270/.283, -3.9 VORP, 2 Win Shares) - I found edromero.com but it sadly it was a lounge singer not the baseball player.
A's
1. Tony Phillips 2B (.256/.367/.345, 22.7 VORP, 17 Win Shares) - Vastly underrated player who's best days would come away from Oakland. By no means a superstar but he just simply got a base a lot and could give you solid defense at multiple positions. He did smoke rock though. Has congress investigated the performance enhancements of crack?
2. Dwayne Murphy CF (.252/.364/.386, 18.9 VORP, 15 Win Shares) - Another underrated player. Probably would have been better appreciated if he played today as he got on base at a good rate, could hit for power (although by '86 he'd lost it), and was one of the best defensive outfielders of his era. Didn't help him that he played along side one of the greatest outfielders ever during his prime in RICKEY~.
3. Jose Canseco LF (.240/.318/.457, 30.2 VORP, 21 Win Shares) - He hit the first homerun I ever saw live in this game (not that I remembered it) but he was on the juice so it should ERASED FROM THE RECORDS!!!! Anyways the guy was a prick and by '89 I hated him. Wally Joyner absolutely got robbed in the '86 ROY voting by Canseco.
4. Dave Kingman DH (.210/.255/.431, 4.8 VORP, 8 Win Shares) - Awww Dave Kingman, never saw a pitch he didn't like. Really how long would he have lasted today with more emphasis on OBP? It amazes me a guy with so much power could draw so few walks. He'd hit 35 homeruns that year which is the record for most homeruns by a player in his final season but the average and on base tell you why no one was calling him up after '86.
5. Bruce Bochte 1B (.256/.357/.337, 12.8 VORP, 11 Win Shares) - No this isn't the Padres' manager. Is the answer to a trivia question, who was the A's starting 1B before Mark McGwire?
6. Carney Lansford 3B (.284/.332/.421, 32.8 VORP, 19 Win Shares) - Good hitter who was fun to watch because of his unique batting stance. Was my mom's favorite player and she probably would have fucked him she had the chance. Then I would have had to kill him.
7. Mike Davis RF (.268/.314/.454, 30.3 VORP, 18 Win Shares) - Was the A's "star" if you will the season before. Traded to the Dodgers after the '87 season where he did nothing but he drew a walk in front of Kirk Gibson's homerun in the Game 1 of the '88 Series. Thus I want him dead.
8. Alfredo Griffin SS (.285/.323/.364, 34.2 VORP, 17 Win Shares) - Never much of hitter but his glove kept him in the league for 18 years and had a badass JheriCurl.
9. Bill Bathe C (.184/.208/.359, -2.8 VORP, 1 Win Share) - Yes he was the back up catcher with those numbers, not that starter Mickey Tettleton did a whole lot better (.204/.325/.389, 11.3 VORP, 8 Win Shares).
Okay that's enough nostalgia for one night.
• I thought we were over nitpicking animated/G-rated movies after the “outrage” over “The Lion King” and its RACIST overtones, what with the evil hyenas being black and all, but apparently I was wrong. Now these family films are SEXIST. According to some hippie study, male characters outnumbered female characters 3-to-1 overall in the top-grossing G-rated films from 1990-2004. From the article: "Joe Kelly, co-founder of Dads & Daughters, said as much as he loves 'Toy Story,' the study made him think about the movie differently. The movie has a positive message about two characters - Tom Hanks' Woody and Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear - overcoming their differences and working together, but it does have a flaw, Kelly said. 'It wasn't until the study that I went back and realized there's only one toy that's a female character, and it's Bo-Peep. She's standing at the window going, 'Oh, Woody, don't hurt yourself,'" Kelly said. "Not that I want 'Toy Story' to be changed. I don't think there should be any sort of gender formula. But there are other movies to be made with powerful messages featuring female characters.'
Well, whenever a kid's movie featuring a strong female character, see it a bunch of times in the theater and buy the 20 DVD versions that come out. Give movie studios a reason to make more of the same. And while you’re at it, go produce a study comparing the ratio of male-to-female evil characters on Lifetime Movies of the Week.
While there are too many men in kid’s movies, apparently there aren’t enough in the doll world. After a two-year absence, Ken is going back to Barbie. I’m not too keen on the life and times of dolls, but from what I read these two kids split up after more than 40 years of cohabitation (I'm surprised they last this long, what with Ken missing some essential parts to his male anatomy). To add insult to injury in this breakup, Barbie took off with a new Aussie mate named Blaine. But now Ken is back on the scene. What was he doing all this time? Well, according to the N.Y. Times, "Ken, heartbroken, traveled the world in search of himself, making stops in Europe and the Middle East, dabbling in Buddhism and Catholicism, teaching himself to cook and slowly weaning himself off a beach bum life."
I’ll say this: These toys have more back story than a number of movies I’ve recently seen.
Even though I’m poking fun at Barbie (and making fun of Ken’s inability to “poke” at Barbie, as well), I do feel pity for them. After all, with more and more kids avoiding toys that don’t need a microchip or URL, playing with dolls or action figures seems to be going the way of the dinosaur. I hate to sound like an old-timer, but back in my day, even though I spent way more time with my Atari 2600 than I should have, there was always a place in my heart for playing with my Star Wars action figures in the backyard.
• Look, I get that Democrats don’t like President Bush, but is it really necessary for Howard Dean to say things like “"All we ask is that we not turn into a country like Iran where the President can do anything he wants"? You are aware that in another in 2-3 more years Bush will be leaving the presidency forever. Now if he stays in the Oval Office past 2008 then I’ll join Howie and Harry Reid in calling for W.’s removal from office. But until then, can you please lay off the “dictator” talk; say he’s a miserable failure, say he sucks, say he doesn’t care about women, minorities and the poor, but please stop with whining about how we’re turning into some Third-World country where the person in charge stays that way until he A) dies, or B) is overthrown. Saying stuff like this only makes you guys look silly.
On second thought, keep up the good work.
• No wonder George W. Bush doesn’t care about black people –– look at how he was treated at Coretta Scott King’s funeral. Even though she was the dead one at this house of worship, it seemed that some of the speakers at the event were trying to bury the President of the United States. Culprit A was Rev. Joseph Lowry when he said, "We know now that there were no weapons of mass destruction over there. But Coretta knew, and we know, that there are weapons of misdirection right down here.” Culprit B was former president Jimmy Carter, who wasn’t much better by bringing up “secret wire tapping” along with racially charged drivel about Hurricane Katrina.
These two dipshits said what they did with the intention of belittling the president, who was seated nearby and had to take these insults with a smile. Didn’t these people learn anything from the Paul Wellstone memorial a few years ago? Keep the insults coming, I say, and watch Bush look like a sympathetic figure more and more each and every time.
• Here's what I don't get about Democrats. Hitlery is the latest lib to say that Republicans are playing the "fear card" of terrorism to win elections. And just what in the blue hell does your party do, senator? Whenever election season comes around, what exactly do you call saying that the GOP wants to starve children, throw the elderly in the gutter, pollute the planet, cut social security, slash Medicare, encourage hate crimes, among other things? I'll save my left-leaning friends the trouble of hitting the Fast Reply button and typing in "I call it the truth -- lolz."
• A list of the top 10 tech jobs was recently released, and after looking at this list I must agree with these rankings, considering I have no idea what most of the job titles mean.
• Monday Night Football is not only moving to a new station, but it's also getting a new announcing team. Replacing Al Michaels and John Madden will be Joe Theismann, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Tirico. Eh. Don't really care. I was probably one of the only people in this world that didn't mind the Sunday Night crew of Theismann, Mike Patrick and Paul Maguire, although it wouldn't have killed them to say a team they were commenting on was "average" or "not quite up to playoff caliber." Even though I have some issues with Michael Wilbon, I wouldn't mind having him replace Theismann in this lineup. This way we could listen for three hours of him and Kornheiser bicker back and forth, much like they do on “Pardon The Interruption.” However, I'd be sure to have the TV on mute whenever the Philadelphia Eagles are slated to appear during a telecast; the knob-slobbing of Donovan McNabb would be too much, even for Patrick to bear.
• The Brazilian government is planning on passing out 25 million condoms during the country's Carnival holiday, which is scheduled to start on February 25. Two things: 1) Even though the rate of failure among condoms is debated, let’s just assume for this instance that the failure rate is three percent. That means if you go to this festival, get a rubber from the government and do your thing, you could have one of the 750,000 that won’t stop your boys from getting out, or from anything else getting inside of you. 2) I wouldn’t eat government cheese, why would I slide something onto my winky that was given to me by the State?
• So there I was scouring the Internet looking for a photo of Britney Spears driving around with her kid sitting on her lap when I came across this blurb: “The paparazzi came to Britney Spears aid this week when the car which she was driving broke down on a busy road in Malibu. According to reports, Spears was driving her husband's Ferrari near her Malibu home when it suddenly cut out, leaving her stranded on a very busy highway.”
Her husband’s Ferrari? Uh-huh.
Oh, and here is that stupid picture.
• So USA Today is speaking out against those who are cowering in the face Muslims offended by cartoons. In a February 8 editorial titled, “Shameful Appeasement, the article says, “What's clear is that East and West are not just cultures apart, but centuries, and that certain elements of the Muslim world would like to drag us back into the Dark Ages. What is also clear is that the West's own leaders, both in Europe and the USA, as well as many of our own journalists, have been weak-spined when it comes to defending the principles of free expression that the artists in Denmark were exploring.”
Now after reading this editorial, you would think that USA Today would stand in solidarity with its Global Media brethren and show it’s readers what the fuss is all about with these drawings? In a February 7 USA Today’s Life section column, Deputy World Editor Jim Michaels said, "(At USA Today) we concluded that we could cover the issue comprehensively without republishing the cartoon, something clearly offensive to many Muslims. It's not censorship, self or otherwise.”
• And speaking of these offensives cartoons, I have come up with a way to bring everybody together on this issue. Maybe even Allah will chill out for a few minutes before getting mad at us infidels again.
• Remember what I said yesterday about idiots in my area that complained Bill Cowher could never get past the Conference Championship Game? Well, this morning as I was doing some work outside of my office, I got to listen to one dipshit co-worker of mine talk with another about Sunday’s game. Instead of saying how great it was for Shittsburgh (and he is a Steeler fan) to finally win a Super Bowl, all he did was bitch about how horrible Ben Roethlisberger played. When the person he was talking to said that Ben’s performance could have been due to nerves, his reply was “that’s no excuse.” I love this town.
• Speaking of the Super Bowl, a controversy that didn’t take place on the field involved the pre-game ceremony. In one of the more interesting moments in recent Super Bowl history, nearly every Super Bowl MVP was introduced before kickoff. However, two of the better known MVPs, quarterbacks Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, were missing.
Some media outlets have claimed that Montana wanted a $100,000 appearance fee for attending this event, while Bradshaw said he didn’t want to take part in order to spend more time with his family. (Montana has since said that him asking for $100k is not true.) Believe each quarterback’s story or not, that’s up to you. However, I don’t fault either man for not attending this event; it was their choice. For as much money as both stars made while playing for the NFL, the league capitalized on each man’s achievements as well. But either athlete shouldn’t be shocked when they get greeted at future pubic events with boos from the crowd, which is their choice to do as well.
• The Steelers Super Bowl rally took place today in Shittsburgh, and one of the speakers was Lynn Swann, who is running for Pennsylvania governor. I wonder if this free air-time/publicity is allowed under campaign-finance laws? Then again, current governor Ed Rendell was also at this event, so I guess “equal time” can be applied in this case.
• Speaking of the Shittsburgh Super Bowl rally, a local controversy has started up after a school district cancelled classes today because the school’s band took part in the festivities. I have no problem with parents letting their kids skip school to attend a post-championship rally, but I have a problem when a school district enacts this policy. I remember back when I was in high school and the Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles; our school didn’t close down so students could attend those rallies. Of course, about one-third of the students didn’t come into class for that day anyway, and the other two-thirds of us spent most of the day in rooms watching the events on television.
• Denmark’s Prime Minister is calling the protests over those Muslim cartoons a global crisis. Right. And speaking of those offensive cartoons, check out what the Muslim world draws in their media. This one is my personal favorite. I especially like the shades of gray used throughout the image; it really goes well with the flying blood and the overall circular feel of the picture.
• Looks like NBC anchor Brian Williams is having trouble trying to recognize two Democrat politicians: Tennessee congressman Harold Ford, Jr., and Illinois Senator Barack Obama. From the Hill: “During NBC’s broadcast, Williams noticed Obama on the House floor and identified him to the viewing audience. Unfortunately it was actually Ford.” Oops. Able to see any resemblance between Ford and Obama? Me neither. I guess Williams got them confused because they both speak so well.
• One reason Jimmy Carter got elected President back in 1976 was because voters were tired of scandals such as Watergate and wanted someone who didn’t appear to be corrupt. Well, the voters got their wish. Instead of being corrupt, Carter was just plain stupid. Now his son is planning a Senate run in Nevada; the good news if he gets elected is that he won’t follow in dad’s footsteps and attempt to broker nuclear deals with third-world nations – at least not in his first term.
• So now Ray Nagin is looking to other countries to help rebuild his flooded city? What he ought to do is contact the United Nations, which is one of the few institutions more corrupt than his city of New Orleans.
• Oh, and speaking of asshole mayors, the one in New London, Conn., is offering a compromise to those homeowners whose property got seized so a private business can make more money for the State. Under this plan, several of the former landowners would be able to say, but they need to pay rent to the city in order to live there. What a great idea. Now even more money will be paid to the State, all in the name of the greater good.
Figured I start up a booking philosophies and disciplines discussion here. I'll come in here from time to time and throw out booking discipline/philosophy questions and statements to see what you guys are thinking.
To start out, I was reading Pat McNeill's take on Low Ki and ROH parting ways again and something stood out for me in McNeill's last paragraph.
People will say that Sapolsky does this as a disciple of Paul Heyman, who did a similar deal when he booked ECW. However, since reading "Wrestling at the Chase" I have learned this was also a huge point of Sam Mushnick's when he booked St Louis. Sam wanted interchangeable guys on top so that one individual would not be able to derail things.
Now, that seems fine for St Louis, which was a territory back in the day and fine for ROH which has a niche group of fans that they can sell their concept to. The WWE (and to a way lesser extent, TNA) is pretty much all about the star system. Now, could a national promotion run efficiently built around a concept and not a specific group of wrestlers or is that day dead and gone? I'm not saying they have to run WWE level, but at least be national and profitable.
Changing gears, in recent weeks it has come out that a lot of TNA's new audience are actually UFC fans. Thing is, TNA hasn't convinced any of the new UFC fans to buy their ppv's since the buyrates are the same from the FSN days.
That said, should TNA book a more legit sport-like, realistic way? TNA is still more sport and less entertainment oriented than WWE, but they still have their fair share of wanna be WWE like segments and vignettes. Should TNA change gears a little and book more realistic like cleaner finishes, no outside interference or ref bumps, etc?
I am of the opinion that as long as Jeff Jarrett is lead booker, this won't change because it appears he can't book matches (especially his own) without the above mentioned shortcuts and tricks. Would it even help TNA to do this or are UFC fans just kind of there for the ride and probrably not going to pay for the shows, so TNA should just try to stick to a more even steven sports and entertainment style show?
Well Super Bowl XL has come and gone, and I might as well make the obvious “The real MVP for the Steelers were the referees loloneforthethumb2006,” joke and continue on with a few thoughts.
• While Seattle got hit with a few calls, I don’t think it was as bad as some people are saying. For example, I thought the Roethlisberger rushing touchdown was good; even though he tucked the ball in as he was landing on the turf, the ball was extended enough to touch the goal line when he was in mid-air. By no means was this an easy call to make, and it took me almost as much time as it took the officials who reviewed the play to confirm my decision.
That offensive pass interference call which cost Seattle a touchdown is another penalty I don’t have a problem with. Even though Darrell Jackson barely touched the defender covering him, he was still blocking the opponent right in front of an official, and when viewed in real time it looked a lot worse than it did in slow motion. The sad thing about this play is that it appeared Jackson already had position on his defender and didn’t need to do that push off.
The few penalties I had problems/questions about were that one holding call which erased a play that put Seattle on the Steeler one-yard-line and the “cut block” penalty assessed to Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. I was also curious as to why Steeler linebacker Joey Porter didn’t get a penalty called on him for taking down Shaun Alexander with what looked like a horsecollar tackle. (I could be wrong on this one, but it stuck out when I watched the play.)
• Big Ben has played better postseason games, and that one interception deep in Seahawk territory reminded me of Rodney Harrison’s pick in last year’s AFC Conference Championship game. However, Ben did have his moments. The most notable was when he scrambled out of the pocket, took note of where the line of scrimmage was, not to mention the location of the nearest defenseman, and threw a 37-yard pass to Hines Ward that set up his team's first touchdown.
• My surprise stat of the night: Alexander’s 95-yard rushing effort. I did a double take when I saw how many yards he gained with his 20 carries.
• I agree that Hines Ward should have been the MVP with five catches for 123 yards and a touchdown, as well as a key first-down run that knocked a Seattle safety out for the game. In addition, most of his catches were for first downs, and a number of them were caught despite being poorly thrown by Roethlisberger.
• I wasn’t sure about Seattle's chances coming in. I felt they had all the tools to win, but they never proved to me during the regular season that they could beat stellar competition on the road or on a neutral field. Despite several dropped passes, and some questionable clock management, they showed that they could compete; just not win. For the most part their defense played tough. However, they gave up four plays that gained 155 yards, nearly half of the Steelers' 339 total for the game. My doubts about the Steelers blitzing against the Seahawks' pass protection schemes were proven right for the most part, and Seattle's passing game showed that they could move the ball against Pittsburgh's secondary. But when it came time to make the big play, penalty-free of course, they came up short.
• This game may have been ugly, but the commercials were worse. The only ads I liked were from Budweiser; topping the list was the “streaker” ad. Oh, and after hearing that godawful rendition of our country's National Anthem, I understand why the NFL outsourced the job of halftime entertainment to a group overseas instead of going with some homegrown Motown sounds. I'm sure the NFL even got a great price considering the "wear and tear" of the band they selected.
• I’m happy for Bill Cowher finally winning the big game, because I’m so sick of hearing local idiots around the Shittsburgh area constantly criticizing him and suggesting he needs to be fired. While I have said many times that the Steelers are one of the biggest underachieving teams since the early 1990s, I base this on the fact they have lost four Conference Championship games at home and won one game that they didn’t deserve to win. In addition, in 1992 they had the top seed and lost to Buffalo in the Divisional Round. However, it’s better to have a coach that can get your team to five Conference Championship games in a losing effort than to have a coach which can’t get your team into one.
I remember watching Cowher's first game with the Steelers. Coaching legend Chuck Knoll had retired, and this thirty-something guy with a noticeable chin was taking over. The first game of the Cowher regime was in a hostile Astrodome environment up against a Houston Oilers team that was one of the AFC's best. After not doing much of anything on their first drive of the game, the Steelers faked a punt that was good for a long gain. This gutsy play-call set up an early-game score, taking the crowd out of the rest of game. Ever since then, Cowher has been a fixture on the Steeler sideline, and now, thanks to this championship, he's going to be a fixture in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• Even though I'm from the Shittsburgh area, I consider myself to be nonpartisan when it comes to the local sports teams. This run the Steelers went on late in the season and in the playoffs was nothing short of amazing. After all those years of coming up short when given home field in the postseason, it's funny to see this team win it all while having to play on the road in some of the most hostile stadiums in the NFL. And while this city loves you guys, don't expect it to last long. While listening to Mark Madden's sports radio show this afternoon, there were several callers already talking about how this team will fare in 2006-2007 with the dozen or so players eligible for free agency in the upcoming off-season.
So exactly how many more months are there until mini-camp?
Well, The Stealers won the Superbowl last night. I was sort of wishing Seattle would win, just because all of the Stealers love was getting on my nerves. Also, my sister called me last night, and told me that my dad hates them. Oh well.
Anyways, the pregame show (with Stevie Wonder) was alright. The halftime show sucked though. That was probably the most overblown performance of "Satisfaction" I've ever seen. As for comercials, the FedEx commercial with the Cavemen was the best, while the Diet Pepsi commercials were the worst.
Gotta go. Have some homework to fiinish.
• So I was listening to some commentaries from season one of “The Shield” last night, and in the episode dealing with the migrant workers someone (I think it was series creator Shawn Ryan) was talking about how they managed to get all points of view regarding the illegal immigration issue expressed in that broadcast. Interesting to me was when he said the “right-wing” perspective on illegal immigration was that they (illegal aliens) provide cheap labor to businesses. Being a proud member of the right-wing conspiracy, I had always thought the “right-wing” take on illegal immigrants was that they shouldn’t be in America doing anything, whether it is construction labor or collecting welfare. I always considered the whole “cheap labor” argument to be the businessman’s perspective, and although Democrats are the party of the poor and illiterate, there are still many in this group who contribute to the public coffers, rather than take from them.
Another thing I learned from the commentaries I listened to last night was when Ryan said that his wife plays the role of Vic Mackey’s wife. Interesting. I can’t wait to hear the commentary (if there is one) of the episode where she is filmed walking around in her panties.
• The 2006 NFL Hall of Fame inductee class includes quarterbacks Troy Aikman and Warren Moon, along with the now-deceased defensive end Reggie White. One quote I found funny regarding this story was from White’s wife, Sara, who said, “Every city embraced Reggie as a player and as a person.” I’m not so sure San Francisco took Reggie in with open arms, but who am I to question a grieving widow?
Another person elected to this year's hall of fame class was John Madden. Among his accomplishments include an extremely short-lived NFL career (he got hurt in his first pre-season as a Philadelphia Eagle and never laced up for another game), a successful coaching career with the Oakland Raiders that saw him as the winningest coach of the 1970s, a broadcasting stint that never seems to end, and a dominant video game franchise to his name. Madden is one of those people you either love or hate, and while his best days in the broadcasting booth are long behind him, I’m still a fan. It’s true his insights aren’t that, well, insightful, but let the man do his thing until he decides to call it quits.
• For all you New Hampshire bitches that voted against taking Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s house in order to build a hotel that would bring in more revenue for “the greater good” of your area, don’t start whining when the State confiscates your land to give to some developer wanting to build condos or a strip mall. Maybe Souter could rent you out a room at his place.
• Castro is going after the “new rich” in his communist utopia. In other words, those who can afford microwave popcorn and peanut butter. That's some crazy stuff; I didn't even know they had microwaves in Havanna.
• Well, it’s nice to know Bush is no longer being compared to Hitler. According to Hugo Chavez, he’s now worse than old Adolf.
• Oh, and speaking of Hitler, not only did he want to kill those people in New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrinia, he also wants them to stay in jail.
• Two of Britain’s candy makers are now putting warning labels on their products that tell consumers these products should be part of a balanced diet. This of course means these warning labels will be appearing soon across the Pond in the United States. That is if lawsuits by 500-lb. plantiffs who didn't know eating a dozen Hershey bars per day was bad for them don't sprout up first.
• I’ve had steaks languish in the freezer for a few months before; I’d shudder to think what this 20-year old meat would have looked like. Also, how exactly was this meat discovered after 20 years anyway?
• And finally, on Super Bowl Sunday, here’s another example of why Steeler fans are different from me and you.
Many choices I make in life I try to base on “principle.” One of them is where I get my news. Yeah, yeah, yeah, OMG FAUX NEWS LOL2006! Drudge’s sirens, red headlines and DEVELOPING exclusives! RIGHT-WING RADIO! In this instance I'm not talking about these particular media outlets; I am instead referring to the local newspapers in my area. In the Shittsburgh region, there are two “major” daily publications: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Post-Gazette is by far the more widely read of the two. It also happens to be a liberal rag.
There are a lot of reasons why I can’t stand the Post-Gazette. One example is back in the late 1990s when the region faced a referendum on whether to increase the county’s sales tax by a fraction of a percent in order to help fund new stadiums for the Steelers and Pirates. Of course the Post-Gazette was all for this. During the months leading up to the vote, there was story after story about how great this tax was going to be for the region. However, there was one thing the Post-Gazette never seemed to mention: the fact that the newspaper owned a minority share of the Pirates. It’s interesting that this little tidbit was rarely, if ever, mentioned when it should have been noted in nearly every article about this tax increase so the reader could know about a potential conflict of interest. Of course when the referendum crashed and burned, despite the Post-Gazette and other tax supporters warning that the Pirates were going to move to another state, the stadiums were built anyway with a different source of funding. While the excuse made by the Post-Gazette was that their share in the Pirates was small, would they be just as understanding to a politician who was in a similar situation? (The answer, by the way, is "no.")
Another memory I have of the Post-Gazette took place more than a decade ago. This time the paper wrote a favorable editorial about the doubling of a toll for a local expressway, stating that commuters using this road should pay for the convenience. A few weeks later these same people wrote a negative editorial about a local bank raising its ATM service fee. Now besides the fact that the first fee increase was done by the government and the second increase was done by a private institution, what’s the difference between the two increases? Both are “service-oriented” tolls that can be avoided by a consumer, and both were of a similar amount (something like 50 cents). One just happened to make an evil corporation richer while the other paid for more construction workers to stand around a gravel pit and play with big machines.
A more recent oldie-but-goldie came when the Post-Gazette weighed in on the Kelo v. New London case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Basically, this was an eminent domain situation where the State wanted to take the homes of residents and give the land to a private developer. In their praising of this decision, it’s interesting to note how the Post-Gazette labeled three of the Justices who dissented as “conservative” yet don’t use any adjectives to describe the five communists that said it’s OK for the State to take a person’s land and give it to someone else who will, in theory, generate more tax revenue, thus contributing to the “greater good” of an area.
When I decided to subscribe to a local newspaper I did not want to become a regular customer of the left-wing Post-Gazette. I turned to the Tribune-Review, a much more conservative publication funded by the “George Soros of the right-wing” Richard Mellon Scaife. I didn’t care much about the actual news content I was buying since I read on the Internet most of the wire articles both newspapers use. All I wanted was a Sunday newspaper so I could clip coupons and look through weekly circulars.
I ordered a year’s subscription to the Trib, and the service I received during those 12 months was less-than-stellar. My subscription was for Sunday newspapers only, and for the year I was a subscriber I didn’t receive my publication in at least eight instances. When it came time to renew my subscription, I decided to wait and see if the Trib would contact me and offer me some sort of deal because I certainly wasn’t going to pay full price for this pisspoor service. (My original offer was a discounted “new customer” promotion.)
After my subscription expired, I received some extra issues in the weeks that followed, which was expected. Whenever I got stiffed on my Sunday newspaper, I let the Trib home office know about it and they’d give me a credit. Well, this past week, I got a letter from the Trib. Was it an special offer to renew my subscription? No.
It was a bill for two month’s worth of newspapers delivered to my house.
Curious about this bill, I called the Trib and was told by a customer service representative that my subscription ran out and this fee was for the newspapers I received that weren’t part of my subscription. She added that unless I called the Tib and specifically told them not to renew my subscription, that they would assume I wanted my subscription renewed. Now I have subscribed to at least a half-dozen news publications in my lifetime, and whenever I decided not to re-subscribe I didn't have to call and tell them of my decision. When my subscriptions ran out at these other places, I simply stopped getting their publications.
When I told this lady how could the Trib have known what I wanted to do in regards to my account, she said that sending issues to people that haven’t re-subscribed was company policy. I then told her that these Sunday newspapers stopped arriving at my house more than a month ago, thus showing me the Trib must have realized that I no longer wanted their service; otherwise, I would be still getting newspapers. I encountered an extended pause, followed by “I’m sorry,” to which I replied, “No, I’m sorry because the Tribune-Review will never have me as a regular subscriber again.”
Now what am I to do? Go to the liberal rag in town for my weekly coupons or stick with the right-wing tabloid that screwed me out of a few bucks? Well, unless I get a subscription deal from either publication, I will just drive down to a local business that sells newspapers (there are several located less than a mile from my house), and get whatever one is available.
This week, the Post-Gazette’s early Sunday edition is my coupon-clipper of choice. I’m still deciding on whether or not to read the editorial page, though.
And a whole lot more in the return of Wrestling Week!
Oh im back...Thats right...Dance Like Kusko...Pixar and Disney merged into NOTHINGNESS...hell on earth coming...
Ok OK G-DAMN...
So Im back- and a lot has happend.
WWE is ... well yeah...
TNA has grown up, taken strides...and needs a 90 min show.
Puro needs to make a move...before MMA starts running for keeps...
So lets start with...the results:
RAW
(The only storyline I liked in this is the womans storyline. Dont ask me why, I know IT SCREAMS Lesbo HLA, but I only hope that it doesnt lead into that- and Trish will drop the title to Mickie in what could be the best match in WM 22, booked and fought)
SMACKDOWN (Soon to become of the new CBS-DubyaWARNAKA!!!!)
MNM vs. Mexicools
This match was ok...
Chris Benoit vs. Finlay (DQ)
I loved the match...hated the ending...
Mark Henry & Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio & Kurt Angle
THREE MATCHES? THREE MATCHES? WTF? And not to mention... (yeah...you know who.)
Puro news:
Hmm...Orton was not there...
More news on the way...
• I was listening to Rush today on RIGHT-WING RADIO, and he busted out an audio clip of that infamous ESPN Sunday Countdown where he said those mean things about Donovan McNabb being overrated because the mainstream sports media want black quarterbacks to succeed. It has been a while since I saw that Countdown episode, and I’m glad I got to hear this segment again because it was more hilarious the second time around. Not only did I get to relive Michael Irvin’s “He has a point” remark, but also, interestingly enough, nobody on the panel reacted with offense to Rush’s dreaded “overrated” line when it was first uttered, not even Chris “I never saw Donovan McNabb as a black quarterback ever …ever …” Berman. In addition, there weren’t any little black kids asking Tom Jackson if it is OK for them to be quarterbacks. Fuck you ESPN, fuck you Berman, and Fuck you Jackson.
• So what exactly is the worst thing you can do to a Muslim male nowadays? Is it cramming a bunch of them in a crappy boat that’s destined to sink? No sir. It looks like drawing funny pictures of Mohammad is the answer. Why do I say this? Because a bunch of Muslims are up in arms at a Danish newspaper that had the audacity to publish back in September some caricatures of this prophet of Allah, which I guess is forbidden to do in the Muslim world, much like it is to have literate wives and daughters that want professional careers.
In a show of solidarity, and an unusual display of spine, other European newspapers defended Denmark and ran the pictures in their publications. A French editor was even fired for publishing these cartoons. And while the European media have stood up to this Muslim aggression (you don’t hear that every day), the U.S. State Department is siding with those who would consider us infidels. So let me get this straight. We fund “artists” to submerge the image of Christ in a jar of pee, but we align ourselves with those who think these are offensive? Nice.
Also, why is the North American media shying away from showing us these pictures? "I don't see it as a necessity to run them," said the editorial page editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. I wonder if these people in Medium-Large Media thought the same way about, oh, Abu Ghraib?
• Just after he was sworn in to rape, pillage and plunder anything that is not connected to Halliburton, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has sided with the commie libs on the High Court and said that the state of Missouri can’t just yet go and execute some guy for raping and killing a 15-year old girl. Why did he rule this way? My guess is because the crime only took place in 1989, which is far too soon to kill a convicted murderer/rapist; the condemned has at least 15 more years to suck up public funds in his quest to have what he refused his victims -- life. I’m sure there’s a valid reason why Alito went in the direction he did, but I’m too indifferent and lazy to try and find out.
• Some kids in Florida have refused to sell junk food for fundraising purposes in hopes of collecting enough money for a school trip to Williamsburg, Va., and Washington, D.C. Well, if they don’t want to peddle these wares and can’t come up with another way of getting the money, then they better not whine about their lack of out-of-classroom activities. A teacher at this school has tried to come up with other ways for these kids to raise money; one idea was to have car washes. Too bad that a washing a car is even worse than selling junk food. Not only are you wasting a precious resource to do something that can be accomplished by Mother Nature on a rainy day, but also you are sprucing up an evil machine that pollute the environment.
• Western Union has ceased with what made them famous -- they have stopped providing telegram services. Good for them. Who sends telegrams anyway now? Instead of saying goodbye to an old fixture of previous American societies, we ought to be encouraged that Western Union has evolved with the changing marketplace and focused its talents on additional services instead of the out-dated telegram. Other businesses would be wise to follow this practice.
• So that’s why the Wendy's down the street from me shut down last month? Damnit. That was a nice store, too. Those people that organized the finger-in-the-chili hoax deserve to burn in hell for taking away my Wendy's.
• New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “anonymously” gave $100 million to help fund a stem-cell research facility. If the donation was “anonymous,” then why am I reading about it? Well, at least he puts his money where his mouth is regarding this issue, which is odd for any politician to do. And while we’re talking about New York and fetuses, this guy got charged with abortion while beating his knocked-up girlfriend. Oddly enough, the baby survived. I’ll leave the punch line up to you.
Well first off, I take it back: I don't like the spirit squad anymore. Granted, I liked it at first, but the novelty has worn off pretty quick. I guess it's because it's now expected, and not so weird anymore.
Second, the season finale of Masters of Horror last Friday, called "Haeckle's Tale", was disappointing. It started out great, but as it progressed, it became just another zombie story, and really fell apart with it's "Tales from the Crypt" style ending. Oh well, at least there's next season. Anyways, here's my ratings for episodes, 1 being best, and 12 being worst.
1.) Cigarette Burns (directed by John Carpenter)
2.) Fair Haired Child (directed by William Malone)
3.) The Deer Woman (directed by John Landis)
4.) Homecoming (directed by Joe Dante)
5.) Incident on and off a Mountain Road (directed by Don Coscarelli)
6.) Jennifer (directed by Dario Argento)
7.) Dance of the Dead (directed by Tobe Hooper)
8.) Sick Girl (directed by Lucky McKee)
9.) Pick Me Up (directed by Larry Cohen)
10.) Chocolate (directed by Mick Garris)
11.) Haeckel's Tale (directed by John McNaughton)
12.) Dreams in the Witch House (directed by Stuart Gordon)
Anyone else but me watch the series, because I'm the only person here who seemed to talk about it.
There are only a few more days until Super Bowl XL, and like every other Super Bowl since 1990 I haven't tuned in to the usual media hype. Sorry, but half-a-month's worth of coverage leading up to one game is just too much for anyone to endure. I understand it's the "Big Game" and all, but come on already. I personally like the one-week wait from the Conference Championship games to the Super Bowl whenever it's been done, but oh well. Life goes on.
As a southwestern Pennsylvania resident, I am more privy to the latest inside info regarding this year's AFC champ. Below are some Steeler-related newsbytes.
• Today marks an annual event in southwestern Pa.; Groundhog Day. This "holiday" takes place in a small town named Punxatony that bases a large chunk of its tourism revenue around a rodent, who if he sees his shadow means we all have to deal with six more weeks of winter.
Well this year when the townspeople gathered around this groundhog, who is named Punxatony Phil, they made sure to wrap him up in a Terrible Towel. Now for those that don't know, the Terrible Towel is one of those golden obnoxious rags that Steeler fans wave around during a game. This device was conceived back in 1975 by a local sportscaster, and if you defaced one of these things at Heinz Stadium you would be lucky to walk away without any broken limbs.
As Phil made this year's prediction (he saw his shadow by the way), he tinkled in the Terrible Towel wrapped around him; he must be a Seahawks fan, which is odd considering if seahawks actually existed, Phil would probably be viewed more as dinner than a four-legged meteorologist by the bird.
Of course, Phil could have also been wondering what in the hell these crazy people were doing to him.
• Some of the idiotic callers this week on my local sports radio stations have been goofing on the Seattle area. While it only took about a day for the "all that's up there is rain and coffee" jokes to get old, there was one diss that made me laugh. Several callers have made fun of the Seahawk franchise for their less-than-stellar history in regards to winning. In fact, this is the first time ever in the team's 30-year history that it has reached the Super Bowl. Of course, what these callers seem to forget is that before the 1970s the Steelers never won a damn thing. In fact, from 1933-1971 the Steelers finished the regular season with a .500 record only 12 times and made the postseason game once, which they lost. Seattle, on the other hand, from 1976-2004, finished with a .500 record 16 times and made the postseason seven times.
• I have heard for years that the Steelers travel well, meaning whenever the team goes on the road to play a game there is usually a decent amount of fans cheering them at the other team's stadium. This isn't hard for me to believe. Is it because the Steelers fostered a devout following during their 1970s run where they won four Super Bowls in six year? Maybe. However, I think a more accurate reason is because the southwest Pennsylvania region has had its population leave the area en masse over the years, and these transplanted Pittsburghers have set up residence elsewhere throughout the country.
Whether or not my theory is correct, I have noted that during the weeks leading up to postseason games at Cincinnati, Indianapolis and now Detroit, there have been businesses in all of these regions advertising their restaurants/bars/hotels. I didn't hear a Denver-based business advertise before the Conference Championship game, but that doesn't mean it happened. I'm sure this happens in other cities, but the only other NFL city I have ever lived near to was Cincinnati, and that was before the Marvin Lewis era.
• Whenever the Steelers make the playoffs, the local newspapers always go to town regarding team coverage. This makes sense after all since people will purchase $1.50 Sunday edition just for the pin-up poster found in the special Sports section. Well, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has also encouraged Steeler fans to submit photos to show their support for the home team, and some of these pictures are, well, you decide. Here are my "top" choices.
Here,
here,
here,
and here
• Now you may be thinking that Shittsburgh is going crazy because the Steelers are headed to the Super Bowl for the first time in a decade. Wrong. Steeler fans are always nuts, even when the team has a losing record. Last summer, long before this NFL season's opening kickoff, a fan passed away and was laid out for viewing sitting on a recliner, dressed in black-and-gold pajamas and facing a television playing Steeler highlights. The TV remote was, of course, in his hand, and beer and cigarettes were nearby.
Then again, if one is to pass away, this isn't a bad way to go out.
The Money in the Bank match is dead.
Everywhere I go, I see people speculating "who's gonna be in MITB 2?" The "Save Wrestlemania" thread here at TSM is full of people speculating over our next six contenders. The sentiments range from Money in the Bank being a "good idea" to "something that worked" to "a new Wrestlemania tradition." And yes, last year's match was memorable and special. And the stipulation attached resulted in a change that shook the WWE to its core. Money in the Bank was a real winner. It WAS a real winner.
For those unfamiliar, the Money in the Bank match is a multi-person (six, last year) ladder match. The object of desire in this contest is not a title belt, but a briefcase, in which is contained a guaranteed contract for a World Heavyweight or WWE title match. The winner of this opportunity can "cash it in" at any time between the match and one year thereafter. This was used in the smartest way possible this year, as Edge challenged John Cena after his victory in the Elimination Chamber, a match sold as being even more exhausting than Hell in the Cell. Edge made good on his shot, and a new champion was crowned.
Now, here's the problem. Say the WWE runs another Money in the Bank match at Wrestlemania 22 (Big Time!). The winner, then, barring any unusual circumstances, would be a fool NOT to use it after the Elimination Chamber match at New Years' Revolution, assuming they continue that new tradition. So the intrigue of "when" is effectively gone. From there, you have two possible outcomes. Either this person wins the WWE Championship, which sets a precedent of MITB = Champion, or you have the person lose the match, burying them deeper than Paul Bearer in a tank full of cement.
The reason Money in the Bank worked is because it was new. Nobody knew what to expect. Nobody was thinking "hey, there's an Elimination Chamber match in January, I'll bet he uses his shot then!" And NOBODY knew he would win the WWE Championship. We all speculated, but nobody knew. Now, we know how it works. We know what the winner of the guaranteed title shot should do. And that takes away the intrigue. What made the WWF great in the "Attitude" era was unpredictability. Anything could happen on any given day. If they do MITB again, it's a given how it will work, and if they deviate from that template, the booking makes very little sense, because, why wouldn't someone do what Edge did? They'd be a fool. And so they'd be booked into a corner.
It was memorable, but part of what made is special was that it will never be duplicated. The WWE would be wise to think things through very carefully, because they have a history of running things into the ground. This is one of the many times that they need to be content with what they've done, sit down, and try to think of something new. Otherwise, the people will get bored, and bored people turn off the TV. Or, worse, turn to TNA Impact...
Go Monty Brown!
-Hoff
So the President gave his annual report to Congress last night, and like usual I didn’t pay much attention. No matter who is in office I normally skip these speeches. For some reason listening to new programs being suggested, and even more ways to waste money Uncle Sam doesn’t have, isn’t high on my list of things to do during the course of an evening. For the record, I also don’t tune into political conventions. I hear enough of this crap throughout the year; watching these staged weeklong celebrations would be enough to send me over the edge.
Despite my dislike of State of the Union speeches, I did catch a few minutes of this year’s edition. While flipping channels I noticed that MSNBC and CNN had a slight delay in-between their broadcasts, so if I went from CNN to MSNBC I could catch the same three-second sound bite, which made whatever it was Bush said sound much more important than it probably was. And even though I loathe the beast, I had to laugh when Hitlery and friends stood up and applauded after Bush said his Social Security reform plans were killed last year.
The only reason I watched any part of the State of the Union speech was because I was waiting for my favorite show to start – "The Shield." I’ve been a viewer of this program since it first aired in 2002, and ever since “NYPD Blue” ended, “The Shield” is the only show I regularly watch when it is a first-run broadcast.
This past Christmas I bought seasons 1-3 of the “The Shield” (retail priced reduced by more than $30 each of course) and watched them again from start to finish. It was interesting because not having to wait a week (and sometimes a year in-between seasons) to watch new episodes I saw a number of the characters in a different light. For example, my opinion of Vic Mackey diminished while I felt more sympathy for Claudette after she lost her shot at being named captain of the Barn. However, some things remained the same: I still can’t stand Shane’s wife, and Dutch, despite being one of my favorite characters, is still on my shit list for killing that kitty a few seasons ago. (If you haven’t seen this show chances are you have no idea what I’m talking about. Too bad.)
Some other thoughts I have regarding characters on The Shield:
Detective Vic Mackey: The main character, he tries to have a love/hate relationship with the viewer. When he’s not busting bad guys, he’s making deals with them and taking a little drug money off the top. Vic is the face of the show, and although he’s not my favorite character he is what makes many viewers tune in every week.
Detective Shane Vendrell: Everybody’s favorite redneck cop in Los Angeles. Like Vic it’s hard to feel sympathy for him, especially since he married that bitch he calls a wife. What I find amusing about Walton Goggins, who plays Shane, is that I can’t stop thinking of his role in the 1997 movie “The Apostle.” In that film Goggins plays a wholesome, god-fearing man named “Sam,” who is the pretty much the opposite of his Vendrell role.
Detective Curtis “Lemonhead“ Lemansky: Lem was one of those characters who I didn’t really think too much about when I was watching first-run episodes, but when seeing him on DVD I started to take more of a liking to the “surfer” of the Strike Team.
Detective Ronnie Gardocki: Eh, he’s there. He got skin from his BUTT and had it put on his face after being burned by that guy in season 2. However, I think he’s the father of Danny’s baby. If a member of Vic’s team is going to be taken out, it’ll probably be Ronnie.
Officer Julien Lowe: Ah, gay Julian. He was featured prominently in season 1 with his “I-not-a-homo-but-I-love-the-cock” dilemma. It’s a shame Gay Julian hasn’t resurfaced, because he was one bad mo’ fo. I do like the fact that the rookie officer he’s now in charge of training is prissy little bitch because as of right now there is absolutely no sexual tension between the two, which makes it funny to watch her screw up and unable to rely on her looks to find an easy way out.
Officer Dannyelle “Danny” Sofer: Next to Dutch, Danny is probably my favorite character on the show. I laughed out loud at last nights episode when Gay Julian’s partner was trying to say that Danny was no longer the “Queen B” around the office and then made a remark about her pregger looks. After seeing all the dues Danny has paid in the first several seasons, it was funny listening to her rip into this rookie who had no idea what she was getting herself into.
Detective Claudette Wyms: I really dug her character in the first season, but after she got screwed out of being David Aceveda’s replacement as captain, she has seemed to be without a purpose. Sadly, it looks like they might be writing her out this season with the medical problem she’s coping with.
Detective Holland “Dutch’ Wagenbach: My favorite character on the show. Quirky and brilliant, he’s made me laugh a number of times with his off-color remarks. But like I said earlier, even with all these positives, there’s a special place in hell for those that kill cats. Him and Claudette had some great interaction early in the series, but it seems to have tailed off.
Captain/Councilman David Aceveda: The Captain turned City Councilman. I think of him as Vic Mackey with a suit. In some ways, I feel more pity toward Aceveda, especially since he was raped a few seasons ago and couldn’t really tell anyone about it (look at how his power-hungry wife flipped out over hearing that news).
There are other characters to comment on, to be sure, but some have been written out (like Glenn Close’s Captain Monica Rawling character) or have yet to really make an impact (such as Forest Whitaker’s Lt. Tom Kavanaugh character this year). And while this is my favorite show on television, I only hope that this series ends the way it started: with a bang.
• Judge Samuel Alito was just confirmed as the newest Supreme Court Justice. Elsewhere, Wal-Mart is running a special on rusty coat hangers and signs that read “Whites Only.” What makes me laugh about this whole event is that if Alito really was as awful as Ted Kennedy and Chuck Schumer made him out to be, then how in the world did he ever get to become a federal judge in the first place? Better yet, how did he manage to graduate from law school?
I guess it’s only fitting since civil rights, for all intents and purposes, died with the Alito confirmation that Coretta Scott King, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., passed away on the very same day. Could this be an omen of things to come? Well, as someone who loves dirty air and water, tax cuts for the rich, and seeing old people survive on cat food and dumpster scraps, I certainly hope so.
Even though I’m giddy with how the Supreme Court is shaping up, there is something that annoyed me regarding RIGHT-WING RADIO during recent Supreme Court confirmation processes. Just about every national talk-show host I listened to said Alito and John Roberts before him “ran rings around the liberals questioning him.” Well I should sure hope so. If you can’t outwit Ted Kennedy or outsmart Diane Feinstein, then you have no business being a civil servant, let alone a Supreme Court Justice. I would hope that even a liberal like Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be able to hold her own in an argument with these same people, and I’m sure she could; that is if she actually answered any questions posed to her.
Justice Alito, enjoy the perks of your new lifetime appointment. And remember when the next time a bunch of far-sighted Jews claim they were disenfranchised in the voting booth, think back to who got you this cushy gig. Seriously, is there any better job than to be a Supreme Court Justice? You’re paid to sit down and write opinions all day that nobody can overrule except for five of your eight colleagues. Future courts could also override what you deemed constitutional or unconstitutional, but by the time this actually happens you’ll be long dead and nobody will care.
• In California, an an ex-postal worker recently killed six former co-workers before committing suicide. What is up with postal workers hating their jobs? From the want ads I’ve seen regarding vacant post office positions, the pay is more than fair. In addition, it’s a government job, so there has to be good benefits along with some other perks. Why do these people go nuts? Earlier this month I was at a local post office near my workplace to purchase some of those hippie 2-cent stamps, and the cashier whose register I approached to make the transaction was flipping out to his supervisor about how a co-worker expected him to weigh letters for her while he was still waiting on his customers. In hindsight, I don’t think it was a good idea for me to say in front of his supervisor, “give me $50 and I’ll slash her tires,” but at least it shut him up for the rest of the time I was there.
One thing I really hate about the post office is that when you go in there to have a letter weighed and sent out they always ask you if you want to buy stamps. No I don’t want to buy any goddamn stamps; I just don’t want to play a guessing game of how many stamps I have to put on my parcel if it’s not in the conventional first-class 39-cent envelope. However, one thing I hate even more than this is when you’re in line and the customer in front of you answers yes to the same question I mentioned above. These people then take at least 20 minutes trying to decide between the stamps with the American Flag pictured on them or the stamps with the Stature of Liberty prominently featured. What’s the difference? Just order your stamps, pay for them and leave. Oh, and if you get run over by a car in the lot, that would be great, too.
Then again, maybe it is customers like this that make these government workers go postal, which if that is the case then I totally sympathize with their plight. Just one request should you go on a shooting spree: Before offing yourself, make sure to take out a few customers, too.
It is common for professional athletes to get labeled by many in our society of being greedy, spoiled and out of touch, but I am generally not one of those people who will make these accusations. After all, if you are one of the chosen few blessed to play a professional sport, your shelf life as a pro athlete is extremely limited (especially if you play in the NFL), so you better get your money while you can. Or should I say get what money you can after taxes and various fees to player unions, agents and publicists?
While I don’t fault athletes for earning their hefty paychecks, there are some things that remain a mystery to me. For example, I don’t understand how someone can leave a winning team and head to losing team for not that much more money. Nobody can fault a top rookie or second-year phenom for jumping ship if they are with a team that is offering $500,000 per year when a team in a larger market is willing to pony up $5 million per year for their services. However, if you are an established name and on a team that is contending for a championship, why move away from that franchise and be a little richer but much more miserable?
One example of this happening was when Bobby Bonilla left the Shittsburgh Pirates after the 1991 season and headed over to the New York Mets. After going to the playoffs for two consecutive years in Shittsburgh, Bonilla turned down a multi-million dollar contract (if memory serves, it was around $4-4.5 million/year) and went to the Mets for about $6 million per year. As a kid, I didn’t understand why Bonilla left the Pirates, who were still considered contenders at the time by many, to go to a Mets franchise that was struggling below .500. Now that I’m older, I can sympathize with him wanting to go to a larger market where there would be greater opportunitiesto make more money, but I still don’t agree with the move. If the Pirates had gone through a 100-game losing season, then I could understand him wanting to leave and go to team with a better chance of winning. But this wasn’t the case. Bonilla was already a millionaire, and unlike football, baseball contracts are guaranteed. So even if he sustained a career-ending injury during that next year’s spring training, Bonilla would still have earned enough money to live comfortably for several lifetimes.
The funny thing about this whole situation is that for 1992, Bonilla’s first year in New York, the Pirates won their division for the third straight year and was one only out away from reaching the World Series. The Mets meanwhile stayed near the bottom of the NL East. Although as a kid I enjoyed watching the Pirates win during that summer of ‘92, I enjoyed even more the articles I read about Bonilla and his miserable stay with the Mets where at one point he had to wear earplugs to drown out the boos from the New York crowds. Was that extra million or so worth hating your job? Only Bonilla can answer that question, but I know I would rather stay with a contending team and be cheered on by the hometown fans than be mercilessly booed in a new city. (Sadly, Bonilla would go on to win a Series ring with the Florida Marlins.)
While I am on this subject, another athlete whose actions I don’t understand is Kobe Bryant. It’s true he wasn’t best friends with former teammate Shaquille O’Neal, but they were civil enough to each other to win three NBA championships. However, winning wasn’t enough for Bryant, and as a result the Lakers traded O’Neal to the Miami Heat. Now Bryant is the main man for a mediocre Laker team.
Ever since Bryant got his wish, he has piled up great personal stats, including recently putting up 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. But aside from a scoring title or some other individual achievement, this is all the glory Bryant will see for the time being. I was watching last night’s game the Lakers had with the Pistons, who are the quintessential “team” in the NBA, and the Lakers got clobbered 102-93. During the game I saw a sign held by a fan that pretty much shows the difference between someone like Bryant and a team like Pistons. The sign read “Bryant: 37 points; Pistons: 37 wins.”
Enjoy these big games, Kobe, because the best your team can hope for is an early-round exit from the playoffs, if you are even lucky enough to get into the postseason.
• A few weeks ago I bought some uber-special DVD edition of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” and last night I finally got around to watching it. I read the book in high school and don’t remember much of what happened (it was a school assignment after all), but I watched the movie a few years later and absolutely loved it. I haven’t seen the film again since 1995, but when I was at Best Buy in early January of this year I saw this DVD marked down from $29.99 to $9.99 and felt an impulse. I think there was a clerical error regarding its price because I didn’t see this special advertised in Best Buy’s weekly circular, and when I had the movie scanned the retail price of $29.99 remained the same. However, after showing a clerk that this was indeed the advertised price (and the price was for this edition and not some crappy bare-bones DVD; I make sure to check these things out before going to the register), they marked it down for me.
As I watched this film again last night, I was still impressed with it after 10 years from my previous viewing. I can’t explain why I like this movie so much: there’s no CGI, no real profanity besides the “n” word being said a few times (which was necessary because I doubt those rednecks saying “African-American” would have been all that believable), there was no T&A outside of Scout wearing a dress that revealed her knees, and, worst of all, it was shot in black and white. I guess when you’re watching a good movie you don’t need all of those additional features, which is why I’m sure a lot of movies nowadays have to have these “enhancements.”
After watching this movie, I remembered that hippie list the American Film Institute released a few years ago rating the greatest heroes and villains of the silver screen. Since Atticus Finch was the top person for the hero list (it figures Hollywood would consider a lawyer a hero), I decided to check out that list one more time.
Whenever a list like this comes out, it’s pointless to do any real debate. Oh my God, James Bond is below Indiana Jones! Why is Charlton Heston’s Moses ranked so low? – Damn you liberal media! I will say though that’s it’s funny Han Solo cracked the 14 spot and Luke Skywalker didn’t make the Top 50 (I can’t remember if he was in the 51-100 group).
However, over in the villains section, there is something that I question: I still don’t get how the shark from “Jaws” is a villain. He was a just a fish swimming around looking for food. If anything the real villains of this film are the executives who gave the green light for those godawful sequels: I don’t think there is such a drop-off in quality for a series from the first film to the most recent sequel than the "Jaws" franchise. To make matters worse, I remember as a kid watching “Jaws: The Revenge” in the theater and wondering how the shark knew to swim down the Eastern Seaboard and find Ellen Brody after she left her New England home and went to the Bahamas.
• Cindy Sheehan is threatening to run against Diane Feinstein for her Senate seat if Feinstein doesn’t come out more strongly against the war in Iraq. Man, if this happens it will sure make her look like a moderate to the voters. Wait a second, who would look more like the moderate in California– Sheehan or Feinstein?
• So now the first year of college is the "riskiest." Riskiest? Give me a break. The first year of serving in Iraq is “risky.” The first year of fighting cancer is “risky.” The first year of going to a college isn’t. Yeah, that keg party just jumped out of nowhere and that steady stream of alcohol just happened to pour down Johnny’s throat while he were sleeping. Now there is a risk of catching bacterial meningitis or some other condition due to living in close quarters with many people, which is a part of dorm life, but most of the problems college students have that involve "risky behavior" are self-inflicted. Save me the sob story for someone who deserves pity. Not some 18-year-old idiot who got drunk and jumped off a roof.
• Well, it turns out former independent prosecutor Ken Starr might now get invited to a few cocktail parties around California's social scene. Starr has contacted Arnold Schwarzenegger regarding the upcoming execution of Michael Morales, who raped and murdered a 17-year-old girl back in 1981. Starr wants Morales to receive clemency. Now you may be asking yourself why would Starr want to grant mercy to this confessed murderer: Was there a last-minute eyewitness to refute the prosecution’s side of the story? Was there some new DNA evidence that puts some doubt as to Morales’ guilt? Of course not. Morales said he's sorry.
But that's not all. Another person trying to spare Morales' life is Judge Charles McGrath, who first sentenced Morales to death row. The judge now says he doesn't believe the testimony of jailhouse informant Bruce Samuelson, who said that Morales boasted of his assault and made obscene and derogatory references toward his victim. Says the judge, "New information has emerged to show the evidence upon which I relied in sentencing Mr. Morales to death - Mr. Samuelson's testimony - is false."
So Morales saying mean things about his victim was your deciding factor in whether or not he deserved the death penalty? I think that says more about you, judge, than it does about the so-called unreliable testimony.
• In our household we have three kids: Dessa, JJ, and Max. You were expecting actual children?
We used to have dry kibble available for them to eat at any time, but JJ would always overeat and throw up about half of what he consumed. We’ve had JJ since March of 2001, and every day when we got home from work there would always be piles of vomit on the floor. For years I told the better half we needed to regulate how much they ate, but she never wanted to because Dessa is a “grazer,” meaning she would eat a small amount of food several times throughout the day. Well a few months ago I managed to convince the better half to regulate their feedings. Actually, I think JJ did most of the convincing by throwing up on our bed, which had on it a comforter fresh out of the washing machine.
After a two-week period of limiting what all three of them could eat, there were zero vomit spots on the carpet, and ever since then we’ve been regulating their feeding times. What we do is give them food three times a day: when we wake up at 5:30 a.m., when we get home from work at around 4 p.m. and when we go to bed, which is usually around 9 p.m.
Although there is the occasional vomit pile, these incidents have been greatly reduced. However, this creates another problem. When we are asleep, sometimes JJ wants to be fed and begins scratching a nearby closet, which can get annoying at 3-4 a.m. I keep a squirt bottle on my nightstand and usually a few shots in the direction of the noise solves the problem. But this isn’t always the case, such as what happened last night. When the better half moves my squirt bottle, or if I’m just not in the mood, I’ll get up and trudge over to their feeding area. This brings JJ to the scene, and I’ll scoop him up, take him to the basement stairs, put him down, and lock the door. Sure he cries and scratches that door trying to get out, but the noise isn’t as loud and I can go back to sleep.
The funny thing about last night’s episode is that their current stash of dry food is running low, and I bought an 18-pound back of Meow Mix earlier this week. That bag is lying in the middle of the basement floor. If JJ had any sense he would have went down the steps, opened the bag with his claws and eaten as much as he desired. But sadly he’s not the brightest bulb in the socket.
• When it comes to politics, there are a lot of things that annoy me. One is when the losing side of an election or referendum tells the other side what they should do in regards to policy. This happens quite a bit in regards to newspaper editorial boards. A newspaper publication that has ragged on a particular candidate during an election season suddenly decides it’s important to give this same person “advice” on what they should do in office. Let’s see, the candidate doesn’t agree with anything your editorial board champions and didn’t have your endorsement during the campaign season – now he or she is supposed to take anything you say or recommend seriously? Ha.
But it’s not just newspapers where this sort of thing happens. This afternoon, I was channel surfing and came across a cable news show that had a Democrat and a Republican strategist on talking about whether or not Senate Democrats should try and filibuster the upcoming Alito vote. After the Democrat said his bit, the Republican began suggesting what he thinks Democrats should do, which largely consisted of not going through with the filibuster attempt.
What are you thinking, douche? Don’t tell these people that they are being extreme and look like a bunch of unhinged kooks. Keep your mouth shut and let Ted Kennedy and pals continue to make asses of themselves. This isn’t the 1980s where a “Robert Bork’s America” speech will go unchallenged by an alternative media. Sit back, let the libs try to block Alito’s vote, have RIGHT-WING RADIO and company mock them and reap the rewards at the ’06 ballot box. Believe me, you guys will need all the help you can get for this next election.
It was early 2004, and the better half and I were living in sin at our third residence. This place was a duplex that had more things going wrong with it than going right. Among some problems included an insect infestation, no central air and drains that refused to do their job; we weren't enjoying our stay at this place. The final straw came when the spring rains arrived and we heard a dripping noise above us as we went to bed one night. We soon discovered that the roof had several leaks. Realizing our landlord wouldn't get around to dealing with this problem until the roof resembled Texas Stadium, both of us agreed it was time to look for a house of our own to buy.
We had talked about getting a house for a while, but we had always put it off until "later." That dripping noise, among the other hassles we endured while being tenants in this duplex, told us that "later" was "now." Before we began our search we decided on what we wanted out of our new home. We weren't that picky in what we deemed "necessary." We wanted a house with several bedrooms -- not because we were going to pop out a litter of kids, but rather we heard/read from several sources that houses with at least three bedrooms have a higher resale value than those that don’t. Central air was also a necessity for us, having stayed in several places that didn't have this feature, we realized its value when we lived in a townhouse that had it running during the summer months. The third requirement was that we didn't want to move into a different county. We live in Westmoreland County, which is in southwest Pennsylvania and next to Allegheny County, home to Shittsburgh and a horrendous property assessment system.
Once we established these parameters, we found out how much money we would be pre-approved for when applying for a mortgage. When we got this figure, we began looking at local houses for sale on several Internet sites. After about a week of looking at a variety of homes, we called our realtor and arranged a tour of about a half-dozen houses that matched our criteria. In a few days, we set out on our house-hunting excursion.
If you're house shopping for the first time, it's important not to set yourself up for a deadline. Just keep looking until you find something that interests you. As we went from house-to-house, nothing was really doing much for us. One house had a backyard that required you to go up several flights of stairs access; the better half also thought the place was haunted. Another house hadn't been kept up for a while and had that white-trash odor of pee mixed with spoiled food. Visiting this house actually angered me because it was a fairly large structure and in a nice neighborhood. The rest of the homes we toured were nice, but they just didn't have everything we were looking for. If one looked good on the outside, it was too small for our liking. If another had several bedrooms, it was located in a bad area, such as a busy intersection with no driveway. However, instead of getting frustrated, I was enjoying myself. With every passing "For Sale" sign, I began getting a better picture of what I wanted in my eventual home.
The better half and I didn't find anything that really interested us in our first two tours with the realtor, and we were batting 0-for-4 on our third trip. Then we went to this one house we originally weren't planning on looking at because its ad said it was 50+ years old and didn't have central air. But since it was on the way from one house we were looking at to another we were heading toward, we figured what the heck. After all, if it really tickled our fancy, we could always get the central air installed. However, the other thing that worried us was the house’s age: it was at least 30 years older than every other one we had seen. As we pulled up to this house, the first thing that caught my eye was a central air unit planted to the right of the house. I thought to myself this could be interesting.
Even though this house was the oldest we had looked at, it was by far one of the sturdiest and nicely kept out of the dozen-plus we had previously viewed. As we went from room-to-room in this four-bedroom colonial, we said to each other that this was the one for us. After looking at the rest of the houses on our list for the day, we ultimately decided to pursue this one.
A few months later, after a credit check, some minor home improvements and a LOT of paperwork, the house was ours. It's definitely more expensive to own a home than it is to rent, but so far the investment is worth every penny. Even though there are more expenses, including property taxes and insurance, the fact that you are spending your money on a mortgage instead of a landlord gives you a greater feeling of independence, even though this "freedom" means that you will be living in the same place for 15-30 years. Thinking of the approximately $700 in rent we paid every month for five years, I cringe when I calculate how much money was flushed down the toilet instead of being put into equity.
Home ownership is another sign you are maturing, at least in society's eyes if not your own. You are no longer living in a room or basement while your parents pay for everything from food to utilities. And instead of renting, where you pass off problems to a landlord or maintenance crew, with your own home you're responsible for all repairs. Heater on the fritz? That's your problem. Leaky roof? Too bad. Basement flooded? Get a bucket and start scooping.
But even with these added responsibilities, I wouldn't trade my little piece of Americana for anything. Owning a home really makes you feel like you've "made" it, and that feeling will continue until you sell it or your local government takes your property for some public works project or hands the deed over to some private developer for the "greater good."
And for those wondering, here is the result of my house search.
