Cheech Tremendous

So this article today at the New York Times and thought it might be an interesting topic of discussion on a slow sports day. Link - The National Pastime(s) - nytimes.com The question is quite simple: What is the national pastime? Baseball has long held that distinction, but a case could certainly be made for football or basketball. Here are some interesting things to consider: Most revenue: NFL ($7.8 billion) Highest attendance: MLB (78.5 million) Most participants: NBA (25.9 million) So, which is it?

Oh man, Some Girls is one of their best. Top five, definitely. Without a doubt. That was the first Stones album I ever owned, so maybe it just holds a special place in my heart, but "Beast of Burden", "Miss You" and "Before They Make Me Run"? Fantastic. As a kid my dad had an original vinyl copy. I used to play with that sliding cover all the time. Top five Stones albums, in my opinion: 1 - Exile On Main Street 2 - Sticky Fingers 3 - Some Girls 4 - Beggar's Banquet 5 - Let It Bleed

That Rick Derringer-penned theme may have been my second favorite of that entire era, right behind Hogan's "Real American."

The first Transformers movie was so unbelievably awful, but the prospect of two hours of Megan Fox may be enough to drag me back for the second one.

The Cavs won't have the cap room, but they could maybe facilitate a sign and trade for Bosh or someone else. They could also use their expiring contracts this season or next to grab a quality player that someone might look to dump before the '10 offseason. All things considered, I don't think there's much of a chance that Lebron leaves Cleveland. He has too much of a good thing going there, especially if they win the title this year or next.

Hmm, maybe I jumped the gun on that one. Oh well, everyone throws up a clunker once in a while. BTW, what's up with Venk thinking that I am TMC? That's a really low blow.

Don't you dare sully my good name, Venk.

Who cares Bob? The topics he's starting are good.

I don't think either, but mainly because I have no clue where this "Karen is returning" thing is coming from. At the end of the episode they showed a pregnant Karen showing up at The Office and everyone looked shocked. Michael said something like "I need to figure out the last time Jim and Karen had sex."

So Jim knocked up Karen... or is this another fakeout in the Jim/Pam relationship? I'm intrigued. Oh, and great episode tonight.

Don't you worry, Kamala. I'll save your thread.

I remember around '98 or '99 there was a rumor that Vince Russo wanted to package Brian Adams and Bryan Clark together as the new Demolition. Who knows if that was just internet speculation or not (the timetables are way off), but I do know that Eadie was still fighting with the company over the name at the point, which may have killed the whole thing. Ironically enough, they showed up in WCW shortly after as Kronik, which would at least add some credence to the rumor. How do you think a new Demolition would have gotten over in the Attitude era? We know that LOD didn't fare too well in that environment, but McMahon would have probably protected a WWF creation a little better. Was it a gimmick better left to the late '80s or was it something that could have been adapted?

As a young mark, Demolition was probably my favorite tag team in all of wrestling. I think I would have liked LOD a little more had they actually won the NWA titles and consistently dominated the division, but from the time I started watching in '87 until the the time they left the company they had one short reign. As a kid I really cared about that stuff and Demolition was far more dominating. Calling Demolition a LOD ripoff is a little unfair, in my opinion. It's not like we're talking the Powers of Pain here, which was such a rip it's not even funny. Darsow and Eadie could at least work a little and weren't as dependent on the squash. Sure, they co-opted the look and feel, but damn if they didn't look badass doing it. Because of the ripoff label and the fact that they disappeared off the map after LOD arrived in '91, they get forgotten in the grand scheme of things. They flat out dominated that division for the better part of three years, which should put them up there with the greats of all time. There aren't many classics under their belt but the 2/3 falls with the Hart Foundation was superb. It's an underrated backlog of matches. Demolition will always have a place in my heart. Two of the biggest markout moments I had as a kid were Demolition related. The first was when Ax and Smash started the '89 Rumble. I was watching on PPV at a neighbor's house and I almost lost it when they had to fight each other. But that was nothing compared to how crazy I went when I saw them beat the Brain Busters on Prime Time. That title win came out of nowhere. It was huge.

Hey Kamala, I really liked Demolition.

The thing to remember about the Invasion is that originally it wasn't going to be an angle. WCW was going to be relaunched with a Saturday night program on TNN. It was only after they realized that they couldn't get additional programming that they decided to try to make some money off the name and utilize the wrestlers whose contracts they purchased. The actual angle came together haphazardly because there was no actual plan when they started it.

I don't understand the NFL HOF. I looked at the list and thought the only no-brainers were Carter, Sharpe and Tagliabue. Seeing that none of them got in is downright baffling.

Tattoo You is solid. I'd also throw out "Little T&A" as a quality track, which dovetails nicely with my "Keith's tracks were always highlights" argument from earlier. I know you say it's blah, but I'd actually argue that was the last great Stones album. Everything post Tattoo was hit or miss. That sort of leads to another discussion: what's the worst Stones album? Let me nominate Dirty Work, if not for the crappy songs, then just for the cover. I don't know if I'd go that far, but I was watching Let's Spend the Night Together last night (which inspired this thread) and it was weak. The whole band sounded very thin, if that makes sense. Weak vocals and punchless guitar playing plagued the whole thing. I was able to see the Stones live back in '04 or '05 and it was a great show. Supposedly they are thirty years past their prime, but I couldn't tell from that performance. It was up there for best show that I've ever been to.

Someone needs to pull him aside for a talk so that it doesn't get too out of control. I have no problems with thread creation, but it was too much, too fast in General. I can't digest any of the topics.

I've got a vinyl copy of Flowers that's so old and worn out it sounds like it was recorded underwater. It's pretty fucking righteous, though. There are like five certifiable classics on that record. Bonus points to "Lady Jane" for inspiring an even better Neil Young song down the road.

"Emotional Rescue" as a song, however, is fucking fantastic. That falsetto voice was a cool gimmick that Mick played with. It's funny you mentioned those business classes. The Stones only acquired publishing rights for stuff after '67, if I remember correctly. That led to the situation where the owner of the publishing sued the pants off The Verve for ripping off "The Last Time." Someone who had no role in the creative process of either song ended up with $3 million. The music industry, got to love it.

On a sidenote, I really enjoy Keith Richards' vocal contributions to the band from the early '70s on. He usually pops in for one track and steals the show. An entire Richards album may be overkill, but in small doses he's charming. "Before They Make Me Run" and "Happy" are two of my favorite Stones tracks. Come to think of it, "Infamy" was probably the best thing on the surprisingly strong Bigger Bang album as well.

Czech's on vacation. Without him, there is no one there to take the new members and stick them in the larvae group. At least TMC's new threads have some thought behind them instead of the usual shit the new guys throw out there. He probably could learn how to pace himself better though. Ten threads in a day is overkill.

While we are talking newbs, who was Red29 and why did he get banned after one day?

Fite me poser. EDIT: I see how it is, bitch.

Check out this quote from Mike Sweeney yesterday after he signed a deal with the Mariners. I count at least six cliches. Maybe he was auditioning for a sports broadcasting job in case he doesn't make the team.