Friday, October 24, 2008

You'd think they'd have Election Year medications on tap....

I think everyone has a migraine from these last few months of continuous coverage of the battle that has been Barack Obama vs. John McCain, Liberal vs. Conservative, Red vs. Blue, Kimbo Slice vs. Seth Petruzelli. I think this year has been the most "turbulent", as Allen Greenspan would put it. Everyone on board has now had a drastic change in something this year, even the people that aren't political. I mean, I don't even think we're in the United States anymore, let alone Kansas.

For example: Sports. Maybe it's just me, but the Rays and Phillies are in the World Series. I think that shows enough of a recession in America. Maybe there is a correlation between recession years and years of crappy World Series matchups. At least I'm getting a free taco out of it, Thank you and Fuck you Jason Bartlett. But perhaps a recession is happening because America's Favorite Quarterback, Tom Brady, is out for the season. As is America's only good golfer, Tiger Woods, and Kansas's only hope, Larry Johnson(let's face it, all there is in Kansas is Football). Peyton Manning and Ladanian Tomlinson are underperforming, and Adam "Pacman" Jones is back in the spotlight for something stupid. (Really, Who the hell punches out a hotel security guard?)

I didn't think I would say this, but I miss Michael Vick. Or maybe I'm in need for some real sports entertainment. At least we would have some kind of gnarly sneaker commercial where Vick jumps over Terrell Suggs to score a touchdown. But no, he's going to plead guilty to State Dogfighting Charges, and we might never see him again until ESPN The Magazine puts him in their Chicken Soup for the Football Soul section where they show us stories that we might care about if they return to a sport out of nowhere. Maybe as soon as this election is over, we will start to see ourselves through the looking glass again. Black will be black, up will be up, and perhaps America will return to its normal state. It's like we need to have medications for when election years come around. Or maybe it's just because we don't have an incumbent running and there is too much uncertainty. I don't know why so many people are freaking out so much, but I do know that I should be one of them and I'm not. I'm the one entering the job market in the next year. I'm the one who will walk out of college and walk into the workplace that will reflect the time that I am living in. Hopefully I'll be able to get a job when I do that walking and not have to pawn off my valuables to sustain living. I think I just started to freak out just then.

Backing up and returning to the calamity that is sports, what the hell has been happening? Why now? This and American Cinema is the last refuge we have. And Beverly Hills Chihuahua was grossing the top of the list?! We are definitely on tougher times when people don't even want to see good movies anymore. I mean, when my friends and I were at a bar watching the Kimbo Slice fight, you know, the one that was shorter than the average fart, what the hell was that? That was a hugely anticipated fight on television and it was 14 seconds long. Are you kidding?

This is why we need to back off some sports stars. If they want to fight dogs, have stripper parties on boats, shoot up nightclubs no one is attending, and do drugs, maybe we should sort of maybe let them do possibly one of those things. But because we punish our players like we want to punish our bankers right now, we've only hurt ourselves. We've killed the prize fighter in exchange for the good willed middleweight no-name guy.

There is only one way to solve this mess. Give the finger to Congress for interfering with sports and vote the ones who got involved out of office. There are more important things out there than Roger Clemens' barbeque's where he met Jose Canseco's drug dealer, more important things than Rafael Palmeiro's Viagra deal, and more important things than the drug habits of high school teenagers. Get over it Congress, you can't change the fact that doing drugs in high school is still seen as the cool thing. Perhaps you should be going after the people who will be constructing our food supply in the next 10 years, I'm sure that's a more prevalent topic than how small Canseco's balls really are. If people even knew what's going to be in their kids food from now on, according to scientists, you'd worry about that a lot more. But I'm going to guess that you won't address that topic until people start using Scope mouthwash and die from it because it contains a form of windshield washer fluid.

So why do I get angry about this? Because there are things I care about and there are things I really don't give a shit about. So Jordan gambled a lot, he was still one of the best basketball players ever. I don't care about his personal life, I care about my own. If I'm brushing my teeth with stuff I don't want to be brushing them with, fix it. If my kids are playing with toys that will kill them, fix it. But if Congress wants to tell me that one of my heroes is a villain, don't tell me. Because it's heroes that do the fixing. Not Congress.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Call Uncle Del, Tell Him For The Next Two Weeks I'm a Philly Phanatic

So by some act of witchcraft, voodoo, or divinity, the Rays are in the World Series. That's surprisingly alright, strange as that might be to say. They fielded an improbable team, but they beat us fair and square. I take issue with two groups of people: 99% of fans in Tampa Bay, and every living soul (save Dennis Eckersley) that was involved in this abortion of an ALCS broadcast. So, with that being said, let's get this started, because as George Carlin once said, I don't have pet peeves, I have mad psychotic fuckin' hatreds.

The Tampa Bay Fans:
I got a tumor, and the only prescription is less cowbell.

I'm fairly certain that these people came out of the woodwork about a month ago with the express purpose of ruining baseball. These people had absolutely no loyalty to their hometown team, and more likely than not were lambasting them up until a few months into this season. By in large, they've had absolutely no loyalty to their team, but somehow now their own well being and their life hangs in the balance of these games? Bull. Baseball is a game of respect and tradition. Cowbells, cheerleaders, horns, big goofy wigs, and shitty music. It's not a Wiggles concert, its a god damn baseball game. This is a fucking sacrelige. Put your gimmicks away, sit down, shut up, and enjoy the game for what it is. It's the greatest sport ever to grace this country, and it's an absolutely beautiful thing. It doesn't need to be drowned out by distractions. End of story.

TBS:

Never once in my entire life did I ever think I'd say this. I miss Tim McCarver. Really. I'm serious. The ALCS coverage was such an abject failure that I've been forced to come to that conclusion. Being forced to watch the Steve Harvey show because Ted Turner couldn't pony up a couple grand for a fucking backup generator wasn't bad enough, we needed to listen to the following window lickers for an entire 7-game series.

Chip CarayThe Eyebrows of a Buffalo.

Buck Martinez
Puts the emPHASIS on the wrong sylLABLE.

Ron Darling
Never has anything worthwhile to contribute.

I don't think there was a single minute of Game 3 where Matt Garza's balls weren't firmly entrenched in all of their mouths. It doesn't just start there though. Routine double plays, pop-outs, and blowing their noses without covering their laps in snot, these were all unbelievably life-affirming achievements. It was like they coordinated it, too. Chip Caray would shower praise for the Rays' ordinary achievements at levels bordering all out fellatio. Buck Martinez would mispronounce a name so brazenly that I considered throwing a rock at my TV. "David ORtiz up to bat." Shut up. If I hear anyone say his name like that ever again I'm going to find your family in Whoville and steal all of their fucking christmas presents. Lastly, Ron Darling would round it off nicely by stating the obvious. "They'll be keeping David Price in." WOW, what a revelation! I mean, I know he's standing on the mound ready to deliver a pitch, but until you affirmed he was staying in the game, my mind couldn't have possibly processed that. Shitbrick.

I'll save my last ounce of vitriol for this window licker.

Craig Sager

Craig Sager is the creepy uncle your family tries to avoid inviting out. It's because he sits at the edge of the pool and stares at your kids just a little bit too intently. He is one creepy individual. He wears bright and unconventional suits. Holy shit, that's never been done before, right? He's no Don Cherry, in fact I'm gonna have to rank him below that fucking nutjob with the Question Mark suit on late night television. Learn how to be an on-field reporter, FREE! Crawl in a hole and die, you pederast.

Anyway, I digress. This isn't really a post of bitterness, as I was planning on ripping on these failures no matter what the case was. Hope it's been a worthwhile read. Go Bruins?

Thursday, October 9, 2008

2008-2009 NHL Season

I sit here tonight, at about 8:30, and I watch the dominant Detroit Red Wings take on the low-flying, boy touching Toronto Maple Leafs. We all know chances are Detroit's going to end up with yet another Stanley Cup, but I thought I'd provide predictions anyway. Here they are:

Eastern Conference
1. Montreal Canadiens
2. New York Rangers
3. Washington Capitals
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. New Jersey Devils
6. Boston Bruins
7. Philadelphia Flyers
8. Tampa Bay Lightning
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9. Florida Panthers
10. Ottawa Senators
11. Buffalo Sabres
12. Carolina Hurricanes
13. Atlanta Thrashers
14. New York Islanders
15. Toronto Maple Leafs


Western Conference
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. Dallas Stars
3. Minnesota Wild
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. San Jose Sharks
6. Chicago Blackhawks
7. Nashville Predators
8. Calgary Flames
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9. Vancouver Canucks
10. Colorado Avalanche
11. Edmonton Oilers
12. Columbus Blue Jackets
13. Phoenix Coyotes
14. St. Louis Blues
15. LA Kings

Eastern Conference Playoffs

1. Montreal Canadiens over 8. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. New York Rangers over 7. Philadelphia Flyers
6. Boston Bruins over 3. Washington Capitals
4. Pittsburgh Penguins over 5. New Jersey Devils


1. Montreal Canadiens over 6. Boston Bruins
4. Pittsburgh Penguins over 2. New York Rangers


1. Montreal Canadiens over 4. Pittsburgh Penguins

Western Conference Playoffs
1. Detroit Red Wings over 8. Calgary Flames
2. Dallas Stars over 7. Nashville Predators
6. Chicago Blackhawks over 3. Minnesota Wild
5. San Jose Sharks over 4. Anaheim Ducks

1. Detroit Red Wings over 6. Chicago Blackhawks
5. San Jose Sharks over 2. Dallas Stars

1. Detroit Red Wings over 5. San Jose Sharks

Stanley Cup Finals

1. Detroit Red Wings over 1. Montreal Canadiens in 5 Games.

Hart Trophy: Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
Vezina Trophy: Henrik Lundqvist, G, New York Rangers
Norris Trophy: Zdeno Chara, D, Boston Bruins
Selke Trophy: Pavel Datsyuk, C/LW, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Trophy: Steve Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay Lightning
Jack Adams Award: Claude Julien, Boston Bruins