$75 Million Hug

Courtesy of NY Times.

The Yankees are back in the Fall Classic.

Bad Umpiring in Game 4

Some bad calls in game four of the ALCS - Nick Swisher easily picked off second base, then called safe. Then seemingly a make-up call when he is called out for leaving the base too early and trying to score (clearly did not leave early on the replay). Then the next inning, two Yankees off third base, tagged, and both should be out, but only one called out. What is happening?

File Under: I Don't Understand

The economy is still in the crapper (see: unemployment rates) yet the Dow is doing great (>10,000). Huh?

6 Year-Old Kid and Balloon

Is this for real? A 6 year-old kid is thought to be in a runaway balloon, only to be found in the attic? Meanwhile, the media eat this garbage up all day? Yet again, the so-called "news" continues to amaze. What a waste of resources.

And who owns a balloon large enough to have a kid hide in it and fly away in the first place?

Nice Sign

via UniWatch

Whose Idea Was This?

I don't have good fashion sense but the Seahawks' third jersey is horrible.

Tom Tomorrow

I don't feel like posting every This Modern World cartoon to Facebook, but I like this entry.

http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2009/09/22/tomo/index.html?source=rss

Looks Like Another Tough Year For Patriots-Haters

After a brief year to celebrate the Patriots' defeat in the Super Bowl and missing out on the 18-0 season, it looks like the Patriots are up to their old tricks -- secretly dominating the game but losing, only to have the opponent make seemingly a minor miscue (running back a normal kick off with the hands team on the field) lead to a turnover and a touchdown (fumble). I don't think I can handle too many more of these. Good thing I'm working during the Patriots / Jets game.

What are you reading?

This is an interesting article about what people are reading on the NY subway. The NY Times took a poll with about 8000 respondents and here are the results.

Is it a bad sign for Newsday that more people said they read the Washington Post than Newsday (a local Long Island paper)?

I'm Not Watching the US Open

But after reading Richard Sandomir's article in the NY Times, I wish I had been...





Sandomir points out a number of silly questions and interviews by Shriver, including the moment above, but also interviews with Michael Phelps and Alec Baldwin.

The NFL Blackout Policy is Obsolete

The NFL recently announced that blacked out games would be available the next day online for a few days for fans to watch.

In my opinion, the NFL blackout policy is a relic from when it was first initiated.

If you're not familiar with it, the blackout policy is a rule that states if a game is not sold out, it will not be available live on television for that local market. I suppose when this rule was initiated in 1973, fans chose not to pay for the games and would prefer to sit comfortably and watch them at home. Or somehow the NFL was afraid that empty seats on television would be embarrassing.

The way that television and sports are today, this is a pretty obsolete and ridiculous rule, in my opinion. Do fans really consider the decision of whether to go to the game or just watch it on television? I think that fans who really want to go to the game will go, regardless of its availability on television. Those who don't like to attend sporting events or can't afford the cost, just won't go. If it's not on television that isn't going to change the minds of those people who can't or choose not to afford it.

To me, the policy is implying that there is no difference between watching the game live and watching it in person besides the price and that people who watch at home are somehow freeloading. Going to a game in person requires not just the financial investment but also a big time commitment of getting to the stadium and waiting through all the traffic. On the flip side, there are benefits of being at the game as well, such as being part of the crowd, being able to see the whole field, tailgating and socializing.

Now with DirecTV, if a game is blacked out, a fan is probably more likely to go to their local bar that has a satellite dish than to the game anyways. Maybe they should black out unsold games on DirecTV so that people will move back to their local metropolitan areas and go to the game instead.

So would you go to more NFL games if your team was blacked out? I think you'd probably just stop being a fan. After all, the best advertisement for the local team is the actual games themselves! I expect that in the near future this policy will be reversed.

People Who Should Not Be Senators, Part 1 of Many

#1 - Curt Schilling

Disney Buys Marvel

I just hope they keep making comics...

Burger King: Is this too much to ask?

I ordered the following at Burger King (confirmed on the Drive-thru LCD)

Chicken sandwich, no mayo
Onion Rings
Diet Coke


I received:
Chicken sandwich WITH mayo
French fries
Sprite
and bonus attitude when I pointed out that everything was wrong

At least I got a bonus?

Jets vs Ravens

This blog post by Tim Graham at ESPN.com pretty much sums up my opinion of last night's game, so why rewrite what has already been written?

http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/2164/a-few-thoughts-on-sanchez-clemens-etc

Craziness at Citi Field

The Mets, who have been going through an agonizing season, lost with a game ending unassisted triple play today. ESPN keeps saying how this is the "second time ever for a game ending triple play." But what I find even more remarkable is that this is _not_ the first time a game has featured a triple play AND an inside-the-park home run! This is what makes baseball so crazy - it's almost impossible to do something that's never been done before.

Sexism in Comics

Check out this discussion about a sexist remark made in a recent comic - was it really necessary to say that Green Lantern was involved in a three-some?

From Comics Should Be Good at CBR

Clinton Goes to North Korea

Psychologists must have some sort of field day whenever they think about North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The way he has his country practice diplomacy is so odd and appears childish and he always seems to relish any sort of gesture that appears to elevate his status. Case in point - Bill Clinton's surprise, "private" visit to N. Korea to help free two imprisoned journalists. I'm glad the two young women get to go home, despite the fact that I'm sure some will criticize the journey as placating North Korea. Nobody must be buying the assertion that this was a "private" trip - who meets with Kim Jong-il and not talk to the President? Especially when your wife is the Secretary of State! But regardless, North Korea's press agency released this photo of the two leaders, what do you think was going through Bill Clinton's mind when they took this? This type of thing has to be somewhat awkward for any politician.

Shorter Names

I recently heard that Pizza Hut was changing its name to "The Hut" because they wanted to try and show that they were more diverse. Now I'm reading that Radio Shack is planning on changing their name to "The Shack." www.theshack.com redirects to Radio Shack, but www.thehut.com is an electronics store.

Will this be a trend? These new names sort of sound like some sort of 21st Century marketing scheme that will seem really dated in about 10 years.

Self-Love

No, not that kind!

It took me 4 years, but I just noticed this blog got a mention on news.com. I don't think it's been mentioned in the 4 years since.

The post that got mentioned was part of the "blog community response" to a story about daylight savings time.

At least they credited me, unlike one of the Yankee blogs that relayed my story of searching for Yankee tickets but didn't credit me!

I may not post here often but I still have an ego.