Noted Boston white people stacking for the bloods

May 1st, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Well, this is awkward. At the intersection of Paul Pierce randomly throwing up the pinched thumb-index glory that is the Blood calling card — or something like that; I’m in way over my head here — and actual gangsterism comes these photos, via Injury Rate at FanIQ. Little known fact: Tommy Points are like white people’s reppin’. Really, this makes total sense.

Sorry, Phoenix fans

May 1st, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Since 2004/2005, the Suns have been a fringe fascination of mine. My interest stemmed not only from their style, which begat their early Free Darko love, which in turn begat my heightened understanding of their dynamic, but also from Jack McCallum’s :07 or Less. That book was the zenith, I think: Not only were the Suns revolutionaries, they were smart basketball people, funny little liberal Canadians, confusing and likable and everything else you can want in an adopted rooting interest.

Now, of course, that dream is dead. It was on life support early in the year, and Steve Kerr pulled the plug when he traded for Shaq. The rest has been all funeral march. It’s a pretty sad thing.

What I forget in all this fascination and idelogy, though, is that most Suns fans just seem to want a team that wins. Revolution is great, and entertainment even better, but at the end of the day that stuff doesn’t provide the sort of visceral release that a championship can. My dreamy memories of the Jordan Bulls are far less about the man’s impact than about being up late on schoolnights, hugging my Dad and shooting nerf hoops downward like Scottie Pippen. That’s what any fan wants.

So, sorry actual Suns fans. I forgot about you. You’re probably way more upset than the rest of us.

Anyway, um, keep the dream alive! D’Antoni-Bulls 2008! Sigh.

{Video: AZ Sports Hub}

Boo Mike Downey! Um, yay Mike Downey!

May 1st, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Not huge fans of Mike Downey in these parts. I can’t remember reading a Downey column that lent any particular insight into anything, but that might be a case more of me being too young to remember Downey’s glory days. He’s just always sort of been there, you know?

Anyway, I was getting ready to summon TEH ANGER over this Alfonso Soriano column, when Downey totally turned me around like four different times. Expecting him to rip Soriano a new one for being, I don’t know, too jumpy, Downey did this:

Quite a few grownups at Wrigley Field could use a good talking to, too.

You could start with those who feel Mark Cuban is exactly the new owner that the Cubs need, oblivious to the fact his NBA Dallas Mavericks continue to be one of the biggest packs of choking dogs in all of professional sports.

And then you could have a word or two with any stupendously stupid knucklehead who knocks Alfonso Soriano.

If you are a true-blue Cubs fan with half a brain under your cap, you should be overjoyed to have Soriano back in the lineup if he returns Thursday as expected.

Grr Mike Downey! Mark Cuban would be a great Cubs owner, or at least a preferable one!

And screw your for ripping Alfons — wha? You like Alfonso Soriano? You don’t think he’s a prima donna because he has that big poster next to the Sports Authority on La Salle? You don’t think his little hop is worthy of invective? You’re not convinced he’s the Antichrist?

Touche, Msr. Downey. Tou. Che.

Chipotle and the St. Paul Saints: Good thinking

April 30th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

Turns out, there is other stuff happening in the world besides this whole Buzz Bissinger nonsense. (No seriously, there is!) Take for instance Chipotle’s partnership with the St. Paul Saints. You love Chipotle right? With its organic and farm fresh ingredients and the size of the burritos and the … yeah, it’s good. (I used to finish a whole Chipotle burrito on the five-minute walk from the restaurant back to the newsroom in college. Sitting and eating is for suckers.)

In any event, the details here are rather rad:

The Saints and Chipotle have come up with this unique concept for an outfield sign as corn will grow over the popular restaurants’ billboard during the 2008 season.

The billboard is believed to be the first of its kind in minor league baseball. It will appear in right field on the second level of Saints billboards, approximately eight feet off the ground and will have a planter at the base. Corn seeds will be planted just prior to the beginning of the season, and the goal is to bring attention to the fresh, natural ingredients Chipotle uses in their food every day.

[ … ]

Fans will have an opportunity to cash in on the billboard. During the July 4 Saints game, all fans in attendance will have an opportunity to win a free burrito courtesy of Chipotle. If the sweet corn is knee high by the Fourth of July, everyone walks away a winner.

Towards the close of the season, when the corn is ripe, fans will get a chance to enjoy a taste of the sweet vegetable, with a Chipotle Tailgating party, with Roasted Chili Corn Salsa as the guest of honor.

Rumor has it Chipotle’s parent company, McDonald’s, was originally slated for this promotion, but the Saints thought slaughtering a cow near the end of the season might not go over so well. Whatever.

{HT: Lion in Oil.}

“Costas Now” Internet segment in video from

April 30th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

O’Day asked for it, so here it is. Watching it again … ugh … I really just don’t want to write about it because I’d go on for way too long. (See here, here, here and here for some great writing on it.)

I will say this: it’s clear Buzz doesn’t read blogs; he doesn’t understand them. So to have all that spite and anger built up about something you don’t know at all, it’s a bit much. And it’s a generational thing. It happens in music, art, film, fashion — the old guard can’t except the new. And they aren’t even willing to try. This is not a new specific conflict going on between bloggers and traditional writers, it’s a debate that’s been waged many times before. We must just all let it pass and keep on doing as we do. This shit is fun, no use having someone that doesn’t get it ruin that. (Also, it’s incredibly more complex than just old guard vs. new guard stuff. There is crossover in both arenas.)

BUT ANYWAY: here’s the intro, then the panel discussion. Enjoy. (Big thanks to AA as always for the vids.)

Poor Adam Morrison

April 30th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanR

So you’re Adam Morrison. Once the darling of the NCAA with your Halo buddy J.J. Redick, you’ve now been reduced to people taking shots at your hair as you spent the season on the bench, out with a bum knee. Hey, that’s not fun. Maybe not even fair.

But now, even worse, new Bobcats coach Larry Brown might not even know who you are.

“I saw Sean (May) when I walked in and Matt (Carroll),” Brown said. “And the kid with the long hair, I didn’t know his name. He wasn’t dressed like a basketball player.”

Burn, baby, burn. Perhaps Brown was just calling him out — already picking his player to get after early and often. But geez Larry, how can you not remember this moment over here to the right?

{Via FanHouse.}

More quick Bissinger thoughts

April 29th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

So, of course Buzz Bissinger’s little tirade — which should be making the Youtube rounds any minute now — has aroused a few passions here. First thought was anger. Second thought was incredulity. Third thought was sadness, or some semblance of it, that Bissinger can be such an interesting writer and still so extremely out of touch. The last thought, I think, the one I’ve settled on, is merely resignation. Bissinger, and the hordes of old Murray Chass-types cheering him on last night, are beyond any convincing. Buzz Bissinger isn’t going to listen to reason about blogs. He’s not going to spend some time exploring. He’s just going to get scared and swear at you and say extremely stupid, inarticulate things, something that should be a crime for someone who’s spent, as he proudly proclaimed, “40 years perfecting his craft.” (40 years of respect, Buzz? That’s them, drizzling down the drain.)

Anyway, it’s resignation. There’s no point in trying to convince people that feel as Bissinger does. There’s no point in getting as worked up as Bissinger did. Because unlike them, we understand not only the past but the future. Bissinger only sees the past, fears the future, and has lost sight of both in the meantime. He and his ilk have failed to adapt, or they will continue to fail, and like all creatures that fail to adapt, they will die off. We thank them for the contributions and wish them luck with swift, painless, metaphorical death.

Feel that, Buzz? Cold, isn’t it? That’s the gloaming. I would tell you to embrace it, but you already have.

Oh, and it’s Big Daddy DREW, you dumb fuck.

Buzz Bissinger: LOLZ!

April 29th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Anyone watching the Will Leitch-Buzz Bissinger-Braylon Edwards-Bob Costas clusterfuck right now was just treated to the greatest narrative performance of all-time by one Buzz Bissinger. For someone who seems to disdain lowered discourse, he sure does like to scream. And swear. And come off as a crazy, deranged old man both out of touch with reality and flailing in a lost medium.

Just … wow.