Que es?
The Weblog of Brett Singer. Bringing the world what it needs most - a blog.
Note: Sorry about all of the 'hot deals' entries (someone referred to this blog as
CorporateShill.com).
The deals and things are being fed into Multineedia.com. We will
soon move the deals category over to Multineedia so you don't have to read it, and we apologize for any inconvenience.
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Thu, 29 Sep 2005
Chewbacca throws out first pitch
Um, guys? Having Star Wars characters start your games for you is generally frowned upon. Idiots, indeed.
We're going to do something stupid
From Yahoo! Sports: Rangers owner Tom Hicks said the team is considering all trade options, but ``not if (other teams) want certain young pitchers. (Team executives) are up in the war room right now, and we'll be aggressive. But we're going to do something stupid for instant results.''
Ummm... you're going to do something stupid? Typo? Freudian slip? Referring to the Yankees?
Sun, 23 Jan 2005
Football Players Make a LOT Of Money
Some news from the gridiron:
January 22, 2005 11:44 PM ET
Bengals: Johnson threatens holdout if franchised
The News
Running back Rudi Johnson told the Bengals that he would sit out the 2005 season if the team uses the franchise tag to keep him in Cincinnati next season, Johnson's agent told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "He feels he has earned the right not to play for insecurity," Johnson's agent, Peter Schaffer, told the Enquirer. "It's not anti-organization. It's not Corey Dillon. Rudi feels his contributions to the team and his stats warrant that, if he is going to play for the Bengals, that it is not for one year."
Our View
The franchise tag would ensure Johnson almost $6 million next season, but Rudi is looking for a long-term deal, something along the lines of five or six years. He played for $1.8 million in 2004 and set franchise records for rushing yards and attempts.
Via Fanball.com.
At first glance, I thought, "WTF? This guy says he'll sit out the season if he doesn't get what he wants? What a baby. He's making over a million a year." But with the season he had, why shouldn't he make more? The real problem is that there's so much money to go around. If they can even consider paying him that kind of cash, the league and the team owners must be making an absolute fortune. I guess I'm a bit of a socialist, but that money should be spread around the world more. Why should I be worrying about giving money to Tsunami victims (and I did give money) when these guys could probably come up with enough cash to feed the entire planet 12 times over?
Sat, 22 Jan 2005
Malcolm Gladwell Hates Steroids
Malcolm Gladwell promoting his latest book on ESPN. Somewhat surprising, but frankly, all media is intersecting in surprising ways these days. I suppose the world has worse problems. His newest book is BLINK, the one he got wicked famous for is THE TIPPING POINT, the one with a title that never caught on (at least not that I know of) is UNLEASHING THE IDEAVIRUS. "The future belongs to marketers who establish a foundation and process where interested people can market to each other," he writes. "Ignite consumer networks and then get out of the way and let them talk." Ewwwww.
There's No A-Hole In Team
I don't care what anyone says, it's rarely a good idea to get into a fight with your coaches, especially during a game. Herm Edwards had to be physically restrained from whacking his running backs coach. What the hell? Granted, the guy had a look on his face that made you want to smack it off, but come on Herminator! Kick the guy's ass later.
Who owns historic baseball?
Red Sox, Mientkiewicz at odds over ownership
BOSTON -- You've seen the ball on countless highlight clips ever since that magical night of Oct. 27, when the Red Sox finally won the World Series at Busch Stadium.
Closer Keith Foulke fielded it, ran toward first and flipped it to Doug Mientkiewicz. Where is that ball now?
As it turns out, Mientkiewicz still has it.
I have mixed feelings about this. Putting aside the obvious pain I have about the Red Sox actually WINNING THE WORLD SERIES (there - I said it - it's true, I can move on with my life), I'm not sure that the player shouldn't get to keep the ball. The Red Sox say they want to put it in a museum, but is that fair? If it was a home run ball and a fan had caught it, the fan gets to keep it. So why not let the player keep the ball?
Mostly this is another case of TOO MUCH MEDIA. Basically, the guy kept the ball. Who cares? Well, the Boston Globe wrote an article (follow-up here) and then all hell broke loose. So the player goes on the radio and disputes the tone of the article. At this point, there have probably been dozens, if not hundreds, of articles, blog entries, and all sorts of yammering about this. All because the guy talked to a reporter and the reporter presented the story in a way that the player didn't intend (so the player says). Too much talking to the press. Play baseball and shut-up.
Rejected Super Bowl Ads
The Superbowl Ads You Won't See: funny stuff from ESPN.com.
Product: T-Mobile's Sidekick
Celebrity: Snoop Dogg
Commercial: Paris Hilton sends Snoop a text message asking for the correct way to roll a blunt.
What's scary is that you could almost believe these are real. And I think the Mickey Rooney ad was IS real.
Sat, 25 Dec 2004
Fantasy Wrestling?
Maybe it's just me, but Fantasy Wrestling is an oxymoron.
For something really surreal (and/or offensive), check out WWE stars spending Christmas in Iraq.
The Eli Experiment
The New York Times magazine has an interesting article about Eli Manning, which is less interesting since Eli actually had a good game this week (even though the Giants lost). It's worth reading for other info, too, such as Tom Coughlin timing how long Kurt Warner was holding on to the ball in the pocket when he got sacked.
Martinez Comes Home and Bashes Boston: Pedro says he
feels slighted by the way the Red Sox treated him, and also some of his fellow players. Now here's the problem: he just
signed a contract that pays him over ten million dollars a year. How much do we really want to listen to this guy
complain? I think sports stars have forgotten that they get paid to play sports and not to talk to the press every time
they blow their nose.
Naked Olympics Banned on NBC
Linda Stasi, a TV writer for the NY Post who is a terrific writer, has this piece about the Olympic ceremonies this past summer that were not shown by NBC, but still garnered nine complaints from assorted nitwits. Thing is, the footage never aired. The photo that was in the Post isn't online, but there's one here. This was apparently a bigger brou-haha than I knew about: NBC turns over tapes of Olympic opening eremony to FCC after complaint has more info. Bizarre. Why does anyone care about this sort of thing? That said, who thought it was a good idea to dress a bunch of guys up like statues from some bizarre sci-fi flick, make 'em naked and use that to open the Olympic games? Since they knew the event was televised, why do a bit with naked guys? There is some logic, I suppose, since they are meant to look like Olympians. But it's more than a little weird. Hell, The Lingerie Bowl is only available via Pay-Per-View (and big points to them for hilariously claiming that the Janet Jackson boobslip was staged to compete with their event). The fact that the FCC gets involved in crap like this is an embarrassment. In a related story, the FCC has graciously agreed not to try and regulate Satellite Radio, as if they have a choice. It looks like it was an attempt by a small station owner to make it harder for Sirius, et al, to get subscribers. It's a SATELLITE, people. Not the public airwaves. You have to PAY TO GET IT. Michael Powell is good on some things (like Voice Over IP), but for the most part he's a wad.
I spent most of the day watching football, which was fun. I've only been watching for about two years, since I got dragged into a Fantasy league.
Jerome Bettis is a lot of fun to watch. The guy is HUGE, and can run, is agile, and seems to be enjoying himself. It's amazing that somebody that enormous (5'11", 255 pounds) can still move so well.
He also threw a touchdown today, which isn't something you see on a regular basis.
Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has inspired the Roethlisburger, a sandwich with "ground beef, sausage, scrambled eggs, grilled onions and American cheese". Chris Berman shared one with Ben on ESPN today and just watching them eat it made me feel a little ill. The Rookie QB claimed that he had never eaten one of these concoctions, which is entirely possible considering the guy is an athlete. Unless you're a linebacker, I can't imagine eating anything close to Roethlisburger.
Ben seems like he's got a lot of heart, but his website is a little lame.
Watching the Eagles/Redskins now. Five minutes into the game, and each team has a TD. Crazy.
Tue, 23 Nov 2004Tiki's Take: Athletes, fans must act civilized
Tiki, listen up: there is NEVER a situation when it is okay for a professional sports player to start pounding on an audience member. Give me a break.
Sun, 21 Nov 2004
NFL.com Quote of the Day
Redskins´ Sellers was apparently shaken up on the play.
From Boston.com:
We're all champs
Sox feat transforms a Nation and its people
Victory transforms a region's identity
This is sorta pathetic. I know it's a big deal - believe me, I'm a Yankee fan. But put it in perspective. This is life-changing? Is life that sad? It can give you a lift, sure, and it should - hell, it's been 86 years. But does this mean you'll be a better parent, or do better at your job? Was your identity so tied to the fate of your local sports franchise?
Fri, 22 Oct 2004
Fox Sports Sucks
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the coverage on Fox blows.
Um, I know people are pissed off about the series, but...
Joe Torre, Master of the Obvious
Joe Torre says the Yanks need starting pitchers. Okay, sure. But why, Joe, weren't you playing any of them on Wednesday? Saving them for the World Series, Joe? Guess what? NOT AN ISSUE NOW.
They look tired. Slower than usual. Of course, the fact that it's 50 degrees and the field is soaked might have something to do with it.
brett
Who thought it would go this far?
Last night's game was over five hours long. This one can NOT be as long. I need some sleep.
Fri, 15 Oct 2004Bob Raissman has a problem with Jorge Posada's blocking the new
'DiamondCam' from Fox Sports. As near as I can tell, this cam allows a view of home plate from, well, home plate - it's right in front of it.
'Posada didn't hurt the front-running phonies, celebrities and political hacks who glom all Yankee playoff tickets. No, he just stomped on a camera
that brings the fans - who can't get a ticket - closer to the game.' he says. Okay. Bill Webb, the director of the show (the guy who, in Raissman's
words, 'tell the story of a game - from the eyes of a batter, to an outfielder leaping at the wall, to a pitcher losing it in the dugout'), said 'What
we are looking to do is give fans the best telecasts possible.' Well, then answer this, Bill. Why, in Game 1, was the camera not focused on the field
WHILE A PLAY WAS IN PROGRESS? This is only one example out of many (and it just happened, which is why it's clear in my mind). The fans don't need
pictures of Jorge Posada's crotch to enjoy the game more (at least, this fan doesn't). To enjoy the game, I need... the game. That's it. So get over
yourselves.
Fine. Posada was acting like a big, rich, baseball-playing baby. Whatever. Columnists and TV directors know about as much about what 'the fans' want
as I know what they want. If they want to look at Posada's crotch, fine. But do it on your own time.
Caminiti death puts focus on baseball's weak drug policy
I'd missed this one (I must have seen it because when I went to search for a link just now, a mispelled version of Caminiti popped up in Firefox, and
I can't imagine why else I would be typing caminetti), but it brings up a few good points. Most are being made by everyone with a platform to
comment on such things: test players for steroids.
Here's something I haven't read: why are these guys popping steroids? What makes someone feel the need to do that? Obviously it's competitiveness.
Okay, fine. But these guys are incredibly rich, even people like Mike Piazza, who's on a crappy team.
Who was the first guy to do 'roids, at least in the current round of usage?
There's an episode of
href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search?tag=brettsingeassocl&keyword=batman%20beyond&mode=dvd">Batman Beyond (yeah, it's a
cartoon, leave me alone, I like cartoons) where the high school sports team (it's not football, it's some futuristic jai-lai type thing) are doing
'slappers', which look like nicotine patches that make you bigger and stronger. Eventually it comes out that this is what Batman's enemy Bane used to
augment his strength, and there is, 'natch, a showdown. That's not really the point, however. The point is that I'm wondering if kids are using 'roids
for competitive sports too. I'm sure they are, and they certainly are using less severe stuff like energy drinks, Red Bull being the prime example (it
seems like EVERYBODY drinks this crap).
Not sure what my point is. I don't want to be a Christian conservative and talk about how we have to protect our kids, or how ball players need to be
role models, or blah blah blah. This just seems like a bad thing, and odds are, it won't really get dealt with.
Memo to pro sports players: skip the drugs. It's not worth it. If nobody takes them, nobody will need them. If you want to, smoke a joint or
something.
The commentators on Fox are horrendous.
This is not news, but they were particularly idiotic.
1. "A two run double!" Actually, it was a triple. And no one pointed that out.
2. Of Mariano Rivera, they said that he had to go to Panama for the funeral of "his wife's cousin and his son." Now let's think about this one. HIS
wife's cousin and HIS son. What they meant was the COUSIN'S son, not Mariano's son. I hadn't looked at the details of the story (okay, I was busy, my
bad), so I thought that Rivera was pitching a game the same week that his own son had been electrocuted. Why did I think this? Because that's what the
announcer said. At best, he was unclear.
3. During the game, the 8th or 9th inning, I don't recall which (either way, it was at the end of a tense contest), the camera switched to the booth
so that one of the three nitwits could show us how Rivera pitches. While the camera was on them - and not on the game - someone got a hit. They said,
"Oh, let's take a look at that again..." and at least sounded vaguely sheepish. But what the hell? What's the point of watching the game live if we're
not going to see it?
Three strikes, dudes.