Archive for June, 2008



25
Jun
08

Wimbledon Employs Pigeon Assasins

The tournament at Wimbledon has begun play, and as someone who especially loves the grass, I am excited. It hasn’t been all fun and games across the pond though, Wimbledon it seems is besieged by pigeons that disturb the players and the courts.

Initially 2 hawks were employed to dissuade pigeons from being in the area and bothering players on the courts. Unfortunately the hawks were unable to do the job completely, and so the staff at Wimbledon turned to some army marksmen to cull the pigeons.

“The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job,” Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins said. “But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn’t deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach.”

Predicatably, the whiners at PETA immediately took offense to this and started making trouble.

“Since the use of marksmen to kill pigeons appears to have been carried out as a first, rather than a last resort, and not out of a concern for public health, but rather because the animals were deemed inconvenient by players, you appear to be in clear violation of the law,” PETA vice-president Bruce Friedrich said.

Ignoring the fact that PETA is totally ignoring that Wimbledon first tried to use hawks to get rid of the pigeons, the fact that army marksmen were being used to do this is totally awesome; and second of all, who gives a shit? They’re pigeons! Even the most ardent Buddhist could care less about pigeons, they’re flying rats. They spread disease, they poop on everything and provide zero benefit to the world. Even further, it’s not as though there is a lack of pigeons in England. I’ve lived in England, there are too many goddamn pigeons there, killing the few that are around Wimbledon is no big deal and there will be no discernible difference in the nation. It’s not as though they are endangered, or protected, or useful, or attractive, or interesting.

Also, I love that, to PETA, it’s totally fine for hawks to kill pigeons but not humans. I can gurantee that the marksmen kill the birds a whole lot faster and painlessly than the hawks do. If I had to choose an expert marksman or a hawk to kill me, I think the decision is pretty easy. So PETA doesn’t mind animal-on-animal violence right? Well, what exactly are humans if not smarter animals? So Bruce Friedrich, sit down and shut up, no one is going to rally around your cause for pigeons.

Maybe if they were cuter. Or nicer. Or worthwhile in any manner. But they aren’t. I only wish the marksman could set up outside PETA. No wait, that’d be cruel.

I only wish that a swarm of hawks can be released inside PETA headquarters. I’m perfectly willing to allow some pigeons to live if it were to mean less PETA douches.

24
Jun
08

As Long As We’ve Got Each Other

Sure the hockey season is now over, and all 35 hockey fans are totally saddened by that. However, today we bring you a fine hockey video that is notable. The reason for that is because this is from the Blues fanfest held sometime during the season which featured a “celebrity” hockey game. With the game down to penalty shots, the Yellow team turned their lonely eyes to a man who wanted to show them his smile again; that man, Growing Pains dad Alan Thicke.

Sure he’s not super slick on the skates, and his triple deke move left a lot to be desired, but c’mon, it’s Alan Thicke! After all, he did help raise Kirk Cameron into a fine young gentleman and there isn’t a price that can be put on that. Plus he takes the net out but managed to get the shot in goal before he did so, that’s a skill move. Finally, it’s hard to hear, but after he scores they play the Growing Pains theme song which is one of the best of all time. So, all in all, a highly worthy clip for his resume in the TV dad Hall-of-Fame.

23
Jun
08

An Amazingly Horrific Picture

Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta was killed this weekend during a qualifying race in New Jersey. The 46 year old Kalitta was a two-time former champion with 18 career wins. His Toyota Solara was going about 300 mph when it started to burst into flames and then crashed into a wall. His death is obviously totally unfortunate, but I won’t call it tragic; the drivers all know the risks when they get into their cars. The Boston Globe and the AP got an amazing shot of the car as it burst into flames, because it is essentially the picture of Kalitta’s unfortunate demise, I’m posting it below the jump for those of you who don’t want to see it. It isn’t graphic in any manner besides there being a car/man totally engulfed in flames, but if you’re interested/equally ghoulish, check it out, it is a remarkable picture.

Continue reading ‘An Amazingly Horrific Picture’

23
Jun
08

Cubs Ladies Drink to Stay Hydrated

Other than being a Red Sox fan, by far the cutest girl baseball fans to me are Cubs fans. Maybe it’s the years of losing that, as a Red Sox fan I can understand, or maybe it’s the blue pinstripes, but girl Cub fans are totally cute. Case in point:

Now, these girls below aren’t especially cute, but they are Cubs fans and they are having a great time at the game, so why not say, “Hey, way to go!” I mean, they went to all the trouble to get drunk at the game, the least I can do is post them up on the internet for everyone else to see. Right?

23
Jun
08

RIP George Carlin

Growing up one of my favorite past times was to lay back on my bed and listen to George Carlin cds. I listened to them all so much that I had the routines memorized. It didn’t matter that I knew what was coming next, he never ceased to make me laugh. Combined with Kurt Vonnegut, Carlin helped influence me to no end in the way I see the world and the way I write. Carlin inspired me to want to be funny and entertain people and while I don’t normally care about celebrity deaths, this one joneses me out to no end.

After entering the hospital yesterday complaining of heart pain, Carlin, 71, died last night due to heart failure.

No comedian can ever match the level of his accomplishments or influence. Where Lenny Bruce started–and inspired Carlin–George picked up that mantle and started swinging at the world around him. Even recently his wit and genius for wordcraft and word play was still amazing.

I know I for one will sorely miss his gravely voice. Thanks for all the laughs George, they’ll keep coming long after today.

Everyone else I know is posting the Baseball/Football routine, but one of my favorite bits is one from the early 60s from the Killer Carlin album, take a listen here, you’ll definitely enjoy it.

http://boomp3.com/listen/byf2go31t_8/war-pictures

The embedded player may not work right, I’m still playing with it, but the link definitely works.

“Mickey Mantle is a sucker for a curveball” always makes me laugh when I say it at a baseball game, even though no one ever gets the reference.

21
Jun
08

Red Sox Blame It on the Rain

I love Jonathan Papelbon. He always seems to be having a great time, whether he’s dominating opposing batters or explaining the vagueries of craps to Hideki Okajima. Recently he and fellow reliever Manny Delcarmen decided to make a video tribute to Milli Vanilli’s classsic hit, “Blame it on the Rain” which was played last night at Fenway at the end of an hour-fifteen rain delay.

That’s the best closer in baseball! Let’s just say I’m glad he has baseball to fall back on, because we’ve now seen his “singing” abilities and of course his off-the-field dancing abilities…

20
Jun
08

Links for the Weekend

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Falcons plus ladies equals erotic falconry, hilarious.

What happens when an SUV goes up against an F-16?

Which south Florida team has the hottest cheerleaders? You decide

The homes of billionaires, neat!

20
Jun
08

10 Reasons the Mets WILL Finish 10 Games Over .500!

After seeing fellow Mets fan Shatraw proclaim the Mets having no chance for the rest of the reason, reader Youppi’s heart was broken so he sent along HIS 10 reasons why the Mets WILL succeed. Youppi is the most diehard Mets fan I know, so this has to be good! (ed. notes in ital)

_________________

Sure, the Mets can’t do anything about the Wilpons, or Omar Minaya (well, they could fire him…), but they aren’t the ones actually playing the game anyways, it is up to the players themselves to make this turnaround happen. It is all going to come down to the team, and by looking at some past numbers and trends, we’ll see that those bats should liven up any day now. I submit my 10 reasons the Mets will finish 10+ games OVER .500 (and why they’ll be in the postseason!)

(Unless the reasons are the Phillies and Braves teams are both going to have epic collapses ala the Mets 2007, I don’t see it…)

1) Pre/Post All-Star break Splits: So the Mets are having a bad start to the year. Good thing that many of the linchpin players perform better in the second half! (AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS) for hitters

Carlos Beltran

Pre .272 .346 .474 .820

Post .291 .368 .524 .892

Beltran’s best months? June, July and August, so here we go…

David Wright

Pre .293 .375 .510 .885

Post .324 .399 .545 .944

When isn’t David good?

Carlos Delgado

Pre .270 .373 .525 .898

Post .291 .398 .570 .968

Yes, yes, he’s lost his bat speed. He can’t handle the inside pitch, and this is probably his last year with the Mets (Don’t count on it, I’m just waiting for Omar to sign him to a 5 year, 60 million deal around the All-Star break.) . It’s also probably his last chance to win it all, so here’s hoping his pre/post trends continue…

Aaron Heilman (ERA/WHIP/OAV)

Pre 4.80 1.29 .255

Post 3.45 1.29 .232

He’s already started righting the ship with recent solid outings, and as the summer heats up, so will his fastball, which he’ll hopefully trust more going forward…

(Zero chance he becomes dominant which is the one thing the Mets need him to be, regardless he has what, maybe 40 innings in him for the rest of the year, it simply won’t be enough)

Oliver Perez

Pre 4.72 1.47 .246

Post 4.13 1.41 .238

Neither set of numbers look terribly fantastic, but at least the second half looks better than the first.

(The definition of basket case)

Billy Wagner

Pre 2.59 1.02 .192

Post 2.12 1.00 .187

For all the crap Wagner has been getting, people were quick to throw out his dominant start to the year. Well, after a small hic-up, he’s back to his old ways, which continue pointing in the right direction after the All-Star Break. Oh, and Wagner vs. the Phillies for his career? 2.35ERA 1.00WHIP .190BAA

Continue reading ’10 Reasons the Mets WILL Finish 10 Games Over .500!’

19
Jun
08

Baseball is Amazing!

Last year, on June 17th Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, hit an inside-the-park home run (video HERE). That’s pretty remarkable because he’s about 260 pounds and not fleet of foot. Today, June 19th, in the 5th inning, Prince hit ANOTHER inside-the-parker! Nearly a year to the day! Amazing! That has to be the only time in baseball history that almost exactly to the day that a man hits an inside-the-park home run, especially one as large and slow as Prince. Tim Kurkjian and Jayson Stark are going to be creaming themselves looking this one up!

t1_fielder

19
Jun
08

The Nationals Hate My Rippling Pecs

The Washington Nationals have apparently been cracking down on topless fans at baseball games. Unlike topless soccer, which is wholly encouraged in Europe, topless baseball apparently is not the image that the nation’s capital team wants to present.

“We bought a few beers for $7.50 each, and kicked back to enjoy the game,” wrote Benjamin Correia, to the Washington Post, “Around the third inning, a ballpark employee informed me and a friend that we would have to put our shirts back on.”According to the Nationals, this is just part of their policy opposing any indecent exposure.

I wholly applaud this policy. Now, as someone who has a physique that is just simply marvelous–I get stopped constantly by women and even some men who just want to behold the splendor that is my chest. My abs are used by my friends to grate cheese, my pecs have led many art critics to cry due to their beauty, etc etc–I am so glad to see the Nationals crack down on those men who have been taking their shirts off in public and simply shouldn’t be. I didn’t come to swill my $7.50 beer and be disgusted by sections of pale, flabby gentlemen. However, as someone who is totally jacked, I should be allowed to show my body off. When I take my shirt off women coo, children come up and ask if I’m Superman and a flock of doves often fly alongside me, providing a cooling fan action with their wings.

Chubbers and guys who are so pale that they are translucent could easily screw up the batter’s eye, and they should be silenced (clothed.) For the Washington Nationals, who have dedicated this season to the lost art of finishing 70-92, I can totally understand their focus on this terrible plague upon their new stadium. Normal men without their shirts are horrendous, as a demi-god, that fortunately isn’t my fate. So, to the Nationals I stand up and cheer. Why worry about the product on the field, after all, there are MUCH more important issues going on out in the bleachers! But be careful too, we’ve also seen the hoopla that can surround the shirts that people DO choose to wear to games as well…

19
Jun
08

Ten Reasons the Mets will Finish 10 Games Under .500

Today we bring you a guest column from generally angry commenter Shatraw, who offers his insights into what is ailing his beloved Mets (until he jumps onto the Rays bandwagon.)

_________________

The inevitable came to pass in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, June 17th, when Omar Minaya snuck into Willie Randolph’s hotel room and left the severed heads of Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto in his bed, scrawling the word’s “YOU’RE FIRED” in blood on the wall over his bed. There is no debate about whether the firing was warranted and going into the theatrics surrounding the situation is just beating a dead horse. The real question now is: “can the Met’s get their act together and finish off 2008 in the hunt for a playoff spot?”

Hah hah hah.

Here are the 10 reasons the Mets will finish 10 games under .500. If each one of these factors only adds one loss to their chances of finishing .500, the Mets should consider themselves lucky.

PROBLEM: Oliver Perez will walk 100+ batters

Free Parking Perez has walked 48 men in only 72.1 IP. Remember last year when he went 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA and 174K, walking “only” a total of 79?

The honeymoon is over. His ERA is flirting with 5. He gives his team almost no chance to win 1 out of 3 times he’s on the mound.

CAN IT BE FIXED? Well, since he walked 8 in 5IP on May 23rd in Colorado, he’s only walked 4, 2, 2 and 3. So no, probably not.

PROBLEM: Jose Reyes turned into a sniveling prick

Everyone knows that watching Reyes play at the height of his game is possibly the most exciting sight in baseball. But that’s if he feels like it.

Reyes seems more petulant by the hour, climaxing last night in Jerry Manuel’s first game as manager. Reyes pulling up lame at first, whined into the bench. When Manuel emerged from the dugout and told him to take the night off, Reyes chucked his helmet and sulked off the field.

It’s just the latest in Jose’s trend toward little-bitchery. Reyes can regularly be seen booting routine groundballs, not laying out for tougher plays and scuffling to first on grounders.

CAN IT BE FIXED? I don’t know what his deal is, but they have to make Reyes care again. Send him to a Tony Robbins brainwashing if it’s necessary.

PROBLEM: The Wilpons are reverting back into the Wilpons

After a couple of relatively sane seasons from ownership, the Wilpons are up to their nasty old tricks again. Now that their team is sputtering, it’s back to a steady flow of media leaks, petty in-fighting and backstabbing in an organization famous for such hijinks. That’s always good for team morale.

I’m starting to suspect that Mets ownership is intentionally tanking this season. Omar Minaya has that look in his eye, like his time is about to come. And it probably will after this season.

CAN IT BE FIXED? Not really. Unless the Wilpons charter a fateful helicopter tour with the always hilarious Dolans, curing NY sports of insanity at its uppermost levels. Oh wait, forgot about Hank Steinbrenner. Damn.

PROBLEM: Both Carlos’s (Carlii?) suck and neither one of them cares Continue reading ‘Ten Reasons the Mets will Finish 10 Games Under .500’

18
Jun
08

OK, I’ll Pay Attention for a Minute…

Remember when Max Mosely, the president of F1 got busted after having sex orgies with hookers where he dressed up as a Nazi? Well that was very embarrassing for F1 and so they have come up with something positive to counter.

Meet Gemma Garrett, the current Ms. Great Britain who was recently been named to be the face of the British Grand Prix. I still don’t care whatsoever about racing, but much like the Funny Cars circuit found, adding a hot chick gets people to pay attention. Also, get your Fandango fingers ready, she’s due to have a movie come out later this year co-starring noted thespian Dolph Lundgren entitled Direct Contact.

[Bitten and Bound]

Continue reading ‘OK, I’ll Pay Attention for a Minute…’




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