I don’t watch crappy television, so I’ve never seen Fringe on Fox, they however are desperate to try and get me to by putting a subtle plug for it in last night’s All Star game. When President Obama threw the ceremonial first pitch, they added in a blatant advertisement for the show.
That creepy bald dude is apparently some character on Fringe called “The Observer,” nicely done Fox, you just guaranteed I will never EVER watch that show. Now THAT’S marketing!
At last night’s Mets/Dodgers game Erin Andrews and the rest of the Wednesday night baseball ESPN crew were in attendance. Unfortunately for her, she got a ball in the face from Alex Cora when he hit a line drive foul in the 4th inning.
Now, less classy people would make plenty of balls on her chin jokes, but I’m way above that. I don’t need to stoop to that level. Indeed a lesser man might make plenty of oral sex jokes, or even deep-throating comments, but again, that’s not me. I’m all class.
Anyways, she was taken to the hospital a few innings later and her only injury was a bruised chin.
[TMZ]
Alex Loeb is an anchor at ESPN but because of a logjam of anchors has been relegated to doing recaps of baseball games for ESPN.com. He’s not bad when he’s on, but don’t get too used to it, after all, America would be so deprived without our Chris Berman viewings…Rahm Emanuel is one of the most powerful people in the world, serving as Chief of Staff to President Obama. Emanuel, who once trained to become a professional ballet dancer is also known for his wild temper and filthy mouth. He also served as the inspiration for Bradley Whitford’s character, Josh Lyman on The West Wing, which interestingly enough means the Emanuel family has served as the inspiration for 2 popular characters on big-time TV shows (Rahm’s brother Ari is who Jeremy Piven’s Ari Gold is based off on Entourage.) Most importantly, these two men look alike, are we sure Loeb isn’t a lost Emanuel brother?
Producer of 5 straight 40+ HR seasons, Adam Dunn swings a big bat in the middle of the Washington Nationals lineup. He manages some of the biggest moonshots in the league thanks to his big frame and quick bat, although he also manages to strike out over 100 times a season. Once considered a future cornerstone of the Reds franchise, Dunn has subsequently been traded to the D-Backs last season and this year toils as one of the few bright spots on the mediocrity known as the Nationals. Hilarious on SNL, initially hilarious in his early non-Roxbury movies, Will Ferrell has entertained millions of people with his one-note characters. Still able to draw a crowd even though he’s essentially made the same m0vie 4-5 times in a row now, it’s a shame because he really is a funny guy, he just stopped trying. Hopefully Ferrell doesn’t go the “legitimate” actor route and start doing heavy dramas to show his acting “chops.” More importantly, these two men, as pointed out by Saint Dynamite share quite the resemblance.
From Awful Announcing comes this press release about the newest celebrities to receive Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and mixed in among such luminaries as Adam Sandler, James Cameron, Russell Crowe and Jon Cryer is ESPN’s own Chris Berman. Boomer, who has become almost completely unwatchable — both because of his AWFUL hair plugs and his inane nicknaming act that has become staler than stale — and is practically a caricature of himself at this point certainly has been on television for a long time, I just wish they could specify his star was “earned” for his work in the 80s and early 90s before he became so full of himself. Anyhoo, here’s the full press release:
A new group of entertainers in motion pictures, television, live theater, and recording have been selected to receive stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it was announced today by the Walk of Fame Committee of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. These individuals were chosen from among hundreds of nominations to the committee at a meeting held June 15, and ratified by the Chamber’s Board of Directors.
The Walk of Fame recipients for the year 2010 are:MOTION PICTURES:
James Cameron, Russell Crowe, John Cusack, Colin Firth, Gale Ann Hurd, Alan Menken, Randy Newman, Adam Sandler, Emma Thompson and Mark WahlbergTELEVISION:
Chris Berman, Jon Cryer, Peter Graves, Jimmy Kimmel, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bill Maher, and Sam WaterstonRECORDING:
Bryan Adams, The Funk Brothers, Alan Jackson, Chaka Khan, Van Morrison, Marco Antonio Solis, Ringo Starr, ZZ Top and posthumously Roy OrbisonLIVE PERFORMANCE/THEATRE:
Andrea Bocelli and Cirque Du Soleil/Guy Laliberte
Ah a local news reporter getting overrun by boisterous fans streaming out after a college world series game, now that’s entertainment. I like how annoyed the reporter is, here’s a thought, DON’T set up right by the exit where the fans will walk by. If there is one thing that is true in this world, it is that people will do ANYTHING to get on television.
Amidst the unfortunate absence of Jerry Remy from the NESN booth, Dennis Eckersley has been filling in, and filling in admirably. Sure, he has some moments when his brain doesn’t catch up with his mouth and the constant references to “cheddar” and “cheese” and his other Eck-isms can be a little weird at first, I’m really enjoying listening to him call a game.
All of which leads me to an interesting thought; I wonder if NESN would ever experiment with an occasional 3-man booth for games. While it is clear that when Remy is healthy he’s back in his seat, and rightfully so, and it’s hard to argue with changing something (Don and Jerry) that has worked so excellently over the years, BUT, just because something HAS worked doesn’t mean adding beneficial pieces won’t make it even BETTER.
Now, usually I’m opposed to the adding of more people into a booth, but there are times when a three man booth can really work. For example, I end up watching a lot of games on SNY, the Mets network, and they feature at times a three man booth with Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez. The thing I enjoy most about this threesome, besides their obvious chemistry and seeming real like of each other, is that each brings a very different take on the game. Ron Darling knows pitching and is able to give the viewers lots of inside information regarding how or why a pitcher would throw a pitch at any given time. Meanwhile, Keith brings the everyday player perspective to the broadcast and helps break down the action on the field and in the batter’s box from the unique position of being a former MVP player. Finally, Gary serves as the play-by-play man and nicely pivots to the two former players to help move the broadcast along. The three of them work, they’re funny and interesting together and make the broadcasts enjoyable to watch, almost so that you can forget you’re watching the Mets.
Why couldn’t that work in Boston. Now, again, I’m not saying that the NESN broadcast is broke, it ain’t, but who knows, it could get better. With Eck providing the deep pitching analysis and Jerry bringing the everyday prospective the games would become even more interesting to watch because the amount of knowledge the two men would bring. As for Don, we’ve seen that he can seemingly effortlessly switch between partners and maintain good chemistry and move the broadcast along. He’d be perfectly cast in the Gary Cohen role.
I don’t necessarily expect this to happen this season, once Remy comes back they’ll want to give him his rightful spot back and the fanfare appropriate with such a fan favorite. However, this is something they should seriously consider, especially if Remy’s health problems aren’t totally licked. I’m not advocating an every day 3-man booth either, maybe something like a once or twice a week affair that would add to certain broadcasts. Something to consider.
Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash was on the David Letterman program last night and was gracious enough the day before to have recorded a video while at game 3 of the Finals. You know what, off-the-court Nash is pretty hilarious, we’ve seen his skills as a filmmaker, a tandem bike-rider and now, comedy show segment host. Not too shabby.
Also, I think all 7 Knicks fans left just got giant boners at the thought that Nash would come to NY and reunite with Mike D’Antoni.
At the time the Detroit Tigers traded Matt Joyce for Edwin Jackson, the consensus was that the Rays had received the better end of the deal. As of today, Jackson is among the leaders for lowest ERA this season and just won his 6th game; Joyce was only just recently called up after hitting .315 and posting a .938 OPS in AAA. There is still a long ways to go, but it looks like the Rays made their own version of the Bronson/Wily Mo ill-fated deal the Sox made. Matt Joyce should ultimately be much better than Wily Mo, but with the paucity of quality outings by the Rays staff recently, it’s certain that, as of now, the Rays would love to take that one back. From the FX show Rescue Me, where he plays Damian, Michael Zegen is one of the acting standouts, stealing scenes as he makes his way, including a truly hilarious moment recently when he explains what a “hot lunch” is, in voting down a band name. Zegen was also in the best movie I’ve seen in the theaters this year, Adventureland where the talented actor once more stole every scene he was in. While the Rays may regret losing Jackson, you’ll never regret watching Zegen. Now, I look at these two young men and all I can think is, brothers? So, what do you think? And seriously, if you’re not watching Rescue Me, you’re missing out on some kick-ass Zegen.
Makes sure to VOTE in the poll below so that this doppelganger pairing can join its brethren on the PERMANENT Doppelgangers page.
Bill Laimbeer is best remembered for his days as one of the Detroit Pistons Bad Boys, but today spends his time as the head coach of the Detroit Shock. However, unbeknownst to most people, Laimbeer, while in high school had a pretty awesome summer job; he served as a Sleestak on the original Land of the Lost TV show in the 70s.
“I was the original Sleestak because the costumes were molded out of my body,” said Laimbeer, whose 6-foot-11 frame was what the producers wanted. “That was the TV show, this is the movie.”
“It was a great summer job. The entertainment business pays a lot of money. It was fun. You know, like I said, it paid well and you got residual checks, too.”
While the acting part wasn’t too difficult, Laimbeer did say that there was one major drawback, the suits themselves. “It was a wet suit with scales put all over it, and the mask was hot,” he said.
The actual filming involved little on Laimbeer’s part, “We’d just put our costumes on, go to our spots and stand there,” he said. “We weren’t very mobile, so we didn’t walk around any. We didn’t even make any noise, it was all dubbed in.”
Despite winning two championships as a player and three as a WNBA coach, Laimbeer said that to this day several times a year fans come up to him wanting to talk about Land of the Lost. It’s pretty awesome, almost cool enough for me to forgive him for fighting Larry Bird. Almost.
My interest in funny car racing is non-existent, besides when we looked at uber-cutie Ashley Force last year, well, as of now there are TWO reasons for me to enjoy the NHRA, and it’s Ashley’s youngest sister, Courtney.
While there is a middle sister, Brittany, she doesn’t excite my passion for the sport in the same manner. Courtney is 20, and when she isn’t on the drag race circuit she is working on a communications degree from Cal State Fullerton, fulfilling a promise to her mother. Seeing that she’s following in her father’s (and sisters’) footsteps, Courtney might, if you’ll excuse the pun, become a force to be reckoned with. As well, she is on the family’s reality show, Driving Force. I may have to start following funny car racing now…but for the moment, I’ll enjoy these many photos after the jump I hastily assembled of her cuteness-osity.
And if you’re interested in following Courtney a bit more, she will be writing a regular piece for the USA Today as she goes through the racing circuit this summer.
I’m on record as saying I’m LOVING the new MLB Network; sure some of the co-hosts aren’t stellar, and there’s still some kinks to work out, but I can turn on the TV and there is ALWAYS something baseball on. And it is clear that MLB Tonight is by far the best baseball show on TV right now, solely thanks to the exclusive look-ins that they provide. After watching the network a lot, here are a couple doppelgangers I’ve noticed along the way.
As ever please VOTE in the polls below so that these doppelgangers can move onto the PERMANENT DOPPELGANGER page.
Reader Mattraw sent this one along, and I couldn’t agree more. Billy Ripken is most famous for being Cal’s younger, less-talented brother and for his infamous baseball card, otherwise, his baseball career was less than memorable. Since retiring/being forced out of baseball, Billy hasn’t been seen too much until he served as hitting coach for this year’s USA entrant in the WBC tournament. Now, on MLB Network, he is generally among the worst analysts they’ve got. Once a proud and respected Jedi Knight, Annakin Skywalker bangs Natalie Portman and then becomes obsessed with not losing her, so he embraces the Dark Side, gets tragically burned by his best friend and is forced to spend the remainder of his days in a protective suit that keeps him alive. After rejecting the Dark Side at the end of his days, he asks his son to remove the mask so that Annakin may look upon Luke with his real eyes. He does, and then dies.
Nicknamed “The Wild Thing,” when Mitch Williams was on the mound neither he, nor the batter ever truly knew where the ball would go. Always outlandish and outspoken, Williams has taken his brashness off the field and into the lovely MLB studios in sunny Secaucus. He’s another one of the analysts who rarely says anything useful and important. Working for Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the Weasels were low-down thugs, willing to do anything so long as it was for the bad guys. It’s hard to find similarly good non-animated henchman.
The Slanch Report has started an online petition asking the MLB Network to air the Dock Ellis no-hitter he threw on June 12, 1970 against the San Diego Padres. The moment was a seminal piece of baseball history and is certainly worthy of being rerun.
Please join us in this cause and sign the petition below so we can all share in this special and fantastic moment of baseball history. THANKS!
SIGN THE PETITION HERE! AND PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND PASS THIS ALONG!
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