What do you think of the Celtics "motto"/marketing campaign this year?

Here's the free t-shirt they gave out last night at the home opener:

And here's the ticket sales commercial they are running right now:

I like the concept.  I like the message they are going for. but I think they really missed by emphasizing "Causeway Street."  Is that actually something that embodies what it means to be a Celtic?  Does anyone know what streets the Lakers or Heat play on?  I can't even think of the name of the arena Miami plays in off the top of my head (I had to look it up: American Airlines Arena).  The marketing/PR people definitely over thought this one.  They should have gone simple: "I am Boston, I am a Celtic."  At least then I'd be a lot more likely to wear that t-shirt.

Moving on, my thoughts on last night's game: Boston never seemed to play particularly well, but they still put the game away in the 3rd quarter (outscoring Detroit 36-21), and ALL 5 starters played less than 30 minutes; that is very encouraging.

A couple statistical oddities of note: the Pistons scored 22 points in the 1st quarter, then 21 exactly in each of the next 3.  Detroit also shot a very impressive 14-15 from the foul line, but Boston was a perfect 19-19.  It's not everyday that you see NBA players make 33-34 free throws.

Sweet cast in Puffy's new Ciroc Vodka ad

First of all, the bartender in me has to mention that Ciroc is made from grapes.  It's not grape flavored (like Jim Beam's Pucker Vodka for kids), but because it's made from grapes the gluten-free people can drink it without worry.  Now on to the cast of the commercial:

The less interesting ones I notice are obviously Puffy himself, and the white haired guy from Goodfellas.  But after that it gets a lot cooler.  There's Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad.  Lucas Scott from One Tree Hill (I have no problem admitting that when I lived in Austin, Texas in the winter of 2003-'04 and I had no job and no cable TV, One Tree Hill was my favorite show on television.  That and 5th Wheel/Elimidate, but that's another blog for another day).  Omar from The Wire (or Chalky White from Boardwalk Empire for HBO newbies).  And best of all, Turtle's girlfriend from Entourage, who on the show did ads for Avion Tequila (whoa, that's like inception type stuff); which is real, by the way.  Here's a bottle of it in front of a sunset on the Vineyard last summer:

We also carry it in the restaurant that I work at; a little more bartender stuff to bring this blog full circle.

The Bruins are crazy good right now

The Boston Bruins are an insanely good hockey team at the moment.  In their last 24 games they are 21-2-1. They've only given up 64 goals for the season, the fewest in the NHL and 12 ahead of the next best 78 allowed by the Rangers.  Amazingly the Bruins have also scored the most goals per game of any team in the league (their 121 goals are just behind Chicago's 122 and Vancouver's 123, but both those teams have played 3 more games than Boston).  That puts their goal differential at +57 through 34 games, 20 more than Detriot's 2nd highest +37.  And since their 3-7 start, Boston is a totally absurd +62 over the last 24 games.  Twice recently they played other division leaders in the Eastern Conference; a 6-0 pounding of Philly on 12/17 and an 8-0 drubbing of Florida last Friday (not to mention how badly they have embarrassed the Northeast's 2nd place Maple Leafs so far this season).

How about a few individual stats?  Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand are tied for the league lead in +/- at 25, and half of the overall top ten are Bruins (Chris Kelly 6th at +21, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara tied for 7th at +20).  And the goalies?  Starter Tim Thomas is 2nd in the league in save percentage at .943.  Backup Tuukka Rask is 1st at .945.

It all adds up to a level of utter dominance rarely seen in professional sports.

I feel bad for the Cincinnati Bengals, but I'm also kinda jealous

The other day at work I saw this headline across the bottom line on ESPN: "Bengals encouraging fans to come to Sunday's game vs Ravens by offering deals on tickets."  Um, how about telling "fans" if you win you make the playoffs?!  Last week Cincinnati's stadium was about 2/3 full (check out the pic on the right) for the Bengal's victory over Arizona.  So for the season finale the Bengals are offering a "buy one get one free promotion" in an attempt to fill their empty seats.  Poor poor Bengals.  It's the last game of the year vs a powerhouse division rival with the playoffs on the line.  That's as good as it gets.  And they can't sell tickets.  Wow.

Man are we spoiled here in Boston.  I can't possibly envision a scenario where any of the 4 major teams would ever have a problem selling out a game in that situation.  I've often thought it would be a lot of fun to be a huge sports fan in a crappy sports town.  Yeah your teams may suck most of the time, but you can always go to any game you want at a moment's notice without having to pay much.  In 2003 I bought an opening day ticket in Tampa (against the Sox) a few rows behind 3rd base for $12.  Imagine doing that here?

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Unbelievable" by EMF

This song was huge in the summer of 1991.  Some things I learned from Wikipedia just now: these guys were British, and Unbelievable was big in England the year before. Also, it samples Andrew Dice Clay saying "Ohhh!" and "you're unbelievable."  Weird.

Back when I was 14, the first couple times I saw this video I though the lead singer was wearing a Celtics hat, and I was really excited.  But then I realized later on it says "Oakland Athletics."

Tebometer Monday: I told you so!

On the Eve of the birth of Jesus, the Broncos "quarterback" completed 13 of 30 passes, lowering his career rate to 48.5%.  I spent all last week telling anybody who would listen that the Bills were going to beat Denver (they crushed them 40-14), and that the Broncos string of ridiculously good luck had run out.  After their loss to New England the week before, I suggested that Tebow's best days as an NFL quarterback might already be behind him.  Nothing that happened on the day before Christmas should make anybody think otherwise.  The ONE thing that Tebow had done consistently well this season was not turn the ball over.  But on Christmas Eve he threw 4 interceptions, including 2 for touchdowns; on back to back plays.  The Broncos will still be the AFC West champions if they beat Kansas City next Sunday (or if the Raiders lose to the Chargers), but even if they do make the playoffs I think they are a team to be taken lightly.

And for anybody who hasn't figured this out already, I'm trying to point out the humor in the fact that Tebow loves Jesus, but had a terrible game for Christmas.

What do I get for Christmas every year?

Legos.  For the past 30 years (and maybe longer) my mom has given me Legos for Christmas.  I do get other things too, but there's always Legos.

Real blogging returns tomorrow.

This year is an unusually sporty Christmas

NFL on Christmas Eve.  NBA season openers on Christmas Day.  It's the hundred year perfect storm of WAY too much stuff to watch.  Happy Festivus!

I'm surprised the Red Sox aren't doing anything

For the past several years I have felt like the baseball off-season has gotten shorter and shorter.  There's always been big player signings and other news to keep the sport relevant during the winter months.  But as a Red Sox fan, this November/December has been extremely boring.  I'm not really sure what they are waiting for.  From a PR perspective, this is a terrible time for them to sit around and do nothing.  Tickets aren't selling, and right now is probably the least enthusiastic Boston fans have been about their team in the last ten years, maybe more.  Now here's the key point of this blog: I'm not saying that baseball-wise they necessarily should be making trades or signing expensive free agents.  They've got a solid team, and if a few things had happened differently last year it's a whole other story.  But in order to appease the average angry and disinterested fan, I'm amazed that they haven't.

I already know what record the Celtics will finish this season with

Yesterday, while I was wandering around doing some Christmas shopping, I came to the conclusion that I knew exactly what the Celtics record would be this year.  The NBA is playing a 66 game season.  Boston is going to finish 37-29.  Mark it down, it's a lock.  It was actually really easy to come to that number.  38-28 feels too good.  There will be a lot of games they "don't show up for" on the second night of back to backs, or when Doc sits the starters to try to keep them healthy and rested for the long run.  But 36-30 doesn't seem good enough, that's too close to mediocrity.  So there you have it, 37-29.  In fact, I guess that number is so obvious that Bill Simmons also predicted it.  If you read that link, it's basically exactly what I am saying here.  Last night while I was at the C's pre-season game I told my buddy my prediction, and he informed me that Simmons had picked the same thing.  I was pissed.  I debated not writing this.  And right now when I searched for it and found that link from ESPN Boston, I got even more irritated because it's pretty much my thoughts exactly.  But I've come this far and there's no turning back now.

In the picture that's new Celtic Brandon Bass dunking on some Toronto Raptors, who don't look much like an NBA team by the way.

Awesome Old Song of the Week/Greatest Christmas Song Ever: Bruce Springsteen "Santa Clause is Coming to Town"

I got a lot of hits last week when I tried this for the first time, so I'm sticking with it.  I give you "The Boss," rocking out Christmas style:

While I'm on the subject I feel like I should also mention the best Christmas album ever, the original "A Very Special Christmas."  It came out in 1987, and started a trend of major pop stars making up tempo Christmas music compilations.  I think somebody actually gave a copy of the cassette to my dad as a joke gift, but I loved it.  Especially Christmas in Hollis by Run-D.M.C., as far as I know the first ever rap Christmas song.

This "GameFly" commercial scares me a bit

This ad runs a lot.  I mean all the time.  Although I am usually watching TV during the middle of  the afternoon on weekdays, so that definitely has to come into consideration.  But still, the fact that there is a legitimate target audience for this commercial kind of blows my mind.  I would get it if it were for 11 year olds.  But adults?  Really?

The first obvious question that jumps to mind: what is that blond girl at the 6 second mark doing in this commercial?  Whatever Alex P, you're not fooling anybody.  But the part I really love is the red headed guy's line at the very end, "You have to have this service, you call yourself a gamer?  You have to have it."  Wow, it must really suck for all the people out there who've been thinking all along that they are "gamers," but just realized they're not because they don't have GameFly.

Tebometer Monday: logic and reason finally prevail

Yesterday Tim Tebow completed 11 of 22 passes, which brings him to 148-302 for his career, exactly 49%.  And for the first time in 7 weeks, the Broncos didn't win.  There was no fumble, missed field goal, or player inexplicably running out of bounds to save Denver this week.  No more late game magic.  Although I have to admit, with New England leading 34-16 on the first play of the 4th quarter, I was temporarily afraid it was all going to happen again.  It looked like the Patriots had Tebow sacked in the end zone for a safety, then he dropped the ball, and it was either going to be a defensive touchdown or a safety.  But somehow he manged to pick it back up, avoid getting tackled, and still get a throw off; leaving the result of the play as just an ordinary incompletion.  Then on the next snap (which was a 3rd and 10) Tebow had a ridiculous scramble.  But he didn't quit get the first down, and the madness was over.  For now, the fate of humanity is safe and sound.

I'd also like to state for the record that we may have already seen the apex of Tim Tebow's career as a starting quarterback in the NFL.  I could well be wrong, but I definitely think it's possible that it's all downhill from here.  And in case you never read Tebometer version 1.0, it's a "Tebow-meter," but it's pronounced "Teh-bah-meh-ter," like "thermometer."  Hence the graphic on the right.

The kick that started it all

Back in the summer time occasionally I used to just post a picture with a quick sentence or two and go to the beach.  I haven't done that in a long time, but today is one of those days.  So before I head out the door to watch one of the most anticipated regular season NFL games in a long time, I leave you with this: the greatest kick in NFL history, and the game that changed the course of fate in the universe and sent the Patriots and the city of Boston on an unprecedented run of sports dominance.

Amazingly, that's the only clip of this moment available on youtube.  And although it's pretty crappy, I did notice something from it for the first time: the unmistakable groan of the crowd as soon as Vinatieri kicked it.  While it was happening I remember having exactly that reaction, right off his foot the low line drive looked as if it had no chance at all.

Meaningless observations from the Celtics "practice" last night

Last night I used my LucidSportsFan media credentials to get an inside glimpse at a Celtics practice.  Ok, not really, it's something they give to season ticket holders every year.  Except this year it wasn't a practice at all.  It was basically a preseason game that was only two quarters long, and they played against themselves.  Someone sang the national anthem, there were real referees, dancers during timeouts, t-shirts thrown into the crowd, and a stupid contest for kids on the floor at halftime.

Basketball-wise, I don't think you can really take anything from this, although the two rookies out of Purdue (JaJuan Johnson and E'Twuan Moore) both looked good.  And so did Brandon Bass, the guy they just traded "Big Baby" Davis for.  Bass looks like he has similar skills as Davis, but is clearly more athletic (to put it nicely).

One other sad/disappointing note, Boston announced today that Jeff Green will miss the season due to an aortic aneurysm, for which he will have surgery January 9th.

Do you know who this is?

This picture is from the cover of the most recent Maxim magazine.  Now here's a quick tangent to help build the suspense: Maxim still exists?  I think the last time I read it was when I was in college 12 years ago.  When it first came out it was awesome, but I rememeber thinking after around the 5th issue that they had already run out of interesting topics.  Although to be fair, I'm of the opinion that ALL magazines are obsolete.

Anyway, moving on, that's Jwoww from Jersey Shore in the picture above.  Really?  Is that what she looks like?  There's got to be a LOT of photoshopping going on there, right?  I would never in a million years have guessed who that was.  But maybe that's just me.  Vote in the poll on the right as to whether I'm making sense or have no idea what I'm talking about.

Julian Edelman won't be going to jail, charges dropped

Patriots' wide receiver/kick returner/new defensive back Julian Edelman was arrested (mug shot on the right) back on November 1st and charged with "indecent assault and battery" for allegedly groping a women during a Halloween party at Storyville night club (the place that used to be called Saint but is now something else even though it is exactly the same) on Exeter St. in the Back Bay.  Today the charges were dropped, and the Suffolk County DA's office issued this statement:

 "the Commonwealth has concluded that it would not be able to meet its burden at trial of proving each of the elements of indecent assault and battery beyond a reasonable doubt."


So maybe he did it and there just weren't any witnesses.  Maybe he didn't and the women was just trying to capitalize on his fame (although that seems unlikely, I mean it's Julian Edelman, not Tom Brady).  My guess is there was probably a lot of alcohol consumed by both parties, he did something inappropriate, and when she realized who he was it became a big deal.  I guess we'll never know for sure, but the guy who in recent weeks may have become the best DB New England has will keep playing football.  Hopefully my mom won't be offended by this.

Red Sox trade for some guy I've never heard of to replace Pabelbon

I'll start with a disclaimer: he hasn't actually been named the closer, but with the Sox recent announcement that they'll try to make Daniel Bard a starter next year, for the moment this new guy is the leading candidate.  His name is Mark Melancon, and apparently last year he was the closer for Houston.  To get him Boston had to give up Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland (a prospect who made a few spot starts last season).

I don't like this trade for a number of reasons, but they all center around Melancon just not being very good.  I know Lowrie was never able to stay healthy, but I like him and he was really starting to hit last August when he managed to play everyday.  Melancon blew 20% of his save opportunities last year (20 for 25), and he's been a major league closer for only one moderately successful season.  ANYONE can have one decent year as a closer.  As a general principle I think it's a really bad idea to give up anything for relief pitchers.  For all we know Weiland could have been just as good as the closer or set up man as Melancon; and then Lowrie would still be around too.

Also, Melancon is a terrible name.

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Blame it on the Rain" by Milli Vanilli

I've decided that it's a good idea to start having some blogs/features that I do consistently and repetitively.  So far I've got the Tebometer (and occasionally Recycle Sundays) that seems to be working pretty well, so now I'm going to try one that's non-sports related.  For now it's going to be called "Awesome Old Song of the Week."  And kicking it off is Milli Vanilli's Blame it on the Rain:

These guys will always be remembered for not actually being the guys who sang their songs.  And because of that they're a joke.  But before that scandal hit, back in 1989, they were freaking huge.  They won a Grammy in 1990, and their album "Girl You Know it's True" had 5 major Billboard Top 40 hits.  I always liked them in part because of their "MV" logo and initials which were the same as mine.

The continued unexplainable success of Tebow and the Broncos could be detrimental to society

First the simple stuff: Tim Tebow went 21-40 yesterday, lifting his career completion rate to 48.9%.  My thoughts on Denver's latest ridiculous comeback win are exactly (everything I wrote last week) x 10.  I can't wait to see what happens when they play New England next Sunday.

Ok, now here's the controversial part: I think the fact that Tim Tebow and the Broncos continue to win games they shouldn't is potentially harmful to humanity.  Tebow is an Evangelical Christian who is not hesitant to share his beliefs, to the point that he ran a pro-life TV commercial during the Superbowl last year.  My take on religion is that everyone has the right to believe whatever they want, but it's dangerous and closed-minded to try to impose what you think on others.  To some people with similar beliefs as his own, Tebow's irrational success at winning football games enforces the notion that they are right and everyone else is wrong.  Isn't the world a better place when people are open minded and accepting of the differences of others?  But the appearance to some that the Denver Broncos victories may be aided by Tebow's religion encourages the faith of many who think otherwise.



If you adamantly disagree with what I am saying, before you freak out take a step back, reread the line in italics, and try to see the situation from a different point of view.  And also keep in mind that this is just one of many whimsical, antagonistic, lighthearted, and hopefully amusing ideas that cross my mind and make it onto this blog.

There's more to this blog than just the blog

I know this is the same thing as a post I wrote back in August, but I've decided it's a message worth repeating: there is good LucidSportsFan stuff that doesn't make it here to the actual blog.  And to read it you have to follow me on twitter, or "Like" the fan page on facebook.  It's REALLY easy to do.  There's buttons all over the place.  If you'd already done either of those you'd know what I think of the new Rob Schneider sitcom that CBS has been promoting all day.  Or that I got really annoyed by everyone who though Tom Brady was getting special treatment on a bad roughing the passer call, when just a few minutes earlier there was an equally terrible call protecting the other team's quarterback.

Not being a twitter follower is somewhat acceptable because I've come to the conclusion that most people just aren't on it.  But not being a facebook liker is inexcusable.  I know there are lots of "non-likers" who read this regularly; because you have told me to my face that you do.  To me that's the same thing as walking into a bank and taking a free lollipop even if you don't have an account there.  Except that I'm not a bank, I'm just a meager bartender trying to do something more inspiring.

Red Sox tickets went on sale this morning. But don't worry, you haven't missed your chance.

When I checked my email this afternoon I found one from redsox.com, telling me that 2012 Sox tickets went on sale at 10 am this morning.  Not the whole season, but 20 different games in April and May.  So I clicked on the link to see what was available, and the answer was EVERYTHING.  Every game.  Every section.  If you've bought Red Sox tickets online before you know about the "virtual waiting room."  Well, today there wasn't one.  Since the birth of "Red Sox Nation" and the dawn of the "pink hat" era in the early 2000's, this is easily the lowest level of interest I have every seen.  The fact that I didn't even know they were going on sale today is pretty telling in itself.

And for the record, I didn't buy any.  Tickets for the best day of the year, Marathon Monday 4/16, are not yet on sale.  Also, it's pretty weird that 2 of the last 3 blogs I have written have included maps for pictures.

I think the world would be a better place without escalators

Standing on escalators is the epitome of lazy.  It's not like they move fast.  They get you to the top so slowly that it blows my mind people don't always walk up them just out of sheer impatience.  Part of the reason I wrote about avoiding the mall at all costs this holiday season was because of my hatred for escalator traffic jams.  Even the polite people who move to the side and let you pass still irritate me.  Why aren't they walking?  Some of these non-walkers also drive fast and honk their horns at slow drivers in front of them.  And I'm sure there's even some people who stand still on escalators while on the way to the gym to work out on a StairMaster.

Maybe at the end of a long day if you're tired and in no rush I could envision someone possibly not having enough energy to walk up a bunch of stairs.  But what about going DOWN?  There is no reason anyone should under any circumstances stand still on a down escalator.  Ever.  If there were no escalators and only stairs people would be in better shape.  Other people who think like me would be able to avoid a lot of unnecessary aggravation from the standing traffic blockers.  And all the people who are too lazy to walk up the stairs could just stay home.

The new Big East is a Big Joke

In all sports on all levels, High School, College, and Professional, teams are grouped together in divisions, leagues, conferences, etc.  And the one and only reason for this is geography.  Teams play other teams nearby.  It's just the way it works.  Except in the new world of College Football (which in turn is messing up all the other college sports), where the only thing that matters is money from television and Bowl games.  Schools are constantly moving to bigger and better conferences to try to increase their potential earnings.  So in turn the conferences they have left behind scramble to pilfer whoever they can from even smaller leagues.  It's complete chaos.  And it's brought us to this:

Those are all the states that will have teams competing in the new "Big East" conference; with the news this week that SMU, San Diego St, Houston, Boise St, and Central Florida are joining the league.  I can't wait to someday have this conversation with one of my buddies in NYC:

"Hey, want to go to a Big East Tournament game at Madison Square Garden?"

"Yeah, Definitely!  Who can we see?  Syracuse-Georgetown?  St. Johns-Villanova?  UConn-Providence?"

"Um no, sorry.  It's Houston vs. Central Florida."

The NCAA needs to blow it all up and start over.  Obviously that's not possible, but if conferences are not based at least primarily on the location of the schools, there is no reason for them to exist.  

I wish New Year's Day was the first day of Spring

I went to a Christmas party the other night, and despite the fact that it was 60 degrees out in Boston yesterday, winter is coming.  Soon.  There are some things I like about winter, but cold weather isn't one of them.  I like seeing it snow a few times a year, and it's definitely nice to have for Christmas.  But after New Years Eve, there's nothing left about winter that's any good.  It just drags on and on.  And on.  In my perfect world you'd wake up on the morning of January 1st, and it would be Spring.  It just makes sense, doesn't it?  Sunshine, warm weather, flowers blooming, it'd be a great start to the new year.  Then Spring could last through March, we could have an awesome 5 month summer starting in April, and Fall could still come at the regular time.  How great would that be?  I've lived in a lot of places all over the country: east coast, west coast, north, south, even some in between; but I've never found the ideal climate.  I know it doesn't exist, but at least I can dream, right?

The Bruins are making it very hard to ignore regular season hockey

They had a near perfect month of November.  They are 14-0-1 in their last 15 games, and just one random shootout goal away from being undefeated in the last 38 days.  They are running away with the Northeast Division, and have absolutely owned Toronto, the 2nd place team.  They've beaten them 4 times already by a combined score of 23-6.  And last night the Bruins went into Pittsburgh and easily handled the Penguins (the one team many experts claim is better than Boston), winning 3-1.  But the most impressive stat of all is their goal differential (yeah, it's kind of weird that I also wrote about scoring differential yesterday, but I think it's a very telling statistic in sports that people generally don't pay enough attention to).  The Bruins have outscored their opponents by 36 goals this season, which is 17 more than the Red Wings, who rank 2nd in the NHL at +19.  The fact that that number is 89% better than the second best is absolutely ridiculous.  I've said many times before that I'm not a big hockey fan, but right now the B's are impossible to ignore.

Tebometer Monday

Yesterday Tim Tebow completed 10 of 15 passes, which raised his career completion rate to 48.3%, up from 47.1% last week.  Denver is now in first place in the AFC West at 7-5.  Yet somehow for the season their opponents have outscored them by 36 points (in fact the AFC West team with the best point differential is in last place in the division, San Diego at -26).  Of the Broncos' 7 wins, 6 of them are by a touchdown or less.  5 of them are by 4 points or less.  They have won two games in overtime (both times by 3), and three others by 2, 3, and 4 points respectively.  The fact that they keep winning absolutely defies logic.  And for somebody who has a pretty healthy respect for logic, it's infuriating.  I give up.  I don't know what else to say.

Mark your calenders: in two weeks the Denver Tebows host New England.  Sunday, December 18th, 4:15 pm. The Armageddon of regular season NFL games.

The Citibank rock climbing commercial looks scary as hell

I once did a ropes course where I had to climb a telephone pole and then stand on top of it, which was basically a much easier version of what is going on here.  And that was pretty scary.  But here's the big difference: I was hooked up to a rope ABOVE me.  If I fell off I wasn't going anywhere, I would have just dangled there in mid air.  As far as I can tell, when this girl gets to the top of that thing her rope is attached somewhere down below, near where her boyfriend is.  If she slips she's going to fall like 15-20 feet and smash into the rock.  I don't get how that is safe.  If any rock climbers out there read this and have some insight, please help me out.

The other reason I'm writing this blog is because the song in the background has been stuck in my head lately.  In case you care, it's by some lady named "L.P." and it's called Into the Wild.

How awesome were these?

I saw Frosted Flakes on sale at CVS the other day, and on a whim I decided to buy a box.  It's probably the only time I have ever bought a box of Frosted Flakes.  Last night I ate a handful of them, and instantly I was reminded of being on vacation with my family as a child.  Because that's when we used to get these:

How great were those variety packs of tiny boxes?  It was the only time when I was a kid that I ever got to eat "sugar" cereals.  And I think since we we're on vacation we rarely had bowls and spoons, so I just ate them dry out of the box.  It was also comical how little cereal was in each of those mini boxes, like 3 or 4 mouthfuls.  Looking back it probably would have made a lot more sense just to buy one regular size box of cereal.  But I'm guessing my sisters and I always fought over which kind to get, so my parents just gave up and let us get these.  I mean it was vacation anyway.

Do the tiny box variety packs still exist?  All I ever notice these days are those single servings in a plastic bowl with the seal that peals off the top.  Maybe more functional, but definitely not as cool.

I don't understand how Lebron doesn't have smart people who tell him what to do

In his flag football game the other night, Lebron James imitated Stevie Johnson making fun of Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg.  Wow, that was an unusual sentence.  If you live under a rock (or just don't watch espn 7 hours a day like I do) and haven't heard about the "Stevie Johnson dance," scroll down and watch the second video clip before you read the rest.  Anyway, here's Lebron's touchdown dance:

You know before this happened he told his buddies he was going to do it.   How does one of them not say "Uh bro, maybe don't do the dance that was just a huge controversy in the NFL this weekend, how about something else instead." So here's my advice to Lebron: hire a smart guy buddy.  Someone intelligent with a grip on reality, who unlike you has a general awareness of the world around them.  A PR guy, an adviser, a life coach; just somebody to run things by first, who tells you when you're being an idiot before it actually happens. Whether it's knocking over children at summer camps, or telling the world that his life is better than yours, Lebron is so incredibly good at always saying and doing the wrong thing; and it blows my mind that he allows it to keep happening. Now while I'm on the subject of Stevie Johnson, I think he got a raw deal.  It was funny.  And I don't even think it should have been a penalty.  None of his teammates were involved.  And it was DEFINITELY not worthy of this moronic self-righteous rant by Bob Costas:

Is the BC hoops team actually worse than the football team?

Back in mid September I wrote a blog about how bad the Boston College football team was.  Well, the gridiron Eagles definitely showed improvement and rallied a bit at the end of the season, but they still finished 4-8, their worst record since 1995.  And now it looks like the basketball team is even worse.  They're 2-5 right now.  They lost to Holy Cross by 22.  They lost to UMass by 36.  Thirty-Six!!!  And last I checked Marcus Camby did not play in that game.  The Eagles' 2 wins were home games against New Hampshire by 3, and over UCRV by 4.  In overtime.  And if you say you know what UCRV stands for you're probably lying (it's the Highlanders of The University of California Riverside).  BC looks terrible, and they've only played the EASY part of their schedule.  Guess what's coming: the ACC.  Their conference season kicks off January 7th, at North Carolina.  Ugh.  I think it's safe to say we won't be seeing anything like this:

I still remember the starting 5 that year: Malcolm Huckaby, Howard Eisley, Gerrod Abram, Billy Curley, and Danya Abrams.  Loved that ' 94 team.

NBC is making a TV show of "The Firm"

The Firm is one of those movies that's on TV all the time, and whenever it is I always end up watching.  And now NBC is making a show out of it.  Above is the guy who's playing Mitch McDeer.  Apparently the show is supposed to be kind of a sequel to the movie.  It takes place ten years later, and McDeer and his family have just come out of a witness protection program.  I couldn't find it on youtube, but here's a link to a clip of it on NBC's website.  The show is premiering on Thursday January 8th.  I don't think it's gonna make it.  Not without Wilford Brimely.  The funniest part of the movie that's not supposed to be funny is when Tom Cruise beats him up with a briefcase.  I tried to find a clip of that on youtube, but it's not out there.  Although the entire movie is.  Since when can you watch whole movies on youtube?  I thought about posting it, but here's the trailer instead:

It's weird to go back and watch the original preview for an old movie you've seen a million times.  It's totally not what I would have expected, and not at all representative of how I remember the movie.

Berkeley and St James is a dangerous place

Last Tuesday around midnight I saw this accident happen right outside my work.  Everybody was fine, but both cars were pretty much ruined.  Watching it get cleaned up actually provided some nice entertainment though, there were literally zero people in the bar from 11:30 pm on.  But here's the really weird thing: it was the second time in a month I've seen almost the same accident happen in the same intersection.  And it was at the same time of night too.  And both times it involved a taxi.  Hmm.

I'm keeping this super short today, I'm worried I've been kind of long winded lately.  But scroll down a bit and check out the new "contact email" picture on the side.  I figured it was time I had an email with "LucidSportsFan" as the address.  And that's what I've decided to use as my logo, at least for now.  Got any better ideas?  General comments, criticisms, advice, or suggestions?  Email LucidSportsFan@gmx.com.

The streak is broken... kind of.

Yesterday, after 6 straight failed attempts, Tim Tebow finally completed half of his passes in a game; exactly half.  With his 9-18 showing, the Tebometer is now rising for the first time.  His career completion rate is back to 47.1%, up from 46.9% last week.  At some point he is going to have to complete more than half of his passes in order to get to 50% though.

Amazingly Denver was able to pull off another victory while scoring fewer than 19 points, and I maintain my stance that they have little to do with Tebow.  I think the wins are mostly a product of 2 things: good defense, and coincidence.  That's right coincidence.  It's a fairly common explanation in sports that is rarely given enough credit.  One of these days somebody is going to put up 30-some points on the Broncos and make the "magic" go away.

Even during what is rapidly becoming known as "Tebow Time," on the game winning drive, he didn't do much: 0-1 passing and 3 rushes for 14 yards.  It was the 24 yard run from McGahee that won the game.  Last week I contrasted Tebow's passing rate with Tom Brady's.  Obviously that wasn't fair, so this week I'll compare their rushing numbers:

- Tebow ran for 67 yards yesterday, but he also carried the ball 22 times (the most by any QB in a single NFL game since 1950.  Yeah, 1950.  That's the kind of football Denver is playing), which works out to only 3 yards per rush.
- the fleet footed Brady had 5 rushes for 28 yards yesterday; 5.6 yards per carry.  Hmm...

And while we're on the subject of Brady, he's now thrown for 3,627 yards through 11 games this year, an average of 330 yards per game.  That means he only needs 292 yards a game for the last 5 weeks in order to break Dan Marino's all time single season record of 5,084.  Although to be fair, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers are also on pace to challenge Marino's '84 season.

Did you know the Celtics only have 6 players?

So it looks like there will be NBA basketball this year, starting on Christmas Day.  But before that happens, the Celtics need to add a few guys.  Or half a team.  Right now the only players they have under contract are the 4 All-Stars, 98 year old Jermaine O'Neal, and back up guard Avery Bradley.  There's 2 draft picks out of Purdue named JaJuan and E'Twaun (yup, really) that'll be roster spots #7 and 8, but that still leaves them a minimum of 4 short.  They'll probably keep Jeff Green (who they traded Perk for) because they can pay him more than anyone else can.  But I think Big Baby is most likely gone, another team will offer him a contract for way more than he's worth.

That would leave Boston with 9 players and in need of some big men.  Many many big men.  Shaquille O'Neal and KG are going to need a LOT of help under the basket.  Unfortunately the contracts of Rondo, Pierce, Allen, and Garnett don't leave the Celtics with much money left over to spend; and there aren't a lot of good free agent options out there either.  The crazy thing is that training camps and the free agency signing period are scheduled to begin Dec. 9th, just 16 days before the start of the season.  I have no idea what's going to happen, but at least it will definitely be interesting.

Somebody left a pretty amazing comment the other day

Apparently I really irked somebody with my "soccer will never make it in the U.S." blog, because this was posted in the comments section shortly after I wrote it:


Yes there are mountains of data to contradict your misinformed "opinion". Don't worry you are not alone the sports media, mostly for selfish or nostalgia driven reasons repeat the same garbage. What has changed... The league and specific franchises are now profitable. Their is a greater diversity in ownership and an actual and immense widening of the talent pool to sustain a bigger league. Soaring television revenues. More and more outlets bidding on domestic (MLS and lower division) soccer rights. On and on and on... Chose your indice or metric and it's probably met. Btw, most NBA and NFL athletes are ill equipped to be successful in soccer. Don't worry your "theory" is another junk claim the mainstream media purports as fact that isn't supported by evidence, too so you are also not alone in thinking it. Soccer is a blend of long distance and short distance athletecism, where immense stature can be more of a hinderance than a benefit. Take a guy like Steve Nash who was a very good soccer player but nowhere near ever being one of the best players in the world like he was in the NBA (and he's relatively short). MMA athletes share more in common with soccer players than soccer players do with basketball players or NFL players. Though it's not like that sport is exactly stealing all the best players. For soccer to succeed in America, certainly it'd be better if guys like Chris Paul or Darren Sproles were drawn to the game (though they represent only a small cross over with mainstream American athletes), but really it is just getting a system in place to train young players. Our coaches, tactically are crap. They are getting better, but it takes time. Things are miles better than when Beckham landed here (just look at the coverage ESPN now gives to the sport), and light years better than when the MLS started. Before accepting someone else's opinion as your own or repeating the same jokes about the sport do a little research. You'd be surprise, your headline would be vastly different if you took the time to educate yourself. Cue jokes about soccer not being worth your while to do just that...


Wow.  Anytime I can inspire somebody to leave a comment twice as long as the original blog, that makes me proud.  I would like to make two brief points in rebuttal:


1.  I did admit there was statistical evidence that contradicted my opinion.
2.  Check back with me in 20 years.  I bet I'm right.