Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue

This is the first song I've written about that I liked the video as much as the song itself; those En Vogue ladies were seriously hot in 1992.



The other thing I remember about Free Your Mind was that it was featured on an album promoting the Olympics that year, called "Barcelona Gold."  It was probably most well known for Madonna's This Used to Be My Playground, but it also had another great song by INXS, called Not Enough Time.  And while I'm on the subject of the '92 Barcelona games, I should mention that it is my favorite Olympics ever, for one reason and one reason only: The Dream Team.  There will never be another.

I just learned from Wikipedia that in 1993 En Vogue performed Free Your Mind on an episode of "A Different World" (definitely worth watching), which is kind of a funny coincidence considering "The Cosby Show" theme I used last week.


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ACL tears are crazy

It's probably the most common serious injury in sports, and we see it at such bizarre times.  It doesn't occur when guys get hit in the knee, twist it in a strange way, or bend it in the wrong direction.  It just happens while athletes are doing the same normal things they do every day of their lives.  Here's some great footage from mlb.com of Mariano Rivera going down yesterday:



And here's how it happened to Derrick Rose last week:

And finally Wes Welker two years ago:

Back to Rivera, the big topic today is whether or not this may end his career.  I think it's a ridiculous question.  There is a 100% chance that he will pitch again for the Yankees.  Now it's quite possible that his comeback as a 43 year old power pitcher with a shaky knee may be short lived and not very successful, but it absolutely will happen.

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Twittering Junior Seau and Sarah J. Phillips, plus Sox newcomers and A's recap

The first tweet I saw claiming Junior Seau was dead came at 2:05 pm yesterday.  ESPN first mentioned it on the air at 2:58 pm.  Twitter is really starting to destroy regular news outlets.  Also big in the twitter universe the past couple days is the Sarah Phillips story.  If you're not aware of it you can read the loooong version on Deadspin, or another sight called awfulannouncing.com has also given it good coverage.  But probably the best and most concise summary I have seen is from Barstool.  I only have one thing of my own to add on this matter: She tweeted at me not that long ago.  It was real, and it was spectacular.

You can read my recap of the Sox / A's series at clnsradio.com, which also discusses the arrivals of Will Middlebrooks and Mark Prior.  Seriously, that Mark Prior.


 


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The Celtics are tough. What else is new?

With three minutes to go in the 3rd quarter last night, the Celtics trailed the Hawks 65-54.  I have to admit I was getting so frustrated that I changed the channel for a little while; it was too hard to watch.  But Boston clamped down on defense and held Atlanta to just 15 points over the final 15 minutes, closing the game on a 33-15 run to win 87-80.  There's really no logical explanation for this.

Missing two of their four All-Stars, the C's had to find big contributions from unusual places.  In addition to his 36 points, Paul Pierce also pulled down a game best 14 rebounds.  For the first time in over a year, Kevin Garnett led the team in assists, with 5.  Avery Bradley of all people chipped in 3 blocks, as well as 3 steals, both game highs.  And Sasha Pavlovic, Keyon Dooling, and Marquis Daniels, three guys who are supposed to be out of the playoff rotation completely, each played double digit minutes.

It happens time and time again in the playoffs, but we still continue to be surprised by it: old, tough, and gritty routinely beats young, talented, and athletic.  Three weeks ago I wrote that I had unlimited faith in this Boston team.  Last night gave me no reason to waiver.
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There should be no need for a "quiet car" on the train

Remember being a kid in school, and you had to whisper whenever you were in the library?  Or when your teacher would use the expression "indoor voices please?"  Both of these social norms were pounded into my brain over and over again in my formative years.  Based on this, I have come to one of two conclusions: Either a surprisingly large percentage of the American public never went to elementary school, or that same cross section of society simply has no respect or concern for other human beings around them.

For years I have been riding a bus back and forth from Boston to Cape Cod on the way to the Vineyard, and each time at the beginning of the trip the driver asks that everyone sets their ringers to vibrate, listens to their headphones at a volume no one else can hear, and talks on their phones only in emergencies and as quietly as possible.  I was always proud of Peter Pan for doing this.  Recently I've discovered a "quiet car" you can ride in on the commuter rail that has all the same rules.  I'm hoping this may soon apply to subways as well. 

But it's pretty hard to make similar rules for the general world at large.  I guess this blog is along the same lines as my idea to charge $1 every time somebody honks a car horn.  Maybe cell phones could all be built with an automatic shut off feature if a person speaks into them above a certain volume, kind of like restrictor plates on cars.

Amazingly I think this is the first time yet I've found an excuse to work a clip from Old School into my writing.

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My take on Rondo and Sox-A's

I've been waiting around watching espn and the twitter all day to hear the announcement of Rondo's one game suspension.  I know it's coming, and I don't understand what's taking David Stern so long.  Everything about this situation sucks.  The thing that's really eating at me is that if the refs hadn't botched the out of bounds call that they incorrectly gave to Atlanta 40 seconds earlier, not only would Boston still have had a great chance to win yesterday, but Rondo never would have become hot headed enough to pick up the technicals in the first place.  That one blown call could end up making the difference in two games (when Rajon can't play tomorrow), and in turn the entire series.  Ok, I've said my piece and am moving on.

The Red Sox head back to Fenway tonight for a three game series with the A's.  Buccholz looks to improve on his early season struggles, and the Tommy John surgeries appear to have gone well for a couple Sox pitchers.  You can read my complete series preview at clnsradio.com.

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Recycle Sunday 5.0: Lots of good stuff since the last time I did this

- Probably my #1 pet peeve in the universe right now is when people with iphones "reply all" to group texts.

- I think ESPN and other news outlets must be pretty sick of always getting scooped by twitter.

- The best comment that anyone has left on this website so far.

- I've discovered a major flaw in Shawshank Redemption.

- There is a TV show called Extreme Couponing that kind of blows my mind.

- Everything about getting a pedicure is a little offensive to me.

- The Wall Street Journal's analysis of "How Waiters Read Your Table" is very unimpressive to me.

- Remember that Jeremy Lin phenomenon?  From the very beginning, I never bought into it.

- Why does "Payless" think it's appropriate to ask for my address in order to sell me a pair of socks?

- Some good advice for young women out in bars.

- I'm tired of confusing text messages.  It's time for some new punctuation marks.

- This episode of 60 Minutes was the craziest thing I have ever seen on television.  Seriously.

- The four major sports teams in Boston have combined for 20 consecutive winning seasons.

- And here's a link to the previous "Recycle Sundays."

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