Eating Organic Can Get Kind of Crazy...

The other day I was in Whole Foods buying some poultry, and I happened to notice this chart on the wall next to the meat cooler:

I'm sure this is nothing new, and people who take eating "organic" seriously must appreciate things of the sort, but to me it's just funny.  It seems a lot more like guidelines for a good retirement home than for how to raise a chicken.  No crowding, enriched environment, enhanced outdoor access; that all sounds pretty good for grandma.

  Follow @LucidSportsFan

October is kind of a long time for the NFL to wear pink

It's breast cancer awareness month, and the NFL does their part by outfitting players, coaches, and other sideline employees in a variety of pink gear and merchandise.  Obviously it's a great cause and I have nothing against it.  But, I think it's silly that they do it for the entire month.

Colors that just aren't meant to mix.

October 1st this year was a Monday night, a perfect time for the league to debut the pink garb on national television.  However that means that 5 out of the 16 weeks of the NFL schedule will include the unusual attire.  It's kind of ridiculous that some teams may end up wearing mismatched pink outfits for nearly a third of their season.  And I seriously doubt there'll be many people sitting around watching TV in late October thinking "you know, it didn't really affect me the past 3 weeks, but now that pink is making me more aware."

Plus it feels like a lot of the novelty/impact is lost because it lasts for so long. After a while you just sort of get used to it.  Major League Baseball goes with the same theme once a year on Mother's Day, to me that makes a lot more sense.  Although it'd be pretty hysterical if MLB did it for this whole month as well; every playoff highlight from now on would be tinted pink.

   Follow @LucidSportsFan

When was the last time you saw one of these?

I was at a bar on Boylston St in Boston Saturday night a couple weeks ago, and I saw a kid wearing this baseball cap:

Instantly I had a flash back to 20 years ago when it was all the rage.  The hat was cool for two reasons; one because if you were 15 years old it was funny to wear something that said "Cocks" (the Oregon St. "Beavers" version was popular as well), and two because the only hats that were cool were that particular brand, which featured this logo on the back:

Everybody I knew in high school had a college hat made by "The Game."  Here's mine:

It's quite possible I wore that thing every single day from 1991-1995.  The dirtier and more "broken in" you got it, the cooler it was.  Now I don't think I've put on my Dartmouth cap since college, but I wonder if the "Cocks" hat is going to come back into style.  Fashion and pop culture seem to recycle every couple of decades.  That and the fact that after crushing #5 Georgia 35-7 last week, the South Carolina football team is now ranked #3 in the country, the 2nd best ranking in school history and highest since 1984.  It may well be short lived though, the Gamecocks travel to #9 LSU this Saturday.

  Follow @LucidSportsFan

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Red Hooded Sweatshirt" by Adam Sandler

"Adam, you suck at basketball."

MLB is running a commercial right now for their "Fan Cave" in which Bronson Arroyo sings this classic Adam Sandler song.  Really the only good thing about it is that it reminds me of the original, which was amazing.  I remember watching the first live performance of Red Hooded Sweatshirt on SNL back in February of 1993, and then joking about it with my buddies in school on Monday morning.  And then for a long, long time after that.  It's probably one my top ten favorite moments ever on the show, which for me peaked in the early '90s.

"What is it about you that makes me so jolly, is it your fifty cotton or your fifty poly?"


   Follow @LucidSportsFan

Sanchez-Tebometer Update

Tim Tebow threw his second pass of the season yesterday, unfortunately for him the receiver dropped it.  But that's how it goes in the NFL sometimes, and for the year his completion rate now stands at 50%; 1 of 2.  For his career it drops back to 47.3%.

But the bigger story continues to be Mark Sanchez, who is in the midst of a very Tebow-like run of inaccuracy.  Sanchez was 14-31 in the Jets 23-17 loss to Houston, leaving him just 58-132 over the past 4 games (during that span he has completed less than 50% of his passes in every game; by comparison Tom Brady has completed more than half his passes in 44 consecutive games) and 77-159 on the season; 48.4%.


    Follow @LucidSportsFan

More Bad Bus Behavior

The other day I was on the shuttle bus that takes you from the parking lot to the ferry boat over to Martha's Vineyard.  As with most buses, there are large compartments underneath for your luggage.  For some reason many people seem to think they are too special or important to be bothered to use those.  I never put my bag down there, but that's only because I'm always just carrying a backpack which I sit with on my lap once I get on.  Or maybe people get confused and think they're boarding a flight or something; it's not like there are baggage check fees for leaving your suitcase below.

Anyway, on this particular afternoon the bus was quickly filling up, and the only available seats were in the back.  A lady got on with a giant suitcase, and then proceeded to drag it down the aisle, banging into the knees and feet of every single person along the way.  I think as a general rule of thumb, if your bag is too big to carry, it's also too big to bring on the bus.

Oh, and the title of this post is in reference to my exciting travels back on Labor Day weekend.

      Follow @LucidSportsFan

Rajon Rondo is On the Verge of Superstardom

Sullinger in front of El Duomo in Milan.

The Celtics played their second preseason game of the season today, this time in Milan against an Italian league team (their first contest was in Istanbul vs a squad from Turkey).  If you'd like to read more about it, check out my recap for CLNS Radio.

I'll be the first to admit that you can't really infer much based on observations of a couple preseason games in Europe against teams from leagues we know nothing about.  As good as Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger looked across the pond, I'm going to withhold from making any judgement until I see them go up against real live NBA competition.

But, there is one facet of the game in which the quality of the opponent makes absolutely no difference: Free throw shooting.  And so far this preseason, Rajon Rondo has yet to miss.  He's 8-8 from the charity stripe through two games.  I know that's a very small sample, but it also could be a sign of things to come.  If this is the year Rondo finally turns into the shooter I've always believed he could be, the rest of the NBA is totally screwed.



 Follow @LucidSportsFan