Less than encouraging Red Lobster ad promotes no worse than mediocrity

The other day I had my TV on in the background and wasn't paying any attention, but when I heard what the chef in this commercial said at the :15 second mark my ears perked up:



"If I wouldn't eat it, I'm not gonna serve it."

I'm sorry Red Lobster, but those do not come off as very inspiring words.  In fact, to me that seems like pretty much the bare minimum of standards for restaurant food (if that).  There's all kinds of stuff I'd happily cook and eat myself but wouldn't give to other people.  Here's how my though process might go if you put me in that chef's place:

"Ah crap, this salmon is burnt on top.  Would I still eat it?  Totally.  I guess I'll send it out there."

"Hmm, this fried shrimp has been sitting in the window for a while, and it's not hot anymore.  Oh well, I'd definitely still eat it, so I guess it's fine."

Granted I'm not a chef, and I'll eat just about anything.  But I still think the Red Lobster ad execs could have come up with about a million other things for that guy to say that would have sounded more enticing.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

How does the same show get broadcast on two different networks?

On of the top sports talk shows in the Boston area is called "Felger & Mazz," featuring Mike Felger and Tony Massarotti.  It can be heard on the radio on 98.5 The SportsHub, and seen on television on Comcast SportsNet New England.  This is perfectly normal, except for one thing: 98.5 is an affiliate of CBS, and CSNNE is part of NBC; check out the logos on each page.  How does this work?  How can the same show be broadcast by two different major networks?  I'm sure there's a simple explanation, and both channels are probably far enough from the top (not to mention one is TV and the other is radio) that it's no big deal.  But still it bugs me.

And while I'm on the subject of 98.5 The SportsHub, another of their popular shows is "Toucher & Rich."  On Wednesday I wrote an article for CelticsLife called "A look at every NBA title winning team in the lottery era; do you have to get really bad to get really good?"  Yesterday Rich read parts of it live on the air (beginning at the 23:30 mark of this link).

     Follow @LucidSportsFan

It's ridiculous that the Patriots have been this good for this long

Since the beginning of the 2001 season the New England Patriots are 153-48, head and shoulders above any other NFL team (the Indianapolis Colts are second at 135-67).  That's a winning percentage of 76.1%, which averages out to 12.2 victories (and only 3.8 losses) per year.  This will likely be the 13th consecutive season in which the Pats have had the best record in the AFC East.

And the funny thing is, by the standards we've come to expect, they haven't even been very good this year.  Their offense has missed key players for much of the season (Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola, Shane Vereen), and their defense has lost three of its best guys (Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, Tommy Kelly) for the year.  Yet somehow New England is still 7-2.  Almost a year to the day I wrote a blog conceding them the division title, and at the time they were only 6-3.  They finished 12-4, and reached the AFC title game.  Will that happen again?  Who knows, but for the 13th season in a row the Patriots are right on their normal pace, doing what they always do.

Follow @LucidSportsFan

Ironic photo of the day nominee

There is a "style" that some young men subscribe to that blows my mind.  I'll admit when I was an adolescent I thought it was cool to wear my pants low on my waist; but they still hung above my hips, and wouldn't fall off if I stood straight up with my legs together (although my mother might beg to differ).  But I have troubling comprehending what is going on when I see guys wearing jeans below their butt.  It forces them to walk and stand in an odd manner, with their legs constantly spread at a strange angle in order to keep their pants from sliding down.  I'm probably just becoming a grouchy old man, but at some point the complete lack of function and comfort has to become a priority over fashion, right?  I'm not even going to get into the ridiculousness of the style to begin with, but when I saw this person I had to laugh at the irony of the situation:

Also, if it's cold enough outside to wear your hood (which it was), it's got to be extremely frigid on the parts of your body covered by nothing but your underwear.

Follow @LucidSportsFan

Trent Richardson is a fantasy football serial killer

As a rookie last season Trent Richardson rushed for 950 yards and 11 touchdowns (which tied for the 5th most rushing TD's in the league).  This year he was expected to be a fantasy star, with an average draft position of #11 overall.  I'm in two leagues, and I have him in both of them.  I took him in the 1st round in one, and thought I was getting great value by being able to keep him in the 3rd round in the other.

Richarson hasn't missed a game this season, but is currently just 32nd overall in rushing yards with 355.  He has a total of 2 touchdowns (and none since week 4), which puts him tied for 33rd in that category.  The list of running backs who've outperformed him in fantasy points includes Mike Tolbert, Rashad Jennings, Bilal Powell, and Roy Helu.

But here's the stat that really gets me: There have been 173 occasions this season when an NFL player has rushed for more than 60 yards in a game.  Richardson has accounted for zero of them.

I'm dropping him from my squad this week in favor of previously unheard of third string Tampa Bay running back Brian Leonard.

RELATED: Can I get a reboot on this fantasy football season?

Follow @LucidSportsFan

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Feel Us Shaking" by the Samples

I'm not exactly sure how or why this came to be, but when I was in high school my buddies thought a little band from Colorado known as "The Samples" was pretty much the coolest thing they could listen too.  My best theory to the origins of this is that one of my friends probably learned about the group from his college-age sister, and she most likely discovered them because an older guy she liked was from Denver.  But that's just a guess.  Anyway, we all had copies of their 1989 album of the same name.  The first and probably best song on the disc was "Feel Us Shaking."  Both the audio and video in the clip below aren't very good, but when I came across it on youtube I didn't have a choice; it was taken during a show I happened to be at, on Martha's Vineyard in August of 2007.

Follow @LucidSportsFan

Clearly the Celtics took to heart what I had to say about tanking

The moment after Jeff Green beat the Heat.

Last Wednesday I wrote a piece in which I semi-accused the 0-4 Celtics of tanking.  It seems as though they've listened to what I had to say.  I expressed my reservations about Gerald Wallace and Vitor Faverani in the starting lineup, and both have now been moved to the bench (Wallace that very evening, Faverani two games later, although his minutes were cut back starting that night).  I asked for Kris Humphries to see some action (after three straight DNP-CD's), and he's played in each game since.  The excessive number of turnovers had me worried about the decision to use Avery Bradley as the point guard, and he has now been replaced in that role by Jordan Crawford (also that same day when Crawford started in Wallace's place) and Phil Pressey, who like Humphries I suggested should not be stuck on the end of the bench.

Boston's 4th quarter struggles are coming around as well; after getting beaten handily in the final period over their first 5 games, they played within one point in the fourth at Orlando on Friday (21-20), then finally outscored a team in the last frame for the first time all year against the Heat on Saturday.

But most importantly, the C's are 3-0 since I voiced my concerns.  And as spectacular as Jeff Green's buzzer-beating game-winning three pointer in Miami was (and maybe even better was the inbounds pass from Wallace, which was lobbed to the exact perfect spot clear across the entire court), it may be even more amazing that the reason they won was because Dwyane Wade wasn't able to hit the rim on a free throw (after missing the one before).



Also, I highly recommend clicking on the picture above to enlarge it, then looking closely at all the fans.  In particular the lone guy in a Celtics tank up top, and the two others in Heat jerseys to Green's left.

Follow @LucidSportsFan