My sports fan fashion rules for double logo-ing

Probably too much.

Sometime in either high school or college I came to the realization that wearing two logos at once is a bad idea.  It just looks silly.  From time to time my friends ask me about it, so here it is:

The "double logo" clause can apply to multiple articles of clothing of the same team, or different ones.  Wearing your Bruins hat with your UNH hoodie is just as bad as putting on two Red Sox things at once.

Now obviously there are some exceptions.  Layers is the No. 1 case against the rule.  If you're going to the game and you want to make sure you're always displaying your team's logo regardless of the weather, I totally get it.  It's fine to wear one under the other as long as only one is visible at a time.

There is also the "big game" exception.  This has two parts:

A) If you're going to a game and having the chance to see your favorite team live is a very rare occasion (like once a year or less), I understand why you want to show your pride by getting all decked out--but there's no need to be putting on a full Patriots uniform every week.  And even in this case, you're still probably better off just wearing one logo.

B) Playoffs.  Everybody gets extra pumped up for this, and rightfully so.  But it also has to be taken on a case by case basis.  For example, this afternoon's Patriots contest is not that big a deal (unless you combine it with corollary A from above and have the uncommon opportunity to go).  The Pats make the playoffs every year, we expect this game to happen. If it was the Bills hosting a postseason game it'd be a different story for their fans getting dressed as they head out to the bars today.  But if New England makes the Super Bowl, then it's probably OK to waive the no double logo rule.

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If you're from here and opposed to a Boston Olympics, you're not a sports fan

There's a ton of backlash to the possibility of the 2024 Olympics coming to Boston.  And I get it.  Personally I have no idea how it could fit.  It seems a little insane to me.  The added weight of the extra people alone might cause the whole city to sink into the harbor.

But you know what I'm not concerned about at the moment?  Two weeks of bad traffic nine-and-half years from now.  This would be a massive undertaking and an adventure of epic proportions.  Adventures are fun, even if they're scary too.

However, it's the sports fan in me that is 100 percent certain the Olympics coming to Boston is a good idea.

The Olympics make people passionate about sports they don't usually care about.  Every four years I find myself getting goosebumps over the performances of American athletes I'd never previously heard of, competing in things I have no interest in.  That's how powerful the Olympics are.  The chance to have that happen in your home country is rare opportunity in it's own right.  But imagine seeing the Olympics in your own city?  I can't even fathom the emotion that would bring out.

Team USA Basketball winning the gold medal in the Garden?  Americans standing atop the podium while the national anthem plays at Fenway Park?  I get chills just thinking about it.  How could any Boston sports fan disagree?

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What kind of whack job does graffiti IN a toilet?

I saw this in a public bathroom recently:

I'm not sure what it's supposed to say, but that's irrelevant anyway.  I just want to know the though process going on inside a person's head who thinks it's worth their while to write on the inside of a public toilet.

Not at all related, but the title of this blog reminds me of this great scene from Zoolander (at the 1:45 mark, "The files are in the computer?"):



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Pedro Martinez Hall of Fame tribute; MLB should end voting, form a committee

In a sea of incredible Pedro Martinez moments with the Red Sox, here's the one that sticks out the most in my memory:



You can actually watch this full game on YouTube.  Based off of Pedro's remarkable 1999 season, in March of 2000 Sports Illustrated anointed Boston the future World Series champions.  They weren't wrong, just four years too early.

As far as the MLB Hall of Fame goes, I don't think there's anybody on the planet who is pleased with the current voting system.  My solution?  Start from scratch.  Scrap the balloting altogether.  Form the MLB HOF Committee.

Lock all the members in a room for one weekend a year to decide who gets in.  Just like a jury, nobody leaves until everybody agrees.  It's easy to act like a jerk and forgo common sense on a paper ballot that gets mailed in.  It's a lot harder to do it in real life to peoples faces.

Related:
Recounting the greatest sports moment of my lifetime: The 2004 Boston Red Sox
Selecting the Boston Red Sox All-21st Century Team, Position by Position (on Bleacher Report)

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Knicks and 76ers to wage epic battle for the bottom

Yesterday I wrote a blog titled "Is it possible the Knicks can out-tank the 76ers?"  Well, apparently I jumped the gun a little.  In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy:



Since my post 24 hours ago, all of the following things happened:

Aware of the pathetic product they we're putting out on the floor, the Sixers decided to provide their fans with entertainment outside of basketball:

A (silent) sneak peek at the new 3-D intro video set to debut tonight. 👀 https://t.co/maGFlcj10k
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) January 5, 2015

Amazingly, Philadelphia followed that up by getting its first home win of the year (in game No. 33) to improve to 5-28.

76ers get 1st home win of season! Their 0-14 start is 2nd-worst home start in NBA history (1993-94 Mavericks, 0-19) (via @eliassports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 6, 2015

Meanwhile, the Knicks responded by trading away former sixth man of the year J.R. Smith and their best defensive player Iman Shumpert for basically nothing, as well as cutting their opening night starting center, Samuel Dalembert.  At the same time New York also dropped its 12th straight game to take over the league's worst record at 5-32.  On top of that, this little nugget popped up as well:

Carmelo Anthony has been resisting idea of resting that sore knee, but Knicks have been encouraging him to sit, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 6, 2015

The tank war wages on...

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Is it possible the Knicks can out-tank the 76ers?

I've discussed the Philadelphia 76ers' efforts to finish with the worst record in the NBA on many occasions.  But in a shocking turn of events, the New York Knicks are giving them a run for their money.  Last season New York went 37-45, missing the playoffs by just one game (behind the Hawks, who currently lead the East at 25-8, but that's a blog for another day).

At the beginning of the year I wrote an article for HoopsHabit suggesting the Knicks would be slightly better this season.  Oops.  New York just dropped its 11th straight game to fall to 5-31.

In a 95-82 home loss to the Bucks (the team with the worst record in the league a year ago) yesterday, the Knicks played without Carmelo Anthony and all three of their preseason starting center candidates (check the link above).  Anthony has missed the last two contests with a "sore knee," and head coach Derek Fisher said over the weekend there's a chance Carmelo might be shut down for the season.

Even though New York is still percentage points ahead of Philly, the Knicks' 31 losses technically put them a game behind (or ahead of in the lottery standings) the Sixers.

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Awesome Old SportsCenter Commercials of the Week: Stuart Scott Tribute

Some of these aren't that old, but today they are all fitting.



























This one has just a cameo from Scott, but it's one of my favorites:



And finally, here's a clip of Scott doing local news in North Carolina in 1989:



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