Awesome Old Song of the Week: "I Remember You" by Skid Row

I Remember You was the third single off of Skid Row's self-titled debut album, released in 1989.  That was also the year that I started listening to the radio on a regular basis.  I Remember You was one of the first songs I recall hearing get major airplay on my station of choice, 94.5, WZOU (when it switched to Jam'n in 1993, I switched to Kiss 108).

Skid Row is from Tom's River, New Jersey, home of the 1998 Little League World Series champions and (according to Wikipedia) the second-largest Halloween parade in the world.



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Phil Jackson's quote about missing out on trading for Jae Crowder sounds like revisionist history

In an interview published Friday by Today's Fastbreak, Knicks GM Phil Jackson said his biggest mistake in New York was passing up the opportunity to trade for Jae Crowder back in 2014.  Here's the full quote:

"I think the biggest mistake I made was actually this…One of the first deals I engineered when I came back to New York was to trade Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to Dallas for Shane Larkin, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, plus a second-round pick that the Mavs owed to the Celtics. In talking with Boston, I was given the option of taking that pick or else taking Jae Crowder. I liked Crowder but I thought he wouldn’t get much of a chance to play behind Carmelo [Anthony], so I took the pick which turned out to be Cleanthony Early. While Cleanthony has missed lots of time in the past two seasons with us, he still has the potential to be a valuable player. Even so, I should have taken Crowder."

Sorry Phil, but I'm calling shenanigans on this.  The Rajon Rondo deal that brought Jae Crowder to Boston happened in December of 2014--Jackson dealt Chandler and Felton to the Mavericks in June, six months earlier.  Assuming Phil just misspoke and actually meant to say Dallas instead of Boston, It's still hard to believe his line about liking Crowder but being afraid he'd never get to play behind Carmelo.

In June of 2014, Crowder (picked in the second round a year earlier) was coming off a rookie season in which he averaged 5.0 points and 2.4 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game while shooting 38 percent from the floor.  Jackson had been out of the NBA since 2011 (when he retired from coaching the Lakers) before taking the Knicks job three months earlier.  My guess is Jackson had no idea who Crowder was when he made the trade with Dallas.

Regardless of the sincerity of Jackson's story, Crowder's response on Instagram was perfect:

Notice the location Crowder used in his Instagram post. 😂😴 (📰: https://t.co/fg2lUqkQLX) pic.twitter.com/J9SqsLcixV

— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) August 27, 2016

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The best team in the American League has been outscored on the season?

As I write this, the Texas Rangers own the No. 1 record in the American League at 74-53, second in all of baseball behind the Chicago Cubs (81-45).  The Rangers have scored 588 runs this year.  They've given up 589.  Texas' run differential is -1, meaning they likely should be a .500 team.

Run differential isn't a perfect stat, but it's usually a good indicator of success (which is why I'm confident the Red Sox are better than the Orioles).  For example, in the National League the standings for all three divisions wouldn't even change if the teams were ranked by scoring differential instead of wins and losses.

Look at the placement of the red and green numbers in the combined AL standings pictured above--there's one clear anomaly.  Don't be surprised if the Rangers fade down the stretch, it's weird for them to be where they are in the first place.


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Spectacular YouTube rabbit holes: "Auralnauts" and Screen Junkies' "Honest Trailers"

The genius of YouTube is that you search for one thing, but an hour-and-a-half later you've watched 54 more related clips.  Here's my most recent rabbit-hole experience:

It started when two Twitter accounts I follow for Celtics news got involved in a conversation regarding the newly released trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  Included was this highly comical video (if you're a Star Wars fan) in which Darth Vader's grandson, Kylo Ren, takes in the preview for the new spinoff film:



Shortly after that I was watching "Terminator Genisys Trailer - Paradox Edition" (time-travel movies always have serious logical flaws...):



Then it was back to "STAR WARS EP 1: Jedi Party":



Before I got sucked into the rest of that series from Auralnauts (which I'm sure will happen on a later date) I was diverted by Screen Junkies' "Honest Trailers," another YouTube gold mine.  Here's their Game of Thrones:




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Andrew Benintendi's home-run-robbing catch could not have had a more perfect backdrop

During the Red Sox's 6-2 win in Tampa last night, Boston rookie Andrew Benintendi made this spectacular grab to rob the Rays' Steven Souza Jr. of an eighth-inning home run (that would've made a 3-0 game 3-2):



The catch earned the No. 1 ranking on the "Top Plays" segment of Monday's late-night SportsCenter.

Nearly as impressive as the play itself was the perfectly placed sign in the background of this photo:

Not only did Benintendi "raise up" to catch the ball, but he also appears to have intercepted the would-be homer from its crash course towards the center of that star/mini explosion logo.


H/T to @KWAPT on Twitter

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I don't want a "man cave," what's cool about a cave?

What's wrong with a man balcony?

I've seen/heard the term "man cave" referenced in a lot of commercials lately, as if it's some amazing feature that every guy should try to incorporate into his house.  I get the premise and where the origin comes from--usually the basement or garage is the excess room available to do whatever you want with.

The thing is, fundamentally, caves are pretty terrible.  They're dark, windowless holes below ground.  Why would I want to hang out there?  I'll take a "man roof-top balcony with an ocean view" instead, please.  Sure, building a waterfront vista into your home can be difficult, but I'd still prefer some sunlight and a tree or two rather than a cave.

I guess my point is "man cave" is a dumb expression and I wish we used something else.  Also, it's always nice to be able to see outside.


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2000 consecutive days of blogging

Oak Bluffs, August 19, 2016

Today is the 2000th consecutive day that I've posted a blog on LucidSportsFan.com--no time off for summer vacations, Christmas, or even my honeymoon.  I'm now only 633 days away from passing Cal Ripken.

The first post ever was on March 2, 2011.  In the beginning I wrote more than one per day, so blog No. 2000 actually came back in July.

To celebrate, here's a clip of the best fireworks show on the planet, the annual late-August display in Oak Bluffs, on Martha's Vineyard:




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