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Friday, September 05, 2003
Suck, suck, suck
I was surprisingly low-key about the Jets losing the season opener. It was a close game despite the fact the offense could barely move the ball and always seemed to aim exactly two yards short of the first down on every third-down conversion. The defense did pretty well despite getting shredded by Patrick Ramsey early on, but it's not a good thing making Ladell Betts look like a Pro Bowler -- he'll be picked off the waiver wire next week (or now in those Yahoo! leagues). I guess I'm not expecting a lot from the Jets this year. Plus, I was frazzled after a long day at work, so all I wanted to do is watch a game and only think marginally about fantasy football.
I'm not a big fan of the whole Thursday night spectacle, though. For one, us fantasy leaguers get thrown off with just one game when we want to see a ton all at once. Plus, there are enough leagues that still lock rosters at game time of the first game of the week -- in this case, Thursday night. Thus, there are plenty of unanswered questions that have to be resolved earlier than expected. At least there aren't too many iffy injury situations to worry about at that point, but still, it's annoying. Maybe I'm a traditionalist, but what's the point of having this huge party to celebrate a game taking place a half hour away? I guess Britney, Aerosmith, the first lineman of soul, etc. weren't going to be allowed at halftime. Opening Day in baseball (whatever is left of it) and the first day of the NCAA Tournament draw plenty of excitement because of what's happening on the field, not some silly and irrelevant concert. There's no need for manufactured excitement. The NFL can do that on its own.
At least that concert gave me time to get home and watch the very nice Michael Chang tribute at the U.S. Open. I kinda feel bad for Chang, though. While Pete Sampras got his sendoff in front of a packed house in between a couple of cakewalks by top American stars. Thanks to all of the rain, Chang's ceremony was shoehorned between a couple of matches that got shifted around and delayed and in front of only some diehards who could withstand the rain and hang around for some good (but less than marquee) matchups. It almost felt like an afterthought. Still, I applaud the USTA for pulling out the stops for this. You know Agassi will get a similar ceremony when he hangs it up, which means that Jim Courier pretty much got screwed out of that class of American stars when it came time for him to hang it up. But at least he's approaching McEnroe in entertainment value in the booth.
posted at 1:37 AM
How to feel old, fast
Beloit College (where I actually played my first intercollegiate quizbowl event) is back again with its Mindset List for the Class of 2007. Talk about a way to date yourself with the wrong references. Some of the stuff there I didn't know (snail darter) or didn't think was all that relevant (Samantha Smith). But some of it does make me feel old, and I was 10 when this current freshman class was born. I don't feel like it's been that long since I've been in college, but then I realize that both Letterman and Conan premiered around the time I started school and both just celebrated their 10th anniversaries.
On a quizbowl level, this does seem amazingly relevant. Plenty of us, who could be considered geezers on the circuit, like to poke fun at Charlie for some of his '70s and early '80s-based references whether in conversation, or through questions. This list could probably help guide folks in writing questions and wondering about accessibility. Granted, a good number of players would probably be bright enough to pick up on some of the stuff on the list, but sometimes you just can't beat living through something to realize its relevance or importance and just pick up by osmosis. That might explain why there's a gradual scaling back of '80s-based questions.
posted at 1:10 AM
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Next up, Britney waxes philosophical on the Dean campaign ...
I guess I should be disappointed that Britney Spears won't kiss any more women after the whole Madonna thing. However, I'm more amused since the interview from where that breaking news nugget emerged was conducted by Tucker Carlson. Exactly how and why did the bow-tied one get that interview? Even funnier was Britney's hair (was that some wig?) and the gum she kept on snapping during the interview. I'm sure she sounded thrilled to be talking about the kiss, not to mention the war on Iraq, with Tucker. (So like, who is this geek I'm talking to?) And I hope Tucker didn't act like Jeff Bezos did around Anna Kournikova.
posted at 2:10 AM
Is it live or is it Jimmy Connors again?
I think Mother Nature really wanted to see Aaron Krickstein lose again given all the rain at the U.S. Open the past few days. Thankfully, there were plenty of baseball games (plus some crappy college football) on Labor Day, so I wasn't stuck having to pay attention a match that took place 12 years ago. Hell, I remember watching that match on TV and thanking Connors for tanking the fourth set while I took a nap and then waking up to watch much of the fun stuff.
A couple of "separated at births" from this year's Open so far: Taylor Dent and Ivan Rodriguez. And the scarier one: Patrick McEnroe and W.
posted at 1:59 AM
Same as it ever was
I guess I've officially become a talking head. Like Cooch, I will be on TV soon, although I have zero clue when or where it will air. It was some trend piece on fantasy sports put together by some independent production company and fed to a bunch of local stations and something organized via AOL. If you actually dare to watch local news, you might actually stumble across it -- and I'd laugh at you for watching local news, but I digress.
Granted, I don't do much TV, but the whole process seemed strange, but then again I was dealing with a producer in D.C., a publicist in New York, and lots of stuff on the fly down in Atlanta, where I end up having to do a bit more logistical work than I should've been doing for someone who was the subject of the interview. I sure wasn't used to the lighting for the interview -- I felt like I was having my yearbook portrait taken or something, and if it's anything like my last couple of yearbook photos, it probably wasn't pretty. In fact, I took a look at myself on the monitor as they were testing out the camera, and I'd be damned if I didn't start looking like Craig on screen.
With that out of the way, it's now getting to be football time, and with that a bit more work and more of a sick feeling that I could/should be doing more at work because whatever I've got going, it's not right/enough/etc. Yup, I'm ready for the foosball. Woo woo.
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