More sports than you can shake a stick at are going on, and even though I foolishly convinced myself I'd be pontificating on all sorts of insanity when I began this semi-regular discourse, I didn't forecast for the fact that I was starting it during the most jam-packed and exciting time of the sporting year.
Baseball playoffs have kicked into gear, college football is in full swing, right around the mid-way point of the regular season, and the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE is off the ground and running. Let's not also forget that the NBA and NHL either have started (NHL) or are soon starting (NBA), so what more can you ask for if you dig the art of sport? High school football too! I know many could care less, but there's something about the purity of it that's refreshing. And when you grow up in an area like I did (i.e. central Pennsylvania), it's practically streaming through your blood once you slip out of the birth canal.
I'll get to all of my other cockamamie theories about the stuff that drives our popular culture and entertainment habits, but I should forewarn you, it's not for the weak of spirit. I have judgmental, critical thoughts about much of it. But then, what fun would it be if I just praised everything that everyone did, right? You can't have stuff that rules if you don't have stuff that sucks to set it all apart, as Beavis and Butt-head so eloquently stated many years ago.
I do have a couple random thoughts, though, so bear with me on that.
* So, in the 'news of the stupidly funny' category, Game 3 of the National League Division Series playoffs between the Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies, in Colorado of course, was postponed by snow. Snow! What the bloody hell?! I read a report that indicated this was due to record low temperatures for the 'Coors Field' area of Colorado for this time of year, but still, the idea of a baseball game being pushed back a day because of the white stuff is pure comedy. Can't imagine the conversation of possible 'playoff snow interference' came up during expansion team talks back in the 90s. Of course, I am pulling for the Phillies (as I do all Philly teams), but hitting the road to play in 30-40 degrees, with the series tied at 1-1, does make me a little nervous. Colorado swept the Phils two years ago in the first round en route to getting whipped in the World Series by the Red Sox, so hopefully history doesn't repeat itself in that vein. Rookie sensation J.A. Happ will get the start in Game 3 tonight, although Pedro Martinez was supposed to take the mound last night. And not that I encourage looking ahead, but the Dodgers are going to be one hell of a tough out in the NL Championship Series. They dusted the Cardinals off in a 3-game first-round series sweep as if they were swatting away at fruit flies.
In the AL playoffs, the Yankees staged a dramatic comeback in Game 2 against the Minnesota Twins Friday night, thanks to Alex Rodriguez' game-tying two-run home run, followed up by Mark Teixeira's game-winning walk-off homer that bounced off the top of the left field fence in the bottom of the 11th.
I think one of the more underrated dynamics within the MLB Playoffs is that crucial Game 2 of the first-round series. The difference between 1-1 and 2-0 is psychologically huge, and can really set the tone for the rest of the postseason. Now, there's no margin of error for the Twins, or for the Boston Red Sox, who are down 2-0 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim County in the City of Los Angeles in the State of California, or whatever the hell they are calling themselves now. But hey, that's a good baseball team, and they seem to be rallying around the death of former starting pitcher Nick Adenhart, who tragically died in a drunk driving incident shortly after the start of the regular season this year. For those that don't know the story, the other driver was drunk, and had a history of DUI. Sad stuff. Sometimes, events like that galvanize a team and make them play for a higher purpose, other than just 'winning the championship.' It's going to be Yankees-Angels in the ALCS, most likely. Dodgers await the winner of the Ice Series. Hope the Phils brought their snow boards with them. After all, there's only so much hotel porn you can watch (uh ... or so I've heard).
* I've given love to a couple of my favorite Sunday night shows in this space the past few weeks, Mad Men and Curb Your Enthusiasm, yet I haven't fired anything off about my Thursday night shows at this point, and well, that's just wrong, especially in a day and age where the overwhelming majority of original TV programming improbably sucks. The Office continues to be good, but I still maintain it was better in the first few seasons. The Jim-Pam wedding this past Thursday was fine, but nothing to write home about. I laughed probably three times throughout the hour-long episode. Probably my favorite comedy currently on TV, another Thursday night show, is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which airs on FX at 10 p.m. If there are any five characters more socially deplorable and irreverently unlikeable-yet-likeable-at-the-same-time than Mac, Dennis, Dee, Charlie and Frank, I'd love to know who they are. This show is a farking riot, I kid you not. The plot-lines, dialogue and interaction are so absurd and ridiculous that no person can possibly come away from the show thinking it's meant to be taken seriously, and that's perhaps what I love most about it. Compare it to, say, Seinfeld, where you had four socially subversive and in some ways, unlikeable, characters that you still fell in love with. Well, their behavior wasn't SO out of bounds that it was unbelievable, right? Most people still wouldn't act like George Costanza in everyday life, but that's not to say that many of us haven't encountered (or maybe even know) a Costanza-like person or two, correct? But with the 'Always Sunny' gang, I don't know anyone who knows anybody like these clowns, and you wouldn't want to either. Just check it out, you probably won't regret it. I will say this though - it's either for you, or it's not. I don't think there's much straddling the fence on this one.
College Football goodies from Saturday forthcoming. You know you're on the edge of your seat, stop pretending.
And lastly, ain't no future in frontin', so don't front on the future.
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