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This blog may contain: profanity, excessive sarcasm, wry sardonic wit and overwhelming tempestuous floods of needless pop culture references. Proceed with due caution.

Showing posts with label Scrappiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scrappiness. Show all posts

Thursday, May 15, 2008

There Can Be Only One

Highlander??? Everybody has seen those NBA playoff commercials by now. These. The "you gotta step up or you go home, I no longer feel the fear," splitface deals. As far as game advertisements go, they are pretty decent, if repetitive. Well, they got me thinking… What if baseball ripped the NBA off and did the exact same thing for the baseball playoffs? And I thought of some possibilities…

1.David Eckstein/Mike Lowell

Background Song: “Like a Rock” by Bob Seger

And the script would go something like this:

What does it take to be World Series MVP?

Are you gritty?

A grinder?

A meatball sub?

To be MVP, most of all it takes courage.

Courage to stand up to your white skin and say, “I will get a hit.”

“I will refuse to be denied.”

And if you can do that…

Nobody will care about what your teammates did.

You won the game.

All by your gritty, white self.

Title: There Can Be Only One Gritty Race


2.Tim McCarver/Joe Morgan

Background Song: “Fur Beach” by Daughters

I couldn’t possibly try to form some script for this because it would be utter chaos. The directors of the commercial would try to convince them to follow a script and speak simultaneously, but that would never happen. McCarver would try his faux poetry that makes little to no sense, but almost seems like English because of his smooth, southern drawl. McCarver would cause himself to be so overwhelmingly self-satisfied by his ability to wax poetic that he would stare at the camera with a smug smirk on his face for the remainder of the commercial. Morgan, meanwhile, would be spouting about consistency and “true” clutch hitting, but would forget whom he was talking about. He would then start talking about how he knew Robinson Cano was going to be a good hitter when he came up. Afterwards he would decide that he was doing a Cubs game and say that Alfonso Soriano is more comfortable in leadoff spot, over and over, even while all the titles are going up.

Title: There Can Be Only One Worst Ever Color Commentator


3. Dane Cook/Frank Caliendo

Background Song: “When Doves Cry” by Prince

Again, a script for this would be utterly impossible. Caliendo would do an impression of Cook. The commercial would generally consist of the camera trying to follow both of them around and keep their faces matched up, while there was profuse yelling, stomping, and saying “bro,” without any remotely intelligent or funny things being said. About midway through the commercial, everyone’s TV would explode. But by that point, everyone in the entire world would have lost their sense of humor (even if they weren’t watching—the effect would be THAT devastating). Humans would then devolve and lose the ability to laugh, causing it to be some mythical reaction that confuses and scares future generations when they see it on old television shows and movies.

Title: There Can Be Only One October


4. Derek Jeter/Derek Jeter

Background Song: “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal

And the script would go something like this:

There’s so much pressure in the playoffs.

So many eyes watching.

You just have to know that you belong.

For me, that’s easy.

I’m driven.

Clutch means more cologne.

It means never having to get balls hit up the middle.

It means shitting excellence.

It means making your teammates better just by the majesty of your presence.

And then…

When they are sliding the ring on your finger…

And you can feel the champagne burning your eyes...

You will know that Derek Jeter must have been on your team.

Because otherwise, you couldn’t have won the World Series.

Title: There Can Be Only One Derek Jeter


Today's Random Quote:
"'Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Riboon, man!' - 'Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet. Whoa, I'm slutty. Whoa, I'm slutty.' - Pauly Shore in Bio Dome"

That was a quote citation of another quote. Sooooo meta.

Monday, April 14, 2008

The Henry Rowengartner Proviso (Or Gary Busey Is the Greatest Actor of All-time, Ever!)

Multiple choice question…

What gives sports media the biggest boner?

  1. Improbable Career Comeback (see Ankiel, Hamilton)
  2. Scrappiness (see Eckstein, Hansbrough)
  3. Young Talent (see Upton (the J one))()))(
  4. Tom Brady (see Stetson Cologne)
  5. Randy Johnson (see definition of handsome in dictionary)

Answer at the bottom of the post…

Let’s ignore that question for the moment and focus on young talent. Everybody digs on the young talent. LeBron James! Sidney Crosby! OMG! WTF! LOL! BRB! Those precocious youngsters inspire us. They make us think: “How in the name of Hannah Montana did they get so good, so young?” The answer is that they are probably some kind of super advanced Tamagotchi type deals. Mike Brown just tells LeBron to train, eat, and then cleans his poop off the court by pressing a series of buttons. In baseball, it is the fledging pitcher that draws the most notice. Some may recall an obese Native American from Nebraska that became a media darling, mostly because he pitched for the Yankees. Here are some potential breakout obese Native Americans from Nebraska for this year:

Johnny Cueto

Ok, he’s not obese or Native American, and he’s from the Dominican Republic, but the kid’s got some skills. His line thus far: 19.1 IP, 1 BB, 24 K. R u f-ing k-ing m? (Are you fucking kidding me? - For the lay person). One frickin’ walk and 24 K’s. His OPS against is .555. His DIPS is 3.34. I know it is just three starts, but talk about hitting the ground running; this guy jumped out of a 747 and hit the Atlantic Ocean running AND stayed above the surface. Then there are his minor league statistics (career WHIP: 1.10, career BB/9: 2.12). How the fuck is this guy not the top pitching prospect in baseball?

Clay Buchholz

And this dude is the answer. Scouts are always talking about his totally tubular stuff (mid 90’s cheesage, yellow snapdragon hook, plus-plus string pullage), but stuff is overrated. Getting batters out is underrated (I’m pretty sure that’s a pitchers job, though I’m not positive). The fella can get guys out. His career minor league WHIP is 1.00!!!!!!!!!!more?!!!! He also averaged 11.23 K/9, coupled with a 2.43 BB/9. He’s like Ben Sheets circa ’06. So far this year, he has only put up a 2.92 DIPS. Tamagotchi? Undoubtedly.

Henry Rowengartner

You can’t argue with his heat (can get over 100). Like I said before, though, it’s not stuff, but getting guys out that really matters. Trouble is, I can’t try to project him with minor league numbers, because he has none. The Cubs signed him out of little league. Thus far, he has been wild, but he’s compensated with a lot of strikeouts. There are concerns about his throwing motion and medical history, though. His motion is unorthodox, as he derives much of his power from the tendons in his elbow, and it is difficult to repeat. As for his medical history, scouts tell me he recently broke his arm trying to show off in front of a babe; so, that’s a big question mark. He does, however, have all-world talent. Perhaps under the tutelage of Chet “Rocket” Stedman and pitching coach Phil Brickma, he’ll be able to cajole that talent into nasty radness and a date with Becky. (Scouts also tell me his mom taught him a plus-plus floater, to serve as a change of speeds)

Honorable Mention:

The “Juuuuuuussssssttt a bit outside” team: Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales, Homer Bailey, Chad Billingsley

The all-underrated team: Greg Smith, Manny Parra

The Munchausen Syndrome team: Yovanni Gallardo, Matt Garza

The “this guy is fucking good, but hasn’t done it in the majors yet” team: Dana Eveland, Phil Hughes

The “strikeouts are still cool” team: Jair Jurrjens, Ian Kennedy

The “I’m probably forgetting guys” team: ???

Multiple choice answer: It’s a trick question; A-D are a wash. They could all be correct. The answer, however, should be E.

“They mostly come out at night… Mostly” – the little girl from Aliens


Also: Will Smith co-wrote one episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air entitled "Ain't No Business Like Show Business"

Sunday, April 6, 2008

The Death of Scrappiness

Untalented white people everywhere shed a tear yesterday, as Tyler Hansbrough and UNC were kicked out of the tourney by Kansas. It is just another point for talent in the age-old battle between talent and scrappiness. Awkward, uncoordinated athletes still believe they have a chance to win out over the smooth, effortless, talented athletes, despite the deficit. Though the battle appears temporarily settled in College BB, the battle rages on in other sports. Jared Allen avoids his hangovers enough to give goateed efforts for the Chiefs, while overwhelming talents like Mario Williams are also racking up sacks. David Eckstein continues to scrap and pesk (v. to act in a pesky manner) his way onto major league rosters despite poor performance. Meanwhile, Hanley Ramirez, who is about 40 times stronger, faster and better than Eckstein puts up daunting offensive numbers in Florida. The battle will continue with no immediate end in sight. In the short term, though, the real problem is for sports media. Who will the announcers talk about and show close-ups of constantly without Tyler Hansbrough? The poor souls who will announce the NCAA men’s final will be completely devoid of topics for conversation. I’m sure there are great players on Kansas and Memphis to talk about, but are they scrappy? Do they have goofy looks on their faces all the time? No. College Basketball, what happened to you? You haven’t been the same since Tyler Hansbrough left.