Saturday, June 23, 2012

I can't believe they haven't fixed this yet


Edargtown harbor on Martha's Vineyard has some spectacular views:


There's a fancy hotel overlooking the lighthouse with an amazing deck.  This is what you see when you're standing there:


There's a bunch of rocking chairs on the porch, and you can get cocktails from the hotel bar while you sit and relax.  It should be one of the greatest places to have a drink on a nice summer day; maybe anywhere.  Except for one problem:


The most poorly placed railing in the world.


Friday, June 22, 2012

So this is one of those days when I don't turn on the TV


I have received unconfirmed reports that one of my least favorite teams in the history of professional sports just won the NBA Championship last night.  I turned the game off well before it was over, and I have avoided the espns all day, so I am not completely certain that it happened.  Luckily I was assigned to write a Red Sox/Marlins series recap for clnsradio.com today, which I was able to do without coming across any NBA news.  If you read it you can find out how great Big Papi has been, and also learn how hot it was in the center field bleachers on Wednesday night.

Oh, and the Sox are undefeated since I predicted they would start playing better.

 

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Maybe we don't need technological advances in dental floss?


I ran out of dental floss this morning.  It was 100 degrees outside, so rather than walk a couple blocks to CVS I just went to the little store across the street from my apartment.  Usually I use plain and simple unwaxed floss, but the only one they had was this fancy "Oral-B complete," so I gave it a shot.  It is crazy stuff.  It's made of a soft foamy rubbery material that's supposed to grip your fingers and not slip.  But then it's also partially covered with a blue glossy substance that makes it smooth and easy to slide between your teeth.

So far I've used it once, and I hate it.  The blue coating rubbed off and left little specks in my teeth.  And the other material worked so well that when I wrapped it around my fingers I actually had trouble getting it off.

My advice to Oral-B: It's dental floss.  Maybe don't over think it so much.  Very similar to George Costanza's thoughts on toilet paper.





 

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

My highly unlikely but definitely plausible theory for how the Heat could still lose the NBA Finals


I knew it was crazy for me to hold out hope that Lebron James could somehow go his entire career without ever winning a title.  But it's eating me up inside that my undermanned and over the hill Celtics actually had this Heat team on the ropes two weeks ago, and now they are about to win the NBA Championship.  Nobody has ever come back from being down 3-1 in the Finals before; in fact no team has even been able to force a Game 7 after facing that deficit.  But it's going to happen someday, and here's why it might as well be this year's OKC Thunder:

Recent history dictates that it's actually fairly likely.  The Heat have been in the Finals twice before; in '06 they trailed Dallas 2-0 before winning four in a row to take the series, and last year they led Dallas 2-1 before dropping three straight to lose the series.  Just last round OKC trailed the Spurs 2-0 before taking the final four games, so a three game winning streak by the Thunder over the Heat to finish this series is definitely a distinct possibility.  Rationalizing how it could go down isn't even that hard.

For Game 5 in Miami, all the pressure and expectations will be on Lebron and the Heat to close out the Thunder, and get the "King" his first ring in front of their home crowd.  Considering what's happened in the past, there is a chance that this could be more than they can handle.  If the series shifts back to Oklahoma City, the Thunder would clearly be favored in Game 6 with their raucous blue and white clad fans behind them.  If they pull that off they would have all the momentum, and be even bigger favorites heading in to Game 7.  So there you have it.

The logical (or lucid) part of my brain is also forcing me to look at this from a mathematical standpoint.  Hypothetically, let's say the Thunder have a 40% chance to win Game 5, then a 55% chance in Game 6, and finally a 60% chance in Game 7.  Those numbers indicate the Heat still have roughly a 1 in 8 (or 13%) opportunity to lose this series.  Not great, but I'll take it.


 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

So far so good.


That's Franklin Morales, in case you didn't recognize him.
Two days ago I wrote that despite a pretty terrible looking lineup, I had a good feeling about the Red Sox.  Franklin Morales pitched admirably in a spot start (his first ever in a Boston uniform), and Ryan Kalish provided the spark I was hoping for by knocking in the go ahead run in his first Major League game since October of 2010.

But, if the Sox are going to make good on my prediction of never falling back below .500 for the rest of the season, they'll need to win again tonight as they open up another interleague series with the Fish from Miami.  I do like their chances though; Clay Buchholz is throwing this evening, and he has been nasty lately.  Check out his numbers and read my full preview of the Sox and Marlins matchup at clnsradio.com.

      

Monday, June 18, 2012

Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Red Red Wine" by UB40


This song was originally by Neil Diamond in 1968.  But if you ask me, his version of Red Red Wine was pretty terrible.  It was kind of sad and depressing, and only ever made it as high as #62 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Fifteen years later a British reggae band remade it, and the new rendition was light and happy and fun.  But even then UB40's take only reached #34 in 1984.  However, in 1988 they gave it one more try, releasing it again as single with some "rap" lyrics in the middle (I feel weird calling it rap when we're talking about a pop/reggae group from England), and this time it went all the way to #1.  Here's the first attempt minus the rap:



      

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Ok, I'm ready for the Sox to be good now.


The Celtics exciting and emotional playoff run is beginning to fade into a distant memory.  I don't think the Yankees have lost a game since mid-May or so.  It's time for the Red Sox to man up and give us something to cheer about.  The dramatic return of Ryan Kalish?  Why not.

Tonight's starting lineup (from boston.com):

RED SOX (32-33)
Podsednik LF
Pedroia 2B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz 1B
Aviles SS
McDonald RF
Shoppach C
Kalish CF
Pitching: LHP Franklin Morales (0-1, 3.04)

Wow.  There's only 3 guys who would've been in a projected everyday lineup back in Spring Training (maybe 4 for those people who favored secret weapon Mike Aviles over the youngster Jose Iglesias).   Looks like as good a day as any to get a winning streak going.  Mark it down.  June 17th: the last day the Sox were under .500.

  

Back to homepage