Saturday, December 12, 2015

Awesome Old Song of the Week - Bachelor Party Edition: "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys

I just did a quick interweb search of "best bachelor party songs," and the one that came up more often than any other was the Beastie Boys (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!).  Unfortunately, it never really resonated much with me.

However, from the same Licence to Ill album, No Sleep Till Brooklyn seems pretty appropriate since that's where I'm going.




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Friday, December 11, 2015

Derrick Rose is apparently healthy, but not very good at basketball anymore

The oft-injured Derrick Rose has actually suited up for 18 of the Bulls 20 games so far this season.  Unfortunately for Chicago fans, he hasn't been very good.

The former MVP point guard currently ranks 23rd in the NBA in assists with 5.7 per game.  Rose is shooting 36.3 percent from the floor and 23.4 percent on three-pointers.  His scoring average of 13.4 points per game is barely half of what he put up during his MVP campaign five years ago.

Before the season starting, I wrote a piece wondering whether Rose might actually be the fourth-best player on the Bulls (behind Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah).  Based on PER (player efficiency rating), he's 10th at the moment.  Not in the league, on his own team.  Yikes.


Last night Rose attempted this behind-the-back pass:



Thursday, December 10, 2015

Remember iced tea flavored Gatorade? + Is Crystal Pepsi back or not?

I recently had a conversation about whether or not this a product actually existed.  In fact, the only photo available on the internet of iced tea Gatorade appears to be this out-of-focus key chain.

But I assure you, it was real, and it actually tasted pretty good.  I remember drinking Gatorade Iced Tea Cooler at high school tennis matches 20 years ago.

On a related note, Crystal Pepsi appears to have officially returned today.  However, you have to win a contest in order to get some (maybe the lamest contest ever?):


Whether or not Crystal Pepsi will once again be sold in stores remains unclear.


Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Getting elected to the PawSox Hall of Fame sounds like 'a kinda dubious honor'

On Monday, the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox announced they'll be creating their own Hall of Fame.  From the official press release:

The PawSox Hall of Fame will recognize the outstanding careers of former PawSox players, managers, coaches, broadcasters, and executives. A selection committee comprising Pawtucket Red Sox and Boston Red Sox staff, past and present media personnel, area business leaders, and representatives from the community will be responsible for electing candidates.

Hmmm...

What immediately comes to mind is this conversation from Bull Durham (Unfortunately I can't find a clip on YouTube):

Annie: I looked up your records -- You've hit 227 home runs in the minors. That's great!
Crash: Don't tell anybody.
Annie: Why not? If you hit twenty homers this year you'll be the all time minor league champ! The record's 246.
Crash: 247 home runs in the minors would be a kinda dubious honor, if ya think about it.


Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Nets guard Shane Larkin is either an alien or a sorcerer with supernatural powers

This happened last Friday night, and I don't know how I missed it until now.  As far as I'm concerned, this should've been the No. 1 world news story all weekend.  (OK, not really, but maybe...)  Not only is it the greatest block I've every seen, but Shane Larkin also defied the laws of physics/nature/gravity and everything I know to be true about NBA basketball:



Larkin clearly activated some sort of bubble-like force field that allowed him to float through the air at will within inches of the Knicks Jerian Grant (without making contact) until he decided it was time to swat away the shot.

Also, if you like to play daily fantasy sports, I'm a big fan of Larkin tonight on DraftKings.


Monday, December 7, 2015

Here's why I'm not discouraged by the Patriots loss to the Eagles

When the Patriots lost in Denver, I was pissed.  I wanted perfection.  Going undefeated seemed like a real possibility.  But now that loss No. 1 is out of the way and done with, yesterday's unexpected defeat at the hands of Philadelphia doesn't really bother me.

The 10-2 Pats still have the inside track on a first-round playoff bye because the 10-2 Bengals and 10-2 Broncos play each other the last week of the season--that's not even really my line of thinking though.

Here's how I see it: The Eagles debacle was a regression-to-the-mean game.  For so long, things kept going right for New England.  No matter how good you are, it takes a lot of luck to get to 10-0.  Yesterday, everything finally went the other way.  A 99-yard interception return for a touchdown, a punt return for a touchdown and a punt block for a touchdown?!  That's what it took for Philly to beat the Patriots and something like that isn't going to happening again.  It's good to get that out of the way and move on.

The best teams at the beginning of the season don't usually win the Super Bowl (look at last year's Pats, as well as four of the seven previous champions).  It's virtually impossible to keep momentum going all year long (see 2008).  Getting hot down the stretch is what matters.  Now New England can refocus and move forward while trying to build new momentum.

Oh yeah, and don't forget the Pats got the ball at their own 29-yard line with 7:45 to go trailing 35-14, then came within a few plays of sending it to overtime.  I'm more encouraged by the near-miraculous comeback than I am discouraged by everything that happened in the game until then.


Sunday, December 6, 2015

Recycle Sunday (No. 17)

The Cavaliers showed a video on their jumbotron of a guy throwing his girlfriend across the room and thought it was funny.  Seriously.

I was surprised when other people were surprised that the hockey header goal didn't count.

Should I be flattered or annoyed that somebody rewrote on of my best articles?

NBA teams almost always make the wrong play in the final seconds of a tie game.

Chicago newspaper lies with statistics for its 'Title Town' headline.

What is the dumbest team name in all of sports?  (It's not what you think)

The greatest tweet I ever tweeted (dreaming about the 2008 Celtics getting the band back together).

Red Sox set absurd team record in honor of Big Papi playing first base (or not?) at Fenway.

Brock Holt: The most unlikely All-Star in Red Sox history.

Cavs General Manager LeBron James intends to keep his position for at least another year.

This Mookie Betts play was a catch, not a home run. The umps got it wrong.  I wonder what NFL refs would call it?

Question: Why don't you see more hair pulling in the NFL?


Previous "Recycle Sunday" posts

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