Worst. World Series. Ever.

Over the past few days, since the Yankees secured a berth in the World Series, there has been a lot written about how terrible this matchup is for Mets fans. I have trouble sitting on the fence when it comes to things like these so I figured I should work my way through this decision. There's really only one way to break down such an impossible choice: Journey Vs. Boston style. Let's get to it:

Stadiums:

I hate hitter's parks, can't stand them. While there has obviously only been one season played at the new Yankee Stadium and many will argue that the sample size is not big enough, I feel pretty comfortable saying that it's going to be favorable to hitters, that right field "porch" in particular. If you've ever watched a game at Citizen's Bank Park you know that the ball flies out of there, even after they moved the fences back a few years ago. So you can assume (and you'd be correct) that I hate how both of these stadiums play. Aesthetically, I think they both look ridiculous. CBP is one of the new breed of "quirky" stadiums that feature what I find to be an artificial type of charm. NYS has so many ads in the outfield that it almost resembles a minor league park. While I haven't made it out to NYS yet, I have been to a few games at CBP and it's a pretty enjoyable place to watch a game despite the presence of Phillies fans. I've actually been able to go there and wear Mets stuff without incident for the most part. This, combined with the fact that a 16 oz. PBR costs you $9 at NYS swings this category in the Phillies favor, though I admit I can't judge NYS very fairly.

Edge: Phillies

Most Obnoxious Players:

Not even sure where to begin with this one, so let's first narrow down the candidates on the two teams' World Series rosters (all caps for players I find particularly reprehensible):

Yankees:

Jorge Posada

Derek Jeter

Robinson Cano

JOBA CHAMBERLAIN

Phillies:

JIMMY ROLLINS

SHANE VICTORINO

BRETT MYERS

Despite the fact that I've hated the Yankees much longer than I have the Phillies, those three Phillies players make this decision particularly easy. As I've become a more knowledgeable baseball fan over the years (thanks to the plethora of information available on the Internet) what I've realized is the players I can't stand the most are the ones who are, in my mind, hideously overrated. Joba, Victorino, and Rollins all fall in this category, particularly Joba and Rollins. Joba has really done nothing in his career yet I still see people walking around wearing "Got Joba" t-shirts. Rollins had an on base percentage below .300 this year (just awful) and stole an MVP from David Wright in 2007 solely because he made some stupid comments before the season. I don't really need to explain Jeter and Posada, but at least they're good (ok, great) players. As for Victorino, he's a dirty player and talks a lot of shit about the Mets supposed dancing in the dugout for a guy who spends about 20 seconds on top of home plate every time he scores.

And then you have Brett Myers. As much as I hate Joba, J-Roll, & co., Myers is the worst of all. This is a guy who beat his wife. Unacceptable. He might be the most despicable player in baseball.

Edge: Yankees

Oh, and before I get away from Brett Myers, this:

Managers:

Tim Marchman wrote a much more interesting piece about the differences between these two managers than I ever could in a million years. Surprisingly, postseason has made me think that Girardi is a worse manager than Manuel. His over-managing has hurt the Yankees in many spots.

Edge: Phillies

The Fans:

This is a big one. I'm not really sure where to start. I guess we can talk about the difference between Yankees fans and Phillies fans. After the Phillies dropped the second game of their Division Series against the Rockies I received a call from one of my Phillies fan friends. He wanted to let me know that he wasn't worried. I told him he shouldn't be, the series was tied and the Phillies were the better team. I don't think it was my friend's intent to annoy me. Contrast this with when I was sitting around watching the Giants game a couple Sundays ago and I mentioned how if the ALCS were to go to seven games, the Yankees would play at the same time as the Giants. Immediately all the Yankee fans in the room informed that there was no way the series would go seven games. That is the difference between these two fanbases in a nutshell. Phillies fans haven't quite reached the point where they expect to win (unless it's against the Mets) while it didn't take long at all for Yankee fans to get back to that point. Who am I kidding though, both groups piss me off.

There is one edge that Phillies fans have over Yankee fans in this series though. They don't expect Mets fans to root for their team. I've heard from multiple Yankee fans about how I have to root for the Yankees because they're from New York and the Phillies are a division rival and blah blah blah. All I can say to that is fuck you. If there's one thing I don't appreciate (and there isn't one, there's many) it's being told who I should root for. It's bad enough that I have to make a decision one way or another, I don't need the same Yankee fans who have been giving me shit for years telling me what I should think.

Edge: Phillies

This, combined with the fact that I want to wrap this up brings us to...

The Verdict:

A couple years ago another friend of mine who is also a Mets fan were being grilled as to why we hated the Yankees so much. It's a fair question that my friend had a great answer to: we went to high school from 1998-2002. Not only did the Yankees win three world series in this time, the Mets were pretty decent most of those years, resulting in a lot of back and forth between Mets and Yankees fans. We would constantly hear about how much the Mets sucked (even when they didn't actually suck) and get asked why we rooted for the Yankees. Yankee fans had the upper hand the entire time obviously, the low point being the Mets losing to the Yankees in the World Series.

Some other things that swing this in the Phillies favor are the fact that Philadelphia already broke it's championship "curse" last season. If they hadn't, this would be a much more difficult decision. Also, when you get down to it, the Phillies are the third most popular team in that city. The Eagles are definitely number one in that city and the Flyers (they're all white and gritty!) are number two.

I should also add, that despite how much the Phillies and their fans can't stop chirping about the Mets (seriously, the obsession is kind of ridiculous) and how they choked away the last two seasons, in my eyes the Mets were more responsible for that then anything else.

You might ask me why not just boycott the series and avoid watching it? My response is that I just can't do that. I've only successfully boycotted one World Series in my lifetime (1999 Braves Vs. Yankees) and that was mostly due to having my heart ripped out more than any other sports team when the Mets lost in the NLCS. I'm a big baseball/sports fan, I have trouble pulling myself away. I'm also kind of a masochist.

So yeah, barring enough rain to cancel the World Series, I'm rooting for the Phillies.

I'm going to go take a shower now.

One Quick Thing Regarding Fast Food In 2009

Domino's is making sandwiches.
Taco Bell is making enchiladas.
Pizza Hut is making pasta and lasagna.
Dunkin Donuts is making sandwiches with waffles as bread.


There are no rules anymore.

Poll Position

Over the past few years the content from ESPN.com's Page 2 section has become progressively more worthless. Four or five years ago you would not be that hard-pressed to find something at least slightly interesting there outside of Bill Simmons's latest work. Nowadays there really isn't much to offer. Today I came across something that piqued my interest ever so slightly, their State of the Sports Union poll. It's basically 50 questions about different aspects of sports. I took the poll and found the questions and answers to actually be kind of thought provoking. Since I haven't updated in a while I figured I'd go over the results/my answers (in bold).


1) What is your gender?

96.3% Male
3.7% Female

96.3% of a sample of ESPN.com's readership is male? Shocking.

2) How old are you?

49.0% 25-36
33.2% 18-24
10.2% 37-45
3.8% 46-60
3.5% Younger than 18
0.4% Older than 60

Not much to see here, another not surprising answer.

3) Which time zone do you live in?

57.6% Eastern
23.8% Central
11.4% Pacific
5.8% Mountain
1.4% Other

Clearly the East Coast is where it's at, but you already knew that.

4) What is your favorite sport?

35.2% NFL
22.8% Major League Baseball
17.0% College football
8.1% College basketball (men)
6.0% NHL
5.7% NBA
2.3% Soccer
0.8% Other
0.7% Golf
0.5% Ultimate fighting
0.4% Tennis
0.3% NASCAR
0.2% College basketball (women)

Not surprisingly the NFL comes in first, I was a little surprised at MLB finishing second, however. I guess baseball fans are kind of nerdy and, therefore, are more likely to participate in ESPN.com polls. The NBA finishing below the NHL is interesting too, don't know how to explain that. This is a great opportunity for me take a shot at NBA Commissioner David Stern (in my opinion one of, if not the most overrated commissioner of all time) but I'll stay classy and move on.

5) How many professional or college sporting events did you attend in the past year?

40.5% 1-5
23.9% 6-10
15.5% 11-20
12.7% More than 20
7.4% None

I'm pretty sure I only went to 1-5 events this year. Don't think I went to anything outside of a few baseball games.

6) Which did you attend more often in the past year?

57.4% A sports event
37.1% A movie
5.5% A concert

I don't really see a lot of movies but I probably went to more movies than I did sporting events this year.

7) Describe your favorite team:

69.6% Professional team
29.4% College team
1.0% High school team

I can understand answering college team for this question, but high school team? Really? At least it's only 1.0%

8) What's the most you spent on a sports ticket in the past year?

32.7% $51-$100
21.0% $101-$250
20.7% $26-$50
10.7% Less than $10
8.3% $10-$25
6.5% More than $250

Upper Deck seats at Shea/Standing Room at Citizen's Bank Park were pretty affordable in 2008. We'll see if that's the case this year at Citifield.

9) What is the farthest you traveled to see a sporting event in the past year?

48.6% Less than 100 miles
32.0% 100-499 miles
9.6% 500-999 miles
5.3% 1,000-1,999 miles
4.4% More than 2,000 miles

I just had to double-check to make sure I answered this correctly since I drove to Philadelphia for a Mets/Phillies game last Spring. Depending on whether you count the distance to Philly or the stadium I may or not have answered this question properly. Oh well.

10) In the past year, how many times did you call in sick to attend a sporting event?

79.0% None
12.8% 1
7.1% 2-3
0.6% 4-5
0.4% More than 5

Can't call in sick if you've got nowhere to call.

11) Which is your favorite place to watch a game?

52.3% At the stadium, where I can see it in person
33.8% At home on the couch
9.7% At a sports bar, where I can get a beer for less than $8
4.3% At a party, where I can socialize

I didn't really know how to answer this question. I enjoy going to sporting events but I enjoy watching them on TV almost as much. The beer is cheaper, you don't have to go home afterwards, and you don't have to battle the elements ever.

12) How many hours a week do you spend watching sporting events on TV?

42.6% 6-10
28.7% 11-20
14.5% More than 20
14.2% Less than 5

This really changes for me depending on the season but on average throughout the year it's probably 6-10. I wrack up a lot of hours during baseball seasons plus during football season I watch around 2 full games a week which is 4,5 hours right there.

13) Do you own an HDTV?

66.4% Yes
33.6% No

...but I really really wish I did.

14) Did you play on an organized sports team in the past year?

51.1% Yes
48.9% No

Flip Cup teams don't count right?

15) How many jerseys do you own?

46.2% 2-5
20.2% None
15.5% 1
13.4% 6-12
4.8% More than 12

I might own 6, I didn't do an official count. The more I think about it the more confident I am that I answered correctly though.

16) Where do you wear your jersey?

42.4% At a game or around the house
31.6% Only if I attend the game in person or at a sports bar
26.0% Anywhere, anytime

26% of people answered "Anywhere, anytime"? Yikes. That's why I don't go to a lot of live sporting events, my interaction with these people would probably not go smoothly. This is not entirely their fault though, I'd probably bring much of it upon myself. I should be able to applaud a David Wright basehit at the McFadden's attached to Citizen's Bank Park without having a couple Philly douchebags trying to fight me, however.

17) Excluding sports equipment, how much did you spend on sports merchandise (clothing, video games, collectible cards, etc.) in the past year?

44.3% $50-$199
22.3% $200-$500
18.7% $1-$49
8.7% $0
6.0% More than $500

Initially I thought it might be less (and it still may be), but I spent $20-something on a Giants hat in December so that's half of the total right there.

18) Did you participate in a for-money NCAA tournament poll in 2008?

40.0% No
31.6% Yes, the entry fee was $10 or less
26.9% Yes, the entry fee was $11-$99
1.5% Yes, the entry fee was $100 or more

I was surprised to that No was the top answer here, I guess there's lots of people who fill out brackets without putting money on them. Those people are lame.

19) What's the most you wagered on a single sports event in the past year?

34.2% I don't gamble
26.2% $11-$50
17.5% $1-$10
11.0% $51-$100
8.9% $101-$500
2.3% More than $500

The people from the previous question are lame. Not as lame as the people who said "I don't gamble" for this question.

20) Do you play online poker for money?

88.3% No
11.7% Yes

Come on Page 2, you don't know how hard it is to make a deposit for online poker nowadays. Not that I would know about that or anything...

21) Did you play in a fantasy league that had an entry fee?

54.9% No
30.0% Yes, and I lost
15.1% Yes, and I won

This one made me feel good about myself.

22) How many hours a week do you spend on your fantasy team(s)?

32.8% None, I don't play
29.5% 1-2
23.8% 3-5
8.7% 6-10
5.2% More than 10

This one made me feel even better about myself. I'm not sure if I actually spend 3-5 hours a week on my fantasy teams but if you count scoreboard watching, talking to teammates/other league members that's three hours easy.

23) Have you scalped (sold) a ticket in the past year?

82.9% No
9.3% Yes, at the venue
7.7% Yes, online

Nothing to see here really.

24) Have you purchased a scalped ticket in the past year?

63.5% No
19.9% Yes, online
16.6% Yes, at the venue

Same here.

25) How many hours a week do you spend playing sports video games?

44.4% None
38.0% 1-5
12.0% 6-10
4.0% 11-20
1.6% More than 20

It could easily be more if I had an XBox 360 but I don't.

26) The biggest sports rip-off is:

32.2% $8 stadium beer
22.1% Using municipal tax dollars to build team owners shiny new stadiums
20.1% Personal seat licenses
18.1% Ticket prices
7.6% Forcing NFL season-ticket holders to buy tickets to preseason games

I don't know why I didn't answer beer. I guess I just think PSL's are really lame. Using municipal tax dollars is also pretty shitty as well.

27) Who is the best coach in America?

23.7% Other
19.7% Bill Belichick
11.6% Mike Krzyzewski
7.2% Phil Jackson
6.3% Pat Summitt
6.0% Mike Tomlin
6.0% Pete Carroll
5.5% Urban Meyer
3.9% Gregg Popovich
2.3% Jim Tressel
2.3% Roy Williams
2.2% Joe Torre
1.6% Mike Babcock
0.8% Geno Auriemma
0.8% Rick Pitino

I don't know how anyone could make an argument other than Belichick. Coach K or Phil Jackson maybe but I'd still go with Belicheat. I'd like to know who the people who answered "Other" were considering.

28) Would you rather:

55.5% Own your favorite NFL team
26.8% Quarterback your favorite NFL team
17.8% Be the GM of your favorite NFL team

Here are your three options:
1. A high pressure, well paying job as a football executive where you have to work all year long and answer to your owner, fans, and the media.
2. An extremely well paying high pressure job where you get the shit kicked out of you 16+ times a year with at least a couple months off each year. Also, you can have sex with almost any attractive female in your home city.
3. You clearly have a ton of money seeing as you own a team in the most successful professional sports league in America. You are your own boss and call all the shots about everything from the coaching staff, personnel, uniforms (one of the most underrated aspect of being an owner in my opinion), on down to the post-game food spread. You can easily dismiss of those who disagree/betray you and you can afford to have sex with attractive females across the globe.

Yeah, I'd choose #3 as well.

29) Would you rather:

30.9% Hang out as Derek Jeter's wingman for an evening
21.5% Watch a game with Mark Cuban
20.1% Go clubbing with Charles Barkley
17.0% Play a round of golf with John Daly
10.5% Party with Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson

Being a Mets fan I'm clearly not a big Derek Jeter guy. That said, his track record when it comes to the ladies is nothing short of remarkable. I think there could be a lot to be learned from being his wingman. Lesson #1: Make millions playing SS and winning four World Series in the greatest city in the world and the ladies will love you.

30) Would you rather:

55.4% Be given free season tickets to your favorite team
44.6% Be promoted at work

I could use a job more than season tickets to the Mets.

31) Would you rather:

72.2% See your favorite team win a championship
27.8% Have one night of passion with Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt

One night is not enough. I devote too many other nights to my favorite teams for me to choose against the ultimate payoff.

32) Would you rather:

72.5% Watch Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Stanley Cup or World Series
27.5% Watch the season finale of your favorite TV show

I realize this is a controversial choice but I answered this with the obvious stipulation that one of my favorite teams would not be playing in these events. Of course season finales usually air in May so it's unlikely they would interfere with any of these things anyway. And isn't this why we have DVR's and the internet. This is a stupid question.

33) What was sports' biggest sin over the past year?

23.0% Brett Favre retirement and trade saga
22.0% Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the thigh and missing the rest of the season
19.3% Utah not playing in the BCS title game
14.2% Manny Ramirez not hustling to get his way out of Boston
14.2% High school girls' basketball game that ended 100-0
5.6% World Series game played in a downpour
1.6% Michael Phelps admitting to smoking a marijuana bong

This is a weird question. Are people saying Favre committed the sin here? Whatever, I thought that whole 100-0 situation was kind of messed up, especially when the coach refused to apologize. I think of all these options that guy was the biggest dick. Two other things about this:
1. Glad Phelps came in last, the outrage over that is ridiculous. His DWI was much, much worse.
2. My not voting for Plax had nothing to do with being a Giants fan. I genuinely believe Plax isn't a bad guy, he's just a total moron.

34) The most admirable sports figure is:

36.3% Tony Dungy
18.3% Myron Rolle
16.5% Kurt Warner
10.5% Tim Tebow
9.4% Warrick Dunn
9.1% Mike Krzyzewski

Didn't really know how to answer this one. I remember hearing Warrick Dunn's life story about losing his father(?) and having to support his family at a young age. That seems pretty admirable to me.

35) The coolest person in sports is:

21.8% LeBron James
17.8% Tiger Woods
12.0% Tom Brady
8.4% Larry Fitzgerald
6.6% Derek Jeter
5.1% Alex Ovechkin
5.0% Troy Polamalu
4.4% Shaun White
4.3% David Beckham
3.3% Tim Tebow
3.1% Kobe Bryant
2.5% Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2.1% Rafael Nadal
1.9% Ben Roethlisberger
1.8% Sidney Crosby

Somehow I missed LeBron and didn't even consider him, he's the only guy I would've considered over Brady. Interesting where Ovechkin is related to Crosby and I'm glad to see Big Ben down there.

36) Which do you prefer?

65.0% Character
35.0% Talent

I answered this question with regard to what I want on the teams I root for. I don't care if you're a dick just so long as you help my team and don't shoot yourself in the leg. Or slam strippers' heads into poles and have your entourage paralyze a bouncer. Or beat your hot wife. Or beat your ugly wife. I guess character is somewhat important.

37) Which do you prefer?

66.4% Winning percentage
33.6% Graduation rate

College coaches' jobs are to win games.

38) Which do you prefer?

50.5% Ultimate fighting
49.5% Boxing

Not a surprising answer but it hurts to see. I'm not really a boxing fan but I can't stand ultimate fighting, I think it's one of the most boring sports on the planet.

39) Story you got most tired of hearing about in the past year:

53.8% Brett Favre retiring/coming back/getting traded/he's back!/he stinks!
13.5% Terrell Owens and Tony Romo friends/not friends
12.3% Roger Clemens shots in butt/no shots in butt
9.6% Pacman Jones sign him/not sign him/misunderstood/bad dude
5.6% LeBron James future Knick?/future Cavalier?/future Clipper?
2.8% Texas/Oklahoma snubbed/not snubbed
2.4% Manny Ramirez clubhouse cancer/great player/contract situation

Very happy to see more than half the people voted for Favre. Good to know tons of other people are fed up with him as well. Maybe this will make ESPN focus on him less? No, that's not happening.

40) Which sport do you think has the worst officiating?

45.7% NBA
26.4% NFL
11.6% College basketball
9.4% College football
4.5% Major League Baseball
2.3% NHL

There's really no other answer after the Donaghy scandal. Good work Stern.

41) What would you most love to get rid of?

22.6% Football players preening after picking up ho-hum first downs
22.1% Playoff games starting at 9 p.m. ET
14.4% Automatic bids from conference champs into BCS bowl games
13.2% World Series home-field advantage determined by All-Star Game winner
10.0% Several lower-tier bowl games
8.8% Piped-in music, fake crowd noise blasting during play in NBA games
7.8% Timeouts in the final minute of basketball games
1.1% Fighting in hockey

Playoff games start to late, it's not fair to children or anyone else for that matter. Only 1.1% voting for "fighting in hockey" is good to see. I'm not ever going to become a true hockey fan if there's no fighting.

42) What would you most love to see?

34.3% A salary cap for Major League Baseball
16.7% College athletic programs held accountable for athletes' academic performance
11.8% The Super Bowl played on a Saturday
8.5% Modest pay for college football and basketball players
6.8% Seeded tournament for NFL playoffs
6.3% Tougher drug testing
4.0% More fighting in hockey
3.2% More use of instant replay by officials
3.1% Fans allowed to make noise in golf
2.2% Revised rules for college football overtime
2.1% The return of "The Superstars" competition
1.0% Fans allowed to make noise in tennis

None of these really interested me so I chose drug testing.

43) Have you ever passed up sex to watch sports?

62.0% No
38.0% Yes

Not that I've often had the option.

44) Which of the following sports did you play the most in the past year?

22.0% Basketball
16.2% Golf
15.5% Baseball/softball
11.2% Beer pong
10.0% Football (touch/tackle/flag)
6.2% Soccer
4.3% Bowling
3.8% Ice hockey/roller hockey
3.2% Tennis
2.9% Swimming
2.6% Skiing/snowboarding
2.0% Volleyball
0.2% Skateboarding

I didn't really play much Beer Pong/Beirut this past year, but I don't think I could answer anything else. Wiffleball isn't an option.

45) In the past year, have you booed a player or coach on one of your favorite teams?

58.6% Yes
41.4% No

I don't boo, makes you look/sound like an idiot. I will yell witty, derisive comments when necessary.

46) Which of the following do you find most reprehensible?

45.3% Players who don't hustle
36.6% Performance-enhancing drugs
12.7% Offensive linemen who use cut blocking on opponents' knees
3.6% Late hits on quarterbacks
1.8% Corked bat/throwing a spitball

Almost voted for "Late hits on quarterbacks" but players on my teams who don't hustle piss me off more. Yes I still want Manny on the Mets.

47) Which statement do you most agree with?

38.7% Professional athletes are overpaid
16.4% The NFL has become too much of a "pansy game" (as Troy Polamalu said)
15.2% College athletes try harder than professional athletes
11.5% College athletes in revenue-generating sports should be paid
5.7% Professional athletes work harder at their jobs than I do
4.7% The NFL should adopt its own minor league system
2.8% Ultimate fighting should be banned
2.2% The NFL should strictly regulate on-field player celebrations
1.6% Professional athletes should be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs under responsible medical supervision
1.1% The NHL should eliminate fighting

Well they are.

48) Which would you rather have?

58.9% $5,000
41.1% Your favorite team win a championship

I thought this was one of the best questions in the poll, it was actually the one I read about in the headline that made me click on the link. I mulled this one over and went with my initial gut feeling. The way I see it if you're being given the option between the two than the whole fun of your team winning it all is spoiled. Now if I could take away a championship like the 2000 Yankees or this year's Phillies I might have to reconsider the question.

49) Considering the economy, do you anticipate you'll be spending more or less on sports in 2009?

64.1% About the same
28.1% Less
7.8% More

Don't really see the amount I spend changing much, I'm still poor either way.

50) Would you say you are more or less of a sports fan than five years ago?

49.5% More
39.2% About the same
11.3% Less

On second thought I may be more of a sports fan now but I can't really say for sure.

Total Votes: 36,608

(and counting)

Here's One (Of Many) Ways To Keep Me From Seeing Your Movie

Describe it as Legally Blonde meets Sweet Home Alabama.

Yet Another Observation From The Supermarket

It seems like every time I make a trip to the supermarket there is something that catches my eye and makes me feel the need to comment on it. If I ever wanted to guarantee daily updates here, I should move into the supermarket, or at least make it a point to go there daily. Of course this is completely disregarding that fact that I would be watching Jeopardy right now if it weren't being preempted by a special report on the plane that ended up in the Hudson River this afternoon.

But what I want to talk about is the new cartons for Tropicana Orange Juice. While there has been more than one change over the years to the packaging for Tropicana, it has always been easy enough to tell what kind of orange juice there was inside. There was little to no confusion between pulp-free, lots of pulp, low acid, extra calcium, etc. The new carton, however, does not do a good job of letting the consumer discern whether or not they are getting the orange juice they prefer. The only difference between the cartons is now just a colored strip running across the top and a little bit of text on the main part of the carton. The color-coding of the cartons is no more. As a result of this, I almost ended up picking up orange juice with pulp in it today. I hate pulp.



In much better news, Variety has reported that Idris Elba (best known for playing Stringer Bell on The Wire) will be in six episodes of The Office later this season. Anyone familiar with The Wire knows that Stringer Bell was a great character and, more importantly, Idris Elba did a great job playing him. It should be interesting to see what he can bring to The Office especially considering that the last Wire alum to be on the show, Amy Ryan (playing Toby's HR replacement Holly) was hilarious on the show.

In Case You Were Wondering What Coolio Is Up To...

You may or may not be aware that Grammy-winning recording artist Coolio is one of the housemates on the latest season of VH1's "The Surreal Life". If you weren't, now you are.

It seems that he has also been expressing some of his beliefs lately, which I wouldn't want to describe so much as controversial...well, I guess you can judge for yourself. Among other things, Coolio apparently believes that "Microbiotics, computer science, jet planes - they came from a different planet" as well as that "Movies are made twenty years before they happen."

Yeah...you can read a little more about this here.

Something To Pull Myself Away From Merriweather Post Pavilion and Thinking About the G-Men...

I really have nothing to write about at the moment, but it's been a week since my last post and I have yet to pop this blog's proverbial '09 cherry. I suppose I could write something about the Giants game this Sunday but that would just get long-winded and inevitably feature loads of points you could get elsewhere. The wait for Sunday is absolutely killing me though. Just know this, if the Giants lose there is a strong possibility of me shedding tears Sunday around 4:30 or so.

I could also write about the new Animal Collective album, "Merriweather Post Pavilion", which I can't stop listening to. I don't think I have anything particularly interesting to contribute regarding that either, however.

Now that I've mentioned the two things in the title of this post that I was trying to get away from I don't quite know where else to go. Complaining about my iPod breaking is also an option I guess, but nobody wants to hear about that. I guess it's back to counting the hours till Sunday some more.