May 17, 2010

Links of the Week

Crystal Castles, 'Crystal Castles (II)': This band out of Ontario produces some great lo-fi electronica, and recorded their new album in such sentimental locales as a church in Iceland, a self built cabin in northern Ontario and a garage behind an abandoned convenience store in Detroit. If that's not enough, you simply have to root for a band that named itself after She-Ra's secret castle in the sky.

What the Fantasy World Needs Now: Introducing the next great minor league prospect, Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins, and the legend of his monstrous 500+ foot home run. Look for a mid-June call up on this kid that once signed to play football for Pete Carroll at USC (he was a stand-out tight end in high school).

The Next Next Big Thing: Refusing to be outdone on the hype meter, high-school phenom Bryce Harper has showcased all the skills necessary to be the presumptive #1 pick for the Washington Nationals in the upcoming MLB draft. No explanation is given however to the Steve Lattimer style facepaint from the movie the Program.

Egos Never Slump: A creative ad director preys on the egotism of ad executives to land himself a job, assuming (correctly) that executives can't help but Google themselves to relive their successes. Brilliant, really.

I Wonder Who Was Cast For the Role of "Like Button"?: Aaron Sorkin has penned a movie called "The Social Network" digging into the origins of Facebook from a 90210 perspective. The infamous late night drunken coding session scene has already got the Razzie world abuzz.

Happy Meal Birthday To You: This post about what a McDonald's happy meal looks like one year after purchase will make you cringe (and also likely crave some hot, non-biodegradable french fries).

Are There Intentional Walks in Slow Pitch Softball?
: As predicted, Eric Byrnes is simply mashing in his local slow-pitch softball league. No word yet on how this will affect the rising number of softball fantasy leagues across the country.

At Least This Didn't Happen in Cleveland: Supporters of a German soccer club team riots against its team's loss and relegation to a lower tier. Cavs fans could learn a thing or two from these fans how to properly rage against depressing sports results.

Jay-Z + Eminem = Baseball Hilarity: This video makes for a pretty funny back and forth between two of music's biggest stars. After this and his performance in Funny People, I'm starting to think Eminem is a closet comedic genius.

LEGO Star Wars: If only this video could have been narrated by the late James Earl Jones. LEGO stop motion anything is pure eye candy, it's only a matter of time before we get a LEGO style Pixar feature film.

May 10, 2010

Links of the Week

The Black Keys, 'Brothers': I was first introduced to the Black Keys a few years back leading up to their performance at Coachella. My first reaction to their performance was shock in learning there were just two people in the band creating all that music. This duo from Akron, Ohio, take blues-rock and make it their own. Their music has been featured on everything from video games (Grand Theft Auto, MLB: the Show) to television (Hung, Eastbound and Down, Dexter) to movies (Cloverfield, Zombieland, School of Rock), and they've even recorded an entire album with some of hip-hop's biggest names. The new album is streaming through its release on May 18th.

Billy Ray "Rojo" Johnson makes his baseball debut: Leave it to a minor league team near Austin to bring in Will Ferrell for this great promotion. There's no truth to the reports that Jim Hendry offered Rojo Johnson a full no-trade clause for joining the Cubs, though it might not be a bad idea given that the Cubs will likely be 10+ games behind the Cardinals in the division by June and will need all the promotions they can get.

Fireworks 1, Lastings Milledge 0: Milledge mistakenly thinks he hits a home run, only to be tagged out during his home run trot. This one play pretty much encapsulates what it's like to be a Pirates fan the past 18 years. The best season during that time? 4 games below .500. Yeesh.

You'll never guess the pitcher he used
: A 23-year old man in Semmes, Alabama, netted $1 million after winning a MLB2K10 contest to be the first person to throw a perfect game on the video game. Guess who the winning pitcher selected was? Nope guess again. Nope, guess again (this could go on for hours). The pitcher? Kenshin Kawakami, who is currently 0-6 with a 5.73 ERA. The game programmers must have been fans of Kawakami's old Chunichi Dragons, which he helped lead to the the team's first Japan Series championship in 53 years in 2007.

Jay-Z crushes SNL: Betty White is getting all the press clippings, but Jay-Z's opening performance at 30 Rock was a blistering 8-minute medley of old and new jams. Check the clip before LiveNation inevitably pulls it off the web.

22/30 = 73.3%: That's the percentage of major league teams that have experienced a drop in attendance compared to 2009. With last year's numbers already down significantly from years past, this is worrisome, particularly when noting that the Blue Jays, Orioles, Indians and Mariners have all experienced the smallest crowds in their stadium's history in 2010. This bears watching, especially as small market teams fall far enough behind in the standings to justify selling off contributing players.

Any chance this contributed to the sore neck? Hopefully we don't see too many more reports like this, but since he's left the gated confines of Augusta, Tiger has posted the worst 2-day score in his career, and now has failed to finish two tournaments in a row. There were even reports that Tiger was heckled by a 7-year old this weekend. We all know how mental golf is, and this makes you wonder if Tiger is having doubts about subjecting himself to this publicly.

I bet I can guess who the team softball MVP will be: After his botched sacrifice bunt attempt, Eric Byrnes biked into his life after baseball, in pursuit of surfing, golfing, and recreational softball. Byrnes and his wife also run a business called bYRNt Organics, which sells eco-friendly clothing. And just in case you had any doubts who was going to lead the recreational softball league in home runs this year, I suggest you click on the link above. I'm pretty sure that dude is about to put together a softball season for the ages.

Pour salt on your hand, take the tequila shot, then sign here: A D.C. woman is suing MTV and its producers for her depiction on The Real World D.C. after claiming she was forced to consume 8-10 alcoholic drinks before being kicked out of the house. Apparently everyone that is shown on camera during the Real World has to sign a four page release, which includes a waiver from any STDs contracted from cast members. No word yet what the Situation thinks of this situation.

Food awards: James Beard award winners were announced last week. Prepare for the foodie backlash.

The Beatbox Master: I have no clue how this kid makes these sounds, but someone needs to sign him up to appear as "Jones" in the next Police Academy sequel:

May 4, 2010

Tiger vs. Taser

Of all the things Tiger has said since his Thanksgiving Day dust-up, his statement that "I don't get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me," just might hold the least amount of truth. Inquiring minds are starting to unravel what happened in the aftermath of the much publicized car crash. Subpoenas were requested and denied by the powers that be, leaving it all for tabloid fodder. An excerpt from a book detailing the fallout surrounding the incident can be found here. It's no surprise that this information is in direct contradiction with Tiger's statement above.

Compare this treatment to that of a 17-year old who ran onto the field during a Phillies home game, and was tasered by police for doing so. There's no defending the fan's actions, but the taser seems excessive. Here's a video of the incident, it appears that the boundaries certainly applied to this kid:

May 3, 2010

Links of the Week

The National, 'High Violet': These Brooklyn based indie darlings originally hail from Cincinnati, and include not one, but two pairs of brothers in the band. Adored by indie newbies and vets alike, the National provide a distinct sound with unique lyrics bellowed out by the lead singer's deep baritone voice. Link streaming through May 11th release of the new album.

This gives new meaning to "passed ball": Miguel Oliva, a catcher on the Rockies, passes a kidney stone in the 8th inning, and returns to complete the game. His quote on the incident: "I don't feel anything. It's, like, crazy." Talk about your Rocky Mountain Oysters! The CIA needs to hire this guy after his baseball career is over. What a great spy he would be, not even Sayid Jarrah could coerce information out of him. He will reveal nashing, Lebowski. Nashing!

Do the Didier if you want to: Didier Drogba, perhaps Africa's best football player, finds himself sharing the covers of Time and Vanity Fair this month. Annie Leibovitz also did a photo shoot with other World Cup stars here.

How did Poison, "Swallow This Live" get overlooked?: SPIN magazine lists its top 125 albums of the past 25 years. One thing that's great about music is the infallibility of best of lists. You'd never know it if these lists were inside jokes, since no one wants to risk pointing out an album that secretly might be musical genius. Courtney Love ranking 15 spots ahead of Pearl Jam's 'Ten'? Really? Maybe Courtney Love was a musical genius. Hmm...

Guess there wasn't much competition in October: Any movie narrated by Bill Murray starring a man named Moe Mullins has to be taken seriously. Moe is one of the "ball hawks" who troll for balls outside of Wrigley. In 52 years of ballhawking, Mullins has collected 5,400 baseballs- 238 off homers, 5 off grand slams, and zero Cubs championships. Maybe these guys were the smart ones to catch the games from outside after all.

Speaking of Bill Murray: Here's a first hand account of what dinner with him is like. It sounds both fascinating and terrifying at the same time.

Animated Kanye: Better or worse than real Kanye? Discuss.

Manu endorses Kotex: This commercial pretty much speaks for itself.

May 1, 2010

Playoff Goals

With NHL playoffs starting three days before the NBA's annual post-season tournament, spring time is playoff time for hockey and basketball. It's easy to compare these two sports this time of year; each has 16 qualifying participants, advancement is determined by a seven game series, and both culminate in an East versus West finale carrying us into early summer. Part of what makes these playoff formats so enjoyable is the constant slew of games right from the start. This helps give fans a familiarity with the players and how they perform under pressure at the highest level of their sport, without having to commit to the long grind of an 82-game regular season.

There are varying degrees of success for teams in the playoffs. Young squads are hoping to gain playoff experience to build on for future seasons, veteran teams will be satisfied only with a championship, and teams in the middle are hoping for an upset or two simply to extend their season. A team's playoff mindset feels tangible; the marketing department adopts it and their fanbase generally emulates that approach from series to series.

With that as an inspiration, I came into this year's playoff season with a goal as well. That goal was simple: to watch more of the NHL playoffs than the NBA. Having grown up on the Bulls dynasty run in the 90's, it's no small task to switch interest to the sport on ice. Maybe it's a carryover from the Olympics, but it feels like the time is right. Despite knowing that this approach won't gain any points at the water cooler, I'm convinced that playoff hockey now provides more rewards than its hoops counterpart. Here's a case why hockey might be a better investment for the sports public:

1) Closer games. Part of what makes the playoffs so great is that it provides matchups of the league's best teams, which should result in a bevvy of close, competitive contests. Let's assume a close NHL contest is one in which a team loses by just two goals or less. Since the start of the playoffs, 63% of the games have being decided by that margin, a number that is consistent with the 65% mark reached during last year's playoffs. What a great feeling it must be for hockey fans knowing that any given playoff game will be close more than 6 out of 10 times. Compare that to the NBA, where we can assume that a 5 point contest (plus any game going to overtime, regardless of final score) constitutes a close game. So far this year, a paltry 27% of playoff contests have fallen within that 5 point margin, a tick below the 31% mark reached in 2009. Of course, context is different in each sport, and a basket or two down the stretch can alter the final score a lot easier in basketball, but you get the point. Take the seven game Bucks- Hawks series, for example. Fear the Deer aside, how much excitement has the seven game series generated when the winning margin has been 10.5 points a game, with just one game falling within the 5-point range?

2) You Can Actually Follow the Puck Now. A longstanding and legitimate criticism of hockey on television has always been an inability to follow the puck on the small screen. Remember the horrendous trails of blue and yellow that Fox tried to use to solve that dilemma in the 90s? Now that all games are televised in high definition, the puck has become much easier to follow. Add in the 40+ inch televisions that have become standard in the home of any sports fan, and all of a sudden the widened field of view is able to portray a sense of the flow of the game and the involvement of the home crowd. We seem to take for granted how recent of a development this really is, but the difference that a big HD screen makes for hockey is very real.

3) Upset Potential. Though the NHL promotes its stars as much as any league, hockey itself is truly a team sport, in large part due to its grueling nature leaving even the best players getting on the ice just two-thirds of the time. The team aspect of the sport is refreshing against the NBA backdrop where Dwayne Wade has to score 40+ points just to give his team a chance to win. The NBA is wedded to its star players, and it's no secret that a team needs at least one superstar to get the calls down the stretch to ensure playoff victory. This leads to a very low upset potential in the NBA. If an upset is defined as any team seeded #6 or lower advancing (4-5 matchups tend to be pretty even), the NBA has experienced just seven first round upsets since 2000, compared to the NHL which has experienced 20 over that same time frame (this despite missing the '05 playoffs due to lockout). If upsets are what makes the NCAA basketball tournament so interesting, than the NHL comes closer to emulating that level of unpredictability. Indeed, during that time, the Stanley Cup Finals have included an 8-seed, a 7-seed, a 6-seed and three 4-seeds. Even with that, it's a minsnomer that NHL playoffs are a random crapshoot where good teams go unrewarded for their regular season effort. Since 2000, the NBA (Pistons in '04 and Spurs in '07, each a 3-seed) and the NHL (Devils in '00 and Penguins in '09, each a 4-seed) each have had 2 champions crowned that were lower than a #2 seed. Finals participants during that same time-frame in the NBA has included just 1 participant (Mavericks, '06) ranked #4 or lower. It has to mean something to a team's fan base to have a legitimate shot for advancement in the playoffs, and the combination of superstars, referees and primetime television seems to quell that opportunity in the NBA. There's certainly an argument to be made for watching a league's best teams matchup in the playoffs, but as a third party observer, I'll take rooting for the underdog over the chalk every time.

4) Team Celebrations and Tradition. Speaking of upsets, check out this video of the #8 seed Montreal Canadians beating the #1 seed Washington Capitols in a Game 7 on the road. The team celebration behind the goal is great, but how impressive is it that shortly thereafter the Canadians got their act together and composed themselves for the traditional handshake line at the end of a series? How about the Capital's reaction - no complaints, no arguing, just acceptance and the pain of losing. Plus, you have to love it that NHL.com actually provides a video linking to the "handshake lines" that culminate each series.

5) Length of Games. I wish I could find some statistics on the average length of an NBA playoff game versus an NHL hockey game. Honestly, there's no reason for a basketball game to take upwards of three hours from start to finish, and the end of game situations are absolutely infuriating. TV timeouts, regular timeouts, 20 second timeouts, fouls, free throws...since when did 30 seconds of basketball take 15 minutes to play out? We might as well skip the first 46 minutes of each game and fast forward to the moment where a team's star player attempts an important jump shot with the game on the line. Fouls are fewer and further between in the NHL, and come with a much more significant penalty, deterring its abuse in end of game situations.

6) Sudden Death Overtime Why do we all sit through the aforementioned 46 minutes of build up during the NBA playoffs? Because the NBA's best case scenario can give us some pretty awesome endings in the playoffs. But even those singular moments can't match the madness at the end of a hockey game, where a goalie leaves his net empty and there's just a mad rush in front of the opposing team's goal. Plus there's the do or die nature of sudden death overtime, which provide its own theater, one in which the clock doesn't matter and any shot could be the last one of the game. The tension during these moments are palpable, people can barely stand to watch and every check, line shift or pass in the zone gets magnified since any action could swing the game one way or another. Want to know the kind of joy that scoring a game winning goal in sudden death can bring on its overwrought fans? This video should give you an idea:


7) Playoff Ad Campaigns. For years the NBA absolutely dominated in this category. From the Amazing Playoff Moments of 2009 to the There Can Be Only One superstar soliloquies in '08, the NBA has consistently nailed the playoffs from an advertising standpoint. For one reason or another, this year's autotuned Focus! and Steppin' Up! campaigns seems to fall a bit short of those standards. Meanwhile, the NHL wheeled out this beauty (others in the series can be found here or here):



8. Conclusion. If this entire article sounds like an attempt to convince myself of this approach, then you're right. I'm no fervent supporter of either the NBA or NHL, and in some ways wish I was more obsessed with one of the two leagues. However, so far this playoff season, I've been completely satisfied with the choice to watch the NHL over the NBA...that is at least until we get to see Lebron dethrone the Kobes in the finals. Those games might actually be worth waiting 3+ hours for.