February 2012
1 post
January 2012
2 posts
December 2011
3 posts
The "Best" Of 2011
I’ve been pimping this all over select social networks, so sorry if you’re seeing this again, but: I made something on Spotify!
November 2011
3 posts
EXCLUSIVE: The Best of Yakking About Baseball...
“EXCLUSIVE” meaning that I’m writing this solely for my Tumblr, and not my blog proper. And by “writing,” I of course mean “repurposing previously published content.” To explain: thanks to the largess of The Awl, David Roth and I were able to shoot the shit about baseball via GChat every 2 weeks over the course of this past baseball season, and publish...
October 2011
11 posts
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2011 World Series: Texas vs. St. Louis
[caption id=”attachment_1812” align=”alignleft” width=”298” caption=”Albert needs to work on his Beast Mode pose.”][/caption]
The Cardinals had one starter last into the 6th inning against the Milwaukee Brewers, and were the beneficiaries of both some spectacularly awful Brewers defense and the best week-plus of David Freese’s life. Of course...
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2011 NLCS: St. Louis vs. Milwaukee
[caption id=”attachment_1803” align=”alignleft” width=”240” caption=”Pictured here: a Yuniesky Betancourt home run. Savor it.”][/caption]
C’mon, really? The Team of Destiny, getting past the presumptive NL World Series squad to continue some fairy-tale playoff run? And getting bulletin-board material from every possible area of the team...
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2011 ALCS: Detroit vs. Texas
[caption id=”attachment_1797” align=”alignleft” width=”300” caption=”Chris Davis: Never Forget”][/caption]
Since I did such a bang-up job picking the Yankees and Rays to win each of their series in five games, I figured it’d only be right to turn such unerring accuracy and unfailing insight on the actual ALCS opponents.
During the regular...
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(Please) Do The Math
Since Jockish is going to stay defunct for the time being, and since The Classical isn’t around yet to reject this thing outright, here’s me trying to scratch that “blab about sports in an amusing way” itch, in reaction to Tony LaRussa’s “funny” comments regarding Moneyball, courtesy of retired Tampa-area math teacher Dolores Costanza. (Don’t mind...
Physically Unable To Perform: The Week the Jets,... →
seanfennessey:
If you’re not reading Jeff Johnson and David Roth’s brilliant, goofy, reference-abounding conversational NFL columns—twice weekly on GQ.com—you probably should. A brief sample below.
David: On the last of Tony Romo’s pick-sixes—and it’s amazing that no one has talked about this more—his entire offensive line was dressed as beekeepers.
Jeff: I would have loved to have seen that...
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2011 NLDS: Arizona vs. Milwaukee
[caption id=”attachment_1754” align=”alignleft” width=”240” caption=”Miss you, pinstripes.”][/caption]
Yeah, the Diamondbacks. You know, the team with a 20-game winner (Ian Kennedy), a pretty solid 2nd starter (Daniel Hudson), a not-inconcievable MVP candidate (Justin Upton), a closer with 45 saves (JJ Putz), one of the best hitting catchers in...
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2011 ALDS: Detroit vs. New York
[caption id=”attachment_1768” align=”alignleft” width=”174” caption=”Mr. Baseball”][/caption]
The Rangers have the 2010 AL pennant. The Rays have that little thing called “momentum.” The Yankees have the benefit of being the Yankees. And the Tigers have the spectre of 2006 dogging them every step of this playoff run. No doubt the farther they make...
September 2011
15 posts
1 tag
Quicker Than A
Chris O’Meara/Associated Press
Tonight was not a referendum on the 2011 Boston Red Sox. They lost an eight-game lead in the AL Wild Card standings because, in September, their good pitchers pitched bad, and their not-so-good pitchers pitched worse. You can maybe lay some blame at the feet of GM Theo Epstein, especially when it comes to the increasingly specious contract he signed John...
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You Play To Win The Game
About two months ago, I pitched GQ.com on a “where-are-they-now” piece about Moneyball. Since the movie (based on the Michael Lewis book) was due out in September, I thought it would be interesting to track down various folks that were part of the story and see what they’ve been up to over the past nine-plus years. So did the editor, so off I went. I didn’t have it in mind to track...
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July 2011
1 post
1 tag
So Many Opals
Instead of burying the lede, I’ll just cut to the chase. I’ll shoot my mouth off after the jump. (Apologies if the files don’t actually play in order; I’m a Grade A noob when it comes to iTunes / real world interoperability. If shit stinks, gimme a buzz through whatever channels are available, & I’ll try to make things right.)
SO MANY OPALS (15 tracks;...
May 2011
1 post
February 2011
5 posts
1 tag
The Stone In The Sword
Except for their seemingly insatiable need to screw every available hole in the proverbial pooch while employing the best player in the NBA, their clown of an owner, their bratty jersey-burning fanbase, their noxious mustard / ketchup uniforms, and their (hopefully redacted) love of Comic Sans, and maybe some of their players, I don’t have much of a problem with the Cleveland Cavaliers....
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Lies (Rebellion)
The Album of the Year Grammy is a victory for The Arcade Fire and anyone associated with the band and Merge Records. It’s the culmination of all the hard work and effort put into turning this group into one of those oft-cited multi-year overnight successes. I want to stress this point, that these guys deserve all the kudos in the world & then some, to absurd ends, given what...
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Five Listacular Things About Ringo Lam's Replicant
1) Who The Fuck Is Ringo Lam?
Why, he’s a Hong Kong director / producer / scriptwriter (thanks, Wikipedia!) that’s about to enter his fourth decade of filmmaking, though it doesn’t seem like he’s done anything since contributing to 2007’s Triangle. Unfortunately, for those of us Westerners not well versed in Hong Kong cinema, Lam is known mostly for two things:
a)...
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What We Do Is Blank
Blank Dogs / The Soft Moon / Apse @ some basement in Wallingford, CT – January 29, 2011
Note to self: now that you’re on the wrong side of 30, you’re not going to be able to get away with standing on a concrete floor for upwards of three to four hours unless you want to experience excruciating & obnoxious back pain for the next week. Sit your old ass down next time and take a...
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Lonely As I Am, Together We Cry
Even at its best (no laughter, please), Californication can come off as a middle-aged version of Entourage. Granted, any show that deigns to wallow in the swanky hedonism of the outer rim of Hollywood, whether it’s for the purposes of some higher callling or simply for some exploitative ya-yas, is going to have to make with the drugs and the drink and the titties at some point. ...
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The Sky Was All Purple
My Brightest Diamond @ Daniel Street - January 28th 2011
I expected Shara Worden to do a little capital-S singing tonight, and she didn’t disappoint; right out of the gate, she let loose on a fierce version of “Something of an End” (though don’t hold me to that being the actual song My Brightest Diamond opened with; you get the accurate reportage you pay for). While I wasn’t...
January 2011
4 posts
1 tag
Those Windmills Won't Tilt Themselves
Okay, so this is my thing:
You can be a generalist, or you can be a specialist. You can give a shit about what’s going on with the Top 40, or you can scour the web for every edition-of-40 bedroom-born cassette. You can mark your territory however you see fit, but the minute you puff out your chest and start sounding off on shit that’s not in your comfort zone like your slanted...
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Your Writing For Pleasure You Never Let Me Read
The Noise Made For People is one of those albums I’ve always reflexively reached for when I’ve been in the mood to listen to something comforting and familiar. Its mod-spy bubble-chair vibe always feels inviting, and of course there’s Trish Keenan’s voice. I had the pleasure of writing about “Come On Let’s Go” for The Pitchfork 500, and while that...
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Knickerbocker Please
I wanted to write something about the New York Knicks after their last-second loss to the Boston Celtics back in December, which was one of the best & most enjoyable regular season NBA games I can remember seeing (especially since I began following the league again a few years ago). There wasn’t much defense being played (insert your favorite Seven Seconds or Less zinger here), but...
December 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Don't Eat Your Meat
The sins of Hannibal (presumably both the book and the movie, though I’m only going to be talking here about the film) are numerous, and not just limited to placing an intriguing cypher like Hannibal Lecter at the center of the story. Though if you want to revisit that well-worn argument, you could do worse than read author Alec Nevala-Lee’s take on where Thomas Harris (& other...
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The Top (Of The Bottom)
I’m as big a stan for Inception as there is, so of course I came up with my own explanations for people’s complaints about the film (or I unintentionally found ways to rephrase other people’s defenses). One of the bigger hang-ups seems to be that this film about dreams and the logic of dreams (hey, look who just realized that “dream logic” is an oxymoron)...
November 2010
4 posts
1 tag
Ten Things To Appreciate About Wes Craven's Swamp...
1) David Hess hamming it up
Granted, this slab of schlock doesn’t leave much room for capital-A acting (let alone small-s special effects), but Hess’ horny henchman routine (a perhaps intentional riff on his more depraved turn in Last House on the Left) in Rambo couture is pretty swell. It’s a shame Swamp Thing had to crush his head, and that after getting kneed in the jewels...
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Shop Talk
I’m really just throwing this up here as a test of Wordpress / Tumblr interoperability (ooooh) and how it handles things besides metric tons of unedited text (oooooooh). But if you’re following me on Twitter (ooooh ooooh), you might know that I’m also a complete dork for Dinner For Five, so that helps justify this test.
A brief intro, for those not familiar with the show:...