I’m done with the politics for the time being. I’ve got 1200 words down for my final piece, but over the weekend I decided to think about/do other things. It didn’t help that M. kept me up until 6:00 AM this morning, meaning even though I slept until noon, I’m only working on about four hours of sleep. I’m still bitter about things, but it’s time for me to move on and concentrate on the important stuff in life, like getting my daughter to stay awake during the day and sleep at night, college hoops, and stinging pop culture commentary. I guess 51% of the country will be pleased by this news.
Friday night’s Indiana-Boston NBA game was a midwest hoops lover’s delight. On one court, Jamaal Tinsley, Scot Pollard, Paul Pierce, Raef LaFrentz, and Ricky Davis. No one had an exceptional game, which seems about right.
Another Ben Affleck movie, more shitty reviews. When is he just going to turn down all scripts and focus on hosting Saturday Night Live once a year and appearing at Fenway with hot actresses? He should be better than this, shouldn’t he?
NFL celebrations are getting out of hand. Someone is going to get shot soon, aren’t they? I know Terrell Owens is a confident lad, but why do you ever provoke Ray Lewis? His buddies killed a guy, for crying out loud. I think touchdown celebrations are fine, as long as they stay in the end zone. When you start running to midfield, you deserve to get clocked. It’s ironic that with all the old timers complaining about showboaters, it was the Redskins’ Fun Bunch that started choreographed celebrations in earnest during the early 80s. The Fun Bunch was always about the team celebrating together, not one player drawing attention to himself at the expense of his teammates. What maddens me are the players who treat a regular catch like a 98 yard touchdown. They can go over the middle, get laid out, hold on to the ball for a gain of seven, be short of the first down, and jump up gesticulating like they made the greatest play ever. D-backs who pop a receiver after a gain of 30 need to shut their traps too. I blame Greg Hill for all the nonsense that goes on after mundane plays. I think if you celebrate between the end zones, you need to do it with your teammates. Go back and chest/head bump your blockers, high five the other receivers. Drop the wannabe Michael Irvin acts. Chances are you’re not nearly as good as Irvin was anyway. Once you get into the end zone, do all the backflips you want.
Along those lines, I love how everything Terrell Owens does elicits the question of whether he went over the line or not. “Terrell Owens gives Thanksgiving turkeys to inner city kids in Philly. Has he gone over the line???” Terrell is a very good receiver. I think he’s a notch below Moss and Harrison, mostly because he is so selfish that he distracts from the rest of the team and is a locker room problem waiting to happen. Moss has had his share of issues too, but he’s so damn good he makes up for it. There’s just enough inconsistency in TO’s game to always leave a door open for critics. People need to settle down and not treat every TO outburst as a national crisis, though.