I Do Need Some New Kicks

I usually buy a pair of sneakers, wear them into submission and then get a new pair, just like the old pair. But now I am going to go out and buy something completely different, completely out of character, just because they are so damn cool. Introducing the Nike Weatherman.

Breaking Bad: "Confessions"

Finally, a real "Breaking Bad" type episode. If the first episode was a C+, and the previous one was a B+, this was definitely an A+.

Let's start at the end, with the most dramatic action yet this season. It was a little confusing and I needed a little refresher before I fully comprehended it, and even so it's a big leap of cognition for Jesse, but here's my understanding. Jesse had a joint in his cigarette pack and when it was missing he realized Saul had Huell (aka the huge black guy) picked his pocket. His mind immediately ran to the ricin which was in his cigarette pack and had been removed. If that was also done by Huell/Saul/Walt then it was done to frame Gus for poisoning Brock, which means it was actually done by Walt. Quite a revelation to make while standing on the street corner waiting to enter the Criminal Protection Program, but as best as I can figure, that's what happened.

After that Jessie barges into Walt's house with gasoline. Now the scene we've already seen, the flash-forward as it were, doesn't seem to show Walt's house being in charred ruins, so obviously something is going to happen before Jessie strikes the match. I have a hunch Walt will once again manipulate him. I don't think he will kill him with the frozen gun.

As for the other big twist in the episode, brilliant move by Walt making that DVD.

It does just enough to slow Hank down. Now if you really thought about it, there's too many holes in the story for people to seriously believe Hank was the mastermind. But, it's enough to give him pause. And the fact that Hank is and has already sat on evidence and not presented it, and that he (inadvertently) accepted drug money to pay his medical bills, would make him look even worse. This brings me back to my original suspicion that this season would be a cat-and-mouse game between Walt and Hank.

There's also this pesky storyline about Todd and Lydia that won't go away. Todd calls Walt to give him the latest. But he also speaks way too openly about the details and the real names of Walt and Jesse.

There was also a tarantula walking by at one point. What the hell could that mean? Another juvenile death?

Five episodes to go and I can't wait.

My Charmed Life Continues

Thanks to an amazing friend with great connections, I managed to have another awesome sports experience in the incredibly charmed life I am lucky enough to lead.
This time I found myself standing behind home plate at CitiField, just taking in the sights, for the hour or so before the August 25 game against the Tigers.

Instead of going through the regular gates, we went in a special gate, and walked under the stadium to the field entrance. And we ran into this lovely couple in the hallway.

We spent a lot of time talking to LaTroy Hawkins before the game.

Someone even snapped this picture and posted it on twitter.

I'm pretty sure that is my nose in the far right of that picture, but Mrs. Poop says it's not big enough to be mine.

LaTroy was a great guy (though not a great pitcher on this day) and had a lot of fun joking around with us. I asked him about getting hit in the nuts.



He said no one in the majors wears a cup. It's too uncomfortable to do the normal windup with a cup between your legs. He did admit though "my dick hurt. My right nut hurt for a week." At some point during this conversation a young girl sidled up near us, waiting for an autograph, I hope she didn't hear most of it.

We asked him about facing his best friend, Torii Hunter (they broke in together with the Twins in 1993), and he said he faced him twice and got him out both times.
The third time was a charm for Hunter whose hit was part of a 7-run 9th inning that game the Tigers an 11-3 win.

But I did get to see Travis D'Arnaud's first major league home run.

I stood a few feet from Jim Leyland.

I saw a weak swing from Ike Davis.

Here was the view from our seats a few rows back of the Tigers dugout. I was close enough to tell Miguel Cabrera that I still prefer Mike Trout.

Here's my view from home plate, unfortunately because it was a Sunday in August after an evening game, neither team took batting practice. The Tigers didn't even come out to warm up, most players didn't emerge from the clubhouse until 15 minutes before first pitch.

I am a little disappointed that when I was standing on the field there wasn't enough activity. An awesome experience would have been legend -- wait for it - dary! had it occurred on a day of normal on-field pregame activities.

How lucky am I that I can even say such a thing!

Song of the Week

"Got to Give It Up" - Marvin Gaye
This song was clearly the inspiration to Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." I didn't think anyone disputed that. I also didn't think anything of it because as long as you don't copy an original work, or blatantly use part of it, you're ok on copyright grounds. And it doesn't sound that much like it. But apparently Thicke was worried because he went to court to preemptively strike at potential lawsuits. Which supposedly pissed off Marvin Gaye's family, which may now sue Thicke.

What Do You Give Me For? Prince Fielder and This Prince Fielder Fan

When I was at the Mets-Tigers game I saw a guy who clearly likes Prince Fielder a little too much. Obviously this guy was trying for this look and I think he would have to score pretty high on this scale.

Note: I know PTI did this, but I swear I had spotted this guy, pointed him out, took his picture with my blackberry and planned this post in my mind before I saw, or anyone saw, PTI.

Send Him To Belize

The opportunists at the Belize tourism board took advantage of a clever euphemism in "Breaking Bad" ("send him to Belize" means kill him) and turned it into a funny promotion for their cause. The author of this ad's copy seems to be a shrewd and observant fan of the best show ever, making sly references to Marie's purple predilection and Flynn's love of real pork bacon.

Why We Watch "Hard Knocks"

In the summer of 2001, a brand new show debuted on HBO, "Hard Knocks", taking us inside training camp with the Baltimore Ravens. In that episode Todd Heap swept his new bride Ashley Heap off her feet. And she did the same to us.

The show is now in its 8th season and we've seen plenty of other hot WAGs like Kelli Croyle, Lauren Tannehill (and the chick sitting to next to her) and October Gonzalez.

But we have never seen anything like Chloe Call, Giovani Bernard's girlfriend. She was referenced by name in the first episode when it was revealed that Bernard was driving her mom's minivan. But it wasn't until the third episode that we actually saw her, and twitter went crazy. Beyond the obvious "wow" and "hottttt" there were also tweets to the effect of "who cares if he gets cut, Giovani Bernard won at life."

You can see why.