All-Endorphin Entry

Lovin' the lucky sherbet tops!
(11cules.com)

I don't know if it's the arrival of the football season or how out of shape I was walking around the North End his weekend, but the testosterone is boiling and I have got back into the running game again. I feel as if a slight hangover when I finished the 4-mile run and my thigh muscles tremor every time I go up and down the stairs. Translation: I've never felt so alive! This past weekend in sports was action packed as any with the Basketball Hall of Fame inductions (which included some guy with the initials M.J.), a Sox doubleheader that virtually killed off the Rays season completely (yaaaaahooooooooo!) to go along with all of this quality football from college and the pros. And the Patriots haven't played yet! Why do I feel that I'm getting away with something? Before I type the rest of this, I will proceed to bathe myself in a jacuzzi sized tub of Icy Hot. Yeah, that will fix everything. God, I need a masseuse right now!

Before we get ready for some American football, we must dive into Fixture #2 of the Spanish Premier League as Barcelona squared up against Getafe. By the way they played in the first half, you couldn't tell that Getafe was ranked 17th in the Spanish Premier League last season, as they almost cashed in on some early opportunities given to them by the defensive backs. But then things changed, in many ways. It was Barça's star acquisition, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who cashed in with a goal (67') and an assist on a Messi goal (79') to boost the squad to a 0-2 victory. Too bad I missed most of the second half due to an apparent boatload of technical difficulties. No radio transmission from a blank screen or anything. So I basically spent an a half an hour becoming aware of every program that was going to be on GolTV for the rest of the weekend. Not that I'm into conspiracy theories or anything, but it's a potentially genius marketing ploy to use the best team in Europe to rope in tons of soccer-newbie viewers to expose them to the fruits of the network. Too bad I'm not buying the strategy, which explains this lame explanation as to why I was brainwashed into eventually watching the Atletico Madrid-Racing game to quell my Saturday afternoon soccer urges. You're telling me that a network that is vital in bringing soccer to the newest masses doesn't know how to operate their satellites/any other audio/visual equipment at this point? Granted, soccer isn't gonna completely lose me as a viewer because of this, but GolTV shouldn't be shocked with the e-mails of some angry viewers. Definitely a sour note that spoiled a great game.

Must have saw his face next to the word, "overrated."
(espn.com)

Saturday's college football provided two intriguing games. I admit, I'm not the biggest college football fan in the world. For one, every Saturday's sports ticker is always dominated by virtually every college football game that's being played on Earth, all while I'm looking for the score for the Rangers game. I'm not exactly bubbling with anticipation to see the score for West Kentucky and Southern Florida. Second, it's hard for me to get into a sport that the rankings are totally subjective, with a computer system determining the fate of who's champion. Coincidentally, it's always programs like Notre Dame and Ohio State (teams with historically elite programs) who end up benefiting in the polls despite having ridiculously easy schedules and at times not being that good anyway. The two teams I mentioned just happened to be involved in the games that everyone was buzzing about this past Saturday. Old buddy Charlie Weis and his Fighting Irish were involved in a slug fest against the much maligned Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines of Michigan. This game had magnified attention due to the fact that the game was a potential launching pad for programs who have fallen off the glory path. In the end, it was Michigan who defeated the Irish when Greg Mathews caught a TD pass with 11 seconds left, making me wonder even more why Notre Dame is still nationally televised, or why I even liked them as a kid. The golden helmets perhaps? I mean, how were they even ranked 18th when they have only won 1 bowl game in 15 years? And I'm supposed to believe Jimmy Clausen is a Heisman candidate just because he threw 401 yards and 5 TDs against Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl last December? I think the definition of overrated has been solidified, ladies and gents. Did I just hear a, "You lie" somewhere? Must be Regis. Anyhoo, to continue this Texas-sized rant on the college sports front, How 'bout them Buckeyes? It's a few years since Ohio State has won a bowl game themselves, since that Fiesta Bowl in 2006 where they played and beat (SURPRISE!) Notre Dame, which with my rant before, you can probably tell I don't take that victory too seriously. Since then, they have been demolished by Florida and LSU in the championship game after being nominated the favorites and lost to Texas in last year's Fiesta Bowl. Needless to say that I don't take OSU as a big game team. Especially when you allow a 19-year old freshman QB, who looks like could easily play one of those Californian jock villains on a show on the CW Network, to coordinate 86 yard drive a the end of the game to deflate you. Matt Barkley is now guaranteed a shirtless spot on a magazine and the opening of his brand new bandwagon, which reminds me.......

Orton: 1, Cutler: 0. I love karma!
(espn.com)

There's always a lot to marvel about when a football season begins. Every since Thursday night's re-emergence of the Madden Curse, I have recently gotten hooked into watching the NFL Network and have read every X and O for virtually every matchup for the upcoming weekend. And then, Sunday arrived. We saw the McNabb break a rib, the continuous free fall of a Mr. Delhomme and fantasy king Drew Brees opening up the season with 6 TDs against (you guessed it) the Detroit Lions. Week 1 also marked an increase in ticket sales for the bandwagons of Brett Favre and Mark Sanchez. I see the Favre bandwagon increasing in the next few weeks as he goes up against opponents like the Lions and the 49ers for the next couple of weeks. And believe me, I'm just as disappointed as the rest of you. The development of the Sanchez bandwagon is gonna go through a huge test however, as the Jets play the Patriots, Titans, Saints and Dolphins for the next month. He only beat a Texans team, which I believe is the most over-hyped sleeper pick in recent memory. Interesting to see how Rex Ryan and the gang fare after that monstrous beginning of a season in terms of schedule. Just because I picked the Jets to become the 2nd place team in the division, doesn't mean I have to root for it to happen! But hey, at least I get the joy and satisfaction that "Cry Baby" Cutler threw 4 picks in his loss to the Packers last night, making Kyle Orton look like a Joe Montana in comparison. In the meantime, his former team, who don't really look like they have a chance on paper (even with Kyle Orton, hahaha), miraculously won their first game on a tipped pass turned 87 yard reception to beat Ochocinco's Bengals. Not a good start for the Twitter King's personal 12 win team prediction. All this and Week 1 isn't over yet!

Here's to the Rays' season.
(espn.com)

This weekend, we saw some sinking fish on a wet weekend. With the sweep of the doubleheader and the series on Sunday, the Rays dropped their 11th straight game and go from fighting for the Wild Card to wildly fighting for .500. My buddy P-Mac and I had a discussion on if we felt bad for them or not, and apparently we differ on opinion. It might be mean, but I don't have one ounce of sympathy. I probably have a permanent arrhythmia from watching these guys pull Elway-like comebacks on us virtually every game, not to mention a few dark spots on my liver from the drinking away the aftermath. That Game 7 ALCS loss doesn't have me feeling like roses either. So winning these last 5 out of 6 against the Rays needless to say was like Christmas, and the Sox beating Garza in the 8th on the 1st game of the double dip was the star on top of the tree. With the Rays out, only the Rangers stand in the way of a Red Sox Wild Card berth. The Sox try to strengthen their hold in the Wild Card as they go up against the future 2009 AL West Champions and potential 1st round opponent, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (again?), however I get a little queasy whenever a returning Matsuzaka and Byrd are the 1st two probables. All of this, and Texas plays Oakland, a team that everyone else can beat but us. But touching on the brighter notes, the Sox are on a 5 game win streak, with the offense not only coming through in quantity, but in the right moments as well. And tell me if I'm dreaming, but has Buchholz become the #3 sta.... ? I'm not going to complete the question, because we can't afford any more jinxes at this point. Well, it's a day off for the Sox, which only means one thing today: Go Patriots!

Before I Peace: Kanye, How Could You Be So Heartless?

(mstrismusic.com)

And just to think that I didn't think anyone was as crazy as Lady Gaga's outfits. Last night, Kanye West proved that he is not only a sore loser when it comes to his career, but he is a sore loser when it comes to other people's accomplishments. In the MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift won the award 'Best Female Video' in somewhat of an upset, considering she was up against pop giants like Beyonce, Lay Gaga and Pink. However, it wasn't like when Jethro Tull's 'Crest of a Knave' beat out Metallica's '...And Justice For All' for the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in the 1989 Grammys (still befuddled). As the victorious Swift attempted to dive into her 1st Moonman victory speech, Kanye stormed the stage, took the mike and boldly stated to the audience the Beyonce should have won due to creating "one of the best videos of all time", leaving Swift in a "pants fell down" type of shock on the stage. First off Kanye, best video of all-time? Really, Kanye? Of all-time? Sure, having 3 Beyonce's dancing around in a uni in a black/white background is titillating, and I can't ever get the song out of my head once I listen to it, but the best of all time? I have a couple Peter Gabriel videos in mind that have more creativity in 10 seconds than any of these videos had. And how can you top this sick OK GO vid? Once again, Kanye has dumped off into the deep end of his own selfishness, and has not only made a buffoon of himself, but put a shadow over what should have been a hallmark moment in a teenager's rising career, well at least until Beyonce saved the day and let Taylor Swift say her thank yous after obtaining the award for 'Video of the Year' (Shoulda waited on the rant, Kanye!). I'm not even a fan of the two female pop stars that are in the midst of VMA-gate. In fact, I only have 4 songs of Beyonce's (Yes, including "Single Ladies", I know.) and only 1% of my music collection is country (Yes, I did the math). Ironically, I like Kanye's music exponentially more than the music of the other two artists. But this is why I don't fall in love with celebrities, because they can easily become that drunk relative in the family reunion that picks up the Hennessey and won't shut up. In this situation, this is about Kanye being that drunken uncle. If you want, you can make your own channel on DirecTV and just host "The College Dropout Awards" to elect your own winners. I realize that you think you should win every music award out there. Hell, you probably think that you deserve to win the gold for female pole vaulting. Being an arrogant blowhard to get attention is one thing, but doing it at the expense of someone who doesn't even look capable of making a mix-tape to diss you is waaaaaaay below class. Just because Swift's album (Fearless) tallied over double the sales of your latest release (808s & Heartbreak), doesn't mean you have to act like a complete moron. Is it Taylor Swift envy? Who knows. Maybe it's a little Jay-Z envy, as Kanye went up to protect his girl's right to another Moonman. Hmmmm, maybe if you liked it Kanye, then you should have put a ring on it!

Mochaman's Fantasy Baseball Report
My Mocha Sox and Firehawks have reached the semifinals in their respect consolation bracket races. The consolation prize isn't exactly the trophy you play for, but you play to win the game....or sometimes a scrap of your dignity. The race for survival continues! The real attention will be focused on my Bubba Gump Shrimpz, who are in the semifinals going for the real prize ($200, a year of bragging rights with people I actually talk to). Still nervous with the recent back issues of Lincecum, but could prove vital in a week in which he will potentially pitch twice. Hoping the Morneau and Zo-Beast go slump-busters this week. Let's get it on!