ESPN loves the NFL

I think I'm different than your normal American 23 year old. I like football. But I don't love football. I don't obsess over it. I get excited over important games. Every now and then I get way into a game. But again, I don't live for the sport. I get annoyed at the stop-and-go of the sport. The "5 seconds of an incomplete pass followed by 35 seconds of replay and stats" that happens every play. I love baseball. People tell me baseball is boring. I disagree. Baseball is perfect for me. There's no politics of running the clock out or making sure you run out of bounds to stop the clock.

The problem I have? ESPN loves the NFL. I wish there was a stronger word I could use to emphasize it. They totally live for it. I tweeted last night, ESPN might as well be called NFL Network 2. Just last week, the NFL and ESPN agreed to a $15.2 billion contract for coverage of the NFL on ESPN.

$15.2 billion. For that price, you could buy every team in the NBA and still have $4 billion. You could buy every team in NHL twice.

It's an absurd amount of money when you think that ESPN really only has 16 games on it's network. Part of what this deal also entails is more NFL coverage on ESPN. ESPN's pregame show is now 3 hours instead of 2. Everyday they have (as far as I can see on ESPN.com's site) two hour long shows dedicated to what's going on in the NFL.

In case you know nothing about the NFL, nothing really significant happens between Tuesday and Saturday for most teams. So the idea of having at least 2+ hours a day dedicated to nothing is absolutely outrageous.

I get why it is like this. The NFL is the most popular league in pro sports. Why not dedicate more of your programming to something so popular? However, I don't think it can be done at the expense of everyone else. There's still a race to October for most of the MLB. The NHL season is about to get it's game together. College football has always been more exciting to me than the NFL (less BS, more teams, exciting games. BCS is the only problem)

The problem is, as with all media, ESPN is dictating what's "important" in sports. Since they are setting up a huge deal with the NFL, it's natural they are going to give the NFL much more time than the other leagues. And that's worse for leagues that don't work with ESPN (cough NHL cough)

Yesterday I listened to the Around The Horn and Pardon The Interruption podcasts. The first 2 of 3 segments were completely dedicated to the NFL. You're going to tell me that's not on purpose? It's a pro NFL bias. And most of the country doesn't mind because they can't get enough football. I've already had enough, and it's only been the opening week.

What can be done about it? Well, for me I think I'm going to be making the jump to the MLB Network. I don't like the idea of these Network's run by the leagues, because they can be too corporate and just BS. But I need my baseball fix. I've heard MLB Network has been having better coverage than ESPN for a while now. Change is never easy when you're used to something after 10 years.

Meanwhile, ESPN will brainwash you until you bleed for the NFL. Don't give in!

MLB is Moronic

One more 9/11 note - there was a semi-controversy involving the sports / 9/11 tie-ins.

The New York Mets wanted to wear FDNY hats instead of their normal MLB ballcaps. They did it after 9/11/2001. They were going to do it yesterday. What happened instead? MLB said no, and mandated that the players wear the official MLB cap.

What's so special about the MLB cap? Glad you asked. MLB honors patriotic days (Memorial, July 4, Labor, 9/11) with special hats that do something different each year. Different colors. Different flags. ETC.

How much do these hats cost to buy? Again, glad you asked. You can buy them for 36.99.

Are you kidding me MLB? Are you so corporate and greedy that you can't let the team pay tribute to the real superstars of that day? Again, we treat sports stars like heroes. But our "heroes" want to honor the real heroes. Take the spotlight off them and on the people who deserve it. And instead the MLB just looks like it's trying to make a buck. Have a human aspect to you. Baseball is meant to be fun. It's a beautiful game. It's not the end of the world if a team violates the uniform policy for one game out of 182.

Have a heart MLB. Act like your real. What would be the better statement? Seeing the Mets wearing FDNY hats or wearing a normal Mets hat with a flag on the side of it?

Sometimes I can't stand how much I love baseball.

9/11 10 Years Later

Two posts in one day? I'm on a roll.

Yesterday was the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. It's been a somewhat nauseating week with all of the 9/11 coverage. There's been so much coverage. Everyone involved in that day has a story. People in the buildings. Tourists. Firefighters. Literally everyone. It's heartbreaking to hear these stories. Being honest, I got semi-tired of it. It's just emotionally exhausting.

It was weird for me this year because I was in New York. I lived in the Financial District for 2+ months. I was 10 minutes away from the WTC. I walked by it on Saturday. The police were everywhere over the weekend. There was a tense-ness in the air regarding the threat of a potential attack. My cab was pulled over before it was allowed to cross the Manhattan Bridge. It was all just very tense.

Last night I went out to dinner with my friends, but came home to my apartment. My roommate is gone, so it was just me. I went up on my roof, and could see the bright lights of the two towers that they turn on. I haven't spent that much time on my roof by myself in a while. It's powerful just to see them. Strong strong lights that illuminate the skyline. A symbol to demonstrate what once was there and how we will never forget what happened that day.

For me/my friends, 9/11 happened when we were 12/13 years old. It was 8th grade. I remember that day more than most from grade school. I remember watching the TV. I remember walking home from school. I remember all of it, but I stil never processed it. It's the true loss of innocence moment that you talk about in your high school English classes after reading To Kill A Mockingbird.

I was watching coverage of it last night, the CBS special by Robert DeNiro, it was powerful. I cried. I'm glad it wasn't overly political. But the footage, the raw footage, was so gripping/emotional. The craziness of that day. The way the firefighters just ran in. The untold stories. There was also coverage on MSNBC of "9/11 as it happened" which was literally them showing their broadcast coverage from that morning. They also had interviewed the broadcasters, talking about the impact of that day, how they saw it, how it changed them, etc. As if it was 9/11, I literally could not turn away. I was up till 3AM watching this stuff.

You think about the chaos of that day. The craziness. Not to trivialize that day, but I've only had that sense of chaos one other time in my life - when I first saw the Dark Knight. That true sense of absolute chaos that the Joker had on Gotham was polarizing. The way Osama Bin Laden controlled the chaos of a nation by hijacking four planes is gripping. It grabs at you. The difference is 9/11 was real. The Dark Knight was not. And that drives it home more. Living in New York, it hits me more now than it did 10 years ago. I never really knew the towers to be anything, but my parents have a picture of them on it. It's in movies I watch. It's another amazing aspect of this great city. And in a matter of hours they were both gone.

I'm far from trying to praise Osama Bin Laden for what he did. But, it was a well strategized attack. All of these things happened within a short amount of time - which felt shorter because of the un-realness of it. And you think about United 93, what that could of been. If it hit the Capitol, or the White House, how awful that would of been. It's truly a blessing that there weren't more planes involved, more targets.

The other aspect of the day - how people try to tie it in to everything. Specifically sports. Everyone is asking players what they remember from that day. To be honest, I don't give a damn what they remember. I lived that day. We all did. These athletes aren't really heroes. We talk about them and treat them like Rock Stars. Yet they didn't run into those buildings. They didn't work 24 hour shifts. Their kids will have a father and have more toys than a firefighter's kid because of the millions they make. It's absolutely bogus that we live like this. It won't change, because we only really reflect this time of the year. Come October, we will be singing the praises of Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and 9/11 will be far from our minds. State Farm won the day with that ad though. Mad props to them.

One last thought - of course it's a Springsteen thought. I listened to the whole album of The Rising this past Saturday. The album was inspired by 9/11. And if you listen to it thinking about 9/11, the lyrics all make sense. It's another moving piece of it. I think of Bruce as the American storyteller in terms of music, the American Dream, etc. And what did that album tell us? That we have lost some brave and strong men. But we still have our country, our freedom, our friends, our family. Our future. And it's not yours or mine. It's ours. Bruce captured the feeling of a nation, and it makes the album that much more powerful.

We won't forget. We can never forget. We carry on with our lives. Our country is changed. But the emotion that was felt on that day, it'll never go away.

The Entourage Finale

Last night was it for Entourage. As far as it being on HBO. I wrote earlier my thoughts on the previous 7 episodes of the season. It's been a bit of a let down, but it's been a let down since season 2. It hasn't lived up to the hype yet we're still captivated and motivated to watch. Mainly because of Drama and Ari.

So what did I think of the finale? It made sense within the scope of it. It ended like I said it would - with everything being figured out. Even so, it all felt like it was being done with zero repercussion. Vince is getting married? Really? And everyone's just like "Okay, yeah, marry the reporter you've known for less than a month. I'm happy for you bro." There's a difference between support from your friends and blind support "because your friends." More on that in a minute.

The whole Sloan/E thing doesn't make sense. Sloan is so angry and anti E. E is breaking down and doing whatever he wants. Yet end of the day he still loves her. She loves him. They both just can't let it work, but can't make it work with anyone else.

I've always felt more of a connection with E than the other guys. It's become kind of standard for guys to compare their friends to the guys in the Entourage. Nobody ever wants to be Turtle. It's somewhat of a accomplishment to be Drama. It actually takes a lot of work to Vince. Anyways, I've always been compared to E amongst my friends. I don't hate it. I watched it last night and felt like - again - that I was more like Eric than ever. I don't have a Sloan, I don't have a movie star best friend, I didn't get any girls pregnant, and I didn't hook up with anyone's mother. But, just the qualities, the way he acts and carries himself (besides sleeping with Melinda, even though I find her attractive, but Sloan looks better) I feel such a connection with him. And I feel like I have friends who fit the other roles of the Entourage. Maybe I'm dreaming too much. Or trying to make my life seem cooler than it is. But I can't really help it.

The most disappointing aspect of last night? There really wasn't a sense of closure. And that's because they set it up to make a movie. To see what actually happens to the boys. It's fine, I'll see it, whatever, but I don't want that to be a "part" of it. The finale just felt like all a set up. Which is what the whole season has been. And what will the movie be? More of the same. More of the ridiculousness.

I had a relatively good weekend. It was most certainly a "bro" weekend. My good friend from school came in. My other close friend had his friend from home in. The 5 of us walked around and did whatever we wanted. It was kind of Entourage-esque, without the girls/money/cars/clothes. So far from it. But it's the base of what's behind Entourage - the friendship between a group of guys. How they all treat each other as next of kin, putting them above anything else. Like the way Drama and Turtle talked to Sloan and said "It's our baby" as if it's for all of them. That's kind of how my life feels like. Again, maybe I'm dreaming or forcing it. But whatever, it's okay to dream right?

emotion alert. I think about my life, and I think about how my friends - mostly male. I've got 5 or so super close/best friends. I love them, I talk to all of them almost everyday, they're part of the fuel that keeps me going. I think about the future of my friendships, and I hope that we always stay in close touch. I know it can't be like this forever - things happen and interrupt it. But, I've enjoyed the time so far and never want to let that go. But at some point, it does, right? Not like that truly "scares" me, but it's sad to think about. Yes I'm sure (at least I'm semi-confident) that I'll get married/have kids & do that whole thing, but where do my friends fit into that puzzle? Are we going to live near each other? Or are we going to be across the country? Know what I mean? Family changes all of your priorities. Yeah it's crazy and yeah maybe I'm being too melodramatic, but this is what goes on in my head. (To the girls reading this, have I won you over yet? Are you single? Email me! I'm not kidding. Well, I'm laughing, but I'm not kidding.)

On a quick "I don't understand the storyline" comment - Vince booked a plane for E to go wherever he wanted with Sloan. You're going to tell me he didn't go to Paris for Vince's wedding and be a best man? Isn't that kind of crazy? It breaks all the rules of the bromance. Maybe we'll find out once the movie comes out. To me, the idea of getting married is serious. Yet they just kind of throw it around and are just like "okay" with it. Whatever.

With regards to Ari, going to Europe doesn't make total sense, but whatever. Let him do whatever he wants. Although he's come back to take that job or whatever. More in the movie I guess..

I know I'm being super cynical about the show. Even though it's been disappointing, that's only because we want/expect great things from it. The story still captures your attention. It's cool. It's still the lifestyle every guy wants to live. So with that in mind it's great. The movie(s) that come will be great. I'll see them more than once. It's been a great ride.

Anyone trying to hug it out?

Obama's Last Stand

Insert typical "I don't know everything about politics but I hate the system" speech here.

I generally like Barack Obama. Or I thought I did. He had the charisma that seemed like he could lead a country (as opposed to McCain). He's lost a little bit of that "swag" as the kids are calling it.

Truth is, he's not following through on everything he promised. And to be fair, it's a hard system for anything to get accomplished. People can talk a big game about 50 different issues, but for that issue to actually pull through? Much more complicated. Talk is cheap. These politicians will say anything to get your vote. Most people don't understand how difficult it is for bills to actually pass (although maybe they do following the potential default) through the various halls of congress.

I was watching the Republican debate last night. Well, to be honest, I was also doing my fantasy football draft and was talking to my friends on the phone. But I did hear the conversation about border patrol, and I was just getting nauseous listening to these politicians talking about their plan for border control. Everything sounds good, but to pull it off? Not possible. Financially. Resources can't be expended. Etc. And all these politicians are saying is "Put up a 90 foot fence, feet on the ground, have UAVs flying in the air, use satellite technology." All sounds good. But not easily pulled off. How much will that cost?

The other problem I had with the debate? The stories these idiots would tell. "I was talking to a farmer on Pluto who is losing his farm to homeowners." It's not last night's fault - that's the BS of politics. I get it, but I can't tolerate it. Let it die. Stop blowing us around.

Anyway, tonight is Obama's jobs speech. He's feeling the pressure because there's 9% of the country unemployed (including me). I'm curious to hear what he has to say, but I doubt this speech will actually do much of anything. Again, talk talk talk. Put $300 billion (where does this money come from again?) into the economy. From what I understand, jobs are the last thing to see an increase in a growing economy. Companies need to feel stable, which comes from consumers spending comfortably.

Ultimately, this is going to cost Obama the Presidency. People are angry. People are tired. People are depressed. I'm all those any more. It's awful. I don't entirely blame Obama. I think our system is so large, convoluted, corrupt, that it can't work. Everyone wants to make their personal statement. Their personal stand. Republicans have been working to repeal Obamacare

since it started. Forget Obamacare - fix the economy. Or do something, for God's sake. America has a lot of work to do to restore it's reputation.