Random Thoughts

1. I know the Sheffield fan incident is old news by now, but I haven’t had a chance to weigh in on it yet and I feel like I need to. I’ve watched tape of this thing at least 100 times trying to formulate my opinion. And I’m still not sure what I think, primarily because I have no idea what “Scoop Man” was doing. In fact, my guess is that the Scoop Man himself really didn’t know what he was doing and still doesn’t. When you look at the tape in super slow motion it doesn’t even seem like Scoop Man is looking at Sheffield when he does his scoop move. And he looks shocked when Sheffield comes at him like he has no idea what is going on. I’ve heard some people say that he was reaching for the ball but I’m not buying that either. He wasn’t even in the same zip code as the ball so it would be the most pathetic attempt at grabbing a baseball in the history of mankind. My only explanation on what Scoop Man was trying to accomplish was that he subtly wanted to interfere with Sheffield, but wasn’t expecting to really make contact with him like he did. There simply is no other possible explanation. Regardless, Scoop Man is clearly the instigator and deserves whatever punishment is coming down to him (short of the electric chair which is what Joe Torre is proposing). Despite the fact that Scoop Man is catching all the heat I actually think the guy who poured his beer on Sheffield is the bigger idiot. That guy should have gotten the boot and I would have no problem if the Sox revoked his season tickets. As a side note, what is the beer guy doing with a 100% full beer in the 8th inning? The fact that this guy had a full beer at this juncture of the game means he was drinking all game and was totally shitfaced. That will help explain why he fell down during the fracas. Finally, in regards to Sheffield, I don’t think we should be awarding him the purple heart quite yet. I read in some newspaper that Sheffield got hit with a quick uppercut. Listen, Glass Joe wouldn’t have blinked after getting hit with that scoop move. I think you can criticize Sheffield just as much as praise him for the way he acted. He could have just as easily walked away instead of getting in the fan’s face and making the situation explode. If it wasn’t for the ultra quick midget security guard who knows what would have happened? For me, the worst part of this whole deal is listening to Joe Torre get up on his soap box again. You would have thought that Scoop Man raped and pillaged Sheffield after listening to Torre’s post game comments. According to Torre, Scoop Man “shouldn’t be walking the streets nevermind at baseball game.” Please. It still amazes me why Boston fans cheer for Torre during pre-game introductions. This guy is an idiot and always tries to make Boston fans look like animals when NY fans are about a billion times worse.

2. Moving on from the worst part of the Sheffield Game to the best part. How about Doug Flutie? That was simply a spectacular catch he made on the foul ball down the first base line. I know some people will say that Flutie is lame for bring his glove to the game, but you can’t argue with results. The guy has snagged four straight foul balls in his last four games. If this doesn’t prove once and for all that the guy is a flat out winner then I don’t know what does. Catching four straight foul balls is more amazing than Joe DiMaggio’s hit streak. I just love Doug Flutie. I love the fact that he still has the little kid in him. That’s why he’s fun to watch as a football player and fun to root for as a guy. In this day and age of egotistical superstars where everybody is too cool for school, Flutie keeps it real. He is one of the few famous guys in the crowd at Red Sox games who looks genuinely happy to be there and you know would be doing the same exact thing regardless of his fame.

3. Sticking with more Yankees vs. Red Sox stuff, I’m guessing everybody heard the story that Arod supposedly saved an 8-year-old boy from serious injury when he prevented the youngster from getting hit by a truck on Newbury Street.

“Rodriguez said he also had to hurry to avoid being hit by the truck -- "I almost got it, too," he said -- which he estimated was traveling 40-50 mph when he saw the boy starting to run from the sidewalk. Rodriguez said the boy would have been seriously injured or killed had he gotten past him.”
Does Arod think we are stupid? This was obviously a publicity stunt. Everything about this story stinks. First of all what cars are going 50mph’s down Newbury Street in the middle of the day? The answer is none. Second, how come all the quotes are from Arod? He must have called this story in himself. And third, how is it possible that the mother didn’t even bother to thank him for saving her kid’s life? Please. This guy either thinks he is very smart or everybody else is very stupid. This whole concocted story just makes me hate him more.

4. Terrell Owens is one weird bird. T.O. is threatening to hold out if he doesn’t receive a new contract from the Eagles. Keep in mind he is in year 1 of a 7 year deal. As crazy as it seems, I don’t have a huge problem with Owens wanting more cash. As long as NFL teams have the ability to rip up a deal whenever they feel like it, players will feel like they have the right to demand a new deal whenever they feel like it. So the point of this random thought isn’t to rip Owens. I just can’t believe he went on the Big Idea with Donnie Deutshe and started crying (literally) about the fact he needs to feed his family and how nobody understands him. Listen Terrell, I won’t rip you for demanding more money, but don’t start playing the pity card. Nobody except you cares whether you make 7 million or 10 million. As a side note had anybody heard of Donnie Deutsche until he started popping up in the Apprentice? How did he get his own TV show?

5. Tom Brady hosted SNL last Saturday Night. I thought the show sucked, but Brady was pretty good in terms of acting. It’s not his fault that all the skits were horrible. I haven’t watched SNL in years, but I hope last Saturday was just an off night. The only remotely funny part was at the very end when they had Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb and McNabb’s mother asking Brady why he got to host the show instead of them. Other than that it was a total dud. As a side note I wonder if Brady requested to do so many song and dance routines? It seemed every skit centered around Tom singing.

6. Hulk Hogan has spoken. "On behalf of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), former World Wrestling champion Hulk Hogan sent boxer Roy Jones Jr. a letter urging him to "lay off defenseless animals" and "give up cockfighting." Jones recently bought a major cockfighting arena in Louisiana, where staged fights are conducted in front of several hundred attendees who engage in illegal gambling. Louisiana is one of only two states where fighting roosters is still legal. Hogan, who shares his home with a number of animals including a rooster named Lily, says he understands "the thrill of being in a ring." But he draws the line at cockfighting, an activity in which two roosters are pumped full of steroids, thrown into a pit with razors strapped to their legs, and forced to fight with deadly injuries, often until death.
I don't know what I think about the Hulkster's plea to Jones. I'm not sure it's fair to deny a rooster "the thrill of being in a ring." However, I will have to side with Hogan on this one after going to the cock fights in Puerto Rico on Spring Break. I still have nightmares from time to time of the roosters getting pecked to death. As a side note, I didn't know cock fighting was legal in Louisiana? Have they outlawed slavery yet? Geez.

7. "College was a good time, but it wasn't for me, I wasn't a big fan of going to school and going to class...I didn't think it was going to be as hard or as serious as it was."

-BU hockey player Chris Borque on why he will not be returning to BU.
I can't tell you how many times I complained about this to my parents during my college career. The drinking and partying I could handle, but the class work I just wasn't prepared for and frankly seemed unrealistic.

8. Just recently El Presidente hired a BC student to deliver copies of Barstool Sports around the BC campus. I received this email last week:

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to request that your publication no longer be delivered to the Flynn Recreation Complex at Boston College. On several occasions now a delivery of your publication has appeared in the breezeway area of the main entrance of our facility despite no previously arranged authorization with our facility's administration. For your information, on each occasion the delivery was promptly removed and discarded.

While we appreciate your assumption that our members and patrons would benefit from the free issues of Barstool Sports I must inform you that on the contrary we do not share the sentiment and cannot be associated with it and therefore with it's distribution in our lobby for several reasons.

The first reason relates to Boston College being a Jesuit institution with public decency standards not in keeping with a newspaper with scantily clad women in sexually provocative poses on the cover. The second reason relates to our being a part of the Athletics Department at Boston College, and therefore bound by the rules and guidelines of the NCAA relating to the promotion of gambling on college sports. The full page add on the rear of your publication for an internet sports gambling company to say the least compromises our responsibilities in this area if we were to allow it to remain.

We would be most appreciative if Barstool Sports was not delivered either inside or in the immediate outside vicinity of the Flynn Recreation Complex again.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Ha, Ha. Do they think I'm stupid? We all know the real reason Frank sent this email is because the SuperFans still have a stick up their ass over the fact I said they were a tier II athletic program. Get over it. Facts are facts. I'm certainly not buying this gambling thing either. The SuperFans got busted for their football players running a gambling ring on campus just a few years ago. Maybe Sports Interaction is viewed as competition. As a side note I wouldn't have even bothered to make fun of this tool if he just said not to deliver them to the facility anymore instead of getting all Jesuit on my ass.

9. One last lingering thought from the Masters. I'm sure everybody noticed that after Tiger sank his winning put in OT, the first person he hugged was his mother. Sure some may say that Elin needed to be more assertive in her positioning behind the 18th and that she can't let Kultida and her hat muscle their way in and get the first hug from Tiger. But my question is do you think Elin was pissed? I asked the First Lady if she'd be mad if I hugged my mom before I hugged her in a situation like that. I think she would be. Regardless, I sort of get the feeling that the Woods family tries to keep Elin locked in a closet much like the Fratelli's kept Sloth locked up. I just feel like they don't want anything or anybody stealing the spotlight from Tiger and Elin has the potential to become a huge star. Yes, I hate Tiger Woods.

10. Anybody catch that UMass commercial that has been running on TV lately? You know the one I'm talking about. The one with Bill Pullman from Independence Day in it. If I was a UMass graduate, I'd want this commercial cancelled ASAP. I just have a hard time believing that the UMass alumni association couldn't find a better guy to headline this commercial than Bill Pullman. If you ask me this is a ringing indictment on why not to go to UMass. I'd hate to think that the best a Umass graduate can hope for is to be the next Bill Pullman.

11. Britney Spears is pregnant and officially dead to us at the Stool.

12. Did everybody see the highlights of the Italian soccer match that was suspended when soccer Hooligans started throwing flares onto the field? One of the flares actually hit a goalie in the back, and then he fell to the ground and acted like a man who just got hit with a flare. This was the 2nd game in Italy to be called off this season because of violence. AS Roma's match with Dynamo Kiev in September was stopped after referee Anders Frisk was struck by a missile. Damn, I hate it when the referee gets struck by a missile in the middle of a good old fashioned soccer match. To the leagues’ credit, they have issued a statement that says "a referee should abandon a game following the throwing of fireworks or any kind of missiles onto the playing field." That seems logical right? It's tough to play through missiles. No word yet on whether Marwan supplied the weapons to the soccer hooligans.

13. Maybe the funniest story of the past two weeks is Michael Vick using the alias “Ron Mexico.” A woman who contracted Herpes after sleeping with him revealed this tidbit in a lawsuit she filed against him. Since this incident became public, people have gone to the NFL's online store to order Vick's No. 7 replica jersey with a personalized "MEXICO" on the back. More importantly, I will immediately start introducing my buddies to chicks at bars as "Ron Mexico." Ladies and gentleman "Ron Mexico"… How perfect is that?

14. El Presidente had a photo shoot for the front page yesterday. We did it at the Sports Depot in Allston. The First Lady did not escort me on this particular shoot. And she almost paid the price in spades. I can handle looking at models in bikinis, but when they start asking if I like Poker, I have a hard time controlling myself. I get especially excited when the model says she plays Party Poker for money all the time. Umm, check please.

15. For as much as people make fun of him for being nuts...I still think Michael Jackson's insanity is underrated. I really do. When you're talking about a grown man that names their kid 'Blanket', has a throne in his bedroom & plays "tickle games" with young boys you're talking about a whole different level of crazy. It's fascinating stuff, really, especially when you think of Michael circa 1984. Just to reinforce the kind of nut bag we're dealing with, here are just some of things that are in Jacko's crib:

A hallway filled with white statues of half-naked cherubs - A red and gold throne - A mannequin of a young boy with his legs in the air - A version of The Last Supper painting featuring Jackson - Shirley Temple, Spiderman and Incredible Hulk paraphernalia - A cardboard cut-out of two children kissing - A framed picture of Jackson and a young boy with curls resting his chin on the star's shoulder - A model castle - A life-sized doll of a boy scout on a podium. You know, just the kind of standard fare you see in anyone's home.

Reader Email

Email #1

Prez - This is actually directed at Chisholm for his ridiculous article claiming Boston is a second rate city. Let me preface by saying I have been to every one of your 9 "elite" cities other than Tokyo. First of all, I find it hard to believe that you have been to any of these cities you listed or else half of them would not have made your list. I'll begin with Rome. Other than some tourist attractions (Vatican, Coliseum, etc) what are you going to do in Rome? The nightlife sucks and you sure as hell can't get around that well on the Public Transportation as it only covers about ¼ of the city. Much of the city is a run down eyesore. And Honolulu? Honolulu isn't one of the 5 best cities in Hawaii, never mind the entire world. It's a fucking dump. It does have a few nice beaches but the city itself looks like Compton and it's nearly impossible to get around without a rental car. Los Angeles is spread out over about 75 square miles and you're complaining that it might take you too long to get from one side of Boston to the other. Try getting across LA at 5pm. You think Boston is rude to outsiders? Have you ever walked around Paris as a foreign tourist? It's not a rumor that they hate Americans. My point is every major city has plenty of flaws. The bottom line is we live in a city with over 100,000 college chicks, hundreds of bars within walking distance from wherever you live, and a plenty of 5 star restaurants. Throw in the fact that we seem to have a championship parade going through our great city at least once a year and I'll take Boston over any place in the world. - Matt

I totally agree with you Matt. I think Jamie was WAY off base. The article itself wasn't bad in terms of some of the things that are frustrating about Boston, but every city has its flaws. The only thing that really pisses me off is the weather. Other than that, I'd take Boston over every city in the world without thinking twice about it.