Tuesday Random Thoughts
1. Deal or No Deal was on TV last night. I’m not a huge fan of this show, but let me just say this. I would be the perfect contestant for this show. I would absolutely refuse to make a deal as long as one big number was still on the board. People can say a lot of things about El Presidente but I never shut it down when I’m gambling. I have the classic degenerate gambler syndrome that makes it impossible to win. It’s not the fact that I suck at picking games because I’m actually pretty good at it. It’s the fact that no matter how much I’m up I just pressing the action until I eventually lose it all back to the house. Of course when you’re losing you can’t just keep betting until you get even becasue you have to pay at the end of the week. The result is that gamblers always lose. And the same would probably be true on Deal or No Deal. I’m pretty confident I’d end up winning one dollar even if the bank offered me a 500K deal. I'm also my positive that my dad would have a heart attack trying to tell me to take the deal.
2. Ok, we have a favor to ask courtesy friends at Casino Montreal. Long time Stoolies obviously know that these guys have been big supporters of the Stool. They've advertised with us since we launched and we have a great relationship with them. Basically they are trying to gather information to make Casino Montreal more appealing to “the Stoolie” crowd. They’ve put together a survey which will take roughly 15 minutes to fill out. Don’t worry it’s easy though. I already took it. And no you’re not going to get hit with any emails from them or anything like that. They just want to figure out what typical dudes like us like. They’re also going to randomly give away a trip to Montreal to one person who fills out the survey by April 18: This will include 2 nights in a downtown Montreal hotel, $100 chip (Canadian funds) 2 lunch or dinner buffets at Casino de Montréal. So there you have it. We need lots of people to fill this thing out to make it a legitimate sample and all that good stuff so please put on your Stoolie hard hat and help out our boys from Montreal.
3. Villanova has been installed as a 2.5 favorite against the Superfans. Umm, is this a joke? This has to be the easiest bet of the year. BC plays Duke tough in the ACC Final, and suddenly Dukie Vital and the rest of the country have them going to the Final Four. Listen folks, there is no way in hell BC beats Villanova. Mark it down. And if you know what is good for you, you’ll put your money where El Presidente’s mouth is. www.vipsports.com/barstool or www.thegreek.com.
4. I will give one million dollars to anybody who can name the wrestler who is in this video and gets clocked over the head with a chair by Ozzie Guillen. Regardless of who that wrestler is I’ll give him credit for one of the best lines I’ve ever heard in my life when he says “Any 10 year old with an ipod can do that.”
5. The Sox traded Bronson Arroyo yesterday for Wilmo Pena or whatever his name is. I like the trade, but I’m sure Bronson doesn’t. Now all that work he spent the past two seasons building his music career goes down the drain. Something tells me his cover tunes weren’t being playing on the Cincinnati air waves. That’s just a guess though. And what about his Northeastern groupies? I wonder if they’ll travel to the Midwest? All I can say is that Bearcat Freshman better watch out. On a serious note though, I do firmly believe that Bronson Arroyo’s musical ambition was a major detriment to his pitching career. It just seems like he has is priorities screwed up and it seemed to hurt him as a pitcher. I honestly believe that. As a side note the chick in this picture said she’d do our cover for 100.00 bucks and then tried to hard ball us for $500.00 after we broke the story. Nobody hardballs El Presidente and gets away with it.
6. The Simpsons got renewed for two more years. This means they will be on television for at least 19 years. That’s crazy. There is no doubt that the Simpsons have to go down as one of the greatest television shows of all time. Here is how I’d rank my top 5. Seinfeld #1 Simpsons #2 Cheers #3 Curb Your Enthusiasm #4. Hmm, upon further review I don’t think it’s fair to put another show on this list. That is my Final Four and I think you could argue for any of them to be #1.
7. I don’t know who watched the Gauntlet last night, but contrary to whatever Ibiza says, I’m not quite ready to declare Randy brilliant yet. And what’s up with the “To Be Continued” on the Gauntlet? Are they kidding me? This isn’t Who Shot JR. Its’ the freaking Gauntlet. And for all of you MTV Spring Break fans, this year it’s MTV Spring Break After Hours. Yup, Spring Break comes on late night. I can only imagine what this means? I mean it was basically soft porn when it was geared towards 14 year olds in the middle of the day. Now that it’s after hours, anything less than flat out porn and I’ll be disappointed. Breaking News: The first show on MTV Spring Break featured two gay dudes mud wrestling. What the f-ck?
Reader Email
Email #1
Prez,
I assume you knew this and if you did, I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but Seth Davis is a '92 Duke grad. In fact, if you want, I could probably dig up some serious dirt on him to help Clark Kellogg's cause. My brother and Seth were co-editors of the Duke Chronicle's sports section in 91-92. Let me know, I am sure there are some skeletons there.
-SS
No, I really didn’t know where he came from. I’m not up to speed on the editors of college newspapers across the country. But that’s kind of my point. He just came out of nowhere last year. I remember wondering how this guy landed the job over me.
Email #2
Prez,
Since you've been a Big Televen apologist all season, I'd like to hear your take on them being the first conference in tourney history to have 6+ bids and none of them reach the sweet 16.
#2 Ohio State
#3 Iowa
#4 Illinois
#6 MSU
#6 Indiana
#9 Wisconsin
All bounced in the first weekend and finishing with a disastrous 3-6 record.
I can assure you the committee won’t be fooled again by this conference of frauds and give them 6 bids next season
-Legend
I’ve been a Big Ten apologist? I don’t remember that. I do remember saying the Big East was the best conference and that WV, UConn and Villanova would all make it to the Final Four. And I remember saying that Villanova would destroy the Superfans. I hate to say I told you so but I told you so. Wait, that has happened yet right? It just is so inevitable that I’ve already been bragging about that pick even though it isn’t 100% official.
Email #3
Hey Pres,
I've been at work, and my boss has been in Texas, so I've been watching every game I could while at work. Problem is, they still can blackout local games, as if watching it on your computer would upend my need to watch it on TV. So, I logged on, tried to register saying I was from Santa Fe but they must be able to tell where my computer is coming from and I still was unable to watch the games. So I got Yahoo score up-to-date score of the BC game while watching other games. The Windows watcher is actually pretty fucking awesome, plus it has a Boss Button that if you click it a random spreadsheet comes up. Sick shit really.
Matthew
Got to love technology.
Email #4
Prez,
How was your Saint Patrick’s Day and how do you feel about Miller Lite and Heineken trying to pass themselves off as legit drinks on that day (I saw numerous ads in bars)? I think you gotta go with Guinness, half and half, car bombs or Jameson, and that’s it. My bracket is looking amazing at the moment, but I think putting Kansas in the championship game is going to catch up with me soon….regardless though, I’ll win both pools I’m in if LSU can get by Duke (assuming UConn goes all the way). The way the teams have played it doesn’t look promising, but the entire nation will be rooting for the Tigers so I have that on my side. I agree with Tmoney – Nova kills BC.
Brian in NYC
Miller Lite can do whatever they want. Heineken should be punished. I’m not sure how your bracket can look awesome with Kanas in the Finals? But it does seem like your doing okay as long as it doesn’t get dark out tomorrow night.
Email #5
Pres-
As a precursor, I liked Arroy and what he brought to the Red Sox pitching and his willingness to pitch from the pen and in pressure situations, but the day Arroyo signed that contract, I wrote in and said he sealed his own fate by letting his emotions get in the way of any business sense and I guaranteed he'd be gone as a result. I included a barb about his "rock and roll" career in Boston and you gave me a little shit (sarcasm) for that in your response by the way, but I'm just writing to say once again that what Broyo did was beyond stupid and now he's headed to one of the worst teams in the NL and a pretty miserable and inconspicuous season in Cincy. All Bronson's fault and anyone who says the front office dicked him over is an idiot, plain and simple. He did it to himself.
D from Canton
I made fun of you for saying his music got in the way of his pitching? Really?I feel like I’ve been saying that for a year now. Maybe you were the one who convinced me?
Email #6
I am still shocked that you almost missed what would have been the greatest upset in college basketball if U.Conn fell Friday night. I have new respect for the power of the First Lady. PS. How was the movie?
DAD
It’s true. I went to the movies on Friday Night. I felt like I owed it to the First Lady after watching hoops all day Thursday and all Friday afternoon and with plans to watch it all day Saturday and Sunday. I wasn’t anticipating Albany being up 10 in the 2nd half against UConn. It almost caused the first real huge fight between me and the First Lady as I asked if I could leave the movie to run to a bar next door and watch the end of the game. The First Lady said I could but I could tell she was really pissed about it. Thank God UConn pulled away. If it stayed close I’m still not sure what I would have done. And for people who think I’m exaggerating, trust me I’m not.
Email #7
El Presidente,
I am happy to report that you are only two degrees of separation or so from Seth Davis. This is Kris Olson, Scott Olson's brother, and I was a classmate of Seth's at Duke University, Class of 1992. (Yes, Seth is a Dookie -- I hope that doesn't taint your image of him.) At Duke, Seth worked for me when I was sports editor of the Duke Chronicle. He also hosted a Duke basketball show while a student called "Cameron Corner." There are probably some old tapes somewhere in Durham that would embarrass the hell out of him. Back then, my running joke was always about how huge Seth's ego was (I wrote an April Fools Day column in '92 that was supposedly written by Seth about his favorite subject, himself), but really, while he definitely did not lack in self-confidence -- a must if you were going to put yourself in front of the camera -- he was a really good guy and fun to play a round of golf with. He was the rare "newspaper nerd" who was also a fraternity guy in college (SPE), and he is clearly that example of the guy who knew exactly what he wanted from day one and had the courage and conviction to pursue the hell out of it. He's not just a "pretty face," as they say, though. He did his time with the New Haven (Conn.) Register before hooking on with Sports Illustrated. His stint with the mag morphed into his gig with CNN-SI online, but he always wanted to be in front of the camera, and, though I don't know for sure, I am guessing he probably called, wrote and e-mailed every CBS producer until they gave him a shot. His persistence paid off, and as you note, we are all the better for it. Sure, maybe I feel a twinge of jealousy when I see him all over the tube this time of year. After all, traveling to two Final Fours with the Blue Devils was certainly the highlight of my college career, and one I would surely love to get paid nicely to relive. But mostly I am just proud to say I know Seth and to be able to enjoy watching a guy who is living his dream after working hard to make it a reality.
-Kris
Interesting email. Thanks for the insight.