Stuff and Things, Part III

Sports Guy has Ramblings. I have Stuff and Things. Again. And again.

- Network TV ratings have their Worst. Week. Ever. Seems odd considering all those great new shows they have on right now such as... um... uh.... See you in the fall, networks!

- It didn't bother me so much that Macy Gray was on Bravo Celebrity Poker Showdown; it was far more offensive to put her in the commercials for the series. On any level, who's tuning in to see her?

- U.S. Soccer dropped 11 spots in the international rankings, which seems somewhat unfair considering the fact that the U.S. put in the best performance against World Cup champion Italy with their tie in regulation. For those of you who would argue France was better, let me remind you that the U.S. played 9-against-10 for most of the second half of their Italy match and had two horse-apple red-card calls against them not involving head-butts to the xiphoid process. Speaking of that culprit...

- Via Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press reports that Zinedine Zidane could be stripped of his Golden Ball award for the best player at the World Cup for his violent conduct. You have to love FIFA for not knowing when journalists cast ballots for the World Cup MVP; they're definitely in panic mode for allowing an award to be given to a glorified WWE wrestler.

- Oh yeah, I drove home in the aftermath of a tornado on the "ride" home yesterday. Actually, it was less of a ride and more of a "sit and play with the satellite radio" couple of hours. No flying cows (or YouTube links to said "Twister" clip) to report, however.

- In one of his always-entertaining marathon chat sessions on ESPN.com, Sports Guy said he heard that Peter Gammons was "doing GREAT" and expected to make "a full recovery."

- Have you ever experienced the phenomenal I've dubbed backwaraoke, when the words on the karaoke screen read "Oooh, ohhh, ohhh" instead of the actual chorus lyrics, like, "I'm a genie in a bottle/You gotta rub me the right way"? Well, that happened repeatedly to my girlfriend a couple of weeks ago and we were dumbfounded. Also, I feel obligated to mention that my girlfriend was the one singing the Christina Aguilera song. I'm more of a Britney boy.

- I just realized about a month after watching those new Mac commercials that the guy representing PCs is basically a heavier version of Apple rival Bill Gates. It took me far less time to realize that these parodies are friggin' awesome.

- I still contend that LFO's "Summer Girls" is the worst song of all time, but my new nominee to jump to the top of that list is Calloway's "I Wanna Be Rich." Released about 20 years ago, it sounds like a soulless baritone recorded a rejected Paula Abdul track from "Forever Your Girl," but sang it without her "spirit" or "energy." And check out its Pulitzer-worthy lyrics:

Courtesy of MetroLyrics

- On the flip-side of cool on the radio, check out Gym Class Heroes' new track, "New Friend Request." It was only a matter of time before someone did a song about MySpace dating, but these guys actually pull it off without being too corny. Plus, how can you not dig their band name?

- There's creepy, there's disturbing and then there are snap-on chompers, as demonstrated by a blonde model with perfectly acceptable teeth in a new commercial campaign. Something tells me they wouldn't be even marginally appealing if Blondie McBlonderson weren't showing them off in the ad, but then again, the same could be said for most beer commercials.

- Bored on a train ride into the city Tuesday afternoon, I read on my bottle of Dasani that it was "enhanced with minerals for a pure, fresh taste." Those minerals? Magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride and salt. Excuse me... salt? Will sand be a key ingredient for their next beverage?

- The American League claimed what felt like its 4,385th consecutive win in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, with heralded San Diego Padres reliever Trevor Hoffman only one strike away from giving the National League the win. Instead, New York Yankees icon Mariano Rivera clinched it in the bottom of the 9th. Anyone who was shocked by these series of events wasn't paying attention to the 1998 World Series.

- You know you work in northern Westchester when you go to the giant A&P market for lunch and are psyched that the creamy Italian dressing is back at the giant salad bar after weeks of mysterious omission.

- I dreamt earlier this week that I was selected at the end of the first round of the NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. It's amusing that my dreams can't just be pure fantasy; fans booed as I approached the stage to shake hands with Commissioner Stern and ESPN destroyed the front-office for the pick. Doubly amusing was the fact that during the TV analysis of my draft, which I could stangely hear while I approached the stage, someone said that I'd be "reunited with his high school teammate." In the dream, I'm guessing either Steve Nash went to Eastchester High School or Chris Tormey didn't pursue medicine after all.