CCS D-II Water Polo: Soquel Knights downs Aptos Mariners

Caleb Conray of Soquel pressures Scott Hoenisch of Aptos in CCS play (Bill Lovejoy/Sentinel)

NOTE: this is an article I wrote for the November 15 edition of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and can be found online here.

By Zach Stoloff

APTOS -- The Soquel High boys water polo team survived a massive second-half comeback attempt by Aptos and beat the Mariners 13-10 in the Central Coast Section Division II quarterfinals Saturday.

The No. 3-seeded Knights will move into the CCS semifinals after defeating No. 6 Aptos for the fourth time in 2009, including their 16-9 victory in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League tournament title match.

"It's hard to beat a team four times," Soquel coach Marcelo Adas said. "Each time they play, they learn something about us. ... It's an easy game when you play hard, but we gave them a chance and it became a close game."

Max Schell paced Soquel with six goals, while Daniel Salyer added four of his own. Cody Gilbert led Aptos with five goals.

The match was a tale of two halves. The Knights dominated the first 14 minutes, building up a 10-1 halftime lead. After that, they mostly weathered Aptos' storm of a comeback.

The Mariners outscored Soquel 4-1 in the third quarter, bringing the game to 11-5 after Gilbert's goal with 30 seconds left in the period. In the fourth quarter, Aptos again dictated the pace of play -- and score at 5-2 -- but ultimately could not overcome a six-goal deficit.

"The intensity came up in the second half," Aptos coach Doug DeMuth said. "We focused on shutting down their counterattack, but were outplayed in the first half on the offensive end."

Gilbert led the charge after the Mariners fell into an early hole, including making a no-look, backwards goal in the third quarter.

Aptos came within four goals at 11-7 with 4:21 remaining in the game, but a goal by Soquel's Dillon Foster 50 seconds later sealed the win.

"We had a winning season, had some successes," DeMuth said. "We even took a trip and won a tournament in Ventura."

As Aptos' season ends, Soquel's is just heating up. Next up is No. 2 Menlo School [21-6] of Atherton at either 5:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. Tuesday at Monta Vista High in Cupertino. The teams, who share the Knights mascot, haven't met this season.

"It feels good to get to this point," said Salyer, Soquel's co-captain. "We played Menlo in last year's semis when they had a really stacked team, so we're looking forward to a rematch. Same pool, same teams."

Menlo won that matchup, 17-5, and went on to lose to Sacred Heart Prep in the D-II final.

Vindication Season

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

By Zach Stoloff -Angelswin.com Columnist

October is vindication season in Los Angeles (of Anaheim).

With one swing of the bat, Vladimir Guerrero made all the Halo faithful forget his postseason struggles.

With one, simple, 1-2-3 inning, Brian Fuentes made all of those still pining for Frankie Rodriguez forget his shaky September.

With one base hit by Bobby Abreu, Jonathan Papelbon’s 27 inning postseason scoreless streak and impenetrable aura became a distant memory.

With one improbable comeback, the Angels showed why they ranked second in MLB in come-from-behind victories, and conjured memories of the magic of 2002.

With one series-sweeping series victory, the Angels dispelled the nation-wide notion that they’re incapable of beating the Red Sox when it really matters, and booked themselves a ticket to their third American League Championship Series this decade.

Sorry, ESPN, you won’t be getting that Sox/Yanks series we all know you really wanted. You’ll have to settle for a West Coast club. Albeit one who won more games than the ‘Sox each of the past two seasons.

While standard logic says you’d rather have your team celebrate in front of the home town fans, seeing the Angels dogpile on the Fenway mound while stunned-silent Chowderheads slowly trickled out in palpable disbelief—could there have been a prettier picture?

In many ways, this series was an exorcism of sorts. Not necessarily for the very real ghosts of Nick Adenhart and Donnie Moore, but for Angels fans and players who bore witness to the soul-crushing defeats of 2004, 2007, and 2008.

It’s safe to say that talk of hexes has been resoundingly put to rest.

Chone Figgins may have gone 0 for 13 entering his final at bat Sunday—recalling images of his spotty play in postseasons past—but ultimately he got on base when it mattered, scoring the tying run in the ninth.

Abreu had done his best work thus far in the series in the pitches he didn’t swing at, but his bat did all the talking it needed to with its ninth inning RBI double.

Guerrero, oft maligned by fans unable to stomach his free-swinging ways in the wake of declined production, thoroughly proved his value in the cleanup role Sunday, vindicating himself as well as Mike Scioscia, who has stuck with him in that spot all season.

However, no player was more clutch when it mattered than rising star Erick Aybar, who hit the go-ahead triple on Friday, then, with the Angels down to their final strike and no one on base Sunday, singled to extend the inning and start the Angels’ incredible rally.

LA’s supposedly shaky bullpen mostly got the job done, keeping the game close enough to give the offense a chance after Scott Kazmir’s worst start in an Angels uniform made matters look bleak.

And then, of course, two runs behind and down to their final strike against perhaps the game’s best closer, the ultimate vindication occurred.

There would be no smug fist-shaking from Papelbon Sunday afternoon.

After all the mentions how the Red Sox were in the Angels’ heads, that was a storyline which never had a chance to play out. Rather, it seems that these ‘head games’ were entirely in the heads of the sportswriters.

The Angels, right from the get-go, seemed completely unfazed by their rivals in the opposite dugout, even as the first two games went scoreless into the middle innings and tension rose.

No, hexes and head games were always just a mythical invention of us sportswriters to attract readers, and ultimately they probably have nothing to do with how these games play out on the field.

So would it be contradictory to start looking ahead to (likely) the Yankees, and the Angels’ impressive record against them over the last decade plus?

Well, if you’re going to claim that the Red Sox supposed mental advantage over the Angels was overblown, it’s probably not good practice to refer to the Angels’ psychological edge over the Yankees.

It was Mike Scioscia’s one-game-at-a-time approach which enabled LA to get the monkey off their back with Boston, and it’s going to be that same approach which prevents them from a letdown against New York, so there’s no need to cite head games.

However, for the rest of Sunday and until the ALCS begins on Friday, Angels fans can take much satisfaction in downing the ‘Sox. There is still much work to be done and eight more wins to be earned, but make no mistake, this was an enormously important moral victory for this team.

Oh, yes indeed… how sweep it is.

Unfortunately, no ghost sightings

Last night I went to the (supposedly haunted) Brookdale Lodge--about a 20-minute drive up windy, redwood-laden Highway 9 from Santa Cruz--to see Dr. Dog perform some songs.

It's been a while since I first discovered this band when MTV2's Subterranean played their video for "Fool's Life" while I was probably stoned late when evening, but, honestly, I can't say I'm that big a fan of the band.

It's actually pretty impressive, nearly every review I've read covering one of their albums starts off with a diatribe about how music critics aren't supposed to compare contemporary bands to The Beatles, but that Dr. Dog sound so alike they just can't resist making that link.

So, suffice to say I found it pretty ironic that some Beatles greatest hits record was playing in between sets.

ANYWAY, Jeffrey Lewis was on stage when I arrived, and unfortunately I didn't realize that he was as big in the indie (anti-folk, specifically) scene as I later read. However, it's hard to say that his time on stage was really anything more than a novelty act. I mean, when you can't even tune your own guitar it's hard to take you seriously as a musician.

However, just to say a nice word, the guy was clearly a clever lyricist, and apparently a pretty talented cartoonist, as well.

Despite my lukewarm feelings towards Dr. Dog, I had decided to go to this show because I had heard many times that they were a great live act. And as it turned out, that is completely true. Their set did drag a bit given that I didn't really know their song too well, and many of them have a similar tempo, but you've got to love well-executed three-part harmonies.

However, though I probably shouldn't judge bands for their fashion sense, it always bothers me when bands wear sunglasses indoors. I don't know why, but it does... particularly when you're dressed like Bob Dylan circa 1974.

ANYWAY, here is some Dr. Dog media: the video for "Fool's Life" and a live performance of "My Own Ways" on the show of some guy who committed sexual harassment:

Still the best album of the year (so far)...

Before I stopped updating this blog regularly I gave my endorsement to Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest as the front-runner for best album of the year--at least in my eyes.

Months later, that predilection still holds true, as there just hasn't been anything in 2009 that can stand up to GB's psychedelic vocal harmonies when they're executed over a pop format such as they are in this album.

Moreover, "While You Wait for the Others" is probably the best individual track of 2009, too, with Veckatimest claiming the rare feat of having its best tracks be its lead singles.

I could gush all day over this album, but this isn't the time or place to do so at length. So, instead, here's a Grizzly Bear video dump:

The Santa Cruz smoking ban: an opinion

--Zach Stoloff (me)

Like most intelligent people, I believe that “South Park” can provide most of the answers to life’s most difficult conundrums.

In fact, one of the great talents of the show over the years has been its ability to not only satirize events in pop culture as they happen, but to actually predict the future. The best example of “South Park’s” foresight is the full-length movie, whose entire plot satirizes the controversy that the movie itself created upon release.

So upon hearing about the Santa Cruz smoking ban which will go into effect on October 20, I couldn’t help but go back and watch the season 7 episode entitled “Butt Out,” which originally aired on December 3, 2003. The entire plot of the episode revolves around director Rob Reiner’s attempts to have smoking banned, and the methods and motivations of the anti-smoking crowd.

The general thesis of the episode is that smoking is a personal choice, and that it is overly-stigmatized compared with other vices. As a ‘tobacco executive’ explains it: “In 1965… Congress passed an act forcing all tobacco companies to put the Surgeon General’s warning on all their packages. So now, everyone knows the dangers of smoking, and some people still choose to do it, and we believe that’s what being an American is all about.”

This view, of course, does not encapsulate all of the issues regarding the smoking ban. However, it is clear that the ban is part of a larger government-sanctioned stigmatizing of a certain lifestyle. There is obviously a large contingent of the Santa Cruz population that supports this ban (as the ban passed unanimously through the city council), which means there are a large number of people in Santa Cruz who just plain don’t like smoking.

The two talking points on this issue seem to be a) second hand smoke, and b) litter (cigarette butts) as a byproduct of smoking on Pacific Avenue and other prominent Santa Cruz spots. However, neither one of these reasons seems to hold much weight, and it’s probably more true that the ban is a) another attempt by Santa Cruz to seem more ‘progressive,’ and b) an excuse to clear ‘riff-raff’ from downtown streets.

I do not smoke cigarettes, yet I don’t believe I am going to get cancer from occasionally walking past a smoker outdoors. If I did believe that I would be insane. Moreover, I am willing to put up with the slight annoyance of a small amount of cigarette smoke downtown. Pacific Avenue is not a children’s playground. There are probably near 20 bars lining the streets, so there ought to be some sort of reasonable expectation that perhaps this isn’t Pleasantville.

And come on, is Santa Cruz really worried about the negative impact that smoking has on its aesthetic value? With all due respect to the less fortunate, this is a city which allows the homeless to wander with complete impunity, so precisely what is the message? The thought of a child picking up a cigarette butt off the street is tragic, but exposing them to a large population of the mentally ill is just dandy?

No, this is not an issue of cancer, nor is it of litter. Make no mistake, Santa Cruz is on a blind march to serve its name as a progressive haven at all cost.

In the aforementioned “South Park” episode’s closing moments, Kyle’s typical monologue, speaking to the anti-smoking crusader Rob Reiner, features the words “You just hate smoking, so you use all your money and power to force others to think like you, and that’s called fascism.” So while I am not claiming that there is a great conspiracy against tobacco, what I do believe is that there is a strong anti-smoking sentiment snowballed out of control.

I’ve always believed that Santa Cruz is one of the most tolerant cities in the nation. With its large LGBT community, aforementioned acquiescence to the homeless, and generally socially liberal views, I do think that in many cases Santa Cruz is, in fact, one of the most socially progressive cities anywhere.

However, this smoking band is not tolerant. In fact, it is quite the opposite insofar as the city government is essentially saying that it will not tolerate smoking, as it attempts to push the activity towards social fringes. But to invoke “South Park” one last time, tolerance doesn’t mean that you have to like something, it only means that you agree to put up with an inconvenience.

The Santa Cruz government ought to ask itself if they plain just don’t like smoking, or if it is something that could be tolerated.

Welcome back to Default Skin

So, I assume that no one reads this, anyway, but seeing as maintaining a daily blog might actually make me look like a motivated journalist to perspective employers, I figured it'd be a good idea to re-start this thing.

Once again, this blog has no specific parameters; it's just a collection of my writings and links and references to things I find interesting.

The topics are (probably mostly) going to hover around topics like baseball, music, and South Park (because, well, those are things I find interesting), but really please don't expect there to be even that much continuity.

ANYWAY, who am I? I am Zach Stoloff. I am:
- an aspiring journalist / writer
- an intern for Good Times Santa Cruz writing music reviews / concert previews.
- a columnist for Angelswin.com, the only run-by-the-fans blogging site on the 'net to have a press credential with a Major League Baseball franchise
- the Editor in Chief of the Cabrillo Voice, a bi-weekly student publication of Cabrillo College in Aptos (near Santa Cruz)

Happy reading!

Remember the Swine Flu?

This past week, Texas Rangers starting pitcher Vicente Padilla tested positive for Swine Flu. However, this was far from a death sentence and, in fact, the righty is on track to make his next start.

Nothing terribly remarkable about this story, it just serves as another example of how the entire Swine Flu 'epidemic' was completely blown out of proportion, and entirely a media creation. Well, that is if you actually ask the scientists who study this kind of thing.

God bless 24 hour cable news.

One of the best shoegazer albums this year...

I've really been diggin' on the new(ish) album by Gliss, a Los Angeles-based three piece, lately.

Their new album is entitled Devotion Implosion. Here is a video of the single "Morning Light" from it:



Download Devotion Implosion here

Who needs a glove?

Jorge Posada, Yankees catcher, made one of the coolest plays I've seen in recent memory. Not necessarily the best mind you, but most unique.

During the July 10 Angels/Yankees game, Chone Figgins popped a ball almost straight up, and then lost his balance, inadvertently bumping into Posada and pulling his glove off with him. Miraculously, Posada managed to hang in there on the play and actually make the catch barehanded.

Above is a picture of Posada (correctly) arguing that the play should have been ruled batter's interference, and here is the video of the catch.

This will probably be the best album of 2009...

After initially sort of passing it over (though assuming I would eventually come back to it) I've been playing the new Grizzly Bear album, Veckatimest, a whole lot lately.

The reviews have been through the roof, and I strongly suspect this ends up as the best album of 2009 (competing with the wholly overrated Animal Collective album) on many a year-end list. Moreover, right now I'm thinking it's the lead contender for number one on my year-end list.

So, here's the band performing my favorite track from Veckatimest, "While You Wait For the Others", at the KCRW studios:

The 2009 Angels: Proving Murphy's Law

Note: second post for today, since I missed out yesterday. Enjoy my next piece for Angelswin.com...


By Zach Stoloff -- Angelswin.com columnist

This article started out as something else entirely. Originally I intended to write a normal, boring first-half wrapup, and to begin that piece I was going to briefly mention of all the injuries and unforeseen circumstances which have befallen the Angels this year.

After spending just a few moments listing all of these trials, it immediately became apparent that any explication of them would become an entity in and of itself: it’s hard to imagine things having gone much worse in Anaheim.

Nonetheless, it is July 13, the All Star break is upon us, and the Angels are in first place in the AL West with a record of 49-37, a game and a half better than the Texas Rangers. When one considers all the roadblocks that have already cropped up this season, this feat is borderline miraculous.

To appreciate just how improbable it is that the Halos currently find themselves atop the West, let’s look at everything that has gone wrong thus far, in no particular order:

-John Lackey: on March 15 the Angels get the news that their number one starter will miss at least the first month of the season. When Lackey finally does return on May 16, he lasts all of two pitches before being tossed from the game. Since, the impending free agent is inconsistent, giving up five or more runs in four of eleven starts for an ERA of 4.93

-Ervin Santana: early on in spring training the young All Star is diagnosed with a sprained elbow ligament. He returns a couple days before Lackey but makes only six starts before going back on the DL. Faring no better after coming off, Santana is largely ineffective even when healthy enough to compete, sporting a 7.81 ERA.

-Kelvim Escobar: diagnosed with a torn labrum in his shoulder during spring training '08, surgery causes him to miss the entire campaign. Despite the seriousness of the injury, his rehab progresses well and Escobar looks to join the team’s rotation in early 2009 before suffering a setback in April. After working his way back to the team and making a start on June 6, Escobar reports soreness in the shoulder and subdequently feels the same pain trying to play catch on flat ground weeks later. He remains on the DL.

-Nick Adenhart: a replacement for the aforementioned disabled pitchers, Adenhart dies April 9 in a tragic accident hours after throwing six shutout innings against the Oakland A’s in just the third game of the season. At the time of his death Adenhart is the youngest pitcher on an MLB roster.

-Vladimir Guerrero (part I): the lineup’s focal point goes down with a pectoral injury on April 16, eight games into the year. He subsequently misses 35 games but, like Santana, is a shell of his former self even when in the lineup. Despite showing signs of life before going down again (more on that later), Guerrero carries a .415 slugging percentage through the season’s first half.

-Jose Arredondo/Justin Speier/Jason Bulger/Kevin Jepsen: little needs to be said about this foursome. While all but Arredondo, who now finds himself in Salt Lake, show occasional effectiveness, the ERAs of the group are 4.38, 4.64, 5.55, and 9.00, respectively. Though Jepsen and Bulger in particular pitch better later on, Bulger’s giving up two home runs against the Yankees Saturday does nothing to bolster confidence in him, nor does Speier’s inability to get a single out Sunday. Simply put, the Angels never find a reliable bridge to Brian Fuentes.

-Scot Shields: probably never healthy at any point this season, Shields adds to the aforementioned bullpen woes by limping to a 6.62 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched before going down for good in ’09 due to the surgery needed to fix his recurring patellar tendinitis.

-Darren Oliver: the only Angels reliever all year, aside from Fuentes, to provide any actual relief, Oliver succumbs to a strained triceps after making a four-inning emergency start April 18. Luckily for the team, his stay on the DL is only just longer than the minimum 15 days.

-Howie Kendrick: the young second baseman, expected to contend for a batting title and be a key part of the Angels’ offense, hits so poorly that he is sent down to Salt Lake on June 13 after posting a .231 BAA to that point. In addition to his batter’s box flailings, Kendrick has numerous inexplicable defensive and baserunning lapses, compounding frustration with him.

-Bobby Abreu: while Abreu is generally one of the Angels’ best and most consistent performers in the first half, the slugger who came into the year with 11 consecutive seasons of at least 15 home runs (not to mention the epic 2005 Home Run Derby) takes 148 at bats -- 41 games -- to hit his first of 2009.

-Torii Hunter/Vladimir Guerrero (part II)/Juan Rivera: Guerrero and Hunter, the Angels’ 3 and 4 hitters, are added to the DL July 10, the Friday the team enters a 3 game set against the red hot New York Yankees. Rumors circulate that the pair could each miss a month. During the first game of this series, Rivera injures his quad and hamstring running the bases and is pulled a couple innings later, forcing the team to play the remainder of the weekend without the entire middle of their lineup.

--

Take all this in.

While such turmoil would destroy any other team, the Angels have thrived and find themselves in position to capture their third consecutive Division Championship. Every time one player goes down, another steps up his game to ensure the team doesn’t miss a beat.

This may not be the Angels’ finest season but, thus far, it is undoubtedly their most impressive in recent years. Every challenge has been met with unparalleled grit and heart, and Mike Scioscia’s one day at a time approach:

True Angels Baseball.

I don't have a fancy new phone...

Some pictures, taken with my old school Motorola Razr, from the Hollywood Bowl on Monday night...

Picture of the video screen while Mike Einzinger plays a sitar.

Sick Sad Little World

It's been a long time since I've really been a fan of Incubus. This is probably because both of their albums released after the departure of bassist Dirk Lance have largely blown.

Nonetheless, they are still one of the more objectively talented rock bands around, even if they can't write good songs anymore.

I absolutely wouldn't have gone if I wasn't getting in for free (a friend is repaying me for taking him to see Radiohead... I contend he got a slightly better end to the deal), but I am seeing Incubus tonight at the Hollywood Bowl... and I am kind of stoked.

Here is the band playing one of their only good tracks post-Dirk, ripped from the Alive at Red Rocks DVD:

The American economy personified

Lenny Dykstra was a very successful baseball player, and came to be known as "Nails" during his career for his all-out, Pete Rose-style of play.

After he retired, Lenny Dykstra was a very successful businessman... or so everyone thought.

First came this article in GQ Magazine, then a few weeks later this feature followed on ESPN.com from Mike Fish detailing Dykstra's business dealings. So it seems that Dykstra's supposed business prowess was, quite literally, built on lie upon lie.

There are too many great details of this story to list, but here are some of my favorites:
-the fact that Dykstra's magazine, The Player's Club, was designed to help athletes 'keep livin' the dream'... just like Dykstra
-the fact that you can link Dykstra and the recently-disgraced MSNBC host Jim Cramer
-the fact that, despite the incredible number of people who claim to have been done wrong by him, Dykstra has seemed to convince himself that he is the victim in each and every case.

Now Dykstra has had to declare bankruptcy, and for any reasonable person this would be a disgrace, and a sign that they are not the shrewd businessman they would like to believe. However, more hilaritry ensues in that Dykstra seems to believe that bankruptcy is a step to success.

Belligerence? I'm not sure that even begins to describe Dykstra's clear psychosis.

Nonetheless, an interesting story, and in many ways a personification of the American economy, specifically the kinds of attitudes that money grows on trees and certain people are bequeathed success due to their social status.

MJ is making this easy

NOTE: double post for today, since the game caused me to miss my post yesterday...

So, I did not get tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial at Staples Center. I've seen estimates between 1.2 and 1.6 million requests for tickets, for 17 thousand seats, so suffice to say the odds were against me.

However, I think it would have been a good experience. Not that I am particularly saddened by the man's death -- though I think he is fascinating in a pop culture sense -- but it would have been very interesting to walk around, talk to people, and be part of something that is, well, big.

So anyway, here is the video of him performing "They Don't Really Care About Us" at dress rehearsal for the This is It tour the day before his death:

Section 113, row J

Went to last night's Angels/Rangers game, and had tenfold the best seats I've ever had in that stadium. Took some pictures, as well...

Craig Finn = my favorite lyricist

Tonight I see The Hold Steady at the El Rey Theatre in LA. In honor of this fact, here is a video of them playing "Stuck Between Stations" from their album Boys and Girls in America on David Letterman's show:



I've always thought that Craig Finn more resembles the kind of guy you're likely to see doing code monkey work in a cubicle than fronting a rock band, which makes his lyrics about partying, alcohol, and general debauchery all the more surprising.

Nonetheless, goddamn does this band rock...

The Angels: The Best Fan Experience in American Sports

Last week ESPN The Magazine named the Angels organization #1 -- that’s right, the best in the (sports) business -- in a comprehensive survey ranking “all 122 MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises by how much they give back to fans for all the emotion, money and time fans invest in their favorite teams.”

For a team which, for decades, was more closely associated with curses and bad Hollywood movies than winning baseball, this is nothing short of momentous. While there are always more championships to chase after, in a strong sense Arturo Moreno has achieved his vision of making the Angels a brand relevant to the greater sports world. However, this honor immediately begs the question of you, the reader: do you feel satisfied with the Angels?

Well, you should!

While journalism isn’t normally devoted to simply discussing why a given subject is particularly great, in plain terms this is exactly what I will be doing for the next 1,200 words. Why? Because I, even in my relatively short life, remember a time when being an Angels fan was not as easy, when 15,000 fans at Anaheim Stadium was commonplace, and when being in first place on July 6 was miraculous, not precarious. Given this history of futility, the team’s current status should never be taken for granted.

So let’s start running through all the reasons we, as Angels fans, have to be thankful, and give credit to the people who have completely changed the baseball culture in Anaheim.

I am going to start not with Arturo Moreno, but former General Manager Bill Stoneman. If it is possible to pick out one singular moment in which the franchise’s fortunes changed, it would be October 30, 1999: the day that Stoneman was hired. Quite simply, the now-consultant was the architect of the team which has won four of the past five titles in the Western Division. And while Stoneman was not responsible for developing the key components of the 2002 Championship, he did acquire the supporting pieces that turned that group from sometimes-contender to World Series winner.

Stoneman’s first action as GM was hiring Mike Scioscia, the other man whose presence has transformed the team. Though Scioscia was, at the time, considered young and somewhat inexperienced -- having only managed one season in the minors -- it is easy to forget that he had long been tabbed as the future heir to the Dodgers’ managerial legacy before FOX and Rupert Murdoch imprudently decided that they needed to bring in a big name like Davey Johnson. The fact that the Angels have been one of the most successful franchises in baseball this decade is in no small part attributable to Scioscia’s leadership, evidenced by the fact that he has already seen two former coaches move on to become managers with other organizations.

After these two men, of course, Arte Moreno must be named. Moreno refused to believe that the Angels were a mid-market team -- a fact Jackie Autry famously undersold -- and is largely the reason that there is a new dignity in being an Angels fan. That Mrs. Autry can now eat her words cannot be understated: even the Angels’ previous owners didn’t believe that the team had the resources to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox year-to-year. Moreno understood the opportunity in front of him and, combined with creative marketing and simple grass-roots appeal, has built an unmistakably big market franchise able to bring in marquee players and still be viable financially.

Probably as important, Arte -- for all his marketing and business saavy -- has always refused to interfere with baseball operations, allowing guys like Scioscia and Stoneman to put their talents to use in creating the kind of continuity that makes sports franchises great. Therefore, off the diamond is where Moreno has made his greatest impact. The expansion of the Angels brand has not been due to anything overtly flashy, simply giving fans what they want and making it affordable. At Angel Stadium parking is still only $8 (compared to the ridiculous $15 Dodger Stadium fee) and the average ticket price is the fifth lowest in baseball. For a perennial first place team in a major market, taking the family out to the ballpark is an incredible bargain.

Moreover, the integrity with which Angels franchise has carried itself has been beyond reproach. Seeing the Dodgers welcome in malcontent Manny Ramirez (who got himself traded to LA in the first place by dogging it on the field) brings to mind the way the Angels handled Jose Guillen in the fall of 2004. While Ramirez predictably let down the Dodgers, too, and has since been (mysteriously) cheered back into the fold, Guillen acted as if he was bigger than the team and was shown that he would not be allowed to hold his teammates hostage, even if his absent bat hurt their impending playoff run.

Beyond the big three I have already mentioned, there are many people responsible for bringing the franchise to where it is. Names like Tim Mead, Dennis Kuhl, Ken Forsch and Eddie Bane immediately come to mind, though the list could undoubtedly go on much, much longer. But however you view the relative success of the Angels franchise, there is one thing which must always be kept in mind: that there was a time (not so long ago) when it was very rare that an Angels’ season would feature 162 meaningful, consequential baseball games. Being able to watch a contender year after year is unequivocally the best gift that management has given its fans.

But now that the team is on top of the world, where do they go from here? Well, this is the one piece of speculation I will provide. Now that the Angels have a solid television contract -- essentially equal that of the Dodgers -- and their lawsuit with the city of Anaheim has been settled, making the team is free to continue using the ‘Los Angeles’ moniker, it would seem that revenues may have been tapped and business for the team might continue status quo for a while.

Here’s guessing that Arte Moreno already has his eyes on the year 2016, at which point the team can opt out of its lease at Angel Stadium. This is significant for two reasons: 1) it allows for the possibility of a new ballpark, and 2) it gives the team some business leverage. In this preseason interview here on Angelswin.com, Kuhl certainly did not deny that leaving Angel Stadium was a possibility, a move which should be welcomed considering its status as the fifth oldest stadium in MLB -- a fact which is apparent despite the ’97 makeover -- and the vague touches of Disney that still taint the park.

So while now is an exciting time to be an Angels fan, the future looks equally bright. With affairs in the world the way they are, it is more important than ever to be thankful for what we have, even in the realm of sporting entertainment. That being said, as Angels fans we should all be thankful for the job that management has done building this team from the ground up, creating something which even its former proprietors said couldn’t be done.

On behalf of all fans, thank you to Angels management for making the ballpark experience what it is and, most of all, for 162 (or more) meaningful baseball games to watch nearly every year.

Marijuana Kills

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a great movie. And I don't mean that in the sense that Transformers is a great piece of entertainment. I mean that, along with Super Troopers, it is one of the great comedy films of my generation much in the same way that Some Like it Hot or National Lampoon's: Vacation are considered 'great' comedic achievements of their era.

So, here's one of my favorite scenes from Harold and Kumar; a faux PSA decrying the dangers of marijuana use:



What's frightening is how close this obvious parady is to the level of ridicuousness in real-life anti-drug campaign commercials:



What's sad is that, while this particular PSA is from the early 90s, I can distinctly remember watching this very ad as a kid, and being under the assumption that 1) drug dealers will come and find you if you're not using their product, 2) they will intimidate you into doing things you otherwise have no interest in doing, and 3) calling an angered drug dealer a name and walking away (with obligatory shoulder bump) will humiliate them into submission.

God Bless America.

Even more Michael Jackson

South Park is one of my favorite things, ever. No qualifier. So, in that spirit, here is a South Park tribute to 'Mr. Jefferson'...

More Michael Jackson

Double post for today, since I was lazy yesterday...

In continuing with the (ubiquitous) Michael Jackson tributes, here is the trailer for Moonwalker, Michael Jackson's full-length, theatrically-released film of 1988.



While most of the movie is composed of stand-alone elongations of MJ's videos from the recently-released Bad album, the "Smooth Criminal" sequence far more resembles traditional cinematic storytelling, and even features Joe Pesci.

The DVD for Moonwalker has been released in most of the rest of the technological world... except for America. And since there are no plans to actually do this, I encourage everyone to do what I did and download the movie through easily available torrents.

Something I've known for a while

According to an annual fan survey conducted by ESPN The Magazine, The Los Angeles Angels -- my longtime adopted team -- have been ranked the #1 franchise in American sports in terms of fan satisfaction.

Or, in their words: "Our seventh annual survey says the Angels are best at giving fans what they want."

A tip of the cap first needs to be given to Angels' owner Arturo Moreno, who -- while not completely transforming a game experience -- has been impeccable at giving fans the small things that they want: affordable tickets, affordable parking, affordable food and beer, and winning baseball.

Additionally, another tip of the cap needs to be pointed towards decade-long manager Mike Scioscia and former general manager Bill Stoneman; the men who are responsible for building a team from the ground up, creating a winning atmosphere in Anaheim, maintaining that success, and providing the bedrock foundation for all of this.

From someone who was a fan of the team since their childhood and through the 90s, thank you to these men (and everyone in the organization) for simply giving me 162 meaningful baseball games to watch nearly every year.

Old friends

I have known The Ataris for a long time. Since 2001, I think. Back in the day I was just a big fan of their music as a 16-year-old pop punkster, then started doing some minor web work for them, and have now known Kris (their sole constituent member) for something like seven or eight years.

I absolutely never would have gone if they hadn't gotten me in for free, but yesterday I caught the new incarnation of the band at the Vans Warped Tour stop in Ventura, and saw Bad Religion's set, as well. Most of the bands that play Warped nowadays are pretty asinine, but luckily I managed to avoid most of that.

Anyway, here's a video of The Ataris from their heyday, performing their cover of Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" on the short-lived primetime music showcase Pepsi Smash. Try and pick me out in the front row!

We (were) here to save the world...

For obvious reasons...

For those who don't remember (and I am barely old enough, myself) this is Captain EO, a 3-D short film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and produced by George Lucas, specifically for Disney. At the time, it was the most expensive film (per minute) ever, and was played daily for years at a theater where (I think) the Buzz Lightyear ride is located today at Disneyland.





RIP

Trent Reznor digs Grizzly Bear... WTF?

Interesting interview in Newsweek with longtime Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor. Formerly known as the most aloof man in music, Reznor has recently reinvented himself over the interweb via his personal communication back and forth with fans.

However, liking Grizzly Bear? This was probably more unlikely. As great as both bands are, their styles could not be more different. Nonetheless, it's probably never a good idea to point out the oddness of someone simply being eclectic.

Anyway, though I initially passed it off (and still don't think it's as good as 2006's flat-brilliant effort Yellow House) I'm starting to come around on their new disc, Veckatimest. It's pretty rad (read: aesthetically gorgeous).

Gotta love the harmonies

Here is Devendra Banhart performing "At the Hop" with his band at the (2007?) Vegoose Festival in Las Vegas.



Very different version of the song from his album, Ninjo Rojo, but absolutely beautiful with the added backing harmonies. I've sort of been over the New Weird American scene for a long time, but I have to say that when I saw Devendra live in September 2007 at the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz, it turned out to be one of the best shows I've ever caught.

Brian Fuentes: A Shrewd Acquisition

It is impossible to replace someone like Francisco Rodriguez. That needs to be said before I go any further. There is nothing quite like seeing home grown players succeed, and one of the reasons the 2002 Championship was so satisfying for Angels fans was because the team was composed entirely of lifelong Angels and journeymen fillers.

That being said, General Manager Tony Reagins’ acquisition of Brian Fuentes, and the closer’s subsequent performance holding together an otherwise collapsing bullpen, have gone wholly underappreciated.

The Angels had been connected to Fuentes at two prior trading deadlines before ultimately signing him as a free agent for (more or less) 2 years and $18 million dollars, so it was no secret the team has been interested in his abilities for a while. However, the general consensus has seemed to be that Fuentes, though an established closer, is a distinct downgrade from Rodriguez, despite the savings over K-Rod’s 3 year $37 million contract with the Mets.

Although, to reiterate, Rodriguez can never be fully replaced in Anaheim, it is a false assumption (which I, too, made) that Fuentes is not in his same, elite, class of reliever. In fact, as both became full time closers in 2005, their number since are extraordinarily similar:

Rodriguez:
Converted 194 of 216 save opportunities (89%)
Struck out 356 batters in 276 IP (1.28 K/IP)
Allowed 201 hits (.195 opponents' batting average)
Walked 128 batters (WHIP of 1.19)

Fuentes:
Converted 111 of 131 save opportunities (84%)
Struck out 302 batters in 263.2 IP (1.14 K/IP)
Allowed 202 hits (.203 opponents' batting average)
Walked 105 batters (WHIP of 1.16)

I was astonished to discover how close their stats are. Though Rodriguez is probably the more consistent of the two (as Fuentes lost his closer job for a period in 2007) and has more saves overall -- Rodriguez played for generally better teams, and thus received more save opportunities -- their peripheral numbers are virtually identical, despite the fact that their pitching styles could not be more different.

As for this season, thus far, Rodriguez has been nearly untouchable for the Mets. However, this improvement was not completely unforeseen, as he has moved to the inferior offensive league, and Citi Field has proven to be the polar opposite of the wind tunnel known as New Yankee Stadium. Fuentes, despite finally escaping Coors Field, struggled initially for the Angels, but has since lowered his era over three and a half runs since May 1, and in terms of the essence of the closer’s duty has 19 conversions in 22 save opportunities -- granted with some help from Torri Hunter. Rodriguez, by comparison, is 19 for 21.

So while, admittedly, it was difficult to see Frankie depart given how many great moments he enjoyed in Angels red, in terms of plain wins and losses and dollars and cents, Tony Reagins should be absolutely lauded for allowing Rodriguez to depart, acquiring Fuentes, and saving three to four million dollars in the process. The Angels, despite beliefs to the contrary, are not the Red Sox, Yankees, or Mets, and while Arte Moreno has shown a willingness to increase payroll for the right player, these sorts of shrewd personnel moves are integral for a team which -- gasp! -- actually has a finite operating budget.

Fuentes may not be the most orthodox closer in the game, but he is one of the most effective. His contributions holding the Angels bullpen (barely) together, and Reagins’ acquisition of him, need to be recognized more than they have been.

Kurt Cobain used to wear this band's shirts

One additional update today, as I want to celebrate finally seeing this band last Saturday at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa.

Dinosaur Jr. performing "Crumble" (my favorite track off their last album, Beyond) at the Norwegian Wood Festival in June of last year:

Ra Ra Riot in an attic

"Ra Ra Riot perform "Oh, La" live in an attic in their hometown of Syracuse, NY. Directed by Taryn Gould and Emily Kowalcyzk. " -their label



And just for the record, I am completely in love with this band's cellist.

A new direction for this 'thing'?

Howdy,

So I have recently stumbled across a couple writing opportunities, namely Angelswin.com, for whom I will be writing a regular bi-weekly column starting in the coming days.

This is significant insofar as -- as long as I sign my pieces with this web address -- I may have a built-in audience for a blog that was originally planned to be nothing more than an effective portfolio to direct potential employers to.

So, while the content I post here may (read: will) be too unfocused to garner any real attention, I am going to make a much greater effort to post on a daily basis, with extra content to fill in when I don't feel like composing my 1,200 word rants.

That being said, the new content here will likely be along the lines of most popular indie music blogs (despite the fact that I write slightly more about sports): Youtube videos that I find interesting and brief links to other people's articles.

Like most of these blogs, I feel this is a copout, as linking to random viral content is pretty inane. However, I also feel this is a reasonable way to make it look as if I'm putting in much more effort here than I actually am.

Either way, hopefully you'll enjoy... if you're actually reading.

Cheers,
Zach

Why I'm Tired of Hearing About the Lakers

Boy am I glad the NBA playoffs are over.

Besides the fact that basketball referees have far too much control over the outcome of games (a fact to which I’m positive Antoine Wright will attest) and, thus, just about every contest during the playoffs ends up in some sort of officiating controversy (which is off-putting enough), this year’s Championship carried a double annoyance: the Lakers had heavy expectations upon them.

Last year, when I lived in the Bay Area, I didn’t mind the Lakers much. I only had one friend up there who was a fan, and given his general embodiment of all that I have come to find so frustrating about Lakers fans (he actually believed Kobe Bryant jumped over a speeding car), it was completely worth hearing him run his mouth for months when I got to see his spirit crushed in the Finals by the Celtics, firsthand. However, now that I find myself living in LA again, it’s impossible to escape the ubiquity of the Purple and Gold.

So why am I so glad to be done with it all? Why am I tired of the Los Angeles Lakers? Well, it’s a three pronged attack; I don’t inherently hate the Lakers, I just hate their fans, the media that covers them, and I don’t find their players or management particularly likeable. This is unfortunate, as I realize that, in witnessing Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant’s tenth and fourth titles, respectively, I am witnessing history in the making, a cliché I feel comfortable using in this instance.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t bring myself to root for this bunch, and admittedly would have loved to have observed the ensuing shitstorm had the Lakers actually managed to lose to the Houston Rockets in the Conference Semifinals.

Let’s start with the fans, for whom I feel so little empathy I have thoroughly enjoyed every low they’ve put themselves through on the imaginary roller coaster they’ve made out of the Lakers’ season. With the aforementioned exception of the Houston series, there has never been any reason to doubt that the team would again represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. They came into the year as the defending champions, and ended up winning the West by 11 games. But despite that dominance, every one of their 17 regular season losses was a chance to question the team’s effort, or call them ‘soft’.

As if they could win them all?

I’m tired of the Lakers flags that adorn SUVs likely belonging to people who never watched a game during the regular season. I’m tired of the fact that people care enough about Laker hating to actually steal those flags off cars. Feel free to point out the hypocrisy of spending 1,200 words hating on LA, but when my lifelong favorite sports team, The Angels, won their championship in 2002, I didn’t burn down the RVs parked outside Angel Stadium.

Let’s move on to the media, who have done nothing but pander to the Chicken Little attitude that has followed the team all season. While I understand that it isn’t exactly exciting to print articles praising a team, and that reader interest in sports journalism largely relies upon controversy, this past Lakers’ season was a particularly egregious example of such an attitude. Suffice to say, I find it mystifying that the local media could so ferociously and tenaciously deconstruct a basketball team that went 65-17, by far the best mark in the conference, and only a game short of best in the league.

As recently as June 7, just a couple days after the Lakers throttled the Orlando Magic 100-75, LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke (the blowhard of all blowhards, who I still can’t believe actually had the gall to argue against erecting the Oscar De La Hoya statue outside of Staples Center) was still questioning the team's effort and attitude, despite the fact they were coming off a resilient series victory in the Conference Finals over the Denver Nuggets, and had truly dominated the Magic in game one of the Finals. While, again, I realize that it is impossible to completely silence the critics (except when critics have the advantage of hindsight), I still find it hard to believe that any team in any sport that has performed so well has been criticized so frequently.

All that being said, I will admit the Lakers are an easy bunch to take shots at. When your team has an icon like Jack Nicholson perpetually sitting courtside (and who behaves as if he believes himself to be a fourth bench coach) it evokes ridicule. That ridicule may be borne out of jealousy, but that seems like a perfectly valid excuse to poke fun, in and of itself. But really, have you ever been to the Staples Center? The building’s concourses more resemble upscale cocktail bars than a sports venue.

Moving on to something more tangible, for all the greatness that Phil Jackson has exhibited over his career, he will never be beloved the way that Red Auerbach or John Wooden are. This is partially a symptom of his very philosophy, as his stoic attitude has never served an image as an ‘Uncle Phil’ persona. It is also a valid criticism that he has been somewhat opportunistic, inheriting great casts in both of his coaching gigs.

However, it also completely true that Phil Jackson is the greatest coach in NBA history. In a game that, in this day and age, is so much more about managing players’ egos than x’s and o’s, sustained success is so much more rare, which makes the fact that Jackson has broken Auerbach’s record of 9 Championships as a coach all the more impressive. Successfully managing Kobe and Shaq, and Dennis Rodman and, well, anyone he played with, is an impressive feat. This is why it’s a shame that Jackson is not more likable.

The exact same thing can be said for Kobe Bryant. Let’s not dismiss the fact that he may or may not have raped a girl (and at the very least, very publicly cheated on his wife), as this incident -- despite the fact that Lakers fans will decry this opinion -- has forever tainted his image in the court of public opinion. Moreover, he does share culpability with Shaquille O’Neal for breaking up one of the greatest duos in the history of the sport, and after doing that shares a much larger part of the blame for originally running Phil Jackson out of town.

However, what bothers me the most about Kobe Bryant and his legacy, however great, are its comparisons to Michael Jordan’s. This, going back, is probably the fault of the media, but it is astounding how many articles have been written comparing the two and their careers. Despite how many championships Bryant wins, this is absurd. Everyone knows this is absurd. When all is said and done, I am confident Bryant will not have anywhere near five MVP awards or ten scoring titles. Kobe’s career may be great, but Jordan’s will have been greater.

I will grant that there are some good stories surrounding the team. If you know anything about Derek Fisher's family's plight, then you have every reason to root for him. But ultimately, everyone outside LA knows that the Lakers serve the same purpose in the NBA that the Yankees or Cowboys do in their respective leagues: people love to see these teams fail. Despite the fact that I follow the Lakers far more closely than any other basketball team, count me in as one of those who love to hate on LA. The team’s early century three-peat -- featuring great rivalries with the Spurs and Kings and the rare combined greatness of O’Neal and Bryant -- were easier teams to root for.

This year, however, I’m just glad it’s all over.

Quantum Physics and Indie Rock: The Parallel Worlds of Mark Oliver Everett

Back in April of ’08 I saw Eels perform at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco. The start time of 8 seemed too early to get there, but as there was no opening act listed I wasn’t quite sure what to do. So I decided to show up fairly early (for me), around 8:30, to make sure I didn’t miss anything if Eels decided to play an early set. As I entered the lobby I heard something inside that surely wasn’t music, and after wandering into the seating bowl and taking my chair it became apparent that a night at the movies was substituting for an opening band. But whatever was on the screen seemed more like an educational video for a junior college physics class than something that should be playing at a rock concert.

As it turns out, I was partially right. What I watched for the next hour or so was actually a BBC documentary (later aired as a NOVA program on PBS in the US) on one Hugh Everett, the father of Eels’ sole constituent member Mark Oliver Everett, AKA Mr. E. Turns out both father and son shared similar problems with esotericism; Mark in the world of music, and Hugh in the world of physics. The documentary, aptly titled Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, is a search, led by Mark, to discover the contributions his father made to quantum physics -- the introduction of the parallel universe theory -- as well as to learn things about, and find a connection with his father he never knew they shared. Asked how it must have felt for Hugh to come up with such a revolutionary theory and have his peers, the academic community, effectively sigh, E replies “Happens every time I put an album out.”

The focus of the documentary is largely to highlight the latent rising interest in Hugh and his work, and it’s not hard to draw similarities between that sort of under-appreciation and, well, most any indie rock band, but for anyone familiar with E’s back story, this sort of revelation has a particular pertinence. One of the common complaints about Eels is that their music isn’t exactly cheery, drawing from very personal and very tragic details of Mark’s life -- for those who don’t know, in brief: a reclusive father who died at the age of 51, a schizophrenic sister who committed suicide, and a mother who died of cancer -- but while overwrought calamity might be done to death in indie rock, if anyone has the resume to pull it off it would certainly be E.

So while Parallel Worlds is mostly about Hugh and his work, it also focuses heavily on the undertones of a son not just posthumously coming to terms with his father, but in many ways meeting the man for the first time. This is what makes the documentary worth watching, and what makes it particularly apt for Eels fans: in many ways Mark’s search for and finding of his father, along with Eels’ last album, Blinking Lights and Revelations, signify an end of an era for the band. For all the work E has done protecting his shtick, framing a picture of himself as the out-of-place “Railroad Man” who feels alienated from this time and in his own skin, it’s hard to keep that up once you’ve supposedly found some form of inner peace. Therefore, the fact that Eels’ new album, Hombre Lobo (12 Songs of Desire), evidences a newfound confidence and attitude is its most satisfying quality.

The album is very much what it advertises itself to be: 12 songs about wanting someone you haven’t got. And though it may seem paradoxical to talk about evoking confidence and forlorn love simultaneously, somehow, awkwardly enough, it all stumbles towards working. But perhaps that is the album’s major fault, that E’s songwriting hasn’t quite caught up to his new self image. While Eels’ lyrics have never been particularly poetic -- at times verging on uncomfortably straightforward -- doozies like “But now I found you and I know that we would be / So very happy if you could only see / That I was made for you, and you were made for me,” are all too prevalent on this record. Nonetheless, other tracks, such as opener “Prizefighter” do hint at renewed ego; though these may be songs about not getting the girl, at least here E sounds like he believes he deserves the girl.

However, in many ways the record is still vintage Eels, full of lo-fi blues riffs, clean-tone electric guitars backed by strings, and E’s signature croaking voice. In fact, it’s all too easy to draw stark similarities between songs from Hombre Lobo and others from just one album ago. Compare the following: “The Longing” = “The Suicide Life”, “Lilac Breeze” = “Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)”, and “Lilac Breeze” = “Going Fetal”. While E has always carried a distinct sound that he has more or less ridden throughout, now, seven studio albums and a couple ‘solo’ releases, if you caught his two-man-band live show last spring he’s proven that he’s a talented enough musician to diversify. Even if just a little bit.

There’s no denying that Mark Oliver Everett is something of a polarizing musician. You likely either find his shtick charming and unique or a classic example of hipster douchebaggery. But either way, I encourage you to watch the documentary, Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives, if you ever manage to catch it on the outskirts of public broadcasting. Though it is admittedly a self-serving voyage, I for one found the story of a man who has had a legitimately hard life finding such a striking common ground with his father legitimately compelling, and only the most hardened cynics could deny that.

Though his new album at times trips over itself and suffers from the unfamiliarity and apprehension of beginning anew, it still harbors the same charm that has always made Mr. E such an interesting figure: the fact that he is, indeed, “no ordinary man.”

Manny Ramirez and the All Star Game: A Purely Pragmatic View

Ever since it was reported that currently suspended slugger Manny Ramirez was fourth among NL outfielders in All Star voting, it has sparked quite a debate as to what, if anything, should be done to reconcile the obvious dilemma at hand. While it appears that, according to the Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement, unless Ramirez’ suspension had covered the calendar date of the game there is nothing the MLB heads can do to prevent him playing (if they even want to), the prospect of sending Manny to the Busch Stadium outfield on July 14 is an awkward proposition.

In the sense that the All Star Game is one of MLB’s biggest yearly shots at self promotion, allowing a drug cheat to prominently participate creates a glaring problem. However, Joe Torre, Ramirez’ manager on the Dodgers and one of the game’s great ambassadors, has taken the simple view that, with his suspension, Ramirez’ numbers won’t justify placing him among the year’s best players, and therefore the fans ought not to vote for him. Conversely, Frank McCourt, the Dodgers’ owner, espoused a more belligerent stance, ignoring the issues at hand and even having the gall to contend it would be an “honor” to have Ramirez in the game.

While I don’t expect him to throw his own player under the bus, I still think McCourt’s view is despicable and shows a complete lack of integrity. But moral or image issues are not the reason I am going to argue that Manny Ramirez should not go to the All Star Game. Despite the NFL precedent of the Merriman Rule, I don’t necessarily believe that Ramirez should be automatically disqualified from the team just because he has been suspended. Why ban him from an exhibition match if you’re going to let him play in games that actually matter for the rest of the season?

Well, the All Star Game isn’t exactly an exhibition game anymore, one of the few ideas Commissioner Bud Selig has come up with (along with the wild card) that I’ve actually come to enjoy, as it has made the game legitimately more competitive and enjoyable to watch. While this ensures that there won’t be any more John Kruk / Randy Johnson moments, such instances (though hilarious) only added to the idea that the game was just a novelty act. The tie game debacle particularly underscored this fact, and television ratings actually seem to reflect a renewed interest in the game since the institution of the home field rule. Think back over the contests since the institution of the new rule which, except for in 2004, have all been exciting, close affairs.

The reason National League fans should not vote for Manny Ramirez, therefore, are purely pragmatic and because of this renewed importance of the outcome of the game. He is eligible to return to the Dodgers on July 3, giving him 9 potential games to play in before the All Star break. When he does come back, having missed 50 games he will effectively be in spring training form in terms of timing, facing pitchers hitting a midseason peak. While Ramirez is a great hitter steroids or no, on July 14 he will still be at a distinct disadvantage in the batter’s box. In short, I believe that the National League can find players more capable of helping them win home field in the World Series.

To clarify, this is not an argument to forcibly remove Manny from the game -- if Ramirez is voted into the game by the fans then, lamentably, their vote should stand -- but rather a plea to those fans to do what is in the best interests of their team (if their team resides in the NL), the quality of the game itself, and (as a side benefit) the overall health of the sport. All the players on the NL squad whose home teams have any fair shot at a pennant deserve a legitimate chance to lift the recent AL jinx and win that all-important home field.

Would it be something of a worldwide joke if Ramirez trots out into left field on July 14? Probably. Would it be a disgrace to the sport to continue to throw accolades at him? Probably. But quite frankly, I don’t care. What baseball needs, more than anything, is to ignore everything else going on off the field and focus on all the daily greatness happening on it. Let the testing scientists do their job to expose the cheats, and let history and time sort out what the historical context of the ‘steroids era’ is.

For now, I’m focusing on baseball. And, for this All Star Game, there ought to be more prepared baseball players on the field than Manny Ramirez.

Has South Park Jumped the Shark?

I still remember sitting down 12 years ago to watch a brand new episode of The Simpsons, the season 9 premier, entitled “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson”. At the time I probably laughed, but, even then, I remember having this nagging feeling in the back of my head that something wasn’t quite right in Springfield.

It took me years to put my finger on it, but after a season or two of watching a family I had come to love but could now, suddenly, barely recognize, I latently realized the alarm bells that episode had set off. Starting around season 9, The Simpsons transformed from a show that featured characters which managed to strike a very personal cord with its viewers to, well, a cartoon family. No longer were these just yellow people with slightly exaggerated real-life faults: Homer went from dullard to mentally disabled, Marge turned from strong female figure to downright neurotic, and Bart crossed the line from mischievous to deeply troubled.

It’s really difficult to prove that one specific moment was the tipping point or catalyst for the downfall of one of the greatest television shows ever, but then again, it’s not like there isn’t a precedent for that idea. The obvious cliché to use here is that at some point The Simpsons ‘jumped the shark’, a phrase which derives from an episode of the classic show Happy Days; a cliffhanger in which (I kid you not) Fonzie attempts to jump over a shark on water skis. Now, the show had probably been going downhill long before that, but for many fans that episode -- an ill-fated attempt to boost ratings during a season where the movie Jaws and daredevil stunts of Evel Knievel were the two hottest trends in pop culture -- has been forever crystallized as the moment when Happy Days died.

On October 8, 2008 I had the same feeling I did when watching my ‘jump the shark’ Simpsons moment. I don’t watch much television anymore, but I am obsessive about South Park, which, in my mind, has been the smartest thing in pop culture for the better part of a decade. On that day I was sitting down to watch the first episode of the second half of season 12, the first time a new episode had aired in about 6 months. Obviously my anticipation was high, but unfortunately I would end up quite disappointed that evening. Without giving a long synopsis of the episode, “The China Probrem”, suffice it to say that -- always the racist sociopath -- Eric Cartman’s paranoid theories and misguided prejudice became not only far too cartoonish and unbelievable, but just didn’t seem to serve any larger message other than to obnoxiously shove Asian stereotypes unto the viewer.

“With Apologies to Jessie Jackson”, season 11’s opener, utilized a similar strategy by repeatedly using ‘the N word’ throughout, but at no point did its use feel unnecessary or forced, and more to the point contained some of the sharpest satire the South Park writers had ever come up with, and perhaps their best since taking on the Terry Schaivo shitstorm. But when Cartman starts to think that the headquarters for the impending Chinese takeover of America are located within a P.F. Chang’s, and that all he needs to do to fit in is wear bucked teeth, squint, and use the phrase “herro prease” over and over, what is it accomplishing aside from producing the shock value of seeing these stereotypes on a television screen?

Granted, South Park has always made its hallmark on shock value. However, in the show’s less refined early days, shocking people was still worth something, as the team was legitimately pushing the boundaries of what you could and could not do on cable television. And as it progressed and utilized more social satire, they continued to shock by taking on subjects normally looked at with Holy Cow sentiments, such as religion or abortion. When a subject that came up that was finally considered taboo by their network -- depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad -- the writers decided to bite the hand feeding them and did everything they could to point out the hypocrisy of being allowed to depict Jesus defecating on an American flag (really), but not Muhammad holding a football helmet.

What is troubling is that there are signs all around that South Park has ‘jumped the shark’. Since their “Imagionationland” trilogy aired in October 2007, it’s very difficult to argue that the South Park team has put out anything truly great, whereas before they seemed to come up with something which turned heads several times a season. While there have been a couple moments since then which have led me to hold out hope that they may still have some magic left (“Tonsil Trouble” and “Margaritaville” for example) even their high points just don’t have the same kind of depth as an episode like “Trapped in the Closet” which actually gets better with repeated viewings.

So, season 13 of South Park resumes on October 7. I’ll be watching. However, my expectations will certainly be tempered. As much enjoyment as I’ve gained from the series, it’s equally uncomfortable to watch something you’ve followed with such reverence slowly becoming a shell of its former self. So that being said, here’s hoping that the South Park team have a couple more stories to tell to close out the last couple seasons of their remarkable run.