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SportsAngle presents: Download our 2011 Halloween Mix CD

Esoteric 3 Comments

photoI haven’t had a ton of time to write lately because of the World Series, and some stuff I’ve done for Dime Magazine with Kyrie Irving and Penny Hardaway.  Expect some more next week, I have a couple of ideas I’ve wanted to put out there.

But for now, I’m enjoying the Halloween weekend. If you’ve been a longtime reader of this site, you know I like everything about the holiday – the movies, the decorations, all of it. It’s basically the only holiday I truly like, though New Year’s isn’t that bad and I’m very slowly warming up to Christmas.

My belief is that you’re never too old for Halloween; I’d better believe that, since I’m now 32. But for a few days a year, I think it’s cool to embrace your weirdness and just enjoy the creepiness of this time of year. I don’t get into the whole party thing – I think about 98 percent of the people I see with their drunken nonsense in New York City are pathetic. I enjoy the holiday in other ways; snowed in today, I indulged in a double-feature of Death Proof and Drag Me To Hell.

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Mad love

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Two to tango
I wrote something on the Jam video with Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan last week for Dime Magazine, and was pretty pleased with the reception – even the Jordan Brand seemed to dig it. (How about a pair of Concords to show that appreciation?)

But one group took some umbrage with some of my wording: fans of Michael Jackson, leading to an interesting – and mutually respectful – exchange in the Dime comment section.

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The Afternoon After: Story of a hurricane

Esoteric 8 Comments

The past couple years, I’ve done a weekly post with some NFL thoughts and observations, mostly about the experience of watching such an Americana-driven sport. However, I’m not really a football guy, and I’ve found that I often simply don’t have a whole lot to say about the sport itself, especially on weeks when I don’t get to watch many games. As such, I’d still like to give this a go this year, but I’m going to expand it to whatever’s on my mind. Expect it anywhere between Monday and Wednesday.

The war room

Before the hurricane hit the New York area on Saturday, I hauled out to Long Island on Friday night for the annual draft of my main fantasy football league. It’s pretty hardcore: 14 teams, an archaic and esoteric scoring system, two keepers, and it started 16 years ago when the majority of the league owners were in high school together. (I’ve participated for 10.)

I probably would have driven through the hurricane itself to get there since for the first time since I joined my co-owner in the league, we won the whole thing, resulting in an $1,100 payday. We were powered by a well-balanced team and the shrewd first-week waiver-wire pickup of Michael Vick, which I commemorated by wearing his jersey to the draft, to the chagrin of everyone.

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Completing the circle

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Marquee

As I stood under the stars a day after my 32nd birthday last week in Pittsburgh, watching A Perfect Circle in the shadow of Heinz Field and the Allegheny Mountains, it was almost an out of body experience.

I found myself very in touch with the music, which has meant much to me over the years, dating back to college. But more than that, I was taken back 10 years to a day experienced by an iteration of me that seems like someone else at this point.

And to think, I heard some people complain about the set list.

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Post-lockout thoughts: Labor strife as marketing tool

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A few football thoughts post-lockout. My usual reminder that I don’t really know a whole lot about the sport, though I did meet LT once.

A few football thoughts post-lockout. My usual reminder that I don’t really know a whole lot about the sport, though I did meet LT once.

While building itself into probably the most lucrative, powerful and popular major sports league, the NFL has accomplished a great deal. But I think its greatest achievement is finding a way to take the most loathed concept among American sports fans – the lockout – and turn it into an enormously successful marketing campaign.

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‘Believe’ the word of the day at 52 Fest

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Flex

A couple of factors were working against Saturday’s 52 Fest, an event benefiting the recovery efforts of Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand, who was paralyzed from the neck down during a game against Army last year.

For one, the venue was sort of hard to find. I drove around Woodbridge, N.J., for about 45 minutes before I stopped at a bar and was directed to a park on a peninsula next to a PSE&G plant. Though honestly, that could have been more about my admittedly horrible sense of direction than anything else.

And the fact that it was roughly 1,000 degrees outside with a chance of thunderstorms likely kept some people away who might have ordinarily shown up.

But if there was a theme to the afternoon, it’s that it’s not worth getting caught up in such trivialities.

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2011 NBA Mock Draft: Robert Jamis runs it down

Esoteric 1 Comment

Ready for his closeup The NBA Draft is among my five favorite sports days of the year, and I’m not alone: Anybody who appreciates basketball on any level from high school to pro gets something out of it. I’ve been to three drafts, and it’s been great every time. This year, I’m ecstatic to see Kyrie Irving go at the top, having watched him play a half-dozen times in high school for St. Patrick’s.

I usually do a mock draft on the site, but this year, I’m proud to present a fresh perspective from friend of SportsAngle Robert Jamis, a Nets fan and one of the most savvy basketball observers I know.

Robert really did a terrific mock — though as anyone who’s ever done one of these knows, doing one of these amid all the rumors is like counting grains of sand on the beach, especially after the first few picks. This draft, considered very weak after guys like Terrence Jones, Jared Sullinger and Harrison Barnes stayed in school. But I think he did a fantastic job with it, and his player analysis is superb. I want to go to a Hofstra game next year with his uncles.

Check it out after the jump, and enjoy the draft tonight.

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Rearview Mirror: Weiner being Weiner at the 2005 Mets 5K

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The long and short of it

The one time I met Anthony Weiner in person was in the Shea Stadium parking lot the morning before the Trade Deadline in July 2005. At the time, he was stumping for a mayoral bid.

“It’s true,” Weiner said with an air of certitude to a group of constituents. “The Mets have traded for Manny Ramirez, and they’re going to have a press conference at noon.”

Obviously, Rep. Weiner is about as reliable with baseball news as he is with his dalliances on the internet.

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