Well, that kinda sucked...Bucs lose 13-10

It looked like the qb change might do the Bucs some good for most of the game Sunday, but in the end it was another loss, 13-10 to the Arizona Cardinals.

Glennon looked like a rookie, going 24-43 for 193 yds, 1 td and 2 ints, for a qb rating of 54.4

eesh!

The defense looked stout, keeping Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald in check most of the day. But a late interception deep in Bucs territory was the killer.

Glennon didn't get a lot of reps with the first team, so he's a bit unfamiliar with the starting receivers. He seems to have a good arm and nice touch on the short stuff. Schiano didn't air him out much, hard to say if that was a good thing or not. His footwork on handoffs and fakes could use some work. Maybe they can find Steve DeBerg and bring him in to tutor Glennon on that stuff 'cause DeBerg was the best for that.

Oh well. On to the next game  :-(

---

And a word about the Josh Freeman debacle -- Freeman and his agent are doing their best to tear the Bucs apart on the way out the door. Let's face it, and I've said this before, these world beating stats that Freeman and his supporters like to tout were compiled against prevent defenses in the fourth quarter of games where the Bucs offense had been shut down for three quarters. That's hardly something to hang your hat on.

I've seen people crabbing about how Schiano can't coach in the pros. Well thing is, his staff is almost entirely made up of coaches from the pros. He didn't bring in a staff of college guys to run the team. Most importantly, his offensive coordinator is the former qb coach of the Giants. You know, the guy who coached Eli Manning. Maybe you've heard of him? I think he might have a couple of Super Bowl MVP awards. Might be the guy who coached him knows a thing or two about quarterbacks. And if he's in Schiano's ear about Freeman not being the guy, then I'm putting my money on what the coach says. Not some newspaper writer or blogger who's never played a down of pro ball in his life.

Freeman's own teammates refused to vote him captain this year. The kid missed the team photo session and his own kids camp. That's hardly the sign of a dedicated player. Freeman says he wasn't feeling wanted by the team, so . . . pout.

I'm saying . . . you're getting paid motherf*cker! How about you man up and earn your salary and quit whining! Noted Buc failure Sean King is on the radio saying the team deserted Freeman and he's got all this talent, blah, blah . . .

What exactly are King's bonifides for barking like this again? Couldn't hold the starting job on a lousy Bucs team? Yeah. I'm real interested in his opinion.

If Freeman thinks this petulant whining in the press is going to win him a job with another team, either he's kidding himself or getting bad advice from his agent. No one wants to bring in a trouble maker with marginal talent to start with. I don't know what Freeman's college degree is in, but I hope he's got a fall back career, 'cause he might be b*tching his way right out of the NFL.

Then again, maybe he can do a radio show with Sean King.

Joanna Krupa isn't fooling me

Joanna Krupa went out in the yard to play with her cute little dog wearing skin-tight stretch jeans and a top that was apparently made by the same folks who make hospital gowns:

'Cause as soon as she bent over . . . showtime!

Now setting aside the fact that I'm totally impressed at how she can bend over in those tight-ass jeans and not spill any belly over the waistband, you can't tell me she didn't know what else was going to spill out of that absurd top:

And she sure spent plenty of time bent over judging by all the paparazzi pics that have surfaced. So yeah, I'm not falling for that whole "accidental exposure" bit this time. No siree, I'm on to her game here.

Mike Glennon era begins for the Buccaneers

As I mentioned the other day, I was expecting Josh Freeman to lost his job as starting QB for the Bucs and today the team dropped the hammer on him officially. From the Bucs website:

"Mark Dominik and I spent a lot of time together in some intense meetings trying to decide what’s best for our football team," said Schiano. "We got with our ownership when we came to a conclusion as a group, we made the decision organizationally that we’re going to make a change at quarterback and now Mike Glennon is our starting quarterback. Mark and I believe that this gives us the best chance to win today. We've lost eight of nine games and haven’t played particularly well on offense in the last nine games. That’s something that, although it isn’t completely the quarterback's fault [and] I understand that, that position touches the ball every play."

Glennon's resume from NC State:

Playing in 36 games and starting the last 26, Glennon put up 7,411 yards and 63 touchdowns on 646-of-1,069 passing. He took over the starting job for the Wolfpack after Russell Wilson, now the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, transferred to Wisconsin. Glennon, Wilson and Philip Rivers, the current starter for the San Diego Chargers, are the only three NC State passers ever to complete 300 or more passes in a season. Glennon and Rivers are the only two to post a 4,000-yard campaign for the Wolfpack. As a senior in 2012, Glennon completed 330 of 564 attempts for 4,031 yards and 31 touchdowns. [from the Bucs website]

Schiano says going to the rookie QB is not a case of the team giving up on the season saying: "Not this rookie quarterback, not in my opinion...I think he gives us the best chance to win Sunday, that’s why we’re doing it."

Let's hope so.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. premiere

Shorter review -- should have gone for the two hour premiere.

Longer review -- 'Cause way too much info in the first episode. I'm wondering if this is Joss Whedon post Dollhouse and Firefly, where he's afraid to take his time fleshing out characters and backstories because the show might not last. If so, more's the pity, because I think this show is just too busy from the start.

Agent Coulson isn't dead from the Avengers movie. Or perhaps he is. Maybe this Coulson is a clone or a robot frame housing Coulson's awareness, or god only knows what. All we know is that he really wasn't in Tahiti recovering from his supposedly mortal wounds at the hands of Loki. And he doesn't know it, so shhhhhh.

We've got the inevitable update on the trendy geek person, this time it's two people -- a guy and a girl with a combined name of FitzSimmons, who do all the wild techno/geek stuff. Ass-kicking gal (asian, of course) hiding out from field ops for some reason. Ultra-tough guy with a soft spot . . . maybe. New recruit from the trendy hacker/activist (think Anonymous, or rather, how they see themselves, minus the reality of thuggish lawlessness and Guy Fawlkes masks) community. And the yummy Agent Hill is back, played by Cobie Smulders, who looks like she's put on a few pounds since The Avengers.

And a black ops plane, ridiculously obtrusive black vehicles with the S.H.I.E.L.D. name and logo on the side (real stealthy there guys), and a flying early sixties Corvette. Oh yeah, and a possibly continuous villain group, this time mixing gamma radiation, alien dna, super soldier serum, and other goodies to create their own superheroes but instead making crazy people who explode when they get mad.

*whew*

Don't get me wrong, I liked the show. It was just way too frenetic for me in the first episode. Plenty of cool dialog -- I liked Coulson's line about people confusing "new" with "improved." They dumped a tag line during the previews for next week's show saying you can't afford to miss the last few minutes of any show. That's clever.

Update:
Ahh, I see now...the tag was not to miss the last minute of "next week's" show, because it turned out there was a cameo from Samuel L. Jackson. Very cool. I wonder if that means there will be other cameos from the movie cast?

I hope the show works, just to give me something to geek out about in between big budget movies. And I like/respect Whedon's work, so I'd like to see him succeed on the small screen.

Plus, he's always given us some really hot gals in his shows, which is nice:

Looks like someone's feeling left out

What with Miley and Lindsay and all these other celeb and Hollywood chicks getting so much ink these days, looks like Paris Hilton is itching to get in on all the fun. What to do? Book a shoot with the Dollar General Tyler Shields -- Terry Richardson, of course:

At least I think that's a new pic. I'm sure I'd remember if Paris had put out work with ole pervy before. Looks sort of mild there though. Wonder if advancing years has tempered her edgy side a bit?

Miley Cyrus at iHeart Radio

Presented without comment because . . . seriously, this defies commentary:

Birthday wishes = Billie Piper

British cutie and former Rule 5 girl Billie Piper turns 31 today:

Bucs lose to Pats 23-3

Tampa Bay is starting this NFL season 0-3. After two literal last second losses, the Bucs got crushed by New England. Dating to last season, new head coach Greg Schiano has now lost eight of his last nine games.

Someone's out of a job come Monday. Not sure who, but my money's on embattled QB Josh Freeman. The local media has turned on the kid like a pack of wild dogs and he looks hesitant playing the game. Expect rookie Mike Glennon to be under center next week.

:-(

Update:
Looks like everyone's job is safe for the moment. Schiano is saying the offense's problems are simply a matter of execution (this is where that great quote from former Buc coach John McKay comes to mind -- reporter: Coach, any thought's on the offense's execution today? McKay: I'm in favor of it.   heh). Schiano says that Freeman remains the team's starting QB.

We'll see how this goes.

Bikini bottoms > Jennifer Nicole Lee

So I'm cruising around the celeb sites looking for something interesting, and I see this photoset of fitness guru (that's what they say she is anyway) Jennifer Nicole Lee, and she's . . . well . . . see for yourself:

And I thought, is it just me or is she always falling out of her bikini bottoms? I mean, with an ass like that . . . I don't know, but it sure seems that way:

Okay, lacey material. I get that one, but:

Seriously?!

Okay, swimming will do that, and I get the "fix your wedgy" thing.

But I don't know, seems a bit contrived to me . . . wait a second. Staged?! Nah. Who'd do a thing like that?

Fear The Beard = Red Sox win AL East!

It is truly a "worst to first" makeover for the Red Sox, though not as amazing had it been accomplished by a small market team such as the Rays or Brewers. Though looking at where they came from and how this was achieved, it is still a remarkable feat.

In 2011, after posting one of the best records in baseball, the Sox were 8 1/2 games up in early September. But something happened in or around a game against the Blue Jays (a one-sided win for the Sox, btw) that changed everything. No one has specifically mentioned the event(s), but then manager Terry Francona and GM Theo Epstein were both moved to call separate closed door meeting with the players subsequent to that game. What followed was the worst collapse in baseball history as the Sox fell out of first place and out of the playoffs losing nearly every game for the rest of the month.

Francona left the following season and Bobby Valentine was brought out of the broadcast booth to manage the team. A dismal last place season ensued. And both Valentine and Epstein left the team. Promoted to GM was Epstein's assistant Ben Cherrington. And what Cherri has done has been nothing short of remarkable.

After last season, I wrote a post suggesting (in my frustration) that management go through the locker room with a signed stack of release forms, telling players to get the f*ck out of Boston if they didn't want to play there. Astonishingly, that's pretty much what Cherrington did. He released clubhouse cancers Josh Beckett, Kevin Youklis, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. Not only lightening the mood around the team, Cherri also cleared about $140m in salary. Then he went shopping.

Unlike George Steinbrenner's Yankees, Cherrington didn't spend a quarter of a billion dollars buying every free agent on the planet to return the Sox to respectability. He instead went out and got a bunch of gutty, gritty players known for their character and ability to be team first guys. Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes, Mike Napoli, Ryan Dempster and David Ross all came on board and instantly renewed the attitude on the Sox.

But perhaps most importantly, Cherrington got the manger he had his eyes on from the year before. John Farrell was pried away from the Toronto Blue Jays for some cash and a bench reserve. That may turn out to be the steal of the decade if the Sox win the Series this year. In Farrell, the Sox got a good baseball guy who operates on an even keel and who, as a former pitching coach, has a good feel for managing the fragile psyches of the pitching staff. Blue Jay concern trolls heaped lots of scorn on Farrell on his way out of the door, but who's laughing now boys? The gazillion dollar Jays are in last place and Boston's in the post season. Even a good manager can't do anything with a bad team. Which brings me to Bobby V.

I advocated bring Valentine to the Sox. His reputation as a brilliant baseball mind is well known. But no one was going to manage that mess of a team last year. A combo pack of Joe Torre, Phil Jackson and Billy Martin couldn't have done anything with that collection of whining self-obsessed prima donnas. And yes I know that Jackson is a basketball coach, but he's known for dealing with overblown egos and it's my blog, so my rules, so anyway . . .

Valentine was a sacrificial lamb, a seat warmer for the guy Cherri and the team really wanted at the helm. So I say thanks for taking one for the team, Bobby. You'd think maybe at some point the team might say the same thing to Valentine publicly.

With a new attitude on display early in Spring Training, Jonny Gomes crashed into a fence making a routine catch, the team took off and sported a gaudy 20-8 record to start the year. When they stumbled, the choice of Farrell as manager was evident. Despite calls to make changes to the team, Farrell pointed out that the same guys came out of the gate smoking and he'd give them the chance to work out the kinks. The team responded to Farrell's support and climbed into first place in the East and never looked back. Time and again, Farrell showed calm decisive support for the guys and they responded on the field.

And there's been some luck too. In a 162 game season, you're going to have to have some good fortune to be successful. With closers dropping like flies, the Sox were in danger of having no one to rely on in the ninth inning. Once again, Farrell's experience as a pitching coach came in handy. Ageless 38 year old Koji Uehara was thrust into the high pressure role as closer with his 80mph fastball and became one of the most effective closers this season posting a 27 inning scoreless streak that was only just broken.

Though he has struggled to get talented but enigmatic Felix Doubront to pitch consistantly, Farrell's previous relationship with moody Jon Lester has the team ace pitching confidently and dominating as the team heads to the playoffs. John Lackey has rebounded from his Tommy John surgery and for lack of run support would probably be a 20 game winner out of the five hole this year. For the first time in his career, Mike Napoli isn't playing behind the plate and feels better than he has ever felt. And it shows in his tape measure home runs. A streaky hitter, Napoli has also benefited from Farrell's patient attitude as the coach publicly supported Nap during a few slumps and said, correctly, that the big bearded first baseman always comes on in September and October.

I don't know if the guys can go all the way. They've got the players and the character to do it. But stuff happens, so we'll have to see. But as a lifelong Red Sox fan, this has been one of the best years to watch these guys. Here's hoping it goes all the way to Game 7.

Hilary Duff multitasks, looks awesome doing so

Check out my Duffster as she juggles coffee and a water bottle, pays for parking and rocks the absolute living hell out of some skin tight jeans and sexy kicks:

very nice :-)

Sydney Leathers in a bikini

I posited in a previous post that Sydney Leathers may have upgraded her chestal region recently. Some bikini pics that popped up today seem to confirm my theory:

I'm also thinking that besides spending her first big check from Vivid at the plastic surgeon, she's dropped some serious coin at the local "all you can eat" buffet, 'cause Sydney's lookin' pretty solid there ifyouknowwhatimean. Btw, how about that back tattoo? Hot, right?

Update:
Okay, thanks to one of the commenters (oooh, so fun to have commenters) here's an official pic of Sydney post surgery after having four pounds of fat removed from her belly:

Yeah, I'm no expert on Photoshop or anything, but this is the difference between paying a professional photographer to get you a publicity shot and letting the paps get some "candids" to splash around the web.

Am I being too sensitive here?

So work's been kind of crappy recently. The USPS is closing processing facilities, and our local one has been moved south over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (that pretty looking bridge in the USF tile to the right). Anyway, problem with that is our mail is being delayed, often by over an hour, every day. So we're starting later, getting off later, etc.

Upshot of this, is that I haven't mowed my yard this week. And it's a bit overgrown. But that's a good thing because it's a bahia lawn and the little seed antenna thingies are all over the place. So a good mowing and raking will help reseed the lawn. Yeah.

So I get home last night . . . and my yard's been mowed. By someone. And no one's stepping up to claim responsibility.

And I'm feeling a bit . . . violated . . . here. Is that wrong?

I work long exhausting hours at an often sh*tty job. But I keep my stuff as well kept as possible. The house needs painting, but it doesn't look bad. I mow and edge and trim my bushes regularly. No rusted cars on concrete blocks or boarded up windows. It's a nice middle class house in a middle class neighborhood.

I don't make noise. I don't have loud drunken arguments in my front yard night after night. I don't play loud music until 1:00 in the morning. I'm not running a car repair business out of my garage until 10:00 or 11:00 every night. I mind my own business and would appreciate it if others would do the same.

Too much to ask?

Just a couple of questions here...

So Lindsay Lohan's mom, Dina, got a dui the other day, and I guess her totally clean & sober daughter dropped by to give her a little pep talk, or something. Yeah. Dressed like this:

So I'm wondering -- does every top Lindsay have fit her like this? Why is she wearing leggings over her jeans? Where exactly does one find women's tops that fit like that and can I find a girlfriend that would wear one? Even in private?

And doesn't it always seem like Lindsay's one sudden turn from flying out of her blouse every time she goes out in public? You know, because:

I mean, we've seen this movie before. Am I right?

Hey, someone's got to ask the hard questions.

'Bout time Taylor got back in the game

For a while, I used to do this thing pitting Miley Cyrus against Taylor Momsen in a faux battle for being the top teen tart in music. Taylor pretty much had it won hands down as Miley was hampered by her Disney obligations/restrictions. But as we've seen recently, Miley's off the reservation now and bringin' the freak big time. I was wondering if Taylor would ever give me something to refresh my little competition.

Ask and ye shall receive . . . the poster for Taylor's new tour with her band is out:

Yep. That'll do it   :-)

I've said before that I like Momsen's vocal stylings and I still think the band name is a bit of awesome perfection. I'd like to see what would happen if they could get some serious songwriting and production behind them, because I think the music scene could use a good female rocker right now.

But with a tour coming up, I think we can expect more of the following from Taylor which may tilt my little competition back in her favor:

Buccaneers outrageous outrage

So other than the abysmal loss to the Jets last weekend, the big story down here has been the suggestion that Bucs head coach Greg Schiano deliberately fixed the vote counting to ensure that struggling quarterback Josh Freeman was not named a captain on this year's squad.

*groan*

With all the legitimate stuff to worry about . . . I mean really.

The funny thing is watching the local sportswriters turn on Freeman like a pack of wild dogs. Two years ago, these guys had Freeman's bust for Canton already made and polished it daily with their tongues. Pouring out columns of accolades about Freeman's stats -- you'd have thought the kid was the reincarnation/combination of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, etc.

They gushed about his gaudy stats, neglecting to realize those big numbers were put up against opposing team's prevent defense in the fourth quarter as the Bucs furiously tried to come back after three quarters of inept offensive football.

But now, because Schiano didn't give Freeman the dreaded "vote of confidence" in the off season, saying everyone's job needed competition, local writers can't heap enough scorn on Freeman. And now the team as well.

I wouldn't be surprised that the "unnamed source" at the Bucs who dropped the dime on this story is a player who longs for the lax and unregimented days of former coach Raheem Morris. Schaino's a disciplinarian and a micro-manager and some of these dudes simply don't want that.

Thing is, as I've said all along, the jury is still out on Freeman. Let's see what the kid can do over a couple of years, then decide if he's the francise qb we've been looking for. He's got the tools -- big arm, accuracy, tough in the pocket. All I'm saying is save the hero worship for when he deserves it.

The team's off to a slow start, to be sure. Last season, writers lamented Schiano's boot camp style of coaching. He backed off a bit this year, and the guys don't look ready because of it imho. Plus weirdness like the MRSA thing. Let's let the season get under way a bit before we start throwing in the towel on everything and everyone.

NASCAR's outrageous outrage

I'm having a hard time getting all upset about the outrage du jour in NASCAR over some collusion and other hijinks during the race last weekend at Richmond.

If you missed it, in the final laps of the race, with Ryan Newman looking like the sure winner, Clint Bowyer of Michael Waltrip Racing, egged on by his spotter, pretty much deliberately spun his car to bring out a caution. Post race interviews with Dale Earnhart Jr. had Dale Jr. laughing about Bowyer's crazy driving prior to the spin saying he couldn't figure out what the eff was going on.

The end result was that Newman's pit crew cost him the race, MWR driver Martin Truex Jr. got in and Jeff Gordon got bumped out. Oh, about that . . .

It seems now that there might have been some collusion between Ford teams run by Roger Penske and Front Row Motorsports that had FRM driver David Gilliland slow down to allow Penske driver Joey Logano to gain a position and secure his place in the Chase to the Championship.

Also helping Logano was more shenanegans from MWR as their driver Brian Vickers was ordered to pit with three laps to go for no apparent reason. But the pitting allowed Logano to pass Gordon on the track to ensure that Truex got in and Gordon was bumped out.

NASCAR today finished righting these wrongs by putting Gordon into the chase (Newman was put in and Truex removed a couple of days ago) and all these people who only just discovered auto racing are clutching their pearls and waving their hankies in an attempt to stave off the vapors over this unprecedented manipulation of racing results.

Really?!?!

If you had actually been watching auto racing for more than five minutes, you'd know this stuff goes on all the time. Race announcers routinely chuckle about late race cautions being brought out by a water bottle or piece of roll bar padding that mysteriously ends up on the track *wink, wink*

When Tony Stewart won the Championship in 2011, he railed long, loud, and publicly about NASCAR calling late race cautions simply to tighten up the fields for a more dramatic finish.

This kind of stuff has been going on for as long as there has been racing. Teams collude. Drivers play games. Remember -- Dale Earnhart Sr. died while trying to block for his son at Daytona. It's racing. With so much money at stake, these guys and teams are going to do whatever they can to win.

Like I said -- I'm just having a hard time getting upset with all this.

Well that didn't take long

With President mom jeans and the most inept State Dept in the history of this country making a hash out of foreign policy, you have to find something even more silly to laugh at or you'll go bonkers these days. To wit:

Sydney Leathers showed up at a McDonalds to harass Anthony Weiner the other night, looking like she took her first check from Vivid and went out and got an upgrade in the chesticular department. Judge for yourself from the pic, that might just be the mother of all push-up bras at work there, but considering the style arc this chick is on, I'm betting on bolt-ons.

And in other news, Lucy Pinder is fairly attractive:

Well of course Miley's naked in her new video...

I mean, first off, it's directed by Terry Richardson. And he's got that whole perv-y vibe goin' on:

And secondly, let's face it . . . what is there left for her to do to shock people? I mean other than do a straight forward rendition of one of her songs without a lot of extraneous bullsh*t going on in the background?

And where's the fun in that?

Update:
Okay. I've actually seen the video now and I'm not sure I'm quite as bothered by it as most seem to be. My point above still stands -- I think Miley went for the nudity because it's the only so-called taboo left for her to hit people with. But the song itself isn't bad. It's an anthemic ballad -- easy to envision a hall full of fans swaying back and forth with their hands in the air singing along. It's a song about heartbreak and desire, I don't think Miley wrote it herself, but it's not bad, not perfect, but I wouldn't be reaching for the dial if it came on the radio.

As an amateur photographer myself, I've always found Terry Richardson to be formulaic in the work he puts out. Or at least what gets talked about publicly. Perhaps he's got some really cool, cutting edge stuff held back. But his celeb stuff is fairly predictable. Anyway, the visuals in the video look like they were framed/staged by someone who's primarily a still photographer. And that's not a complaint. I actually like the look of the vid.

Also, let's not kid ourselves here -- Terry took full advantage of Miley's hot, hard little body. She's either in fairly thin underwear or fully nude throughout the video. Her attempts at sensuality with the sledgehammer and the wrecking ball chain seem a little forced. And this is where I think her age is a problem -- girl just doesn't understand sex or sexuality yet. Ten years from now, she could probably rock that video much better, but at this time in her life, it just comes off as exploitive. And that's the knock on both her and Richardson isn't it?

But if you're one of the few humans on the planet who hasn't seen it yet. Do yourself a favor and check it out. It isn't as bad as everyone's making it out to be and I'd be interested in your opinion.

Too careful?

Okay, just have to say this . . .

Watching the Bucs/Jets game, Dashon Goldson just layed a perfect hit on a Jets receiver coming over the middle and they called unnecessary roughness - hit against a defenseless receiver.

wtf?!

I know the league just got sued for about a penny on the dollar of what they make, to pay for past untreated/undiagnosed concussions, but now guys can't even hit receivers across the middle? Why not just say it is two hand touch across the middle and be done with it?

sheesh!

Red Sox = en fuego, Rays = muy frio

With yesterday's 13-9 drubbing of the Jankees, Boston moves to 8 1/2 games ahead in the AL East. John Lackey finally got some run support and apparently didn't have the slightest idea what to do with it, having his worst outing in months giving up 7 earned runs in 5 innings. But a win is a win over the Evil Empire, so I'll take it   :-)

The Red Sox have scored a ridiculous 54 runs in their last four games (which includes a 20-4 beat down of the Tigers), whilst crushing 17 home runs during their romp. If it was anyone but the Yankees, I'd feel sorry that after scoring a gaudy 25 runs in three games they'd be 0-3. But hey, tough sh*t, you know?

Also of note, that Tampa Bay Times example of a weak bullpen, Koji Uehara, has the longest scoreless streak in the Majors -- 27 innings and has 18 saves in 21 opportunites along with a 1.12 ERA and .59 WHIP. If that's a weakness, I'm sure lots of teams wish they were so burdened.

Down here, it's lots of sad faces on the Rays. Mired in a gut-wrenching slump losing 11 of their last 14 games, there are signs of cracks emerging in the supposedly casual loosey-goosey clubhouse.

Manager Joe Maddon actually called out a player for "bad baseball" as Sean Rodriguez got picked off second base during a 6-4 loss to the Mariners. I think the papers crabbing about Wil Myers missing on a dive to catch a line drive is uncalled for, but they are slamming him for it. Madden has also stopped the conga line of f*ckery in the clubhouse as no more mariachi bands, no wild animals wandering around, no more silliness to keep things lite -- saying it's time to stop all the distractions and just play baseball.

Of course, the distractions were Maddon's idea in the first place, but whatever. His comments about the guys being too focused and trying too hard even brought a response from Evan Longoria who publicly wondered how you can be trying too hard saying "I'd rather be trying hard than not trying at all."

So with hopes of a division crown almost mathematically impossible and the surging Indians and Orioles only a game behind in the Wild Card standings, what is Maddon's focus? "...you want to win your division -- that's still our goal."

Really?! I'm no brain scientist, and I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I think making sure you don't get swept out of the Wild Card might be a more immediate focus for the team. Just sayin'. I mean, even were the Sox getting swept by the Yankees right now, the Rays would still be 4 1/2 games out of first and also completely out of the Wild Card. So we have Maddon furiously twerking (typo, and it stays) his line-up to get favorable pitching match-ups with the Sox when they come into town this week.

The Rays aren't going to sweep Boston. Their best hope is to take two out of three and I don't see that happening either, but it is realistic at least. But then what? They're still 7 1/2 games out of first! All this line-up angst to gain one game in the standings? This is one of the reasons I've railed long and loud about this absurd trumped up rivalry. If these guys spent more time focused on just playing to win and not putting all their attention on one team in the division, they might be better off in the long run.

Alyssa Milano explains Syria in the best possible way

News via sex tape . . . works for me:

Alyssa Milano Sex Tape from Alyssa Milano

Update:
Ahh, now it all makes sense. Apparently Alyssa was trying to make a statement about how something labeled "Alyssa Milano sex tape" would get more traffic than something like "Alyssa Milano tells you the history of the Syria situation." Okay. I understand the pervy nature of the internet. But the other side of the coin, is why would anyone care about Alyssa's opinion about the Syria situation in the first place? This is the problem with celeb-centric so-called news outlets like the Huffington Post.

Just because John Cusack is bitching about something doesn't mean his opinion on the subject is any more important or informed than mine. Who gives a sh*t what Bill Maher or Sean Penn think? They are not political scientists or scholars who have spent decades living and researching any specific geo-political system. They're celeb douchebags who spend their time standing where they're told to stand by someone else. Reading words someone else has written for them. And acting/speaking the way they're told to act and speak by someone else.

So, cute video Alyssa, and I sort of get your point. But if you really want to make a statement about the corruption of our information society, maybe you should make a video about our obsession with assigning value to a actor/celeb's opinions on anything other than acting. Just a thought .

Update 2:
Btw, I'm not going to mention that I sent Stacy McCain an e-mail on 9/5 with the subject title "Alyssa Milano explains Syria via sex tape" that apparently didn't get his attention, yet a tweet by one of his preferred fellow political bloggers sent two days later he apparently couldn't avoid because the words "Alyssa Milano" and "sex tape" were in it and provoked a blog post and linkage and such for the tweeter.

Nope, not going to mention that at all.

Courtney Stodden topless

First day back after a holiday. Just got home and too tired to go on about Syria or the Sox. So here's famous-for-being-famous Courtney Stodden topless on Celebrity Big Brother out of England. 'Cause their television shows are so much more classy than ours.

*vidcaps from Courtney's Vivid tape at end of post*

And just to remind us that she's still alive, Courtney v1.0 -- Heidi Montag, turned up over the weekend popping out of a birthday cake for her douche-y husband Spencer Pratt at some strip club (Crazy Horse III, I think):

Update:
Trying to understand why young Courtney was invited to participate in the reality program? Must be her vaunted thespian abilities. I mean, what else right?

Update:
Well, this wasn't really unexpected -- Courtney has released one of those totally not professionally shot/lighted/edited sex tapes. Claiming she can't block Vivid from releasing it, which is a lie, little miss innocent is going to donate the proceeds to charity. 'Cause she's all about helping others. Anyway, if you've wondered what those enormous implants look like, here ya go:

Update 2:
And here's a little live action gif for no other reason than I have it:

Let's play a game

This Labor Day, let's play a little game of "who said this?" Lend your mental muscle on this conundrum:

"First, we should only commit our forces when clear and vital American interests are at stake. Period.
Second, if we have to fight, we fight to win. To do that, we use overwhelming force. We only send our troops into war with the objective to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible. We do not stretch out our military with open-ended and ill-defined missions. Nation building is a nice idea in theory, but it is not the main purpose of our armed forces. We use our military to win wars.
And third, we must have clearly defined goals and objectives before sending troops into harm’s way. If you can’t explain the mission to the American people clearly and concisely, then our sons and daughters should not be sent into battle. Period.
Fourth, American soldiers must never be put under foreign command. We will fight side by side with our allies, but American soldiers must remain under the care and the command of American officers.
Fifth, sending in our armed forces should be the last resort. We don’t go looking for dragons to slay. However, we will encourage the forces of freedom around the world who are sincerely fighting for the empowerment of the individual. When it makes sense, when it’s appropriate, we will provide them with material support to help them win their own freedom. We are not indifferent to the cause of human rights or the desire for freedom. We are always on the side of both. But we can’t fight every war. We can’t undo every injustice around the world."

Perhaps presumptive Democratic nominee for 2016 Hillary Clinton from one of her highly touted policy speeches? Maybe her husband Bill, the first black President? Noted isolationist and fav of the Libertarians Ron Paul? Perhaps some thoughtful think-tank type?
Hmmmm . . .

Let's try something else from the same source:

"President Obama wants America involved in Syria’s civil war pitting the antagonistic Assad regime against equally antagonistic Al Qaeda affiliated rebels. But he’s not quite sure which side is doing what, what the ultimate end game is, or even whose side we should be on. Haven’t we learned? WAGs don’t work in war.
We didn’t intervene when over 100,000 Syrians were tragically slaughtered by various means, but we’ll now intervene to avenge the tragic deaths of over 1,000 Syrians killed by chemical weapons, though according to the White House we’re not actually planning to take out the chemical weapons because doing so would require "too much of a commitment."
President Obama wants to do what, exactly? Punish evil acts in the form of a telegraphed air strike on Syria to serve as a deterrent? If our invasion of Iraq wasn’t enough of a deterrent to stop evil men from using chemical weapons on their own people, why do we think this will be?
The world sympathizes with the plight of civilians tragically caught in the crossfire of this internal conflict. But President Obama’s advertised war plan (which has given Assad enough of a heads-up that he’s reportedly already placing human shields at targeted sites) isn’t about protecting civilians, and it’s not been explained how lobbing U.S. missiles at Syria will help Syrian civilians. Do we really think our actions help either side or stop them from hurting more civilians?
We have no clear mission in Syria. There’s no explanation of what vital American interests are at stake there today amidst yet another centuries-old internal struggle between violent radical Islamists and a murderous dictatorial regime, and we have no business getting involved anywhere without one. And where’s the legal consent of the people’s representatives? Our allies in Britain have already spoken. They just said no. The American people overwhelmingly agree, and the wisdom of the people must be heeded.
Our Nobel Peace Prize winning President needs to seek Congressional approval before taking us to war. It’s nonsense to argue that, "Well, Bush did it." Bull. President Bush received support from both Congress and a coalition of our allies for "his wars," ironically the same wars Obama says he vehemently opposed because of lack of proof of America’s vital interests being at stake.
Bottom line is that this is about President Obama saving political face because of his "red line" promise regarding chemical weapons.
As I said before, if we are dangerously uncertain of the outcome and are led into war by a Commander-in-chief who can’t recognize that this conflict is pitting Islamic extremists against an authoritarian regime with both sides shouting "Allah Akbar" at each other, then let Allah sort it out."

Still no idea? One last hint:

"So we’re bombing Syria because Syria is bombing Syria? And I’m the idiot?"

Yes, now you have it, right? Sarah Palin. You know, the same but I thought she said she could see Russia from her house Sarah Palin. The bit at the top is from a speech given at Colorado Christian University in 2011. The quote in the middle is from her Facebook page the other day. And the last from her Twitter account last week.

If you read through her various speeches and policy statements without knowing who said them, it paints a completely different picture than the one put out by the left wing media and entertainment complex. You combine the relentless white noise of their character assassinations with a profoundly unsophisticated audience and you get a stumbling incompetent like Barack Obama in the White House and a talented executive like Palin as the punch line for pathetic comedians posing as newsmen.

And you wonder why we're in the mess we're in.

Rule 5 Monday -- heavy hitters

This holiday edition of Rule 5 loveliness is dedicated to my heavy hitters. No, not like that, silly. I took a quick look through my site stats and picked out the gals that seem to drive the most traffic via image searches.

From apartment house wrestling to xoxo leah, it's all here for your Rule 5 perusing pleasure. Basically I created a one stop shop for those who spend too much time looking for this stuff. To save labor . . . get it?  heh

*sigh*

*click on the thumbnails for full-sized images*

Rule 5 Sunday suggested by this.

Hat tips:
Jake Finnegan
The Daley Gator
The Classic Liberal
Say Anything Blog
Proof Positive
Reaganite Republican