Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Weekend Links

Here's a little something to pass the time with between picks during this weekend's NFL draft:




This is one of my all-time favourite YouTube clips. I love the guy trying to talk himself into the Ken O'Brien era. "Obviously the Jets know something that the people up here don't". Hey, Ken O'Brien won just as many Super Bowls as Dan Marino. I guess they do know something!



- The only thing more depressing than the Jets draft history? How about the Chargers giving up two first round picks, a second round pick, Eric Metcalf, and Patrick Sapp so they could move up one spot in the draft... to take Ryan Leaf!!! Read all about the incomprehensibly crippling effects of this pick, and how the Chargers loss was the West Texas A&M Golf Team's gain... sort of.

(Thanks to Llibs for the tip)



- The only thing worse than being a Chargers fan during the Ryan Leaf era? How about being trapped in an elevator for 41 hours.

To learn more than you ever thought possible about the entirely underrated invention that is as vital to city life as is concrete and steel, read this piece by Nick Paumgarten:

You go in here and come out there, and you hardly consider that you have just raced up or down a vertiginous, pitch-black shaft. When you’re waiting for a ride, you don’t think that what lurks behind the outer doors is emptiness. Every so often, a door opens when it shouldn’t and someone steps into the void. This is worth keeping in mind.

Yikes.



- The best idea ever for a baseball team's hat.



- The best idea ever for a bar (scroll down {past "Guess That Ass"} to the third article titled: "Bar Revolution: Personal Draft Lines")



- The reason the OTHL Bruins lost game 7 of the OTHL finals (that's your favourite blogger missing the yawning cage in an eventual 3-2 loss... I still say that goalie redirected the puck and in the process made a glorious save, rather than I my simply missing the tap in... I'll probably be in therapy for that one). By the way, I'm pretty sure this video was taken at half-speed, because there's no way we're actually that slow...



- A great short story by T. Coraghessan Boyle which reinforces the importance of always telling the truth... or at the very least, not lying about the death of your baby just so you can take the day off work.



- If there was ever a cartoon which summed up my dad's attitude regarding his move to the wilds of Dornoch, ON, I believe this is it.



- One more tribute to the late, great Danny Federici.

If there is a better version of 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy), I have yet to hear it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sean,

For more on Ryan Leaf, check out the motion picture:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923771/

Sean McCallum said...

Plot summary from 2008's "Leaf":


"This is a semi-biographical account of the short NFL career of quarterback Ryan Leaf, who was one of the most highly-rated quarterbacks entered in the NFL's 1998 player draft and was considered a lock as first or second choice. Leaf was chosen second, by the San Diego Chargers, but signs of trouble surfaced behind the scenes when, in answer to a question about how he would handle being such a high draft choice, Leaf proclaimed he would take some buddies to Las Vegas and celebrate madly. It quickly became clear Leaf lacked maturity to lead, and after winning his first two games of the 1998 season his efforts collapsed in a dreadful loss to Kansas City, followed by an infamous screaming encounter with a local reporter and a perfunctory public apology. Leaf never accepted the responsibilities of being a leader, constantly quarreling with seemingly anyone around him, and injury benched him for the 1999 season; when his replacement, Moses Moreno, was himself injured early in 2000, Leaf became the Chargers' starter and proved abysmal as a quarterback with just one win in sixteen games. He was cut after 2000 and finished his career as a low-ranked backup in Dallas in 2001 before disappearing from the NFL altogether, his career considered the worst in the history of the NFL. Written by Michael Daly"


Sounds about right. I love the last little dig: "his career considered the worst in the history of the NFL". At least that takes fellow WOSS grad Tony Mandarich off the hook.