Links...

Heard some complaints about the last batch of Links. I’ll admit that they were a bit sub-par. These should quench your thirst! If not, let me help you: Fuck off!

Comedy -

• This guy is a legend in Hollywood and he isn’t even real!
• These two NBA ballers are hilarious and related (sort of)
• If there is ever a drought, just do the RAIN DANCE!
• I want this dude to be at EVERY/ANY press conference from now on!
• Playing with knives can be dangerous and messy.
• Words won’t do this justice. Maybe this will - \/
• Let’s see who wins between him and Pacquiao.
• “The best advice I got my rookie year was to always live by the Three P’s: Peyote, Pussy, and Percocet.”

Drama -

• It’s 15 years later and this scene is still fantastic!
• WSOP just ended. To me, it always began here. 
• For my money, this is the greatest ending EVER! (And my favorite movie)

Quirky Music -

• This duo really knows how to serenade a woman.
• I get pumped whenever I hear the theme to this epic show.
• In honor of MJ’s recent indcution to the NBA HOF - enjoy!
• Not sure how this has not been posted before.
• Ditto for the response.
• Simmons requested it and a fan provided it. Masterful!

Baller Status

I’m not sure why, but recently I have been hearing a lot about the original 3 networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) and how they owned the television landscape in the 70’s and early 80’s. I guess people seem to see them in the same light as the original 3 auto manufacturers and to some extent the newspaper business, in that they all were pioneers to some degree in their fields, but through near-sightedness and a bit of hubris, they disregarded the change in their business’ climate. Once newer upstarts got an inch, they were not just taking a foot, but a mile. The days of a network show getting 30 million weekly viewers has come and gone (of course, with the exception of the cult known as American Idol). The networks followed their own thinking, never once yielding to the evolution of the game. Well, from there, we basically got to where we are today, with cable/satellite providing hundreds of channels of viewer programming, much more tailored to specific audiences.

This is where being a sports fan has garnered the most benefits. Nowadays, you can make just one phone call and order MLB Extra Innings, NHL Center Ice, NBA League Pass or the juggernaut that is NFL Sunday Ticket. Each league has its own channels now as well, to sufficiently feed the ever hungry appetite for your sport du jour. WOW! Everything has changed! Go back as little as 10 years ago and just the concept of such innovations would conjure up thoughts of Elroy. If you would transport a sports write from 1965 to 2009, I think his head might explode. Back then, you only got information on your hometown team from the local paper’s beat writer. Now, you can follow any team’s happenings from the South Pole if you chose, and you wouldn’t miss a beat.

It all depends on what sport you are most enamored with, but for my money, there is no question that NBA League Pass is the touchstone for professional sports packages. I have always followed baseball, but it is such a slow paced game that I can barely watch a third of the games for my own team (The Pieces of Shits, formerly known as the Mets. Not to be mistaken for The Huge Pile Of Dog Shits, formerly known as the Knicks.). I can’t fathom how other people purchase MLB Extra Innings and watch OTHER teams’ games as well. You are probably a baseball stat geek if you do, no offense. (And by no offense, I mean, it was meant offensively.) 

I won’t even truly discuss NHL Center Ice because, let’s be honest, did you even know that the NHL still existed? Come on! Really, the only advantage this package has over any of the others is how awesome in the ice looks in HD. That’s basically it. Even the cable network that nobody could find (Versus) basically stopped carrying it. Moving on…

The next sentence has been written by Captain Obvious: Nothing compares rating-wise to NFL Sunday Ticket and its pride and joy, The Red Zone Channel. RZC is unreal because you can leave your TV on a single channel all Sunday and not miss a meaningful play the entire day. The basic concept, a dude (let’s call him Jimmy M.) sits in a studio with 15 screens and takes you to any game in which a team enters the red zone (20 yard line to end zone). Obviously, there are many other plays in an NFL game, but for the most part, they are redundant and bland. This way, you are always seeing something exciting, and usually live. Then, you even get highlights of a play you may have just missed, moments later. The one negative about NFL Sunday Ticket is more to do with the league itself and not the coverage. It is that all the games are played simultaneously at the same time (sans the Sunday and Monday night games). So in one sense, RZC alleviates the issue slightly by getting you as much action as it can, but as a result, you have to be more of a casual fan, rather than a true fanatic. You simply cannot really learn about a team and its players as much as you can with other leagues, due to the conflict of scheduling. But make no mistake about it; you will not regret buying the package…if you have DirecTV. (No other carriers have access to it. Pretty savvy deal, DirecTV!)

And now we get to the cream of the crop - NBA League Pass. NBA League Pass is AWESOME! From jump street, you cannot compare the amount of action that you gain by subscribing to this package with any other sport. First of all, in basketball the game is continuously moving, and you have the advantage of seeing spectacular plays on virtually any or every trip down court. Next, as opposed to the NFL which dominates Sundays, NBA League Pass offers up to 40 games per WEEK, with anywhere from 20-25 of them in HD. This season, they even solved a minor inconvenience that they had had for a few years. I don’t usually care who does the broadcasts for other sporting events, because normally the announcers don’t skew the game that much in their analysis. However, the “homer call” was invented in the NBA (That’s a Tommy Point!). It becomes virtually unbearable to listen to certain duos call a game. Well, this season NBA League Pass offers the option of two separate feeds for almost each game, daily. That way, I don’t have to watch a game on mute or stab myself in the ears because Golden State’s tag team of buffoonery can’t give credit to anyone player outside their train wreck of an organization. The only thing that could be worse than being stuck listening to a tainted announcing crew is being stuck at a taping of The Wendy Williams Show! (Joel McHale, please make my case for me. Thanks, bro!)

In contrast to the NFL’s schedule, the NBA allows you to watch any team on any given night and actually enjoy the game, dissect certain players or the coach’s tendencies. It grants you the chance to have a social life and still watch some of L, by having game start times range from 7:00pm (EST) to 10:30pm (EST) relatively every day of the week. Even a casual fan, wife, girlfriend, etc., can appreciate watching some hoops because the NBA has marketed itself so well, that just about every team has 1-2 stars on it that people recognize by either face or name. Other sports don’t have that luxury which allows the common fan to enjoy their sport sporadically. NBA League Pass also gives you the ability to access up to 3 live games at once via NBA.com. So even if you are away on business or vacation, you can hit a few keys on your computer and feel as if you are right there.

All these packages also allow for people to keep up with their teams, even if they don’t live in those cities. This thought would have been ludicrous in the 90’s, yet today I will go insane if I don’t have up to the minute stats and updates. Moreover, it grants you access to choose your own favorite players and watch them develop in front of your very eyes. No longer would you have to circle the 1-2 trips that player would make to your home town arena or hope to catch some highlights on Sportscenter later that night. You can watch Kevin Durant mature and dominate from his rookie year through his entire career! (Yes, I know I have a crush. So what? What’s it to you?)

Let us not forget that implications this can have on your fantasy team. Long gone are the drafts where you had a sleeper pick that you couldn’t wait to blurt out at the right time, with that grin of satisfaction like the mailman delivering a package in a porno. Why? Because everybody has the same access that you do and they all watch a plethora of games as well. That sleeper you had pegged for the 8th round was gobbled up in the 5th. You can also keep tabs on your current fantasy roster while also scouting any potential pick-ups.

And the absolute craziest aspect of this entire venture? It ONLY costs $150 for NBA League Pass for the ENTIRE season! In contrast, NFL Sunday Ticket costs $325 for 17 Sundays (full access package, including additional fees for HD and Red Zone). Think about that. More than half the price for over 10x more games! Not to mention that you can utilize this media every day for 6 months rather than 1 day per week. It is making my head spin! I also get that feeling sometimes from NBA League Pass overload, when on those certain nights that 90% of the league is in action and you jump from one game to the next to the next. It’s a vicious cycle, but one that I cannot live without at this point.

Basically, you really couldn’t choose a better time in history to be a sports fan (excluding the future, when in 2 years time we will probably be watching these games in 3-D as well!) and with so many different options to pick from, life is good for a fan.                

[Editor’s Note: (i.e. Me) This is my longest piece yet and I appreciate you taking the time to read it all. Hopefully, you enjoyed it. Thanks!]

Trailers...

Thanksgiving is coming up shortly, so you know what that means - studios will be suffocating the media with ads for their new releases. Holidays = $$$. So here is a sneak peak at some of the new crop. (What can I say, movies have gotten worse year by year)

Prince of Persia 

Takers 

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

The Slammin Salmon 

Green Zone

Salt 

Precious 

The Wolfman

The House of the Devil

Tron: Legacy

Links...

• Jon Gosselin pulls a Hiro Nakamura to fix his past mistakes. (A lot of them!)

• This gets a 9.6 on the unintentional comedy scale!

• Being drunk has the opposite effect on this genius! (Cool trick!)

• NFL mid-season BS Report with Bill Simmons.

• Solid piece by Mark Harris on NBC’s fall in this week’s New York Magazine.

• Tony Soprano still has that mean face down pat!

• Canada’s pride, Steve Nash, is still causing havoc in the lane!

• Some of the best End Zone dances! (Sadly, no Dirty Bird Shuffle!)

• The lesson, as always, Ace and Kimmel are comedy gold together!

Hit Me Back

If you have any feedback/comments I’d love to hear it!

You can leave comments on each individual blog entry.

You can contact me directly at: bJ@boobaJONES.com

You can follow me on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/boobaJONES

Hope you enjoy the material and try to spread the word!

GET ON IT!!!

-bJ