It's been a busy week in the newsroom, and I'm doing a
little research for next week's blog, so in the meantime here are some
random rants...
- We've already done Transformers and G.I. Joe, there has got to be a Thundercats movie in production right?
- "Kung Fu Panda" is the sweetest sports nickname since "Thunder" Dan Marley. And
while I love me some Pablo Sandoval it always depresses me to see Benji
Molina standing behind him in the on-deck circle. Here's a crazy
idea... if the Giants are in contention come September how about a call
to Mr. Barry Bonds, I hear he's available. Have Barry scare pitchers
into a .400 on-base percentage, sneak into the playoffs, and have the
best pitching staff in baseball carry you to a World Series.
-
Props to Chico city council member Larry Wahl for saying the city's
budget "isn't sustainable." Fiscally unsound, short-sighted, penny wise
pound foolish, all these things we can live with, but one thing we will
not stand for in Chico is an affront to our sustainability.
-
We've discussed this around the office a couple times but it's great
food for thought: What other celebrity gets the Michael Jackson
treatment when they die? I don't think there's anybody out there who
hits the public on so many levels, but here are a few who may
contend...
- Madonna probably
comes closest, but Al Sharpton isn't speaking at her funeral. And I'm
not sure she really crosses the gender gap. Don't get me wrong, Like A Prayer is a great song, but I'm not bumping the Immaculate Collection in my car.
- Britney Spears would dominate TMZ for a month, but people my parents age could care less.
- Paul McCartney
cues a massive media barrage of Beatles montages, but has the opposite
effect of Britney, kids under 20 wouldn't unplug their ear buds for his
funeral. And he's not tabloid enough.
- Michael Jordan has got the world-wide recognition, but his personal life is too boring and every year he's retired he gets less relevant.
- Muhammad Ali has
historical and racial relevance, but boxing isn't even on the sports
radar anymore. And people have too much respect for him to spark the
circus aspect.
- Oprah has the same gender-gap issue as Madonna, but since she's worth like 10 billion dollars CNBC would have to do live coverage.
- There's buzz about the NFL
expanding the regular season to 18 games. Let's get that ball rolling.
And while we're at it let's kick the season off in mid-August. I've
already got my entire Fantasy draft mapped out and we have like 3
months till the first real game. I want it to be socially acceptable to
start NFL talk a quarter of the way through the baseball season.
