We're in a rain delay for game 4 of the World Series, and Fox is showing an episode of "The War at Home," which is like saying, "sorry, we're all out of chocolate cake, but here's some dog poo on a plate." This gives me an opportunity to mention two things in the world of sports that I would like to do away with.

1. Chris Berman. His contribution to society rivals that of Paris Hilton. Seriously, next time you hear him, ask yourself if you would hire that guy for your network based on what he brings to the table today. The answer is no; Berman works for ESPN because he has always worked for ESPN, and that's it. His nicknames and his song references are not funny, and he lends no insight to any sport. His catchphrases are deployed with all the spontanaety of the voice mail operator that lives in my cell phone. Be gone.
   
2. The 3/4 time footage in NFL films. Apparently, my grandmother can run like Jim Brown and the ball used to be filled with helium. Really, it's the speed of the game that makes it so impressive. Why take that away?

This week is reading week. I've been... reading. Thesis reasearch is happening, as is a little reading for fun. K and I are going with a friend to see Gomez (band) tonight in San Francisco, at the Warfield. Should be good. Tomorrow I will cook ribs for the first time and draft my first fantasy team. It's clearly a big day.

It's midterm time, kids. That means papers, papers, and more papers. A more substantial update comes after Friday, when the wonderful thing we call reading week begins. For now, I give you this:

Start spreading the news...

It's Liza Manelli time in NYC. I just got back from Yosemite (another post on another day) and checked ESPN.com. Not only did the Yankees lose, thereby making their season a complete failure in the eyes of their heartless, bloodthirsy fan base, but they are apparently thinking about firing Joe Torre in favor of...


wait for it...



no...



why?...



Lou Pinella. This would make my year. God bless baseball.
(Late Edit: It is not only because I think Mike Lupica breathes the rarified air of sports hackdom normally only accessed by Chris Berman and Skip Bayless that I post this link, but because it is written from a purportedly reasonable viewpoint.)

I am now a Detroit Tigers fan. Every year, there are two sporting events I try hard not to care too much about. The first would be the basketball matchups between Carolina and Duke. No matter how rational, calm, and collected I pretend to be, I will be yelling obscenities at my TV within 2 minutes of tipoff. The other is the Yankees in the playoffs. I don't just hate the Yankees in some innoccuous "oh, it's just sports" sort of way. I actually hate the entire organization, from top to bottom. Though I am on record as a person who respects Derek Jeter, I have yet to wish a good thing upon him. I dream of a baseball world in which the Yankees do not exist, or at least one in which they are mediocre for 9 straight years, only to have more steroid accusations pointed at them than any other team. Every modicum of success that the Yankees enjoy is an affront to the idea of competitive sports.

Just booked a campsite at Yosemite for next weekend- they'll even let us build campfires. That will certainly be a nice getaway from the world of papers, people who are way too anxious about papers, and my thesis research. Also, apparently a strange thing is happening up there. The leaves are said to change colors, and the air becomes crisp, and cooler than it has been for the last few months. I think they call it "autumn." I'll not complain about Bay Area weather in its sunny, temperant constancy, but I will be happy to experience fall.

The new version of iTunes supports gapless playback. As a fan of noodly hippy music, this makes the segues in the long jams I love so much seamless again. Thank you, Steve Jobs.

If you get an email from my brother, do not open it. It may be pterodactyl porn.