This Chick Really Blows

Once in awhile, a clip comes along that is so painfully bad, so achingly cringe-worthy, so brilliantly horrendous, that you just want to get down on your hands and knees and thank Al Gore for inventing the internet.

After bouncing around the 'net Sunday, I found this gem. It's a pageant of some kind, apparently. This, I'm guessing, is the, umm, talent portion of the contest, featuring contestant Stacey Hedger.

I don't want to spoil it, so let's just throw out some key words...Star Wars, trumpet, Charlie Chaplin, and crickets (from the audience).

This will undoubtedly require multiple viewings.

Real Men Of Genius Spoof: Notre Dame Fans

We've talked on the show recently about the musical similarity between "Home" from Daughtry, and the music found in the classic Real Men Of Genius campaign from Bud Light.

Below is a spoof of those commercials with the topic being Notre Dame fans.

Given my disliking of the Notre Dame football program, their woefully inept season, plus the high quality of this clip, I couldn't resist posting it.

Rocky Mountain Low

That didn't take long, did it? The Phillies bowed out of the playoffs so fast, it makes their division championship clinching victory seem like it was a week ago.

Well, it was, but you get the idea.

My biggest fear heading into this postseason was that the Phillies would meet the Cubs in one of the playoff rounds, and lose. So much for that happening. At least I don't have to go through that weeklong Pepto Bismol diet.

And, yes, I'd rather have them lose in this first round, then win the round, but lose to the Cubs in the NLCS. And, yes, watching the Cubs get swept out of the first round helped ease my Phillies pain, but only a little.

The Rockies were just too tough. The Phils couldn't hit, couldn't pitch -- well enough -- and just weren't the better team. I've read a lot about how the Phils may have been playing tight, considering this was their first postseason in a long time, and for many players, their first playoff experience at the big league level. I'm not discounting that theory, but those same elements certainly didn't hurt the Rockies at all.

Oh well, like I said before the series started, I have nothing against the Rockies, and if they were to continue to move on, that would be fine. The more successful they are, maybe that makes the Phillies' season stand out a little more.

The interesting thing will be what they do to improve the team for next year. They need pitching, pitching, and then some pitching. Of course, so does every other team.

But, they've cleared a big hurdle by defeating the Mets and claiming the division, thanks to a torrid final three weeks of the season when they went 13-4 to edge out New York by one game. Maybe this season was necessary for the Phils -- a stepping stone to bigger success next year. Ahh yes, the dreaded phrase, "next year".

It's too bad they were only able to clear one hurdle (the Mets), and not the other (Clint) Hurdle.

In the meantime, please enjoy the final few minutes of the last professional sports championship for the city of Philadelphia...the 1983 76ers defeating Magic, Kareem, Jack Nicholson, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

30 Rock Returns

Welcome back, 30 Rock. Although, I've only missed you for about three days. That's when I finished watching the episodes from the first season. Thanks to NBC.com, I was able to catch all 21 shows, and it only took me about three weeks.

What would life be like without the internet?

This is one of those shows that, for whatever reason, did absolutely nothing for me when it premiered. I didn't watch it, and had no interest in it. But, as was the case with The Office, Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica, and Heroes -- all shows that I initially ignored, only to catch up on all of them online -- after getting continued praise from critics, not to mention the Emmy for Best Comedy, I thought it was time to try 30 Rock.

Having access to free episodes on NBC.com certainly didn't hurt, either.

I'm certainly glad I did. The show is smart and silly at the same time, has a very good cast -- including the irreplaceable Alec Baldwin -- and packs as many jokes into a half-hour as any show this side of Arrested Development.

Plus, I've always had a bit of a thing for Tina Fey. Smart, cute, funny, and showing a surprisingly frequent amount of cleavage as Liz Lemon.

If you haven't seen the show yet, and would like to catch up, well, my guess is NBC will pull the first season's episodes to make room for season two, which begins tonight.

My suggestion is to rent the DVD's of season one, and then once you've caught up, go to NBC.com and check out season two.

I'm too lazy to go into in-depth discussion of the characters, or the premise. You can always go here to get a pretty good idea.

Also, here are a couple of clips from NBC.com that deal with Liz Lemon's lackluster love life, and the brilliance of Jack Donaghy -- Baldwin's character.

Red October

Here's the top of the 9th inning, Sunday, as the Phillies clinched the National League's East Division title. The fact that the Mets' loss to Florida became a final during this inning is just icing on the cake.

Thousands of fans cheering away 14 years of frustration, plus having living legend Harry Kalas on the call isn't too shabby, either.

Rock(ies) On

From a competitive standpoint, I was rooting for San Diego to win the playoff game last night against Colorado. The Padres seem like a much easier foe for the Phillies, considering the injuries to their offense, and the fact that ace Jake Peavy pitched last night, and would only be available for one start in the five-game series.

But, now that the Rockies have made it -- thanks to an improbable, one-for-the-ages kind of game -- I'm ok with it. The Rockies and Phillies are pretty similar: Plenty of offense, so-so pitching, and no post season appearances in over a decade.

One other similarity is the way these two teams finished the season in order to get to the playoffs. The Phillies finished 13-4, while the Rockies have won 14 of their last 15 games. Two pretty evenly matched teams, and the Rockies are a team that I have no built up anger or frustration. There's very little history between the two squads, and frankly, I kind of like the team.

I've been to a couple of Rockies games, one at Mile High, and one at Coors Field. I actually kind of like the team, and I think we're in for some explosive games over the next week. I like Colorado as a place to vacation, I have no problem with Denver, and how can you go wrong with a Coors?

Side note: If you ever visit the Coors Brewery, just ask for the "short tour" and go right to the beer garden.

Besides, the Padres are boring. Any city that can boast a weather forecast of sunny and 75 degrees every day doesn't deserve to also celebrate a World Series winner.

That said, if you think Mets fans are having a hard time, Padres fans must be searching for a trolley to jump in front of, after coming so close to getting in. They were one strike away on Sunday, before blowing that game to the Brewers, and in last night's playoff game they took an 8-6 lead in the 13th inning, only to once again have Trevor Hoffman blow the game by giving up three runs in the bottom of the 13th.

I'm not sure where those rank in Bill Simmons' "Levels Of Losing" over on ESPN.com, but they have to fall somewhere between "This Can't Be Happening" and a "Stomach Punch".

So, bring on the Rockies. And, usually when a team knocks my team from the playoffs, no matter what sport, I continue to hate that team, hoping they lose their next game or series. That's part of the reason I actually rooted for the Cubs in 2003 to defeat the Marlins, who beat out the Phillies for the wildcard that year.

Well, if the Rockies were to defeat the Phils, I think I'm going to root for them to get to the World Series.

I think.

If nothing else, the Phillies should get a nice welcome from Rockies' fans, and grounds crew workers. Remember the tarp incident from July?

Muck The Fets!

I've done my fair share of criticizing the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. But, after the way the last few seasons have brought the Phils close to the playoffs, only to come up short -- usually being eliminated in the last week of the year -- it's easy to see how I could have been so negative.

Friday night, the Phillies took the lead in the division for the first time this year, following Cole Hamels' brilliant pitching performance -- and yet another Mets loss -- but I didn't do a post about it because I still had that sinking feeling that they would relinquish that lead over the weekend.

Sure enough, after Saturday's games, the Mets and Phils were tied once again.

But, wouldn't you know it, this year apparently is different. The Phils actually pulled it off. They didn't choke, they didn't wilt under the pressure, they didn't repeat the close calls and near misses of recent years. The Phils caught, and passed the Mets, and won the NL East.

It couldn't have happened any better. Having the Mets blow a 7 game lead with just 17 games to go is such a wonderful development. Jimmy Rollins -- who may have secured the MVP award on Sunday -- said back in January that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East, and he and the Phils backed that up. Sure, the Mets played horrible baseball down the stretch, but it took a 13-4 finish by the Phillies to complete the comeback.

Muck the Fets, indeed.

Who knows, maybe this will be the year that the Phillies not only reach the playoffs, but win the whole damn thing. Of course, they could just as easily get swept out of the first round and have their season over by the weekend.

I'm sure that once the playoffs begin, my feelings may change, but, for now, just the fact that they were able to clinch at home, in front of 44,000 rabid, hungry fans, finishing off a truly amazing comeback against a hated rival has made this upcoming postseason gravy.

The Phillies have already won.

Ahh, who am I kidding? Go out and win the whole damn thing.

Just don't get bounced by the Cubs.