Potpourri

• Megan Fox looks good in a half shirt.
• More from crazy Mel Gibson.
• What happened to Adriana Lima?
• Twins trade for Matt Capps. I like it.
• Shake up at "American Idol".
• Dbacks unload Edwin Jackson, Chad Qualls & Chris Snyder.  
• Irina Shayk, where have you been all my life? 
• What's wrong with you Rick Pitino? 
• Old Spice guy lands role with Jennifer Anniston.
• Time to move along up Charlie Rangel. 
  

Guns N Roses - Paradise City

GNR in their prime was a sight to be seen (and heard). 

Michael Scott Replacement???

Here are my choices to replace Michael Scott on "The Office". 

Ricky Gervais - why not transfer David Brent from the UK headquarters? I think he's an Executive Producer of the show, that would certainly give him reason to sign on. 

Rainn Wilson - Dwight Schrute finally getting his dream job would no doubt lead to plenty of funny story lines. 

Zach Woods - I thought that he was very good as the hapless new guy Gabe Lewis this past season, I think he'd do very well as a replacement to Michael.                              

David Koechner - hilarious as Michael's buddy David Packer, he's got a nice list of credits to his name, I think this would be a genius of a selection. 









Others: Jason Bateman, Rob Corddry, Stephen Root, Rob Schneider, Will Arnett, John Lithgow

Potpourri

• Momentum gaining for filibuster reform. 
• RIP Jack Tatum.
• I love ESPN's Cy Young predictor. 
• The "double rainbow guy" cracks me up.
• I like this argument for ending the Bush tax breaks for the rich. 
• RIP Lorenzen Wright.
• Bob Cesca makes a lot of sense.
• Welcome back Jersey Shore. 
• Count me as a big fan of the Chipotle Mexican Grill chain.
• More GOP obstruction. Why can't anything go to a straight up/down vote?
  

Favorite Porn Stars

1. Amia Miley
2. Esperanza Gomez
3. Amy Reid 
4. Alexis Love
5. Kobe Tai 
6. Tabitha Stevens
7. Monique Alexander 
8. Crissy Moran
9. Lupe Fuentes
10. Jesse Jane 

Judge halts AZ SB1070

A federal judge ruled against most of the key components of Arizona's controversial SB1070 immigration law today.  It really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, it was poorly written by a group of far right wing lunatics.  The only benefit to it would be that it could possibly spur the federal government to finally take some action.  Otherwise, all they've really accomplished with this law is to damage the state's reputation and to damage the state's economy.  Could perhaps a more reasoned, well thought out, bipartisan law been passed?  Of course, but these aren't normal times and these aren't normal politicians. 

100 Greatest Movie Insults

This is hilarious!

Potpourri

• Paul Krugman's take on vodoo economics.  
• NFL training camps open. 
• Why is the middle class shrinking? 
• Mayweather still ducking Pacquiao. 
• MiLB.com is an excellent minor league baseball site.
• "At the Movies" canceled, where will I get my movie reviews now?
• The definition of a "himbo" right here. 
• How can a guy not like the bikini.com All Stars???
• Interested in Las Vegas strip clubs?  Check out VegasAfterDark.com.
• What the hell is going on in Bell, CA? 
  

Jessica Alba

Can there be any wonder why I'm a big fan of Jessica Alba?

               

Dan Haren traded to Angels

Dan Haren has been traded by the Dbacks to the Los Angeles Angels for Joe Saunders, Pat Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez and apparently Tyler Skaggs.  I've got mixed feelings on this deal.  Every team needs a number one starter and now the Diamondbacks are without one.  They are having a miserable season though and the need for a number one starter is obviously lessened.  Haren has been having a rather mediocre season too, for him anyways, and is making a lot of money so I can see why they felt the need to deal him.  The package they got in return, while not overwhelming, is acceptable IMO.  Saunders, who like Haren is struggling this year, is a former All Star and he will slot right into the rotation.  Corbin and Skaggs are high end prospects, both are in the lower minors though so don't expect to see them anytime soon.  Rodriguez has spend some time with the Angels, he seems to be a decent bullpen option, not overwhelming by any means but with the struggles in the Dbacks bullpen this year the more options the better.  Hopefully, the freed up cash will also benefit the Dbacks at some point. Time will tell.  

OMBAC OTL from Fiesta Island

If you haven't been, I highly recommend a visit to the annual OMBAC Over-The-Line Tournament in San Diego.  It's a blast!

Mid-Term Elections

The mid-term elections are coming up, as far as I can tell the GOP candidates are running on one thing, not being Obama.  I even saw a campaign sign last week saying "Stop Obama".  They have been fighting him and painting him as yet another big government, tax and spend socialist since his first day in office.  They refuse to consider that they are much to blame for the current dire economic straits that we are now in (the recession started under GWB, excessive spending started under GWB, unemployment started climbing under GWB, 2 wars started under GWB, immigration reform was blocked by the GOP during GWB's second term, health care costs soared under GWB, should I go on?).  All they've really done in Obama's first 18 months is say NO and use the filibuster at a record rate to block any piece of major legislation.  That's hardly an antidote to our problems.  Their solution to our current economic problems is apparently to go back to the policies of GWB with more tax cuts to the wealthy and less regulation.  We know deregulation doesn't work.  What makes them think voodoo economics will work?  If it worked so well, why did the GWB economy struggle so badly?  All it did was give us the greatest gap between the rich and poor in American history.  So basically what I'm saying is, I strongly suspect that I will be voting democrat this fall and I'm proposing that everybody else do the same. 

Sharon Angle.....

.....is a nutjob.

More Pearl Jam

Maddow's take on FOX News

Great stuff.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Potpourri

• MJ & Barkley sound off on the LeBron signing, as do Magic & Larry. 
• Why haven't I heard of Sophie Turner? 
• The final table is set at the WSOP 2010.  Here's the November 9. 
• Jennifer Anniston is aging incredibly well.  
• NBA Summer League winners & losers here. 
• I think I'd take Kourtney over Kim.  Kim's ass is just too big.
• Peter Brady did very well for himself. 
• Beware of right wing bloggers. Where's the apology Hannity, FoxNews and company?
• Jimmy Johnson to be on "Survivor". 
• Brooke Burke at the beach is a sight to be seen. 

Obama Signs Financial Reform Bill

President Obama yesterday signed the largest Financial Reform Bill since the great depression.  This is much needed and long overdue legislation and I am ecstatic that it has finally been signed into legislation.  Not so surprisingly it didn't get one Republican vote in the Senate.  Apparently, the GOP see's no correlation between deregulation of the Bush years and the economic meltdown of the past few years (or if they do they won't admit it).  Anybody paying any attention knows that's not true.  Let's take a look at what all the GOP deregulation has gotten us?  We tried it with energy, it brought us the Enron fiasco. We tried it with the food supply, it brought us salmonella in spinach, lettuce and tomatoes, feces in beef, tainted water, you name it.  We tried it with mining, it brought us dead coal miners. We tried it with banking, it brought us the current recession.  We tried it with big oil, we got the current mess in the gulf.  At what point does it sink in that somebody needs to be watching the foxes as they guard the hens?  Of course the GOP realizes this though, they just refuse to admit that their prized ideology could be wrong.  They also would rather try to paint it as more big government waste coming from the socialist Obama regime.  It's really sad that we've come to this.  What is it going to take for politicians to put the good of the country ahead of the good of the party?  

All Time Twins Team

FIRST TEAM

OUTFIELD
Kirby Pucket -My favorite Twins player ever.
Tony Olivia -If his knee's had held up he'd be in the HOF.
Bobby Allison -Had some great seasons on the early Twins powerhouse teams.

FIRST BASE
Justin Morneau -AL MVP, enough said.

SECOND BASE
Rod Carew -Great hitter, it broke my heart when he went to the Angels.

SHORTSTOP
Zoilo Zersalles -I'm not sure if he had the greatest career of all the Twins SS's but he's the only one with an MVP award.

THIRD BASE
Harmon Killebrew -Hall of Famer, enough said.

CATCHER
Joe Mauer -Perhaps the best hitting catcher ever, Gold Glove winner to boot.

STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana -Multiple Cy Young Award winner
Frank Viola -Dominant lefty. 
Bert Blyleven -Should be in the HOF. 
Jack Morris -Only one season as a Twin but that World Series performance one of the best pitching performances ever.
Jim Kaat -Long career, very consistent.


BULLPEN
Rick Aguilera -Closer on WS winning team.
Joe Nathan -Dominant in the closer role.
Jeff Reardon -Had some great seasons.
Eddie Guardado -"Every day" Eddie could do it all.

Rebecca Romijn in 'Femme Fatale'

Another guilty pleasure movie, 'Femme Fetale', check it out.

Potpourri

• Every guy should be required to play the Urinal Game.
• Jessica Biel is looking good, JT is a lucky guy. 
• Here's a very insightful article from Politico "Why Obama loses by winning".
• Twins top pick Alex Wimmers named College Pitcher of the Year.
• Much needed financial reform finally passes. 
• UFO's in China? 
• I agree with WWTDD, Marissa Miller makes baseball way better. 
• America's best cities for singles?  Where's Scottsdale?  
• The GOP prefers tax cuts for the rich over benefits to the unemployed.  Really.
• Louis Oosthuizen wins British Open. 
 

Brooke Burke

Back to the TPSG Babe Hall of Fame (well, if there was one), check out Brooke Burke.  I saw her in person once in San Diego and believe it or not she looked even better in person. 

Favorite Sports Teams

I was born in Minnesota and grew up in the Twin Cities area, some of my fondest childhood memories are of visiting old Metropolitan Stadium and believe it or not the Metrodome to watch the Twins (MLB).  I'm also a huge Vikings (NFL) fan, I can still remember the feared purple people eaters.  I've following the Timberwolves (NBA) since their inception.  I've followed the Uninversity of Minnesota (NCAA) for as long as I can remember.  I used to be a North Stars fan (NHL), I was long gone when the Wild joined the NHL but I do still pull for them, just not with the same fervor as the Twins, Vikings, Twolves and Gophers.  Now with all that being said, I now live in Phoenix, AZ where I have been for the past 20 years and I have also developed a fondness for the Arizona teams (the Cardinals, Suns, Diamondbacks, Coyotes & Sun Devils).  So I root for all of them, just more so the Minnesota team.  It's all good, I love sports, always have, always will.

Velvet Revolver

Count me as a Velvet Revolver fan.

Best Multi-Sport Athlete Ever?

I was just reading this story on Bo Jackson and started wondering who was the best multi-sport athlete ever?  Here's my list of the top 10:

1. Bo Jackson - Heisman Trophy winner, MLB All Star
2. Deion Sanders - Pro Bowl football player, 9 years in MLB
3. Jim Thorpe - 2 time Olympic Gold medalist, NFL Hall of Famer, MLB player
4. Jim Brown - NFL Hall of Famer, Collegiate All American in Lacrosse
5. Brian Jordan - 14 years in MLB, 3 years in NFL
6. Dave Winfield - MLB Hall of Famer, Drafted in 3 sports
7. Willie Gault -11 years in NFL, Olympic Bobsledder, Olympic sprinter
8. Charlie Ward - Heisman Trophy winning QB, 11 years in the NBA
9. Jackie Robinson - MLB Hall of Famer, lettered in 4 sports at UCLA
10. Joe Mauer - MLB MVP, USA Today High School Baseball & Football player of the year. 

Potpourri

• BP plugs the oil leak, finally.  
• Carl's Jr is testing a Foot Long Burger. Yikes!
• More from the deranged Mel Gibson. Here's some more.
• Al Jefferson shipped to the Jazz. 
• PolitiFact is an excellent site to wade through all the BS.  
• Royce White lands at Iowa St.
• I really enjoy the Jed Report. 
• Irina Sheik is hot!!
• This just in, the chicken came before the egg. 
• Thierry Henry makes the move to the MLS. 

Miranda Kerr

Miranda Kerr could probably sell ice to an eskimo.

Dbacks Midseason Report Card

OVERALL
Horrendous first half for the Dbacks, at this point they are 34-55 and in last place in the NL West, they have already fired their Manager and General Manager, their bullpen has been atrocious and they are striking out way too much.  This is a poorly put together team with very little help waiting in the wings in the minors.  I do have some hope for Kirk Gibson as Manager though, I think that eventually his approach to the game and intensity will rub off on the team if he's given a legitimate chance. 

More Ms TPSG

Marisa Miller looking oh so good once again.

Twins Midseason Report Card

OVERALL
In one word, disappointing.  They started off great in their new stadium and were in first place for the first 2 months of the season, then the wheels started falling off.  They were 16-10 in April, 14-12 in May, 12-15 in June and are currently 3-7 in July.  Notice a pattern?  So where did things go wrong?  It seemed to start with injuries to J.J. Hardy then to Orlando Hudson, both got off to great starts but when they got injured all momentum seemed to stop.  Add in shakier and shakier starting pitching and the results were just plain mediocre.  See the next page for more details. 

George Steinbrenner Dies

RIP George Steinbrenner.   I wasn't your biggest fan, I actually thought you helped to ruin the game I loved so much, but I will give it to you, you loved the Yankee's and would do anything possible to put a winning team on the field, I'm guessing if I was a Yankee's fan I would have loved having you as owner. 

Potpourri

• Here's an excellent take on John McCain's transformation. 
• Count me as a fan of Candice Swanepoel.  
• Why isn't the right wing blogosphere reporting this climate update? 
• So long PT Cruiser.  
• I admire the Free Muslims Coalition, Muslims really need to take back their religion.
• New 'Beavis and Butt-head' in the works?   
• Give me the Coffee Party over the Tea Party anyday. 
• Mel Gibson is really a mess.
• Why hasn't the Dream Act been passed yet? 
• Good news in the fight against HIV.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - FreeBird

How about a little southern fried rock?

Suns obtain Turkoglu & Childress

The Phoenix Suns have obtained Hedu Turkoglu from the Raptors and Josh Childress from the Hawks.  I have mixed thoughts on these deals, on one side they have improved since before the trades, on the other side I really don't see them as a better team than they were last season (when they had Amare Stoudemire).  I really wish they had a General Manager in place to be making these decisions, I do not trust Robert Sarver at all to be making basketball decisions.  Turkoglu, while a good player, will be miscast as a PF in the Suns lineup, he may be 6'10" but he is more of a wing player, good passer, good outside shot, but most definitely not a power player, not a rebounder, not a low post scorer.  Childress, at 6'8" seems to fit in best at SF, he's a good player too, yet the Suns already have Grant Hill and Jared Dudley at the SF position so this move is a little questionable to me.  Hopefully, he can play some OG.  The point that I'm getting at is that you can't just throw a collection of good players together and not think about how they will mesh together.  Where do they think they will be getting rebounds from?  Or low post scoring?  Who's going to defend athletic power forwards?   I hope it works but I'm doubtful.  They really need to get a GM in place soon. 

TPSG Mid Season Baseball Awards

Since baseball has hit it's All-Star break I think it's an appropriate time for me to hand out my mid season baseball awards.  Congratulations to all the winners.

MVP
AL - this comes down to 2 players IMO, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and I'm going to give it to Cabrera, he leads the AL in average, slugging percentage, RBI & OPS, he's second in HR's and OBP.  He's just flat out having a fantastic season.

NL - this is a much tougher call, do you go with a pitcher or a position player.  Normally, I would argue that you need to go with an everyday player as MVP over an once every five day pitcher but in this year of the pitcher you can make a strong case for either Josh Johnson of the Marlins or Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies.  Of the non pitchers I think it comes down to Joey Votto of the Reds & Albert Pujols of the Cardinals.  I'm going to stick with my philosophy of giving this award to everyday players and give this award to Joey Votto, he leads the NL in OPS, slugging percentage, OBP & HR's and is in the top 6 in batting average & RBI.

CY YOUNG
AL - lots of good choices to pick from here, David Price of the Rays has been very good, Cliff Lee pitched well for a bad team (although he has just been traded to the first place Rangers) & Andy Pettitte has pitched very well for the Yankee's.  I'm going to go with David Price as he leads the AL in wins & ERA. 

NL - I mentioned Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jimenez in the MVP section, either of those are the obvious choice here.  Others deserve some mention too though, Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals has been very good, Roy Halladay is having another stellar season as is Tim Hudson of the Braves and Mat Latos of the Padres is an under the radar guy to keep an eye on.  The choice really does come down to Johnson and Jimenez though and despite Josh Johnson leading the NL in ERA & WHIP it's really hard to overlook the 15-1 start by Jimenez so he's my pick.

Spain wins World Cup

Congrats to Spain on winning the 2010 World Cup.  It wasn't a pretty game but at least it didn't go to a shoot out.  I have really enjoyed watching soccer at it's highest level over the past 30 days, not that I didn't have a few qualms (the vuvuzela's, the poor officiating, the whining of the players and all of the flopping were a bit of a turnoff) but overall I'd call this World Cup a success.  Hopefully, the USA can make a deeper run in 2014.

Potpourri

• Emmy Award nominations announced.  
• More karma for Jay Leno.  
• How does the Catholic Church still exist?   
• Cristiano Ronaldo is a lucky man to be tapping this, here's some more.
• RIP Mel Turpin.
• Twolves take a flyer on Michael Beasley.
• I think the Cavs owner is a little pissed at LeBron.
• Is Miami big enough for LeBron and Seantrel?
• It's about time Glenn Beck get some GOP backlash.
• Cliff Lee traded to the.......Rangers. 
  

Paul the Octopus

Paul the Octopus picks Spain to defeat the Netherlands in tomorrow's World Cup final.  He's 7-0 so far this World Cup so I'm putting my money on Spain.  Team BJ does make a strong case for the Netherlands though.

Best Comedies of the 2000's

I'm a big fan of movie comedies, here's my top 10 from the 2000's.

1. The Hangover - 2009 - Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper
   
2. The 40 Year Old Virgin - 2005 - Steve Carell
3. Super Bad - 2007 - Michael Cera, Jonah Hill
4. I Love You, Man - 2009 - Paul Rudd, Jason Segal
5. Old School - 2003 - Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn
6. Anchorman:  The Legend of Ron Burgundy - 2004 - Will Ferrell 
7. Knocked Up - 2007 - Seth Rogen
8. Borat - 2006 - Sacha Baron Cohen
9. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - 2008 - Jason Segal, Mila Kunis
10. Meet the Parents - 2000 - Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro

Jaime Pressly in Poison Ivy 3

Guilty pleasure, if you haven't seen it check out Poison Ivy 3, you won't regret it.

LeBron....Going to Miami.

LeBron Jame is...........Going to Miami to play for the Heat where he will team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh to form what may be the best young threesome that the NBA has ever seen.   I'm not shocked by the news, I had the feeling that LeBron was ready to get out of Ohio and what better place to be young, good looking, rich and famous than South Beach?   Now the question is can a 3 man team win a championship?  The team that they are surrounded by is likely to be very scarce on NBA experience and God forbid any of the 3 get's injured.   This is devastating news for Cleveland, their team just went from NBA title contenders to lottery contenders, I feel for their fans.  It's not particularly good news for the Bulls, Knicks or Nets either as all 3 cleared lots of cap space to make a run at LeBron and now have few options left to fill that cap space.  It'll be an interesting 2010-2011 NBA season that's for sure.   

Potpourri

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Discrimination Against Single People?

I have a co-worker who has had 2 children over the last 3 years, with each child she got 6 weeks of maternity leave.  That's 12 weeks total for her over the course of 3 years.  While she was away from work who do you suppose did her work?   Who do you suppose also had their own work to complete?  Who do you suppose got no additional compensation for doing the work of 2 people?  When one of her kids get's the sniffles and she needs to stay home with her sick child who do you think has to pick up the slack and complete her work as well as their own (at the same level of compensation mind you)?  When it comes to scheduling who get's the shifts of their choice first because of their childcare issues?   Does it make me an ass to think this is not right?  Just because I'm single with no kids it doesn't mean I don't want to have a life.

Why do single people pay more in taxes?  If I, as a single person, and a married couple filing jointly, report the exact same taxable income, my income tax will always be more than that of the married couple. The married couple pays less even if only one person in the couple is employed.  How is this fair?

More Ms TPSG

Does it get any better?

Metallica

One of my favorites, Enter Sandman by Metallica.

Potpourri

• Is anybody still doubting that Michael Steele was hired because of his race?
• RIP Bob Probert.
• FHM must have notice that Marisa Miller had been crowned Ms TPSG.
  
• MLB All-Star game rosters set, where is Joey Votto? 
• LiLo headed to the slammer!  About time, bitch needs a reality check. 
• Looking for the best pool party in Vegas?  Check here. 
• Congrats to Joey Chestnut once again.
• Pee Wee and Apatow teaming up, I can't wait.  
• Justice Department sues the state of Arizona. 
• Hate to say it but Holly Madison looks smoking in a bikini. 
  

Summer Television Season

The summer television season used to be the season of reruns, barely worth watching.  No more, there are actually quite a few very entertaining shows on TV this summer.  I've really enjoyed all of the following:  "Persons Unknown", "Last Comic Standing", "The Hard Times of RJ Berger", "America's Got Talent", "Wipeout", "Friday Night Lights",  "The Real World" and I didn't even include guilty pleasure "Big Brother" which hasn't even started yet.  MTV is also coming out with a new season of "Jersey Shore" soon.   Well done television networks. 

Amare signs with Knicks

Amare Stoudemire signs with the Knicks.  5 years for $99.7 million.  My thoughts?  First, the Knicks overpaid, Amare is good but in all honesty he's not a max player, good for him though, I will never begrudge a player for getting a great payday.  Second, is Amare really that much better than David Lee (David Lee averaged a double double last year, Amare did not)?  Third, the Suns can kiss the playoffs goodbye (they signed Hakim Warrick to replace him, LOL Hakim freaking Warrick).  Fourth, the Suns fans who wanted to see Amare gone, and there are lots of them for some reason, will grow to regret it.  Lastly, be prepared for the pressure cooker that is NY Amare, they will not be easy on you if you are loafing like you did much of your time in Phoenix. 

Carmella DeCesare

Carmella DeCesare certainly belongs in the TPSG Babe Hall of Fame.

Happy 4th of July!

Potpourri

• The World Cup is down to their final 4. 
• Brock Lesner is back, in a big way. 
• I think it's time for filibuster reform in the senate.  
• Fergie knows how to wear a bikini. 
• RIP Don Coryell.  
• Modern day femme fatale. 
• Twolves resign Darko. Get your playoff tickets now. 
• The largest oil skimmer should be put to good use in the gulf.
• Suns re-up Channing Frye, not that it will matter much if they lose Amare.
• ACLU issues Arizona travel warning.

Lesnar vs Carwin

Instant MMA classic.

Yet another baseball meltdown

Wingnut of the Year

Good stuff.  I'm not sure how Rush didn't make the top 5 though and Glenn Beck should have been higher.

Dbacks fire Byrnes & Hinch

Josh Byrnes and A.J. Hinch fired by the Diamondbacks!  It's about time as far as I'm concerned, especially regarding Byrnes, the so-called baseball wunderkind hasn't impressed me at all.  The team is 31-48 and in last place at the time of the firings, they've got no bullpen, their young talent hasn't panned out, offensively they strike out way too much, top talent in the minors is nowhere to be seen, what has Byrnes been doing in his 4.5 years at the helm?  A.J. Hinch had no business being a major league manager, he may be a good baseball guy but he had never managed anywhere in his life, he finished his Dbacks career with a 89-123 record.  Good riddance to both of them.  For the record, I really like the hiring of Kirk Gibson as interim manager, I'm hoping he is given a legitimate chance at the full time job.

Pearl Jam

Best band ever.

Potpourri

• Top 25 NBA free agents?  According to nba.com, here they are.   
• Bob Cesca makes some excellent points about GOP sabotage. 
• Porn stars against condoms?  Are they nuts?
• Tiger Woods need to find himself a better lawyer.  
• Best movie strip club scenes?
• 3 triples in one game for Denard Span ties modern day baseball record.  
• Are we back in the cold war?  Russian spy ring busted.
• davidcorn.com is an excellent political blog.
• 20 Hottest Summer Beach bodies.
• Twins prospect to keep an eye on?  Ben Revere.