Sports! Sports! Sports!

I love myself a good sports rivalry, (obviously the Celtics-Lakers rivalry is my favorite) and I especially enjoy seeing celebrities get worked up. Why? Well, celebrities are like me, but prettier and have more money and can probably go to games whenever they want and can make fun videos just for the hell of it like this one:

GO RED SOX!

Celtics-Sponsored Dunkin Donuts Cups

My friend Ryan McGee emailed me a picture of a Celtics-branded Dunkin Donuts coffee cup. Which is awesome:

I want.

But also it's kind of like the biggest "fuck you" to Celtics fans in Los Angeles. Why is that? Once again, THERE ARE NO DUNKIN DONUTS IN LA.

Boston Snowfall, Measured in Shaq

Shaq-o-meter: Does season's snowfall measure up to Shaq?

Just brilliant. 

The Truth Reaches 20K

The other night Paul Pierce made a basket. This basket was unique because it marked 20,000 points he's scored during his career in the NBA. The best part is that all of them have been while he's been a Celtic.

THE TRUTH!

Bullet Points

Despite what you may have heard, I have not been in hiding since the disappointing Celtics loss in the NBA finals last Thursday. The days just seem to get away from me so here are a few bullet points as to what's going on...

+Yep, I lost that Celtics-Lakers bet, which means I need Twitter followers to start responding to me or Marisa with what show they think I must suffer through. And we're getting a lunch date on the books so I can endure the pain that will be donning Laker gear for a picture.

+KCRW's recurring series World Music Night at The Hollywood Bowl kicked off this past Sunday, and I was one of the lucky attendees. I went mostly for Brooklyn band Yeasayer, but I'm a huge fan of Tinariwen and Baba Maal as well - yes, folks, I love World Music, and if you've been following this blog you know this is nothing new.

+Yesterday I opened my mailbox to find a letter I had written to myself in April 2001. It was pretty crazy reading something from 9 years ago - and I had to laugh at my sweet worldly intentions - see I wrote it during the second day of a three day solo during a semester I spent in high school living on a farm in Maine (seriously). So it was hardly surprising that one of the items of advice I gave myself was "listen to birdsongs. You know them." Seriously. Truth is - I actually did know them; I spent that semester taking ornithology classes!

+Two weeks ago I went to the book party for the new Bret Easton Ellis novel, Imperial Bedrooms, the much-anticipated sequel to his well-known classic Less Than Zero. The party was exactly what you might expect - at a lovely suite in LA's famed hotel The Chateau Marmont, and I swear to God the DJ just took the soundtrack from American Psycho and pressed play. Celebrity spottings included Rose McGowan and Shannyn Sossamon, and then there was the general crowd of attractive-people-who-look-familiar so maybe there were more.

+I took a pause on writing up recaps of The Hills for The Huffington Post because that show is just so bad. I briefly considered writing them for The Bachelorette, but that show is way too long for me to be interested in recapping. I mean I'm all for making fun of crappy TV, but those 22 minutes on MTV are a lot easier to handle than two hours of awkward dates.

+I've been watching more TV pilots - including the much-buzzed about Lone Star, airing on FOX this fall - definitely a show to check out. The lead actor, James Wolk, is a sort of cross between George Clooney and Kyle Chandler.

+Two bands I've gotten into recently are Grum and Four Tet - check them out.

Happy Summer, by the way! Hopefully regular blogging will resume now that I've emerged from whatever fog my head's been in.

"There is no relationship that isn't a Celtics-Lakers relationship."

Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs has an entire essay devoted to a literary and pop culture exploration of the NBA and the peak of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry in the 1980s. When I first read the book about five years ago I remember reading that chapter and just thinking, wow - this? This is genius. Not only did I connect with the book, and this chapter in particular, but I think Klosterman's writing style has had a large impact on my own writing - both in style and subject matter.

In honor of tonight's Game 7, the final match-up between the Celtics and the Lakers for the 2010 series, I'm including below some of my favorite quotes/segments from that very essay, titled "8 33 0:97" (or, check out almost the entire chapter here).

To say the 1980s rivalry between the Celtics and the Lakers represents America’s racial anguish is actually a short-sighted understatement. As I have grown older, it’s become clear that the Lakers-Celtics rivalry represents absolutely everything: race, religion, politics, mathematics, the reason I’m still not married, the Challenger explosion, Man vs. Beast, and everything else. There is no relationship that isn’t a Celtics-Lakers relationship. It emerges from nothingness to design nature, just as Gerald Henderson emerged from nothingness to steal James Worthy’s errant inbound pass in game two of the 1983 finals. Do you realize that the distance between Henderson and Worthy at the start of that play – and the distance between them at the point of interception – works out to a ratio of 1.618, the same digits of Leonardo da Vinci’s so called “golden ratio” that inexplicably explains the mathematical construction of the universe? Do not act surprised. It would be more surprising if the ratio did not.

This is what sets the NBA apart from every other team sport in North America: Everyone who loves pro basketball assumes it's a little fixed. We all think the annual draft lottery is probably rigged, we all accept that the league aggressively wants big market teams to advance deep into the playoffs, and we all concede that certain marquee players are going to get preferential treatment for no valid reason. The outcomes of games aren't predetermined or scripted, but there are definitely dark forces who play with our reality. There are faceless puppet masters who pull strings and manipulate the purity of justice. It's not necessarily a full-on conspiracy, but it's certainly not fair. And that's why the NBA remains the only game that matters: Pro basketball is exactly like life.

"We had to get over the psychological element of the Celtic mystique," Lakers coach Pat Riley insisted. "After we choked in '84, I had to teach my guys exactly who the Celtics were in a historical sense. I mean, the Celts were a cult who did sinister things in secret places. That's where I took it. I had to teach them who their opponent was originally, because that's exactly who they were playing in 1987. I don't know if the Celtic players knew about Celt history, but that's how those guys played."

This is probably true, although a bit comical (I like to imagine Riley handing out scouting reports that included such insights as, "Dennis Johnson: no range beyond twenty-one feet, initiates contact on drives to the hole, may have aspirations to sack Iberia"). But it proves that Riley understood that sport (or at least transcendent moments of sport) has almost nothing to do with the concept of a game. Scrabble is a game. Popomatic Trouble is a game. Major League Baseball is a game. But any situation where Bird is boxing out Magic for a rebound that matters is not. That is a conflict that dwarfs Dante. That is the crouching tiger and and the hidden dragon.

On the NBA today:

Guys like Allen Iverson and Vince Carter are mechanically awesome, but they don't represent anything beyond themselves. They're nothing more than good basketball players, and that's depressing. Watching modern pro basketball reminds me of watching my roommate play Nintendo in college. In order to remedy this aesthetic decline, the league decided to let teams play zone defense, which has got to be the least logical step ever taken to increase excitement. This is like trying to combat teen pregnancy by lowering the drinking age.

And finally:

I am a Celtic Person. That’s my identity, and I’m never going to try to pretend I’m some sort of eclectic iconoclast. This does not mean I’m always right and you’re always wrong, nor does it mean I subconsciously need other people to feel the same way I do about anything. You need to side with the Boston Celtics to be a good person. But you should definitely side with somebody. Either you’re with us or you’re against us, and both of those options is better than living without a soul.

Klosterman provided a funny update in 2008; read that here.
Quotes pulled from here and here.
Buy the book here.

"Why are you a Celtics fan?" "Well, I'm from Maine..."

OMG NO WAY! Another post about the Celtics! Look, it's like election day, when all I can think about is my team (at least I am not live-blogging my every thought and whim, right?) so indulge me for a moment, as I am going to explain my love for the Celtics...

My dad loved basketball. When he was a kid growing up in Michigan, that was the sport he loved to watch, play, whatever. So, only natural that when my brother and I were kids my dad wanted us to find the same enjoyment and fun out of watching basketball as he did. Thing is, we grew up in Maine. There are no professional basketball teams in Maine (well until about a year ago when the Red Claws, the Celtics' development team, came to Portland), for that matter, there aren't any major league professional sports teams in Maine - so my dad had no choice but to take us to see games in the nearest city with some high-caliber sports events - thus, hello Boston, hello Celtics. My father was, and still is, a diehard Pistons fan, and besides that, he likes to be contrary just to be contrary, so he holds strong to hating the Celtics.

How ironic that in the process of getting his two young kids to fall in love with basketball, we both fell in love with the Celtics in the process?



This picture makes me laugh because I am SUCH a little sister...

A Celtics Fan in Laker Country

It's pretty fun to be a serious Celtics fan in LA. Granted, I'm not walking around in any really rough neighborhoods but for inciting the occasional trash talking session, it's a good time. I've been wearing my various Celtics gear out and about - and today I've busted out my Paul Pierce t-shirt, adding a blazer to attempt to make the look "work appropriate." I've been getting all sorts of dirty looks from co-workers, but in my opinion, there's nothing quite like some good sports rivalries to get everyone psyched up!

GO CELTICS!

The Greatest Rivalry in Sports History? Duh, Annie vs. Marisa

I’d like introduce a friend of mine, Marisa Roffman, a savvy and wonderful TV Blogger for Zap2It.com’s KorbiTV. Marisa and I share a lot of similar interests. We both love Twitter, TV, and talking about Twitter and TV, sometimes over lunch, but because we live on opposites ends of the city, usually on Twitter or email. However, there is one big difference between the two of us – our team loyalities.

Marisa loves the Lakers. Diehard fan.
I love the Celtics. Diehard fan.

In fact, we may be as passionate about our cities’ respective sports teams as we are about our TV shows. And you should see the length of emails back and forth over The X-Files, Lost, Bones, etc. We’d sort of made an agreement that we wouldn’t talk about the finals with each other, but thanks to Twitter, and the fact that we seem to overlap in followers, we’re doing a sort of Twitter/NBA Finals/TV bet.

Here are details:
If the Lakers win then I have to watch a full episode of any TV show of Marisa’s choosing, and if the Celtics win then she has to watch an episode of a TV show of my choosing. Furthermore - the next time Marisa and I have lunch, the loser will have to take a picture in the winning team's gear, which the winner will share on Twitter for everyone to laugh at.

While we might seem like people who enjoy all TV shows – I can promise there are more than enough crappy programs out there we’d rather not suffer through. Even better – we’re such social media/crowdsourcing lovers that we’re going to let our Twitter followers help the winner pick the crappy TV show the other must watch – and to prove she’s watching, the loser must live-tweet the entire episode as well as change their Twitter avatar to the winning team's logo while they watch.

This might be the nerdiest bet in the history of bets but we don’t really care – we’re all about the fun. Feel free to leave suggestions for the TV show the loser has to watch in the comments below - and of course any stipulations to add to the bet are always welcome!

So Marisa, Lakers – bring it on.

Go Celtics!

Why the Lack of Sports Stores at LA Malls Proves That Angelenos are Fair-weather Fans; Or, An Open Letter to the City of Los Angeles

Dear LA,

You have so many malls. You really do. Sometimes I wonder if this is what New Jersey is like, except the malls here are filled with pretty people and nice stores and people with real tans.

I have, however, noticed an alarming trend when it comes to the malls of Los Angeles. Unlike many of the malls I know and love, your malls are often lacking a quality sporting goods store. Now I get that the Westfield malls like to be fancier and what not, but let's check out the Westside Pavillion - a pretty standard mall... I don't see any sports stores listed, do you?

See back on the East Coast you can almost always find at least a Foot Locker, Olympia or Sports Authority at any mall, if not all three.

Now besides the fact that I find this to be a general inconvenience, this also connects to a larger issue. Something that really grinds my gears when it comes to LA sports fans: LA sports fans are fair-weather fans and if they weren't, then all the malls would be overflowing with sporting goods stores so they could purchase team gear year round (and the UCLA/USC Pink line at Victoria's Secret definitely does not count - unless it counts toward embarrassment in which case LA, you should be embarrassed). Because let me tell you, as a longtime Boston sports fan I know a whole lotta places where I can get all the Red Sox and Celtics gear my committed heart desires.

The upside to all this is that I imagine there would be a lot more people cruising around the city with those damn flags connected to their cars if they were more easily accessible. And I really can't stand those stupid flags.

I've sort of lost my train of thought here so I am going to end with what I think should be the valuable takeaway from this oh-so well-crafted letter: GO CELTICS!

Love,
Stamos

KG explains Lost to Big Baby Davis

I love the Celtics.

I love Lost.

I love this:

'Lost' audio: Garnett explains the island to 'Big Baby' from The Basketball Jones on Vimeo.

Happy St. Patty's!

Happy St. Patrick's day everyone! (A perfect excuse to slap a big Celtics logo on here).



Or, as I like to think of it, today is that day we all would be having a lot more fun if we lived in Boston. I'm pretty sure LA doesn't care a whole lot about this holiday. Don't worry I am wearing a BRIGHT green dress today in my support of holiday pride.

In other news, I watched the fantastic and much-anticipated 100th episode of Bones earlier this week, and after noticing lots of spoilers and speculation hit the web I was prompted to write a new anti-spoiler piece on The Huffington Post. It sort of makes me laugh because I have gone through moments of SUPREME spoiler hunting myself, and here I am preaching a whole new sermon. I mean, I'm the girl that snooped for my Christmas presents each year! But I don't know, I'm starting to reach a state of zen when it comes to knowing what may or may not happen. It's exhausting reading a spoiler and worrying about something you can't control or don't even see in context. But it's also weirdly addictive. I remember back when I was obsessed with Grey's Anatomy I would obsessively look for spoilers online. In fact, I'd almost equate spoilers with drugs or something - you know they are bad for you but you can't help it. WELL STOP. HELP YOURSELF. Read a book instead.

Okay, now go drink some green beer or something. I've got a stimulating afternoon ahead of me - writing, reading, watching dailies, cleaning my bosses office (ah, yes, the joys of being a TV assistant) to be followed by an even more stimulating evening of laundry and reading. Yep, that's how I am celebrating St. Patty's this year. Actually, go ahead and drink a green beer for me!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Well, just trains actually)

This very moment I am blogging LIVE from the Downeastern Rail. Yes folks, I am on the train to Boston. FROM PORTLAND!

Now for all you non-Mainers reading, this might not sound like anything of interest, but for those of us locals, we know that not only is the train to Boston a recent amenity, but a less frequently used one. So why my sudden change from the beloved bus to the train?

Snow.

Yes, friends, as I had hoped for, it's snowing (of course the weather gods finally listen to me the day I leave. THANKS A LOT). Snow means delays in bus times and significant increases in traffic. And I've got some SERIOUS NEW YEARS EVE PLANS to get to in the great city, resident home of my beloved Celtics, Red Sox, and just about all my closest friends from growing up in Maine. The Bean.

I wish I could take credit for this clever, weather-dodging idea, but alas, it was while I was standing in line for a bus ticket that some chill dude chatted up my brother and recommend I hop on the train--for just $3 more I could be in Boston with no weather delays--best part (for me), WIFI! Hook, line, and sinker.

I absolutely love travelling by train. It's one of the number one things I miss about Europe. When I lived in Switzerland it was how I traveled to and from school everyday, taking a 13 minute train from Nyon into Geneva and back. An entertaining moment would be regular announcements for the various stops, all of which were in three languages (because those Swiss are pretty much 900x smarter than everyone else) and every day upon approaching the city I would hear,

"Prochain arrêt, Genève
Nächster Halt, Genf.
Next stop, Geneva."

I wish I could do all the accents for each language announcement--the German one is hilarious because of how Genf was said, and the English was spoken with a flighty British accent.

When I was living in Paris, I stayed a month after I was done with school and traveled around with a Eurail pass for 5 weeks, mostly by myself, backpacking in France, Switzerland, and Italy. Man I would kill to go back to those easy days again. Traveling solo is the most liberating experience--especially when you have no rigid agenda, and only an interest to see the world. I used to spend hours on train rides writing--it's truly the most productive passive travel, I think, and a great way to see a beautiful landscape.

Speaking of seeing, it looks beautiful outside with this snow. Maybe I'll get lost in a daydream and stare at the window for a while.

Happy New Year!

Stamos vs. Stamos

OMG YOU GUYS.

We have a tight competition for Stamos & Stamos today. And it all has to do with the following word. A word that makes me think of JESUS, THE CELTICS, and BRITISH MONARCHIES.

LEGACY.

Yes, today we're going to see how the two Stamos' face off in a race that is all about legacy.

First up, John Stamos (the dude):
'Full House' Remake? You got it dude.



Okay. I know what you are thinking. You are thinking how can Stamos (the chick... me) top that! I can't even get a mere 100 people to read my blog on a daily basis so how could my legacy even compete with his?

Let me just go right ahead and announce,

I win.

Yep. I do. Why? Well at this point it really boils down to the age thing. Sure I am turning 25 in less than a month, but that is 20 years younger than John Stamos, and I think it's safe to say we know what his legacy is: sick 80s hair, melodrama, and leather jackets (and a critically acclaimed stint in Cabaret on Broadway... I guess?). As for me? Well, that's where I win; we have NO IDEA where my future is going to take me but I have a feeling (or so this handwriting analysis lady once told me) that one of these days shit's gonna get real. I am about to blow this world wide open--my legacy is just going to dwarf that of John Stamos, bless him.

Editor's Note, Stamos vs. Stamos posts are in no way biased, despite Stamos (the chick) winning all previous entries. Nope, no predetermined wins here... none at all... it's all very objective... especially here... and here... and here...

Fantasy Football

For the first time ever I have joined a Fantasy Football league. This is both exciting and intimidating because I think I have a very weak grasp on playing fantasy football.

When it comes to sports, for a girl, I would say I am above average with interest/fandom. I've always been one for school spirit and in fact, that was a high ranking criteria when I was doing the dreaded college search my junior and senior years of high school. I played a sport every season, grew up skiing and figure skating, and thanks to my Dad, was raised a rabid Michigan sports fan. Thanks to my geographic location I grew up a massive Boston sports teams fan as well. Today I still hold true to my first loves the Red Sox, the Celtics, the Patriots and the Michigan Wolverines, with a few other teams interspersed.

Now, I think that my sports devotion is going to be not only tested but deepened as I battle the virtual playing field (wow that sounded lame). I guess what I am trying to say, is that beyond the QB and maybe a line backer here and there, I don't have extensive knowledge of many teams or of individual players. So, this should be interesting.

Another thing I am looking forward to about Fantasy Football? Yet one more procrastination tool. All right!

Oh and I am going to my first professional US Soccer game tonight, to see the LA Galaxy duke it out against arch rival Chivas USA (or so the press release says). I wish I were in Europe watching this game, which would probably be a lot more interesting and have a lot more fans. Whatever, it's a sports event and it will be fun! Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooo TEAM!

Goals

This isn't an update on previous goals of getting some face time with John Stamos or going to The X-Files premiere (no progress made on either front), but in fact to announce a new goal.

I hate the Lakers. I love the Celtics. I want to go to the playoffs, or at least one of the early games here in Los Angeles. I am fully prepared to be one of a few Celtics fans, among the mass of purple and gold. I will wear my green shirts proudly and trash talk as much as possible without getting myself thrown out. So, who do I have to sleep with to get tickets? No seriously, does anyone have a hook up? Or work for a company where they get lots of tickets to give away? Anyone? Anyone? Who wants to help my dreams come true?