Archive for October, 2009
31
Oct
Posted by John S in "We Take, Among Other Things, Umbrage", Language. Tagged: 1986 Boston Celtics, 2009 ALCS, cliff lee, forgettable NBA Championships, Language, linguistic abuses, Los Angeles Angels, must-win, nba finals, probability differences, world series, Yankees. Leave a Comment
Tim and I have each spent time challenging the uses and abuses of the English language. Josh, for his part, has highlighted words the make him cringe. It’s not unfair to say that we are sticklers for linguistic precision here at NPI. So it is with this in mind that I take umbrage with the [...]
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31
Oct
Posted by NPI in Comedy. Tagged: Candy, Comedy, Costumes, fond childhood memories, halloween, jerry seinfeld, stand-up comedy. Leave a Comment
In honor of today’s festivities, here is Jerry Seinfeld with some thoughts on Halloween:
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30
Oct
Posted by Tim in Vignettes. Tagged: black & decker, college life, metaphors, negligent residence assistants, overbearing college policy, toaster ovens, unnamed roommates. 9 Comments
Back when I was an impressionable college freshman, the faculty-in-residence who lived three doors down from my suite left a toaster oven outside her door. Now, at the time, I was a simple-minded and perhaps naïve 18-year-old suburbanite who had been raised on a toaster and with the idea that a toaster oven was needlessly [...]
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30
Oct
Posted by John S in Culture, Sports. Tagged: 1996 new york yankees, 1996 World Series, 1999 nlcs, 2009 ALCS, Celtics-Lakers rivalry, Chuck Klosterman, classic playoff moments, dramatic arc, great series, Howie Kendrick, inexplicable errors, Jeffrey Maier, Jim Leyritz, literary analogies, Scott Kazmir, the 1996 atlanta braves, Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. 4 Comments
This is a question that has been on my mind since Tim undertook his massive investigation of the 1999 NLCS last week. The seven-game playoff series (we’re not even going to talk about the atrocious five-game divisional format) is really one of the best things about sports when it unfolds right. It takes the highs [...]
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29
Oct
Posted by John S in Real World/Road Rules Challenge, Sports, TV. Tagged: cliff lee, Cohutta, degrassi, drunk Machiavelli, how is this happening, huge upsets, Ibis gets screwed, Johanna-Ibis-Susie alliance, Johnny screws up, MTV, Power Rankings, terrible impromptu solutions, The Ruins, TJ Lavin, Veronica lucks out, Wes Bergmann, Wes finally loses an elimination. 2 Comments
“How is this happening?”—Wes This question—in addition to going through my mind as I watched Cliff Lee completely smother the Yankees lineup and, even more surprisingly, CC Sabathia struggle slightly against the Phillies last night—was plaguing Wes as he struggled in the elimination against Cohutta. Eventually, despite all of Wes’ macho talk about sending his [...]
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28
Oct
Posted by NPI in Sports. Tagged: 2009 mlb postseason, 2009 mlb postseason preview, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, brad lidge, CC Sabathia, chad gaudin, cliff lee, cole hamels, Cy Young Award, detailed predictions for the world series, Joba Chamberlain, joe blanton, mariano rivera, pedro martinez, phil hughes, the trials of Indians fans. 2 Comments
In Part I, John S and Tim exhaustively and inconclusively dissected the Yankees and Phillies’ respective lineups. In the much-anticipated (and admittedly more concise) Part II, it’s time for the pitching staff and predictions–detailed predictions. THE ROTATIONS LEE V. SABATHIA TIM: Everyone knows Mets fans are devastated about this series. But what about Indians fans [...]
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28
Oct
Posted by NPI in Sports. Tagged: 2009 mlb postseason, 2009 mlb postseason preview, Alex Rodriguez, ben francisco, carlos ruiz, chase utley, Derek Jeter, gregg dobbs, Hideki Matsui, jayson werth, jimmy rollins, johnny damon, jorge posada, Mark Teixeira, melky cabrera, new york yankees, Nick Swisher, pedro feliz, philadelphia phillies, raul ibanez, robinson cano, ryan howard, shane victorino, what's a met fan to do?, world series, yankees-phillies. 1 Comment
After about as many off-days as game days, we’re finally down to two teams in Major League Baseball: the last dynasty against a team hoping to build one. It’s Yankees-Phillies in what many expect to be the most exciting World Series since 2001. Resident Yankee fan John S. and Phillie hater Tim break it down. [...]
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28
Oct
Posted by Tim in Sports. Tagged: 2009 world series, it's been an awful awful season, mets fans' worst nightmare, new york mets, new york yankees, philadelphia phillies, the series is probably gonna be amazing and everyone's gonna love it except us. 4 Comments
So it’s come to this. We didn’t only have to endure losing hundreds of millions of dollars to a Ponzi scheme, we didn’t only have to endure injuries to our five best players, we didn’t only have to endure a dropped pop-up to lose a game to our crosstown rivals, we didn’t only have to [...]
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27
Oct
Posted by Tim in Unabated to the Quarterback. Tagged: albert camus, beastie boys references!, daniel snyder, denver broncos, dumb sportswriters, indianapolis colts, new orleans saints, overseas expansion, parity, patriots as team of the decade, the death of parity, the right to parity. 5 Comments
“Mediocrity seeks to endure by any means, including bronze. We refuse its claims to eternity, but it makes them every day. Isn’t mediocrity itself eternity?” —Albert Camus The Saints’ remarkable comeback victory over the Dolphins late Sunday means that there are three undefeated teams through seven weeks for the first time in NFL history. There [...]
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27
Oct
Posted by John S in "We Take, Among Other Things, Umbrage". Tagged: bike-riding, Chuck Klosterman, Coast Guard, drowning, fears, learning disorders, open water, swimming, The A.V. Club. 1 Comment
Chuck Klosterman did an interview with The A.V. Club in which, in honor of Halloween, he discusses his fears. Here is an excerpt: A few years ago, that movie Open Water was out. I can’t swim, so of course the idea… It’s really hard for people who can swim to relate to this. If you [...]
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