Archive for January, 2010
18
Jan
Posted by NPI in Monday Medley. Tagged: Conan O'Brien, darrelle revis, david foster wallace, david letterman, facebook friends, gq, Haiti, james salter, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Joe Posnanski, katie roiphe, lesbian sex scenes, marvin harrison, NBC, norv turner, Pat Robertson, rae carruth, revis probably just saved nate kaeding the indignity of another missed field goal, rex ryan, sonya chung, that jets clip was all josh's idea, the awl, the Conan debacle, the millions, the naked and the conflicted, The Tonight Show, TV ratings. Leave a Comment
What we read while making our own pact with the devil: We may have been a little hasty in calling the Conan/Leno situation a “travesty” (twice!). It actually seems to be doing wonders for Conan’s career. Team Conan is swelling. His ratings are soaring. And his bank account is growing. It hasn’t even been a [...]
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17
Jan
Posted by Tim in Comedy, TV. Tagged: bart gets an f, bart v. bill, dr. j. loren pryor, martin prince, mrs. krabappel, simpsons classics, snow day: the funnest day in the history of springfield, the character of bart, The Simpsons, the simpsons pantheon, the simpsons v. the cosby show. 6 Comments
The Simpsons, despite how it appears retrospectively, had a fairly auspicious start in its first season. In fact, the show was so successful that Fox made the controversial decision to move it from Sunday to Thursday, placing it in direct competition with NBC’s ratings behemoth (and The Simpsons’ ideological foil), The Cosby Show. The first [...]
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16
Jan
Posted by John S in Law, Politics. Tagged: Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, arguing against prejudice, Brown v. the Board of Education, Clarence Thomas, compelling government interests, Earl Warren, gay marriage, korematsu, Loving v. Virginia, Margaret Talbot, Perry v. Schwarzenegge, Proposition 8, rational basis test, Samuel Alito, strict scrutiny, the dred scott decision, the homosexual agenda, The New Yorker, The Supreme Court. 7 Comments
On Monday, Perry v. Schwarzenegger—the first legal challenge to the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California’s 2008 ballot initiative banning gay marriage—began in San Francisco. No matter what the outcome, the case is expected to make it to the Supreme Court on appeal. Ironically, many liberals have been the most outspoken critics of the lawsuit, and [...]
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15
Jan
Posted by Tim in Sports, Unabated to the Quarterback. Tagged: anthony spencer, antonio gates, baltimore v. the colts!, best colts quarterback ever, brett favre, colts ravens, cowboys vikings, darrelle revis, demarcus ware, jets chargers, joe flacco is the best ravens' quarterback ever, kurt warner v. drew brees, mark sanchez, norv turner, peyton manning, randy moss, saints cardinals, tony romo, vincent jackson. 2 Comments
There was a time when a second-round upset was a huge deal. They didn’t happen too often, so when Lin Elliott cost the 13-3 Chiefs a game against Jim Harbaugh and the Comeback Colts in 1995, it resonated throughout the league. Even though the AFC’s top seed would lose each of the next two seasons [...]
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14
Jan
Posted by NPI in Sports, The Double Bonus. Tagged: big year for mid-majors, brian zoubek, depaul basketball, duke, evan turner, fred hill, jerry wainwright, jon scheyer, jr inman facebook note, kyle singler, only in the big ten, robbie hummel, ron franklin, rutgers basketball, the 3-on-2 break, the charge/block dichotomy, the size of the big east, uncertainty at the top. Leave a Comment
The Double Bonus brings together two of our great traditions here at NPI: The intrepid sports analysis of Tim’s Unabated to the Quarterback joins forces with the weekly Thursday slot of John’s Real World/Road Rules Ruins Rankings posts. Luckily for you, both writers are on board. Tim’s comments are in black while John’s are in [...]
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14
Jan
Posted by Tim in "We Take, Among Other Things, Umbrage", NPI Exclusive, Sports. Tagged: bobby bowden, bobby petrino, college football treachery, david cutcliffe, jim leavitt, john calipari, knox kiffin, lane kiffin, layla kiffin, mark mangino, mike leach, nick saban, rex ryan, rocky top v. fight on (rocky top obvs), roy williams, tennessee, usc, woody hayes, word is bond. 1 Comment
New USC head football coach Lane Kiffin has taken a lot of abuse over his departure from Tennessee. In an NPI exclusive, Kiffin told us he was really torn up about the criticism, and that he wishes he could have done the noble thing and told the Trojans’ brass the following (verbatim): Look, I’m honored, [...]
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13
Jan
Posted by John S in Culture, Sports. Tagged: 1998 home run season, Alex Rodriguez, apology apologism, barry bonds, big week in the news, Bob Costas, Bob Ley, Conan O'Brien, confessions, Jose Canseco, lies, Mark McGwire, Mark McGwire's amazing Little League career, McGwire's Bob Costas interview, my anti-McGwire crusade, Outside the Lines, PEDs, self-deception, self-identity, Simon Cowell, steroid admissions, steroids, the art of apology, the juiced-ball theory, the Reputation Doctor. 5 Comments
Mark McGwire picked a good week to publicly admit using steroids. Between the Conan/Leno stuff, the NFL playoffs, and Simon Cowell leaving American Idol, one of baseball’s most-anticipated steroid confessions almost got swept under the carpet. Almost. The reaction to McGwire’s admission has been surprisingly negative. I may not be the best judge of reactions [...]
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12
Jan
Posted by Tim in Sports, Unabated to the Quarterback. Tagged: Bill Simmons, cardinals 51 packers 45, chargers jets, chiefs charlie weis, colts ravens, cowboys 34 eagles 14, jets 24 bengals 14, one-dimensional offenses, peter king, ravens 33 patriots 14, ray rice, run the ball and stop the run, saints cardinals, shonn greene, thomas jones, Tom Brady, vikings cowboys, willis mcgahee. Leave a Comment
“It’s not so easy to become what one is, to rediscover one’s deepest measure.” —Albert Camus In his playoff preview column last week, ESPN’s Bill Simmons talked about how the rules for playoff football had changed: Running the ball and stopping the run were no longer prerequisites for playoff success. Simmons pointed out all the [...]
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12
Jan
Posted by John S in Comedy, Culture, TV. Tagged: Conan O'Brien, diplomatic memos, failed experiments, Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, Johnny Carson, late night tv, shortsighted solutions, sticking it to the man, talk show hosts, the Conan debacle, the future of late night, the future of TV, The Jay Leno Show, The Tonight Show, TV. 5 Comments
Hell yeah! Stick it to The Man! Conan announced this afternoon that he would not accept NBC’s choice to move him back to 12:05 a.m.
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11
Jan
Posted by NPI in Monday Medley. Tagged: ABC, Alan Sepinwall, Animal Collective, Avatar, Aziz Ansari, Barack Obama, best new blogs, Carson Daly, charles p. pierce, Da Vinci, Lost, Lost final season, michael weinreb, NFL Draft, State of the Union, The Lost Supper, The Simpsons, The Simpsons 20th anniversary, tim tebow, whores of the year. Leave a Comment
What we read while worrying about the fate of Last Call with Carson Daly…. The final season of Lost is coming up in three weeks. The trailers aren’t giving anything away, but ABC’s promotional poster indicates it’s going to be heavy-handed and laden with symbols…for a change. This premiere is so highly anticipated that even [...]
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