TeamBender

Gunnin' For That No. 1 Spot

2010-06-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

If you've never seen this movie, then you must not love basketball or hip-hop music. Beastie Boy Adam Yauch makes his feature-length directorial debut with this film about the nation's top high school players preparing for an all-star game at Rucker Park. Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, Mike Beasley, Kevin Love and Lance Stephenson? I'm in. You'll even gain a newfound respect for Dukie Kyle Singler! So why am I telling you all this about a movie that came out two years ago? Because now you can watch it online at Hulu! Check it out!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/79440/gunnin-for-that-1-spot

Fela! Taking Broadway By Storm (is there a Broadway in Lagos?)

2010-01-29T10:42:00.000-08:00

This may sound crazy to anyone who knows me, but there's a Broadway musical that everyone should know about. With Barack Obama in office, it's only appropriate that the original "Black President" is making a comeback. Of course I'm talking about Fela Kuti. Jay-Z, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, and ?uestlove have teamed up to present a Broadway show based on the life and music of Kuti, appropriately entitled Fela! It's basically Mamma Mia! for people who actually like music. (I have no idea if it's like Mamma Mia! and I never will...)

Anyway, check out this clip of the cast of Fela! performing live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Modern Warfare 2 Unlimited Care Packages

2010-01-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a great way to get as many care packages, sentry guns and emergency airdrops as you want in Modern Warfare 2. It's very simple, so I'll just let this Youtube video explain how...

Now just don't use this against me!

The Slipper Doesn't Fit; Drake's Amazing Cinderella Run Of Zero Games Comes To An End

2008-03-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Beware the Somethings Of March

2008-03-14T10:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we were treated to one of sports' annual traditions, the always-classic Duke-UNC hoops regular season-ending game. As someone who has the 1993 NCAA Championship on VHS (suck it Chris Webber!), needless to say i was happy with the result.

Danny Green makes like Earl Grey.

But what makes me even happier is the chain of events that are set in motion by this game.
Obviously, this game is an a pre-appetizer snack to the delicious hors d'oeuvre that is Championship week. As I write this, Florida State and UNC are battling it out on the hardwood. By Sunday night we'll know who's going to the Big Dance, or to continue the food metaphors that Fire Joe Morgan would have a field day with, the Big Turkey Dinner. My Cinderella team this year? Drake. Not just because Kyle Korver's little brother Klayton plays for them, but, well, OK, that is the only reason. But now I can post this great picture of former Tar Heel and 2005 National Champion Rashad McCants punking Kyle Aston Kutcher Korver.

Fine! JJ Redick is not a better poet than you!

Of course, this is also the time of year when NBA players start trying really hard also. There's been a lot of talk that this season is the best in the Lig since 2002 (I would say 2000 was the last interesting year minus the Big Shot Roberto moment, suck it again Chris Webber!) and it's not hard to see why. The Celtics have made the East relevant again, Kobe and Lebron are battling it out for MVP (jumper factory vs. triple double machine) and the Heat are mistakenly tanking the season to fix their team with the draft (Michael Beasley can play center, right, you guys? Huh, guys? Hey, where's everyone going?). But perhaps the best story belongs to the red-hot Rockets. Written off by most after the Very Good Wall Of China crumbled (again), they have reeled off 20 straight wins and are rising to the top of the Western Conference like, well, I'm searching for the word here, what is it when you fly really high, like, astronomically, with the jet engines and the sound barrier and the EXPLOSIONS! that make you scared, I guess that would be, like, like a rocket, i guess. ANYway, check out this hilarious video of the Rockets impersonating their "new" center, Dikembe Mutombo.

So we got the NCAA tournament, coinciding with the beginning of baseball season and the stretch of the NBA season. Almost makes you forget that we have to wait a month for the conclusion of this season of LOST, damn writers and their need to get "paid" "money." My current favorite theory? I created it. See, "Kevin Johnson," the freighter mole we all assume is Michael, is really Walt. OK, check it out. There is something screwy about the way time acts as you come to and from the island, as evidenced by Faraday's experiment.

When Michael and Walt left the island, they were instructed to take a specific bearing to get home, much like the instructions Faraday gave Lapidus in order to return to the freighter. So it's safe to assume that not going at the correct bearing will make something bad/screwy happen, like some sort of time anomaly. So Mike and Wally, landlubbers that they are, go through at the wrong bearing, and when they come out at the other side, Michael is extremely old, or possibly dead, and Walt has aged dramatically. He gets to the mainland, is contacted by a Linus lackey and gets a job on Captain Gault's freighter. The Kevin Johnson we met in "Ji Yeon"...

...is actually a grown up version of Walt.

(Note: I tried to make this theory include an explanation for Taller Ghost Walt, but I couldn't figure it out so that was the smoke monster.)

NEW FORMAT ALERT/CAPS LOCK BUTTON IS STUCK1!!111!

2008-02-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

I'm going to post on here in semi-regular fashion, not just on the topic of sports, but also LOST, politics, and other things I don't fully understand. It will be mostly a link dump with sporadic comedy, so bookmark me today!

For starters, I recommend reading the entire Philip Rivers Chronicles over at Kissing Suzy Kolber. If you don't know how Philip Rivers would handle himself in various social situations,

[door flies open]

Ya betta ask someboddddaaaaaayyyyy!

Also, if you've never seen a video of Pedro Martinez and Juan Marichal cockfighting (not as gay as it sounds)(ok pretty much as gay as it sounds but for different reasons), today is your lucky day. Don't worry, if The Big Jheri Curl hasn't gotten in trouble for this sort of thing yet, he never will. Remember, he used to make Nelson De La Rosa and Joe C fight, and nothing ever came of that. (Even though they are both now dead. YOU MONSTER!)

Finally, here's a link to my new favorite LOST theory. Oh, you don't like LOST? Good luck with that.

Happy Holidays from Rasheed Wallace

2007-12-25T10:01:00.000-08:00

I'm getting back into the whole hilarious blogging thing when the New Year starts, but for now, here's a holiday greeting from Rasheed Wallace and some of his Pistons teammates (watch out, Baby Jesus!).

Jason Grilli is the Cheeseman

2007-08-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Deadspin's got the jokes on lockdown, but here's my bad photoshop of El Hombre Queso.

Emmit Smith Look A Like SHows His Support

2007-07-18T16:43:00.001-07:00

Julian Tavarez is Photogenic

2007-05-31T04:58:00.001-07:00

I'm sure anyone who's caught a Red Sox game this year has been subjected to the constant shots of Julian Tavarez's wacky, Pedro-esque dugout antics. This extremely non-homosexual, manly head rubbing might be the most publicized, but it's just a small part of the man, the myth, the guy who punches people while they're trying to stand up that is Julian Tavarez.

Well, I've figured out the cause of Julian's hilarity, and the answer just might (not) surprise you: He's stoned. All the time. And always has been. Don't believe me? Let's take a look at his current official MLB photo.

I've been in Manny's locker.

I'm sure you're saying, "Come on Ben, anyone can look high in a photo; he was probably just blinking." What we're gonna do right now is go back. Way back. And it goes a little something like this. Hit it.

Darryl Kile willed me some joints.

The evidence is piling up faster than JT's ashtray. But wait, there's more.

A Pirate on the high seas.

Before Pittsburgh, Julian was a member of the Florida Marlins. I don't want to say exactly what he was into when he played down in Florida, but let's just say he earned the nickname "Scarface" for more than just his Danny Trejo-ian mug.

Then there were the Chicago days. This is of course when he called the fans at Wrigley "faggots." Of course he was on drugs then! He invented the "blame your homophobia on substance abuse" excuse.

The picture isn't grainy, the room is just full of smoke.

Sadly, no photographs exist from Tavarez's time with Colorado, or as it's ~~reefered~~ referred to, the "Rocky Mountain High" era. Suffice it to say he was packing bigger Denver nuggets than Dikembe Mutombo.

Take a look at this video for further proof.

Baseball Bowling - video powered by Metacafe

You know who else likes bowling? The Dude. You know, His Dudeness, Duder, El Duderino if you're not into that whole brevity thing. Do a J, knock down some frames, maybe even rock a little Creedence. Tavarez was just trying to integrate his love of the lanes with his love of the game. I guess when he gets the outs with the strikes to Youkilis, we can't complain. Basically, when he's not invading your dreams, it's been a good day for Tavarez.

Nightmare on Yawkey Way

So when you see Julian and Manny duck into the Green Monster together, don't think it's for a gay headrubbing session. They're probably battling a green monster of their own, called marijuana addiction. It's real, people. It affected 420 million Americans every year, and it might just get you pregnant.

What a Weekend

2007-05-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm still in shock. Maybe it's because I'm in the midst of finals week; maybe it's because I've been taking pitchers behind the woodshed with Hanley Ramirez in 2K7 so often; maybe it's because I'm not high right now. But no matter what distractions there are around me, there's no denying that this weekend was huge for sports, and New England sports especially. Let's just list everything.

Oh snap, my blunt fell from behind my ear!

Randy to the Pats

This might go down as the best or worst move the Patriots have ever made. Randy Moss is my favorite receiver and an obvious game-changer. Will Belichick shape him up, or at least harness his power a la Phil Jackson and Rodman? Or will we get the sulking, anti-hustle Moss that moped around the sidelines in Oakland for two years? I'm hoping for the former, and if it makes a difference, I'll hook Randy up with trees every blue moon. Just make sure he comes with the straight cash, homey.

The Patriots also drafted Brandon Merriweather, a safety out of the U most famous for stomping the shit out of some cats on Florida International and busting caps on the punks that shot his teammate in the ass cheeks. We should probably come up with a arcade game-based nickname for him, stat. I'm gonna go with "Spy Hunter" for the time being.

Sox take 2 of 3 in the Bronx

Except for a little stumble over Kei Igawa, the Red Sox have looked unbeatable against New York this year, what with the back-to-back-to-back-to-back homers and the late inning comebacks and all. Now that it's no longer April, I think it's safe to say that the Red Sox have been pretty impressive. Their continued success will depend on the health of their outfield and the consistency of their pitching staff. Adding Jon Lester can only help that, as every game Julian Tavarez starts is difficult to win.

Julian is not a girl's name!

This Just In: Yanks rookie Phil Hughes takes a no-hitter into the 7th, and then: the leg is swept. Hughes will be down for a month at least, and New York continues to be fucked.

I Hope They Get Paid For This

2007-04-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

Poor Wally.

For more Red Sox and Yankees fun, check out this site, which is a similar but upgraded version of the hilarious "Celebrity Phone Call Promotions," which have been sweeping the web as seen here, here and at great length, but less emphasis on the "celebrity," here. A phone call from the guy who played Angel in "Scarface?" No way!

This Man Brought His $3 In Quarters To Class For The Pizza Party

2007-04-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

"And Here Comes The Pizza!"

If this happened at any other park, it would be a little funny. (I assume there would have been a fistfight in the Bronx.) But with Jerry Remy on hand to analyze the incident which has been called the "Pizza Bartman," it immediately shoots up to the level of "My Hands Are Bananas." I can't top the Rem-Dawg on this one so I'll just leave you with the previous funniest video about pizza from the boys at Stella.

Tonight's game in Toronto features Dice-K vs. Gustavo Chacin. Perhaps Coco Crisp will be able to break out of his slump against Chacin. He's 4-8 lifetime against the bespectacled Venezuelan. (Edit: Crisp got a pair of hits, but Chacin smoked the Sox yet again. Hopefully Chase Wright will put up less of a fight this Sunday in Boston than Dice-K's previous two opponents, Chacin and King Felix.)

The Diceman Cometh Home, or Less God More Zilla

2007-04-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

Well, Daisuke Matzusaka looked pretty good in his first Fenway start giving up 8 hits and 3 earned runs thru 7 innings, but Felix Hernandez stole the show. Hernandez uncorked a complete game one-hit shutout, basically what we were all hoping Dice-K would do. Boston ground out 17 times against Hernandez, due in part to stellar defense by Jose Lopez and My Favorite Mariner Yuniesky Betancourt.

This is great for Dice-K, in a way. He certainly didn't have a bad game-3 earned runs will win a lot of games for a Red Sox team that averaged over 5 runs per game last year. And, with a loss in the home opener, there will be a lot less pressure on him than if he was working some kind of home unbeaten streak. That's not just a blatant homer's rationalization of the kind of disappointing loss that can only come from a whole offseason of hype, right?

Matsuzaka doesn't have much to worry about from Red Sox Nation, however, since he hit confirmed rabblerouser and possible tomfooler Jose Guillen with a pitch. If we're lucky, tomorrow's game will feature a Donnelly-Guillen rematch. I learned from a guy named Robert Goulet that impossible dreams can come true. Let's not make him a liar.

Jarrod Washburn takes the hill for Seattle tomorrow; I'm guessing he won't be hitting any Sox batters on Jose Guillen's behalf. Key matchup here is with Coco Crisp, who is 11-21 against Washburn with 1 homer and 4 RBI's.

Sadly for feud fans, Wakefield is throwing for the Sox. His radar gun-limit-testing fastball won't do the kind of permanent damage to Guillen's ribs that Boston fans are hoping for. Watch for Richie Sexson to whiff a couple times, and watch out for Willie Bloomquist. He's 4-4 against Wake lifetime with a pair of doubles.

Flip side, bitches.

Pac-Man, Out Of Credits or How Do You Spell "do do do do do do womp womp?"

2007-04-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Roger Goodell, if you wanted the NFL to be better, you shouldn't have suspended the league's most colorful character. Pac-Man Jones is a budding superstar, and you are doing nothing but hold him down.

Are you worried about losing revenue? Just tell him the Titans cheerleaders are strippers, and money will start circulating. Just, please God, tell the girls not to touch the money. You don't want to create another reason to suspend Pac-Man.

Are you worried about the youth of America being corrupted? Team Pac-Man up with McGruff The Crime Dog for a series of PSA's and school appearances. I'm sure they will take a bite out of something.

Why couldn't you just give him community service? I'm sure he'd be at least as good as Peyton Manning.

And poor Chris Henry. He has to play the Hideki Okajima role in this whole scandal. The guy must have felt like Eli Manning last season (no offense Chris, hear me out.) No matter what he does, how many underage girls he makes women, how much weed he gets busted with (maybe not that much), he just can't top the big guy. Pac-Man can make all the Chris Henry news go away with one gloomy weather forecast.

Maybe Goodell was just trying to make room for the return of Ricky Williams, which I guess would mean that the CFL was making room for Jones and Henry. I know that both players would love it up there, but they belong on the big stage.

So I beg you, Roger Goodell, reconsider these suspensions. Think of all the fans you'll lose. With all the big, prime-time Bengals and Titans games last year, those two gained a lot of support. I am positive that not a single person will tune in to an NFL game next year.

To show your support for Pac-Man, visit this wildly successful petition and sign your life away.

I'll drop another post on here when the Dice-K mania takes full effect.

Targate, or Ozzie Not The Only Crazy Guillen

2007-04-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

Exciting home opener for the Boston Red Sox today. The Mariners were in town after a four-day layoff thanks to the existence of Cleveland, Ohio. Fenway's Opening Day festivities, never afraid to jerk some tears, were tinged with hilarity. Theo Epstein has made some questionable moves recently, but no one was disappointed with his selection of Robert Goulet to perform. Goulet crooned his way through "The Impossible Dream," which is apparently a song, as members of the 1967 Red Sox tottered out. This prompted Don Orsillo to claim Goulet bore a strong resemblance to Jerry Remy.

Seattle kicked the ball around like Freddy Adu, and they also started Jeff Weaver. What is this guy's status? He looks like a meth head. Seriously, this guy looks like he parties with Jodie Sweetin every weekend. You don't see a lot of guys that look like this, mostly because COPS blurs out their faces.

Anyway, Weaver got rocked for seven hits and seven runs through two innings, and the Sox win handily. For those who kept watching after the Sox' offensive explosion, they were treated to a mini-explosion from Jose Guillen. After reliever (and former Angels teammate) Brendan Donnelly struck him out on three pitches, Guillen started barking at Donnelly. Not literally, like a dog, or even DMX-style, but just, you know, jawing. Tempers flared, the benches cleared, and Daisuke Matsuzaka evaded Jay Buhner's attempt to tackle him by pushing his shiny bald head to the side, causing Buhner to tumble in a comical fashion. Well, that's what I wish had happened. In reality, nothing happened. The benches cleared and milled around, Guillen got ejected, and it was back to the game. Until the next pitch, when Donnelly drilled Kenji Johjima. and got tossed.

(Sidebar: What must it be like for Hideki Okajima and Kenji Johjima? Talk about a couple of ~~nappy-headed ho's~~ bridesmaids. They must have to carry the bags for Dice-K and Ichiro. I hope these two face off in one of the next two games; hopefully we'll see some grainy Asian video footage of their storied rivalry in Japan.)

As i'm sure you've heard by now, Guillen and Donnelly have some history. It appears that after Guillen's trade from the Angels to the Nationals, he narced out Donnelly for having pine tar on his glove. Guillen is, of course, a graduate of the Milton Bradley School Of Anger Management, and is not afraid to show his class; he once called former manager Mike Scoscia a "piece of garbage." (As far as I know, he still calls him that.)

Josh Beckett was nasty, striking out Ichiro three times. Looks like he might have a serious ace-type season. Drew hit a homer on a change-up high, destroying it into dead center. Powerful.

Tomorrow is Dice-K versus Ichiro, so stay tuned. I promise a beautiful Matsuzaka Photoshop.

Home Opener

2007-04-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

I'm hilarious, so naturally people ask me where they can read my blog on the internets. That's probably the question I hear the second most, behind "You're not gonna light that blunt here, are you?" So, I've created this blog. Hopefully, I skyrocket to popularity and become famous, like Will Leitch famous. I'll get this cranking soon enough, and then you'll see. Then you'll all see.