Get Out!!!

I went Christmas shopping this weekend with my wife. I hate Christmas shopping at the mall. Any mall. People just turn into idiots this time of year. You can’t walk through the stores and it always seems like the mall cranks the heat up to about 95. But it wasn’t bad; we were in and out for the most part. But one thing I found very disturbing was in FYE. You know the CD and DVD store in most malls. On their new releases shelf they have the Seinfeld seasons DVD. Now they have seasons 1 and 2 in a pack and 1, 2, and 3 in another pack. And the price, $74.99 for 1 and 2 and $119.99 for all 3. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Seinfeld. It’s got to be in my top 5 favorite shows of all time. But it’s on at least twice a night in most TV markets. If that’s not enough to get your Seinfeld fix then you better get help.

Speaking of Seinfeld that makes me think of a topic I’ve been meaning to write about for a while. TV Dads. These are some of the most hilarious characters on television. And when I say Dads I’m not talking about Ray Romano, I’m talking about Ray’s Dad. Here is my top 5…

Frank Castanza-his blow ups make him classic enough. Any Seinfeld that he’s in I automatically sit down and watch. I’m preprogrammed to do so by the people at NBC and TBS.

Red Foreman-The funniest character on That 70s Show. You won’t hear the term “dumbass” more in 30 minutes in a biker bar.

Abe Simpson-He isn’t constantly funny like the other two but he has his moments and he’s such a great springboard character for the other Simpsons. Springboard; jeez that actually sounded like I knew what I was talking about.

Frank Verome-Now I just recently started watching the Raymond reruns, but Frank makes the show. He’s the funniest character on the show.

Arthur from King of Queens-This is Jerry Stiller’s second appearance in my top 5. The role of over eccentric, fly off the handle, paranoid father figures is something that he’s mastered and will be able to play until the day he dies.

Is there another team in the NBA that has benefited from the Pistons-Pacers brawl as much as the Cavs? Honestly I would think not. The Cavs were destined to finish no better than 3rd in the Central and now have a legit shot at winning the Division. The Pacers won’t be at full strength for the rest of the season without Artest and the Pistons don’t seem to have recovered since the incident. It’s pretty awesome in my book. As a Cleveland fan I’ll take it any way I can get it.

17 net yards. 17! That’s what the Browns put up Sunday in Buffalo. I didn’t think it was possible, but they have found a new low.

And too sprinkle some salt into the wound that has been my Browns 2004 season, ESPN showed “The Drive” Friday when I was at lunch with my coworkers. That is literally my first football memory. That game. I wanted them to change all the TVs it was on, but it wasn’t worth the effort. Just kick me when I’m down. I did threaten to punch Mark in the top of the head if he didn’t shut up about it. I think that sent the message of how much I hated that game and the pain it brought with it. If Elway doesn’t win that game for them, the Browns beat the Giants in the Super Bowl. That always drove me nuts about the Broncos beating us 3 times in 4 years; they never won a Super Bowl. And all of them in blow out fashion. If that’s the case they could have at least given us a shot.

The Indians traded Matt Lawton this weekend to the Pirates for Arthur Rhodes. I like that fact that they got a solid, but old, lefty for the pen. But I didn’t like the price. Lawton is coming off a career year in which he was an All-Star. Now I understand the need for pitching and the need to open some spots for younger players, but this coupled with the loss of Vizquel makes me worry about the clubhouse situation. That clubhouse now sorely lacks veteran leadership and that can not be underestimated on a young team. Just ask Frank Robinson.

I wasn’t surprised to see Matt Leinert win the Heisman Saturday night. You knew Peterson wouldn’t win it because he’s a frosh, they weren’t going to give it to White after the way he finished last season, Bush didn’t get enough touches in a lot of his games, and Alex Smith goes to Utah. So it was Leinert’s to lose. He says he’ll be back for his RS Senior year. I don’t believe it. To me you need to go when you’re on top and people are talking about you. There are too many unknowns for next season. Unless he has a horrible Orange Bowl, he should take the money and run.

I think that David Pollack is going to be a bum in the NFL. I could be wrong, but I’ll laugh at the team that drafts him in April. Who am I kidding; it’ll probably be the Browns.

With that said, I’m done…