Brian’s on the radio!

In a bit of cross-promotion, I begin my weekly streaming radio program tomorrow!

Go here to read all about it and how to listen and contact me!

October Baseball

If you asked me on opening day, as I drove home from a cold day at Shea Stadium, if the Mets would make the playoffs I’d only answer by saying “they could.” I knew there was something special about this team this year (the energy at Shea even on such a shitty day was undeniable) but I had no idea that they would be this good.

So here we are, 159 games later, and the Mets have locked up the division since the All-Star break. I couldn’t be more thrilled and more nervous.

The Mets are really the only team (other than PC B-Ball) that I have a specific allegiance to (I follow the NFL as a whole, I haven’t been interested in the 49ers since Steve Young retired and I really can’t get into the Jets or Giants or Pats) and while I’ve been a Mets fan as long as I can remember, I’ve had a revival of sorts since 2003 (as in I don’t really remember much of 2000 and that might be a good thing). So I’m thrilled to see them in the playoffs and I’m confident in them but I’m still nervous. Not scared, just nervous.

The cliche is that “anything can happen in a playoff series,” and that’s what frightens me. The Mets are head and shoulders better than the rest of the National League and I think they match up well with anyone in the American League (aside from Johan Santana – a player that could almost singlehandedly win a series). I’m not even as concerned as I thought I’d be since reading that Pedro Martinez won’t pitch at all in the playoffs. Why? Pedro has looked AWFUL since coming back and to be honest I think they are better off shutting him down rather than putting him out there and hoping for the best. The remaining pitchers (Glavine, El Duque, Trachsel, and John Maine) have been their best pitchers this year – Glavine for much of the year looked as good as he ever did, El Duque wins every time the Mets need a win out of him (not to mention his monstrous playoff history), Trachsel almost always pitches well enough to win (even if he gives up 4 or 5 runs, the Mets seem to give him 8 or 9 in return), and Maine (aside from a couple nightmare starts) has looked incredible (case and point – when was the last comment you’ve heard about how the Kris Benson trade was a mistake?)

I remember saying (I think at the very beginning of this blog last year) that I was proud of the Mets last season and this year has been magical – I got to go to a bunch of games this year (including opening day, the 1st game of the Yankees series (the one that ended with Wright’s double off Rivera in the 9th), and Piazza’s first game back to Shea (one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever seen) ) and I’ve watched many more of them on TV (and heard so many special Keith Hernandez moments along the way). I’d like to say that anything from here on out is gravy but the truth is that if the Mets lose I know I’ll be heartbroken. If they don’t lose – well, I can’t even process that.

Long story short – if you want to know what I’m doing over the next couple weeks, check to see if the Mets are playing first.

PS – Holy Crap. Pete called it correctly when he says “the best website on the planet.” Enjoy it before Rupert Murdoch finds out about it.

Someone get Satan a scarf

…because hell is freezing over when Stephen A. Smith becomes the voice of reason!

799 Hoboes?

I wouldn’t offer an advertisement for anything that I didn’t believe in (or, didn’t pay me sufficiently) but I whole heartedly present to you, dear reader, this handy info-youtube-mercial on the forthcoming paperback of The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman.

You might know Hodgman from the daily show (run a search on youtube if you haven’t seen them) or as the “PC” in those Mac commercials. His book is hilarious and highly recommended and the new paperback version comes with new material (including additional hobo names!)

Here’s a link to an introduction Hodgman gave days after 9/11. McSweeney’s website re-ran the address recently. I somewhat agree with his thoughts on the nature of storytelling (although I think I arrive at a different conclusion, ask me about it sometime) but it is certainly worth reading especially amid the countless other memorials this past week.

As promised, here’s the clip:

Broken Social Scene

Seriously, if you don’t go see them in Providence on 11/8 you better go get your head checked. At the moment, I’m considering driving up to Providence after my class gets out at 6:50 and driving back that night to be up at 6 AM the next morning.

For your viewing pleasure, “7/4 (Shoreline)” from Lollapalooza.

Why don’t we see more of this?

The best part of this video (perhaps you should read this first) is that the Danger Mouse remix is actually pretty good. Although, with his recent Midas touch it shouldn’t be that surprising.