Comic for Monday, June 15, 2009

Posted: 6:40 am, Monday, June 15th

I wasn't planning on doing another Ron and Jen take America strip, but you guys seemed to like the first one. Researching this one, man, America really is just a weird freaking place. I could make an entire different comic strip out of just two people driving around looking at roadside stuff. A lot of the information for this strip came from Roadside America. I would love to drive across country and just hit weird roadside shit... Maybe someday when we're off oil and I've made my millions teaching, I can hack it. For full commentary on the Creation Museum, I can only recommend this Flickr set that I think I've already linked to once (I don't know if it was this particular set, or another one). Prepare to believe, crowd.

With these two strips and the one a few weeks ago that I did in Photoshop, I've really woken up to how much crazy shit I can do with the strip. I don't know why I've allowed myself to get so rooted in a conventional four-panel strip, but what with it being the internet and all, I should really think outside of the box some more. I read McCloud's Making Comics a few weeks back, and it had some really good stuff that I need to explore further.

Tetris pots!

The only thing better than listening to Vin Scully is listening to people discuss the greatness of Vin Scully, which was done on Friday's installment of BP Radio. Will Carroll talks to Curt Smith, who just wrote a bio of Vin called Pull Up a Chair, and it sounds fantastic. They have a great discussion about the nature of broadcasting baseball on the radio and why so many of today's broadcasters are just lackluster.

Man, crazy shit in Iran. Twitter has been exploding, in one of the more interesting applications of modern communication technology that I've ever seen. Big ups to Andrew Sullivan, who has been on this like white on rice. If it's your thing, say a prayer for 'em over there.

Last day! I can't believe it.

bullfrog

Bullfrog -- Monday, June 15 2009, 06:33 am

Didn't have this read in time to post with the site, but just zoomed through it - how the Times has mitigated on torture over the years.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/the-nyt-and-torture-a-brief-recent-history.html

Iran recap:

http://gawker.com/5290819/the-revolution-in-iran-a-recap

Great piece on Slate about the Iran "election" by Christopher Hitchens:

http://www.slate.com/id/2220520/

Only in Kentucky can you have a Creation museum. Though, I'm surprised it isn't in Kansas.

Amen to Vin Scully, I've been listening to him once a week or better my whole life. Wouldn't be the same game without him.

How bout those Penguins? Two championships for my two favorite sports teams within four months of each other. That is the definition of "the rizzle dizzle".

I'm still not understanding the Crosby hatred from the likes of Coach, but it is unfortunately way common. One, dude did not ask for all the publicity; that was bitch-ass Bettman's idea. So hate him for that if you want, but that's pretty weak.

Two, I don't know why I keep hearing this "overrated" talk. Crosby was second only to Evgeni Malkin (another Penguin - word) in playoff points scored this year, so people talking about him being a non-factor are smokin' some ill shit. His ridiculous scoring pace slowed down in the Finals, but he had Henrik Zetterberg draped all over him like my fat-ass cat Holmes on the couch cushions. He's in the top five for almost every points-based statistic from the regular season. He's had over 100 points for every season in the league, except for last year when he got a bad injury.

Third, yes, he made a minor screw-up when he didn't shake everybody's hand after Game 7, but minor etiquette problems are part of what happens when you're named the youngest-ever team captain and win a Cup at age 21. He does plenty of charity work and is said to be a genuinely nice guy by everyone.

If it weren't for all the NHL-induced publicity and other teams' fan resentment over it, nobody would be using this "overrated" talk. Plus, it makes me laugh when Detroit fans call Crosby a whiner and then say shit like "The Series was fixed" and "the refs just love Pittsburgh more". What happened in Games 1 and 2 then when Zetterberg illegally covered the puck in the crease, twice?

Wow, that was a book, but it needed to be said.

Here's my problem with Crosby. I actually don't think he's that overrated - he is one of the elite players in the league, though I think there are better players. My problem has to do with the constant whining during games and his well documented penchant for diving. I think he's an excellent player and he doesn't need to do these things to enhance his game because he does have excellent hockey skills.

Watch a Penguins game and you'll see him in the face of referees quite often, constantly arguing about something. Because he is the face of the league, he seems to get certain liberties with the refs that other players would not.

The same goes for the diving. For a great player, his balance seems to be off and on. A little check or stick slash has him on the ice quite often, trying to draw penalties. Again, he's the face of the league so he probably gets away with this more than other players, but he's got the skills where he shouldn't have to resort to this type of gamesmanship. There are other players in the league who pull these types of stunts and I'm not fans of theirs either.

And I could care less that he didn't shake hands with some of the Red Wings. He won the Cup and they didn't so he could have told them all to fuck off if he wanted, as far as I'm concerned. It was a great series and the better team won, but I'm still not a fan of Sidney Crosby.

thanks, pat s. pittsburgh is a great place to be a sports fan these days... 2 lombardi trophies in, what, 4 years? and then back-to-back appearances in the stanley cup finals, and the panthers seconds away from the final four. now if only the poor, poor pirates could do ANYTHING...

i don't know what to do with myself now that hockey season is over. no reason to eat wings and drink beer on a random tuesday anymore.

You fucking communist, get off of my blog. "No reason to eat wings and drink beer on a random Tuesday anymore." THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON.

I have a feeling that, if I were still in collitch, I'd be telling Sweaty, "NO YOU CAN'T COME EEL. It's personal."

http://fuckyoupenguin.blogspot.com/2009/05/no-one-wants-to-hang-out-with-eels.html

oh, you know me better than that. i will invent reasons.

Overrated doesn't mean he isn't one of the best players in the game. He is, but he is not the BEST player in the league. He is not Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemiuex... shall I go on??? A truly great player would have dealt better against a tough checking center man. You are beginning to sound like Crosby now. Whining that the Wings had the audacity to try and check him. Oh my god... How dare they play defense! I don't deny that Crosby has great points total. He sees the ice incredibly well and that is why I called him Adams Oates with a better scoring touch. Look at Oates' assist numbers, they are incredible.

You say Crosby didn't ask for the publicity?! Are you havin' a laugh? He was parading around the QMJHL like the 2nd coming. He got his own clothing line prior to playing a single game in the NHL.

I have no love for the Red Wings. I actually didn't even watch many of the games in the finals as I am still dealing with my Devils' sh*ting the bed.

Also, it really shows how much of an impact Crosby has on the Pens with the fact he was on the bench the entire 3rd period because he got checked! He is nothing but a poof.

Speaking of not drinking and eating wings, where the hell were you Bullfrog last night??? We hit up Blue Room and had a solid amount of bud and wings. You were missed...

I was cut off by the deluge, and wasn't going to be able to stay late last night. Despite my teaching classes being over, I still have to take classes, and I have an oral presentation on performance and reception theory of Othello due tonight or tomorrow.

Othello? I would say no "Hell No" to that....

"He is nothing but a poof." I gave your argument a small amount of legitimacy until I got to that part. Check out the always-excellent hockeyfights.com: Crosby is clearly a skill player with an interest in letting goons fight for him (just like every star player ever), yet he's already been in three fights and he's just starting his career. Wayne Gretzky fought four times in his entire career. Ovechkin, who's supposed to be the underrated guy that's better than Crosby at everything but is widely acknowledged as a selfish douche, has fought exactly one time. Even Henrik Zetterberg has a total of one fight, and that was when Malkin tore him up in Game 2. I have nothing against Zetterberg though because he's a solid all-around player and his Swedish-TV girlfriend is a 10.5 out of 10.

There's also a term for staying off the ice when you're injured in the last period of Game 7; it's generally known as "not fucking it up for everybody".

I repeat, Crosby doesn't ask for the publicity. People don't "get paraded" unless someone up high has an interest in it. Clearly publicity always has a 1.0 correlation coefficient with talent, so it makes plenty of hockey sense for everyone to say he sucks as a hockey player because marketers like him too much. Wait, what?

Crosby whined a bit in the first half of his first year. After that, he learned better and stopped whining. The reason you see Crosby in the face of the referees arguing about things is because the captain is the only player on the team designated to do that. Turn on any game and the team's captain will be doing exactly the same thing, but those guys aren't saddled with the same insane expectations as Crosby.

Interference != defense. But no need to state that supposedly whiny fact anyway, because hey: City of Champions.

Also, if Crosby isn't the best player in the league, who is? And I mean present-day, not historically. I still don't think he's as good as Lemieux (best ever), Gretzky or Howe, but I want to hear realistic nominees. Malkin? He might be better; he's definitely better at goal-scoring. Ovechkin? No.

I am not talking about fighting. I am talking about players getting hurt, but having coming back. Look at what Scott Stevens did to Paul Kariya in Game 6 of the 2003 Finals. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8up-tkxZ4r8 Should I mention the fact Nick Lidstrom (better than Crosby) had a catastrophic testicle injury and continued to play? That is a hockey player….

Better present day players... Ovechkin is clearly better than Crosby. Look what is on the Capital team, if Ovenchkin left that team do you really think they are a playoff team?? I already said Malkin was better. I think Zach Parise was a better player this year. I won't even go into Goaltenders and Defenseman.

Let’s look at the stats. No, not goals, but more advanced sabremetric like stats for the NHL. (http://www.behindthenet.ca/) Crosby finished 102nd in their rating last season right in between Gomez and Wade Redden... Is Crosby the 102nd best player in the NHL? No... Is he the best??? Clearly no...

And yes... you may live in the City of Champions, but in the end that city is still Pittsburgh. So... have fun with that!

I'd put Crosby in the top 5, but I'd take Malkin AND Ovechkin over him, easy. And I'd be on the side of Gretzy in the Gretzky/Mario argument.

Crosby is more like a spoiled brat than a "poof". Spoiled with talent but a bratty whiner/diver. And if you actually watch his 3 fights, they're pretty lame - at least 2 of them are anyway. 1)Jumping a guy after a faceoff the other guy getting up smiling and 2) holding on for dear life as you get punched don't really count for me as fights.

None of this will matter next year though when my Islanders start fucking shit up in the NHL.