The Babcock Report: Flood Warning Edition

I have to echo LaRocque's statements about the dunk contest, this is by far the best that I remember seeing in a long time. The only comparable contest in terms of excitement from the not-so-distant past would have to be Vince Carter's first appearance. I was happy to see Howard in the contest given the fact that most big-name NBA stars steer clear of this competition in order to protect their "reputations"...the logic beeing that anything but a victory would be too embarrassing for a well-known player. Reading that the ratings for the NBA were up this year reassured my instincts...this season just feels different. I have to say that all things considered that this is a good thing, despite the fact that I still find most NBA games to be extremely tedious to watch and that on a whole, the quality of basketball being played seems to have declined proportionally to the amount of athletic talent that comes into the league every year. On a selfish note the fact that the Celtics are having such a great season has been instrumental in keeping my mind off of a certain football game that occurred in the beginning of February.

The AFC East: Bush League

Speaking of the NFL, I just wanted to let you all know that my first contribution to the Team Sampler (TS) will be a breakdown of the worst division in football: The AFC East. Why is this the worst division in football? Because the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, and Patriots play in that division. You have three of the most terrible teams in the league and the greatest team who never won a championship. Also, as a sidenote...I feel that the Giants upset in the superbowl might have been the biggest win in professional sports history, so, doesn't that make the 2008 Super Bowl the BIGGEST LOSS IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS HISTORY? Jarvis...Green...please...god...tackle...him...ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Fuck.

Am I the only one who thinks that there is a good chance that Zach Thomas is going to wind up in a Patriots uniform ala Junior Seau? It seems to make sense to me...what better way to shore up an aging middle linebacking core than to bring in another aged superstar who wants a chance to win every game except the one that really counts? (If you've guessed that I have entered my "really bitter" phase, you are correct. I don't want to hear anyone tell me to "stay positive") I think Zach Thomas would be a great fit for the Patriots...in 1999. I know what you're thinking "Hey..he's got a really HUGE neck." And I'm not one to scoff at neck size but I just don't want to see the Patriots defense get any older right now. Although...maybe he could tackle Eli Manning...hmmm..

Geddy Lee of Rush...Looks like a Bird.

Switching gears, The other day I was cruising around Shelton, CT checking out severe flooding (yeah..seriously, there is nothing to do here) when I had one of those really amazing driving-around-listening-to-the-radio-moments where a string of unexpected songs comes on, and bang bang bang, one after another proceeds to rock your world, each more unexpected and surprisingly awesome than the one before. It all began, like many pointless stories do, with a Rush song..."Working Man". Now, I am not a fan of Rush. I have two memories of my life that involve Rush. The first is that lead singer Geddy Lee sang the Canadian National Anthem at the 1993 Allstar game, the year after the Blue Jays won their first world series. I remember this because I was a huge Blue Jays fan at the time and Geddy was often seated behind homeplate at the games. Second, I can vividly remember a day when my buddy Ladd and I went to the mall to check out girls and get free samples of "chicken" from Umi of Japan, one thing led to another and he ended up purchasing a Rush album: Retrospective Vol. II. We went back to my house and after listening to a few songs decided that the album sucked and that we really didn't like Rush at all. The next day I found the CD buried in my sock drawer...Ladd, in disgust, had attempted to hide his poor purchase from the rest of the world by burdening me with its possession. I still have the CD, although I have not listened to it since that day we went to the mall. For some reason, I started rocking out to it. In all honesty its got a pretty sick guitar riff, and having just worked a full day in the rain I could relate to its theme.

Having found myself rocking out to a Rush song (granted I was in the privacy of my own vehicle, and thus safe from the judgement of others) I really wasn't ready for what happened next...All you have to do is watch this video...note the cowbell:

Seriously watch that. Just a couple of things..yes this is the Gary Wright of "Dreamweaver" fame..Stratton, you know what I'm talking about. The overunder for grams of cocaine consumed prior to this performance has to be somewhere around 6 per person. You should also notice that Gary was obviously a man ahead of his time as he appears to be pioneering the "Keytar" by playing a keyboard slung around his neck. What a showman. This is probably the best example there is of a song that you can only like at a very random point in time...like driving around in Shelton, CT in the rain. I can't get this song out of my head...and its awesome.

At this point I am starting to think that I am on some kind of a roll here...that there is some strange god of rock hand picking selections for me to rock out to on this pointless drive around town...and he kept it coming. Next song he threw to me was a Joe Walsh tune "Turn to Stone", which is a jam I had not heard in years.


This is the only video I could find of the song...its a pretty good performance but not the radio cut obviously (I did not have to sit through a lengthy flute solo in my truck). Joe Walsh really fucking rocks though, and he shows excellent taste in headwear. His stuff with James Gang is also excellent. At this point I am just waiting for the streak to end...but it didn't:

Steve Earle I feel Alright



And Finally...The Rolling Stones Waiting on a Friend:


At this point I had to return to reality and fix myself a hearty meal of Chef Boyardee and Ramen Noodles, but needless to say my hunger for kick ass music had been satisfied. Sometimes these things just come together and they deserve to be recognized and appreciated. On another completely unrelated note...there is one particular stairway in this hotel that allways smells like chinese food...always. Keep on rockin.