Patriots!

GO PATRIOTS! SUCK IT PHILLY FANS! BOSTON GETS ONE MORE!

And: Kevin Eubanks is gonna get dunked in a tank full of BOSTON CLAM CHOWDA tommorow!

Boston is the kind of place that you just can't live in for four years without developing a little of the old Celtic Pride. Unless you had previous affilliations with NYC or LA or somesuch other overachieving city, then you can't help but be drawn into the country's greatest city for underdog sports teams - Beantown, baby. Sure, the Celtics were once an NBA dynasty, and the Pats are currently tearing it up in the NFL, but it's not like say NYC where people in Boston ever really EXPECT to win. Perhaps that's why there seems to be a certain detachment with the Patriots in Boston. They are just too efficient, too machine-like in their winning ways. It's almost like they belong in NYC or something (and they were almost in HARTFORD ...). In Boston we like a good fight. Even so, if celebrations are any indication, then there is still a lot of Pats appreciation in Beantown. Hell, at our BU graduation Pats coach Bill Bellichek received a standing ovation while the Archbishop of someplace or other (Albania I believe ...?) got mild applause, even though the latter saved like thousands of lives while Bill did nothing more than win a couple of Superbowl rings. But anyways, as I've talked about before, prior to going to BU I was kind of an unaffilliated sports fan. For my favorite sport, NBA basketball, I rooted for individual players I liked, such as my all time sports hero Charles Barkley (who is going to be on the Tonight Show next week!!!) and Reggie Miller (who's Pacers I am still hoping can win it all). I stopped really caring about hockey with the demise of the Hartford Whalers (As apparently did the rest of America). For baseball and football, I was pretty ambivalent. I came from an NYC-leaning family, as my mom's father grew up in New Haven and was a longtime Yankees fan, as was my Mom. But I was never one to like teams that were consistent winners. It is so easy and annoying for people to like such teams. You gotta root for the underdog sometimes. So it was that in Boston, where I lived just steps from historic Fenway Park, that I really became enveloped by Boston sports. You had to, living right at the epicenter of Red Sox Nation, where the theme songs were Boston favorites like "Dirty Water" by the Standels ("Oh BOSTON you're my home!") and (inexplicably) "Sweet Caroline" by Neal Diamond. There on Beacon Street we were surrounded who lived and breathed the Sox, and all other Boston sports kind of fed into that. Celebrating the Pats' Superbowl victories was almost more a celebration of Boston itself, with all it's inferiority complexes and eccentricities, than of the Pats' team specifically. How else to explain the dominating chants of "Yankees Suck" that rang out after the Patriots' wins, and at all other local athletic events? When the Sox lost out to the Yankees last year, you could feel a tangible sense of sadness all along Beacon Street and all across the entire city. The lifeblood had been drained out. That's why it must have been so great to be in Boston when the Sox finally won it all this year. I've never seen a city so united in a single cause. That's why you gotta love Boston sports. Going to a Redsox or even Celtics game in Boston just has that special, old-time feel. It's dirty, grungy. You won't find a lot of bells and whistles ... no scenic stadiums or fancy arenas. Just a lot of blue-collar, puritan work-ethic, a lot of tradition, a strong sense of identity, and a whole lot of pride.

That being said:

Yeah Patriots! Another win for NEW ENGLAND.

ANYWAYS:

So I watched the game at fellow New Englander in Hollywood Paul Lurie's place. It was some good times, and it was also his birthday so there was plenty of good food. One of his friends from the Late Late Show where he works made an outstanding Reeses Pieces cake that really fulfilled my chocolate-plus-peanut-butter fix. (I have long counted this combo as one of my faves).

Tommorow I forego working The Tonight Show, as I will instead be working for the first time on ELLEN. Should be interesting. I see the guest is Leah Remini who I just saw on Dennis Miller. Dammit, if I was working the show Tuesday it'd be Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls and Alex Trebek. And Friday is Avril. Oh well, I may get to meet her on Wednesday as she'll be on Leno and I'll be stationed backstage during music rehearsals (I think ...) so that could be cool. Should I make a T-shirt that says Sk8R Boy? Um, no, just kidding.

Oh, CAR UPDATE: Finally got my car back from the dealership and returned the rental car. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE ... they STILL have not done the touch-ups and cleaning for which I originally brought it in LAST TUESDAY. Whaaaaat? So this Tuesday I have to bring it in AGAIN for the day. I swear, if they don't have EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING done by the end of that day, I AM NOT going to be happy.

Also still have heard zilch from UPS regarding my broken PS2. I'm sure this will take like a year to take care of.

Oh well, all in all I guess I CAN'T COMPLAIN.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

- Maybe it was just because I was watching with alarge group of people (flashbacks to freshman year at BU), but I really enjoyed tonight's post-Superbowl SIMPSONS. Aside from just plain being funny, this was the most biting, effective satire that the show has done in a long, long while. The biblical stuff, making fun of Mel Gibson's Passion and those who either love it or are offended by it, was both very funny and incredibly spot-on. They really pulled no punches this week, mocking the NFL, Mel Gibson, conservatives, liberals, and a few well placed jabs at FOX. The sports celeb cameos were the best and funniest they've had in a long time as well. Michelle Kwan, Lebron James, and Yao Ming cracked me up with their one-liners. And hold the phone, they GAVE A NAME to COMIC BOOK GUY? Not sure how I feel about that, but this ep really had everything. Maybe it's just the high from the Pat's win talking, but I am going to call this a near-great episode and give it an A-. My favorite line was probably Homer's "Whoo-hoo!" after being offered a job as a football dance coach, then quickly asking: "But why?" Lot's of funny, well-timed jokes to choose from, which was in stark contrast to ...

AMERICAN DAD ... wow, that was American BAD. Now in terms of Family Guy, I fall into this category: I think it is a very funny show with a unique style, but to put it on the same level as classic Simpsons is ludicrous. But in terms of sheer off-the-wall, mile-a-minute funniness, seasons 1 and 2 of Family Guy were very funny and a lot of fun. The show did start to go downhill after a while, which was probably bad omen for this show from Seth McFarlane. Ouch, this was painful in places. It was way too derivative of Family Guy. Nerdy son? Check. Over-the-top Dad? Check. Wannabe cool, outcast daughter? Check? Weird characters that live with family? Check. But this show has no real identity of it's own. The political humor / satire that was supposed to set it apart fell extremely flat and was surprisingly tame. The other humor was a mix of gross-out gags and quick-cutaways that felt ripped off from Family Guy, but out of place here. The supposed standout characters - a talking alien and a German fish, were not all that funny and not really likable like Brian the dog and baby Stewie are on Family Guy. Who knows, maybe given lots of time (new eps don't come out till May) and some retooling this show can come back and bring the funny. I just hope the poor quality of this episode isn't a sign that the new Family Guy eps will follow a similar path. FOX really needs to learn which shows to give a push. Why are they previewing this show which won't really be ready until May, and not using the post-Superbowl slot to showcase forgotten gems like King of the Hill or Malcolm in the Middle?

- Nice game today in the NBA between Houston and LA. I am still in awe when I actually see ppl here ROOTING for the evil Lakers. Blasphemy! Although ABC's coverage of the NBA is pretty poor compared to NBC's formerly great coverage, the dueling, grumpy old men Bill Walton and Steve "Snapper" Jones were in top form today on ABC. Walton is just hilariously ridiculous in his bombastic assertions (the fans were totally wrong in their all-star voting, superbowl Sunday is America's greatest and most important holiday) and Steve Jones is equally amusing in how seriously he takes Walton and how eager he is to refute him. Oh, welcome back Hubie Brown to the world of NBA broadcasting. You may be long-winded, but you are damn entertaining and seem like a really nice guy.

Well, time for another week already. Should be eventful. Stay tuned.