Introducing .giffy Lube

It's time to try something new here on The Fairweather Channel. There's plenty moments on TV out there you may just want (or don't want) to see over and over again. And thanks to the modern day concept of watching television on computers, you will be able to do just that.

If you haven't done so already, just follow me on Twitter and check out some of the interesting .giffable moments in your sports (and regular TV) viewing lives. Perhaps you don't do the Twitter thing or don't like to sift through plenty of babble, so I'll do you a favor and post some of the great .giffable moments here.

1. Bill Walton banging a drum on Grateful Dead Night

(Originally posted: http://twitpic.com/3y6d19)

Once reviled by many in the Sacramento Kings' tightly knit clique of fans, Bill Walton is starting to strike a soft spot with some. Looking back, the broadcasting crew of Tom Hammond, Steve Snapper Jones, and Bill Walton on NBC was some of the best sportscasting to the fringe sports viewer. If you want to get someone mildly interested in sports to watch a game, you don't bore them with copious amounts of statistics or shallow sports generalisms (that's what blogs and newspapers are for), you bring in the talking heads that can bring up interesting factoids about the other facets of the game.

Good job Maloofs on hiring Bill Walton, but no thanks on hiring Jim Gray. He can remain in the past and on Raiders Preseason Telecasts.

2. Spike Lee Bringing Wild Wild West To LA

(Posted at http://twitpic.com/4228kz)

I don't remember being so bored with an NBA All Star Game since maybe the last one. But at least you can trust Los Angeles to be gracious hosts and invite local acts like Josh Groban to sing the American National Anthem. They also had the courtesy to not invite local acts like the Black Eyed Peas to perform at halftime. I think plenty of Americans are still mad at the Super Bowl organizers in Arlington over that.

Anyway, Spike Lee knows how to dress for a good time. Hope you enjoy Carmelo there in New York, Denver enjoyed his antics too, very much so.

3. Dwight Howard: The Human GIF Machine

http://twitpic.com/4225om

I can't say I've heard anyone calling Dwight "chocolate shoulders" before, except maybe Dwight Howard himself. But when you're doing the things you do as Dwight Howard, I expect you to create your own nicknames for yourself. Once Howard becomes an aging commodity the likes of Chris Webber, I hope to see him entertaining the masses on a color commentary or intermission report near myself.

(Boom! I had to post this here, http://yfrog.com/hsh40g, totally exceeded my TwitPic limits)

I haven't had a Gatorade beverage since maybe 2007, and I'm not missing any of the electrolytes I could be regaining with it. That does not mean I cannot enjoy any of the fine advertisements for free. Dwight Howard really is just an animated character who plays basketball, like Doug Funnie.

4. Kissing Cousins

(http://twitpic.com/3ur43a)

Demarcus Cousins has been a lot of things this rookie year. If I were to put his antics to one word (and if you know me well you know what I'd say) it'd be "silly". He's the brooding star the Sacramento Kings were expecting him to be one night, another night he's Jamarcus Russell with a stronger work ethic and destructive tendencies. Either way I like where the Sacramento Kings are going with their young core of players. I cannot say I like where the Kings may be going physically (and spiritually), but the franchise should be entertaining to watch regardless where they may be someday.

5. Caroline Wozniacki Solid Effort

(http://twitpic.com/3t763t)

I'm going to be honest, I did not know who Caroline Wozniacki was until the 2011 Australian Open. If you ask me who ended up winning the singles, I did not pay that much attention to that detail. But thanks to the big events such as the Aussie Open, fringe sports guys like me can watch and get a good feel for who these up and coming greats are on an international stage. Also, thank you slow motion.

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Hope these moving pictures moved you to enjoy the Fringe Side of Sports...

It's (Not So) Hard To Say Goodbye to Arco Arena

When I found out from the Sacramento Kings were going to remove the letters from Arco
Arena's facade, I had to drop by and check it out.

I also managed to get some tickets to WWE Smackdown coming to Arco Arena 2/22. The product these days may be for the kids, but whenever the promotion comes to your town, you have to stop by and pay tribute to the greatness it once had. There were actually a few people in the parking lot walking toward the box office to buy tickets to Arco's Non-Basketball events, i.e. Disney on Ice.

Thanks to Sacramento's Cake for the song Arco Arena. Has any other building had a local band of high caliber create a song for it?



Something to think about, FairWeather Federation.


Hopefully better things will come when people drive through these welcoming columns at the Power Balance Sports Complex.




See more things over at the Davis Sports Deli...

What You Could Have Watched During Super Bowl XLV

Welcome back again to the The Fairweather Channel. Congratulations are in order to The Green Bay Packers who once again proved that you don't need a quarterback who's unafraid to make racy texts to win a Super Bowl in the NFL's modern era. Aaron Rodgers posing with another California guy and a World Heavyweight Championship Belt. I bet he was a WCW guy back in the day.

At the time of writing this, I don't know the overnight ratings of the Super Bowl available most of Sunday on FOX, but you can probably be sure it will be in the range of plenty of people watched. In case you were wondering (you probably weren't and wasted off your wagon), I took a look at my DirecTV guide while watching the game and here's some interesting things you could have watched instead. Each show somehow reminded me of the game sports people care about.

(Note: my local TV stations could have decided to air something completely different from your neck of the woods.)


News10 (ABC Sacramento)
4pm - Storm Stories
A show originally syndicated on The Weather Channel somehow airing locally talks to survivors who lived through some of nature's worst disasters.

You know what's a real storm to live through? The influx of Steelers fans in Northern California since the turn of the Millennium.

KVIE 6 (PBS Sacramento)
4:30PM - Road Trip Huell Houser: California's Northwest Corner
Not much is known about extreme Northern California. Everyone assumes it ends right around Sacramento and the Bay Area, which in reality is near the center of the entire state.

If you can tolerate the serious levels of camp Huell Houser produces on this publicly funded show, this is a great way to escape the rigors of watching the Super Bowl.

ESPN2
4-6PM WPBA Tour Championship, Niagara Falls, NY
If you're into the fringe sports like I am from time to time, ESPN2 is your place. Without tuning into this I thought it was about bowling, later when I actually searched it did I find out it was Women's Professional Billiards. Sure it was a rerun, but leave it to ESPN2 to give it airtime on Super Bowl Sunday. Super Bowl? Super Pool.

The Golf Channel
The Haney Project: Rush Limbaugh Marathon
People can choose to hate on Rushbo all they want, but the man makes money selling books and entertaining the masses. Isn't that what America is all about? Keith Olbermann was in this similar vein too, but he just became too serious with his politics that he was the rallying cry of the left and MSNBC (or was he?).

If you really hate the NFL, Super Bowl, and wanted a good laugh or two, you should have watched Rush Limbaugh try a more conventional golf swing. (Unlike that Charles Barkley guy...)

FX
Kung Fu Panda
For a network with raunchy night programming, it surprises me with a family friendly selection at the heart of Super Bowl Sunday.

By the way, I hear Pablo Sandoval lost some weight?

The antics of the San Francisco Giants next year will just be as fun to keep track of compared to their 2010 World Series title defense. At least it won't be all Yankees, all Red Sox, all the time...

E! Network Television
Sex in the City Marathon
I suppose there's no such thing as too much Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. Unless it's a marathon on the E! Network.

I don't recommend putting your TV on any of that during the Super Bowl, you'd probably lose your man card.



Animal Planet
Puppy Bowl VII
There were puppies on a small synthetic field that probably felt a lot better to the touch than Jerry Jones' playhouse.

If you were lucky enough to control the remote during the game at any point, you could have seen those sons of bitches duke it out.
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I guess there just isn't much else to watch instead of the Super Bowl. Unless I physically couldn't be near a TV on this day, I'm just doomed to watch the big game regardless of the teams lacing up the shoes and pads.


Just remember, any more of these and I think people will just be turned off to the idea of watching halftime shows involving the Super Bowl.

NFL Conference Championship Sports Bumper Stickers

This week on the FairWeather Channel is going to be dark. Dark in a sense that since I started to work the graveyard shift, I have a new appreciation for the night. Sure when you're not getting paid to stay up and you're just bored, you can sleep. But there's something electrifying about getting paid to stay up overnight and see other people doing the same and not getting paid.

I'm really just saying, when you're having trouble falling asleep at night, work.

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1.

Let's be honest, you probably know a Steelers fan somewhere in your day-to-day life, they are everywhere. It's like gonorrhea, you know it's out there on someone you know, but you just ignore it and hope it goes away. Something about the most overall Super Bowl Championships, recent successes and their over-saturation with the mainstream media will catch on to anyone in the FairWeather Forecasting business.

Don't buy heavily into the hype that Steeler "Nation" travels well, it's a fair assumption people everywhere just want to get in on a good cause. At least this week's game featured a moment for everyone to forget what kind of a man Big Ben Roethlisberger is off the field. Thank you Illinois' Rashard Mendenhall. Juice Williams would be so so proud of you.


2.

If Big New York Media wants an edgy headline, they could go with "Jets Crash And Burn in Western PA (Heinz) Field" headline. But glad to see they've taken the high road, unlike some people around here... Actually I haven't been paying attention much to Big New York Media (except maybe juicy Bloomberg TV), but it seems like a road taken by guys like the New York Post.

It was a good season still New York Jets. Plenty of hope from defensive acquisitions, Braylon Edwards was a fun gamble mid-season and LaDainian Tomlinson made some very angry San Diego people, very angrier. The country sure had some jokes about this mega team, and early enough in the AFC Championship Game, many were disappointed the jokes were about to stop.

That is until the Jets came up a little short to stuff it back into the funny faces of Pittsburgh. Oh well says this FairWeather Guy, there's always next year to wear construction hardhats and look cool in Northern New Jersey.

3.

The Packers have been something these past few weeks. Despite all the great talk about Brett Favre going away (maybe), Aaron Rodgers doing something he should have been doing much sooner, and James Starks being the more relevant Starks since John, this is a team America can really get behind.

I must say though Chicago Deep-Dish is really the money pizza. Why spend a dollar more on a flatter pizza?

So get ready America to spread those happy cheeks and welcome in all the feel good cheese these jolly Green Bay guys can Pack.

4.

The Bears should have been what they thought they were, winners. They proved it all the way through to the NFC Championship game somehow and it was on that stage where the reality settled in.

Jay Cutler wasn't who Chicago thought he was and the Bears road to the NFC Championship Game was paved with TOMATO CANS.
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Now I do what I normally do in the lull between Conference Championship Weekend and Super Bowl Sunday, hibernate like a Bear and take to the sky like a Jet.

See you next week when I talk about Arena Sports.

Sports Bumper Stickers: MLKJr Day/NFL Playoffs Edition

Warm MLK Jr Day sentiments to you and yours and a very happy Third Monday of January to you Arizona. As you can see this weekend is all about getting into the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr Day around the country, especially in Los Angeles where that MLKJr Day cheer is spreading well. I especially like Blake Griffin's "can't we all just get along face?" in the middle of it.

The NBA sure has quite a ways to go if they want to spread an image of itself as being a civilized man's game (if you can't tell already, I'm just installing some of the canned outrage people are supposed to feel about these things). But that is not the reason why you're tuning into The FairWeather Channel on this of all special days.

It was another great installment of NFL Playoffs action. Unfortunately I missed most of it working, but I was able to get good looks at the finish of Ravens Steelers and the majority of Falcons Packers. And on Sunday I was around a TV for the end of Jets Patriots.

Safe to say, if you didn't watch much football this weekend, there wasn't much to see. And now some visual aids to take a closer look at these games:

1.

Baltimore had this game from the start, everything was all hunky dory up until halftime. But as any FairWeather observer would tell you, bad things happen when the sun goes down for Baltimore. Turnover city reduced the Ravens' 21-7 lead and its vicegrip control over the crowd crumbling like a tourist eating a Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab.

Ray Lewis' heads will have to wait another year to bring Baltimore back to the promised land.

2.
(This is a Moving Picture, Click on It To See It Move)

Birds just can't catch a break these days. First the Ravens forgot how to close a game, and now the Seattle Seahawks were just too little too late at the end in the Windy City. If they only held on, they could have been 7-9 hosts of the NFC Championship game, instead of this apparent lovefest going on in the Midwest(see below). Ultimately, at this stage of the playoffs, only the best survive and the Seahawks just weren't the best.

At least they'll be the favorites of the NFC West next year, maybe.

3.

What is going on here? Basically just two teams that caught strides at the end of the season and it continues to roll. The sad news for people living on the coasts, they're just going to have to deal with whatever cheese people in Wisconsin or Chicago deep-dishes out the rest of the way.

I bet those of you living on the coasts (the east one especially) are hoping the Jets or Steelers crush this Middle America Rebellion. Personally, I love the midwest, it deserves all the love it can get. Because for whatever reason plenty of people around me don't like the Midwest, they would never live there, it's too cold, or many other FairWeather reasons. Having visited the region many times, I have to say the people are pretty warm, jolly, and equally curious about my bi-coastal self.

Throughout the season, the headlines out of the NFC North had something to do with Brett Favre, Domes, and the not-so-terribleness of the Detroit Lions.

Not anymore. One of those teams is going to the Super Bowl.

4.

Bill Belichick has done plenty of funny things in his coaching career. Of course in the past he's had the help of that pretty CA golden boy Tom Brady, the wily antics of Willie McGinest and Tedy Bruschi, "The Tuck Rule", and plenty of viable weapons to receive passes.

Ever since the acquisition of Randy Moss, the Patriots haven't been their championship winning selves. They're still contenders by any means of your imagination. I thought they would roll on the Jets. But alas, it just was not meant to be yesterday. Were the Pats just rusty? Unprepared? At least unlike other #1 seeded conference counterparts, they didn't get blasted away at home. Those cannons were used somewhat on that day. (They still have canons at Foxboro right?)

Everyone will hate on the Hoodie for his strange methods, but let's not forget one thing. He's still "S-O H-Double O-D" Hood.

5.

The puns in the message are clear. The Jets are a fearsome bunch that anyone with an NFL Media Credential wants you believe. NCAA Sanctions against USC of today or not, Mark Sanchez of USC yesteryear is here to rub your nose in everything that is great about the ultimate goal (making money) of college football, playing/coach in the NFL.

If their excessiveness and in-your-face perverse presence has not been felt in your sports atmosphere, it should be now. And it's only fair that a team that provides witty banter and jokes survives for many deserves to play another day.

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Keep it tuned to The FairWeather Channel for another exciting week of things I'm still mildly interested in paying attention to.

Sports Bumper Stickers: NFL Wild Card Weekend Edition

Another exciting weekend of NFL Wild Card action in the books. And I must say at the start, it started with a bang, and ended on a whimper for this FairWeather guy.

Watching the games gave me an idea to continue the run of the very popular Sports Related Bumper Stickers. I didn't make any of the Ravens - Chiefs game because I was just not feeling it anymore when I tuned into it after the half. But strong defense not allowing Matt Cassel to throw it to anyone saved the day as expected for the Ravens.

Here are a couple of bumper stickers from the playoff weekend in no particular order of superiority or inferiority.

1.

Not exactly the finish many in the land of the Eagles were hoping for. Michael Vick though still showed the NFL, anyone who watches it, and anyone who likes dogs that he can indeed still play football. Maybe the receivers could have done a better job catching balls (Avant, Celek, Jackson),David Akers could have connected on those field goals, although this year hasn't been so great, or maybe the defense should have stepped up after a year of ups and downs. Either way, it's another year of questions and what could have beens in Philadelphia. I do miss Jim Johnson running the Eagles' defense.

On the bright side in Philadelphia, the Flyers at the moment are in first place, and the Phillies were able to bring back that Cliff Lee guy. There's always something to be hopeful for in that town, whereas other towns still have each other for comfort and warmth (Kansas City).

Did you hear Joe Buck also get a jab in on how the refs could miss Andy Reid running on the sidelines? It's one thing if anyone else takes a jab at Andy Reid's weight in printed forum of anonymous interwebs, but it's another to be making those shots where everyone will hear it...

2.

Kudos to the Green Bay Packers for living up to expectations and hang on at the seams at game's end. California's Aaron Rodgers have given the cheeseheads plenty of time to forget what's-his-name, and soon the moratorium on ESPN will be over.

They'll have to contend with those dirty birds and the Fairweather Flunkies will have to ask, are the Packers dirty enough?

3.

Plenty of people will write this story as, "Nobody gave the Seahawks a chance", but everyone that doesn't write (or even read) will say they had the Seahawks winning at home with the 12th man against the New Orleans Saints. Yes Seattle is terrible. Yes the NFC West sucks Wang Chung. And again to pull out from my book of clichés, the postseason is another kind of animal where anyone is capable of winning. The MLB, NFL, and NHL are fairly apparent examples of this. And it's a reason why the NBA playoffs aren't as fun to some of the sports "purists".

4.

There was a time when the Saints were that team everybody loved. Hurricane Katrina hammered New Orleans worse than any of those wrinkly, middle-aged blondes of yesteryear. Then they won the Super Bowl on the backs of Drew Brees and Sean Payton, thanks a lot San Diego, oh and Hank Baskett. Now a team with a Super Bowl victory, America feels compelled to root against them like a team that never wins on the road.

I bet plenty in Who Dat? Nation wondering where did the love go and how are there all of a sudden Seahawks fans. Take a good look at those people, like Christine O'Donnell, they're you.

On the bright side, Mardi Gras is coming and I'd like to get some of those cougar numbers please. I got some Fresh Choice and Olive Garden coupons with your names on them baby.

5.

So Rex Ryan's wife may have made a few foot fetish videos or two. It's no real big deal in Puritanical or Church of Latter Day levels. I don't think it is widely accepted in Islamic circles, but give it time, I believe it will grow on them. You could probably argue an empowerment or exploitation angle of women in these types of videos, but how degrading is it? People are into some strange things, or things you or I find strange. I wonder if there's a Al Bundy fanfiction on the subject of women's shoe salesman.

In the end the Jets pull out of Indy with a win, putting Peyton Manning (see below) out of the collective misery of NFL viewers. There's always the ads if you really want your fix of Manning's Face.

6.

Not to cheaply borrow from the NBA, although the expression can successfully be used for full comedic effect here. If I had any substantial amount of money, I'd put this on billboards around Indianapolis come every January. In the meantime though, who wouldn't want this on the back of their car?

Pretty good pitchman and regular season guy to have on your team though.

Sports Bumper Stickers

The bumper sticker, a nice little quib about current events for anyone to put on the back of their station wagon or Trapper Keeper. Throughout the years, has evolved from a simple inspirational message to something much more, a way to better identify the type of person driving.

I usually stay away from drivers with them, but if you like reading the messages, then you're going to love these Fairweather quibs about things related to sports teams.

1.

Michael Vick, quarterback of Philadelphia's Eagles, people love to hate him for heading a dog fighting ring in the good ole South. Others love to defend him, saying he's paid his debt to society for his wrongdoings, spent a little time in pounding assery federal prison (a little longer than Sacramento's own Donte Stallworth in a county jail for a little drunken driving).

Meanwhile the sports media will continue to praise the man's efforts on the football field, as they should, because does anyone tuning into sports coverage want to hear anything apart from highlights and top-notch talking head analysis? (The answer is always no)

Feel free to hate the man, but for someone to bounce back, lose $$$ from initial success and return in contention, and everyone moving on is what sports is all about.

2.

There was a time when Mike Singletary felt like the answer for many in 49er World. Things were looking up, they got rid of Mike Nolan and Mike Nolan's suits, Alex Smith was looking like the franchise quarterback the Niners wanted him to be, and people kept on buying those tickets.

Then Singletary did some strange things, even for a samurai. Glen Coffee decided to take his beans elsewhere, there were experiments with Shaun Hill, David Carr was thrown in there, Nate Davis somehow became the man to some people, and Troy Smith shared some quality time with Mike.

I wonder what lies ahead now for the fleeting greatness of the Red and Gold?

3.

Many laughed when Al Davis made the pick of Polish kicker Sebastian Janikowski from Florida State with the 17th pick in the 1st round. But if you really think about it, football begins and ends with the kicker. Starts the game, and ends the game on offense with an extra point. Granted he hasn't been as clutch in the 2010-2011 season, but he's been a lot better than the other kickers playing musical chairs in the NFL.

Bottom line, Seabass puts the "foot" in and on the "football".

4.

Tim Tebow is something. It's what the great minds at ESPN want you think, there was a Tim Tebow watch for all things Tim Tebow related around the time of the 2010 NFL Draft and the Denver Broncos decided to take a gamble on this guy, in the first round.

They say people eagerly await the day Jesus returns. But Tim Tebow is already here. Just saying.

5.

Not too long after the Kings have put the Webber-Divac-Bibby years behind was there anything else to get them some national attention.

Then head coach Eric Musselman, Mario Elie, Tyreke Evans, and Antoine Wright, gave everyone a reason to print something about the Sacramento Kings in their media landscapes.

The lesson here is pretty simple, if you're going to drive like a moron, do it in California.

6.


Things were looking pretty peachy with the Sacramento Kings before the end of a game with the Warriors. Then a couple of things happened, fouling 3 pt shooters, failing to rebound, not looking like a team that beats the Warriors, and an open Vladamir Radmanovic 3 pointer later had the game in overtime and the rest is history.

Demarcus Cousins is one of those guys whose reputation proceeds him. If he wants to be taken seriously, he should probably act like someone who's been there. Until then remember this: he's young; he's immature; he'll learn, or so I'd hope.
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If you like any of these great Fairweather Channel bumper stickers, let me know, maybe I will eventually make a business of this someday.