THESE ARE MY OBSESSIONS...

New Fall Shows

I'm certainly not going to take the time to try and watch all the new shows and blog about them, but since I still get a thrill out of new television product, I might as well take the time to exercise my semi-creative writing skills and share a few thoughts about the ones that I do watch. If I REALLY like a show, I might write a whole post dedicated to that show's awesomeness, but for now a few quick blurbs should do the trick:

--COMMUNITY (NBC) - Full disclosure: I work for an NBC affiliate so I might have a vested interest in checking out more of the NBC shows. This year, that's not as much of a chore since it does seem that NBC is debuting the majority of the more well-received (or at least more interesting) shows. Community is one of these. It stars Joel McHale (The Soup) as a snarky, fast talking, pop culture obsessed "fake lawyer" who enrolls in a community college to try and earn credits towards an actual law degree. There he encounters an intentionally stereotypical kaleidoscope of fellow students who he somehow cons into forming a Spanish study group--all so he can try to get into the pants of a sharp-tongued blonde hottie played by Gillian Jacobs. The pilot set up a good premise and reveled in its pop culture/80's movies homages (Stripes, John Hughes films, etc.) The show won't make anybody forget Seinfeld or Friends, but it has promise, is willing to give regular roles to Chevy Chase (!) and Dr. Ken Jeong (the nutty gangster from The Hangover!!) and has a decent timeslot. All of which make the show worth checking out on a regular basis. (My early grade: B+)

--THE JAY LENO SHOW (NBC) Ha! See my previous post. But in a nutshell, here's what I think of Leno's "new" show: exactly like his old one except earlier and with more of those lame skits that Conan and Letterman usually do better.

Rockies Baseball

There's nothing quite like the thrill ride of a pennant race. For fans of the Colorado Rockies, of which I am one, it is a rare treat, something that in 17 seasons of baseball we've only legitimately been able to enjoy three times. However, I fear this season may be the first time we have hearts broken.

Sure, the Rox are still in front of the wildcard race (+2 1/2 games as of this writing) and within striking distance of the first place Dodgers (-5 games). But when I've watched them play over the last week and a half, I've seen several things that have given me pause and forced me to temper my optimism about the team's playoff hopes. The most troubling:

--The Rockies continue to lead the National League in strikeouts and they continue to kill potential rallies with swings
at pitches that may be out of the strike zone.
--The only two Rockies hitters that currently have hot bats (Troy Tulowitzki and Yorvit Torrealba, feel free to buy a vowel) have lifetime batting averages under .270. Meaning, they won't stay hot forever.
--Jason Marquis, the erstwhile All-Star starting pitcher, is disappearing before our eyes. Of course, this isn't surprising since he's historically been a stud before the All-Star break and a pure journeyman after it. Problem is, with San Francisco, Florida and Atlanta breathing down the Rockies necks, they can't afford to have one or two horrible starts each time through the rotation when they're already not hitting.
--The bullpen looks like it's starting to wear down. Huston Street can't come back soon enough...he should pitch a little on
Sunday and we'll see how he looks.
--Key Rockies are battling through injuries that are more debilitating than they appear, but they also can't afford to stay out of the lineup. Aaron Cook is out of the rotation, Street is out of the bullpen, Todd Helton and Dexter Fowler have very sore legs and both Ian Stewart and Troy Tulowitzki are one bad swing away from being out of commission with back injuries.
--Most damning of all, the look in the eyes of some of the players on the current road trip suggests the panic and the
overeagerness to live up to expectations that killed this team in 2008 and got Clint Hurdle fired at the beginning of 2009.
They need to learn to relax and focus on doing what them got from fourth place to the top of the wildcard chase in the first place.

It has been said that losing builds character. That's actually not true. Losing builds losing. But from the fan's perspective, losing a playoff spot after once having a 5 1/2 game lead with less than 25 games to play builds something else much more important.

High blood pressure.

Peace...