Or don't blame it on the rain...

[UPDATE] The remainder of Game Five will be played tomorrow, Wednesday, beginning at 8:37 p.m.

NOTE: This is a special-guest feature from my friend, Dave, who is the biggest Philadelphia sports fan I know. As an anti-Philadelphia sports fan myself, I obviously did not plan to write a sympathetic post in opposition of the events of last night's World Series Game Five, but I know that the suspension is drawing huge criticism and who better to air the grievances than a tortured Philadelphia sports soul?

The stage was set last night. It was supposed to be the night that the so-called curse was lifted, and Philadelphia had a sports championship to celebrate.

God had other plans.

We all know what happened: Delayed after 5 ½ innings; play will resume when "weather conditions permit." [see the logistics surrounding the suspension, below]

No one can be blamed for what happened with the weather. If it’s going to rain, it’s going to rain. Nothing can be done; however, the way it was handled was perhaps the biggest disgrace that Commissioner Bud Selig has ever been apart of. And if you’re a baseball fan, you know there were many--including but not limited to the tie at the all star game in 2002, and the continuous blind eye to blatant use of performance-enhancing drugs.

What the casual fan may not have seen last night was Selig’s post-game press conference, which was an absolute joke. It was an obvious attempt to deflect blame off of himself. You can go back and read the transcript yourself, but he essentially blames the groundskeeper, and then the weatherman at the stadium for letting it get out of hand.

The real problem, however, may not even be Bud Selig; it is rooted in the fact that these games don’t start until about 8:45 pm. There is no reason that these games can’t start at 7:30 or 8:00 on the dot. Major League Baseball wonders why kids aren’t as interested in baseball as they used to be. Perhaps it’s because they’ve never been allowed, or physically able to stay up until 1 am to see a team experience the joy of winning a World Series.

Nevertheless, the city of Philadelphia deserves better. The wait is now on and the worst part is, the fans of this city don’t even have a clue as to when the final 3 ½ innings of this game are going to be played. The anticipation is intense.

Look at it this way Philadelphia: The wait has been 23 years, 6 months, 28 days since the 76ers completed the sweep of the L.A. Lakers in the 1983 NBA finals. What’s one (or two) more days?

And hey, it could be worse: Game Four of the 1911 World Series between the Giants and the Athletics in Philadelphia was postponed for six days due to rain.

RELATED LINKS
Blame it on the rain
Taco, taco, taco!
World Series set to go
Boston wins World Snoozefest
Speedy Gonzalez
Yo quiero free taco

Dessert in a can = no no

I know I've written about the genius of Dr. Pepper's viral marketing campaign, but I finally got my hands on some Cherry Chocolate Dr. Pepper, and yeah, not so good.

I wasn't expecting much, so the first sip was, "Oh, hey, this isn't so bad. It really actually tastes like chocolate covered cherries." But by the second sip, my thoughts were more like, "Okay, this gets really old, really fast." And also, don't let it go flat. It gets even worse.

They offer a $1.00-off coupon on your next purchase, but even an $0.39 beverage that tastes that bad couldn't rope a bargain shopper like me in.

Sorry to say, but I'm thinking this beverage is going to follow the same broken road as good ole' Pepsi Kona, R.I.P. 1996.

RELATED LINKS
Dessert in a can
Chocolate's 'Reign' over marketing

Thanks, TJS!

My own Consumerist story

My boyfriend and I recently had dinner at a Bennigan's restaurant, which is never really high on the list of dining destinations, but we wanted a change.

On the way in, we saw a sign for the Triple Dare dessert, which features some combination of fried Twinkies and brownies and vanilla ice cream; the tagline on the sign said was something to the effect of punching the Surgeon General in the face [click here for photo and description]. Still, we decided to save room for this artery-clogging confection.

Now, in an effort to eat on the relatively 'lighter' side, I opted for a cup of soup and half a sandwich. "Oh, half a Monte Cristo? Sure, that looks pretty good," I said as I looked at the picture featured on the menu. Yeah, it says it's lightly fried, but I'm looking at the photo (below) and thinking, "Oh, okay, crispy bread."
But what appeared on my plate was the most abhorrent thing I'd ever seen.

The picture to the left is not mine, but boy do I wish I had a camera that day, because even this does not do it justice. When I say the server brought me two triangular lunch meat-filled donuts, that's an understatement. I could barely even pick up the sandwich because its greasy inch-thick fried covering was slipping out of my hands. I understand those pictures on the menu are just a "suggestion" of what you are to be served, but that picture was a boldfaced lie!

When I returned home, I did some research on the sandwich and found that I am in the vast minority of American's who tried the sandwich I now affectionately refer to as coronary on a plate. Nearly everyone in this country freaking loves this sandwich! I couldn't believe it. I felt I needed to expose it for all its dietary detriment.

Anyway, back at the restaurant, I ate about five bites of the sandwich and held off for the Triple Dare, which yes, was much more disgusting than the Monte Cristo, but at least they weren't trying to cover up its fried, chocolatey, Twinkie goodness.

Feeling absolutely awful, I went home and wrote to Bennigan's. I told them the drinks we ordered were phenomenal, and our server was quite pleasant...but that their irresponsibility in menu artwork left me considering a post-meal run around the block to try and "reverse my fortune" of dining at Bennigan's.

The story does not end there, though, because had Bennigan's not written me back, I would have posted this story anyway, encouraging all readers to boycott the restaurant.

Instead, this weekend I received a friendly letter from the corporation, saying they valued me as a customer and would bring up my concerns with management. And while that could be standard protocol for the company, I appreciated the response and the $10 gift card to give them another shot.

So the moral of the story is: If you want to die an early death, order the Monte Cristo sandwich at Bennigan's. And if not, go there anyway - they appreciate their customers. And their drinks (alcoholic and non-) are fan-freaking-tastic.

Get me a Sammie

Earlier today, I read an article about Quiznos' plan to reinvent itself and drive sales through online ordering, new locations, delivery and a new menu item called the "Sammie."

Being a recently displaced Quiznos enthusiast, I did not argue when my boyfriend offered up the sandwich shop as a lunch destination this afternoon, and of course, we wanted to try out the 200- to 300-calorie concoction of meats and greens folded into flatbread.

I'm not looking for a Quiznos employee to stumble upon this blog and offer me up some free Sammies for the free publicity (though that'd be awesome), but I'm telling you - go get one of these things.

...actually, get more than one. They are an incredibly delicious and light meal for only $2, and Quiznos offers a $5.99 meal that includes two Sammies, a fountain drink and side - good deal. There are currently six varieties of Sammies and the flatbread itself is just phenomenal. Totally going to put up some competition for the crappy KFC Snacker and the McDonalds Snack Wrap.

To read more about the Quiznos reinvention, click here.

Quiznos has also adopted a new slogan: Mmm, Quiznos. Love what you eat. And today, I certainly did.

But there will always be a place in my heart for the old Quiznos singing rats commercials of 2003.

Capital punishment is kaput

*Apologies for the lack of updating. I know I don't usually delve into the personal here, so I'll just leave it at sickness, work and the holidays are taking their toll on my brain. Thanks for still visiting!

Today, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed legislation banning the death penalty in the Garden State. Eight men, formally sitting on death row, will now instead spend life in prison without parole.

Included in those criminals is Jesse Timmendequas, the convicted sex offender who raped and murdered 7-year-old Megan Kanka more than 10 years ago. That case lead to "Megan's Law," which requires neighbors to be alerted when a sex offender moves into the neighborhood.

Tell me this is not one of the scariest guys you've ever seen.

New Jersey becomes first state to ban capital punishment since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976, and the 14th to not use it altogether.

Touchy subject, but I'm still torn on the death penalty. My co-workers today were debating and it came down to a desire for vengeance versus the (sometimes small) possibility that that convicted person could be innocent and put to wrongly put to death.

Thoughts anyone? Or are we only prone to comment on less weighty issues? Which is perfectly fine, because I'm sure another innocuous post will soon be on its way, heh.

Humdrum Hills "finale"

WARNING: SPOILERS

Dry your mascara-laden eyes, Hills fans. Despite the "finale" episode last night, the season is not over!

Yes, if you missed last night's special aftershow you missed nothing but MTV compensating for the writer's strike and extending its most popular reality show's third season, beginning "in the first quarter" of 2008.

Lauren announced that viewers would "get to see our whole trip to Paris, and everything that follows afterwards." But based on last night's "last hurrah," I'm thinking these episodes are gonna be a snoozefest. Let's recap:

Heidi and Spencer went their separate ways, but we're not actually sure if they broke up...?

Whitney is asked to again join the skeleton-like Lisa Love in Paris and Lauren is sad. Whitney accidentally asks Lauren what Paris is like this time of year (duhhh) and Lauren is sad again. Then, to the shock of viewers across the nation (note sarcasm, please), Lauren is invited on the trip and she shares her Cheshire-cat like smile with us all.

But wait! What about Brody? Will Lauren again be forced to choose between some pretty boy who is likely banging every other blond girl in LA and the je ne sais qua of Pari?

Actually, it doesn't matter, because she's going for like, four days and she and Brody aren't even dating. YAWN.

There was a lot of self-recollection time while the cast drove in their fancy schmancy cars and half of them got on airplanes. My favorite part was of it all was Audrina, sitting alone in the apartment doing nothing while everyone else is going through some life-changing experience.

Overall, this finale was super lame and the only thing more pathetic than it was the slopfest that followed on the aftershow. I don't think MTV could have picked two more annoying and incompetent hosts. They got no information out of the show's "stars" and they were practically drooling all over the place.

I know this is a paltry recap effort, but please, let me direct you to a fantastic analysis of last night's episode. It's so wonderful, I must give it props.

Thrills in The Hills? I should write for this show...

Now I don't usually do a weekly update of The Hills (mostly because I usually catch a rerun over the weekend), but tonight's episode left me with a lot of interrogative thoughts:

• Why does Spencer want to marry a girl who kind of looks like his sister (Stephanie, right)? Then again, he and his sister looks creepily similar...are Heidi (left) and Specer related? Ooh--that could make a nice scripted twist for next season!

• Why are Heidi and Spencer 21-going on-35? "Don't you dare lea--if you leave, don't come back! SPENCER!" Please...You guys are young and (somewhat) attractive living in Los Angeles! You should be chugging Grey Goose and waking up with some strangers' overly priced designer clothes on!

• Did Brody get some extremely bad haircut just prior to the filming of this episode? Not only did we see him more in this episode than any other this season (now that Lauren decides to fall for him), but his backward black cap was doing nothing but making his head look ungodly square...but I guess that's fitting for his character, eh?

• And finally...now that next week's episode is the season finale, is The Hills production team praying for the end of the writers strike? I mean...how will they create such a horrendous, but terribly addicting script if the strike doesn't end? At least we have a nice rehashing of footage this Sunday during Lauren Looks Back: a 2-hour movie event.

"Walgreens: The pharmacy America trusts"...but probably not for long

Though I love highlighting asinine lawsuits, this one is a bit more serious and extremely tragic. A Missouri woman and her husband are suing Walgreens after the woman's pharmacist allegedly gave her an incorrect prescription and she suffered a miscarriage. She filled a prescription for prenatal vitamins, but instead received a similarly named medicine used to treat Hodgkin's disease, a drug designed to inhibit the growth and reproduction of cells.


My initial reaction was to blame the pharmacist for carelessly filling "Matulane" instead of "Materna." But it may not be the pharmacist's fault if the doctor's handwriting was chickenscratch--as they so often are--and the name was illegible. Still, is that even a legitimate excuse if pharmacists are supposed to be exact in their procedure? And shouldn't some blame fall on the woman for not reading the drug information that comes with any prescription and recommends that you read before use?

A Walgreens spokeswoman said the situation is being reviewed and they are sorry the miscarriage happened, but no blame has been taken at this time.

I know no amount of money can make up for losing a child, and his woman did act somewhat irresonsibly in not reading the label and usage info, but I still think the majority of the blame rests on the pharmacist.

And if that's the way the court rules, someone is S.O.L for ever finding work ever again.

Babies trying to not have babies

I know I sound old, kids these days never cease to amaze me. A middle school in Maine has been authorized to administer birth control pills through its student health center. Students need their parent's permission to visit the center, but records are not shared with parents. There reportedly were 17 pregnancies amongst middle schoolers in the last four years in Portland's middle schools. That is absurd. Maybe I was just a goody-goody when I was 11, but I don't even think I knew what sex was!

Feel free to disagree, but in my opinion, this is just encouraging them that sex at that age is okay. And it's not.