Pardon The Irrelevancy

So I've been watching Pardon The Interruption for a while now. I've seen it off and on for some time, but started Tivoing it a few months ago. It's not rocket science, but generally I've enjoyed it.

But I've grown annoyed. As Wilbon and Kornheiser have taken their vacations, they've been let down by their subs, particularly the grating and uninteresting Mariotti. (I could forgive a lot, if I could hear just one insightful comment a day. No such luck.) Maybe the honeymoon is over, but today's show just set me off.

Bottom line: they didn't bother to talk about sports. AT. ALL. Here's the rundown, segment by segment.

1. Larry Brown: Is he leaving? What's the politics behind the change?
   
2. Miami Heat: Is Pat Reily going to fire Stan Van Gundy? What's the politics behind the move?
   
3. Kenny Rogers: He gave a mean look to a cameraman today.
   
4. Washington Nationals: The GM says they can win the World Series.
   
5. Tennis: They're trying to market their game and players.
   
6. Flip Flops: Is it OK to wear them at the White House?
   
7. (5 Good Minutes) Red Sox: Is Francona's job in danger? Are they choking?
   
8. Toss Up:
   
   
   • Who's a better athlete: Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong?
     
   • Who's more marketable: Danica Patrick or Michele Wie?
     
   • Who's a better chance for the NL Cy Young award: Carpenter or Clemens?
     
   • Who's lost more status: Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire?
     
   • Are Mike Tyson's career prospects better as a porn star or a fighter?
   
   
9. The "happys":
   
   
   • Rick Ankiel (pitcher turned hitter)
     
   • Nick Faldo (golfer turned analyst)
     
   • Shareef Abdur-Rahim (going to the Nets)
   
   
10. Errors & Big Finish
    

So that's it. There is almost ZERO acutal discussion of, you know, people playing sports. I grant them the Ankiel discussion (will he succeed in the field), and the Abdur-Rahim move (how does this help the Nets), and maybe even the Cy Young discussion (who's a better pitcher, right now) and the Woods/Armstrong discussion (talks about the mechanics of the two sports). That amounts to 90 seconds out of a half-hour show. So 5% of the show actually talks about sports; 95% of the show is about marketing, personalities, and who said what.

Boring.

Of course, nobody thinks anything of this, because sports coverage has been confused with sports gossip for so long that it's not even recognized any more. So talking about Larry Brown and his job status, and the politics behind it, is confused for actual coverage of the sport of basketball. Wrong on two levels. First, nothing has actually happened; we don't even know if Brown is leaving or not yet. So it's all speculation. Second, it's all about "distraction" and contract status and personality conflicts. Don't confuse it with actual basketball.

I don't mind some of their digressions; in fact, they can be amusing. And speculating about offseason moves or arguing about who should be in the Hall of Fame is a time-honored tradition. But try to get to the point SOMETIME, OK? Here are some hints:

• Why are the Yankees winning and the Red Sox losing? Hint: I don't know the answer but it has to do with how they're playing the game, not about their mental state.
  
• What do the Nationals have to do to win the World Series? Hint: It has to do with how they win games. I believe that involves scoring runs and preventing the other guys from scoring runs.
  
• What makes Danica Patrick or Michele Wie good (or bad) at their sports? Hint: anything they do when they're off the track/off the course is irrelevant.
  

Try to do better next time. OK?

July travel

Now back from Arizona. A few impressions.

It's sooooo easy to mock when I say, "it's not the heat, it's the humidity." But try flying from Indianapolis ( 91°F, 93% humidity) to Phoenix ( 112°F, 18% humidity). I wouldn't want to spend all day outside in either place... but for just moving around, Phoenix was surprisingly comfortable. Just beware any wide stretch of asphalt.

Prescott is quite a nice town. It's a good size, at about 30,000 people. It's a legit working city, and yet it caters to a sizeable vacationing population too, so it has amenities normally found in larger towns (including some nice restaurants).

The rodeo was quite interesting. Prescott Frontier Days is billed as the "World's Oldest Rodeo" . We attended on Friday night. It was my first time at a rodeo, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but we had a good time. The rules can be a bit inscrutable though.

Overall, it was a ton of fun, and wonderful to see Holly's dad. Hopefully we'll get back there before too long.