Category: Land-o-Links

Land-o-Links – 5/8/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, NBA Basketball, Random Thoughts, Sports2 Comments

I'm extremely disappointed in Kobe and Company for completely blowing their momentum from this past week. This isn't because I have any affinity for the Lakers – in fact, I can't stand them. I just wanted to see a Lakers-Clippers playoff series. To me, the gap between the Lakers and Clippers is the greatest disparity in terms of history and cachet in any pro intra-city rivalry. It would have been magnificent to see all of those pent-up emotions boil over in the playoffs with all of the games being played in the same building. Unfortunately, this second round of the NBA Playoffs is the biggest letdown in terms of a "what-could-have-been" sports matchup since the prospect of a Cubs-Red Sox World Series in 2003. Anyway, on to today's links:

1) Freakonomics: A Star is Made – Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, the authors of "Freakonomics," put together this short examination of how much natural talent really plays into performing at high levels in any profession. They also look at a statistical quirk as to how a disproportionate number of top soccer players are born in the earliest months of the year. By the way, if you haven't read "Freakonomics" yet, I suggest that you go pick it up ASAP – it's absolutely one of the most fascinating books I've ever read.

2) Homer No. 713 a Super-Sized Blast – Is there anything I care less about? I'm sick of it.

3) Conan O'Brien Speaks: 'Chicago is in our DNA' – Conan's in town this week.

And finally…

4) McNally Smith College of Music Announces 'Ice Cube Scholarship' – I thought all of us at Illinois were cool for going to a school that awards the Hugh Hefner Scholarships. However, at this point, I don't believe anything can beat being called an "Ice Cube Scholar."

Land-o-Links – 5/1/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random Thoughts1 Comment

NFL Draft thoughts coming later today and some NBA Playoff talk is on the board for tomorrow. Until then, here are today's links:

1) ABC Gives Fans a "Lost Experience" – I'm a big "Lost" fan, so this sounds like a great idea. We'll see how this plays out over the summer.

2) Atlantic City May Lose in New Monopoly – Hasbro is putting out a "Here and Now" edition of Monopoly that dedicates a spot on the board for 22 different American cities, but Atlantic City was not included. Not surprisingly, Atlantic City boosters aren't exactly happy about diluting their most famous claim to fame outside of Donald Trump's bankrupt casinos (a "classic edition" of Monopoly with the original board will still be produced). If you've never been to Atlantic City, just picture Joliet with bigger casinos, trashier ghettos, and a lot of seagulls and water taffy shops. As a result, I'm not surprised that Hasbro wanted to upgrade their board game's image. However, I do give some credence to their gripe after finding out that Cleveland, out of all places, is getting a spot on the board.

The other part of this story is that everyone gets to vote on which famous site gets to represent each city on Monopoly.com for the next couple of weeks. Chicago actually will get two spots on the board – one is a regular spot and the other will be O'Hare since airports will be replacing the railroads (JFK, LAX, and Atlanta are the other air hubs being included). The 3 choices for Chicago are Wrigley Field (which is winning by a landslide right now), Michigan Avenue, and Navy Pier. Now, even this Sox fan can understand Wrigley's inclusion as choice, but why on Earth is Navy Pier on this list over obvious sites such as the Sears Tower, Millennium Park, and Buckingham Fountain? Anyway, the top vote-getter out of all of the sites in the country will receive the coveted Boardwalk space.

3) Snoop Dogg Arrested in London Airport – My wife and I actually had to sleep overnight in Heathrow when our flight back home from London was stuck in New York as a result of the 2003 blackout. Needless to say, it would have been a lot more fun experience if I was able to hit the duty free store with Snoop.

And finally…

4) 50 Cent Joins Campaign to Prevent Childhood Obesity – Note that 50 Cent sells grape drink, NOT grape juice. I want that purple stuff!

Land-o-Links – 4/27/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random Thoughts1 Comment

Thoughts on this weekend's NFL Draft should be coming tomorrow if I have time.  Until then, here are the links for the day:

1) MTV's 'Super Sweet 16' Gives a Sour Pleasure – I'm actually one those people that believes MTV's transition to not showing music videos was one of the greatest developments of the 1990s outside of the collapse of the Soviet Union.  "Date My Mom", "Next", "The Gauntlet", "Super Sweet 16"… they're all on Frank the Tank's watch list.  Let me just tell you that the record executive's son's party that was held at Jay-Z's club and had Kanye West, P. Diddy, and Jermaine Dupri in the house looked dope.

2) Mick Jagger Joins a New ABC Sitcom – I'm giggling at the thought of Keith Richards busting through Mick's apartment door like Kramer.

3) Sacre Bleu! No Foie Gras For You – Mayor Daley has his wacky power trips sometimes, but overall he's done a pretty good job for the city.  The Chicago City Council, on the hand, is turning this town into the People's Republic of Chicago and is making Berkeley look level-headed and rational.  I've never had foie gras and don't have a huge desire to try it, yet NPR pointed out this morning how arbitrary this ban is considering  farms feed pigs and cattle the exact same way (and I don't think we're going to be banning steak and bacon here anytime soon).  Aldermen are great at getting potholes filled and streets plowed.  They just shouldn't EVER EVER EVER be allowed to make substantive policy decisions.

And last but not least… 

4) Schaumburg to Toast 'Leon' – I joke all the time that certain athletes ought to be traded for some cases of beer.  Now, not only did this actually happen, but look who it happened to.

Land-o-Links – 4/25/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Chicago Bulls, Land-o-Links, NBA Basketball, Random Thoughts, SportsLeave a comment

My top 99%-unlikely-but-you-never-know sports wish right now is the Bulls being able to bring Dwyane Wade back to his hometown of Chi-town when he becomes a free agent in 2007. This is a guy I'd pay serious money to watch every night. The way he's been exploding on both ends of the floor against the Bulls so far in the playoffs is just ridiculous. For the here and now, even being down 2-0 in the series, the Bulls are doing about as well as they possibly can against the Heat, who feature 2 of the top 5 players in the NBA with Wade and Shaq. At this point, if the Bulls lose this series but stretch it out to 6 games, that would be an impressive accomplishment considering their severe talent disadvantage. After that, I'll just dream of Dwayne making the United Center his homecourt. Here are some exceptional links for the day:

1) Hernandez Apologizes for Comments – "I'm Keith Hernandez."

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2) Advertiser Counts on Sheep to Pull Eyes Over the Wool – The Dutch finally got sick of all those sheep farmer jokes.

3) Outdoor Life Network to Become Versus – The sad thing here is that I know OLN paid a lot of consultants a lot of money to run this by a lot focus groups… and this is what they came up with.

4) Blackbelt's at Back of Cicero President – As all Chicago South Siders know, Cicero puts the "ass" in "class."

5) Finland Squirms as Its Latest Export Steps into the Spotlight – Hint: the Finns aren't worried about the latest phones from Nokia.

And speaking of rockers in masks…

6) Rival Bands Clash Over Little-Person KISS Tribute – This is the type of case I need to be working on.

(Photos from ESPN.com, New York Times)

Land-o-Links – 4/21/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Links for the weekend:

1) Will Smith Crashes Bar Mitvah – Mazal Tov to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

2) Google in China: The Big Disconnect – In-depth analysis of how one of the world's foremost promoters of free speech and open access is dealing with the parameters of a monolithic government that wants to control information at all costs.

3) Art Institute to Start Charging – My sister Linda pointed this out on her own blog the other day. The phasing out of free Tuesdays is particularly disappointing to me. One of the best perks I've enjoyed while working (and previously, while going to school) in the Loop was heading over to the Art Institute during my lunch break and checking out one of the world's foremost art collections for a few moments free of charge. It's something I've been doing about once a month for quite awhile. You can't beat that in terms of clearing your mind in the middle of the day. Sadly, I won't be able to do that anymore (without paying, anyway).

And last but absolutely not least…

4) Master P Comments on Lil' Romeo's Beef with Bow Wow – The fact that these two have a beef right now is funny in and of itself (the Lohan/Duff feud last year had a greater potential for senseless violence). The location of where this beef started, however… well, it goes to show you nothing is sacred anymore.

Smell ya later!

Land-o-Links – 4/18/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Can somebody please whack President Logan on "24" already? His continued existence has been keeping me up at night. Anyway, here are the links for the day:

1) American Brandstand 2005 (Top Brand References in Hip-Hop) – A full analysis of brand references in hip-hop songs from last year. Mercedes-Benz was by far #1 on the list with Nike in the #2 position. Interestingly enough, Hennessy beat out Cristal in the liquor category, which initially surprised me, but then I instantly remembered that rappers have been talking up the cognac for ages. The first time I ever even heard of Hennessy was in Digital Underground's "Humpty Dance" – "I drink up all the Hennessy ya got on ya shelf, so just let me introduce myself". By the way, don't ever ask me if you need someone that remembers birthdays, but if you want the lyrics to the "Humpty Dance" immediately, I'm your man.

2) Tom: Katie's a Scientologist, Too – Diane Sawyer confirmed that the Church of Scientology is right: Tom Cruise is indeed an alien.

3) The Worst Franchise in Sports – ESPN is looking for a new holder of this title in the wake of the Clippers making the playoffs (20/20 hindsight: Elton Brand straight-up for Tyson Chandler??? The Cubs must have taken over Bulls management that day). The real-time vote count as of Tuesday morning doesn't reflect what everyone ought to know is the truth: there's no franchise in sports worse than the Chicago Blackhawks. As I've promised before, I'll present a full-scale diatribe on this subject in the near future. In the meantime, check out George Johnson's piece on the Hawks as an appetizer.

4) I'm O.K., You're Biased – A Harvard psychologist's conclusion: the average person believes that he/she is more objective than he/she really is and overestimates the influence of biases in other people's decisions.

And finally…

5) Juror Replacement is Key to Challenge – If you live in Illinois, just ignore the blanket media coverage today of former Governor George Ryan's conviction. Nothing matters until the inevitable appeals process is completed (and with all the wackiness surrounding the jury deliberations, there will be a lot of issues put into question). Talk to me in two or three years when we finally get some real closure on this story.

Land-o-Links – 4/14/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random Thoughts1 Comment

Happy Good Friday to all of you!  Here are a few links for your Easter weekend:

1) VH1 Renews Top Show 'Flavor of Love' – Honestly, if I were only able to renew one show on all of television, this would be it.  I think we all share with the producers' "frustration" here.

2) It's Naive To Think Cheating's Out of Baseball – Rick Morrissey nailed this right on the head.  Are people seriously wondering about the balls being juiced again?  Maybe Barry (rhymes with perjury) Bonds will get off scott-free in the end after all.

3) Ask Chicagoist: Who's the Empire Carpet Guy? – Ever since I got my first cellphone, I pretty much have erased all phone numbers from my brain.  The exception, however, is the Empire Carpet phone number.

And finally, even if you didn't read anything else, you must click on the following link immediately…

4) Lil' Jon Meets Lord Stanley – What???  Yeah!!! Okay!!! (P.S. I also implore you to read the "5 Questions with Lil' Jon" for the capper).

Land-o-Links – 4/13/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random Thoughts2 Comments

It’s been awhile since I posted some links, so here you go:

1) NASCAR Fans Trade the R.V. for a Condo – An alternate universe where Wrigley Field is a NASCAR track and Wrigleyville rooftops are filled with rednecks rather than yuppies.

2) ‘West Wing’ Writers’ Novel Way of Picking the President – Arnold Vinick (the Republican presidential candidate played by Alan Alda) was originally supposed to win… or so they claim.

3) Suit Filed in SICA Breakup – Ugly high school conference breakup on the South Side that involves my alma mater Homewood-Flossmoor as one of the defendants in a lawsuit. It’s a veritable kitchen sink of socioeconomic and racial issues.

4) Michael Jackson Bailout Said to Be Close – Who’s going to get Michael Jackson out of a hole greater than the GNP of Canada? The Beatles, of course.

Speaking of debts…

5) Online Gambling Bets Go Against Bucky Covington – America finally gave peace a chance by voting Bucky off of American Idol last night, which means exasperated gamblers were able to prevail for once after weeks upon weeks of losing their shirts. The improbable Bucky run is one of those pillar moments in gambling history where the house just destroyed anyone who wagered with any common sense – it’s got to be up there with betting on Michigan State starting a 2006 Final Four run by covering the spread against George Mason or taking the over, with the over/under being 1, for the number of weeks that the John Stamos show that ABC spent eighteen straight months promoting would last on the air. This is why all of those Las Vegas casinos are so pretty.

NCAA Tournament Picks and Land-o-Links – 3/23/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Big Ten, Chicago Bears, College Basketball, Land-o-Links, NFL Football, Random Thoughts, SportsLeave a comment

My quick picks for tonight’s NCAA Tournament games are all chalk: Memphis over Bradley (although I’m proud of the Braves, the Tigers have too much firepower), Duke over LSU (probably will be a really close game), Texas over West Virginia (no longer will “Pittsnogle” be used as a verb in basketball), UCLA over Gonzaga (I will continue to pick Gonzaga to lose and call them overrated until the basketball gods rightfully bounce such an atrocious defensive team – they are the college version of the Dallas Mavericks).

Now, on to today’s links:

1) 2007 TV Rights Are On Big Ten’s Mind – Could Fox pay the Big Ten enough money to get the conference to abandon ESPN? I don’t care what the price is – leaving ESPN for more money would be fool’s gold for the Big Ten. The fact that no one outside of the Pacific time zone sees Pac-10 games has less to do with geography and more because none of their games are on ESPN. Plenty of hoops junkies have seen West Coast-based mid-major conferences such as the Mountain West, WCC, and Big West as a result of ESPN’s Big Monday. According to Teddy Greenstein, it looks like the Big Ten is going to do the right thing in the end and stay put.

2) Soap and the Campus: A Web-Site Spoof Succeeds – Have you ever met someone who went to Boston College? The old joke about them rings true: they think they’re Harvard in academics and Notre Dame in football. That’s a lot of bluster from a school that’s tied with our fair University of Illinois in the latest U.S. News rankings.

3) First Stadiums, Now Teams Take a Corporate Identity – If the MLS expands to Milwaukee, you know that the team must be called Milwaukee’s Best. There’s no other choice.

4) Chicago Parking Map – For those of you who can’t find a free parking space on the street and are willing to just give up and pay up, this should be a useful tool.

5) Signing New QB Should Have Been a Brees – I know that (a) Brian Griese isn’t exactly an addition to the Bears that makes my heart flutter and (b) complaining that Jay Mariotti is nuts is sort of like complaining that Chicago has corrupt politicians – it sucks but it’s never going to change. Still, what exactly were people expecting out of the Bears? It was a reasonable demand for the Bears to go out and get a solid backup quarterback, which is what they did in this situation by signing Griese. The Bears had as much of a chance of nabbing Drew Brees or Daunte Culpepper as the White Sox and Cubs had of trading for A-Rod a couple of years ago. Maybe I’m so happy to see that the Bears were proactive on the QB front for once that it’s coloring my thought process, but my gut reaction is that Mariotti needs to stop whining.

Land-o-Links – 3/13/2006

On By Frank the TankIn Land-o-Links, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Warning: I know it’s been like this already for the past week, but as long as the Illini are in the NCAA Tournament (and probably for the duration of March Madness regardless of whether they win or lose), Frank the Tank’s Slant will essentially be a college basketball blog. My numerous post ideas on the upcoming baseball season, the NFL free agency market, and wacky politicians will be on hold for awhile. However, I’ll still be tossing up some Land-o-Links to keep the non-basketball fans happy:

1) Upset ‘Brokeback’ Fans Advertise Their Feelings – Watts in 1965, Rodney King in 1992, “Brokeback Mountain” fans in 2006… watch out Los Angeles.

2) Lipinski and Other Abandon Parade Float as Smoke Erupts – Was anyone at the South Side Irish Parade sober enough to know this even happened?

3) The Origins of Uncle O’Grimacey (from Chicagoist) – March Madness + St. Patrick’s Day = Shamrock Shakes at McDonald’s! One sad thing, though: I never got to see Grimace’s Irish uncle.

And finally:

4) Flavor of Love: The Spit Hits the Fan – I can’t believe that I only started watching “Flavor of Love” on VH1 until midway through the season. The highly anticipated reunion special is going to be on next Sunday evening. This is quite possibly going to be the first TV series that I’m ever going to buy on DVD. I thought “Cheaters” was the pinnacle of reality television, but “Flavor of Love” has relegated that show to a pretender to the throne.