Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
Apostrophe Protection Society
Sunday
July 21, 2002
"Which brings us to my third vignette which I call 'Yeah, that was nice, but you should get going'..."
-Ladies Man on Saturday Night Live
What's the deal with the apostrophe in Donte' Stallworth's first name? I've seen it since his days at Tennessee, but I've never heard an explanation for it. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala has one in his last name, but that's such an unusual name that it just seems to belong. But with Donte', perhaps the idea is that people will pronounce the "E" as an "A". Or that they won't say "Don't" or whatever. Anyone have an answer for me on that?
Speaking of apostrophes, there a webpage out there for the Apostrophe Protection Society. If you believe the page, it's an actual society meant to point out and stop the misuse of the apostrophe. I'm serious. Of course, this begs the question: WHY?!? Or more importantly, who has time to devote to such a cause? But evidentally some people are passionate about it. It can be annoying when people misuse an apostrophe, I know that, but not so much as to justify creating a society against it. Very weird.
It was quite entertaining to talk with Justin Smith at 2:45 AM this morning on 7th avenue and comment on the women walking by down in Ybor. It was downright distracting. Justin would be telling a story and I'd interrupt with an "oh my god, look at that girl's ass" type comment. Plus the randomness of interacting with people passing by and what not made for some interesting moments. Ybor's a fun time on a Saturday night. Justin's coming down here next month to visit -- the last time he came down was quite an adventure. This time perhaps we'll not spend $40 in one night each at the bars on drinks and Jager shots and what not.
I'll need to get some help for the Saturday after next, as that's when Tampa Bay Bucs single game tickets go on sale. I'll be in New Orleans that weekend, but hopefully I can get someone to score me some tickets. Last year I missed out due to being in England at the time they became available. Hope to get tickets to a few games, and hopefully line up a weekend where Nick Greco can come down and we can hit a game. Should be nice. I've been on the Bucs season ticket waiting list since I moved here.. so far, no luck on that.
Next Friday, I'm planning to go to the Yankees/Devil Rays game with my old college roommate Aaron Thompson. He's in Kissimmee right now, working as a coach in a week-long basketball tournament. But it looks like he should be able to get down here Friday night to go to the Trop. That will be a great time. AT and I had some crazy adventures back in the spring of '99 in Evansville (right before they tore down the Armony apartments where we lived). He's married now and living up in Evansville, and in fact I haven't seen him since his wedding two years ago. So that'll be fun. The inside jokes will be flying: Groovy Groove, good to go, basketball mathmatical genius, I'm just sayin', amateur, Bud Ice, 2Pac and Kid Rock, Triple Play 2000 (including the game "we're not allowed to talk about" where I shut out his Braves with Curt Schilling and the Phillies in a 1-0 classic, Lloyd Expressway bottle-chucking contest, etc. etc.) You may have no idea what any of these are about, but I'm cracking up just writing them. Hard to believe that was 3+ years ago. Time flies.....
My computer's internet explorer just decided to crash, wiping out much of what I'd written on here. Damn, that's frustrating.
What happened to Tiger Woods in the British Open yesterday? Guess he is human. Shooting an 81 is so uncharacteristic for him. But it just goes to show how normally consistant and strong his game is.
I caught some of Mad TV last night on Fox before I went out. I haven't seen that show all that much, but last night's episode was great. The parody of the WB show 7th Heaven was hilarious. I'm laughing now just thinking about it. 11 PM-midnight on Saturday night is an inconvienant time slot, but I'll have to tune in for it when I can...
I'd be remiss to not mention the fun I had judging the "Best Writing Category" for the Best of Gannett competition after work on Friday morning with Scott Massey. It took about two hours, but we had a fun time laughing about several things. You have to find something to keep it interesting. The best part was one station's use of a tiny picture of President George W. Bush in their supers for their presidential visit coverage. Very amusing.
In talking with Tali last night, I failed to give her grief about the Indians trading away Chuck Finley. They threw in the towel with the inexplicable Bartolo Calon trade, but this just makes it worse. Also, Sportsline says 1B/OF Lee Stevens is hitting .143 (5 for 35) since being acquired from Montreal in the Colon trade. Ha ha, tough luck for you Tribe fans out there...
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