In Which Our Lovely Readers Get To Help Us Avoid The Facebook Police

So apparently Facebook now considers the three eponymous dots at the end of our group page name “excessive punctuation” (because that’s clearly the aberrant behavior they should be worrying about) and has instructed us to change it. While I still fail to see how something that technically qualifies as a single punctuation mark is “excessive,” goodness knows we would rather daydream about attaching ourselves to Matt Kemp than die on the hill of internet righteousness. That’s where you, lovely readers, come in.

TLDR: Facebook’s making us change our group page name; we want you to help us decide what we change it to.

MLB Photo Day 2013

Josh Reddick showed off his beard and belt?

One of the best parts of spring training is team photo day! Lucky for us, many teams had their official photo day yesterday giving us some great shots of our favorite guys. (I suggest thumbing through the Getty Images’ photo gallery.) As I was perusing through the pictures, I came across some real gems, including the insanely crazy picture of Josh Reddick above. I did some Googling and found out there was a story behind the photos.

Random Thoughts Brought To You By The Bags Under My Eyes

We’re not on speaking terms right now.

I’ve been MIA lately and for that I apologize. Since my last post, I’ve organized a husband’s birthday, ran my first half-marathon, camped in the rain overnight in the name of Girl Guides, booked Little Bee’s bowling birthday party, discovered hot yoga and watched my grandfather get married. And watched baseball. And drank a lot.

And here we are in mid-October and I am really, really freaking tired. And given how my Yankees have performed of late, really, really cranky. So here’s a few things I’ve been meaning to get off my chest:

Five-Point Plan of B.S.?

This is what a concussion and a fractured vertebrae looks like. (Photo: Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

I love hockey. But the events of this past season are seriously testing my loyalty to this sport. Put it this way: there is a reason why I have grown to love baseball more in recent years.

I’ve been watching NHL hockey since Gretzky wore an Oilers jersey. Ugly, filthy hits have existed for years. But is it just me, or are they increasing?

Charlie Manuel is a grumpy, grumpy old man

Now I’m a Mets fan (shocker!).  Therefore, it is programmed in to me to not like the Phillies or anyone managing, coaching, running, or associated with the organization. But come on, Charlie – you make it too easy to dislike you! The interwebs are abuzz with accusations of the Phillies stealing signs on Monday night’s game against the Colorado Rockies. They caught bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer with binoculars, on camera. Not a smart move. And yes, I’m sure it’s annoying to be under the heat lamp and have these accusations firing at you from all directions. But do you know what the lowest thing Charlie Manuel could have possibly done? Turn the blame and attention to someone else. And who might he have singled out?

Oh, look! Another lesson in how to train your girlfriend-bot!

So on my commute home, I decided to play around on Twitter, where I stumbled across this gem. How to Get Your Girlfriend Into Sports.

Now, leaving aside that the obvious answer to this time-honored problem of being a sports nut partnered with someone who doesn’t enjoy the old athletic display is to just date someone who likes sports. God, men (and women) of the world, if sports are important enough that you have to condition your partner into liking them, FIND SOMEONE WHO ALREADY LIKES SPORTS. Your partner is not a puppy. Don’t train them like one. God.

Let’s address this nonsense point by point, shall we?

15 Yards for Fugliness: A Photographic Survey of Nike’s New Football Uniforms

Over the last few weekends, Nike has been previewing their latest attempt to “improve” athletic apparel on several premiere NCAA Division I (yeah, that’s what I still call it) football programs.  Now, perhaps these uniforms, designed to be ultra light and form fitting, are functionally a worthy advance, but from a sartorial viewpoint, well, my inner Tim Gunn was making this face. A lot.

A brief survey of some of Nike’s designs after the jump.

Oh good, another person for me to have no respect for.

What the hell, Bud Adams?

Inappropriate Fatheads

So I came up with this feature as a new twist to “Caption This!”  See, a coworker and I were looking at Fatheads for no apparent reason.  When you click on one, it will give suggestions for others.  Well this lovely LeBron James Fathead popped up as a suggestion.  We both thought it was sorta inappropriate.  It kind of looks like he’s thrusting his crotch in your face.  So then we thought of some other sports pictures that would make inappropriate/funny Fatheads.  And the idea was born.

Follow me after the jump to see some funny and highly inappropriate Fatheads. 

Theme Thursday: More Hockey

Don’t blame me! Blame last week’s winner, J!  She has selected our next trio of hockey players and wants you all to find the link.  I promise you it has nothing to do with animals playing hockey!

Guess the theme after the jump.

The Complete Statistical List Of Pitchers More Deserving Of An All-Star Selection Than Tim Wakefield

I am going to take so much flak for this, and you know what? If I cared, then I wouldn’t be writing this post. Good morning. I think I’m going to go take it out on the street while the rain still falls.

Listed with RAR and FIP are all AL pitchers who 1) didn’t make the All-Star team, 2) have BABIPs over .250, and 3) have a greater RAR than Tim Wakefield.

After the jump…

Fashion Police: AJ Burnett

So y’all know how much I love AJ Burnett. And you also probably noticed this yesterday. But even though his pitching was pretty damn good, I have a question for you: Did you see the shirt he was wearing in the postgame press conference?

Well, in case you didn’t — or in case you need a reminder — he wore this:

It’s just… I don’t even know. First of all, I can’t figure out whether it’s pink or orange. Second of all, it’s not even buttoned properly (not that I necessarily have a problem with that, but y’know). Third of all, it has rhinestones on it. And fourth of all, he’s wearing gaudy chain necklaces.

The whole thing just sort of screams “I lost a bet with Nick Swisher”, doesn’t it?

What the balls happened to baseball last week?!?

I know, I know. Lame joke AND I’m not writing about the obvious, which is the Lakers’ glorious win and the Penguins amazing victory after 17 Cupless seasons. Stay tuned to the Ladies… later this week for more on that. But being the big baseball headed girl that I am, I have to ask…what the hell happened?

In Which I Use NFL Team Merchandise to Predict the Super Bowl Matchup

In my short tenure here at Ladies …, I have picked an Angels-Cubs World Series, and managed to finish last in our Bowl Pick ‘Em Pool (technically second to last, but that’s only because Cinn forgot to actually pick the games).  So it’s pretty clear I have no business whatsoever picking winners of this Sunday’s NFC and AFC championship games.  Like any good sports blogger, this is not going to stop me.

Since picking based on my sports “knowledge” doesn’t seem to be working, I decided to use a random and arbitrary method, completely unrelated to how much big-game experience the quarterbacks have and whether a star player is not 100% healthy.  However, I wasn’t exactly sure how to come up with said randomness.  And then, while conducting a Google Image hunt for a picture of the Arizona Cardinals’ mascot, I found my muse :

The Highs and Lows of the Advertising Age

Vintage(and groundbreaking) hottie!

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on their News Blog yesterday that the planned Ernie Davis statue at Syracuse University is suffering from an unfortunate case of anachronism:

The bronze sculpture, unveiled on the campus on Saturday, depicts Mr. Davis wearing Nike cleats and a jersey with a swoosh across his chest, the Associated Press reports. The problem? Mr. Davis hung up his cleats at Syracuse in 1961, years before the brand existed. The university said the mistakes were those of the sculptor, who also included a too-modern helmet.

The Ladies Wax On about Waxing Off

Slash fiction... geddit?

This week’s Waxing Off topic at Deadspin was… disturbing. And gross. And demeaning to the women asked to write about it. If you didn’t read it, here’s the email sent to the women asked to contribute:

Michael Phelps Slash Fiction.
The inspiration for this comes from two sources. First, this post, which is pure nightmare fuel. Then there’s this, about how Phelps is being pursued by Lindsay Lohan (equally terrifying). We’d like to follow things to their logical conclusion, and figure that you guys would be the best to do that. Make it read like an excerpt from a steamy, filthy book. Put Michael Phelps in the situation of your choosing … male on male, male on female, Phelps on llama … the aristocrats! Nothing is too over-the-top or depraved; it’s slash fiction. Let ‘er rip. Keep to 250-350 words, if possible. And don’t forget the short graph at the end about yourself, where you can plug your site and/or projects if you wish.

Here are our collected reactions to this request:

From the Weirdness File…

My superstar friend Diana sent me this video.  She’s a tall, beautiful lawyer in NYC and loves Germans.  I could possibly hook you up.  However, for now just feast your eyes on photos of German soccer players…set to the weirdest song I’ve ever heard.