The Next Step

Spoiler alert:  Do not read this if you haven't seen the Sopranos finale and want it to be surprised.  You have been warned.  Oh, and good luck avoiding this forever.  Watch the damn show.

Over the past five years, I've been constantly in "catch up" mode watching "The Sopranos".  I started watching the show my junior year in college, and was absolutely amazed by the depth of the show, the balance between comedy and drama, and realism of the show.  No, not that I know what it's like to be a New Jersey mob boss, but the realism from Tony's life.  Tony's a regular guy for the most part.  His job is a pain in the ass.  His relationship is rocky.  He sees a shrink to deal with issues from his childhood.  He has to walk down the driveway to get his paper.  He's a regular guy, and the show's all about a bunch of regular people in a messed up, underworld situation.  And it's believable--much so than Don Corleone's rise to power.

That's why the final scene in the show was such genius.  Anybody who knows me knows that to me, the soundtrack couldn't be more perfect--Journey's classic "Don't Stop Believin'" is an excellent song...but also a song that the average person might pick on a jukebox.  And that's exactly what Tony does.  As that absolutely masterful scene continues to unfold (Tony's family slowly coming into the restaurant, one after another), we're shown other examples of average people in their average lives.  A dad with a few cub scouts out to the diner.  A young couple laughing together in a booth in the corner.  And a shifty guy eating alone at the counter.  And shifty people walking into the restaurant.  The last few episodes were building up to a conclusion, weren't they?  That's what we've been trained to expect from TV.  Clean endings.

But life isn't clean.  We don't know what happens.  Not fade to black--cut to black.  Tony's story, as told to us, doesn't end in melodrama.  It just ends.  In an average way, with a guy eating dinner in an average diner with his average family.  The shifty people were just for suspense...but they were just average players in a scene.  With this one scene, the Sopranos story comes to the only fitting end it could.  And it becomes the only series finale I've ever watched that actually works with the rest of the show.

To those of you that were upset with the ending, called your cable companies, and are throwing fits around the water coolers of America--what show were you watching?

What a year to be a Cleveland/Ohio sports fan.  Ohio State football beats Michigan (and goes to the National Championship game.)  Ohio State basketball goes to the National Championship game.  The Cavs are in the Eastern Conference Finals (which means that for the first time all season, I'm watching the NBA...)

Of course, this is all secondary to the fact that the Cleveland Indians emerged from April and May as the best team in the best division in baseball, 2 1/2 games in front of last year's AL Champs, the Detroit Tigers.  I'm enjoying the fact that we have extremely strong pitching, and an offense that's winning games, despite the fact that some of the stars have yet to really get it going (I'm looking at you, Mr. Sizemore.)

Despite losing 2 of 3 to the Red Sox at Fenway earlier this week, I'm going to maintain that the Tribe is still the team to beat in the American League, especially if they learn how to play on the road.  Why?  They've played the strongest competition so far out of any of the front running teams.  The White Sox, Twins, Tigers, Angels, A's, Mariners, and Red Sox are all quality teams that can beat you every time you go out there.  The Red Sox, who have by far the best record in the AL, have played the majority of their games against the very weak AL East (Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Devil Rays, all of which are currently below .500.)

The difference is that Boston, with such a massive lead, is going to be able to rest people more often than the Tribe, which will be fighting with Detroit the entire way for control of the division.  This is going to automatically make the Red Sox the natural AL favorite.  It's all dependent on whether or not the young Tribe will calm down on the road...

John Wayne...American patriot and outspoken critic of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam war.  Here's a recording of a John Wayne giving a speech to a crowd of youngsters...completely and utterly drunk.  Worth 3 minutes of your life...maybe.  :)

http://citypages.com/blogmedia/amadzine/john%20wayne%20drunk.mp3

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com has a surprising prediction:  that the Cleveland Indians will be this year's Detroit Tigers and surprise everyone by making it to the Series:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview07/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2817890&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

Besides saying that the Indians are one of the deepest teams in the league with the best young line-up in the game (c'mon:  Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Perolta...the list goes on and on) and some great starters (CC Sabathia, Jake Westbrook, Cliff Lee), he also mentions the past several years.

Since 2002, the Indians consistently got better.  They almost made the playoffs in '05, being stopped by a collosal choke-job the last week of the season (against the Devil Rays...ugh.)  They were held back by a horrible bullpen last year...but by horrible, I mean the worst I've ever seen.  (24 saves the entire year.  Really.)

I'm a homer, but I agree with Jayson Stark.  Look out for the Tribe this year.

Another great sunny day in downtown Seattle that keeps teasing me for spring to start...   The picture was taken on Sunday.

 

Go Team Case!  :)

I promised to get some pictures online of my new place, but I'm not quite unpacked enough yet...I'm not too much into pictures of cardboard boxes.  Here's a picture from my living room window though--I'm liking the view!  :)