Thursday, July 18, 2013

The End of the World: One Fan's Story


I'm in New York for this.  On Long Island.  Just under an hour east of the Barclays Center in the sleepy hamlet of Bellmore, at my girlfriend's family's house, visiting for a long weekend.

The girlfriend is keeping the TV on E! until 12:00 on the dot, watching a Keeping Up with the Kardashians re-run.  Yes – one featuring Kris Humphries (gut punch no. 1).  When the time comes, we'll switch over to YES, since I'll be watching this unfold on the official network of the New York Yankees (gut punch no. 2).  The suspense builds with each minute as we approach high noon.

11:56... 11:57... 11:58... 11:59...

And we're in.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Four Guys Midsummer Madness

In honor of the 2013 MLB All-Star Game, Four Guys has cooked up a (admittedly half-baked) Midsummer Classic of our own.  Filling out all nine spots, plus a manager, we each assembled All-Star teams of our all-time favorite fictional characters from the big and small screen.  The only restrictions?

  1. No more than one (1) athlete-character per team.
  2. No more than one (1) "super hero" per team, defined as a character with supernatural powers (e.g., Bruce Wayne wouldn't fill the quota.)
  3. No one gets Superman.  DQ'd on account of excess awesome.

Next, we each ranked each others' squads on a scale of 1-100 based not only on our All-Stars' abilities, talents and personalities, but also on the justification of our picks.  And finally, we averaged those peer scores and came up with a "winner" – who, of course, will receive home-field advantage at the Four Guys TV & Movie Character World Series.

Understand?  Good; we're still not sure we do either.  But we had fun with this anyways and we hope you do too...

Friday, July 12, 2013

The Best and Worst of the Alternate Jersey

One of the most emblematic features of professional sports is the jersey.  The spirit and essence of your team of choice is displayed in every stitch, every color scheme, and every numbering/lettering pattern of that team’s respective uniform.  As fans, the jersey is our way of connecting to the players.  It is the only situation where the professional and the lay fan stand united.  The jersey allows us to display our colors loudly and proudly.

Although sometimes a little too loudly.  A development in professional is the creation of the third or alternate jersey.  Most of the time, the alternate jersey is a refreshing option.  Whether it’s a playful take on the team’s traditional color scheme, celebrating the team’s history with a throwback option, or creating a retro/vintage look to commemorate those glory days of yesteryear, the alternate jersey invites the die-hard fan to have a little fun with their favorite team and injects a little joie de vivre in the pressure-filled world of sports.  Unfortunately, these alternates can go horribly wrong.  These third-option monstrosities make up some of the worst marketing decisions in sports.  Almost as bad as the decision to green-light Joey for NBC.  Because that worked out well for everyone.

So without any further ado, Four Guys brings you their picks for the best and worst of alternate jerseys from the four major sports leagues.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Just Another Cog in the Machine: Why NFL Arrests Won't Decrease After Aaron Hernandez

Super Bowl XLVII was played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on February 3, 2013. An important number coming out of that championship game is 33. No, that was not the final score of the game. That game ended in a thrilling 34-31 victory for the Baltimore Ravens. Rather, 33 is the number of professional football players who have been arrested since Coach John Harbaugh and Super Bowl MVP Joey Flacco hoisted up the Vince Lombardi trophy in victory.

Since that celebration, 33 athletes from the NFL have been arrested for crimes ranging from DUIs, drugs and weapons charges, child abuse, disorderly conduct, and most disturbingly, Aaron Hernandez’s recent arrest for the alleged murder of 27-year old Odin Lloyd. To say that these figures are shocking would be an understatement. To say that these figures are a surprise however would be ignorant.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Doing right by Francis Scott Key


In 1814, 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key composed a poem titled "Defence of Fort McHenry" (the eventual lyrics to "The Star-Spangled Banner") after witnessing the bombardment of said fort by the British Royal Navy.

In 2013, 20-something-year-old amateur bloggers Four Guys composed a blog post titled "Doing right by Francis Scott Key" in advance of grilling things and drinking things and watching fireworks.

Happy Fourth of July, folks!  Before you get on with your grilling and drinking and firework-watching, enjoy a few of our favorite renditions of our national anthem...

Monday, July 1, 2013

Taking my talents to Causeway Street?

After unloading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn was immediately followed by chatter about preliminary talks of sending Rajon Rondo to Dallas, it's clear that winning will not be a high priority for my favorite basketball team next season.  The 2013-2014 Boston Celtics might as well stitch a ceremonial "Wiggins or Bust" patch on their jerseys, because it sure seems they'll be tanking like Michael Dukakis for the consensus no. 1 prospect in the draft next summer.

Which brings me to my point.  This is my moment.  Now is the time for my childhood dreams of donning Celtic green to come true.  I can help the cause.  (An explanation via video follows the jump.)