Friday, October 26, 2007

Factious Fridays

Factious- Quarrelsome, Argumentative, Insubordinate.

**Another dictionary note on 'Factious' is that this word is most commonly used to describe someone who is attempting to incite dissensions or opposition to ruling powers, or for the common good.**

I find 'factious' to be the perfect word to describe what I plan on doing on Friday mornings. All of the comments, opinions, and questions presented here will be done in good fun, without any intention to cause problems or hard feelings; but indeed may be in conflict with popular opinion and/or the media colossus.

This particular cloudy, Kansas City Friday I want to take some time to discuss three things to which I have strong opposition, or have some questions I really would like answered from some of you whom I know lurk on this site daily. I have numbered each topic so that you may easily skip over topics which may not hold your interest. We'll lead off with my adamant disdain for ESPN.

1. The people at the "World Wide Leader in Sports" have very few pieces of programing that I enjoy on any level. However, I continue to patronage their venue, mainly for Sports Center, which does a fairly expedient wrap up of sporting events I may not have watched, but am interested in the outcome. I love the actual competition that is aired, but very little of the commentary and pre-game coverage is worth your time.

This summer, I noticed a not so subtle push for sub-par Big East and ACC teams in the college football pre-season hype. Ray Rice for Heisman? Really? Seriously? Not only does he play at Rutgers, but Rutgers plays in the Big East, and Rutgers scheduled a bunch of Junior High football teams on their non-conference docket. The knowledgeable staff at ESPN behaved as if they were unaware of those facts.

Now, well into the season, we have ESPN turning Boston College into a national power. Instead of questioning the rankings, or launching a continuous bombardment of the playoff-less post-season, we have College Gameday and Mel Kiper, Jr. talking Heisman about BC quarterback Matt Ryan and Oregon signal caller, Dennis Dixon. Who? "Who," as in "who" are they, and "who" have they played worth talking about?

I'm sure the talking heads would call me a "homer," but Andre Woodson and Tim Tebow have been impressive all season, not only on the stat line, but their intangible performances against great teams have warranted more attention than they have garnered.

My point: make your own opinions, and don't listen to the guys in Bristol. They get their information the same way and same place you do: from watching the games.

2. What is the deal with The Office? Many of you, whom I hold in great comedic esteem, have espoused a love for this show. I don't get into many television series, but I decided I would start watching The Office after everyone made such a big deal out of the season premier a few weeks ago.

So far, in the four episodes I DVRed, I have laughed twice. It's so NOT funny, that I can actually remember the number of times I have found it humorous in three hours worth of opportunity.

One line was the, "Hot circle of garbage" referring to Pizza by Alfredo. Well, if The Office was in the geometric shape of a sphere, I would indeed classify it as a "hot circle of garbage." If I'm missing something about the comedic content of this show, please let me know.

I think I know funny, like this clip here from *Fowler Toyota in Oklahoma City. If you've seen the incident which it is parodying, I think you'll find it funny too.

3. I have spent much of my academic career honing the craft of writing and adhering to the rules of grammar which go hand-in-hand with good writing. However, I find the blogosphere to be one of the few places that the comma-splice has good usage.

Authoring a blog is not just writing, it's conversational prose that has rhythm and cadence to the style. Therefore, it is with much shame and guilt on my heart that I announce my intention to blatantly mis-use the comma insofar as making a delineation in style and flow for the reader.

This is a big step outside the rules for me, as I continuously re-read and edit my posts for dangling modifiers, sentence fragments, article-specific omissions, awkward sentence structure, improper tense, etc., etc., Peter Centera. Upon viewing my errors, I , like many grammarians, die just a little inside.

I ask you to take my writing and grammar miscues as time-restraint deficiencies to detail, instead of education or mind deficiencies of the author. It's silly hubris, I know, but please indulge me this on my blog.

Here's to a good weekend coming down the pipe. I hope you enjoy yours!
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*- Fowler Toyota is owned by a HUGE Sooner booster. It's that much more funny if you have the understanding that the parody is not an endorsement of Gundy, rather a jab.

5 comments:

Alan said...

1. ESPN is like colton's in Searcy. Nobody likes it much but the alternative is better left to quadrapeds.

2. The Office is definately in the top 3. Give it 6 episodes....it's like novacaine, just give it time.

3. The comma can be overused with ease due to its relative bland nature, compared to other punctuation. If you were to begin using multiple question marks in the midst of non-inquisitive statements, I would start calling you the Riddler...and that would be weird.

Nicole said...

The Fowler commercial was quite chuckle worthy. And I agree with Alan, I think it takes time. I too was an Office virgin until this season and I've found myself getting excited on Thursdays for no apparent reason, other than The Office. It's grown on me, rather like a Steve Carrell shaped wart.

Anonymous said...

gross.

Unsinkable Kristen said...

Rent seasons 1 - 3 and you'll like the show.

Steven Baird said...

2. I think this season of The Office, especially the first 3 episodes, stinks. The first 3 season were pretty funny though. You should check out 30 Rock sometime. It airs right before The Office.