Slumpbusters

I know you will not be proud to admit it, but I guarantee everyone reading this knew (knows) of their college's slumpbuster(s) (seriously, 50% of my college would have been considered slumpbusters at other schools). Do not play dumb with me and pretend you do not know what I am talking about. So you hit a little bit of a dry spell; your confidence was shaken; you just needed to get back in the game. So you lowered your standards a little bit, ran into someone at a kegger on Saturday night who looked "good" (beer goggles anyone?), and "busted" out of your proverbial "slump". Look, it happens to the best of us (Editor's Note: not me; unless you count my Better Half as my slumpbuster of bad relationships), and, assuming your slumpbuster had some redeeming qualities, you have nothing to be ashamed of (just ignore your friends laughing at you; their turn will come).

But there are other slumps out there that need busting too. The Los Angeles Dodgers were in one of those slumps. Since the Dodgers last won the World Series in 1988, they had won exactly one (1) playoff game in twenty years (a gem of a performance by Jose "Lima Time" in 2004 versus the St. Louis Cardinals). In a city where success is defined by championships, that is a slump. So the Dodgers did what any person in a slump does: go looking for a slumpbuster. They found theirs, however, in the most unlikely of places: Boston. The Boston Red Sox were willing to give up Manny Ramierez for free . . . nothing . . . zilch . . . nada (if you've got an extra half an hour after reading the rest of this, check out Bill Simmons' in depth look at the real villain of the Manny-t0-L.A.-for-nothing deal). Now the Dodgers have a 2-0 lead in their NLDS against the Chicago Cubs (talk about a slump . . .) and are one win away from their first series victory since, well, 1988. It is fun to be a baseball fan again in Los Angeles (and I'm talking about the real Los Angeles, not that fictional Los Angeles in Anaheim).

Well, rest assured that GameTime, TBD© will never find itself in a slump. That is because you, my avid readers, will always be in need of a little Friday afternoon distraction. So, to do just that, here are some things you might have missed:

• With the Yankees and Mets out of the playoffs, the New York Times fills its baseball writing quota with . . . wait for it . . . mowing patterns in major league stadiums.
• Fukudome is not so popular amongst Cubs fans or school administrators.
• Apparently I am not the only one who thought referring to Rays' third-baseman Evan Longoria as Eva Longoria was funny. Unfortunately, Eva Longoria does not find it funny.
• "Hey baby, I'm just calling to let you know that the Restraining Order you got against me just went through about 20 minutes ago."
• I guess it was only a matter of time before fantasy football scoring pushed someone over the edge.
• It is good to see Shanahan finally joking about his long standing feud with Al Davis. But did he really count all of the days? I am not positive, but I am pretty sure the Broncos have a game this weekend. Can anyone confirm that for me?
• "Luongo to lead the way from the rear." Sometimes these things write themselves.
• Apparently, newspaper are cutting back on their coverage of local hockey teams. Those of us who have read articles written by those who cover the Los Angeles Kings think this might be a good thing.
• I think I will parlay "AFC winning the coin toss" with "Born to Run" for this year's Super Bowl.
• While some were sad to learn the Golden State Warriors had to fire their mascot (thanks to the Seattle Supersonics . . . wait, they moved? To Oklahoma City? When? Huh, who knew?), this guy is clearly not one of them.

Seriously though, that last guy has some unresolved anger issues he needs to take care of before things spiral out of control for him. Maybe he needs to go find dad and let him know he understands and he forgives him. Or, maybe these three videos I have selected for your weekly viewing pleasure would help:

• Carey Price obviously took the red pill.
• Gravity 1, Roof Surfer 0: gravity's best punchline in years.
• Even with all of this economic turmoil, apparently it still feels good to be a banker. How good you ask? Damn good.

Have a great weekend everyone!