Playoff Bracket Results

Your 2009 Playoff Bracket Contest Winner is Adam Smoot, with a whopping 15 points after correctly picking the Yankees to defeat the Phillies. Congrats Adam, drop me an e-mail and we will sort out your prize selection and delivery.

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I am confused...

So, should I be happy the Phillies lost the World Series, or mad that the Yankees won?

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World Series TV Guide: Game 6

Pedro faces Pettite, and PLEASE GOD END THIS SERIES ALREADY! Your other television options are below.

• 7 EST Heat at Wizards (ESPN). The Heat attempt to bounce back from last night's loss to the Suns.
  
• 8 EST Bill Cosby receives The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor 2009 (PBS - encore presentation at 9:30). Featuring classic Cosby clips and tributes from Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Sinbad, and jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath(!). I saw Bill Cosby at the University of Florida in 2002. He killed.
  
• 9 EST Modern Family (ABC). It's the best new comedy on TV this year (with apologies to Community).
• 9:30 EST Income Property (HGTV). Featuring, for the ladies, the deliciously Canadian Scott McGillivray.
• 10 EST Top Chef All Stars Dinner (Bravo). Food porn at its finest.

Tonight's book recommendation is 1959: The Year Everything Changed, by Fred Kaplan. Kaplan looks at a number of touchstone events from 1959 which set the stage for the major cultural, political, and technological shifts of the 1960s. He examines the worlds of computer science, jazz, literature, and geopolitics, among others, in a concise, quick read.

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World Series TV Guide: Game 5

Cliff Lee faces AJ Burnett tonight. Perhaps the Yankees will clinch tonight and get this series over with. Here's what's on tv.

• 8 EST Idiocracy (Comedy Central). Mike Judge (of Beavis and Butthead and Office Space fame) wonders aloud what would happen if stupid people continued to outbreed smart people over the next few centuries. Spoiler Alert: Bad things happen. This movie has developed a nice afterlife on DVD after flaming out in theaters, and rightfully so.
  
• 8 EST Man vs. Wild (Discovery). Bear Grylls is in Belize, where he encounters a 9 foot boa constrictor. I bet he turns it into a shelter.
• 8:30 EST Monday Night Football (ESPN). The Saints take on the Falcons. It's Drew Brees against Matt Ryan in a classic matchup of bland quarterbacks with little personality.
  
• 9 EST Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmern (Travel). Andrew is on the Gulf Coast this week. You know what that means: nutria!
• 10 EST Mad Men (AMC). In case you missed last night's episode. Apparently, something happened to President Kennedy.
• 10:30 EST For Rent (HGTV). I'm still trying to understand why HGTV would target the notoriously cheap renter demographic.

Tonight's book recommendation is William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic, by Alan Taylor. Taylor masterfully chronicles the life of William Cooper (founder of Cooperstown, NY and father of novelist James Fenimore Cooper), using his life as a vehicle to examine the radical social and economic changes taking place during the early years of the American republic. His writing is quite accessible, and this book won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1996.

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World Series TV Guide: Game 4

Last night we came very close to what us Marlins fans wanted in this World Series, a win for mother nature. But alas, the game was only delayed and not postponed. Anyway, it's game four tonight in Philadelphia and here is the suggested TV viewing.

• 8:00 PM The Amazing Race (CBS). Yes, it's a reality show, but it's won many Emmys and has a lot going for it. You get to see people in different parts of the world doing wacky tasks and you can really feel the competition between the teams. About once a year I end up watching an episode because I landed on it channel surfing and didn't turn away.
• 8:00 PM Catch Me If You Can (TNT). I haven't seen it, but it also won some awards and got good a good reception since it's 2002 release. Plus, Leonardo DiCaprio is in it, which may please some female viewers
• 9:00 PM Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO). If you haven't gotten into this show, you are missing out. I understand it's not everybody's cup of tea but if you need laughs and outrageous plot lines, this is it. Bonus: the episode will also air at 10PM
• 10:00PM Mad Men (AMC). I admit, I haven't hopped aboard this fad yet, but everywhere I go, I hear about how great it is. Tonight might be a good time to check it out.

Below is Dave's book recommendation.

Tonight's book recommendation is The Duke of Havana: Baseball, Cuba, and the Search for the American Dream, by Steve Fainaru and Ray Sanchez. These journalists chronicle the opening of Cuba to Major League Baseball and tell the story of El Duque Hernandez's journey from Cuban pitching phenom to political dissident to refuge to Major League stardom. Also features Livan prominently, which makes up for the entire chapter of Yankees highlights.

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