Archive for November 6th, 2009

HOWARD MEGDAL: To me, the biggest takeaway from the 2009 series is what we’re likely to see in 2010. The Yankees won, but the Phillies sure look like the favorites next year.

DAVE TOMAR: This off-season is not an extraordinary one. Going by history, the baseball world should be accustomed to a condition in which the Phillies are not World Champions and in which the Yankees are. And as I shaved my playoff beard and pondered the moves the Phillies might make in the off-season, I considered that this would not be the last time these two teams would meet in the cold of October.

TED BERG: Norm Macdonald is one of my heroes, but I understand why his humor might be difficult to appreciate. Heck, I was once guilty of that myself.

AKIE BERMISS: There was a time, long ago (in High School) when I thought I was a funny guy. I used to tell all sorts of jokes and I was in the drama club and I would do improv and — well, I thought I was funny. Years later it would dawn on me — I’m not funny at all! There are people out there who are actually really, really funny. They say anything to anyone — and its funny. Norm Macdonald is one of those guys. A masterfully funny guy who chooses to make us laugh by telling us jokes that are the opposite of funny.

ZOË RICE: Ugh. Before writing this, I rewatched Norm Macdonald’s most recent appearance on Conan O’Brien, and I got to dislike him just a little bit more. Like Ted and Akie, Norm first appeared on my radar on SNL’s Weekend Update. I really didn’t like him. It wasn’t the jokes so much, but the way he told them. Norm’s tone of voice strikes me not only as obnoxious but also entitled. The subtext of his delivery seems to say, “If you’re not laughing at my jokes, screw you.” It’s not that nothing funny ever comes out of Norm Macdonald’s mouth. I just happen to find him completely unsympathetic.