When Saturday Night Live premieres on September 28 (with Tina Fey as host), it will be a very different looking show than last season’s finale. No more Armisen, Sudekis or Hader and head writer Seth Myers is on his way out to take over Late Night. To fill the voids, NBC announced 6 new additions to the cast and there is some real potential in the group.

Beck Bennett is the most recognizable new cast member. He’s the guy from those AT&T commercials talking to the young kids. His web series “Fresh Perspectives,” which got him the AT&T gig, has had some hilarious installments and I like his straight man approach.

Bennett’s friend and performing partner from Good Neighbor, Kyle Mooney is also joining the cast, giving us another potential Lonely Island situation. People who are used to writing and performing together usually churn out solid sketches and I’m sure they’re thrilled to have the much larger forum.

Mooney could be the breakout star. I didn’t know anything about him until watching a couple of YouTube clips, but I loved everything that I have watched so far. Please watch all 4:54 seconds of this sketch entitle “Toast.” You won’t regret it.

I also couldn’t stop laughing at this man on the street Lakers video…

Other newcomers include Brooks Wheelan, John Milhiser, Noel Wells and former SNL writer Mike O’Brien and they all seem like worthy choices based on my quick googling of each. Wheelan is a stand-up comedian from LA and he has a great bit about In and Out Burger. Wells does a perfect Zoey Deschanel impression and Milhiser was involved in a very funny patty-cake themed parody of the Step Up dance movies. O’Brien has been around the show since ’08 and his 7 minutes in heaven YouTube show proves that he can handle saying words on camera as well as writing them.

The only disappointing news out of these new hires is that cast member Tim Robinson has been demoted to writer. Robinson had very little to do on the show last season but according to Bill Hader and other cast members, he would have everyone on the floor during Wednesday’s table reads. Hader also predicted he would be a breakout star this season but it looks like that won’t be happening yet. He will still be obviously be writing and hopefully Robinson can work his way back into the cast.

It’s an exciting time for SNL. There has always has a lot of turnover and it’s in these transition years that breakout stars emerge. I remember like it was yesterday when Samberg and Hader started and how quickly they made names for themselves. I’m sure people will complain that it’s not as good as it was because that’s what always happens but there’s lots of potential here and I’m excited to see what the newbies bring to Studio 8H.

You always want to beat your older sibling, whether you’re playing a game of checkers or a football game on national TV. Eli will be competing against his older brother in the latter on Sunday and he is looking for his first win against Peyton. The Giants need a W too to avoid starting 0-2 for the 1st time since ’07. Yes, we won the Super Bowl that year but only 11% of teams who start 0-2 make the playoffs.

The Broncos looked amazing in Week 1 with Peyton throwing for a record 7 touchdowns. But that’s not going to happen on Sunday and if the Giants can take care of the football, then I give them more of a chance in this game then most. Last week was a brutal loss mostly because even after turning the ball over 5 times (unacceptable), we still should have won the game. I wasn’t very impressed with the Cowboys and I feel that we gave them that game.

The thing that hurts most about giving away a game is that every game is so pivotal, even Week 1. Last year we missed the playoffs by one game and I fear that if we have a similar fate this season, it will be hard not to look back at that game in Dallas and wonder what could have been.

Hopefully that won’t be an issue though and there were some good things to take away from last week. The defense played better than expected – don’t forget Dallas had a pick 6 and was handed the ball in the red zone 3 separate times thanks to other turnovers. The offense is explosive and Ruben Randle looks to be a competent third receiver.

Obviously, the Giants need to improve in the turnover department as well in the running game. The return of Brandon Jacobs should help there along with a motivated David Wilson. I expect him to hold onto the ball with a kung fu grip for the rest of the season. Our linebackers are another concern, especially with Dan Connor out for the season, but every team has weaknesses. We can overcome those and it starts this week.

Peyton is 0-2 vs Eli but Eli is in his prime right now. Somehow, Peyton also appears to be in his prime even though he is fresh off multiple neck surgeries at age 37. He’s a freak and if Eli has half of the longevity his brother has, then we are lucky.

It will be hard to slow down the Broncos offense, especially when they run the hurry-up but I expect our offense to keep pace. This is likely the last time they will go head-to-head against one another. Eli deserves at least one win against his older brother right? If he doesn’t get it now, I’ll take solace in knowing that they are just setting up for a Manning Bowl Super Bowl at Metlife Stadium in February. Like I said, last time we started 0-2, we won the Super Bowl.

And don’t forget, you can watch the game on your phone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn5zytfm9No

Jimmy Kimmel won the Internet. The video of the girl catching on fire while twerking was everywhere and like everyone else, I believed it was real. It was the only thing people talked about for a 48-hour period.

Here’s a quick story to highlight the ubiquity of this literally viral video. A friend of mine was waiting for a friend in the lobby of an apartment building and he overheard screams coming from a computer facing away from him. He walked up to the doorman behind the desk and asked “Is that the girl twerking who catches of fire?” The doorman said yes and they both laughed and watched the video again together. All he needed was the audio to recognize it.

Some had suspicions that the video was fake but I thought it was 100% real until last night when Jimmy Kimmel revealed it was all a prank performed by a stuntwoman. Brilliant. I can’t say enough about great this is. I can only imagine what Kimmel and his writers were thinking as they watched the video rack up 9 million views.

The news coverage by virtually every day-time and evening talk show, which he highlights after the reveal, is hilarious. Not just because they were duped into thinking the video was real but because “Twerking Fail” was written in teleprompters and graphics generators across the country. (As Kimmel notes, good thing there is nothing going on in Syria right now).

It was the perfect prank and it was executed flawlessly. Kudos to Kimmel and the stuntwoman. You had everyone fooled and now you get to bask in the reveal that it was all a joke.

It’s that time of year again. The Giants kick off their 2013 season with a big divisional game against the Cowboys tomorrow night. Week 1 is full of so much promise and a win over our division rivals, in their building, would look and feel really good. Eli has played amazing at the new Cowboys Stadium – in fact, he’s never lost there.

We know what we will get from Eli tomorrow night. Entering his 10th year in the league, Eli has already proven himself to be an elite quarterback. This year, the big question mark for the Giants is the defense. JPP is not 100% and we’re a safety down already with the loss of Stevie Brown in the preseason. Overcoming injuries will be crucial this year and it’s something that we couldn’t really overcome last year.

The Giants were a really good team in 2012 but our poor defense coupled with injuries and a brutal schedule kept us out of the playoffs. Making defensive adjustments, facing a little easier schedule and hopefully avoiding injuries has me optimistic for the season. Also, hopefully everyone still remembers the sting of losing on Week 1 at home to Dallas last year and uses that as a little extra motivation.

Our offense should be really solid. Eli has Cruz, Nicks, a new tight end target in Brandon Myers, (hopefully) the emergence of Ruben Randle and a fiery David Wilson to spread the ball around to. I’m expecting tomorrow night’s game to be a high-scoring shootout, like the last couple of games we have played in Dallas. If we have an improved defense, like Perry Fewell has been saying we have, then we should win the game.

By tomorrow at 11 PM, we will have a lot of answers about the defense. The Cowboys are a respectable offense but they’re far from the best in the NFL. Our defense needs to do enough to slow them down because if they can’t, then we’re going to have serious problems against teams like the Packers, Seahawks, Niners and maybe even the Redskins and Eagles. So c’mon D, it’s on you tomorrow night. I can’t stand losing to the Cowboys so let’s start the season off right tomorrow night with a convincing victory.

Football is back! It’s a great time of year – we’ve 20 straight Sundays of football on tap. To quote Bart Scott… CAN’T WAIT!

Lorde, also known as Ella Yelich-O’Connor, has been popular on the other side of the world for quite some time but she’s just bursting on to the scene here in the US. The New Zealand native is just 16 years old but what she lacks in experience, she makes up for with an amazing voice and tremendous songwriting skills.

Her songs are relatively simple, which helps accentuate her amazing vocals. I have always admired singer/songwriters and Lorde has really come up with some infectious melodies.  I find myself humming her singles ‘Royals’ and ‘Tennis Court‘ at all times throughout the day. She’s going to be one to watch in the future and I’m excited to hear her debut album, which is scheduled for a release this month.

A torn UCL is the last thing any pitcher, manager, GM, owner and fan wants to hear – especially when it’s about your phenom ace. But that’s what Matt Harvey was a diagnosed with on Monday, effectively shutting him down until at least 2014 and possibly 2015 if surgery is necessary.  The majority of pitchers who suffer a torn UCL (even partially) eventually undergo Tommy John surgery and I’m assuming Harvey will be no different.

Obviously this is very discouraging news. Right as I was beginning to get very excited about the future, this news breaks. The future is still bright but that future is largely dependent on Harvey. Too many times in the past, pitchers have burst onto the scene, suffered injuries and never were the same. Joe Posnanski outlined a slew of examples from throughout baseball history here.

Thanks to modern medicine, Harvey has a great chance of rehabbing and returning to form, whether he undergoes surgery or not. But the risk still remains that he never returns to his pre UCL-tear form. That’s why I’m pushing for surgery now and a fresh, strong, healthy Matt Harvey ready for 2015.

Realistically, 2014 was shaping up as a season of improvement but it’s unlikely the Mets would have been good enough to make the playoffs. Giving our young talent another year to develop while Harvey rehabs could put us in prime position for a playoff run in 2015. Harvey is only 24 years old, so I guess if there’s ever a time to need surgery, it’s better to get it over with now when he’s young and can recover quicker.

Harvey is optimistic he won’t need surgery.

We will see what the doctor’s say but for now I’m not going to let this spoil my high hopes for the future. 2013 was a step in the right direction and 2014 should follow suit. I want to make sure that Harvey is 100% by Opening Day 2015 and if that means having surgery now, then so be it.

Katy Perry has done it again. Every time she comes out with a new song, I listen to it and say “that song is alright.” Then I don’t think about it for a week while hearing it at least twice daily on the radio. After that week passes, I can’t get the tune out of my head and I end up craving it, hoping it comes on the radio. It’s a vicious cycle and it has happened again with her latest track “Roar.”

I give up. I accept that I’m going to like Katy Perry’s new songs every time. It started with “I kissed a girl” in 2008 and ever since then it’s been the same pattern. First time I heard “Last Friday Night,” I thought to myself “that song is alright” but it didn’t take long for those inner thoughts to morph into “Damn, when are they going to play that Katy Perry song?” “Firework” is another example although I must admit, it might have taken me less than a week to realize that song’s greatness.

From now on, I’m just going to skip the part where I’m not impressed and just embrace that I’m going to like this song. She has found a way to create perfect earworms that just get inside of your head and have you humming the melody without even realizing it. Congrats, Katy Perry… I can’t get your songs out of my head.

There’s a lot of important baseball to be played in the next 6 weeks as we sort out the AL and NL playoff picture. Unfortunately, the Mets won’t be involved in any of that but that doesn’t mean their games are unimportant. Just the opposite actually, as the next 6 weeks will likely decide the fate of manager Terry Collins.

Some reports have surfaced that the Mets have made a tentative internal decision about his future and it is “widely expected” that Collins will be given a new deal after this season. Nothing is official yet and these next 6 weeks will certainly decide who will be the team’s manager next season.

I want Terry to be the manager of the Mets in 2014 and I think he has earned that position.  He has the team playing some pretty good baseball right now, especially considering its superstar third baseman David Wright is on the DL. The Mets are 31-26 in their last 57 games and they lead the Twins 4-0 right now in the 5th inning. Furthermore, the franchise has some promising young talent and expects to be a winning team as early as next year.

Those players seem to respond to Terry and that is vital in putting together a winning team. I think the front office is leaning towards retaining him but to guarantee himself the chance, he needs to continue to push the team to play good baseball the rest of the way. The games may not be important in the standings but they are vitally important for the future of the franchise and Terry Collins.

Having said all of that, Terry Collins has a 207-239 (.464)  record since taking over as the Mets manager in 2011. The Mets have not made the playoffs since 2006 and they’ve struggled in the 2nd half of seasons. (31-40 after All-Star Break in 2011, 28-48 in 2012 and 15-16 this season). Not to mention the collapses of ’07 and ’08 which of course have nothing to do with Terry Collins but they do illustrate a team trend that needs to be addressed.

That kind of track record doesn’t usually have me vigorously backing my team’s manager but for some reason I believe in Terry. The Mets were faced with financial problems that hindered them from putting together a viable major league roster and Terry did the best with what he was given. Now the pieces are falling into place and the Mets should be contenders with a true ace in Matt Harvey, a superstar in David Wright and some talented, young role players. Terry’s the man to put all of those pieces together and get this team back to the playoffs.

You can feel the tide changing in New York. The Mets are on the verge of being good again while the Yankees continue to get older on the field and cheaper in the front office. Queens is trending upwards while Bronx is more concerned with PEDs and getting out of a contract that exceeds the GDP of some small countries. There are still some holes to plug up but when the Mets take the field in 2014, Terry Collins should be writing the lineup card. Either way, he knows that the way to ensure that is to having a winning record in the final 6 weeks of this season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJFSPAm5h0w

Just an awesome alternative track by the brother-sister indie pop group Blondfire. I first heard it on ALT Nation on Sirius XM and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to it on YouTube since. It’s got a very catchy guitar riff (that’s also very fun to play) and Erica’s voice fits the vibe of the song perfectly. I’m excited to see what else this duo comes out with for their second studio album.

Also worth checking out is their acoustic version of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4v0i9wLaYU

Almost. Every time I see this Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial, I get exponentially more excited for the season. This commercial is so awesome. There’s so much going on pre-snap and you’re right there in it. The way the camera swings around to see what everyone is doing leading up to what will be the most important play of the game.

It captures everything that is great about football and sports in general. I need to know what happens once the ball is snapped. I never will but I always feel the same thing after watching that minute-long advertisement – pumped up and overflowing with passion about sports and competition. Only 3 weeks until Week 1.

Dick’s did a similar spot in March leading up to Opening Day for the baseball season and it was equally as good. Sports are the best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpbU8vlGlzk

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Eric King 3 months ago