Emo kitties, dangerous bunnies and friendly Griffins

It’s been a loooong week here in the mitten. We set a record for February snowfall, and it’s been darn cold, too.

How cold, you might ask? I did a local story about the recalled beef and stood in a school district’s massive walk-in freezer that keeps the soon-to-be-banished bovine remains at a constant 10 degrees. And it was warmer in the freezer than it was outside.

One the bright side, I was able to lock a local television news crew in the freezer for a spell. Alpha Dogs get to control the freezer door. Woof.

Hopefully the Deezo Friday Five can take the edge off the chill.

1) Mixed emotions about seeing Johan Santana on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I think SI has a football cover for 48 of its 52 issues, so we won’t see another baseball player for months. Seriously, you know there was a discussion on whether Tom Brady would wear a bikini for the swimsuit issue. On one hand it’s magnificent to see Johann in his pinstripes.

And the article is written by Lee Jenkins instead of Tom Verducci, so we are spared the inevitable “Santana would probably rather be a Yankee to benefit from Derek Jeter’s intangibles” line.

But I’m just worried about the dreaded SI cover jinx. The Mets need to cover him in bubble wrap until the next issue, which I suspect has some Manning brother on the cover enjoying the off-season.

2) Emo kitties. Clearly these people watched a lot of 1980s-era MTV. And I salute them.


3) I’m deep into "Dead Zone" season five as my treadmill viewing project. But season six doesn’t appear to be headed to DVD anytime soon, so I’m leaning toward starting a long-term relationship with "ER," though it takes a couple years before Dr. Kerry Weaver arrives.

Picking a treadmill show isn’t as easy as you think. We need a show with multiple seasons that will interesting enough that you can look down and discover that a half-mile has passed without even realizing it. After the embarrassing “Greg the Bunny” incident in the health club, comedies are not allowed. Damn, that hurt.


4) The Grand Rapids Griffins allowed me to take my five journalism students up in the press box for a game to see how professional sports writers work. I was telling the kids that one of the fun parts about being in a press box is that you never know who might be up there. And moments later, Steve Yzerman walked past. Once in a while it’s nice for them to think I know what I’m talking about.

5) I’ve decided that the 2008 Topps design is the company’s best in years. And I like some of the retro inserts and presidential subsets But it would still be nice to be able to pull a Met from a pack. Any Met, at this point. And I covet this Seaver card.