This is an email from my cousin, Dud. It was so heartfelt, I felt it necessary to post it on the site…

Hi Bobby,

I looked up your “Miscellaneous” file.

I hope you are going to tie in actor Michael Chiklis this weekend.
He is a huge Pats fan, is often on “The Dennis and Callahan” show and introduced The Pats on Fox prior to the 2004-2005 Super Bowl.

Most importantly, this TUESDAY marks the end of THE SHIELD on F/X. This show was one of my favorites of all-time.
This TUESDAY, Chiklis’s “Vic Mackey” has reached the end.

A truly sad day for all SHIELD fans.

Obviously, there is nothing to tie in; THE SHIELD and THE PATS have nothing to do with one another, but, it’s solid comedy.
As “Bania” said in “Seinfeld”-”They’re Gold, Jerry, Gold.”

Mentioning Chiklis/THE SHIELD/VIC MACKEY in your miscellaneous file is GOLD, Bobby, GOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks.

dud

Admittedly, I had never seen the Shield and was not able to tie it in effectively, but I thought I should let him get this off his chest. And I think we should all join him in saying goodbye to a true American Hero: Michael Chiklis from “The Shield.”

Not enough to write one article about, too much to just keep quiet… this is what I affectionately refer to as: Brain Vomit. On with the recent random thoughts…

Saw “The Dark Knight” on its opening weekend, and it has caused me to rethink my favorite superhero movies. It wasn’t quite enough to move Iron Man from the top spot, but boy, was it close. My revised list of the top 10 superhero movies is as follows:

1. Iron Man
2. Spider-Man 2
3. The Dark Knight
4. Spider-Man
5. Spider-Man 3
6. The Incredible Hulk
7. Superman II
8. Batman (Tim Burton Original)
9. X-Men
10. X-Men III

Aside from being a great movie with everything you could ask for (except possibly a little comedic relief [why Iron Man and Spider-Man 2 are still atop the list], and a female lead that is attractive enough for Bruce Wayne to be believably attracted to), it provided moviegoers with quite possibly the greatest movie villain of all time. Heath Ledger will get a ton of posthumous attention for this role because of untimely death, but it should be because he created a character with memorably terrifying looks and deranged dialogue. The Joker was completely devoid of any reason or motives for his crimes, yet had just enough human nature in him to chill you to the bone, thinking this could happen in real life. This also caused me to rethink the top movie villains of all time.

1. James Earl Jones as Darth Vader, Star Wars
2. Heath Ledger as The Joker, “The Dark Knight”
3. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, “Silence of the Lambs”
4. Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, “The Shining”
5. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, “Psycho”

Yeah, Darth Vader, then Heath’s Joker. That’s how good it was. Runners-up include Arnold’s Terminator and Jaws.

Josh Hamilton recently reached 100 RBIs in 99 games, making him the best fantasy sleeper in the history of internet-assisted fantasy baseball. Sure, there have been a plethora of 9th and 10th round superstars, but have any produced at the consistent, sky-high level that Hamilton has this season? Most sleepers have great half-seasons, or take over a starting job at some point during the season, but what this recovering drug and alcohol addict is doing all summer long is simply unprecedented. And the reason I’m praising him with such joy? I drafted him in nearly every league I participated in this year.

Speaking of fantasy sports, due to the paper-thin depth at shortstop, I recently picked up Nomar Garciaparra in a deeper league. I was honestly very happy to see this guy as relevant again. Since the wildly enjoyable “Nomah’s Bettah!” chants of the early 2000’s, we’ve had only Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria and Julio Lugo to pretend we’d rather have than Derek Jeter. Then, not a week after he contributed to a solid head-to-head win for me, he injured his knee during a game and hasn’t played since. This guy simply can’t catch a break. What a injury-ruined waste of pure hitting talent.

“Manny being Manny” has become “Manny being a Maniac” and the Red Sox should not exercise his option. $20 million for a 37-year-old 85, 25, 95, .290 hitter is approximately 5-7 million dollars too much. On the other hand, the Sox have pieces to trade, and Matt Holliday would look great in a Sox uniform patrolling left field for the next 5-6 years. Can anyone argue gainst a triple-crown threat hitting behind or in front of David Ortiz for the next few years? I thought not…

While we’re talking trades, Mark Teixeira needs to be removed from the Red Sox’s “To Trade For” list immediately. Besides being a frustratingly streaky hitter, he is not as good a fielder as Kevin Youkilis, and would force him to move to the outfield if acquired. Playing a position he’s not comfortable with weakens the outfield defense, and the infield defense by simply by his absence. And, also, um, has anyone he is a Scott Boras client and asking for approximately 78 billion dollars more than his performance merits? I’ve gotta hire this guy to get me a raise at my electrical sales job.

Fresh off being swept by L.A., then sweeping Seattle, the Red Sox came within a stellar Jon Lester outing of being swept by the hated Yankees in their own backyard. These are not the trends of a championship-caliber team. David Ortiz is a huge X-factor here, however. He adds a tremendous amount of run production, lineup protection (to batters before and after him), and improves team chemistry by 89.7% when he’s healthy and producing. Doubt that number? Look it up, it’s been proven. But, if Big Papi can’t return to “Don’t pitch to me under any circumstances” form soon, it may be the key subject in the 2008 Boston Red Sox obituary.

That seems to be all I can yell about for the moment. Thanks for joining me this, check back again later this week for the top ten fantasy football players to reach for, and top ten to avoid in 2008. Reporting live from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, I’m Bobby Price.