Stuff

The voice of Mrs. Wolowitz died yesterday. If you watch Big Bang Theory, you'll know what an integral part of the show she was, even though the audience never really saw her. I hope they recast her voice. The character is so good that I'd hate to see her character die as well. The Simpsons retire the character when their voice actor dies. There's no real precedent for things like this.

I didn't even know who played her until I saw the news this morning.

Speaking of TV shows, I still like Person of Interest more than any other show on television. Gotham, as of late, has been outstanding, primarily because of how they write and use the Penguin, but the individual WEEKLY plots seem so "comic booky" that they makes me cringe. This week was a great example of that. Accountants fight to the death for the reward of joining a successful business firm. Really? It's no wonder comic books have horrible reputations for most people. If I was one of those accountants I would just move to Chicago and get a job. Actually if Gotham were real, I think all the citizens would move.

Agents of Shield, on the other hand, is playing like a long mini-series. It finally takes itself seriously instead of having all the goofy humor of the first season. The alien-blood/alien writing story line moved forward in a big way last night. It's a worthy supplement to all the great Marvel movies. Agent Coulson rivals the Penguin as the best inspired comic book character on television.

The JAWS ratings is a tool sportswriters use to determine who are the best baseball players, by position, in history. Last week Sports Illustrated noted that Joe Mauer is ninth all-time at catcher. The top six are in the hall. Number SEVEN Ivan (Pudge) Rodriquez isn't elegible yet. And Mike Piazza is ignored because he played in the enhancement era. Mauer's three batting titles and MVP award basically make him a lock to join the Hall after he retires. You kind of forget just how good he once was with his poor seasons as of late.

Kobe Bryant set an all-time record last night. He has now officially MISSED more field goal attempts than any other player in history, over 13,000. When asked how that happened, his reply was classic. "You know I'm a SHOOTING guard whose played more than 19 seasons, right?" He's in good company, the man whose record he broke was John Havlicek, one of the all-time greats.