Fist Pump Like a Champ

As you may or may not know, last night was the premiere episode for season 2 of Jersey Shore on MTV. Below is the trailer so you can get a sense of where this is going.

Here goes my attempt to break down the first episode of the season as I saw it. Let me start by getting you into my mindset. For dinner I had an Italian sub from a small Italian deli. I had a cannoli for dessert. I talked with a Jersey accent before the premiere started to the point where Jackie had to tell me to be normal or face the consequence. Needless to say, I was ready to go.

First off, the first 40 minutes of the episode were extremely uneventful. There was a semi-recap of last season along with MTV showing the cast travel down to Miami and move into the house. Awful. A big “surprise” this season is the return of Angelina, a cast member who decided to pack her things and leave Seaside last season for some reason. I can’t remember why. Who cares?

The first genuinely funny and entertaining moment of the season for me happened when Nicole (‘Snooki’) and Jenni (‘JWoww’) pulled into a “club” in the South that was completely deserted. No people. Some creeper comes up and tries to pick the two up with his “fist pumping” magic. To take a line from Seinfeld, “It was like a full-body dry heave set to music.” Only there wasn’t music. Just awesomeness.

Next thing you know, everyone has moved into the house in Miami and drama sets in. Ronnie and Sammi, who “fell in love” last year hate each other now, but they kinda love each other too, so everything is awkward. Nice. All the girls hate Angelina and she knows it, so that is cool, especially when they all got into a fight in a cab on the way to the club. Will somebody PLEASE throw a fist?

Taking bets: In what episode will Ronnie punch a jerk for the first time this season? Tiebreaker is how many times he yells “That’s one shot SON!!!!” after doing it.

Speaking of Ronnie, he was just an absolute mess at the end of the episode. He got into a fight with Sammi at the club because he was ignoring her (they broke up, remember?) When it comes to fighting about nothing, Ronnie wants you to know that “it’s one fight you’re not gonna win.” Good one, slugger.

After the expletive-laced spat in the cab on the way to the next club (a fight that included a few, choice derogatory names, including a 4-letter word), Ronnie went out with the boys to party some more. It should be noted that the other guys did not approve of the final insult, which starts with a “C,” and they let the camera know they respect women. Bobby Bottleservice would be so proud.

At the end, Ronnie aka ‘Sloppy Joe’ (according to The Situation) ended up plastered at the club. Here is the description from his boy Mike aka ‘The Situation’:

“He was hookin’ up with grenades and land mines and lovin’ life.”

Wow. Beautiful. Can’t wait to see what happens in Miami for the rest of the summer!

How I Live as a West Coast Mets Fan

Note: This post originally appeared on the blog at www.theropolitans.com as a guest post. It is reprinted here with my permission because, after all, I wrote it.

Let it be known right off the bat that my roots are in New Jersey. I was born there, but my immediate family relocated to Los Angeles when I was just a baby. Family legend holds that I am named after Kevin McReynolds, whose grand slam in the 7^th inning the night before (August 30, 1989) finished off a 3 game sweep of the Dodgers on the road only hours before I was born. The Mets are in my blood.

With that being said, maybe it was destiny that we moved out here to LA. Either way, as far back as I can trace, my family has been full of die-hard Mets fans. Growing up in Los Angeles, a city that bleeds blue when the Dodgers win and makes other people bleed when they lose, is tough for any fan that doesn’t “Think Blue.”

So, you might ask, just how hard is it to follow the Mets every season? Well, let’s start off with physically watching games. For us college students, it’s tough to shell out hundreds of dollars for MLB Extra Innings or MLB.TV. On the west coast, we rarely catch a Mets game, especially since TBS and WGN don’t carry Braves and Cubs games anymore.

Opening Day 2009 at The Great American Ballpark - Mets 2, Reds 1

Along with the price barrier, we have to deal with time. 7pm would be great to watch a game if that didn’t mean 4pm for me. Working until 5 and in LA traffic until 6:30 leaves little time to open up Gametracker to catch the end when I get home. Weekend games start at 10am out here, and the local FOX station only carries baseball at 1pm. Needless to say, it’s rough.

Basically, I’ve taken to buying the MLB At-Bat app for my iPod and watch the condensed game the next morning for most of the year. Your sympathy is greatly appreciated.

It is a family vacation when the Mets make a west coast trip, and we save up time and money to sit in Dodger Stadium for 3 straight nights (gross). This June, I made my first trip down to Petco Park (beautiful) to see Johan throw a gem only to have K-Rod blow the save and Adrian Gonzalez hit a walk-off grand slam. That doesn’t matter though, since a few hours before the game I proposed to my now-fiancee Jackie. Leave a comment below and I’ll tell you how you can send us a gift!

Through it all, the Mets have taught me about life. Sometimes the Benny Agbayani’s and Timo Perez’s can succeed (I should point out that the 2000 Mets are the ONLY reason I have “Who Let the Dogs Out” on my iPod). Guys like Mike Piazza can lift an entire country up with his bat after tragedy strikes. Guys like Endy Chavez can climb fences to make us believe and the Aaron Heilman’s can tear us down from the moment they take the mound.

In the end, it is the moments of agony, hope and excitement that bring us together as Mets fans and give us the emotional range and strength we need to survive in the “real world.” So, for that reason alone I will do whatever it takes to be there for the Mets, despite the difficulties I face being here in California. I wouldn’t trade this rollercoaster ride for anything…except maybe a bat and an arm at the trading deadline.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone. I just wanted to take this opportunity to get you acquainted with my blog. I’d like to introduce you to some of the topics that I might explore here from now on, so that way you aren’t surprised at what you see.

Let’s get one thing straight: my mind wanders. A lot of things enter into my head and then I formulate an opinion and say it. So be ready. Here is just a small list of things that I have been thinking about that I would love to share with you, but since some of them are in the past, I probably won’t:

• BP
• The Mets
• The Bachelorette
• Concert ticket sales
• Vacations
• Idiots
• Ignorant “experts”
• Mel Gibson
• LeBron

Hope you all will enjoy this blog and direct others to read it to get my truly unique perspective of things. Beware: most of my posts arise from a single phrase you could ask – Why you gotta be like that? I should know, because it is the question my amazing fiancee Jackie asks me every time I utter one of my opinions. That’s how I know it’s gold. Hope you feel the same!