Some of you will have already noticed that the original Wall of Paul slogan, "Paul Tatara on Movies (and so forth)," now reads "Paul Tatara on Pop Culture (and so forth)." In the winter of 2007, when we launched this site, I knew I'd initially draw readers who were familiar with my CNN and Goodauthority movie coverage, so I mostly wrote about movies. But I live in the same world everyone else inhabits, and I contemplate a lot of things besides motion pictures. It was my goal, then, to eventually examine music, sports, politics, religion, firecrackers, action figures, babies, fast food, heroes, hypocrites, air conditioning, parades, cream puffs, and a slew of other topics that have come to shape my consciousness. Thus the altered, and far more accurate, slogan.

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One from the Heart

May 7, 2010

70s tribe Logo

Ah, it seems like old times in Cleveland again.

My friend and loyal reader, Jody Whipp (hello also to Deanna), alerted me to this going-viral video of Indians announcer Bruce Drennan, who finally lost it, on TV, after watching the Tribe nestle into last place in the American League Central. The Indians now sport a 10-17 record, and appear to be in a bit of a free-fall…if it’s possible to be in only a bit of a plunge to one’s own death. We’re worse than the fucking Royals, for heaven’s sake, and the Royals still have those idiotic waterfalls in the outfield.

But let Drennan, who's like the bastard child of Paul Lynde and John Goodman, have his say.

The era of the Indians giving at least a few teams pause when they play them is currently a thing of the past. And, believe me, I’ve been there before. Drennan sounds an awful lot like my Uncle Stanley, who, by his late forties, was so thoroughly fed up by the Browns and the Tribe he only wanted to know which players got booed when you attempted to tell him about the game you attended the night before.

Although I’ve sounded like this on occasion myself - a lot of ground has been covered between my first-ever Tribe-conscious season back in 1970 and the hull of a man who types before you today - I usually get more metaphysical than Drennan does, locating, in my anguish, the interconnectedness of all manner of things, from the astronomical rent you have to pay in Manhattan to the Indians stinking to high heaven yet again. Drennan keeps it between the lines, but the sheer grandeur of his despair, how he manages to be both unpretentious and operatic at the same time, is very entertaining.

This is a long-suffering Indians fan yelling, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!” But he will. He’ll take it much more, because he has no choice, does he? Big wheel keep on turnin’, you know, and the Indians aren't going anywhere.

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Oh! Since I’ve noticed that far fewer Facebook readers are likely to click on my "new article" posts when they’re adorned with a sports photo or, worse yet, the logo of a Cleveland sports franchise, I’m including this picture of two hot girls from the cast of “Glee” hugging each other.

Hot Girls from Glee