Kudos to the Albuquerque Journal. Two weeks ago, I wrote a column in The Trib about the food at Isotopes Park. It appears someone across the hall at Albuquerque's No. 1 news source read the story and realized many, many improvements could be made. So, today, they released this vastly superior version of the same exact story idea.

It was stupid of my assistant Juan Carlos and I, for instance, to try and sample most of the food there. We should have done like Glen Rosales and sampled 11 of the dozens of food items, instead of 25.

And what were we thinking, tasting the beers and rating them? Way more people get root beer floats. I was so busy trying to figure out which booze selection was the best that I totally ignored the overpriced soda-and-ice-cream option.

Also, I've always suspected I was a pathetic writer. This becomes way more apparent when a fine publication like the Journal produces the exact same column two weeks after mine runs. What wordsmiths they employ! Check this out:

"An outing to the ballpark always means a trip, or two or three, to the concession stands," Rosales writes. "... Chowing on the savory fare at Isotopes Park is a tradition as old as the sport itself."

Yes. YES! In that first line, you think he's just talking about taking one trip to the concession stands and then - BAM! - "or two or three." Oh man that is so classic!

I believe the sport of baseball is, like, over a century old, and Isotopes Park is a bit newer than that. But the brilliance here lies in the prose. Later in the piece, he calls the turkey leg "fingershakingly hot." I never would have thought of that!

- Last year, a running theme on The Flip Side during fantasy football season was my team being named something way too vulgar to write on a Family Website like Abqtrib.com. One of my bosses (ex-M.E. Kate Nelson) was so intrigued she demanded I tell her the name. When I did, she cringed. Classic.

Anyway, my roommate Daniel has outdone himself in the vulgar-team-name department. Daniel signed up for a $200 league this week, and dubbed his team something super, super vulgar. It's a great name, but I can only say it involves a cool bearded guy.

Daniel received a call from his cousin, who runs the league, a day later. Apparently the other players saw the name and were so offended they phoned his cousin and said Daniel needed to change the name.

Daniel gets a Flippy Point.

- I'll believe Michael Vick is going to jail when the bars actually lock him into a cell. These guys never go to jail.

But check out this picture on Deadspin. I love it so much its my new desktop background.

Posted by Phil Parker at 07:23 AM | Permalink