Pop-up Ads Suck

I think for as long as I have used web browsers, Espn.com has been my "Home" page. I know it shows that I value sports maybe a little too much, but it's always been a solid site to open my browser with, providing a quick summary of the top sports stories as well as some interesting columns that go more in depth. So, I never thought twice about setting all my Home pages to espn.com.

That is, until now. Lately, the page has been opening up pop-up ads every time I load it, which was annoying me more and more by the day. At first, the windows were just a little nuisance which I got used to closing. But today, it seemed like they had switched to some sort of super-pop-up-ad that opens up but makes it hard for you to close by switching between the espn window and the ad window until both are fully loaded. I don't think this was by design, but I open up new browsers probably over a hundred times during the course of the day, and as you might expect, by mid afternoon (around now) I was soooooo pissed. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be on a slow internet connection and have to go through that.

So I wrote a nasty email to the folks at espn.com who brought such atrocity upon my life, but being quite confident that they don't give a schnitt about my ordeal, I will probably end up having to change my Home page to something else before the pop-up madness makes me flip. Here's the thing: I know that me writing a strongly-worded email isn't gonna change anything, and that's pretty much why I don't usually do that kind of stuff. But, if more people write emails, and more people switch from espn to some other site, then they will be forced to take notice. I'm hoping this will happen and that the idiots who decided to sic these dumb ads on me will be forced to endure punishment similar to what I faced with these stupid ads this morning.

Anyways, this leaves me somewhat open to what my new home page shall be. So far, the possible candidates include:

1. cbs.sportsline.com, cnnsi.com - Two other major sports sites that don't have pop-up ads (I think)
2. www.google.com - A simple page that loads fast with no ads. I like google.
3. my.yahoo.com - I customized a page a while back on yahoo and it's pretty good. A Search bar near the top, weather, my email, news, links to my yahoo fantasy teams, and movie showtimes. Convenient and organized.
4. dudo509.blogspot.com - An awesome page that I visit frequently anyways. This guy has some of the most brilliant thoughts ever and we all could learn a lot from him. Plus, he's pretty darn good looking.
5. www.cnn.com - I've found myself visiting CNN a lot lately, maybe it's because I'm bored from reading sports all day, or maybe I am becoming more mature and world-conscious. It's not boring at all, as many people think, many of these stories are relevant and worth reading.
6. www.salon.com - You may have noticed that I included this site, which is kind of like an online magazine, on the links at the left of this page (I'll change them when I get around to it). I used to visit it more, but not so much lately. Still, it has a good coverage of recent events and overall, its writers put out well written pieces (unlike my blog entries). I doubt it will end up being my Home though, among all the other choices I'm listing.
7. www.espn.com - Ah, in many ways, I am still a stubborn, stubborn man. It's hard to change the habits that have been formed over 4 or 5 years, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Hmmm.... I think I am gonna grow up to be one of those old grandpas that annoys the crap out of everybody by refusing to listen to anyone.

If anyone reading this has any thoughts or suggestings about what I'm writing, feel free to contact me. Also, if anyone knows where the espn.com offices are located, please tell me so I can go reward them with eggs and toilet paper. Just kidding, vandalism is never the answer. But whoever wants to harrass espn.com with emails like I did has my full blessing.

Yao Ming

The latest #1 draft pick in the NBA just happens to be a 7'6" Chinese guy who can shoot three pointers. While it would be great to see him do well in the NBA, the more I think about it, the more I think it's gonna be a disaster. I mean, the guy is tall and everything, and I'm sure he has good fundamentals, but I fear that the first time he tries to put a body on Shaq will also be his last. He's gonna get so crushed it's not even funny. Shaq is gonna knock him over and eat him.

We've already seen skinny 7'6" guys in the NBA, and they usually end up being freak shows instead of dominating players. Can we forget Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley so easily, they might block some shots but they don't do much else other than stand there and look goofy.

And today I read an article on how they are gonna make Yao a huge endorsement commodity like Tiger Woods. Sorry, but that is gonna be more hilarious than anything. There is no way people in this country are gonna think this thuggish Yao Ming character is cool. Unfortunately, Chinese guys are not meant to be cool, especially oversized awkard-looking ones. Ichiro is cool, but Yao Ming is not gonna be Ichiro. At most, they might get him to appeal to the Asian-American community by having him do commercials for rice or something. And they might sell a bunch of "Yao #11" jerseys to Asian kids trying to be hip. But McDonalds and Nike should probably stick to players like Jordan and Tiger if they are any wiser.

Hopefully I am wrong, because heaven knows I would love to see a Chinese athlete succeed in professional sports (I almost bought a Bruce Chen jersey a couple years ago when he came up with the Atlanta Braves, boy, would I have looked dumb). But in a year or two, we may be looking at Yao Ming as the biggest disappointment, the biggest bust ever. I predict he will foul out every other game now that he isn't playing in China where everyone is like 2 feet shorter than him.