"It really doesn't get much cooler than the Dempsey Roll" Monday - September 11th, 2006

First things first. A moment of silence for reasons that should be obvious. I don't like to think about this particular date and the events of 5 years ago even to this day. My feelings now are the same as then.

Now I would also like to apologize for being a day late. My friend Tom came down from Albany for the weekend. Dave also came in from Jersey and a good time was had by all. I wont bore you with the details, but let's just say we even played some wiffle ball outside my house. I don't know about you, but nothing ever beats being able to go out and play some sports with your friends.

But hey it's Tom Brisket's turn for the main page and it took forever to decide this one. I knew what I wanted for the pose, but the background took FOREVER. I'm still not completely happy with it, but hopefully it'll grow on me like Dave's did. look out for the ever meek, but kind Key Lime Pitrowski this Thursday!

Oh and I wanted to mention this because it's just about supplanted everything else as my favorite sports manga/anime of all time. I love Slam Dunk and Cyber Formula, but Hajime no Ippo CANNOT be topped. For one, the sheer length, 70 plus manga books and counting, is unbelievable when most manga end somewhere in their twenties to thirties. Second, the characters are spectacular. Third, it does an exemplary job of translating boxing on to the page. There are some flashy moves that are a bit enhanced for the manga world, but most if not all can be linked to real boxing moves. Fourth, it's actually very funny to top it all off. While it's primarily a sports story, it's one of the few manga that has gotten me laughing out loud a lot.  However what every good sports junkie knows is that without the CHILL SCENES, any sports movie, story, or comic is done for. Ippo has THE BEST chill scenes of any anime I've ever seen. I mean I don't want to spoil it for anyone so be prepared for a spoiler if you click on this clip. Without context, it's infinitely as cool, but it still kicks ass. All I have to say is this doesn't even COME CLOSE to a chill scene that happens at the end of the anime series. I know I've touted anime here before, but if I had to choose between knowing what happens in Ippo or Naruto from this point forward, I'd choose Ippo. If you want to check it out for free they have the first few episodes on Youtube. If you have Netflix you can rent it from them under their stolen name of Fighting Spirit. We all know it's Hajime no Ippo.