Welcome to my Norm Macdonald Blog
Topic: Sports, Norm Macdonald

Hi everyone!  I originally had these posts up on my regular blog, but decided they needed a more permanent home.  So I am including them with my Norm Macdonald Page. 

As most of you who know me know, I have been a HUGE Norm Macdonald fan for 17 years now...almost 18.  I honestly would do anything for this man.  So I wanted to share my thoughts about Sports Show and all things Norm with other fans.  It is with great love, respect, and admiration that I do this blog. 

Enjoy!

 

P.S. Until I figure out the Tripod blog, you'll have to read it backwards.  Sorry about that.

"Sports Show With Norm Macdonald" Week 7--May 24, 2011
Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald

Time for another exciting blog about "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald".  This time, Week 7, May 24, 2011.  It was another jam-packed episode, so I will just report the highlights.  The question is where to begin because once again, all the jokes were so good, it's hard to pick the best, but I'll try.

We got to see a video of "Norm" from his body building days, which got a huge positive response from the audience.  However Norm hopes it doesn't live on You Tube forever "long after I'm dead, out of context".

Three-year-old colt Shackleford redeemed himself by winning the Preakness.  But as Norm reports, Shackleford doesn't understand the concept of redemption because he's a (bleep) horse.

The Chicago Cubs made it to Fenway Park for the first time since the 1918 World Series.  Norm said some people think they threw the 1918 series against The Red Sox.  Then suddenly, there is "Breaking News From The Past" with Norm from 1918 reporting that The Cubs are being accused of throwing the World Series.  1918 Norm says "Don't I know it." and shows off his winnings from the bet he made on the game.  Present day Norm tries to tell 1918 Norm to invest the money, but Norm 1918 has other plans--hooch and dames, prompting present day Norm to say "I'm my own worst enemy." (My apologies for the over-use of "1918 Norm" and "present day Norm", but you try keeping them straight while writing about this bit without using those phrases a lot.)

Next is a report on a dog dressed up outside a Mets game and being forced to beg for money.  Norm agrees with the people outraged over this.  He says the executive producer of "Sports Show", agrees too. Then they show her--a cute dog named Stella dressed up herself, who apparently likes to text too much.  She's one talented dog.  I don't think even Lassie can text, can she?

It looks like "Wide World of Sports Show" is becoming a permanent feature on the show, and I'm loving it!  It fits in perfectly!

"Oh, Google" returns, and there is good news to report. Apparently, Google staff members watch "Sports Show" and know that Norm Macdonald is a man you should listen to. Norm reported that the day after the previous week's show with the first installment of "Oh, Google" aired, Google removed all their sexist NBA suggestions. Norm compliments them, but decided to test the waters again with other searches like "men's serve" and "women's serve".  Once again, Google failed the test.  My favorite search result was he decided to search for "Women's Beach Volley Ball".  He got as far as "Women's Be" when some suggestions came up.  One was "women be shoppin".  It makes me laugh every time!

Favorite Segment of the Week--Norm reported that last year, 23 of the top 50 women golfers were Korean. So he sent "Sports Show" writer Ben Hoffman (@BeniHoff on Twitter) to Koreatown where Norm said they learned that Korean women are the best because of hard work and discipline.  However, when they cut to Ben, he informed Norm that he is wrong.  It's because of genetics.  (By the way, is it really a good idea to tell the host that he's wrong?)  Then Ben set out to prove his theory--after going through four different women to find a Korean translator, while using the others as crew members, they interviewed several Korean women and one Korean man to find out why Korean women are so good at golf.  Ben finally found a woman who never golfed in her life to prove his theory. He had her take a couple swings, and she missed both times.  Back at the studio, Norm told him he was wrong, but Ben wasn't backing down.  He said he still has hope and brought out the same Korean woman (Jean Kwon--Hope I spelled that correctly.) to try again.  Even Norm can't keep a straight face at this point, which I get a kick out of.  Now, I don't know if she really was someone they found on the street or if she is really in show business.  But if she really was someone they just found on the street, I have only one thing to say.  PLEASE get this woman a show!  She is just too dang funny!  This time, she hit the ball, but missed the hole.

"What the H?" started out with Norm reporting that Charles Barkley said "Every pro athelete has played on a team with a gay guy.  Yet, no active player in a major sport has come out of the closet."  Norm took this opportunity to let us in on the ground rules for an athlete to come out:  1. You have to be good--preferably an all-star.  2.  You also have to be good looking.  3. No fatties.  4.  Don't come out in Nashville. No one wants to be known as a Gay Predator.   But if you play for the Tampa Bay Rays, that's ok because you'd be a gay Ray, which sounds like something you would use to zap others into becoming gay.  Norm decided to out a gay athlete.  You guessed it--Shackleford!  But no human athletes as of yet.  He did point out you don't have to be gay and used Derek Jeeter for an example.  He could pretend to be gay then pretend to come out of the closet.  Then everyone else will come out.  But he was quick to point out that no matter if you are gay or not, just love one another.  There is no need to be homophobic.  Oh, thank you, Norm, for once again throwing some words of wisdom into your routine!  Love it when you do that! 

One minute five seconds was on the clock for garbage time.  My favorite joke was "Hunting is the only sport where you get to eat your opponent."  Then finishes with "Well, that and racquetball."  Unfortunately, the clock beat Norm again.  Maybe week 8 will be Norm's turn.

Well, there you have it.  If you are watching "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald", great!  If not, what are you waiting for?  June 7th is the season finale.  And don't forget their website/blog at http://sportsshow.comedycentral.com/.  The writers on the blog are some of the funniest writers you'll ever run into!

Until next time...

Review of "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald--Week 6"
Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald

Hello friends!  Thanks so much for your patience while I finally got my act together and got this blog entry up.  So sorry it's late again. I know this week's episode was Week 7, but this blog is about Week 6 from May 17.  A blog about the current show will be coming soon, I promise.  Ok..let the fun begin! And what fun it was!

The top story was about the fact that the Bull's playoff games had to be scheduled around Oprah's farewell show.  The punchline was "Apparently the Bulls are now taking orders from the cows".  I was practically on the floor with this joke!  And, oh was I cheering!  Those of you who know me know exactly how I feel about Oprah, especially in light of a certain video she made. So it shouldn't come as a surprise when I tell you that THIS was my favorite joke of the week.  

The late Burgess Meredith returns as the show's medical correspondent to explain what could be causing pain in Tiger Woods' left leg.  His diagnosis? "Women weaken legs", of course.

After beating the Lakers in the NBA Playoffs, Maverick's coach Rick Carlyle commented on Phil Jackson's retirement, saying "Phil Jackson will get tired of smoking Peyote and return to coaching."  But this story is interrupted by Breaking News from the Future (A.K.A. Norm in a space suit), which reports the exact opposite.  

In other NBA news, Yao Ming is suing a Chinese sportswear company for using his name and logo without his permission.  See...just in case someone else isn't aware...umm..that's a HUGE no-no!

Have you heard about Lakers' Guard Shannon Brown's blunder? No? Well, let me enlighten you.  Apparently, he went on Twitter and tweeted that he did NOT sleep with Pau Gasol's girlfriend.   Yeah, that's not going to make you look guilty...So Norm interviews Pau Gasol impersonator Michael Fanter (@paudouble on Twitter) about it via satellite.  He said he doesn't know if the rumors are true because he's never met either of the players.  When asked if this could hurt the Lakers in 2012, Fanter says he doesn't care as long as the Lakers don't trade Pau Gasol because this is his (Fanter's) only source of income.  But when Norm asked him "What if they traded him to Miami?", Fanter said "Miami is nice. I can live in Miami."

Wide World of Sports Show was next.  It featured jokes about various sports events around the world.  And let me tell you..this brought back memories for me. I can remember watching "ABC's Wide World of Sports" when I was young.

This episode was the debut of "Oh, Google".  Norm googles phrases that start with "WNBA"  Google then responds by asking "Did you mean NBA..."  Norm's response is "Oh, Google". I'm still not sure what is funnier...this segment or Norm saying "Oh, Google..." or "Google!".  He then asks for us to send in our own "Oh, Google" finds to them on Twitter (@normsportsshow) using the hash tag "#ohgoogle".

Norm's nephew Kyle (@kylemooney on Twitter) returns in this episode.  Norm gives him another chance "under protest" to prove himself.  Translation:  Kyle's mom talked Norm into giving him another chance after she reminded him how many times she bailed him out of jail. This report was even stranger than the last.  And what exciting sports event did he report on this time?  Yep, you got it....Roller Derby!  Poor Norm.  He looks at Kyle after the report is over, says "I hate you." and walks off, leaving Kyle to cut to the commercial.  Personally, I love Kyle.  Yes, he's annoying and can't do a good report to save his life.  But there is just something about him that is loveable.  Kyle Mooney does this role perfectly!

"What the H" was about Michael Jordan's Hitler mustache in the Hanes commercials. Norm says a sentence in this segment that is so amazing to me, that I am actually going to post it in it's entirety. Norm (referring to what the director's reaction to the mustache when he sees it for the first time):  "Good lord!   His upper lip is sporting the most universally recognized symbol of evil ever known to man." And he didn't say it slowly, either.  You think it's easy?  Go ahead...try it. :) "Garbage Time" was only 58 seconds this time. Are you kidding?  Is he trying to give me a heart attack?  I sat there holding my breath and....nope.  He didn't quite make it this time, but he gave it his best shot.

That about wraps it up for this time.  The review of this week's show should be up by the weekend--depending on how many times I watch it before I blog about it.  Thanks for reading!

Sports Show With Norm Macdonald--Week 5 Review--Better Late Than Never
Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald

Welcome to Week 5 of my blog about "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald".  (Just in time for the airing of Week 6 on "Comedy Central".)  So sorry I am late once again.  Couldn't be helped.  Now, let the fun begin...

Once again, the writers outdid themselves. This show just keeps getting better and better.  Week 5 started out about the Lakers.  Norm reports that coach Phil Jackson coached his last game ever and that the Lakers were swept by the Dallas Mavericks.  After this, I now understand the comments I've been seeing on Twitter about the Lakers last game.  During these jokes, we were introduced to NBA Correspondent Sad Jack Nicholson, who I find as funny or maybe funnier than Sad Bill Cosby.  

The Kentucky Derby winner was Animal Kingdom.  (Thanks, Norm, I didn't catch the name of the winner before your show).  Three year old colt, Shackelford, led going into the final turn, but finished 4th. He then reported there is some good news for Shackelford.  He doesn't know what is going on because he's a horse.

Blake Griffin won the Rookie of the Year award.  "Even more exciting" says Norm, "the Clippers finally get to build a trophy case."  (Incidentally, this was the punchline contest answer, in case you missed it.)

Former NFL QB Brett Favre (who's name I actually knew how to spell without looking even though my spell checker disagrees) says he's looking for a new career, either in coaching or TV.  Norm reported that "Sports Show" obtained a copy of his resume. Turns out it was a copy of a certain part of his anatomy which I can't mention in a public blog, and he stared at it for quite a while. 

Texas Longhorn baseball coach Augie Dorito set a record recently with 180 career wins.  Norm then shows a clip showcasing his coaching style during a loss.  His style being that he likes to scream and swear A LOT.  The clip was a skit with Norm and "Sports Show" writer Doug Perkins (A.K.A. @DoctorDoug on Twitter) on the team.  Coach Dorito reminds me of our former high school football coach. I have a great deal of respect for this man, but boy, can he turn the air blue!  I was, however, surprised that they missed the fact that his name is "Dorito".  Spelled differently, according to closed-captioning, but come on!

A man was charged with stalking tennis star Serena Williams.  The police said "If the stalker had gotten any closer, they would've had no choice but to let Serena destroy him."

This week's "Wait, what?" was about The University of Alaska's video featuring their "cute" polar bear, Nanook.  Obviously, Norm's use of the word "cute" was sarcasm.  "Cute" is what I would call the polar bears in the Coke commercials at Christmas.  Nanook is more--oh what's the word?  Oh, yeah.  Terrifying. Norm plays parts of the video and comments on them.  Then Nanook comes out with a hockey stick (which I believe is owned by "Sports Show" writer David Breitman, AKA (@DavidBrietman on Twitter) and chases Norm around, leading them into a commercial.  (BTW, since "Sport's Show's first episode, I have started seeing polar bears EVERYWHERE.)

After the commercial, a few more jokes and then Norm talks about his latest reality project, "You've Been Pau'd", featuring a Lakers' Center Pau Gasol look-alike.  He shows a promo clip of it. Things go pretty well until they go to a bank to see how much money they'll loan "Pau Gasol". Then things go terribly wrong. This part of the skit shows off Norm's dramatic skills, which I think could be quite good if he ever wanted to do drama.  I really think he could pull it off if he really wanted to. 

"What the H?" was bout gambling and focused on the Manny Pacquiao fight that Norm bet $25,000 on. He said most people, including the people at TMZ, thought he was crazy, but then he showed off his winnings.  Incidentally, I watched an entire day of boxing on the PPV channel the fight was on until they turned it off for the fight.  He then goes on to talk about why gambling is good and points out that we all gamble every day--getting in our car, and crossing the street, for example.  He points out that gambling is the only addiction where you can end up fabulously wealthy.  Unfortunately, this bit ends with a joke I cannot say in a public blog. Well, I could--if I didn't mind getting some nasty feedback, I guess.  But I'll play it safe, thank you.  

Next was "Garbage Time" with a whole new graphic for the title and a new clock.  There was 1 min. 46 secs. on the clock this week.  Did he make it? Nope.  But good try.  After Norm ends the show, Nanook comes back out for another shot at Norm. 

Ok, that is it for now. Later today is another "Sports Show" Enjoy!  And I hope to have a blog up sooner this week.  Thanks for reading!

 

 

"Sports Show With Norm Macdonald" Week 4--FINALLY!
Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald

Week four of "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald" was the best yet. I can't fit every joke in or comment on every joke, or believe me, you'd get very bored with my blog.  But I'll hit what I thought were the best parts. 

The show started off with Norm saying "See you in Hell, Osama bin Laden." with such seriousness that it even gave me chills.  That is until he said the rest of the joke and then the punchline.  There were 5 bin Laden jokes in the opening.  I know, I know...you wouldn't think that bin Laden and sports would go hand in hand, but you'd be surprised.  I was actually wondering myself how Norm was going to fit the two together.  This is another reason I love Norm Macdonald.  He can make a joke work, no matter what the subject matter even if you think two things don't go together. You would think I'd be used to it by now, but it never ceases to amaze me. 

Norm then talks about Lenny Dykstra (who I actually am familiar with, thanks to my brother, who is a huge Phillies fan), who is a former Phillies player and suspected embezzler.  He apparently hired a cleaning lady through Craigslist and then allegedly stripped naked and demanded she give him a massage.  Now, yes, this is definitely wrong, but I gotta ask.  Didn't this lady ever hear of the Craigslist killer?  Or at the very least, see the movie on Lifetime? And she still answered the ad and showed up?  In a related story, a Washington Redskins lineman was arrested on sexual harassment charges.  This prompts Norm to ask "Is it just me, or is everyone stealing my moves?"

Next, Norm does a story about Tom Willis, who was born without arms.  He threw out the first pitch at a Dodgers game.  Norm said he was there to see it but was wincing.  Now, I won't go into this part in too much detail because I just mentioned it in another blog entry.  All I'll say is This. Thank you to The Dodgers for having Tom Willis throw that pitch, to whoever wrote this particular joke, to Norm Macdonald for having the courage to do these kinds of jokes, to the one person who had the guts to applaud on their own before Norm said it was ok to clap, and to the people in the audience who laughed because they found the humor in this joke and not because they felt like they had to laugh.

Next was "Wait What?"  This time, it was about the Gloria Allred press conference where she discussed an Atlanta Braves pitching coach simulating sex with a baseball bat in front of children during a game.  She then proceeded to demonstrate what the coach did--WITH THE TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN THE ROOM WATCHING.  In all honesty, I thought the video had to have been altered in some way to fit the joke, so I Googled it to find out before writing this blog entry. I was surprised to find out that the way it was shown on "Sports Show" was how it really happened.  What the holy heck was this woman thinking?  I can't believe any lawyer would do something like that. I have two young nephews myself, and I found this story horrifying.  Apparently, I wasn't the only one. Norm looked a little disturbed by this himself.  And considering he is a parent, I'm not entirely convinced it was all acting.  If it was, this guy definitely deserves an Emmy.

Ok...so you remember the Bad Sports Movie Titles that Norm asked us to come up with?  He had us vote on the ones we wanted to see made into a movie trailer, remember?  Well...umm....he changed his mind.  According to him, they scrapped the whole idea because "We decided the whole idea sucked.  It wasn't funny at all." Dang..no "Wookie of the Year" for me. I'm sad now. :(

"What the H?" was about athletes dating/getting engaged to/marrying reality stars.  He warns the ladies against it, saying "The guy is going to break your heart" and what comes next is "You stab them as they lay sleeping.", which according to Norm, is the best time to do it. The man DOES have a point.  Otherwise, you run the risk of them defending themselves and getting hurt yourself.  Then he said you get blamed for everything if things don't go well for the athlete.

This week, there were 96 seconds on the clock for "Garbage Time".  He made it!  After that, he gave a special shout out to Stephanie Truax and her Medivac company as well as all the troops serving in Afghanistan before ending the show. 

Until next time, America!

Sports Show With Norm Macdonald--Week 3
Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald

WOW!   Was this really Week 3 already?  Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?  I used to dread Tuesdays, but now I live for Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. EDT.  "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald" is the one thing I look forward to every week. The show has had an interesting side-effect on me.  I have actually started paying more attention to sports lately.  I'm not saying I understand anymore about sports than before.  I don't.  But I'm actually making a point of trying to keep up with sports news more now than before and at least trying to make an effort to learn more about sports. This week had me in a total panic, though.  Storms here caused a lot of damage, and our Directv was out through most of the first airing, so I had to wait until 12:30 a.m. for another chance to see it again.  That may not seem like a long time to most people, but for people like me who have been a fan of Norm Macdonald for 17 years and have basically been Norm deprived for the last couple of years, it's a big deal.

Norm and the writers really outdid themselves this week.  I don't think they could've fit anymore into a thirty-minute episode if they tried.  My notes are twice as long as they were last week, but I'll try to shorten it for this blog.

The opening segment included stories such as Major League Baseball taking control of the Dodgers from owner Frank McCourt, NFL player Brandon Marshall being stabbed with a kitchen wife by his wife (Can you say "divorce"?  "Restraining order"?), and Gothorpe Maple's 48th Annual coal carrying contest.

I have also found "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald" to be quite educational.  For example, Norm reports that Samantha Posey, sister of San Francisco Giants catcher, Buster Posey, hit a home run cycle. A home run cycle, I learned, is a solo, a two run, a three run homer, and a grand slam home run.  Before "Sports Show", I had never even heard of a home run cycle, let alone knew what it meant. 

The next segment was "Which of These Videos Will Make Me Swear?".  This is probably my favorite segment of the week.  Why?  Hearing Norm saying things like "What in tarnation?", "Saints preserve us!", and "Jumping Jehosaphat!"

Norm announced his picks from the #normsbadsportsmovies entries.  The he asked the viewers to go to the Sports Show blog site and vote for which one of the movie posters should be made into a movie trailer.  There were more listed on the show's blog site, btw.  Personally, I picked "Wookie of the Year".  Hey, Chewbacca was cute and furry. I like furry things. :)

Next was Norm's Trick Shot Video where he made several attempts (6 to be exact) before succeeding.  The video is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rJInvmdGow.  Norm wants 250,000 votes/views.  Plus he wants viewers to send in their trick shot video (complete with catch phrase) at http://sportsshow.comedycentral.com/2011/04/27/can-you-beat-a-norm-macdonald-trick-shot/.

"Wait, What?" was about a monkey riding on a dog.  The owner's dream when he was a kid was to own a monkey and said he got where he was today by trusting monkeys. (Yes, you heard right).

This week's "What the H?" was about Barry Bonds using steroids.  Norm points out that yes, this is cheating, but that cheating has always been a part of baseball.  For instance, they used to catch a ball bare handed, then someone started using a glove, the first guy to steal a base, and oh yeah...bringing in Jackie Robinson--the only team with a black player.  

The show ended with another packed "Garbage Time" segment.  My favorite joke of the night came during this segment--"Ping-pong is the only sport named after it's inventor."  Hey, sometimes it's the little things.  Norm didn't beat the clock this week, but gave it a good try.

Well, that's it for this edition.  I can't wait for the next show to see how they are going to top this one!  Until next time--remember the real issue--ROBOTS!

P.S.  My apologies if I got any names wrong or spelled anything wrong. Closed-Captioning isn't exactly reliable. You'd think it would be better considering....

Sports Show With Norm Macdonald--Episode 2
Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald

Here I am, better late than never, with a review of this week's "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald".  So sorry for the delay.

Ok, here we go.  Before I get to the show, though, there is something I just have to say. The one thing I love about "Sports Show" is that Norm is in the whole thing.  Not like when he was just doing the Weekend Update and a skit here and there on SNL.  Even in "Norm" there were some scenes he wasn't in.  So this show is a Norm Macdonald fan's dream come true.  What I love is that he can make a joke work with a simple expression and the delivery. 

The night's top story was Kobe Bryant's homophobic slur followed by a story about the NBA Playoffs. Then there was a story about Nascar where they had said the winner won by 2/1000 of a second instead of 1/500 of a second, which would be more accurate.  Then he makes a joke about the people at Nascar not being able to reduce fractions.  Norm should know.  He's very smart and seems to know quite a bit about math.  Most of what he says when he talks about math is WAY over my head. But I digress.  Next he does a story about Michael Vick, who says at first that he has no regrets, but then later says the one thing he'd like to change about his life is that he would shorten his prison term.  The look on Norm's face is priceless when he hears that!  At this point, Norm brings out the Sports Show computer to try to search for a video for a story he's reporting about a woman choking on a chicken and waffle sandwich.  What he gets apparently, although we never see it, is a bunch of dirty pictures coming up.  Poor Norm freaks out saying "This isn't right.  People shouldn't do that".  He clicks "Delete History", but then someone off camera apparently tells him that won't delete it from his computer completely.  So what does he do?  Throws the contents of his coffee mug on his computer, which of course will destroy the computer completely.  Next, we meet Norm's "nephew" Kyle. (Norm has stated in an interview that this is NOT his nephew).  They show video of a story that Kyle reported--well, sort of...

After the commercial break, Norm decides to get his fans/Twitter followers involved in the show by asking them to submit the funniest title for a bad sports movie.  He's going to show some of the best ones on next week's show.  (Please God, don't let one of them be mine.  My entries were so bad...and I don't mean bad in a good way!)  Now, I've seen shows ask for viewer submissions before, but what makes this different is the relationship Norm has formed with his fans on Twitter.  He actually wants us to get involved and makes a point of getting us involved.  He even made a similar game on Twitter before he decided to try it on Sports Show.  Seriously...he actually asked us if we wanted to play a game.  I follow a lot of celebs on Twitter and friend them on Facebook, and I can tell you I have never seen any other celeb do something like this.  So I am warning people right now.  If I EVER hear anyone say that Norm doesn't care about his fans, I will personally set them straight.

This week's "What the H?" was about the NFL Lock Out.  Norm tells us how he spends his Sundays now and wonders how he'll spend his Sundays without football.  Help his child with homework? (Note: Look at the bottom "book" in the photo.)  Or maybe teach his 18-year-old son to ride a bike?  Go to church perhaps?  (He owes the pastor money anyway).  Then if he gets through Sunday, what about Monday?  Hmm...this is a problem isn't it?

The Show ends with Garbage Time.  I'm amazed that he got through the 90 seconds without having to cut a joke off.  Good job, Norm!

Oh, and there is one thing that I forgot to mention last time.  To go along with the show, there is a website (http://sportsshow.comedycentral.com/).  Actually, the website came first, so I have a lot of stories I haven't read yet to catch up on.  The writers of the articles on the website also write for the show.  And these guys are super funny!  I apologize for not mentioning their names in my last blog entry.  It was wrong of me to forget them, and I ask them to forgive me.  So here, in no particular order are their names:  David Breitman, David Matthews, Sean O'Connor, Andrew Sleighter, and Doug Perkins (AKA DoctorDoug), who actually is the only Sports Show writer kind/brave enough to follow boring little me on Twitter.  Don't know what I did to deserve that, but thanks. Made my day!

Until next week....

Sports Show With Norm Macdonald Episode 1
Topic: Sports Show, Norm Macdonald

Note To Self: Never promise someone you are going to blog about a new show--especially when the person you promised just happens to be a writer for that show and you just friended him on Facebook.  Because this is what happens: You post on his wall for everyone to see that you are going to blog about this wonderful new show.  So then what you do is watch it again with every intention of making notes of what to comment on in your blog.  You end up not making notes because the show is so freaking funny that you forget what you are supposed to be doing, so you watch AGAIN.  This process of "Play...stop...rewind" is repeated several times (with a few notes made here and there) until you finally realize that it's 4 a.m., you haven't written a blessed thing, and you have to get up in five hours.  Such was the case three days ago.  I am finally getting around to writing this blog entry, but I have given up on making notes first because lets face it...if I do that, this blog entry will never get written.  So ok...here we go!

The show starts off with an opening joke and then goes to the opening title and theme song.  This is a BRILLIANT move because the first thing you see is Norm---sort of like planting a seed in your brain, I guess.  I don't know if this is the exact reasoning for it since I wasn't informed, but it sounds logical, so we'll go with that. :)

The very first segment is just like Weekend Update on SNL, only with all sports jokes.  Another smart move because it makes the transition from Weekend Update to Sports Show much smoother for those of us who know Norm from SNL since it's very easily recognizable and in our "comfort zone".  It's nothing outrageous that is going to make our hearts attack us (Sorry, couldn't resist.) from the shock of something different.

What I liked about Sports Show from the very beginning of the first show was that this show is for anyone, not just sports fans. I know absolutely NOTHING about sports, but I could still understand the jokes.  My favorite joke of the night had to be the polar bear video.  Every time I see that video, I end up laughing so hard that I am in tears!  Honestly, I have never seen anyone do a faster about-face in my life!  I also enjoyed the Special Olympics joke.  I'm disabled myself, but I also have a sense of humor about it.  So I loved that Norm had the guts to do a joke like that.  Especially in his first show.  I definitely admire the man more now than ever.  I just hope at some point, he does some jokes about wheelchair sports. After all, they are sports. Wouldn't leaving out jokes like that be considered a form of discrimination?  I'm just saying...(Joke...I'm just trying to prove you can put a spin on anything).

What I have always loved about Norm's sense of humor is that it has a hint of sarcasm.   For example, his "What the H" segment on Tiger Woods in this episode.  He isn't condoning what Tiger did (the whole infidelity thing).  Instead, he's pointing out that we are basically persecuting this man for his actions and making a bigger deal about it than we would the regular man on the street just because Tiger is a celebrity.  We have this unrealistic idea of how we think they should and do act in their PRIVATE LIVES, and when they do something wrong, it is magnified 100% just because they are famous.  We're basically raking this guy over the coals for being human more than we would someone who isn't famous for doing the exact same thing.  Not to mention the fact that a celebs personal life should be none of our business in the first place.  Thank you, Norm!

The final segment was called "Garbage Time".  I'm still not clear about the title, but it's where Norm crams as many jokes in 90 seconds as humanly possible.  And when time runs out on the clock, the rule is he has to stop. I like it! 

I definitely give this show a two-thumbs up!  I can't wait for the next episode!  And I really hope that Don Ohlmeyer is watching and eating his words.  Not funny, huh?  Yeah, sure...Go Norm! 

Can We PLEASE Give The Man A Break?
Topic: Norm Macdonald, comedy

Have you ever made a promise that for some reason or another, you couldn't keep?  Maybe you said you were going to do something at a certain time and then something unforeseen came up, and you just couldn't do what you had promised?  It happens to everyone from time to time.  I know it has happened to me.   So why on earth do we get angry with a celebrity when it happens to them?  Tonight was a perfect example of what I am talking about.  

If you have been reading my blog, you know that Norm Macdonald has been on Twitter practically every day in addition to doing his very first televised stand-up show and working on his new show, "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald" for Comedy Central. Today was supposed to be a very big deal for us Norm fans.  He had the very first NormCast, an audio-stream of him doing a commentary of The Masters from his living room.  Might I add that this audio-stream lasted the ENTIRE FOUR HOURS.  He had also announced that he was going to tweet live during the Comedy Awards at 9 p.m. eastern.  Nobody asked him to do these things.  He was not getting payed for either of these things. They were meant to be something special for his fans.  Just like when he tweeted the entire Oscar broadcast, for which he got criticized by some people for tweeting too much.  The man was trying to do something nice for his fans, for crying out loud!  

The audio-stream went very well.  He even stopped the broadcast for about 30 seconds to change microphones when fans sent him tweets saying that the audio was bad.  Again, nice guy, right? The rest of the audio-stream went smoothly after that.  I missed maybe an hour, but it couldn't be helped.  Even I enjoyed the broadcast despite the fact that I know absolutely nothing about golf.

After the broadcast ended at 6 p.m. eastern, I waited patiently for the Comedy Awards to start just so I could read Norm's tweets.  Unfortunately, he never showed up.  Not a single tweet.  I was disappointed (and a little bored out of my mind from the awards), but I wasn't in any way upset with him.  I just calmly got on Twitter to do a search on his name to see if I could find out any information. I found a lot of tweets to him from fans asking where he was.  That wasn't what surprised me.  What surprised me...no...shocked me...was the tone of some of the tweets. I don't recall any tweets sounding concerned.  Instead, they sounded a bit upset and disappointed even though they didn't know the facts.  I was stunned!  It was then that I sent Norm my own tweet saying that I hoped everything was ok and that I was worried when he didn't tweet like he said he was going to.  After all, he has given so much of his time to his fans lately.  The man does have a life. The least we can do is give the man a break.  It's entirely possible that something more important than an awards show came up at the last minute, either with work or something in his personal life that is none of our business.  I thought maybe it might have something to do with his new show that debuts on Tuesday.  We don't know for sure, and that's ok. 

My point is this.  Why do we get angry when a celebrity disappoints us by not doing something they said they would before we even know the facts?  They're human.  Just like with us, sometimes things come up.  They don't owe us anything extra.  Anything they give the fans beyond a good performance is a gift and should be considered as such.  So the next time one of your favorite celebrities doesn't follow through with something, keep in mind, there might very well be a perfectly good reason for it, even if we don't know what it is.  

Norm Macdonald: Internet Sensation
Topic: Norm Macdonald, comedy

As I have been reading over my blog entries, it occurred to me that I may not have adequately described how much I love and admire Norm Macdonald.  I have said I am a huge fan, but I don't think I have really explained why.  That is what this blog entry is for.  

Norm Macdonald may have been MIA for a while, but he is definitely back, better than ever!  Not long ago, I found him on Twitter.  Since he has been on Twitter, the man has been tweeting almost non-stop.  Out of all the celebs I have been following since I joined Twitter, he is the most dedicated tweeter of them all.  He tweets almost daily, and most of those days, he tweets constantly throughout the day.  If he skips a day, I start going through withdrawl. He tweeted through the ENTIRE Oscars telecast, has been tweeting sports jokes in preparation for his upcoming sports show, and has been tweeting The Masters for two days now. Tomorrow he will be tweeting live during the Comedy Awards, but before that he is going to have a special "NormCast" announcing during the entire Masters from his living room.  We're talking a live audio stream here, not tweeting, btw.  Who else do you know who would do all this just for his fans?  There are times lately when he just tweets one word--"Hello", which for some reason, I find totally hysterical.  He's probably the only comedian I know of who can make me laugh just by saying "Hello".  The strange part is there are tons of celebs on Twitter, many for the first time.  No one makes a big deal about it. But Norm gets on Twitter, and it's suddenly a major deal.  Everyone is talking about it!  He was even on "Letterman" talking about it and trying to teach Dave about Twitter. (Dave didn't get it, btw.).  I think that is saying a lot.  And that is that Norm is hot right now.  The latest "internet sensation".  

In addition to his tweeting, he has done a Comedy Central special, and he can be found on GSN hosting "High Stakes Poker".  He's probably the only person who can get me to watch an hour of poker.  Even Gabe Kaplan couldn't achieve that.  His next venture is going to be a sports show on Comedy Central called "Sports Show With Norm Macdonald", which debuts April 12 at 10:30 p.m. eastern.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'm excited, and I'm very sports challenged.  But I'm a dedicated Norm Macdonald fan, so I'll be watching.  Go Norm!

Oh, and if you want to listen to Norm's live audio stream of The Masters, you can go to this link:
http://sportsshow.comedycentral.com/norm-macdonald-live/