1. Sergio Agüero: The Quiet Neighbor
Triangle Blog Brother/Rankonia Writer Emeritus Chris Ryan nominates Agüero, who is this week’s hero:
"Are we underrating Sergio Agüero? He isn't as prone to fireworks or setting off fireworks as Mario Balotelli and he doesn't have a deep, unquenchable love of golf like Carlos Tévez, he just scores goals. Alex Ferguson called Manchester City the noisy neighbors. But the only time there is a noise surrounding the Argentine, nicknamed "Kun" (King), is when he scores. And what a sound he created Sunday.
1. Chris Paul: !!!!!
Chris Paul! Unstoppable! Unforgettable! Probably some other "Un-s", too! Chris Ryan, whom you might remember as your regular Rankonia writer, nominates our hometown hero for this week's top spot:
"I've watched every minute of the Grizzlies-Clippers series. I've seen Tony Allen try to stop Chris Paul. I've seen Mike Conley, Jr. try to stop Chris Paul. I've seen Allen, Rudy Gay, and Marc Gasol try to stop Chris Paul together. I've seen O.J. Mayo try to stop Chris Paul for 90 feet and I've seen Quincy Pondexter try to stop him at the last second. It just doesn't matter. I don't think I ever really knew what it meant for an athlete to be unstoppable until I saw Chris Paul play basketball in the fourth quarter and overtime. Now that I do, I certainly won't forget it."
New Englanders may feel as if they’re crunching on shells today, but they’ll always have Manhattan. Clam Chowder, that is. As the morning — and its attendant beery hangover — breaks on the day after the Super Bowl, it might be nice for those gloomy souls in Beantown to reflect on the one area in which they still hold an insurmountable edge over New York: soup.
After a riotous first day of the Souper Bowl — complete with buzzer-beaters, shocking upsets, and rampant allegations of MSG abuse — Day 2 of the Souper Bowl was a relatively staid affair. Which isn’t to say it was dull! Riding a dominant performance from its star player, Star Anise, top-seed Pho handily devoured its weak first-round opponent, Manhattan Clam Chowder (truly the Gerald Wilkins to New England’s delicious Dominique). And, in a matchup both Jay Bilas and Alton Brown found “appetizing,” 3-seed Wonton earned its pre-tourney (and pre-meal) hype by delivering a surprisingly decisive smackdown to Butternut Squash. (Despite being known as a cold-weather team, experts report that Butternut Squash “looked a little heavy” out there.)
This morning, Grantland investigative journalist Andy Greenwald spotted Ricky Rubio in an L.A. Starbucks. Rubio was eating a fruit salad alone, Greenwald reports. Riveting stuff. Anyway, because apparently, this is what we do now, intrepid Grantland stalker Chris Ryan then stole Rubio's Starbucks cup. (But is it really stealing if it was trash? This is probably a debate for another time.)
As of press time, the whereabouts of Rubio's fruit salad are unknown.
So, what's up, Ricky Rubio! Is it weird that we took a picture of your old Starbucks cup? Does anyone else want this thing? Because I feel kind of dumb keeping it on my desk, but it's MEMORABILIA now. Should we put this on eBay? Also, sorry to my mom. I now regret not changing my diet of Excedrin and Chex Mix. I'll get on that next week.
