New Wednesday Tradition

Welcome back to the blog! It's been a pretty jacked last 2 days (Team Reilly & Friends going 3-2 in volleyball on the path to greatness...Rick Porcello hitting Kevin Youkilis and simply inquiring "why?" with his arms as Youk charged the mound like a 28 Weeks Later zombie...The US caring about soccer for another solitary day and going away empty-handed...the Mets avoiding a desert sweep at the hands at the Diamondbacks and now watch Pedro Martinez don the hated Red cap of Philadelphia.)

Still working out the kinks of the blogs, I'm not gonna keep driving you guys nuts with game recaps of the Mets/Yanks every night. ESPN's game recap can do that for you in 20 seconds. No, I'll give you reasons to actually come here. So expect 2, maybe 3 blogs a week about baseball. Of course, if anything big comes up I'll blog the hell out of it. Also, expect some NFL previews coming up in the next week or so, as I am very excited to predict and track the activities of Big Blue and Gang Green.

But for now, let's go ahead and introduce a new weekly blog segment. After all, some new readers may know absolutely nothing about me except the ridiculously small, jolly picture of me over there to the left. And for those that do know of my being, a little more couldn't hurt anyone. So, here it is...Let's call it the first installment of "What About Conor Wednesdays." A top-5 list that gives a better idea of who I am and what churns inside my skull.

The first topic (thought of at random today) will be "Songs that Conor would use if he were the closer of a Major League Baseball team." You know, everyone has a theme-song of sorts they come out to...it helps to pump up themselves and the crowd. Billy Wagner and Mariano Rivera have 'Enter Sandman' by Metallica. Trevor Hoffman has 'Hell's Bells' by AC/DC. K-Rod has a Latin-beat of sorts at Citi Field, but I'm soon expecting opposing stadiums to play this whenever he comes into a tie game on the road. (Sorry, but that could have been avoided if he didn't gave up yet another run in tonight's win...) Of course, I won't use the songs that I know are already used in the MLB. I'm my own (hypothetical) man. Well without further ado, the songs you would hear if fate would have it that Conor Reilly ever came out of a bullpen and into a game. In descending order, of course. The links for each selection will allow you to hear the song upon clickage. Just try to open them in a new window if possible, so you don't get annoyed using the Back button to get back to the blog. Enjoy.

5. American Bad Ass- Kid Rock

Upside: Look at that video. Please, I beg you. Kid Rock is gonna go down in history as one of the most ridiculously entertaining humans in history. And the word 'ridiculously' is not an adjective for how entertaining he is. They are two seperate entities. The ridiculous-ness of Kid Rock is the essence of mankind's entertainment. We might as well just call him Entertainingly Ridiculous. Either way, this song absolutely qualifies for what I would look to come out to in a baseball game. It naturally skyrockets the confidence of whoever comes out to it, with the incredible attitude and lyrics.
Downside: Too many to count. The curses and vulgar language are an immediate turnoff in the family atmosphere, and an edited version would not be the same to me. The song also gets criticism since the background music is taken from Metallica's 'Sad But True.' I don't buy the criticism, but it still must be mentioned. Finally, the fans probably want to be pumped up in a way that's better than Kid Rock musically listing the tens of thousands of reasons why he is awesome. Watch the video though. It'll brighten your day.

4. Freakin' It- Will Smith

Upside: If nothing else, a fantastic change of pace in the ballpark. I think this song would immediately get me some play as an oddball of sorts and also a fun-loving closer. Everyone is always looking for a crowd favorite, and this rap song of Will Smith relates to both the older and younger generation. Finally, I would truly enjoy the crowd joining along for the "Yeah Yeah" during the chorus and making up some kind of dance or something. It makes me giddy. While it's true that some closers already utilize rap songs, I'm pretty sure 40-90% must be edited out to make it ballpark-acceptable. The curse-less jiggy of Mr. Smith has no such worries.
Downside: Suffers from the same baseball irrelavance as Kid Rock. The song's beat gets the crowd pumpin', but they don't want to hear the meteoric rise of Will Smith that the lyrics provide. Also, the "Yeah Yeah" from the crowd won't be so fun or realistic if I suck as closer for a week or so. So overall, though it is fun, the staying power isn't where it needs to be for this to be an official closer song.

3. Kickstart My Heart- Motley Crue

Upside: From top to bottom, a phenomenal rock song. My favorite from Motley Crue. There is a tremendous energy from this song and it gives the younger generation of baseball fans some real '80s rock that they don't hear enough of. The slow bridge at about 2:30 in the song is perfect for slowing it down before bringing it back up again. And the potential for the crowd to join along for the "WHOA!...YEAH!" is a cherry on top. This could be swapped in for #1 and I would have no complaints about it.
Downside: Not too much. It may perhaps be a tad too fast for this discussion, which could put the fans more on edge than they need to be in a close game or something. The title Kickstart My Heart doesn't help with this cause, as a lot of fans could already have their hearts 'kicked up' to a maximum level by the time I entered the game.

2. Everybody Have Fun Tonight- Wang Chung

Upside: This song is all-or-nothing. If you don't go all out, don't go at all, right? And I know, this could never work for an all-business team like the Yankees. It would have to be the right situation. But this could revolutionize the relationship between ballplayer and fan. If a major league player actually trotted out to this song in crucial games, think how delightfully twisted it would be. At first, everyone would love the change and wonder what in the world was going on. But once it becomes "routine," once the fans get used to it, the scene would be incredible. Just think in a world series game in which the home team takes a 1-run lead into the 9th inning, and this song blares over the loudspeakers as I come running out. Everyone knows it is coming, but do the fans and players still stay eager/serious about the upcoming inning? Is that possible? I can just imagine the TV cameras having a still shot on the managers, as they try to stay in the moment and focused in possibly the most important game of their lives...with this blasting in the background. I can't get enough. It would change baseball forever.
Downside: I think the song speaks for itself in terms of downside. Some purists (and teammates) would not go for this at all. Also, any kind of prolonged slump would be fatal for this cause. Media, fans, everyone would question my focus and seriousness as a player. If I had an ERA of 5.38 in August and came out to this song, nobody (including myself) would 'have fun tonight' during it. They would actually want to dig themselves a hole and jump in due to akwardness. But as I said, the right situation (Papelbon in '07, anyone?) and this is baseball's revolution.

1. Jukebox Hero- Foreigner

Upside: The pinnacle of this genre. A slow-yet-building start that's infectious and gets the crowd interested, followed by a sudden jump in tempo that would drive the crowd bonkers. My favorite aspect of the song is the lyrics, describing the rise of a rockstar. The parallels between the rise of a rockstar and the rise of an athlete are numerous. Seeing an idol (be it at an arena or ballpark,) doing everthing you can to get there someday (be it lower end gigs with no audience or playing college ball/in the minors,) and once your there, doing whatever it takes to stay on top (be it practicing every single day or taking steroids WHOOPS, I mean...practicing every single day.) Bottom line...Beat/Melody, check. Lyrics, check. Pump-up-ocity, check. Perfect closer's song, check.
Downside: None. but that steroids gag was pretty clever, wasn't it?