Sunday night, immediately following the final out of game seven, Jonathan Papelbon likely had the FCC on high alert when, after being asked by the FOX interviewer if he had anything planned to follow-up on his now-famous Riverdance spoof, he arched an eyebrow and responded with, “Stay tuned. I got somethin’ for you, pal.”

Have eight more ominous words ever been uttered in the history of live television? I can only imagine the thoughts going through the camera guy’s head. I mean, after the division clinch, the Papel-Bot was seen on live television alternately sporting his jock, a Bud Light box, and the look of a guy who just got back from a three week bender in Vegas with Gary Busey, Tom Waits and Charles Bukowski. How was he gonna follow it up? Some altogether inappropriate dance number invoking “Pesky’s Pole”? A wet Red Sox T-shirt contest involving all the women in section 16? If ever there was a moment that I thought we’d bear witness to the first instance of someone doing “the brain” on live TV, this was surely going to be it.

Turned out, however, to be decidedly un-scandalous. He just danced around a bit with a cigar and some beers. After all, there were kids there, and the Bot surely knows that if you gotta rep your set, you at least make sure it’s strictly for the over-21 crowd. But for a few anxious moments, I feared our closer might still be trying to make bail when and if we needed him during the ninth inning Wednesday night.

In other news, after suffering through those heinous Frank TV commercials during the ALDS, I found myself quite taken with Miller High Life’s ALCS ads, featuring those two delivery guys showing up at bars and liquor stores across this great land to celebrate “purveyors of the High Life.” Never has such a sh@tty beer brought me such joy. And I anxiously await their inevitably series on FOX.


Lastly, thanks to Tom Werner for jinxing us in today’s NY Post:

“I know there are some people saying, ‘Don’t become the Yankees.’ But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having the expectation of being a winner and then winning. The Rockies have a successful story that’s one of the greatest in baseball, but I wouldn’t bet against Boston.”

Man, it’s okay for us to think it… but in your lofty position, you’re just supposed to smile nice, nod and say, “This Series will surely be a righteous battle. And the best team will prevail.”