Wednesday Roundup

Some favorites and duds from today's commenting.

Favorites, in no particular order:

Madoff's Mets got things started this morning with this simple, funny little sequence in the Daily Screencap post. Nothing fancy, just an easy little spoof packed with personality. Nice work.

Here's your comment of the day, from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Broken Horses post. That's such an Eddie Murray Sparkles joke. I'm sure you understand.

This outrageous offering from Bevraj of Choice, also in the Broken Horses post, isn't too far behind. Jesus, you guys were fucking terrific today.

Hey lookit! ClintonPortishead appeared today and cracked me up with this funny recontextualization, also in the Broken Horses post. I'm still chuckling. That's great.

I laughed at Poignant Theater's stuff today. First, he did this, also in the [heaven-sent] Broken Horses post, and later, he really cracked me up with this bait-and-switch act in the Racist South Carolina post. Dammit that's funny. I had to leave a lot of quality stuff off the Favorites today. You guys were awesome.

Here's something so stupid and simple and hilarious from Lionel Osbourne, in the Lynn Hoppes post. Also, here's another ridiculous, wonderfully silly offering, this one in the Banned 4 Life post. I'm such a huge sucker for silliness.

Here's a deliciously elegant little recontextualization from IronMikeGallego in the Lynn Hoppes post. You know, this type of comment has turned into a bit of a high-wire act: most of the time, when people use the turn-it-into-a-quote format, it comes across as cheap or lazy or unimaginative. In this case, the wordplay somehow has that hidden-in-plain-sight characteristic that creates that oft-mentioned cognitive delay, the one that boosts the value of virtually any punchline. That, or I'm a fucking dimwit. Or both. Either way, I loved the joke.

Sean Newell and David Hume, two Deadspin legends, teamed up to create this spectacular back-and-forth in the Shark Bait post. I really enjoyed this. It's possible, just possible, that this is where Kinja and its stupid algorithms really shine. I would guess in virtually all scenarios this kind of comedic tennis match would rocket right to the front of the presentation line, exactly where it belongs. At any rate, boy would Deadspin benefit from more of this kind of thing, no matter the layout.

Here's a funny contribution that is actually a surprising and sophisticated wordplay joke from OnTheTwelfthNightOfLloydChristmas in the Shark Bait post. That's clever, is what that is. Nice pull.

This joke, from Chamomiles Davis in the Racist South Carolina post, is so dumb. And yet, it works! What the fuck. Once upon a time, I mentioned how I always had this guilty feeling whenever I laughed at the jokes of fat-leaveher. This joke gives me that same vibe. It's goofy and clunky and genuinely funny.

God I fucking love this one-liner, from RMJ=H in the Audition Explanation post. That's a perfect comment. Sharp as hell and perfectly constructed and right to the point. Bravo.

Total Fucking Duds

Here's a fucking brutal pun from iknowsoftware in the Jeremy Lin post. So much of what is done on Deadspin boils down to simple puns and wordplay, it's probably pretty easy to think just about any simple word-association will pass muster. That is so totally not the case. A person would have to be either under the age of seven or so shit-face wasted they couldn't stand up straight in order to actually laugh at that.

Madoff's Mets pulled a rare two-fer today, allowing his name to be attached to this gasp-out-loud flaming train-wreck of a terrible idea in the Banned 4 Life post. Man oh man. There's a way to make that joke that employs subtlety and the attribution of the sentiment to a third party in order to mock that stereotype, rather than relying upon the wink-wink-nudge-nudge yuckiness of a bunch of anonymous internet creeps giggling over those silly minorities and their drink preferences. I don't doubt Madoff's Mets was poking fun at the stereotype rather than the group, but the joke really fails to pull it off. Oof.

We Need Approvals

Dipshit burner Boriqua670 demonstrated the intellect of all of burner-kind with this proud exclamation in the Scott Hairston post. In a million years, this crap would never have found its way onto the visible part of the comments section before the arrival of Kinja.

I don't intend to be a Kinja/Deadspin antagonist. I really don't. In general, I think things are moving in the right direction. This will not be some sort of nightly feature. But from time to time, I think it's worthwhile to point out exactly where some of the recent changes are failing the overall goals of the Kinja project. Yes, this shit is hidden behind the arrow, but all it would have taken is one or two asshole non-regulars taking the bait to bump this puppy right to the front of the line, where it is suddenly the apparent representation of what is done in Deadspin's comment sections for all new readers. Whatever is coming down the pike to de-emphasize or otherwise isolate burners just can't get here soon enough.

Hey, thanks for reading. A special thanks for a really excellent day of Deadspin comments. Keep on keepin' on.

Happy DUAN.