Friday Roundup

Favorites and duds from today's commenting.

Favorites, in no particular order:

Here's something ridiculous and silly from RMJ=H in the Tino Tuiasosopo post. This joke is about misdirection and really demonstrates the letting-the-air-out-of-the-balloon mechanic with the way it turns something weighty and personal into the absurd. Good stuff.

Here's an awkward unintended consequence joke from David Hume in the Twitter Ban post. No punchline, just an evocative description of the moment after the ban goes into effect. That's terrific.

BlairWalshProject earned a round of applause for this creative rewrite in the Carl Pavano post. All BlairWalshProject did was change the name and a single word. Interestingly enough, most of the time these jokes rise or fall based upon how little editing is done to the original title. It's sort of a high-wire act, with the author getting credit for spotting a nuanced change that has a major impact. Generally, the more you twist and alter the title, the more desperate and uninspired the joke seems. Anyway, good shit. Stick around and make some jokes.

Here's a dynamite comment from All Over But The Sharting in the Marlins Park post. Incredible. This may not be today's Comment of the Day, but it really could be. It's such a perfect combination of funny and smart and relevant. Holy smokes.

Here's a smart, funny wordplay joke from IronMikeGallego in the Marlins Park post. This is a big huge head-fake, and I love it. This joke has the unique characteristic of seeming to have something to say, such that you can almost trace the phantom continuation of the head-fake arc. He really sets it up - IronMikeGallego's going to make a joke having to do with abandoned loans and bankruptcy and Jeffrey Loria . . . oh wait, oh man what the fuck. Later, he went with a sharp one-liner-ish joke in the Texas Sexual Assault post. This joke pivots on a pretty incredible reuse of the phrase "miscarriage[s] of justice". That's a hell of a joke.

Here's a savage dig at the Marlins from The Amazing Sneijderman in the Marlins Park post. Several commenters went with the whole "the Marlins suck" idea in this post, but this was by far the best. Not just the specific angle, but the sharp, pared down delivery. Great comment.

This is a great, great comment, from StuartScottsEye in the Texas Sexual Assault post. This also could have been the Comment of the Day. It amounts to a misunderstanding, with the result revealing an unflattering stereotype of Texans. What doesn't matter is whether or not the characterization of Texans is true. The only thing that matters is that it makes use of a known stereotype in a funny, original way. In that way, we're laughing more at the perception of Texans than at their redneckedness (<-- real word? No.). And the specific pull here is just so good. I loved this joke.

Here's a funny comment from DougExeter in the Cedric Benson's Dogs post. So, this joke doesn't have misdirection, it obscures the reference. And I love that. As the goofball who praised the joke in the replies while simultaneously stepping all over it pointed out, DougExeter did a great job of making the reference without spelling it out. What does that do? That's right, the cognitive delay. And, holy smokes, look at that reply from dailylama. What a fucking idiot. I would love to shove that guy down an open manhole.

This is such a smart little joke, which is interesting, because it's also so, so stupid, from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Cedric Benson's Dogs post. So stupid. This is sort of part of what is great about Eddie Murray Sparkles, that sense that an intensely powerful intellect is being wasted on some incredibly stupid, silly, off-the-wall references. The whole idea of the proposed Celebrity Kickboxing match is just so absurd and ridiculous, it's hard not to laugh. But then you're also doing the whole "whoa, how the hell did he pull that together?" thing. Later, Eddie Murray Sparkles took a good natured shot at Deadspin's staff with this simple, funny one-liner in the Dead Letters post. That's great.

There's something wonderfully charming about the ridiculous excessiveness of this joke from Same Sad Echo in the Inside The NBA post. Same Sad Echo is one of the very best at packing personality into his jokes, and this is just another great example.

Here's your Comment of the Day, from Theodore Donald Kerabatsos in the Dead Letters post. On a day that featured several outstanding comments, this is far and away the best. It takes advantage of some of what we know or have been told about AJ Daulerio, the legend of Daulerio. In that way, it's not so different from StuartScottsEye's joke about Texans. But unlike a one-liner, this comment uses the format of the post as an opportunity to pour amazing details into the joke until, by accumulation, it has become a deadly-hysterical masterpiece. No text is wasted, from the opening Subject line on. Deadspin regulars will remember this joke forever.

Here's some inside baseball from Poignant Theater in the Dead Letters post. No matter, it's hilarious. The idea that Gamboa's Idiot sense of humor is a hereditary trait is just fantastic. I laughed aloud at this.

Total Fucking Duds

I think we've reached the point where this joke, from iknowsoftware in the Texas Sexual Assault post, and all its buddies have become boring and unoriginal. I don't doubt that there are still funny comments to be made about Manti Te'o and the imaginary girlfriend, but the time has come where some originality and creativity in the delivery and a fresh angle or two will be required. This kind of joke has been made and made and made.

Some heavy hitters up in the Favorites, eh? A nice mix of regulars, newbies, and old-timers today. Great to see cameos from David Hume, All Over But The Sharting, and Theodore Donald Kerabatsos on the same day, as well as the continued resurgence of IronMikeGallego and Eddie Murray Sparkles. Let's hope it continues!

Hey, that's it. Look out for a Week in Review sometime later today. Here's hoping you're having the best weekend yet.

Thanks for reading.