Conan on 60 Minutes tonight

Conan O'Brien will mark the end of his recently expired contractually imposed media blackout when he sits down with Steve Kroft tonight on 60 Minutes for his first interview since being royally fucked by NBC and Jay Leno leaving The Tonight Show.

"He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know...I know me, I wouldn't have done that," O'Brien says. "If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well and then…six months later. But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."

Conan was also recently named the #2 Entertainer of the Year by TIME Magazine.

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Happy Birthday Jay Leno

On last night's show Dave continued his hilarious and merciless assault on Jay Leno (whose Tonight Show ratings, by the way, have now slipped below the numbers Conan was bringing in during his brief run. What a shame. Nicely done, NBC!) by acknowledging Big Jaw's birthday.

"You're not going to believe whose birthday it is today. It's Jay Leno's birthday today. Happy birthday to Jay Leno. He is 60 years old today...and I heard very unhappy. And you'd think, really? On your birthday you'd be unhappy? Apparently is. You know why? He wants Conan's birthday. That's what I heard."

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"Go Fuck Yourselves."

On last night's episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart discussed the Tea Baggers and the media's incessant coverage of them, particularly from (....you guessed it!) Fox News.

He mentioned how difficult it is to pigeonhole the Tea Party, as a recent New York Times/CBS poll showed that its supporters tend to have a higher average income and are better educated than most Americans.

Fox News was happy to run with that detail, while failing to mention the poll also showed that more than half believe too much has been made about the problems facing black people and that a third think President Obama was born in another country.

"Oddly enough," Jon said, "when it comes to stereotyping an entire group based on its extreme members, I have to stay I find myself in agreement with this sentiment."

We then cut to Bill O'Reilly correctly saying, "You cannot demonize any organization by the actions of a few in a demonstration."

Good point, Papa Bear.

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Conan back on TV this fall

In a shocking move, TBS has announced that they have reached a deal with Conan O'Brien
to host a new late night program that will debut on the cable network this November.

It had been widely assumed that Conan would eventually come to an agreement with FOX.

TBS was never mentioned as a possible new home for The Whole World and You's favorite
late night host. This pretty much comes out of nowhere, with reports saying the negotiations began only in the last week and came together quickly.

"In three months I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theater,
and now I'm headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly," Conan said via his
Twitter account.

Conan's currently untitled new TBS show will run Monday through Thursday at 11 p.m.

The announcement comes as Conan is about to kick off his Legally Prohibited From Being
Funny on Television Tour tonight in Eugene, Ore.

While we're just as surprised as everyone else by the move, we couldn't be more thrilled to know that Conan will definitely be back on TV by the end of the year.

We can't wait to get our regular Coco fix!

If you're unable to attend the tour, be sure to check back here for updates and tour details, including a full review of the June 2 show at Radio City Music Hall in NYC.

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Good Ribbing, Good Times

In the seventh inning of tonight's 8-2 Mets win over the Nationals, David Wright ("No. 5 in your scorecard, No. 1 in your heart," as the great Steve Somers would say) launched a towering shot deep to left center that would have been a home run in almost every other ballpark in the majors.

But in spacious Citi Field, and with the wind whipping ferociously in the wrong direction, the ball hit near the top of the 16-foot high wall that runs all the way to dead center.

This came after Jeff Francoeur ripped a homer to left to get the Mets on the board and Rod Barajas followed by crushing two solo homers of his own to left center -- the first to tie the game and the second to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

David kind of put his head down and went into a home run trot before realizing the ball hadn’t actually left the yard. He easily made it to second but he wouldn’t be able to live it down.

The SNY cameras quickly cut to the Mets dugout, showing Barajas and Francoeur unable to control their amusement at Wright’s inability to clear the left field wall.

Keith Hernandez loved it. "This is good to see," he said. "Good camaraderie on the bench."

It only got better when Francoeur came up to the plate a few batters later and rocked his second homer of the game into the left field seats, a two-run shot that made it 6-2.

As Gary Cohen pointed out, David was then hammered mercilessly (and hilariously) in the dugout by everyone from Frenchy to Barajas, Jason Bay and even manager Jerry Manuel.

I laughed out loud. Good times.

David just stood in the dugout and took the good natured ribbing from his teammates with a bemused half-smile on his face.

The unusual power display was the first time the Mets had hit four runs in a game in the brief history of Citi Field.

Frenchy and Barajas celebrate the win.

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Vazquez, Pelfrey make debuts for Yanks, Mets

I'm still trying to figure out how the Yankees swindled the usually smart Braves out of Javier Vazquez in the offseason in exchange for the overrated Melky Cabrera.

Cabrera's a fourth outfielder on a good major league team, while Vazquez was arguably Atlanta's best starting pitcher last season. He won 15 games in 2009, with a very impressive 2.87 ERA, which ranked sixth in the National League.

As if the Yankees need other teams to do them favors. Seriously. I'm still baffled.

Must be a nice luxury to have a guy like that as your #4 starter.

Vazquez makes his 2010 debut tonight in Tampa against the Rays, as the Yankees (2-1) look to build on their season opening series win in Boston. It'll be his first start for the Bombers since Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox -- a game both Vazquez and Yankee fans would rather forget

Meanwhile Mike Pelfrey takes the mound for the Mets (1-2) in Queens tonight as they try to rebound after dropping their last two games at Citi Field to the Marlins.

After a breakthrough 2008 season in which he showed flashes of brilliance, the 26-year-old Pelfrey, the ninth overall pick in the 2005 draft, took a step backwards last year.

He struggled through much of the season and was unable to remain consistent, posting an ERA over 5.

"At this level, I think every pitcher is pretty gifted. What separates guys is the mental part of the game," Pelfrey, who saw a sports psychologist over the winter, told Newsday.

"Big Pelf" looks to show that he's got it all together and is ready to be the legitimate #2 starter the Mets desperately need, and prevent them from getting too far behind the eight ball so early in the season -- as well as proving that the Mets have a chance of winning when they throw a pitcher out there not named Santana.

Update:

Mike Pelfrey did his job tonight, going six strong innings and allowing two earned runs to pick up the victory as the Mets bounced back for an 8-2 come from behind win over the Nationals.

Javier Vazquez didn't fare as well in his start for the Yankees. After keeping Tampa scoreless through the first three innings he surrendered a 2-0 lead in the fourth, giving up five runs. He lasted 5 2/3 innings and gave up eight earned runs in the Yanks' 9-3 loss to the Rays.

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Eye That Binds

Third Eye Blind fights to stay together and finish new album


The following is a Third Eye Blind feature I wrote on spec in 2007 after spending a few days on tour. I haven’t made any changes to this previously unreleased original story and am presenting it to you here for the first time, unedited and in two parts.

Stephan Jenkins still loves being a rock star.

A pretty young brunette to his left and a bottle of Grey Goose on the table in front of him, the Third Eye Blind front man sits back on a red couch inside a cramped room upstairs at the Starland Ballroom, a former dance club in the middle of the endless suburban sprawl of northern New Jersey.

It is an unseasonably cold April evening and his band has just finished a lively sold out performance in front of a packed house on the first night of their brief “Chasing the Sun” tour.

Jenkins, wearing a tight gray t-shirt and dark blue jeans, is in a good mood.

The 42-year-old former English Literature major and 1987 Berkeley valedictorian fills himself a tall plastic cup with vodka and ice, and chit-chats with the slender beauty, who is easily half his age.

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