Sean's Best and Worst of 2018

Welcome to my annual list of the best and worst of the year. I still don’t understand how publications can share their best and worst of lists in November when there’s still an entire month of the year to go. That’s why I publish my list in late December. My apologies for any new books, movies, television shows, etc. that debut on New Year’s Eve.

Best song: High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco

My criteria for best song is that I have to feature the song in a separate post at some point during the year. For 2018, it comes down to High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco, Sober Up by AJR, and No Tears Left to Cry by Ariana Grande. (Lil' Jon and Kool-Aid Man also deserve an honorable mention for All I Really Want For Christmas.) I have a bit of an issue with pop music lately. It seems like everything is about the chorus. Sure, you get a first verse and second verse (though rarely a third verse), but it’s limited. All three of these songs follow this framework. Of course, I recently heard Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics from about 35 years ago, and there are no lyrics to that song (you’d think there would be since Annie Lennox travelled the world and the seven seas).

While Ariana Grande had a monster year professionally, my winner is High Hopes. I just love the positivity and the horns.



In hindsight, I wish I included Say Amen (Saturday Night) by Panic! since I really like that song more. If you told me this time last year that two of my favorite songs in 2018 would be by Panic! at the Disco, I probably would have laughed.

Worst Song: Meant to Be by Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line

I wrote about this several months ago, but the lyrics really bother me. In response to Bebe Rexha singing about awful past relationships and how she wasn't treated right, Florida (or Georgia) basically dismisses her by saying that she's beautiful, so she'll be fine. Jerk.



Best Movie I Saw In The Theater: Crazy Rich Asians

I saw a whopping four movies in the theater in 2018. That’s by far the most since I had kids. I should probably mention that the four movies I saw were Ferdinand, Paddington 2, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Grinch. Although Hugh Grant was great in Paddington 2, I’m going with the grown up movie. I'm pro Constance Wu, and I really want go to Singapore now.

Best TV Show: Speechless

I think that most readers will find this to be the biggest surprise on here. There are so many good shows out there like Killing Eve, Better Call Saul, and The Good Place. I also finally started watching The Americans in 2018 (I just finished season 2), and really enjoyed Barry and Mindhunter. The episodes of Black Mirror I watched were unlike anything I've seen. Full disclosure: I really need to start watching Atlanta, and I didn't see this season's Game of Thrones yet. With all of that written, the fact that I’m picking a standard sitcom is kind of amazing. It just seems like at least once an episode I laugh out loud at this show. John Ross Bowie is comedy gold.

Worst TV Show: Below Deck

I don't know why this is a show. Let's watch spoiled crew members who seem to fight constantly serve spoiled rich guests who spend probably hundreds of thousands of dollars on a luxury boat.

Best Book: Quackers by Liz Wong

I honestly didn’t read as much as I wanted to in 2018 and most of the books I read were good though not great. The one book I read over and over and enjoyed way more than I should have since I’m clearly not the target audience was Quackers.

It’s a cat who thinks he’s a duck until he learns he's a cat but still has his duck friends. It’s adorable!

Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell about Yankee Doodle who doesn't want to go to town or call a feather macaroni is also quite good.

Best Sports Moment: Belgium's Soccer Team

The second half of the World Cup round of 16 game between Belgium and Japan was unreal. After Japan took a 2-0 lead, Belgium tied it at 2. In stoppage time, Japan had a corner kick and a chance to win. Instead, Belgium countered and scored the winning goal.



I’ll give this a close second:



Worst Sports Moment: Tom Wilson

Being in the DC area, it was amazing seeing the excitement surrounding the Caps during its Stanley Cup run. Winning the Cup was good for the region and good for the sport. The only negative (besides the Caps defeating the Penguins) was Tom Wilson getting to celebrate and having his name inscribed on the Cup. What a jerk. He's even worse than the Florida Georgia Line guys.

Best Podcast: Planet Futbol with Grant Wahl

You’re probably seeing a soccer theme here. On his podcast this year, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl interviewed nearly every candidate for the US soccer presidency. Then, he did a podcast every single day during the World Cup, so a podcast for over 30 consecutive days. My personal favorite podcast was his interview with Abby Wambach. If you’re a fan of soccer, I highly recommend his podcast. (One word of caution. He had Bill Simmons on a recent podcast. I read everything Simmons wrote when he was with ESPN/Grantland and still listen to many of his podcasts, though not so much the past few months. I was excited to see that Simmons was on Wahl's podcast, but he just seem to whine the entire time. Wahl's interview with Katie Nolan was very good though.)

Best Blog: Josh’s World

I have no idea how Josh does it. He (allegedly) has a family and (allegedly) a full-time job, yet he cranks out post after post on a wide variety of topics. I enjoy his writing and am really curious to see if he actually slows down when his second child arrives in 2019. (By the way, vote for his child's name to be Sean!) Oh, here's the link to Josh's World.

Sean's Ramblings Best Blog Post: The Attack at Tree of Life Synagogue

This post is about as raw and emotional as I get. I'm still upset thinking about what happened at the synagogue of my youth and how little has changed over the last few months.

Sean's Ramblings Worst Blog Post: Trivia Wednesday

I'm done doing trivia posts. No one replies with answers or guesses.

Feel free to click here to see my best of and worst of the last few years and see if my picks hold up.

Sean's Best & Worst Of 2016

I always find it odd when magazines, newspapers, websites, etc. share their best and worst of lists in November or early December. There's still an entire month that they can miss. Therefore, I'm proud to present my 2016 best of/worst of list with only 2+ days left of this year.

Best Television Show: O.J. Simpson

This has been a really strong class of new shows on network television. Designated Survivor, This Is Us, Speechless, The Good Place, and Pitch all earned season DVR passes. Game of Thrones, Veep, and Better Call Saul were also amazing this year. However, for me, O.J. Simpson was the best thing on television in 2016. Ezra Edelman created a 5-part documentary titled O.J.: Made in America that did an outstanding job of not only describing O.J.'s life but also the history of race relations in Los Angeles. The murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman weren't even really discussed until part three of the series. Meanwhile, FX aired The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Sure, John Travolta and Cuba Gooding Jr. were a bit over the top, but the acting of Courtney B. Vance, Sarah Paulson, and Sterling K. Brown as Johnnie Cochran, Marcia Clark, and Christopher Darden, respectively, was incredible. I highly recommend watching both of these.

Worst Show: The Great Indoors

This was a really tough call between Man With a Plan starring Matt LeBlanc or The Great Indoors with Joel McHale. I guess I'll go with The Great Indoors only because Man With a Plan supposedly takes place in Pittsburgh, so the few stock photos of my hometown gives it a bonus point. The Great Indoors features McHale as an outdoors writer who apparently has never been online. Meanwhile, he now works with millennials who never leave their computers. Hilarity does not ensue.

Best Movie I Saw In the Theater: Arrival

I saw a whopping three movies in the theater this year (in related news, I did not receive media credentials for the Oscars), the most I saw live in probably 5 years. Arrival was definitely the best and should receive a Best Picture nomination. This is a sci-fi film but without the action/adventure component of most films in this genre. It's more of a thinking person's film that kept me engaged. Plus, I'd probably watch a 2-hour movie of Amy Adams reading from a phone book

Worst Movie: Sausage Party

Yes, there are some funny moments but the ending was just a big "wtf did I just see?"

Best Song: Starboy

My rule is that the best song of the year has to be featured in one of my Friday video blog posts. In my mind, this comes down to three songs: DNCE's Cake By The Ocean remains catchy after being all over the place for the past year, but I think I would regret this selection in a few years. I also really like You Don't Get Me High Anymore by Phantogram, but I don't think anyone actually knows this song. Therefore, my winner is The Weeknd's Starboy even though I have no idea what the song is about.



Worst Song: Work by Rihanna featuring Drake

It's not that this song is bad; I just have no idea what Rihanna is singing in the chorus.



Best Blog: Josh's World

I honestly don't know how Josh does it. He produces quality blog posts nearly every day on a variety of topics from book and movie reviews to sports to politics and what's going on in his life. I'm looking forward to his posts next year when he becomes a new dad.

Worst Blog: Everybody Loves You

Alex is one of my favorite writers...but he hasn't published a new blog post since early September! I know life gets in the way of writing and I miss his posts. (Maybe this will encourage him to start writing again. Maybe?)

Best Podcast: Pop Culture Happy Hour

While I enjoy YaJagoff! Podcast and The Jonah Keri Podcast, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is my favorite. In this weekly podcast, Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Glen Weldon (my personal favorite), and a special guest discuss one or two topics (generally a movie or TV show). Then, they conclude with a "What's Making Me Happy" segment where they each pick a book, podcast, show, etc. that they recommend. It's always an enjoyable listen. The Live PCHH with Kumail Nanjiani (of Silicon Valley) discussing romantic comedies was hilarious.

Worst Podcast: The Bill Simmons Podcast

I used to be a big Simmons fan devouring everything he wrote. He also put together some excellent podcasts with Chuck Klosterman, Malcolm Gladwell, and others. Now, however, it seems like every single podcast is him predicting NFL lines with Cousin Sal. This bit was old years ago.

Best Sports Moment: The Penguins winning the Stanley Cup!

What a run!

Worst Sports Moment: Pittsburgh Pirates

After seeing the Penguins win the Cup, I really should complain about any Pittsburgh sports teams. However, after three consecutive playoff berths including winning 98 games in 2015, the Pirates were a disappointing 78-83-1 in 2016.

Best Fantasy Sports Person: Me

Sorry Meat Loaf, but in fantasy sports, 2016 was the Year of Sean. I won my fantasy baseball league for the second time in three years after going 20+ years without a title. In fantasy football, I won 2 of the 3 leagues I'm in, and I'm also in the Championship of the Pittsburgh Bloggers Fantasy Football League this weekend. Not too shabby!

Best Book: The Hike by Drew Magary

I've enjoyed Magary's writing in Deadspin and the old Kissing Suzy Kolber for a long time and his books are also great. The Hike may be his best work. I'll let Washington City Paper give a quote:

“The Hike reads like a mix of The Odyssey and The Phantom Tollbooth, with the same humor Magary uses on Deadspin. . . . Along the way, Magary’s hero hunts for an enigmatic mastermind, encounters man-eating giants and monsters, and teams up with a talking crab. What starts out as a saga of suburban ennui quickly turns into gripping tale of survival.”

Worst Book: None

I didn't read enough books to have a worst book this year. I need to do better and read more in 2017.

Best Blog Post: (Tie) My Interview with Vinny Karpuszka & Donald Trump Is Going To Be President

My interview with Vinny, the Pittsburgh Penguins' gamenight DJ, was a lot of fun. The second one isn't particularly great; it's just that I was correct in my early March prediction that Donald Trump would win. This particular line seemed quite prophetic:

"Will Clinton be able to inspire the Democratic base and get enough Independents in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina to win the election? As of today, my guess is no."

Worst Blog Post: Shooting at Burger King

I blamed a Whopper for shooting someone.


Feel free to share your best and worst of 2016 in the comments below, and have a Happy New Year!

Sean's Mailbag

Bill Simmons, formerly of ESPN and Grantland, used to run entertaining mailbag columns. Since Simmons is no longer at ESPN, I thought I would try to fill the void based on questions I received on Twitter and in my email inbox.

Brad (laclips) - Are you going to answer questions on here?

By here, Brad meant Twitter. No, my replies cannot be limited to just 140 characters! (/Checks and sees that I still would have had 55 characters left if I did answer on Twitter)

Restore Lost Hair - Try This to Restore Your Hair Loss

Not a question, but it's like Restore Lost Hair really knows me! With that written, I'm fine with my current balding state. I think I would shave my head except that would take a lot of work to maintain no hair compared to limited hair. I already dislike shaving my face nearly everyday, so why would I want to shave my head too?

Jason the Sports 'Ace' - Hi there,

Bookies laugh when bettors win big time.. because they know that more and more people will play and eventually lose...

...BUT...

When they meet a guy who has a proven formula to win 9 out of 10 times...with close to zero risks...THEY PANIC...because 1000 people like this "expert" could take them out of business.

Again, I don't see a question here, but based on your email, it seems like bookies have a wide range of emotions. Who knew?

Trainers Quotes - How would YOU like to direct line through to the UK’s TOP Trainers – EVERY time they have a horse running…?

Every time might be a bit much. Maybe just occasionally.

How would YOU like to be a fly-on-the-wall at the UK’s TOP yards…?

There are about 7,000 other places where I would rather be a fly-on-the-wall than at the UK's top yards. The Oval Office would probably be at the top of this list. The office of Neal Huntington, the Pirates GM, would be up there too.

Alex - When my two year old points to his you-know-what and asks "what's that?", what should I say?

As a father of two young boys, I just go with penis. That sounds much better than saying pee-pee. Please note that I would have no idea how to answer this question if I had a daughter.

PGA Digital Golf Academy - Want even more golf instruction?

By more, you're assuming that I am currently receiving golf instruction. That would be false. But sure, golf instruction would be nice. My 25 year-old John Daly golf clubs would probably like to get out of the house.

PremierCareinBathing Promotion - Is a Walk-in Bathtub Right for You?

I'll go with no. I don't understand how the water will stay in the bathtub if you can walk right into it. Is there a door for the bathtub?

scclko2000 - Your wife will love your Big Unit

To Alex's question, I would not call your son's you-know-what a unit.

And yes, these are my readers.

Friday Links and Videos

Enjoy some really good videos from Celebrate Fairfax and interesting links to help you get through your Friday.

Do you have a blog and want to determine whether your writing is male or female? I don't understand how "the" and "a" are male/female words. [Gender Genie]

The US county with the highest life expectancy of men is Fairfax County, VA. Hey, guess where I live? This blog could be around for many decades! [WTOP]

A profile of ESPN's Bill Simmons [New York Times]

Washington DC radio station Hot 99.5 has introduced the Hotty Awards to determine the hottest food, people, places, and things going on in DC. In exchange for this link, I look forward to the station giving me Wicked tickets. Concert tickets? Movie tickets? A T-shirt? [Hot 99.5]

We interrupt the links to watch Third Eye Blind performing Semi-Charmed Life at this year's Celebrate Fairfax.



Cory breaks down the Pirates 37-37 record. If only the Pirates didn't have to play the Brewers. [Three Rivers Burgh Blog]

The story of the Vancouver riot kissing couple. {Yahoo's Puck Daddy]

Mr. Brame won an iPod from Bill Nye the Science Guy [Mr. Brame's Blog]

The Penguins re-sign minor leaguer Ben Street. Yes, Ben Street's back. All right! [Pensburgh]

Finally, here is The Bangles performing Walk Like an Egyptian at this year's Celebrate Fairfax. Susanna Hoffs still looks good.

Are Pittsburgh Sports Fans Spoiled?

It’s been an incredible past six months for Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh sports fans. The Steelers became the first team in NFL history with six Super Bowl titles by defeating the Arizona Cardinals in February. The Penguins capped off an amazing postseason by winning the Stanley Cup on Friday night at Detroit. The University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball team earned the #1 ranking for the first time in school history and reached the the Elite Eight. Even the Pittsburgh Passion made the playoffs! Therefore, I think it is a fair question to ask if Pittsburgh sports fans are spoiled.



Before I answer this question, I want to refer you to the other city that also had great sports success recently: Boston. The Red Sox won the 2004 and 2007 World Series; the Celtics won the NBA Championship last year; and the Patriots won three Super Bowls in four years before going 18-0 during the 2007 season. I think it is fair to write that at best the Boston sports fans have been overexposed and at worst can be referred to as annoying (actually there probably is worse than annoying, but let's go with that). The movie Fever Pitch showed us that the Red Sox are more important than everything else in life. Red Sox Nation had an actual election for its first president which featured a debate moderated by Tim Russert. We also learned that Tom Brady is the biggest star in the NFL. Seriously, how many stories did we see last year after his knee injury plus all of the Gisele coverage? Boston sports also receive significant coverage on ESPN, particularly by Bill Simmons.

On behalf of Pittsburgh fans, I think it's accurate to write that we don't want to be viewed like Boston sports fans. To go back to my original question of whether or not Pittsburgh sports fans are spoiled, the answer is no, or at least, not yet. Why? The Pirates keep us grounded. 16 straight seasons with a losing record will do that. We also don't have the same type of national voice that Boston has. While Boston has Bill Simmons, I guess Pittsburgh has Dave Dameshek. However, Dameshek may have taken the Metro with me this morning, and I would have no idea who he is. In addition, while there is a Steeler Nation, I don't think we'll see any type of election for a president.

I should probably have some epic closing here, but all I've got is this: enjoy today's Penguins victory parade!

Weekend Links

There are times during the weekend when you’re waiting for the football game to start or looking to kill time before you go out. Well, I try to help by providing links that are informative and/or entertaining (or at the very least, a way to waste a few minutes). Here are some sports and Sarah Palin links:

Former NFL player Ross Tucker writes on Sports Illustrated that Steeler fans are the best in the league. I’m not going to disagree.

Are you looking for something to do this Columbus Day (that's Monday)? Head to the Forbes Field wall in Oakland (a Pittsburgh neighborhood, not the city in California) to celebrate the anniversary of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates’ World Series championship.

ESPN’s Bill Simmons wrote an excellent piece about the recently fired Los Angeles Clippers General Manager, Elgin Baylor. While I knew that Baylor was a great basketball player, I never knew about his full history.

I’m always amazed by Gilbert Arenas. He is a fascinating and likable individual who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. He may need a filter once in a while like in this interview with Slam.

SLAM: What do you know about Sarah Palin?

Gil: That she’s a female Bush. Retarded. I’m not that into politics, I try to stay away until things get closer. But just from what I can tell she’s a moron. She can’t bullshit yet. As a politician she doesn’t know how to bullshit. She’ll just run around the question. “Who’s better, Kobe or LeBron?” “Well you know D.Wade, he’s been looking nice lately, so those are tough choices.” What the f*ck are you talking about?!

Speaking of Palin, the Alaska legislative probe found that she misused her power. (The comments here are scary and sad on both sides. The election can’t be over soon enough.) In a similar article, Yahoo has some details about Palin’s former brother-in-law who she tried to get fired, Mike Wooten.

Wooten had been in hot water before Palin became governor over allegations that he illegally shot a moose, drank beer in a patrol car and used a Taser on his stepson.

Does Wooten represent the Joe Six-Pack Palin always talks about? (Yes, a bit of a cheap shot here against Palin. My question is this: how was Wooten able to keep his job after these allegations? Did the allegations turn out to be untrue?)

In more Palin news, she is scheduled to drop the puck in Philadelphia on Saturday night for the Flyers-Rangers game. Puck Daddy has some insight from some Philadelphia bloggers. I'm sure this will go well.

Enjoy your weekend!

Steelers-Jaguars Preview

Welcome to Wild Card weekend! I am excited and nervous about tonight’s Steelers-Jaguars game, so I have been searching the web to see what the “experts” think.

The ESPN folks made the following predictions:
Salisbury – Jaguars
Hoge – Jaguars
Jaworski – Jaguars
Schlereth – Jaguars
Allen – Jaguars
Mortensen – Jaguars
Golic – Jaguars
Wickersham – Jaguars (who the heck is Wickersham?)

In addition, Hank Goldberg picked the Jaguars on Sportscenter this morning and Bill Simmons chose the Jaguars in his column yesterday.

Over at Deadspin, five of the seven picks went for the Jags:
Cool Standings – Steelers
Football Outsiders – Jaguars
Michael David Smith – Jaguars
Big Daddy Drew – Jaguars
Dan Shanoff – Jaguars
AJ Daulerio – Jaguars
Deadspin – Steelers

Cris Carter on Yahoo picked the Jaguars as did Peter King and Dr. Z (he’s probably as real of a doctor as McDreamy) at Sports Illustrated. On CBS Sports, Harmon, Prisco, Judge, Davis, Richard, and “Spin” also selected the Jaguars to win.

Based on my detailed statistical analysis, 29 experts chose the Jaguars to win tonight and only two feel that the Steelers will win. That seems like a clear majority for the Jaguars, so they shouldn’t even play the game tonight. I guess NFL rules, NBC and the Rooney family are the only reason why this game will be played.

Now I certainly understand why everyone is picking Jacksonville. They defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh 29-22 just last month and the Steelers are playing without injured Marvel Smith, Aaron Smith, Max Starks and Willie Parker. However, the Steelers are playing at home where they had a 7-1 record this season. The team also has twenty players who have appeared in five or more playoff games. Something that has not been discussed (except for the Post-Gazette today) is the fact that this is Jacksonville QB David Garrard’s first playoff game. He’ll be playing in a difficult environment that will be much tougher than the game in Pittsburgh last month. Yes, he had a terrific season and the Jags rely heavily on the running game, but can he be mistake-free today and lead the Jags to victory? I say no.

Just as I was about to publish this story the ESPN NFL Countdown show aired the following statistic: Quarterbacks making their first playoff start since 2005 are 0-7 with a 55.7 QB rating. Apparently, these folks care little about these statistics as Mike Ditka, Keyshawn Johnson, Emmitt Smith and Chris Berman all pick the Jaguars. Tom Jackson replies by saying that he is the only person in America picking the Steelers. You’re not alone Tom; Deadspin, Cool Standings and I are with you!

Why I Am Rooting Against the Red Sox

Before you send me hate e-mail and comments, please bear with me. This post is not directed to die-hard Red Sox fans, the fans who suffered through years of heartbreak. I should also state that I dislike the Yankees (again, please hold off on the hate e-mail and comments) and always root for the Red Sox to defeat the Yankees, especially during the 2003 and 2004 American League Championship Series. I remember cheering for Red Sox in 1986 because, as a Pirates fan, I hated the Mets (I even have an autographed picture of Bill Buckner from when he was a Chicago Cub), and was excited for Boston when they won the World Series in 2004. The 2004 Red Sox were amazing as they became the first team in baseball history to come back from a 3-0 deficit. Unless you were a Yankees fan, how could you not like the team with the slogan “Cowboy Up” and the nickname of the Idiots? They were a fun team and one that you wanted to support.

However, at least in my mind, things have changed. The Red Sox have essentially turned into the Yankees. What I have hated about the Yankees for years was their ability to buy any player they wanted (see Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens, Carl Pavano, Randy Johnson and A-Rod – yes I know that they acquired him through a trade, but do you really think he’s going to get $30 million from another team next season?). The Red Sox have done the same thing. Instead of trying to repeat with the team that won the 2004 season, Boston allowed Dave Roberts, Derek Lowe and Orlando Cabrera to leave and replaced the latter with Edgar Renteria (I have no problems with the team’s decision not to match the incredible contacts of Damon and Pedro). They paid $8 million for Renteria, but after a mediocre season, he was gone. After a year or two of failure particularly when having one of the highest payrolls in baseball, what did the Red Sox do? They spent more money. The team signed J.D. Drew to a 5-year, $70 million contract (yes, we all know Drew is now worth the $14 million salary this season just because he hit a grand slam in the ALCS), Julio Lugo to a 4-year, $36 million contract and Daisuke Matsuzaka to a 5-year, $52 million deal plus another $51 million just for the negotiating rights. Overall, the Red Sox have a team payroll of more than $143 million! While that is less than the insane $195+ million payroll of the Yankees, the payroll is greater than every other team in baseball, and it’s not even close (the Mets are 3rd at $116 million). Unless you are a die-hard Red Sox fan or one that recently joined the bandwagon in 2004 (the main reason why I am sick of the Red Sox; see the terrible Fever Pitch movie), how can you root for this team? I’ll concede that I still like seeing David Ortiz in a clutch situation and Josh Beckett has been incredible this postseason, but I’m not supporting the Red Sox in this World Series. I'm sure that real Red Sox fans don't want me to support the team, and I'm fine with that. I don't want people jumping on to the Steelers or Pirates bandwagon (when the team is good again in 2037). The Rockies are an incredible story, plus I can't imagine seeing Josh Fogg actually pitching in the World Series.

Now I’ll get to spend the next week listening to how great Red Sox are from Joe Buck and Tim McCarver and read the same from Bill Simmons.

Fun Directions

If you go to Google maps and select directions from New York to Paris, #23 tells you to swim across the Atlantic Ocean 3,462 miles. That seems funny to me. I wonder if the guy who swam the Amazon will try this.

Just for fun, I also typed in directions from New York to Portugal. Apparently, it is better to swim from New York to France and then go through France and Spain to get to Portugal instead of simply swimming directly to Portugal.

I saw this on ESPN.com by Bill Simmons.