The year was 2004. We were in the midst of the greatest and strangest Great Baseball Road Trip ever. It would take us through the desert to randomly meet John Kerry in the 121 degree heat. It would take us to San Diego, where we would hear this term for the first time. It would take us to Vegas. And it would take us to Los Angeles, where at a bar on Sunset Strip, we would watch Andy Dick put on the greatest 10-minute show of erratic behavior we have ever witnessed. (This would happen about a week later). So to close out the day, we ask: what is your greatest all-time B-list (or lower) celebrity experience?

(First one to say “The Redactular” gets a free ham sandwich).

That photo thanks to Kirschtopia, bringing you fun Photoshop and terrible fantasy football teams for the past decade.

*Oh, you like the funny photos? A friend of the RandBall clan sent a series of images of people “Photo Bombing,” a term we never knew of but nonetheless an activity we have apparently participated in many a time. We are famous for sneaking into other people’s photos and ruining them with awkward looks (we are particularly good at getting into graduation pictures). Fire up the Googles for “Photo Bombing,” and tread carefully.

*Rex Grossman is your starting Bears quarterback — um, at least for the first practice today.

*Mindy McCready isn’t doing so hot since the whole Clemens thing broke. She reportedly had a nervous breakdown.

*Hugging Harold Reynolds wants to help you end your sports bromance with dignity.

*Childress flees to Greece! Josh Childress. Oh. Still.

We believe the Official RandBall Anchorman Quote (”Boy, that escalated quickly… I mean, that got out of hand fast!”) applies to the brawl last night between the L.A. Sparks and Detroit Sparks Shock. Sad but true: this is the most attention the WNBA has received in a while, and is far greater evidence that they are ready to join their male counterparts than any in-game dunking. (We’re half-joking). In a major upset, Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn were involved. Cheryl Ford, sadly enough, had to be wheeled off the court in a Pierce-mobile. Have a look-see:

We had been looking for an introduction to a new item we’d like to roll out on a daily basis: Commenter Talkers. Do you have a thought that’s so brilliant it needs its own space in a main post? E-mail it to us by 2 p.m. every day, and we’ll spotlight your opinions. Stu read our minds (as usual) and provided the first example. Stu?

(Applying tinfoil rube hat)

Francisco Liriano is lights out right now. The Twins need someone, anyone to pitch the 8th inning. Call Liriano up, slide him into the rotation, and put Glen Perkins in the set-up role, as he actually has done that before.

(/Removing tinfoil rube hat)

I don’t have any better ideas, unless they can trade Hernandez for a middle reliever, which just isn’t going to happen.

Love it? Hate it? Have a better idea? Let’s hear it.

We thought about putting a moratorium on Brett Favre posts, but it’s going to be pretty impossible as long as the NFL is visiting Winter Park regarding the tampering stuff and ESPN is saying Favre wants to play here. Nothing would shock us at this point. Nothing. It also seems as though Favre is still on the brains of you dear readers as well, seeing as how three of you have sent us separate links or messages lately with some Favre thoughts.

*First up is Joker, who reminds us that Favre is on the cover of Madden ‘09. We all know the long history of the cover jinx; we all thought such a thing could be broken this year when they picked a “retired” player for the cover. But it now appears we have irrefutable evidence of a curse — unless you don’t consider a ruined reputation to be a bad thing.

*Next is Newbie, who reminds us of something we saw last week with this e-mail: “In accidentally watching ESPN — my wife was watching it, I swear! — I noticed the bottom line, which used to be just for sports scores, but now has become a place for “breaking” news. The usual headlines are MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, etc … However due to the recent Favre saga, he now has his own little headline title. So, when you’re watching for the pitching match-ups of tonight’s games we now get the added bonus of catching up on all of the Favre news we have only heard 6 times today. Honestly, is this the first time in the history of the world that an athlete changed his mind about retiring? Or are we just blessed to live in the age of 24 hour news networks? We feel your pain, Newbie. We saw the Favre crawl while sitting in a restaurant. It is truly disgusting. End of story.

*And finally, frequent commenter and mob tough guy Victor Lebanon has this take on the Favre vs. Vikings saga over at his corner of the Internet universe.

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OK, some of you also might be wondering how Official RandBall Band “The Hold Steady” played last night at First Avenue. It was pretty much what we expected for a band on tour backing a very freshly released CD. (Yes, it’s been available for a little longer via download, but still). It’s just harder to get into the new songs. Part of a concert experience is familiarity, no doubt. So when there was a string of new stuff, we listened intently but also felt things bogging down a little. That said: Chips Ahoy was money (the video never fails to crack us up), and the first encore — kicked off by Positive Jam — was extremely tight. The (sold out) Ave was packed with punctual, sweaty folks. We wanted them to play one Lifter Puller song, but maybe we should stop living in the past and just move on.

As responsible concert-goers, we took the bus to and from the Avenue. On the way back, we had a nice chat with a fella whose bottom line will be impacted if bus fares are raised. “I’m glad we’re getting these stadiums. Really I am,” he said before talking more about the tough economic times. While it should be noted that transit funding and stadium funding are parts of two different buckets, they are part of one overall philosophy. We will say no more.

Fasola-link! 50 golf courses, 50 states, 50 days. Must be rough.