Do You Know Who This Man Is?

    If not, you really need to familiarize yourself with San Francisco Giants closer, Brian Wilson. Before you make a snap judgment on the content of this post, just know that what you are about to read basically has nothing to do with Major League Baseball or sports in general. That might seem odd being that the focus of the post is a professional baseball player, but as talented of an athlete as he may be, I don't think I'm going that far out on a limb by saying that his legacy is likely to be known for his acting and entertainment value that he provides, rather than his accomplishments on a baseball diamond.

    Initially, the first thing to jump out at you is the epic beard. Some might see the beard as comical in and of itself, though according to Brian Wilson it is magical, tantalizing, mesmerizing, fear worthy and to quote him exactly, "There's garden gnomes in there cutting down trees, and apparently there's an Irish gig lady dancing. I haven't met her yet, but she's in this quadrant." (As he points to the lower right side of his beard) But the beard is not even close to what makes Brian Wilson so captivating, it just adds to the allure and gives him a more unique look. It also provides him with material so that he can unleash comedic genius at a moment's notice.

    Okay so comedic genius may be taking it a little far, especially given the fact that I am a big stand-up comedy fan. That being said, you cannot teach the presence he has and the delivery of his words. He is without a doubt a natural entertainer who also happens to be gifted with a canon for an arm, which we should all be thankful for because it has given him an outlet to share his other talents with the world. Perhaps the fact that he is a professional athlete first, is one of the main reasons why he is so appealing as an entertainer. Because we expect our pro athletes to be straight forward, matter of fact and focused on the game, it's refreshing to see someone with some more personality and humor. The first athlete other than Brian Wilson that comes to mind is Shaquille O'Neal. His size aside, he broke the mold when it came to his behavior and comments during interviews, which eventually led him to countless endorsement deals and even some lead roles in full-length, Hollywood films. Shaq was decent at best in the movie Blue Chips, where his role wasn't far from real life as he played an undiscovered basketball phenom that gets recruited to a major college basketball program, but we're all still trying to forget about Kazaam, not to mention his unsuccessful attempt at being a legitimate rapper. However despite all of that, don't write off Brian Wilson as an actor/entertainer yet. Shaq was just a great personality with a great sense of humor, but ultimately he was himself, whereas Brian Wilson almost seems like he is playing a character already. Although not necessarily true with all comedic actors, I think it's safe to assume that despite my suspicion that Wilson is playing a character every time he speaks, it is merely an amped up version of who he really is when he's not in front of a camera. This is why I have faith in his potential future in show business. I'd even go as far as to say that he writes some of his own lines in a few of the commercials he appears in. However, even if some of his funniest lines from the MLB 2k11 commercials or the NBA 2k12 commercials are written for him, not many people can pull it off as successfully as he has. I could go into greater detail about why I think he is hilarious, but see for yourself by simply searching him on YouTube, sitting back and enjoying the ride. From commercials to the post-game interviews and sports talk show appearances, it is pretty much all gold. I linked to one of the versions of NBA 2K12 commercial featuring him, but it wouldn't be right if I didn't post this extended version of it, only this time featuring all Brian Wilson. Baseball fan or not, I expect that by the time you are done viewing some of his comedy highlights, you will be declaring that you have a fever and the only prescription is more Brian Wilson.