Odds, Sods, Kibbles, Bits, Bench, and Rule 55

I had a good day. A really good day. I helped my niece, Laura, move some stuff around in her storage in Pennsylvania. That meant a road trip - always good for me.

Of course, I should NOT have checked my email upon returning. Then again, one has to face it eventually. Whatever. See below for an Exit 55, and it's all good.

Let's start with an update - Abbey Road is NOT - repeat, NOT - for sale. Good.

Just as they did last fall, Section 1 high school sports in New York will not allow The Journal News to stream the championship games. I don't get it - sorry. Something is fishy here. Would they do this to radio?

Here is our Rule 55 moment (with a hat tip to Mr. David Rothenberg, and linked here):
(UPDATE - well once again, the ass hats of the world unite, as the buzz kills at the IOC had this removed from YouTube.  A hearty thanks for nothing from your friends at "Exit 55!")

By the way, Dave is right in his top five upsets, though he would not be wrong if he put the Jets in for Super Bowl III, but Dave just doesn't see things straight when it comes to the green-and-white.

Still, while the USA/Canada game was flat-out riveting, brilliant hockey, some have gone overboard. Sure, it was big - I didn't like the USA roster when it was introduced at Fenway Park on January 1st, and they proved me wrong. But it's not another Miracle on Ice. Yet is it so wrong to be happy about the win? Just keep it in perspective - that's all. Plus 8.2 million people figured out how to turn on MSNBC. Imagine the number if it had been on NBC?!?

Thirty years ago today, I was in Florida, and more of a baseball/football fan than anything else. I barely paid any mind to those Olympic things taking place in upstate New York. We watched a little of this and that in our hotel room in Holiday, Florida. But oh, I knew about this - believe it (from Joe Posnanski).

Let's face it: you want to see it. So do I. Al Michaels has made a lifetime and a career off of this (and I've come to realize how truly good he is). Here's your link.


(I'll take that call over "The Giants Win the Pennant")

Two friends of mine suffered losses recently. Both paid beautiful tributes to their loved ones:
Christine Baker lost her grandfather.
Chuck Costello lost a beloved dog. Knowing how the loss of my cat, Bandit, in 1996 impacted me, I feel his pain.

Supposedly, MLB Network is going to list the top MLB Team Broadcasters in History on their Prime 9 series. Tom Hoffarth has the names but not the order. I'll risk being wrong, but here's how I would rank them:
9) Phil Rizzuto - I've got to be honest. I'm surprised he's on here. I associate Mel Allen first with the Yankees as a "voice."
8) Curt Gowdy - I associate him more with NBC than I do with the Red Sox.
7) Harry Caray - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cubs, WGN, blah blah blah. That was the end. The beginning was the Cardinals, the A's and the White Sox. Plus I don't fawn over him. Never have.
6) Jack Buck - Now it's getting tough. He bled for the Cardinals but he was also easily associated with national work.
5) Ernie Harwell - He IS Tigers baseball, and there was such outrage when he was fired that he was brought back after one year.
4) Harry Kalas - I have never noticed just how deep Harry The K's ties were to the Phillies until I saw how the team and city responded to his death. Amazing.
3) Red Barber - From 1939 to 1953, he was as identifiable with the Dodgers as anyone.
2) Mel Allen - The first, and still really only "Voice of the Yankees." With the team from 1939 to 1964, then back for the painful later years on SportsChannel.
1) Vin Scully - DUH. He's been a part of the Dodgers broadcasts since 1950, for the love of Marconi!

OK. I talk way too much sports. I'm out.