I'll Be Back

Not many have asked, but a few have (sorry, I really do wonder who gives a bleep about this blog anymore).  So OK, I give.  Yes, el bloggo will solider on.  Yes, I'll do more for Zuckerman and social media in general.

Yes, I'll be back.

I'm busy - crazy busy.  And that's a good thing.  Two to three jobs.  Traveling.  Being more active (helloooo bicycle!).  Getting out more with Sean in the nice weather.  Taking stock in me and those around me.

Doing "The Press Box" (7-9 Monday nights on WGCH).  Mick McGowan and Tom Oderwald were with us last night, and we had a blast, and that carried over off the air.  I'm doing my fair share of heavy laughing every week.

(L-R: Ryan DeMaria, me, Chris Erway.  Photo by Mick McGowan)

(Top Row, L-R: Chris Erway, Ryan DeMaria, Tom Oderwald.  Bottom row: Mick McGowan, me.  Photo by Bob Small.)

This doesn't mean I don't have some time on my hands, and I'll happily spend that staying busy - including time with friends and getting to ballgames, etc.  I have to stay busy.  I want to stay busy.

So I will.

And maybe, just maybe, when the time is right, I'll write away here.  I'm just super duper incredibly cautious about my topics lately.  While it might delight some of my peeps to no end if I were to spout, I'd rather not.  I'd rather stay classy.  I'd rather be...shoot me now...the nice guy.

Though I could spout off about the silliness of "Jackie Robinson Day."  Yet even that, in this incredibly pathetic PC world of ours, is dangerous.  One misstep and...

OK, I'll say it.  Stop having everyone wear 42.  Give one person the honor of wearing the number - make them the spirit of Robinson.  Have a ceremony.  Wear patches on the sleeves for one night.  Then auction off the jersey.  But most importantly - EDUCATE.  Tell kids why what the old boys club of baseball prior to 1947 did was WRONG.  Don't preach.  Just explain.  Folks, this isn't rocket science.

I took a large chunk of this past month to think.  Think about social media and my place in it.  Think about those who are obsessed (sometimes including me, and it hurt me).  Think about what I want (did I mention "travel?).  If anything, I lurked.  I read things.  I saw things I didn't like.  Hurtful things.  Snarky things.  It's the thing I most deplore about it. 

Facebook helped me get back in touch with a lot of people.  It helped me meet others and get to know some of my friends even more so.  And yet...yet...that wasn't always a good thing.

There are roads to drive.  Places to visit.  People to love, and who want to love me back.  I suspect it will all inspire me to write.  Then I just have to find the time.

Like now.

OK, I'm a Few Days Early

He's waiting.  April 15th is tomorrow, but since it's a Sunday, and Monday is a holiday (in the District of Columbia), Tax Day is Tuesday, the 17th.

And, of course, we think of this enormously great song - one of George Harrison's absolute best.  But, keeping it real around the Exit 55 Man Cave, I've elected to grab the alternate version from the "Anthology" series.

I would say "tax woman", but the Fabs did "Taxman."  Whatever the gender, the tax...er..person told me how it will be.  And yes, I guess I'm slightly thankful they did not take it all.  And so it goes...

What is It? The Steve Somers Interview

Several people have expressed excitement/interest that "The Schmoozer", Steve Somers of your fancy WFAN radio, was kind enough to join us to talk a little S-P-O-R-T-S.  So I've embedded the audio on Archive.org.

And yes, he called me "young", further illustrating a few things about me, none of which I'll get into here.  What?

But first, here's the show promo:


Here's the interview.


We thought he might say "What is it?" or one of his famous "Steve-isms" but I think that would have been too much, because I most likely would have fallen out of the window in our fancy studio already!  As it was, I had to turn the microphones off occasionally due to us all wanting to laugh.  And he was as genuine as he sounds on the radio.  He was kind enough to respond to our email thanking him.  He's the real deal, folks.

A Quick "Press Box" Announcement

I neglected to pass this piece of news along...

"The Press Box" has been extended to two hours!  That's right - since we felt so tight for time in the first two editions of the show, we have been granted a second hour to discuss the world of sports in and around Greenwich.

Now, there's a good news/bad news thing here.  WGCH, if you're not aware, is also a Boston Red Sox affiliate.  This, of course, is bad news for me...just...because (OK, I'm partially kidding).  The bigger problem is that the Sawx play a lot of Monday night games, so we have some scrambling to do.  We're not planning to skip any weeks, but we might have to reschedule to another night or time, or perhaps back down on to an hour.  We're still figuring it out.

Anyway, Chris Kaelin tells me that William Waesche, Paul Macken, and Walker Brady.  They will discuss Greenwich High hockey, as well as GHS lacrosse.  We'll also get into the mens' national championship (maybe the womens' game as well), along with baseball, basketball, hockey, and more.  We've got two hours to work with!

And, I hope I don't regret teasing this, but there is more news coming down the pike...

Vegas Vacation

It came from out of the blue. Hit my cell phone while I was having dinner with Sean one Wednesday night - maybe six or seven weeks ago. In short, it said that I had been invited to a wedding. Well, that's not true actually. Carrie had been invited to go her friends' wedding, and Kristi (the said friend) had made a point of writing my name on the envelope.

Who am I to say no? Carrie - looking beautiful at a wedding. The bride suggesting that I be the "guest." Me, getting to rock a nice suit. Food. Drinks. Dancing. Fun!

Oh yeah, and did I mention it would all take place in Las Vegas?

DING DING DING DING!

This was the part where I was going to complain about American Airlines.  And flying.  And Delta Airlines.  But really, who cares about plane troubles? We got there safely, and it's the destination that counts!  It's not like the pilot went off the old reservation of something.

Touchdown had us off and running quickly, into a rental car (Huyndai, not bad) and onto the Strip, where in no time we had checked into the ab-so-lutely spectacular ARIA Resort and Casino. I can't recommend it highly enough - from the fact that the casino did not smell like an ash tray, to the shops, to the restaurants, to the room and all of its amenities, it was a first class place (that did not break the bank). We soon dashed off to meet a classmate and friend of Carrie's at Hash House a Go Go inside of the Imperial Palace. Now, I should tell you that this restaurant is a chain with six locations, and more to come. I should also tell you that Carrie and I ate at the one in San Diego in January, 2011 (look for the picture of the bacon waffles). And the person we had dinner with - the friend and classmate of Carrie's, is none other than the owner of this fine chain! Oh, and the food is so good.

Chicken? Meet waffles. Now meet Rob. Enjoy! I would have recommended it before I ever met the man. Now I'll recommend it even more.

The next day, we hit the road for the brand new Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (aka Hoover Dam Bypass).  Holy cow but what an impressive site it is, and it allows for an even more stunning view of the Dam (or as Beavis would say, "is this a God Dam?").

We would drive down there also, stopping where old US 93 stops (you can't go any farther on the old road, for security reasons).

On our way back into Nevada (leaving Arizona and Mountain Time Zone), we were stopped on US 93.  Slammed into a long line of traffic.  It seems some guy named Obama was in Boulder City and that slowed us down, and eventually detoured us around Lake Mead - in the end, all good.  The rest of the day was spent goofing around in various casinos, figuring out where and what to eat, and enjoying Las Vegas.

The following day was Kristi and Jared's wedding.  I have no problem telling you that they are a fairly perfect couple, and I was thrilled to be at their party.  Hey, if one could find a complaint, it was that the evening was so nice and it ended too soon!  It was surprising to hear the DJ say that the last song was coming.  I wish them so much love, happiness, and laughs in their life ahead.  I can't help but believe true love still exists.

Oh, but I failed to mention a little thing over at the Mirage (I walked through so many casinos!) called "Love."  Or more importantly, The Beatles' Love!  Now I didn't go see the show (ticket prices are high) but I looked around at all that they had there, including the shop where I bit the bullet and picked up a few trinkets.

Here, 50 years after they began to hit, the Fabs continue to dominate and amaze.  That's probably a topic for another time.

Friday began at Hash House again, but this time at the location on Sahara (ah, the streets that are named for the older - and demolished - casinos).  More waffles for me - the plates are crazy big but the food is amazing.  From there, it was a long drive into the desert, this time on US 95, all...the...way...to California.

OK, it's only 56 miles, but those are some long and boring miles at times.  Granted, you can do 75 on them (yes, that's the speed limit, folks), but still!

That is, until you hit the town of Searchlight, then you...slow...down...to 25!  But what a charming town it is, with a general store, casino, and McDonald's, along with the turnoff onto the Joshua Tree Highway, which carried us back into California, and onto I-15, where I drove us back to Las Vegas.

That took us to our last night with more dinner, more walking (more blisters on my feet), and eventually to sleep to get ready to come home.

Saturday involved more driving, more food, and time at the Rio casino.  Not the best casino - at all - but an OK way to grab a final meal and waste a few more dollars.  And by that point, I had a serious case of end of vacation blues.  Just sad.  Things on my mind.  Blah.  Blah.  Blah.
And back to New York we went.  I feel like I've been adjusting to the time change ever since.

I guess there should be more to say about this trip, but I seem to be doing the "brevity" thing.  More stories at another time, perhaps.

Some Quick Hits - Pics and Stuff

First (and second) on the agenda are pictures from Shorpy.  It's always so fun to spend a few minutes perusing the goods there.  Two really struck my eye:

One and Two.  Both were taken in 1914 in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Both are of crew teams at the Poughkeepsie Regatta with the Hudson River nearby.  But look even closer.  There's a bridge in the background, and since the Mid-Hudson Bridge wouldn't be open until 1930, there is one easy conclusion to draw: this is what is now known as the Walkway Over The Hudson State Park.  It has only be open about 25 years at the time of these pictures.

Moving on, baseball season sort-of, kind-of opened this week when the A's and Mariners played in Tokyo.  Always one to be timely, Jon from R-VA brings us a view of the New York Giants playing the Cleveland Indians in 1946.  Mooers Field was home to Richmond's minor league team, the Colts, from 1942 to 1953, when the team left the city.  Parker Field was renovated and essentially replaced Mooers in 1954, and the current building, The Diamond, opened on the site of Parker Field in 1985.  The Richmond Times-Dispatch has a map of all the ballparks here.

I.  Love.  This.  Ladies and gentlemen, courtesy of Stuck in the 80's, here are Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers.


That's about all I've got for a Friday night.

Craig Carton Called Hank Haney "Scum"

Hank Haney was on WFAN Radio today for an interview with Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason.  What was supposed to be an interview to promote Haney's book about life with Tiger Woods turned ugly.

Deadspin breaks it all down for us.

Craig Carton called somebody a "horrible human being" and "scum of the earth?"  Yeah...pot, meet kettle.

I'm not defending Haney - at all - but still.

This serves as a nice reminder why I don't listen to WFAN in the morning - and basically only listen for Mike Francesa and Steve Sommers.

Spring Training with the Cubs in the 70's

Have a look at this video, courtesy of the Chicago Tribune that I found via Uni Watch. It's a fun look back at Spring Training and baseball in the 1970's. You'll forgive me if my favorite part begins around the 6:00 mark, in which a prominent Yankee-turned-Giant-turned Cub (who eventually returned to his beloved pinstripes)makes an appearance.

If you haven't heard, I'm doing a radio show again. It's called "The Press Box", and we're building a great list of guests. So I suggest you tune in if you haven't already.

Elton is 65!

I'm back from Vegas, where I'm not sure that anything that happened needed to "stay" there. Silly stories, good laughs, and a really sweet wedding with two really sweet people who are meant for each other. I'll post pictures and maybe tell you about the trip when time allows.

But I just saw Elton John has turned 65. One of the great musicians and songwriters (along with Bernie Taupin) of our time (granted, I'm less enamored with his latter work, but still, he's pretty brilliant).

Here he is doing one of my favorites, "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters." I'll always remember hearing this song as I rode the subways of New York just after meeting Carrie, and how it made me like the song even more.


And how can I possibly forget the Stewie Griffin/William Shatner take on Eltons' "Rocket Man?"

Viva!

Did I mention The Press Box starts tomorrow? Did I also mention that we still need to book a guest? And that I'm also trying to pack to go away on Tuesday?

And I'm going here?


Yep.

Nowhere Man

I'm Packing (going away on Tuesday), cleaning, watching hoops, etc. Had Sprinsteen on before (did I mention Wrecking Ball is incredible?) Then I popped some Beatles on. Started in the Rubber Soul era. "Nowhere Man" came on.

Wow. It hit home. That's all. Here are the lads singing it in Yellow Submarine. Did they ever make a sadder song?


Speaking of the Fabs, here's a nice composite of Paul/The Beatles doing "I'm Down", another tough song, although more upbeat. But still, not a happy-go-lucky number at all. Yeah...

I like the way this combines The Beatles at Shea Stadium with Sir Paul at Citi Field (which, you might recall, I went to in 2009). I especially enjoyed Paul doing this because it was a real highlight of their 1965 visit to Shea, with John Lennon playing some wild and wacky organ. Always a good Beatles laugh.

St. Pat's with a Jersey Twist

Thanks to my friend Johnny I (not Irish) for passing this along.  The Dropkick Murphy's and The Boss visit "Badlands." Yes, I know it's a year old. Let's not split hairs.


PS: go get Bruce's Wrecking Ball. Now.

On This St. Patrick's Day...

We pause for just a moment to remember on this day. If that means we're interrupting the wearing o' the green and green beer and green bagels and whatever, then so be it.

For just a moment.

It's been 23 years since the man in those grainy photos left us. Those images aren't clear but it's OK, since memory is never picture-perfect. There he is, with his youngest child on the beach at Howard Park in Florida in 1970. There he is, with his wife, outside his fathers' house in Holiday, Florida.

And then, in 1989, he was gone.

Twenty-three years. Seems like forever. Or maybe yesterday. It's all in how you look at it.

Didn't want to dwell on it.  No desire to be morose. Just wanted to pause and remember for a moment.

He lives on in his children and grandchildren.

We now return you to your green life.

Two Days to The Press Box

Hopefully, it's clear enough to see in that picture. That's a part of the cover page of WGCH.com, and it's promoting Monday's premiere of - what is it? - oh, right.

"The Press Box."

I was in the Greenwich area yesterday, and listened to Tony Savino do the Noon NewsCenter, when he ran a promo for the show. I hear that an ad is going to run in one of the newspapers.

I'm not jaded - not even a little. I've been in radio for over 20 years, and still feel a thrill to hear and see these things.

The show debuts Monday. Still more work to be done!

Best Laugh of the Day

Thank you, "Big Bang Theory" for causing me to LOL. Yes, literally. Almost to the point of having trouble breating. Watch...

The Tappan Zee Bridge is Neato!

A promotional video from the fine folks at the New York State Thruway, upon the opening of the Tappaz Zee Bridge in 1955.


I love that shot of the bridge at the end. It appears traffic is backed up on the TZ. That seems about right.

Broken Escalator

Carrie told me about this and it is pretty darn funny. Watch for yourself. It says something about people, doesn't it?

What Should the Theme Song for "The Press Box" Be?

I Googled "what music should i use for my new sports show" and this came up.  Go figure.

We're at PB-minus five and there's still some work to be done. For instance, who will the first guest (or guests) be? I have an idea on that. But the question boggling my mind is about music.

It's difficult when you have 15,519 songs in your iTunes. And that's not even my entire collection. It gets overwhelming! So I reached out to my musical genius of a friend, Mr. Jon from R-VA, and asked him for some original compositions.

Jon, it should be noted, played in a legendary hardcore band called Up Front (Wikipedia entry here!). Indeed, I want up-tempo music for the show, but Jon felt the old Up Front tunes might be too much. Still ever the sport, Jon sent along two Up Front tracks, along with two songs from another of his bands, Dayspring, and one from a friends' band, Against Grace. All really good stuff.

Chris Erway, Mr. Wingman himself, suggested a theme song from a wrestler, which I'll decline to post for now. I like the song a lot, but my concern is that it won't necessarily be identified with us.

That of course is the same problem with picking any familiar song.

I would bet that among others who read here - Harold, Mick, and BL (the once and always, "John Harrison" of Majic 105 fame) will have some suggestions). So I'm throwing it open to the loyal (and not-so-loyal) readers of "Exit 55." I want something that pops. I want something that fires me up for the show. I want something snappy (movie quote**, name it!)

I need help!!

**Movie quote answer: Mr. White (Tom Hanks) in That Thing You Do!

Mike D'Antoni Resigns...No Shock Here

Mike D'Antoni has quit as head coach of the New York Knicks. To be quite honest, this news has not not surprised me at all. The team has been in free fall for a few weeks now. D'Antoni and his star player, Carmelo Anthony, clearly did not get along. In a star-driven league, the player wins every time.

The boo birds have won, and they normally get their way, dating back to the days of Allie Sherman and the football Giants ("Goodbye Allie").

It's not a coincidence (to me) that the Knickerbockers have not played well since Anthony returned from an injury. Prior to his return, the Knicks had become a New York story again, as "Linsanity" raged thoughout the Tri-state area. Now they're back to being not-so-good and on the edge of being out of the playoff picture.

It has gotten ugly at the World's Most Famous Arena (I still wonder if that building really deserves that title anymore. It probably is, but...). So who has to go? Yep, the coach. And out he goes. Just looking at the Social Mediaverse, it seems the feeling is united that people are happy he's gone.

I'm not among them. Look, I knew D'Antoni was dead-man walking. But I never felt like he was given the tools. Consider how bad the Knicks were when he first got here.

Ah, it never matters. Always blame the coach.

Whatever.

I blame the players. Specifically, I blame Carmelo Anthony. I wanted him to come to New York. I thought he would bring a world of talent to the Garden. He did. He just hasn't brought winning with him.

So now begins the Phil Jackson talk. It's clearly - definitively - Big Chief Triangle's job to take. He can come home to the MSG, where he once helped the Knicks win a title, way back in 1973...

Yep. That's him.

Be careful what you wish for, New York. Just saying.

The Third "Press Box" Promo

Here's the last of the three original promos for the new show. In this one, I've "reopened" The Press Box after a few years. I like the sound of it. Simple and efficient.

Gotta love some sound effects! It's a combinations of Hudson Valley Renegades baseball, Greenwich Cardinals hockey, Mount Saint Mary College basketball, and Rye football play-by-play calls, along with the Greenwich cheerleaders (circa 2003), Bob Small saying "hockey" (from the opening of our Brunswick School hockey broadcasts) and a few other sounds.

It wasn't what I originally had in mind, but I like it.

New "Press Box" Promo

It's possible that there's nothing more dangerous than three friends trapped in a radio production studio (with another friend on the phone).

I should have saved the outtakes. I should have saved everything. Pure comic genius.

I had a couple of ideas for the new promos for the...er...new..."Press Box." You've already heard the first one, where the deep voiced movie-type promo guy (voiced by a very handsome blogger) gets mocked by all three of us. But that version got lost, so all we have is this: the deep voiced dude, with me asking him questions, and Sean Adams (age 10) providing the final line.

If you're new to this or know nothing about me, then allow me to tell you that I love parody. For over a decade I was part of a wonderful set of videos for the softball league that I was a part of in which we did a different themed parody every year. It is still a goal of mine to get some of those goodies on YouTube.

Back to the topic at hand. Chris Erway, Chris Kaelin, Ryan DeMaria and Peter Griffin (well, not really, but I'm watching Family Guy as I'm typing) decided to have some fun with the Jerry Stiller Capital One radio commercials. The truth is that none of the ideas came out as I thought, but I still like these promos. Nice work by all involved. I love the natural sound of the Kaelin household in the background, in which wife, daughters, and whatever else goes on in "Kato World" can be heard. And Ryan's "creepy old spokesperson" is just funny.

I'm Back

Those were the two words that Michael Jordan famously sent out when he returned to the NBA in 1995. My announcement is hardly earth shattering, but I'm hoping that people will be happy about it anyway.

"The Press Box" is back! WGCH's owner Michael Metter gave his support to a return to sports talk on the station, and I will head up that effort. The guys who have supported our broadcasters for some time now will ride shotgun with me.

Just as we did in the "Box's" previous incarnations, I want the show to feature all sports, with a mostly local approach. To that end, I want to have guests from everywhere, and not just Greenwich. Oh we won't ignore national sports, and will certainly take note of things in New York City and Boston - and the wide world as well - but our first take will be in our area.

I'll also look for great guests of note. By that I mean broadcasters, authors, writers, reporters (I've already targeted Paul Silverfarb), bloggers...anyone! Any good story is worth telling. Any good guest is worth hearing from.

We haven't picked our first guest. Who will it be? Tune in and find out on Monday, March 19th at 7:00 PM. And I'll go out on a limb and say that, while we're going to start out as one-hour show, I'm quickly aiming to get to two.

To me, it's just the beginning of a new era for WGCH Sports. I'm hoping - seriously hoping - that we can get back to broadcasting more games, from high schools to legion ball, and beyond. I've got an enthusiastic team behind me that wants it, with tremendous talent to do big things.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with me, Wingman (Chris Erway), Kato (Chris Kaelin), or Deemer (Ryan DeMaria) if you want to be on the show, or have an idea.  I can be reached here, on Facebook, or on Twitter (@double5).  I expect us to quickly put together a new Facebook page and Twitter account for the show, and hope you'll like and follow us over there also.

We've got work to do.

Something New Is On The Way

The tension builds...

The Links, The Dinks, and So On

I'm typing away on my not-so-trusty laptop (curse you, Dell!) in part to see if the damn thing actually works! I'll save the news for a another time, but there are some things in the works that would require a reliable laptop so that I can work on the road.

So I'm using this post to see if this laptop will survive. Best to do this then avoid possibly dropping some money on a new machine.

Anyway...

Ken MacMillan writes on his blog that a Hudson Valley AM station has changed their format. Curiously, 106.3 on the FM dial from Mount Kisco has changed their format to a simulcast of country as well (of 105.5 FM).

A side note (as such, we're into Off the Bench territory): My first radio home was 105.5 FM, WMJV-FM. It has changed hands and formats several times since then and has never seemed to find an answer. So not it is country, and has been for a few years. I have nothing against current country music, per se, and like acts like Lady Antebellum quite a bit. But I'm just more old school. Is Westchester County really hankering for some hee-haw? I guess time will tell.

Staying in the media, Channel 4 (WNBC) is apparently parting with Sue Simmons, who formed a long-time partnership with Chuck Scarborough. The New York Times has more. My $.02? Fail. Big time fail. Anchors around New York have otherwise become interchangeable. I'm not sure I could tell you that any of them impress me. But Chuck and Sue always felt like old friends. Both of them are 68, for whatever that is worth.

They're partnership (the longest in New York history) reminded me of the teams of my youth. Bill Beutel and Roger Grimsby on WABC immediately come to mind.

I can't let the topic of Sue Simmons go without this little dandy. We'll always love you, Sue!


In the Jeff Pearlman corner of Exit 55-land, we check in with our favorite Mahopac High grad-turned sportswriter as he does his "Quaz" with Sean Salisbury. It's a great read. I agree that Salisbury deserves another shot on network TV. There are too many examples of worse broadcasters for me to discuss.

So far, so good with the computer thing. Just thought I'd throw that in.

The CIAC (the Connecticut body of sports government) is working on creating a broadcasting outlet for sports. Sean Patrick Bowley has some details.

Hmmm...no chance they could use some talented voices. Sean Salisbury and I could call a few games.

Coach over at All Things Next has a few items of note. Allow him to explain why Chris Cornell is uncool. No, really. Coach also posts a video of the day. In this one, he introduces us to an artist named Meiko with her song "Stuck on You." Good song, cute video. Worth a look. In this video of the day, the Coachmeister (my nickname, not his) brings what is, almost without question, the worst...video...ever. It has been suggested that this video destroyed Billy Squiers' career. Who am I to argue?

Mr. Jon has some before and after Vintage Richmond for us. In this case, Rose and Lilah's dad shows pictures of Broad St at 1st. Great stuff as always.

Perfect segue, since Jon and I have debated this topic a few times...over at Stuck in the 80's, Steve Spears wonders if The Joshua Tree is really U2's best album. I say hell no! I'll take Boy, War, and The Unforgettable Fire right off the bat. Of course, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is undeniably right near the top of the most overrated and overplayed songs ever (but of course, there's that little ditty of Jack and Diane to discuss). It's also the first and, so far, only song to get me to walk out of a concert to use the rest room. So there.

I still have to get Mr. Springsteen's latest, by the way. The Boss is rocking the Apollo as I write this. I have no tickets to see Bruce and E Street on his new tour. Yet. Sigh...

Lastly, over at Uni Watch, a very interesting question has been posed: what is each city's most sacred uniform number? In other words: what is the definitive number? I honestly can't come up with one for New York. I'm trying, but I'm finding it difficult.

And the computer is still working! There's hope!

Matt Brown Drops Ceremonial First Puck

If this doesn't make you smile, get choked up, or shed a tear, well then I guess there's no hope for you. This is Matt Brown, whom I'm proud to call a friend (along with his father), dropping the ceremonial first puck at last weekend's Bruins/Islanders game in Boston.

Matt has been through a lot since his on-ice injury in 2010. Richie and Rit Spezzano introduced Chris Kaelin and I to Matt and his dad, Michael Brown. Father and son both appeared on "The Press Box" and I continue to keep an eye on Matt's progress.

Richie Spezzano sent this video to me. Watch and enjoy.


Maybe, just maybe, there could be a reappearance on a future show from Matt and his dad? Stay tuned...

The Yankees via an iPhone

Thought you might enjoy seeing these brilliant pictures shot by photographer Nick Laham. What makes them most interesting is that he shot them on his iPhone, in a bathroom.

Laham's own blog has some details and some of the pictures. David Bergams' site has some more details, including a link to Getty Images, which picked up the pictures for distribution.

Whitney

The Mighty Mick sent this along a few weeks back and I'm overdue to post it. So here:

Mick also questioned her status as an "icon", which I personally felt was borderline at best. But at the same time, icon status is like opinions. You're entitled to your take. To some, she's an 80's icon. A music icon. I never associated her with the 80's, and while her voice was legendary, she had also become irrelevant. A has-been. Sorry if that sounds rough.

It might have been her husband who introduced her to the crack that was whack, but she was the one who indulged. She threw away so much that it was insane.

I had no problem with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie lowering the flags to half staff. He did the same thing last year when the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, died last year. The difference was that the evil of the world (my friends in the media) make it a big story. And as such, the ugliness appeared, with people taking sides in the Whitney mania. It became overkill.

Nothing new there.

Davy Jones (1945-2012)

The news came down in the last hour that Davy Jones, the "cute one" of The Monkees, has died at the age of 66 of a heart attack.

Jones is the first member of the foursome thought to be the "Prefab Four" to pass away. Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith all solider on, but this takes care of there ever being another Monkees reunion. Tork, Jones, and Dolenz had toured at one time or another as The Monkees, with the rarest appearances by Nesmith.

Jones stayed active in show biz, including a famous appearance on The Brady Bunch in 1971. Always likeable, Jones continued to parlay his "cute" persona for years after the decline of The Monkees.

Musically, it is easy to forget just what a pop powerhouse The Monkees were for a brief time. Granted a lot of the music was created by others and often didn't feature the main four performing (a huge bone of contention to Tork and Nesmith, who both had the most musical chops). Quite often they would lay down the vocals, with Dolenz getting the largest share. Eventually Nesmith and Tork would win out to certain degree.

The basic premise of The Monkees was to recreate the nirvana and silliness of The Beatles - most notably in their movies. The Monkees as a band were created via auditions and casting. Yet for a stretch, the show and the band were wildly popular, with their debut single, "Last Train to Clarksville" being a huge hit even before the show debuted.

Incidentally, the Prefab Four and the Fab Four were quite friendly, with John Lennon telling Mike Nesmith that he never missed an episode of the show.

Oh, and one more thing about Jones, though perhaps you know this. He was so big for a time that another promising young singer from Britain named David Jones had to change his name. He became David Bowie.

Let's have some music - perhaps Jones' most famous Monkees tune, "Daydream Believer."

Happy 10th Birthday, Sean

It was early in the morning of February 23, 2002, when we drove to Hudson Valley Hospital Center at Peekskill/Cortlandt (the same place that I was born in when it was still called Peekskill Community Hospital). Sean Robert Adams, my son, was born at 7:03 AM.

He's 10 years old today.

He's seen so much already, and yet has so much to see. Oh, I get it - that's cliche, but it's also true. Sean, it has been said, is me. Looks like me, acts like me, and so on. Nah, not entirely true. Sean...is...Sean.

He's a nice combination of his mother and I, and if that's the best thing that ever came out of our marriage, than so be it. It's a wonderful thing to have created.

I've written many things about Sean here. I'm not sure I need to recount everything. He's well-known in Greenwich, Mahopac, Hopewell Jct, and everywhere in-between. People love his smile, his sense of humor, his creativity, his silly one-liners and philosophies.

He's not going to be a baseball player (having quietly announced his "retirement" recently). I'm OK with that.

I obviously always want the best for him, and I hope he has that in one form or another. Most of all, I always want him to be happy.

Happy 10th birthday, Sean. I'm so proud to call you my son.

Farewell, Kid

I'm going to share a not-so-secret thought with you. I hate the New York Mets. Straight-up hatred. Of all of the teams I've watched - in ANY sport - I absolutely loathed the 1986 Mets more than any other.

I never liked any member of that team. They were obnoxious. According to some, they "created" the curtain calls that have come to hang over baseball like a bad smell. Unquestionably, the '86 Mets could hit a long ball in a game they were losing by a wide margin, and they'd still pop out of the dugout.

I despised it. I still do.

By the way, not for nothing, one of the very first curtain calls was by none other than Roger Maris, on the occasion of his 61st home run in 1961. On the TV, Mel Allen called it "unusual." Granted, Maris was pushed out of the dugout, but still.

Back on point, the baseball world lost Gary Carter today. I'll bluntly tell you that I was never a fan of his. I thought he embodied a lot of what I hated about the Mets. The way that he whined about Mike Scott's "cheating" in the '86 NLCS left a bad taste in my mouth.

That being said, he loved the game of baseball. He lived for it. He never took the game for granted. He played hard, but only on the field. Off the field, he was a family man. There was no partying, no exploits. How could anyone not respect him?

I knew the Mets were serious contenders when they got Carter from the Expos in 1985 (who didn't?). Soon they were champions (and I actually rooted for the Red Sox). And I delighted any time that they lost. Still, there was something about Carter that was tough to root against. He had that way. He had that passion. A burning desire to win.

Let's face it, if he had come to the Yankees in the 80's, we would have all loved him. Who wouldn't? Of course, the Yankees needed pitching in the 80's.

So yes, even a cold-hearted, Mets-hating bastard like myself is tonight raising a glass (of water, Carter lived a very clean life) to Gary Carter - a Hall of Famer, a reporters' dream because he never turned down an interview, and a fans' player, because he left it all on the field, and signed every autograph.

There are plenty of fine stories out there tonight. Jeff Pearlmans', in the Wall Street Journal, is as good as any.

Thought for the Day

OK, I'll return the TftD for this quickie. I have several great quotes and thoughts, but after seeing Paul McCartney sing at the Grammy's, I'm reminded of the closing line from "The End" off of Abbey Road.

Here it is:

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

With that, Happy Valentine's Day to those who love, and who care about today.

I Love a Good Bargain

Anchorman: "There's only one thing a man can do when he's suffering from a spiritual and existential funk...buy new suits!"

I happened to do some shopping with Carrie over the weekend in New Jersey. We walked into Kohl's, where I spied a suit jacket/blazer made by Chaps that I had seen at their Brewster, NY, location. After extra markdowns and all, this blazer that had once been $225 was now $40!

So I bought it.

But...wait.

I popped into the Brewster location yesterday. There it was. Same jacket. Right size. So I priced it.

Twenty-eight dollars.

Uh huh. Bought it. Returned the other one.

Yep, the more you know, the more you Kohl's. Whatever the heck that means!

Macca Rocks the Grammys and Other Notes

In case you didn't see the Grammy's on Sunday night, here's Paul McCartney and a few friends doing the suite that ends Abbey Road.  Sir Paul uses this set to close his live shows.


Paul's new song for his third wife, "My Valentine" hasn't exactly getting rave reviews, with one person flatly telling me, "It sucked." So there.

I didn't think it was that bad.

I only caught a touch of the broadcast. Most of the reviews said Springsteen killed live. No shock there.


Let's see - a few things. I saw Taylor Swift. Sheesh, enough. Enough of the "oh my God, they love us" crap. That feigned surprise of hers.

Of course it was going to be "Whitneypalooza." I get it.

Nice to see the Beach Boys. I'm ready though for Adam Levine and Maroon 5 to disappear though. I didn't need to see Levine or Mark Foster from Foster the People on stage with the Beach Boys. Last I knew, they didn't need any help.

Loved Adele. Can't say that enough. Great song. Great album. Great performance. And she just seems real. Plus she looked classy.

Katy Perry certainly said a mighty "eff you" to Russell Brand in song, didn't she? Holy cow...stay classy. Can anyone walk away with dignity?

Coach from All Things Next has his own thoughts. He watched more than I did, but I think I would agree with his two cents.

Thought for the Day

It's February 9th.

Forty-eight years ago, a Sunday night, 73 million people tuned into The Ed Sullivan Show. It was not any old show. It was a really big show. It opened looking like this:


Following the commercial, Sullivan returned to say five of the most famous words in popular culture:

"Ladies and gentleman...The Beatles!"

Paul McCartney got the first lead vocal, singing "All My Loving":

"Close your eyes, and I'll kiss you. Tomorrow I'll miss you. Remember I'll always be true. And then while I'm away, I'll write home every day. And I'll send all my loving to you."

The rest, of course, is history.

The Ferris Bueller Easter Eggs

By now, you've all seen the Ferris Bueller Super Bowl ad (the long version is here). Entertainment Weekly pulled together all of the references (aka "easter eggs") that are in the commercial.

I love that there is a very vague Beatles reference. More Fab Four domination!

Enjoy.

Thought for the Day

On the left is Eli Manning, the quarterback of the New York Giants. Mr. Manning is the younger brother of one of the greatest players to ever play the position of quarterback, Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts.

But Mr. Manning, the younger, doesn't need that kind of identity crisis any longer. He is now Eli Manning, TWO-TIME Super Bowl Champion, and TWO-TIME Super Bowl MVP.

(In case you don't know, Peyton has one Super Bowl title and one MVP. So there).

On the right is Mark Sanchez, quarterback of the New York Jets. Seems like a nice guy, and a nice player if he can ever put it all together (which he is having trouble doing).

And so, my friends, we come to yesterday. Now I have reasons that I think these championship celebrations of junk, and nothing makes it more obvious than when the "loyal" fans who have loved this team since Christmas Day (of 2011) come out, get liquored up, and stand in front of a TV camera. As such, we come to the TftD. When asked by a reporter for Channel 4 in New York (WNBC-TV), the Giants "fan" exclaimed:

"Sancheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz!"

Brilliance.

You better believe that video has gone mighty viral. (Link courtesy New York Daily News)

Thought for the Day

My streak for TftD will end eventually, and today was almost that day.  Nothing jumped out at me.  But, thanks to the Random Quotes tab on the The Quotations Page, I found a dandy from Dan Rather, who has faded into amazing obscurity:

"Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic."

Amazingly, I think he's quite right. At least he's correct as far as I'm concerned.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

Pure Will Ferrell Brilliance

Did you know that Will Ferrell did a Super Bowl ad?  No?  Oh, that's because it only ran in North Platte, Nebraska!

Slate explains.

UPDATE!  Deadspin has the "North Platte" commercial in its full-blown HD glory.

Among the many embedded videos on the page is this one, where Ferrell is "hand fishing" in Davenport, IA.


And there's this one.


Love it!

Thought for the Day

No great quotes here today, just a link to a blog post that I think is sophomoric, obnoxious, and just plain thoughtless. This guy (Eric Wilbur, Boston.com) puts the blame of the Patriots loss in Super Bowl 46 on the shoulders of Tom Brady.

Sorry, but this just is just dumb:

That's the TftD.

Not for nothing, but had Brady and the Pats finished the job, he was going to win his third MVP. No doubt in my mind.

I said it, very early on, that the safety was a huge play in the game, since it got the Giants nine points in total. It set a precedent for the game. Now granted, it becomes a footnote if some other things happen - turnovers, the Wes Welker drop - but those things didn't occur.

So much more to get into. The commercials were fine, Madonna was so-so at best but overall no worse than the Black Eyed Peas, some "performer" flipped off the camera during halftime, and the Madge's show had a lame end.

NBC did a good job, but Dan Patrick was painful on the post game stage. He's normally better than that.

That's kind of all I've got for now. Maybe more later. I'm sure you're all on pins and needles!

Linky Dinks/Off the Bench

This is somebody's bench.  I'm borrowing it.

Hey - look who's back! Our old pal "Linky Dinks", who along with "Off the Bench" provides a few hits and runs.

Just in case you need a quick recap of Super Bowl history, the NFL does that nicely.

Phil Hecken does an amazing job of breaking down the history of the Giants - most notably their uniforms. The UniWatch blog also has a section on the Patriots.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman has himself in some strange mess. There might be a mistress who stalked him. Now his wife is divorcing him. It's all very tawdry. Deadspin takes it from here.

The LoHud Yankees Blog normally hosts a pinch-hitter series. This one from Stanford Williams is quite good, in part because we're about the same age and seem to understand the same things.

Pitchers and catchers are getting closer. Just saying.

Old friend Chuck Costello has a post on his blog about closing Catholic school and Victor Cruz - all in one post.

Not that I had a rooting interest, but Matt Diddel and Ryan Whittle from Greenwich joined Chris Kaelin and I for a portion of a recent hockey broadcast to talk wrestling with us. They fell in their match against Brunswick the other day, and Dave Fierro has the results at the Greenwich Time.

Speaking of Greenwich, it was National Letter of Intent day recently. Scott Ericson has the local recap. Congratulations to all, including Shane Nastahowski, who is going to prep at Milford Academy for a year (Dave Fierro, Greenwich Time).

Pete Dougherty of the Times-Union, has a poll, asking who is the best Super Bowl play-by-play TV voice. Sadly, "Rob Adams" isn't an option. Since Vin Scully never called one (though he wanted to), I'll go with Dick Enberg over Pat Summerall and Al Michaels. Amazing that the play-by-play list is filled with only 11 names, including Jack Whitaker, who split the PBP in Super Bowl I with Ray Scott. More here from Tom Hoffarth, and the complete list here from Wikipedia.

Incidentally, Rob Adams did call one. Practicing in his own home.

I don't know how long it has existed, or if it is trademarked, but I just saw that NBC Sports has an Off the Bench site. Damn. Might have to find a new name. Incidentally, Rick Chandler from their damn Off the Bench knockoff, writes that the Cleveland Browns are the best team in NFL history.

And I'm laughing.

Super Bowl 46

Well here we are. Time to play the damn game and get it over with.

The day that is now a monument to excess (officially pimped out by Pete Rozelle, Paul Tagliabue and Emperor Roger Goodell, along with the TV networks) is one that many football fans like but, to be honest, don't love.

I've seen them all since the 12th game ('Boys 27, Orange Crush 10). I fell for my boyhood team and found my favorite player in the 13th game (Steelers 35, Cowboys 31, and I think the exact words were: "I like this Bradshaw guy. He's pretty good!").

I sat bored out of my mind through some awful games (San Francisco 55, Denver 10 and Dallas 52, Buffalo 17 come to mind). I even fell asleep a few times - once during Super 25 (yes, Giants fans, I was working crazy hours at that time) and the Peyton Manning/Prince snoozefest of 41.

But I was there for the great moments. The heart-stopping of the rest of 25 (Scott Norwood gets such a bad rap to this day), the Elway vs. Favre showdown, Plaxico to the corner of the end zone, Kevin Dyson and that one damn yard, and Adam Vinatieri not once - but twice!

I shook and yelled at James Harrison...and at Santana Moss (before he became your problem, Jets fans). I roared for Hines Ward.

I still deal with Rashard Mendenhall and the lost seventh Lombardi in Pittsburgh.

I'm glad they're not playing the Giants today. Because I'd probably have to go watch the game in Pittsburgh, and perhaps never return. It's become apparent that everyone in my family, and most of my friends - my loved-ones - are Giants fans.

I even got pulled onto the wagon. Now, let me explain this. I've always had an affection for both New York teams. My dad and brother were both Jets fans but somehow never grabbed me. I liked the Dolphins when I was really little (we went to Florida every year, pre-Bucs). I lost touch with them and became the die-hard Stillers fan that I am in Supe 13. But I wanted the G-men to win each of the big games that they played in.

As I've said before, due to their connection to the Rooney's, and the fact that they're very similar organizations (now add in Rooney Mara, who went to Fox Lane High School), I've often called the Giants "Steelers East."

Still, come this past Christmas, I was presented with a New York Giants long-sleeved t-shirt. It was a present from Carrie's mom - a Giants fan. I have worn it a few times, but now it has become customary for me to have to wear it during the playoffs. I'm supposedly the good-luck charm, and that news has spread through Carrie's family. Playfully, of course.

Carrie's uncle has been a G-men ticket holder since they played in the Polo Grounds. You can figure the math on that one. We're talking the Steve Owen, Charlie Connerly days here!

OK, so the "pressure" is on me to wear the t-shirt today. But...I also think I've worn Steelers garb every year for the game. So there must be a compromise. I'll figure that out.

So pin me as a bandwagoner if you like. You're wrong - it's all in good fun and so on - and I'm hardly "Elirific" (Parry, Tim). Just supporting my girl and a team that I like.

To the game! After the Victor Cruz play against the Jets (all 99 yards of it), I felt like the Giants had hit their stride, finally. Yet no 9-7 team has ever won the Super Bowl. I knew they would beat the Falcons, and even sort-of had a strong feeling about the Packers. I picked them to beat the Niners. They were fortunate to not have to face the Saints - that's the luck of the draw.

As for the Pats, I honestly wasn't sure if they could beat the Steelers if they met, but God-*%$^in-$@^& Tim Tebow took care of that. Again, luck of the draw, especially after the Billy Cundiff miss in the AFC Championship Game. They have my respect if only for Tom Brady, Vince Wolfork, and Bill Belichick.

The Giants need to move the ball. They need to utilize their receivers and maybe - possibly - open up the running game. They need to create havoc defensively against Brady.

They are - to be blunt - the better team.

They also better watch out for what Bill Belichick has worked up in his laboratory.

Of course, turnovers are always key. Brady is normally not mistake-prone. Then again, Eli Manning has ice water in his veins.

I've regained my spot on Tony Savino's Friday-morning NewsCenter, and he asked for a prediction. Since I keep hearing so much about how this will be a history-making passing game, I expect points. My pick, which I'll stick with, is probably too high because I expect a better defensive performance out of the Giants. But Tony asked, and I said the first numbers that hit my brain.

I've been picking them all along.

Giants 35, Patriots 31.

The same score as in Super Bowl XIII.

I wish all of my friends/family well. I also have some friends on the Pats side (thinking of Nick Angotto, Jim K. Georges,  and old high school buds Dave Belanger and Dan Arturi). I know how they really hurt - they're REAL Pats fans - after the loss in 42. You know they're chomping at the bit today. Good luck to them also.

I have my many reasons for rooting for the Giants, so no hard feelings.

Now just kick the damn thing off!

Thought for the Day

I have to say, you all rock in the social media world! My friends keep unknowingly providing me with amazing TftD's.

Today's contributor: Matt Hamilton!

That's right, by way of Greenwich, WGCH, Mizzou, the GHS Cardinals, and now the NFL Network, Joe Theismann's friend put the following on Twitter a few hours ago...

"The past teaches us lessons, but has no other bearing on the present. Put it behind you and take things as they are now, not as they were."

That's a great quote, right there.

Thought for the Day

I saw my friend Alyce Sinnott Kavanagh post this video on her Facebook page last night. It's a simple message from The Beatles, with a lead vocal by John Lennon, in one of his sappier songs. Still, for a Saturday morning, it's very sweet.

"If I fell in love with you, would you promise to be true, and help me understand? 'Cause I've been in love before, and I've found that love is more than just holding hands."

And so it goes from there.


Thanks, Alyce!

There's an element of fear in the song, especially of being hurt. That swings towards Jeff Pearlman's recent post regarding Josh Hamilton's latest fall from grace. I found it interesting the way Jeff moved the narrative from a scoundrel friend of his to Hamilton. The Hamilton thing is sad, and I also hope he gets whatever help he needs.

Adam Lambert is Replacing Freddie?

This image makes me sick.

Sorry, that headline might annoy you. Nobody can replace Freddie Mercury - not now, not ever. And yet...when you're in a band called "Queen", and that same band once had perhaps the greatest front man of all in Freddie, and said Freddie has died (and been gone 20 years), and the band is adding a new lead singer...well...

Yep. You're replacing Freddie Mercury.

And it's Adam-freaking-Lambert.

I once spoke out about this, back in 2009. The outrage was apparent at that time. That outrage, at least on my Facebook page, continues.

I said it at the time - Queen should just let it be (Beatles, 1970). When Freddie died, John Deacon (forever known as "Deacon John" on their first album) played a few more gigs and walked away. Why Brian May and Roger Taylor refuse to do so is beyond me. Money? OK then - that's their business. I thought Paul Rodgers was offensive enough, but he at least had the chops of overplayed Bad Company music to fall back on. This guy - Lambert - is a hack.

Blech.

I've got nothing more.  I need some of the real thing.  I thought this was a great song back in '85, and I'll still crank it today.

Best. Game. Ever.

On Sunday, Budweiser is going to show you a commercial featuring a hockey game that turns into something big time. Fans fill the stands, broadcasters call the game, and so on. It's basically a rec. league game that becomes major league.

I'm calling BS on it. I saw it this morning and wasn't that impressed. I thought it was over the top. Then Carrie forwarded something to me. NY1's awesome Pat Kiernan (who is only two days older than me...I did not know that) received a tweet that the spot is a complete and total ripoff of something Improv Everywehere did.

In 2008.

There's no acknowledgement of the Improv folks.

Budweiser=Fail.

So watch Improv Everywhere's effort. I'm not posting the Budweiser garbage here.

Thought for the Day

Today's TftD comes from my former WGCH colleague (though once at 'GCH, ALWAYS at 'GCH...it's very "Hotel California" like that) Anthony Kalogrides, who posted these nifty couple of lines tonight from one of the world's greatest pieces of music:

"You don't need money, don't take fame. Don't need no credit card to ride this train."

I had to counter with "It's strong and it's sudden and it's cool sometimes, but it might just save your life!"

Yessir! Happy Friday, y'all, and feel THE POWER! I always preferred the longer version of the video...

Family Guy's Radio Parody

I'm sure I've posted this sometime before in the past.  And I'll probably do it again.

But as someone who has listened to and worked in radio for way a long time, I find this hysterical. I saw it again tonight, and wanted to post it.

Thought for the Day

I saw this quote last night from Stephanie Abrams of The Weather Channel.  While you might see it as being a little too "Stuart Smalley", I liked it a lot. 

"You ARE good enough!  Never make assumptions!  We are too hard on ourselves and others!  Live an authentic life!" :)

I immediately posted it on Facebook and it got literally no response. But, to me, when life gets you down, it's nice to have a little reminder like this.

So there.

Egyptian Soccer Riot

I'm trying to keep my rage down right now. The news is still fairly new and we don't have all of the facts. But the reality is that at least 73 people are dead following a soccer match in Egypt.

Right. A soccer match.

The so-called beautiful game isn't so beautiful right now.

Now part of what I'm trying to do is to not paint with broad strokes and label everyone as hooligans. Politics likely played a role in this, given the mess that Egypt has been for about a year. But it's not like soccer riots are new either.

Like I said, I don't want to judge, and I want the details to come out. But this is bad.

People tried to just go to a game. Have some fun. And try to not die. Something is very wrong with that picture.

In the States, we've had our own black eyes. Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles and others have rioted after championships (notice I didn't mention New York?). Disc Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in 1979 was a real low-point (along with 10 cent beer night in Cleveland). The Pacers/Pistons brawl that spilled into the stands. "Mad" Mike Milbury beating a Rangers fan with a shoe. Great video here. PS, that's the great Fred Cusick on the Boston TV call.


In Canada there were riots in Montreal and Vanouver (and that was because they LOST).

The point is, we're not immune in North America. Yet soccer still has this bad reputation.

In case you want video of the Egyptian tragedy, have a look:

Thought For The Day

I was struggling to come up with a TFTD, which is part of why I'm not going to commit to doing one every day (plus some days I don't have the time or I'm not near my computer - shockingly).

Anyway, with it being February and the Super Bowl approaching, I found a video of Steve Jobs introducing the famous Apple 1984 ad. It's a little long, and there's an awful interpretation of Irene Cara's "Flashdance...What a Feeling" (an awful song). But if you stay with it, the payoff begins at 4:08.


Then I Googled "quote of the day" and there it was. A George Orwell quote! Symmetry!

"On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time."

Have a good day! Happy February! And oh yeah, Groundhog Day is tomorrow, for whatever that's worth.

Phil Collins

We had our musical icons in the 80's. Madonna, Springsteen, Wacko Jacko, Hall and Oates, even some guy named Huey.

And Phil Collins.

For a stretch, Phil Collins was it. He made "In the Air Tonight" and, I've never met a person who doesn't like that song, or who hasn't played the air drums to it. I would say that most everyone loved the guy. He could play the drums. He could sing. He could write and produce. He seemed to appear on everybody's records (Philip Bailey, Howard Jones, etc). He appeared at BOTH venues for Live Aid. He had a fun, regular-guy personality. It seemed - seemed - he could do no wrong.

But then, he did. He started making pop music that came off as bland. Some might say that started as early as his monster No Jacket Required album, but I beg to differ. He made a movie (Buster) that was marginally successful at best. His once omnipresence became irritating. Even looking back at Genesis, the band he started with, one finds that there are two distinct camps: those who loved the art/prog-rock of the band that Collins was in but that Peter Gabriel sang lead for, and those who loved the pop band that Collins was the lead singer for.

Indeed, while I enjoy the latter work of the more famous tunes, I tend to prefer the Gabriel years. I likely would have attended a Genesis reunion tour in 2007 if Gabriel had been back at the mic, as was rumored, but chose to skip it once it was announced that Collins would be doing the vocals with mates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford. I meant it as no offense, as I saw that version of the band at Giants Stadium in 1992.

All of this is prologue to this riveting article I read in Rolling Stone. Writer Andy Greene goes in-depth with Collins, exposing all of the details of how he was once uber-popular and now seems reviled. Collins talks about his fascination with the Alamo (yes, really), how he does have a dark side, and most noticeably, how he has had thoughts of suicide.

It's almost as if Collins regrets the whole thing. Whatever - it's all kind of sad.

For 15 Minutes Today, All Was Right in Radio

There has never been a better sports talk show than "Mike and the Mad Dog." Not even "The Press Box" can top the brilliance that Mike Francesa and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo gave us for 20 years. It was a daily part of my listening routine.

The two have been separate for a few years now, with Francesa continuing on WFAN (and oh, what has become of that station?) and Russo over on SiriusXM.

They're working near each other in Indianapolis this week on their individual shows, but got back together for 15 minutes. I heard it and was laughing and marveling at just how good they are together. I also felt nostalgic, because neither one is right without the other.

Thanks to Fang's Bites for posting the video and, as such, providing the link.

Super Bowl Halftime Shows

I saw this post from Mitchell and Ness's blog and couldn't resist a comment on it.  They asked, simply, which Super Bowl halftime show was the best?

I will tell you, categorically, in the post-"Nipplegate" era, the two worst were Prince and the Black Eyed Peas. Purely terrible. I don't have high expectations for Madonna either. Yet prior to the Janet Jackson fiasco, the halftime shows had been fairly atrocious also (save for U2's remarkable post-9/11 show).

Wikipedia has the full list here. Some of those shows make me pine for the days of marching bands and Up with People.

By the way, Wikipedia also has Madge's set list already. Sheesh. No buildup there.

Anyway, the best? Sticking to the event since after Super Bowl XXXVIII (that's the Janet Jackson game). Some didn't like The Who (Super Bowl XLIV), but I thought they were fine. The Rolling Stones didn't impress me at all (XL), to be blunt. I've already said I thought Prince (XLI) and the Peas (XLV) were terrible. I enjoyed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (XLII) who were a surprise choice but really rocked. But there are two clear winners:

Paul McCartney (XXXIX), which can't be embedded. Macca went with "Drive My Car", "Get Back", "Live and Let Die", and "Hey Jude" for a safe, yet rollicking show the year after we got to see more of Janet Jackson than we asked for.

But the clear runaway winner is...
Bruce, of course. Step back from the guacamole dip!


Do I need to say it? They kicked...well, you know what (even with a shortened "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out"). Complete with Bruce sliding into the camera!

And in case you need a reminder of how that game ended...

Makes me feel good to watch that.

Thought For the Day

Among the many lessons that I've tried to teach my son is to be gracious in both victory and defeat. This seems to resonate right now at Super Bowl time, but it also works outside of the sports arena. I think it is probably more difficult to be a good winner, but then again, it's sometimes tough to not be a sore loser.

With that in mind, we hit our thought for the day. We'll stick with sports, and go with the guy that Sunday's big trophy is named after: Vince Lombardi. The great Green Bay Packers coach once famously said, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." Well, a bit harsh, but probably true in sports. Yet he also authored this:

“If you can accept losing, you can't win.”

On this morning, that works. Accept it and move on because, some times, it's out of your control. Or it wasn't your fault. It just happens.

A Lost George Harrison Guitar Solo

I heard this the other day on Pat St. John's show on WCBS-FM (101.1) in New York. It's a video of Sir George Martin, his son Giles Martin, and Dhani Harrison, son of George Harrison, listening to some of The Beatles' classic "Here Comes the Sun."

It gets interesting though, as they hear a guitar solo that was never used.


By the way, St. John's show always includes lost or never-before heard pieces of music history from the rock and roll era. Always a good listen.

FERRIS!

We always knew he'd be back. It just took a while because, after all, he's a fry cook on Venus!

Matthew Broderick has returned as Ferris Bueller...well, sort of. He's actually just Matthew Broderick the actor, but he's doing a sweet parody of Ferris for the Honda CR-V in this new commercial to run during the Super Bowl.

Even though we're already getting to see it. Whatever, it is so choice! I warn you, you have to look really closely for all of the references...I'm still picking them up (like the clothes in the background at the 1:00 mark - the sweater vest and Cameron's T-shirt).


Now we need the real thing (and yes, that means The Beatles)...


And...